Everything is Beautiful Eleanor Ray (best manga ereader .TXT) 📖

felt for her dissipating. ‘Get up.’ He reached down again, but this time it wasn’t an offer. He gripped her arms tightly, too tightly, and dragged her to her feet. Amy cried out in pain.

Chantel flung open the living-room door and rushed towards them. ‘Get your hands off her,’ she yelled. Amy looked at Chantel. She hadn’t run. Not this time.

‘Chantel!’ exclaimed Jack. He jerked backwards as if he’d been hit. For a moment Amy thought he might fall, but instead she felt his grip on her arms tightening further. He pushed Amy into the living room. Chantel followed.

‘I mean it,’ said Chantel. ‘Let go of her now.’

Jack looked at his hands, as if he’d forgotten he was still holding her. ‘Amy had an accident,’ he explained, letting go of her. ‘That’s all.’

‘Another accident?’ asked Chantel. She pulled Amy behind her, shielding her from Jack.

‘So you told her,’ said Jack.

No one spoke. The three of them stood together in silence. Amy heard a clock ticking from inside one of her boxes. She glanced around and saw Scarlett perched on a box, watching the drama unfold. Amy longed to reach out and grab the robin, to hug her close to her chest.

‘I looked for you, Chantel,’ said Jack finally, his voice eerily calm. ‘For a long time.’

‘I know,’ she said.

‘Where were you?’

‘I’d rather not say.’

‘Even now?’ asked Jack, the calmness in his voice starting to evaporate. ‘What happened to Tim. It was an accident. You know it was.’

‘What you did to me wasn’t an accident,’ said Chantel.

‘I’m sorry.’ He paused. ‘It’s different now. I’m married,’ he said. ‘Two little girls.’

‘I feel sorry for them,’ said Chantel.

‘I’ve never laid a finger on a child,’ said Jack. ‘I’m not like that.

Never was.’

‘That makes it all right?’

‘The accident with Tim,’ continued Jack, ignoring her. ‘It changed me. It was the worst thing that ever happened to me.’

‘To you?’ questioned Amy, incredulous.

‘She told you it wasn’t my fault, right?’ he asked, turning to Amy.

‘It was an accident, that was all.’

‘You hit Tim and killed him,’ said Amy. The words tasted sour in her mouth.

‘That’s what she told you?’ asked Jack. Amy nodded. ‘It wasn’t like that. Chantel lied to me and sneaked off to see Tim. They were kissing in the park.’

‘We weren’t kissing,’ said Chantel.

‘What was I supposed to think?’ continued Jack. ‘I was angry. You would have been too. Anyone in my shoes would have done what I did.’

‘Really?’ questioned Chantel. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘It was an accident,’ said Jack again. He looked at Amy, as if willing her to believe him. ‘I didn’t even hit him that hard. But he fell backwards and hit his head on a railing. That was what killed him. It wasn’t my fault.’

‘You hit him and now he’s dead.’

‘But I didn’t mean to kill him,’ said Jack, his voice rising. ‘It was a stupid accident that could have ruined my life.’

‘What about Tim’s life?’ asked Amy. Her head was throbbing. ‘It was tragic,’ said Jack. ‘But there was nothing I could do.

He was gone already.’ Amy looked at him. Ruthlessly selfish, and he didn’t even seem sorry. Just worried for what would happen to him.

‘I could have got ten years in prison for manslaughter,’ said Jack. ‘And you know what they do to police in prison.’

‘You want us to feel sorry for you?’ asked Amy.

‘I couldn’t let that happen,’ continued Jack. ‘Then I saw it. A hole.

The machines. A way out. There was no one around. I had to take that chance.’

‘No you didn’t,’ said Amy.

‘I’ve been a model citizen ever since,’ said Jack. ‘A good policeman, a good husband and father. I’ve never lifted a hand to anyone.’ He looked at Chantel, then Amy. ‘Not really. And it was so long ago. There’s no need to go raking up the past.’

He’d said that to Amy before, and her pots had ended up destroyed. Amy wondered if Jack had been responsible, trying to scare her into leaving things alone. She felt a cocktail of anger and fear well up inside her.

‘Yes, there is,’ she said. ‘Tim deserves justice.’

‘I’m sure we can work something out,’ said Jack, desperation creeping into his voice.

‘No,’ said Amy. ‘We just need the truth. We all do.’

‘Chantel?’ Jack turned to her. ‘I was heartbroken when you left.

I thought you, of all people, would stand by me.’

‘You were wrong,’ said Chantel. ‘Jack, I was terrified of you. Of what you would do to me. To Amy. I don’t want to live in fear. But I’m not going to hide away. Not any more.’

Jack seemed to grow bigger. Amy noticed him looking around the room. ‘You two are making this very difficult for me,’ he said. ‘I promised myself I wouldn’t hurt anyone again.’

‘You already have,’ said Chantel. ‘Look at Amy.’

‘It could be worse,’ said Jack, menace in his voice.

Amy slowly sidestepped towards the window, pulling Chantel with her. Amy looked up at Scarlett, watching the action from her perch on top of a large stack of boxes. The top one contained cookery books, Amy was sure of it. The next one down had clocks, and she could see a heavy mirror squeezed in between them.

‘Are you threatening us?’ asked Amy.

‘I don’t see what alternative you’re giving me,’ Jack replied. He stepped backwards, bumping into a stack of boxes. ‘What the hell is wrong with your house, Amy?’ he said suddenly. ‘Are you some sort of hoarder?’

Jack paused for a moment, then smiled. A nasty smile. Amy felt Chantel flinch next to her. ‘This place is an accident waiting to happen,’ he said, his hand on one of Amy’s boxes.

Amy didn’t reply. She looked up at Scarlett, the lovely robin who had stuck by her all these years. Why did she have to be there? She bit her lip. And the boxes. The boxes full of her lovely things. Her loyal possessions. Her delicate belongings.

Her heavy treasures.

Amy released Chantel’s hand and lunged forwards. She pushed the tower of boxes from the bottom. It teetered for