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It all made sense. This was why her mother was away with Vinnie. Sophia knew that she’d never stand for this. But by the time she was back, it would all be over. Sophia would be married to this brute, and that would be that.
She let out a long, soft moan of anguish, and it felt as though she’d never stop.
By the time it was dark, she’d cried so much she didn’t think there could be any more moisture left in her body. Her whole face hurt, but her jaw and cheeks were particularly painful.
Sophia knew that she wasn’t going to sleep that night. Her father had been in a couple of times to try to calm her down, but his visits had quickly escalated into shouting matches. He was furious with her for making him look bad in front of a business acquaintance and worried he wouldn’t want to marry her because she seemed like too much hard work.
One thing he’d said had particularly chilled Sophia.
‘You’re lucky — Hank said he likes a challenge.’
Her dad had also brought in a wedding dress for her. She hadn’t even looked at it, just screamed at him to get out.
All day long, she’d been clutching her new bear, holding him close. The only thing that had taken her mind off her awful situation was naming the bear. In the end, she’d gone for a classic. Teddy.
She knew that it wouldn’t have been her father who actually chose Teddy. No way. One of his hundreds of personal assistants would have done it. Even so, to her, the bear represented what a fathershouldbe like.
Always there.
Never judging.
Always supporting.
You and your life belong only to me.
Just then, she heard a sound from Tatu. Normally by this time, her bird was safely asleep, dreaming about whatever it is birds dream of. Fruit, probably. But not today. She could hear his claws on the bars.
Sophia walked through to his part of her living quarters. If she didn’t know better, she’d have sworn he was staring right out the window. The moon was out. Fat and full and yellow-white. It seemed like she could just reach out and touch it.
She unhooked the latch for the big window and slid it silently open. The cool summer breeze felt good against her skin — so chilly she shivered.
It wasn’tthatfar down to the ground. Really not far at all.
What would Tatu do? If she gave her bird even one chance at freedom, he’d definitely take it, wouldn’t he?
It almost felt as though Sophia wasn’t in control of her body. Before she knew what she was doing, she was standing by Tatu’s cage. He looked up at her, pleading.
‘I get it, sweetheart,’ Sophia said, stroking his glossy head for the last time. ‘I really get it.’
Then, she opened the cage.
Tatu stopped climbing the bars and cocked his head at her. He paused — just for a moment — then he spread his wings and shot from the cage. Up in front of the moon, his silhouette was stark and wild, a formless dart of pure freedom, streaking across the sky.
Sophia’s breath was racing, her heart was pounding. She grabbed a rucksack from under her bed and packed it with almost nothing. Then she grabbed her new bear and sat on her windowsill.
It wasn’t too far down, was it? Would she die if she fell? Would she break all her bones and be unable to walk? In that moment of pure fear, something crystallized in her mind. She knew, without any doubt, that it was more dangerous to stay safe than it was to risk it all.
She swung her legs over the edge and found her first foothold.
CHAPTER 1
TEN YEARS LATER
It was a rat. Had to be a rat.
Maybe it was a mouse?
Sophia held up a sewing needle as though it was going to protect her from whatever beastie was lurking in the cardboard box where she kept her clothes.
