My Sister’s Secret by Tracy Buchanan Page A

first thing Niall said to her when she embarked.
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘That was stupid.’
    She raised an eyebrow. ‘And you haven’t dived alone before?’ He didn’t answer. ‘Thought so.’
    ‘Charity!’ She turned to see Lana skipping towards her. Her long caramel hair was coiled up on top of her head and she was wearing a bright red wetsuit that clung to her perfect body. It made Charity feel self-conscious with her too-tight, too-old wetsuit on and the curves she’d inherited from her mum. She wrapped her arms around herself. ‘I’m so pleased you joined us,’ Lana said, squeezing Charity’s arm.
    Thirty minutes later, they dived into the sea. As she descended, Niall not far away, memories from the summer she’d spent diving with him and her sisters seemed to flow over her even more intensely than when she’d dived alone earlier. But she felt more in control with people around her. She could do this.
    She noticed Niall watching her, his vivid blue eyes blinking at her through his mask. Was he remembering those days too, the way Faith would twist her body around like a pro, blonde hair fanning out behind her?
    Did he remember how they’d sneak quick kisses, pulling their mouthpieces out when Hope and Faith weren’t looking?
    Charity turned away. It was all in the past.
    Dan kicked his legs and scooted downwards, Lana following. Charity thrust herself through the water after them, Niall not far behind her. Niall had always kept behind the sisters when they’d dived all those years ago, letting Faith lead the way, him ‘keeping the flank’, as he used to call it. He’d grown to be protective of them, checking their gear after they’d already checked each other’s, making them each give him the thumbs up. Faith used to call him a ‘big softie beneath all that brooding’. Charity felt safe with him behind her now, just as she had all those years before.
    Charity peered into the distance. It had grown so misty, Dan and Lana were just faded outlines in the deep. She felt Niall’s fingers brush against hers and she turned, saw him floating beside her. He gave her a thumbs up. She did the same. Maybe he’d sensed her nervousness on the boat.
    The mist dispersed a little and Dan and Lana came into view, hovering in the distance as they looked at something. For a moment, she thought it was a line of fish. But as she drew closer, she realised it was a misty branch.
    The submerged forest!
    She exchanged an excited look with Niall. It was like they were hovering over a foggy forest, just a hint of a branch the only evidence it existed.
    She propelled herself towards the branch, feeling like she was in a snow globe, bubbles of water shimmering around her. Then the fog dispersed and the top of a tree appeared before her and beyond, several other sunken trees.
    Charity took a moment to take it in. Faith would have loved this, Hope too. Beside her, Niall stared at the forest too, eyes wide. This was all supposed to be so different.
    She headed to the closest tree, a great oak, surreal without the context of sky and leaf-infested grounds. Its surface was clogged with small barnacles and, when she reached for the uppermost branch, yellow fish darted out from behind it. She sank lower, swirling her fingers around at waist level, paddling the fins on her feet until she was aligned with the tree’s trunk.
    Faith had told her the trees in a submerged forest were petrified, meaning the conditions beneath the sea had almost turned them to stone, fossilising them. The reason she used to get so excited about them – beyond how beautiful the photos showed them to be – was that studying them could reveal so many important facts, such as how sea levels had raised over aeons. She was determined to write her own thesis on it and tell the world something new and exciting.
    Charity tentatively reached out again, carefully brushing her fingers against the barnacled wood, imagining her oldest sister beside her. It felt furry with