The Broken Man Part 12

'Well, at least he seemed to have done right by you.' Sally had been taken aback by what she'd learned. Her quiet, una.s.suming friend, who most times had little to say, had poured out her heart and soul. She had confided her extraordinary and shocking past, and now those awful times, and her suffering, were clearly evident in her face.

For a moment, Anne spoke not a word. Instead, she sat fidgeting, her head turned away to look out through the car window.

When Sally looked up, she was deeply moved to see tears flowing down Anne's face.

Instinctively, she wrapped her arms round Anne's small shoulders. 'What you've told me won't go any further,' she promised. 'But what happened between you and Edward? The fact that you're on your own now must mean it didn't work out. Am I right? Is that the way it was?'

When Anne merely nodded, Sally went on, 'As far as I can see, you've had a hard time of it. Up to Edward marrying you, there was never anyone there to help you ... except later, when your aunt Ada took you in. But you've got me now, and I'll always be here for you, but I'm sorry things didn't work out with the marriage, Anne, I really am.'

Hugging Anne closer, she asked, 'You take it easy now. I'll drive from here, and when we get back, I want you to come and stay with me for a while. OK?' In the back of her mind, she suspected she had not yet heard the whole story.

Anne, however, was reluctant to leave just yet. 'Please, Sally, I need to tell you everything.' Drawing from Sally's embrace, Anne continued, 'Edward Carter was not the man I believed him to be. He was a spiteful bully. He beat me often, sometimes for no other reason than that he'd lost a good client, or a lucrative hotel-booking had been cancelled at the last minute. Sometimes he beat me so I could hardly walk. When I was eight months pregnant, he came home from a night out. He'd lost a great deal of money gambling. He was in a foul mood and so drunk he could hardly stand up. He was looking for a fight, and things turned nasty. It was awful, Sally ... I really thought he would kill me.'

Realizing that Anne was badly shaken, Sally held onto her. 'Don't think about it, Anne. You shouldn't be on your own tonight. Please, come and stay with me and Mick, for as long as you like.'

Anne graciously declined the offer. 'I'll be fine, honest. At least I know I'm safe now. Edward Carter is long gone. He can't hurt me any more.'

'Is it helping you to talk about it, I mean?'

'Oh, Sally! You can't know how long I've wanted to tell you, only I'm so ashamed, I thought you wouldn't want to know me any more.'

'Huh! If I couldn't share your troubles, what kind of a friend would that make me?' She gave Anne a friendly little push. 'You might as well go on, now that you know we understand each other.'

'He hurt me so much that night, Sally. I lost the baby.' Anne fell silent, and for a moment she could hardly breathe. Then, in an almost inaudible voice, she went on, 'Edward Carter killed our baby. At the hospital, they induced me into labour, and I had to give birth.'

The trauma of seeing the baby afterwards was too awful a memory. 'I'm sorry.' At first, she tried not to cry, but then the tears flowed and her heart broke. 'I will never forgive him, Sally. For as long as I live ... I will never forgive him!'

For a seemingly long time, Sally held her while she cried. And, though silently, Sally cried with her.

After a time, Anne drew away. Her voice was breaking as she continued, 'Afterwards, they brought him to me ... so tiny ... a perfect little man.' She gave a m.u.f.fled laugh. 'He had a look of my mother ... his grumpy face and that tuft of hair on his head.'

Relieved that for the first time, Anne was able to pour out her heart and soul, Sally urged her to go on.

Anne told her, 'After they took him away, the chaplain came to see me. He said they were bringing in Social Services, because I'd been beaten up. They had pictures of my broken fingers and the bruises all over my body. They said the police had also been informed and would want to ask me some questions.' In her mind, she relived the moment. 'I was frightened they might blame me.'

'So, what did the police say?' Sally asked gently.

Anne shrugged. 'I didn't wait to find out. After the nurses had treated my injuries and settled me down, I waited until they were out of sight, then I scrambled my clothes on, and got as far away from the hospital as I could. I planned to make my way down to Aunt Ada. Edward knew of her existence, but he had never met her, or asked about her. As far as I know, he had no idea where she lived, except it was down south somewhere.'

'So, you made your way down here, knowing you should be safe?'

'Yes. It was my only chance. My parents had disowned me; I had no friends who could help, so the only person I could turn to was Aunt Ada. I thought I'd be safe with her ... if she didn't mind taking me in. The trouble was, I hadn't seen her in such a long time, I had no idea if I'd be welcome.'

She gave a warm smile. 'I should never have doubted her, because she welcomed me with open arms.'

Sally listened quietly; at times shaking her head and other times shedding a tear.

The longer she talked, the more Anne relaxed. 'When I got there, I was exhausted and close to collapse. Aunt Ada took it all in her stride. She put me to bed, then she sat beside me, holding my hand. When I said I had some bad things to tell her, she said it could wait until I was rested. She rea.s.sured me that after I'd had a good long sleep, I could tell her, or not tell her, whichever I felt comfortable with. Either way, she would be there for me, and would nurse me back to health. And that's exactly what she did.'

Sally had met the old woman on only a couple of occasions. 'That was a wonderful thing for her to do, but that's what friends are for. Even so, as a young girl in need, you should have been able to turn to your parents.'

Anne nodded sadly. 'I know,' she murmured, 'but my parents were the last people I could turn to, and to tell the truth, I do understand now. They had me too late in life and it was all too much. Aunt Ada, though, was wonderful! I told her everything: how my parents had turned me out of the house; about Edward Carter, and the spiteful beatings.' Her voice broke. 'I told her about the baby, too, and we cried together. I felt so very sad.'

'What did your aunt say you should do?'

'She said I ought to report him to the police and tell them everything; that it wasn't too late. But she didn't know Edward like I did. If I had reported him, the police would have tracked me down, and then he would have got to me somehow. He would have killed me without a second thought. I know it, Sally. I know it!'

Sally reminded her, 'They would have questioned him anyway, what with the bruises on you, and the baby ... and everything.'

'Aunt Ada said that, but I know Edward. He would have wormed his way out of it, somehow or another. He probably blamed me. I wouldn't put it past him.'

'Anyway, thankfully he never did find you, did he? And thanks to Aunt Ada, you now have a whole new life.'

'That's true.' Anne smiled at Sally. 'And I have the best friend in you.' Talking to Sally was as though a great weight had fallen from her shoulders.

For a time, the two of them sat holding each other and thinking of the bad times.

After a while, Sally asked, 'Anne, you don't have to answer this, but something has just occurred to me. How did you divorce Edward Carter, without him somehow discovering where you were?'

'I never did divorce him.'

'Oh, my Lord, why not?'

'For the very reason you just mentioned: because I was afraid that if I applied for a divorce, I would have been found. He would know where I was, and I could not risk that.'

'But doesn't that mean you are technically still his wife?'

'I suppose I must be. I've never really thought about it and, thankfully, no one has ever served me with official papers, but I don't care. I don't want anyone lawyers or police, or anyone else to find out where I am.'

'Oh, Anne, you must find someone who can help you. Otherwise you'll never be free of that monster. Neither of you will ever be able to move on with your lives.'

'I don't care about that!'

'But what if you find someone in the future? There might come a day when you want to get married. But you won't be able to.'

'I will never again want to get married.'

'All right then. But if you truly want to be rid of him, you need to find a discreet lawyer and tell him everything. He'll be able to free you from Edward Carter once and for all. I'll help you, Anne. I'll do all I can to help you, I promise.'

'No!'

'But maybe there's a way in which they can protect your address, so he can never find you.'

Growing fearful, Anne drew away. 'No! I won't do it. Please, Sally, don't ask me to. You can't know what he's like. He's unhinged.'

Sally urged her to think about it all the same.

'I won't ever let myself get drawn into another deep relations.h.i.+p. It's too frighening,' Anne said.

'Anne, listen to me for a minute, please-'

'You're wasting your time. Please, Sally, don't make me wish I'd never told you.'

Undaunted, Sally had one more try. 'If you don't go to the police and tell them what he did to you, who's to say he might not do the same to some other poor, unsuspecting woman? What if he was to hurt her, like he hurt you?'

'It would not happen.'

'But, how can you know that?'

'Because I know I was partly to blame. I was just a stupid, naive young girl who could not handle a deep relations.h.i.+p like that. I didn't know how to deal with his moods. I was too easily bullied ... too afraid. No other woman would ever be so gullible. No woman would ever let him hurt her like he hurt me. She would stand up to him, protect herself, or tell someone.' Her voice dipped. 'Only I had no one to tell.'

Glancing about nervously, she suddenly drew closer to Sally. 'I thought I saw him,' she whispered huskily.

'Who?' Sally was taken by surprise.

'Him! Edward Carter!'

'When?'

'This very morning, when I was leaving home. I saw this man, and for one awful minute, I could have sworn it was him!'

'It wasn't, though ... was it?'

'At first I was sure it was him. He was walking close to the house. I'd never seen him before, but at first glance he looked uncannily like Edward ... same build. Same dark hair. But then I realised that Edward is older now, so the stranger could not have been him. He couldn't, could he?'

Sally calmed her. 'No, of course not. Can't you see, he's haunting you, Anne. This is why you need to punish him for what he did to you and the baby. Trust me, Anne. You really must take legal steps. Divorce him. Close that episode of your life and stop being afraid.'

'No! You don't understand. If I stir things up now, he will never stop until he's found me. I know him. I know what he's capable of.'

Growing nervous even at the possibility that Edward might somehow find her, she started the car. 'We'd best make tracks.' She grabbed Sally's hand. 'I'm really grateful for you listening to me. You can't know how hard it's been, living with the truth, and not being able to tell anyone.'

Thrusting the engine into gear, she moved the car out of the side street and onto the main road.

As they headed further into Bedford, neither Sally nor Anne spoke a word.

And then out of the blue, Anne confessed, 'The odd thing is, even though he was cruel and he hurt me badly, I never hated him.' She took a long breath before finis.h.i.+ng. 'Until he killed my baby.'

Sally made no comment, but when she noticed a solitary tear rolling down Anne's face, she reached out and squeezed her hand, to rea.s.sure her that she was not alone any more.

And the gesture was enough.

CHAPTER SEVEN.

HAVING ARRIVED AT Sally's house, Anne drew up to the kerb. 'I'll see you on Monday then?' She waited for Sally to climb out of the car.

'Wait a minute!' Sally had noticed that her husband's car was not in its usual parking s.p.a.ce. 'It looks like Mick's not home yet. He said he was popping in to see his mum on the way from work, so how about I come back with you? Afterwards, I'll get the bus to Mick's mum's, and drive home with him.' She gave Anne a way out: 'Or have you had enough of me for today?'

Still reeling from the shocking things Anne had confided in her, Sally was concerned about her being on her own just now.

Anne, though, was receptive to Sally's idea. 'OK, that'll be nice.'

'Good!' Sally slid back into her seat, a little smile of satisfaction curling the corners of her mouth.

Edward Carter was quietly congratulating himself. After learning as much as he could from the old geezers in the pub, he impatiently bided his time while hiding in a derelict builder's yard.

The day had seemed a lifetime long. Twice he'd returned to the house on Roff Avenue, but each time there were no signs of life. Then there was that officious-looking bobby, constantly patrolling the streets, and seeming to peek into every little hidey-hole, presumably looking for the man he saw lurking about earlier.

So, remaining wary of the bobby, Carter watched and waited. When she got back, he would be ready for her.

Yet again, he cautiously emerged from his hiding place. Snaking his way through the maze of back alleys and less inhabited places, he made his way back to the house. 'You've been a thorn in my side for too many years,' he muttered insanely. 'You moved far away, but you should have known I'd find you eventually, and now that I have, we need to finish it, once and for all.'

A short time later, unaware that he was lurking out the back, Anne slid the key into the front-door lock and stepped back for Sally to enter.

'You put the kettle on,' she said, 'I'll call the cat in. Little devil! She ran off again this morning, before I could feed her. I've no idea where she goes.'

Sally chuckled. 'Leave her alone. I expect she's got a boyfriend.'

While Anne rushed ahead, Sally followed her down the pa.s.sageway and through to the kitchen, where she placed her handbag on the windowsill.

Making a small bowl of meaty t.i.tbits, Anne then threw open the back door. 'Pusscat! Come and get your feed ... come on, I won't call you again!'

Meantime, Sally busied herself making the tea. 'Milk, and one sugar, isn't it?' she called out.

'Please.' Anne returned with the bowl of food. 'I expect she'll come back when she's ready. I would leave her food out, but stray cats will wolf it down.' She covered the bowl with a plate and put it inside the sink cupboard.

'Come on then, let's you and me have our tea in the front room, eh?' She placed a packet of gingerbreads and two cups of steaming tea onto the tray, and made her way to the front room.

Anne padded happily along behind her. 'Sounds good to me.'

As they left the kitchen, not for one moment did they realise that they were being watched.

A short time later, Sally threw her coat on, jingling the change in her pockets. 'I'll ring you when I get to Mick's mum's house.' She gave Anne a parting hug, 'Thanks for a smas.h.i.+ng day out.'

'Thanks for listening to my troubles.'

'Ah, but don't you remember what I said: that's what friends are for?'

'I know.'

'Listen, Anne, about doing something to end the marriage ... you will think about it, won't you? You never know, maybe you're already free, but you just don't know it. I have heard that they can declare a marriage null and void in certain circ.u.mstances, but I'm not sure.'