Title: Runaway, Part 2. Of Lies and Flying China Author: Dice Pairings: M/M, M/F There's no spanking in this chapter, I'm as yet only setting the stage, probably getting to it in the next part. Warning: This story contains references to spousal abuse and child abuse. Feedback: Constructive criticism always welcome. Authors note: The point of view will vary between chapters, this one is told from Ronald's POV. Let me know if it's too annoying and I'll ignore you ;-)
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Runaway, Part 2. -- Of Lies and Flying China
Building it up tearing it down
The circle goes around and around
Lessons are learned and bridges burned
I'm hoping the tide will turn
"I'm Gonna Come Back" -- Michael Learns To Rock
I watched the look she gave Gaff, so filled with fear and disgust it reminded me of Adrian when he found a snake in the garden shed. I heard Adrian draw an annoyed breath behind me, but the woman didn't appear to notice, her eyes were locked on the dog; silly girl was scared stiff off the old thing.
"'E ent the bitin' sort, don't you worry yerself none," I said to her and she flinched, her eyes going from the dog to me and then back again with a shudder. I scratched my head. "The little ones are sleepin', dead on their feet, poor things." I thought it best I'd reassure her and maybe take her mind off the old Gaffer.
She had an absentminded look as she nodded and then looked skeptically at the chair I held out for her as if she had no idea what it was for. My patience was wearing thin.
"Now sit, gel, there's a few questions I'd like answered, if you don't mind," I told her, thinking it better to be forthright than let her think she had a choice in the matter.
Sitting down she cast a quick glance at Adrian and then at the Gaffer again, wincing when he moved his head from one paw to the other. He gave me a puzzled look, his eyes letting me know he thought her a bloody odd sort. I couldn't have agreed more. The woman – no, girl more, she was much younger than I'd thought at first – was not right in the head.
She had a haunted look, her eyes darting all over the place as if she feared something coming at her and the way she drew up her shoulders and pulled nervously at the sleeves of her cardigan gave her the look of a trapped animal. Her whole appearance was of someone who hadn't seen the comforts of even a petrol station for quite a few days and both she and the girls had a smell about them that revealed they hadn't washed in as long.
I'd talked to John, but he'd had nothing on a woman or any twins going missing. Not yet anyway, he'd assured me he'd let me know if he heard anything. She didn't seem too happy about being stuck here though. Something had her worried out of her wits and those girls of hers were made to suffer for it.
"Well then, Miss Trivett, what're you runnin' from?" I said as plainly as I could and was granted the dubious satisfaction of seeing her jump as if yelled at.
"Wot's that supposed to mean? I ain't runnin' from anythin'!" she said and there was sudden anger flashing in her eyes, like when I'd first met her. Anger born in fear.
"I think she doth protest too much, or what's that you're always tellin' me?" Adrian swung his leg over a backwards chair and crossed his arms on top of its back, looking straight at the girl with his blue eyes as intent as search lights. She stared at him for a little while, unable to answer.
I wondered what was going through her head as she met Adrian's gaze. I knew of few people who'd lie to him when he was looking at them like that, least of all someone with a guilty conscience. There was an intensity and innocence in those eyes that I'd fallen for the first time I met him, but also something behind them that spoke of a pending storm.
Her eyes flickered back to me and then to him before she looked down at her hands, which she was wringing in her lap. Didn't she realise how bloody obvious it was to anyone with eyes that she was hiding something?
"It's none of your business!" she hissed under her breath and the fierceness in her eyes when she looked up gave me a bit of a start. "I didn't ask you to stuff your great big nose into my affairs! Just you sod off and leave us alone! Leave me the bloody hell alone!!" Suddenly the tiny slip of a girl stood there screaming before us with her hands clenched hard and the rancour in her voice sending chills down my spine. I took an involuntary step back just staring at her.
Then things started happening in quick succession. She twirled around and snatched a tea cup from the counter and flung it towards me with much force, but bad aim. I had barely ducked her first projectile before the next came flying and shattering on the wall behind me. Gaff shot up and skidded backwards on the rug, barking at the sudden danger he sensed in the room.
Adrian's temper snapped like a twig and he was on his feet in a heartbeat, grabbing her and pinning her arms against her sides and giving her a rough shake, she strained against him and writhed for a moment and I saw his eyes narrow and his grip harden. Her angry screaming turned into one of anguish as he did so and when he let her go in sudden concern she sagged against the counter and dropped to her knees on the floor, sobbing.
Her cardigan had come undone in the struggle and slipped off her shoulders and in the gap between the knitted material and the worn black of the insideout T-shirt could be seen a blotchy mark of green and purple.
In the abrupt silence that followed, the crying of two frightened little girls waking up in a strange place to the sound of their mother screaming, broke through and I cursed myself for letting this get so out of control.
"Keep an eye on 'er, love," I told Adrian, who winced, his troubled eyes leaving her to meet mine and then he nodded.
I opened the bedroom door and my breath went out of me. They were huddled together on the carpeted floor beside the large oak chest from Adrian's parents' house and they were crying so hard I wasn't certain they could even breathe properly.
"Oh, dear me…" I closed my eyes and then closed the door carefully, to shut out the sobbing from the kitchen. What in god's name had I gotten myself into? "Hush now, 'eh? 'S all right, 's all right…"
I dropped to one knee and reached out to stroke a tiny little hand that was pulled away with a wail. I picked up first the one and then the other and then almost dropped the first when sharp little teeth dug into my arm.
"Ow, now you stop that!" I tucked her under my arm as she writhed to get free and sat on the bed. "Oi, no, no, no, don't go fallin' off there now!" I swallowed and breathed out when the squirming little weasel slid down off the bed and landed on her feet. She stood glaring at me where I sat, the other twin seated quietly on my lap.
"'S all right," I hushed gently at them and rocked the one on my lap carefully. "'S all right." I looked at the one standing like a little soldier beside the bed, giving me a sullen look. "'Ow 'bout we go check on yer mother. There now, eh?" I said after a moment, but there was no change in her expression.
I stood up slowly with one tot on my arm and the other one pressed back against the wall, her lower lip sticking out like a red plum.
"Oh, fer god's sake…" I honestly had no idea what to do about this.
At length I gave up and walked to the door, as I opened I looked back and smiled encouragingly towards her. She took a step in our direction. The girl on my arm lay down her head on my shoulder and gave a sigh so deep and despondent that it seemed to me to come from an old and life weary soul rather than a tiny child.
Miss Trivett had pulled herself together and was standing at the kitchen sink as I entered. The small shadow trailing after me made no sound at the sight of her, but the one I was carrying made a soft keen and reached her arms out. Miss Trivett took her from me without a word and placed her on the edge of the countertop.
"Sorry `bout your cup…" she mumbled, Adrian rolled his eyes and went to pick up the shattered shards on the other side of the kitchen.
"'S all right," I said and coughed at the piercing look Adrian threw at me. "So, the one who gave you that mark there, 's 'e the one yer runnin' from then, eh?"
She didn't answer, but a clearly visible tremor went through her body and I could tell she was fighting the fear that welled up. Then with evident effort she gathered her strength and put the little girl down on the floor, turning to face us, while ignoring the child's whining and clinging to her jeans leg.
"It's been kind of you to help us. I'll be on my way soon as I can and won't bother you anymore," she spoke loudly as if to make my question go away with the sound of her voice.
"Now, you see 'ere, we don't 'ave to take yer la-di-dah manners after you've thrown china at us an' carried on!" Adrian snapped and she flinched, looking from me to him. "Ron 'ere's been helpin' you, out o' the kindness o' 'is `eart, an' what'd you do? You throw things at 'im, all barmy like."
"Adrian!" I silenced him with a sharp look, that made him colour slightly, the muscles in his folded arms flexed under his grey shirt, the only further giveaway of his annoyance. "'S no point bickerin' 'bout a bloody cup or two, but I'll be damned if I'll let you go anywhere like this!" I pinned her with a stern look and she shrank back, tears welling up, but withheld anger glinting in the back of her eyes.
"It's none of your business!" she repeated, her voice quiet and choked now. "None of it is! I'm grateful for what you've done, I am!" she raised her voice, giving Adrian's doubtful face an accusing glare. "I am!"
She burst out crying, hiding her face in her hands. Adrian rolled his eyes, he'd never been one to put up with emotional to-dos of any kind. This girl was on the verge of a breakdown though, or she'd already broken, I wasn't certain, but I felt it was more than mere theatrics on her part and I feared that Adrian's temper would only make her more resolved to take the babies and run.
I looked at the one hanging onto her legs, still crying quietly and then looked around to find the other one behind the door like before, apparently used to hiding when things became troubled. I wondered how much they could possibly understand of what was going on around them.
"'S all right…" I mumbled, again receiving a withering look from Adrian. "There now, gel, don't upset yerself, we're only tryin' to help." I reached out a hand and patted her shoulder gently, if somewhat tentatively, she shrugged it off and wiped at her face with her sleeve.
Adrian threw up his arms, abandoning the tidying and walked out the kitchen, giving a small signal for the Gaffer to follow him. I looked out the window at the cloudy sky and thought about reminding to take an umbrella, but then put it out of my mind. Gaffer lumbered to his feet and gave a soft wag of his tail. Miss Trivett drew back in dismay when he moved and visibly relaxed when the tip of the black tail vanished out the door after Adrian.
"'E's a fine dog, gel, you needn't be 'fraid o' 'im any," I said quietly, but she didn't seem to take any notice of me. "Won't you sit down, eh?"
She looked at me, but then turned aside and shook her head. There was something distinctly childish about the way she stood and at the same time something very old in her bent back and gaunt face. I shook my head, giving up the battle. Adrian was right, why should I try to help every miserable creature that came into my sight.
I busied myself cleaning up the rest of the mess in the kitchen, trying to forget about the silently shaking woman by the counter and her two distressingly neglected children. Trying to ignore her and her situation didn't help at all though and I felt my movements become increasingly more impatient as I threw the shards of china away and picked up a brush to sweep the last remnants up. I knocked it angrily against the legs of the chairs and the wall.
What drove a mother to run off with her children and drive straight out in the country? She said she was going to her mother, I wondered whether it was a lie and guessed that it was, she hadn't asked to ring her after all, had she? And what of those marks above her elbow? Damn it, how did you help someone who obviously didn't want or dared to be helped? I lifted a chair and slammed it down on the floor out of my way.
"Is there anything I can do?" her voice broke through my gloomy thoughts.
"What's that?" I asked, not quite sure I'd heard her right.
"I mean, well… I've been nothing but trouble. I don't want to impose or nothin'… I'm not used to being around strangers. Sorry," she was looking at her feet, a frightened little girl, timid and regretful. I wondered how much was just acting intended to appease me and cause me to let my guard down.
"Mebbe you can peal some taters, I s'pose," I answered curtly and she looked up with a wary smile. "Time for tea, an' all," I continued, against my will taken in by that brief, nervous delight at my acceptance of her offer.
"I'll just get the girls some things to keep them busy, you know?" she moved away from the child clutching her jeans and pulled her duffel bag out from where we'd stuck it behind the door and got some toys out. One was a small doll with most its hair cut off and one eye poked out and the other a plastic gadget with a couple of rubber animal heads sticking out from under red flaps.
She put them on the floor without a word and then seemed to hold her breath while the girls moved forward to claim the things. The one who had been lingering by the door, I didn't really know which was which, they were too alike to tell apart, decisively took the plastic square gadget and brought it to a safe distance from her sister, who merely had moved to hold onto her mother's jeans again.
"Go on, play a bit, be a good girl for mummy," her voice held a pleading, anxious note that had quite the opposite effect from the one wanted.
"Jest leave 'er be, she'll let go when she's feelin' more secure like," I suggested and received another quick, careful smile that was more a glint in her eyes than actually any change in her expression.
We worked together quite efficiently, moving around the clingy child, communicating mainly without words. She was no novice in the kitchen, that was certain, quick and competent with no unnecessary ado about anything. In a jiffy I had the frying pan on the stove and the potatoes in a pot while she rinsed some lettuce and placed it in a bowl on the table.
I hinted that she might want to lay the table and she set about that task as well, gingerly opening a few cupboards before finding the right one, giving me a hesitant glimpse from the corner of her eye. She slowly placed a plate for each of us.
"What 'bout them two, they eat proper food?" I nodded at the twins.
Before she had time to reply a sudden wail made us both jump and she turned on the two girls like a hawk. They were struggling to gain possession of the doll, one's teeth sunken into the arm of the other, who was the source of the loud scream.
"Trinny, you horror!" Miss Trivett pulled her back, but the girl wouldn't relinquish her grip. I drew in a sharp breath as I saw the hand rise, but had no time to stop her before she'd swatted the girl hard on the thigh, she let go of her sister's arm in favour of giving up a screech of her own.
Both girls sat down, screaming, on the kitchen floor and Miss Trivett was staring at me wide eyed and guiltily. I said nothing, merely picked the bitten girl up and placed her on a chair to get a closer look on her arm. From the corner of my eye I saw how Miss Trivett reached out tentatively to the other girl, who promptly crawled under the table.
Her hands fell into her lap and then she lifted one to her face with a sob. I shushed the crying girl I was holding and rocked her quietly until she was only watching me with big teary eyes. Her arm had deep marks from small teeth, but the skin was intact, so I bent to pick the doll up and then sat the child down on the chair again.
"There, there," I said feebly, but she seemed to have forgotten about me and slid down on the floor, doll and all, tottering over to her mother, who embraced her and hid her face in the child's neck for a moment, before she glanced up at me, a challenge clear in her eyes.
"None o' my business, is it?" I murmured, returning to the stove barely in time to save the sausages from becoming charcoal.
I heard her get up behind me and move about, while I began putting the food dishes on the table. I avoided her questing gaze; she'd expected some other reaction from me, I thought. I straightened the table cloth and brushed away a few crumbs.
"It's not like I beat them or nothin', all right?" she suddenly mumbled defensively.
"Not sayin' you do," I replied lightly, throwing the crumbs in the sink.
"Right, I'm just sayin', that's all," she said quickly. "Just don't want you to get the wrong idea."
"The wrong idea about what?" Adrian closed the kitchen door, leaving a somewhat puzzled dog outside. He looked at us quizzically and then shrugged when neither of us came up with an answer. "Bangers, eh? So that's what's got 'im so keen."
He nicked a few of the sausages and put them in the Gaffer's bowl for later, ignoring my scowl and then he sat down at the table.
"Let's eat then," I nodded at Miss Trivett and then joined Adrian at the table, he'd already filled his plate and wasn't waiting for anyone.
Miss Trivett placed her daughter on the chair and bent down to try to coax the other out from under the table. It yielded no result however so she drew a deep sigh and sat down herself. She placed potatoes and sausages on a plate and cut them in small pieces, then she hesitated and gave me a vague, faltering look.
"Could I get a spoon?" she asked and I nodded.
"Course, in the second drawer," I told her and she rose.
Adrian got up as well and got two bottles of beers out, I gave him a sharp look and he had the decency to look a little abashed. He didn't have time to ask her though before she caught his eye and shook her head vigorously.
"No, thanks, but I'll just get some water, all right?"
"Fine," said Adrian, sitting down again, not meeting my gaze. I gritted my teeth hard and had to take a deep breath not to stand up and march him into the next room and give him a piece of my mind.
We continued eating in silence. Miss Trivett ate slowly and little. I watched her eat, cutting precise pieces of the food and adding them to the fork with care before putting them in her mouth as if afraid that she would drop them. I glanced at Adrian; he was also looking at her, with his fork hanging in the air in front of his mouth before he caught himself and gulfed down the load.
She put her fork down, chewed quietly, while helping the little girl who managed to get most of the potatoes in her lap and was eating the sausages with her hands.
"Cor," Adrian's voice was a low, derisive mutter, I put my glass down hard, signalling he'd better not say something he'd regret. "S'pose I'll give Gina a bell, she'll 'ave nappies an' such left that Ollie ent usin' no more," he said, rather than push. I swallowed my food and nodded.
"Who's Gina?" squawked Miss Trivett and nearly stood up.
"She's me sister, got two boys," Adrian's keen eyes on her made her settle down, but her body was wound tighter than a spring.
"I don't need charity!" she whispered sharply.
"Oh blimey!" Adrian pushed his chair back giving her a look as black as tar. "Yer a daft one, ent you? Yer stranded wi' two babies in the middle o' bleedin' nowhere. Yer all filthy an' sick lookin' an' you don't look as if you got a quid on you!" I put a steady hand on his arm, he leaned back, quiet, but still glaring daggers at her. "If I's you, I'd be…"
"Adrian, belt up! Yer bein' a prat!" I interrupted a bit sharper than intended; he gave a start and shot a quick look at my face, he seemed both shamefaced and wrongly accused at once, but he didn't open his mouth again.
Miss Trivett was staring at the table, she looked as if she was
fighting the tears and her hand came up and covered her mouth. Then suddenly she sprang up from the table and ran out of the kitchen. Both Adrian and I half rose, but sat down when we heard her retching violently in the bathroom.
"Well done!" I muttered, giving him a hard look as I got up.
I took a clean dish towel from the cupboard and tried to clean up the spattered food from the squirming little girl, who now had finished her food and didn't feel like gracing us with her company any longer.
"I's tryin' to be friendly like!" he snapped. "Ent my fault if she's got 'er knickers in a twist!"
"You know better than to give into that fierce temper o' yours, Adrian!" I reminded him. "Fer god's sake, she's been through hell an' back fer all we know, jest look at 'er!"
He didn't reply, but merely shuffled his feet under the table for a while. Gaffer came lumbering through the door and stuck his big black nose into the bowl, gobbling up the sausages and the rest of the food with his usual appetite. Adrian got up and ruffled his ears about before he headed out into the hall. He gave me a quick look as if hoping I'd stop him, but I only nodded.
Under the table a small sound reminded me of the other twin and I decided to try and coax her out from under there. It took quite a few minutes, but when I held out a sausage for her, she came crawling towards me like a dog and bit down on it even as I pulled her out and placed her on the chair. She made no complaints and I filled up a plate for her and watched her stuff the sausage into her mouth, utterly disregarding the potatoes.
I heard Adrian's voice from the hall, but couldn't make out what he was saying. I watched as the girl on the floor began tinkering with the plastic toy, making the animal heads pop up and then squashing them back down with a decisive hand.
Adrian reappeared in the kitchen door and crouched down to stroke Gaffer around the head, the old mutt lay his head on his shoulder for a moment looking as if he was going to topple them both over before Adrian regained his balance.
"Dunno if I did any good, she wouldn't open the door," he said awkwardly.
I was about to answer him when the sound of a car pulling up interrupted us. I raised my eyebrow at him and he rose as the Gaffer lurched past him, his tail going a mile a minute and his bark was pleased as punch at whatever it was he could hear in the car door slamming that neither of us recognised.
As we stepped out in the garden I drew a sigh and remained at the door. If the look on Gina's face was anything to go by this was not a mere friendly visit. She looked fit to be tied and I only knew one person who could make her livid and that young man was sulking in the backseat, looking as bleak as the sky.
"I've 'ad it wi' yer bleedin' brother!" she drifted past Gaffer without taking any notice of his bouncing about her. I called him over softly and his ears perked up at my voice, but it took him awhile to give up on his idea of greeting the new arrivals. Gina put her hands on her hips and glared at Adrian. "You hear? 'E's at it again, I ent puttin' up with it!"
"All right, all right!" Adrian calmly stopped her tirade by placing his hands on her shoulders and giving her a slight shake.
The dark haired, freckled beauty, who both looked and sounded like a female version of the love of my life blew her hair from her face and nodded. They came to some tacit agreement and he gave her a barely visible squeeze and then he looked over her shoulder and found the cause of the fuss skidded far down in the car seat not at all keen on having his brother's attention.
"Justin!" Adrian's voice was a low rumble that made the boy flinch and scrunch up his face at the sound of it; he knew well the implications of that tone as did Gina and I saw it in her sudden shudder, she'd no doubt answered to his tamper and sharp tongue often enough when they were younger.
Young though he was, Adrian had taken over the roll of breadwinner and head of the family when their father left. He'd been barely thirteen then, Gina was two years younger and Daniel five; Justin had been about the same age as the two toddlers inside. I suddenly remembered they were unsupervised in the kitchen, but then the door moved behind me and Miss Trivett poked her nose out, giving me a quick look and then she vanished inside again.
The car door opened and Justin sidled out knocking it closed with a little too much force. He leaned on the car, looking as sullen as only a sixteen year old boy can. He didn't say anything and he didn't look at us.
"Been skippin' school again, eh?" Adrian folded his arms. Justin didn't say a word, but shrugged and looked even further away from us. Either he pretended not to hear, or he was scared stiff. I guessed the latter from his twitch when Adrian barked at him. "Answer me!" He looked up sullenly and swallowed.
"Yessir," he mumbled and cast his eyes down again.
"What 'ave we sed `bout that?" Adrian was unrelenting, but he didn't let his temper get away with him, I felt a small surge of pride in him for that. Justin muttered something inaudible. "What's that?" Adrian snapped.
"That you'll deal wi' me," the boy said louder and kicked a few pebbles into the ditch.
"That's right and you won't like that any, will you?" Adrian growled and Justin pulled a face. "Git in the house! An' behave, we've guests!"
The boy dashed inside without so much as a second glance at his brother or sister and he darted past me with the usual scowl he reserved for me, I wasn't popular with young Mr Corrick. I heard him get the loft ladder down and scamper up it while Adrian walked Gina to her car. I heard him begin to explain about Miss Trivett.
"We're too old fer this, you an' I, ent we, ole friend?" I stroke Gaffer over the head and he gave me a look, which I took to mean I should speak for myself. I had planned a quiet day writing today, all this had certainly crushed those plans. "Well, let's see what comes of it, eh, boy?"
You never knew what came of anything in life, but I had a feeling that the days to come would be little better than this one.
To be continued...
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