Cassie Read Online Free PDF Page B

have grown, but not nearly enough.
    â€˜Hi, Aunty Fern,’ I say. My smile feels like it has dried on my face.
    â€˜Give me a hug,’ she says. She obviously feels hugging is her strong suit.
    It’s cold out here and light rain is falling. I wonder if we will all die of pneumonia brought on by excessive hugging. But she folds me into her body, anyway. She smells of dust and dried sweat, but I don’t have to put up with it for long. Aunty Fern shivers and pulls away, rubbing at her eyes.
    â€˜I’m shattered,’ she says.
    Mum leans into the car.
    â€˜The poppet’s fast asleep here,’ she says. ‘How’s she coped with the journey?’
    â€˜Got a little cranky towards the end,’ says Aunty Fern. ‘Can’t blame her. I was cranky too. She dropped off about half an hour ago. But she hasn’t had nearly enough sleep over the last couple of days, so she might wake up grumpy. We’d better get her inside.’
    She opens the back door of the car. There’s a wheelchair, all folded up, and she drags it out. Mum rummages in the boot and pulls out suitcases. When I pick one up I wonder if Aunty Fern has stashed a body in there. Nearly rips my arm from its socket. I find the handle, draw it out from the case, and roll it on the castors. By the time I place it in my old bedroom I can hear the shrieking from the front of the house.
    Outside, Cassie is in the wheelchair and she isn’t happy. Boy, is she not happy. I still can’t see much of her face. The wheelchair has a neck brace built into it, but she’s thrashing her head back and to. All I can see is dark hair and a quick glimpse of a contorted face. One thin arm saws in the air. But it’s the noise that’s the worst. She isn’t screaming. That isn’t the word. It’s a high-pitched wail, like a cat being tortured, and it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I freeze.
    Across the road I catch a glimpse of curtains twitching. Old Mrs Gallagher, the resident neighbourhood sticky-beak, never misses anything.
    Aunty Fern crouches by the wheelchair, talking to her daughter, trying to stroke her face. But I can’t hear what she says. It’s drowned by the wailing. In the end, she gives up and wheels the chair along the path and through the front door. There’s a further twitch of curtains from across the road. I get another suitcase from the roadside.
    And that’s how Cassie enters my house and my life. Wailing, shrieking and thrashing about, like a soul being dragged deep into the bowels of Hell.

    â€˜How is she?’ said Ivy.
    Fern sat at the kitchen table with her face in her hands. She scrubbed at her temples and sighed.
    â€˜Better,’ she said. ‘I think she’ll sleep now. I’m so sorry, Ivy. That wasn’t quite how I imagined our reunion.’
    â€˜She’s tired, poor thing,’ said Ivy.
    â€˜She’s exhausted. It’s been a nightmare journey. And, of course, there’s all the emotional upheaval as well. I’ve taken her away from everything safe.’
    The sisters sat at opposite ends of the table. There was no sound apart from the faint drumming of rain on the roof.
    â€˜I’m so sorry about Holly,’ said Fern after a while. ‘We’ve driven her off to bed.’
    â€˜She’s fine. She’s tired. We’ve both been working all day.’
    Fern nodded.
    â€˜I expect you’re wondering what brought us in the first place,’ she said. ‘Why I’ve ripped Cass away from her dad?’
    â€˜Look, Fern,’ said Ivy. ‘We don’t have to talk about this now.’
    â€˜No, it’s okay. I want to tell you.’
    And she did.
    Then she cried.
    Holly
    My name is Holly Holley and I know I’ll never get to sleep.
    The smell is stronger. The rain has brought it out.
    At least the shrieking has stopped and it is quiet except for the faint patter of raindrops