The Hoopla

Shes coming today. Shes coming here.

Right here to where I am.
Birdy thought she would have to wait until she was free again
to see Rose, but now Rose has been convicted of a shocking
crime and she and Birdy will be together. Birdy has been
saving all her anger for Rose. It is Rose who should have
protected her and kept her safe. Birdy was little but Rose
was big and she knows Rose could have saved her.

and about the secrets we keep from ourselves. It is about

children who are betrayed and adults who fail them.
This is the story of Birdy who was hurt and Rose
who must be made to pay.
A provocative and compassionate read from the queen
of white-knuckle suspense and searing family drama.
You wont be able to put it down.

Praise for The Secrets in Silence:

Powerful and thought provoking writing
with a telling edge of reality.
Womens Weekly Pick of the Month

Cover design: Lisa White

Cover photograph: Getty Images

FICTION

HUSH.indd 1

Hush, Little Bird

This is a story about monsters who hide in plain sight

Nicole TROPE

If you love writers such as Jodi Picoult or

Caroline Overington, Nicole may just be your cup of tea.

A celebrity wife.
A damaged young woman.
United by a secret neither
will reveal.

Nicole

TROPE
Hush, Little Bird

7/05/2015 3:21 pm

Nicole

TROPE
Hush, Little Bird

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products
of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual
events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Grateful acknowledgement is given for permission to reproduce extracts from
The Adventures of Isabel by Ogden Nash.
Copyright 1936 by Ogden Nash, renewed.
Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown, Ltd.
Allrights reserved.
First published in 2015
Copyright Nicole Trope 2015
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior
permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968
(the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book,
whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution
for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution
(or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the
Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.
Allen & Unwin
83 Alexander Street
Crows Nest NSW 2065
Australia
Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.allenandunwin.com
Cataloguing-in-Publication details are available
from the National Library of Australia
www.trove.nla.gov.au
ISBN 978 1 76011 372 8
Internal design by Lisa White
Set in 13.5/18 pt Minion LT by Midland Typesetters, Australia
Printed and bound in Australia by Griffin Press
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

C009448

Hush Little Birdie PAGES.indd 2

The paper in this book is FSC certified.

FSC promotes environmentally responsible,
socially beneficial and economically viable
management of the worlds forests.

25/05/2015 2:44 pm

Chapter One
Shes coming today. Shes coming here. Right here to where
I am.
I thought I would have to wait until I was free to see her.
I thought I would have to wait two years to see her. Two
whole, long years. I havent seen her for a lot longer than
that. I havent seen her since I was eight years old and now
I am thirty-three years old. Thats twenty-five years.
When I was eight, all I wanted was to get away from her,
from him. From them. I wanted to go far away and forget
them, but even after I moved away they stayed in my head.
They stayed in a corner of my brain, not doing anything,
just there, but one day something happened, something
horrible and awful and bad and then they were almost all
I could think about. And I knew I had to see them again.
1

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NICOLE TROPE

I had a plan. I was going to catch a bus to her house.

First I was going to catch a bus to their house, but now
there is only her left. So its only her house.
I know about catching buses and trains. I know how to
use my phone to get directions. I can go anywhere I want
to, but I cant go right now because right now I have to stay
here. I know that. I can learn and I can remember things if
Im told over and over again. I just need to hear things
more than once. Sometimes I need to hear something lots
and lots of times. The door to my brain is always open.
Stuff comes in but before I know it, it goes out again.
I cant seem to close the door fast enough.
I know things now. More things than people think
I know. Im not that stupid. I can read and write and add
and subtract. I know who I am and what I am. I know
I am not clever. All through school none of my teachers
ever said, She needs to work harder. All of them said, Shes
doing her best. Shes really trying.
Sometimes on her report card Lilas teacher wrote, Lila
is not working to her full potential. Potential means what
you can do. Lila is clever, very clever, but Mum said she is
also lazy. They never wrote that about me. I always worked
to my full potential even though that was not very much
potential at all.
Im smart enough to know Im a little bit stupid, or slow
as Mum likes to say. Im smart enough to know Im slow.
Thats how smart I am. I used to get angry about being
slow, about not understanding things and about having to

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learn them over and over again, but now I just accept it.
Not everyone can be the top of the class, Mum said to me
every time I brought home my report card. But I didnt
want to be the top of the class. I just didnt want to be right
at the bottom. But right at the bottom is where I stayed.
I never had very much potential at all.
Mum said she was fine with me being at the bottom of
the class, but she wasnt. Not really. Just because she told
me she was fine doesnt mean that was the truth. I knew
how she really felt. When I was little I heard her. I heard her
tell the truth all the time.
How am I supposed to deal with something like this?
I dont have a husband to help me. How can I cope? Ill
have to watch over her for the rest of my life. When do I get
taken care of, Violet? When?
I wasnt supposed to be listening. I was supposed to be
playing next door, but I was hiding and I was listening to
Mum talk to Aunty Vi who lived in London. I used to be
good at hiding. I could stay quiet for a long time. When
I was quiet I would hear lots of things I wasnt supposed
to hear. Thats how I knew that Mum wasnt fine with me
being at the bottom of the class.
I know, Violet, Im not saying Ive given up on her,
but shes always going to be a little different, isnt she?
I mean, shes nearly eight now and the other children
are already starting to notice it ... I know that theres
nothing you can do. You live in another country. Im
not asking you to do anything. I just need someone to

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talk to. You have no idea how difficult it is to be alone in

this world, no idea at all.
I was in the cupboard under the stairs where the
winter coats were stored. I was touching the fur coat that
belonged to Mum. She never wore it because she didnt
like it, so it lived under the stairs like a lonely pet. It was
soft and warm.
I dont know what will happen to her. Im just not coping
right now. Ive had to sell the house. Did I tell you? Were
moving to a dreadful little shitbox out in some horrible
suburb. It was all I could afford Violet ... Im not asking
you for anything, Im just trying to talk to you. I am so ...
so humiliated by all this. What have I done to deserve such
a life? What?
Mums voice was all wobbly. I knew she was crying.
She was crying about the house, because she had to sell it
so the bloody bank wouldnt come and get it. Back then
I thought the bloody bank was a giant who could lift up
our whole house with one hand and take it away. At night
I had dreams about being crushed in the bloody banks
giant fingers. I had hidden my most special toys behind my
chest of drawers. When the bloody bank took the house
I was going to grab them and jump out of the front door.
Under the stairs I patted Mums lonely pet fur coat and
thought about hiding it as well. Now I know that a bank is
just a building where you keep your money.
I was afraid the bloody bank would take everything
away, but I wasnt sad to be moving. I wanted to leave the

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big house more than anything in the world. I hated it. We

were moving far, far away. Our shitbox was very small.
I would still have my own room, but the carpet was
grey with sticky patches on it, not like my carpet in
my bedroom in the big house. That carpet was peachcoloured and soft. I liked to put my cheek on it and feel it
tickle me. I knew that the sticky grey carpet wouldnt feel
nice on my cheek, but I still liked the shitbox better than
the big house.
Stop talking to me about new beginnings, Violet, said
Mum. Your husband hasnt left you for someone else.
Your husband is probably sitting in his armchair right
now reading the newspaper. This is not a new beginning
for me. Its the end of my life as Ive known it. He could
have had the decency to allow me to live here for another
few years, but the bitch he married wants her own house.
Mum was finished crying and she was shouting at Aunty
Vi. She shouted at Aunty Vi a lot after Dad left to live with
the bitch. Lila and I never got to meet the bitch. Mum
wouldnt let us. Your father doesnt give two hoots about
either of you, said Mum.
I have not seen my dad for almost my whole life. He had
blue eyes and he would shave the hair off his face and cut
himself and say bugger.
When I hid under the stairs I was scared of Mum
shouting at Aunty Vi and crying. Some days Mum shouted
at Aunty Vi and then when she was finished shouting at
her she shouted at me. I didnt like shouting days.

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That was so many years ago. Some things stay in my

brain even when I dont want them to. Sad things and bad
things wont go out even when I leave the door open.
They stayed in my brain. They stayed and stayed. I think
about him and I think about her. They are both stuck in
my brain, but now he is gone and she is coming here.
She is coming here today.
I thought Id have more time to plan before I saw her.
I didnt expect them to bring her here to where I am. I needed
time to plan what I wanted to say and what I wanted to
do, but now that I know shes coming I dont know whats
going to happen.
No, thats not true. I know whats going to happen; I just
dont know how its going to happen.
I dont know who first found out she was coming here,
but now everyone knows and everyone is jumpy and
excited. The news about her coming was whispered from
person to person and ear to ear until everyone knew.
No one whispered to me, but Jess told me. She tells me
everything I need to know. A real celebrity here, imagine
that, said Jess, but she didnt smile so I dont think she
was happy.
For weeks and weeks all the women in my unit have
watched her on television and tried to decide: did she
do it?
I live in unit seven with Maya and Mina and Jess. They
shout and argue and laugh when they talk about the did
she or didnt she. They shout and laugh and talk about

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lots of things. They all know about so many things. They

know about celebrities and sport and history and the
weather. They know about cooking and sewing and people
you cant trust. Jess says, I think ..., and Mina says, Well,
in my opinion ..., and Maya says, I know.
I dont talk with them. I am quiet. I am good at listening.
I dont care if she did or she didnt. Im just glad that
he is dead and buried under the ground with the worms.
I hope they are crawling all over his skin. I have to rub my
arms when I think about the worms crawling on his skin.
I have to make sure there are no worms on me.
When I think about her coming here I have to swallow
and swallow so I dont throw up.
Last night I lay in bed and I wondered if she would
know me or not. I chewed my nails as I lay in the dark and
thought and thought. I made my fingers bleed. In the dark
I could feel the sting on my skin that means I have torn off
a big piece of nail, and now when Jess sees it shell say, Oh,
Birdy, you were doing so well. I hate disappointing Jess.
She was going to give me a proper manicure at the end of
the week. I had already chosen the colour. Its a pretty pink
colour and its called No Baggage Please. Thats a funny
name for nail polish but I like it anyway.
I got some blood on the sheets because even when it
hurts I cant stop myself from tearing off pieces of nail, and
I know when Allison comes around to do her inspection
shell shake her head and sigh but she wont let me change
the sheets. Ill have to sleep in them until laundry day.

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This morning when I woke up I looked in the small

mirror over the basin in the bathroom and I knew that it
was silly to worry about her knowing me. The me she knew
is not the same me now. I dye my hair black and Im an
adult. I take up a lot more space as well. A lot more space.
You dont need all that starch, Jess says to me when we
make dinner, but I like the potatoes and rice. I like being
bigger. Besides, rice and potatoes are cheap. They fill you up
nicely. We have to buy all our own food and there is never
enough money. I am good at counting out my money.
I keep it safe until canteen day.
On canteen day we get to spend our money on things
that we want, not just things that we need. You need bread
but you dont need chocolate. Maggie runs the canteen and
when she sees me she smiles and says, and what can I get
for you today, young Birdy? I like Maggie. Once she gave
me a free bar of chocolate. It was all squashed but it still
tasted the same. Jess doesnt like to see me eating chocolate.
She shakes her head and says, If you would just cut back a
bit you could lose some weight.
But I dont want to lose weight, I always tell her. I like
being big and strong. Theres no one to be afraid of in
here, Birdy, says Jess. You dont have to be big and strong.
I would like to tell Jess that she has no idea what I have
to be afraid of, but she knows some things about me and
she also knows about being afraid. Everyone here knows
about being afraid. We are all locked up in here because of
the things weve done when weve been afraid.

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Anyway, Im not scared of anything here. Im just

making sure that I can be seen. When I was small I couldnt
be seen. Even after I had grown up and I was as tall as Mum,
some people couldnt see me. Mum never really saw me.
I wanted to be seen but I also wanted to be light and free
to fly away. You can see things that are light and free if
you look carefully, but as quickly as you see them, theyre
gone. Now I am big and I cannot fly away, but at least I can
be seen.
Move out of the way, you big lump, said Jess when she
wanted to get to the kettle, and then she said, Sorry, Birdy.
I dont mind being called a big lump. You know a big lump
is there. You cant pretend that it isnt. When I was light
and small there were a lot of things to be afraid of. Now
Im a big lump and sometimes people are afraid of me.
I wonder what she was afraid of. I wonder if she was
afraid of him. I wonder if she is afraid of coming here.
It doesnt matter anyway. I dont care about her thoughts
and feelings. I dont care about what she did or didnt do.
Mostly, mostly, I care about what Im going to do to her.

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Chapter Two
This place is really not as dreadful as I feared it would be.
It is almost a relief to be here now, to have the waiting over
and done with. There were some surreal moments in the
last few weeks where I became convinced that I would be
locked forever in the limbo of waiting to know my fate.
Some nights, as I waited for my sentencing hearing to finally
begin, I found myself drawn to those lamentable television
prison dramas. I watched them with growing horror and
I decided that there was a fair chance I wouldnt make it
through the first week of my incarceration without being
stabbed in the shower by some woman sporting a giant
tattoo of a skull and crossbones. The thought of having
toget into a communal shower was beyond humiliating,
although I had no idea if the showers were communal or not.
10

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11

One night I stood in front of my full-length bedroom

mirror for nearly an hour, looking at myself from every
angle, identifying flaws. I knew as I was doing it how
ridiculous it was to worry about such a thing, but I still
kept looking. I imagined the eyes of hundreds of strange
women on my body, and I wanted to curl into a ball and
stay under the bedcovers forever.
Its not going to be like that at all, Mother, said Portia
when I told her what I was dreading.
Then whats it going to be like? I asked, and I had to
struggle to keep myself from dissolving into tears. Portia
does not tolerate self-pity. She spends too much time with
underprivileged children and teenagers and doesnt think
that anyone else has a right to complain. If you had seen
what Ive seen is one of her favourite mantras. It ends every
conversation very quickly. It is of little value to remind her
of my own childhood in a suburb populated by immigrants trying desperately to make a new home for themselves. Perhaps I have glossed over what it was like when
I reminisce about those days to my children. I am sure
I have never told her of the nights when Lena, our next
door neighbour, would knock on the door, waking us from
sleep. Her face would always be sporting a fresh bruise.
Her three-year-old twins would be by her side, tearful and
exhausted, and hasty beds would be made for them all
on our living room floor. Sleep it off, Rolf, Iwould hear
my father shout through the locked front door when the
banging began. Sleep it off.

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NICOLE TROPE

Sometimes Portia is insufferable, but lately she is the

rock I have come to rely on. Logic rather than sympathy is
what I need right now
I dont think youre going to be sent to prison. And if
the worst happens, Eric will appeal. If that doesnt work,
hell appeal again and again until we get you out. You are
not without resources, Mother.
Money cant solve every problem, Portia, I said.
It can solve a fair few of them, she replied. Im sure in
the end money will get you out.
Out of where? I shouted.
Calm down. Just calm down! Look, whatever happens
you have to know that we will do our best to ensure that
we keep you out of prison. If by some chance you do get
sent to prison, Im sure it will only be a minimum-security
facility. After all, youre hardly a threat to anyone.
I dont know why Portia thought she knew what was
going to happen. It may be that she found it inconceivable
that I would be locked up like a common criminal, just like
she might once have found it inconceivable that I would
be charged with such a crime. Life can be filled with nasty
surprises. Ive spent most of the last eighteen months in a
state of shock.
Although I wanted to believe her, I couldnt put aside
my fear that the absolute worst would happen. I had been
right about the trial. I had known that, despite everything
I had been told, the jury would find against me. I knew that

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13

there was no reason why I should not be sent to prison for

manslaughter.
Prison is a last resort, said Portia.
Then that is where I will be going I said, making Portia
shake her head at my apparent stubbornness.
The trial seems very long ago now, although little more
than a month has passed. If I close my eyes I canstill
summon up the stale smell of the courtroom. I can stillfeel
the acid in my stomach as I listened to the prosecutor
demolish my entire life.
I knew that the jury were going to find against me. Id
been watching their faces throughout the trial, and there
was a point when they just stopped looking at me. Of the
twelve jury members, seven were women. I had thought
that would be a good thing, but it didnt seem to help at
all. There was one woman who looked to be about my age,
but she was missing a couple of teeth and had that worn
look of someone who has had to struggle for everything.
Ive seen that kind of face before. My mother had that face.
I could see her hating me from day one. Perhaps I shouldnt
have worn the Chanel suit, but its not like they didnt know
who I was. His face was all over the news for months before
it happened. And then afterwards, so was mine.
If I had been allowed to speak to them I would have
explained that I was wearing the pale pink suit to mourn
him, to celebrate him. On our first trip to Paris hed pulled
me into the Chanel store and insisted I try it on. Id only
indulged him because I thought we were simply amusing

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NICOLE TROPE

ourselves, but then he bought it for me, signing the credit

card slip with a flourish and a smile. Its too much, Id
said. Nothing is too much for you, hed replied.
Of course the prosecutor brought money into it. When
the huge sum was mentioned, I watched the eyes of most
of the jurors glaze over. Talk of millions of dollars belongs
in magazines, not real life.
They will discuss his life insurance, Eric had told me.
I didnt even know about that, I said.
He nodded. Well make sure the jury knows that.
From knowing nothing about the Australian legal
system, I now feel as though I could write a book about
it. Is this me? I often thought during the trial. Am I really
sitting here listening to this? Could I possibly be the person
they are talking about?
What has happened to our lives? wailed Rosalind after
she read the first of many articles about the trial. Rosalind
has not dealt well with everything that has happened. The
trial was merely the horrible culmination of an appalling year and a half. Eric assured me that I wouldnt even
be charged with anything, especially after what we had
all been going through; but when I was charged and the
whole system shunted into top gear all I could do, all the
girls could do, was just hang on.
I could have spoken to Rosalind about my fears regarding
prison life, but she would have simply dissolved into tears
with me and that would have achieved nothing. Rosalind,
even more so than me, seemed to be coming apart at the

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15

edges. I wanted to help her but I couldnt seem to concentrate on anyone but myself. It was not the kind of mother
I had always imagined myself to be. I was supposed to be
selfless, not selfish.
I knew once all the jurors stopped looking at me that
I was doomed. I knew what they were doing. It must be
very difficult to know that someones fate hinges on a
single decision you have to make. It would be hard to
look into the eyes of someone whose life you are about
to destroy. It must be easier to make that decision if you
dehumanise that person. At some point I must have gone
from being Rose Winslow, mother, grandmother and
the well-dressed lady sitting quietly next to her lawyer,
to Rose Winslow, the accused. Rose Winslow, murderer.
Murderess? I dont know what you call someone charged
with manslaughter.
The press referred to me as a mother and grandmother,
but in some articles I was also described as beautiful.
I would never tell anyone I had picked up that particular
detail as I read about my alleged crime, but it stood out
when I saw it. I quite liked being called beautiful even
though I am not beautiful, merely well put together. In
court I wore my long brown hair in a low bun and my
face was only lightly made up, just enough to cover the
small age spots on my face and the dark circles under
my eyes. The only jewellery I had on was my plain gold
wedding band. I suppose that on a good day with the
right makeup I can look fifty, maybe even late forties.

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NICOLE TROPE

Life is supposed to begin at fifty nowor is it forty?

I cant remember which. Not that it matters. My life is,
I think, essentially over.
After the sentence was handed down, Eric immediately
stated his intention to file for an appeal. He was more in
control of himself at the sentencing hearing. At the trial
he was as shocked by the verdict as everyone else. You
wouldnt have known it to look at him. The only thing that
changed about his usual upright demeanour and impassive face was a slight thinning of the lips. Im sure no one
in the courtroom noticed but me. But then I was the only
one there whod known him for thirty years.
A good family always has a good lawyer, my dear, Simon
had said after Id been introduced to him for the first time.
Eric was just starting out then. Now his name is on the
front of his own building. Look how far weve come, old
friend, Simon would say to Eric in his later years, and then
they would toast each other with cigars and whisky. Eric
will always be here for you Rose and he will help you when
I am gone, Simon told me whenever we talked about our
old age.
What if I go first? I asked Simon when he lectured
me on what to do after he was gone, because the idea of
a life without him was unthinkable to me. I was sure that
without him I would be reduced to sitting on the couch
waiting to die.
Oh, my darling girl, laughed Simon. My darling,
darling girl.

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17

He had taken care of me for so long that at first I couldnt

even begin to think about how to take care of myself.
I know that frustrated Portia. What do you mean you dont
know the password for online banking? she said when we
were discussing money to pay for the funeral.Your father
must have written it down somewhere, I said. I just never
needed it before now.
Give her a break, Portia, said Rosalind.
Stop mollycoddling her, Rosalind, these are important
things to know. Youre going to have to step up to the plate
on this, Mother. I have a job and Roz has kids. You have to
grow up and take care of yourself.
Had it been a different time Im sure I would have
squared my shoulders and said, Dont you dare presume
to patronise me, Portia. As it was I did feel somewhat
like a child who had lost a parent. I felt adrift. Adrift
and bereft.
Please dont lecture me, I said instead. Its hardly
the time.
Ill make some tea, said Rosalind, hoping as usual
to distract Portia before she worked herself up into a
frenzy.
Oh God, spare me another cup of tea, said Portia.
What is it with everyone and tea? Its not like it brings
back the dead.
Please, have some respect for Mum, said Rosalind.
Girls, I think I might have a little lie-down, I said. I have
had a lot of lie-downs in the last year. During the trial and

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in the weeks awaiting sentencing I spent quite a few hours

hiding in my bedroom from my girls. They meant well, but
together they were a little too much to handle.
After the guilty verdict, the whole courtroom erupted.
Portia and Rosalind, who had both been outward models
of composure throughout the trial, let me down by losing
control. Portia started shouting and Rosalind wept into
her hands. Simon would have been very disapproving.
He had been raised by an English mother who had taught
him the importance of a stiff upper lip. (In fact, he
seemed, at times, more English than Australian. It was an
affectation of his that he held onto tightly. Most people
on meeting him for the first time assumed that he had not
lived in Australia for most of his life. Simon was always
delighted when that happened. I could have been in the
House of Lords, he liked to say. I never contradicted
him. His fantasy life as an Englishman was something
I got used to.)
She always impressed upon me the need to keep my
emotions in check, especially when my father behaved
badly, he used to say about his mother.
What do you mean by behaved badly? I asked, but he
never had a clear answer for me. Simons true past was a
secret he sheltered. Occasionally he would speak of a home
filled with violence and humiliation, but just as quickly he
would retreat from his words and refuse to say any more.
But what do you mean he was violent, Simon? I would
ask. What did he do?

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19

There are some things, Rose, that are too terrible to say,
just too terrible to even think about. I would not want to
burden you with the knowledge.
I dont know if it was the truth. I never got to meet
anyone from his family. During interviews he would sometimes smile mysteriously when asked about his family,
Oh, I dont think they would want their private affairs
discussed, he would say, leaving the journalist to make his
or her own assumptions about his past. I remember one
article where it was speculated that he was descended from
royalty. How he loved that. Where did they get that idea?
I asked him, but his only reply was an odd little laugh. Im
sure that one or two reporters went looking for his family,
but they never looked very hard. It was a different time,
I suppose, and there were fewer resources to track down
the truth, and more respect for the aura of untouchability
that surrounded celebrities.
When we first met I thought his inscrutability was
part of his charm. Now I regard myself as remarkably gullible to have let him get away with saying such
things. If I had questioned him more I might have known
more. Or perhaps not. Knowing now how carefully
constructed his persona was, how much he was concealing, I cannot believe he would have given up his secrets
so easily.
At the judges reading of the verdict, the members of
the press who had been granted access were also unable to
restrain themselves. There was a lot of noise. They wanted

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me to turn around and so kept calling my name. They

wanted to see the look on my face.
I sank into my chair and then I sat very still with my
hands in my lap. I heard the raised voices calling out, but
distantly, as though they were coming from another room.
My heartbeat was louder than the sounds being made
by my daughters, who were sitting right behind me.
I twisted my wedding ring around and around and concentrated on my breathing. What? I thought. What? When I
looked at my daughters and Eric, for a moment I had no
idea who they were.
I had both expected the guilty verdict and not expected
it. Now I realise I would have been better off to just assume
that everything would be fine. I could have used the time to
simply enjoy being in my home rather than spending every
waking moment worrying about whether or not I would
be found guilty. I heard Eric ask for bail while I awaited
sentencing and I heard it granted.
Even though I knew that worrying cannot change
anything I still did just as much fretting as I awaited my
sentencing. There really is no rest for the wicked.
Erics lips thinned a little more at the chaos after the
verdict. I have often wondered what Eric looks like at the
point of orgasm. I have never wanted to sleep with him
or anything, but I would like to know if his face changes.
I would ask his wife, Patricia, but we are not so close that
I could say something like that to her. Over thirty years of
dinners and lunches and brunches I have never seen Eric

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look any different. Even when he smiles and laughs, the top
of his face stays still and only his mouth moves. It must be
disconcerting for Patricia and their children.
The barrister we had hired was also a little rattled at
the result. His wig slipped to one side and I would have
laughed at him but Im a little awed by him. He has a tattoo
of a snake all the way up his muscular arm. The first time
I went to meet him in his very imposing wood-panelled
office in the city, I thought he was a builder who had come
to fix something. The man was actually holding a hammer
and chewing on some nails.
Sorry, he said when he saw that Eric and I were already
seated in his office. If you want something done, it seems
easiest to do it yourself.
He was wearing black pants and a shirt with no tie, and
when he leaned forward to take some papers from Eric
his sleeve slipped up and I saw the tail end of something
tattooed on his wrist.
Its a snake, he said, catching me looking.
Oh, I didnt ... I said. I felt my cheeks flush.
Dont worry, he laughed. If Id known Id have to
spend my whole life explaining it I would never have done
it. What can you do? The folly of youth.
I nodded my head to let him know I understood, but the
tattoo wasnt the reason I blushed. Robert has wide strong
wrists and broad shoulders. He is entirely too good looking
to be a barrister. However past it society thinks I am, I am
still very capable of being attracted to a good-looking man.

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Hes the best in the business, Eric said to me as we left

Roberts office.
He better be for that amount of money, I said.
Rose, we will keep you out of jail. I know thats what
Simon would want, and I will not let him down, said Eric,
and then we were both quite sad for a few minutes.
Those little bouts of sadness are the hardest to handle.
Strange though it may seem, great waves of grief are easier,
because you know that all you can do is sit tight and allow
them to pass over you. They are so overwhelming that you
can do nothing except give into them. You may be tumbled
about a bit, but eventually you will be able to stand up and
breathe again. The little waves that just lap at your feet
come with no warning and somehow manage to be more
devastating. They tend to arrive right in the middle of an
ordinary moment, rushing in when theyre least expected.
I didnt think Simon would have liked Roberthe was
always suspicious of a man who didnt wear a tie. Simon
loved silk ties. For years they were a standard birthday and
Christmas gift from the girls. The night before closing
arguments and the verdict, I found myself sitting on the
floor of his closet rubbing my face with his favourite paisley
tie. It smelled vaguely of cigar smoke and the aftershave he
loved. I cannot live without him, I thought. I simply cannot
go on. I dont know what would have happened if Rosalind
hadnt knocked on my bedroom door.
You believe me, Eric, dont you? Id asked Eric as
we waited for a cab after that first meeting with Robert.

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About what happened, I mean? I have probably asked Eric

that question at least a hundred times since it happened.
His answer is always in the same vein. He never actually
answers yes or no, so I am always left wondering. Mostly
Im left wondering because Im not sure if I believe me.
Rose, Ive known you for thirty years, he said on this
occasion. Youve never even had a parking ticket, and
I know how much you loved him. You would never have
wanted to hurt him.
A cab pulled up next to us, and Eric opened the door for
me. I would have preferred to catch the train home from
the city, but Eric would never have allowed that. I stared
out of the window at all the people going about their
ordinary daysperhaps wondering what they would have
for lunchand mulled over Erics words: You would never
have wanted to hurt him.
Those closest to me had seemingly accepted my version
of events. There was no one who could challenge me on
them, after all. I was and am grateful for their support, but
I have spent many nights questioning what they actually
believe. I know Rosalind would like to question me further,
but she has never been one to press the point. Portias
stance on things has become her stance as wellor it had
before I was convicted. I am sure if my mother or father
were still alive I could count on them for the truth of what
they believed, but I have lived without them for years.
I play out the events of that night in my head again and
again, trying to come up with a different outcome, trying

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to bend reality. I know what I did and I thought I knew

why I did it. But what if I was wrong? I keep thinking. What
if I was wrong?
I am very confident of a not-guilty verdict, Robert
had said to me, Eric and the girls as we waited for the
jury to return after they had been sequestered. We hadnt
bothered to go home, because Robert thought the verdict
would come back quickly, so we were sitting in a cafe
eating a rather poor lunch. I had a piece of salmon quiche
and salad. The quiche was bland and the salad was limp and
sad. Portia had ordered a glass of wine and a pasta dish.
Im not sure you can trust wine served in a cafe, but she
drank it quickly enough. It probably made the pasta more
palatable. Rosalind ordered a piece of cake and then didnt
eat it because she was worried about the children.
Im sure Jack can manage just fine, I said to her after she
had checked her phone for the tenth time in five minutes.
Oh, of course he can, she said, but then she checked
it again.
Theyre still at school, what are you getting so hysterical
about? said Portia.
Portia, why dont you concentrate on your lunch? said
Rosalind.
Now, girls, I said, without meaning to. I sometimes
forget they are grown women. They still argue like children. Eric looked uncomfortable, but Robert was happily
making his way through a steak sandwich. He ate neatly and
carefully, only pausing to look at Portia or say something

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reassuring to me. Portia had tied up her hair, but its curly
and has a habit of escaping. One blonde lock had curled
itself under her chin and I wanted to lean forward and
brush it away from her face. I think Robert wanted to do
the same thing, raising his hand a couple of times only to
run it through his own hair.
Portia is bewitchingly beautiful. She is the type of woman
men fight over. Rosalind and I look alike, but Portia looks
like Simon. Lips that were just a little too full on a man are
perfect on Portia.
The cafe was opposite the courthouse so it was very busy
with people coming in and out, and just about everyone
looked over at us. I cant stand being recognised. As I salted
my quiche I daydreamed a little about taking a long trip
once my case was over; although I knew that I probably
wouldnt get the chance. I didnt know then that you get
to go home after the verdict and return a few weeks later
for sentencing. Neither Robert nor Eric had discussed this
part of the trial process. The assumption was that I would
return home, vindicated and free to get on with my life.
I knew I would be found guilty and I didnt know.
I thought that if I prepared for the worst it wouldnt eventuate. That is, I now see, entirely the wrong way to think.
Just because you prepare for the worst doesnt mean you
wont be completely blindsided when it occurs.
Weve made the case that you didnt mean for it to
happen. It was more his choice than yours, and weve
explained about your state of mind and his state of mind.

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They have to take your state of mind at the time into

consideration, said Robert to me as he sipped his Diet
Coke and stared at my daughter.
I really didnt mean for it to happen, or maybe I did.
I have no idea anymore. Roberts summation made a great
deal of sense, and once he was done I knew that he had
explained the situation perfectly, but then the longer we
waited and waited for the jury to come back, the less sure I
was of what had really happened. It seemed to me that the
twelve people on the jury had not only seen into my very
soul but had also seen past any lies I may have been telling
myself. I knew it was silly to accord them such omniscience, but they were, after all, holding my life in their hands.
I had been in a state of uncertainty ever since that dread
ful night. I would wake up from a fitful sleep convinced
that I had been a victim of circumstance, and then a couple
of hours later I would be berating myself and declaring
that I was a murderer. Murderess? Back and forth I went
and round and round. I was exhausted.
Finally we gave up on lunch and walked back to Roberts
offices. Theyre going to convict me, I said to Eric.
Rose, youre fifty-five years old. No one is going to
convict you of this crime. Robert has explained the extenuating circumstances to the jury. Im confident they will
vote the way they should.
Well, that wasnt how it turned out.
Unless Eric and Robert manage to get their appeal
through I have to stay here for a non-parole period of three

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years. A journalist from some tabloid paper wrote a long

article on the unfairness of my short sentence. Portia told
me about it when I was allowed to call her. The journalist
blamed the cult of celebrity. I would like to invite her to
live here for even one day and then we could discuss how
short three years is.
I thought it would be vile, but as Portia predicted, it is
only minimum security. Apparently, many strings have
been pulled to get me in here.
Sentencing took place one month after my conviction.
Itwas too soon and not soon enough at the same time.
I just wanted it over with, but I was also terrified of
the sentencing decision as I tormented myself with
all the possibilities of prison life. Portia simply moved
into the house to be with me while I waited.
Robert had the girls speak on my behalf at the sentencing hearing. Patricia came as well and some other old
friends, although I hadnt heard from many of them for
months and months. I was grateful for their appearance,
but I couldnt help feeling that what they were really doing
was collecting fodder for dinner conversation. I tried to
appear composed. I even smiled at Joan whom I had not
heard from for twelve months.
The judge was not swayed by the glowing testimonies on my behalf. He still sent me to prison. It emerged
that Robert and Eric had already thought through this
eventuality. Well lodge the appeal as soon as we can,
Eric said.

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Once the trial was over the press backed off a little, but
only a little. Portia and I spent a lot of time drinking wine
and watching old movies. We didnt discuss Simon. At
night, alone in my bed, I fretted and worried. I did not
sleep very much at all.
I feel Ive let you down, said Eric just before I was
led away to wait for transport to my home for the next
three years.
Robert was in charge, and he did his best, I said.
Neither of you could have predicted this outcome. Even
to my own ears my voice was flat and devoid of emotion.
I seemed to have run out of energy.
Well get you out of prison as soon as possible, Rose.
I will not sleep until you are free.
You have to sleep, I said. Patricia will be angry with me
if you dont.
It will be bearable. The place where youre going will be
bearable.
How do you know?
Eric gave me a small smile and patted my hand reassuringly and then I felt the hand of the policeman on my back
as he pushed me forward towards a door at the back of the
courtroomaway from Robert and Eric, away from my
daughters.
And now I am here. I think that Eric and Robert had
this place in mind for me even before the trial began.
I suppose they are paid to think about every eventuality.
It looks like a very basic health retreat, but it is

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definitely a prison. Its a collection of small buildings

dotted across a large property. There is a fence but its
only made of wire and the gate stands wide open day
and night, as if to indicate that no one would ever want
to escape from here. Perhaps thats because the surrounding bush stretches all the way to the mountains without
another building in sight. Where would you go? the open
gate seems to be asking. The air feels cleaner and colder
as though it comes straight down from the ring of mountains. It only took a couple of hours to get here from the
city, so Portia and Rosalind will be able to come and see
me whenever they can.
When I arrived they took away all my clothes and I had
to select something to wear from a room filled with castoffs. The choice was limited to tracksuit pants and flannel
shirts. Once I was dressed I resembled a bag lady. Everything was far too big on me. In my weeks waiting to learn
my eventual fate I had found it difficult to eat.
We dont like clothes to be anything except functional,
Sergeant Rossini told me.
These are certainly functional, I said, and then I had
to bite down on my lip. I didnt want to burst into tears in
front of her. I had been appalled at the thought of getting
undressed in front of hundreds of women, but undressing
in front of one was strangely even more humiliating. I had
to be searched. I dont think I will be able to forget that
experience for a long time.
You can call me Natalie, said Sergeant Rossini. We

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like to keep things a little casual here. Natalie was dressed

in a uniform but her dark hair hung halfway down her
back. While she was talking to me she twisted it into a
knot, exposing her long neck. She is rather pretty with
olive skin and dark eyes. She took away my clothes and
my jewellery and carefully logged everything in a book
and stored it away. It will be given back to you when you
leave.
Cant I keep my wedding ring? Its just a gold band.
Im afraid not. We like to make sure that all the women
here have more or less the same things. We dont want
anyone bullied because they have nice things, or shamed
because they dont. We dont like to worry about things
getting stolen either. If you all look the same and you all
have the same, it makes things less complicated.
It was becoming harder and harder not to cry. I have
worn my wedding ring for nearly forty years. I have never
taken it off. Even when my fingers swelled during my pregnancies I kept it on.
Now, said Natalie, Ill take you over to your unit. Youre
in unit four. Youll share with three other women. People
come and go quite quickly here, so the makeup of units
changes all the time. If you dont get along with someone
its not worth making a fuss.
I wont be gone soon, I said.
Mmm, said Natalienot allowing me to draw her into
conversation. Youll have to cook and clean for yourself.
Everyone gets ten dollars a day and from that you need to

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buy food and anything else you may need. Once youve
been here for a few months and earned some trust youll
also be able to work at the aged care facility we have an
agreement with, or at some of the other outside jobs that
are available, and you can earn money from that.
I must have looked utterly shocked, because she smiled
at me and patted my shoulder. Dont worry, Mrs Winslow.
Youll get used to it soon enough, and its really not such
a terrible place. For a fleeting moment I thought about
giving into my despair. Despite where I was I felt that
I would be in safe hands with Natalie if I just sank onto the
floor and gave up trying to appear strong. Instead I took a
deep breath and swallowed.
Natalie turned and I followed her out of the main
building into the prison grounds. This doesnt really look
like a prison, I said.
No, it doesnt. We dont want it to, but it is and there
are rules and ways of doing things. It will make your time
easier here if you learn them quickly.
Yes, I said because I had no idea what else to say.
I stumbled along behind her with my thin prison-issue
towel, sheets and blanket, forcing myself not to try to work
out how many hours in this place three years equated to.
We count everyone about five times a day, Natalie
explained. An announcement will come over the speaker
system or a siren will sound, and whatever youre doing
you need to stop and move to a meeting point until youre
checked off.

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Oh dear, I said, and I knew I sounded ridiculous.

I hadnt run out of milk for my tea.
Dont worry, Mrs Winslow, youll get used to it.
I promise, said Natalie again. I suppose I should have
told her to call me Rose, but right now Im happier with
Mrs Winslow. I dont have my wedding ring on. How else
will they know I am ... I was ... Im still married? Now,
Ill give you some time to settle in, and then Ill come and
get you so you can meet Allison. Shes the governor of the
prison.
Small fibro cottages are dotted all over the place. These
are the units. Each one can house up to five women, but
mostly there are only four. The bathroom is shared, but
I have my own bedroom. Its very small, as though one
regular-sized bedroom has been divided into two, but
there is a desk that I have decorated with a few precious
reminders of home which Natalie allowed me to keep.
I brought all the wrong things with me.
Most of the things I brought are now locked away. They
should give you a list of things you can and cannot bring,
but I suppose this is not a school camp.
I have been allowed to hold onto pictures of Portia and
Rosalind, of Lottie and Sam and Jack, and of course there is
a picture of Simon. I have a collection of my favourite books
and my face cream, although I wasnt allowed to bring in my
perfume. Too expensive, said Sergeant RossiniNatalie.
The three women I am sharing with were out at work
when I first arrived. I was pleased to be able to unpack

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and cry in privacy. I can see that I will have precious little
of that. I thought I was through with tears after the last
months, but apparently not.
After half an hour Natalie came to get me. I waited in the
office for Allison and tried to get myself under control. It
wasnt as though I had never had to live in a poky little flat
or had to make do with virtually no money. I had done it
before and I told myself that I would be able to do it again.
I closed my eyes and tried to remember the first flat
Simon and I ever rented. I was so young I didnt feel at all
like a married woman. I felt like I was playing house. The
landlord lived downstairs in his own two-bedroom unit.
A rose for a Rose, he would say to me every Friday when
I walked past his door to go out and do my shopping.
Then he would hand me a single red rose. He waited for
me, Im sure of it. I thought he was very sweet.
I dont like him leering at you, Simon said when I told
him about it.
Simon, hes about a hundred years old. Hes only being
nice. Looking back I realise the poor man couldnt have
been much more than sixty.
I was trying to remember the colour of the carpet in our
old living roomit was either yellow or greenwhen a
woman walked in, holding a phone to her ear. Thats fine,
yes, yes, she said impatiently. She put the phone on the
desk in front of me and I felt compelled to stand up. Im
Allison, she said stretching out her hand and I shook it,
feeling absurdly like we were both at a business meeting.

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Sit, sit, she said dropping into a chair on the other side
of the desk. I sat.
So, Mrs Winslow, she said, settled in?
As much as I can be, I suppose.
It will be difficult for the first few weeks, but I know
youll be fine.
I wish I could say the same thing, I said.
Allison, sensibly, ignored my petulance. Where would
you like to spend your days? You might have realised
this already, but we are a working farm with gardens
and animals.
I had realised it. The smell of manure choked the air.
I could hear the cows off in the distance even as I sat in
Allisons office. Lowing, I think its called. Simon and
I once took the girls to a farm stay for the weekend where
they delighted in being able to milk cows and collect eggs.
Rosalind tried to get us to bring home a newborn lamb
for a pet. Simon hated the place. The smell is just too
much for me, my dear. He spent most of the weekend in
our cottage, reading. The cottages had been described as
luxury farm accommodation, but luxury turned out to
be code for clean. They did not look unlike the units here.
Well, I think I might be most useful in the garden,
I said, surprised. I never really imagined that Id be given
a choice.
This particular prison is one of very few of its kind
in Australia. The aim here is to help to prepare women
who are unlikely to reoffend to go back out into the

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world. To that end, we offer a number of classes to help

them work on things like computer skills or getting their
HSC, but we also have a large vegetable garden and run
a cooking school. Youre welcome to take a class of your
choice in the afternoons. Allison slid a thin brochure
across her desk to me. It contained a list of classes I could
choose from.
Im a bit old to be taking classes, I said.
No ones too old to take a class.
How do you know if someone is unlikely to reoffend?
I said.
Most of the women here have come from other prisons.
This is sort of a halfway house between that and the real
world. Everyone has a measure of independence and has to
take care of themselves. We hope that once you leave here
you have some skills to take with you so that you wont go
back to old ways.
Old ways? I said.
Drugs, alcohol, dangerous friends ... anything that
could cause a former prisoner to be put back in the system.
Ive never ... I mean I havent ever done anything
like that.
No, and that might be why youve landed up here.
Or some strings were pulled because of your ... well, your
relative level of fame.
Im sure my face gave me away. I had no idea how Eric
and Robert had managed to get me into the place. I was
silently grateful to them.

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I wasnt famous, my husband was, I said. I wanted to

make sure that she knew I would be free of any airs and
graces. There are two kinds of people Ive run into as the
wife of someone famous. One kind adores you without
even knowing you, believing that you have somehow found
the secret to everything. They want to be your friend, so
they fawn over and compliment you. The other kind hates
you because they think you feel yourself to be above them.
Allison, I saw, existed somewhere in the middle. She was
more irritated with my fame than anything else, perhaps
fearing that it would be a disruption to the smooth running
of her domain.
I know, and I know that an appeal has been lodged
already, so you might not be with us for very long. Hopefully while youre here you can make the best of it.
I will do my best, I said, and Allison smiled at me. She is
a sturdy-looking woman in her forties or maybe late thirties.
Her hair was pulled back into a no-nonsense ponytail and
she was dressed in jeans and brown work boots. She does
not look like anyones idea of a warden, and yet it was clear
to me that she would not tolerate any misbehaviour from
her inmates. When she stood up to show me out I caught
sight of the gun on her hip. However nice this place may
seem, the doors are still locked at night and it is still a prison.
Oh, and Mrs Winslow ...
Yes, I said, turning back to her.
Its best not to ask anyone what theyve done to get in
hereprison etiquette, you know.

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Oh, I understand about that, I said. Believe me, I do.

After all the months of talking and explaining and
defending myself, Im only too happy to be able to shut
my mouth and get on with something else. I would prefer
to get on with a trip to Greece, but Im sure that the need
to be away from this place is probably a feeling shared by
all the inmates. I closed my eyes for a moment and tried
to summon up a memory of the afternoon Simon and
I had spent at a restaurant in Santorini overlooking the
Mediterranean, but it was difficult to conjure up the salty
sweet smell of the sea over the tang of manure. We were
there to celebrate my fiftieth birthday. How long ago that
seems.
Natalie gave me a tour of the place and listed all the rules
and regulations that I would find in the handbook. Obviously no alcohol and no drugs, she said. You cant miss
any of the counts during the day. You need to help keep
your cottage clean ... There were a lot of rules but I wasnt
really concentrating. I was glad to have the handbook to
read over.
Breaking any of these rules may lead to removal of
privileges, said Natalie.
Privileges? I said, paying attention again.
Being able to work outside the prison is a privilege,
having visitors is a privilege. Theres a list at the back.
Like school, I thought.
I received a few sly looks from the inmates who were
working in front of the cottages, planting and cleaning, but

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for the most part no one seemed to care who I was. I felt
my shoulders relax a little and I took a deep breath. I can
do this, I thought. I can do it.
If youre afraid of something, my dear, Simon used to
say, hold your head up high and pretend until youre no
longer afraid. People will think youre in control and confident and they will treat you that way and soon enough you
will begin to believe it yourself.
I tilted my head back a little and lifted my face to the
sun. I only knew I was crying when I tasted salt on my
lips. Oh, Simon, I thought as I followed Natalie to see the
canteen, I am trying, but Im so terribly afraid.
Rose, darling girl, I heard him say. Oh, my darling girl.

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Other titles by Nicole Trope

Three Hours Late
The Secrets in Silence
The Boy Under the Table
Roar (short story)

Hush Little Birdie PAGES.indd 371

25/05/2015 2:45 pm