STOLEN BAIRNS: Scottish Fiction

by Anne Bone

  Her penetrating stare must have alerted the woman as she met her gaze. The smile she offered was not accepted and she looked away quickly, her heart beating faster than she felt comfortable. Poor Joanne she thought, I just do not quite understand her.

  Joanne decided that she would help herself to another glass of white wine, which was the best thing of the whole meal. Lucy nudged her and looked disapprovingly. ‘Be careful Jo,’ she whispered, ‘ you’ve had quite a few.’

  ‘Oh get a life Lucy. Just because you’ve decided to go on the wagon not everyone needs to be as boring as you.’ She drank the wine as though it was lemonade and reached to refill her glass again.

  Lucy decided that it might be the right moment to share her special news with her mother, as by doing so it might just divert attention from Joanne’s increasingly downward spiral into becoming a complete lush.

  She left her chair and made her way to the other side of the table to bend down beside her mother. ‘Mum, I’ve got some news for you.’

  Beth turned and looked anxiously into her daughter’s eyes. ‘Really sweetheart, what is it?’

  ‘Now Mum, I thought this might add to your special night, how do you feel about becoming a granny?’

  Beth gasped. ‘Oh my goodness, oh how wonderful!’ She stood and grabbed her daughter to her and hugged her tightly. ‘Marty, did you know?’

  Marty looked bemused. ‘Know what?’

  ‘Lucy’s pregnant and we are going to be grandparents.’

  ‘Wow. Brilliant.’ Marty stood and the three hugged each other tightly.

  The table of guests erupted and all stood to congratulate Lucy.

  Stevie was shocked; it just showed him that there were some things that Lucy kept to herself.

  Joanne was even more annoyed. This would mean her mother would now be fawning over a new baby. Thank God she no longer lived at home and would not have to watch all the palaver and fuss.

  Joe Douglas had resumed his place on the small stage, which would become the focus of attention for the next hour or so. One by one guests were invited to come forward to make a statement to Beth, and some had spent some time practicing their speeches.

  One teenage girl had spent ages writing a poem, which told her story of how Beth had helped her recover from a terrible ordeal at the hands of a man who had abducted her. Another family, who had a penchant for music, had written and were now performing a very lively song.

  Tom had also arranged for a small jazz ensemble to play for a while. He had rightly judged that it would be good to have a break in procedures in order to cope with the emotions.

  Joanne could no longer sit quietly and began to mumble to Stevie that it was all getting quite sickening. Her voice began to rise as in her drunkenness she became louder and more derogatory in her comments.

  Stevie spoke quietly but sternly, ‘Joanne, why don’t you go and take yourself off to the loo or somewhere, and get some fresh air? Sober up for Christ sakes. You were warned.’

  ‘Oh piss off,’ she spat back at him. ‘Know where I am not wanted.’ She rose from the table and had to hold on to the back of his chair to steady herself before focusing on the sign for the ladies toilets and weaved her way drunkenly across the room.

  ‘Where is she off to?’ Lucy asked.

  ‘The toilet, where I hope she locks herself in and is not able to get out until the end of the evening.’

  ‘I’ll better go after her,’ sighed Lucy resignedly.

  Beth had noticed that her youngest daughter had over consumed the alcohol again. She did worry about her. She also noticed that Lucy had followed her into the toilet and wondered whether she should also go. She knew what Joanne was like when she was drunk and on hearing the wonderful news about Lucy’s pregnancy she did not want her upset. She decided that she would give it a couple of minutes and then slip away into the loo to check everything was all right.

  Lucy found Joanne swaying in front of the mirror, trying and failing miserably to put her lipstick on, as most seemed to be going above her upper lip and she even managed to get some on the tip of her nose. One of the other guests was just finishing drying her hands and, as Lucy entered the room, she smiled sympathetically at her.

  Lucy caught site of her sister swaying and holding onto the washbasin. ‘Jo, for God’s sake look at you. I think we had better get you some water to drink.’

  Joanne turned and glared at her sister. ‘Oh it’s miss bloody goody, goody. Now soon to be miss bloody goody, goody fucking mumsie.’

  ‘Oh come on Jo, don’t start.’

  ‘Don’t start, don’t start, I’ll fucking start if I want.’ Her face contorted and she moved towards Lucy.

  Just then, the door opened and Beth appeared. She surveyed the scene. ‘What’s going on?’

  Lucy immediately tried to place a smile on her face. ‘Nothing Mum, just you go back and enjoy yourself, Jo’s had a little bit too much to drink that’s all.’

  Joanne glared at her sister and mimicked, ‘Jo’s just had a little bit too much to drink. Also it is no wonder that Jo’s had a little bit too much to drink, after all it’s all a fucking total bore.’

  Beth took a deep breath and walked towards her youngest child. ‘Now Joanne, there is no need for language like that. You’re showing yourself up,’ her mother told her in tones, which confirmed that if she behaved like a child she would be treated as such.

  ‘Showing myself up. Oh come on mother, it’s you that are showing yourself up. You, let’s face it who had two, not one, but two teenage pregnancies, and you who set up the sodden fucking Stolen Children Fucking Trust. You are the mother who was more fucking interested in looking after everyone else’s child, and couldn’t care less about your own children.’ The words were spat out with such venom.

  Beth felt each word as though it had been fired into her soul.

  ‘Joanne that’s enough!’ shouted Lucy. She turned and grabbed her. ‘Don’t listen to her Mum; you are the best mum anyone could ever wish for.’

  Joanne’s face was contorted and she tried to stand straight as she looked into her sister’s face. ‘Oh fuck off, Lucy. She knows I am right, don’t you mother? I did not want to come tonight, but then Dad said I had to come. If I had known that evil bitch would be sitting at our table then I would certainly not have come.’

  Beth steeled herself for a repeat of a conversation that had taken place many times over the past years. ‘Oh Joanne, now come on, don’t start all that again. I’ve told you over and over again I have totally forgiven her.’

  Lucy had had enough. ‘Mum go and get Dad will you, he is about the only one who can deal with Jo in one of her moods. Go on please, and don’t worry and don’t let this spoil the night.’

  Left alone, Lucy found the anger she had for her sister outbid her usual state of avoiding conflict. She turned to face her grabbing her roughly by the shoulders as she did so. ‘You are a total spoilt little bitch. You couldn’t leave it could you, if the attention isn’t on you then it can never be right. I am telling you now you little cow you are not, I will emphasise this, you are not going to go back into that room tonight.’

  The door opened again and Marty’s face appeared around it. ‘I hear you need a bit of help Lucy.’ He took in the scene especially that Lucy was furious and her fury had driven her to tears, which were now running down the sides of her cheeks.

  Marty took charge. ‘Right Lucy, you get yourself tidied up a bit and I will deal with this little madam.’ He turned to Joanne, donning his most severe father tones. ‘Now as for you, your behaviour is completely out of order and I will not have you showing us all up. Lucy go and ask your Uncle Des to come and help, we will deposit this young lady in his room until the end of the evening, when hopefully she will have sobered up a bit. Go and get him, that’s a good lass.’

  Des was only too happy to help Marty steer his drunken daughter along the corridor to deposit her on his and Daphne’s bed, where she immediately collapsed into a drunken sleep. The two
men arrived back in the function suite just in time to hear Joe announce that there was one final guest who he was about to introduce, and who would like to tell Beth how much she meant to her.

  ‘Would Maureen like to come up to the stage?’ he asked.

  Maureen stood up. She smiled at Beth who returned her smile and nodded warmly. Stevie squeezed her hand and mouthed, ‘You’ll be fine.’

  Maureen was very nervous and wondered whether there would be any sound to her voice at all. She was convinced that this was going to happen, given her mouth had suddenly become a dry as the Sahara Desert.

  Joe was an old hand at recognising when someone’s nerves were getting the best of them and handed her a glass of water. ‘Just take your time,’ he whispered.

  She took a sip of water and then turned and faced the audience although her eyes remained on Beth.

  ‘I just wanted to say a few words,’ she started tentatively. ‘Just say a few words to the woman who probably saved my life. I know that might sound a little dramatic, but you see, without Beth, I know I would have been dead.’

  ‘For anyone of you who doesn’t know who I am, my name is Maureen Davenport.’ She heard the gasps of a few people who didn’t know who she was, although knew her name.

  ‘I was the woman who stole Beth’s children. Yes, stole them, that’s what I did. I was the woman who was responsible for wreaking havoc on a wonderful couple. I feel guilty every single day for the havoc and pain I caused them. I don’t think anyone other than Beth could have done what she did for me, after the hurt and pain I had caused her. But she did and I want to share with you all how she did that.’

  Maureen took another sip of water, her hand shaking as she did so. ‘Many of you if not all of you know Beth’s story. Know how she searched and tracked us down to Spain and found Stevie and Lucy. You probably know that as a result I was taken into custody, but I agreed to return to Scotland. I faced a trial where I pled guilty for the part I had in abducting the children. The Court was lenient with me, as I had loved and cared for the children and had protected them from Michael. When the full facts emerged about him, I was sort of seen as another of his victims. I wasn’t proud of that. I was given a two year Probation Order and when I left that Court that day I was a broken woman.’

  ‘You see, I loved Stevie and Lucy. Loved them deeply and it was only when I was parted from them did I truly understand how Beth had felt when they were ripped away from her. I had nowhere to go and by this time no money either. Michael had used my money up, or hidden it. No matter, there was nothing left. My social worker found a place in a hostel for me, therefore at least I wouldn’t be sleeping on the street. After a few days, there seemed no reason to stay alive. There was no one who would care or worry if I left this earth. I had made a plan and stood by the side of the River Don and saw how fast it was flowing. It would all end quickly I remember thinking. I launched myself into the water, but before I had a chance to go under, there was this man pulling me out, and next thing I was in hospital. The Royal Cornhill Psychiatric Hospital was where I was to stay for the next year, and where I tried many times to end my life, except each time they found me and returned me to the living Hell.’

  She paused and took another sip of water. ‘It was about six months after I was admitted to hospital, I was recovering from another failed suicide attempt. This last attempt had very nearly been successful and I was lying planning my next one, when I had a visitor. A very unexpected visitor… it was Beth.’

  When she appeared in the ward, I was ready to be on the receiving end of her anger and bitterness. However we all know Beth; I don’t think she has an ounce of bitterness in her whole body. She came, she wanted to know about the things she had missed about the children. The time I had stolen from her. So I told her, I told her about how I used to comfort Stevie, the food he didn’t like, the story I used to tell him to get him to sleep. That he was frightened of the sound of thunder and how he loved to go out and look at the stars at night. I told her about Lucy when she had her first tooth, her first word, when she took her first step. Beth came back, not every day but several times a week.’

  Maureen smiled as she remembered. ‘One day she brought Stevie and Lucy to see me. Oh, my goodness, can you imagine? There they were, the children I thought I would never ever see again standing in front of me, running towards me, little arms outstretched, arms around my neck, faces burying into my neck, the smell of them in my nostrils. How wonderful was that?’

  ‘They visited me every week for six months. Thoughts of ending my life vanished, how could I kill myself when the most important people in my life, were back in it?’

  ‘I am still not sure why, but Beth spoke to the doctors and social workers and convinced them that I should be given a chance, that I could be discharged and that, it beggars belief, but I could go and stay with her in Torry. I thought she was joking. Am I the mad one I asked her? Who in their right mind would want the perpetrator of such a heinous crime staying under the same roof?’

  ‘I do, and not just me, she had told me. Marty, Molly and the children also want you to come and stay. You are important to the children, she had said.’

  ‘There I was, the woman who had caused so much pain and havoc being given refuge by the victims of the crime.’

  ‘I spent a year living at Harbour View before I had enough confidence to get my own little flat along the road in Torry. Marty and Beth told me over and over that I was considered part of the family. To the children I became Aunty Mo, they began to understand that Beth was their real mother, but Beth and Marty allowed me the privilege to be part of their upbringing, and for that I will be eternally grateful.’ She nodded tearfully at the couple who had become her saviours.

  ‘Beth’s work at The Trust has been wonderful. She is such a special woman that I have now the added privilege to present her with this special gift which all of you have contributed to. Beth, my dear wonderful Beth, could you come up here please?’

  Beth was dabbing her eyes as she got to her feet. She slowly made her way up to the stage to the loud clapping and cheers of the guests who were standing and demanding a speech in return.

  Beth and Maureen embraced and kissed each other fondly. ‘Thank you Mo, that was lovely.’

  Maureen handed her a very delicate gold watch on the back of which was engraved ”Thank you from The Stolen Children Trust.”

  Beth’s eyes were filled with tears as she looked at the watch. She signalled for silence and Joe handed her the microphone. ‘Thank you all so much for this beautiful watch and for the wonderful evening. I just want to say a few words, and I will keep it brief.’

  ‘That will be a first then!’ Marty shouted.

  Everyone laughed.

  ‘Now you, Mr Paton, should be quiet as you’ve got a lot to answer for with all your lies you have told me over the past few days.’ She shook her finger at him, although the smile belayed a very different emotion. ‘There are many people I could thank too, all of you here have contributed to the work of The Trust and have helped not only others but me too. There have been days when I have found it difficult to keep going, nevertheless you have given me the strength to keep going. As for this lady here on my right,’ she turned to take Maureen’s hand in hers, ‘I have something to say to her too. You see, without her there would be no Stolen Children Trust. Yes, I am sure, in hindsight, we would rather she had not taken the children, but she did and she loved and cared for them. She had the bond you see, and she helped them and Marty and I get to know each other. So of course she is part of our life.’

  Beth turned towards Maureen, ‘I will tell you this again Mo, this time in front of all these people and then perhaps you might even believe me. I forgive you Maureen Davenport, and I thank you for loving my children so much. I thank you for your support over the past twenty-five years, and while my children call you their aunt, I regard you as the sister I never had.’ They embraced again to loud cheers.

  Joe Douglas intervened before th
e whole place became awash with tears. ‘There is just one last surprise Beth.’ Tom appeared beside her.

  ‘Beth this seems an appropriate moment to tell you that I have here a cheque for the sum of £200,000 which has been donated anonymously, which I am sure you will agree will help fund that new centre you were talking about only last year.’

  ‘How wonderful,’ she replied. ‘Thank you whoever you are’.

  Maureen smiled to herself, her missing money had recently been traced, the money that Michael had carefully invested those many years ago and had been sitting making interest. On his deathbed just six months ago, still locked away in prison, he had made a confession as to where it was. Beth would never know that through the evil of his deeds it would ensure that other children could be helped.