She's Out Read Free Page B

after another. Every room stank of mildew, and some of the beds were still as when the occupants had rolled out of them. In a few rooms clothes and
dirty underwear lay discarded on the floor.
    Julia walked up the old wide staircase, where there was more peeling wallpaper; her hands were black from the dust when she had rested them on the rail. On the previous visit they’d used
candles to have a quick look over the place. Now, in daylight, it was even worse than Julia remembered.
    Ester appeared at the top of the stairs. ‘Go and get the cases.’
    ‘You’re not serious, are you, Ester? We’ll never get it ready in time. This is madness.’
    ‘No, it isn’t. I’ve already laid out cash for a bloody Roller and a chauffeur so we’ll just get down to it, and the others will be here to give us a hand. There’s
caterers, florists . . . I’m not losing cash I’ve laid out, so we just get started.’
    Julia sat on the stairs and began to roll a cigarette. ‘So, you gonna tell me who you’ve invited for this celebration?’
    Ester looked down at her. Sometimes she wanted to slap her – she could be so laid-back.
    ‘You don’t know them all. There’s Connie Stevens, Kathleen O’Reilly, and I’ve asked that little black girl, Angela, to act as a maid.’
    Julia laughed. ‘She’s gonna be wearing a pinny and hat, is she?’
    Ester pursed her lips. ‘Don’t start with the sarcasm. We need them, and they all knew Dolly.’
    Julia looked up at her. ‘They all inside with her like us?’
    ‘Not Angela, but the others. And I don’t want you to start yelling but Gloria Radford’s coming.’
    Julia stood up. ‘You joking?’
    ‘No, I’m not.’
    ‘Well, count me out. I can’t stand that demented cow. I spent two years in a cell with her and I’m not going to spend time outside with her. What the hell did you rope her into
it for?
    ‘Because we might need her, and she knows Dolly.’
    Julia began to walk down the stairs in a fury. ‘She reads aloud from the newspapers, she drove me crazy, I nearly killed her. I’m out of here.’
    ‘Fine, you go. I don’t give a shit if you do, but it’s a long walk to the station.’
    Julia looked up. ‘Gloria Radford on board and this is a fiasco before we even start. She’s cheap, she’s coarse, she’s got the mental age of a ten-year-old.’
    ‘So, are you so special, Doctor? We needed as many of us as I could get, Julia, and I needed ones that were as desperate as us. Now, are you staying or are you going?’
    Julia lit her roll-up and shrugged. ‘I’m leaving.’
    Ester moved down the stairs. ‘Fine, you fuck off, then, and don’t think you’ll get a cut of anything I get. You walk out now, I’ll never see you again. I mean it,
we’re through.’
    Julia hesitated, looked back to Ester, standing at the top of the stairs. Her wonderful face, her dark eyes, now blazing with anger, made her heart jump. She knew she’d be staying. She
couldn’t stand the thought of never seeing or touching Ester. She was in love with her.
    ‘I’ll get the cases but don’t ask me to be nice to that midget.’
    Ester smiled, and headed back to the bedroom. The only person you’ve got to be nice to is Dolly Rawlins.’
    Julia got to the front door. ‘What if she doesn’t come, Ester?
Ester
?’
    Ester reappeared, leaning on the banister rail. ‘Oh, she’ll come, Julia, I know it. She’ll be here. She’s got nobody else.’
    Julia gave a small nod and walked out to the car. She began to collect all the cases and boxes, then paused a moment as she looked over the grounds. There was a sweet peacefulness to the place.
She was suddenly reminded of her childhood, of the garden at her old family home. She had been given her own pony and suddenly she remembered cantering across the fields. She had been happy then .
. . it seemed a lifetime ago.
    The bedroom Ester chose for Dolly was spacious, with a double bed and white dressing table. Even though the carpet was