by Rosie Harris
‘Danny knows how serious it is and he will have acted as soon as he got to work this morning,’ she assured Rebecca. ‘If you like, you can tell him if he comes round or phones to let us know how things are progressing, but I don’t think there’s much point in contacting him especially.’
‘I’m sure you are right,’ Rebecca agreed. ‘It’s just that I feel so helpless. I wish I had mentioned it to him sooner, but Cindy was so much against it that I felt I had to listen to her.’
Thirty-Five
Although they had now finished at university and both Grace and Rebecca knew where they would be teaching the following September, they were reluctant to give up their Liverpool flat until they knew what was being done about Cindy.
‘Although I’ve never met her, I feel almost as anxious about her as you do,’ Grace told Rebecca as they washed and dried the breakfast dishes together. ‘I wish Danny would come and tell us what’s happening.’
‘I feel the same,’ Rebecca agreed. ‘I’m tempted to go over to Hoylake and see if I can see Cindy again, but common sense tells me not to in case I get her into even more trouble.’
‘Yes,’ Grace agreed thoughtfully, ‘I think we should do nothing until we hear from Danny. It’s the baby I’m worried about.’
‘Poppy! Poor little love!’
‘How old is she?’
‘I’m not too sure.’ Rebecca frowned. ‘I’ve tried to work it out and think she must be about three years old now.’
‘Can’t you fix it from the time Cindy was coming to visit you in Cardiff? She must have been pregnant then,’ Grace pointed out.
‘I’m not sure how pregnant she was then. It couldn’t have been more than about three months because none of her family knew anything about it, so she obviously wasn’t showing at all.’
‘Well, take it as three months and see if you can work it from there,’ Grace said practically.
‘That’s what I’ve done, and that’s why I think Poppy must be about three. Why, what does it matter?’
‘Well, if she was still a tiny baby, only a few months old, she wouldn’t be aware of what’s going on. But at three she will understand if she is stopped from going out with her mother. She probably cries whenever Cindy is sent shopping and she’s not allowed to go with her.’
‘Yes, you’re probably right,’ Rebecca agreed. ‘That makes Cindy’s situation even worse. We’ve got to help get her away as soon as possible. Can’t you get in touch with Danny and find out what progress they’re making?’
‘I don’t think I can,’ Grace said worriedly. ‘He hates me phoning him at work unless it is terribly urgent.’
‘Well, it is, isn’t it?’ Rebecca pointed out.
‘Yes, but there is the added problem that someone may overhear the conversation. Often their calls are recorded, so they would know he’s been discussing Cindy’s situation with you.’
‘Would that matter?’
‘It would to Danny. He’s always considered it unprofessional to talk about things connected with his work.’
‘I understand,’ Rebecca acknowledged with a sigh. ‘So what can we do?’
‘Nothing except wait for him to come and tell us how things are progressing, I suppose.’
The sound of the doorbell startled them both and they looked at each other expectantly.
‘Do you think it could be Danny?’ Rebecca asked hopefully.
‘We’ll soon know,’ Grace said as she headed for the door.
It wasn’t Danny, it was Nick Blakemore. Rebecca was very surprised to see him.
‘Just a flying visit to see if you have any fresh news about Cindy,’ he told her.
‘No, I’m afraid not,’ Rebecca shook her head. ‘We were hoping it was Danny calling to tell us what was happening.’
‘I was afraid you would be out. I thought you might have gone over to Hoylake on the off chance of seeing Cindy.’
‘I’m very much tempted to,’ Rebecca admitted.
‘I tell you what,’ Nick suggested, ‘my car is outside, so why don’t we all three go over there? If there is no sign of her, then you can take us to Red Rocks. You’re always talking about it, Rebecca, and I’ve never been there. Have you, Grace?’
‘I think I went there once when I was very small, but I can’t remember anything at all about it.’
‘Come on then. Let’s do that,’ Nick enthused. ‘It’s a lovely day.’
‘Are you sure you want me to come?’ Grace asked. ‘Don’t say yes just to be polite.’
‘No, we really do want you to come,’ Nick assured her.
Half an hour later they were travelling through the Mersey Tunnel. It was a glorious day. As they emerged on the other side, it was sunny and warm.
‘What are we going to do first? Take a walk along the main street and see if there is any sight of her, or go straight to Red Rocks and look for Cindy afterwards?’ Nick asked, looking from one of them to the other as he parked the car.
‘I don’t mind which we do,’ Grace smiled.
‘Why don’t we go to the High Street and have a coffee and a toasted sandwich first, then go to Red Rocks afterwards?’ Rebecca suggested.
‘Splendid idea,’ Nick agreed.
‘If we can manage to get a seat by the window, we might see Cindy if she walks down the street,’ Rebecca pointed out.
Rebecca took them to her favourite café where she had taken Cindy. They were lucky and managed to find a table by the window. Nick went to the counter and placed their order.
The High Street was quite busy, but there was no sign of Cindy. When they had finished their snack, Rebecca suggested that it might be worth walking to the road where Cindy turned off, in case they could catch sight of her there.
‘It’s only a short way down the road and it won’t delay us more than a couple of minutes.’
‘Sounds good sense to me,’ Nick agreed. Grace nodded, indicating that she thought so too.
‘You’ve never actually been to the house, then?’ Nick said thoughtfully as they walked along.
‘Heavens no! Cindy wouldn’t have dared risk letting me do that. Look what happened when she was seen merely speaking to me. She ended up being punished.’
‘You are pretty sure, though, where she lives?’
‘Oh yes, just a couple more roads down on the right. We’re almost there.’
When they reached the turning, they found one half of the street was barricaded off by blue police tape. They looked at each other in consternation.
‘I wonder what’s happened?’ Rebecca asked in alarm.
‘Perhaps the police have already made a raid,’ Nick suggested.
‘It certainly looks that way,’ Grace agreed. ‘I wonder how we can find out.’
The street had seemed deserted when they turned into it, but Rebecca spotted a middle-aged woman weeding the scrap of garden outside her door and went over to her.
‘Has there been an accident or something?’ she asked, smiling at the woman in a friendly manner.
‘Not an accident, luv. The police have been here ever since early this morning, with cars and vans and heaven knows what. In fact they’ve only just gone.’
Rebecca shook her head from side to side and waited for the woman to give her more information. Nick and Grace had now joined her and, nodding towards the cordoned-off area, Nick asked ‘What happened?’
‘The police came and raided the house,’ the woman told him.
‘Really? I wonder why?’
‘It seems there were illegal immigrants living there – men, women and even a small child. Poor little love, only about three years old and she seemed frightened to death. Well, so did the younger woman but she went along with them without any fuss. It was the old woman who kicked and struggled and made a terrible to-do. There were three men as well, and all three of them were handcuffed and bundled into a big van. They took the two women and the little girl away in cars. Not together, mind you. I think the old woman was making such a fuss that they w
ere afraid to put them in the same car.’
‘Were they local police?’ Nick queried.
‘From Liverpool,’ the woman told him. ‘I think some of them were armed,’ she added. ‘Had to be to keep that lot under control.’
‘So they will have taken them back to Liverpool?’
‘Reckon so. My husband said they will charge them and either send them to jail or back to where they’ve come from.’
‘So there’s no one left in the house, then?’ Grace asked.
‘No, luv. It’s all locked up and sealed, and they’ve left this blue tape all round the place to keep folk from going in and prying. Probably sending some of their detectives over later on to go over the place and see what they can find.’
They thanked the woman, then turned back into the High Street and walked in silence to where Nick had parked the car.
‘Do you still want me to take you to Red Rocks?’ Rebecca asked as Nick opened the car door for them.
Grace and Nick both shook their heads. ‘No, I don’t think so,’ Grace said firmly. ‘I think we should go straight home and wait for Danny to contact us.’
Thirty-Six
Danny was waiting for them when they arrived back at the flat. Rebecca was the first one out of the car and rushed up to him, calling out ‘What news have you?’ even before she reached him.
‘Shall we go inside?’ Danny suggested.
Nick switched on the kettle in the kitchen before joining the girls, who were waiting impatiently for Danny to tell them his news.
‘Coffee everyone?’ Nick asked.
‘Great idea,’ Danny said. He pushed his fingers through his red hair. ‘Then we can all sit down and I can tell you the whole story.’
Rebecca and Grace took over in the kitchen and made the coffee and put some biscuits on a plate. Nick carried them through to the sitting room, where Danny had collapsed into an armchair as if he was exhausted.
As they drank their coffee, Danny related all that had happened.
‘We raided the house at three o’clock this morning. There were four of us and we had other officers on standby in case they were needed. They all tried to resist arrest except the young woman, who I take it was Cindy. She was distraught at first, because she thought she was going to be separated from her child. Once she found that the little girl was remaining with her, she was as docile as could be. Eager in fact for us to take her in.’
‘Where is she now?’ Rebecca asked.
‘She was taken to hospital with the little girl to be checked out—’
‘Is she still there?’ Rebecca interrupted him.
‘Yes, and she’s under police protection. I’ll tell you all about her in a minute.’
‘What happened to the men?’ Nick asked.
‘They’ve been taken into custody and charged with being illegal immigrants, and also with drug running.’
‘And the old woman?’
‘She’s in custody, but so far she hasn’t been charged with anything.’
‘She was the one who was treating Cindy so badly and threatening her and keeping her separated from her child,’ Rebecca reminded him.
‘We must wait until we have had a statement from Cindy and we haven’t taken one yet,’ Danny told her.
‘You said that Cindy and Poppy …’
‘Poppy?’ Danny frowned, his green eyes questioning. ‘Is that the little girl’s name?’
‘Yes. How old is she?’
‘About three, I think. She’s a pretty little thing.’
‘Can we go and see Cindy?’ Grace asked.
Danny hesitated. ‘As I told you, she’s in hospital and under police guard. They’ve agreed to let you visit her but you won’t be allowed to stay very long. We still need to interview her, so they may say you’ll have to wait until after that has taken place. On the other hand, they may decide that seeing you might help Cindy to relax and speak out.’
‘Then let’s go!’ Impatiently Rebecca jumped up and held out a hand to Nick. ‘You’ll drive us there, won’t you?’
‘Of course! But I do have to get back tonight for work in the morning, so I can’t stay very late.’
‘If you take us there in your car, I can see Rebecca and Grace home,’ Danny told him.
As the four of them went into the hospital, the uniformed porter stepped forward as if about to bar their entrance. Then he saw Danny’s uniform and hesitated. ‘Do you know where to go?’ he asked.
‘Yes, thank you,’ Danny said curtly.
He led them up to the second floor and along to a room at the far end where a uniformed policeman was standing guard. He nodded at Danny and let them pass without saying anything,
It was a good-size room with a bed and cot in it. Poppy was in the cot, fast asleep. She was so small and white-faced that Rebecca thought she looked like one of the china dolls she and Cindy used to push around in their doll’s prams when they were little girls in Shelston.
Very gently she stroked the sleeping child’s face. Poppy stirred and Rebecca drew back quickly, not wanting to disturb her.
Cindy lay propped up by pillows. Her eyes were closed as if she too was asleep, but she had one hand stretched out towards the cot, grasping the side of it as if to protect the sleeping child.
Rebecca drew in her breath sharply as she saw the cuts and bruises on Cindy’s face and the dark shadows under her eyes. One of her arms was bandaged and there was a metal cage over her legs to prevent the bedclothes resting on them, so Rebecca assumed one or both of her legs had also been injured.
Rebecca wanted to hold her in her arms and reassure her that everything was going to be all right, but she was afraid to do more than gently take Cindy’s free hand and hold it between both her own for fear of hurting her.
As Rebecca bent over her, murmuring her name softly, Cindy opened her eyes.
For a moment there was a look of terror on Cindy’s face and she seemed to shrink into the bed. Then as she recognized Rebecca, she let out a deep sigh of relief.
Rebecca bent down and kissed her tenderly on the brow. ‘You’re going to be all right now and so is little Poppy,’ she said softly. ‘As soon as you are well enough, you’re coming home with me. Understand?’
Cindy nodded and gave a wan smile. ‘Today?’
Rebecca shook her head. ‘You need to stay here in hospital for a few days until … until your cuts and bruises have healed.’
‘Oh, Becky, I’m so afraid …’ Her voice trailed away in a sob.
‘There’s no need to be,’ Rebecca told her quickly. ‘There’s a policeman on guard outside your door, and Bruno and all the other men are in custody. They can’t hurt you anymore.’
Rebecca felt Danny’s hands on her shoulders gently but firmly moving her away from the bed.
‘Cindy, we need you to make a statement. Do you feel strong enough to do it now?’
Cindy closed her eyes wearily and moved her head from side to side. ‘Not now,’ she whispered.
Danny looked at Rebecca. ‘Can you persuade her?’
Before she could answer him, a nurse carrying a tray of medicinal equipment came bustling into the room. She frowned in annoyance at finding them there.
‘I hope you haven’t tired my patient,’ she said sharply. ‘She needs all the rest she can get.’
As she spoke, she placed the tray on the locker beside the bed. Then, having taken Cindy’s pulse, she quickly cleaned a spot on her arm with a damp swab, selected a syringe from the tray, and held Cindy’s arm firmly while she injected her.
Wincing, Rebecca turned her face away and clutched at Nick as she saw Cindy flinch as the needle pierced her flesh.
‘I must ask you all to leave,’ the nurse said sternly as she pulled the covers up over Cindy.
Danny’s green eyes hardened as he returned the nurse’s stare. ‘Very well,’ he said crisply. With a curt nod towards the door, he shepherded Rebecca, Nick and Grace out into the corridor.
He stopped to give some instruction
s to the policeman on duty before ushering them all out of the hospital.
They stood in a huddle for a few minutes outside. The sun had gone and it was overcast, and there was a light drizzle falling.
Danny told them that he had given Rebecca’s name and telephone number to the hospital as a contact should they need it.
He had also informed them that when Cindy was ready to be discharged she would be going to stay with Rebecca. He had not given any details about Cindy’s parents or their address, but the arrangement could be changed if Rebecca or Cindy wished it to be.
Rebecca was more than delighted by what he had done. ‘On no account tell them Cindy’s home address. It would distress her so much if any of her family found out what has happened to her. They know nothing about Poppy, and that piece of news as well the state Cindy’s in would break Mavis Mason’s heart. So let’s leave things exactly as you have arranged.’
Danny had to go back on duty, but he was anxious to see Rebecca and Grace safely home first.
‘I have time to drive them back to the flat,’ Nick told him, checking his watch. ‘So there’s no need for you to come as well.’
‘That would be a great help,’ Danny said with a smile of relief.
‘I’ll leave you to keep an eye on them, though, until I’m able to visit again,’ Nick told him as they shook hands and said goodbye.
Thirty-Seven
Over the next couple of weeks Danny called in most days to check that Rebecca and Grace were all right and to give them the latest news on Cindy’s progress.
Both girls were on edge and anxious for Cindy to be released from hospital so that they could make sure she was safe and settled before they started their new teaching jobs. Although Grace would still be near Liverpool, Rebecca would be in Dorset.
They had intended giving up the flat and going to their own homes during August, but because Danny had arranged for Cindy to come to stay with them when she was discharged from hospital they had taken a further three-month lease on the flat.
