‘What’s going on?’ I ask.
‘Hi Hannah. Do you want to take a seat?’
I sit opposite them in the armchair. My nerves are starting to rattle and my hands are getting clammy. Mum isn’t saying anything, in fact I think she’s holding her breath.
‘I just wanted to update you on a few things. And its good news for once,’ she smiles at us. I’ve not seen her smile properly before. I don’t like it, it doesn’t suit her. She’s been so horrible until now that I can’t believe she means it.
‘First of all, Hannah, you are definitely not going to be charged with anything. We believe what you told us about what happened on the day of Katie’s death.’
My lungs force out my breath, fast and heavy. I didn’t realise I’d been holding it in. I hadn’t let myself think about being charged with anything for a long time now but hearing that I won’t be is a massive relief. They believe me. I can tell Josh and his mum that I’m definitely not suspected of pushing her. Thank God. I roll my shoulders up to my head and try to release the tension in my back.
‘Okay,’ that’s all I can manage at the moment.
‘Also, and this stays between us because it’s a very sensitive matter,’ she looks at us both sternly so that we both nod in agreement. ‘Also, there won’t be a trial in the case of Martin Sewell abusing Katie. So that means that you won’t have to give evidence against him.’
I’m confused. I don’t get it, ‘Why won’t there be a trial anymore? Is he being let off?’
I start panicking, the pressure is building up in my lungs again and I feel fidgety. Mum looks horrified.
‘No, no, he’s not being let off. Basically, all I can tell you is that he has recently accepted the charges against him and has changed his plea to guilty.’
I feel like I’m floating. But really, I’m fainting.
The next thing I know I’m being sat upright by mum whilst Kath looks uncomfortable behind her. Mum almost suffocates me with worry but I feel fine now, just maybe a bit stupid for passing out in front of Kath.
‘It’s probably just lack of oxygen to the brain, she looked like she was holding her breath,’ says Kath.
I instantly remember what she said before I fell forward and try to process it. He’s admitted it. He’s confirmed what Katie had told me. I can’t believe I even slightly doubted her. But then, how was I to know? Like the counsellor said maybe Katie was acting cheerful to help her get through herself through it, to help her cope. My thoughts turn to Katie. She would be absolutely stunned if she could hear this. Maybe she’s here in our living room now. This means her dad will go to prison and never be able to harm her baby brother or sister. I can feel wetness dripping onto my hands. Tears.
‘How come he changed his plea? Something must have happened,’ says mum.
‘Yes, it did. We’ve been investigating Hannah’s claims since she gave her statement, which means that basically we’ve been looking for evidence of what Martin Sewell might have been doing. Two days ago, we found evidence. Once we told him that, his solicitor advised him to plead guilty.’
Mum shakes her head in disbelief, ‘The bastard. So, what you’re really saying is that if you hadn’t have found any evidence he’d still be putting us through hell in hope of getting off?’
Kath doesn’t answer, she just shrugs and looks down at the carpet. I have a question but I don’t know if I want to hear the answer. It’s out of my mouth before I can decide.
‘What was the evidence you found?’
This makes her look even more uncomfortable, like she doesn’t want to burden me with it. But I want to know.
‘Where he worked he had a locker, for his uniform and things. One of his work colleagues tipped us off that there might be something hidden in there. There was. We found a portable external hard drive.’
Please don’t say what I think you’re going to say, please don’t, please don’t, I couldn’t bear it.
‘There were thousands of images on it, and some videos.’
Oh God, oh God, oh Katie, you poor thing. I hope they weren’t of you, I hope they were downloaded from some sick website.
I hear myself whisper, ‘What’s going to happen to them? Will they be destroyed?’
She surprises me then by leaning forward and putting her hand on mine. ‘Hannah, I promise no-one will ever see them again.’
Mum snorts back tears while I use my dressing gown sleeve to cover my face and sob into it. I wonder when my tears will run out. I’ve been crying for weeks now. I’m even starting to get a stye where I’m rubbing my eyes so much.
‘What happens about him leaving the scene of Katie’s death without calling an ambulance or reporting it to anyone?’ I ask.
She sits back and takes a deep breath in, ‘Unfortunately, nothing. The CPS feel there isn’t any evidence proving he was at the scene, and obviously he’s denying it, so there’s no mileage in pursuing that.’
‘But will he go to prison for the other things?’
‘Well, he’s got to attend a sentencing hearing in two weeks where the judge will rule on the sentence. But he’s been remanded in custody since he pleaded guilty so I’m very confident that he will serve time, yes. How long he serves is up to the judge.’
The tension in my face lifts and my shoulders drop. I feel clear-headed and ready for action. I don’t know what I feel ready to act on though.
‘Do Josh and his mum know all this?’
‘Yes, I went to see them before I came here.’
I wonder why Josh didn’t ring me, but then I remember I switched my phone off when I arrived home earlier. I have to go and see him.
‘So, if you don’t have any other questions, I’ll be going,’ she gets up. ‘You’ll be pleased to know this is the last time you’ll see me.’
I fight the urge to say ‘thank God’ and do a celebratory dance. But then, in the end she was nice enough I suppose. I guess she can’t get close to everyone she interviews because she wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing what happens to some of them. Still, I can’t help thinking she could’ve taken my age more into account and cut me some slack when she took us to the police station that first time. Me and mum get up and walk her to the front door.
‘You’ll get your computers back tomorrow, one of the PC’s will ring you to arrange a time,’ she steps out the door and turns back to look at me. ‘Thanks for being honest with us Hannah. You showed maturity when you must have just wanted to run away. You’re a strong young lady. Good luck with your future.’
I smile through my tears and mum closes the door after saying her goodbyes. She turns and hugs me really hard. We both stand like that for ages, crying through our relief and grief. I ask her to cancel today’s counselling session as I need time to process what just happened.
After our visit from Kath and after phoning dad and telling him the latest, we go to visit Josh and Elaine. We all sit in their living room and spend time dissecting what Kath told us. This turns into a session of slagging off Katie’s dad. Until mum eventually changes the topic and we start reminiscing about Katie. It feels good to talk about it all and get everything off our chests. There are lots of tears, especially from Elaine, but by the end we all agree we want to move on, but without forgetting Katie. Josh and I volunteer to pack up all his dad’s things so that the police can take it to one of his relatives who has agreed to look after it until he gets released from prison. We then go into Katie’s room and leave our mums downstairs. Her room is empty now except for her bed and furniture, and some framed photos of her.
‘What’s your mum planning to do with this room now?’
He squeezes my hand, ‘It’s going to be the baby’s room. We’re going to wait for her next scan when she’ll find out the sex of the baby, and then paint it either pink or blue.’
The thought of this makes me sad. It’s like Katie’s being replaced.
‘Are you still starting college next week?’
‘Yeah,’ he says. ‘I need to ret
urn to some kind of normality and because it’s college instead of sixth form, not many people will know I have a dead sister. I get to be anonymous. What about you? Are you going to go back to start year eleven?’
‘No. Mum’s enrolled me in that on-line home schooling website, where they send me school work and I have to submit my homework to tutors on-line. I’ve had a brief look at it but I’m still on school holidays so that can wait for now.’
‘Who’d have thought so much could change in five weeks?’
I sigh, ‘Not me.’
‘It’s going to be weird having another kid in the house. I hope it’s a boy this time, I can’t go through letting another girl tie my hair up and put make-up on me again.’
This makes me laugh really loud, which feels good.
‘When did she used to do that?’
‘When we were about six and seven. Mum’s even got some bloody photos as evidence. Remind me not to show them to you some time.’
I laugh again. We sit on the floor and lay back together. Downstairs we can hear our mums laughing together. It sounds lovely. For the first time in ages, I feel happy.
Please keep in touch – follow me on Twitter @WendyDranfield or on Goodreads, as I love interacting with readers and writers.
If you enjoyed any of these stories, please consider leaving a rating or review on Amazon or Goodreads. Thank you.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
The Girl Who Died: A Young Adult Novel Page 16
