The Cold Cold Sea (30 page)

Hailey was fine? But hadn’t it been Hailey’s funeral? If only she could remember what had happened.

They’d been at the beach, no, they’d been at school, yes at school, and then Phillip had taken them to a restaurant. Had that all been today?

It took another monumental effort because her mind was going fuzzy round the edges, but she managed to speak quite clearly. ‘Bring me my baby. Now.’

Nobody answered. Hadn’t she spoken aloud? The beeping sound was closer now and Jennifer felt her bed shift, but the pain didn’t come back and she was able to open her eyes again. The monitor was beside her on the trolley now and a man was pulling her towards the door. She tried to scream but no sound came.

The nurse bent over her, a dark blob against the light.

‘Time for your scan, Jennifer. Don’t worry about your family. They’ll be fine.’

The ceiling was moving and Jennifer realised they were taking her away from the doctor called John. Another pain stabbed into her, a new one, on her left side this time and now she felt sick too. This pain stretched from her shoulder right through her middle and into her leg. But she had to see if Hailey was okay, and Phillip...

The beeping beside her head was faster now and the voices were further away. The trolley jerked and moved abruptly in the opposite direction.

‘BP’s way down! She’s going to crash... Get her back in there, that’s an internal bleed, her spleen - ’

She was back under the lights again. Jennifer felt the fuzziness return.

‘Lavage, Viv. And someone phone theatre.’

Jennifer felt herself retreat into her head. It was peaceful here and the pain was gone. Whatever they were doing it was helping the pain. Maybe they’d let her see Hailey afterwards. But Hailey was gone... in a little white casket... her baby had died... her baby...

What had she done?

For a moment sheer terror consumed her, and then a new kind of calmness swept over Jennifer and she found that she could no longer move. Everything was going to be alright, she felt that quite clearly. But it was cold now and the commotion of the hospital had disappeared. The world was getting smaller... It was so cold here. It was as if she was floating in white water, just floating, and then suddenly, everything was gone.

Katie deposited an armful of plastic bags on her sofa, and sank down beside them. An afternoon shopping for clothes was more tiring than a whole day’s teaching, she thought ruefully. The shops in Newquay had been packed with early Christmas shoppers all fighting for bargains while Katie was searching for an outfit for tonight’s celebration. Mark was coming home.

He was flying down late that afternoon, and she planned to meet him at the airport. They would come back here for dinner and it was all going to be perfect. Katie shook out her new clothes. Those black linen trousers were a terrific fit, and the cream silk top might have been made especially for her. She had wanted something special, and thankfully she had found it.

A smile pulled at her lips. She had missed Mark. Missed his company more than she thought she would, and she wanted to savour every minute of the evening ahead. She’d have a bath and a face pack, but first she needed a coffee.

The phone rang while she was waiting for the machine to produce an espresso, and she frowned. Hopefully this wasn’t Mark to say his flight had been delayed.

But it was a woman’s voice that greeted her.

‘Oh Miss McLure, good. We’ve been trying to get hold of you. I’m Adele Morrison, senior social worker at Newquay General Hospital. There’s been an accident and I’m sorry to say a little girl from your school class was involved, Libby Marshall. She’s not hurt but her parents are both badly injured and Libby’s very shaken. Yours was the only name she could give us. Do you know if there are any relatives nearby we could contact? Or could you come down? Libby needs someone here for her.’

Katie’s mind was reeling.

‘Marshall? Do you mean Hailey Marshall? Small, thin, very short brown hair?’

‘That’s her. She told the paramedic her name was Libby.’

‘No, it’s Hailey, oh poor thing. I’ll come straightaway. I don’t think there are any relatives around here. And the babies?’

‘They’re fine too. Come straight to A&E, then.’

Katie ran for her jacket. If the Marshalls were badly injured it must have been a serious accident; Hailey would be terrified. The paramedic must have misheard the child’s name, it was a wonder she had spoken at all under those circumstances.

Katie had never been to the hospital in Newquay, but it was easy enough to find, on the Polpayne side of town. Once there, however, finding a parking space proved more difficult. Saturday afternoon seemed to be a popular time to visit, and hot frustration filled Katie as she circled the complex for the third time. At last she spotted someone leaving behind the outpatients department, and backed in quickly.

The A&E department looked new, and it was very busy. Katie wouldn’t have believed that there would be people drunk and belligerent on a Saturday afternoon in Newquay, but there were. She had to wait in a queue while three other people gave details to a single receptionist, and each one seemed to have a more complicated story than the last. There was no sign of either Hailey or the Marshalls, and Katie was almost dancing with impatience when she arrived at the head of the queue. The receptionist directed her to a room further up the corridor, and she ran along and pushed the door open.

Hailey was perched on the edge of a hard wooden chair, a very young nurse beside her holding her hand.

‘Hailey, lovey!’ Katie rushed over and took the little girl in her arms. ‘Oh, you poor thing! What a fright you’ve had. Are you okay?’

Hailey’s little body was trembling, and Katie held her close, relieved when the child snuggled up to her.

‘What happened? And how are the Marshalls?’ she murmured to the nurse.

‘They were run over by a van. Mr Marshall’s been taken up to orthopaedics. I’ll just get someone to speak to you.’

The nurse left, and Katie took out a tissue and wiped Hailey’s face.

‘Hailey, love, can you just remind me about your grandparents? You have a Grandma, don’t you? Or do you have any aunties and uncles who’re nearer?’

Hailey looked at her with red-rimmed, bleary eyes. ‘I don’t know,’ she whispered. ‘Will Daddy be alright?’

Katie made her voice as reassuring as she could. ‘I’m sure he will. Doctors are very clever nowadays, you know, but if Daddy’s broken anything he might be in hospital for a day or two. Where are the babies?’

‘They took them away to look after them.’

Hailey sniffed again, and Katie pulled out another tissue.

A small, middle-aged man in a stained scrub suit burst into the room almost at a run. Still holding Hailey in her arms, Katie stood up, conscious once more of the child’s slightness.

‘Miss McLure? I’m John Peters, A&E consultant. This young lady is going to need someone to look after her, and her brother and sister for a while. Mr Marshall’s mobile was damaged in the accident and his wife wasn’t carrying one so we’ve no information yet about friends or relatives. Do you know anyone we could contact?’

Katie shook her head. ‘I don’t know offhand, but I can look after Hailey for now. She has at least one grandparent, but I can’t remember where. Maybe we could go and see if there’s a phone number for them at her home, and collect some stuff for her? How are the Marshalls?’

‘I can only tell you that neither will be going home immediately,’ said Mr Peters, already on his way out. ‘Someone from social services will come and arrange things with you. The babies can stay here until we see if you find relatives for them. If you’ve no joy, the social worker will find a foster home for them all.’

Twenty minutes later, Katie was leading Hailey out towards her car. It was raining now, and the wind was blowing wet leaves across the parked cars.

‘Poor sweetie,’ she said softly. ‘We’ll go back to your place first and look for phone numbers, okay?’

Hailey was silent for the entire journey back to Polpayne, though Katie kept up a stream of comforting remarks. An accident can turn people’s lives upside-down in less than half a second, thought Katie. Now poor Hailey’s life had been changed, yet again. Just as she was settling down, too.

‘Well,’ said Katie, when they were standing in the hallway. ‘Here we are.’

The house was completely and eerily silent. There was no sound of traffic here, and no neighbours’ voices or radios to be heard. Katie’s heels echoed on the polished wooden floor of the hallway, and she looked round uneasily. It didn’t feel right, being here.

Katie shook herself. They had better get on with the job in hand, then she could take Hailey back to her own flat to wait. She would have to phone Mark and tell him she couldn’t collect him. She bent down and hugged the little girl.

‘Right, Hailey, you can help with this. I expect Mummy and Daddy have all the important numbers saved in the phone, do they?’

Hailey only shrugged, so Katie lifted the handset of the landline and after a moment found the address book function. To her dismay the only numbers listed there were Phillip and Jennifer Marshall’s mobiles, the school, and a hairdresser’s. The Marshalls must use their mobiles for normal phoning. Lots of people did that, of course, but it didn’t make things any easier now. Was Mrs Marshall’s mobile around? Katie tried the number, but it was switched off.

She smiled reassuringly at Hailey. ‘Nothing useful here. Does Mummy have an address book, or a phone index, or anything like that?’

Hailey pointed to the hallway table. The drawer revealed an old-fashioned pop-up index, and Katie sat down on the stairs with it. Good, there were plenty of names and numbers in here. Surely one of them would be able to help.

‘Bingo,’ she said. ‘Now, what’s your Grandma’s name, Hailey? Is it Marshall too?’

But Hailey didn’t seem to know, and Katie wondered anew at the relationships within the Marshall family. She tried the ‘M’ section first, but no-one there was a Marshall, so she went back to the beginning and much to her relief soon found what she was looking for. Under ‘F’ was the word ‘Mother’, and a phone number whose code Katie recognised as the Torquay area. This must be Mrs Marshall’s mother.

She smiled warmly at the little girl, who was standing twisting her scarf round one hand. ‘Take your coat off, sweetie. It’s hot in here. Look, I think this must be your Grandma’s number. Your Grandma in Torquay? You know the one?’

But Hailey, extracting herself from her coat, shook her head.

‘Well, we’ll phone and see who answers,’ said Katie, increasingly puzzled by the child’s reactions. Was she suffering from shock? But they’d have noticed that at the hospital, surely.

She punched out the number, and listened as the call connected.

The voice answering the phone sounded brisk and efficient.

‘Bea Felix.’

Katie hesitated, wishing she had taken a couple of seconds to plan what she was going to say to the woman.

‘Hello, Mrs Felix, my name’s Katie McLure. Are you Jennifer Marshall’s mother?’

‘Yes,’ said the voice. ‘Are you a friend of Jennifer’s?’

‘A - neighbour,’ said Katie, wanting to keep things brief. ‘I’m really sorry to tell you that Jennifer and Phillip were involved in a car accident today; they’re in Newquay hospital. The social worker there has asked me to find someone to take care of the children in the meantime. Can you help at all with that?’

There was complete silence at the other end of the phone.

‘Mrs Felix?’ said Katie. ‘I’m sorry I can’t tell you exactly how Jennifer is, but the babies are fine and... ’

‘What babies?’ said Mrs Felix, and Katie blinked.

‘Daniel and Lara - your daughter’s twins,’ she said uncertainly.

‘My daughter has
twins
? Dear heavens. I had no idea, Jennifer doesn’t keep in touch... I’ll come as soon as I can, of course. Where are they?’

‘The twins are being looked after at the hospital, but I’ve got Hailey right here with me. I could... ’

‘You’ve got
who
with you?
Hailey?
’

‘Yes,’ said Katie, surprised. ‘She’s fine, completely unhurt, but... ’

‘Ms McLure,’ said Mrs Felix, and Katie shivered suddenly at the horror-stricken tones in the other woman’s voice. ‘Something is very wrong there. My granddaughter Hailey drowned in Turkey over two years ago. Jennifer had a severe breakdown afterwards; that’s when she broke off contact with the family. I don’t know what child you have there with you, but Hailey Marshall is dead. Now if you give me some details and phone numbers I’ll go and look after those babies. And you’d better do something about the other child.’

Katie felt as if she’d been dealt a physical blow. Her voice shaking, she reeled off the necessary information, then put the handset down with fingers that were cold and clammy. Jennifer Marshall’s daughter Hailey was dead. So who was the Hailey Marshall she knew?

Hailey had gone through to the sitting room, where she was huddled in a corner of the sofa. Head whirling, Katie sat down beside her and took her hand, struggling to find the right words.

‘Sweetheart, you told the ambulance man your name was Libby. What’s your other name, Libby?’

Hailey began to cry. ‘I’m going to die,’ she whispered. ‘She said if I told anyone at all, ever, she’d come and get me.’

‘Who? Your mu - Jennifer Marshall?’

Hailey nodded, and Katie hugged her close, feeling the little girl’s thin body tremble in her arms. Her stomach churning nervously, Katie leaned back until she could look into the child’s face.

‘Sweetheart, I can see how difficult this is for you. But I promise, I absolutely promise I won’t let anyone hurt you. No-one at all. Mrs Marshall was very wrong to say that, because it’s just not true. And now I know you aren’t Hailey Marshall, it’s very important you tell me your real name, because then I can help you. We can find out where you belong.’

Katie could hardly believe the calm words that were coming from her own mouth.

Hailey was shaking visibly now, her hands moving up towards her face.