The Impossible Poisoning.

Chapter 2

Half an hour later, the six of us were all sitting in Hettie's living room, finishing what had been, considering the circumstances, a gorgeous dinner. I was feeling rather tired, but I didn't let that stop me as Hettie and I talked endlessly about Sedgefield Carburry. I had admitted already that due to my slightly hectic current lifestyle, I hadn't had time to sit and read for far too long. Hettie, on the other hand, hadn't seen excitement since she had last seen me, and as of such had read almost every single Sedgefield Carburry in existence. I was beginning to worry about whether she was getting too clever for her own good.

"I mean" she chattered. "I've been practicing the deduction-on-a-first-glance thing that he does, you know? Mainly in Summer Hill Suicide, but he does it in other books too. I'm still not very good, as really there's nobody around here to practice on, but I'd like to think I'd be able to tell at least where someone's from just by looking..."

"Be careful, Het" I warned, trying to keep the lightness in my voice. "You're getting very clever, you know."

Hettie laughed.

"You really think so?" she asked, looking a mixture of stunned, puzzled and flattered.

"I do" I replied. "Sedgefield Carburry seems to be very good at turning out geniuses."

"Allie!" Hettie sighed, looking petulantly at me. "Don't be like that. You've not been yourself since you got here."

I smiled faintly.

"I'm scared, Het. Stephenson's not going to go down without a fight. I don't know what my future holds, or even how long my future's going to last. So you can't blame me for being scared."

"Allie!" Hettie fussed, as we snuggled down on the sofa together. "You've got us, you know you have. We're an amazing team, everyone in this room. We won't let anyone hurt you."

"That's my problem" I admitted. "If he can't get to me, he's going to try and get anyone who's near me. If anyone dies because of me..."

"Oh, shush" Hettie sighed. "Don't condemn us yet. We're going to be fine, all of us."

"But he isn't going to stop" I muttered. "I know him. He won't stop until I'm dead."

"Well we'll beat him, then" Hettie smiled. "Beat him at his own game. Get him before he gets you."

"Always the optimist, Het" I replied dryly, forcing a smile. None of them knew. None of them really knew what was going to happen eventually. Even as I sat, curled up with my best friend, with the people I loved most in the world sitting in the same room, I knew there was going to be a time when I had to go alone. Go alone, and make sure for their sakes they didn't follow me.

"So what about it, then, Allie?" Newham asked suddenly, and I realized that I had lost all track of the conversation.

"Sorry?" I asked drowsily.

"P-Private Broker knows a better place to hide" Fisher explained quickly.

"She's a very old friend of mine, and owns a huge stately house in the middle of nowhere" Hettie added, looking down at me. "It's perfectly safe, with no connections to anyone you know. Should bring that danger rating down from a five to about a two."

I considered it, sucking my lip thoughtfully.

"It would certainly be better than staying here."

"I'll have to telephone" Hettie sighed. "Sadly my good friend Felicity Carfield doesn't like surprise guests arriving on her doorstep late at night."

She and her husband looked pointedly at the four of us. We all held back giggles.

"Alright, Hettie. Telephone" Isabel smiled gratefully. "But I think this little one needs sleep."

"Hey!" I snapped, sitting up. "I'm not little anymore!"

"To be fair, Allie, you've been yawning for the last hour or so" Newham reasoned. I flickered a scowl across my face. I was hoping nobody would have noticed that.

"Come on, you" my sister sighed, pulling me up and leading me out of the sitting room, down the hall and into Hettie's spare bedroom. Sadly, she only had a double bed, and after both Isabel and I insisted the other should have it, we agreed on sharing. It was strangely reminiscent, I realized. Last time Isabel and I had shared a bed, our parents had still been alive.

"Last time we shared a bed, Mother and Father were in the room next door" Isabel pointed out, as if reading my mind.

"And..." I began to add.

"No!" Isabel snapped. I relented. That secret was obviously supposed to stay secret. When I said Fisher and Isabel were a good couple, I had meant it, in more ways than one.

"Are you turning in as well?" I asked. She smiled a half-smile, and shrugged.

"I probably should. Otherwise, I'll wake you up when I do."

We got ready for bed in a steely silence, and as we both got in the double bed, the question that had been hovering on my lips finally burst free.

"Can we swap sides?" I asked. "Only..."

"Yes!" Isabel groaned. "Yes, of course we can."

We swapped sides, and lay in silence under the sheets. I knew what Isabel must have been thinking about, because I was thinking about it too.

But, I reminded myself firmly, some family secrets are meant to stay secret.