so she went and peered through the door. This was clearly the master bedroom, where Leo and Adele slept: walls painted bright white with a giant futon, colourful artwork and family photos on the walls, an oversized linen light shade hanging from the ceiling and a free-standing bath in the corner with bottles of organic-this and homeopathic-that unguents arranged on its sides.
Hearing footsteps she turned and quickly headed towards the bathroom. As she passed one of the closed doors it opened, revealing a scene Pip hadn’t expected to see. A child’s bedroom: pink walls, fluff-covered fairy lights, a heart-shaped rug on white floorboards, a basket of soft toys, a white wrought-iron bedstead with twists and flourishes, and there, on the bed, Leo sitting side by side with Tyler, her hand inside his, her head rested on his shoulder.
Willow, who had opened the door, looked at Pip in surprise. ‘What are you doing?’ she asked softly.
‘Looking for the bathroom.’
‘Just there.’ She smiled. ‘Next door down.’
And then Willow left her own bedroom, where her father sat hand in hand with her thirteen-year-old friend, and she pulled the door shut behind them.
Dear Daddy,
I’m starting to think there’s something not right about this garden. Seriously. Yesterday we went into the sisters’ flat again, but this time with all the gang, and first of all Tyler was really rude to me and Grace. Well, particularly to Grace. She asked us if we were the girls whose dad burned down their house. But she asked it in a really nasty way, in front of everyone, and so Grace had to lie and say we weren’t, but you could tell she didn’t believe us and then she stropped off. And then the sisters’ dad came home and a few minutes later I went to use the bathroom and when I walked past Willow’s bedroom, he was sitting in there, on her bed, holding hands with Tyler. I’m not lying. It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. And she was all snuggled up next to him. And when Willow left her room, she closed the door behind her, like she was giving them both some privacy or something.
Anyway, I was really freaked out and wanted to leave, but when I came back into the living room, Grace and Dylan were sitting next to each other, looking at something on Grace’s phone and laughing and I could tell she was all excited to be sitting with Dylan and she wouldn’t want to come with me. So I just left. And after that I walked around the garden on my own for ages. Trying to work it all out in my head. Like, why is Tyler so offish with me and Grace and what the hell is going on with the sisters’ dad and Tyler? And what does Dylan’s mum look like? And where does Tyler’s mum live? And where are their dads? Stuff like that.
I walked past the halfway house. Mum says it’s for women and their babies. I could hear a woman shouting at a child and it made me sad. It made me wonder what it’s like where you are. Is there lots of shouting? Does it keep you awake at night? Are there scary people there? Do you get scared? I haven’t seen you for six months now. I’m starting to forget what you look like …
Anyway, there was a woman sitting on a bench in one of the hidden-away corners. She was quite old and very thin and she had a cat sitting next to her in a cat box. The door of the cat box was open but the cat didn’t try to get out. And then when I looked closer I saw that she had a huge rabbit on a lead by her feet. A real rabbit, not a toy one. So I couldn’t help but smile and she said it was OK to come and stroke the rabbit. He was called Fergus. He was so soft and calm. This is what he looks like (sorry, I’m not very good at drawing animals!):
The woman said her name was Rhea and that she’d lived on the garden since she was fifteen and she was now eighty-four! She said she’d seen everything there was to see. And then she said a strange thing; she said, ‘Best to keep yourself to yourself in these gardens. Don’t get too
Hearing footsteps she turned and quickly headed towards the bathroom. As she passed one of the closed doors it opened, revealing a scene Pip hadn’t expected to see. A child’s bedroom: pink walls, fluff-covered fairy lights, a heart-shaped rug on white floorboards, a basket of soft toys, a white wrought-iron bedstead with twists and flourishes, and there, on the bed, Leo sitting side by side with Tyler, her hand inside his, her head rested on his shoulder.
Willow, who had opened the door, looked at Pip in surprise. ‘What are you doing?’ she asked softly.
‘Looking for the bathroom.’
‘Just there.’ She smiled. ‘Next door down.’
And then Willow left her own bedroom, where her father sat hand in hand with her thirteen-year-old friend, and she pulled the door shut behind them.
Dear Daddy,
I’m starting to think there’s something not right about this garden. Seriously. Yesterday we went into the sisters’ flat again, but this time with all the gang, and first of all Tyler was really rude to me and Grace. Well, particularly to Grace. She asked us if we were the girls whose dad burned down their house. But she asked it in a really nasty way, in front of everyone, and so Grace had to lie and say we weren’t, but you could tell she didn’t believe us and then she stropped off. And then the sisters’ dad came home and a few minutes later I went to use the bathroom and when I walked past Willow’s bedroom, he was sitting in there, on her bed, holding hands with Tyler. I’m not lying. It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. And she was all snuggled up next to him. And when Willow left her room, she closed the door behind her, like she was giving them both some privacy or something.
Anyway, I was really freaked out and wanted to leave, but when I came back into the living room, Grace and Dylan were sitting next to each other, looking at something on Grace’s phone and laughing and I could tell she was all excited to be sitting with Dylan and she wouldn’t want to come with me. So I just left. And after that I walked around the garden on my own for ages. Trying to work it all out in my head. Like, why is Tyler so offish with me and Grace and what the hell is going on with the sisters’ dad and Tyler? And what does Dylan’s mum look like? And where does Tyler’s mum live? And where are their dads? Stuff like that.
I walked past the halfway house. Mum says it’s for women and their babies. I could hear a woman shouting at a child and it made me sad. It made me wonder what it’s like where you are. Is there lots of shouting? Does it keep you awake at night? Are there scary people there? Do you get scared? I haven’t seen you for six months now. I’m starting to forget what you look like …
Anyway, there was a woman sitting on a bench in one of the hidden-away corners. She was quite old and very thin and she had a cat sitting next to her in a cat box. The door of the cat box was open but the cat didn’t try to get out. And then when I looked closer I saw that she had a huge rabbit on a lead by her feet. A real rabbit, not a toy one. So I couldn’t help but smile and she said it was OK to come and stroke the rabbit. He was called Fergus. He was so soft and calm. This is what he looks like (sorry, I’m not very good at drawing animals!):
The woman said her name was Rhea and that she’d lived on the garden since she was fifteen and she was now eighty-four! She said she’d seen everything there was to see. And then she said a strange thing; she said, ‘Best to keep yourself to yourself in these gardens. Don’t get too
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