How to Fall by Jane Casey Page B

appealing shop on the street.’ Darcy’s voice dropped to a whisper. ‘Sylvia does the window displays herself, you know.’
    ‘How do you know all this? About the shop, and the rent, and the customers?’
    She bit her lip. ‘Oh damn. I wasn’t supposed to tell you.’
    ‘Tell me what?’
    I don’t think Darcy wanted to go on, but she just couldn’t help answering. ‘Freya worked here the year before last. She did Saturdays – Sylvia didn’t bother to open up during the week because it was the low season and there were no customers at all. I used to help out now and then.’
    ‘Why am I not surprised?’ I had found a box full of hangers and began putting clothes on the racks with a little bit more force than was strictly necessary. ‘Everyone seems determined to make me into Freya’s understudy. If I just kept my mouth shut and learned to paint it would be like she’d never left.’
    ‘I’m sure that’s not why Tilly recommended you for the job. In fact, I know it’s not. Hugo said she came up with the idea after Sylvia told her the shop was getting to be too much to manage on her own. Tilly thought you could help her get organized.’
    ‘I can’t make things much worse,’ I whispered.
    Darcy snorted a laugh. ‘You could give things away for free. That wouldn’t be ideal.’
    ‘Oh crap.’ I had completely forgotten price tags. Maybe Mum was right; I
did
need experience in retail.
    Darcy started to take the clothes off the rail again. ‘I can see you’re going to need me to help out. I’ll stick around.’
    ‘Are you sure?’
    ‘Nothing better to do.’ She grinned. ‘Besides, I like it.’
    ‘Will you help with the window display? If I can get Sylvia to let us tackle it, that is?’
    ‘Good luck with that.’
    ‘I might not need luck.’ I held up a skirt, assessing it. ‘I’ve got an idea and I think I can persuade Sylvia to give me a chance. But I’m going to need your eye for fashion.’
    Darcy saluted, almost putting her eye out with the end of the hanger. ‘I am on it like a bonnet.’
    I assumed that meant yes.
    It took almost an hour to empty the bags and sort the contents. Only one was the usual charity-shop stuff, and therefore disappointing – sagging tracksuit bottoms and ancient novelty T-shirts.
    ‘Bin,’ Darcy said firmly, holding up a faded yellow top with a cartoon banana on it. ‘We can’t have that sort of thing in here.’
    ‘Someone might like it,’ Sylvia protested.
    ‘No one would want it. Believe me. Even the person who bought it in the first place, who obviously has zero taste.’
    ‘Darcy,’ I said, trying not to laugh. ‘Don’t be rude.’
    ‘I’m not being rude. But Fine Feathers is not a rubbish dump. And that’s where this needs to be.’ She lowered it into the bin. ‘And good riddance.’
    I had set aside a pile of clothes for the window display, having coaxed Sylvia into letting me change it. She didn’t seem convinced that a fresh look was required but I pointed out that we had all these new clothes and no way to show people they were there unless we changed the window. And since she was so busy . . .
    ‘You’re amazing.’ Darcy was wrestling with the mannequin from the back room, trying to force her into a navy chiffon dress with a plunging front and a full skirt. ‘Remind me never to let you persuade me to do anything.’
    ‘I didn’t do anything.’
    ‘We never, ever got permission to touch the window display last year. It “sets the tone”, apparently.’ Darcy’s impersonation of Sylvia’s quavery voice was spot on. ‘It drove Freya mad, but she still couldn’t persuade Sylvia to let her have a go.’
    ‘Well, she doesn’t want me to leave on my first day. And since she’s said yes once, she’ll probably agree next time.’ I shrugged. ‘Simple, really.’
    ‘Scary,’ Darcy declared.
    I had found the model’s missing hands in the back room. Now the challenge was to make them stay on the poor thing, who was at