Letters From My Sister by Alice Peterson Page B

a flushing sound. Oh my God! I turn around and lean against the door. Bells! How could I have lost my concentration and forgotten to remind her not to flush the loo? Sam will kill me. He will kill us both.
    ‘Lakemore? What’s that sound? Who’s here?’
    I pull Bells back into the bedroom.
    ‘Feeling tight, not funny, Katie.’
    ‘We’re in serious trouble,’ I whisper.
    ‘Serious trouble. Not funny, Katie.’
    ‘No, it’s not funny.’
    ‘Lakemore, what’s going on? Someone flushed the loo,’ one of the boys says incredulously.
    I find myself laughing now and Bells copies me. This situation is so ridiculous. Sam has got to come clean. Tell them we’re here.
    ‘No one’s here, boys. Can we get on with the game?’ he insists.
    ‘Come off it!’
    I frown. Yes, come off it! Are we
that
embarrassing?
    ‘Come off it!’ Bells says, stamping her feet.
    ‘Maguire, it must be the neighbours. You can hear everything, and I mean,
everything
.’
    The neighbours? Oh, for God’s sake, Sam. Bells is getting restless and wants to leave the room but I hold her arm firmly. I want to see if Sam is eventually going to confess that we’re here.
    Maguire walks out of the room and looks around. ‘Where’s the loo?’
    ‘Straight ahead of you.’
    I can hear the sitting-room door open.
    ‘Maguire, come and sit down. Listen, who else is going to be here? I’ve told you, it’s the neighbours.’
    ‘All right,’ he concedes. Then: ‘What the hell was that? There
is
someone here!’
    Bells has managed to escape my grasp and is wrestling to open the door.
    ‘Too tight, not funny, Katie,’ she says now at the top of her voice.
    ‘Lakemore, someone
is
in your house.’
    Another door is flung open and Bells disappears from the bedroom. I can see her rushing past the sitting-room, her arms flailing in the air. This should be – interesting …
    ‘Who the fuck was that?’ one of them bursts out. ‘By the way, full house,’ he adds.
    Bells is running downstairs. ‘Who?’ Sam asks, but his voice is burdened with defeat.
    ‘That little person?’
    ‘With the funny boots?’ another of them says.
    ‘Sam, the game’s up. Confess all.’
    ‘I told Katie it was poker night,’ he shouts, banging his fist against the table.
    ‘But that wasn’t Katie,’ Maguire exclaims. ‘Unless she’s shrunk to half her size.’
    I put my shoes on and run past them and down the stairs. ‘Sorry, can’t stop,’ I say to them.
    ‘Thanks, Katie,’ Sam shouts with heavy sarcasm.
    ‘Lakemore,’ Maguire now says. ‘What the fuck is going on?’

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    The following morning Bells is in the kitchen listening to one of her Beatles CDs, wearing her embroidered hat and dungarees again. They must be glued to her body. I have to take her shopping for Emma’s wedding. I don’t think I have ever seen my sister wear a skirt.
    ‘How did you sleep?’ I ask, opening the cupboard that houses the mugs and cereal bowls.
    ‘Bored,’ she says. ‘You know John Lennon lived with Aunt Mimi?’
    ‘No.’ I shake my head, flicking the kettle switch on. It’s a large silver kettle with a black handle, which matches the toaster.
    ‘They were Nurk Twins before the Beatles.’
    ‘Really?’ I nod again. If Bells was in the black chair on
Mastermind
her specialist subject would be the Beatles. ‘If you want to go back home, you would say, wouldn’t you?’ I ask her, feeling ashamed that if she said she wanted to go, I’d be relieved. I can’t explain it, but ever since Bells arrived I have had this sinking uneasy feeling hanging over me like an ominous cloud. I can sense something is about to go horribly wrong again, even more so than last night. I wonder if Mum felt like this most of the time when she was bringing Bells and me up.
    ‘If you want to go home, if you’re unsettled …’ I stop. Why am I such a bad sister? I haven’t seen Bells for months. Shouldn’t I want to spend some time with her?
    She nods