All four women stilled. Rain thudded against the roof above Winnie’s head. Even their silence was judgemental.

  ‘So … maybe custody issues then?’ asked Zandra after a moment.

  Peta Mansfield nodded. ‘It’s a tale as old as time.’

  ‘In all fairness, so are the kidnappers,’ said Mina.

  ‘You can’t say that!’ exclaimed Zandra. She coughed, as if to swallow laughter.

  ‘What? Sorry! But you have to admit this one’s a little … well, unusual?’

  ‘There must be a reason though,’ continued Zandra. She ran a hand through her curls. ‘Three older women join forces to take a child. So … what do you think?’ She gazed into camera. ‘Let us know! Tweet us at the address now on your screen or send in an email. We’d love to know!’

  ‘Hold on.’ Peta Mansfield put a hand to her ear as if getting a message. ‘It seems we might have something to add! And it’s an exclusive. This is from a clip uploaded to YouTube on Friday the tenth of May. It was taken on a city street in the early evening. And yes,’—she paused, her hand still on her ear—‘we have also received confirmation from the police that the clip does indeed show the two grandmothers, Elizabeth Patterson and Shirley Conifer. So … let’s add this to the conversation!’

  The montage disappeared, replaced by an amateur-looking still of Beth and Shirley sitting on a bench outside a strip of shops. Almost immediately the two women sprang into action. Winnie’s mouth dropped open. ‘Granny bitch fight!’ said a disembodied voice with delight. The two women continued to slap each other with increasing commitment until, thankfully, the screen finally blurred. Winne sat back, still gaping. But unfortunately there was more to come. The video focused again, this time on a terrified Harth, before panning out to include two policemen and a fascinated group of bystanders. Finally it finished. Winnie had never been so glad to see the four panellists.

  ‘What the hell?’ she asked, glancing briefly towards the ceiling. It held no answers.

  ‘What the hell?’ asked Mina, wide-eyed. ‘What did I just watch?’

  ‘And on that note …’ said Zandra. Her lips twitched. ‘Let’s go to a commercial break and when we come back, we’ll try to answer Mina’s excellent question! In the meantime, keep up those tweets!’

  Zandra Beckett disappeared, replaced by a woman who appeared to be disproportionately excited about her new washing powder. Winnie clamped her mouth. Now she knew what had happened on Friday night. They’d had a slap-fight, in the middle of the city. They’d attracted the attention of the police. They’d been filmed. The stupidity of it was beyond her. No wonder they’d been so quiet the following day, on the drive down to Healesville. She shook her head as she made a mental note to find the clip later. On the bright side, this was going to offer no end of enjoyment when she shared it with Beth and Shirley tonight. Perhaps during the intermission of Vikings. Un-bloody-believable.

  For now though, there were more immediate matters. She’d already been taking note of the tweets that scrolled across the bottom strip of the screen. Most seemed to be curious, a couple supportive, but a few were just vicious. These latter seemed to come from either the women-hating punitive camp or the feral families punitive camp. When the program returned, she knew that the conversation would continue and then one of the panellists would read out a few choice posts before giving a quick statistical breakdown of what had been received. For and against. This would be repeated later in the program.

  Winnie had given their situation a great deal of thought over the past two weeks. If charges were laid after all this was over, and they were found proven, it was likely that she herself wouldn’t serve any jail time. However Beth might and Shirley definitely would. After all she was the one who had done the actual abducting. And one thing that Winnie was sure of was that her Shirley would not do well in prison. For starters there was limited access to wine.

  All of which meant that she needed to manage the risk. The most logical method was using the evidence of Avery’s injuries to justify their actions. But there were two problems with this; the first being that Daniel would just repeat what he’d been saying all along. That the injuries had been caused by childhood accidents and/or he hadn’t been responsible. The cigarette burns couldn’t have come from him anyway, as he didn’t even smoke. His father, on the other hand, enjoyed a cigar each Saturday night. If cornered, Winnie suspected that Daniel wouldn’t hesitate to throw his parents under the bus. The second problem was that Winnie thought he might have a point. There was every chance that he was guilty of ineptitude and neglect, but not abuse. As bad as the former were, she didn’t necessarily want him having to answer to child protection over it. It was too risky. No, the best-case scenario had him withdrawing his complaint. Winnie wasn’t completely across the legalities but she suspected without him, the case would surely collapse. Asking Daniel to cooperate wasn’t going to work though, not when he was angry and hurt. No, he needed to be convinced by other means. And swinging the court of public opinion in their favour was a good start.

  Winnie picked up one of the mobiles from the bed. She had three Twitter handles, two Facebook accounts and one Instagram. She would need them all if this was going to work, starting with Twitter. She murmured a brief request to her grandson for forgiveness as her fingers began flying. But it was him versus her daughter. There was no competition.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Tuesday, 21 May

  Kristin

  Kristin adjusted her dressing-gown and curled into the couch, the wheat pack warm against her belly. She considered herself fortunate that her period was mild compared to some of her friends but this first day was always brutal. A solid heaviness, deep in her gut, that felt like a bruise. Even her kidneys felt thick. And the cramps! Slow, steady and relentless, as if her uterus was being kneaded like dough. As usual it had been a long day at work, accompanied by the general feeling of malaise. And everything had been exacerbated by knowing that, for the first time in over a week, she wasn’t going to be spending the night with Daniel. She had even become teary when one of the older teachers, a woman she didn’t much like, had announced her retirement. On yard duty, she’d stubbed her toe against a concrete bench and it’d been all she could do to stop herself breaking down. She certainly didn’t want Daniel to see her like this.

  At the moment though, she had other things on her mind. Even the cramps were taking second place. She frowned as she examined her flatmate’s face, trying to read her expression. ‘Well?’

  ‘Um …’ said Bella finally. She sounded dubious. ‘It does sound very complicated.’

  ‘Yes, but not of his making,’ insisted Kristin quickly. ‘I mean, what sort of mother takes her son’s child? What sort of mother does that?’

  Bella shifted on the armchair. She was wearing Eeyore pyjamas and a windcheater jacket. ‘Um, maybe the sort that’s, like, worried? The sort that thinks he can’t look after her properly?’

  ‘No.’ Kristin shook her head emphatically. ‘The problem is she’s never really liked him. She treats him different from his siblings, especially the sister. You should see his face, Bell, when he talks about his mother.’ She hugged the wheat pack closer. ‘It’s really sad. He just sort of closes down. You can see how conflicted he is. How hurt.’

  ‘But that still doesn’t explain why she’d take off with his child?’

  ‘It does if you see it as a power grab.’

  Bella didn’t look convinced. She sipped at her coffee. ‘How long have you been dating?’

  ‘Two and a half weeks. But oh, it feels so much longer.’ Kristin couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. ‘He’s really special, Bell. He may even be, you know, the one.’

  ‘O—kay. Although … two and a half weeks. Like, I’m just playing devil’s advocate here, but do you really know him? Two and a half weeks isn’t long.’

  ‘It’s long enough,’ replied Kristin without hesitation. She felt frustrated that she wasn’t explaining things well enough. Not that she blamed Bella for her doubts. She herself had been shocked when Daniel had finally explained the situation unfolding with his mother and daughter. But then she had the benefit of knowing him, of having spent every night recently in his company, of having sat up to the early hours just talking. About everything and anything, and now this. She recalled the four-poster princess bed at his house and felt ill when she thought of how confronting that must be for him, night after night. And to know that it was his own mother who was putting him through this hell. It was beyond belief.

  That’s what she wanted to hear from Bella. Outrage on Daniel’s behalf, or shock that a mother could behave that way. Not doubts that niggled uncomfortably, and that Kristin herself dearly wanted to dismiss.

  ‘Oh my god!’ exclaimed Bella suddenly. She put her coffee down, staring at Kristin.

  ‘What?’

  ‘They were on Sunday Brunch a few days ago! I saw them! The grandmothers!’

  Kristin gaped at her. ‘They were on the show?’

  ‘No.’ Bella shook her head. ‘They did one of their reports on them. About taking the four-year-old. Everybody’s looking for them! And oh! There was a clip!’ She pulled her mobile from her jacket pocket and began scrolling. ‘It’s on YouTube. They were slapping each other.’

  Kristin frowned. This made no sense. She waited impatiently until Bella made a sound of satisfaction and jumped up, coming over to the couch. She sat beside Kristin and held out her phone as she hit play. Kristin watched with increasing astonishment as the short clip played through. She grabbed at the phone and hit replay. Finally she looked at her friend, feeling utterly vindicated.

  ‘I told you! Who acts like that? The woman is crazy!’

  ‘It does seem strange,’ said Bella slowly. She had taken her phone back and was reading the comments below the clip. ‘Woah, there’s some nasty stuff here.’

  ‘Good,’ said Kristin grimly. Daniel’s mother deserved it. She herself had grown up with a wonderfully supportive family. Her father’s death the year before had devastated them all, but if anything brought them closer. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have a mother who acted like this. She wondered if Daniel had seen the clip, and she wondered if she should tell him.

  ‘Hang on, on Sunday Brunch they said the girl’s mother was in jail!’ Bella dropped her phone in her lap. ‘What’s that about?’

  Kristin turned her wheat pack over and readjusted it. She wasn’t altogether confident about this part. ‘Oh. Well, he had to take an intervention order against her. But she kept breaching it. Wouldn’t leave him alone.’

  ‘I see.’ Bella frowned, giving a lie to her words. ‘But … so he was scared of her then? In fear? Isn’t that how they work?’

  Kristin nodded. She thought that might well be true, but Daniel hadn’t wanted to admit it. There were particular difficulties for men, when masculinity itself was built around strength. She recalled the face of the woman in the photo, with her broad Julia Roberts smile, and then pushed it aside. Appearances were deceiving.

  ‘Does the little girl usually live with her then?’ persisted Bella.

  ‘They share custody,’ said Kristin, more confident about this part. ‘He has this gorgeous bedroom for her. It’s got a four-poster princess bed.’

  Bella turned her phone over in her hands. ‘So he’d have had to meet with her anyway? Like when they did handover?’

  ‘I suppose. Why?’

  ‘Well, wouldn’t she have to see him then?’ Bella caught sight of Kristin’s expression. ‘I’m just trying to understand, that’s all. Like, how does that work? Wouldn’t she be breaching this order every time she handed the child over? And also,’ she said, seeming to warm to the theme, ‘if they had shared custody, then doesn’t that make you wonder whether she was actually breaching the order to see the child? Not him?’ Bella frowned. ‘Maybe it’s even connected with what’s happening now? With his mother? Bloody hell.’ She sat back, still frowning. ‘I’m not making much sense.’

  ‘Oh, you’re making plenty of sense,’ said Kristin stiffly. ‘But you’re also making the mistake of thinking all women are victims.’ She flinched as a cramp clenched. It roughened her voice. ‘There’s plenty who give their ex-partners hell. After all, she’s the one in jail, not him. Are you saying the courts got it wrong?’

  ‘I’m not saying anything!’ Bella threw her hands up. ‘Sorry, Kris, but I’m just thinking out loud. Trying to get my head around it. You must admit, it is a little … well, unusual.’

  ‘Not really,’ snapped Kristin. She felt tears threaten. The truth was that she didn’t know enough about their situation. She didn’t know anybody who’d ever had an intervention order, let alone an ex-partner in jail. Or a mother who slapped other women on the street. Or appeared on breakfast television, wanted by the police. Or who was capable of kidnapping a child. The only thing that she did know was that she wanted to trust Daniel. She corrected this last part quickly. She did trust him.

  A prickly silence fell. Kristin pleated the edge of her dressing-gown. She wished that Bella would move back over to her chair. Better still, she could leave the room altogether. The evening wasn’t turning out how she’d expected. She hadn’t seen Bella since before the weekend and she’d been bubbling with the news of her blossoming relationship. She’d actually looked forward to sharing.

  ‘This always reminds me,’ began Bella conversationally, as if not even aware of the tension. She waved a hand in the general direction of Kristin’s belly. ‘A few weeks after my very first period, me and my little sister were doing the grocery shopping with my dad. So we get to the sanitary items aisle and Dad checks the list Mum gave him and says to me, “Do you have a preference, or would you rather me pick?” And I’m mega-embarrassed so I just mumble for him to pick but my little sister, oh, she must have been about eight, well she gets this aren’t-you-stupid look on her face and holds out her hand like she’s stopping traffic …’ Bella demonstrated, thrusting her own hand out. ‘And goes, “Wait up! She doesn’t need those, she’s already done that! She’s finished with it! Remember? Mum bought her cake!’” She sent a grin towards Kristin. ‘The cake was red velvet.’

  Kristin allowed herself a small smile. Apart from the fact that the story was amusing, she realised what Briana was doing. She was trying to make amends.

  ‘I’ll never forget the look on Dad’s face,’ continued Bella. ‘It was the same look as when he’d had to tell us that our dog had been put down. And he just goes, “Oh, darling. Well, some bad news just chugged into the that’s-not-fair station.’”

  Kristin was now engaged. ‘The what?’

  ‘Oh, he was full of these dad-isms. Also told the worst dad jokes ever.’

  ‘Huh.’ Kristin flipped the wheat pack again but there was little heat left. ‘Not a bad description. So what did your sister say when your mum broke the news?’

  Bella shook her head. ‘Mum didn’t. Dad did. Right then and there, in the supermarket. He just bobbed down and explained. And there’s Jess going, “every month?” and “for how long?” And then “well, I’m not doing that!” Like it’s a subscription you can opt out of if you don’t agree with the terms and conditions!’

  ‘I wish!’ said Kristin fervently. ‘But your dad must have been pretty cool. Mine didn’t even like the period ads on TV.’

  ‘Yeah, he was.’ Bella gazed over Kristin’s shoulder as if lost in the past. ‘He made it seem normal. A pain in the butt but nothing to be embarrassed about. And I remember a few women walking past while he was explaining things to Jess, and each of them had this, like, smile. I can’t really describe it. But I know I get the same smile now myself, whenever I see a guy being good with kids.’

  ‘Oh, that’s the best!’ exclaimed Kristin, sitting up straighter.

  ‘Yep. Those firemen with their tops off are all very tasty, but give me a guy being a great dad, or even better, doing something silly with his kid, and my ovaries heat up like they’re roasting on a Bunsen burner.’

  ‘Oh yes!’ Kristin knew exactly what she meant. ‘Like letting his daughter put make-up on him.’

  ‘Or paint his toenails.’

  ‘Or playing hide-and-seek. And letting them win.’

  ‘Or changing a baby’s nappy without making it out to be a big deal.’

  ‘Even when the mother’s around!’

  Bella laughed. ‘Yes! Mind you, some days I set the bar quite low. I’d settle for a guy who doesn’t say he’s babysitting when he’s looking after his own kids.’

  They sat in silence for a few moments, both smiling, both reflecting on the calibre of men. Kristin still felt teary but now it was from a feeling of camaraderie, not frustration.

  ‘Are you sure Daniel’s one of those guys?’ asked Bella quietly.

  Kristin shot her a look. She might have known. The tears threatened to spill over. She got to her feet, cradling the wheat pack. ‘I’m just heating this up,’ she said stiffly.

  In the kitchen, Kristin threw the pack into the microwave and set the timer. She checked her mobile, which was charging on the counter. There were no messages. A cramp clutched at her abdomen. She heard Bella come in behind but kept her back turned.

  ‘I’m sorry Kris,’ said Bella from the doorway. ‘I’m just … well, it just all seems so quick. I mean, three weeks ago you were getting dressed up for your first date, saying you hoped this one was different, and now, well now … I suppose I’m worried, that’s all.’

  ‘I know what I’m doing,’ said Kristin, her voice tight.

  ‘Don’t get me wrong,’ continued Bella hurriedly. ‘I’m thrilled for you, really. And I can’t wait to meet him. It’s just, well,’—she paused for a moment—‘all this stuff you’ve told me. He comes with so much baggage.’

  ‘Who doesn’t?’ retorted Kristin. The microwave pinged. She pulled the wheat pack out and then slammed the door. The sound was louder than expected.

  ‘Yeah. I suppose.’

  Kristin hugged the wheat pack against her and turned to face Bella. She knew that her eyes were shining. ‘You know what? You should be congratulating me. Not giving me the third degree.’ Her voice cracked with disappointment. She swallowed before continuing. ‘I finally found someone, Bell. And sure, he might come with baggage, but I’ll make it work. I love him.’

 

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