Lost Girls

by K Leitch

  Carla sank down on the floor beside her, her shoulders shaking in misery. She looked up at Frank who had his hand over his mouth in shock.

  ‘Stupid, stupid girl…what a fucking waste!’ Carla said furiously wiping the tears from her eyes. ‘You’d better get forensics here Frank and it would probably be a good idea to go through her things. She was the one helping the Sheenan’s, she admitted it to me before she…well anyway she might have something that we can use in court against them so….’

  ‘I’m on it,’ Frank said giving Carla’s arm a squeeze. ‘I think you’ve done enough for your first day back Ma’am, why don’t you go home, spend some time with your family.’

  ‘I think I will if you don’t mind Frank,’ Carla said gratefully, ‘maybe I’m not quite as ready to come back as I thought.’

  Frank and Sam reassured her that they had everything under control, and so a sad and weary Carla made her way slowly back home.

  CHAPTER 70 – JOOLS’ HEN PARTY

  Two weeks later, at The Bull public house.

  ‘No I don’t believe it,’ Helen said in a shocked voice, ‘how do you know this Tracy?’

  Tracy looked inscrutable and tapped the side of her nose, ‘Let’s just say a rather tall, dark little birdie told me shall we, but I promise you Helen it’s the truth.’

  ‘But Hester Binworthy and Fred Stevens…no, although now I come to think about it, she did go all mushy when Mark Stevens was doing his speech after the play. Wow, who’d have thought.’

  ‘I told you there would be more to it; I couldn’t understand why they left in such a hurry, and to go to Scotland…such a long way away. Arrh it’s really sweet if you think about it, they must have been so much in love….’

  Maggie snorted derisively, ‘SHE might have been so much in love, but he went all the way to Scotland to get away from her…and who can blame him, Hester Binworthy I ask you.’

  ‘You can’t help who you fall in love with,’ Carla put in, thinking about it, ‘and I can see that Hester might have been a bit of a looker in her day, you know, before her face started sprouting hair all over the place and that wart appeared on her nose. She’s got good bone structure, anyway was this before she married Jerry, Tracy?’

  Tracy shook her head in glee, ‘No, that’s the scandalous bit. She was not long married apparently and of course he was married with three children. It seems that Mrs Stevens got wind of their ‘amour’ and hot footed round to Hester’s house and had it out with her on the doorstep. Soon after that the Stevens high tailed it to Scotland,’ Tracy finished with a satisfied smile. She had been bursting to share this juicy bit of village gossip with the girls all day and hadn’t at all been disappointed by their reaction; they’d been as shocked as she hoped they’d be.

  All the witches were in attendance this evening and they had dressed for the occasion. Helen had brought Maya with her and they were both resplendent in new outfits from “Felicity’s” the very posh designer shop on the green in Kenley. Maggie looked stunning as always in a very daring off the shoulder number and killer high heels. Tracy had wowed her husband Simon before she’d come out, with a plunging neckline that showed off her magnificent bosom and knee high boots and Carla had had her hair freshly highlighted (the first time she’d been able to colour her hair because of the wound on her head) and was wearing some skin tight black jeans and a T shirt that said “who are all these people and why do they keep calling me Ma’am” on the front.

  Jools was in great form despite being the size of a small building, she was just seriously worried that Maggie, who had organised the Hen night, had booked some male strippers and kept jumping every time any one came in through the door. At one point earlier in the evening, when PC Martin Weir had come in his uniform to have a quick word with Carla, Jools had practically thrown up her Virgin Pina colada all over her auntie Maureen.

  ‘Jools will you calm down and enjoy yourself,’ Maggie said to her, after she’d checked with her for the twentieth time, ‘I promise I haven’t booked any strippers ok?’

  Jools still didn’t look convinced but went off to join her friends, who were all playing a noisy drinking game in the corner.

  Back at the witches table the conversation had turned to the funeral of Imogen Wiseman which had taken place the week before. Helen, despite what Carla had told her had felt that she should go as she had spent a lot of time in Imogen’s company over the last few months.

  ‘It was such a sad little affair,’ Helen was saying, ‘just Luke and the two granddaughters. At least they seemed to be genuinely upset at her death which is more than can be said for Luke, he just looked bored and desperate to get back to the house so he could have a drink.’

  ‘Didn’t David attend, I thought he doted on his mum and I thought prisoners could get special dispensation when it’s a relative’s funeral,’ Tracy said.

  ‘No,’ Helen said sadly, ‘I think he would have been allowed to…but maybe it was all too much for him. Strangely enough though there was another son there, only not one of Imogen’s. Mrs Flood told me that he was Albie’s illegitimate son, his name was Gavin. He didn’t stay long, just shook Luke’s hand at the end of the service and left, nice looking boy though, very like the other two…in looks anyway.’

  Carla nodded, ‘He does seem nice, he came into the station the other day.’

  ‘Why would he do that?’ Maggie asked, ‘was it to do with David killing his mum.’

  ‘NO!’ Tracy yelled outraged, ‘you never mentioned that this Brenda woman had had Albie’s son Carla,’ she said indignantly.

  ‘Well I didn’t think it was of any interest to you Tracy,’ Carla said, ignoring Tracy’s indignant gasps. ‘Anyway he came to give me something, something that he’d taken from Albie years ago, when he was just a boy himself. I think he thought it was his dad’s collection of porn photos or something, which I suppose in a way it was and he pinched it so he could have sneaky wank. Once he’d realised what he’d got though, he couldn’t own up to having it so he kept it hidden and it is only now that his father is dead that he felt he could bring it to us.’

  ‘Oh my God how intriguing is that…you really know how to tell a story Carla, so what was it?’ Helen asked eagerly.

  Carla pulled a face, ‘Well it was awful actually…really really shocking and I’ve seen a few awful things as you know…’

  ‘For fuck’s sake Carla…just tell us,’ Maggie screamed in frustration.

  ‘It was a photo album I suppose, dreadful, awful images of the girls, the lost girls, the ones that never left that hotel. Pictures of terrible sadistic torture, it will take me a while to get those images out of my head, and the look of terror on those poor girl’s faces…oh my God it made my blood run cold. Anyway it seems that Jonas and Albie were in on it together, Jonas was the sadist that would extract as much pain and fear as he could from his victims and Albie was the voyeur who got his rocks off by watching and taking pictures.’

  There was a shocked silence at the table.

  ‘Of course poor old Gavin had thought he was just nicking some of his dad’s girlie pictures, he got a nasty shock I can tell you…’

  ‘And he kept quiet about it all this time,’ Tracy asked. ‘Surely he should have said something earlier…’

  ‘Oh he was just a kid Trace,’ Carla interrupted, ‘he wasn’t even sure what it was he was looking at, it was only after he had heard about Jonas Silco on the news that he had put two and two together. Anyway he’s a nice boy and he deserves to be able to get on with his life…what’s left of it.’

  ‘I suppose that smug twat Luke was looking over his inheritance was he,’ Maggie said after a moment or two.

  ‘Well he was there,’ Helen said a bit awkwardly, ‘she was there too Maggie,’ she added after a moment.

  ‘Who? Bloody Maylee? That cheeky cow, how did she have the balls to show her face round here again?’ Maggie exclaimed furiously.

  ‘Oh she looked really sheepish,’ Helen said, ‘especially
when she saw me standing there, I don’t think she expected that. But she just acted as if she hadn’t seen me and they left soon after it was over.’

  ‘What a fucking bitch,’ Maggie said getting herself another glass of wine and waggling her eyebrows at Duncan who’d just walked passed their table.

  Soon the conversation turned as it inevitably did to the failures of the opposite sex. ‘You see I’ve come to think that maleness is a form of birth defect,’ Carla was saying, a little drunkenly, she put her hand up in defence at the outcry that this statement caused. ‘No you think about it, most crimes are perpetrated by men…oh I know there are exceptions to the rule but in general you have to admit that’s true, and look at their complicated wedding tackle, all out there, hanging loose and vulnerable, how stupid is that…I mean at least ours is tucked away neatly out of sight…that’s because we’re sensible….’

  ‘Yes hun, but sometimes you don’t want it so out of sight do you…if I had a pound for every man that virtually had to have a grid reference before he could find my clitoris, I’d be a wealthy woman today,’ slurred Maggie.

  Tracy burst out laughing; ‘Well now we know why you’re so fucking rich Maggs,’ she said. ‘Bloody hell there must have been a lot of stupid men burrowing about with a torch between your legs honey.

  Martha wheeled herself over a couple of minutes later. ‘Would you believe it Maggie, Gladys Frobisher has just now come up to me and told me that they switched off her mother’s life support last night.’

  ‘Oh God Martha that’s awful,’ said Helen who was the only one of them not giggling. ‘Isn’t she devastated?’

  ‘No, to be sure,’ Martha said nodding her head wisely, ‘the old lady had no quality of life and besides it’s freed up a socket for the lava lamp her Joey bought her for Christmas…so every cloud.’

  Even the ever sensitive Helen couldn’t stop herself from laughing out loud at that along with the other girls. Martha filled with glee at having told such a good joke, stayed with the girls for a bit and told a few more, before saying she was feeling tired and she would just sit quietly by the bar and talk to Duncan for a while.

  ‘Ok love,’ Maggie said giving her a kiss, ‘are you sure you don’t want me to get Duncan to take you upstairs?’

  ‘Oh don’t be fussing Maggie girl,’ Martha snapped back, ‘sure and I’ll be fine talking to Duncan.’

  Maggie pulled a chastened face and let her go.

  ‘She seems to have recovered well Maggs,’ Tracy said, ‘she’s amazing for her age isn’t she, I hope I have as much about me when I’m her age.’

  ‘She is a stubborn old lady who is driving Duncan round the twist,’ Maggie said shaking her head. ‘She is so bloody independent, won’t let anyone help her, even though she really can’t do much on her own. Poppy’s got the patience of a saint as well…I don’t know how she does it.’

  ‘Well she loves her I suppose,’ Helen said, ‘like you all do.’

  Maggie nodded, but just then her attention was caught by a very unlikely looking naval officer in full uniform, who had just come through the pub doors. She rubbed her hands together with glee and smiled sneakily at the other girls before blowing a kiss at Jools’ who had glared over at her furiously, as the officer lifted Jools off her feet, stood her on a table and started gyrating around in front of her, to a chorus of drunken catcall and whistles before stripping off and displaying an extremely impressive set of complicated male tackle.

  Much later and the evening began to wind down, the witches were all pretty drunk and thinking about getting home. James had already turned up to collect Carla and was propping up the bar talking to Duncan while he waited and Tracy had just called for a cab.

  ‘Maggie that was the best Hen night ever,’ said Jools as she clung onto her future mother-in-law emotionally. ‘I know I said I didn’t want a stripper but I would have been so disappointed if I hadn’t had one.’

  Maggie smiled, ‘Don’t you think I don’t know that love,’ she said giving her a kiss, ‘you had better get that bump of yours home and into bed, you look exhausted sweetheart,’ she laughed.

  ‘Looks like I’m not the only one, Martha’s out for the count, look at her,’ Jools giggled looking over at Martha who seemed to be fast asleep in her chair.

  Maggie followed Jools’ gaze and smiled fondly at the old lady, but as she looked longer at Martha sleeping, a cold premonition swept over her. With her heart in her mouth she made her way over to the old lady. One look at her beloved face was enough to tell Maggie all she needed to know. She put a hand on Martha’s soft, cold, cheek and stoked her gently, the tears now streaming down her face unchecked she looked up… straight into Duncan’s shocked tear filled eyes.

  She had slipped away exactly as she would have wanted, sitting in state in her chair by the bar with all her family and loved ones around her. Everyone enjoying the craic and having a good laugh…oh she would have thought that was grand.

  CHAPTER 71 - FOUR WEEKS LATER

  ‘Look and this is her after her bath…look how pink and rosy she looks, and this one was when Jed was changing her nappy…I know I couldn’t believe he’d do it either, but no, he is a total hands on dad, night feeds and everything. Oh and look at this one, how cute does she look…that was the outfit you and Maya bought for her Helen, it’s still so big on her…little poppet.’

  Tracy, Helen and Carla smiled at each other as Maggie showed photo after photo of her new little granddaughter, born two days after the wedding, at the hotel that Jed had booked for their honeymoon in the Lake District.

  ‘Oh Maggie this one is gorgeous four generations, great grandma, grandma, son and granddaughter and you all look so happy, it’s lovely,’ Helen said giving Maggie’s hand a squeeze.

  ‘I’m so glad you decided to move on sweetheart,’ she whispered, ‘life is just too short and unpredictable.’

  ‘Well it was Martha’s death that did it,’ Maggie said her eyes welling up, ‘I couldn’t bear it if I’d lost my mum and there was still some bad blood between us, so…’

  Maggie had written to her mum and made her peace, and even if there would always be a bit of an undercurrent there, her mum had been around to see her first great-grandchild and to spend some time with her family. Maggie was taking it slowly, but Duncan had been right, damn him, she’d needed to do it for herself.

  ‘Have they decided on a name yet Maggs?’ Tracy asked, ‘I mean they can’t keep calling her Windermere forever can they…or can they?’ she finished uncertainly

  ‘Yes actually, Maggie said straight-faced, ‘it’s going to be Windermere Rosshotel Wendover, after where she was born of course, Winnie for short.’

  ‘Oh lovely,’ said Tracy dubiously.

  ‘Unusual, but catchy,’ Carla said diplomatically.

  ‘Really?’ asked Helen with a doubtful look on her face.

  ‘NO! Of course not,’ laughed Maggie, ‘as if I’d let a granddaughter of mine go through life with a name like that. No in actual fact her name is Martha… Martha Ruth Wendover.’

  ‘Oh that’s gorgeous,’ said Tracy tearing up.

  Carla raised her glass, ‘Here’s to little Martha, may she be as beloved as her namesake.’

  THE END

  A NOTE FROM KAY

  Thank you for reading my book, I hope you enjoyed it!

  If you did please could you post a short review on Amazon. As a self-published author I rely solely on reviews and recommendations.

  It would be great if you could share your experience with someone else, either by recommending it to your friends or to any book groups to which you may belong.

  ‘Lost Girls’ is my fifth novel; and also the fifth in the ‘Witches of Glory Woods’ series. You can find information about my other books in the ‘Witches of Glory Woods’ series on the following pages. All books can be found on Kindle.

  Thank you once again.

  You can contact me and find details about my books on my website http://www.kay-leitch.com. I always l
ove to hear from my readers.

  If you want to know how the ‘Murder at Mildew Manor’ script was found and learn more about the Witches I will send you a free short story ‘A Witches Tale’ if you register on my website. Go to the Contact page and put A Witches Tale in the comments box.

  Kay

  Thanks

  Once again I need to thank the people around me for all their encouragement and support. Thanks to Emma and Nat for always being willing to listen to me drone on about story lines and writers block. Thank you to Marcus for giving me confidence and for spreading the word. Thank you to Tina for finally reading ‘Mummy’s Little Girl’, I know it was difficult sweetheart. Thank you to Ben and Abby for recommending me to their friends and to Colin for still looking gorgeous (although worryingly evil) on the front cover of ‘Bad Things Happen’. A special thanks to Jess for her brilliant art work on the front cover of ‘Lost Girls’.

  As always my biggest thank you goes to my wonderful Steve, without your love and support darling, my books would have been nothing more than words on a computer screen, you brought them to life and made them real.

  NEXT TIME...

  Run!

  Once again Lucinda Hibbard is lying in a hospital bed.

  Once again her face is swollen and battered, her body beaten and broken. And once again her violent, brute of a husband is crying and grovelling at her bedside, begging forgiveness and promising that it will never, ever, happen again.

  Lucinda doesn’t believe him anymore…she knows how little it takes to turn him from a caring husband into a vicious animal.

  She knows next time he could kill her.

  That’s why she knows that this time she must run!

  Seventy eight year old Flora Metcalf sits terrified night after night in her darkened house. Helpless…unable to defend herself from the little thugs that are terrorising her. She cowers in her chair as they rattle her doors and windows, she cries with dread at the spiteful whispered threats.