A birthday to remember

As he helped put up the last of the balloons Scott allowed himself a moment to reflect on how well his plan for the surprise party had turned out. Charlene had gone off to work that morning with no idea what she would return home to. He smiled as he remembered how she'd tried to hide her disappointment in the "gift" he'd presented her with then jumped as the phone rang. "Can you get that?" he shouted to the room in general.

Jane was standing next to the phone and answered it, her face quickly registering shock. She hung up the phone and turned to Scott in a panic. "That was Charlene!" she said. "As soon as I heard her voice I knew I wasn't supposed to be here so I panicked and hung up.". Scott got down from the ladder as the phone began to ring again.

"Hello?" He picked up the phone after urging everyone to keep quiet.

"Scott what's Jane doing there?" Charlene sounded concerned but also more than a little annoyed.

"Nothing. There's only me here"

"I just heard her voice when I rang… and who's that giggling?" The concern was rapidly being replaced by annoyance.

"It's just the TV. Hey when are you coming home? I thought we'd planned a night in together?" Scott hoped the quick change of subject would divert her attention but he was dismayed to hear her tone change from annoyance to hurt as she answered.

"Soon. I'll be home in half an hour."

"Okay, I'll see you then. I love you…" He waited for Charlene to repeat that she loved him too but she just mumbled before hanging up. Scott felt more than a little bit guilty as he put his own receiver back on the hook. Still, he reasoned, this would only make the surprise better when she found out about it.

At the workshop Charlene packed up her tools blinking back tears. She'd known all along that something was going on between Scott and Jane - her so called best friend. She'd have had to be blind and deaf not to have seen the amount of time they were spending together or hear the way they laughed when they were supposedly studying. She'd been so stupid suggesting that Jane tutor Scott but had been desperate to help him pass his exams.

"Are you okay?" Charlene turned quickly as her boss, Gregg, returned. "Just this last car to go then you can knock off"

"No, I have to go." Charlene said, wiping her eyes and hoping he wouldn't see.

"Hey what's wrong?" Obviously he had seen. Charlene tried to answer flippantly that she'd got something in her eye but broke down in tears before she'd managed to open her mouth. Gregg put his arm around her but his concern only made things worse and it was several minutes before Charlene was able to stammer out an explanation of what was going on.

"I think you're jumping to conclusions Charlene." Gregg tried to be practical. "Why would Scott lie to you?"

"Because Jane told me she was out tonight and now they've been caught out. Isn't it great? My husband and my best friend are doing the dirty on me - and it's my birthday… well they're not getting away with it." Charlene stood up more determined than ever to go and confront the pair of them.

"G'day Paul! Don't tell mum you saw me tucking into this already." Henry hadn't been able to resist the platefuls of party food put out for the guests. Paul laughed.

"Only if you promise there'll be plenty left for me. Where's Scott?" Paul left Henry with the food and went through to the living room. "Scottie, Gregg just phoned. Charlene's on her way home."

"What!" Scott quickly put the last pin in the banner he was hanging and climbed down from the ladder. "She said half an hour…"

"Yeah well somebody upset her didn't they." Paul teased. "Gregg warned me that she's on the warpath."

"Mm." Scott was feeling more guilty by the minute. "I suppose I should really meet her outside shouldn't I. I don't fancy copping a lecture in front of everyone…"

"You can't do that, you'll ruin the surprise! Come on mate, you couldn't have planned this any better. A little jealousy can be good for a relationship." Paul was enjoying seeing his brother squirm.

"That's easy for you to say," Scott replied. "It's me who'll get the bruises if she doesn't see the funny side of this."

Half an hour later Scott was beginning to get anxious. She'd had time to walk home and back again so where was she?

"Stop worrying," Henry advised. "You know what Lennie's like, she's making you sweat."

"Yeah I do know what she's like and if she was really angry she'd have been round here in two seconds flat ready to raise hell." Scott was sure something was wrong and the way no-one was taking him seriously was making him feel worse. "If she's not back in 20 minutes I'm going to go and look for her." He walked back to the window again and pulled the curtains back.

"Scott you'll only ruin the surprise if she catches you there. Come on mate, relax." Henry pushed a beer into Scott's hand which Scott began drinking without tasting.

Twenty minutes later he couldn't stand waiting any longer and walked to the door. His dad stopped him as he opened it.

"Scott," Jim put his hand onto Scott's shoulder "let me come with you." Scott turned round to face his father.

"You think there's something wrong too don't you?" he asked.

"Not 'wrong' necessarily. Henry's probably right and she's off having a sulk somewhere. But I'll feel much happier when she's back here instead of out in that awful weather." Scott hadn't even noticed the weather but as they stepped outside he saw for the first time that the fine weather of earlier that day was now a heavy drizzle.

"Scott wait," Mike, Henry and Paul followed the pair out onto the drive. "We'll come too. Just incase…"

When the five of them reached the workshop without spotting anything Scott didn't know whether to feel relieved or not. Henry insisted this proved his point that Scott was being taught a lesson but somehow it didn't gel with the way Charlene had sounded on the phone. Scott ran the conversation over in his head as they walked back home and didn't notice the others had stopped at first. Turning round he saw that they were looking off the pathway into a wooded area part hidden from the road by overgrown bushes.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Those bushes have been disturbed" Jim answered. "Looks fairly recent." He saw the look on Scott's face and quickly added "It's probably just someone walking their dog, nothing to worry about." Henry and Mike had already walked through the gap and Henry stopped suddenly and picked up a shoe.

"No…" Scott rushed through the gap then snatched the shoe from Henry. "This is a man's shoe." He threw the shoe back on to the ground. "You scared the life out of me!" Relief made him angry and Jim quickly attempted to calm him down.

"If you're going to act like that you may as well go home now. You need to keep calm and focussed, okay?" Scott found it difficult to answer. "Okay?" Jim repeated. Scott nodded slowly. "Right. Paul, you come with me and we'll look over here. Mike, you and Henry take Scott and look over there. Don't go doing anything stupid because the last thing we want is to have to look for you three as well now it's getting dark." Mike nodded and the group separated.

The ground was drenched even under cover of the trees and it was difficult keeping a footing on the wet soil. Several times they'd stop, thinking they'd found something, but every item they found proved a false lead. Judging from the number of items of clothing they found people used this secluded spot more often than any of them had previously imagined.

"Look at this!" Henry held up a pair of men's pants. "How could you go home and just forget your pants?"

"Henry, you're not making me feel any better." Scott's nerves, on edge since they'd first set out, were now at breaking point. "I'm going to check down here." The path he'd chosen was narrow and darker than the surrounding area. It sloped down steeply and he slid several feet as loose soil gave way beneath his feet.

"Scott will you wait?" Mike shouted after him. "This is ridiculous. There's no way she'd have gone down there."

"Mike!" Scott's panic was clear in his voice. "There's no way she'd have come in here at all on her own. If she is here then someone's brought her here and she would have had no choice about where she was going." It was what they were all thinking but none of them had wanted to voice their fear out loud. Reluctantly Mike followed Scott down the slope, picking his way over the uneven ground as carefully as he could in the dark.

Back at the Ramsay house most of the guests had made their excuses and left, easily believing the story Madge had told them about Scott and Charlene rowing. There would be nothing unusual in that Madge thought to herself, but they'd seemed much happier lately. Okay so Charlene had been jealous about Scott's increasing friendship with Jane but there was nothing new in Charlene's jealousy either. Madge knew that Charlene could have hired Mrs Mangle to tutor Scott and Charlene would still have found reason to be jealous of something. She looked over at Jane who had been worrying herself stupid for the last half an hour.

"Do you want me to get you a cup of tea love?" She asked her. She would be grateful for something to do if nothing else!

"No, I'm fine," Jane answered. "although I'll be better once they come home. She can't be far can she…" She walked to the window and looked out again. Madge sat down on the sofa next to Helen and sighed.

"They should have found something by now…" she worried.

"Come on Madge," It was comforting to feel Helen's arm around her shoulders. "Charlene's a sensible girl. She could even be sheltering from the rain, not knowing that we're all waiting here for this party."

"Yes you're right," Madge reluctantly agreed. "although I'll give her party when she does decide to show her face!".

"I think we should get back." The path they'd followed had come to a dead end and Mike knew they'd been going round in circles for the past ten minutes. "Your dad might have found something, we'd never hear down here."

"Mike's right Scott." Henry agreed. "There's no point going over the same old ground when there's nothing to indicate anyone's been here in months." Scott knew they were both right and reluctantly followed them back to the main path. As they reached the point where they'd separated from Jim and Paul he spotted something on the ground where they'd come in. Stopping the others he walked over and picked it up.

"What is it?" Mike asked. Scott showed him the key ring he'd found.

"I gave this to Charlene this morning…"

"Are you sure it's hers? It could be anyone's"

"Pass me the torch. Look here, I had it engraved. It's hers."

"Well, that doesn't mean anything." Henry was determined to look on the bright side for as long as possible. "She was mad with you, right? She probably chucked it over the hedge in a rage." Scott shook his head. She might have thrown it at him in temper but she wouldn't throw it away.

"I need to find her." He left the torch on and moved off in the direction Jim and Paul had taken earlier. After walking for 5 minutes he caught sight of a light through the trees. "Dad?" He moved towards them and saw they were kneeling on the floor. Something was wrong. He started to run towards them and Jim looked up.

"Mike!" Jim shouted. "Keep him there!" Too late, Mike tried to hold Scott back but he'd already passed him. "Paul, don't let him see." Paul stood up and walked quickly towards his brother, using his body to block his view.

"Paul let me go!" Scott struggled against him, fear and anger making him twice as strong as Paul. He easily broke free and ran towards his father, stopping a few feet away as he saw Charlene lying on the floor. "No…" he could barely find the air to speak and fell to his knees at her side.

"It's alright, she's breathing." Jim tried to calm him down. They didn't need Scott spinning out now. "We've only just found her so I can't tell what injuries she's sustained but I think we need to get an ambulance as quickly as possible." Scott was barely listening. "Henry, can you go and find a phone box?" Jim didn't think it was right for him to see his sister like this.

"I'm not leaving her." Henry's face was white and his lips tight with rage. Hearing Henry's voice seemed to bring Scott back round and he quickly stripped off his jacket, then lifted Charlene to wrap it round her.

"Where are her clothes?" He asked, his voice breaking. He picked up her hand and rubbed her fingers, trying desperately to get some warmth into them.

"Her overalls are here but we couldn't find anything else." Jim put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Paul, can you get that ambulance mate?" He didn't want to be pushy but he could see that every second counted now.

"Sure." Paul ran back the way they'd come, wishing he could get the vision of his sister in law lying naked and covered in blood out of his mind. He was no medical expert but he knew enough to see those injuries were severe.

"Jane, if you want to go I really don't mind. Your Grandmother must be worrying about you herself now." To be honest, Madge thought to herself, it'd be a relief not to have to keep up this stiff upper lip façade in front of her for much longer.

"I don't mind," Jane insisted. "I don't want to leave you to wait on your own."

"Don't be silly, I've got Helen and Harold here and I'm sure they can't be much longer now." Madge could tell she wasn't convincing Jane who continued to stare out of the window.

"I'll just wait a while more." Jane moved to the sofa and sat staring into space. She dug her fingernails hard into her palm but even this failed to stop the images now running through her mind like a movie trailer. If Scott no longer had Charlene there would be nothing to stop him falling for her. She closed her eyes for a second and remembered the way he looked at her when he thanked her for helping him learn a new formula, or the way he smiled at some stupid joke she told him. She'd waited since high school for Scott to love her, she could easily wait a while more now.

"Charlene," Scott bent over her and cradled her head in his arms. "Come on, wake up." He brushed her wet hair off her face and tried to wipe the rain away from her cheeks. His shirt was soaked through now and his hand trembled as he stroked his wife's face. Henry and Mike had given up their jackets to cover the lower half of Charlene's body but she was rapidly turning blue. "Dad, we need the ambulance now…"

"It's coming mate, it'll be here any second." Jim didn't know what else to say as he watched his son trying to hold back his tears.

"She shouldn't be lying on the ground."

"We can't move her Scott, the police will need to see her first." Mike had watched plenty of detective shows on tv. He'd never expected to need the information in real life though.

"I don't give a damn about the police! She's freezing, she's wet and she's bleeding to death!" Scott stopped himself quickly, aware of how true what he'd just said was.

"Hey, we've done what we can for the bleeding." Jim tried to reassure him but to little avail. He wasn't even convinced himself. "But Mike's right about not moving her. We don't know how badly injured she is and we could make things worse by moving her."

"Make things worse? There's a joke!" Scott's laughter worried Jim more than his earlier tears but he quickly calmed down again. "The bleeding's from stab wounds isn't it?" He asked quietly. "It's not like she cut herself falling…"

"Oh well done mate!" Jim and Mike looked round in surprise as Henry started clapping. "Give that man a prize!" Scott looked at him in confusion. "Of course they're stab wounds! Did you think she did this to herself? Took off all her clothes then, whoops, fell over? She's been raped you stupid prick! Some bastard's raped her!" Scott continued to stare at him as Jim stood up and went over to him.

"Alright Henry that's enough." He put his arms around Henry who was now laughing hysterically but Henry pushed him away.

"I thought she was winding us up! Right until we saw her I was cursing her for getting us out in this lousy weather. And all that time she was…" He stopped and covered his face with his hands. "Someone was…"

"Come on," Jim put his arms round him again and this time Henry didn't resist. "We could all stand here saying 'what if' but it wouldn't do any good. What Charlene needs now is for us all to keep calm while we wait for them to get her to hospital. Okay?" Henry nodded but kept his eyes hidden. "How's she doing Scott?" Jim knelt back down and took Charlene's other wrist, feeling for a pulse. "There's still a pulse there. How long since Paul went to ring an ambulance?"

"About 15 minutes," Mike checked his watch.

"They won't be long now then." He reached over and rubbed Scott's shoulder. "Are you alright Scottie?" Scott nodded but didn't take his eyes off Charlene.

"They've found her!" Madge put the phone down and walked back round to the sofa, falling onto it rather than sitting down.

"Oh thank goodness." Harold put his arms round Madge but she remained upright.

"Madge?" Helen could see that all was not right. "Is she okay?" Harold moved his arms and took hold of Madge's hand instead. He could see she was trying hard not to cry.

"Madge what is it?" Madge looked at him and dissolved into tears. "Oh dear." He held her again, always unsure how to act in situations like this.

"Something is obviously wrong," Helen was much more practical. "Madge, you must tell us what it is. Is she alive?" Madge's reaction immediately made them fear the worst. "Oh Madge!"

"No," Madge tried hard to stop crying and managed to stammer out "She's alive" before breaking down again.

"I'll get you a cup of tea." Harold knew he'd be better doing something useful and stood up to go in the kitchen.

"Harold," Helen stopped him. "I think Whisky might be more useful." When she saw him hesitate she added "For the shock…"

"Ah yes." Harold nodded his head and walked purposefully into the kitchen, pleased to have been given a task.

"Now," Helen sat next to Madge and took hold of her hand. "Whatever's happened, however bad it is, I can't help unless you tell me." She handed Madge a tissue and let her compose herself before asking again "What's happened? Is she badly hurt?"

"Oh Helen!" Madge held the tissue to her eyes again. "Paul said they'd found her body and I thought she was dead!"

"A body?" Madge nodded. "But you said she's alive…"

"Somebody's hurt her," Madge whispered. "Paul said there's a lot of blood and she's not conscious."

"Oh good grief!" Helen held Madge's hand tighter. "That's terrible."

"Did they say where she was?" Jane asked. Madge looked up quickly, she'd forgotten Jane was still here.

"It sounded like she was at the side of the road but I don't understand how no-one would have helped her."

"You said someone's hurt her, could she not have been hit by a car? I know that's not a pleasant thought either but when you compare it to someone attacking her…" Helen couldn't bring herself to say more. Madge shook her head.

"Paul said her clothes are missing." She buried her face in her hands.

"Oh Madge!" Helen pulled her against her and held her while she sobbed. Jane looked at them, unsure what to do next. She felt uncomfortable around this grief but needed to know more before she left. After a few sips of the Whisky Harold brought through Madge regained her composure and seemed more able to talk.

"Have they taken her to hospital?" Jane asked as soon as she was able. Madge shook her head.

"They're waiting for the ambulance but it should be there shortly."

"Shall I call a taxi?" Jane offered. "You must want to be with her and I'd quite like to see her myself." Madge agreed gratefully and Jane quickly called a local firm. "They'll be here in ten minutes." She said, putting the phone back on the hook. "I'd better tell Nan where I'm going, is that okay?"

"Of course it is love." Madge said. Jane had been more than helpful tonight, she thought to herself. Charlene was lucky to have such a good friend.

Jane opened the front door and rushed into her bedroom. Her Grandmother was already in bed as she'd expected and she was able to get to her room with no delay. Now where had she put that phone number? "Come on," she muttered to herself. "Ah, here it is." She grabbed the phone, silently congratulating herself for leaving the handset in there earlier that night. The last thing she needed was her Grandmother overhearing this conversation. The phone was answered almost immediately as she'd known it would be.

"Tony? It's Jane Harris. What the hell went wrong?" She had no time for pleasantries.

"Jane, I know this is bad but I couldn't complete the job. We were disturbed." The voice on the end of the line answered.

"Too right you were disturbed! The plan was for you to get rid of her and that was all. If you'd done the job properly there wouldn't have been any time to be disturbed." She couldn't even bring herself to think about the details of what he'd done. Incredible as it sounded her mind was much more able to cope with the idea of murder than of rape. "Just don't expect to be getting the rest of the money."

"Now hang on!" Tony sounded more alert now money had been mentioned.

"No you hang on. You failed to deliver the service I expected and left things worse than they were before for me. You can't expect me to pay for that and I won't." Jane hung up, her hand shaking. Looking at her watch she saw ten minutes had already passed. She had to get back across the road. Stuffing the paper into her pocket she ran out of the room.

At the hospital Scott's pacing was making everyone more anxious. It was a relief when the doctor re-appeared and took him to one side. When he returned they all gathered round him.

"Well?" Jim asked.

"She's got a broken rib which has punctured her lung, a broken thigh bone and stab wounds to her chest and abdomen." Scott sounded like he was reciting the doctor's news word for word. "They're most worried about her head. She's been hit by something, they don't know what, and they need to do a scan of her brain to see what damage has been done."

"Has she come round yet?" Henry had been subdued since his earlier outbreak and his voice was now raw with emotion. Scott shook his head.

"The doctor said that even if she does regain consciousness now they'd sedate her because she wouldn't cope with the trauma. And they need to operate as soon as they can…" His voice trailed off as he saw Madge at the end of the room.

"Oh Scott!" Any pretence at composure disappeared as she ran towards him. Throwing her arms around him the pair of them gave into their tears, neither able to speak for several minutes. Jim led the others away in an attempt to give them a little privacy.

"Hi," Jane sat down next to Mike, surprised at how white his face looked and how much pain registered in his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Not really." Mike stared down at his hands. He'd scrubbed them several times to wash away Charlene's blood and they were now dry and cracked.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jane didn't know if she could handle hearing the details but at least then she'd know how things stood. Still, part of her was relieved when Mike shook his head.

"I can't even stand thinking about it, y'know?" Jane nodded.

"How's Scott?" She asked, looking over at him. He looked shocking. His white t-shirt was now more red than white and his hair was matted with blood and rain. His hands rubbed his arms nervously as he explained to Madge what they'd found and what the doctor had told him. More than anything Jane wanted to go and take those hands and hold them with her own, to try and comfort him. She shuddered as she remembered why he was in this state, then pinched herself. She couldn't afford to make silly mistakes now.

Scott and Madge followed the doctor into Charlene's room, listening carefully as she explained that the operation had gone well and that the head injury was amazingly not life threatening. They'd re-set her bones and replaced the blood she'd lost. The next major hurdle would be explaining to Charlene what had happened.

"You mean she won't remember?" Scott asked.

"She'll be aware that something major has happened, obviously," the doctor explained, "but with most cases like this the details are unlikely to return for some time yet. However, when they do you need to prepare yourselves to be able to deal with all sorts of unexpected reactions. In addition to that, the police will want to speak to her to try and catch whoever did this. The mental trauma is bound to far outweigh the medical trauma, and as the people closest to Charlene the brunt of the support for helping her cope with this will fall to you two."

"Of course." Madge said. "Oh dear God look at her…" She covered her mouth and stood at the side of Charlene's bed. Scott walked round to the other side and gently picked up one of her hands. He couldn't believe how much it hurt to see her lying like this, covered in bandages and surrounded by machines.

"When will she wake up?" He asked, brushing his thumb over her knuckles.

"Not for a while yet." the doctor answered. "We're keeping her sedated to allow her brain and her body time to recover. As I said before, she's not out of the woods yet. That machine there is assisting with her breathing and there's always a risk with head injuries." She saw Scott's face and paused for a second before continuing "Mr Robinson, your wife's a very lucky lady. She's suffered an extremely vicious and severe attack but seems to have found the strength from somewhere to hang on. That, more than anything, is the most positive sign we have that she'll make a full recovery. I'll leave you both to spend some time with her. If you need anything there'll be a nurse nearby at all times."

Several hours later Scott looked up to find Madge had dozed off. Smiling for the first time that night he walked around the bed and shook her shoulder gently. "Mum," He said quietly, "I think you should go home."

"What?" Madge woke up quickly. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no." He reassured her. "But you really need some sleep. Why don't you go home?" He knew she'd protest and he let her try to convince him she was fine before pointing out that nothing was going to change for at least several hours and there was no point them both wearing themselves out while Charlene slept. "Come on, I'll come with you and we can phone for a taxi."

They were surprised to find Henry and Jane waiting out in the waiting room. Jim had told them that everyone was going home a couple of hours ago.

"Something's happened…" Henry sat up quickly.

"No, she's okay. We're just going to get your mum a taxi, it's pointless us both sitting there. Charlene won't wake up for ages and I'll be here if there's any change. I thought you both went with the others?"

"We wanted to make sure you were okay." Jane said. "You could do with a sleep yourself Scott, you look worn out…"

"I'll be fine. I wouldn't sleep at home anyway. But why don't you and Henry go home with Madge? I'd feel better knowing there was someone with her."

"Good idea." Henry looked at his mum and knew she would probably be asleep before the taxi was even half way home. "You'll let us know if there's any change at all? The doctor told us that the next 24 hours will be the most important."

"Of course I will," Scott promised. "Now, lets find a phone to ring for that taxi."

"You go," Jane said, picking up her bag. "I need to find a toilet before we go, I'm not sure I can last the journey." She watched the others turn the corner then quickly walked back towards Charlene's room. The doctor had told them all that Charlene's breathing was being assisted my a machine. She knew it was risky but if there was a way for her to stop that machine then maybe this wouldn't have all been a waste after all. She reached Charlene's room and put her hand out to open the door.

"Excuse me Miss." She jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Miss Jane Harris?" She turned to face two police men in uniform.

"Yes?"

"We'd like to speak to you about a Mr Tony Ferino. Ring any bells?" The taller of the two officers asked her.

"No, I don't think so. Should it?" Her heart was racing and she prayed her face wasn't as red as it felt.

"He certainly seems to know you. We arrested him a short while ago in connection with the rape and battery of Mrs Robinson and he coughed up your name before we even started our interrogation. Any idea why that might be?"

"I've no idea! Charlene's my best friend!"

"Such a good friend that you arranged to have her murdered, is that correct?" The officer stared at her but she refused to look away.

"Of course not. This is ridiculous!" She finally looked away as she saw Scott and Henry come back round the corner, their faces registering bemusement as they neared the group.

"Have you caught him?" Scott ran the last few steps.

"I think we're a step nearer." The policeman answered. "Jane Harris, I'm arresting you on suspicion of hiring a man to eliminate Mrs Charlene Robinson. You do not have to say anything but anything you do say may be used in evidence against you." He carried on reading out her rights but Jane was no longer listening. All she could see was the look of hurt and confusion on Scott's face and the eyes she loved so much filling with tears as he listened to the charges the police man read out. Even now she could see he didn't believe what the officer was saying. She let the policemen lead her away, desperate to avoid seeing Scott's expression change, to avoid having to watch him face the possibility that maybe what the policeman was accusing her of was true.

As she lay in her cell that night Jane reflected on how near she'd come to getting away with murder. She supposed her Nan would say she was lucky that things had gone wrong, that now she had another chance to pay for what she'd done. The only paying she'd be doing, thought Jane, was paying to hire a proper hit man next time.