Mummy, Make It Stop by Louise Fox Page A

all I had ever known. Nothing could have prepared me for that moment, when I realised I was going to lose them. I felt as if I had been cut open and my insides were spilling out on the floor.
     
    I looked around, searching for answers that weren’t there, staring at the strangers who were taking us. I looked over at Jamie, hoping he could do something, but he looked as scared as I felt.
     
    Anna tried again. ‘Louise, come on, let’s go.’
     
    ‘No . . . no . . . no,’ I yelled.
     
    I felt sure we were being sent to the same place that Paul had gone to, as a punishment for what we had done. I had no idea we were being taken for our own protection. I was convinced we were going to jail.
     
    ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ I sobbed. How I wished we had kept quiet and not said anything.
     
    Anna had hold of my arm. I struggled to pull away from her, then another lady grabbed hold of my other arm and between them they pulled and shoved me into the back of the police car. Tanya and Jamie were calmer and walked to the car on their own. Perhaps they understood more about what was going on, or perhaps they just realised there was no point in fighting.
     
    Sitting beside me in the back seat, Jamie did something he had never done before. He put his arms round me and told me not to cry and that it would be OK.
     
    But it wasn’t OK. My throat ached from screaming and tears poured down my face. It wasn’t OK and it wasn’t going to be OK.
     
    Through the car window, I could see Mum trying desperately to fight her way over to us. There were several police officers holding her back. Then the car was moving and we were off down the street, with me still sobbing and Jamie and Tanya sitting quietly either side of me, staring at the floor.
     
    It’s hard to describe how I felt at that moment. I knew that my life would never be the same again, ever. I had lost my mum and my home and I was being taken somewhere I didn’t want to go and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I felt as if my world was ending. I was being punished for telling on George and Terry. Mum was all I had, I loved her, and now even she was gone.
     
    The drive seemed to last a lifetime. Anna was in the front of the car, beside the policeman who was driving, and she explained, twisting in her seat to look at us, that we were going to a nice place where we would all be safer. I didn’t understand at all. What did she mean we would be much safer where we were going? They had taken us away from our mum - how were we going to feel safer?
     
    A while later, we pulled up outside a large red-brick building with big windows. It looked really old, like a haunted house in a film. Anna led us up the steps. ‘This is a children’s home,’ she told us. ‘I’m sure you’ll like it here.’
     
    When we reached the front door, a lady opened it and said hello, before leading us into a large entrance hall. Anna came in with us, and then said goodbye and told us that we’d be looked after here and that she’d come and see us tomorrow.
     
    Our feet echoed on the bare wooden floor as we were ushered into a small office with white walls and a table and several chairs in the middle of it. To one side were a desk and a few filing cabinets, with boxes piled up next to them. As we stood in the doorway, a woman got up from behind the desk and came towards us. ‘Hello,’ she said. ‘My name is Ruth and I’m in charge here. Come and sit down.’
     
    Silently, we filed in and sat in the chairs around the table, all three of us white-faced with shock. I had cried so much I felt completely drained and exhausted. My body ached and my eyes looked dully around without really seeing. I didn’t care what they said to us or what they did. I just wanted to go home to Mum.
     
    Ruth spoke for the next few minutes, but I don’t think any of us took in a word she said. She sounded calm, but brisk and not very friendly. I looked over at Tanya, hoping that she would be able to