Amelia's story

by D. G. Torrens

  When my destiny is in my hands,

  I promise never to cause any strife.

  When my destiny is in my hands,

  I promise to love and appreciate my friends.

  When my destiny is in my hands,

  I promise to be true until the end.

  When my destiny is in my hands,

  I promise to waste not a single moment.

  When my destiny is in my hands,

  No longer will I suffer this inner torment.

  When my destiny is finally in my own hands

  the first thing for me is to travel the land.

  One particular day, I was in the games room playing table tennis with another boy and in walked my archenemy, Donna. She was bored and decided it would be great fun to pick on me and embarrass me in front of the other children. I decided to walk out and ignore her, which was the only way to deal with her, except this time she followed me.

  I ran into Ainsley unit to find safety among the staff, but no one was there. I shouted at her to leave me alone, but she just ignored me and started jumping on me, thumping me in the head. I let her do her worst, and then ran to my room sobbing. Before she left, she warned me not to tell on her or I would receive more of the same.

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  The Great Escape

  I told my new friends Liam and Paul what had happened as they would often fall prey to Donnas’ bullying ways too, and it was then when they told me they had been planning to escape and run away. They invited me to join them and I jumped at the chance. Liam was from Shropshire like me, so we decided to walk all the way to Shropshire from Bryn Tyn following the River Seven and the A5. We waited for a couple of days until it was the weekend as there was always less staff on duty, which made it a lot easier to escape. We had all packed our runaway kit, which consisted of crisps, chocolate, a can of pop, some fruit, and our pocket money. This time it was going to be different; we were not going to get caught. We were not going to run to anybody we knew; we were going to survive alone and find somewhere to live once we arrived in Shropshire.

  On the Saturday morning after breakfast, we went to collect our weekly pocket money. We told the staff that we were going to play by the stream at the end of the fields by the woods. We went to our rooms, collected our bags, dressed accordingly in preparation for our long journey, and then we all met by the stream. We were all very excited and knew we would be in a lot of trouble if we got caught this time as they had started coming down hard on runaways.

  Once we were all present we just looked at each other and started running, all the while laughing with excitement. We crossed the wide stream which boasted a small waterfall at the back, and climbed up the bank on the other side and followed the track through the woods until we reached the main road. We found our way to the river and started walking toward Shropshire. We all knew the way; we had all run away many times and then made the journey back by car silently just staring at the signs on the way back. It was a warm summer day, and after a few miles we stopped for lunch and sat along the river eating our crisps, we then decided it would be great fun to go swimming in the river, so we all stripped down to our underwear and splashed about in the river for the longest time. Eventually we all climbed out again and lay down on the grass to dry off.

  After some time we started walking again. We were singing along the way, totally oblivious to everything around us, including the police car up ahead on the main road which had pulled over. The two policemen had already got out of the car and were heading toward us.

  It was Liam who spotted them. “Run for it!” he shouted.

  We all looked up and spotted the men in blue and started running like we had never run before. We soon lost them and slowed down to a walking pace to catch our breath. By this time we knew it would not be long before night set in so we started looking for somewhere to bed down for the night. After a mile or so we spotted a farm up ahead with quite a few outhouses attached. We decided to check it out as this looked to be the perfect place for the night.

  As we approached the farm we were very careful not be seen and raise an alarm. We bent down and ran under the window of the farmhouse, which appeared to be empty. I peered through the window and could not see anyone. We walked around to the back of the farmhouse and saw that the back door to the kitchen was ajar. We made our way slowly toward the door, looking around in case anyone was coming. We all sneaked into the large country kitchen. There were large pots and pans everywhere. But what interested us was the large uncut loaf on the side and the large plate of cheese—dinner, we all thought in unison!

  We grabbed the bread and cheese and ran out of the back door. We looked around and ran toward one of the three barns situated up ahead. We chose the barn furthest away and with a good view so we could see who was coming at any time from most directions. We all slipped in through the barn door, which consisted mostly of bales of hay, perfect just perfect. We all put our bags down and made ourselves comfortable. The only thing we did not have was water or a drink of any kind. One of us would have to go back to the farmhouse and fetch some water or milk from the fridge. Liam was the eldest and volunteered. Thank goodness because I was far too scared, and knowing my luck I would be caught.

  Liam made his way back to the farmhouse. He was nearly at the back door when a large, pot-bellied man came walking around the corner. Liam acted very quickly and ducked down behind the tractor, waiting while the man walked toward the field, which kept at the very least forty sheep.

  Paul suddenly spoke in a panic, “Amelia, look over there.”

  A lady was approaching the tractor, and Liam had not seen her. “Oh no, what are we going to do now?” I said. Then all of a sudden Liam rolled under the tractor just in time as the lady walked past and into the farmhouse.

  “Phew, that was lucky,” said Paul.

  “Yes, quite,” I replied. We allowed ourselves to breathe again.

  Liam stayed under the tractor for over thirty minutes until the lady came back out again, and then he ran into the farmhouse kitchen and back out again in quick time, armed with a full bottle of milk and a packet of biscuits. We were very proud of him. We each sat on a bale of hay and ate our sumptuous dinner of bread, cheese, and biscuits, washed down with some fresh cold milk. As dusk crept up on us, we looked around the barn for a safe place to sleep where we would not be seen. We all agreed to climb the ladder to the floor above and sleeping at the very back under the hay. It was warm and out of sight and that was all we needed.

  The following morning we all shook ourselves free of all the hay that was imbedded just about everywhere. We finished off the remaining bread and cheese from the night before then set off once more on our journey. Again, we chose to follow the line of the river, as for the most part we were out of sight of the main road. This was now day two of our great escape and we were all feeling very proud of ourselves. We followed the river all day, until we all agreed it was now safe enough to climb up on to the main road and carry on toward Shrewsbury. We had accomplished half of our journey already; it was the weekend and no one would think it strange that a small group of fourteen year olds were walking along the road. We took advantage of this and continued on our way.

  We were all feeling rather hungry again as the last meal we had eaten was at breakfast. My tummy had been rumbling for over an hour. Just up ahead we could see a garage, which also sold sweets and crisps. Without any discussion we upped our pace and headed straight toward the busy garage. We stocked up on crisps, pop, chocolate, and the boys bought ten John Player special cigarettes, as they were both smokers and had not had a smoke all day. We parked ourselves on a wall, re-fueling our hungry tummies.

  Liam thought it would be a great idea if we thumbed a lift for the rest of the way. I was not at all keen on the idea and told the boys that I would be walking all the way to Shropshire no matter what, and continued to remind them of the dangers that could befall you if you thumbed a lift. This was enough of a deterrent, and it was agre
ed we would continue to walk the last leg of our journey.

  As we approached Shrewsbury Town, we were all feeling rather tired and weary so we decided that we would stay in the town for the night. Where we would all sleep was anyone’s guess. We started looking around for empty shops and vacant buildings. We must have circled half the town before we happened upon an old derelict building that sported a great huge DANGER sign. None of us questioned the immediate danger this building could place us in; we just saw this as our only hope for a place to sleep for the night.

  We all tugged at the corrugated iron sheets, which were nailed tight over the window, and when we had pulled it back far enough for us to fit through. We each carefully climbed through the hole and made our way into the large, dank room that greeted us. The room was filthy; there were a couple of old, dirty mattresses lying on the floor, and we decided to investigate upstairs as it could not possibly be any worse.

  As we made our way up the broken steps, we were mindful of treading carefully or we could end up with a broken leg or two. As we neared the top, we heard a rustling sound coming from the other end of the building. We all stopped dead in our tracks, not knowing whether to carry on or to make a run for it. We stayed like that for a few seconds, then Liam decided he would investigate and told Paul and I to stay put. He quietly made his way up the last couple of steps and then he was out of sight. All we could hear was Liam walking around and the floorboards creaking. Then we heard talking. Liam shouted to us that everything was okay. We climbed to the top and made our way to the back of the building.

  Liam was talking to a rather scruffy man, who smelled very bad. The few teeth he owned were either black or cracked. He had on a long, dirty, gray coat, which was covered in stains and looked like it had never been cleaned. He had made himself at home on the top floor of the building with an old chair, an old mattress, and some old blankets. He had a few meager belongings in a brown box and that was it, this was his home for now. He went on to explain that he was one of life’s wanderers, he liked the open road, and spent his life moving from one place to another and taking advantage of any opportunity that came his way.

  Liam told him our story and that we needed somewhere to stay for the night, that this old building seemed perfect if it was okay with him. The vagrant looked all three of us up and down, and then mumbled to himself for a while. He finally agreed we could share the building for the night. I could not sleep that night; I didn’t feel safe and kept one eye on the vagrant at all times, although I had no real reason to fear him. He was far more interested in the bag of chips he had begged from the chip shop down the road just before it closed.

  The following morning we all got up early, straightened ourselves out, and then decided to start on our journey once more. We said goodbye to the grumpy vagrant who just mumbled as we made our way down the stairs. When we found our way out of the window and onto the street, we looked at each other and I spoke first, “I’m starving. Let’s get some breakfast.” Liam and Paul agreed and we all pooled our money together. We had the grand total of £7, so we needed to make it last.

  There was a café across the road and we hurried toward it as our empty stomachs were crying out for food. We all took a seat and waited for the lady to come over. She was very chirpy and waited patiently while we counted our money and decided on our order. We all chose a sausage and egg sandwich accompanied by a mug of tea. The lady smiled and took our order. She said, “There’s no need to pay until afterwards.”

  We were to make our way up to the till and pay once we had all finished. Liam suggested we make a run for it, “This would be so easy, let’s just run.” I was not so keen; however, I understood that this would save us at least £3, so that was that, decision made.

  After we had finished our breakfast we waited for the lady to go out back into the kitchen, and then we made a run for it. I felt very bad about not paying because the lady was so nice to us, but our need to eat and survive while we were all on the run was tantamount to us getting through each day. We needed to be frugal with what little money we had left, and we needed to seize every opportunity that arose. There was nothing worse than being hungry, and I had experienced this feeling on several occasions.

  Now our bellies were full to the brim! We knew we would be able to walk for miles quite happily. As we were leaving Shrewsbury Town near the Sears Hall building, we noticed a car slowing down up ahead. It was not a police a car, so we carried on walking toward it. As we approached, two men got out. They called out our names, and it was then that we realized they were plain-clothed policeman. We just turned on our heels and ran; Paul tripped over and only just escaped the long arm of the law!

  We had no idea where we were when we finally stopped. We looked around and could not see any signs, just fields everywhere we looked. It was a very beautiful sight; they were like green and brown blankets covering the earth all laid out in neat squares like a patchwork quilt. We all sat down for a while to catch our breath.

  “Amelia, do you have any idea where we are?” Liam asked.

  “I have no idea, Liam. I suggest we pop into that little shop and ask them,” I replied.

  We headed over to the shop, and I took it up on myself to ask for directions to Shropshire. The lady advised me we were already in Shropshire and asked where specifically we were headed. I told her Iron Bridge. “Ahh, that’s not too far. I’d say about ten miles from here.”

  We were all so happy; we had nearly made it to Iron Bridge. I could not believe it, we had walked all the way from Wales and we were on the homestretch now. This information boosted our morale and we picked up our pace. We bounced along with a kick in our step, singing songs along the way. We were on home territory now and it felt good to be in familiar surroundings.

  Eventually, after three hours or so, we reached our destination and made our way to the estate we were all too familiar with. We decided to squat in one of the boarded-up council houses (and there were many). We were careful not to be seen by someone who might recognize us. We went in search for an empty house. After what seemed like an eternity we found one just beyond the community center and it was just perfect for now. The important thing for all of us was having somewhere to stay, somewhere we could hide out, and somewhere we felt safe.

  We pulled back one of the boards on the downstairs window and climbed in. Surprisingly, it was quite clean. There was an old settee sitting in the middle of the living room, the floors still had carpets on them albeit old and a bit musty, but it was more than we had hoped for. There could be any number of reasons why this house was unoccupied. However, that was not our concern. We had a place to stay, and that was all that mattered. We put our bags down and Liam volunteered to fetch us all a bag of chips, which would keep us going until the morning. Then we hatched a plan to wake up with the larks and do a doorstep sweep after the milkman had delivered his goods to all the tenants.

  The following morning Paul and I were up first, so we got dressed and slipped out of the window leaving Liam fast asleep. We headed to the row of houses opposite and ran from door to door, lowering our heads when we went past the kitchen windows. We were loaded with goods on the run back to the house with lots of bread, milk, yogurts, and cheese, just enough food and milk for the next couple of days at least. As far as cash went, we were left with a grand total of £3, which was enough for another round of chips if we got desperate during the week.

  We were all sitting on the floor in the house talking about our hopes and dreams for the future. Liam was the older one at just fifteen, whereas Paul and I were fourteen years old. Liam was pretty quiet. He smiled a lot and did not say much, he was a thinker. Paul was a comedian and was always joking, and me, well, I was just in a hurry to be an adult, as being a child was far too hard.

  I talked about my brother and sisters and how we were all separated several years back. Liam talked about how his father used to beat him badly, and Paul didn’t talk about his past at all, only that he could not wait to officially leave Bry
n Tyn. We were all in agreement with Paul on that score. We all hated it for the most part; however, strangely enough there were some good times too. Josie and I had a great time getting up to mischief all the time, but when things were bad they could be intolerable in a place like that.

  Unknown to us while we were having our heart-to-heart over our sumptuous breakfast, we had been spotted by one of the tenants from over the road, one of the people we had stolen the bread from. She had watched us climb into the house, then went and called the police. Before we knew it or could act accordingly, there were two police cars outside shouting for us to come out. We could not believe it; after everything we had been through the last couple of days, not to mention the marathon walk we accomplished without thumbing a lift once. We knew we were done for, so we climbed out of the window. The policeman was very nice and asked us to get in the car. We told them our names and once they had checked them a red flag came up, and they looked at us saying that there were police all over Shropshire looking for us. Again we were told how lucky we were as there are a lot of unsavory people about and we could have landed ourselves in serious trouble. We admitted to taking the bread and milk and explained we only did this because we were hungry and did not have enough money to purchase the goods.

  We were taken directly to the local police station and put in a holding cell until our Social Workers arrived. They gave us dinner and even let the two boys smoke. Because we were listed as runaways, we had to answer a few questions about the last two days: where we had been, had anything happened to us, and were we all in good health as far as we knew.