Chapter 60
Sixty
Gemma
‘Morgan, run back to the house. See if the police and ambulance have arrived.’ She starts to jog away from Zoe and me. Diggerty follows close behind, barking with excitement.
She stops and turns around. ‘I can’t leave you with her.’
‘It’s okay.’ I wave my hand, not letting on that I’m twinging because I need my daughter to be away from all this and safe. Please hang on, Beanie.
She nods as she takes in what Zoe is doing.
Zoe has collapsed in front of the den where she silently rocks back and forth.
Morgan snatched the knife off her and flung it into a bush, so at least I’m safe from that.
The truth has now hit Zoe. She knows about Jasmine’s bones, which is what she came for. The police can take it from here.
Quinn, she’s been stabbed and I can’t help her by myself. ‘Zoe.’ She ignores me. ‘Zoe.’ I yell that loud, she recoils.
I drag her up onto her feet and pull her back into the den.
My phone lights up the structure again, and I let out a gasp as I see Quinn slumped on the ground.
She’s breathing in short, sharp breaths.
Her eyes are closed. I kneel down and whisper.
‘Quinn, we have to get you out of here. Help is on its way. Hold on, okay.’
Zoe shakes and screams.
‘Pass me your scarf.’
Zoe is in no fit state to help, so I snatch the scarf that falls over her shoulders and I nudge it under Quinn’s light frame, looping it around her wound.
I tear the bottom of my sweater and push the material against Quinn’s wound to stem the bleeding, then I tighten the scarf over it.
I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing but I’ve seen this done in films. I try to lift Quinn but I can’t.
Zoe stares. ‘You’re going to have to help me. ’
Quinn isn’t heavy but it will take both of us. Quinn groans.
‘Zoe, grab her under the other arm.’
‘I wasn’t going to hurt anyone. I didn’t mean to.’ Her teeth chatter.
I remember what the police officer told me when he saw that I’d taken a knife to the balcony.
‘Never bring knives into a situation. It’s not worth it.
’ Now I know why. This whole situation got out of hand.
Jasmine deserves justice and only now is she going to get it.
For reasons unknown, Aunt Dorette decided to bury Jasmine in her house.
We might never know the truth. Zoe claims that she only dodged Aunt Dorette on the balcony.
Quinn didn’t kill her mother – again all I have is their words for what they say.
Both of them could be murderers. We only have our own truths and the pieces we’re willing to share.
‘Zoe, grab her and help me get her out.’
Zoe snaps out of her daze because I shouted as loud as I could this time.
She hooks her arm under Quinn’s and we drag Quinn out onto the snowy ground and lay her down.
What seems like forever passes and I keep whispering to Quinn to hold on, then I hear shouting coming from the other side of the woods. Help is on its way.
Quinn’s fingers get caught in my hair. She pulls me close and coughs as she tries to speak. I place my ear closer.
‘Dorette made me promise.’
Zoe is sitting away from us crying in her lap, so I whisper back in the hope that Quinn can hear me. ‘Promise what?’
‘She found Jasmine and she ended her life to protect you. She buried Jasmine. That’s all she told me.
She…’ Quinn coughs hard and continues in a spluttery whisper.
I can just about make out her words. ‘Jasmine’s head was bleeding.
Dorette was foraging. She saw and heard everything.
She got her car, parked on the road, dragged her… ’
I would tell her to stop speaking because I can see it’s hurting her, but I don’t stop her from talking. I need to know what she has to say next.
‘Your aunt said you hurting Jasmine would ruin your life.’ Quinn starts coughing violently and gasping for breath. As she finishes her sentence, I start trembling.
A police officer runs down the path, followed by two paramedics, so I step back and leave them to take over. I hear them saying that they couldn’t drive down our lane, that the ambulance is on the main road.
Zoe stands, her eyes almost stony. ‘I stabbed her, and my daughter’s bones are in Clover House. I didn’t mean to stab Quinn. It was an accident. It happened so fast.’ She wears a confused expression, like she’s questioning how it all happened.
I exhale, knowing my family can put all this behind them because we are leaving. It’s over.
Then I feel another twinge and I yelp in pain.
A paramedic hurries over to me, and the police officer radios for more assistance.
I want to check Quinn and see if she’s okay.
She’s not moving, but I’m in no fit state to be going anywhere.
I hold on to my stomach, willing Beanie to be okay, but I’m scared that they’re too late.
I had my warning but I had to protect Morgan, my first born, and it breaks my heart that I had to choose between her and my unborn baby.
I think of what Zoe said about the past when she ran around frantically looking for Jasmine.
She lost her baby, and I think of how cruel Quinn’s mum had been with her words.
Then I think of the words my aunt said to Quinn before she died.
Words that make me tremble harder the more I run them through my mind.
Aunt Dorette seemed cold, drunk and angry, nothing like the warm woman I remember from my stays with her as a teenager. All I keep asking is why?