Chapter 4
“Your death is my life.”
The house in the Countryside
Eve stared out of an open window, but of course not for very long, She was preparing herself to speak to Richard again and for some reason her mind had thrown up an ancient memory. Of Julius, and any reminders of that ill-fated liaison filled her with immediate revulsion. She pictured the last time she’d seen him, how he was so proud that he’d owned her. She shook her head as she had done more than a thousand times to remove his face and memory,
“Cute curly-haired monster.” He’d been such a bastard to her.
The house in the Countryside
Cairo lay under her bed holding Button tightly in her arms,
“His name is Richard…” She whispered in its ear, “…He was a little bit horrid to me, but I think he quite likes me really. He’s a prisoner you know!” She had been mulling over the idea of being held captive and found it very confusing but also quite exciting.
“Is he happy?” Button asked her. She gave it a little thought,
“Why shouldn't he be?” She asked. And then Button reminded her of something that happened when she was younger,
“Do you remember the time when you were in one of the upstairs rooms and a little bird flew in through an open window?” Cairo remembered it all too vividly, even though she had tried to put it out of her mind, she nodded her head in the cramped confine underneath her bed. Button continued,
“You closed the window to keep it in, and the poor little thing went mad, it flew all around the room before crashing into the window pane, and then it died.” Cairo remembered the incident all too well, she pictured the little bird dead on the carpet, a small drop of blood on the end of its tiny beak, she remembered sobbing uncontrollably with guilt and shame,
“I only wanted to be its friend!…” She felt stinging tears fill her eyes once again, “…I never meant to hurt it!” She wiped away the hot flood on her cheek with the back of a grubby hand.
Button said nothing.
Cairo made a decision.