SNATCHED BAIRN: Scottish Fiction

by Anne Bone

  Tim had also shared his pain about how Sophie died, and how hard it had been for them both. He patently had loved her very much, but when the end came it was one of relief that she no longer had to suffer the terrible pain she had been in. He had found the last few years hard, and had just thrown himself into work, spending longer and working later in the office. It had, he said, been just the last six months that he had taken a grip of himself and realised that Sophie would never want him to ruin his life by having nothing else other than work, so he had eased off, forced himself to leave the office earlier and started to see friends at weekends. It was a gradual walk back to life; he had found himself beginning to feel calmer, less distraught and able to remember some of the good times. It helped him to put some of the terrible memories of when he had to witness Sophie cry in pain or undergo the invasive treatment into the back of his mind and concentrate on the times when she had been well. He could smile when he talked about the holidays they had shared, and this Christmas, that was now only three weeks away, would be the first when he felt he wanted to celebrate it, rather than hide under the duvet for the two days. He had invited Jane to spend Christmas with him, regardless of whether her boss had insisted she return to Aberdeen and resume her duties there. She had been happy to accept, and challenged herself as to whether this was to support her friend or whether it was because she wanted to spend the time with Tim.

  Chapter 36

  December Aberdeenshire

  I have been keeping my ear very closely to my door, and listening carefully. There is most definitely a girl here, she is in my old room. I can hear it when the bookcase opens and then I hear the doors being unlocked and I can hear them. I wonder who she is.

  This morning after I had been through to the big room for my breakfast, Uncle Don said that we weren’t going to have any lessons today, and I would have to go back into my room. He told me that if I was good, he would bring me some new books back. I took that to mean that he was going out today, as on days that he went out I stayed in my room longer.

  I listened carefully and heard him go out of his room and lock his door. I carried on doing one of my jigsaws and kept very quiet, wondering whether the other girl might be doing a jigsaw in my old room. I heard the car start up and Uncle Don drive off, and then, I am not sure why I did it, I went over to my door and turned the handle, and the door opened. I thought it would be locked but it wasn’t, the key was in the lock but Uncle Don must have forgotten to lock it.

  I crept out, and went along to the big room. It was very quiet. I wondered whether I would be able to pull back the big bookcase, the one in front of my old room. I had watched him once, before he took me back into the room and saw how he had reached along behind it on one side and released a catch. I dragged one of the kitchen chairs over and climbed on it so I could reach the catch. I flipped the catch open and then I was able to give the big bookcase a push and it slid open. I saw the first door, and turned the key that was in that lock, and when that opened I saw that the key was in the door of my old room and turned that too. When I opened it the bedside light was glowing softly and there was someone in my old bed. I walked over very carefully and there she was. I looked at the girl who was asleep; her blonde hair was covering the pillow. I stood for a while and watched her, then, I decided to take a chance and try and wake her up.

  She didn’t wake very easily and Mary had to poke her a few times, whispering into her ear, ‘Wake up, wake up.’ Shona could hear someone in the distance telling her to wake up. She struggled to open her eyes, still being under the influence of sedatives. She fought hard to open her eyes, but very gradually she felt herself becoming more able to hear the voice, and slowly she opened her eyes. She saw a girl, a girl peering over her, and smiling. ‘Hello,’ said the girl.

  Shona tried to speak too, but she still felt too groggy and was unable to form her words. She smiled back though.

  Mary spoke again, ‘I thought I heard someone shouting and screaming, was that you?’

  Shona nodded her head, and tried to sit herself up but she found it difficult to move, it was like she had heavy arms and legs and couldn’t make them move properly. She had felt like this a lot since the man had taken her.

  Mary sat down on the edge of the bed, and started to talk to the girl. ‘Has your mam had an emergency too?’ she asked. Shona looked at her, an emergency, what did she mean? Why would her mum have had an emergency? She shook her head.

  ‘Oh,’ replied the girl, ‘so do you know why Uncle Don is looking after you?’ she asked. Shona swallowed hard, and tried to open her mouth to speak; but nothing apart from a couple of squeaks came out of her mouth. ‘Do you want a drink?’ asked Mary. Shona nodded.

  So Mary quickly ran into the big room and managed to fill a mug with cold water from the tap and go back into the room, where she tipped the mug to the girl’s mouth. The girl swallowed some of the liquid and this seemed to revive her. ‘What’s your name?’ she whispered hoarsely.

  ‘My name is Heather, although my real name is Mary,’ she told the girl. ‘What’s your name?’

  ‘Mine is Shona, how come you have two names?’

  ‘Well, Uncle Don calls me Heather, so I have sort of got used to it.’ She waited for Shona to swallow another sip of water and wet her lips.

  ‘Is he your real uncle?’ whispered Shona, ‘I don’t like him one bit.’

  ‘I’m not sure whether he is or not. I didn’t know him before I came here, but it seems me mam knew him, cause she asked him to look after me.’

  Shona tried to sit up but the sedatives were still seeping through her body, and she was just too lethargic to move. ‘Well, I think he is horrible. He grabbed me and brought me here. I am not going to let him touch me.’

  ‘Is that why you have been screaming then?’ Mary asked, ‘he doesn’t hurt anyone, but there are rules we have to keep.’

  ‘I want to go home, and he’s not letting us, and I don’t believe your mam asked him to look after you. I know for sure my mum wouldn’t have asked him to look after me. How long have you been here?’ she asked, her voice was beginning to get stronger.

  ‘I’m not sure, a long time.’ Mary stood up and looked around the room, ‘This used to be my room, but I have a new one next door. Do you go out to the big room to have your food and lessons?’ she enquired.

  Shona shook her head. ‘No he brings my food into the room here. He took me to the bathroom the other night and I had to have a bath. I didn’t like the bugger taking my clothes off, but he didn’t touch me or anything. I tried to make a break for it, but he got a hold of me and brought me back in here.’

  Mary realised that she mustn’t be caught in this room. She wasn’t sure how long he would be gone, so she thought she better go back to her own room. Before she left though, she spoke to this new girl. ‘Look, Shona,’ she told her, ‘he is okay, he doesn’t hurt you; he just likes to brush your hair. If you stop shouting and screaming and all that stuff, then he’ll let you out to the other room, and then maybe you and I will be able to play together.’

  ‘How did you get in here then?’ Shona asked her.

  ‘He forgot to lock my door, and so I just realised this and managed to get the bookcase open and then unlock the doors to this room. There are two doors, and this is sort of a secret room. But I better go back to my room now in case he comes back.’

  ‘Can’t we get out if he’s out? Can’t we just get the door open and go?’

  Mary thought for minute, ‘No, I don’t think it’s possible. The door is locked from the outside and he always takes the key with him. Don’t say anything about me visiting you will you or else he might get mad? And, if he forgot to lock my door once, he might do it again, and then I can come and visit you again.’

  Shona wished she had the energy and strength to get out of bed and see for herself whether the door was locked, or whether they could find another way out of the house. She wasn’t convinced at all that this so-called Uncle Don was a nice man. She di
dn’t believe a word from him that her mum had asked him to look after her. But at least she wasn’t alone, so maybe they could work out a way together to get out of here. ‘Okay,’ she told Mary, ‘try and come again won’t you, and I will try and not make him mad, and then maybe we can see each other. I won’t say I’ve met you either.’ She closed her eyes and allowed the sleepiness to overtake her again.

  Mary said goodbye to her new found friend and made her way back to her room, making sure that she took the mug of water back to the kitchen and returned it to the place where she found it. She carefully locked the doors and slid the bookcase back until it clicked in place. She then decided that before she returned to her own room she would look around to see whether there was another way out. She went over to the windows and pulled back the thick blinds, something she had never done before, but the window latch was locked, and the small panes of glass were too small to allow someone to break them and exit. She did get her first chance to look out of the window to the outside world. It looked out over a yard, and across the yard was a barn or something, which made it feel like she was on some sort of farm. She pulled the blind back into place, making sure it didn’t look as though it was disturbed. She then went to the window at the other side of the room and pulled back that blind. It was also locked, but she saw that the window overlooked fields. It seemed like the house was on a hill, as the fields were going downhill. The final window overlooked a track and she realised that it was the way up to the house. When she focused her eyes on the track she saw that indeed it went downhill, and at the bottom there looked like a wooded area with tall trees hiding the entrance. There was no sign of any other houses from any of the windows. She then thought she would not take any further chances and took herself back to her room. Before she went in she turned the handle of his bedroom, but the door was securely locked.

  I went back into my room and closed the door shut. I wish I could remove the key from the outside, but then if I did that he would know and would search for the key. It might mean that he would never leave it unlocked again, and that would mean I would never be able to get out again and go and see Shona. So I will leave it as it is. I wonder whether that was the first time he had forgotten. Maybe he had before, but it was only today that I tried to open it.

  I sit back down on my bed and feel a sense of excitement penetrate my mind. I am not alone any longer, and there is someone just like me through the wall. She seemed to be sure that her mum hadn’t asked Uncle Don to look after her, so what if me mam hadn’t either? That would mean that he had taken me away, and maybe the locked door and her old room had something to do with it, but I cannot understand why he would lock me in there, if me mam had asked him to look after me. I will ask him again. I will ask him whether he has news of me mam, and when he answers I will be extra special careful to watch his face.

  Two days later, she had her chance to ask him. They were just finishing off her lesson and today they had been doing some history; they had been reading about the old kings and queens of Scotland. One of the places they had spoken about was Edinburgh, and Mary recalled that she had once visited there with her mum. ‘I’ve been there,’ she told him. He hadn’t answered, but looked over the book. He was wearing the spectacles that he needed for reading, and they were now perched on the end of his large nose.

  ‘Did you?’ he replied, ‘that was nice. Did you visit the castle?’

  ‘Yes, we did.’ She went silent for a moment, framing the question in her mind before asking it. ‘I wonder, Uncle Don, have you any news of me mam? It’s been a long time now since she asked you to mind me.’ She watched him carefully to see how he would answer.

  He paused for a moment, as though her question had taken him by surprise. ‘No, nothing I am afraid.’

  ‘But where do you think she could have gone all of this time?’ She asked the question while not taking her eyes from his face.

  ‘I have no idea, maybe she had to go abroad,’ he told her. He closed the book and changed the subject by instructing her to tidy the books up and return to her room. So the conversation was closed, but it made her think.

  I listened out for Shona, I can’t hear her shouting and screaming any longer, I can only ever hear her when the bookcase is open. I heard him taking her to the bathroom last night, and there wasn’t any carry on with her shouting or anything. Perhaps she is doing like I suggested and keeping in with him. I just hope he goes out soon and leaves my door unlocked again and then I will go and visit her.

  I heard another new noise today, it sounded like a phone ringing. It must have been because I heard him hurry down the corridor, unlock his bedroom door and after a moment the phone stopped ringing. I wonder who was phoning him. I haven’t heard it ring before, and for a moment I wonder if it is me mam who is phoning. But then surely she would have just come and got me if she could.

  Chapter 37

  Thursday 19th December Aberdeenshire

  He was relieved that she seemed to be settling down, she was less aggressive and more biddable. She had behaved herself today, and he had permitted her to come to the kitchen and eat her supper. She had done so without a fight, and while she still continued to glare at him with those sharp grey eyes that seemed to bore into him, she ate her food without arguing. She had looked around the room, but asked no questions, and she had then bathed and dressed herself as instructed. The kicking and punching had ceased, and he was thankful for this, his shins were still aching and were an array of browns, blues and yellows as the bruises faded. He was beginning to feel more hopeful that she would suit him; she was clearly a feisty child, unlike the other who had settled into the routine, and was no bother at all.

  He had realised he had forgotten to lock her door a few times, but evidently he didn’t really need to do so any longer, she stayed in her room as instructed. She would maybe do anything he asked of her, but that was exactly what he wanted of her, that she was his, and he had control. This other one would take a while before she reached the same level of compliance, but it gave him satisfaction just to work at moulding her into that obedience he desired. Maybe one day he would allow them to meet and to spend time together, but this was some way off. This wouldn’t happen until he could trust her to behave, the other one had reached this point, he was sure of that, she could be trusted.

  When she had asked about her mother, it had come as a bit of a shock. She hadn’t asked about her for some time, and he had thought she had perhaps accepted that she was now his. It had thrown him a bit, but then he supposed the lesson about Edinburgh had triggered her memory and she seemed to have accepted his reply without question. He sometimes found it hard to remember that she wasn’t his; the longer she was with him the more she had blended into his thoughts, and maybe that had been why he had needed to get the other one.

  I don’t think he was telling me the truth, I think there was something about the way he looked at me when he said mam had gone abroad, and that he was telling me a lie. So maybe Shona is right. Oh, I do hope he goes out tomorrow and forgets to lock the door again. I listened again to Shona going to the bathroom, and she seems to have now got the hang of it, and was quiet. I wanted to shout out hello, but didn’t want to alert him that I knew she was here.

  I wonder why he hasn’t told me about Shona. It seems really weird, he must realise surely that I can hear him and her. I can’t wait until he goes out again and I just really, really hope I can see her again.

  It was Thursday and his day for going down to the village post office. He didn’t take long to go down and back, but he also had to go to the next village to the chemist to get his prescription filled. He had been able to slacken off the amount of sleeping pills he crushed up to give the latest one, but he still gave her some, and he still needed to make sure he didn’t run out; so today, he would be a little longer than usual. They were both in their rooms, Heather had been out and eaten her breakfast, and the other had been given cereal in her room. He just had to wait for the postie, who he could h
ear coming up the track, and then he could be off.

  He waited until the postie was out of sight, and then put his coat on and left the house, making sure that not only was the one and only door to the property locked from the outside, but also the bolt at the top of the door was pulled over, with the padlock also providing a second level of security to the property. When he left the house, he felt confident that should anyone arrive, then they would find it hard to break through not only the mortise lock, but the padlock as well. He got into the Land Rover, put the key in the ignition and drove off down the track in the direction of the village, which was just over a mile down the hill. For the first time since the he had taken the other one, he felt more relaxed, things were coming together again.

  Meanwhile back in the house, Mary had listened carefully to the car leaving, and ran over to see whether her door was unlocked. She turned the handle, hoping so much that the door would open, and as she turned it further, the door opened. She very swiftly left the room and ran down the passageway to the big room, where she pulled the chair over to the wall and climbed and flicked the latch to release the book case. It opened without any problem to reveal the small hidden door. She turned the key and then as she went through the small corridor she came to the second door, and turned that key too. She opened the door and found Shona on the other side. She had heard the lock turn and was so pleased to see the other girl standing there.

  ‘Oh good, you’re up and out of your bed today,’ Mary said, smiling at the other girl, who was about the same height, but who was smaller boned and more wiry than she.

  ‘Aye, I am. I did what you suggested and I’ve stopped fighting him, so I am not as. Come on, quick, let’s have a look around.’