Juliet Bell - The Other Wife

Betty frowned. Mummy always picked her up. She said it was easier that way because Daddy had to work and sometimes people got funny when he came out with them. The front door to Mrs Oakley’s neat little house was still open, while the childminder watched her charges go on their way. ‘Mr Earl?’

He turned towards the voice. ‘Mrs O. What can I do for you?’

‘Is Pam not well?’

‘No. No. She had to go away for a bit.’ He lowered his voice. ‘For her nerves.’

‘Right.’ Mrs Oakley looked away somewhere over Betty’s father’s shoulder, not at his face. ‘Well, I’ll be happy to have the bairn back once her mum’s all better and can drop her round.’

Betty felt her daddy’s hand rest on the top of her head. His voice was quieter than usual. ‘It’s all right. I’m working on the production line at the moment. Regular shifts, so I can bring her before work.’

Mrs Oakley glanced from side to side at the neat little houses that butted up against hers, and the other parents who were picking up their children. They chatted to each other, but none of them spoke to Betty’s father. They didn’t even look at him.

‘I don’t think so. It’s not really…’ She stepped back into the hallway. ‘Not really right for you in this area.’

Betty’s father’s voice raised now. ‘But she’s my daughter.’

‘Well, yes, but…’ Mrs Oakley peered around the door at Betty. ‘You’d not really know, would you? She takes from her mother.’

The door swung closed with a definite thud. Betty’s father stood very still for a moment. The net curtain at the window of the house next to Mrs Oakley’s twitched slightly. Daddy took her hand. ‘Come on, Betty girl. We’ll get a fish supper and listen to records. Shall we?’

Betty nodded. She didn’t like fish, but, when Mummy wasn’t there, Daddy let her pull the crispy batter off with her fingers and just eat that dipped in the bright green mushy peas. She leant against Daddy’s hip while they waited in the chip queue. ‘Will Mummy be coming back soon?’

‘I hope so, little firefly. I hope so.’ He clapped his hands together. ‘And until then we’ll need to find someone to keep an eye on you while I’m at work.’

‘Good. I don’t like it at Mrs Oakley’s. Sometimes they look at me strangely.’

She felt her father tense for a second, then he stroked her crisp red-brown curls. ‘That’s only because they don’t understand that you are special, my bright little firefly.’

Betty leant more closely into his body.

‘It’ll be all right. We’ll work something out,’ he said.

The next morning, Betty clung to her father’s hand outside a big red-brick house that she thought she sort of recognised.

‘Do you remember coming here, little firefly?’

Betty shook her head.

‘This is your grandpa and grandma’s house.’

She followed her father up the driveway and stood half behind his legs while he rang the bell.

The door was opened by a tall man with thick black-framed glasses and a big moustache.

‘Mr Thompson…’ Daddy started.

‘What are you doing here?’

‘I … Can we come in?’

The man shook his head. ‘I’ll not have you upsetting Pam’s mother.’

‘Right. Well, it’s Pam. She’s in the hospital. The Retreat.’

The man folded his arms.

‘And Betty…’ Betty felt her father step to one side so the man could see her properly. ‘I’ve no-one to watch her while I’m at work and so…’

‘And so you thought you’d turn up here like nothing had happened.’

‘No. I …’

‘We were quite clear when Pamela made her decision. We’re happy to take her back and we’ll look after the girl. You can leave her here right now and go off and get on with your life.’

Betty’s father reached down and took hold of her hand. ‘I won’t abandon my child. If you could just take care of her for a few hours.’

The man on the doorstep calmly shook his head. ‘We’ll take her and we’ll raise her properly. But we will not have you coming to this house. Make your choice.’

Betty glanced up at her father. His face was creased with emotions that she didn’t understand. He knelt down next to her. ‘Would you like to stay here, Betty?’

‘’Til you come back?’

Her daddy screwed his eyes shut for a second like Betty did sometimes when she was trying not to cry. When he opened them again, he reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. ‘Don’t worry, little firefly. It was a silly idea. Daddy won’t leave you anywhere…’

Betty didn’t hear the rest of his sentence. Her own wail drowned it out. Even the idea of him leaving her was too much to hold inside her head. Mummy had to go away, but Daddy was still here. She flung herself against his body, throwing her arms around his neck. His hands wrapped straight around her, lifting her up as he stood. ‘Well, that’s settled, then.’

She buried her face in his neck.

‘We’ll be going.’

She let him carry her back down the driveway and into the street. Eventually he put her down next to a shiny red telephone box. ‘I just need to telephone the office at work, and then we’ll go to the park. Feed the ducks.’

Betty beamed. A whole day out with Daddy was so exciting. And maybe tomorrow Mummy would come back and everything would be normal again.

Jane

It was so quiet when I woke up. At home, it was never quiet. There were always people running around, dogs barking, and children laughing. And seagulls, because we all lived near the beach. But in this new place, it was very, very quiet. I guess that was because there was only me and Mrs Reed and my two cousins. That’s not many people for such a big house.

I got out of bed and put my clothes on. My tummy rumbled as I did, so I left my tiny room with its pretty pink bedspread, and went in search of breakfast. I hoped the Reeds had cereal and milk.

I found the milk in the fridge, and put it on the bench. I started opening cupboards and found a bowl, but there was no food. I looked up at the cupboards above my head. I would need a chair to stand on. I found chairs around a big polished wooden table in another room and dragged one into the kitchen.

I took a deep breath then I climbed on the chair. I kept one hand on the back of the chair, and quickly grabbed the cupboard handle until the room stopped swirling around me. I didn’t like high places. Mum always kept the cereal in the low cupboards so I didn’t have to stand on chairs. I hoped Mrs Reed would do the same if I asked her. But until then, I told myself, I really could do this. And besides, I was hungry.

When I felt better and opened the cupboard nearest to me, there were biscuits. Lots and lots of biscuits. Biscuits were much better than cereal and milk. I dropped two packets of chocolate biscuits onto the bench and then climbed down off the chair. I was eating my second biscuit when I heard a familiar noise from outside.

There were seagulls here in the city too. That was exciting. I hadn’t expected to see any birds or animals at all.

I grabbed a couple more biscuits and ran out of the kitchen into the big living room. The seagulls must be out there, through the big glass doors where I could see the sky. It took me a couple of tries to get the door open, but finally the latch clicked and I jumped through the door.

The sky was right in front of me. There were no people, or trees, or cars, or even buildings to break up the big blue open sky. I glanced down and my tummy twisted. I was looking down onto the tops of the buildings across the street and then below that the road was a tiny slither of grey a million miles below me.

I was going to fall. I was going to fall until I was as small as the people in the miniature cars beneath me. The ground was so far away, and the sky was spinning around and around me. I grabbed at the nearest thing I could reach. A little basketwork chair. But that didn’t help, the chair fell too and I dropped onto the hard tile floor with the chair on top of me.