by Nikki Ashton
“Charlotte, it’s me.” It was Kerry’s voice on the other end. “Don’t say anything I just want to tell you that I’ve gone away for a while. I saw Kelvin with another woman at Russell’s house last night. I can’t stay around and watch them together, so I’ve taken Esme away for a while. Tell Mum that we are okay I’ll be in touch soon. Tell Kelvin that I’ll look after Esme.”
Charlotte unable to keep quiet butted in. “But Kerry, why don’t you come home and talk to him about it. It may have been nothing.”
“No Charlotte I can’t. They were all nice and cosy drinking wine. Please Charlotte, don’t worry, we’ll be fine. I just need some peace and quiet to sort things out. Give my love to Mum and Bets and I’ll ring you soon.” The line went dead, leaving Charlotte holding a humming telephone to her ear.
Bets, who had gathered that Charlotte was speaking to Kerry, was jumping up and down, desperate for some news. “Where’s she been, does she know that we’ve been looking for her?” she asked smiling, glad that they had found her.
Charlotte shook her head. “Bets, she’s gone away for a while, apparently she saw Kelvin with another woman last night; drinking wine at Russell’s house.”
“The little shit!” Bets stormed. “Huh, playing the loving husband, out there in the snow searching for her. I’ll kill him when I see him.”
Charlotte ever the peacemaker placed a calming hand on Bets' shoulder. “Look, just calm down, it’s not going to help anyone. We’ll deal with Kelvin in a calm, controlled manner.”
“But she told you what she saw,” protested Bets.
“I know. We'll talk to Kelvin, and then we’ll punch his lights out. Seriously, though, we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. He may not be seeing her; she could just be a friend.”
“Hmm, I doubt it Charlotte. He's a man. They are all ruled by their genitals aren't they?”
Charlotte sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “Oh God what a mess. I’m going to ring him, but I’m going to do it from home,” she said, telling by the look on Bets face that she would not be staying calm.
After sitting in her car for ten minutes trying Kelvin’s mobile to no avail, she decided to go and try to find him. First of all, she called at Kerry and Kelvin’s house, but there was no sign. Just as she was pulling away, she recognised Kelvin’s car turning the corner. As he pulled up, she jumped out, walking menacingly towards him. Kelvin, not realising what he was about to be hit with, held open his arms thinking that Charlotte was there to give him some support.
“Oh Charlotte, am I glad to see you. I can’t find her anywhere.”
As he reached Charlotte, she turned her face to one side and placed her hands firmly on her hips. “That’s because she’s gone away Kelvin.”
“Away, what do you mean?” he asked looking puzzled.
“She saw you with your fancy bit last night.” Kelvin frowned. “You know last night, at Russell’s drinking wine.”
Kelvin’s face crumpled as realisation dawned. “Oh shit.”
“Oh shit indeed. What on earth were you thinking of Kelvin? She wanted to make things right with you, she told me on the phone after Christmas. You prat!” Charlotte lifted an open palm ready to strike him, but then she saw the fear and disbelief in his face, and bizarrely she felt sorry for him.
“You’re right I am a prat, but I promise you nothing is going on between me, and the girl she saw me with. Come in and I’ll explain.” He reached inside his pocket, and fished out his keys. Charlotte followed him up the driveway.
Once inside he slumped down onto the sofa, dropping his head into his hands. Charlotte sat upon the chair next to him and placed a hand on his knee.
“Oh Kelvin, you are a silly sod, what happened?”
“I met her at the work’s Christmas party. She's a friend of Beth’s who I work with. We just got talking and seemed to hit it off. You know what it’s like when you’re drunk and angry at your wife because she doesn’t seem to care about your marriage anymore.” He shrugged and smiled sadly. “She’s going through a divorce, so I invited her out on New Year’s Eve, to try to cheer us both up really.”
“Have you slept with her?” Charlotte asked, dreading the answer.
“No, although I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. I probably had every intention of, but when Kerry and I started to talk over Christmas, well I realised that it wasn’t what I wanted. I admit that I kissed her at the party, but it was more of a drunken Christmas snog than anything else.” Charlotte shuddered with the thought of drunken Christmas snogs. “I tried to make contact with her,” Kelvin continued, “to tell her that it was off, but I only had her mobile number, and it was always switched off. Beth and Richard are in Tenerife, so I had no other way of getting in contact with her. I swear to you Charlotte, as soon as she arrived, I told her that there was nothing doing. She had one glass of wine and left.” His eyes glistened with unshed tears at the mess that he, and Kerry had got themselves into.
“How did she know where to find you? Kerry said that you only went to Russell’s that day.” Charlotte believed him, but wanted more proof.
“I’d arranged to meet her there anyway as I couldn’t really invite her round to Sheila’s for a quick drink could I? I knew that the place would be empty, and I was going to be moving there for a while, so it was the ideal place. Plus if I’m honest I did wonder, whether we would actually make it out.”
“Kelvin, you really are a dick.” Charlotte said, gently putting an arm around his hunched shoulders, as he hung his head once more.
“So where has she gone to? She must be really hurt and must hate me beyond belief. I bet that she thinks I planned it all. She asked me to go home, and I said no. Oh Charlotte I just want my wife and baby back. Tell me where she is, and I’ll go and get her.” He stood up and moved toward the door. Charlotte held out a hand and stopped him.
“Kelvin you can’t, I don’t know where she is. The number was withheld, all she said was she was going away for a while and to tell you that she would look after Esme. We’ll just have to wait until she rings again and when she does I promise that I will explain everything to her.” Charlotte forced a smile to her face; she didn’t think that Kerry would be calling for some time by the tone of her voice.
“I can’t wait for her to ring Charlotte. I need to find her. Did she give you no clue, maybe Sheila knows?" Kelvin jumped onto his feet and started pacing up and down.
“She won’t know where Kerry is, Kerry gave me a message for her. Please Kelvin just wait and see whether she gets in touch over the next few days.”
“I can’t. I've got to find her now. Can you imagine what she’s thinking?”
Charlotte nodded. “Yes I can. Maybe you should go and see Sheila, perhaps you can work out between you where she may have gone to.”
Kelvin nodded and moved back towards the door once more. “Okay, ring me if she gets in touch.”
Charlotte stood up and followed him out. As they reached Kelvin’s car, Charlotte hugged him tightly.
“Take care, and please don’t go racing around and end up having an accident.”
He hugged her back. “I’ll be fine. I just want Kerry home.” With more tears in his eyes, Kelvin got inside his car and drove away in the direction of his mother-in-law’s house.
Charlotte went back to her own car and rested her head against the steering wheel for a few minutes, thinking about Kerry before turning over the engine and returning to Bets flat.
The caravan was basic, but it was warm and cosy and big enough for the two of them. When Kerry had arrived in Wales, she hadn’t expected to find anywhere open from this time of year, but she vaguely remembered the caravan site from when they were children. There were just ten static caravans in a small pasture belonging to a farm. Most of the caravans were privately owned as weekend getaways, hence the site still being open in winter. She didn’t know whether she would be able to find it, but luckily, she remembered the name of the village so once the 'Sat Nav'
had got her there at least she found the site with very little back tracking. As Kerry pulled down the narrow country lane, she was relieved to see a sign advertising caravan for rent. The farmer’s wife, Mrs Llewellyn, had been really kind, understanding by the look on Kerry’s face that she shouldn’t ask about Mr Johnson. She had led Kerry up to the three rickety steps and showed her around the caravan. She told her where the outhouse was that contained a washing machine and dryer for the caravan residents to use.
“So,” she said, after showing her around, “my son Owen will be over in a few minutes to connect the gas for you. I’ll get him to bring you some eggs and milk over as well, just to tide you over like until you can get into the store tomorrow. Can you tell me how long you are staying then?” she asked, drawing the curtains on the darkness outside.
“Not really, is that a problem, do you need the caravan for another booking?”
“Oh no dear, just like to have an idea, that’s all. Now there’s bedding under the benches, it’s washed and pressed, but you may want to warm it in front of the fine for a short while,” said the older woman as she fussed about with the cushions on the bench.
“That’s fine Mrs Llewellyn, I’ve brought duvets and sheets actually.” Kerry laid the now heavy Esme on one of the benches in the living area.
“Whatever dear, now don’t you worry over the money tonight, just pop it over to the house tomorrow get settled in tonight.” Mrs Llewellyn stroked Esme’s head and then made to leave. “I’ll send Owen over, see you tomorrow.” And with that she was gone, quietly closing the door behind her.
Kerry looked around at her new surroundings it would be okay for a short period of time, while she made sense of things. The main thing was there was no chance of bumping into Kelvin and his fancy piece. She sat for a few minutes looking at Esme, wondering when Kelvin had been going to tell her that he’d met someone else, anyway it didn’t matter now; it was over. Suddenly, there was a quiet knocking at the door; she opened it to find a tall dark-haired man smiling at her.
“Mrs Johnson, I’m Owen. My mam sent me over to turn you on and give you these.” He handed over a basket containing, eggs, milk, bread, a packet of tea and what looked like bacon wrapped in greaseproof paper.
“Oh thank you,” gasped Kerry, surprised at Mrs Llewellyn’s generosity. “You’d better come in.”
As she stepped aside the man came to the light, and she was surprised by his age; expecting a teenager, but faced by a man probably in his thirties. Owen smiled confidently as he walked through the door. Holding back his shoulder length, black hair from his face with one hand, he stooped down to watch the still sleeping baby.
“Pretty little thing isn’t she, so peaceful look.”
He stood up to face Kerry, allowing his curls to fall on his face once more. She studied him, her eyes drawn to a scar running down the left-hand side of his face.
“Barbed wire,” he explained, touching it and smiling.
“Sorry,” whispered Kerry. “I didn’t mean to stare. It's not noticeable or anything, it’s just that…” Kerry broke off her sentence, realising she was about to say 'it makes you more handsome.' She couldn’t say it to a perfect stranger, plus she was shocked, she was even thinking it.
“Don’t worry about it, I’m used to it. I’ve had it since I was a nipper. To tell the truth it’s quite a hit with the ladies.”
Kerry felt herself colour up and turned away from Owen. “Would you like a cup of tea?” she asked to hide her embarrassment.
Owen laughed behind her. “Not until I’ve put your gas on, but yes that would be nice, thanks.” He strode out of the caravan leaving Kerry feeling like a teenager again.
After a few minutes, he came back in, wiping his dirty hands on his denim jacket.
“Should be okay now, so I’ll have that cuppa, two sugars,” he said, smiling widely.
As Kerry made the tea, she avoided eye contact with Owen, not really knowing why. She was usually so confident with men; she worked with men. She had three brothers and Kelvin’s friends were always visiting the house, and she was never shy in front of any of them. When she turned around Owen was reading a magazine that he’d picked up from the top of her bag; she handed him his tea, and he put the magazine down, smiling at her.
“Ta, just what I needed that is. So are you staying long then, or only long enough to give your husband a fright.”
Kerry was taken aback at his forthrightness, and immediately her feistiness returned. “I don’t really think that’s any of your business, do you?” she said pointedly.
He smiled disarmingly. “Fair enough, but I bet you tell me what your story is before you leave here. So how old is the baba then?” he said, picking up the magazine again and started leafing through it once more.
“She’s just one; her birthday was on Boxing Day actually. Do you live here all the time then?” she asked, aware that she may have offended him, trying to make amends.
“I don’t really think that’s any of your business, do you? But, I bet I tell you before you leave here.” Owen stood up and placed his still full cup of tea in the sink. “Thanks for the tea, tara now.”
“Err, bye,” stuttered Kerry, suddenly alone as the door slammed shut. She got up and moved to the orange and brown flowered curtains, pulling them back slightly so that she could watch him from the window. He strode across the yard purposefully, only stopping to try and stroke the growling farm dog. He continued on and then as he reached the door into the house he turned and waved towards the caravan, before disappearing from view. Kerry quickly let the curtains drop back, horrified at being caught spying, but more horrified at wanting to.
Chapter 22
It had been two days since Kerry’s disappearance, and Kelvin was getting more and more frantic by the day. He tried everyone whom he could think of, even swallowing his pride and visiting Caroline across the road; however, she didn't know anything either. After speaking to Sheila, they’d both agreed that it would be better for him to leave Russell’s and move home, if Kerry came back that would surely be her first port of call. So here he was unpacking once more. It felt strange. He'd imagined that the day he moved back he would have been really happy, but he wasn’t. He was frightened and deeply unhappy, all he wanted was for things to be back to normal. Suddenly, the telephone rang at the side of the bed, and he rushed to answer it.
“Kerry?”
“No Kelvin, it’s me Charlotte. I take it that you haven’t heard anything then?”
Kelvin sat upon the edge of the bed and rubbed his tired eyes. “No, neither has Sheila; I assume that the same goes for you and Bets.”
“Sorry love, but no word. I’ve just spoken to Bets. She's about to start ringing around now.” Bets, after tearing a strip off Kelvin, had offered to call all their old school friends to find out whether any of them had heard from Kerry.
“Yes, she eventually forgave me,” whispered Kelvin with a hint of laughter. “She really gave me what for, but it’s what I should have expected, I know what you three are like about each other.”
“Well, let’s forget that you are one stupid pillock for a while, the main thing is we try to find Kerry and get her home. Look I won’t hold the line up, in case Kerry is trying to call you. Take care Kelvin and I’ll call you later.”
“Thanks Charlotte, bye.” With that he replaced the receiver and allowed a stray tear to fall down his cheek.
He looked at his watch, three more daylight hours, time enough to search some more. The one positive point during the day had been finding Kerry’s passport in the kitchen drawer where they kept all their documents; at least, she was still in the country. He picked up a picture of Kerry and Esme, from the day after she’d been born, and stroked the image of their faces with his finger; he had to find them and bring them home.
Bets invariably reduced the salon opening hours over Christmas and New Year; no one ever had any money left to spend on being pampered. It was usually a bad time trade wise, thus she could spen
d the day ringing around to help Kelvin. It was quite a difficult job. She hadn’t seen, never mind spoken, to half the people for over fourteen years, and it wasn’t as though she had liked them at school; however, Kerry was different. Kerry kept in touch with almost everyone, even some of their old teachers. Bets had nearly died when Kelvin had dropped the list of names off yesterday; there were hundreds, well forty at least. Bets had been ringing around all day, since she had spoken to Charlotte at nine o’clock that morning, and had almost finished apart from two or three that she couldn’t get hold of; not one of them had heard from Kerry. She’d been underhand about it, lying through her teeth and saying she was organising a reunion, something that had caused great hilarity with most of the old ‘schoolies'. They could not imagine Bets wanting to do such a thing. She had gone on to mention Kerry to each of them, dropping her name into the subject and then, depending upon their reaction, she gauged whether they knew anything, but no one did.
Bets stood up and stretched. All her muscles were aching from sitting in the same position for such a great length of time. As she flexed her arms over her head, the doorbell rang in three short bursts. She sighed and dragged her feet towards the hallway; all she wanted to do was have a long soak not entertain visitors.
“Oh hello, what are you doing here?” she asked, as there stood armed with a bottle of wine and a big grin was Tom. “Let me guess. You want a favour, am I right?” she asked, nodding towards the bottle.
Tom stepped inside and feigned disappointment. “Don’t be like that, I don’t only visit people when I want a favour.”
“What do you want me to do Tom?” Bets took the bottle of wine from his grasp and took it to the kitchen, and after getting two glasses from the cupboard, started to uncork it.
Tom didn’t answer straight away as he was too busy looking over the list of names next to the telephone. “What are these then, past conquests that you’re ringing to apologise to?”