Somewhere to Hide (The Estate, Book 1)

by Mel Sherratt

‘I don’t know why you’ve dragged me into this,’ Jess remarked. ‘It wasn’t me who was brought home by the plod last night.’

  ‘Not this time, but it has been on occasion.’ Jess opened her mouth to complain but Cathy didn’t give her the chance to speak. ‘You know I can’t settle until you’re home because I worry. What do you want me to do? Buy a notice board and get you to write on it where you are and what time you’ll be back?’

  ‘I’m not doing that. It’d be like being at school.’

  ‘If you act like children, then I’ll treat you the same. This talk is again to remind you of the rules.’

  ‘Not those frigging rules.’ Jess folded her arms. ‘You don’t have control over our every waking minute.’

  ‘Of course I know that,’ said Cathy. ‘But while you are here, you will show me some respect. You came in late the night before last and I turned a blind eye as you were coherent.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘Put yourself in my position. I have a full house now that Cheryl is back. I have five people to think of and worry about all the time. Can you imagine what that is like?’

  ‘Six,’ said Becky quietly.

  ‘What?’ Cathy turned towards her.

  ‘There are six of us to look after.’ Lightly, she ran a hand over her stomach.

  ‘You keeping it then?’ Jess nudged Becky.

  Becky blushed. She nodded slightly, although she wasn’t at all sure.

  ‘At least you’ll get out of here quicker that way. Single woman with child gets further up the list. You’ll have a flat in no time when some other poor slapper does a runner. That Josie Mellor will be round here soon, trying to move you on.’ Jess pointed at Cathy. ‘That’s what she likes to do, move you on so that you’re someone else’s problem.’

  ‘That’s a lie!’ Cathy banged her hand down on the table. ‘You know I always do what I think is best for you – the best for you all.’ She pointed at her. ‘You had better watch your step and be a good friend to this one, and you,’ she pointed to Becky, ‘need to get streetwise pretty sharpish or you’ll be shat on from a great height and used for God only knows what.’

  ‘Like me,’ said Jess.

  Cathy gave her a sarcastic smile. ‘Yes, like you.’

  ‘I’ve had enough of this. I’m getting out of here.’ Jess scraped back her chair and stormed out of the room. ‘Be sure to tell Cheryl about the rules again when she gets out of her pit.’

  The kitchen door slammed and finally there was peace. Becky stayed quiet for a moment.

  ‘You won’t make me leave, will you?’ she asked then.

  Cathy shook her head. ‘No, I won’t. But you, as well as Jess, need to show some respect. I can only do so much to protect you. You’ve been here a while now and for the most part of it, you’ve behaved yourself. But I don’t want you getting in too deep with the wrong crowd.’

  ‘I don’t really know a crowd.’

  Cathy gave her half a smile, not sure if she was trying to make light of the situation or not. ‘All the same, I don’t want to ruin my relationship with PC Baxter. It’s a good job I have him. Do you hear me?’

  Cathy pulled her arms high and stretched. It was one am. She felt exhausted but was glad that she’d managed to see the end of the film. She switched off the television and listened. Silence. The house was quiet and there was nothing going on out in the garden.

  Since their little chat this morning, both girls had been behaving themselves. This evening, Becky hadn’t gone out at all but had stayed in her room and Jess had come in about ten, not a whiff of alcohol. She’d apologised for her outburst that morning and they’d talked a while before she’d gone off to bed. Even Cheryl hadn’t come home in a stroppy mood. All in all, it had been a better day.

  She sat still for a while. This was her favourite time of night, when everyone was home, safely tucked up in their beds, and she could switch off completely. Ten minutes later, she yawned loudly. She picked up the empty mugs and went to draw the bolts across the front door. But her high mood was short-lived. There was another envelope sitting on the mat.

  Cathy ripped it open. Like the last one, it was blank on both sides. Again there was a piece of cheap lined paper, the writing on it the same as the first note.

  ‘YOU WILL NEVER BE SAFE’

  Stupid, stupid man. Cathy screwed up the note in anger. How dare Kevin McIntyre put her in this predicament! He must have sneaked up to the house while she was watching the film. She shuddered: what a creep.

  But just as quickly she smoothed out the paper. Now there were two of them, the matter became a little more serious. What should she do? Should she show it to Liz or would it have the desired effect of putting the frighteners on her? Liz was trying to get on with her life: it was just a shame that stupid prick of her husband wasn’t.

  Cathy sighed. She couldn’t decide what to do about it now. She’d speak to Rose in the morning. Maybe talking it through would make more sense of it.

  Over coffee at Rose’s house the next morning, they discussed the matter.

  ‘What do you think I should do?’ Cathy asked.

  ‘If you don’t want to show Liz, then you should show them to Andy,’ said Rose. ‘He’ll know what to do with them. He’ll probably tell Liz to take out an injunction or whatever it is she needs to do.’

  ‘Yes, she did mention doing that a while ago.’ Cathy sighed. ‘But she seems to be finding her feet, even though she’s still a nervous wreck whenever she goes out or there’s a knock on the door. I don’t want to worry her any more than is necessary.’

  ‘You’re getting too close, Cath,’ Rose pointed out gently. ‘She has a right to know.’

  ‘Yes, but –’

  ‘How would you feel if someone had kept it from you?’

  Cathy looked down at the table. Rose was right: she knew she’d be mortified.

  ‘And what if there are more to come? If he thinks they aren’t being taken seriously, he might move on to other things.’

  ‘I don’t follow.’

  ‘If he thinks that the notes don’t bother Liz, then,’ Rose shrugged a shoulder, ‘who knows what else he might do to get her attention.’

  ‘God, you have a point there.’

  They sat in silence while Cathy mulled it over.

  ‘I still don’t know what to do,’ she said eventually.

  ‘Yes, you do.’ Rose patted her hand. ‘It’s Liz who needs to decide. You should show them to her.’

  Once they’d finished their conversation, Cathy took Rose over to the shops on Vincent Square to pick up a prescription. They headed into the newsagents afterwards. While Rose was over at the till paying for her lottery tickets, Cathy flicked through a magazine.

  Someone nudged her. She turned to see Josie and smiled warmly, pointing at the female model she’d been looking at.

  ‘I was looking to see how I could give the impression of being twenty years younger in a day. I mean, what do they do with these models? Believe me, no amount of Botox or tummy tucks would get rid of the crisps and chocolate that I stuffed down me last night. Mind you, it did give me some exercise this morning. I had to run to the loo several times because I ate that much. Oh, hello…’

  Cathy looked on in embarrassment when she noticed that Josie wasn’t alone. The man standing to her right was tall, thin but not to the point of being skinny. His hair was dark, receding slightly and cropped short, his clothes clean and stylish. Cathy noted that he could easily fit in the magazine alongside Miss Twenty Something Trollop, although it would have to be a spread on sugar daddies: he looked like he was in his mid forties. As well as the upturn of his lips, bright blue eyes were smiling at her too. All at once Cathy felt heat rise from her chest, up her neck and spread swiftly across her face.

  Josie noticed it too and grinned. ‘This is Matthew Simpson – Matt,’ she introduced. ‘He’s the new maintenance officer I was telling you about.’

  Cathy thrust out her hand. ‘Pleased to meet you, Matt.’

>   ‘Likewise,’ Matt replied, letting his hand linger in hers for a second longer than necessary.

  ‘Those youths have been hanging around again, Josie,’ said an elderly lady carrying a small dog underneath her arm. She pushed past them all to grab the three-for-a-pound chocolate bars on offer. ‘It’s been chaos in my street lately. How many times do I have to complain before anything gets done about it?’

  ‘We do our best, Mrs Weston,’ Josie replied, rolling her eyes when she knew the woman wasn’t looking directly at her. ‘But sometimes it’s hard to get the right results for everyone.’

  ‘And you’re no better,’ Mrs Weston vented her anger on Cathy next. ‘That bloody girl of yours, that Myatt girl, has been causing trouble too.’

  ‘Wind your neck in, Vera,’ Rose answered sharply as she joined them. ‘Your grandsons aren’t so perfect, are they?’

  Aware that she was going to get back what she’d given, Mrs Weston walked off muttering to herself.

  ‘Wow, is it always this eventful when you buy a bag of crisps?’ Matt wanted to know. ‘There seems to be so much happening on this estate.’

  Cathy and Josie shared a smile.

  Rose snorted. ‘Wait ’til you’ve been here for a month, love. You’ll soon want to go back to where you came from. Which is where, exactly?’

  ‘Buxton.’

  ‘And you chose to come and work here?’

  Matt laughed at the outlandish look on Rose’s face. ‘It’s not that bad, surely?’

  ‘Ever watched Shameless?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And The Sopranos?’

  Matt nodded slowly, his eyes flicking quickly between them.

  ‘How about Dexter?’ Cathy smirked.

  ‘Who?’ asked Rose.

  ‘Dexter. It’s an American series. He works in forensics and he’s a serial killer.’

  ‘Oh. I was thinking more along the lines of Bad Girls.’

  ‘Or even Taggart. There’s always a mur-da going down on the Mitchell Estate.’

  Josie nudged Cathy sharply. ‘Bugger off, you two. You’ll scare him away before I’ve told him the rest.’

  ‘The rest?’ Matt’s eyes widened but he finally realised he was being had when the three women burst into laughter.

  ‘You’re playing with me,’ he grinned. ‘Right?’

  ‘Actually,’ said Josie, ‘I’m afraid we’re not.’

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  ‘We’ve been across to the shops,’ Rose told Liz when they got back to Cathy’s house. ‘We bumped into Josie Mellor. She had that new maintenance officer with her.’

  ‘And?’ Liz was stirring a saucepan of soup over the cooker.

  Rose tried to whistle. ‘I wish that I was twenty years younger. What do you say, Cath? Did you like him?’

  Cathy nodded. ‘He was certainly a sight for sore eyes.’

  ‘Talk, dark and handsome, that’s what I would’ve said in my day,’ Rose continued.

  Liz laughed. ‘What do you think we would say now? Hot, fit and hunky?’

  ‘Yes, exactly that.’

  ‘I don’t believe you,’ said Cathy. ‘You’re too old to think of men that age. Unless you want a toy boy that is?’

  Rose roared with laughter. ‘Listen, you two. I’m not too old to give you a run for your money.’

  ‘No, just too ugly.’ Cathy smiled sweetly at her.

  Rose slapped her wrist in a playful manner. ‘Speak for yourself. I’m up for it.’

  ‘Yes, but would all your aches and pains be up to it? You keep harping on about your bad back.’

  ‘I don’t see that as a problem. I reckon I could find a way around it that would mean I didn’t have to do all the work.’

  ‘Rose Clarke!’ Cathy feigned shock. ‘If only your Arthur could hear you now.’

  ‘Why should I care?’ Rose said fondly. ‘He was probably the cause of it in the first place.’

  Liz smiled. ‘You two argue like an old married couple.’

  ‘What I was going to say,’ Rose directed the comment to Liz, ‘is that he’s about right for Cathy.’

  ‘Please.’ Cathy batted it away. ‘A man’s the last thing I need in my life, don’t you think?’

  ‘Why?’ said Liz and Rose in unison.

  Cathy frowned. ‘Because – because they complicate things.’

  ‘Well, you do fancy him,’ said Rose.

  ‘I do not!’

  ‘You should have seen the colour of her cheeks.’ Rose winked at Liz and pointed a finger at Cathy. ‘Blood red in a matter of seconds.’

  ‘They were not!’ said Cathy, knowing full well that she had felt them burning at the time. ‘Besides, he’ll probably be spoken for if you think he’s that good-looking.’

  Rose leaned forward and patted her hand. ‘I’ll make it my job to find out for you.’

  ‘You’ll do no such thing!’

  ‘Come on, Cathy Mason. How long is it since you had a man between your legs?’

  ‘Change the subject, will you!’

  Rose sniffed. ‘I think you’re mad not to follow up on him. He’s one gorgeous man. And it’ll heal up soon if you don’t use it. It’s not natural to go without for so long.’

  ‘You two are worse than Jess and Becky at times,’ Liz said, sitting down beside them with a steaming bowl of tomato soup.

  ‘Yes, but we love each other really,’ said Rose. ‘Don’t we, Cathy?’

  Cathy huffed. ‘That’s what you think.’

  ‘Still,’ Liz sighed, ‘I wish I’d had a friend to grow up with.’

  ‘There must have been someone you were close to,’ said Rose.

  ‘I had a few acquaintances when I was at school and when I worked at the post office for a few months but when I hooked up with Kevin, I didn’t see them much more after that.’

  ‘You should always make time for friends. Don’t you have any close family?’

  Liz was about to take a mouthful of soup but put down her spoon instead. ‘I had a really lonely upbringing. When my sister was born six years after me, it was like I didn’t exist. She was the pretty one: I was always the clever one. She’s always been the favourite. The year after I had Chloe, my parents moved to Devon. A year later, my sister and her family moved there too and I haven’t seen them since.’

  ‘That’s such a shame,’ said Rose. ‘I’m really close to my sister. I could murder her at times but she’s always been there for me. And my girls get on well together most of the time.’

  ‘Don’t get me wrong, I find out everything that my sister does in my mother’s emails,’ Liz explained. ‘She can’t wait to gloat. And she rings me every few months, though I think out of duty. She mostly goes on about how well Shauna’s doing and how she goes out with her family all the time. She doesn’t realise how hurtful it is. Last year, my parents even came to stay with friends in Congleton but they didn’t call to see us.’

  ‘Do you think it was because of Kevin?’

  Liz shook her head. ‘I know they never wanted me to marry him. They made it perfectly clear how much of a mistake I was making. But it isn’t that. I’m just not the favourite daughter. It’s really that simple.’

  ‘It does explain why you stayed with Kevin for so long though,’ Cathy said. ‘Did your father ever hit your mum?’

  ‘Cathy!’ cried Rose.

  Cathy turned towards her quickly. ‘What?’

  ‘Sometimes you can be a bit too blunt.’

  ‘I know, but I –’

  ‘It’s okay,’ Liz told them. ‘I don’t recall anything. All I can remember is a very oppressive atmosphere. Which is why I needed family stability, I suppose – even though, you’re right, it was far from stable with Kevin.’

  ‘At least you’re out of it now, thank goodness,’ said Rose. ‘Which is why the saying goes that you can pick your friends but you can’t choose your family.’

  ‘I agree with that one entirely.’ Cathy shook her head. ‘Can’t think why I possibly ended up with a friend like
you then.’

  Rose tutted. ‘I’ve never liked you that much anyway.’

  Liz smiled: she found it hard not to.

  Becky lay on her bed, one knee on the other, her foot swinging to and fro, her hand resting on her tummy. While she urged her baby to move, she wondered how big it was. And was it okay in there? Was it safe to have sex or should she stop Danny from touching her? That was when she could stand him pawing at her: her breasts were swollen and sore to touch which made it unbearable at times.

  After she’d scarpered from the stolen car, Danny had texted her to apologise for his actions. Becky had sulked for a while before making up with him. Without Jess and Cathy knowing, they’d met up again and they’d had sex, four times so far. Twice she’d closed her eyes and imagined that it was Austin Forrester kissing her, Austin Forrester touching her, Austin Forrester riding her. Austin Forrester with his smouldering eyes, his strong features, his sexy bum she’d been staring at the other day when he’d been checking the oil on Danny’s old wreck.

  She wondered – if she had sex with Austin, would everything be okay? Would the memories of Uncle James fade quicker? Was it only because Danny was rough and he wasn’t the right one for her? Or maybe he was the right one for her. How would she know?

  There was a knock on the door. Becky looked up to see Liz.

  ‘I thought you might like this.’ She came into the room and handed her a book. ‘It’s a bit old but it has some useful tips and such.’

  The paperback was called Baby Knowledge – From Conception to Birth. Becky took it from her, wondering if she had secret psychic powers.

  ‘And if there’s anything that isn’t in there, just ask. I bet there’s something you’d like to know.’

  At Becky’s continued silence, Liz turned to leave.

  ‘Does it hurt a lot?’ Becky whispered softly.

  ‘Like hell,’ Liz nodded. ‘I can’t tell you otherwise. It wouldn’t be fair.’

  ‘How long did it take?’

  ‘Just over eight hours.’

  ‘Will it take me that long?’

  Liz sat down on the bed beside her. ‘Everyone’s different,’ she said. ‘When I went to the baby clinic, I spoke to a woman who only realised she was having the baby when she went to the loo and saw the baby’s head coming out.’