Page 54 of Sisters

Abby immediately realized she’d overstepped the mark. ‘I was joking. I didn’t mean— Sorry. I was trying to make light of it.’

‘How dare you?’ Ellie took a sharp intake of breath. ‘My God, you have a really low opinion of me, don’t you?’

‘No—’

‘Well, I’m sorry you’re having to fund this...escapade, but I don’t have two million in the bank.’

‘That’s not it at all...OK, it was in bad taste. Crap joke. Not even a joke—’

‘Let’s just get one thing straight. I may be broke but I would never, ever stoop so low as to steal from you.’

‘Not even a first edition book,’ mumbled Abby under her breath.

‘What?’ demanded Ellie furiously, unsure if she’d heard right.

‘Nothing.’ A sign loomed up above for a bed and breakfast. Abby suddenly turned sharply off the road into the gravel driveway and she stopped the car outside a tired stone building with a large peeling wooden door. Rusty railings of julienne balconies clung to the exterior walls and two cracked pots filled with half-dead plants flanked the entrance.

‘Yes, this looks perfect,’ said Abby decisively. She got out of the car and retrieved her bag from the back seat, and Ellie watched as she checked her phone. ‘It’s from the phone company,’ said Abby, the hope in her eyes fading. ‘A special offer on an upgrade.’

Ellie gave a tight nod, then wordlessly walked into the B & B.

They hurriedly ate before the dining room closed, then Abby decided to return to the room to shower.

Ellie saw her opportunity. ‘I’ll be up in a few minutes,’ she said, ‘after I’ve finished my coffee.’

She watched as Abby left the dining room and mentally counted to fifty. Then she placed the coffee cup back on the saucer and headed out of the room. As she approached the reception area she glanced towards the stairs but they were empty; Abby had long gone.

‘Excusez-moi?’ she asked the woman on the desk, a fiercemadamewith her grey hair in a chignon. ‘Is there a payphone I can use?’

‘Over there,’ replied the woman, indicating what looked like a dusty cupboard.

‘Merci,’ said Ellie, but she stayed at the desk. ‘Um, I need the call to be private.’

‘I do not listen,’ said Madame, affronted.

‘No...I mean, is there a way to hide the number when you dial?’

Madame was looking at her. Then, just when Ellie felt she couldn’t bear the scrutiny a second longer, Madame ripped a piece of paper off a block pad on the desk and wrote some numbers on it. ‘You dial this first,’ she said.

Ellie went over to the payphone and inserted some coins. Carefully, she dialled. As the phone rang, she glanced in her purse. There were only a few euros left. Maybe, after she’d called her mother, she’d ring Fredrik. It would be nice to hear his voice.

‘Hello?’

‘Mum, it’s Ellie.’

‘Ellie! Where are you?’

‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘Of course it does. We need to get you safe.’

‘Have you told the police we’ve spoken?’

‘Is that a problem?’

‘No...I don’t know. Look, I just don’t get it. How did Abby poison me? She was a child! How on earth would she even get the stuff?’

‘She took it out of the medicine cupboard.’