CHAPTER 14
A fortnight later, and they were ready for sentencing Nye. Of course, we had to go, and it was no surprise that Von made her own way there, Will by her side.

She had been making the efforts I had never anticipated, and I had to rein in my urges to be a little snide about it. I couldn’t quite get past the fact that when it had been me, her response had been direct and threatening, but when the perversions came from her baby it made her pause and think. Still, however it had happened, pausing and thinking seemed to have entered her life. I couldn’t really complain about that, could I? I had Larinda at hand for that little job.

“All rise”

In trooped the beaks, down we sat, papers were shuffled, and then the chairman settled her gaze firstly on me, and then on Von, sitting so close to me in the gallery. An eyebrow rose slightly, and then she nodded to the usher. Nye rose, eyes looking raw in a face suddenly a lot older than I remembered. I thought I saw a hint of a tear, just as the clerk and the beaks went through their formal dance.

“Aneurin Prentice…I have presided here for over fifteen years, and I must admit to some slight confusion over the relationships I see here. I am reminded of a number of domestic violence cases I have tried, and I see a similar closure of ranks before me”

I saw Rachel twitch slightly at that one. The chairman continued.

“There remains no doubt here that this was a brutal and premeditated attack on an innocent woman, an attack that involved serious distress and pain not only to her but also to her friends and partner. Your claim that the attack was justified in some perverse manner leaves me aghast. It is of a kind with the warped logic that is used to excuse so-called honour killings, and I am minded to treat you as I would treat the perpetrators of such an act, with as long a custodial sentence as I am empowered to impose. Then again…”

She sighed, and shook her head. “Then again, the innocent victim of your actions, for she is indeed innocent, and no perversion of thought can properly attach any guilt to her…the victim has herself spoken out strongly and movingly in your favour. Prentice, be aware of that, for it should shame you deeply. I have been at an impasse in assessing the most appropriate return for your crime, for crime it was.

“You have an exemplary Service record, for one thing. Your daughter and grandson clearly adore you. Even the person you beat and kicked into unconsciousness spoke out in your favour. Be relieved, then, that I will not send you down to incarceration. You are not going to prison, Prentice, not unless you are unbelievably wilful or stupid in your future actions.

“You have talents, and they are to be used. Three hundred hours Community Service, and I will ask that it be tailored to reflect your talents so that the community will truly benefit. Bound over for five years to keep the peace. And, for Ms Carter, even though it would appear that what was lost she desired gone, five hundred pounds for pain and suffering. Usher?”

Nye was led away to the court offices, blinking at Von and myself, as Will hugged his mother. The chairman turned back to us.

“Ms Carter, would you please approach the bench?”

I worked my way down the row of seats as one of the ushers opened a little gate, and found myself being smiled at.

“Ms Carter, I find this an odd case. No, not your gender. I have dealt with a large number of domestic violence cases, and almost always the victim fights to withdraw or minimise the case against the criminal with whom they live. And, to be honest, I despair. This, though: this is different. Why were you so anxious for his sentence to be so soft?”

“I didn’t think that was soft, Your Worship”

“Oh come on. He is a violent old sod who needs a serious lesson. I could have sent him down for a decent stretch, or even referred it up to Crown for sentencing. GBH is indictable, after all. So why the concern over him?”

“His grandson, Your Worship. He has enough shi…enough problems in his life as it is”

“Shit. The microphones are off, so you can say the word. Gillian Carter, you are a strong woman. Thank you for being human with it”

I smiled as best I could. “I just have the right friends…”

“Including his daughter, it seems. Ah well. May your luck continue, then”

She nodded to her colleagues, they rose, we rose, and they were gone. Luck and friends. Yes indeed.

A surprisingly short time later we were landing at Newcastle airport again, and it seemed as if we had made up most of the passengers on the twin turboprop plane. Rachel, Karen, Terry, James, Will, Von, Alec, both Johns and the two of us, it had got a little silly. James had closed down tightly when the plane took off. Terry had been sitting next to him, talking gently as the boy’s hands obscured his face, but eventually his tea consumption forced him to make a short visit to the aeroplane toilet. To my surprise, John Wilkins slipped into the empty seat. Bu the time Terry returned, James was talking, hands down and eyes looking out of the window. John looked up at the boy’s father.

“Would you mind if I stay? I am showing him how the wings work”

Terry just shook his head and settled into the seat next to Rachel with a soft laugh, then called across to the older man.

“Thanks, mate”

Landing, baggage and exit, and a mother who could walk far better than recent memory held, but seemed to need to cling onto another geriatric coffin-dodger for support. I expressed this view along with an enquiry as to whether she had been hitting the gin again, and she had the cheek not just to threaten but actually to slap my arse.

“Oy, that’s my job!”

Hugs for them both from Larinda, as Jim and Rachel said an intense hello, and then I saw my mother’s face tighten as she saw Von.

“And you are here on what terms, Siobhan? For the boy’s sake, aye? But any shite, and you are dead and gone. So don’t try me”

Raafie put his arm around Mam’s shoulders. “Norma hinny, she’s here fer the lad, aye? Gan canny on her. She’s not hor dad. Ah mind, me, that thoo sayed thoo can taak te this one, aye?”

Will held his own mother’s hand. “Mrs Carter, just for now, please? Mum is trying her best, and it’s not easy. Now, you don’t know many of these…”

He began the round of introductions, and when he came to John Wilkins she stepped forward and kissed his cheek.

“You are the lad who got my girl to hospital, aye?”

“Er, sort of”

“Then you are welcome, proper welcome. Siobhan, I will do this for the sake of aal these others, aye? Now, transport. Thy brother is on his way, like, but some of thee will have to take the Metro to Heworth and had on a bit for us to pick thee up, aye? Jill, where exactly are this lot meant to rest the night?”

Jim called across during a short pause for breath. “Whey, Ah’ve cleaned up the upstairs for the noo, like. We hev plenty a space. Jill, there’s thy kid, aye?”

Neil was looking so much better, but his embrace was wordless and firm. He left me and moved straight to Larinda, and then, with a short flicker of a search from his eyes, to John Wilkins, who brought his first words from him.

“Thank you”

That was when my mobile rang. “Jill Carter”

A girl’s voice, southern accent. “Hello, where are you?”

“Who is this?”

She laughed. “You olds are always so paranoid….ah! Spotted you!”

A young couple pushed through the crowds towards us, the girl waving a phone over her head. She was so pretty I felt an ambush of jealousy take me. A very tall and terrifically ginger boy of a similar age was beside her.

“Hiya! You must be Jill! My Aunty Steffy sent us!”

“Sorry, but who?”

“Steph Woodruff. Mad ginger fiddler…friend of Annie’s? Annie Price? Works at the airport”

Oh, of course. “Sorry, didn’t twig, like. Annie give you my number?”

“Yeah. I’m Kelly, this is Mark. Came to see if you needed picking up. Got Mark’s granda’s car. Who’s the one going to Uni?”

“Er, Will, over there---“

She was gone, straight to Von’s boy, and I turned back to the tall redhead, who was grinning.

“I will never get over how much life she has in her, Miss”

Local. “How, it’s Jill, aye?”

“Aye, aal reet. Better explain, like. We’re both at the Uni as well, so Annie sez to her Aunty Steph, like, how about meeting them at the airport and seeing if they need a lift. And, well, new lad at college, she sez, could do with a bit back-up till he gets his feet under, and, well…”

He was blushing. “Look, Jill, Kell, she does all this, this bouncing, like, so I get a bit lost in the wake, aye? But, well, we’re here, and me granda’s got the people carrier for the kit, so…”

Friends, once more, so many friends I was losing count. Friends I didn’t know I had, who drove to an airport on the suggestion of a friend of a friend, just in case we needed a lift. I looked across at Rachel, who was still absorbed in Jim, and Larinda, who had seen the arrival and clearly heard Mark’s shy and stuttering explanation, and all I could think was condensed into one question.

How could we have spent so many years being so stupid?