Free The Cold Cold Sea by Linda Huber Page B

the kitchen had a quaint, old-fashioned look to it. The entire atmosphere was one of age and tranquillity. And silence.
    Jennifer stared out of the window. She could see why Thea loved her home. Long Farm Wood started just the other side of the lane; trees stretched for miles down towards the ocean, oaks and sycamores as far as the eye could see. They weren’t quite in the sticks because if you stood out in the lane and looked downhill you could see the last few houses of Trevaren in the distance. But few people except the occupants of this cottage and its distant neighbour ever came up here, so it was ideal for her and Hailey. They’d been here four days now and Jennifer was beginning to get used to country life with her daughter.
    And that was the important thing. They were together. The fact that the child was behaving so strangely could be put right. It was possibly just nerves, or drowsiness from the pills, but Hailey hadn’t given the correct answer to a single one of the questions Jennifer had put to her so far. It was infuriating.
    Jennifer took a deep breath. Sometimes she didn’t know what was happening to herself, never mind Hailey, and the feeling of helplessness frightened her. She needed more order in her life, that would be it. The doctor in that place had said that a set routine was important. Well, when they moved to Polpayne she would make sure her days had all the structure she needed. Everything would be fine as soon as they got there. Jennifer hugged herself. She would cope. She was a mother.
    Mind you, children came with their own problems, as Hailey’s behaviour proved more and more every day. Getting her to eat was incredibly difficult. Jennifer sighed. It was a pity she had to drug Hailey during the day too, but she couldn’t stay here babysitting all the time. She had to talk to the workmen about the house in Polpayne, and yesterday she’d gone to the supermarket to get supplies. But then Hailey hadn’t touched the soup Jennifer had bought for her, even though minestrone had always been her favourite. In fact the only thing the child had eaten these past few days was yoghurt, and that was only because Jennifer had spooned it into her mouth when she was half asleep.
    They couldn’t go on like this, and there was no reason for Hailey to be so moody and uncooperative. Maybe a little plain speaking would do some good. It was time things returned to normal. Jennifer ran upstairs, cradling her bump.
    The child’s eyes were half open, and Jennifer bent over the bed.
    ‘Hailey? It’s time for your shower.’
    She pulled Hailey’s arm as she spoke, and to her relief the little girl allowed herself to be led along to the bathroom. Jennifer pushed the unresisting little body under the shower and lathered it generously. Goodness, she’d never noticed that little mole on Hailey’s shoulder, when had that come? She rinsed the last of the soap from Hailey’s hair and turned the water off.
    Smiling happily, Jennifer wrapped one of Thea’s bath towels round Hailey and hugged the child fiercely. She had her three children close to her heart and
at last
Hailey smelled like their own girl again.
    Now for that hair, it was far too long now. Hailey had looked much prettier with shoulder-length hair and it was easier to keep, too. So shoulder-length it would be. Jennifer sat the child on the bathroom stool, combed out the section of hair closest to Hailey’s scalp, and lifted the scissors.
    The little girl was slouched on the stool, a blank expression on her face, but the first snip made her jerk upright, eyes wide open.
    Jennifer inhaled sharply and prodded Hailey’s shoulder with the pointed end of the scissors.
    ‘I’ll cut your ear off if you do that again,’ she said. ‘Here, you can hold the plastic bag.’
    It didn’t take long, the soft brown hair was easy to cut. Lock after lock landed in the bag and Jennifer frowned. It looked very brown today, dirty, almost. They would need to do something