Bodmin Parkway station was busy, even at this early hour, but Dad had a hand firmly under my elbow, steering me deftly through the press of people to the platform from which my train would depart. I went along in fuming silence, to which he told me not to be a child. "This is for your own good," he told me, as we stood on the platform. The train was due in arrive in a few minutes - once all passengers had boarded, it would depart, as it had been running a little late from Birmingham New Street due to some signalling issues. "Sally won't be interested in having you around in any case," Dad added, a smug satisfaction in his voice that caught my attention. "Do you want to know who her new husband is going to be? And it's perfectly legal, since they're now longer related by marriage. Well, they will be, but as husband and wife this time."44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4yjn03tEu
I closed my eyes. "Oliver," I said, anguished. "Why?"44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1QiZZDuyP
"Sally's child needs a father," Dad said, his voice silky smooth. "You don't want your cousin growing up without a father, do you? That would be pretty bloody selfish, wouldn't it? Then again, you're being selfish as it is - your little love affair was just a fling. This is real, and your cousin gets to have a father and a good name."
Idly, I wondered how Fanny was coping with the news her half-brother was to become her stepfather, but in all honesty, I was stunned too witless. I didn't begrudge Oliver moving on - that was what I'd wanted, seeing as the chances of us getting back together were slim to none - it was more the fact he was marrying his former stepmother of all people. Of course, as Dad had said, it was perfectly legal, and my unborn cousin did deserve a father.
But Oliver?
I was soon brought out of my unhappy reverie as the train pulled in, and soon, Dad was escorting me aboard. I half expected him to announce he'd gotten a ticket to make sure I got to Inverness, but as he saw me to my seat, he put me in the hands of Giles, the Cross Country conductor in charge of the train to Birmingham New Street. Once Giles had received his instructions, Dad left the train, and, just as I'd feared, he stood on the platform, almost nose to nose with the window at which I was sat. Giles soonafter blew the whistle, and as the train began pulling out of the station, Dad kept pace, staring me down the entire time - as if I'd be able to do anything with the train now in motion! - and I breathed a sigh of relief when he was forced to abandon his chase as the train finally picked up enough speed to leave him in the dust.
44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4P04WNFnYj
Birmingham New Street was even busier, but again, I had no chance to escape. Giles handed me into the care of Roger, who took me over to the train I was to take to Haymarket. Thankfully, once I was put in the care of Anna, the conductor of the service that would get me there, Roger left, and I was allowed to relax, just a little.
It was the same at Haymarket - Anna handed me over to Gerry, who put me in the care of Samuel, the conductor of the final train of the day. It was now after 4, and I was quite tired, having been up since 5.30 that morning. I didn't let myself nap, though - I wanted to be alert when I arrived in Inverness.
As at Birmingham, Gerry didn't linger on the platform once I was on the train, and as we pulled out into the grey December afternoon, I sat back, wondering what sort of fresh hell I was going to be landed in when I got to Inverness. Neither Dad nor Aunt Tempe had given me a clue as to whose hands I'd land in when I arrived, but even so, I prayed I'd get a chance to maybe work them around to my side.
And there was still the little matter of the court order Dad and Aunt Tempe had so wilfully defied. If luck was on my side, there'd be officials waiting at Inverness to get me the hell out of there, and back to Oxford, from where I could then sort out the other mess still taking up rent in my brain. I prayed, as the train made its way through the ever deepening twilight, that it was all just a nasty trick Dad was playing on me. Legal as it was, there was no way Sally would marry Oliver - unless she really had been a cow the entire time, and had played me false the day I was forcibly removed from Roden Vale. 44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu20wLcQlFC
There was also the question of why she had been the one to get the court order overturning the original removal order that had upended my life spectacularly. Was it more smoke being blown by Dad and Aunt Tempe? Or was it a genuine attempt on Sally's part to make up for her past mistakes?44Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4AzsqRz0Nk
There didn't seem to be an answer to those questions, so I gave up and instead began planning on how the hell I was going to get out of this latest tangle of bad luck that didn't seem to want to let up. And I only had a couple of hours in which to do it.
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