Fifteen Going on Grown Up (15 page)

“Mum, we’re here.”

Wes announced. His mother turned and smiled so warmly Hally felt her tension disappear. Both stepped towards each other, Wes’ mum spoke first.

“Hally, it’s lovely to meet you at last.”

She gave her son a serious look, but he smiled brightly and put his arm around her shoulder. He towered over his mum, but he had her eyes and hair.

“It’s lovely to meet you too…”

Hally paused and felt her face heat up. She had no idea what to call her.

“Kate, I’m Kate and Wes’ dad is Michael.” She frowned at Wes. “You didn’t tell her our names.”

Wes gave a pretend pout.

“Oh dear, I’m in trouble. Sorry mum, I thought I had.”

“It’s not me you need to apologise to, it’s Hally, poor girl. Now don’t be embarrassed Hally. Sometimes I can’t believe I brought him up with manners.”

Hally smiled at the chastisement of her boyfriend, especially as she could see both mother and son were grinning at each other.

“I am so very sorry Hally.”

Wes said with mock exaggeration. Hally found this very amusing and soon they were all laughing.

“Someone going to let me in on the joke.”

A tall, stocky man with a deep voice came into the kitchen. Hally was quite shocked at how much Wes sounded like his dad.

This time Wes introduced Hally impeccably and soon they were ushered from the kitchen by Wes’ mum; who was adamant they would ruin dinner if they didn’t get out of her way. Wes led Hally into the lounge which was very comfortable and showed definite signs of a small child. Though very neat and clean there were toys in a wooden box and some still on the floor, and a small child size bookshelf with lots of big colourful books. At first, Michael chatted with Hally asking about her family. Then he suggested Wes take her on a tour of the house. He was obviously very proud of what they had done so far.

Each room Wes took her into showed signs of renovation, but it was clear there was still much to be done. There were four bedrooms, his parents’ which Hally glanced in through the door; Wes’ room which she would have like to linger in, but thought it was better not to; a very pretty spare room and a closed door which he explained was Ellie’s room.

“I won’t open the door ‘cos sometimes she wakes up when the light shines in.”

He told her. Then to finish he took her up a narrow staircase to a large attic with windows looking out over the fields.

By the time they returned to the lounge, Kate came in to tell them dinner was ready. To Hally’s relief they ate in the kitchen at a big farmhouse table.

“Thought this would be more cosy and less formal.”

Kate told her as she served the food.

“It’s lovely Kate. Thank you.”

Over the meal Hally felt very relaxed. Michael and Kate made her feel very much at home and the only slight pause in the conversation came when Hally mentioned Ellie.

“It was a shame I didn’t get to meet Wes’ little sister.”

She said casually. Kate quickly glanced at Wes then turned back to Hally.

“Yes, our little gemstone.”

Hally noticed the look and thought she had said something wrong but couldn’t work out what.

“Have I said something wrong?”

She asked concernedly. Kate smiled warmly.

“No of course not my dear. It’s just, well there’s such a huge gap between Wes and Ellie, well it was a bit of a shock to us when she came along, and of course you will meet her very soon. We just thought meeting you without a toddler demanding my attention would be better. At least at first. Besides, she’s very attached to Wes and she would probably be a bit put out that someone else was getting his attention.”

Wes laughed and added.

“Yes, she does tend to dominate my time when she can.”

Hally could see that having the attention of a grown up brother as well as parents would be very nice for a toddler.

The rest of the evening passed pleasantly and without incident. On the way home they chatted whilst walking hand in hand. The evening was a little chilly but clear and the stars shone brightly. When they reached Hally’s house they saw a police car parked outside. Hally became very anxious and rushed around the back to see what was happening, Wes close behind her.

“Mum, dad!”

She called out as she dropped her bag and coat on the table.

“The lounge baby.”

Mum called back. Followed by Wes, Hally went through the door. Both parents were sitting on the sofa and PC Duston was sitting in a chair. Mum held a hand out to Hally and dad moved along to allow her to sit between them. Wes settled himself on the floor to the side of the sofa.

“What’s happened?”

Hally asked in a small voice. Mum took her hand and held it gently.

“PC Duston has been waiting for you to come home. He needs to ask you something.”

Hally was scared and puzzled at the same time. She hadn’t done anything wrong so wondered what this could be about. She looked worriedly at PC Duston. Gently he spoke.

“Hally, do you know a girl called Dana Edwards?”

Hally nodded, still confused, she thought it was about the trouble at her party.

“I haven’t seen her in ages.”

She told him. Then she remembered the note she had received.

“Oh, but she sent me a note; a few weeks ago.”

“A note; do you still have it?”

PC Duston asked. Hally felt something ominous, she began to tremble and dad took hold of her other hand.

“Um, yes, it’s…”

She looked at Wes as though he would know where she put it. She remembered the day she received it, remembered reading it, but where had she put it? Wes stood up and came over to her. He knelt in front of her and put his hands on her knees, gently squeezing them he looked directly into her eyes.

“We had been swimming, then the picnic. It was warm so you didn’t have a jacket, just your big bag.”

Wes’ voice was soothing and almost hypnotising, so much so she suddenly remembered.

“Yes, my big bag, the side pocket.”

Hally leapt from the sofa and dashed from the room and upstairs to her bedroom. She was visibly shaking as she delved into the pocket of her bag and found the envelope with Dana’s note. When she returned to the lounge, she held the envelope out to the police constable and in a voice she hoped was steady asked.

“So what is this about?”

PC Duston opened the envelope and took out the note as mum indicated to Hally to come and sit back down. As she moved back to the sofa PC Duston scanned the contents of the note. Then very gently he spoke.

“Hally, Dana was found earlier today at her home. She committed suicide.”

All of the breath went out of Hally. There didn’t seem to be any air in the room either. Between her parents and Wes on the floor she felt herself go cold; her cheeks tingled and a darkness began creeping in from both sides of her head. She could hear all their voices saying her name, but they sounded as though they were very far away and muffled. She felt herself sway and slip and then there was nothing.

A soft hand was on her cheek and a cool damp cloth was on her forehead. She was lying down, but unsure of where. As she opened her eyes everything came flooding back. Mum was sitting by her side on the sofa, dad was standing at one end of the sofa and Wes was kneeling at the other end. He was the person holding the cloth to her brow. She tried to sit up quickly but mum shushed her and held her back.

“Baby, take it slowly. Here have a sip of water but take it a little at a time.”

Hally did as she was told and gradually eased herself into a sitting position. With more water she began to feel more in control of herself again and looked over to PC Duston.

“Oh God. Did I really hear you right?”

She asked in a very small voice.

“Yes Hally, I’m afraid so. Are you ok?”

He asked.

“Um; I think so. I mean, probably not but I’m not going to pass out again. What happened?”

Hally’s voice became stronger as she spoke but inside she felt torn up with guilt. She knew this was irrational but it was still there. PC Duston looked towards her parents to see if he should go on with such devastating information. Dad stood straight and nodded that he should. Wes had moved to the sofa and was now sitting on one side of Hally with mum on the other. He had his arm securely around her and mum held her hand. PC Duston took a deep breathe.

“Well, one of her friends, a girl called Penny went to her house as no one had seen her in days. She thought Dana may have run away from home because apparently she doesn’t have a very nice home life. However, when she got there no one answered, but the door was unlocked. Penny went in calling out to Dana, but she didn’t get an answer. Penny was worried by now because Dana and her mother always locked up when they were out. She went upstairs to Dana’s room and found her lying on her bed. Unfortunately, it was quite obvious to Penny that Dana was already dead. She ran screaming from the house and all but hammered down the next door neighbour’s door. The neighbour rang us.”

He paused and sipped the mug of coffee Hally had not noticed before. Strangely what came to her mind then, was that the drink must be very cold by now. Since he quickly put the mug back down she assumed she was right; and a giggle tried to bubble up out of her. She held it back, knowing it would be totally inappropriate. Mum seemed to sense this and patting her daughter’s hand said.

“Why don’t I go and get some fresh hot drinks for everyone.”

Dad nodded and took her place on the sofa taking Hally’s hand in his big warm one. This had a wonderful calming effect on her. For a short while they were all silent, waiting for mum to return with the drinks.

“What I don’t understand is what this has got to do with me. I mean why are you here telling me?”

Hally asked, and was relieved to find her voice was now normal. Mum came back into the room with a tray and placed it on a small table. She handed Hally hers first, then began passing out drinks to the others. PC Duston sipped his now steaming coffee then replied to her question.

“We found a mobile number written in marker pen on a calendar. We thought it was Dana’s mother, but when we checked it was registered to you.” He paused to sip more coffee then added as though an after thought. “We don’t know how to contact her mother.”

Without even thinking about it, Hally jumped in with.

“You won’t be able to. She’s somewhere in America. She left Dana by herself and went off with a man.”

Everyone looked at Hally, surprise on their faces. Mum spoke before anyone else.

“Hally, how do you know this? Dana is not one of your friends.”

Hally took a deep breath and a large gulp of her drink which burned her tongue, but she ignored this and said.

“Oh I wish I had said something earlier. I so wanted to, I wanted to tell social services, or you (she looked at her mother) so you could; but I promised her I wouldn’t. She was so scared they would put her in foster care again, and…and (tears began to flow down her cheeks) she was going to be sixteen soon.”

She broke down into sobs, her body shaking with shock and guilt and a sadness she couldn’t comprehend. Dad squeezed her hand gently.

“Hally, honey; I think you had better tell us everything.”

He said.

For the next hour Hally told them everything that had happened from when the three decided to confront Dana, to when they went to her house and how Dana had finally stopped bullying her. She told them about the time in the Hotspot when Dana had flown at Penny and how she had put her out of her mind over the holidays. She was too shy to explain that her knew relationship with Wes was the cause of this, but a quick glance in his direction confirmed to all that this was the case. She explained about the picnic and how the note had been left for her at the Hotspot and a nod from Wes confirmed this too. She finally finished by saying.

“But, I had absolutely no idea what she meant by it. Ask Corrinne and Clia, they’ll tell you. That’s the truth.”

Tears began to well up again as she turned to her father.

“Daddy is this my fault? Could I have stopped her?”

Wes relinquished his hold on her as dad pulled her into his arms and held her whilst she cried.

“No my angel Tinkerbell; nothing about this is your fault. The girl had problems, huge ones by the sound of things. No wonder she felt there was no where else to go. If anything you tried to help her, but she chose not to accept that help. That’s right, isn’t it PC Duston?”

The constable nodded and realising Hally was too distressed to notice this cleared his throat and spoke.

“Your dad is quite right Hally. I’m so sorry you had to be put through this, but we had to find out. I think I have all I need here so I’m going to leave you with your parents and boyfriend. I have to take this note, (Hally looked up with fear in her eyes) it’s ok, not because of you, but the coroner will need it. Well I won’t go into any more detail.”

He stopped talking. Hally thought she had missed something but couldn’t work out what; but at that point she didn’t think she could cope with anything else so she didn’t ask any more questions. Instead she stayed snuggled in her father’s comforting arms whilst mum saw PC Duston to the door.