I don’t want them, or anyone else to know.’
For a moment he said nothing, but then he sighed. ‘All right, love. We’ll do our best to keep it a secret, but we’ll need a cover story. Amy collared me this morning along with her mum and that nosey cow Mabel. We’ll have to come up with something to put them off the scent.’
‘I’m sorry, Dad, but maybe you could say it’s my appendix or something,’ Carol suggested, fighting to keep her eyes open.
‘I’m not sure you’ll be in hospital long enough for that, but we could try something like food poisoning.’
‘Yes, good idea,’ Carol said wearily, her eyes closing.
Carol felt her father stroking her hair again as he said, ‘I can see you’re tired and I think it’s time I left. I’ll see you tomorrow.’
Somehow she managed to open her eyes a slit, even managed a small smile, and seeing her father’s sad face she wanted to reassure him again that her mother would come back. She opened her mouth to speak, but he placed a finger over her lips, saying softly, ‘It’s all right. Everything is going to be all right. Just go to sleep, love.’
Unable to fight it, Carol did.
Frank left the hospital again, his feelings still all over the place. He had been shocked, angry, then despairing after reading Daphne’s letter, but all those emotions had been overshadowed when he’d been in fear for his daughter’s life. He had spent the night at the hospital and it had been morning before a doctor told him that Carol was going to be all right. But, unable to see her, he had been advised to go home.
On Lark Rise, in no mood to speak to Amy, her mother, or that nosey mare Mabel he’d brushed them aside. Once inside his empty house Frank had drawn the curtains against the outside world and broken down, clutching the letter again. There had been no warning, no signs that Daphne was unhappy, yet everything around him had obviously been an illusion, his marriage nothing but a farce.
Unable to face turning up late for work, Frank had remained indoors all day as his mind twisted and turned, first dwelling on Daphne and then his daughter. Carol had been pregnant, then she’d gone to a back-street abortionist and it had nearly killed her. He had thought his daughter perfect, untouched, but that had turned out to be false too. Well that was it, Frank had decided. Like her mother, Carol could bugger off too – and good riddance to both of them.
By visiting time that evening, Frank’s mind was well and truly made up and he’d intended to tell Carol that he never wanted to see her face again, yet all that had changed when he’d heard his daughter’s story. She’d been raped, a bastard taking her innocence. He vowed that he’d find the bloke, and when he did, he’d make him suffer. Frank’s hands balled into fists at the thought.
Until he got more information about the bloke from Carol, it would have to wait, but in no mood to go home to an empty house, Frank decided to see his sons. He would have to tell them about their mother and might as well get it over with.
He went to their flat on Lavender Hill, and his elder son Paul opened the door when he arrived. ‘Well this is a surprise. Come on in, Dad.’
Frank followed his son into their living room, where Davy, his younger one, looked equally surprised to see him as he almost spilled a pretty red-haired girl from his lap. ‘Dad! What’s up?’
‘We need to talk, and in private,’ Frank said, looking pointedly at the redhead.
‘Sorry, Gloria,’ Davy said as he pushed the girl to her feet. ‘You’ll have to get lost for a while.’
She pouted prettily, but then shrugged, saying nonchalantly, ‘Fine, I’ll leave. See you around.’
Dave followed the redhead out of the room, but he was soon back, smiling with amusement as he said, ‘Gloria pretends she doesn’t care, but she can’t get enough of me.’
‘We’ve got more important things to talk about than your love life,’ Frank snapped.
Dave’s eyes widened, but he only said, ‘All right, so sit down and tell us what this is all about.’
Frank took a seat, his sons too, before he said abruptly, ‘Your mother’s left me.’
‘What?’ Paul exclaimed. ‘No, I don’t believe it.’
‘Believe it or not, but I’m telling you she’s gone,’ Frank said as he pulled the letter from his pocket and handed it to Paul. ‘You’d better read that.’
‘What does it say?’ Dave asked.
Paul read it out, and both looked stunned. There was a pause, as though they needed time to take it in, but then Davy said, ‘So Mum just left, leaving this letter, and we’re supposed to wait until she gets in touch with us?’
‘That’s about it,’ Frank said.
‘There must be more to it than this. Did you have an argument or something?’ Paul asked. ‘If you did, once Mum has calmed down she’s sure to come back.’
‘There was no argument. Just that letter,’ Frank said wearily as exhaustion now hit him. ‘There’s one other thing. Carol was admitted to hospital with food poisoning, but she’s fine. She might be allowed home tomorrow so there’s no point in going to visit her.’
‘What did she eat to cause that?’ Dave questioned.
‘She isn’t sure, but it was probably a bit of dodgy fish,’ Frank lied. ‘Anyway, I’m bushed, so I’m off now.’
For the first time, he heard concern in Dave’s voice. ‘Dad, with Mum leaving like that, it must be hard on you. Are you all right?’
‘Yeah, I’ll cope.’
‘Have you tried Gran’s? Mum might be there,’ Paul suggested.
‘She isn’t. It’s the first place I checked.’
For the first time Paul echoed his brother’s concern. ‘If you need anything, or any help to find Mum, just ask, Dad.’
‘You read her letter. Your mother doesn’t want to be found, and to be honest, that suits me fine.’
‘You don’t mean that, Dad.’
‘Yes I do, son,’ Frank said and after saying goodbye, he tiredly made his way home. He had meant what he said to his son. After walking out on him like that, leaving just a blunt letter, he wasn’t going to run after Daphne. She was looking for a new life, so let her find one. She wouldn’t find it easy without a man bringing home a wage, and with few skills, he doubted she’d get much of a job.
With a grim sense of satisfaction, Frank imagined his wife living in a grotty one-room flat, probably beginning to miss him and the decent life he’d worked hard to provide her with. She’d eventually come crawling back, he decided, and he would enjoy shutting the door in her face.
With that thought still in his mind, Frank arrived home, and despite his bravado, he hated walking into an empty house. Still, it wouldn’t be for long. Carol would be home again soon and the two of them would jog along nicely.
Frank went to bed, his last thought that he’d keep his daughter safe and close to him. From now on he’d make sure that no other man ever laid a finger on her again.
Amy was in bed on that Tuesday night too, unable to sleep as her mind twisted and turned. Any hopes she’d held that Rose hadn’t run off with Tommy’s dad had been quashed. Her mother had been to Rose’s flat on her way home from work and found it empty.
Added to that, Amy was concerned about Carol and after a restless night she woke on Wednesday, hoping to find out how her friend was before she left for work. When her mother