23
Final Preparations
‘Where did you get to last night?’ Valerie said as Lucy sheepishly pulled back her bedroom’s curtain and stepped into the little living area where her parents were drinking coffee and eating toast. ‘We went through the cave just for a little look and when we came back you’d vanished. If it hadn’t been for your text message I might have thought you drowned.’
‘I wasn’t feeling the holiday spirit,’ Lucy said. ‘I decided to walk home.’
‘Wasn’t it dark?’
‘Yeah, but there’s only one road, and it wasn’t that far.’
‘What happened? Was it that heinous woman?’
‘What woman?’
‘Oh, Lucy, don’t give me that. You know. I saw her talking to you, and when I got back I checked her i********: account.’
‘You didn’t—’
Valerie gave a grim smile. ‘I had to change my password—it’s
