The Shadow Sisters

[E1] Chapter 15 - Hannah Cole

Night arrived swiftly in Willow Town. First, it was ushered in by a slow darkening. Then, it overtook suddenly and all at once. It had only been beginning when they'd boarded their bus, but by the time they'd arrived back in Meadow View, it was already pitch black.

They all sat together in the dining room, under the soft, twinkling lights.

Dinner was laid out in front of them in two large serving bowls. One contained pesto pasta. The other contained a spinach salad, speckled with peppers and tomatoes, drizzled in olive oil and drenched in balsamic vinegar. Mum drank wine, while Marie drank lemonade and Hannah drank iced water with lemon and lime wedges.

Tonight, they were even treated to some backing music as Robert, their neighbour, could be heard strumming along to his acoustic guitar in the back garden.

Even though the space between their houses was fairly large, Hannah's window was the closest to his out of all their bedrooms. Often, she could hear him singing and practising into the late hours. It would have driven Marie crazy, but Hannah had zero complaints. He was talented, and she found his melodies both soothing and comforting.

Mum had paused her eating to stare at the patio door. She wore an odd expression.

Hannah helped herself to another ladle of pasta. "Uh, are you okay, Mum?"

Mum snapped around to her as if she'd just woken out of a dream. "Sorry, sweetie. I was just in a bit of a daze."

"You look tired," Marie said.

"I am tired, love. It's been a long day."

"Really?" Hannah asked. "But haven't you been home all day?"

"Home doing chores. But nice to know that nobody noticed."

Marie shrugged. "For what it's worth, I did think that it smelt slightly less of death in here."

"It looks good, Mum. It's definitely beginning to feel more like home."

"That's debatable," Marie muttered.

"Thank you," Mum said, ignoring Marie's remark. "I even went down into the cellar."

The sound of forks hitting bowls halted immediately.

Marie cleared her throat. "How did that go?"

"Well, there's a lot of weird stuff down there," Mum confessed. "And I barely even scratched the surface, to be honest."

"It's big down there then?" Hannah asked.

"Oh, it's enormous. Think big, then multiply that by three or four."

"Wow," Hannah said, wondering why anyone needed all that room.

"Aren't dungeons usually quite small?" Marie said.

"I also found this." Mum reached beneath her chair and hefted up a leather book. She sat it on her lap and as she patted it, a cloud of dust rose up from it.

"That looks ancient," Hannah said.

"And rotten," Marie added.

"It's utterly fascinating," Mum said, "Full of interesting myths and folk tales. I doubt I'll get a proper read of it anytime soon, but when I do carve out the time, I'm looking forward to it."

"Probably take me a lifetime to read something like that," Marie muttered.

"Let us know how it goes," Hannah said.

Everyone resumed eating.

"I also met the neighbour," Mum said, covering her mouth to hide her food.

"We know," Hannah said.

"Yeah, we can hear his music right now," Marie said.

"No, not Robert. I mean the one from across the street. Her name was Regina. She's around your ages too and said she lives alone. Sort of sad on the part of her parents, but I reckon she could use some friends."

"Mum, we're nearly grown up now. You'd better drop any ideas of setting us up on more friend dates."

"I still have nightmares about Georgie Dunn's booger doll collection." Hannah shuddered.

"Or what about Scabby Sarah?"

"That's not a very nice thing to say about someone with a skin condition," Mum said.

"No, Mum, you're thinking about Eamon Plum, the boy with the bad eczema," Hannah said. "Sarah's the one who'd never wear sun cream and got burnt every summer."

"I could deal with the scabbing. I could even deal with her bright orange face. What I couldn't deal with was how she insisted on picking herself apart while stretched out on my bed. It looked like a snake had shed its skin or something."

"But I suppose we could talk to this new girl if we see her, especially if she's all alone," Hannah said.

"Sunny Hannah to the rescue of another hopeless case," Marie said.

Hannah scrunched her face.

"Okay, enough about me," Mum said. "I feel like I've dominated all of the table talk. Tell me how school went."

"It was a bit of a rocky start," Hannah said.

"But it got better?"

"It got better," she agreed. "I'm actually going to a concert this Friday. Shriekfest, down by the pier. I mean, if I'm allowed."

Marie raised an eyebrow. "You're going too?"

Mum almost choked on her spinach leaves. She had to wash them down with water before saying, "What do you mean 'too'? You mean you actually made plans? With friends?"

"I saw her hanging out with them and everything," Hannah said. "She also made a few enemies."

Mum shrugged. "That much was to be expected."

Marie was growing very red around the cheeks. "Well, I've not decided if I'm going yet."

"Why wouldn't you?" Hannah asked.

"Because a boy asked me and I don't know if I want to go with him."

"You met a boy?" Hannah said.

"Like a human boy?" Mum said.

"Yes, Mother, I met a human boy, with human eyes, human hair, and human teeth. Why do you both look so shocked?"

Hannah's attention promptly returned to her pasta. She swirled the linguine around and popped it into her mouth so that it'd be too full to answer.

"It's just that you never showed any interest in the boys back home," Mum said.

Oh Jeez, Hannah thought, keep digging, Mum.

"That's because I knew all the boys back home," Marie said.

"How does that make any sense?" Mum asked.

"You wouldn't get it, Mum," Hannah said, siding with her sister for once.

"Well, I might go, I dunno."

"Go on, both of you get out there," Mum said insistently. "Hannah, have a good night with your friends. Marie, have a nice date. You both deserve it."

"We are not dating," Marie said.

Hannah had to cover her mouth to hide her grin.