CHAPTER 1
Evelyn stretched within the tight confines of her seat. Her back was aching - four hours of sitting in a bus had whiskers on it. She looked out of the window at the decreasing daylight. The clouds looked ominously black on top and glowed red underneath from the setting sun. Silhouettes of rangy trees showed stark against the horizon.
David twitched then startled in his sleep. He was jammed hard against her, not wanting to lose contact with his mother for a moment. His forehead was sweaty and Evelyn brushed his hair back into a cocky's peak, waking him as she did so.
"Are we there yet?" he asked, his voice scratchy with sleep.
"Not long now love," she replied. "About ten minutes by my reckoning. Here, sit up now and get yourself ready."
"What about Mandy? Is she awake yet?"
"No, we'll let her sleep a little longer. You know what a grump she is when she wakes." Evelyn let a smile play over her lips as she twisted to look at her daughter, stretched across the two seats behind them. Thank goodness Mandy didn't need to share the seats with anyone on the journey. It meant she had been able to bounce around a bit, before settling into a comfortable position. She'd been asleep for at least two hours.
Evelyn hadn't even dozed, plenty of time to sleep once they were settled. She breathed deeply, as she wondered what their house would be like. She had rented it over the phone, sight unseen. Please God let it be decent enough to make our new home in, she prayed. No matter, what-ever it was like, at least they'd be safe there.
"Look mum, lights!" David scrambled onto her lap, to look out of the window. They were driving past houses now. It must be the outskirts of town – their town from now on. "Are we here? Is this Stott's Corner mum, is it?" David turned his worried little face to her. He pressed his knobby knees into her thighs and wrapped his arms around her neck.
"Careful son, you're no baby anymore. Here sit on my lap properly. I guess it's Stott's Corner, nowhere else it could be now. Let's see if we can spot a signpost." The two of them trained their eyes on the roadside and the few shops that were beginning to appear amongst the houses. A neon sign sprang into view. It read `Stott's Corner Milk Bar'. "There now, we're here," Evelyn assured her son, who had replaced his frown with a big smile.
"Goody mum! Now we can wake Mandy up and tell her."
"Alright, you sit back down and I'll wake the little monster. Look out now...." Evelyn reached back over her seat and gently shook Mandy's shoulder. A moment later a piercing wail filled the bus. "Hush now Mandy, it's mummy. Come on, sit up and climb over to me."
"Mummy!" Mandy shrieked. "Not fair mummy, don't want too."
"Oh Lord, here we go. Come on baby, come to mummy." Evelyn stretched as far as she could into the seat behind her, but the height of the seats and the limited room the window seat afforded her made it impossible to get a good grip on her daughter. Mandy was as slippery as an eel with a reputation for being a small version of Houdini. Before Evelyn could grab her, the little tot shot into the aisle towards the front of the bus, skidding towards the driver at an alarming rate.
"David, quick, grab her." Evelyn threw David after Mandy then struggled to get there herself. Before she managed to, David had latched onto Mandy's arm and was dragging her back to their seat. Mandy wasn't coming quietly and by now other passengers were glaring at this noisy family. "Sorry, so sorry everyone. Come on Mandy, please come quietly. There now, sit here and please stop shrieking." she added through gritted teeth.
"Yes, be quiet Mandy," David added. "Don't you know we're here?"
Of course Mandy didn't know what her brother was talking about, but he looked serious, enough for her to quieten down and wait to see what would happen next.
"Thank you David. You're my little man aren't you?" Evelyn smiled.
"Not little mum, please. I am seven you know"
"Of course I do, I apologize. My big man. Now, let's get ourselves tidied up and ready to rock and roll!"
David loved the idea of rocking and rolling. He was excited, but also a bit scared of their adventure so far. And now that they were here, what would it be like living in a strange place where they didn't know anyone? Where would his new school be? Would he make friends again? He was leaving so much behind. His eyes filled with tears.
"Don't worry David. It's going to be all right I promise." Evelyn put her arm around her small son and hugged him tight. She too was feeling apprehensive. In-fact she was feeling down right scared. But it was done now, they were here, miles away from their other life. A new one was beginning and Evelyn was determined to make the best of it.
* * *
They stood at the terminus on the outskirts of Town, a small family with three suitcases beside them. "Now we need to find our way to our new house," Evelyn brightly told her children. The smell of diesel was in her nostrils and her tummy rumbled from hunger. They had shared some ludicrously expensive sandwiches at the last bus terminus but that seemed forever ago.
As if she read her mother's mind, Mandy began to whine. "Hungry mummy. Thirsty."
"I know poppet. Just give mummy time to think. What do we do first?"
"I'm hungry too mum." David squeezed Evelyn's hand.
"Alright, here's what we'll do. We'll find somewhere to eat and then we'll get a taxi to our new home." It'll blow the budget by miles, she thought, but this is an exception. If she didn't act soon she'd have a mutiny on her hands and besides, she wanted to get settled and go to bed as soon as possible. It had been an incredibly long and unnerving day.
Evelyn led them out of the bus terminus and away from the florescent lights and overhead announcements. She dragged two suitcases along, one in each hand with David managing the smaller one. Here they were faced with a row of shops, the noise of traffic and a huge `fish and chips' sign.
"Hurray!" David shouted. "Mum, mum can we, please?" He looked up at Evelyn, his eyes begging her. Could it be a treat? Fish and chips?
"Alright, come on then," she laughed.
"Hurray. Look Mandy, do you want chippies?" David dragged his sister into the premises and what seemed like an age later, a very tired mother and children came out again.
Evelyn bustled the children towards a taxi. "Twelve Riverview Avenue please," she told the driver. "Come on children, in you get." The taxi drew away from the sidewalk and quickly picked up speed. Being dark, Evelyn had no idea which direction they headed in. "How much further?" she asked after a while.
"Nearly there," the driver gruffly answered.
"Mummy, tired," little Mandy's voice came from the back. "An' mummy, sick mummy!"
"Oh, stop the car!" Evelyn yelled. Just in time, the taxi screeched to a halt and David flung the...
