Never Forgotten

by G H Mockford

  The face was more than familiar. It was a face from his past.

  Georgia’s father was also his father.

  Stephen turned on the spot and started to walk away. He wasn’t leaving, he told himself. He just needed time to think.

  Mind racing, Stephen did the maths. Georgia couldn’t be his sister. She was sixteen. His father had still been married to his mother then. She had to be a step-sister.

  Stephen leaned against a wall for a moment, letting all the Sunday shoppers rush past, the noise suddenly intolerable. Perhaps it wasn’t his father but a similar looking man. The image he stored in his head was eight years old after all.

  ‘Hello, Stephen.’

  It was the voice from the phone.

  It was the voice of his father.

  It suddenly came flooding back. The haughty attitude. The harsh tones. The anger.

  ‘I…I…’

  ‘Wasn’t expecting me?’’ he said. ‘I wasn’t expecting you the other day, either. It’s funny. I did the exact same thing as you. We can’t talk here. Shall we get a coffee?’

  ‘I don’t have any money,’ Stephen said flatly as he turned and faced his father. He wasn’t sure how to react to this man reappearing in his life, especially like this. At least his mother had embraced him. His father stood there in a suit with his hands in his pockets. It was like meeting a stranger. But then, Dad was like that.

  ‘Debenhams or Costa? I refuse to use Starbucks,’ his father asked. Stephen shrugged his shoulders and realized he probably looked like a petulant teenager. ‘Debenhams it is then.’

  His father turned and made his way through the continental market and over to the department store. Stephen followed an appropriate distance behind, subconsciously acting like an obedient dog. He tried to catch up, but his father was walking quickly. His steps decisive and purposeful.

  When Stephen caught up, they both queued in the busy café in silence. His father ordered two coffees without asking Stephen what he would like, paid the girl on the till and then they made their way through the packed tables and chairs. They found a free table. It was squashed in a corner between an elderly couple and a two women who seemed happy to allow their three year old run up and down through the maze of table legs screaming and shouting and shooting people with a toy gun.

  Stephen ripped off the tops of two packets of sugar, dumped the contents into his drink and stirred it with the wooden stick provided.

  Then they sat in silence.

  The younger Bridges fiddled with his steaming cup while his father stirred his drink around and around and around. Stephen tried to think of something to begin the conversation. He opened his mouth several times but the words died before he could utter them.

  ‘I know what you’re thinking,’ his father finally said.

  ‘Oh, and what’s that?’ Stephen regretted his reply in an instant. It probably sounded a childish reaction. Again.

  ‘You’re thinking, is Georgia my sister?’

  Thirty-Five

  Stephen let out a short bark of a laugh. ‘Hardly a great trick, Dad. Is she?’

  ‘Does it matter?’

  ‘I expect it’ll matter to Mum.’

  His father looked down at his coffee and shook his head. ‘I knew you’d be like this.’

  ‘So why did you ring, Dad?’ He didn’t answer. ‘Did you ring for her, or for me?’

  ‘I’m not going to dignify that question with a response. It doesn’t shed either of us in a positive light. To answer your initial question, yes, she is your sister.’

  ‘By yes, I take it you mean half-sister, not step.’

  ‘Stephen, things with your mother were…’

  ‘Were what?’

  ‘You wouldn’t understand.’

  ‘I’m not…what?’ Stephen quickly did the maths to calculate then Georgia would have been conceived. ‘I’m not a teenager anymore. I’m thirty-three. I’m a big boy.’

  ‘Then bloody act like one.’

  Stephen sat back in his chair, folded his arms and stared at his coffee. So, Felicity hadn’t torn his parents apart. His father’s infidelity had. ‘Does Mum know?’

  ‘About Georgia? Not as far as I know.’

  ‘Jesus, Dad.’

  ‘Don’t blaspheme.’

  ‘Oh come on. You didn’t believe in that. Mum did,’ Stephen said.

  ‘Old habits die hard.’

  ‘You’ve had nine years to get over them.’

  ‘This is pointless,’ Stephen’s father said, pushing his cup of coffee to one side. ‘You never could see the bigger picture. You were always too wrapped up in your own little world.’

  ‘Maybe I’m a chip off the old block. I was a child, what was your excuse?’

  Stephen’s father sighed and then a smile began to tug at his lips. ‘Your mum always said that was why we always argued.’

  ‘We didn’t always argue.’

  ‘No, I suppose not.’ Fraser Bridges took a deep breath and his smile returned, wider and more sincere. ‘Do you remember that time we went to Wollaton Hall and you fell in the pond?’

  ‘Then you fell in trying to get me.’

  ‘Yeah. We laughed the whole way home.’

  Stephen mirrored his father’s smile and then abruptly took it away. ‘It was Newstead Abbey, and you laughed – I cried.’

  ‘But then you started to laugh. Eventually’

  Stephen smiled at the memory. ‘Yeah, I did. We had great times before…’

  ‘Yes,’ his father confirmed, ‘we did.’ He sat there nodding his head for a while, no doubt recalling the past. ‘I was unhappy. I did selfish, stupid things. I’m sorry, Stephen. I’m sure this is hard to hear, but I just didn’t love your mother anymore. I should have left her, but I couldn’t. We – she – was dependent on the income from the foster work and she couldn’t do it without me.’

  ‘Dad, do you know what? It’s all old news. We can talk about it later. Let’s focus on one thing: Georgia.’

  ‘Shall we go somewhere else? Start again?’ Fraser suggested. Stephen could tell by the look on his father’s face that he wasn’t impressed with the place, or some of the people frequenting it.

  Stephen shook his head. ‘I’m sorry. It all came as a bit of a shock, that’s all. I only saw Mum the other day. She said you got divorced. Does she really not know about Georgia?’

  ‘Well, she might do, but she didn’t at the time and we’ve not spoken for what… five years. Is she doing well?’

  Stephen wondered how his father had managed to keep a secret like that and what to tell him about Mum. ‘She’s moved house. I had to do some detective work to find her.’

  ‘So,’ Mr Bridges began, ‘talking of detective work, are you still looking for Felicity?’

  ‘I was, but I’ve decided to finally let it go.’

  ‘So what are your future plans?’

  ‘Dad, you’ve just told me I have a sister, a real sister, who’s also run away.’

  Mr Bridges went quiet for a moment. ‘You saw her where? At Manor Bay Bridge did you say?’

  Stephen nodded and once again dread filled his stomach. Dad seemed to be holding it together for a man who had lost two daughters, but if he told him what might have happened to Georgia, who knew how he would react.

  ‘Oh God.’ Stephen’s father covered his face with his hands, and his shoulders started to shake uncontrollably. Stephen looked around. It was still busy in the cafe and no one seemed to be staring. Stephen sat impotently, not knowing what to do. In the end, he touched his father’s forearm, but that seemed to make matters worse and a wail escaped the man’s lips.

  ‘Let’s go, Dad,’ Stephen said, but his father shook his head. ‘I’ve been going down to the bridge every day,’ Stephen lied. ‘I’ve got friends and professionals I’ve got to know over the years keeping an eye out for her.’

  ‘You know, she was seven before I moved in with her. Seven before she knew I was her daddy. She still calls me Fraser now. I’ve missed t
hose years, son. Please, help me. Don’t let me miss anymore.’ The broken man snatched a serviette from the table and wiped up his tears.

  ‘I will, I promise.’

  ‘I thought I’d lost you too. I’m sorry for all the things I said. You had such a bright future ahead, you–’

  ‘Dad, let’s focus on Georgia. Don’t worry about me. I…I said hurtful things too. I abandoned you both when you probably needed me the most,’ he said. As try as he might, Stephen couldn’t help but wonder if his father had found comfort in the arms of another woman that night. If what his father had said earlier was true about not loving his mother, perhaps he was even glad Felicity had run away. Then it dawned on Stephen. That night ten years ago, his father had dropped him and Felicity at the fair and driven off. He was supposed to stay with them, but he’d gone somewhere else. Had he been with Georgia’s mother?

  And now he’d lost his own daughter.

  ‘I’m in touch with one of the police investigators. Maybe I can–’

  ‘The police don’t care, Stephen. That’s why I took things into my own hands and started my own search. Just keep looking for her. I’ll pay you for your time.’

  Stephen watched as the man before him, an older, wiser version of his father, reached into his suit pocket and pulled out his wallet.

  ‘Put it away, Dad, for goodness sake. You don’t need to pay me.’

  ‘Call it expenses then. I was going to give a reward to anyone who helped me find her. It might as well be you.’

  Stephen nodded non-committally and his father opened his wallet and counted out one hundred pounds. ‘Dad…’

  ‘Just take it, will you. No offense, but it looks like you could do with it.’

  Stephen looked down at the table at the money his father had thrown there, rubbed his forehead and bit back the words he was thinking.

  ‘I must go. You’ve got my number. Stay in touch.’

  Stephen started to get up, but his father slipped out from behind the table and disappeared through the café entrance before he could follow. When he reached out and took the money, it felt cold and uncomfortable in his hand. But he couldn’t just leave it there. Stephen’s mind was as cluttered at the café floor. But the biggest question that haunted him was, should I have told him she might have been kidnapped?

  Thirty-Six

  When Stephen left his father, he didn’t have a clue what to do next. He walked around the city centre, dazed for a while. An old lady even stopped him to ask if he was all right. In the end, feeling the money in his pocket, he went and spent it.

  The bike looked much better with the new tires and the rack pack he’d bought to replace the single pannier that unbalanced the bike. If he were going to keep looking for Georgia, his sister, it would be easier on two wheels.

  And there was no question he would look for her. How could he not? But could he do it alone? Stephen reached for his phone and typed in the number he’d memorized.

  And decided against it.

  The police were already on it and what else could he tell Chambers? He also had a strong feeling that if he told her Georgia was his sister, well, he couldn’t see anything positive coming out of it.

  Yes, he needed help, but the police were not the best choice. One thing was for sure, Stephen needed to talk to someone. But not before he tested his new tyres with a search of the usual homeless haunts. The people in the community would be the best help. And he was sure Jaydeep and the mission would want to help.

  *

  It was dark by the time Stephen rolled up at The Manor. He’d lost count of the number of people he’d spoken to, but none of them had seen Georgia.

  Bike chained to the usual drainpipe and detachable rack pack in hand, Stephen entered the pub through the back door.

  ‘Too late, loser. I just closed down the kitchen for the night,’ Trev called.

  Stephen ignored him and walked into the bar. The pub was deserted. Perhaps everyone had spent all their money the night before when the entertainment was there.

  ‘You all right?’ Cliff called from a table booth where he was reading The Post.

  It was at that moment that Stephen’s world fell apart. He’d just enough time to get the word ‘no’ out, when he burst into tears.

  ‘Bloody hell, what’s happened?’ Cliff said as he folded the paper shut and got out from behind the table. The landlord placed a hand on Stephen’s shoulder and the sobbing man fell into his arms.

  ‘You two and your bloody bromance,’ Annie called from behind the bar. ‘Take it upstairs, for god’s sake.’

  Stephen pulled away from Cliff and wiped away the tears from his face. ‘Sorry,’ he said, his face flushed.

  ‘No, I’m sorry,’ Annie said as she appeared beside them. ‘I thought you were just having one of your ‘special moments’. What’s wrong?’

  The pub was so dead that the three of them sat in the booth together. Stephen told them everything.

  ‘Bloody ‘ell,’ Cliff said.

  ‘Do you think whoever’s been snatching people has her?’ Annie asked.

  ‘Jesus, woman. Haven’t you any tact?’ her husband said.

  ‘No, it’s okay,’ Stephen said. ‘I don’t know. I hope not.’

  ‘They, whoever they are, killed a cop,’ Annie said, gaining another warning look from her husband, which Stephen clearly wasn’t meant to see. ‘I mean, it’s best to leave it to them to sort it out now. They’ll be motivated.’

  ‘Why don’t you go and make us a coffee, love,’ Cliff suggested. Annie got up. As soon as she was out of earshot Earnest said, ‘What are you going to do now, Stephen?’

  The barman looked up at his boss. ‘I don’t know. They think this has been going on for a while. Maybe years.’

  ‘The kidnappings?’ Cliff asked for clarification.

  ‘Yes. What if the same thing happened to Felicity?’

  Cliff leaned back in his seat and ran his fingers through his thinning hair. ‘Thinking that isn’t going to help. And besides, she left a note, remember.’

  Stephen had to concede that point. ‘Well, just when I thought my life was pointless, it seems I have a new purpose.’

  ‘Hold on. How are things different from last week?’

  ‘She’s my sister.’

  ‘She might share some of your blood, but you don’t know her. You’ve just unshackled yourself from one cross, don’t go and give yourself another.’

  ‘What about my dad?’

  ‘What about him? Has he been looking for Felicity, or Georgia, in the way you have? Has he been looking for you?’

  ‘I appreciate you’re trying to help, Cliff,’ Stephen began, feeling his anger boiling up more quickly than he would like to admit, ‘but what the hell do you know? You’ve no children. What if you discovered you did, and she was in trouble?’

  There was a long pause and then Cliff answered, ‘I don’t know what I’d do.’

  The pair both fell into silence only to have it broken by Annie who brought the hot drinks. She left as soon as she placed them down.

  Cliff spoke. ‘So what are you going to do next?’

  ‘Speak to Mum and Dad, I suppose. See what else they can tell me.’

  ‘About Felicity?’

  Stephen nodded. ‘You suggested I found out about her past. It may lay a few demons to rest, as you suggested.’

  ‘And Georgia?’

  ‘I need to speak to Edward if I can.’ Cliff gave Stephen a quizzical look. ‘He’s been put on a ward, so I may not be able to get to him.’

  ‘Don’t take flowers, they don’t let you anymore,’

  Stephen shook his head. ‘He’s on a psych ward, besides, I’m not sure he would appreciate them.’

  ‘Oh,’ Cliff responded. ‘Is there anyone else you can talk to?’

  ‘The skateboarders might know more than they let on I suppose, but…hang on.’

  ‘What? What is it?’

  ‘How could I have been so stupid?’

  ‘What,
Stephen?’

  ‘The night I found Edward there was a car crossing the bridge. A car with no lights on.’

  Thirty-Seven

  Georgia stood at the window peering through a gap in the wooden boards. In the far off distance, headlights pierced the darkness.

  He was here. Assuming it was him. She’d never heard him arrive before.

  Georgia closed the shutters and waited.

  It seemed an age before his footsteps came from outside the door. The sound of the key in the lock filled the cold, dark room. She heard the door swing open, then there was an almost inaudible click and then the blinding LED headlamp came on.

  ‘The clothes suit you. You have good taste,’ he said. ‘It’s a shame I missed you bathing.’

  ‘I’m sorry to disappoint you,’ Georgia said, covering her eyes with her forearm.

  The beam from the headlamp swung across the room and fell on the broken plate. ‘Have you had a little accident? I’m pleased to see that you’ve eaten.’

  ‘I’ll eat when and if I want to,’ Georgia said. She thought she heard a gummy sound as if his sticky lips had just broke into a smile.

  ‘Is that why you’re standing? As a show of your defiance?’ he said. The light moved. ‘You will learn obedience, Georgia,’

  Georgia retreated, and the backs of her legs came into contact with the tin bath. Before she could stop herself, she fell back, her head striking the lip at the rear as she landed in it. Despite her terror, one thought occupied her mind. Thank goodness I emptied the water out. She had watched the water trickle through the gaps between floorboards and wished she could have done the same.

  The light bobbed and moved as he bore down on her. Georgia’s eyes spread wide as his small, pale hand loomed out of the darkness and pushed her further down, wedging her inside. It took her a mere moment of pure revulsion to realize that his hand was on her left breast.

  She tried to lash out at him, but her arms were trapped against the sides of her metal prison.

  ‘You will learn obedience, as Felicity has learned obedience.’ As if noticing where his hand was for the first time, he gave her a gentle squeeze. ‘I think I’ll keep you a little longer. You’ll blossom, but for now you have nothing that holds my interest.’