you don’t allow him to start having the happy childhood he deserves, Kate, I will do exactly what I have said. He is not your parent. You are his. If you are unable to start behaving as a present, engaged mother and control your constant anxiety around Jack, I will interfere as I see fit. So, let’s call it a start. Let’s see how it goes.’
Kate nodded.
‘And now I would like you to go and get me the key.’
‘The key?’ Kate stuttered.
‘To that thing.’ Helen held out her hand.
Humiliation washed over Kate for the second time that evening. She felt her shoulders sink in defeat. Richard and Saskia averted their gaze. Helen raised her watery pale eyes to meet Kate’s, and Kate knew in that minute that Helen, her sweet, chirpy mother-in-law, was now a serious foe.
Her cheeks burning hot, she stood up and walked out of the room and began to climb the stairs.
At the top, she walked through the door of the new ceiling-high steel cage that ran fifteen feet along the length of the upstairs landing, took the key from the door that locked her and Jack safely behind it at night, and brought it slowly back downstairs.
The child crept outside the house after breakfast. It was easy to do. Father had been distracted in the kitchen. He had asked about school, but his mind was clearly elsewhere as he cut bread in large, uneven chunks with a sharp knife, narrowly missing his knuckles. His face was still unshaven and he smelled yeasty as he leaned over to place the toast on the table.
Mother was still sleeping, her door firmly shut.
At one point the child thought of telling Father about the snake on the wall. But would that make it better or worse?
Better to check if anyone else had seen it first.
The child pulled on a jumper against the cold and tiptoed around the side of the house, disappearing behind the stilts that supported the front balcony. A morning frost hung on the trees on the hill opposite; the sky looked like a pane of glass that someone had breathed on. The miniature shape of a distant car moved along the top of the hill, where the woods met the road.
The child turned the corner of the house, looked up, and gasped.
The snake was so big. There was no chance Mother wouldn’t see it.
It was slithering right across the wall, its body thick and grey.
Gripped by foreboding, the child looked around for the ladder and placed it against the wall.
The feet of the ladder did not feel particularly safe, wobbling on the rubble below, but the child persevered, climbing gingerly up six or seven rungs.
There was a crunching noise behind.
‘What the hell are you doing?’
The child turned. Father was standing crossly, hands on hips.
His eyes moved up to the snake.
There was sound. A moan. Followed by a word that children shouldn’t hear.
The child turned back to the snake, hypnotized by its writhing grey body.
‘Get down,’ Father whispered sternly. ‘Go on.’ The bones of his face looked like they were about to burst through the skin.
‘ You do not say a word to her,’ he said, as the child reached the bottom.
His breath smelt metallic. ‘Do you understand?’
The child nodded as Father spun around and ran for the car, glancing fearfully up at the windows of the house.
CHAPTER SIX
It was Monday morning, a school day. Normally, Jack would be tucked up under the duvet, buried in the deep hormonal slumber of a pre-teenager.
But things weren’t normal. For an hour now, he had lain awake, ignoring the growing pressure in his bladder.
He rolled over to face the wall and picked at the Blu-tack behind his Arsenal poster. Rows of red-shirted players stood shoulder to shoulder, the goalkeepers in yellow perched above them. Thoughtfully, he stretched his feet towards the bottom of the bed, pushing his arms in the other direction. Nana had said he was ‘about the same’ height as Dad when he was ten and three-quarters, but that wasn’t strictly true. On the back of the airing cupboard door at her
Kate nodded.
‘And now I would like you to go and get me the key.’
‘The key?’ Kate stuttered.
‘To that thing.’ Helen held out her hand.
Humiliation washed over Kate for the second time that evening. She felt her shoulders sink in defeat. Richard and Saskia averted their gaze. Helen raised her watery pale eyes to meet Kate’s, and Kate knew in that minute that Helen, her sweet, chirpy mother-in-law, was now a serious foe.
Her cheeks burning hot, she stood up and walked out of the room and began to climb the stairs.
At the top, she walked through the door of the new ceiling-high steel cage that ran fifteen feet along the length of the upstairs landing, took the key from the door that locked her and Jack safely behind it at night, and brought it slowly back downstairs.
The child crept outside the house after breakfast. It was easy to do. Father had been distracted in the kitchen. He had asked about school, but his mind was clearly elsewhere as he cut bread in large, uneven chunks with a sharp knife, narrowly missing his knuckles. His face was still unshaven and he smelled yeasty as he leaned over to place the toast on the table.
Mother was still sleeping, her door firmly shut.
At one point the child thought of telling Father about the snake on the wall. But would that make it better or worse?
Better to check if anyone else had seen it first.
The child pulled on a jumper against the cold and tiptoed around the side of the house, disappearing behind the stilts that supported the front balcony. A morning frost hung on the trees on the hill opposite; the sky looked like a pane of glass that someone had breathed on. The miniature shape of a distant car moved along the top of the hill, where the woods met the road.
The child turned the corner of the house, looked up, and gasped.
The snake was so big. There was no chance Mother wouldn’t see it.
It was slithering right across the wall, its body thick and grey.
Gripped by foreboding, the child looked around for the ladder and placed it against the wall.
The feet of the ladder did not feel particularly safe, wobbling on the rubble below, but the child persevered, climbing gingerly up six or seven rungs.
There was a crunching noise behind.
‘What the hell are you doing?’
The child turned. Father was standing crossly, hands on hips.
His eyes moved up to the snake.
There was sound. A moan. Followed by a word that children shouldn’t hear.
The child turned back to the snake, hypnotized by its writhing grey body.
‘Get down,’ Father whispered sternly. ‘Go on.’ The bones of his face looked like they were about to burst through the skin.
‘ You do not say a word to her,’ he said, as the child reached the bottom.
His breath smelt metallic. ‘Do you understand?’
The child nodded as Father spun around and ran for the car, glancing fearfully up at the windows of the house.
CHAPTER SIX
It was Monday morning, a school day. Normally, Jack would be tucked up under the duvet, buried in the deep hormonal slumber of a pre-teenager.
But things weren’t normal. For an hour now, he had lain awake, ignoring the growing pressure in his bladder.
He rolled over to face the wall and picked at the Blu-tack behind his Arsenal poster. Rows of red-shirted players stood shoulder to shoulder, the goalkeepers in yellow perched above them. Thoughtfully, he stretched his feet towards the bottom of the bed, pushing his arms in the other direction. Nana had said he was ‘about the same’ height as Dad when he was ten and three-quarters, but that wasn’t strictly true. On the back of the airing cupboard door at her
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