STOLEN BAIRNS: Scottish Fiction
Page 11
Molly certainly agreed with this.
Chapter 17
Beth seemed lighter and looked happier over the next few days. She accompanied Molly up to town where the older woman insisted on buying her several new pieces of clothes and shoes. Beth at first tried to refuse saying that she should be getting a job and giving Molly some money for her keep, not taking more from her. But Molly would have none of it. No. She was told it was far too early for Beth to get a job, she still needed to recover.
So armed with several bags containing some bright clothes, they went for their fly cup in the New Market. Sitting at the table taking her first sip of tea, Beth told Molly how grateful she was to her for allowing her to stay with her and Marty. She shyly asked whether she minded that she had moved into Marty’s room and, when Molly reassured her that she did not, Beth felt herself release a big sigh. ‘It’s not that we are doing anything… you know… having sex or anything. I’m not ready for that yet, except it is nice to cuddle.’ She found herself blushing as she said these final words.
It was absolutely wonderful to fall asleep every night wrapped in Marty’s arms. She felt safe; she had never felt safe before. It was equally as wonderful to wake up in the night and listen to the rhythm of his breathing and then in the morning to see his smile as he looked at her. She had felt sort of guilty that they had not made love, but when she had said to him she did not think she was ready, he had understood, holding her close and telling her that they had the rest of their lives to make love when she was ready. She was feeling better and with each day she was accepting that it had not been all of her fault. It did not make it any easier when she thought of her bairns, that would never change. She could not help feeling that sharp stiletto which penetrated into the depths of her soul every time she thought of their little faces. But she did not hate herself quite as much as she had done, and Marty and Molly were responsible for bringing this change. She would never be able to thank them enough for what they had done.
Marty’s arrival home that evening resembled a tornado. The front door opened and he ran along the passageway where the kitchen door was flung open, ‘Did you sign anything?’ he threw these words at Beth, his voice was rasping almost as though he had run all of the way home from work instead of just running from the garage.
Molly and Beth stood looking at him, waiting for him to tell them exactly what he was asking. He dashed across the room and stood before Beth, he placed his hands gently on her shoulders so that he was looking straight into her face. ‘Did you sign adoption papers, you know, when they took the bairns?’
She looked bemused and took a moment to answer, ‘No I didn’t sign any papers, I never signed anything about adoption or anything.’
‘Did anyone come and see you? You know from the Court or anything and talk to you about the adoption?’
She shook her head again. ‘Are you absolutely sure?’ She nodded.
Molly dried her hands on the apron she was wearing and asked, ‘What on earth is it Marty?’
‘Right, you had better both sit down.’ He gestured to his aunt to sit, then took Beth’s hand and pushed her down onto one of the kitchen chairs. ‘One of my customers in the shop is a social worker, and today we got talking about adoption. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I told her about the bairns.’ He paused to give Beth a moment to compose herself. ‘Anyway, she asked me about whether the Court Officer had given you a chance to tell them that you were not happy, before you signed the papers, that was. That made me stop and think, because I never remembered you saying anything about signing papers or having a visit from someone from the Court.’
‘Are you absolutely sure, Beth, that no one came to visit. After all, dear, you must have been beside yourself with worry,’ this question was asked very gently by Molly who did not want to distress the girl or have the progress she had made deteriorate.
‘I know that no one ever came to talk to me about the bairns. I would have remembered, it would have been the first chance I would have had to tell someone I wanted them back. So I am absolutely sure.’
The two women looked at Marty waiting for him to continue. ‘Now then, according to this social worker, she said that there was no way that the children could have been adopted without someone speaking to Beth and checking out whether she was in agreement. She said that this would be especially necessary and, given your age, Beth, there probably would have been a social worker involved along the way. She said she wondered whether the children had ever been adopted and, if they hadn’t then, you, Beth,’ he watched her eyes open wide, ‘Yes, you Beth, are still their legal mother.’
Beth felt the breath being sucked out of her body, and her head go light.
Marty continued, ‘She suggested that we should go and speak to someone, possibly a solicitor or someone, to see if we could trace these people.’
‘But my father told me they were adopted, then again he could be lying just like he lied to me about other things. He would know where they were, except he would never tell me. Oh, Marty, do you think I would get them back?’
‘Now then you two, the first thing we need to do is get an appointment with my solicitor and see what he has to say. Now it’s too late tonight, but first thing in the morning I will phone him and see what he has to say. In the meantime, let’s not get too excited.’ She gave Marty a look trying to convey to him not to raise Beth’s hopes too much. She was not sure that it would be quite so easy to get these children back, wherever they were.
It was two days later that Marty and Beth sat across the desk from Douglas Baird the middle-aged portly solicitor. He listened carefully while this young couple told him their story. He took notes in between asking pertinent questions.
He peered over his glasses and pronounced that it sounded as though there was some doubt about an Adoption Order being made, but he would need more information before he could try and find this out for sure. He asked Beth whether she knew the names of the couple who took the children. When she shook her head, he asked her whether she thought her father would tell her, as he seemed to be the key to this mystery.
When Beth told him that her father would never admit anything, Marty backed her up. ‘It might be difficult to believe Mr Baird, however, Beth is right, her father would not tell her anything.’
Douglas Baird took his spectacles off and started to clean the lenses. He stopped and looked at the couple. ‘Goodness me, I don’t know, it all sounds rather interesting to me. Do you think there is any way your father has kept any correspondence or anything that would give us a clue?’ He was thinking to himself that this all sounded very suspicious and wondered whether it may turn out to be a police matter. He did not share this with them at the moment, but thought he would telephone one of his police contacts to run this past them.
‘There is one thing that we can do, we could apply to the Registrar’s Office in Edinburgh to request a copy of the children’s birth certificates. If these arrive, then we will know that they have not been adopted. Would you like me to do that for you?’ They both nodded their heads. ‘Right, if you give me some details Beth then I will get on with it.’
The meeting finished with Marty and Beth leaving the office to think of any ways in which they could find out who the couple were. Douglas Baird informed them that he would also undertake some other investigations. They agreed they would keep in touch with each other by telephone.
Beth and Marty spent the evening racking their brains as to how they could find out about the couple who had the children. Beth knew that it would be no good whatsoever going to speak to her father. He would never tell them, and she was not convinced that if she returned to Cairn View that he might just lock her up and not let her leave again. That thought left them both feeling sick.
It was later that evening that Beth voiced an idea. She had one person who was in the household whom she could trust and that was Jason. She wondered whether there was any way he would be able to find out any information. How could she contact
him though? She could not send a letter as this would be too unusual that it would no doubt be opened by her father. Marty made the suggestion that they go to see if they could meet up with Jason outside the school. She would have to come with him as Jason would hardly be likely to tell Marty, who was a stranger to him and therefore it would be unlikely that he would confide in him.
This was the best they could come up with; waiting for Jason outside the school and hoping to catch him would be the only way possible to speak to him. Beth did not know whether she would be able to contain herself as she would have to wait until next Monday, Marty’s next day off, before they could travel to Alford to try and see her brother. She would also just pray that this would be one of those days when he attended school.
Chapter 18
Monday morning arrived and Beth was anxious to leave for the small town of Alford. She was like a cat on a hot tin roof. Molly had to firmly tell her to sit down or she would surely rub a hole in the top of the stove if she kept rubbing at it like she was.
In the end, Marty told her to get her coat and they would take a slow drive out, maybe they could even have a short detour along the journey and find somewhere where he would buy her lunch. Beth smiled, thinking that it would be unlikely that she would be able to get any food passed her throat, she was so pent up. She did agree though and they set off. Molly anxiously waved goodbye and told Marty to drive carefully. She only hoped that this journey would prove positive and would not set Beth back again.
They parked the Mini along the road from the entrance to the academy. Beth knew exactly where the school bus would stand to pick up the pupils from the glen. They didn’t even know at this point whether Jason would be at school today and, if he was, whether his brothers would also be there. If they were, then Beth would need to be careful.
Beth had a new black parka jacket, which had a big fur-lined hood. This helped to disguise her and she and Marty walked up to the entrance gates just before the school bell rang out to alert the pupils that it was time to go home.
They watched as first a trickle which changed to become a flood of young people started to emerge from several doors in the building. Beth’s eyes scanned the figures, and after a few moments she was rewarded by the first sight of Jason who was walking towards her, his scruffy jacket no protection from the thin wind which blew around the playground. He did not recognise her when she first approached him. She carefully removed her hood and then he realised who it was.
‘Beth, is that you, what’s happened to your hair?’ were his first words.
‘Never mind about my hair, are the others at school today?’ When he shook his head, Beth sighed with relief.
‘Right, well, don’t worry about the school bus, Marty will drive you back home. Ok?’
Jason needed no second asking, he was desperate to find out what had happened to his sister, and nodded to Marty as he opened the passenger door of the Mini.
While Jason climbed into the back seat, the young couple settled themselves into the front seats before they both turned around to speak to the young teenager. ‘Jason, how’s things at home?’
Jason went on to tell his sister about the fuss her departure caused. He described how Doris had been forced out of her chair to take over some of the tasks again, and this had caused her to become even more miserable and disagreeable, if that could have been possible. Fred and his brothers carried on as usual. He failed to add that he had taken over many of her duties. Although he was not forced to do this, he found living in a tip difficult and missed his sister more than he could ever imagine. Somehow, doing some of the housework brought her back.
Jason updated her on their siblings. Ted had left school, had teamed up with some lads in Inverurie and was dossing down at their place. Jason aired his views that he thought his brother was up to no good with these lads, and time would surely tell. David hardly went to school and spent most of his time with Fred who, at the moment, was into house clearances, supposedly with their owner’s agreement.
Marty had begun to drive out of the village and towards the glen while Beth told her brother about living with Marty and his aunt in Aberdeen, and also swearing him to secrecy.
Marty stopped in a forest clearing a mile or so away from the Coach and Horses which, with its adjoining shop and post office, was seen as the central focal point for the scattered community of the glen. They had decided that it would not be a good idea for Beth to be spotted in the village.
He turned off the engine and allowed Beth to outline what she wanted Jason to do. Would he be prepared to try and go through their father’s belongings to see if he could discover any clues to this couple that had taken the children? Jason had nodded his agreement. Jason and Beth then discussed where Fred might store any documents which he did not want discovered. Beth remembered that he had a locked wooden box hidden at the back of his wardrobe, but did not know where he kept the key.
‘But I know where he keeps it,’ Jason excitedly told the couple. ‘He keeps it on his key ring with his house keys and van keys. And, of course, I don’t mind helping. I just have to think of how I’ll get the key off the key ring.’
They were then faced with the issue about how Jason would get any items he found to Beth. Marty thought he had the answer. They would go and speak to Mrs Bellows to see if she would mind helping out. In fact, it would save time if Marty drove to Hillside Farm now and Jason would be able to walk home from there.
Beth found herself getting very anxious as the little Mini made its way towards Hillside Farm; she had replaced the hood of her parka to provide some protection from any person recognising her. Marty kept trying to reassure her that he would not let anything happen to her, however, she was not convinced, being so close to Fred and Doris brought, for her, a deep sense of fear and doom.
The sound of the Mini drawing up in the farmyard of Hillside Farm brought Mrs Bellows to the door. She was so pleased to see Marty and shouted a welcome to him. When the trio removed themselves from the car she gestured for them to come into her kitchen where she made them remove their coats and sit close to the range to get warm.
She was pleasantly surprised to see the improvement in the young lassie. What a difference from the last time she had seen the girl. Her short hair suited her and made her look very pretty; it seemed to frame her face. A face which looked anxious and worried as Marty outlined the reason for their visit.
While she listened she made a pot of tea and busied herself cutting up bits of fruit cake and buttering pancakes. Jason’s mouth was almost drooling while he watched the food being prepared.
After she had made sure her surprise guests all had a full cup of tea and had accepted a piece of cake, Marjory Bellows also sat down at the big kitchen table. ‘Bless you lass, so you think your babies might not have been adopted? Well I never! Of course I understand that you can’t go up and knock on the door of Cairn View, although I can already hear Mr Bellows telling me to keep my nose out. I can’t even imagine what it must be like for you and,’ she pushed her full bosom up under her folded arms, ‘whatever anyone says, I will help in whatever way I can.’
With Mrs Bellows agreement they decided on how they would go about executing their plan. Jason would try and get the key of the wooden box and undertake a search as soon as it was safe to do so. He would then smuggle any items out of the house and down to the farm. Mrs Bellows would then phone Marty and he would drive out to get them. It all sounded fine, but depended on Jason outwitting his father.
The most positive thing to come out of the visit that day was the opportunity for Beth and Jason to meet again. It was a sad parting, Beth wishing that she could take her wee brother to live with her. Unbeknown to her, the same thoughts were going through her brother’s head. Beth knew that this could not happen, that is, not until he was sixteen and legally able to leave home, for as sure as anything, although not showing any signs of caring for his children, Fred would make a point of doing so if he thought it would cause trouble.
An anxious few days followed. Every time the telephone rang at Harbour View, Beth found her heart beating faster. The telephone did not ring that often and usually she did not take much notice. It was often one of Molly’s friends checking about a meeting or something, and Beth found herself straining to hear each time Molly answered to check whether it was the news she was hoping for.
It was the following weekend before the call she had been longing for came. Marty was at work and Molly answered the phone. Beth knew immediately that the call was from Mrs Bellows, and when Molly shouted that it was for her, Beth found her legs had turned into some sort of wobbly jelly.