Forgive Me (53 page)

Once out of the pool of light from the porch
lamp he saw it was both of them. Andrew had Sophie pinned down on the ground. Her legs
were moving but she was silent.

‘Get off her, you bastard,’ Ben
roared out, and forced himself to run even faster despite the pain in his groin. Andrew
looked round at him for a second, his face just a white blur. Ben could now see he was
pressing Sophie down by the throat.

Ben hurled himself forward, brandishing the
boot scraper. Once he was close enough, he brought it down hard on Andrew’s head.
He heard a scrunching noise and a gasp, and Andrew toppled to one side, across
Sophie’s body.

Pushing him off his sister, Ben picked
Sophie up in his arms and ran back to the house with her. He kicked the front door shut,
laid her on the hall floor and grabbed the phone to dial 999. While he told the operator
the address he knelt beside Sophie. He could see the vivid marks on her neck
where Andrew had tried to throttle her, and he knew that if he
hadn’t got there when he did, she would have died.

‘My father tried to kill my
sister,’ he cried out to the operator, tears running down his face and his heart
thumping like a steam hammer. ‘He’s in the front garden. I hit him very
hard, he might even be dead. But I had to stop him.’

He heard the operator repeat his address.
She calmly asked him how Sophie was, and where she was now. ‘I brought her into
the house. She’s breathing, but only just. Please get here quickly.’

The phone ringing at eight in the morning
woke Eva. She had stirred when Phil got up for work at seven, but went back to sleep
again as she had the day off. She thought the call was going to be from Horace, to ask
if she could come into work because someone hadn’t turned up. But instead it was
DI Turner.

‘I’m sorry to call you so early
in the morning,’ he said. ‘I wanted to catch you before you left for work.
There was an incident last night at your old home in Cheltenham, and I felt you should
know about it. I don’t want to discuss it over the phone. Can I pop round
now?’

‘Yes, of course. But what do you mean
by “incident”?’ she asked, suddenly wide awake. ‘Is it Sophie?
Is she in trouble?’

‘I’ll explain when I get
there,’ he said. ‘Ten minutes at most.’

Eva rushed to wash and dress. Her mind was
working overtime, imagining what could have happened.

What had Sophie done? And why were the
police informing her?

Half an hour later, Eva was crying. Turner
was trying to convince her that the ‘incident’ in Cheltenham, which
he’d explained, was not her fault.

Sophie had been admitted to hospital. Turner
said she was in no danger now, but she was traumatized and needed to be kept under
observation. Ben had been checked out at the hospital too. Although he was battered and
sore, he was just relieved Sophie was alive.

Andrew, however, was in a coma. The heavy
object Ben had hit him with may have caused permanent brain damage, but as yet the
medical staff were unable to say more.

Turner hadn’t yet got the full story.
The information that had been passed on to him from the local police was that Ben and
Sophie had a row with their father. Sophie said she was going to tell the police he
wasn’t home the night of the fire in London. Ben tried to stop his father from
strangling her by hitting him with a heavy object, and it was he who then called the
emergency services.

‘How can it be your fault?’
Turner asked.

‘I sent Ben copies of Flora’s
statement,’ she sobbed out. ‘He must have done what I asked and showed it to
Sophie. Then they went together to have it out with Andrew. I should’ve warned
them not to be too hasty. But I never thought Andrew would hurt them. Why did
he?’

‘Well, that’s for the Cheltenham
police to uncover,’ Turner said. ‘But it seems to me that your stepfather is
trying to keep the lid on something more. This isn’t just about not blowing the
whistle on Flora snatching you, or even abusing her.’

Eva was too upset to be intrigued by his
remarks. ‘What will Sophie do now? She can’t live there on her own,
she’s too young.’

Turner put one hand on her shoulder to
comfort her. ‘She is eighteen, Eva, not a child. But I tell you what, I’ll
phone Cheltenham Police Station and ask them to get your brother to ring you.’

Eva spent the day like a coiled spring,
waiting and hoping
that the phone would ring. She wanted to go to
Cheltenham. But not knowing what kind of reception she’d get, she didn’t
dare. She hoped Phil would phone her, so she could tell him about it. But she was
frightened of that too, because he’d said she shouldn’t give them
Flora’s statement.

Last night had been almost like the old
times. When they got home from the restaurant in Chiswick they’d made love for the
first time in weeks, and Phil had been so loving and tender. She actually believed that
she’d turned a corner and things would get back to how they’d been before
the fire.

To fill the time she spring-cleaned the flat
– even the windows and inside the oven. Then, at four o’clock, finally the phone
rang.

She rushed to snatch it up. It was Ben.

‘Oh, thank goodness! I’ve been
worrying all day,’ she blurted out. ‘I’m blaming myself for sending
you that stuff. How are you? Were you badly hurt? And what about Sophie?’

‘One thing at a time,’ he said,
and he sounded bone weary. ‘I’ve got a real shiner, a broken tooth and I
feel sore where he kneed me in the groin. But I’ll live. Sophie was bad last
night. Dad tried to strangle her, and if I hadn’t hit him over the head he
would’ve killed her –’

He broke off for a moment, and Eva guessed
he had been overcome by the memory. ‘It’s OK, Ben. Take your time,’
she said. Then she sat down, because her legs were shaking.

‘I’ve never been so scared. It
was awful. Dad punched and kneed me first, and I think I was knocked out for a moment.
When I came to, I ran out into the front garden and saw he had Sophie pinned down on the
grass with his hands around her neck.’

‘Oh, Ben, how terrible for you both!
Can you tell me more about how Sophie is now?’

‘She was unconscious when the
ambulance arrived, but
she came round in hospital. Her neck looks
terrible, but she’s recovering now.’

‘Thank God for that!’ Eva
exclaimed. She wanted to know every detail – where they were in the house, what was
said, everything – but she knew it wasn’t appropriate now. ‘I never thought
he’d harm either of you.’

‘Until this happened I couldn’t
really believe he’d hurt anyone. But he was like a savage animal,’ Ben said,
his voice thickening with emotion. ‘Anyway, I’ve been with Sophie all
afternoon. She’s doing her drama queen act of course. But she’s entitled to,
after what she went through. She said to phone you. And one of the police officers said
it too.’

‘She wanted you to phone
me?’

‘Yes. Well, I wanted to anyway. We
both need you, Eva.’

He was crying as he spoke. Although Eva
thought it was the nicest thing he’d ever said to her, her eyes welled up; she
couldn’t delight in it under these circumstances. ‘I’ll be there, Ben.
I’ll leave right now. I sold my car, so I’ll have to come by train. Where
will you be? At the hospital?’

‘Yes, I don’t want to go back to
the house on my own.’

‘No, of course not. I should be there
by nine.’

‘Bye then, and I’m
sorry.’

‘Sorry for what?’ she asked.

‘For not believing you. We both
are.’

‘None of that matters now. You know
I’ve always loved you both.’

Eva had flung a few things in an overnight
bag, and was just writing a note for Phil when he came in.

‘Leaving me?’ he said, half
serious.

She explained in a hurry.

‘Bloody hell!’ he exclaimed.
‘Those poor kids.’

‘It’s all my fault. You were
right – I shouldn’t have sent them that statement. That’s what’s done
this. And I didn’t
even tell you I’d sent it. But
I’ve got to go. Ben can’t be on his own overnight.’

He put his arms around her and held her
tight for a moment. ‘I’ll drive you there in the van. I can’t stay
with you – I’ve got a rush job at work – but at least we can talk on the
way.’

She leaned into his chest, finding comfort
in his calm manner. ‘I expected you to say “I told you so”,’ she
whispered. ‘I should’ve listened to you. But thank you for not saying it,
and for being so nice.’

He lifted her face up and kissed her nose.
‘Things are bad enough without me adding to them. Now, if you’ll make me a
couple of sandwiches while I have a quick shower and change, we can leave in ten
minutes.’

They arrived at the hospital just after
eight. Visiting time was over, and Ben was in the waiting room. He looked terrible; his
eye was closed over and very swollen.

Eva introduced him to Phil.

‘I’d have liked to meet you
under better circumstances,’ Phil said. ‘But if there’s anything I can
do to help you and Sophie, just ask. Now, let me take you home. You look dead on your
feet. And when Sophie is discharged, if she wants to come and stay with Eva and me,
she’ll be very welcome – as you will be too.’

‘Thanks, Phil.’ Ben tried to
smile, but his eyes were brimming with tears. ‘I’m really glad Eva’s
got you in her corner.’

The police had been at The Beeches all day,
making a thorough search of the place, and a couple of them were still there when they
got back. They left shortly afterwards, but told Ben to stay out of his father’s
study and bedroom, also the sitting room and dining room, until they’d completed
their investigation.

Phil stayed only long enough for a cup of tea,
and to see Ben into bed. As he kissed Eva goodbye he advised her to sleep in the other
bed in Ben’s room. ‘He might have a nightmare tonight. And if he does,
you’ll be right there. Tell him how proud you are of him for defending Sophie and
saving her life. I expect his feelings are very mixed up – no boy ever expects to have
to fight off his own father.’

She looked up at his face, which was
wreathed in concern, and felt bad that she’d been nothing but trouble for him. He
was such a good man; he deserved better than a girlfriend who lurched from one crisis to
another.

After he’d gone she went back upstairs
to check on Ben. He was fast asleep already – which was hardly surprising after not
getting any sleep the previous night, and so much stress today. The other bed was
already made up; it was a little reminder of when Ben and Sophie were small. They used
to share the room then, because they didn’t like being alone, and the bed had
remained in here. She tucked the duvet around him more firmly and lightly kissed his
forehead, struggling not to cry.

She went back down to the kitchen and washed
up the cups. It felt very strange, being back in the house – creepily strange. So quiet,
so large and empty. She had never imagined that it would feel so alien, and even
hostile, when it had been her home for as long as she could remember.

Ben had said on the way home from hospital
that he’d refused to see Andrew in intensive care, and he was never going to. It
was obvious that he was freaked out by opposing feelings. On the one hand, he was
shocked to find he was capable of hitting someone so hard, and felt an enormous amount
of guilt that Andrew might never recover. Yet on the other hand, he was also still full
of anger that the father he had loved and looked up to had tried to kill Sophie.

Phil had been good with him; when they got
back to the house he gave Ben a man hug and said he’d done the right thing.
‘Your instinct was right – to save your sister at any cost. Don’t be ashamed
of that, because it was very brave. It won’t be easy to come to terms with what
your dad has done, but you’ve got nothing to feel guilty about.’

But what was going to become of Sophie now?
Ben would of course go back to university. He’d spent enough time away from home
during the last year to adjust to taking care of himself. But Sophie needed a real home
with supervision; after this attack she was likely to feel very insecure for some
time.

And what would happen to this house? If
Andrew remained in a coma, would it even be possible to sell it without his agreement?
If he recovered and was sent to prison – what then? Sophie couldn’t live in the
house alone or take care of it. But without anyone living there, it would fall into
disrepair.

‘No point in worrying about that
now,’ she said aloud, and her words seemed to echo eerily. The house didn’t
look as well cared for now as it had when Flora was alive: she saw there were
fingermarks on the cupboards and doors, the skirting boards were dirty, and when she
opened the oven she saw it hadn’t been cleaned for a long time, perhaps not since
she last cleaned it.

Was Rose still coming in? If she was, she
wasn’t doing a very good job.

She wandered back into the hall.
Sophie’s holdall from the weekend in Leeds was still there, and there were traces
of grass on the carpet that had perhaps been brought in on Ben’s shoes when he
carried Sophie back in here.

Looking up at the skylight above the stairs,
she could see stars in the night sky. She remembered she used to sit on the
stairs as a little girl and look up at them, imagining angels lived
on them. She thought Flora must have told her that.

‘If you’re there, Mum,’
she whispered, ‘help us through this. I don’t know what to do.’

When Eva walked into the hospital ward to
see Sophie the next day, she wasn’t prepared for the rush of emotion she
experienced on seeing her sister after such a long time.

In a hospital gown, and wearing no make-up,
she looked closer to fifteen than eighteen. When she saw Eva she held out her arms, like
a small child wanting to be picked up.

Eva ran the last few yards to her and hugged
her tight to her chest. ‘Poor baby,’ she murmured. ‘I’m so
sorry.’