Poison Heart (22 page)

‘Find?’ I echoed, aghast. ‘I’m not
looking
for another boyfriend, and it was me who broke it off with Merlin.’

Luke was immediately contrite. ‘Wow, Kat, I didn’t realize. I thought you were …

‘Heartbroken?’

‘No, just cut up about him.’

I’d had no one to talk to about the break-up and it was a relief to open up to Luke, although I couldn’t bring myself to mention the painting, or what Merlin had said about Luke.

‘Something changed between us. Merlin looked and sounded the same, but something was missing … like a part of him had been stolen from me. Sounds silly, doesn’t it?’

‘No, it doesn’t,’ he answered pensively. ‘It sounds … really insightful. You’re very grown-up … emotionally.’

‘Stop teasing me, Luke.’

‘I’m not,’ he insisted, and for once there wasn’t any trace of a smirk. ‘And what about Genevieve?’ Luke sucked in his cheeks. ‘You were so agitated when we left the attic. I reckoned you were on to something.’

‘I’ve thought of nothing else … but it’s a mental block … this connection with York.’

A pregnant woman waddled by just then and I looked at her with terrified awe – how could anyone’s stomach stretch so far? The cogs in my brain began to whirr again, only this time an idea took shape that was so frightening I had to lean forward and almost put my head between my knees.

‘Are you OK, Kat?’

‘Luke … we’re in a hospital,’ I whispered. ‘What happens in hospitals?’

‘Er … people have treatment when they’re sick.’

‘And they have babies.’

‘Yeees …’

I buried my face in my hands. ‘Can’t you see it?’

‘See what?’

‘It’s horrific, and yet …’

At that moment a nurse called my name and I was glad to get up from my seat and have my sore ankle prodded, poked and X-rayed – anything to stop me from thinking about the possibility that was growing bigger and stronger all the time. I refused to say another word until we were back home, my ankle tightly strapped and a pair of crutches in my grasp. It was late and Mum’s bedroom light was switched off. Luke followed me inside, quietly closing the door behind him. He paced up and down our living room, hands behind his back, which normally would have made me laugh because he looked like a member of the royal family.

‘Well? Will you tell me at last?’

‘There’s a photo album in that sideboard, Luke. Would you get it for me?’

Obediently he knelt down, opened the doors and felt around inside. He handed me the brown leather-bound album without asking any questions. I flicked from one page to another and stopped about halfway through, angling the book towards Luke. ‘This is me as a newborn baby.’

‘And?’

‘It’s so obvious … you should be able to see how different I look.’

‘Not really. I said before, a baby’s a baby.’

I took the other photo out of my bag and waved it at him. ‘I was premature and almost bald. This baby’s heavier with jet black hair. I really meant it … this baby isn’t me.’

Luke sighed. ‘So your mum was tired after all the sleepless nights and labelled her photos wrong, or the lab gave her the wrong set of prints.’

‘And she never noticed they were of a different baby,’ I replied witheringly.

‘Babies change in a matter of days. They lose weight or put it on, their hair falls out …’

‘It’s not my face,’ I insisted. ‘That photo was hidden with the birth certificate and wristband for an important reason, and I can’t believe you haven’t seen the significance. The hospital gave me the clue.’

Luke seemed definitely grouchy now. ‘And what, Kat? You think you and Genevieve might have been born in the same maternity ward?’

I took a deep breath. ‘More than that. I know it sounds incredible … unbelievable and downright crazy, but … I think … it could be possible that … Mum took the wrong baby home from hospital.’

Luke had to pinch his nose and cover his mouth to drown out the sound of his laughter. After a few minutes he apologized to me. ‘Even I didn’t see that one coming.
I’m
supposed to be the journalist, into conspiracy theories and stuff.’

I wasn’t offended because I knew my idea was completely off the wall, but I tried to sound restrained and credible so he might take me seriously. ‘It’s the link between Genevieve, Mum and me. I was born in another city, a baby that has my name isn’t me, and Mum went white when I said the name Grace. This could be the answer to why Genevieve hates me.’

‘You know what you’re actually saying, Kat? Genevieve is your mum’s daughter and you’re … someone else’s.’

‘Suppose.’

‘Oh, and your mum knows all this. But why would she allow it to happen?’

‘Haven’t worked that out yet, but … you think it’s impossible?’

He rolled his eyes. ‘I think you’ve been reading too many trashy novels or watching too many American soaps.’

‘Look … all that stuff was hidden in the secret box so I’d never find it. Mum will never tell me where I was born, and she’s cut herself off from everyone, even her family.
She’s been running from something my whole life, and she’s even hinted she could lose me.’

‘This is Britain. Babies don’t get mixed up in hospital, especially with no one noticing. That’s what the wristbands are for. They don’t get taken off until the baby is discharged.’

I swallowed hard and spoke more to myself than to Luke. ‘All Genevieve’s threats suddenly make sense. She says there isn’t enough room for both of us … she’s entitled to my life because it should have been hers. She can’t forgive me because she had such an awful childhood and she came to see Mum, pretending to sell jewellery but really to see her face to face.’

‘How would
she
have found out something like that?’

‘I don’t know … but we do know how clever she is.’ Luke drummed his fingers on the coffee table while I carried on thinking out loud. ‘It would explain why Mum’s always so secretive and doesn’t like talking about the past. I’ve always thought it was about my dad, but maybe it isn’t.’

‘I’ll have to think about this one.’

‘Maybe you could do some more digging around? Access the hospital records or birth register or … I don’t know; you have your sources.’

‘We still don’t know Genevieve’s/Grace’s real surname,’ Luke reminded me, putting on his jacket. He hesitated, one foot inside the doorway and one foot out. ‘There is an easier solution … find out her birthday. You’d have to be born within a few days of each other for your idea to work.’

‘You’re a genius,’ I told him gratefully. ‘But how?’

Luke looked at me, baffled. ‘It’s a simple enough question.’

‘Nothing’s simple with Genevieve,’ I muttered. ‘And she mustn’t be alerted in any way. I daren’t even ask Nat or Hannah in case it gets back to her.’

‘Sorry, but I’ll have to leave this one with you, Kat. I know you’ll think of something.’

As soon as Luke left I went upstairs and slid open the drawer of my bedside cabinet. There was one thing I’d kept from him – my obsession with the pendant. It
wasn’t
just my imagination; it felt heavier every time I examined it, as though it was growing with Genevieve’s power. And why couldn’t I throw it away or destroy it? Each time I tried, it came back to me. It was impossible to explain. I lay under my duvet reflecting on everything that had happened, the pendant casting strange shadows on my wall.

You’re marked, Katy
.

I remembered the vicar’s wife who claimed she could still feel Genevieve’s presence in the house as if something of her had been left behind all those years ago. Maybe she was marked as well? Luke had a rational explanation for everything, but he couldn’t stop me from fearing this emerald glass. Mum had invited the pendant into the house and I had the strangest feeling that the only way to get rid of it was to give it back to Genevieve. I’d tried already and failed, but now I knew what I had to do.

Luke had to go away for a week on some type of training course, but he offered me a lift to college the first morning after half-term. He dropped me outside just as Genevieve approached, and there were a lot of students milling around. The pain in my ankle was worth it just to see her jealousy as everyone rushed to help. My bag and my folder were carried in as people made jokes about my injury and tried to borrow my crutches. My foot was too swollen to fit into my normal shoes, and I had to wear a pair of Mum’s comfy flat loafers, which were like huge boats on me. But they were so ugly they were almost cool, and a definite talking point. I went straight to class and settled down with some work, glad to sit down.

Miss Clegg came over smiling. ‘There’s a message from the secretary, Katy, for you to report to the office. I’m sure it’s just a formality to make sure you don’t attempt any acrobatics while you’re injured.’

I was getting used to the crutches, although they used
muscles I didn’t even know I had and my arms ached like crazy. The secretary, Mrs Wright, made me sit opposite her desk and read a health-and-safety warning of all the things I mustn’t do. My eyes must have glazed over with boredom because she apologized, saying that it was all common sense. As she spoke, Luke’s words came back to me.

‘I’m going to leave this one to you, Kat. I know you’ll think of something.’

Who else would have access to Genevieve’s file? This could be the chance I was looking for.

‘Could I ask a favour?’ I gushed, trying to get up from the chair and wincing with exaggerated pain. ‘Our new girl, Genevieve, is so lovely but … really shy, and she won’t tell anyone her birthday because she doesn’t want a fuss.’

I waited expectantly, hoping Mrs Wright might take the hint and stop me having to ask outright, but her face remained blank.

‘Could you tell me her date of birth so she doesn’t miss out on a party? It’s so sad because she’s an orphan and we all want to give her a big surprise.’

She shook her head with regret. ‘I’m sorry, Katy, I can’t do that. It might seem a little thing to you, but it goes against the rules of confidentiality. I can’t divulge any information about students.’

I got up and began to shuffle to the door, overcome with disappointment. Being in the office had seemed such a great opportunity, but I’d failed, and I couldn’t see any
other way. It’d be too dangerous to approach her new foster-parents in case they alerted her to my questions.

‘Katy?’

I stopped, adjusted position and turned around. Mrs Wright was smiling right at me. ‘If you like, Katy, you could ask me the date of
my
birthday.’

When she gave me a crafty wink I wondered if she’d been working too hard. ‘You see … one of the new students and I were born in the same month, except that I’m close to the end and she’s at the beginning, the
very
beginning.’

It wasn’t hard to guess her meaning and I laughed. It was kind of her to get round the rules like this.

‘When is your birthday, Mrs Wright?’ I grinned.

She folded her arms. ‘Why, thank you for asking, Katy. It’s on the twenty-ninth of June.’

I thanked her profusely as she held open the door for me. So Genevieve must have been born on 1 June, which meant that our birthdays were within four days of each other. This gave weight to my idea that our mothers could have been at the same hospital together. I was no nearer to finding out the truth, but this provided another possible clue and that felt like something.

There was another hurdle to face. I’d have to see Merlin sooner or later, and I needed to get this over with because I was so jumpy my stomach felt full of butterflies. My heart leaped as he came through the door of the cafeteria at lunchtime and our eyes immediately locked together. He gave me a rueful smile, which made me catch my breath
because he looked so attractive and full of yearning. It felt like one of those black and white movies where the hero and heroine are forced to separate forever and they watch each other through unshed tears because they have to be brave but the scene is heartrendingly poignant as a train mournfully pulls out of the station and the sad music plays …

Oh, get a life, Katy Rivers
.

After college I waited outside the automatic doors at the top of the steps for Nat to appear because she’d insisted that her mum would drive me home. I squeezed myself into a corner to avoid being crushed or knocked over. One minute I was alone; the next, Genevieve was beside me, putting out her arms like a barrier, with the pretence of helping me. It was a bright day and we were face to face in the late-autumn sunshine. I was mesmerized, unable to turn away. There was an almost imperceptible scar at the side of her nose and I touched my own nose self-consciously, feeling a tiny bump from a similar scar when I fell off a swing aged about ten. Genevieve brushed her fringe from her eyes and on one hand there was a peculiar arrangement of freckles that looked like a star. I had a similar mark, but on the opposite hand – Mum always said it was a lucky sign.

I hadn’t seen her for a week and had almost forgotten how bad the sensation was. Today she was a curious mix – triumphant and gloating blended with jumpy anticipation.

‘Sorry you missed the party, Katy. We were all
devastated
.’

‘That’s OK, Genevieve, it couldn’t be helped. It was nice of you to organize it for Nat. She was thrilled.’

‘Yes, she was.’ She examined her nails as if she was sharpening them. ‘I’ve already taken over your friends and there’s only one person left.’

‘You don’t mean Merlin?’

Genevieve shrugged nonchalantly.

‘You mean he hasn’t told you already?’

‘Told me what?’

‘I broke up with him.’

‘As if,’ she drawled. ‘
You
finish with Merlin?’

‘Ask him if you don’t believe me.’

She took a few seconds to digest this and the tip of her tongue protruded from her mouth. ‘You mean he wanted to finish with you but you beat him to it, to save face?’

‘Not at all,’ I corrected. ‘He wanted to spend more time with me, but I felt a bit … stifled.’

She put on a high-pitched little girl voice dripping with sarcasm. ‘Maybe if you’d managed to have your romantic night away together, then everything would have been different. But we’ll never know.’