But there was hardly any water. If she threw herself in all she’d do was get wet. Maybe break a bone or two. She was thinking how crap she was, even at simple things, when a biting wind howled in from the south. She pulled her jacket tight around her, dug her hands deep into the pockets and felt a piece of scrunched-up paper. And Katie Plumberton, who in her nineteen short years on earth had never given any thought to Life, the Universe and Everything, gasped. Fate had delivered her a sign from God. That it had arrived via someone in a white T-shirt and ripped jeans struck her as unexpected, but nevertheless the relief at not being alone in her misery left her lightheaded and giddy. She stood staring at the water for several more minutes, her mind whirling with the mysterious ways of the universe, before striding away, digging into her bag, finding her phone and ringing the number.
***
‘Out again love?’
‘Yes. Sophie’s birthday.’
‘How are you getting back?’
‘Chloe’s brother.’
‘Awh he’s a good boy.’
Katie kept silent. Didn’t say a word about the buckets of money he made from driving them around.
‘Come here, pet. Let’s have a gander.’ Her mother was glued to the TV.
Katie walked in front of her and pirouetted.
Her mother leapt to her feet. ‘Oh my. Oh my. You look very … you look very … grown up!’
