Desperate Measures by Kitty Neale

I’m sorry for my last–minute nerves.’
    ‘It’s understandable,’ Betty said. ‘I know I said I’m excited, but I’m nervous too.’
    Cheryl smiled gratefully, comforted to know that she wasn’t alone in her feelings. ‘What about you, Val? Are you nervous?’
    ‘Of course I am. I’d be mad not to be; so much so that we must ensure that not one tiny thing can go wrong. To start with, when we make our accusation, we have to make sure that Ian Parker can’t offer up an alibi.’
    Cheryl felt reassured as she listened to Val. She was such a clever woman and, with input from all of them, the plan should be watertight. Cheryl just hoped that she’d be able to play her part convincingly. If she couldn’t persuade the police that she’d been raped, the plan would fall at the first hurdle.
    Paula’s eyes darted from side to side, praying that Val and the others would succeed. Along with her fear of bumping into Ian Parker, there was hate too. She had seen the sort of life her mother had led, the succession of men who shared her bed. All through her childhood, no matter how many times they moved, it didn’t take the neighbours long to discover that her mother was a tart. She’d heard the gossip, red–faced with shame, and had grown up determined to be different. She had dreamed of marriage, of walking down the aisle a virgin, of living in a nice house with a couple of kids. Their lives would be stable, with a mum and a dad–unlike her own childhood. She would shower them with love and cuddles, something that she had never known, and her life would be perfect.
    Ian Parker had taken her virginity and destroyed her dreams. Along with that, he’d left her with a fear of men, a fear of ever being touched again. She would never forget the pain, the way she’d been left feeling used and dirty. Yes, she hated Ian Parker–but most of all she feared him.
    ‘Are you all right, Paula?’
    She turned to look at Betty, almost crumbling when she saw the sympathy in her eyes. If she could have chosen a mother it would have been somebody like Betty, and if they weren’t sitting in the park she would run into her arms. Instead she lowered her head, just saying, ‘Yeah, I’m fine. I…I’m just gonna miss you all.’
    Betty scrabbled in her handbag and, pulling out a piece of paper, she wrote on it before handing it to Paula. ‘Here’s my phone number–you can ring me any time.’
    ‘Fanks, it’s good of you, but it won’t be the same.’
    ‘It won’t be for long,’ Val said. ‘Once we make sure that everything is covered, that nothing can go wrong, I think we can make our move in about a month.’
    ‘A month! But that’s ages,’ Paula gasped, horrified at the thought. She went to work all week and was stuck in every evening, with only her weekend meetings with them to look forward to.
    ‘It’ll soon pass,’ Cheryl said, ‘and it’ll be worth it to see Ian Parker behind bars.’
    Paula nodded, but was still unhappy. Since the rape she had stopped going out with her old friends, too afraid and too ashamed to tell them what had happened to her. Val, Cheryl, and now Betty had taken their place, and she would miss them something rotten. She had never expected to have friends like Val and Cheryl, both older than her and both so different. Val was the eldest, an upmarket sort of woman with a good heart, whilst Cheryl was a nurse, who she now saw as a sort of older sister. They had both taken her under their wings; and now there was Betty too–a kind, motherly sort, she felt, though she’d had little time to get to know her. Despite this, she felt safe with Betty, safe with the others, felt a bond, but now…
    As though aware of her feelings, Betty reached across the table to pat the back of Paula’s hand, saying gently, ‘Never mind, love. As Cheryl said, the time will soon pass.’
    ‘Yeah, I suppose so.’
    Treacle began to whimper, straining at his lead, and with a small shake of her head, Val said,