The Jet Jewel

Chapter 1

With her hand on the door handle of her aunt's terraced house, Hannah hesitated. She had been so sure Aunt Jess would be on her side. But would she? The ball in Hannah's stomach bounced up and down and sideways. Maybe she should come back later. But she would have to tell her at some point. And Hannah was like a daughter to Aunt Jess, surely she would understand.

Gah! Hannah gripped the door handle tighter, hot as it was from an unusually relentless British summer sun. See, this is why they wouldn't hire you as a policewoman! Make a decision already! Right. No sense in delaying the execution. She took a deep breath, turned the key, and pushed the door open. The hallway was little more than a square yard where you could stand and decide whether you wanted to go into the sitting room, back outside, or up the stairs. In this case, it was another chance to reconsider. Behind door number one: all the familiar cosiness Hannah had grown up with. Door number two was getting more attractive by the minute. It was also still wide open, showing the vivid blue Aunt Jess had applied to the outside of it as layer number... at least nine that Hannah could remember. If there was one thing she and Aunt Jess had in common, it was a love of vivid colours. Still, with these temperatures a vanilla-coloured top and cream wide skirt had seemed the best option. Not least because look-at-me clothes did not fit her mood today. Don't-look-at-me clothes, or even don't-see-me clothes, those would be perfect.

Hannah winced. Thinking about colours and clothes would not solve her problem. She was stalling and she knew it. She was trying to fool herself. On purpose! How deep had she sunk? One last deep breath before she closed the front door, picked up the post from the mat, and entered the drawing room.

"It's me!"

Flowery sofa, blue cushions, orange rug, family photos everywhere. Yep, still felt like home. Aunt Jess came in from the garden through the double doors, a broad-rimmed, bright red hat on top of her greying curls. As was to be expected, Aunt Jess was the only one in Nottingham who didn't seem to mind the ongoing humid heat.

"Oh, Hannah, dear! I didn't hear you come in. Up to my ears in rustling dead leaves, you know. Everything seems to be dying this summer, no matter how much I water." She pulled off her violet gardening gloves and took the post from Hannah. "I thought you'd be at work today. Come to help me out in the garden? Hello, darling." She kissed Hannah's cheek and sailed off into the kitchen.

"There's nowhere I'd rather be than here," Hannah called after her. It would be true... in any other circumstance. As always, Hannah stopped at her favourite photo, the oldest of the lot. A beaming three-year-old Hannah held her newborn cousin Sean. In the top left corner the camera had captured a curled lock of Aunt Jess's blonde hair, the same colour as Hannah's and her mother's, Aunt Jess always said. The three of them, together. In the picture and in life. A happy family. Life may have changed, but the picture remained, filling Hannah with a nostalgic sense of hope whenever she looked at it.

She turned away from the photo and pulled out a chair from the shiny white dining table. The sunlight bouncing off the yellow parasol just outside reflected in the surface of the table, filling the room with a warm glow. No place like home... to break someone's heart.

Hannah perched on the edge of her chair when Aunt Jess emerged from the kitchen with two tall glasses of iced tea, chattering about some girl whose story she'd found online and to whom she'd written a letter. Hannah never understood why her aunt didn't just email these people, but strangely, most of them were delighted to receive an actual letter and wrote back to her the same way. The stamp collection she'd built up this way was almost as large as the pile of family photos. Today, Aunt Jess waved a moss green envelope bearing a Chinese stamp under Hannah's nose.

Hannah pulled away. A gulp of iced tea cooled her down a bit, but wasn't great for the bouncing ball in her stomach. Right. Better get it out quickly.