The Hornbeam Tree Page 17

  As Molly reached the top she stopped, her face draining as she saw her mother.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ she demanded, already on the defensive. ‘What are you standing there like that for?’

  ‘I have to talk to you,’ Katie said.

  Molly scowled and started towards her room. ‘I’ve got homework to do,’ she retorted.

  ‘I’ve been to the school today,’ Katie said quietly. ‘What you had confiscated in the chemistry lab needs a lot of explaining. Now I’m prepared to listen, but I don’t want any lies, or …’

  Molly’s eyes flashed. ‘Why do you just assume I’m going to lie?’ she cried.

  ‘All right, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that, but it doesn’t get us away from the fact that it has your email address at the top …’

  ‘Yeah, exactly, which makes it my personal stuff, so you should all just mind your own fucking business and give it back.’

  ‘Don’t you dare speak to me like that!’

  ‘I’ll speak to you how I want.’

  ‘Molly. I want you to swear to me that you’ve never met this man.’

  ‘All right. I’ve never met him!’ She had such a sullen, defiant look on her face that Katie could have slapped it.

  ‘I don’t believe you,’ Katie said.

  Molly threw out her hands. ‘See, I can’t win, can I?’ she cried.

  ‘Are you charging boys to do things to you?’ Katie demanded. ‘Is that how you afforded those shoes?’

  Molly’s eyes flew open in shock, then her face went dark with rage to think her mother could actually believe she’d do something like that. ‘So what if it was how I got them?’ she challenged. ‘I never get anything around here, so …’

  ‘It would make you a common whore,’ Katie cut in.

  ‘So what? Who cares what I am? Definitely not you.’

  ‘Molly, that is not true.’

  ‘Yes it is, now get out of my way.’

  ‘You just stop right there,’ Katie said blocking her. ‘Now you listen to me, I love you more than anything else in this world, but that doesn’t make having pictures like that acceptable. Mr Webb is reporting it to the police, did you know that?’

  Molly turned pale.

  ‘Well, what did you expect?’ Katie cried. ‘You know about the dangers of the Internet and you’ve left me with no alternative but to confiscate your computer …’

  ‘Like hell,’ Molly cried, barging past. ‘You touch that, and you’ll be sorry.’

  Katie grabbed her, but she was too strong and pushed her away.

  ‘Don’t you dare go in that room!’ Katie warned.

  ‘I need my computer …’

  ‘Not for the Internet you don’t, so I’m having it disconnected. You can go online at school, or on my computer, but your privileges are revoked.’ As she finished she was starting down the stairs.

  Molly thundered after her. ‘If you do anything to that phone line, I’ll smash your head in!’ she screamed.

  Katie turned back, appalled by the threat, but as she started to respond her foot slid off the edge of a stair and though she tried to grab the handrail she wasn’t quick enough and fell to the bottom, cracking her head on the flagstone floor below.

  Molly gaped at her in horror. ‘Mum?’ she whispered.

  Katie could only lie there, too dazed to focus.

  ‘Oh my God, oh my God,’ Molly muttered.

  Katie blinked and reached out for the leg of a chair.

  The door opened and Michelle came in. ‘Katie!’ she cried, running straight to her. ‘What happened? Are you all right?’

  ‘Just give me a hand up,’ Katie croaked.

  Michelle grabbed her, then heard Molly saying, ‘I didn’t do it! I didn’t do it.’

  Seeing the stricken look on Molly’s face and registering her words, Michelle’s heart turned to ice. ‘Molly, what happened?’ she demanded.

  ‘I didn’t do anything,’ Molly cried. ‘It wasn’t my fault!’

  ‘OK, calm down,’ Katie said as Michelle helped her up. ‘No-one’s saying it was your fault …’

  ‘Yes you are. She is. She’s blaming me, and I didn’t do anything.’ Molly’s face was turning puce with rage. ‘You don’t belong in our family,’ she yelled at Michelle, ‘so why don’t you just go back to where you belong? We were all right before you came along …’

  ‘Molly, stop it,’ Katie cried.

  ‘No, I won’t. I’m getting out of here. I hate this house. And I hate you …’

  ‘Molly, please,’ Michelle implored as Molly came flying down the stairs.

  ‘Get out of my way,’ Molly seethed, elbowing her way past. ‘Just get out of my way,’ she screamed as Michelle tried to take hold of her, and grabbing her bag she banged a fist against a pile of dishes and ran out of the door.

  ‘Molly! Come back!’ Michelle called, going after her, but as she got outside Molly was already leaping the fence and racing as fast as she could up the lane towards the woods.

  Still in the kitchen, Katie was holding on to the edge of the sink feeling as though she were about to throw up.

  ‘Are you hurt?’ Michelle asked, coming back in.

  ‘No, just a bit shaken.’ She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘She’ll go to Allison’s,’ she said. ‘I’ll call in a minute to make sure.’

  ‘So what happened?’

  Katie’s eyes closed as the spinning in her head became faster. ‘I think I’m going to faint,’ she whispered.

  Quickly Michelle sat her down and rubbed her back as she put her head between her knees. She stayed there for almost a minute, before sitting up again. ‘That’s better,’ she sighed, as her vision started to clear.

  ‘Have you eaten anything today?’ Michelle asked.

  ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘Katie. What have you eaten today?’

  Katie’s smile was weak. ‘First it’s me having a go at Molly, then it’s you having a go at me. What a happy house.’

  Michelle’s humour wasn’t responding. ‘If you don’t eat, you’re not going to have any energy, and if you have no energy how can you even begin to think you’re capable of dealing with Molly?’

  Katie shot her one of her famously dry looks.

  ‘You’re not taking the megace are you?’ Michelle stated.

  ‘Sometimes.’

  ‘Katie, you have to eat, and if appetite stimulants are the only way …’

  ‘Can we just get drunk? I’m feeling in need.’

  ‘Not on an empty stomach.’

  ‘OK. You cook, I’ll take the megace and open the wine, and then you can tell me all about Laurie’s triangle …’

  ‘No. You can tell me all about Molly and how you ended up on the floor with her halfway up the stairs.’

  ‘She didn’t push me, so I’ve no idea why she thinks I think she did. What I do know, though, is I’ve made a terrible mess of everything with her, and right now I haven’t got the first idea how to put it right.’

  Michelle’s eyes were dark with concern. ‘I could suggest you begin by telling her the truth,’ she said, softening her tone, ‘but you obviously need to let this settle down a bit first. What happened at the school? I take it that’s what this was about?’

  Katie nodded. ‘I think, hope I overreacted, so I want you to take a look at what I brought home, and tell me what you think, how you would handle it from here. Whatever we decide though, I’m going to have to tell Laurie that the programme can’t happen, because after this … I have to focus totally on Molly now, and forget my pathetic, selfish bid for a last grasp at fame.’

  Molly ran and ran – across the horse and pony field, over the next stile, through Bell Woods and finally up the drive to Allison’s house.

  Spotting her coming, Allison bounded out of the stables to meet her. ‘What’s up?’ she cried.

  ‘I had a terrible row with my mum,’ Molly gasped, dashing away the tears. ‘She’s threatened to take my computer away, and Brad’s inst
ant-messaging me tonight. You’ve got to let me use yours.’

  ‘No problem. Come on. Let’s go to my room. What was the row about?’

  ‘She’s seen the picture that was confiscated,’ Molly explained, following her into the big farmhouse kitchen where Mrs Bond, phone in one hand, glass in the other, flashed a sweet smile as she passed.

  ‘Oh shit,’ Allison groaned. ‘Have you been grounded?’

  ‘We didn’t get that far, she fell down the stairs, and it was like, so surreal, because it was like Step Five before we abandoned it, and maybe I pushed her, but I know I didn’t. I was going to help her up, but then Michelle came in and you could tell she thought I’d done it. She is such a bitch. I hate her. Everything’s gone wrong in our house since she came. I wish I knew how to get rid of her.’

  ‘We’ll work something out,’ Allison assured her, pushing open her bedroom door.

  ‘Someone’s texting me,’ Molly said, her heart giving a jump in case it was Brad.

  Please let me

  know where u r.

  Mum.

  ‘Oh God!’ she cried, throwing a quick glance at Allison.

  Allison was busy lighting a cigarette and turning on the computer, so Molly hurriedly typed a message back.

  At A’s.

  ‘Oh God, it’s her again,’ she seethed, as her mother messaged back.

  R u OK?

  Yes. R u?

  Yes. Love you. We need to talk.

  Molly sighed and tutted and tossed the phone on the bed. ‘God, this is like so unreal, with Brad texting me today, and then her exploding at me when I got home. Who needs it?’ she grumbled, glad her mum was all right.

  ‘What time’s he instant-messaging?’ Allison asked.

  ‘Six. Are the others coming over?’

  Allison was already dialling. ‘Cecy? It’s me. My house at six. Tell Donna. Molly’s going to chat to Brad from here, and she’s got a problem she needs solving.’

  ‘What problem?’ Molly asked as she rang off.

  ‘With your aunt. You said you want to get rid of her.’

  Molly sat up. ‘Yes, that’s right,’ she confirmed. ‘I just know she’s like, responsible for everything that’s going wrong in our house, and she hates me, so I’ve got to find a way of making her go back to where she came from.’

  ‘OK, we’ll put our heads together and come up with something,’ Allison responded. ‘That’s not your mother again is it?’ she snapped impatiently as Molly’s phone started ringing.

  Molly looked at the name on the display, blinked, then her mouth fell open as she realized who it was. ‘Oh my God! Oh my God!’ she gasped. ‘It’s him. It’s Brad. And it’s not a text.’

  Allison stared at her, dumbfounded, then a grin spread across her face. ‘Well go on, answer it!’ she cried. ‘Oh my God. This is like, so cool. And I am like, so jealous. Molly, answer it.’

  Dying with nerves, Molly clicked on the line. ‘Hello?’ she said softly, deafened by her own heartbeat.

  ‘Hi. Molly? It’s Brad.’

  Her mouth opened wide again as she gave a silent scream of elation. ‘Hi. How are you?’ she asked.

  ‘I’m cool. How are you?’

  ‘Yeah, I’m cool too.’

  ‘It’s OK to talk, is it?’ he asked. ‘It’s not a bad time?’

  ‘No! No, it’s cool.’

  ‘Good. It’s just that something’s come up so I can’t make it to a computer at six. I was going to send a text, but then I thought it would be like, kind of good to hear your voice.’

  Molly swallowed hard, and tried to stop herself going into orbit. ‘That’s cool,’ she said.

  ‘Stop saying cool,’ Allison hissed.

  Molly blushed and turned aside as Brad said, ‘So you’re the Molly I saw at Toby Bond’s house.’

  ‘Yes,’ she whispered.

  ‘Do you go to the same school as Allison?’

  ‘No. I go to the local one in Chippenham. I used to go to one in London, but then my dad … Then we had to come and live here. Where do you live? I mean, when you’re not at school.’

  ‘In London. Kensington. Do you know it?’

  ‘Yes! It’s where we used to live. That is so awesome. We were neighbours.’

  He was laughing, and then they got into which street he lived in, and discovered they’d been about ten minutes from each other. Then they chatted about all the places they knew, or went to, so it turned out to be amazing they’d never met before.

  When finally they rang off Molly threw aside the phone, clapped her hands over her face and kicked her feet up and down. ‘Oh my God! Oh my God!’ she cried. ‘I don’t believe it. I’ve actually spoken to him! Oh my God. Allison. This is like so unbelievable.’

  Laughing, Allison crushed her cigarette in an ashtray. ‘So come on, what did he say?’ she demanded. ‘Start from the beginning and tell me everything.’

  By the time the others arrived at six they’d been over it a dozen times, and Molly was more than happy to go over it another dozen for Cecily and Donna. In the end Cecily got bored and wandered over to the computer.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Allison asked.

  ‘I’m trying to find this web site I heard about,’ she answered, keeping her eyes on the screen. ‘Apparently there’s a chat room for all these sad sacks who want to commit suicide. I thought it could be a bit of a laugh to find out what they’re saying.’

  ‘You are like, so warped,’ Allison told her.

  Molly was smiling, still basking in the glow of her phone call, until another text came through from her mother.

  Dinner’s almost

  ready.

  ‘Is it him?’ Cecily demanded, spinning round.

  ‘No, it’s my mother.’

  ‘Ssss,’ they all hissed.

  eating at A’s

  Home by 8 pls.

  Molly’s face darkened. ‘Like hell,’ she muttered at the phone. ‘No way, if you’ve taken my computer.’

  ‘She won’t,’ Allison said confidently. ‘They always threaten, but they never actually do it.’

  ‘Yes, but Michelle might talk her into it.’ She threw out her hands in frustration. ‘See! That’s what I mean, everything’s going wrong because of her. So you’ve got to help me come up with a way to get rid of her.’

  ‘Cecily!’ Allison barked. ‘You’re always full of ideas.’

  ‘I’m thinking,’ Cecily responded, tapping away at the keyboard. ‘Just let me finish this, then we’ll start an elimination conference.’

  Molly wrinkled her nose as she looked at the others, but they didn’t seem to know what Cecily was talking about either, so she just went back to dreaming about Brad and what she was going to say the next time he called.

  *

  Taking the bottle of wine and glass the barman was handing her, Laurie started upstairs to her room. She wasn’t quite sure who she was trying to fool, herself or the barman, that she’d be drinking alone, but what did it matter? The barman had no interest in her conscience, and she was only eager to find a way of shutting it down. Yet she wasn’t thinking about Elliot now, only about Nick, and how long it might take him to get here.

  Going into the bathroom she turned on the shower and started to undress. When she was ready she’d go back down to the bar to wait, make sure they stayed in sight of other people, so they wouldn’t even be able to hold hands. She wondered why she was telling herself such nonsense, but went on doing it anyway. Once she saw him she’d probably find that the attraction was all in her mind, that it just needed some reality to steal the power from the fantasy. They’d be glad to see each other, naturally, but he would leave after a leisurely dinner and drive back to Cheltenham, while she returned to her room alone.

  Just before he was due, she glanced around the cosy, old-fashioned room with its muted wallpaper, leaded windows and solid oak beams, then she turned off the overhead light, so that only two lamps were casting a warm, amber glow over the bed, and went to close the curtains. In on
e corner was a tall, free-standing mirror, where her reflection showed none of the turmoil inside her, only a slender, blonde woman, wearing jeans and one of the new T-shirt tops she’d picked up in Chippenham yesterday. It was plain white with buttons that ran right down the front, many of which she hadn’t yet fastened. It accentuated her tan beautifully, particularly in this light, and because she’d chosen to save the new bra and panties she’d bought for tomorrow, the generous fullness of her breasts wasn’t only visible through the top’s partly open front, but through the tightly clinging fabric that hinted at the darkness of her nipples, while revealing all of their prominence.

  She felt breathless and flushed by the wine she’d already drunk, and though there was plenty of time to do up her buttons and put a jacket over the top, she’d done neither by the time he knocked on the door.

  With her heart pounding violently, and her limbs feeling like liquid, she turned away from the mirror and walked across the room. As her hand grasped the latch she tried to will herself out of what almost felt like a trance. She needed to appear friendly and casual, and though she knew she wasn’t even close to achieving it, she told herself she was and finally opened the door.

  He was tall, blond, devastatingly handsome, and the instant she saw him she knew there was no point trying to fool herself any longer.

  ‘Hi,’ he said, his voice sounding gruff, as his gaze seemed to penetrate all the remaining layers of her resolve.

  She attempted a smile. ‘Do – do you want to come in?’ she offered, almost feeling as though her breasts were naked. ‘Or shall we go down to the bar?’

  Staying with her eyes, he said, ‘Your call.’

  Leaving the door open she walked back to the bed to pick up her bag. As her hand reached it she heard the floorboards creak behind her, then the door click closed. She stopped breathing, waiting for him to move, but for long, agonizing seconds there was only the power of him standing there and the tension that was charging the air. He moved up behind her, and she groaned aloud as he reached around her to cup her breasts roughly in his hands. Her head fell back on to his shoulder, and his hands tightened their hold as he buried his face in her neck. She turned her mouth to his and as he pushed his tongue deep inside he pressed his erection hard up against her.