Everything We Keep, Di Walker [best pdf reader for ebooks txt] 📗

Twenty minutes later, Katherine tentatively opened her front door. Chief was immediately there to greet her, then ran back through the sitting room. Katherine followed and found Agatha sitting at the dining table, writing.

‘The Maths wasn’t hard at all,’ she said as Katherine entered. ‘I got it finished so I’m just doing the notes. I’ll have to give them back to Tully tomorrow. Do you think I can do that and say thank you? Will her mum be cross at me if I do that?’

Katherine sat down at the table and expected, from the tone of Agatha’s voice that she would be wiping away tears. But there were none to wipe. ‘Are you okay?’ she asked Agatha, who hadn’t raised her head from her homework.

‘I’m okay Katherine. You don’t need to worry. I know exactly what I need to do.’

‘And what’s that, sweetheart?’

Agatha shrugged. ‘I’m okay.’ Still, Agatha didn’t look at Katherine.

Katherine sat back in the chair and watched as Agatha kept copying the notes. She glanced at her watch. ‘I might just go and water the pots outside before starting dinner. Is that okay with you?’

‘Sure, Katherine,’ Agatha replied.

As the evening went on, hardly a word was spoken between them. Agatha helped Katherine clean up the kitchen and then packed up her homework into her school bag, ready for the morning. Then quietly, without even a goodnight, Agatha went to her room and closed the door.

Katherine sat in her armchair with Chief settling on the sofa. ‘We will just have to wait until morning, Chief, to see what happens next,’ she said as the television flickered to life, the evening news filled with its usual sad stories.

24

Agatha could hear Katherine move about the house. It hadn’t taken long for Agatha to realise that, just like she had a set morning routine, Katherine also had a set evening routine and now, as she laid in her bed, dressed in her casual clothes and under the sheet, she listened.

Katherine would check that the back door was locked, then do one final wipe of the kitchen bench, turn of the lights, move through the sitting room and check the front door then turn of lights as she went. Finally, as she passed Agatha’s door, she would open it slightly, letting the hall light land on Agatha’s bed, whisper goodnight and then close the door again. The hallway light would be left on, its light creeping in under the door. Then the house would fall silent.

She waited, glancing at her bedside clock as the minutes ticked slowly past. When she had left Rita’s house, she was determined to pack her suitcase and leave, like she did at Tully’s house, without a word to anyone. She still had two ten dollar notes in the pocket of her jeans. That would be enough for her to catch the buses and trains needed to get home.

Now, as she lay ready to get up and pack, she wasn’t certain she wanted to go or if she wanted to stay. The minutes continued to tick by. 23.34.

Agatha quietly got up. She slowly pulled the suitcase out from underneath her bed and opened it. There were still a few things in it – the photo book and an embroidered handkerchief that Rita had given her to celebrate her return. She rearranged them so that they sat smoothed and flat. With small soft steps, she went to the wardrobe and opened the door. She would only take what she needed, what she had brought with her. She wouldn’t need the uniform, or the new runners Katherine had bought her for PE class. She didn’t want Katherine to think she was a thief as well as everything else.

With the orange suitcase full of what she needed, Agatha zipped it closed and placed it behind the door, in case Katherine got up to check on her; if she opened the door, she wouldn’t see the packed case. Then she sat back on her bed and waited.

When Katherine got up, at her usual time, she went straight to Agatha’s door. She put her ear close to it but could only hear a worrying silence. For a moment she thought she would just go in and see that had happened and then thought better of it. She stepped back from the door and walked to the kitchen. At this time of the morning, she needed a glass of water before heading out on her walk. She looked at the clock. 05:56. Agatha knew she would leave at zero six hundred, on the dot. Katherine waited.

As if he knew that the clocked had moved to six, Chief started to whine and move about near Katherine’s feet. ‘I know, I know,’ Katherine said. ‘Let’s go.’ She walked to the front door and hesitated. No sound. She bent down and attached Chief’s lead, slipped the spare key into her pocket and stepped out into the fresh morning air. ‘Fingers crossed, Chief,’ she said.

Katherine walked at a brisk pace, which Chief had no trouble keeping up with. She decided to walk down the street, past Rita’s first, cross over and then head down to the beachfront, rather than walk the path between the houses. Katherine was not the only out early. The paths were busy with joggers and people strolling back after an early morning swim. Since Katherine walked at the same time most days, she had begun to recognise others who had a similar routine to her. On those days when she walked later, she rarely saw the same people, or dogs.

This morning Katherine passed a few familiar dog owners. She looked in each direction before crossing the road to the next block, the sound of the waves breaking onto the shoreline growing stronger. Chief was seemingly desperate to get to the sandy beach and be off lead.

Once at the final crossing, Katherine steadied Chief and waited for a couple of cars to pass. ‘Walk,’ she commanded to Chief