Free Hold Your Breath by Caroline Green

the person to discuss this with?
    ‘Why are you telling me?’ she said irritably. ‘Can’t you share it with your coven over there?’ She was surprised at her own daring. Impressed with herself a bit
too. She tried to avoid attention and trouble generally. She didn’t need any more battles in her life. But Karis didn’t turn on her, as she might have expected. Instead she gave a deep
sigh. Her hair fell across her face as she wiped in a desultory way at a scuffed plastic chopping board.
    ‘Coven’s about right,’ she said. They didn’t speak for a couple more minutes.
    ‘So how’s that gorgeous brother of yours then?’ said Karis, flashing a lascivious grin at Tara.
    ‘Trust me,’ said Tara, ‘you wouldn’t think he was gorgeous if you had to use the bath after him. He’s so hairy, it’s like a gorilla’s been grooming
itself in there.’
    Karis snorted with laughter – a proper, likeable snort – that made Tara grin back at her.
    ‘And,’ she added, warming to the theme, ‘when he’s going out, he checks his reflection in anything remotely shiny. I swear I saw him admiring himself in the kettle
before. And the screen of his phone. He checks his hair way more than I do.’
    Karis was helpless with laughter now and Tara felt a giggle rumble up from her belly. She wasn’t being disloyal to Beck. She just saw a different side to him than other girls, being his
sister. Anyway, he could handle it. The laughter felt like internal sunshine.
    A dark and then a blond head turned their way from across the room. She gave Jada the sweetest smile she could muster.
    On the way home from school Tara had a feeling of lightness inside. She wasn’t exactly friends with Karis, but at least for once she’d had a bit of a laugh with
someone here.
    It reminded her of her old life, before they moved. Before everything happened, more accurately.
    She hadn’t ever been one of the popular girls, but she’d done okay. She’d been mates with Mahlia since primary school. They’d gone through everything together; starting
secondary school, spots and periods, boys and exams. But she’d moved away too, to Scotland, a few months before things kicked off. Even though they texted and emailed, it was hard to stay
friends when you didn’t see people, plus Mahlia had changed. She’d gone all active for the first time ever and threw in mentions in her emails and texts of weird stuff like water-skiing
on lochs.
    Anyway, today had been the best day in a while. It was nice to feel like a normal girl for once.
    Tara decided to walk along by the river, which was a slight detour, but more scenic than going by the main road. She walked along, noticing the weeping willow that bowed delicate fronds over the
water on the other bank. A wood pigeon cooed gently somewhere above her. The trees were perfectly mirrored in the still water today and she passed a houseboat that sent blue and red splashes onto
the murky green of the water. A large woman with grey dreadlocks was watering the plants that tumbled from stone pots on the boat roof. She swayed slightly to the languid thump of reggae music
drifting from an ancient speaker on the deck. Seeing Tara, she smiled. Tara gave her a warm smile back.
    As Tara walked a little further, houses began to come into view on the opposite bank.
    Within a few moments she saw the iron bridge, and groaned. She’d somehow managed to forget about the purse for a little while, but now it looked as though dropping it off would be so easy,
it’d be downright mean not to do it.
    She put her hand into her bag and fished out the large envelope. It was looking a bit dog-eared after being scrunched up in there all day. In fact, something had leaked in her make-up bag, and
there was a sticky pink mark on the top corner. Tara tried to smear it away with the side of her hand.
    She looked up again. The houses were three storeys high, and painted white. They looked grand and elegant. Some had carefully