‘Awesome sauce.’ Jo set her bucket down a few feet from Allie’s. ‘When did you get back?’
‘A couple of hours ago. We took one look at the place and …’ Allie waved her scrubbing brush.
Jo pulled on her rubber gloves with a snap. ‘Rachel’s with you?’
‘Yeah – she’s at the back going through books with Eloise and the guys from the restoration company.’ Allie scrubbed the wall in loose circles. ‘I think she got the better job.’
‘Totally,’ Jo said. ‘Hey – I heard about what happened in London. You OK?’
‘Hey, it takes more than four big muscly guys in suits running really fast to hurt me,’ Allie joked.
‘That’s what they say about you.’ Jo smiled.
But after a moment she looked more serious. Lowering her voice, she said, ‘It wasn’t Gabe, was it? I mean, he wasn’t one of them?’
Shocked, Allie nearly dropped her brush.
‘Oh, Jo, no! I promise. These guys were older – like in their twenties or even older than that. Definitely not Gabe. I’d never seen any of them before.’
‘Good.’ Jo returned to scrubbing, nodding to herself as if this was what she’d hoped to hear. ‘I just can’t bear to think …’ Her voice broke and she scrubbed harder, turning her head so Allie couldn’t see her face.
Allie scrubbed the wall absently as she tried to decide what to say. ‘Have you … heard from him since that night?’
Jo shook her head vigorously, and she looked so sad it tugged at Allie’s heart.
‘Are you OK?’ she asked.
Jo’s brush stopped moving but it was a long second before she replied.
‘I don’t know.’ She spoke slowly. ‘When everybody left and there were just a few of us here and everything was burnt it was … bad. I felt,’ her voice was so low Allie could hardly hear it, ‘responsible, you know? Like I could have stopped it.’
Before Allie could decide what to say to that, Jo continued, only now her voice had changed and she spoke briskly, as if she were repeating something she’d memorised. ‘But Isabelle and Eloise were great, and I’m seeing this counsellor. And it’s all helping. Everyone keeps telling me I’m not the worst person ever in the history of the world, but I still feel kind of … I don’t know … Like the worst person ever in the history of the world, I guess.’
Her laugh was as brittle as thin ice. At that moment Allie wanted to forgive her. After all, she wasn’t the one who’d killed Ruth. Gabe did that. But she also hadn’t gone for help when she found out what Gabe had done. Even after he threatened Allie’s life.
And that’s where it all gets a bit twisted, she thought.
But Jo was looking at her with expectation in her crystalline blue eyes. She had been Allie’s best friend before everything went wrong. And she wasn’t a bad person, really. She was just … What had Rachel called her? Fragile.
When she spoke, Allie chose her words carefully. ‘Listen, Jo. Gabe did this, not you. Gabe is the murderer, not you. Gabe is the worst person in the history of the world. Not you. OK?’
Allie was talking as much to herself as to Jo, and the relief on Jo’s face was her reward. She only wished she was certain she meant it.
*
‘Help,’ Jo moaned. ‘I think I’m in a coma.’
It was seven o’clock. The library walls were scrubbed clean and Allie’s neck and shoulders ached whenever she even thought about raising her arms as she sat on the dust sheet next to Jo.
‘Do your arms hurt?’ Allie asked, rubbing her shoulders.
‘God yes.’
‘Then you’re not in a coma.’ Gingerly Allie stretched out her legs. ‘Jesus. What have I got myself into? Rachel has a swimming pool and horses. Horses, Jo. I could be floating in a pool and petting soft pony noses if I were still at her house.’
‘Here.’ Jo turned to face her. ‘My nose is soft. You can pet it.’
Allie stroked her nose tiredly. ‘Wow. This is just like being at Rachel’s. Where’s the pool?’
‘No pool,’ Jo said. ‘Showers.’
‘Sucks.’
‘Totally.’
‘Are you two just going to lie there complaining? Or are you coming to dinner?’ Allie looked up to see Carter standing above them, studying them doubtfully.
‘Jo’s in a coma,’ Allie informed him. ‘She no longer needs food.’
‘Wait. Did you say food? I think I’m actually awake.’ Jo scrambled to her feet.
‘My God,’ Allie said mildly. ‘It’s a miracle.’
‘You’ve only been doing this one day, Sheridan.’ Carter reached down to pull her up. ‘You can’t be tired already.’
‘Everything hurts,’ she said. ‘Shoulders, arms, back …’
‘Legs, feet, head …’ Jo offered helpfully.
‘Ankles. Shins. Name a body part,’ Allie said. ‘It hurts.’
Carter didn’t look impressed.
‘Food will ease your pain.’ He steered them towards the dining hall.
‘He’s very wise,’ Allie told Jo.
‘Clearly,’ Jo replied.
With most of the students still away, only a few tables were set up. Eloise sat at one with Jerry Cole, the science teacher, and a few others. At another, Sylvain sat alone.