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Chapter 8

Previously …

‘Hello Katie, I’m a doctor. I understand that you have had a few problems and got caught out in the cold?’

I nodded

I was warming up, but was still shivering a bit under the blanket where my clothes were still quite wet.

‘Abby, Jo, I need to examine her; can we have a few minutes? Looking at how damp she is, I think that we need to get her a change of clothes and maybe a hot bath. Can you ask erm, Mrs Stevens if she has anything for Katie to wear?’

‘So, she still insists on being called Mrs Stevens?’ I thought dejectedly, ‘what is going on? I want my mum!’

And now the story continues…

‘Right Katie, let’s have a quick chat whilst Jo gets you some clothes. I want you out of this wet things but I imagine that you are bit shy about that sort of thing; am I right?’

I nodded.

‘Perhaps you can tell me a little about yourself. How old are you?’

‘Sixteen.’

‘I haven’t been told much about your circumstances and it’s up to you what you actually tell me, but it’s in your best interests to be frank and truthful. Jo mentioned, without going into specifics that you have gender issues, is that right?’

I nodded.

‘Hmm; look...’ she said.

Just then, Jo knocked on the door and poked her head round.

‘Will a nightie and dressing gown okay for now Katie? Susan hasn’t got anything that would fit?’

I nodded.

‘Do you want me to leave while you get changed?’ said the doctor.

I shook my head.

‘Are you going to examine me?’ I asked.

‘With your permission.’

‘So I don’t have to be examined?’ I replied, feeling a bit embarrassed about me body.

‘Not if you don’t want to be. It’s up to you, but I want to help and I am not judgmental. So, do you want me to have a look at you to see if you are alright?’

I thought for a moment. All that had happened to me recently had made me feel very tired. I had had enough of this. I was 16 years old, so I couldn’t be made to do anything I didn’t want to; but I did want to be considered a girl and not a boy and I did need medical assistance if I was going to make my dreams come true. I wondered for a moment what my mum was thinking about all this and even whether she cared about me.

I had had enough of hiding, running away and not confronting what had to be done. It was time to take charge of the situation and not rely on others.

I just nodded my head in answer to her question.

‘Okay, take your top off.’

She turned away to have rummage around her doctors bag.

Shrugging the blanket off, I removed my jumper, bra and then after a moment’s thought, my jeans and panties and even my socks, which were wet, despite the fact that I had been wearing my boots. Obviously they weren’t as water proof as I had hoped.

Doctor Marcia turned to me and looked surprised as I faced her.

‘I only wanted your top off; never mind, come over into the light and let me have a look at you.’

She must have been good at poker, as her expression didn’t change as she took in the fact that I had shrunken genitals and small, pert breasts. I thought that showing her everything would give her an idea as to what my problem was.

She did the stethoscope thing and I winced at the cold touch of it and then she asked me to lie down on the couch.

‘Not an ideal place for an examination, but it will have to do for now. You can come into the surgery in a few days and I’ll give you a proper once over. Do you mind if I examine a few delicate areas?’

I shook my head.

‘Do you want Jo or Abby to come in?’

I shook my head; noting with a pang of pain that she didn’t say anything about my mum coming and holding my hand.

She felt my breasts carefully and then did the same with my genitals. I tried to keep my mind on other things while she did that. Finally, she had me stand up and bend over as she inserted a lubricated, rubber gloved finger up my backside and that was unpleasant in the extreme. She did have the grace to apologise for doing it though! She also took an armful of blood and I had to look away for that as I am a bit of a jelly when it comes to needles.

‘Okay Katie, pop on your nightdress and robe and go and sit by the fire, you still seem a bit cold; put the blanket around your legs too.’

I was still shivering, so I was pleased to put some clothes on and also the slippers that had been provided. The room was warm, with a cheerful open fire. It didn’t take long for me to get warmed through.

After the doctor had put everything back in her bag, she came over and sat opposite me.

‘Can I ask you a few questions?’

I nodded.

‘Tell me all about what has happened and why you believe that you are a girl.’

‘I am a girl, I don’t just believe it, like some sort of religion; I am a girl.’

‘Sorry, I put that wrongly; please just tell me your story.

So I told her.

It took a surprisingly long time to tell her all that had happened to me and about the search for my mum. Not helped by the fact that my damned hormones made me cry a lot. But the crying helped and I did feel a bit better when I had finally finished my story.

‘Okay Katie, thanks for that. I’m a little clearer now as to the reasons behind your actions. On purely medical grounds, I’m not happy about your taking birth control pills from such a early age and in particular, ones that haven’t been prescribed for you. You probably know that once you were 16, the option is normally blockers until 18, although some clinics are giving them to kids aged 12 and over. The fact that you have gone straight to hormones is not the usual thing and you have probably been having some side effects such as mood swings as well as the more obvious physical changes like your breast development and shrunken genitals. Am I right?’

‘Yes Doctor.’

‘Call me Marcia, all my friends do; not many patients call me doctor as most of them are my friends and I hope you will be too. Anyway, what’s done is done regarding your self-medication and I prefer to look forward rather than back. Physically, you seem okay, but I want to have some further tests done to make sure everything is as it should be. The blood test results should be back by the end of December. The Christmas break always slows things down, and I propose that once we finally have those results in, we’ll have a better idea as to how we should proceed. Do you agree with that?’

‘Yes doctor, I mean Marcia. Tell me, does all the crying and anger have much to do with the pills I’ve been taking?’

‘Yes, I would say so; that and the fact that a lot of teenagers even without your issues think that the world is against them; angst is one of the perils of grown into an adult for some. Adolescence is a hard time for most people and you more than most, as you have a potent mix of testosterone and oestrogen flooding your body. I would be surprised if you didn’t have these issues. When the bloods come back, we’ll know what the levels of each are and I can make some recommendations. I will also arrange for you to see a psychiatrist...’

‘I’m not mad.’

‘I know that, but you do need to see someone with experience with your issues so that he or she can help you through what I know is a difficult time for you. In any case, it’s mandatory for you to be fully assessed before we can give the go ahead for any treatment. Which reminds me, I want you to promise not to take any more birth control pills? I will give you a supply of blockers, so everything will be on hold and that will give us time to sort out all we have spoken about; do you agree?

I nodded my head reluctantly. For a long time I had been self-medicating and even I realised that that could be harmful. I would have to get into the system if I had any chance for surgery.

I had no choice.

She smiled.

‘Cheer up Katie; things aren’t as bad as you think. Anyway, I need to go now. I’ll see you very soon and we will get this sorted out. By the way, if it means anything to you, I think that you are a very pretty girl and can’t see much of a boy in you.’

‘What about those things between my legs?’

‘From what you have been saying, they will only be there temporarily and if everything goes as you wish, they can be sorted out. Now, I have to go, my hubby is waiting for me. He wants to start Christmas early by raiding the sweet tin and having a few drinks!’

‘Sorry to have got you out.’

‘No problem; see you soon, maybe even tomorrow; bye.’

‘Goodbye and thanks for listening; I wasn’t used to that before I came here.’

‘Things are different here; now I must be off.’

With that, she left me and after a few brief whispered words, I heard the front door open and then close.

I was feeling quite warm now. I wiggled my feet in the fluffy slippers that I was wearing. My toes had lost that almost numb feeling and if anything were starting to feel almost too hot. As for the nightie, I wasn’t that keen on long winceyette nighties, being a bit old for my taste, but even I was grateful for its warmth after my near freezing experience.

There was a soft tap on the door and I looked up.

‘Come in.’

The door opened and there she was.

Mum.

She came in and stood by the doorway. She looked tired and had been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy.

‘H...how are you?’ She asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

‘Better.’ I said, feeling myself tear up.

She came in and shut the door and then walked over and sat down in the chair opposite me.

I said nothing, not knowing what to say; but worrying that if I did shout at her or accuse her of leaving me all those years ago, she might go again and I would never see her or find out what happened.

She wouldn’t look at me, but just stared at the fire. I wondered if she would ever say anything, but she took a deep breath and then looked at me.

‘You are lovely, Katie.’

‘Thanks.’ I whispered, with a lump in my throat.

A tear fell down her cheek and her lips trembled. Then she did something that I didn’t expect.

She got up came over, knelt down beside me and then hugged me fiercely.

‘I am so sorry for leaving you’ she cried, ‘I have always regretted it and worried about you.’

I lost it then and cried my eyes out, as did my mum. There was no pretence that she was Mrs Stevens; she was my mum and we were back together again.

We stayed like that, in each other’s arms for an age. Time didn’t matter, we were together again.

Eventually; hand in hand, we went over to the couch and sat down.

There was another knock on the door and Jocasta came in with a tray.

‘Oh good,’ she said, ‘It seems that things are going okay. Let me put this tray down and I’ll leave it to you to sort out the drinks. I found some chocolate hobnobs and hope that you don’t mind Carol, my raiding your biscuit barrel?

‘That’s okay, Jocasta,’ she replied.

‘Oh Carol, on that other matter, it’s all in hand. You should be safe now.’

‘Are you sure?’ Mum asked.

‘Positive.’

With a beaming smile Jo left us to it and shut the door behind her.

‘Safe?’ I said, ‘what does she mean?’

‘Shall we have some tea and then will tell you everything you need to know.’

It seemed a bit unreal and a very domestic scene as my mum made the tea and then offered me some biscuits. It was surprising that I realised that I was quite thirsty and hungry. A few moments later we settled down again and Mum felt ready to tell me her story.

‘I’ll start at the beginning. You need to know everything, you deserve that.’

I nibbled at a biscuit as she sat back, stared at the fire and told me everything.

’I was just fourteen when I had you. Jeff was in the same class in school and I suppose that we were both a bit on the wild side. I thought that I loved him and he was the boy for me. Despite the wildness, we had moments of love and tenderness and had even spoken about marriage when we were older; silly talk at our age. Anyway, one evening, we managed to get hold of a bottle of gin; I think Jeff pinched it from his dad’s drinks cabinet, which just happened to be a cupboard under the stairs. Anyway, we found our way to the park that evening, climbed over the rails and then got very drunk and didn’t really know what we were doing, well I didn’t anyway. I’m not sure that Jeff was drunk at all; it’s so easy to be wise in hindsight. Without going into sordid details, things got a bit hot and then, before I knew it, we had unprotected sex. I wasn’t on the pill, my dad would have killed me if I had asked for that and my mum, well she was weak and did as Dad told her to. Anyway, as I say, we had sex and it was a bit painful for me, as it was my first time and he was, surprisingly, quite rough with me and not the gentle person I thought that he was.’

She stopped for a moment as if dragging up those distant memories were painful for her.

I held her hand; our fingers entwined and put my head on her shoulder as she continued.

‘It didn’t take long for me to realise that I was pregnant. I was too scared to tell my parents but something like that couldn’t be hidden for long and Mum kept on asking why I looked so pasty and why was I always sick in the morning. I was going to tell Jeff, but soon after the park thing, he became distant and he didn’t want to know me. He was even a bit abusive and not like the boy I thought that I loved. Then he moved away and we lost contact.’

‘Didn’t you tell him about the pregnancy?’

She looked both sad and angry at the same time.

‘Initially, I wanted to tell him, but he left school suddenly. I had found out from friends that he had this thing about conquesting and controlling girls. I wish I had known this before he took my virginity. He was only fourteen, but it appears that he had had sex with several girls in the school and I was just one more notch on his bedpost or park tree in my case. The word was that he had moved away with his family because things got too hot for him and he had been accused of rape. That was a rumour, but I can now believe it. I wanted nothing more to do with him, so I didn’t find out where he had gone and as far as I was concerned, I would bring up my baby as a lone parent. Before you ask, I had no intention of having an abortion as I don’t believe in it, other than on medical grounds.

‘Eventually I had to come clean to my parents. To say that they hit the roof was an understatement, especially as I wouldn’t tell them who did the deed with me. I was taken out of school and given home schooling by my mum, who had been a teacher before she married Dad. I was kept apart from all my friends and not able to see anyone. It was as if I had some sort of dreaded disease rather than the natural process of bringing someone precious out into the world.

‘I felt you grow slowly in me and despite my parents’ disapproval and the feelings that I had about being pregnant by that...that boy, I loved the way you started kicking and moving about inside me and my love for you increased with every day that passed. Anyway, in due course it was time for you to be born and the birth was a hard one as I was in labour for twenty hours and I refused much of the medication that I was offered; I was concerned about the effects of any drugs might have on you. Anyway, eventually you were born and I immediately felt that special bond with you that only a mother can have with her baby.

Surprisingly, my mum and dad came round eventually and grew to love you almost as much as I did. After all, you were their grandchild and you were a lovely, contented baby. We had lots of nice times as a family and I cherish those times. Seeing you as a girl now, reminds me that you seemed a very gentle child when you were little and you loved playing with fabrics and you even refused a toy soldier because you preferred little dollies. We all thought that you would grow out of it.’

She got up and walked over to the tray.

‘I’m parched; do you want another cup of tea? I think that there’s enough for another one if we top it up.

‘Yes please.’ I said in a bit of a dream. I was so caught up in the story that I would have probably said yes to a cup of dishwater!

We settled down again and Mum continued her story; only it wasn’t a story, it was real life and I had been part of it.

‘It was coming up for three years later that everything went wrong. We were coming back from the shops; the weather was bad and it was in the middle of winter. There was ice on the road and our car was ploughed into by a lorry that had skidded on the ice. I woke up in hospital to find that Mum and Dad had been killed and I had various broken bones and a ruptured spleen. You somehow had miraculously survived almost without a scratch.

‘You were put into temporary care whilst they mended my body. But although they could stitch back my body, they couldn’t do that to my mind. I had a breakdown due to losing my parents and nearly losing you. The nightmares were awful and once they let me out of hospital I started drinking to deaden the pain of my loss. It didn’t help that I was taking drugs to help overcome the fact that I didn’t have a spleen. All this time, you were still in care and the powers to be had decided that I was too weak and ill to have you back.

‘That decision didn’t help as I relied more and more on alcohol, not a good idea for someone without a spleen and open to infection and other nasties. The doctors and specialists tried to help, but it was no good, I just wasn’t a safe enough person to take responsibility of a young child when I couldn’t even look after myself. So you were put into care until it was deemed that I would be a good and reliable mother.

‘It broke my heart to let you go and the last time I saw you, I made a scene and tried to snatch you away from the kids home that you were in at the time. A court order was put in place saying that I couldn’t see you anymore because of my state of mind, as they called it. I tried to keep in touch by sending you cards on your birthday and at Christmas. For your safety, as they put it, they said that they would not allow any contact other than that. However, I did write letters to you for years in the hope that they would be given to you.’

‘I never had any letters,’ I said.

‘I thought not as I never did get anything back from you.’

‘I wanted to write, but no one would give me your address.’

‘I put a note in with every card telling you my address.’

‘I never saw anything like that.’

‘Sometimes I think that these people like to play god! Anyway, enough of that; like you Katie, I moved about a bit. Eventually I arrived back to where I started in London and gradually got my life back together. I stopped drinking and haven’t touched a drop since. I enrolled into a college studying a degree in pre-registration nursing – I always wanted to be a nurse. It was hard, as I was living in a bed-sit, off campus. My plan was for me to be a fully qualified nurse and to be accepted as someone who could look after a child.

‘Despite my change in circumstances, I think that the social services had it in for me and couldn’t accept that I was a good person who had gone through hell and come out of the other side. I lost count the amount of times I asked to see you and have you back with me. I think that they believed that once you have fallen off the wagon, then you won’t ever get back to what they consider to be normal.’

‘Thinking about you and eventually getting us back together kept me going, despite all the walls that had been put up to prevent my access to you. I passed my degree with good grades. As part of my training, I was given work placements in several hospitals and once I obtained my degree, I applied for a nursing post in of all places, Birmingham. I spent some time there, and then transferred to Sheffield and then Hereford, all the time building up experience and then finally specialising in intensive care.

‘One thing I haven’t told you is that after a number of years there was a payout from the accident that killed my parents and injured me so badly. It appeared that the lorry driver was drunk and speeding at the time he hit our car. The claim took time to settle because the drivers’ insurers kept on arguing that the ice was a mitigating circumstance. Anyway, long story short, the claim was paid just prior to it going to court and as I was the sole beneficiary, the money came to me. When I found somewhere nice to live, I would buy a house and then try once again to get you back.

‘As I said before, every time I moved, I told social services and put a note in with the cards that I sent you, letting you know my current address. I was at least given information about where you were. Although I was concerned that you moved about more than me and I did wonder why. All I was told was that you found it hard to settle; I had to be satisfied with that explanation.’

‘They must have taken the notes out; all letters and cards were open prior to my having them.’

Mum shook her head.

‘Nothing surprises me about social services after the way we’ve been treated. I had no trust in the system and still don’t. Although, I understand that around here, things are a bit different; I’ll wait until I see that. Anyway, when I started working in Hereford, I decided that I didn’t want to live in town and one day, I was looking through the papers at houses and I found one that looked nice and it was in Ross-On-Wye. It that wasn’t that far by car and was a commutable distance, so I went and had a look. I loved it on first site and I bought it. Things went okay for a while and then something strange happened. Jeff, your father found me. He had been looking for me for some time and had even got private investigators involved.

‘He turned up on my doorstep late one night. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw him. He was older and more heavily built, but I recognised him instantly. Time had not dealt with him kindly and I could see that he was overweight, florid and had started to lose his hair – a heart attack waiting to happen. He said that he had hired an investigator to find me as he wanted to discuss certain things with me. He wanted to come in, but I said no. I had no love for him and as far as I was concerned, the only connection we had was you and I wasn’t going to tell him about that. I reluctantly agreed to meet him in a pub the following lunchtime and then I just closed the door on him. I was worried; he had a look about him that was rather nasty.’

‘Why didn’t you tell him about me?’

‘Because I did not feel that it was right and also to protect you. I hadn’t seen him in years and what I saw that night didn’t make me feel any better about him. I knew his history and it wasn’t nice. Anyway, I went to the pub and he was already there. He bought me a drink and we found a quiet place in the corner. Initially he was quite pleasant and I could see a glimpse of what had attracted me to him in the first place. He made out that he was a reformed character and he had always loved me. He had been married but that didn’t work out as he wasn’t able to have kids – low sperm count was the reason given. Well it couldn’t have been that low as I had you by him. Anyway, the investigator had ferreted about and told him about what had happened to me and the fact that my child had been put into care. Jeff wanted to know more about you and what the chances were of my getting you back. You were nearly 15 by then and close to the time when you could decide for yourself whether you wanted to know me or Jeff, but I felt uneasy about him and I didn’t believe the undying love nonsense. So, I just said that I wasn’t allowed to contact you.

‘Did he say that he wanted me?’ I asked.

‘Yes, he wanted a child because he told me that he couldn’t have any more and you fit the bill. Sorry, that was the impression that I got. He suggested that we marry and then as a married couple we could approach the social services and as we would have a stable home, we could then have you back.’

‘Did you agree to this?’

‘I said that I would think about it and then I told him that I had to get to work. I wanted to be out of there as soon as possible. Katie, I could see him for what he was. I might not be too bright in some things, but I could see right through him. He wanted to have a ready-made family. He wanted my house and my money and you were the connection between us that would ensure that what he wanted would come to pass. He wanted to control me as he had controlled other girls, probably including his ex-wife and I also believe that he wanted a son that he could mould into his likeness.’

‘The next morning, early, he was at my door again. He asked me if I had made a decision and I said that I didn’t think that it would work. I didn’t love him and I was sure that he didn’t love me. He pleaded with me and the pleas then turned to threats as the real Jeff came out. Once again, I shut the door in his face. He banged on the door and hurled abuses through the letter box. In the end I called the police and he was escorted from the premises, as they say. Somehow, probably through his investigator, he got my phone number and he started to ring me in the night. Then he turned up at the hospital and made a scene and I hid in the ladies toilet until he was taken away by security.

‘In the end, I got a court order to ensure that he kept away from me. I told Social Services about him, just in case he tried to get at you. Despite the court order, he started to stalk me and I became very concerned because the police wouldn’t do anything about my complaints, as it was my word against his and Jeff was very clever and never put himself in a position where he could be caught out. I changed my home and mobile numbers as I was still being called at odd times of the day and night. He used PAYG phones, so that the calls wouldn’t be traced back to him.’

‘I’m glad that he didn’t try to find me.’ I said hugging her and loving the feeling that I was at last with my mum again, despite all that had happened to both of us.

‘So am I honey. The only thing about you being in the care system was that at least you had some protection. Anyway, enough was enough and I transferred to Torbay District Hospital and found my way down here. I had known Penmarris from when I came here as a little girl. I had always thought that it was a lovely place and it still is. I told my previous employers and the estate agent not to tell anyone of my change of address and just had a PO Box in Torquay to pick up forwarded mail, although somehow, a few bits of mail did somehow find its way here. I kept to myself and changed my name, in the hope that Jeff wouldn’t find me. To protect you, just in case, I didn’t send you any cards. I wanted to make sure that he was off the scene and that you couldn’t be traced somehow through the social services as I had a feeling that he might try to contact them again and put a case that, as your father, he should look after you. I didn’t think that it would happen, but I was taking no chances.

‘No one said anything to me about my father,’ I said.

‘Good; anyway, about a week ago, Matron at work asked me to go to her office. She sat me down and told me that someone had been sniffing around and asking questions. The hospital already knew about my name change as it was only fair that they should know about the reasons why I had left Hereford and needed a change of identity.

I thanked her and then asked for a few days off as I needed to sort a few things out. I was overdue some holidays and so she said that I could take all the time I needed. I immediately went to Torquay Police Station and the desk sergeant referred me up to an inspector. I told her all that I could about what had happened and she looked up her records and she saw the details of Jeff’s court order. She didn’t look very happy as she scrolled through a number of pages and then turned to me.

‘Did you know that Jeff Walker is a convicted rapist?’ she said.

‘No, I knew at school that there had been rumours, but nothing was proved enough for a court case,’ I replied.

‘I have no record of the case that you are referring to, but he has been convicted twice for rape and once for embezzlement. In addition, West Mercia police want to question him about another rape case and violent assault.’

‘What can I do?’ I asked.

‘At the moment, not much; he needs to show himself. It seems that he wants you and your son to be part of a family with him and so he shouldn’t harm you, but we must be careful. We have to assume that he knows at least roughly where you are living. I’ll contact Penmarris Police and they will keep an eye on you. If you see Walker or he makes any contact let the constable know first or if you can’t contact him, ring here. I’ll make sure that Walker’s photo is circulated and hopefully we’ll catch him before long.’

Mum looked at me.

‘You can see what was happening there. I was being hounded, stalked, whatever you want to call it. I decided that I wouldn’t run anymore and so I stayed and waited. I was shocked to see him down at the quay yesterday evening and I ran back home and phoned the police. Last night, I locked myself in and the constable kept coming by to see if I was okay. Then, this morning you knocked on my door and asked me if I knew where Mrs Young was. My immediate thought was that somehow, he had sent you to enquire about me and I’m afraid that I was a bit short with you.’

‘It was only after you left, that I had a think. There was something nagging away at me and then I realised. I went and dug out a few photos that I had taken before you were taken from me. Looking at them, I broke down. You were so much younger and your face had changed a lot, but a mother knows her own child and I knew it was you, even though you were dressed as a girl. I broke down and cried. I had you right there and you had gone. ‘

‘I hadn’t gone Mum, I knew it was you.’

‘I didn’t know that. I wasn’t sure what to do. For a while, I wondered why you were dressing as a girl and then it all came back, how gentle you were and your obvious love of soft, pretty fabrics and your dollies and how you liked my skirts and dresses. It wasn’t just a silly childish thing; you thought that you were a girl then, even at such a young age. Looking at you, it’s as obvious as the nose on my face that you are my daughter and not my son.’

As I leaned into her and she held me tight, she finished her story.

‘Somehow, I pulled myself together. I decided to speak to the vicars’ wife. I didn’t know her but had heard that if there was anyone who had a sympathetic ear, it was her. Also, being in the centre of the local grapevine, I thought that she might have heard about you and possibly where you were staying. I tried ringing her, but she wasn’t in. Then I remembered seeing a notice about the carol service and I knew that I would catch her there.’

‘I sat near the back of the church and felt moved by the service. I had seen the choir come in, but hadn’t looked at any faces. It was only when I saw you coming out with the other choristers that I realised that it was you, my darling daughter, and my emotions got the better of me. Before I had pulled myself together, you had left the church and was half way down the hill. I went to follow you, but got the shock of my life when I saw Jeff in the churchyard. Luckily, he didn’t see me and I went out a different way and then going the long way around, I finally reached the quay. I saw the policeman and told him about my sighting Jeff and seeing you at the church and he told me to try to find you and then go to the Police House and stay there.’

‘I went up to the church after you, Mum, but you had gone, so I went back to the quay as Jo said that we would sort everything out tomorrow.’

‘We must have just missed each other then. Anyway, I looked everywhere for you, all the way making sure that I wouldn’t come across Jeff. I was out there for ages and then I decided to go and see Jocasta, just in case she knew where you were. I found her in a bit of a state as her daughters had told her that you had run off somewhere after a row in the Copper Kettle.

‘We wondered where you might have gone, and then I thought that you may have gone to The Seashells. So Jo, together with Abby, who was there at the time with her kids, had us jump into her car and we came here. We found you on the doorstep and now you are here with me safe and sound.’

‘What about my father?’

‘Jo told me that she had a message to say that he had been sighted going into the Toad and Tart and he has called for backup and is going after him. So we should be safe and soon we’ll be even safer because he’ll be in police custody...’

There was a loud knock on the door, making us both jump.

‘That’s probably that nice policeman.’

‘MUM!’

‘What darling?’

‘Don’t answer the door, look out the window first.’

‘All right, just in case, but I’m sure that it’s the police or maybe Jo or Abby.’

She went over to the window and flicked the curtain open and then nearly fell back. She turned to me, her face as white as a sheet.

‘It’s Jeff.’

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Please leave comments and kudo thingies...thanks! ~Sue