She’d always been a little scared of headaches, after what her mother had been through. She often wondered if her mother’s condition might be dormant inside her own head, like a hungry seed, just waiting to blossom. But this felt different from anything else she’d experienced. More like the way your ears hurt if a noise was too loud. It was like her brain was trying to squint against some painfully intense stimulation. She staggered a bit. The snow all around her boots suddenly melted in a warm rush, revealing the frozen yellow grass beneath. But as quickly as the strange headache appeared, it was gone. And she was so keyed up, going over and over her plan, that she quickly put it out of her mind and started walking again. She took a surreptitious swig from the flat pint bottle of cheap gin Kieran had given her, swished the nasty, medicinal-tasting liquid around in her mouth, then spat it into the snowy bushes. She cupped her bare hand in front of her lips and sniffed at her steaming breath.
