“We ‘ave to keep looking till we find it all.” Cheryl gave her a hug and patted her back to soothe her nerves. “Come on, no time like the present to get on with it, is there now.”
The girls opened every drawer, searched under the bed and inside the wardrobe but they all turned up empty.
“Where on earth would she hide the evidence?” Carry Ann asked still looking around the room.
“My guess is somewhere that you’d never think of looking.”
Carry Ann slowly looked around at the décor, taking in the details as she scanned the room. She stopped when she noticed that there were indentation marks on the carpet where the wardrobe had been moved. “Cheryl, grab the other side of this and help me push it out.”
They moved the wooden wardrobe away from the wall and discovered a painting hanging on the wall behind it. Cheryl lifted the canvas from the wall and rested it against the side of the wardrobe. Carry Ann gasped when she saw what they had just discovered. A hole had been carved into the wall and inside was a stash of watches, rings, bracelets, necklaces and a large amount of cash. Before they could even check through it all there was a loud banging on the door followed by the announcement of the police being at the door and to open up.
Cheryl immediately ran to open the door and let the police inside. She quickly told them who she was and that she was the person who had reported the stolen bracelet. She showed them into the bedroom where Carry Ann sat on the edge of the bed with tears rolling down her face.
“I had no idea that Bernadette did this. I’m so sorry, Cheryl. You could have gotten into extreme trouble because of me.” She then wailed with her hands over her face.
The police officer looked down at Carry Ann and asked, “Are you Carry Ann Portman?”
“Yes I am,” she said softly.
“This ain’t her room, she didn’t do it. It was that cow Bernadette, this is her bedroom, she’s the one ya want, not Carry Ann. Just look at the stash behind the wardrobe. It’s all there, we just discovered it ourselves, ya know.”
The police officer opened up his small writing pad and licked the end of his pencil, then began to write down everything that was being said. Once he had finished taking statements, he cautioned Carry Ann that they would have to take her down to the police station for questioning along with Bernadette when they find her whereabouts.
“Cheryl, call my parents, they’ll know what to do. You’ll find their number in the book by the phone.” Still seated on the bed, she looked up at the police officer, her eyes watery and sad, she said, “You’ll find Bernadette at her friend’s house. I wouldn’t be surprised if the both of them are in this together.” She gave the address to the officer and then he led her away out of the flat and into a police car that was waiting outside.
The neighbours were standing outside their doors all staring at her as she was led in handcuffs down the flights of stairs. She couldn’t have been any more humiliated than she was right at this point.
Cheryl grabbed the address book by the phone and dialled the number for Carry Ann’s parents. It was a difficult phone call to make as Cheryl had to fill them in on everything that had happened in such a short call as the police were now informing her that the flat was now part of an investigation and that she had to leave.
•••
Cheryl lay on her bed with her hands behind her head and her feet crossed. She stared at her Judy Geeson poster. “Whatta you lookin’ at?” she snapped. She turned over onto her side and looked at her alarm clock. 9.30pm. Not having any idea of what was going on, she struggled with her conscience and began to wonder if she really had done the right thing. Carry Ann had been an innocent victim in all of this just like she had and now she was in so much trouble with the law and it was all her fault.
A light tap on her bedroom door followed by, “Cheryl, luv, are you alright?” came from her father.
“Just leave me alone, dad. I don’t wanna talk to anyone right now.”
“I’ve made you a lovely cuppa, thought you might need it with everything that’s gone on.” He opened the door and showed her the cup in his hand. Sitting on the edge of her bed, he placed the cup down on the bedside table. “I know you must be feeling bad about narking on your friend but it was for the best.”
“She didn’t do it, dad, it was her bleedin’ girlfriend, she should never ‘ave shacked up with her.”
“What do you mean girlfriend?”
“Carry Ann and Bernadette. It’s Bernadette who the police should be after not Carry Ann.” She sat up and flung her arms around her dad’s shoulders and burst into tears. “I like Carry Ann, dad. And I don’t mean just as a friend, I mean as my girlfriend.”
Her dad released her arms from his shoulders and looked confused at what she was saying. “You’ve lost me, luv, I don’t understand what you are on about.”
“I don’t like boys, dad, I never ‘ave. I’ve always said that, ain’t I. I like girls and I wanna be with Carry Ann.” She cried even louder causing her mother to come and see what all the disturbance was about.
“Margaret, I think your daughter has finally gone mad,” he said getting up from the bed.
“What the bleedin’ hell ‘ave you gone and said to her, Freddie. Just look at the state she’s in.” She sat down on the bed, with a cigarette hanging from her mouth she comforted her daughter. “Now, now, there can’t be that much wrong that you ‘ave to let the whole wide world hear ya.”
“Tell her, Cheryl, tell her what you just told me and then we’ll see what she’s got to say about it all, go on,” her father urged.
“Oh, dad, why are you being so cruel,” Cheryl sobbed. She pulled away from her mother’s hold and said, “You gonne hate me an’ all?” She looked down at her lap, sorrowful and feeling completely lost. “I like girls, mum. I like ‘em the same way that boys like ‘em.” She then slapped her hands over her face and cried hard into them.
“Why am I not surprised, oh why?” she proclaimed removing the cigarette from her mouth and flicking the ash into the ashtray next to Cheryl’s cup of tea. “You ain’t normal, I know that. I’ve known since…well as long as you’ve been claiming you don’t like boys really.” She inhaled on her cigarette again and blew the smoke into her husband’s direction.
“Is that it, is that all you’re gonna say on the matter?” her husband questioned her.
“Freddie, there are times when I could really do without your stupidity. Just look at the girl, she’s a blubbering mess and all you can do is make it worse. Go an’ make yourself useful and read ya paper or summat.”
He left the room and even though he was on the sofa with the TV on and reading his paper, he could be heard muttering loudly about not being stupid, and that he should never have bothered protecting his daughter from the likes of jewel thieves, and that maybe she would have learned her lesson had she been arreseted by the police.
“Now dad hates me, mum,” Cheryl sobbed.
“You leave ya father to me. He ain’t so innocent in life that he can lay down the law like that.”
“What am I to do?” she sobbed.
Her mother looked at her in the eyes and holding her chin, she said, “You hold that pretty little head of yours up high. You ain’t done nothing wrong, my girl. I’m the only one who can chastise ya and if ya father knows what’s good for him, he’ll shut his bleedin’ trap.”
Cheryl let out a giggle. She had never heard her mother speak like this before.
“Thanks, mum.”
•••
The following day, Cheryl, her mother and father went around to the house that she had inherited from Harry. The furniture was antique and it hadn’t been decorated in years. The carpets smelled frowsty and the curtains were definitely in need of replacement.
Cheryl’s dad hadn’t said much to her on the way over and had been a man of few words when they looked around the house.
“Well I must say that this is all very strange, you just turning eighteen an’ all,” h
er mother said.
“Well I ‘ave a job, I ‘ave a house and I ‘ave some money. Harry is my guardian angel. I can even afford to get it decorated and buy some new furniture an’ maybe you can help me, mum?” she asked.
“Oh well, if ya put it like that, then course I can.” Her mother began to take a better look at things and recommended that she give everything to the rag and bone man.
“Well it’s all wrong if you ask me. What’s a single young girl gonna do with a three bedroom house all by her lonesome?” her dad groaned.
“Maybe I’ll ‘ave orgies every night and rent it out to some saucy magazine who wanna take sexy pictures of gals during the day. That’ll get tongues waggin’ won’t it,” she yelled at her father.
“Cheryl, that’s enough!” her mother scorned.
“He started it!” she cried back.
“In that case, maybe it is a good idea that she’s moving out.” He stormed across the front room and out through the door slamming it behind him.
“You ‘ad better go after him,” her mother advised.
Cheryl ran outside and called to her father to stop. He stopped and turned around. Lighting a cigarette and taking a heavy drag on it, he exhaled and said, “I don’t want to fight with you, Cheryl, luv. It’s been a shock hearing that you like…you know…girls. I need time to get used to it. Bloody hell, Cheryl, you’re gonna be the death of me.”
“Dad, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to hurt ya. I just can’t help the way I feel.”
“Oh for god sake, come here.” He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. “How can I stay mad at my princess, hey?”
•••
It was now late afternoon and Cheryl had just opened up a bank account with the cheque she had been given from Harry and some money that she had saved from her job. She then met up with Jeannie and walking down Carnaby Street they happened to bump into Shirley and Iris.
“Didn’t think we’d be seeing the likes of you round these parts. Still like the girl’s do ya?” Shirley asked with a snide grin on her face.
“None of your business and if you don’t mind, we ‘ave a lot of shopping to do, for my new house that Harry left me in his will. So if you’ll excuse us, we don’t ‘ave time to chit chat all day with the likes of lower class girl’s such as yourselves.” Cheryl said confidently, then slung her handbag over her shoulder and with her head held high, she took hold of Jennie’s arm and walked off feeling rather accomplished.
Iris and Shirley walked away bickering between themselves and feeling slightly daunted.
Cheryl was liking her new way of life shopping for furniture and having the sales assistants fuss over her and her friend making them feel like royalty. After visiting several shops and making a few selected purchases, they decided to take a walk along the riverside.
Being as it was a hot sunny day, they bought an ice cream from the ice cream van that was parked on the road and then sat down on a bench overlooking the water. They had to eat it fast as it was melting and dripping down the wafer cone.
“Bleedin’ hell,” Cheryl moaned as it dripped onto her dress. “‘Ere, hold this, Jeannie, whilst I look for a tissue in me bag.”
Jeannie held her ice cream for her but to stop it dripping all over her she took sneaky licks of it.
“Oi, ya cheeky mare,” Cheryl said, catching her at it.
“Well ya don’t expect me to sit ‘ere covered in slop, do ya?” Jeannie said defensively.
“Cheryl!” a voice called from behind the bench.
Cheryl turned around to see Carry Ann running up towards her.
“Cheryl I’m free,” she said as she plonked herself down beside her on the bench.
“Carry Ann, oh god, I’m so sorry. I really didn’t know what to think…”
“You thought she’d done it, that’s what you thought, Cheryl,” Jeannie quickly butted in.
“It’s okay. They arrested Bernadette. Apparently she’s been a thief for years and right under my nose. How could I have not known about it? She told me that she came from a rich family and I believed her.”
“You really didn’t know anything about it at all?” Cheryl asked taking hold of Carry Ann’s hand.
“Not a sausage, I swear.”
“Cross your heart and hope to die,” Cheryl said, insisting that she prove her innocence.
“Cross my heart and hope to die,” Carry Ann said, and crossed her finger over her heart.
“Maybe we should start fresh. I think we ‘ave a lot of catching up to do,” Cheryl requested.
“I think that would be a good idea,” Carry Ann replied and lifted Cheryl’s hand, kissing it gently.
“Good. Cos I’ll be ‘avin a party at my new house next week and I want you to be there as my girlfriend. Jimmy will be there and his stupid tart girlfriend and Jeannie and Tommy.”
“Yeah, we’re getting married,” Jeannie said as she shuffled along the bench a little to make some room for Carry Ann to sit comfortably on the end.
“Congratulations, Jeannie. That’s wonderful news. New house, Cheryl?” Carry Ann asked, confused at what Cheryl was talking about.
“Yeah, Harry turned out to be my guardian angel. I’ll tell ya all about it. So, do you wanna come to my party?” she said, smiling.
Yes, I’d like that,” Carry Ann said, then nestling her head into Cheryl’s shoulder, she whispered, “I love you by the way.”
“I love you an’ all,” Cheryl grinned.
“I heard that,” Jeannie sniggered.
With Cheryl and Carry Ann snuggled up together and Jeannie still eating her ice cream, they sat watching the boats sail past on the river.
Their fresh start was about to begin…
The End
Other Published Books
Contemporary:
Tell Me What To Do
Loving the Pink Kiss
Pink Crush
Pink Seduction
Paige Bleu Series
Lesbian in Question
She’s on the Ball
Erotic Spirits
Victorian:
The Dark Cully’s Mistress
Ruby Tipped Globes
The Submissive Scullery Maid
A Victorian Romance
BDSM (EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT)
The Sex Pit
Sex, Ropes and Chains
Sex, Power and Intimacy
Sex, Bondage and Branding
Horror:
Vampire Changeling
Stop! In the Name of Love Page 10