Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered by Kerry Barrett Page A

‘I’m off to Glasgow tomorrow for a few days. You can have the run of the place. There’s loads of room.’
    I knew when I was beaten.
    ‘OK,’ I said. ‘Fine. But if you’re mean to me, the lessons stop.’
    Harry laughed.
    ‘Oh Esme,’ she said in a baby voice. ‘When have I ever been mean to you?’
    Suky stood up.
    ‘I’m whacked,’ she said. ‘I’m off to bed.’
    Harry got up too. She picked up her Mulberry handbag from the back of the chair and rooted about inside it.
    ‘Night, Mum,’ she said. She gave Suky a hug. She towered over her mum and her olive skin and dark hair stood out next to Suky’s freckled arms and blonde bob. Not for the first time I wondered if Harry’s mysterious dad had been Indian. Suky certainly met him while she was in Delhi so it was possible. As I pondered my cousin’s parenthood, a sudden movement caught my eye. Had she just passed something to Suky? It had looked like a small square parcel. But I couldn’t see anything now – perhaps I’d imagined it. It was late and I’d been drinking. Maybe I was hallucinating now.
    ‘I’m going up too,’ I said. I was worn out. Magic hung, heavily, over the table and my head ached with the pressure of it all.
    I climbed the stairs slowly thinking about magic lessons, radiotherapy, Jamie and Dom. But as I passed Suky’s room, I paused. Her door was closed and the room was dark, but under the door I thought I could see a few faint sparks, as though she was doing magic. I blinked and looked again and they were gone.
    ‘Time for bed,’ I thought, pulling on my pyjamas. ‘Thank goodness today is over.’

Chapter 19
    ‘I just don’t understand why you don’t want to go,’ I said to Harry the next morning. I had assumed – wrongly as it turned out – that she would want to accompany her mum to the hospital that day.
    ‘I’ve got some stuff to do,’ she said. We were standing in the hall and she was doing her make-up in the large mirror by the front door. She looked, as always, well-put-together and elegant. I avoided my own reflection, knowing my hair would be a tousled mess and my own unmade-up face ruddy and tinged with grey thanks to last night’s wine and curry.
    ‘Work stuff?’
    I was standing behind her, but I could see her face in the mirror. She looked cagey.
    ‘Some work stuff, yes. And some other bits Mum asked me to do.’
    I wasn’t convinced. Harry had a talent for wriggling out of unpleasant tasks purely because she didn’t fancy them.
    ‘Please, Ez,’ she said. ‘If you can go with Mum this morning, then I’ll start your magic lessons this afternoon.’
    ‘Oh whoop-dee-bloody-doo,’ I said. But I never could say no to Harry. ‘Fine,’ I said. ‘But you’re going tomorrow – Suky wants you there.’
    Harry had the grace to look embarrassed. She paused in brushing her shiny hair and caught my eye in her reflection.
    ‘I know,’ she said. ‘And I will go. I’ve just really got to get some stuff together.’
    I frowned at her.
    ‘Is this anything to do with the package you gave your mum last night?’
    Harry bent at the waist to scoop her hair up into a knot.
    ‘I didn’t give Mum anything,’ she said into her knees. I knew she was lying, but I didn’t pursue it because Suky came downstairs. Radiotherapy was taking it out of her. She looked pale and thin and she had purple smudges under her eyes.
    ‘Brent’s on his way,’ I said. ‘Are you OK?’
    She nodded.
    Harry straightened up and studied her mum carefully.
    ‘Have you eaten anything?’ she said.
    ‘I can’t stomach anything,’ Suky said. ‘I’ve not felt this sick since I was expecting you.’
    Harry gave a half-smile.
    ‘Well, look how well that turned out,’ she said. She flung an arm around Suky’s shoulders and hugged her tightly. I watched, envying their easy friendship.
    From outside, a car horn sounded.
    ‘That’ll be Brent,’ I said. ‘Let’s go.’
    Suky kissed Harry and – I thought – whispered