Amelia's Story (Box Set the Complete Series Books 1 & 2) (11 page)

A Dangerous Encounter

Mary, Sue, and I hatched an escape plan. We each had to sneak some food from cooks’ kitchen, hide it under our beds, pack our bags in advance of the great run and make sure we had warm clothes, as it had been snowing outside and it was now turning to slush. This was Wales and the winters were harsh and very cold.

Each evening there were two night watchmen who did their rounds every other hour, so it was imperative that we made our move straight after they had checked our dorms. We gathered our bags, wrapped ourselves up in layers and layers of clothing
, which we had carefully slipped out of the clothing room when the staff were too busy chatting, and one by one we sneaked out of our rooms, mindful not to make any noise at all.

Once we were out of the building we had to then make it outside of the vast grounds. There were night lights on everywhere, so we had to duck underneath these to make our way across the fields, through the woods, across the stream and finally over a rather high fence. We were on our way; we knew once the night watchmen set about on their second rounds the alarm would be raised
, if they were clever enough to realise that our beds were stuffed with pillows!

The weather was bitter. We all had socks on our hands to act as gloves and a warm barrier against the bitter cold; we had no idea that the forecast for that night was a severe snow blizzard. At first it was our adrenalin that kept us moving, the sheer excitement of our great escape into the big wide world. For a while we decided to follow the line of the river so we were out of sight of the traffic over the bank, as the last thing we needed was to be caught.

We were heading to Manchester to my Grandad’s home in Denton; Mary also had family in Manchester so it seemed like the best option for all of us. On arrival we would reach our destination and state our case, after which we were confident all would be well.

After several hours of trudging through wet marsh land along the river we were cold and our feet were sodden. We all agreed after much discussion to make our way up to the main road as this would allow us to increase our speed. Once on the road towards
Chester, we started thumbing for a lift – looking back now, I cannot believe we did this but then again, as three young children riding high on an adrenalin rush, maybe I can! I remember we decided to flag down a lift as there were three of us, so what could possibly happen? Well it appeared more than we had bargained for.

It was about an hour later when we realised how very tired and weary we had become and just at that point, a red car pulled over. A scruffy man with long hair wound down the passenger window and asked us where we were heading. The three of us were so pleased that someone had stopped and we told him our intended destination. His response was, “Well what are you waiting for hop in.”

We squealed in delight at this good fortune, looked at each other, and all agreed to get in the car. We were thrilled at the prospect of sitting in a warm car, our hands and feet felt like they were going to drop off.

Mary and Sue hopped into the back straight away leaving me to climb in the front, which I was not happy about one bit; however, I really did not have a choice. As I was putting my seat belt on the stranger looked at me very oddly, and with that a cold chill ran down my spine. Something just did not feel right. I had the urge to just get out of the car and run, every instinct I had was urging me to just run; but I didn’t.

The car pulled off and we all sat silently in the car, “Okay ladies, who are you running away from?” asked the strange man.

Mary and Sue let it all out and told him we had just run away from a children’s home. I sat there very quietly.

He said, “Oh dear, well I won’t tell anyone, and you are safe with me.”

He leant over me and pushed down the lock, that’s when I noticed a large
stanley knife next to the gear stick. The obvious question echoed in my mind, why would he have a knife in the front of his car? He noticed that I was looking at the stanley knife and must have read the concern on my face, “Don’t worry I only keep it there just in case,” the strange man said before he started laughing.

The alarm bells were ringing all round now. Mary, Sue, and I knew we had to act fast or we were going to be in big trouble. I looked around at them both in the back of the car and just looked at their doors
, indicating to them we need to make a run for it. They just nodded and understood what I was trying to communicate.

I looked at the man and said, “Would you mind if I just went to the toilet? I’m bursting; I promise I will be quick.”

He was not too happy at having to stop the car and said it was not a good idea. I pleaded with him, trying not to show any concern at all, just smiling and maintaining an unconcerned look on my face. Eventually he agreed to stop the car and let me out. He reached across and unlocked the passenger door and told me to hurry up.

The minute I was out of the car Mary and Sue piled out of the back seats almost falling over themselves to get away. We ran like we had never run before; we jumped over some evergreen bushes into a farmer’s field and lay down on the ground. The red car circled the road surrounding the field several times, and just when we thought it was safe to get up the car returned and stopped. He got out of the car shouting in our direction. We were petrified and we all got up and started running towards the farm, the man got back in his car and before we knew it, all we could see of him were his tail lights in the far distance.

As we approached the old farm house, the security lights came on and the front door to the house opened. A man and woman stood there. We ran up to them wet and exhausted telling them that a man was after us, pleading for them to help us. The farm owners were lovely; they took us in, sat us all down by the fire and kindly listened to our story. They then called the police and while we were waiting, the lovely couple made us all hot chocolate and warm buttered toast - it was delicious!

We were so scared that we abandoned all thoughts of running away for now. We told the farmers that we had run away from the children’s home several miles away. They knew which home we were talking about - apparently it was well known in
North Wales. The farmers called Bryn Tyn to let them know we were there and that the police were on their way following an incident. We had at last started to thaw out; my fingers were tingling because of the warmth coming from the open fire.

When the police arrived we were taken to the station and interviewed at length regarding the man and the red car in the presence of a member of staff. It turned out that there was a nationwide hunt for a man with long hair in a red car fitting the description of the one who had picked us up, following a murder of a young girl only 12-years-old
, the same age as me. He was last seen 10 miles up the road near Mould, just before he picked us up. That night it was made very clear that we had had an exceptionally lucky escape. We could not believe it and were just thankful to be alive. The police informed us that they may require further help from us in the future, if it turns out that the man in the red car was the same one they were hunting. Someone was definitely watching over us that day, the alternative outcome was not worth thinking about. This was enough to put any future thoughts of a further escape from our minds.

On our return to Bryn Tyn we had the telling off of our lives, and we were stripped of all basic rights. This was the middle of winter and back then it was common to have sub-zero temperatures with snow up to your knees. We were given our punishment - scrubs - this was the punishment for runaways: you were put in a pair of shorts, a pair of plimsolls without the laces and a t-shirt, that’s all you were allowed to wear every day for seven days. You had your meals alone and were not allowed seconds, to me that was the biggest punishment of all!

For a week we would be shoveling snow from the grounds wearing next to nothing, on a daily basis. They knew you would not try to run away wearing the clothes you had to live in for that week as it was far too cold; this was a big part of the punishment. Towards the end of our punishment week, I had caught the flu and spent the next five days in bed recovering. Had I learned my lesson? Well yes, for the time being anyway! And all thoughts of running away had been put to the back of my mind.

Once I had recovered from the flu, I kept my head down for a while and decided to make the best of a very bad situation. I started my schooling within the confines of Bryn Tyn, with the determination to do the best I could. The problem was the limited subject options; it was just basic teachings which I had learned many years before. So instead, I lost myself in books, wrote poems in my journal which I started when I was just nine-years-old. I decided to try harder at fitting in at Bryn Tyn and do the best possible. I made more friends and for a while life got a little easier. I was especially close to my key worker Paul who would always listen to me whenever I felt down, picked on, or just needed someone to show that they cared. As more new hopeless children entered Bryn Tyn during the months that followed I had established myself as one of the old residents.

There were always fights going on between groups of kids. There were various groups within Bryn Tyn and some of which did not get on at all. When a fight broke out it was terrifying and someone always got badly hurt. The male members of staff were mostly well-built and tall, probably in place to be able to deal with such situations and eventually get them under control when it suited them. Some of them liked to watch the fighting for a few minutes before intervening.

Weekends were always quieter at the children’s home due to many children going home for authorised breaks to visit their families. The same few people remained at Bryn Tyn every weekend and during all the holidays. I was always one of them, Christmas included. I preferred Bryn Tyn during these times as it was more fun; there were less bullies around and generally life was so much easier for the few of us that remained behind. We were given special treats like days out in the signature blue and white Bryn Tyn van.

One member of staff called Yvonne was especially lovely. She was quite young herself, only 22-years-old, and worked part-time whilst studying for her degree. Yvonne was kind, gentle, and empathised with most of the children in Bryn Tyn. She was especially kind to me. She used to go through all the clothes she no longer wanted and bring them in for me, they were such beautiful clothes. I remember a canvas pair of skin-tight trousers and a cream ribbed jumper, as soon as I tried them on, that was it I fell in love with them. Yvonne was so lovely; I really looked forward to her shifts. Sometimes she would take us all for a sauna at the local gym where she was a member in Wrexham, we thought this was pure luxury and we were in heaven. Whenever the holidays were upon us we knew we were in for a treat when Yvonne was on duty.

The staff would arrange activities for us like horse riding at a local farm on Sunday mornings. I loved this and was a regular on this activity. They used to take us out for the day to little towns like Llangollen
, where we would all jump off the bridge in the summer into the river below without a care in the world. The drop was very high but to reiterate, during moments like this, we did not have a care in the world. I also remember many summer days spent at the Welsh slate pools where the slate mines were situated, the water was deep and so crystal clear. We would spend all day swimming in the slate pools and basking in the summer sun, all the while under constant supervision of course.

Sometimes at weekends they used to take us out to the woods after dark in the blue and white Bryn Tyn vans and we would play hide and seek. Then we would all climb back into the van and be taken on a journey into the hills while being told ghost stories. There were no lights lining the roads in the hills; they were more like dirt tracks than roads and the only light was that of the headlights lighting up the road ahead. At the time we thought this was the best thing ever, but now it seems a very strange way to entertain young children as some were as young as eight-years-old, that said, it did not seem to do us any harm.

The one thing about Bryn Tyn that seemed very unfair was how the boys were treated better than the girls, they were given great presents, some boys who were particularly favoured had motor cross bikes bought for them by John Allen, the founder of the Bryn Tyn community. Some boys were also chosen to spend weekends at John Allen’s great big house, and the rest of us thought this was unfair. It would be many years later before I found out the real reason why they were chosen, and I was very glad that I was not.

Some children would have televisions in their bedrooms and it seemed to the rest of us that they were always receiving one gift or another. This brought about jealousy amongst the other children as every one wanted what they had. When the boys were in the field with their bikes, some of us girls would walk up and sit on the sidelines watching in awe. One particular day an older lad came up to me and asked me if I wanted to ride his bike. I jumped at the chance and leapt straight on to the bike full of confidence even though I had never driven anything in my life! I was given some basic instruction, then I was off; the trouble was once I was off I could not stop.

I started screaming, “I can’t stop, help me.”

Everyone was running after me. I was getting ever closer to the bank at the end of the field; I did the only thing I could do and that was to tilt the bike to the side and tip it over! I was surrounded by everybody fussing over me asking me if I was fine.