Page 68 of The Black Trilogy

“Mother won’t let me. She won’t even let me get the bus to school. She sends me and Arabella in a car every day.”

“I’m sure she cares about you.”

Except I wasn’t. Not after Luke’s comments on the subject.

“But she’s never there! She’s always at bridge or a supper party or the theatre or the tennis club. I tried sneaking out, but Mrs. Squires told on me, and I got grounded again.”

“Who’s Mrs. Squires?”

“Part housekeeper, part dragon.”

“Have you told all this to Luke?”

“I tried, but he’s always busy with work. He said I should find a hobby, that he’d pay for me to take classes in something, but Mother vetoed everything I suggested. Painting’s too messy, apparently.”

Despite our earlier run-ins, I kind of felt sorry for Tia. Somewhere under her spoilt exterior was an insecure kid who just wanted attention. I’d been there myself.

“Do you want me to speak to Luke? See if he can have a word with your mother?”

“Would you?” She sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve. “He’ll listen if you say it.”

Tia went quiet, giving me space to think. It was hard to believe she was the same person as the brat who destroyed Luke’s house. If I’d realised breaking an arm could have such a dramatic effect on somebody’s personality, I’d have done it more often.

Calm down, I was only joking.

“A signal! There’s a signal!” Tia shouted.

Oh, happy days. I took the phone back and called Luke.

“I’ve got her.”

“You’re serious?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Thank goodness for that. Is she okay?”

“No damage that can’t be fixed. We’ll need an ambulance to come and meet us, though.”

“How bad is it?” His voice cracked. Yeah, he really did care.

“A broken arm and an injured ankle. I don’t think the ankle’s broken, but she’ll need an X-ray to make sure. The arm’s likely to need pinning.”

“I’ll arrange it. The police have just turned up, so they can help. Where are you?”

“Good question.” I turned to Tia. “Do you know the name of that rise over there?” I pointed ahead.

“Christmas Hill.”

Well, at least we were in keeping with the festive season. “We’re heading for Christmas Hill. Tia’s on horseback, so we can make it to the road. I remember crossing a lane next to a cottage with a caved-in roof—ring any bells?”

“Yes, I know where that is. I used to mess around in it when I was a kid. I’ll meet you there with an ambulance. The roads should be passable up to that point.”

Tia had turned ashen by the time we made it to the cottage. Shock was setting in now the adrenaline had worn off, but thankfully, the ambulance was waiting next to Luke’s car. He leapt out when he saw us coming.

“You’re going straight to hospital,” he told Tia. “The doctors are waiting. Where does it hurt? Just your arm and your ankle?”

Two medics helped her from the horse as I flexed my frozen fingers to get some feeling back into them.

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