Read Online Safe as Houses by Simone van der Vlugt - Free Book Online Page B

basement tonight.’
    Lisa cannot hide her astonishment. ‘In the basement?’
    Kreuger turns back to the television programme without any further comment.
    â€˜But . . . the basement is much too damp for Anouk. And the light’s broken – you can’t see your hand in front of your face at night.’
    â€˜You can put down a mattress and bedding,’ is Kreuger’s only response.
    Lisa pauses, panicked. There’s not a lot she can do. Leaving Anouk alone down there in the dark is obviously out of the question, so she’ll have to go with her, even though it’s still early in the evening.
    â€˜She can sleep on the sofa for a while first,’ she mutters.
    â€˜Whatever,’ Kreuger says absently.
    â€˜Do I have to go into the basement? No, Mummy. I don’t really have to go to the basement, do I?’ Anouk looks at her mother with anxious eyes.
    There’s no point in upsetting her. With a bit of luck, she’ll fall asleep on the sofa.
    â€˜No, of course not – you’re going to sleep on the sofa. We’ll put the cushion down like this and then you’ll get under your blanket. Isn’t that a cosy nest?’
    Anouk turns on to her side cautiously. ‘You mustn’t go away.’
    â€˜I’m not going away. I’ll stay with you the whole night.’
    Anouk’s eyes glide over to Kreuger, and she gives her mother a questioning look.
    â€˜He’s staying here for a while.’ To Lisa’s own surprise her voice sounds steady and neutral.
    â€˜Doesn’t he have a home?’ Anouk yawns, her mouth unashamedly wide open.
    Lisa hurriedly bends down and kisses her cheek.
    â€˜Shh, go to sleep. Good girl, eyes closed. Sleep tight, darling.’
    â€˜Sing to me . . .’
    Barely managing the tune, Lisa begins the song that is part of Anouk’s bedtime ritual, but Kreuger puts an abrupt stop to it.
    â€˜Can’t you shut up? I’m trying to watch this!’
    The silence that follows is total. The shock makes Anouk’s small body tense up.
    Lisa gives her a reassuring smile. She mouths the song until the end, and Anouk soundlessly moves her lips along.
    Then they have a kiss and a cuddle.
    â€˜I love you,’ she whispers into Anouk’s ear.
    Anouk mouths the same back.
    Hours later, Lisa starts from sleep when a hand roughly shakes her shoulder.
    â€˜Bedtime,’ a voice above her says.
    She gets up. The right half of her body has cramp from having slept in the small space left on the sofa by Anouk, who is snoring gently.
    â€˜Get a move on!’ Pale and irritable, Kreuger pulls her arm, and Lisa, suddenly wide awake, stands up.
    â€˜Do we really have to go to the basement?’
    â€˜You’ve got ten minutes to get the mattresses and bedding there. I’ll stay with her.’
    With an impatient shake of the head, he gestures for Lisa to hurry up.
    Still dizzy from standing up so quickly, she goes upstairs on autopilot. The mattress on the double bed in her bedroom is too heavy to carry on her own, and her hand is hurting, so she takes Anouk’s mattress instead and pushes it down the stairs. She pulls a second mattress from the spare bedroom and gives it a shove too, so that it slides down the stairs into the hall. Pillows, duvets and pyjamas in her arms, she goes downstairs. Within ten minutes, everything is in the dark, damp basement.
    She lugs Anouk down the narrow stairway with difficulty. Kreuger watches her every move. As Lisa is settling them in, his tall shape appears at the top of the basement stairs, and he looks down at her.
    â€˜OK, I’ll let you out again tomorrow morning.’
    Before Lisa can say anything, the door closes, and darkness is all around them. The light fixtureis broken – one of the things on the to-do list of household repairs.
    The key grates in the lock and she sinks down next to Anouk on the mattress.
    Her daughter has