Page 116 of Sisters

Abby nodded. ‘How do you like the sunbeds?’

Ellie ran her palms over the soft padded cushion. ‘Spectacular. What I can’t get over is the quality. You really splashed out, didn’t you?’

‘I thought I’d celebrate. Seeing as the Spanish justice system decided it wasn’t in the public interest to prosecute me.’ Abby felt a shiver, despite the sun. That night in the woods still made her wake up in a cold sweat every now and then. She would never forget how close it had been to ending differently.

‘Thank God,’ said Ellie.

‘Plus, I didn’t want...’ Abby trailed off.

‘What?’

‘As you once pointed out, the rocks are hard. Can play havoc with my joints.’

Ellie raised her sunglasses and narrowed her eyes as she looked over to her sister. But Abby had her eyes closed: the picture of innocence, no mollycoddling in sight. As it happened, Ellie felt fine and had done for some time. In fact, she’d been in remission for seven months now. The doctors had said that there was every possibility that the remission period could last for years. Of course, Ellie also knew it might not. Moving out here had really helped. Maybe it had even bought her some more time, time she was intending on making the most of. She’d given up her full-time job in London and had a less stressful role working at a local language school teaching English. It paid enough to rent a small place and get by, and with some careful managing, she was slowly paying off her credit card debt. Once, Abby had offered to help, but now Ellie couldn’t stomach it. She refused and made it clear she didn’t want her sister to bring it up again. It had surprised Ellie how much her independence had meant to her.

‘This is nice, isn’t it?’ said Abby.

‘What?’

‘You know.’

Ellie smiled. She did know. She and Abby together. Sisters.

‘Just think,’ said Abby pensively, ‘if it hadn’t been for Mum, we wouldn’t have been apart for all those years. She was determined to keep us apart, too. Would have succeeded if she’d convinced everyone it was me who did those awful things when we were children.’

‘Don’t let it get you down, Abby.’

‘You’re in a very forgiving mood.’

‘What’s the point otherwise? I know she lied about you, said terrible things, but she was scared. If the truth came out about what she’d done to me, then the police might have reopened the case into Ben.’

Their grandmother had sent Ellie and Abby a letter. In it she’d spoken about the brother they’d never known had existed. She’d also told them about the confession she’d got out of Susanna – a confession that, when given to the police, was enough to make them leave Abby in peace.

‘I wonder what Ben would have been like. If he was still around,’ said Ellie. ‘What would he be doing? Where would he be?’

‘He’d be here. With us,’ said Abby firmly.

Ellie smiled. She liked this new inclusive sister. She knew there was a truth in what Abby was saying – and the two of them had lost decades that could have woven a very different story. Yet those years were gone. And now Ellie dared to think about a possible future. A future that, because of her illness, currently had an unknown limit on it. But at least shehada future. Ellie knew that policeman’s bullet had been meant for her.

‘If it hadn’t been for Mum,’ she said, ‘we wouldn’t be together now.’

She glanced over at Abby, who nodded. ‘You’re right.’

Ellie looked out at the Tyrrhenian Sea, at how it met the horizon. The light held the promise of a new season and the sky seemed to go on forever. Her eyes travelled over the ocean and the clear blue water near to her rocked in the sun. There was such beauty in nature. In life. Their mother had done an awful thing to both of them. But Ellie knew you had to live in the moment, right here, right now.

‘If it hadn’t been for Mum, we wouldn’tbe.’