Heartbreak and Happiness

by Rosie Harris

  Rebecca hesitated, then as they sat down to eat she made up her mind and began to tell Grace about Cindy.

  Grace listened in appalled silence. Several times she paused with a forkful of food halfway to her mouth and stared at Rebecca in disbelief.

  ‘What are you going to do to help her?’ she demanded when Rebecca finished.

  ‘That’s the trouble, I don’t know. Cindy is so cowed and frightened she won’t take any chances. She won’t try to escape or even go to the police because she is so afraid that if she does the baby may be harmed.’

  Grace frowned. ‘If these people are living here in Britain illegally, then surely the police will have a good reason to visit and interrogate them?’

  Rebecca shook her head. ‘I still think it’s dangerous. Bruno might suspect that Cindy had informed on them or had something to do with it, and he’d take it out on her before they could stop him.’

  ‘Talk to Danny and see what he says,’ Grace urged. ‘You don’t have to tell him where they live or who they are. Anyway, the names they are going under aren’t their real names, nor is the name this bloke called Bruno is using, so I doubt if Danny could trace them even if you did accidentally drop their names into the conversation.’

  ‘I know you’re right and I will think about it,’ Rebecca promised as they cleared away the remains of their meal and washed up together.

  ‘When are you seeing her again?’ Grace asked.

  ‘The day after tomorrow.’

  ‘By the way,’ Grace went on, a frown creasing her brow, ‘have you told her family or your own that Cindy is still alive?’

  Rebecca shook her head.

  ‘Don’t you think you should put them out of their misery? Her mother must be going out of her mind with worry. And she’s a grandmother now by the sound of it. Surely she would want to know that?’

  ‘That’s another problem,’ Rebecca admitted, pushing her hair back behind her ears. ‘I know they would be relieved to hear that Cindy is alive and so would my own family. The trouble is I’m sure they would take matters into their own hands and I’m worried about what they might do. If they were to insist on knowing where she is and turn up on the doorstep, then Bruno and his family might do Cindy some dreadful harm.’

  Grace nodded. ‘Yes, there is always that possibility,’ she admitted. ‘In fact, it’s all the more reason for you to tell Danny. He would know exactly how to deal with it all.’

  ‘Danny couldn’t do it single-handed, though, so it would mean he would have to tell others. And the more people who know what’s going on, the greater the danger for Cindy.’

  They finished clearing up in silence, each absorbed in her own thoughts.

  ‘Come on,’ Rebecca tugged at Grace’s arm. ‘Let’s get down to this business of testing each other in readiness for tomorrow’s ordeal. Let’s get the exam over first, then we’ll decide what’s the best thing we can do to help Cindy.’

  Thirty-Three

  Rebecca and Grace both felt exhausted at the end of the exam. It had been gruelling and they arrived back at the flat thankful it was over and looking forward to a quiet evening.

  They were still discussing the different questions they had been asked and comparing their answers when the doorbell rang.

  ‘Who on earth is that?’ Grace exclaimed. ‘Were you expecting anyone?’

  ‘No, I most certainly am not. All I want is a cup of tea and a couple of rounds of hot buttered toast and a quiet evening at home.’

  As the doorbell rang again, Grace stood up. ‘It’s probably Danny,’ she murmured as she went to answer it.

  Rebecca listened to the rise and fall of voices. It certainly wasn’t Danny’s voice, although it did sound familiar.

  ‘There’s someone to see you,’ Grace announced as she came back into the living room followed by a tall fair-haired man.

  ‘Nick!’ Rebecca’s voice was a mixture of amazement and pleasure. ‘This is a surprise.’

  ‘A pleasant one, I hope?’ he said with a smile.

  ‘Very much so, I’m delighted to see you. Grace, this is my friend Nick Blakemore,’ she added smiling as she introduced them to each other.

  As they shook hands there was another ring at the doorbell.

  ‘More visitors?’ The two girls looked at each other in surprise.

  ‘I’ll answer it this time and leave you and Nick to get acquainted,’ Rebecca offered.

  As she had half-expected, it was Danny Flowers who was standing there. He was in civilian clothes – a very smart grey suit with a white shirt and a red-and-grey striped tie.

  ‘Come on!’ he greeted her cheerfully. ‘I’d like to take the pair of you out for a meal to celebrate the end of your exams.’

  ‘Oh Danny, we’d love to but we are both extremely exhausted. It was a very gruelling exam.’

  ‘Yes, and the very last one you have to take, so it’s time to celebrate,’ he insisted.

  As they entered the living room, he pulled up short. ‘Sorry, I didn’t know you had a visitor.’

  ‘This is a friend from Shelston, Nick Blakemore,’ Rebecca told him as Danny stretched out a hand towards the other man.

  ‘I heard what you said about taking these two out to celebrate,’ Nick said, ‘and that is exactly the reason why I’m here. Shall we join forces?’

  ‘Sounds good to me,’ Danny agreed.

  Rebecca and Grace looked at each other. ‘How can we refuse?’ Rebecca said with a laugh.

  ‘Good! You’ve got five minutes to get ready then,’ Danny told them, looking at his watch as if he was timing them.

  Twenty minutes later the four of them were entering a restaurant in the centre of Liverpool. Both girls had changed into pretty dresses and there was no sign of tiredness on either of their faces or in their animated chatter.

  Over their meal they talked about the future and the girls fantasized about the type of school they hoped to teach at. Grace wanted to stay in the Merseyside area so she could live at home, but Rebecca was hoping for something either in Cardiff, as she had liked the city so much, or somewhere in the West Country near to Shelston.

  ‘You can’t leave Merseyside until you’ve sorted out what you’re going to do about your friend Cindy,’ Grace remarked.

  ‘Cindy? Do you mean Cindy Mason?’ Nick asked in surprise.

  Before Rebecca could reply, he went on, ‘Do you mean you have found her or know where she is?’

  ‘Both,’ Rebecca murmured, her face red with embarrassment.

  She avoided Nick’s eyes and looked at Danny. ‘I need your help, or advice,’ she told him.

  ‘Danny is a policeman,’ she explained, looking back at Nick.

  Danny frowned. ‘Go on.’

  Haltingly at first, and then more fluently as she got into her stride, Rebecca told them about finding Cindy and a little about the terrible life she was leading.

  ‘I’m meeting up with her tomorrow,’ Rebecca ended. ‘I’m going to try again to make her see sense and run away. I’m sure they are only threatening to hurt her baby because they know it will stop her trying to escape their clutches.’

  Danny shook his head. ‘You’re taking a great risk,’ he warned her. ‘These people think differently to us and they can be vicious. This really is a job for our undercover team to handle.’

  ‘I think you should listen to what Danny is saying,’ Nick told her worriedly. ‘Those sort of people can be very dangerous. Isn’t that right, Danny?’ He looked across at Danny for confirmation.

  ‘Precisely.’ Danny’s tone was authoritative and his face grave. ‘Why don’t you leave it to us to handle things, Rebecca?’

  ‘I promised Cindy I wouldn’t go to the police. She was afraid not only for her own life but for her baby if Bruno or his family found out.’

  ‘I understand that,’ Danny nodded. ‘But if she was caught talking to you, then they might retaliate in the worst possible way. As I’ve said, they’re dangerous people.’

  Nick reached out an
d took Rebecca’s hand. ‘Listen to what Danny’s saying,’ he implored. ‘I don’t want anything to happen to you.’

  ‘But what are we going to do about Cindy? I must do what I can to rescue her and the baby. I must meet her tomorrow like I promised. I won’t stay talking to her a minute longer than necessary.’

  ‘What are you going to talk to her about?’ Nick asked. ‘Have you any sort of plan?’

  Rebecca shook her head. ‘No, not really. I was going to ask Danny for advice,’ she added lamely.

  ‘My advice is to hand the whole matter over to the experts,’ he told her crisply. ‘Men who have experience of these sort of people and know how to handle them. This sounds like a particularly serious situation needing very delicate handling.’

  Rebecca looked from one of them to the other, shaking her head, not knowing what to think. She felt she owed it to Cindy to meet with her and give her some sort of comfort. She hoped she might be able to persuade her that telling the police was not only the right thing to do but the only hope there was of her ever getting away from the clutches of these people.

  ‘Promise me you won’t attempt to persuade her to do anything if you meet her on your own tomorrow,’ Danny persisted.

  ‘Are you hinting that you want to come with me?’ Rebecca asked in alarm.

  ‘Heavens no! If they saw her talking to a man, even if I was in civvies and they didn’t know I was a policeman, they’d harm her.’

  ‘So what are you telling me I should do?’

  ‘Go and see her tomorrow as you’ve promised, but say nothing about telling anyone. In the meantime, I will inform the right authority.’

  ‘What that does mean? What will happen?’

  ‘Since these people are illegal immigrants, they may deal with it from that angle. Once I tell them about Cindy being kept prisoner and about the baby, they will be very discreet and handle the operation in such a way that they ensure they don’t get hurt.’

  Rebecca chewed on her bottom lip. She didn’t know what to do for the best. She felt that by telling Danny about it she had betrayed Cindy’s confidence, yet she could see the sense of his argument.

  ‘Look,’ she said at length. ‘If I tell you all I know and give you the address where they live and so on, then when I meet Cindy tomorrow can I warn her what is about to happen?’Cindy had mumbled the name of a street last time they spoke. It was as close to an address as Rebecca could get from her.

  Danny looked doubtful and she thought he was about to refuse, but Nick came to her support.

  ‘I think Rebecca owes that much to Cindy,’ he said quietly. ‘Cindy is very sensible and level-headed and she will probably be able to deal with the situation better if she is forewarned. It should work out all right.’

  Danny still looked uncertain.

  ‘Rebecca will feel easier in her mind if she lets Cindy know what is happening,’ Nick went on.

  Danny shook his head as if uncertain whether or not this was advisable.

  ‘Once Cindy has accepted that this is the only possible way to get her life back, then knowing what is going to happen will give her hope.’

  ‘Yes, but if she reacts in the wrong way it could jeopardize the whole operation,’ Danny argued.

  ‘I don’t think you need be afraid of her doing that. Tell her what you want her to do and how to behave, and she’ll follow your instructions. She will feel hopeful that things are going to work out all right for her in the end, so she’ll do whatever you tell her to do.’

  Danny shook his head. ‘I think you should wait before you say anything to Cindy. Give me a chance to speak to one or two of my colleagues first, and give them a chance to decide exactly how they are going to proceed.’

  Thirty-Four

  For the first time in many months, Rebecca’s thoughts weren’t about Cindy when she went to bed that night but about Nick Blakemore.

  She had thought him attractive the very first time they met. She had felt comfortable in his company and he had seemed far more mature than Jake Mason or any of the other boys she knew in Shelston.

  Ever since then her feelings had grown, but she had no idea if he felt the same way about her. That would be wishful thinking, she told herself.

  Once they had finished eating with Danny and Grace, they had gone for a stroll on their own and wandered down to the Liverpool waterside.

  For some it would not have been the most romantic ending to a pleasant evening, but for her it had proved a turning point, she thought complacently.

  They had held hands as they stood looking out across the water towards Wallasey. Nick had placed an arm around her shoulders and then drawn her into his arms and kissed her very lightly on the lips.

  She had held her breath, almost wondering if she was dreaming. When she responded he kissed her more deeply, only releasing her when they were both gasping for breath.

  ‘I’ve waited so long to do that,’ he told her huskily. ‘You’ve been in my thoughts ever since the day we first met.’

  ‘Oh Nick!’ She felt she was bursting with happiness. She had thought about him so much but somehow had never imagined that he returned her feelings.

  As they gazed up at the Liver Birds dominating the pier head it was as if Liverpool was suddenly sparkling in the moonlight – a magic city full of hope and promise, a place where dreams came to fruition.

  He took her into his arms again and kissed her passionately, then fingers entwined they made their way towards where she lived.

  ‘I have to catch a train in half an hour,’ he told her. ‘I’ll see you home, then make a dash for Lime Street Station.’

  ‘I wish you could stay,’ she said softly.

  ‘So do I, but it’s not possible. Work tomorrow.’

  ‘I’ll be back in Shelston again in a few days.’

  ‘Good, it will be easier to meet there. I have several bookings coming up in succession, all within a twenty-mile radius of Shelston.’

  By this time they’d reached her flat. Although every fibre in her being cried out for him to stay, she knew he had to go and as they embraced once again she felt tears dampening her eyes.

  ‘See you soon,’ she whispered.

  ‘Very soon,’ he promised.

  When she woke next morning, Rebecca wondered if it had all been a dream. Lying there cocooned in the warmth of her bed, she went over every detail of what had happened after they left Grace and Danny and recalled every moment.

  She could hardly wait to get back to Shelston and see Nick again. First, though, there was the problem of Cindy. She couldn’t simply leave her stranded on Merseyside without a friend in the world.

  She thought over everything Danny had said about letting the police handle things. It certainly made sense, and it would solve her own problems as well as Cindy’s if they did it quite soon. They could travel back home to Shelston together, and if necessary Cindy could stay with her at Woodside until they had been to see her parents and knew that they accepted her and her child.

  Cindy’s child! She must not forget about the little girl that Cindy referred to as Poppy. She had never seen the child and didn’t even know how old she was.

  She lay there for several minutes trying to work out how old Poppy might be, but everything was so jumbled in her mind. She knew exactly when Cindy left Shelston, but didn’t know how pregnant Cindy was when she left – which had obviously been before anyone realized she was pregnant, since not even her own mother had noticed.

  It must have come as a great shock when she learned that Bruno had left the supermarket and vanished almost overnight without a word.

  Knowing Mavis Mason as she did, Rebecca knew she would have been irate to find her daughter was pregnant. Tom Mason might even have turned her out.

  Still, what had eventually happened was much the same, she supposed. Cindy had ended up homeless in a strange city where she knew no one and was completely without friends.

  As she caught the train from Liverpool to Hoylake, Rebecca tried to make u
p her mind about whether or not she should give Cindy a hint of what might be about to happen.

  If she said nothing, then when the police arrived at the house, no matter how discreet they might be, Cindy was bound to be frightened. If she had advance notice, then at least she could cooperate, knowing it was to her benefit to do so.

  She still hadn’t resolved what to do for the best when she arrived at Hoylake and was walking up the High Street. The train had been late getting in and, knowing how much Cindy worried about any of the family seeing her, she hoped she had managed to find a way of waiting without it being obvious that she was waiting for someone.

  The High Street was very quiet and there was no sign of Cindy. Rebecca walked from one end to the other, looking in shops and cafés in case Cindy had gone into one of them to kill time rather than wait out on the street.

  She went into the supermarket and walked down every aisle, but there was no sign of Cindy. Then, as she emerged back in the High Street she caught sight of a tall figure in a red jacket ahead of her and hurried to catch up.

  ‘Cindy!’

  The figure half turned and slowed a little but kept on walking.

  ‘What’s the hurry?’ Rebecca asked as she caught her up.

  ‘Keep walking and don’t look at me in case anyone sees us together,’ Cindy said in little above a whisper. ‘I was seen last time we met. I said you were trying to persuade me to take out a subscription to a magazine but Bruno gave me a beating all the same.’

  ‘Oh Cindy, this has got to stop,’ Rebecca said quickly. She was about to explain to her what was going to happen but Cindy interrupted her.

  ‘I must go. We had better stop meeting, I can’t see you again,’

  Before Rebecca could say anything, Cindy was running down the road away from her.

  Rebecca stood where she was for a moment. She knew she dare not run after her but the fear in Cindy’s voice had cut her like a knife and now she was all the more eager for the police to act.

  They really were the only people who could help, she reflected grimly.

  When Rebecca reached home she told Grace what had happened, and Grace was as angry as she was that Cindy was being treated so badly. But when she wondered if she ought to let Danny know about this latest development, Grace said she didn’t think there was much point in doing so.