Page 98 of Sisters

‘Sorry to hear that. Nothing serious, I hope?’

She shook her head. ‘Oh no. Just spent a lot of time together the last few days. Got a bit on top of each other, you know. She’s gone out for some space.’

‘You two close?’

Ellie laughed. ‘She’s hated me for most of my life.’

‘How come you’ve ended up on a road trip then?’

‘It’s a long story.’

‘I’d like to know.’

Ellie shook her head. ‘No...I’ve only got a short while and then Abby will probably be back, rounding me up again. Do you have any siblings?’

‘I’m an only child.’

‘What was that like?’

‘I hated it. I was lonely my whole childhood.’

‘I had a sister but I was lonely too.’

‘I had this imaginary friend,’ said Fredrik, leaning conspiratorially towards her. ‘Aksel. Whenever I did something wrong, I used to blame him. Aksel broke the cup. Aksel took the chocolates from the cupboard. Aksel shaved off the dog’s fur with your razor, Daddy.’

Ellie laughed, incredulous. ‘You shaved off your dog’s fur?’

‘I wanted to see what it looked like underneath.’

‘Wasn’t the dog...cold?’

‘I didn’t do all of it. Just a patch.’

‘Oh, that’s OK then.’

He looked contrite. ‘Yeah...poor thing probably was a bit chilly. We lived in a small town north of Trondheim. It was January. There was a lot of snow.’

‘Lucky it was Aksel who got the blame, not you.’

‘Yeah...except my parents didn’t believe me.’

‘No!’

‘I know! Hard to fathom, eh? Especially as I described Aksel so vividly. He would just never show himself when needed. What about you?’

‘What about me?’

‘Did you have an imaginary scapegoat to take the blame for your innate awfulness?’

‘I was a good girl,’ said Ellie, smiling smugly. ‘Never did anything wrong.’

He laughed. ‘The perfect daughter, right?’

Ellie paused, reflective. ‘I was definitely the favourite. It was obvious. Which is why I don’t understand...’

‘What?’

She looked at him, wondering whether to say. These few minutes were probably the last she’d spend with him and then she’d never see him again. ‘My mother did something bad to me as a child. I’ve only just found out. But I don’t have the whole picture.’