Breach of Faith

by Andrea Hughes

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimmer of movement as Frank took another step, this time towards us. My God, he was going to take Will on. I wanted to tell him to stay away, I could handle this and he should go. But my courage had deserted me. Will was ready to snap and I sure as hell didn’t want him to take his rage out on me. And my baby.

  On the other hand, I also didn’t want Will’s wrath to fall upon Frank. For all I knew, another fist fight might be enough to kill him. I had to try again, for better or worse.

  “Will, listen to me.” I grabbed at his hand and tried to remove it from my arm but his grip was too tight. “Will, it’s not what you think. Please, you have to believe me.”

  Will looked down at me, his fury and hate replaced with a look of pure astonishment. “Believe you? Tell me, Kate, why the hell should I believe a lying bitch like you?” He grabbed my other arm and pulled me close, forcing me to look directly into his eyes. The anger was back, his grip vicelike and I gasped in pain, squirming in an attempt to escape.

  “Tell me, Kate. Tell me you weren’t kissing this bastard. Tell me he didn’t have his dirty paws all over you. Tell me that my wife wasn’t returning his favours and touching up this sorry son of a bitch. Can you do that, Kate? Can you tell me that?”

  I shook my head. “Will, you’re hurting me. Please—”

  “Take your hands off her.”

  A flash of hate diluted Will’s eyes at the quietly spoken command and his attention was deliberately transferred back to Frank.

  “Frank, stay out of this. You have to go.” I was desperate. I could read what was happening in Will’s eyes and with sinking heart I knew Frank had ignored me.

  Will sneered, “well, mate, you heard the lady. Fuck off.”

  “I told you to take your hands off her.”

  Something snapped. Deep down in Will, something snapped; I could see it in his eyes, feel it in his hands. I opened my mouth to warn Frank, to scream at him to go: Run for your life!

  With a roar, Will shoved me to one side, his anger focussed entirely onto Frank. I had been forgotten. I squawked, a despairing sound, but both men ignored me, intent upon their own battle. I threw out my arms in a desperate attempt to break my fall, landing full force on the rough stones.

  The breath had been knocked out of me and I lay on the high tide mark gasping and wheezing. Something cold and wet was dripping down my face and I lifted shaking fingers to my forehead.

  Blood. I glanced down at a large rock beneath me, a smear of red emblazoned upon it. A sudden pain shot through my body making me cry out, my hands flying down to cup protectively around my vulnerable womb.

  No, please no.

  Another pain, like someone tightening a belt around my middle, slung low beneath my small bulge. I cried again and could hear men’s voices, coming from far away.

  “Kate!”

  “… all right?”

  “Talk to me …”

  “Help me,” I whispered, as the pains transported me away into blessed oblivion.

  Chapter thirty one

  5 January

  I was dreaming again. I knew I was because I hadn’t seen most of these people for years. But my dream world was infinitely more desirable right now than real life, so I just went with it.

  I was with my old friends from school. We were going to a party and I was walking beside Vanessa; my best friend. She nudged me in the ribs. “So who are you after tonight?”

  Who are you after?

  I’m always after the same boy. Shrugging, I tore my eyes away from the back of Angus’s head. “Oh, no-one in particular.”

  Vanessa gave a knowing gaze, a small smile turning up one corner of her mouth. “He likes you too, you know. Angus.”

  I stared at her. “How do you know?”

  “Craig told Rach and she told me.”

  I glanced again at Angus, he caught my eye and smiled, his dark wavy hair glowing in the light from the setting sun.

  He likes you too.

  In the unique way of dreams, the scene skipped forwards a few beats. We were all at the party, in a house I didn’t recognise. I studied the people filling the small room.

  Where is he?

  There! I could see his dark hair bobbing around in the hallway and without thinking twice, I made my way towards him.

  “Hi, Kate.”

  It was him.

  “Having a good time?”

  I nodded and chatted for a while; at least, I thought I chatted, I couldn’t really remember anything we talked about and time seemed to spring forwards again.

  “Come on.” Angus grabbed my hand and led me into a small room. He turned on the light, closing the door behind us and sighed. “That’s better. Couldn’t hear a thing out there with all that noise.”

  We were in a bathroom, surrounded by the smell of disinfectant and toilet cleaner, overlaid with the whiff of vomit. Alcohol had been doing the rounds tonight, someone must have been caught out drinking too much. I looked at Angus, he gazed shyly back, hands thrust deep into his trouser pockets.

  “Um, I hope this is okay,” he ventured finally, gesturing at our surroundings with his chin.

  I took a deep breath and nodded.

  “I wanted to be alone with you.” The words fell from his mouth in a rush and he took a small step towards me, pulling his hands from his pockets and holding them out.

  Stepping into his embrace, my heart missed a beat, and as my lips met his I closed my eyes and melted into Angus’s arms.

  *

  “She’s waking up.”

  “Kate? Can you hear me?”

  Angus?

  “Kate?”

  “Mrs Robson, welcome back. How are you feeling?”

  I groaned; a dull sound, unrecognisable even to my own ears. My head was throbbing and my mouth felt like the bottom of a birdcage. I stuck my tongue out. “Water,” I mumbled feeling decidedly raw.

  A strong hand tilted my head forwards and I felt a plastic cup press gently against my lips. I sipped gratefully, savouring the fresh, clean taste. Too soon it was taken away, and only then did I find the strength of will to open my eyes.

  “Angus?”

  “No, Kate, it’s me, Frank.”

  I blinked rapidly a few times and the illusion began to fade. He was right … not Angus, but Frank. How on earth could I have mistaken those fathomless blue eyes for Angus’s homely hazel orbs. It must have been the dream but … I shook my head, regretting the rash action immediately as the pounding in my skull took on a new intensity.

  Frank was frowning, “Kate, you gave us such a scare. How are you feeling now?”

  “Headache,” I croaked and winced at the stab of pain that momentarily blinded me.

  Frank rubbed my temple gently, the cool fingers a balm on my splitting head. I closed my eyes and groaned as the pain eased slightly.

  “Where am I?”

  “Hospital. Do you remember what happened?”

  I opened my eyes and watched as the nurse tied a cuff around my upper arm and checked my blood pressure. The woman quietly attended to my other tasks before patting me gently on the shoulder, a smile on her lined face.

  “You were very lucky, Mrs Robson,” the nurse stated, shining a small light into my eyes. “I’ll bring you something to ease your headache. Do you have pain anywhere else?”

  I shook my head. There was something I needed to remember, something important but I was buggered if I knew what it was. The nurse nodded and pulled back the curtains surrounding my cubicle, glancing at Frank as she went past.

  “Kate needs to rest,” the nurse ordered. “Please make sure she stays in bed.” And with that she disappeared through the opening, pulling the curtains closed behind her.

  I smiled wanly, “you have your orders.”

  “And I’ll make damn sure that you follow them,” Frank instructed before squeezing my hand hard. “Don’t ever scare me like that again, Kate.”

  I frowned, “what happened?”

  “You don’t re
member? The beach?”

  “The beach?” I thought hard. “That’s right you wanted to talk to me about … oh God, I remember.” I gazed at Frank, tears filling my eyes.

  Frank nodded,” there’s things I still need you to know but they can wait.” I opened my mouth to object but Frank waved my protestations away. “You’re more important.”

  Without warning it all came back to me; Will, the push, the fall and the pains. Oh yes, the pains. I looked wildly at Frank and gripped his hand tight, my other hand resting heavily on my belly. “The baby …?”

  Frank grinned and placed his own hand on top of mine, obvious relief mingling with the joy on his face. “The baby’s fine, Kate. Perfect.”

  I relaxed slightly, although the fear was still close to the surface. “But I was having pains, just like a miscarriage. Are you sure? How do you know?”

  “When you arrived in the ambulance, they took you straight up for an emergency ultrasound just to make sure. That nurse was right, you have to stop stressing about everything. You have to relax.”

  “Easier said than done.”

  Frank paused, “the doctor suggested a couple of days in hospital. So that you could rest and they could keep an eye on you. And the baby.”

  “Frank –”

  “Think about it, you’ve just had a big scare and you do have a hell of a lot of stuff going on at the moment. At least they could look after you both.”

  “Frank,” I tried again, “I can’t stay here for the rest of my pregnancy and none of this … stuff, as you call it, is going to go away just because I spend a couple of days in hospital. No, I need to get back, my other children need me too.”

  Frank shrugged, a defeated look on his face. “That’s what I told them,” he conceded, “but I also promised I’d try to make you change your mind.”

  I smiled sweetly, “you obviously know me better than I thought you did.”

  Frank patted my hand and grinned, “I did promise them one other thing as well.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I told them I would make you stay here in bed for a few hours, just to make sure the pains didn’t come back.” He leaned over me, a stern look on his handsome face, “I said I would tie you to the bed if necessary.”

  I bit my lip. “Oh? And what did they say about that?”

  “They said that what we get up to in the privacy of our bedroom is our business, but if I got the handcuffs out, they might be persuaded to find you a single room.”

  I snorted, “bloody clown.” I pushed myself up on the pillows, trying to get more comfortable. “Well, if I have to stay here for hours on end, the least you can do is keep me company.” I looked sideways at him, “what happened to Will?”

  Frank shrugged again, “don’t know. He disappeared while I was looking after you on the beach.”

  “Disappeared?”

  Frank stood up suddenly from his seat, dropping my hand on the blanket. “Kate, I really don’t think this is the time or the place for me to tell you exactly what I think of your husband but if he tries to hurt you again –”

  “He won’t,” I said with conviction, “I won’t let him. I don’t understand why he’s acting like this, though. I get that he’s hurting and angry, but I’ve never seen this side of him, he’s usually so calm and reliable, so understanding.” I looked at Frank, “you’re right, not the time or place. I’m supposed to be relaxing.”

  Frank took a deep breath, “that’s right so can I get you anything?”

  I thought for a moment, “you could do something for me. Can you call my parents and let them know what’s happening? They’ll be getting worried by now and my kids need to know where I am. Will was supposed to be going over there but after what’s happened I’m not sure he will.”

  Frank nodded, “of course.”

  I reached out and grabbed his hand, “please don’t tell them about Will,” I begged, “I’ll tell them everything when I get home. Just tell them I’ll be home this afternoon and they’re not to worry. Also ask them not to come up here, I don’t want Kensie and Tom to get scared.”

  As Frank slipped through the curtains, I sank down into my pillows. What the hell was happening to Will? He’d never been violent before, not in all the time I’d known him. He was one of the most gentle, kind and generous men I’d ever known. Could my betrayal really make him turn into what seemed like a totally different person? Was that even possible?

  I looked up as the curtains were drawn back once more, expecting Frank back from the telephone. “Angus,” I exclaimed, “what on earth are you doing here?”

  My old friend grinned, “I can’t stay long. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “I’m fine, just a bit of a headache. How did you know I was here?”

  “I was visiting someone else when I saw them bring you in.” Angus frowned, “what happened?”

  “I fell, hit my head. Nothing serious.” I hesitated, “I had a dream about you.”

  Angus raised his eyebrows in surprise.

  I rubbed my face, suddenly realising how tired I was “It was weird. Do you remember when we were at school we all went to a party at someone’s house? I think it was someone’s grandparent’s house, they’d gone on holiday?”

  Angus grinned sheepishly, “the neighbours called the police.”

  I giggled, “do you remember what we did?”

  Angus laughed, “in the bathroom, you mean?”

  I felt the blood rush into my cheeks. We hadn’t gone all the way that night, in the bathroom of a stranger’s house but if the police hadn’t come along and spoilt the fun, who knows what could have happened. I nodded, “I dreamed about that. I was with you, I know I was with you but you didn’t look like you. You looked like my friend, Frank, the man who was just in here.”

  Something indefinable flashed across Angus’s face, gone almost before it had appeared. “And here’s me thinking that your fantasies are all about me. He’s sick, is he, this bloke Frank?”

  “Sick?” I sat up in the bed. “How’d you know?”

  Angus took a step back, an obscurely guilty look on his face, “oh, well, he’s here, isn’t he,” Angus replied vaguely, “in the hospital I mean. Lots of sick people here.”

  “But –”

  “Sorry, Kate, I have to go. I’ll see you soon, okay.”

  And with that he flicked back the curtain and was gone.

  “Oh,” I exclaimed as the curtains twitched again. “It’s like bloody Piccadilly Circus in here.”

  Frank’s head appeared around the material, “what was that?”

  “Nothing, I just had a visit from an old friend of mine, a rather strange visit. You’d have seen him as you came in, he literally left a second before you came back.”

  Frank frowned, “didn’t see anyone.”

  I stared at him, “are you sure? You would almost have bumped into him as he left.”

  Frank shook his head with half a shrug, “there was no-one.”

  I rubbed my face once more. It was all starting to sound like an extension of my recent dream, except it was real, and a tiny shiver ran up my spine. Like someone walking across my grave.

  Chapter thirty two

  5 January

  I climbed gingerly out of the taxi, still feeling fragile and looking forward to a good, strong cup of tea and sleep, blessed sleep. Mum opened the door as I approached and gave me a hug. “Don’t you ever do that again,” she scolded. “Do you realise how worried we’ve been? I told you not to meet with that man, Kate, he’s obviously bad for you.”

  I could hardly keep my eyes open. “I know you were worried, mum, but none of this was Frank’s fault, if you want to blame anyone, blame me. Right now I would kill for a hot drink.”

  Mum took my coat and bag then pushed me down into a chair. “Your father’s putting the kettle on now. I still think you should have stayed in hospital, you look terrible.”

  I touched the scrape on my head and winced. “It looks worse than it
is and they did an ultrasound, the baby’s fine.” I snorted, “in fact, apart from my head, the only thing that I’ve hurt is my pride.”

  The door opened and I smiled in pleasure at the steaming cup my father held out. I sipped, letting the warmth flow through my body. “Damn, that feels better.”

  Dad passed mum a cup and sat down beside her. “So what happened? I must admit, we’re both a bit confused about what you were up to this morning.”

  I looked blankly at my father, “Frank said he called and told you.”

  Disapproval flickered across my dad’s face which I decided to ignore. “He did, but his version of events didn’t tie in with what your husband told us.”

  “Will?” I glanced at my mother, eyebrows raised and Mum nodded.

  “Will suggested that your friend Frank attacked him on the beach.”

  “What?”

  “According to Will, this man was taking advantage of you. He told us,” she paused, scrutinising my face, “you were trying to push this Frank off but he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Will said he told Frank to leave you alone, they had a bit of a fight and finally Frank left. Will said you wanted to be alone for a bit and he was going to meet you later and that’s where you parted company.”

  “He also said,” added Dad, “that if he’d realised this Frank was going to wait for you and attack you again, he wouldn’t have left you.” He leaned forward and took my hand in his own. “Kate, you have to report this. He shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this.”

  I stared open mouthed at my father.

  Dad looked annoyed and released my hand, reaching across to pick up the cordless telephone. “I’ll call the police for you.”

  “No!”

  “Kate,” Mum had concern written all over her. “I know you have a connection with this man,” she looked pointedly at my midsection, “but he can’t be allowed to get away with this. He will try again and you have to stop him before it’s too late.”

  Exasperated, I jumped to my feet and grabbed the telephone out of my father’s hand. “Frank did nothing wrong.”

  “Kate –”

  I threw the telephone on the chair behind me, “Frank had some bad news and I was comforting him, like any friend would. Will grabbed me from behind.” I thrust my cup onto a table and pushed my sleeve up, revealing an angry bruise on my arm.