Laurie Ellingham - Ours is the Winter - a gripping story of love, friendship and adventure

Most days it seemed as though they were the only two people in the entire world now – Molly and her mum. It wasn’t fair. Billy had been the centre of their everything. He’d been their anchor. Without him, they were drifting in the dark. Molly was no champion without Billy. She was nothing without him.

Frankie and Harry had each other, and three brothers and two parents, and a niece and a nephew. All cheering them on. All healthy, all happy, all alive. And Molly had who? A mother half destroyed by grief and a half-sister she’d barely spoken to for the past year?

Molly gritted her teeth and hugged her stomach. She hated feeling this way. Hated what her life had become. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Molly tried to picture Billy’s face but her mind blanked.

‘There you are.’ Erica dropped down two seats away from Molly. ‘Excited?’

‘Not really,’ Molly said.

‘This is just what we need.’

‘Is it?’

Erica gave Molly a sideways glance, narrowing her eyes just like she’d done a thousand times over the years when Molly did or said something Erica didn’t approve of. Erica had always loved playing the all-knowing big sister role.

‘Did you remember to pack extra socks?’ Erica asked a moment later.

Molly puffed out a long breath of air before she spoke. ‘I’m not nine years old anymore.’

‘Don’t act like it then,’ Erica retorted and arched her back, stretching her arms above her head.

‘I’m not the one –’

‘Hey, Molly, our gate’s been called.’

Molly looked up to find Frankie and Harry standing at her feet.

‘We’ve been looking for you,’ Frankie said. ‘Time to go. Are you OK?’

Molly nodded and pulled herself up. Her head swam for a moment and the anger passed. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘This is Erica. She’s coming on the trip too.’

‘Hi,’ the girls chorused.

‘Hi.’ Erica smiled. ‘I’m Molly’s sister.’

Molly watched the quizzical look pass between Frankie and Harry as they took in Erica’s pale skin and dark red hair, then moved their gaze to Molly’s tight black curls springing from her head and down to her shoulders.

‘Half-sisters obviously,’ Molly mumbled. ‘We have the same waste-of-space dad.’

‘And the same freckles.’ Frankie waved a finger between Molly and Erica. Molly touched her nose, suddenly self-conscious of the dots that speckled the bridge of her nose. Billy had had them too. And just like that she saw his grinning face in her mind.

‘We’re gate five,’ Harry said.

Erica fell into step with the twins and got the same download from Frankie as Molly had received earlier, giving Molly the chance to drop back a pace.

What was she doing on this trip?

Why had she ever thought she’d be able to escape the burning anger, the pain, the memories? It was an illness, and Molly could travel ten times around the world and it still wouldn’t be far enough away to escape it.

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