Page 68 of Savage Justice

“What reasons?” I seethe.

“Just ask her,” he repeats. “If it bothers you so much, why don’t you go and sort your shit out now and leave me to my work?”

I’m back to Plan A. Fingernails.

“Sounds like good advice, bro.”

I never heard Tony approaching, and I don’t know how long he’s been in the doorway or how much he’s heard. Now, he strolls into the studio and makes a pretence of studying the work in progress, what there is of it.

“How would you say it’s going?”

“Not bad,” is Marlowe’s non-committal response. “I do need to crack on, though, before the light goes.”

“We’ll leave you to it, then.” Tony gives me a pointed glare. “You coming?”

This will have to wait. I grunt something that even I find unintelligible and follow him from the room.

I find Molly in the bedroom shared by Lucy and Noah. The baby is on her lap, snoozing. An empty feeding bottle lies on its side next to them, and a faint trail of milk drool snakes down Noah’s chin.

She lifts a finger to hush me as I enter. “He’s just dropping off,” she mouths.

Lucy is leafing through a book. She’s in her pyjamas, hair freshly washed from her bath. She scuttles over to me.

“Nico, will you read me my story tonight?” she asks in a whisper.

“Your mum does the voices better than I do.”

“No, she doesn’t. I like your voices. You can do the witch better.” She starts to demonstrate but is quickly shushed by her mother. Undaunted, she thrusts a copy of her current favourite, one of the Narnia books, into my hands. “Start from where Lucy goes into the wardrobe.”

“We always start there.”

“No, we don’t. Sometimes we start at the bit where they meet Mr Tumnus.” She opens the book at the page she wants and starts to recite the words. She knows them more or less by heart.

And I know when I’m beaten. “Okay, let’s read that bit, then.” I settle on a huge cushion by the window with a delighted Lucy curled up next to me.

That girl loves to get her own way, and she knows I’m a pushover. I read the chapter and go on to the next one as Noah is still fidgeting. At last, the baby nods off, and Molly stands to place him in his cot.

Lucy sees trouble coming. “Do I have to go to bed yet? I’m lots older than Noah. Tomasz and Jacob stay up way later than this.”

“Because they’re both older than you,” her mother tells her.

Lucy’s face falls. She’s gearing up for a serious protest.

“Maybe a few more minutes,” I suggest. “Another chapter, then that’s it. You go to bed. Agreed?”

Lucy beams. A deal is struck. I settle in to honour my side of it while Molly tidies up the baby paraphernalia. It never ceases to amaze me how much of it there is. A whole Narnia chapter’s worth and then more…

Lucy is struggling to stay awake by the time all four Pevensie children have found their way into the snowy wastes of Narnia. I murmur to her that it’s time to get into bed, and she doesn’t argue. I wait until Molly tucks her in, then we both creep from the room.

“She’s settled well,” Molly observes, closing the door. “To say how much upheaval there’s been recently. She really likes it here. We all do.”

I’m not massive fan of island life. I enjoy Caraksay in small doses, but I really refer something a bit less isolated. A city. But I can see the attraction for a child. The beach, the wild landscape to run around in, the swimming pool, the cinema, and exciting places to play inside the castle. It’s all one big adventure to Lucy.

“That’s good, as we might be here a while.”

“I understand that, but I’m worried that she’s still missing school. It’s been a few weeks already…”

“Why not send her to the same school the boys go to? The chopper flies over there every day.”

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