CHAPTER 31
Vic stared hard at me for a few seconds, before his gaze dropped to his plate. He pushed a few bits of chicken around with his fork before looking back up.

“Did Dafi really say he was frightened of us?”

Slowly, Rhodes.

“That’s the thing, Vic. This is going to sound odd, but logic isn’t always a help here. What Steph said was all about knowing how things were, and by that I mean a sort of paranoia. She just KNEW nobody could accept her, because that is how she saw herself until the real world sneaked up and surprised her. Alys feels the same, but she’s so much younger, it’s more of a terror. Her family’s her life”

I had noticed the twitch as I used that name, but at least he wasn’t arguing.

“Can I make a suggestion, mate? Get her home, let her see she’s safe, and, well, home, yeah? I…”

I had an odd split-screen moment, where one part of me muttered something about things getting better while my soul wanted to sob.

“I was in hospital for a while, Vic, when Caro… When I lost my wife. I had a cracked chest, and I spent a long while in dock, and when I left hospital, I had nobody to go back to, because she was gone. Yes, Keith, I know, and I will always love you and Pen for being there, but that was how it was. Alys will want to be home---no, start that one again. She will want to know there’s a home to come back to. I’m not pushing for you to go any particular way, just let her see she has her family with her, whatever”

I took another swig of beer, then grimaced.

“Shit, mate, you know I AM pushing one way. Get her home, make her safe”

Vic’s voice was soft.

“You seem to be comfortable with the ‘she’ stuff, Mike”

The more natural it becomes. I’ve met Alys; I think you should, you and Nansi. If Penny’s the woman I know her to be, Nansi will have met Alys by now. They should all be home by tomorrow or the day after, from what I’ve read about the drugs. Fresh start?”

Vic was nodding at last, and muttering to himself in Welsh, when the phone rang. Keith answered, in Welsh, and then, clearly for my benefit, switched to English.

“Yeah, Pen. Mike’s let us know. Bit wobbly here. I’ll put him on”

He passed the phone to Vic.

“Nansi for you, mate”

I was lost for several minutes as Vic went sibilant-rich in his own language, but I could pick out the occasional word, one of which was ‘Alys’ and another ‘adre’.

‘Home’.

He finished the call and passed back the phone, looking at each of us in turn.

“She says… Nansi says they are releasing our child tomorrow. They’ll all be home, and Dafi…”

He shook his head, pain in his eyes.

“Nansi says… Alys… Alys has told her a lot of things about what we haven’t seen, and we have come to an agreement. I need to take some advice, but my child is NOT going back to that school if I can help it. We need to see what is allowed in what the Yanks call home-schooling”

I held a hand up, as if I were in school, and Keith snorted.

“Shut it, Hiatt. Remember Auds? Her and her old man are in a home-school society. I know it’s in England, but laws are mostly the same. Want us to tap them up for you, Vic? Anonymised style?”

He nodded, then turned to Keith.

“When we’ve finished these cans, could I be cheeky and have a look at your malts?”

The morning ambushed me later than it normally did, because my head was rather thick after a night of the alcohol fighting the monosodium glutamate in the takeaway, and I headed for the kitchen with a quiet reminder to myself to leave the bike unused for the rest of the day. Keith was already filling the teapot, Vic snoring on the sofa under a spare duvet. As he set the cosy over the pot, Keith handed me a sheet of paper.

“List some priorities, mate. Brain storm style. Me and Vic’ll add our own. You still got Audrey’s number?”

I nodded, pulling out my phone and writing her number down on the sheet after a dig into my ‘contacts’. Keith read it, then handed back the paper.

“Probably best from you, Mike, what with seeing her more recently”

I couldn’t argue, so after I had written a few of the more obvious points onto his brainstorm planner, I clicked the green button.

“Hello, stranger! What do we owe this honour to?”

“Hi, Auds. Brain picking, I’m afraid”

“Fried or boiled, or just raw?”

“Oh, grow up! And thanks for looking after, you know”

Her voice softened.

“Yes, we do know, love. Saw you’d been down a couple of times. You should have stopped by ours”

“Ah, sorry, but, it’s that place, yeah?”

“Oh, I get that, love. Now, not going to do the how’s-it-all-in-flat-cap-land bit, cause you sound like a man on a mission. How can we help?”

“Well, I’m not in Yorkshire at the moment, Auds, but Snowdonia”

“You with Penny and Keith? How they doing?”

“Just Keith at the moment, but really well, and so’s their little girl”

“She climbing yet?”

“I believe so. Tell you what…”

I raised my eyebrows, and Keith gave a sharp nod.

“Get the brain-picking out of the way first, then I’ll pass you over to him. That do?”

“Get to the point, then”

“Need to know about home schooling. Friend’s kid”

“Right… you still got the same e-mail addy?”

“Yup”

“Brief overview of what you need, and I’ll send you the bumf by mail”

“Friend’s kid having some issues in junior school, needs a tide over before they start secondary school. Just coming up to ten”

“Right. Got that to hand. And yes, I am hearing a shitload of stuff you won’t or can’t tell me”

“Sorry, love”

“Don’t be. You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t care, or broke confidence. Now, give me Keithy boy. Don’t care if he’s naked”

“Thanks, love. Keith?”

I left him with my mobile as I poured three mugs, taking two into the living room just as the house phone rang. I set the mugs down next to a woken Vic and picked up the handset.

“Hiatt’s place”

“Hi, Mike. We’ll be setting off from the hospital at about twelve, after the consultant’s rounds, as long as he doesn’t change his mind. How’s Vic?”

“Next to me, just waking, and no, not like that, as you well know. Starting a brainstorm. How are the others?”

She paused, and I could almost hear her mind selecting the next words.

“The other girls are fine, love, though Alys is a bit apprehensive, and no, bugger it. She was what they call ‘open and honest’ with the local shrink, so that cat is now without a bag”

Another and much longer pause.

“The waiting lists for the kids’ specialist places, fuck me, Mike! Do they want these kids dead, or what? Sorry, and yes, I am on my own. Shrink has given Nansi a list of clinics and some private practice ones. Nans is talking about going private, but fist she gets pulled out of that school”

“Yes. Vic was talking about that last night. That’s what the brainstorm is. Hang on”

I turned to Vic.

“Spoke to a friend earlier, mate. She and her man are part of a home schooling group, and she’s sending me details. Mike’s having a gossip with her now”

Pen sounded amused.

“That’ll be Audrey, then”

“Yup. I did avoid name, pack drill, et cetera”

“I’d expect no less. Now, we’re back at one, and Alys has made a request. Could you boys prepare a picnic? We have a request from our new friend, and they have somewhere special they have in mind. Weather’s set fair today, so some rugs, flasks and that. If you make up the sarnies, we’ll stop off at the shop for some more interesting nibbles”

She finished the call, and I turned to Vic, who was swigging his tea in the manner of the utterly dehydrated morning after that famous night before.

“We’re on picnic preparation duties, Vic”

“Why a picnic?”

I had a very good idea, but still gave him a smile.

“I suspect someone wants to be somewhere pleasant as a reminder. Somewhere to make them feel better about living”

I had expected the tears, so let him work through them until he was settled once again.

“Girls will have to drive us all, because I suspect our blood levels are a bit low in our alcohol stream. Want a refill? Keith’s got breakfast going, or at least it smells like it. Hang on…”

I put my head round the kitchen doorway.

“Picnic for later, mate, so not a pig-out just now, okay? We need to make some sandwiches and fill flasks. More tea there?”

“Just made a fresh pot. Vic?”

I waggled my hand, only halfway to a thumbs-up, and grimaced. Keith nodded, then lowered his voice.

“Picnic?”

“Girls’ request. They get discharged around one o’clock”

“Ah. This be a sort of, you know, introduction session?”

I felt my eyes prickle, but fought the tears back.

“I bloody well hope so, mate. I really do”

“Any idea where we’re going?”

“God knows, mate. Safety net, us”

He nodded.

“Understood. Take his tea in; we’ll eat in here”

The next couple of hours were filled with unimportant stuff, largely steered by Keith, and I couldn’t argue with his actions because I had almost run out of emotional steam. Eventually, there was the sound of a key in the front door, and Penny was with us. She cast a quick look at Vic before heading for the kitchen with a number of carrier bags. Enfys was next, and to my surprise she ran straight to her father for a hug.

Nansi was next, hand in hand with her child, who looked terrified. Her gaze was on her father, until Vic simply opened his arms, and I walked into the back garden for a few minutes.

When I returned, bags were piled on the settee and people were clearly eager to get on their way. I found my trainers, grabbed my fleece jacket just in case, and followed the rest out to the cars.

To absolutely no surprise on my part, we headed uphill, pulling into the Idwal car park. As we gathered on the tarmac, I dropped a hand onto her shoulders, whispering “It’s going to be fine, Alys”

She simply squeezed my hand, and as a group we headed downhill to the little slate stile on the north side of the road. We didn’t drop down to the hidden bridge, but assembled on the polished platform opposite, where rugs were spread and teas poured.

Enfys was cuddling her friend, who smiled up at her in the most heartbreakingly simple of ways, before turning to her father.

“You know who I am, Dad?”