Penny

Chapter 15

When Abi was three years old, her parents died in a car crash on their way home from a friend's wedding. Her grandparents, who had been baby-sitting her at the time, became her full-time guardians.

When Abi was twelve, her grandmother died. Her grandfather rapidly became infirm and it was decided that it be best that Abi be put into care. However, she was allowed to visit her grandfather whenever she pleased.

At the age of thirteen, when her foster parents had refused to let Abi visit her grandfather on his birthday, she ran away from them. When she arrived at her grandfather's home four or five hours later, she was met by the police and her foster parents. It was then that they broke the news that the old man had died a few days earlier. Abi was devastated. She returned home with her foster parents, only to run away again a few days later. This time, despite appeals in the national press, she remained missing. There was only one reported sighting of her: a few days after she had disappeared from her foster parents the second time, a neighbour of her grandfather's had seen her climb into the bathroom window of her grandfather's house. She had re-emerged a few minutes later carrying what appeared to be a small framed picture.

Now it was 1984, and Abi, 17 years old and living in Liverpool, garrotted her arm by twisting the strap of her cheap pink handbag in a well-practised motion. Holding the handbag between her legs to stop it spinning back around she leaned back against the wall and brought the hypodermic needle from her clasping teeth. She guided the needle point to the most prominent of the veins in her forearm. The needle point pricked her skin and sank into her vein. As she slowly pressed the plunger she savoured the flow of liquid heroin as she felt the first sparks of the chemical fire through her blood stream. Dreamily, she pressed the last drop of the corrosive liquor into her fragile body. She doubled over, aiding the flow of blood to her brain. Then, as the rush fully hit her, she threw her head back, standing erect against the alley wall, her eyes wide open. Her appearance of under-nourishment, skin sores and bad teeth a stark contrast to her once healthy complexion.

Abi appeared frozen with her back against the alley wall. Over her right shoulder, on the street, the figure of a man approached. Abi heard his footsteps, and she shook herself out of her daze. She emerged from the alley and onto the street, stumbling a little. The approaching figure appeared blurred to Abi. Her vision slowly re-focused. It was a man in his late sixties perhaps, she thought. She thought the man looked like her late grandfather. Whilst staring at the approaching man, Abi trudged to the centre of the pavement, fighting against the drug coursing through her veins so rapidly now it was becoming painful. Could it really be him? Granddad? Abi dizzily reached out her arm as the man passed by her.

"Get off!" rebuked the man as he tugged his arm away in disgust, shooting Abi a cold stare as he walked by.

"I'm...I'm sorry...I thought-" Abi tried to explain, but her throat began to hurt and she found she couldn't speak any more.

James drew a handkerchief from his pocket and used it to brush where the prostitute had touched his arm. He then threw the handkerchief into the street gutter in revulsion. Walking behind James, preoccupied with concern for his current state of mind, was Sarah. The bus that had nearly knocked James over a few minutes before had clearly shaken him badly, she thought.

James stopped at the Ship Public House, and walked inside. Sarah remained on the street outside, looking through the window into the pub. A little distance to Sarah's left, unnoticed by her, Abi stumbled back against the wall of a building. Abi's knees gave way and she crumpled to the ground.

Sarah watched as James slumped onto a bar stool and ordered a large whisky. With growing despair, she watched him gulp down the drink and raise the glass to order another.

Whilst standing on the pavement watching James, Sarah began to pray quietly for him. Just then, she became vaguely aware of footsteps to her left, from the direction she and James had come from. She took little notice, keeping her eyes on James. Then a hand momentarily rested on her left arm. Sarah spun around just as a couple were passing her. The young woman was looking directly at Sarah as she walked by arm in arm with a sombre-faced man. The man looked somehow familiar to Sarah. He was dressed in a grey suit and grey cap, like a bus conductor. Sarah was dumbstruck. This woman sees me, touched me! she thought.

"Who are-" muttered Sarah.

The young woman interrupted Sarah, pleading "Help her!"

"Help who?" said Sarah, "Who are you?"

The woman didn't respond. She seemed to be being forced to continue her walk along the street by the man in grey.

Sarah motioned to follow them, but then the pair immediately evaporated from view. Sarah looked around wildly. She looked back down the street in the direction the couple had come from. She noticed someone slumped on the street. Sarah realised it was the girl who had touched James a little earlier. Suddenly, Sarah felt a hand softly placed on her left arm again. Sarah looked to her left and found herself staring straight into the soft brown eyes of the apparition from earlier, the beautiful woman with the long brown hair and wearing a long white gown. Sarah didn't say a word, feeling immediately calmed. The beautiful woman smiled soothingly at Sarah, then gently led her by the hand back up the street, in the direction of the church.

If one were looking through the pub window at that moment, they would have seen James clumsily pull out his wallet, dropping change on the floor, and order another large whisky.