Unspoken: A story of secrets, love and revenge T. Belshaw (good books to read for beginners txt) 📖

‘You’re going, you bastard. And don’t even think about coming back. I’m staying with Jess tonight and the locks will be changed in the morning. Just think yourself lucky that I’m in a forgiving mood, or I’d run this blade so deep into your face they wouldn’t be able to stitch it back together again.’

She pulled the blade away and Calvin got slowly to his feet.

‘Keys,’ demanded Sam. Calvin fished in his pocket and dropped his keyring on the floor. Jess removed his BMW fob from it and tossed the keyring onto the sofa.

‘What about all my stuff,’ he wailed.

‘Come back at ten o’clock tomorrow morning. Your stuff will be outside. Make sure you’re on time, Calvin, or the local kids are going to think all their Christmases have come at once.’ Jess pointed to the stairs. ‘Now, get out of my flat.’

Calvin meekly did as he was told. Halfway down the stairs he turned back. ‘Where will I go?’ he said. Tears welled in his eyes.

‘I don’t know and I don’t care,’ replied Jess. ‘Try your mother’s, if she’ll have you.’

Calvin left the front door open as he left. Jess heard the roar as his car started, and she walked to the window to watch him drive out of her life, hopefully, for good.

Sam gave Jess a long, hug. ‘You saved my life, there, Jess, I’m sure he would have gone through with it. Then again, I could easily have cut his throat with that knife, the only thing that stopped me was, what would we do with the body?’

‘Feed it to the pigs,’ said Jess. ‘Pigs will eat anything.’

‘Pigs!’ Sam was confused.

‘Never mind,’ Jess replied. ‘I’m thinking about someone else who got what they deserved.’

Jess insisted she would be all right on her own, convinced that Calvin wouldn’t dare come back, so Sam left about an hour later. After waving her off, Jess went to the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror, checking the cuts and bruises. She touched the big swelling on her cheek and winced. Would she really have tipped that kettle over Calvin? The shock of the scalding may well have killed him, but if it was the only thing she could do to save her best friend, then she knew she would have done it, no matter what the recriminations. She remembered Alice and Amy in their struggle with Frank. She had wondered if their actions had been justified. She knew now that they were. She suddenly felt very guilty about rushing out of Nana’s house like that. She should have told her she had every right to do what she had done, that people in such dire circumstances are entitled to do everything in their power, to survive. She turned on the shower and had just undone the top button of her blouse, when her phone rang.

‘Jessica, it’s Gwen. Please come quickly, I think Alice is dying.’

Jess pulled the keys from the pocket of her jeans and ran for the stairs. She hurtled down them, tripped on the bottom step and crashed into the front door. She dashed outside, slamming the door behind her, jumped into the little Toyota, reversed and turned in one movement, and raced out of the cul-de-sac, onto the main road.

She screeched to a halt on the farm’s asphalt drive, and leaving the engine running and the car door open, she ran to the house. Gwen was at the front door, tears streaming down her face. She pointed to the lounge, as if Jess didn’t know where to go.

Alice was in her armchair, staring at the big clock on the opposite wall, her breathing was shallow and irregular. Jess sank to her knees and took Alice’s hand in hers.

‘Nana, it’s me, Nana, it’s Jess. I’m here.’

Alice’s hand twitched, and Jess let out a huge sigh of relief. She wasn’t too late.

‘Nana, I have to tell you that you did the right thing with Frank. I know that now, so please, if you’re going, don’t take any guilt with you. I would have done the same thing.’ She laid her bruised face onto Alice’s hand. ‘You’ll be pleased to hear that I chucked Calvin out too,’ Jess snuffled, and warm tears fell onto Alice’s fingers.

Alice tried to raise her hand, but found the effort too great. Instead, she rubbed her index finger on Jess’s palm to show that she had heard.

As Jess sobbed, Alice fixed her unblinking stare on the clock, and breathed her last.

Chapter 89

Alice

As Alice stared, the wall began to shimmer, then it became translucent, before finally disappearing altogether. She looked for the lower farm that she had seen earlier that day, but everything beyond the room was shrouded in a thick fog. She looked back to see herself in the armchair with her beloved Jessica, kneeling at her side. She wanted to go back to her body for a moment, to tell her not to worry, that she would feel better in a few days’ time, that they would meet again one day, but she didn’t have the strength of will to do it. Instead, she allowed herself to float out of the house and into the mist. She strained her eyes to see what was coming up ahead, but the fog was so thick she couldn’t even see her own arms that she had pushed out in front of her. Soon, the fog thinned somewhat and Alice could make out the shape of the feared tunnel, the focus of all her recent dreams. A white light pulsated from inside and she could hear the buzz of a billion conversations happening at once. She looked downwards to see that although she was levitating, her bony, vein-ridden feet, were moving, unerringly towards the tunnel. As she got closer, the light became more intense and she shielded her eyes from its glare. The mist thinned out further and Alice could make out shapes, figures moving around inside