The Apartment - K. L. Slater Page 0,61

puffing by the time we get up to the third floor.

‘You really need to start locking doors around here.’ Dr Marsden frowns when he spots the apartment door is wide open.

He walks in first, followed by Miss Brockley and then me and Skye. I brace myself as he opens her bedroom door.

‘Hardly millions,’ he remarks with a wry smile.

I walk into the room and count five dozy flies on the glass and windowsill.

‘Yuk, can we still get rid of them?’ Skye screws up her nose.

‘They’ve all gone,’ I say faintly. ‘The room was full of them, the glass thick with them. I—’

I walk up to the window and stare through it blankly. Then I look around the room. Only minutes ago, it was a swarming black mass of tiny buzzing bodies in here.

‘Come downstairs,’ Miss Brockley says kindly, giving Dr Marsden a look. ‘Moving can be very stressful, one might exaggerate all manner of things in one’s mind and—’

‘I didn’t imagine it!’ I instantly restrain myself. ‘I’m sorry but they were here . . . I swear. And the furniture has definitely been moved. Skye, did you move your toy box and your chair?’

I look down and see my daughter’s big blue eyes looking up, confused and fearful as she shakes her head.

‘I thought you’d done it, Mummy,’ she says.

36

The backdrop of squealing, laughter, and shouting in the playground merges into one sound, but sitting here in your secret place, you can still hear birdsong.

Wait . . . wait . . . there she is!

She walks out slowly. Alone. Her eyes rolling around the playground furtively. Her little hands are in fists and her arms are close to her sides. She is distrusting, expecting the worst from her peers, no doubt.

Click . . . click . . . click goes your camera.

A boy and girl run up to her. The girl takes her hand and drags her over to the lowest part of the wall, close to where you are sitting.

Three other children join the group; two girls and a boy. The child’s shoulders hunch up underneath her ears. ‘What’s your name?’ the tallest boy asks.

She replies in a voice so soft you can’t hear her, but by his reply, you know she’s told him.

‘Sky? That’s stupid. That’s like your name being grass or soil or something.’

‘Or mud!’ the girl says in delight. ‘Let’s call her Mud!’

‘You’re supposed to call people by their proper name.’ Skye frowns at them in turn. ‘If you don’t, I’ll tell on you.’

‘If you tell the teacher, nobody will ever speak to you again.’ One of the other girls presses her face closer and Skye takes a step back.

‘We’ll play chase,’ Javeed announces. ‘And I say there’s no stinky thick MUD allowed.’

The children laugh and organise themselves for the game. Skye is still part of the group but an outsider, standing apart.

You note the determined set of her jaw, her shoulders square and head held high. She has her mother’s attitude. She won’t be beaten down lightly.

It will take skill to break them both.

When the children go inside, you put on your gloves and pick up the journal.

Little Douglas barely sleeps all week, waking this very morning at 2 a.m. for no apparent reason. He refuses to go back to sleep and clings to me so tightly I can barely move an inch.

I conclude he has probably had a nightmare but I eventually settle him again by stroking his feather-soft hair and murmuring assurances. Soon, he nuzzles into my side and grips my finger with one chubby hand as if to reassure himself I won’t slip away.

Today is the fourth and, I very much hope, the final session with Professor Watson.

He intimated last time that he has almost concluded his work with Dougie.

Working on the maternity ward yesterday, Rosalie mentioned a welcome bonus that I hadn’t been expecting.

‘Professor Watson is going to pay you an amount to cover your expenses in taking part in his study. We don’t pay a fee exactly, but I think you’ll find his contribution quite generous.’

I did not protest, despite it being the courteous thing to do. With my sister’s illness worsening by the day, I am hardly in a position to turn down the offer.

Instead, I smiled and thanked Rosalie. Money is always so tight and any extra will be a tremendous help.

‘The next session is very important,’ Rosalie continued. ‘Please be prompt and do all you can to keep the baby relaxed prior to your arrival.’

I mentioned Dougie’s