Voices in Stone - Emily Diamand Page 0,21

herself arranging the dolls into a tea party, while Angel shouted orders. “No tea for her. She naughty!”

As the day wore on, Isis waited desperately for the sound of the front door closing to tell her Gil had gone. But instead, at about five in the evening, Cally tapped on her door and poked her head around. She was smiling, her cheeks a little flushed.

“Isis, do you mind if Gil… stays the night?” There was a lightness to her voice, as if she’d just finished laughing.

Isis felt herself cringe, even at the thought of it. Plus that would mean he’d be in the flat tomorrow as well, and then who knew when he’d leave?

“Does he have to?” Isis asked, her voice flat.

The smile dropped off Cally’s face. “Well, I suppose he doesn’t. It’s just I haven’t seen him for such a long time…”

“You didn’t want to see him,” Isis pointed out. “You told me you never wanted to again.”

Cally flinched. “Yes, I know. But now we’ve talked, and I can see that what happened in August wasn’t his fault.”

“A monster do-ed it,” said Angel, from her place by the dolls.

Isis didn’t answer Angel, or her mum either. Surely Cally could work out what this was like for Isis?

“Please,” said Cally. “I didn’t realise how much I’ve missed him.”

“Mummy been sad,” Angel said, nodding wisely. “Now Mummy happy.”

Isis sighed. “All right then.”

And there was always the chance of…

“Will Gray come over tomorrow?” she asked, trying to sound casual.

Cally shook her head. “His mum’s being careful. She’s keeping him at home, so Gil’s going to pop over there in the afternoon.”

Isis’s feelings must have been obvious on her face.

“I’m sorry, darling,” said Cally, “but I’d be the same if you’d been ill.”

Cally came into the room a little further then, stepping carefully around the dolls. Angel squeaked out of the way.

“Are you sure you feel all right? You’ve been in here all day.” Cally glanced at the floor. “Haven’t you grown out of these?”

Isis blushed. “I was just… checking them. I’m fine.”

Cally peered at her. “Well if you’re sure… I’m just concerned because of you going on that school trip. The school says it’s nothing to worry about, but why did they call the ambulances then? Gray told Gil that the woman from the mining company really flew off the handle when someone asked if they were mining radioactive rocks.”

“I don’t think they’d have let us go on a school trip there if the quarry was radioactive,” said Isis uncertainly.

“Well, Gil says you shouldn’t be surprised at anything big business does. He says it’s really suspicious that the school and the hospital are down-playing it so much. He says that only proves something’s going on.”

“It could just be that there really was nothing,” said Isis.

Cally shook her head. “Gil says the mining company’s probably bought them off, or put pressure on somehow. He’s says they’ll get round the parents next, offering money or threatening them. His phone is set up to record every call he receives – that way he’ll have proof.”

Isis didn’t say anything.

“I’m sure Gil’s right,” said Cally defensively. “He knows a lot about this kind of thing.”

“Yeah,” said Isis. She didn’t care what Gil knew.

The school bell was ringing as Isis walked into her form room on Monday morning. She’d been dreading this moment since Friday – it had loomed over her weekend, turning everything into a countdown. She went the long way round the classroom to her desk, past the usual muddle and noise of everyone getting to their seats and settling down. The route meant she could avoid Jess’s gang, but Jess still watched her the whole time.

Isis sat down. Now she felt genuinely sick; she wouldn’t even be pretending if she said she was ill. She could put up her hand, tell Mrs Craven that she felt unwell. Jess was obviously planning something.

Isis looked down at her desk, studying the patterns of scratches in the grey tabletop and trying to work out if feeling sick would be enough to get out of class. Maybe if she made a fuss, then went to the toilet and put her fingers down her throat? She’d never tried it, but everyone said…

Mrs Craven was taking the register, calling names and ticking them off. She broke into a cough, which ended with a sneeze.

Isis snapped her head up. Just behind Mrs Craven, a dirty cloud was dancing in slow spirals. The posters on the nearby wall began to crinkle around the