Chapter 53: The Sin Of The Parent, Part 8, Forty-Two Years Ago

"I don't want to go," wails the little girl. "I want to stay with Daddy." She rubs at her eyes. "Why do I have to go?"

"Because you're coming with Mommy, Sweetie. We're going to stay with Aunty Alice."

"But why do we have to go?"

*****

"Here you are, Shelley, you can sleep in here."

The woman turns on the lights to what was a spare room. A bed has been made up and there is some attempt to make the room into a welcoming place for a little girl, with comic books and borrowed toys on a table. Some second-hand child-sized furniture, the bright plastic worn to grey at the edges, is set out on a brightly coloured rug. "Mummy will be sleeping just next door, and...."

"I want my room," weeps the little girl. "I want Daddy. I want my friends."

"You'll make new friends really quickly. You'll see." Aunty Alice squats down, bringing her face level with Shelley's. "We'll take you to your new school tomorrow. Abigail from next door's coming with us. She's so excited about meeting you."