Millie nodded, following her mother to a rack of coats near the front door.
Justine wanted to get as far away from The Farm as possible. The haunting sounds and lack of laughter was bringing her down. A stroll in the fresh air would be a tonic.
‘There you go, poppet. You’ll be nice and warm in that.’
‘Are we going to Mr Patel’s shop? I want a Kinder Egg.’
Justine tilted her head. ‘Not tonight, Millie. You’ve had lots to eat for tea. Your tummy is full.’
Millie mulled over what she had been told and smiled. ‘My tummy’s full. Can I have a Kinder Egg in the morning?’
‘We’ll see.’ Justine made a mental note to keep Millie’s mind off sweets when she woke up. She didn’t have the money for a loaf of bread, let alone chocolate.
The eerie silence that greeted them in the corridor was a far cry from the mayhem Justine and Millie thought they could hear from inside the flat. It made Justine feel uncomfortable and she tightened her grip on Millie’s hand.
There was only one other person in the corridor, Paul Jackson. He looked disorientated.
‘You’re on the wrong floor,’ Justine told him.
He stooped, wagging a finger. ‘You can’t go down there,’ he panted. ‘Someone’s fallen from a window.’
‘Oh.’ Justine let go of Millie’s hand to cover her ears. ‘Accident?’
Paul shook his head. ‘Not from what people are saying.’
He was abnormally breathless, Justine thought. ‘Are you all right?’ she asked. ‘You don’t look well at all.’
‘I’ll be…’ He dropped to the floor, clawing at his chest.
‘Oh, my God. I’ll get help.’
‘No!’ Paul called after her as she turned on her heels to rap on the nearest door. ‘Don’t,’ he said.
‘What’s wrong with the man?’ Millie cried, looking agitated.
Justine knelt down, stretching a hand out behind her to catch hold of the bottom of Millie’s coat.
‘I’ve had it,’ Paul winced, pain etched across his face. He tugged at something under his jacket. ‘Take it,’ he whispered. ‘Take it.’
‘What is it?’ Justine asked.
He pressed the creased handles of a carrier bag in the hand that had reached out to comfort him.
‘It’s money. A lot of money. Just over thirty grand. I took it from the bookies, but I’m not going to need it now.’
‘I can’t,’ Justine stuttered.
‘Yes, you can,’ he told her. ‘Take it and get yourself and your little one out of this dump. Tonight. My wife doesn’t know what day of the week it is these days. It won’t do her much good.’
‘But…’
‘Just take it.’
‘Mummy, I’m scared,’ Millie cried. ‘I’m scared.’
It dawned on Justine she had just seconds to make a decision that could alter the course of both of their lives.
As she gently pulled the bag away from the heart attack victim she had so wanted to help, Justine shed a single tear. It rolled down the side of her nose before disappearing into the crack between her lips.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered, tucking the bag down the front of her zip-up jacket.
Paul smiled after her as she ran to the nearest door and rapped on it with all her might. ‘Help!’ she creamed. ‘Help!’
When she was satisfied someone would call an ambulance, Justine tugged Millie’s arm. ‘Come on,’ she said.
‘Where are we going, Mummy?’
As they hurried down a staircase to the ground floor, Justine told her, ‘We’re moving away. To somewhere nice.’
‘Somewhere with a garden, Mummy?’
‘Yes, somewhere that will definitely have a garden.’
‘Yay!’
Millie skipped along at her mother’s side, oblivious to the flashing blue lights they passed at the entrance to The Farm.
For a moment, Millie hesitated. ‘What about my toys?’ she asked.
‘I am going to buy you lots of new ones,’ Justine assured her.
She wasn’t tempted to look back as she turned left out of the confines of Whitmore House and carried on walking.
Good riddance was all she could think.
About The Author
BELINDA Bennett is a master of short reads. She is the author of the highly-rated novella Midlife Crisis, described by Readers’ Favourite as ‘exceptional, brilliant and original’. She also wrote Don’t Breathe A Word, Costa Del Terror and Coaster. Other books by Belinda Bennett include the novellas One Billion Tear$ and You Can’t Stop Me - all available from Amazon.
The prequel to Don’t Breathe A Word, Hired Hands, is available to download for free from Smashwords, Kobo and iBooks.
A former journalist, Belinda worked in the British newspaper industry from February 1983 to June 2015. She gave up the job she lived and breathed for the best part of her life to work for herself, as a freelance copywriter, and to devote more time to creative writing.
Her first piece of fiction, about a magic china frog, was inspired by the BBC children’s television series Lizzie Dripping. It was considered by a major publisher when Belinda was just nine years old. Teenage angst prompted further creative efforts but, after both her parents died when she was in her early twenties, she concentrated on journalism.
Belinda lives by the sea in Lyme Regis, Dorset, on the Jurassic Coast.
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