Read Online The Woman Before Me by Ruth Dugdall - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Ruth Dugdall
Ads: Link
the arm and kept running, so full of energy that I could’ve run to the end of the earth that day, but all I wanted to do was get school over so I could be with Mum again. I knew she’d be waiting for me downstairs. Dressed and ready.
It was only when I was at my desk at school, kicking the back of creepy Alfie’s chair, that I realised I’d forgotten to look in on the three chicks. But that was okay – I bet it was the first thing Mum would do after she’d got dressed. And Dad would sleep in her bed again tonight, and everything would be normal. I didn’t even mind when Alfie passed a crumpled note to me, saying he fancied me.
After school I ran home, ran so fast I tripped but didn’t care about a grazed knee. I ran right past Peter and his mates, and kept going until I ran straight into the shop, hardly hearing the bell, and straight into an empty room. Where was she?
I started calling, “Mum? Mum!”
I heard a sound coming from the store cupboard. A woman, and it sounded like she was in pain. “Mum? Is that you?”
I ran to help, opening the door as the sound became a cry of pleasure. I saw Dad’s back, two hands on his shoulders. He was pushing someone against the wall.
“Mum?”
“Here, Rose.” A voice from behind me.
I turned around. Mum was stood there, her hair still wet from a recent bath, clothed, smelling like a new day. But her eyes looked beyond me into the store cupboard, to Dad’s back and the other woman’s hands.“Rose, what is it?” I wished, how I wished, that I’d been able to keep her safe. She pushed me aside and then I heard a high-pitched scream, “You bastard!”
Inside the store cupboard Dad twisted his head, there was a scramble of bodies coming apart and clothing being pulled down. He came forward, his shirt untucked and his hair all messed up, and behind him I saw Mrs Carron, wearing nothing on top but a red bra and a satisfied smirk. Mum doubled-up like she’d been punched, and started to howl.
I ran out of the shop, and round the back, throwing myself on the grass at the base of the Elaeagnus. Then in front of me, I saw them.
Tiny baby dragons. No hair, just thin necks, big black beads for eyes, and one wing outstretched. Two of them.
As I watched, a magpie came out of the Elaeagnus, a scrap of life held tight in its cruel beak, which it jerked, tossing the tiny bird to join its dead brothers on the grass.
The magpie flashed its beautiful, glossy wings, looked at me quickly, and was gone.
I cried for a long time, and the sun was setting when I finally got up from the ground and went to the tree. I stood on tip toe and reached for the empty nest, cupping it in my palm and gently pulling it from the branches. It may be empty, but it was still a home. I would take it to Mum, as a gift.
No sign of Mum or Dad or Mrs Carron. No sign of Peter, who was supposed to stay in the shop after school. I would look in the flat, find Mum and give her the nest. I pulled back the curtain and climbed up the stairs, listening for any noise but hearing none. My stomach rumbled with hunger and I decided to dip into my ice cream box of sweets, hidden under my bed. But when I looked the box was gone. Peter must have it! He’d be hiding somewhere, stuffing himself on all my lovely sweets that had taken so many weeks to collect, and so much of my willpower to resist.
The kitchen was empty. So was the front room, just Peter’s shoes lying on the floor where he had kicked them. I checked the bathroom, even looking behind the shower curtain, but he wasn’t there. There was just one place left. My parents’ room.
The door was closed and I pushed the handle down slowly, seeing from the shape on the bed that Mum was there, huddled up under the bedding. Poor Mum. The room was hot and stuffy as she wouldn’t have the windows open. She didn’t like to hear the outside world. She was lying very still, so deeply asleep that I couldn’t resist going over to her, thinking I’d climb under
It was only when I was at my desk at school, kicking the back of creepy Alfie’s chair, that I realised I’d forgotten to look in on the three chicks. But that was okay – I bet it was the first thing Mum would do after she’d got dressed. And Dad would sleep in her bed again tonight, and everything would be normal. I didn’t even mind when Alfie passed a crumpled note to me, saying he fancied me.
After school I ran home, ran so fast I tripped but didn’t care about a grazed knee. I ran right past Peter and his mates, and kept going until I ran straight into the shop, hardly hearing the bell, and straight into an empty room. Where was she?
I started calling, “Mum? Mum!”
I heard a sound coming from the store cupboard. A woman, and it sounded like she was in pain. “Mum? Is that you?”
I ran to help, opening the door as the sound became a cry of pleasure. I saw Dad’s back, two hands on his shoulders. He was pushing someone against the wall.
“Mum?”
“Here, Rose.” A voice from behind me.
I turned around. Mum was stood there, her hair still wet from a recent bath, clothed, smelling like a new day. But her eyes looked beyond me into the store cupboard, to Dad’s back and the other woman’s hands.“Rose, what is it?” I wished, how I wished, that I’d been able to keep her safe. She pushed me aside and then I heard a high-pitched scream, “You bastard!”
Inside the store cupboard Dad twisted his head, there was a scramble of bodies coming apart and clothing being pulled down. He came forward, his shirt untucked and his hair all messed up, and behind him I saw Mrs Carron, wearing nothing on top but a red bra and a satisfied smirk. Mum doubled-up like she’d been punched, and started to howl.
I ran out of the shop, and round the back, throwing myself on the grass at the base of the Elaeagnus. Then in front of me, I saw them.
Tiny baby dragons. No hair, just thin necks, big black beads for eyes, and one wing outstretched. Two of them.
As I watched, a magpie came out of the Elaeagnus, a scrap of life held tight in its cruel beak, which it jerked, tossing the tiny bird to join its dead brothers on the grass.
The magpie flashed its beautiful, glossy wings, looked at me quickly, and was gone.
I cried for a long time, and the sun was setting when I finally got up from the ground and went to the tree. I stood on tip toe and reached for the empty nest, cupping it in my palm and gently pulling it from the branches. It may be empty, but it was still a home. I would take it to Mum, as a gift.
No sign of Mum or Dad or Mrs Carron. No sign of Peter, who was supposed to stay in the shop after school. I would look in the flat, find Mum and give her the nest. I pulled back the curtain and climbed up the stairs, listening for any noise but hearing none. My stomach rumbled with hunger and I decided to dip into my ice cream box of sweets, hidden under my bed. But when I looked the box was gone. Peter must have it! He’d be hiding somewhere, stuffing himself on all my lovely sweets that had taken so many weeks to collect, and so much of my willpower to resist.
The kitchen was empty. So was the front room, just Peter’s shoes lying on the floor where he had kicked them. I checked the bathroom, even looking behind the shower curtain, but he wasn’t there. There was just one place left. My parents’ room.
The door was closed and I pushed the handle down slowly, seeing from the shape on the bed that Mum was there, huddled up under the bedding. Poor Mum. The room was hot and stuffy as she wouldn’t have the windows open. She didn’t like to hear the outside world. She was lying very still, so deeply asleep that I couldn’t resist going over to her, thinking I’d climb under
Similar Books
