by Anna Jacobs
‘Get back,’ Pulford yelled.
Joss spoke much more quietly. ‘We need to agree on the terms first.’
‘No, we don’t. You need to do as you’re told. And so does she.’
There was the sound of a police siren, more like two of them.
‘What the hell have you done?’ Steven shouted. ‘That wasn’t necessary.’
‘We haven’t done anything.’ Joss’s voice was calm. ‘Sounds like the police, but I haven’t called them. I give you my word on that.’
‘Then he –’ he jerked his head in Chad’s direction – ‘can go and tell them to stay clear. This is between me and my wife, no one else.’
‘Do as he says,’ Joss said. ‘Tell them to stay back.’
Chad stared from one to the other, moving away with a sigh.
‘She wants to come back to me,’ Steven said. ‘Don’t you?’
With the knife still at her throat, Libby could only nod.
‘You see. This is all a lot of fuss about nothing.’
‘The trouble is, you’re depriving her of her liberty. If she says the same thing after you release her, naturally we’ll respect her wishes.’
‘She wants me to take her and the boy back home, so that we can make up and carry on with our lives. We were happy before.’
The bleak expression in Libby’s eyes told Joss this wasn’t true.
As Chad started to cross the courtyard, Ashley intercepted him. ‘Toby wants to see you.’
‘I’ll speak to him afterwards. I have to speak to the police first.’
‘He wants to speak to you now.’
Chad was already turning away when she added, ‘He’s hiding the little boy.’
He swung back. ‘What did you say?’
‘Toby’s hiding the little boy. They’re in the secret room.’
‘You’re sure of that?’
She nodded.
Two police officers peered through the windows then came out of the centre. Chad gestured to them to stay where they were and turned back to Ashley. ‘Tell Toby to come out and bring the boy.’
But she only repeated, ‘He’s frightened. He wants to speak to you.’
‘Wait here. I’ll be back in a minute.’ He hurried across to the police officers, told them quickly what was going on. As the officers moved quietly across the courtyard towards the scene of the confrontation, he turned to Ashley. ‘We’ll go and see Toby now.’
She nodded and led the way.
When they got to the secret room, he called, ‘Toby! It’s Chad here. Come out.’
The door began to open slowly.
Steven was looking so wild-eyed that Joss knew he couldn’t delay him much longer. The hand that held the knife was twitching and Pulford’s other hand was clamped firmly round Libby’s arm.
Suddenly Steven dragged the improvised gag down. ‘Tell them to let us go, Libby. And tell them I always mean what I say.’
Her voice was husky. ‘Let us go. For Ned’s sake. Please.’
Joss could see that she was terrified for the child and with that knife still close to her throat, he didn’t dare detain them any longer. ‘I’ll move slowly backwards.’
The minute he was out of the way, Steven began to move sideways towards the perimeter wall, still keeping the knife at Libby’s throat.
As they reached the corner of the shed and passed him without seeing him, Des moved quietly after them. Joss saw him but didn’t give him away.
Pulford had no idea anyone was behind him until Des grabbed the hand holding the knife with both his, jerking it away from Libby’s throat and twisting her attacker’s wrist in a way guaranteed to hurt.
Pulford yelled in shock, struggling to keep hold of the knife, but as Des increased the pressure, he fell to his knees and let go of the weapon.
Joss rushed forward to help, but Pulford continued to struggle like a madman.
Libby moved right away from them, shaking in fear and shock.
A police officer joined them and, even then, it was a few moments before they managed to get handcuffs on Pulford.
Joss sat beside him on the ground, panting. ‘Where’s the boy?’
Pulford smiled. ‘Wouldn’t you like to know?’
Libby walked over to join them. ‘Please, Steven! Ned’s your son. Tell me where he is.’
‘I’ve got him hidden away. He might starve to death if you don’t let me go.’
A voice called loudly, ‘No, he won’t.’
She turned to see Chad standing at the corner of the building, holding Ned in his arms, with Toby and Ashley standing a little way behind them looking anxious.
With an inarticulate cry of relief, she ran across to take her son and cuddle him close.
‘Daddy’s mad at us again,’ Ned whispered, clinging to her tightly.
‘He’s not mad at you; he’s mad at me. But he’s going away and he won’t be coming back.’
But Ned stole a glance at the man the police were helping to his feet and shivered.
‘Come on.’ Joss put an arm round Libby’s shoulders. ‘Let’s leave him to the police.’
‘I’ll get out one day. And I’ll find you, Libby. Wherever you go, I’ll find you!’ Pulford yelled.
‘The bad man won’t find you,’ Toby said suddenly. ‘He’s going away and he won’t come back.’
She stopped to stare at him in surprise.
‘Toby seems to have some psychic powers,’ Chad murmured. ‘I hope he’s right about this, as he has been about other things. Come on, Libby. Let’s get you somewhere comfortable.’
She felt hope curl through her as she walked into the building with Joss, not looking back at the man still screaming obscenities after her.
Emily was waiting for her inside the centre. ‘Come up to the flat. I can offer you tea or coffee, or you could join me in a brandy. Here. Let me take the boy.’ She smiled at Ned and held out her hand. ‘I’ve got some cake and a drink of orange juice waiting for you, young man.’
To Libby’s surprise, Ned went to Emily, smiling at her. ‘I’m thirsty.’ Then his smile faded. ‘My daddy’s a bad man.’
‘He is. Very bad.’
‘But Toby says he won’t come back.’ He nodded as if that pleased him.
‘We won’t let him come back,’ she said firmly.
He stared at her and nodded again.
They all trailed up the stairs.
Chad turned to beckon to Toby. ‘Come and have a drink of tea. You helped us today. You did really well.’
‘All right.’
Ashley hesitated. ‘Me too?’
‘Of course. You’re a friend as well.’
She stared at him solemnly, nodded and followed Toby up the stairs.
Epilogue
When they were all supplied with something to drink, Des stood up and clinked his spoon against his mug to get their attention. ‘There is something else I need to tell you.’
‘I hope it’s good news this time,’ Joss said.
‘I think it is.’ Des looked at Chad and Emily. ‘All right if I tell them what you employed me for?’
She smiled. ‘Yes. But make it the whole tale. I don’t want to figure as a woman who willingly gave her baby away.’
Libby went very still and looked across at her.
Des said gently, ‘I’ve already told Libby about her birth mother and how she came to be adopted.’ He turned to Libby. ‘Emily’s been looking for her daughter for several months now, but letters to you have gone unanswered. You never saw them, did you?’
She shook her head, stealing another glance at Emily. Was it possible?
‘But you wanted to find your birth mother, didn’t you?’
‘Yes. Very much. It’s not good to be alone in the world, to have no blood relatives.’
‘As you must have guessed by now, Emily is your birth mother and it’s more than time you two got together.’
He turned to Emily, who had tears rolling down her cheeks. ‘Why don’t we go and finis
h our refreshments in the café, while you and Libby have a long-overdue chat?’
People nodded and began to leave.
But Ned wouldn’t leave his mother, so he stayed with the two women.
‘I’ll explain it to you,’ Joss whispered to Toby and Ashley as they left.
Toby looked at him in surprise when he’d finished a simplified version of the tale. ‘Emily is Libby’s mother?’
‘Yes. They’ve been looking for one another for a while now.’
‘My mother died,’ Ashley said.
‘So did mine.’ Toby sighed.
‘But now you’ve got each other. You can be good friends.’
He nodded. ‘Good friends. But I have to be tidy or Ashley gets angry.’
‘We’ll go back to our flats now,’ Ashley decided. ‘I’ll clean up the secret room tomorrow. It’s very dusty.’
Chad smiled as they walked off together.
Then he heard the fax machine go, so went to see what the message was.
He wished he could hear what Emily and Libby were saying.
When everyone had left, Emily looked at her daughter. ‘I think this has surprised you more than me. I’d guessed you were the one, from things Des said. I remembered Ned.’
Libby stared at her, seeming unable to speak.
‘Are you all right about it, me being your mother, I mean?’ Libby’s smile at this was so glorious, it made Emily want to weep.
‘Oh, yes. I’m definitely all right about it. If you are, that is.’
‘I can’t tell you how happy I am. There aren’t words to describe it.’ She smiled at Ned, who immediately smiled back. ‘Not only a daughter, but a grandson. I feel rich beyond my wildest dreams.’
Ned clambered down and began to rearrange the mugs and plates on the low table.
Emily stood up and held out her arms, and Libby rushed to hug her mother for the first time in her life. Both of them were sobbing.
When Ned began to look anxious, Libby scooped him up. ‘It’s all right. We’re crying because we’re happy. This is your grandma.’
He looked at Emily and beamed. ‘My friend Jenny has a grandma. And now I have one too.’ He seemed so bemused that he didn’t pull away as his grandma bent to kiss him, which made more happy tears roll down Emily’s face.
After a while, the two women sat down next to one another on the couch and wiped their eyes.
‘I always cry when I’m happy,’ Emily said apologetically.
‘So do I. I so hoped I’d find you.’
‘And if you ask me, you’ve found more than a mother and stepfather lately. Have you seen the way Joss looks at you?’
Libby could feel herself blushing. ‘Yes. He’s … a great guy. But we’re taking it slowly. I can’t do anything till I’m officially divorced from Steven.’
‘In the meantime, I think this calls for champagne, don’t you?’
‘Yes.’
They cleared the table of cups and called the others in.
Chad went straight to Emily, giving her a big hug. ‘I’m so happy for you, my darling.’ Then he hugged Libby for good measure.
When he stepped back, Libby saw Joss hesitate, looking uncertain, so she went and put her arms round him.
‘My mother said this is a place of hope,’ she said softly. ‘I felt that the first time we came here and helped Jane along the road to safety. I feel it even more so now that my hopes and dreams have come true. And I haven’t thanked you properly, Joss.’
‘For what?’
‘Putting your life on the line. Steven had a knife.’
‘I wasn’t going to let him use it on you, but it was Des who grabbed him first. Thank goodness.’
A little later Chad cleared his throat to get their attention. ‘I have another piece of good news for Emily.’
She looked at him. ‘Oh?’
He grinned. ‘George has agreed to pay your price for the house.’
She looked at him, a smile crept across her face, and she let out a loud cheer. ‘Serves him damned well right.’
Then they had to explain to the others.
‘I have an aunt as well?’ Libby asked.
‘Yes, but my sister’s a bit of a weak reed. And as for George, who’s your half-cousin, I absolutely guarantee you’ll dislike him.’
‘That’s what it’s like in families,’ Joss agreed. ‘I have an uncle I can’t stand. He’s a pompous fool.’
Emily smiled at him. ‘I’m going to enjoy being related to you, Joss. I hate people pretending all their relatives are perfect.’ She hesitated, then added, ‘I’m glad Libby’s got you now.’
A little later, while Emily and Chad were talking to Ned, and Des was taking a phone call, Joss asked quietly, ‘Are you coming back to live at Top o’ the Hill, Libby?’
‘Oh, yes.’
‘That’s good. And … are we going to get to know one another better?’
‘Absolutely.’
He let out a happy sigh and pulled her closer. ‘So I’m now allowed to cuddle you in front of your mother?’
‘It’s obligatory.’
But as they kissed she felt someone tugging at her skirt. She looked down at Ned.
‘Why is Joss kissing you?’
It was Joss who answered. ‘Because I love your mother.’ Then he scooped up the boy and tickled his stomach. ‘And I love you, too.’
Ned leaned trustingly against him and Libby felt more happy tears rise in her eyes. She had to be very firm with herself not to cry again.
By the time Joss had put the little boy down, the champagne was ready and they could raise their glasses in a toast proposed by Chad.
‘To families, old and new.’
‘To families.’
