The Other Child by Charlotte Link Page A

now, does she?’ Fiona had said. He had replied, ‘What mail? Don’t even get normal post. Who’s goin’ to send me news by computer?’
    â€˜Me,’ replied Fiona, and then she had explained slowly and patiently how it worked: how to open his mailbox, how to enter the password (Fiona , of course), how to open each email, and how to reply. Since then they had corresponded via this strange medium that Chad was just as suspicious of as before, although he could not help being fascinated by it. It was nice to get a letter from Fiona now and then. And then to answer with a few meagre words. Not that he had dared to explore this modern madness , as he referred to computer technology, in any more depth. It would never have occurred to him to surf the internet. In any case, he would not have known how, nor did he want to know.
    Fiona had been pretty nervous yesterday. Probably that was why she had not stopped until she caused a scandal. The attack on Dave Tanner had allowed her to let off steam, although Chad was convinced that her aversion to Gwen’s fiancé was genuine enough, and that she harboured serious reservations about him. She might well be right in what she suggested about his motives, but Chad could not get worked up about it. It was Gwen’s life. She was over thirty. If she got hitched now, it was none too early, and maybe she would be happy with Tanner. Chad did not think that love should be the only reason for people to marry. Perhaps Tanner was trying to change his life, so what? At the end of the day, it would do the Beckett farm good. Perhaps he and Gwen would have children, and Gwen would blossom in her new role as a mother. She was a very lonely person. Chad took the pragmatic view on things: better to have Tanner than no one. He could not really understand why Fiona was so worked up about this.
    After she had completely ruined the evening, she had sat here on a folding chair next to the desk and lit one cigarette after another. He had known her since her childhood. He knew her better than anyone else in the world, and he had known something was worrying her. After she had moaned a good deal more about Gwen’s marriage plans, she had finally come out with it.
    â€˜Chad, I’ve been getting strange calls lately,’ she had said quietly and hastily. ‘You know … anonymous calls.’
    He did not know. He had never received such calls. ‘Anonymous calls? What kind? Threatenin’?’
    â€˜No. No. I mean, the caller doesn’t say anything. He – or she – just breathes.’
    â€˜Is it …?’
    She shook her head. ‘No. Not that kind of breathing. Not dirty, I’d say. It’s very controlled breathing. I think the other person is just listening to me getting bothered, and then hangs up after a while.’
    â€˜An’ how d’you get bothered?’
    â€˜I ask who’s there. What he wants. I tell him – or her – that staying silent doesn’t get us anywhere. That I want to know what it’s all about. But I never get a reply.’
    â€˜Maybe you should do summat like ’im. Not speak. Just hang up when you hear ’im breathin’.’
    She had nodded. ‘I should never have reacted. I’ve probably done exactly what he expected. Still …’ She had lit her next cigarette. Chad asked himself, not for the first time, how someone could smoke so unrestrainedly for decades and still be in such rude health.
    â€˜I can’t get away from wondering who the caller is,’ she said after a few nervous drags on her cigarette. ‘If you do that, you have a reason. Why have they targeted me?’
    He had shrugged his shoulders. ‘Chance maybe. Found a name in t’ phone book and called up. Probably got lots of victims. Maybe ’e do it all day, one after another, and ’e do it a lot with you because you get so bothered.’
    â€˜That’s