My Sister’s Secret Read Online Free

items some of the divers recovered from the wreck,’ he says.
    ‘They managed to recover stuff?’
    ‘Only a few bits and pieces. I think there might be something here that belonged to your mother.’
    My heartbeat gallops. ‘I’ll be there in half an hour.’
    Twenty-eight minutes later, I’m standing in a large warehouse by the main port in Rhodes, looking at one of four tables laid out with items taken from the ship. Before me is a bag threaded with silver, its straps made from satin and silver leaves. It’s faded by the sea and time, but it looks like the bag I’ve seen in photos, the same bag Dad helped me buy Mum for her thirty-fifth birthday just a few months before I lost her.
    I gently pick it up and open it…and there it is, etched into a tarnished silver plate inside:
    Mummy,
    Happy birthday.
    Lots of love, Willow x
    I clutch it to my chest, emotions so intense I can hardly breathe. I remember how excited I’d been to give it to her. Dad had made her breakfast, setting it all out in our gorgeous garden. I’d patiently sat at the table, waiting for her to come out, the bag carefully wrapped in my lap. When she’d opened it, she’d been delighted.
    I look inside, not surprised to find it empty. I wonder what she kept in there that night. Her trademark red lipstick, a small bottle of perfume – that rose scent of hers. Maybe a comb?
    I slide open the small zipper, carefully dipping my fingers in. There’s something in there.
    A necklace.
    I pull it out. It’s rusty and twisted but the pendant hanging from it is still intact. It’s a symbol of some kind, half a circle with a curved thread of gold inside.
    ‘Was that in the bag?’ Ajay asks, looking over my shoulder.
    I nod. ‘I don’t recognise the symbol though.’
    ‘Looks like two initials, a C and an N. Wasn’t your mum’s name Charity?’
    I frown. ‘Yes, but Dad’s name was Dan.’
    Ajay shrugs. ‘Maybe it’s not initials then.’ Someone calls him over. He puts his hand on my arm. ‘You okay?’
    ‘Yeah. Thanks for calling me, I’m pleased we found the bag.’
    He smiles. ‘Me too.’
    As he jogs away, I stare at the necklace. It’s not in any of the photos I have of Mum and God knows I’ve stared at them enough to know.
    I pull my phone from my pocket, dialling my aunt’s mobile phone number. It takes a few rings for her to answer.
    ‘Willow?’ she says, voice curt.
    ‘Hi. Are you at the cottage?’ I ask.
    ‘I am.’ She pauses. ‘Well, how did it go?’
    ‘Not great. The ship’s unstable, they’ve had to cancel the recovery. To be honest, I don’t think I’ll get a chance to dive it again, it’s just too dangerous.’
    ‘Good. It’s best left alone.’
    I suppress a sigh. We’d argued when I’d told her I was going to be part of the dive crew who’d be salvaging the ship. She had this romantic notion that it would be disturbing the dead passengers’ souls, even though all the bodies had been recovered long ago.
    ‘They found some items though,’ I say, looking at the necklace, ‘including the silver bag I got Mum for her birthday.’
    My aunt doesn’t respond for a moment. I just hear her breath, quiet and slow. ‘That’s good,’ she says eventually, sounding a bit choked up. ‘I’d like to see it when you come back.’
    ‘I’ll bring it with me. There was a necklace inside that I don’t recognise.’
    ‘She had lots of jewellery.’
    ‘This one’s unusual though. Ajay thinks it might be two initials intertwined, a C and an N?’ My aunt’s silent again. That silence speaks volumes. ‘Did you see Mum wear it?’
    ‘No, never.’
    ‘Then why did you go quiet?’
    ‘No reason.’ She’s lying. I can always tell when she’s lying, her voice goes up an octave. ‘So if the dive’s cancelled, does that mean you’ll be coming to clean up the cottage with me?’
    I think of stepping into my parent’s cottage for the first time in twenty years. ‘I might stay here for a few days