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The voices faded, so Beth missed Hannah’s answer.
She looked at Posy. “What’s happened to Hannah?”
Posy was staring into space.
“Posy?”
The glazed look in Posy’s eyes faded. “What?”
“What are you thinking?”
“Did you know Hannah broke her arm?”
Beth glanced toward the door. “She looked fine to me.”
“When we were kids. Dad took her climbing. She fell off a rock. Do you remember that?”
Beth looked at her sister, and then the red streaks of the wall. “What is the relevance of that question?”
“Do you remember it?”
“No.” Beth rubbed her forehead with her fingers. “Maybe. Vaguely. I drew on her plaster. And it was her right arm, so she couldn’t use it for weeks. You don’t remember?”
“I don’t have any memories of that time, apart from Suzanne hugging me.”
“Why are you bringing this up now? I’m dealing with a crisis, and you’re reminiscing about the past?”
“The crisis is in your imagination, but you’re right, forget it,” Posy said, and Beth felt a rush of frustration.
“Hannah doesn’t believe in happy endings. If she tells Ruby that Santa doesn’t exist, I will kill her.”
“She’s not going to say that, but just in case she lets something slip by accident, we’ll go and check on her. We can scrub the lipstick off the wall later. Come on. Time for sisterly teamwork. Let’s have fun.”
It sounded surprisingly appealing. Beth relaxed a little. “All of us?”
“It’s Christmas. If we can’t all go wild with sparkly pens at Christmas, when can we?”
Beth had taken one step toward the door when her phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and her relaxed mood evaporated. “It’s Corinna. I should—”
“You shouldn’t. Please tell me you are not going to take that call. We’re about to have sister time! God knows, that doesn’t happen often. Co
rinna can wait.” Posy paused with her hand on the door and Beth was caught in a storm of indecision.
She didn’t particularly want to take the call, but she felt as if she should.
She knew it was expected of her.
Hating herself, she answered her phone. “Hi, Corinna—”
Posy’s smile faded. “Because nothing comes before family, right?” Shaking her head, she walked out of the room.
20
Posy
“This isn’t easy to say, so I’m just going to come right out with it. And if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather you didn’t interrupt until I’m done.” Posy settled herself comfortably. After so many attempts to tell someone how she was feeling, she was determined to say it this time. “Luke has asked me to climb with him next summer. That’s right, you heard me. He’s putting together an expedition to climb Denali, in Alaska. Don’t be alarmed. It’s going to be safe, I promise, and I’ll train and everything. He seems to think I might even be able to get sponsorship from one of the big companies that make all the outdoor gear, which would be cool because what’s hard about being paid to wear clothes you’re wearing anyway?” She drew breath. “I can see you’re surprised, and I don’t blame you. After all, I’m the girl who has never lived away from home apart from when I went to college. But the thing is, I want to do this badly. I guess we know where I inherited those climbing genes from. But I don’t want you to take it personally. It’s not about you. It’s about me. You do understand that?” She closed her eyes, struggling with her feelings. “Why do I feel guilty? Because I love it here. And I love you. I’m not leaving because I don’t love you. I hope you know that.”
“You’re in love with a chicken?”
