"Meli and Molly aren't... well, they aren't as they used to be."
Daisy nods, listens to her mother's awkward words with a sympathetic ear.
"And I don't know that I like the thought of you and Sam being close as you were with the pair, now that things are changed. Now that they're changed."
Daisy sighs.
"Mum, I think you put more garlic in the chicken tonight than there actually was chicken to begin with. Stop being a superstitious - " softening her words, Daisy gives her mother a smile. "They're still our friends, and they're still Molly and Meli, and neither Sammie nor I are frightened of them. And don't give me that 'you don't understand' look, either. We understand well enough, we've grown up with Uncle haven't we? Sometimes people end up with a rot inside them, but that doesn't change the person they are the rest of the time."
Rosie rubs the bridge of her nose and sighs. "We'll talk more in the morning, all right? I know you love your playmates, duck, but I just want to keep you safe. Poor Diamond's half mad with worry for what's to become of her Meli now."
"And you want us to leave them at a time like this?" Daisy's surprised, for usually her mother is all for sticking close to dear ones in rough times.
"No, not really..." Rosie looks out the window at the darkness of the garden. "I just wish your brother Pip was home."
~