Cast the First Stone by Margaret Thornton

distance the hills of Hampstead and Highgate; and winding through the city the silver ribbon of the River Thames.
    Their way back led along Fleet Street, home of the newspaper giants; the Strand, Trafalgar Square, then back along the Embankment and across Westminster Bridge. Then there was time for a wash and brush-up before the evening meal.
    That evening would be their first visit to the Battersea Pleasure Gardens. Sightseeing was enjoyable and informative, but tonight, they hoped, there would be a chance to let their hair down.

Eight
    Battersea Park had originally been opened in 1858 on the site known as Battersea Fields, a swampy area notorious for every kind of vice, centred around a disreputable public house called the Old Red House.
    It was soon considered necessary for Victorian Londoners to have somewhere to relax and enjoy themselves in a respectable setting; and, indeed, the new park soon became very popular. It boasted a man-made boating lake, rocks, waterfalls and laid-out gardens, and it became a very popular venue for the new craze of cycling, enjoyed by many Victorians, both young and older.
    And in the summer of 1951 the park became the site for the Festival Funfair in what became known as the Battersea Pleasure Gardens. It afforded a spot of light relief from the more cultural and educational aspects of the Festival itself on its site further down the river.
    To Fiona and her friends their visit to the Pleasure Gardens promised to be one of the highlights of their visit to London, if not the best of all. After another satisfying evening meal of steak pie and chips followed by syrup sponge pudding, they all piled on to the coach again, ready for Mike to drive them to the park. After he had stopped the coach at the entrance he told them they must be back in the same spot by half past ten and no later. This was the directive given by Colin and Sheila, who considered they were being quite lenient. None of the young people disagreed. They all thought that their leaders were granting them far more freedom than they had been led to expect. They had, of course, been given a little pep talk about behaving themselves and acting in a responsible manner, ‘. . . because we trust you,’ Colin had said, ‘and we know that none of you will let us down.’
    The Funfair was all that they had expected, and more, no doubt because they were all in a happy and receptive frame of mind, determined to enjoy themselves to the full. It was all there; dodgem cars; roundabouts; coconut shies and sideshows; ice-cream and candyfloss; hot dogs and lemonade; and a switchback ride.
    â€˜Not as big as the Big Dipper at Blackpool Pleasure Beach,’ Dave remarked, ‘but it should be good fun all the same. Shall we go on it, Fiona?’
    â€˜Er . . . yes; perhaps in a little while,’ she replied. She was feeling mesmerized, but very happy amidst all the dazzling sights and the mixed aromas of frying sausages, sweet candyfloss and pungent diesel oil, and all around the blaring sound of the mechanical music. She had never been on Blackpool’s Big Dipper, and the truth was that she felt a little nervous. She was determined, though, not to let her fear be obvious. ‘We’ve only just had our meal,’ she said. ‘Let’s wait till it’s settled; we don’t want to be sick.’
    â€˜OK,’ said Dave. He put an arm around her as they wandered around the fairground. He proved his prowess at the hoopla stall and won a tiny pink teddy bear which he presented to Fiona. Diane and Andy were not close behind, and the four of them had a turn on the dodgem cars, the two lads taking delight in racing around the rink and bumping one another’s cars as hard as they could, to the excited squeals of the girls.
    They wandered towards the lake where rowing boats could be hired, but decided they would leave that experience until the next night. They had been told that those who wished could make a