Lisa Heathfield

Seed


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      First published in Great Britain in 2015 by Electric Monkey,

      an imprint of Egmont UK Limited

      The Yellow Building, 1 Nicholas Road, London W11 4AN

      Text copyright © 2015 Lisa Heathfield

      The moral rights of the author have been asserted

      First e-book edition 2015

      ISBN 978 1 4052 7538 5

       eISBN 978 1 7803 1674 1

       www.egmont.co.uk

      A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

      Stay safe online. Any website addresses listed in this book are correct at the time of going to print. However, Egmont is not responsible for content hosted by third parties.

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       For my beautiful, brave Mama,

       watching from the moon.

      CONTENTS

       Cover

       Title Page

       Copyright

       Dedication

       CHAPTER NINE

       CHAPTER TEN

       CHAPTER ELEVEN

       CHAPTER TWELVE

       CHAPTER THIRTEEN

       CHAPTER FOURTEEN

       CHAPTER FIFTEEN

       CHAPTER SIXTEEN

       CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

       CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

       CHAPTER NINETEEN

       CHAPTER TWENTY

       CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

       CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

       CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

       CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

       CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

       CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

       CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

       CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

       CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

       CHAPTER THIRTY

       CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

       CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

       CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

       CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

       CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

       CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

       CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

       CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

       CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

       CHAPTER FORTY

       CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

       CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

       CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

       CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

       CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

       CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

       CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

       ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      Here, crouched beside the toilet, I’m terrified I’m dying. My stomach must be bleeding, or my liver, or my kidneys. Something inside me has somehow got cut. Spots of blood smear my underwear. I wipe myself with toilet paper and there’s more blood. Am I being punished for something I have said or done?

      ‘Elizabeth!’ I shout, running from the coffin-small room. ‘Elizabeth!’

      I run from room to room. Kindred Smith is mending a bed in one. Rachel sweeps in another. The children play in the day room.

      ‘Elizabeth!

      I wonder if the bleeding is worse. I look behind, but there are no drops of red following me along the wooden floorboards. I rattle the doors of the rooms that are locked. Elizabeth is not in the dining room, but in the kitchen she is coming through the back door, her rain-drenched dress clinging to her pregnant belly.

      ‘What is it, Pearl?’ she asks, putting down a bag of muddied potatoes. ‘Is someone hurt?’

      I don’t want to tell her. I don’t want to tell her that I’m dying. Will the shock damage the tiny baby in her tummy?

      ‘Pearl?’ She stands, looking at me, and I see the worry in her eyes.

      ‘My stomach is bleeding,’ I whisper.

      ‘Where? How?’ Elizabeth steps back, looks at my top. ‘Did you cut yourself in the field?’

      ‘Inside. It’s bleeding inside me.’

      ‘What do you mean?’ she asks. I’ve never seen someone turn so pale in the time it takes for me to take a breath.

      ‘I’m sorry, Elizabeth,’ I say. And I can’t stop the tears. Because I don’t want to die. I want to meet her baby. I want more