The Victim by Kimberley Chambers

numerous times what they had to say and his words were firmly drummed into their little brains.
    ‘Do you mind if I speak to the children alone? It’s the usual procedure,’ Carol asked Eddie.
    Larry had prewarned him that Carol would probably ask to speak to the kids alone, so Eddie nodded and he, Dominic, Joey and Joycie left the room.
    ‘I hope they remember everything you told them,’ Joyce whispered.
    ‘Of course they will. They ain’t silly kids, especially Georgie. Bright as a button, she is,’ Eddie said confidently.
    Larry joined the quartet in the kitchen. ‘Did you have a chat with ’em, like I told you to, Ed?’
    Eddie nodded. ‘So what happens next, you know, after she’s spoken to ’em?’
    ‘I briefed Carol about everything that has happened in the children’s lives on the way down here. Once she has finished speaking to them, she will inform the police that they are here, so it gets noted. I have a feeling that when the O’Haras realised they were missing, rather than involve the police, they have probably been searching for them themselves. You know what travellers are like, Ed, they hate the police and everything they stand for. If my theory is right and they haven’t contacted the authorities by the time we do, that will go very much in our favour to getting some kind of access. I should imagine the children will almost certainly be allowed to visit Frankie on a regular basis. She is their mother, after all. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am in desperate need of a visit to the lavatory.’
    ‘Where’s Stanley, Joyce? Out the back with them birds of his?’ Eddie asked.
    Joyce had barely given her husband a second thought for the past few hours. She wasn’t worried – she knew Stanley too well – and was positive he would be back home in the next couple of days with his tail between those knobbly knees of his.
    ‘Stanley’s stomped off in one of his tantrums, the silly old bastard. He found out that I’d met you in the Bull that time and threw all his toys out of his pram,’ Joyce replied.
    ‘Oh, I’m sorry, Joycie. How did he find out?’ Eddie asked.
    ‘No idea, he was too busy asking for a divorce to tell me that vital piece of information,’ Joyce said, laughing.
    Dominic glanced at his watch. He had an early meeting in the morning with a potential billionaire investor. ‘Do you mind if I make a move, Joey? I’ve got that meeting early tomorrow morning with that American guy I told you about. I would stay here with you, but I’ve no change of clothes and Madonna will need to be fed and watered.’
    Joey put a casual arm around his boyfriend’s shoulder. ‘You get off, Dom. I’ll stay here with Nan tonight. Perhaps pick me up tomorrow when you finish work. I’ll have to call in sick again, I’m afraid, but it can’t be helped.’
    Eddie shook Dominic’s hand. ‘Thanks for being there for my Joey, mate. You’re a good lad.’
    Joycie grinned. Sod Stanley’s sulks, Eddie had now fully accepted Joey and Dominic’s relationship and that was all that mattered.
    In the lounge, Carol was still talking to Georgie and Harry. Both children had spoken candidly about why they had run away, and their love for their mother was clear to see. ‘So, has your daddy explained why your mummy had to go away for a while?’ she asked.
    Remembering her grandfather’s words, Georgie nodded. ‘Daddy told us that Mummy was evil and Nanny Alice said that Mummy was in prison because she’s an old shitcunt.’
    ‘Nanny told me that, too,’ Harry chipped in. He was determined to do his bit for the cause.
    Carol was horrified. She was used to dealing with children that came from deprived homes, but what sort of grandmother was Nanny Alice to use vile words like ‘shitcunt’ to children so young? Carol stood up; she had made plenty of notes of her conversation with the children and now it was her duty to call the police.
    ‘Can we see Mummy now?’ Harry asked her again.
    Carol smiled