Free The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell Page A

Key Worker or whatever she is, is waiting for her in the lobby. An orderly leads them down a corridor. They enter a room and Esme is standing at a counter, a curled fist resting on its surface. She turns sharply and looks Iris up and down. 'They are fetching my box,' she says.
    No hello, Iris thinks, no how are you, no thanks for coming to get me. Nothing. Was there, she wonders, a flicker of recognition? Does Esme know who she is? She has no idea. 'Your box?' Iris asks.
    'Admissions box,' the orderly chips in. 'All the stuff she had with her when she came in. However long ago that was. How long has it been, Euphemia?'
    'Sixty-one years, five months, four days,' Esme incants, in a clear, staccato voice.
    The orderly chuckles like someone whose pet has just performed a favourite trick. 'She keeps a record every day, don't you, Euphemia?' She shakes her head, then drops her voice to a whisper. 'Between you and me,' she mutters to Iris, 'they'll be lucky if they find it. God knows what's in there. She hasn't shut up about it all morning. I'm surprised she remembers anything at all, the amount of—'
    The orderly breaks off. A man in an overall has appeared, carrying a dented tin box.
    'Wonders will never cease.' The orderly laughs and nudges Iris.
    Iris stands and goes over to Esme's side. Esme is fumbling with the lock. Iris reaches out and pushes back the catch and Esme lifts the lid. There is a musty smell, like old books, and Esme puts her hand down into the box. Iris watches as she pulls out a brown lace-up shoe, the leather split and curled, an indeterminate article of clothing in faded blue check, a handkerchief with the initial E in uneven chainstitch, a tortoiseshell comb, a watch.
    Esme picks up every item, holds it for a second, then discards it. She works quickly, intently, ignoring both Iris and the orderly. Iris has to bend to pick up the watch when it falls to the floor and she sees that its hands are frozen at ten past twelve. She is wondering whether it was midday or midnight, when she sees Esme peer into the depths of the box, then glance again at the discarded things.
    'What is it?' Iris asks.
    Esme falls on the heap and starts searching through it, flinging things aside.
    'What are you looking for?' Iris asks. She offers her the watch. 'Is it this?'
    Esme looks up, sees the watch in Iris's outstretched hand and shakes her head. She holds up the blue check material and Iris sees that it is a dress, a woollen dress, that it's crumpled and two of the buttons are missing, torn out from the fabric. Esme is shaking it, as if something might be caught in its folds, then casts it aside.
    'It's not here,' she says. She looks, first at Iris, then at the orderly, then at the social worker, then at the man who brought the box. 'It's not here,' she repeats.
    'What?' Iris says. 'What isn't there?'
    'There must be another box,' Esme appeals to the man. 'Will you look for me?'
    'There's just the one,' the man says. 'No more.'
    'There must be. Are you sure? Will you check?'
    The man shakes his head. 'Just the one,' he repeats.
    Iris sees that Esme is near tears. She stretches out and touches her arm. 'What is it you're missing?' she asks.
    Esme is breathing deeply. 'A length of ... of cloth,' she holds her hands apart, as if imagining it between them, 'green ... maybe wool.'
    The four of them stare at her for a moment. The orderly makes a small, impatient noise; the man turns to leave.
    Iris says, 'Are you sure it's not here?' She goes over to the box and looks into it. Then she picks up the fallen things one by one. Esme watches her and her expression is so hopeful, so desperate, that Iris cannot bear it when she realises that there is indeed no green cloth here.
    Esme sits on a chair, shoulders slumped, staring into the middle distance as Iris signs a form, as the orderly gives her the address of the hostel to which she has agreed to drive Esme, as the social worker tells Esme that she will come and visit her in a couple of