The Broken Man Part 8

'I reckon you're tired. You said yourself that you're not sleeping. I'm worried about you, Anne. So, what's the problem? We're like sisters, you and me, and you should know by now you can talk to me about anything, and you can rest a.s.sured it won't go any further.'

'I know, and I'm sorry.' Anne felt vulnerable. 'There's nothing to talk about. I got out of the wrong side of bed this morning, that's all. And now I'm spoiling everything. Look, take no notice of me. I promise, we will enjoy ourselves. I'll make sure of it.'

Still not altogether convinced, Sally had to accept her explanation. 'Just remember, though, if there is ever anything on your mind and it's causing you a problem, I'm a good listener. And I do know how to keep my mouth shut.'

'I appreciate that, but there is nothing to tell. So now, can we please stop the chatter, and let me concentrate on my driving?'

'OK, and if I open my mouth again, feel free to kick me out.'

Sally's light-hearted remark lifted the mood, but she had known Anne long enough to realise that something was worrying her, and one way or another, she was determined to get to the bottom of it. Meantime, she had to play along.

'Right! So now let's turn our thoughts to enjoying ourselves. OK?'

When Anne seemed deep in thought, Sally asked her again, this time louder, 'I said ... OK?'

'Yes ... OK!' Anne gave her answer with a willing smile.

All these years she had kept her dark secret, but now she wondered if it was time to share her fears. After all, Sally was her best friend, and if you couldn't tell your best friend, who could you tell?

And yet the idea of confiding in anyone, even Sally, filled her with dread.

Through the final leg of the journey, Anne concentrated on the road, while Sally's thoughts were focused on Anne.

She had suspected for some time now that Anne had a past she did not want to reveal. In all the time she had known her, Anne had never spoken about her family, or the circ.u.mstances that had brought her to Bedford.

She had spoken often about her aunt Ada. It was clear she had adored the old woman, but not once had she mentioned her parents or other family. When one of their workmates asked her about her family, Anne always excused herself, claiming that she had something urgent to attend to or somewhere she should be.

Sally, though, remained curious. But her affection for Anne meant that she must respect her friend's right to privacy. Even though, as the years went by, Anne's obvious need to bury her past was of some concern to Sally.

She noticed things that worried her. First, Anne's obvious reluctance to talk about her family did seem unnatural. Also, whenever she had been invited to Anne's house, Sally soon realised that apart from one faded photograph of her old aunt as a young girl, Anne had no photographs on show of either herself or anyone else. And whenever the discussion turned to family, or girlish talk about when they were teenagers and experienced their first love, Anne would swiftly change the subject.

It was a strange and curious thing, but it was Anne's right not to discuss her private life. And it was Sally's intention never to pry.

Over the years, Sally had learned to tread carefully, and because of her discretion, her friendship with Anne had flourished.

She had no idea what had brought Anne here to Bedford, and she had no idea of what her life had been before, or what her future plans were. In the end, it didn't really matter.

Since she came to work at Woolworths, Anne had been a great friend to Sally. She had proven herself to be a kind and compa.s.sionate young woman, who cared very much for those close to her. Now Sally could not even imagine what it would be like without Anne. To Sally it seemed as though Anne had always been there, and always would be.

Sally herself had no brothers or sisters, so always having Anne around made her feel complete in a way; kind of warm and happy inside.

Lately, though, she had become concerned that whatever secrets Anne was hiding had begun slowly to destroy her peace of mind.

For a time, the two of them were lost in thought: Anne training her attention on the road ahead, which was getting busier by the minute, Sally looking ahead to a wonderful day out, and the fun that might await them.

While she was concentrating on driving, Anne was thinking that she was even more determined than ever to distance herself from the dark memories that had robbed her of a normal life. Sometimes, she could go for weeks, even months, without letting the past invade her peace of mind, then out of the blue something would happen to trigger it all off again; like this morning, when she caught a glimpse of that stranger through her driving mirror.

Try as she might, she could not get the dark-haired man out of her memory. She could see him now in her mind's eye, clear as a bell and larger than life.

It was the way he had walked along the street, in that same, confident manner as her tormentor.

It was the shifty manner in which he had glanced about ... like a cat watching for a mouse.

It was the shock of dark hair, and the straight shoulders ... like the posture of a military man.

She had tried so hard to put him out of her mind, and now, thanks to Sally and her innocent chatter, she was beginning to feel a little bit easier.

So, as they neared Yarmouth, Anne promised herself again that she would make a concentrated effort to put the past behind her once and for all. She knew it would not be an easy promise to keep, because Edward Carter had made her suffer badly, and that was not something she could shrug off. It went too deep. It had a life of its own.

That man, that monster, had taken a bright, young girl, and robbed her of all trust and innocence.

He taught her how to be subservient in order to survive. He taught her the very depths of hatred.

Until she met Edward Carter, she had never known the true meaning of fear. Now, try as she might to overcome it, that fear continued to haunt her in her nightmares and in her every waking hour.

All the promises in the world could not make her forget the pain and terror he had put her through. The memories were too strong.

The fear that he might one day track her down still haunted her every waking hour.

CHAPTER SIX.

TWO HOURS AFTER leaving home, they were on the outskirts of Yarmouth.

'Look, there's the sign to the front.' Sally pointed the way, straight on.

Anne headed the car towards the sea. 'It's just what the doctor ordered.' She was really looking forward to their day out. 'Sun, sea, and time on our hands.'

'We-hey!' Sally could not contain her excitement. 'Yarmouth, here we come!'

'Behave yourself.' Anne laughed out loud. 'You're like a kid on her first outing to the seaside.'

'Oh, but I do love the seaside!' Sally would not be quietened. 'We'll go on every ride there is. And afterwards, if it's warm enough, we'll go for a swim in the sea. Let's hope there are no sharks or anything nasty like that. Then we'll lie in the sun and get a tan ... and after that we'll get ourselves one of them pedal-things and whizz down the promenade-'

'Woah! For now, let's just concentrate on getting a parking place.' Anne laughed.

'No worries. We're early enough, so there'll be plenty of s.p.a.ce on the front. Look!' She drew Anne's attention to a second sign. 'Parking, turn right.'

'Good. But it's Sat.u.r.day, don't forget, and it's looking a bit busy already.'

Anne turned right, only to find that this particular car park was full. 'Let's drive along the front. You never know, we might just be lucky.'

She drove the entire length of the front, and there was not a parking place in sight.

'Dammit!' Sally groaned. 'I expect we'll have to park miles away.'

Then she had an idea. 'Why don't we park in that hotel car park?' She brought Anne's attention to the newly refurbished Victorian hotel opposite the beach. 'Perfect!'

'We can't park in there.' But Anne smiled at her friend's mischievous idea.

'Why can't we?' Sally was not easily put off.

'Because all the places are allocated for guests, look.' She pointed to the large white-painted numbers in each parking place.

'But half of them are empty.'

'That doesn't matter. They could turn up any time, and anyway, with our luck the manager's bound to turf us off.'

'Worth a chance, though.'

'Hey! Who's driving this car?'

'You are, more's the pity. If it were me, I'd have been in there like a flash!'

'Then it's a good job I'm the driver, isn't it?' Anne's gaze roved along the seafront. 'Hey! Look! There's a fella pulling out of a parking place ... up there, d'you see?'

'Where?'

'There, right in front of that little cafe.'

Sally began to panic when she saw the driver backing out. 'Hurry up, Anne, before somebody else nicks it.'

Anne manoeuvred into position, but as they drew close, the driver of a black Austin Morris tried to edge in front of them from the other direction. 'Cheeky devil!' Sally wound down the window. 'Hey, you! That's our place, so back off!'

Seeing the whites of her eyes, the man backed off, and Anne shot in quick. As the irate driver pulled away he made a rude sign at them.

'And you!' Sally did the same back.

Anne started chuckling, then Sally was sn.i.g.g.e.ring, and now the two of them erupted in laughter.

'You'll get us arrested,' Anne told her.

'Huh! If the arresting officer is tall and handsome, and extra kind with his truncheon, you won't see me putting up a fight.'

'You're a liability, and with a doting husband at home!' Anne was beginning to relax. It was so good to get away for a day.

The next few hours were filled with non-stop fun.

Their first ride was in the caterpillar.

'I hope they don't roll the roof over,' Sally whimpered as they climbed in. 'I don't like closed-in s.p.a.ces. They make me nervous.'

'Let's get out then,' Anne suggested. 'There are plenty of other rides we can go on.'

'Not likely!' Sally was adamant. 'We've paid our money and we're staying on.' She yelled out to the fairground attendant, 'They won't roll the roof over, will they? I don't like it.'

'Naw!' Skillfully throwing his chewing gum from one side of his mouth to the other, he a.s.sured her, 'We don't roll the roof down unless it's raining.'

'There you are!' Anne said.

Sally settled into her seat and tried to relax. 'I hope they don't go too fast ... I get giddy when they go too fast.'

Anne climbed into the seat beside her. 'Let's just enjoy the ride. Oh, look! We're off already.' The ride started slowly at first, then it gathered speed, and as the caterpillar flew round and round the tracks, they held onto the bar, laughing and giggling, and occasionally screaming with delight.

Sally noticed it first. 'Can you hear that?' she yelled above the screams and laughter of other joyriders.

'What?'

'Just listen!'

Anne listened but she couldn't hear anything untoward.

Suddenly it began to get dark, and the screams grew louder. Sally was panicking. 'The roof's coming over! Look at the roof. b.l.o.o.d.y Nora, get me out of here!'

She screamed so loud, the ride was stopped and they both climbed off.

'You lied to me!' Sally vented her anger on the ride-owner. 'I asked about the roof and your man said it would not go over unless it rained, and it didn't rain, so I want my money back.'

'You'll not get no money out o' me!' The burly ride-owner sent them on their way. 'You knew what the ride was about and you still got on it, so don't come that old game about getting your money back. Go on, b.u.g.g.e.r off out of it!'

As they made their way back to the main walkway, he continued to swear and curse after them. 'You want locking up, trying to cheat a poor bloke who works hard for a living. Don't show yer faces round 'ere again, not unless you want a kick up the a.r.s.e!'

Sally was all for going back to sort him out, but Anne took hold of her and marched her to the goldfish stall. 'Can we please have two fishing-lines?' She handed four small coins over to the homely-faced woman.

Just as Anne had planned, the two of them got engrossed in trying to catch a fish. In the end, though, they came away empty-handed.

Half an hour later, they made their way over to the rifle range.

Whether it was anger because she failed at the goldfish pond, or maybe it was her determination to get the better of something after her row with the ride-owner, but Sally proved to be a hotshot with a rifle.

She quickly won two big adorable teddy bears; one for her and one for Anne. 'Am I a hotshot, or what?' Punching the air with a clenched fist, she did a little dance on the spot. 'I'm ready for anything now.'

Anne was amazed at Sally's brilliant shooting. She herself hadn't even hit a single coconut, while Sally had sent them all flying. 'How did you do that?' Anne asked.

'Easy. I imagined I was aiming at the ride-owner,' Sally quipped. 'It worked a treat, didn't it?'

Anne smiled but wisely gave no comment. 'Come on then. Let's see what else is on offer.'

A few minutes later, they stopped to rest their aching feet. Sally dropped onto the sandy bench like a sack of potatoes. 'I'm worn out!'

'Stay here a minute,' Anne suggested. 'I'll go and put the bears in the boot of the car.' She took hold of the prizes. 'And no swearing at anybody while I'm gone.'