Then Clare caught her reflection in the car window. Her blood-smeared face. Her tangled hair and intense, wild eyes. So that was it. They were scared of her. Clare tried to smile, but it hurt her face. She smoothed her hair into some sort of order, combed out leaves and twigs with her fingers. A small spider abseiled from her forehead to her nose on a thread of silk. She cast it away with a flick of her fingers. Jack opened his eyes a little wider. Was she shaking? Clare steadied herself, though her legs felt like straw, and tried the smile again. ‘It’s all right,’ she said. ‘I’m here now.’ It seemed to work. Samson’s ears relaxed and Jack gave a familiar protest yell. The dog’s huge tongue swept over the boy’s face and he burst into laughter. Good, they were okay.
Clare wasn’t so sure ab
