The Doll's House

6

Alison Sprackling was furious with her daughter. They had made an arrangement to meet at eleven – it was now nearly one p.m. Where the hell was she?

The doorbell had gone unanswered, so Alison had let herself in. Ruby lived alone in a tiny, down-at-heel flat. She was by nature a party girl and often went out drinking on Friday nights, so it was not beyond her to cower under the duvet, nursing a hangover, blocking out the world. There was of course always the chance that she had brought someone home with her – not something Alison liked to dwell on, given her daughter’s romantic history – but there was too much riding on this to be bashful.

It had taken so long to get the family back to a point where a reconciliation might be possible – Alison was determined not to blow it now, however unreliable and wilful Ruby could be. Months of diplomacy had gone into engineering Ruby’s return to the family – today was the day when they were going to contact her landlord, book a removals firm. It was a day of celebration, a day to rubberstamp a hard-fought victory for common sense over hurt.

It was all Alison craved. A return to normality, a happy united family. So where was she? Where could Ruby be – today of all days? Should she call Jonathan? Get him to come over? No, best not give him any more ammunition when the truce was so fragile.

Ruby’s year-long exile from the family had been awful. Not just the bitter accusations, the tears, the threats, but more the sheer lack of her, their eldest, at family gatherings, holidays, barbecues. It had all just felt wrong, as if they – and she – were somehow wilfully ignoring a burning building or drowning swimmer.

Alison stalked through the flat again – bedroom to bathroom to living area – but there was no sign of her. What was this? A final act of rebellion? A warning that she could – and would – still be her own woman? Or was this something more serious? Was she reneging on their agreement? The uncertainty made Alison deeply nervous.

Then suddenly, birdsong – Alison’s phone heralding the arrival of a new tweet. Ruby was a regular tweeter – it was largely how Alison kept tabs on her – so Alison rushed over to her bag, pulling out the contents in search of her phone.

It was from Ruby. Alison read the tweet. Frowning, she read it again. She couldn’t be that selfish, could she?

‘Need to get away and be by myself If people had loved me better then I would stay… Rx’

She could. Ruby had pulled the roof down on them. And Alison knew immediately there would be no coming back from this.