Page 26 - SAMPLE Looking for Emily

Three
The house was filled with the smell of apples stewing. Normally that was the best thing about apple pie – even better than the first slice. The warm, sharp smell as the sugar melted into caramel, as the apples fell apart. But now it hooked Emily hard under the ribs.
It had been four days. Four days since someone had spotted her mum’s little boat bobbing empty in the cove. Four days since the police had told them that anyone who went into that stormy water wasn’t coming back out. And Emily hadn’t believed it. She’d been so sure. They’d never seen her mum swim, didn’t understand that she belonged to the sea, that the sea would never hurt her. But now it was Emily’s birthday and her mum hadn’t returned.
“You’ve got too much water,” said Caitlyn. “That’s why it’s sticking.”
Caitlyn was Emily’s older sister.
“I’m following Mum’s recipe,” said Emily. “That’s how much water she says to put in.”
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