held out the squalling bundle for him to see, but he didn’t look. He’d already lost interest.
‘Take it to the wet nurse on the third floor,’ his voice was low and gravely. Devoid of any warmth it sent shivers skittering down her spine as she dipped her creaky knees in a half curtsey and shuffled hurriedly past him.
He gave no more attention to the old woman or the child, his black eyes were fixed on the woman laying on soiled sheets, her exposed thighs stained with blood as she buried her face in her pillow.
His mouth curved slowly as he reached out and slowly closed the door to the sound of her bitter weeping.
8
Ava pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs as she smiled softly. Bailey was dozing, spread out across the small double bed in front of her. She wiggled her toes and buried them comfortably in Bailey’s fur as she didn’t seem to mind. Glancing around the place she was currently calling home another strange rush of warmth stole through her chest.
This was the first time she’d ever lived in an RV and she had to say, she was pleasantly surprised. It didn’t look that big from the outside, but it had way more room on the inside. It was ridiculous how much living space she now had. Behind the driver and passenger seats there was a small booth with a square Formica table and padded benches. Opposite was a stove and sink. Then there was the door beside that, with steps down to exit the vehicle. A long sofa ran along the opposite wall and at the end was a small bedroom containing a double bed, and a bathroom with a toilet and shower.
Some might have turned their noses up at the modest accommodation but to Ava it was a small slice of heaven, her own heaven. No more sleeping in her truck, which was well on its way to giving her a crick in her neck that no chiropractor would be able to fix. No more questionable motel rooms, with busted locks, things growing in the shower and disturbing stains on the sheets which looked as if they hadn’t been laundered in a decade, because it was all she could afford, and definitely…. definitely, no more communes. No more sharing bathroom space with twenty other people, no sleeping on pallets listening to the other people in the same space snoring, or worse grunting and groaning in the darkness, noises she’d discovered far too early in life.
Ava closed her eyes for a minute and drew in a slow breath. Silence. Well, other than her dog’s soft snore, and the gentle sounds of the ocean, which crept through the open window at her back even as the sweet, salty breeze tickled her neck and danced down her spine.
There was no one else; it was just her and her dog, on her very own cliff top. She sighed loudly in pleasure, causing Bailey’s ears to twitch as she lazily opened one eye.
‘What do you think?’ Ava muttered quietly as she looked down at her best friend. ‘Is this home?’
Bailey thumped her tail a couple of times before closing her eyes again.
Ava wasn’t certain, but it sure came close. She’d never felt such a pull toward a place before. She wasn’t sure whether to breathe a sigh of relief or not. For a while there, she’d wondered if the apple had fallen a little too close to the tree and that she had been doomed to wander restlessly like her mother had. Except, for Serenity, it was a choice rather than a punishment, but for the first time ever she’d felt the tug deep in the pit of her belly.
Maybe it was just wishful thinking; maybe it was the tenuous tie of long dead relatives she knew nothing about. All she knew was the desperate desire for roots, for something sturdy to hold on to. A place to belong.
The problem was, her roots were slowly disappearing. Her family tree had withered away until there was nothing, but dry fossilized roots hidden by decades, centuries even, of gossip, rumor and supposition, shrouded in legend. If she had any hope of uncovering the truth and discovering who and what she came from, like an archaeologist, she’d have to peel it back layer by layer.
Her dark eyes fell on the brand-new large leather notebook she’d purchased the day before, that was laying open on the bed beside her. Page