STOLEN BAIRNS: Scottish Fiction

by Anne Bone

  Stevie looked about him. The man who had taken him out of the back of the van was looking at him. He was smiling and he seemed nice so Stevie found he could not help smiling back.

  Lucy peeped out from the side of the only woman she had ever known as her mother. She looked around her tentatively. She did not understand what was going on, except that she knew that whatever it was it was something really big. She was scared and not willing to look at these people. She hid her face again.

  Beth had not spoken to the woman. She could hardly bear to look at her, let alone speak to her. The woman nodded her head to accept the offer of a cup of coffee from Nuria.

  It was Marty who addressed her. ‘Now first tell us… what is your name?’

  ‘It’s Maureen. Maureen Cook,’ she answered with a soft lilting Scottish voice.

  ‘And what names have you called the bairns? I think that they may have had a few names from what I have heard.’

  ‘The names that are on Michael’s and my passport are Christopher and Vicky. And yes, you are right, they have had a few.’ The woman spoke the words in a manner of regret. It was as though what she had done by expecting the children to cope with a constant change of names had suddenly hit her. What on earth had she done?

  It suddenly struck Beth. The children had different names, different parents and different homes. Oh God! How were they going to cope with all of this. But now, watching how her children were with this woman, for the first time she felt a certain degree of gratefulness, as whatever and why ever she has done what she did, the children seemed to love her.

  Josefina, in her Spanish matriarchal manner, managed to charm the children away from Maureen to sit watchful at the large table where they nibbled at the food placed in front of them. Beth sat beside them not saying very much but smiling reassuringly at them whenever she made eye contact. They seemed a little more relaxed and not quite so scared.

  This was just as well as they did not notice the tension in the room when the two police officers entered the room. Maureen nodded and made her way across the room. She bent first beside Lucy, kissed her on the forehead and then turned to Stevie. She spoke softly to them both. ‘Now sweethearts, these nice people are going to look after you, so don’t you worry. You will be safe and they will be good to you.’ She stood and looked down at Stevie, ‘and, now you, young man look after your sister. Ok?’ Maureen held herself together willing herself not to break down. She must be brave and she must leave now before the children started to cry. For if she heard them cry she did not think she would ever be able to walk away. Nevertheless walk away she must, as it was over. Her dream was over.

  She waited until she was in the back of the police car, which was speeding out of the village, before she gave way to her emotions, and then she wept. She did not weep loudly, she had, after all, had plenty of practice of weeping silently. Where they were going she had no idea, but she knew it would be very unlikely that she would ever see the children again. The children, who for the past two years, she had cared for and loved so much, and had been her life.

  Chapter 37

  Maureen

  It was a tremendous relief to tell her story to the young Scottish police detective. It was a relief to be able to speak English, and to know that she would now be unlikely to rot in a Spanish jail, as she had begun to fear when she had reached the Police Headquarters in Granada two days previously. She had had no idea how long she would remain in the police cell; the language barrier was very difficult. She did hear Michael’s voice though his usual bullyboy shouts did not seem to be gaining him his usual demands for attention.

  When the cell door opened and she was beckoned to follow an officer she was prepared for anything. She was shown into a rather dismal bare interview room and he was sitting on the other side of the table beside a Spanish police officer. When he had stood and introduced himself as Detective Sergeant Des Groves of Grampian Police, she found herself letting out a tremendous sigh of relief. He invited her to sit on the hard seat opposite him.

  She smiled weakly to him and nodded her head.

  ‘You are Maureen Cook née Davenport.’ She nodded.

  ‘Now Maureen, where do you want to start? I understand that you have admitted that the two children are not your children. He placed copies of the children’s real birth certificates down on the centre of the table and pointed to them ‘These state they are Stevie Menzie born 15th March 1976 and Lucy Menzie born 21st April 1977.’.

  She nodded and he continued, ‘And you and your husband, Michael Cook, procured them from their grandfather, a one Frederick Menzie.’

  Maureen nodded again at first and then found her voice. ‘Yes that is true.’

  ‘So Maureen I would like you to tell us all about it.’

  Des settled back in his chair. At last he had his first sight of this woman, a woman who had caused so much grief and, for him, work. He was eager to hear her story.

  ‘I remember the first time I met Michael, it was at the bereavement support group I started attending not long after my father died. I was sort of lost you see, after Dad went. My days seemed so empty; first Mum then him. You see I never really had a career. I had thought of getting into nursing when I finished school, but Mum’s MS started to really kick in then, and so I was needed at home.’ She shuffled on the hard seat and continued.

  ‘I did not really mind about looking after Mum, and when she died then Dad was getting on and he seemed to deteriorate really quickly. It happened really quickly, first he had a chest infection and then he just had a massive heart attack and he was gone.’ Her eyes misted with tears as she remembered the shock of losing him.

  ‘The house, it was so empty. I had lived there all of my life, we had seen loads of changes in The Crescent, it seemed like it just happened overnight when the lovely houses changed in to flats.’

  ‘After Dad went I was lost. I was on the bus one day and got into a conversation with a neighbour, Susan. She had lost her husband a while before and was part of this bereavement group; it was more of a social group really. Anyway, she invited me along and that was when I started enjoying a social life for the first time. I don’t think I had been to the theatre since I was a teenager, Mum was too ill. I did so enjoy those little outings.’

  ‘It was shortly after starting the group that Michael came in one night. He told us his name was Larry then. He was very pleasant and took an interest in me. He was interested in what I had to say and I found that I was able to chat and even voice my opinions to someone. He appeared very cultured and he told me that he had been educated at public schools and so on. I always thought my father would have approved. He told me that he was in the finance business and had just recently arrived in Edinburgh. He came from the South of England originally and he told me how brokenhearted he had been when his wife died. Then there were all sorts of financial difficulties as he had speculated on the market and lost money. Then when he had managed to find new employment in Edinburgh he saw this as a fresh start in all sorts of ways.’ She paused for a moment remembering and reflecting on how she had been taken in so quickly.

  ‘I was sort of swept off my feet if you know what I mean. He sent me flowers, and told me how intelligent I was, even told me how attractive he found me. No one had ever thought so before, and I believed him. Why wouldn’t I? So that’s how it started. He tried to persuade me to go to bed with him. I couldn’t. It would have been completely against everything I had been brought up with. Sex before marriage, I could just imagine my father spinning in his grave. Thinking back now over everything that has happened, that would be the least of the reasons why Dad would be spinning.’

  ‘Anyway, that was when Michael told me that his real name was not Larry, but Michael. He swore me to secrecy, claiming that there were some people after him connected with his previous financial difficulties. That was the reason why he could not place me in a difficult and he hinted dangerous situation. Looking back I must have been exceptionally gullible, I believed him an
d felt sorry for him. So I gave in, allowed him into my bed, and that was that. As far as I was concerned I was then married to the man.’ She became embarrassed just thinking about it. She blushed, ‘I was a virgin and had pledged myself to him, marriage or no marriage.’

  ‘He moved in soon after, and he just carried on with this story that there were these people out to get him and he needed to be ready to get away at the earliest moment. When he suggested that we move up to the North of Scotland. He must have worked out by now that the house would be worth a fair amount of money, and also Dad had left me comfortably off. I just went along with it. I was never any good with the money and I just let him sort it out. After all he was in the finance world and knew a lot more than me. I just signed the papers when he told me too.’

  ‘I was completely besotted with him. So in love, he made me feel very, very special. I fell out with Susan, she did not like him. She was obviously a better judge of character than I was, I should have listened to her. Too late though, I was more than happy to go along with his plans, a new life, and an adventure.’

  ‘Those first few months after the house was sold were totally wonderful. We travelled around and Michael was incredibly attentive and could not do enough for me. He was really going to look after me all of my life he told me.’

  ‘There was one thing I really hankered after and that was a child. However, he told me shortly after we got together that he was infertile and therefore there was no chance. I made some enquiries about adoption, but I was by this time in my forties and he was fifty-two so we were too old. I was very upset for some time after this and he did what he could to console me.’

  ‘It was funny really when I think about it now. But it had never really bothered me when I was looking after Mum and Dad. I never expected to be a mother so I suppose that was why, although when I met Michael, I suppose I realised that I was a woman for the first time. And then I really wanted to have children, it sort of built up and up in my mind. I suppose I kept on and on about it. He did lose patience with me on more than one occasion and this was the first time I saw the other side of him. But then it was my fault, after all, keeping on about it.’

  ‘We found a really nice little flat up in Huntly, where we were known as Mike and Helen Walker. It was rather exciting to have a new name and identity. Michael was so good at getting new identification, I never did find out how he did it, except he knew people, he always told me. I became Mrs Helen Walker, he bought me a wedding ring; or rather I probably bought it myself, as Michael never had any money of his own. Michael said that we needed to keep the finances in rein, as they wouldn’t last forever. I was quite happy to have our first home together, even though it was quite small and rented. Michael was really interested in antiques and we were thinking of opening up a shop if we could find the right one.’

  ‘It was on one of the visit’s to Thainstone Auctions when we met Fred Menzie. He seemed a bit of a character. I wasn’t much taken with him, but Michael and he seemed to hit it off.’

  ‘I can’t remember how the conversation came about, except we told Fred about not being able to have children; and how we would have loved to adopt a child, but we were considered to be too old. I remember Fred seemed interested, and he told us about his daughter Beth who had two little ones and that she was just a child herself. He had hinted that maybe she might be interested in giving them up for adoption. Those words kept ringing in my head over and over again. She might give them up for adoption.’

  ‘The next few times we went to the mart we went especially to see Fred. He told us about the wee ones and then Michael asked him outright what it would take for Beth to give them up. Fred must have practiced his reply over and over as it shot out of his mouth. ‘How about £5000 quid?’

  ‘Michael had then beaten him down to £3000, and the deal was done. We were to meet him near his home and he would bring the children to us. Michael insisted that Fred sign a bit of paper as a receipt, as he did not want him coming back for more money in the future.’

  ‘I was just in a state of absolute excitement. We went out and bought clothes, cots, nappies, bottles, I just couldn’t wait. I was going to become a mum.’

  Des interjected for the first time, and asked the question about whether she considered the children’s mother in all this.

  ‘Did I think about Beth? No, if I am honest, not then. I just believed Fred and thought she was a bit of a bad girl, after all, she had had two babies and was still very young. So I believed him when he said that this money would make all the difference to her life, he would make sure she was set up properly and change her life.’

  ‘That day when the children were handed over will stay with me forever. They were beautiful. Stevie and Lucy, such sweet darlings. Stevie was unsettled for a couple of weeks, I think he missed his mum, while Lucy was only a few months old, it was like she was really mine.’

  ‘Michael did not take a lot of notice of them really. I think he was pleased I was off of his back and no more moaning about not having children. He did insist that we called them by other names, so I chose two names and this made me feel even more as though they were my babies.’

  ‘I would have loved to stay in Huntly, then Michael said we had better move on because Fred Menzie had our address and he did not trust him not to come looking for more money. This was the reason he gave to me; I think there may have been other reasons. Michael seemed to be very agitated at times, constantly looking over his shoulder almost as though he thought we were being followed. There was a bit of trouble in the village too. He never told me exactly what it was, except that one night he came back looking as though he had been in fight. He just got mad at me when I tried to bathe his eye. I don’t think he meant to push me so hard, but it was my fault, I should not have made so much fuss.’

  ‘I would have followed him to the ends of the earth, especially now that he had got the children for me. We moved around for the next few months, spent a few months in Perth and then in Glasgow, we always stayed in flats. I never knew why Michael would come and go, he was always very secretive. He did get very angry with me and he did lose his temper a few times. There were times he did start to frighten me: he started to give me a slap now and then, and there was once when he really lost it and I ended up with a few bruises. I just needed to make sure that the children were safe, so I made sure that I did not scream out. It was my fault, something I did or didn’t do. But what choice did I have, I still loved him and he had all the money?’

  ‘The summer of 1978 was one of the best times. We had to leave the flat in Stirling in the middle of the night. Michael had come home very shaken and looked very scared, we just upped and left. I was getting good at packing the essentials in a matter of a few minutes. We headed off to the West Coast and hired a caravan, and we stayed there for the whole of the summer. It was like being on a continuous holiday. The caravan was on a small site overlooking a sandy bay. It was beautiful. The children were no trouble, they seemed to adapt wherever we went.’

  ‘Michael used to disappear for a few days here and there, away on business he explained. I never asked what business, my days were taken up in getting to know the babies and loving them. He came and went, and then one day he came home and told me to get packed up, he had found a nice cottage to rent down in the Scottish Borders. It was beginning to get a bit cold at nights in the caravan, I was rather pleased.’

  ‘He told me that it was time to change our names again. For goodness sake, I remember saying, what on earth for? No one was interested in who we were; we always kept ourselves to ourselves and never got involved with anyone. Michael said it was for the best and so we became Hazel and Tom Collins, and the children, David and Julia. They were a bit confused about the change in names, but it’s surprising how quickly they seemed to forget their previous names.’

  ‘The cottage was lovely, really secluded and private. It was quite cosy and we bought cots for the children. I was very much looking forward to Christmas; this would b
e the first one when the children would take notice. Michael said we had to be careful with the money as it was running low. I would not know whether that was true or not. He gave me an allowance. I remember suggesting that if it was low maybe we could get some help through the social security. He nearly bit my head off telling me how stupid I was to even suggest such a thing. He warned me not to go asking anyone about social security.’

  ‘One of the other things I was told to do was to make sure that I kept a low profile with anyone from the authorities. It was really good that the children were very healthy; I did think that maybe they should have some of their vaccinations, but Michael warned me against this. He always reminded me of the deal he and Fred had made, and how we should make sure that we did not rock the boat. So I never went near the health services.’

  ‘I was very much looking forward to that Christmas, however this time it was not spoilt by Michael but by the other things. I was not sure why, except suddenly we started to get visits from a health Visitor. She knocked on the door a few times, and then left notes asking for me to contact her. She was beginning to become persistent and the tone of her notes changed. They became more intimidating, and she inferred that she had information about young children being resident in the area and that she needed to visit them. She also mentioned that the children did not seem to be registered with the local services. I had always been incredibly careful in avoiding contact with any official people, but there was something different about this one. In the last note she also mentioned that she would be visiting again the following day, and if we did not answer she would refer the children to the Social Work.’