Return Ticket – Chapter 1
-O-
DISCLAIMER: I am not connected to Emmerdale and its characters, which belong to ITV
-O-
Two families: the Bartons and the Dingles. They were linked in so many ways and on so many levels. Moira Barton and Cain Dingle were a couple, Chas Dingle and Moira's brother-in-law James Barton were a couple and Cain's daughter Debbie and James' son Pete were also a couple. On top of that, to complete the 'connection', Chas' son Aaron was best mates with Moira's son Adam. It was almost destiny that Aaron would one day become heavily involved with another of the Barton clan, but one that he had never met before due to the fact that he was in France.
Aaron was pondering about where his life was taking him. He woke up one morning to find himself jobless, boyfriend-less and soon to be homeless as he could no longer afford the rent on his French apartment. Before he knew what was happening, he was on a Eurostar train: heading home. He knew that his return to the Dales would be fraught with difficulties, but he felt that he had no choice, other than to go back to England and to start again. The police were likely to arrest him as soon as they were aware that he had returned, but he was willing to take that risk. Very few people knew that his best mate Adam had started a fire at Dingle Motors and, for all most folk knew, Aaron was the culprit. Aaron was still known as a bad boy and it would not have surprised anyone if he had, in fact, started the blaze. Certain members of the Barton and Dingle clans knew the truth of the matter, but they shared secrets in the same way that they shared their lives.
It was getting dark by the time that Aaron arrived in Emmerdale village. Being a summer night, it was warm even though the sun had already set. Aaron wore a t-shirt and shorts, plus woolly socks and hiking boots and his belongings were stowed in a backpack: he looked for all the world like any visiting tourist, on holiday in the Yorkshire countryside.
After leaving the bus stop, Aaron skirted the buildings of the village and found a vantage point behind a hedge, so that he could keep watch on the Woolpack. He wanted to know if his mother was in residence, he did not want anyone else to know that he had returned. Luckily, he saw her emerge from the side door to put a few empties out so he quickly made his way across to her before she went back in, looking around all the time to make sure that he was not being observed by anyone else.
Chas was bending down to a container on the ground, but looked up as she heard footsteps approaching. She could not believe the sight which greeted her, "Aaron!" she almost shrieked.
"Hello Mum!" Aaron smiled: not only a friendly gesture, but he also took pleasure in surprising his mother.
"What are you doing here?" Chas was dumbfounded.
"I've come home," Aaron said it as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"But, you were in France!"
"I do know that," Aaron was still as sarcastic as ever.
"But...what's happened? Why are you here?"
"Can we go inside?" Aaron ushered his mother towards the door.
"Yes, of course...sorry! It's just a surprise to see you."
Once inside, Aaron and Chas stood at the foot of the stairs as Aaron took his backpack off and let it slip to the floor, seemingly relieved to take the weight off of him, "Can I stay? Is it OK?"
"Of course you can stay, but the police still want you. I'll have to hide you in your room."
"I can't spend the rest of my life cooped-up in my bedroom!"
"Well, we'll sort that out later. Why have you come back?"
"My contract with the rally team was up and I knew I wouldn't be able to stay on in the flat with no wages coming in, so I thought the best thing to do would be to come home."
"Well, I'm delighted to see you, you know that. But, I'm worried about what will happen if the police find out that you are back in England."
"I was thinking," Aaron frowned in concentration: a look his mother knew well, "Maybe I should go to the cop-shop and give myself up. I can't become invisible or stay in my room forever. They might go easy on me if I co-operate, plus Uncle Cain won't want to press charges, I don't s'pose."
Chas looked shocked, "There's got to be another way. Can't you ask Adam to come clean about the fire?"
"No way!" Aaron would not hear of 'grassing' on his best mate, "I'm not going to ruin his life, I owe him big time for saving my life that time and for sticking by me when I came out...I'll never betray him, Mum, not ever. Promise me you won't say anything to implicate him...PROMISE!"
Chas knew that she would never be able to convince Aaron to turn Adam in: his stubbornness was as much a part of him as it ever had been, "OK! I promise. But, I don't want to see you go to jail. I know you don't want to ruin Adam's life, but I don't want you to ruin yours either."
"I'll be OK" Aaron's bravado surfaced, "Don't worry about me."
Chas studied her son carefully. He looked a little older with his slightly longer hair and stubble on his chin. In fact, his 'look' was reminiscent of his former boyfriend, Jackson.
"Well," Chas continued, "We'd better get you settled in your room, then you can get some sleep and have a good hard think in the morning."
Aaron knew that his mother was still hoping that he would change his mind about Adam, "I don't need to think, I've done a lot of that these past few weeks: I'm going to turn myself in, end of!"
"We'll see," Chas replied with an enigmatic smile.
xxxxxxxxxx
Later that night, as Aaron reclined on his bed, he pulled out his mobile phone and sent a text to Adam. Moments later, a reply came through and Aaron smiled at his best mate's wit, "What do you mean 'I'm back home'? Are you pulling my plonker?"
Aaron replied with all the sarcasm that he could muster, "Pull your plonker? Now there's an invitation if ever there was one!"
The expected reply came back, "In your dreams Livesy! My crown jewels are off limits to you, pal."
Aaron decided that it would be easier to tease his friend by phone, rather than keep up the text exchange, so he dialled his number, "I've come all the way back to Yorkshire, Barton, the least you can offer me is to let me cop a feel, for old time's sake."
"You've picked up some dirty habits in France!" Adam said with a chuckle in his voice, "You're going to be asking for a French kiss next."
"Don't pretend you wouldn't enjoy it, cowboy!"
"Urrggh! Locking lips with you? No thanks! Mind you, my cousin Finn probably wouldn't say no...why don't you ask him?"
"Are you matchmaking again, Barton? You did that for me once before, with Jackson, and look how that turned out."
"Wasn't my fault!"
"Fair point," Aaron turned serious, "Anyway, shall we meet up now I'm back?"
"Sure...in the Woolie?"
"Yeah...although not in the bar, no-one knows I'm back yet. I don't want to give all the neighbours a big shock, not yet anyway. They still think I'm public enemy number one."
"About that Aaron...why don't you let me clear your name: I'll go to the police and tell them what really happened."
"Oh no you don't!" Aaron said, forcefully, "I said I'd take the blame and that hasn't changed."
Adam was touched by Aaron's loyalty, "OK. So, where shall we meet?"
"I am back at the Woolie, but my mum has hidden me upstairs. Come to the side door and let me know when you've arrived and I'll come downstairs to let you in."
"OK. I'll be there soon mate."
"Cheers pal, see ya."
xxxxxxxxxx
The next morning, Aaron went out early. He wanted to go to the police and he knew that his mother would try to talk him out of it again, so he slipped out unnoticed.
On arrival at the main police station in Hotten, Aaron sauntered up to the counter and spoke to the desk sergeant on duty, "I've come to hand myself in," he said, without hesitation.
"Name?" the sergeant, a middle-aged man with a round face, peered at Aaron with a look of surprise and disbelief.
"Aaron Livesy."
"Livesy?" the sergeant repeated as he tapped the keyboard on his computer and looked at the screen, "Ah! It says here you're wanted for arson."
Aaron gulped and cleared his throat, he suddenly felt slightly nervous, "Yeah!" he said, simply.
A short time later, Aaron was sitting in an interview room, facing two police officers, one male and one female.
"So, Mr Livesy," the female police officer, Detective Sergeant Janet Bailey-Scott, a young blonde woman, spoke first, "You've led us a merry dance, haven't you? Where have you been all this time?"
"I ran away to France," Aaron said, matter-of-factly.
"France, eh?" DS Bailey-Scott raised her eyebrows, "How did you manage that? I thought that customs would have stopped you...unless you were using a forged passport?"
Aaron remained silent, which made DS Bailey-Scott think that her deduction was correct, "Where did you manage to obtain that?"
"Look," Aaron was becoming a little agitated, "I've given myself up over the arson business, can't you just charge me and get it over with?"
The other officer, DC Bobby Waddington, spoke, "We need to ascertain how you managed to evade capture: you could be looking at a charge of fraud, as well as arson."
Aaron thought that confessing was going to be a simple matter, but suddenly realised that he had opened a can of worms. He had originally rejected the offer of a solicitor, but changed his mind, "I don't want to say any more without my lawyer being present."
DS Bailey-Scott spoke again, "That is your right, interview suspended at ten forty-five."
xxxxxxxxxx
Chas was worried. She had found that Aaron's room was empty and she had a queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach: she guessed exactly where Aaron had gone. He fears were confirmed when Aaron rang her from the police station, "I've been allowed one call, so I thought I'd ring you to let you know where I am."
"Oh Aaron!" Chas was upset, "Why did you have to do this? We could have worked something out."
"It's best this way Mum," Aaron was trying to convince himself as much as his mother, "Whatever happens, I'll be able to move on without looking over my shoulder all the time."
"Is there anything you need?"
"No. I've got a lawyer to sit with me at the interviews."
"A lawyer?" Chas was shocked, "Why do you need a solicitor, just to admit to a crime?"
"Well," Aaron hesitated, but then continued, "It seems I'm looking at a charge of fraud for, you know, using a fake ID."
"Oh Aaron!" that possibility had not previously occurred to Chas, "What have you got yourself into now?"
"Don't worry Mum, I'll be OK."
Chas tried to be hopeful, but she knew that her son was in trouble and she wished that she could help him in some way.
xxxxxxxxxx
"So," DS Bailey-Scott resumed Aaron's interview now that he had his lawyer by his side, "Would you care to explain how you came to be in possession of a fake passport?"
"I didn't say I had a fake passport," Aaron's bravado surfaced once more, "YOU said that."
"Are you denying that you left the country with false papers?"
Aaron did not answer.
"Mr Livesy," DS Bailey-Scott continued, "We can obtain a warrant to search your home and I'm sure we'll find the passport, won't we?"
"Alright," Aaron knew that he had been cornered, "So I used a dodgy document. I thought I was here to confess to starting that fire."
DC Waddington joined the interrogation, "Would you care to enlighten us as to how you came to be in possession of a fake passport?"
"No comment!"
"Come now, Mr Livesy, the judge might go a little more easily on you if you co-operate with us." DC Waddington played his next card, "Cain Dingle is your uncle, is that correct?"
"Yeah...what's he got to do with it?"
"Let's just say," DS Bailey-Scott continued, "That we know of Mr Dingle's past misdemeanours. It was him that obtained the passport for you, wasn't it?"
"No comment!"
"Come on, Mr Livesy," DC Waddington seemed to be playing the 'good cop', "There's no point in trying to cover up for your uncle. Did he supply you with the false documents?"
Aaron could see no way out of the situation. He did not want to implicate his uncle, but he knew that the police would probably trace the passport back to Cain, so he gave in, "Yeah, it was him."
"That's better," DS Bailey-Scott smirked, "In that case, would you care to explain why your uncle would help you to flee the country, after you had tried to torch him in the garage?"
Aaron was caught by surprise. He did not know how to respond to that question!