The Serpent's Skin by Erina Reddan (top 5 books to read .txt) 📕

And now this new clanging. The phone was plenty working so if Mum had been there she would have called us.

There was one thing for sure. Aunty Peg and Mrs Tyler weren’t quite as matey as they were when they first started counting scones together.

‘Sarah’s better off out of it, anyway,’ said Aunty Peg.

‘Don’t be ridiculous, Peg. Sarah was fine. Happy.’ There was a big full stop in Mrs Tyler words.

‘Are you Catholic at all, Kathy? Of course she wasn’t happy.’ Aunty Peg practically spat the last word. ‘I’m the last one to say a word against Jack.’

Which was news to me since that was all she’d done since she got to our place.

‘He never left her alone. Always mad for it.’

I heard the clatter of a teacup against the saucer and saw Mrs Tyler rise. I flattened to the wall under the table so she couldn’t see me.

‘I don’t know what gets into you at times, Peg. You have no idea what went on between them. The rhythm method only works if you have plenty of backbone and discipline. Besides I hardly think this is any of our business.’

It was all quick on the packing up and stiff-cardboard goodbyes and the door closing. That shocked me the most because the leaving at our place wasn’t at the front door. You walked people out, watched them into the car and waved them down the track. Then they’d gone.

‘You can get out from under there, JJ,’ said Aunty Peg.

I pressed my back into the wall. Aunty Peg’s face looked straight at me as she angled over. ‘You’ve got a black streak in your soul, miss.’

I blinked with big eyes. That made two of us.

IT’S GOT TO END

The next day, without Mum, I did my own pigtails ready for her funeral. I put knots in big white ribbons around each one. They weren’t perfect, even I could see that, but they weren’t not perfect. I was feeling so good about it that I got Philly sorted out before me in the mirror and started in on her hair. I pulled it all back into a ponytail. She had real smooth hair and one little piece out of place made a bump, so I couldn’t get it right right. My hands got sore, so I got her to kneel. The best part of the kneeling was that I didn’t have to see her little screwed-up face in the mirror at every lump I made.

When I got something close to almost perfect, I let her up. She took one look and pulled it out. Grabbed the brush and ran off. I’d have liked to be like her. All action and no words. It was all burn and scald with me.

After the ferrets and everything, Tim had been quiet last night until Dad asked him whether he thought it’d rain in time for the crops to come up before the summer hot. By the time they’d finished with the ins and outs, Tim was almost back to himself. It was like he’d decided that Dad burning Mum’s Mass book didn’t mean anything after all. Didn’t look at me once, though.

This morning, Tim was Brylcreemed up and ready, although with the crew cut I couldn’t see that it made a scrap of difference. Dad gave him a cuff of approval as he dashed into the bathroom with his comb. There was no looking at me from him, either.

None of us needed reminding to be right on time. We were all sitting in the car when Dad charged from the house and leaped in. Tessa sat beside us in the back seat, hands folded over Mum’s other handbag.

I ran into the church before anybody else to put Mum’s brooch in with her. I stopped short just inside the front door, though. Mum’s coffin took up all the air in the church. It was big and shiny, sitting in the aisle at the bottom of the altar. Mum was in that thing. In that long, shiny thing that didn’t look a bit like her. It was covered in dark crimson roses. I hadn’t wanted the roses too much because they reminded me of the ones Mrs Nolan’d had up on the altar that first Sunday after Mum’d gone. But since the roses were from Mrs Tyler’s garden and Mrs Tyler was Mum’s friend and that crimson deep was darker than Mrs Nolan’s and was right for funerals and all the sad sorry, I kept my mouth shut.

But nothing about Mum’s coffin was right.

I bit my lip.

Then I saw it. The something much worse. Mum was still all locked away, the lid closed tight down. My heart took off at a gallop. How was I going to get Mum’s brooch in there? My eyes filled up full because I didn’t have one idea left. I should have put it inside Ted and then it’d be in there already. I fixed my eyes on Jesus on the cross until I cleared the blur. Tessa came into the church and shoved me forwards. I let the others pass and followed them up the aisle and into our pew.

I closed my face tight tight to work out how to get her cameo in there with her. I just needed to think.

Philly dug into me with her elbow. ‘Stop breathing so loud.’

I had to lock my eyes open because that was the only way I could hear my breath. But things were all thick and coming at me. I made myself stare at the roses, hanging on to a bit of their steady.

Father McGinty was saying how dependable Mum was and always there and stuff. Then things whirled and the sitting, standing and kneeling all got caught up together. Mrs Tyler read out Philly’s poem and dabbed her handkerchief at her eyes. I kept opening and closing my fists because I’d finally worked out a plan