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Chapter 49: The Sin Of The Parent, Part 4, The Past Emerges
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Charlotte's Search Chapter 50: The Sin Of The Parent, Part 5, Forty-Two Years Ago
It's a nice house, a pretty house. Neat lawns to the front, edged by well-kept borders, lead to a pleasant avenue. To the rear is a large fenced area, the grass a little rough but short enough to kick a football around. A child's swing hanging from the branches of an old apple tree and a rug is laid out nearby with a child's tea-set arranged around the edges, each plastic cup and saucer next to a teddy bear, or a doll or a soft toy. A line stretches over the grass bearing sheets and pillow slips that billow and blow in the light breezeInside the house, it is equally pleasant. The walls are painted in a pale, fresh shade, dotted with prints and pictures, family photos, and here and there, framed displays of butterflies, dragonflies and beetles. Drapes flutter by windows opened to let in sun and air, carpets are clean, and surfaces wiped or dusted. By the front door, a collection of boots, shoes and trainers in various sizes is neatly stacked on a rack. In the utility, clothes tumble
Charlotte's Search Chapter 51: The Sin Of The Parent, Part 6, Forty-Two Years Ago
"Please, Mr Kimberley, sit down." Abe Goldman offers him a seat, his expression neutral. "I asked you to call by today to discuss your position with the bank."Al fiddles with his pen. "Yes, I know I'm a little late with the payments, but I'll have caught up by the end of next month. Everything's under control.""You're sure of that? The fact is that you are not 'just a little late'. You have missed two monthly payments and the next would be due at the end of the week. Are you saying that you will have made good the deficit by the end of next week?""Um, no, but by the end of next month, definitely."Goldman's expression remains bland. "Can you explain to me how you come to be late with the payments? When the bank forwarded the funds to you, you were quite positive that you could handle the repayments."Al shifts in his seat. "Oh, some unexpected expenses. You know how it is. We had some storm damage to the roof, and then Shelley, my daughter, she needs school uniform and....
Charlotte's Search Chapter 52: The Sin Of The Parent, Part 7, Her Master's Comfort
CHARLOTTEI pour myself a glass of wine. I don't generally drink during the day, but I'm jittery."Charlotte are you alright?" It is my Master, watching me from the doorway of the kitchen."Yes, I'm fine, just a bit nervous I suppose, wondering what Beth is going to learn." Holding up the bottle, "Would you like some?""I will yes." He moves to stand beside me as I pour another glass. "You shouldn't be nervous. Whatever Beth comes back with, will tell us something.""What if they still won't talk to her?"He lays his hand on my arm. "Then there will be another way of finding your mother." His skin is cool on mine. He casts a sharp look down to where he touches me, then his eyes rise again, soft on me. "You are nervous...." The palm of his hand slides over my arm....Testing me...?".... You shouldn't be," he repeats. "But I do understand how much this means to you." He takes one of the glasses, presses it into my hand. "Drink some of your wine." He takes the other, sipp
Charlotte's Search 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.
Charlotte's Search Chapter 54: The Sin Of The Parent, Part 9, Ben
MICHAELAn hour later, we've made good progress. My brother is a strapping figure, and between us we have made short work of the mess of brambles, thorns and aggressive undergrowth."Time for a break," I say, mopping at my forehead.Something delicious wafts by, and my nose turns the rest of me bodily around to follow the source."I thought you gentlemen might enjoy a break from all that." It's Sally, carrying two trays of something enormous. She passes one to me with a smile; the other to Ben, giving him a cool look as she does so. Sausage, bacon and eggs all in a bread bun big enough to play frisbee with. And two beer cans dripping condensation.I love a woman who understands men...."Ah, Sal. That's perfect. Thanks.""Anytime, Michael. I'll send someone out for the plates in a while."The gargantuan sandwich clutched in both hands, I take a huge bite, hastily wiping at my mouth as a yolk bursts, back-splashing me with yellow gunge.It's delicious and just what I'm
Charlotte's Search Chapter 55: The Sin Of The Parent, Part 10, Tutoring Charlotte
JAMESCarrying a tray with tea all round, I find Michael and Ben in the back 'garden'. A great swathe has been cut through the tangle of briars. Both are hot and sweaty.Ben scowls as he sees me, but Michael brightens, taking a mug from the tray. "Ah great, thanks, James."Ben nods, barely polite, but takes a mug anyway.I glance up at the sun, beginning to beat through the last traces of the morning mist. "Perhaps I should have brought something cold.""Nah...." Michael waves a beer can at me. "Just had one. Not a good idea to have another while we're still waving machetes and axes around.""Have you seen Charlotte?"Michael nods back to the house. "In her room, I expect. She said something about revision for her exams."So, I go in search of my mermaid.Not in her study....She should be working. Exams next week....Where is she?She's nowhere in the house, so I wander back outside, bypassing Michael and his sour-faced brother.I don't see her at first, but
Charlotte's Search Chapter 56: The Sin Of The Parent, Part 11, Love in The Grass
CHARLOTTENaked from the waist, I lie there, curving my arms over my head, displaying myself in the way I know he likes. For long seconds he sits, simply looking at me, his lean features gentle, the breeze ruffling his dark hair a little."I want to see all of you." His fingers tug at my buckle, easing leather from steel. The zipper rasps down, then double-handedly, he tugs at my jeans, hooking fingers into my panties as he does so, taking them too. Arching up on bare soles, I lift my hips and my clothes pull away, leaving me naked for my Master.Again, I stretch, presenting myself, pulling my waist taut. Lifting my hips and one knee a shade, I ease a thigh just a little open. Not wide, but enough to suggest........ To invite....He sits upright beside me, blinking slowly as he looks down the length of my body. One hand strokes me; from my stomach, curving over waist and breast to where the nipple nubs in the slight coolth of the breeze. With thumb and forefinger, he picks
Charlotte's Search Chapter 57: The Sin Of The Parent, Part 12, Forty-One Years Ago
The phone rings and Al stares at it listlessly. It could be the most uninteresting thing in the world.Relentlessly, it rings, the sound echoing from the walls of the shabby apartment.Taking a long breath, he stands, moving to the phone. He moves slowly, the clothes hanging from him."Al?""Eve?" He comes alive. "Eve? Oh, thank God. At last...."Her voice is flat. "Al, I've not called to have a conversation with you. I've called about Shelley. This isn't working. I can't cope with it anymore. She misses you and the boys and her friends too much. She wants to come back to you....""Of course she can come back. Eve.... Are you going to....?""No.... Will you take her?"*****"We'll make it work, Dad. Don't worry." David claps his father on the shoulder, looking nervous but determined. "Stephen and I both want her here. We'll do everything we can to help...." He turns to his brother. ".... Won't we?"Stephen nods decisively, a solid, comforting presence. "Absolutely.
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