Sensing the young girl's anxiety and reluctance to begin speaking, Dixie squeezed her hand tightly. The police were no longer stood outside; Jeff had had to tell them that they were wasting their time at the moment, as they went going to get much, if anything, out of her.

Polly looked up at them both "I'm not sure I want to remember what happened" she said quietly, but not quietly enough and Dixie and Jeff still heard her.

"It's alright, princess, it's just us, yeah? But, for us to be able to help you, you need to help us out and tell us what's going on"

Dixie held her closer to her; it was now becoming clear that this had been going on for a lot longer than anyone had previously thought "Just you start when you're ready, Pol, there's no rush."

Polly took a deep breath and began to speak again, Dixie and Jeff now giving her their full attention "I don't know how old I was when it started, I was probably too young. I remember being about 3 years old, and alone in the house for hours at a time. When my mum was there, she couldn't wait to get rid of me again; she was more interested in getting smashed on the drugs. I got in the way of that lifestyle, so she just let me get on with it"

She heard them gasp, shocked at what they had just heard. "When I went to school, they were always worried about me; I was never fed, dirty and covered in injuries. School was the only place, apart from my neighbour's house, that I was ever cared for or protected. My mum didn't give a damn, she didn't care how much she hurt me, how rubbish I felt, she never cared about me at all" Polly said all of this very quickly, hoping that it would be less painful that way. She wasn't really sure if it was working or not, she would much rather not have to think or speak about her past at all, but that wasn't an option.

"So, what happened? You were left to stay with that…that…woman and nobody did anything about it?" Jeff could feel his temper rising more and more as Polly spoke, but he was trying to hold it together.

*Flashback*

"Polly, where are you darling?" Polly heard the voice of her teacher calling her, but didn't move from under the craft table.

"Come on, Polly, where are you? It's okay, you're safe, I promise. Can you come out for me? I just want to talk to you, don't worry, you're not in any trouble" Polly obediently came out from underneath the table and moved towards her teacher, lowering her head and looking to the floor.

It had been an eventful playtime, , her teacher, thought. They hadn't one that been quite so eventful for a while…

It had all started with a few of the older boys messing about in the playground, just play fighting with each other. When one of them got knocked over, Polly panicked, remembering things that had happened to her at home.

"Stop it, stop it!" she shouted at them, violently shaking "That's not nice, people get hurt when you hit them" she turned away from them and ran back up the playground steps to her classroom. Once she was inside, she had hid underneath the crafts table, where she wouldn't be seen.

Now that she had come out, Miss Eastwood had to try and reassure her that she had done the right thing in moving from her hiding place. "It's alright, good girl. Good girl for coming out, Polly. You're not in any trouble. I just want to know why you ran off"

A tiny voice answered her "I was scared, it reminded me of things at home…"

*End flashback*

Polly started to cry, tears now flowing freely down her face as memories came flooding back to her. She didn't want to remember anything else, but she had promised Dixie and Jeff that she would tell them.

"I was taken into care when I was eight years old, moved away from my mum and into a care home. It was nice there, there wasn't much shouting and nobody ever hit you. But, I was only there a month before I was moved back home again; they said it was only ever going to be a temporary arrangement. I wish they'd let me stay there"

She gulped, taking a deep breath before continuing "When I went home again, nothing had changed. Except she had another new boyfriend and he was worse than she was. As soon as I walked through the doorway, she started hitting me, saying I'd gotten her in trouble with the social. She just yelled at me for ages, saying how I'd got her into trouble, then sent me upstairs and locked me in my bedroom until I had to get up and go to school the next morning.

Things didn't change much after that, if it was a school day, I was locked in overnight. If it was a weekend or a holiday, I'd be locked in all of the time, apart from once a day to go to the toilet"

"And you never tried to escape?" Jeff asked, horrified at what she was describing to him. Dixie hadn't said a word since Polly had started talking, taking in what she was saying.

"No" she replied simply "If I tried to escape or I mis-behaved, then they tied me up as well. It wasn't worth playing up; I'd only have been making things worse for myself if I did. It wasn't exactly like they needed an excuse to make my life a living hell, Jeff.

I wish I could tell you that this didn't really happen to me, that I made it up. But then I'd be lying, because it did happen"

Polly paused momentarily, looking up from the floor to Dixie and Jeff and taking in the shocked expressions on their faces.

"Things didn't really get any better until I was fifteen. Everything got too much and I told a teacher everything. Things happened pretty quickly then, I was moved back into another care home and I stayed there until I was eighteen. I had a few encounters with my mum and Devin, they'd be waiting for me at the school gates sometimes, but staff kept them away mostly.

Then, out of the blue, she turns up again with him, wanting me to…I can't, I can't say it!"

Dixie spoke softly to her friend, seeing how upset and distraught she was becoming "What did they want you to do, love?"

"Th-they, they wanted me to have s-sex with people to get money for their drugs! I heard them, they wanted to keep me tied up so I couldn't escape, then men would pay to sleep with me. And there would've been nothing I could have done about it, nothing!" Polly started to cry again, her words coming as ragged sobs.

"Polly" Jeff spoke to her next, joining them on a chair next to the bed "We'll get through this, all of us, alright? There's no way they're getting anywhere near you! We're in this together"

"In this together" Dixie agreed "We'll look after you, kiddo, make sure you're safe"