Page 59 of The Retreat
Not because her instincts were reliable—they clearly weren’t—but because everything Imogen had said matched what Talia knew herself. There hadn’t been a single claim that didn’t line up with her own experience. The lawyer in her had worked hard to find a hole, but there was none. Imogen was telling the truth. She had been duped too.
And if that was true, was it possible Imogen was who she appeared to be?
But who was that, exactly? WhathadTalia seen? What adjective could she honestly apply?
Could it be—Jesus Christ—was it possible Imogen was… a decent person?
What a terrible thought.
Forty
By 3:07 p.m., Imogen had grass stains on her arse and the distinct sense that this retreat was a psychological experiment designed to test the outer limits of her patience.
She was halfway across a large lawn, knees bent, biting down on the handle of a plastic spoon. Balanced on said spoon was a large, raw egg.
‘Faster!’ Talia shouted, calling to her from the spot at which the egg was meant to be transferred to relay partners. ‘Come on, we’re going to lose toJade and Peter. Do you want that on your conscience?’
Imogen tried to reply, but her mouth was full of spoon. She just grunted and tried not to laugh, which made her jaw wobble, which made the egg wobble, which made Talia shriek, ‘Easy!’
Imogen reached Talia as Peter was attempting to transfer his spoon to Jade with a look of existential horror in his eyes. Jade, a bit overexcited to be winning, fumbled and dropped the egg with a splat.
‘FUCK!’ she cried, enraged.
‘Disqualified,’ Talia declared as she took the egg from Imogen quickly.
But a demented-looking Daniel was coming up quickly, transferring to Lara. Lara took the egg and began to wobble off with it.
‘Go!’ he cried after her.
‘Mmmmmgonnng,’Lara managed angrily.
Imogen watched Talia veering left. ‘Talia! You’re drifting!’
Talia tried to correct, but not before knocking over a trestle table full of coconut water. The egg remained miraculously intact, and Talia carefully stomped her way across the finish line, passing Lara in the final moments.
‘Yes!’ Imogen cried, running forward to join Talia for a victory high five.
‘They cheated!’ cried Daniel as Lara took second place.
‘How?’ Talia demanded.
‘That egg has to be glued!’
Imogen leaned over and removed the egg from the spoon Talia was holding. Several people crossed the finish line, but no one paid them much attention. Not with Daniel’s tantrum to watch.
‘No way. She fell, and it stayed on,’ Daniel insisted.
‘I’m justgraceful!’ Talia snapped. ‘I was able to correct.’
‘It doesn’t make sense!’ Daniel said with a little foot stamp.
Celeste came over the finish line, holding a broken egg, yolk down her forearm. ‘Everything OK?’ she asked Daniel.
Lara appeared next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, gripping it. He suppressed a wince.
‘Sorry, his school was a bit overly competitive, and this sort of thing could get a bit heated,’ Lara explained.
‘They had egg and spoon races at Rugby?’ Talia asked.
