The Disappearances Read Online Free PDF

you then,’ she said, opening up her bag and putting the book,
All Men are Mortal
, safely inside. But as she did so, her fingers brushed against something, a hard, metal object that made her redden guiltily and quicken her step as though afraid someone might be following her, might know what it was.
    It was a watch.
    Lucas’s watch.
    The watch he’d given her on the day she and Raffy had left the City for the last time.
    The watch that had belonged to Lucas and Raffy’s father, the watch Lucas had asked her to give to Raffy, and then told her that he loved her. Had always loved her.
    ‘You okay, Evie?’ Neil moved towards her, his face suddenly concerned. Evie realised that she was blushing furiously.
    ‘Fine,’ she said, quickly, knowing that she sounded less than convincing. ‘Honestly, I’m fine.’
    It had been several weeks before she found the moment to give the watch to Raffy. She had waited until she thought he would be ready to understand, ready to forgive his brother, ready to see Lucas for who he really was instead of the oppressive older brother he’d pretended to be.
    She’d pressed the watch into his hands just as Lucas had done with her; had told him that Lucas wanted him to have it. ‘He said it was always yours. That your father asked him to look after it for you. He couldn’t give it to you before. But now … now you should wear it.’
    Raffy looked at it for a moment, then stuffed it into his pocket.
    ‘You’re not going to put it on?’ Evie asked, but she was met by fiery eyes.
    ‘Put it on? No,’ Raffy said curtly.
    And that was that; at least Evie thought that would be that. It was only weeks later that she dared mention it again, ask whether he might ever think of putting it on.
    ‘Put on Lucas’s watch?’ Raffy sneered. ‘I don’t even have it any more. I traded it with the baker for some cakes. Remember the chocolate sponge? More useful than a gold watch.’
    Evie had stared at him. ‘But Lucas kept that watch for you. For years. It was your father’s. He—’
    ‘Don’t,’ Raffy interrupted her, walking towards Evie, a look on his face that she’d never seen before, a look that was so cold that it was like he was someone else, someone she didn’t know, someone she didn’t want to know. ‘Don’t mention Lucas again to me. Or my father. Or that watch. Do you understand?’ His face was inches from her but there was no intim-acy in his expression, no softness in his eyes. He didn’t even see her, she realised; at that moment, he saw only his resentment, saw only his own, selfish rage.
    And inwardly seething, inwardly so furious she could barely look at Raffy let alone bring herself to speak to him, Evie had nodded. But four months later, the baker had benefited from a full set of patchwork curtains and cushion covers sewn by her hand from the scraps of fabric left over in the workrooms, and Evie had the watch back.
    Now she kept it hidden, transferring it from bag to hiding place on a regular basis, never keeping it in the same place for any length of time. It was yet another secret that she kept from Raffy, a time bomb that might explode at any moment. But she was prepared to take that risk. Because Raffy might be happy to forget Lucas, to ignore his sacrifice, to pretend that he didn’t exist. But Evie couldn’t. Wouldn’t.
    Lucas did exist. And Evie hoped that he was happy. Back in the City, she hoped that he had finally found the peace he’d been searching for.
    ‘All right then,’ Neil shrugged, giving her one last smile before he walked away, ‘see you Wednesday.’

4
    Lucas took a deep breath and surveyed the woman sitting opposite him. Amy Jenkins. He had spoken to her many times before; had orchestrated the launch of her journal,
The City News
, believing that the introduction of a free press, of independent thought, would be welcomed by the City’s people, would encourage them to believe in themselves, to build a new world together.
    But that had