Read Hawthorn for Free Online

reappears a moment later. “Oh, I almost forgot. A lady from the antique shop in town is coming down at two today to look at some of the furniture we want to get rid of, can you…”
    “Course. Go get some rest.”
    I wait for her to leave and then call the kids over for some lunch.
     

13
    GEMMA
    The spot is beautiful, at the edge of the woods overlooking the sea. The sky is clear and the sea a flat expanse of blue. The beach below is all clean, perfect sand, and it’s deserted. Once again I am overcome with a sense of familiarity. I’ll have to ask mum if we’ve been here before. It stands to reason that we may have visited when I was a child.
    “Nobody really comes to this cove,” Sam says. “Consider it Learmonth’s private cove.”
    I like the sound of that. I imagine a bunch of family picnics and maybe even the odd rave if I can get away with it. I’m thinking, with Jules covering for me, I might just be able to.
    My stomach grumbles and Sam hands me an apple. I stare at it, then back at him, tight jeans riding low on his hips and a white T-shirt stretched tight across his chest and shoulders.
    “You got an invisible backpack or something?”
    He disarms me with his grin. “Something like that.”
    I study the apple then shake my head, holding up my own backpack. “Thanks, but I brought my own lunch and I’m not much of an apple fan. I prefer pears.”
    I unzip my bag and pull out my sandwiches wrapped in cling film. I unwrap them and hold one out to him.
    He shakes his head.
    Is that disappointment I see in his eyes? But then he’s smiling again.
    He smiles a lot.
    I like it.
    I chew and swallow. “So, you go to the college in Elder?”
    He shakes his head. “No, sorry.”
    “Oh, so where do you go?”
    “I don’t.”
    I study him. He can’t be more than seventeen, maybe eighteen. Maybe he’s already finished his studies.
    “How old are you?”
    “How old do you think I am?”
    I’m starting to get annoyed. It’s like trying to juice a prune. “I thought you might be around my age, sixteen to seventeenish, but I guess I was wrong, otherwise you’d be doing some kind of study. Oh, do you apprentice?”
    His eyes narrow. “In a manner of speaking.”
    I throw up my hands. “Seriously? Who decided we were playing twenty questions? If you’re going for the whole mysterious guy thing, then you’re failing.” I zip up my bag and stand.
    He stares up at me in surprise.
    “See you around.” I turn and trudge back into the woods, hoping that I’d headed in the right direction.
     

14
    JULES
    We’re standing in the musty room; Mary’s uncle’s old room. The window is open and yet the smell refuses to take a leap out the window.
    Ann, ‘call me Annie’, is staring at the armoire. She has been here for less than fifteen minutes and it’s as if she has a rocket up her arse. I had to practically beg her to come upstairs.
    “So, do you want it?” I ask. I don’t know why I’m showing it to her, it wasn’t on Mary’s list, but I hate it. There’s something ugly about it and the sooner it’s gone, the sooner I’ll feel better.
    Annie moves toward it, reaches out to touch it and then curls her fingers into a fist. “Hawthorn wood, like the rest of the furniture, it’s a nice piece.” She doesn’t sound so enthusiastic.
    “So, do you want it?”
    She locks eyes with me. “No.”
    I balk. “But you said it was a nice piece!”
    “Did I?” She shrugs. “I really should get going. I’ll ask around for you about the armoire.”
    “Er, okay.”
    She is out the room and down the stairs as if she can’t wait to leave.
    She checks off other items on her list and promises to send a van for collection the next day.
    We are outside on the doorstep when she glances up at the spot above the doorframe.
    “You should get a horseshoe,” she says.
    “Sorry?”
    “A horseshoe.”
    I frown. “Is that a thing round here?”
    She smiles tightly. “I guess you haven’t been down to