Seed. Lisa Heathfield

looks at me, smiling. ‘It certainly is. And he looks like a nice boy, doesn’t he?’

      ‘Yes, he does,’ I say. ‘It’ll be nice for Jack to have another boy our age.’

      ‘Oh, Pearl, please,’ Kate says. And I can’t tell whether she’s angry or laughing.

      ‘Are they really coming to stay?’ Ruby asks.

      Just then, the kitchen door opens and Kindred Smith comes in. The new family are behind him.

      ‘Ah, some family for you to meet,’ Kindred Smith says. ‘Kate, Pearl, Ruby, this is Linda, Ellis and Sophie. They are our new family members.’

      ‘I’m Kate. It’s nice to meet you,’ Kate says, looking at Ellis.

      ‘You too,’ he says. His voice is low and soft. Hearing it makes my skin tingle, like I’ve been out in the sun too long. He turns to look at me. ‘Hello,’ he says. It’s strange, because I don’t really know what to say. Maybe it’s because his hair is already longer, it makes me awkward, unsure of who he is.

      ‘So, are you Ruby, or Pearl?’ He has a funny smile on his lips.

      ‘Pearl,’ I manage. I suddenly wish I’d had just a few more months to let my hair grow as long as Kate’s.

      ‘Hi, Sophie,’ Ruby says. ‘Will you sleep in our room?’ I know that Ruby is staring at Sophie’s dress with butterflies all over it. I can’t tell whether she’s envious, or confused.

      ‘Do you want to show her your room?’ Kindred Smith asks.

      ‘Will she not be sharing with me?’ Linda looks unsure. From this close, I can see dry patches of skin on her face. They look sore.

      ‘The older women sleep in different rooms.’ Kindred Smith touches her arm, and it seems to melt her hesitation.

      ‘It will be fun to share with other children, won’t it?’ Linda asks Sophie. The little girl doesn’t say a word, doesn’t even nod her head. She just looks at her mother with those wide eyes.

      ‘I’ll show you,’ says Ruby, and she reaches for Sophie’s hand. Before the little girl has time to realise it, they’re walking out of the room. Her mother’s smile looks a bit forced, as though she’s trying too hard to relax. Mother. Sophie knows her true mother. There’s a rush of something in me, but I know it is dark, so I push it away.

      ‘So, Ellis,’ says Kate. ‘Where do you think you’ll sleep?’ There’s a crackle of unease in the air. Kindred Smith stares at Kate. If she notices the look he gives her, she doesn’t show it. Her smile remains and Ellis looks right at her.

      ‘I’ll go where I’m told,’ he says, his own smile twinkling.

      ‘Right then, I’d better tell you.’ Kindred Smith does a funny sort of laugh. ‘Pearl, you can show Linda where her room is.’ Then he turns to Linda. ‘When you’ve unpacked your car, Pearl can show you where to park it, round the back. Then you can give the key to me.’

      ‘Oh,’ she says.

      Kindred Smith smiles at her. ‘We don’t want the key to get lost. It’s a big house.’

      ‘Of course,’ Linda says, but she twists her hair nervously in her fingers as she looks out of the window towards her car waiting in the drive.

      ‘And do you have telephones?’ Kindred Smith asks. ‘Obviously we don’t use them at Seed.’

      Linda looks flustered. ‘It’s in here,’ she says, as she reaches into the small brown bag hanging by her hip. She pulls out a black telephone. I’ve seen people from the Outside use them at the market, but it feels wrong to have one in our home. Nature has said that they block out her voice.

      ‘Ellis?’ Kindred Smith holds out his empty hand towards him.

      ‘Are you serious?’ the boy asks. He’s looking at his mother.

      ‘We’ve talked about this,’ she says quietly.

      Kindred Smith laughs lightly. ‘I’ll keep it safe.’

      I watch as Ellis takes his telephone from his pocket and reluctantly puts it into Kindred Smith’s palm.

      ‘We could show you around when you’ve seen your room,’ Kate says to Ellis.

      ‘OK,’ he says.

      I just stare at him. A stranger in our home. But he looks different from the boys I see at the market. And I don’t want to turn away from him like I do from them.

      Kate is left in the kitchen as we go upstairs. Kindred Smith and Ellis continue up to the top of the house, where the boys and Kindreds sleep. I take Linda into the room next to ours. Heather is making up the spare bed in the corner.

      ‘I saw you come up the drive,’ she says, as she goes up to hug Linda. ‘Welcome.’

      ‘Thank you.’ Linda’s cheeks blush red. For a moment, I’m worried that she’ll let herself cry.

      ‘Shall I leave Linda here with you?’ I ask Heather as she turns back to the bed. ‘Kate and I are going to show Ellis around.’

      ‘Ellis?’

      ‘He’s my son,’ Linda says.

      Heather shakes the bedsheet and it cracks in the air.

      ‘He’s about Jack’s age,’ I say.

      Heather nods. ‘Well, you’d better go and help him settle in,’ she says, as she tucks the sheet under the heavy mattress. ‘I’ll stay with you, Linda. You can come with me to the cows and help me with the milking.’ But her words are almost lost to me, as I’m already out of the bedroom and running down the stairs, two at a time.

      I stand by the back door, waiting. I’m holding my sandals in my hand, feeling the bristles of the doormat on my bare feet. There’s a bird, a wood pigeon I think, making shapes in the sky. It lifts and swoops, a smudge of brown against the blue.

      ‘You were quick.’ It’s Ellis.

      ‘Yes,’ I say. There’s something about his eyes, as though he’s seeing right into me. I touch the thin strap of my top. Does he notice that I’m wearing a skirt?

      ‘Where are you going to show me first?’ he asks.

      I wonder if I should wait for Kate, but I’m not sure where she is. ‘Does Sophie want to come too?’ I ask.

      ‘I think she’s with the other little girl.’

      ‘Ruby.’

      His eyelashes are a deep beetle-black, much darker than Jack’s.

      ‘Let’s go, then?’

      It’s a question and the only reply I can give is to start walking. We go across the gravel of the drive, the stones wincing my feet. I don’t let it show, though. And anyway, the grass is only a few steps away.

      ‘I’ll show you the barn first,’ I finally say. ‘It’s where you’ll probably be working.’

      ‘Mum didn’t say anything about working,’ Ellis says.

      ‘Everyone works here.’ How can he expect otherwise? ‘It’s good work. Jack loves it.’

      Ellis glances at me. ‘Who’s Jack?’

      ‘One of us.’ The grass is dry between my toes. ‘You’ll meet him now, I should think.’

      I’m feeling a bit annoyed and I don’t know why. Suddenly, I’m not so sure I want these new people here. I know I shouldn’t feel like this, because Papa S says we must welcome them. And I should willingly let them share in the beauty of Seed. But just this second, I don’t feel like it. I want us all to be left alone.

      So I don’t say another word and then we’re pushing through