Page 73 of Darling Girls

‘Argh!’

Miss Fairchild released Amy, letting her tumble to the floor. She hit her head with a grotesque crack on the wooden tray on the way down.

For a horrible moment, everything was silent. Alicia and her sisters fell to their knees. Alicia scooped Amy up and held the limp little body in her lap. After a terrifyingly long moment, Amy began to wail.

The girls resumed breathing, looking at each other in relief. Miss Fairchild, who was cursing and holding her chin, barked, ‘Put her down.’

Alicia stared at her. ‘But . . . she’s hurt.’

‘I said,Put. Her. Down.’

Alicia couldn’t believe it. This wasn’t her, or Norah, or Jessica. Amy was a baby. She was innocent. She washurt. Crying! What kind of monster wouldn’t want her to be comforted?

Miss Fairchild took some paper towel and wiped her lip, which was bleeding. ‘Now, Alicia.’

After a glance at her sisters, Alicia lifted up the little girl and put her on the floor. Immediately Amy tried to clamber back onto her lap, wailing loudly. Alicia pushed her away. She’d never hated herself more. Miss Fairchild loomed over her, watching. Alicia wondered if she was enjoying herself.

Amy was now lying on the floor, red-faced and screaming. Every instinct urged Alicia to comfort the child, but she refrained for fear that it might lead to trouble. Not for her – for Amy.

‘See, Amy?’ Miss Fairchild said. ‘This is what happens when you kick Mummy. You have to learn that your actions have consequences.’

After what felt like an age, Miss Fairchild left the room, and Alicia scooped the girl up again. Her sisters huddled around them and together they held Amy while she sobbed. When at last her tears had dried, they all pretended to be clumsy horses, crawling around the kitchen on all fours, crashing into things. Only when Amy started giggling was Alicia able to exhale.

They were now entirely indebted to this child, she realised. She wasn’t sure how or why or when it had happened. All she knew was that protecting Amy had become their life’s mission. They might not be able to save themselves, but by God, they were going to save her.

‘If you hug Miss Fairchild, I’ll give you this chocolate,’ Alicia said to Amy, waving the Freddo Frog at her. Norah had earned it in exchange for doing someone’s homework at school, and it appeared chocolate was a language Amy understood.

‘Choc-at,’ Amy repeated, eyes wide.

‘Shh. It’s our secret.’

‘Seek-rit.’

‘Go on. She’s coming.’

It was shocking how effective it was. Amy turned and ran at Miss Fairchild, throwing her arms around her legs.

‘Oh!’ Miss Fairchild looked so pleased, Alicia almost felt guilty. ‘What a lovely hug.’

‘I wuv you.’

She glanced slyly at Alicia, who gave her the thumbs-up.

But the problem with toddlers was that they didn’t appreciate the importance of consistency. Some days Amy didn’t feel like making a happy face when Miss Fairchild played a game with her. Other days, when the girls left for school, she stood at the front door and sobbed.

‘How will you survive without yourdarling girls?’ Miss Fairchild would say crossly.

Each day they went to school with a heavy feeling in their hearts. And though they didn’t talk about it, Alicia knew that none of them could relax until the moment they turned into the driveway at the end of the day.

‘What do you think happens to Amy when we’re at school?’ Alicia said one day as they walked to school.

‘I check her for injuries every day,’ Norah said. ‘I haven’t found anything since the day she hit her head on the highchair.’

But Norah sounded as uncertain as Alicia felt each time they left Amy alone at Wild Meadows. They should have listened to that uncertainty. When it came to Miss Fairchild, their instincts were seldom wrong.

*

‘That’s weird,’ Norah said, as they walked up the driveway after school one day. ‘Is Miss Fairchild in the pool?’