Your reviews have been so kind! I don't think I can thank you enough! I'm really sorry that this chap has taken so long. Christmas and other stories have taken up all my time and I also had a bit of writer's block with this fic. I think it was because I don't know that much about courts or anything, so I apologise if I got anything wrong. If I remember right, I think someone asked me if this fic was going to be finished soon. I'm not really sure. I always have a set plan and then the characters get their own ideas and it ends up going on for much longer. But I do think there will be about two chapters after this one. I hope you like it, I'm afraid I don't think this one is very good!

Laura

xxxxx

Chapter Twelve.

It's amazing how many memories can come flooding back to you with just one look at a person's face. It's amazing how many things you can feel at one moment in time and how they all mix together to make a compound with a strange taste. It's something that is heartbreakingly clear and real, yet you can't put your finger on exactly what it is.

I jumped up from my chair, eager to avoid a confrontation with her. I thought that Jack would follow me, that would we would find somewhere else to sit, away from the girl who had caused all this heartache but he reached out, grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"Don't runaway, Mary." He said calmly. "She'll know you're scared of her. Then she'll win again. Even if she gets sent down, she'll win again." I hesitated, still wanting to escape, but I knew he was right. So as Karen paused in front of us, I stayed on my chair and forced myself to look into her eyes. Deep, pleading eyes that pulled and tugged at me. When I felt myself wavering there was Jack's hand on my arm and I was strong again. She wouldn't win. I wouldn't let her.

"Please… Mary… I never meant to hurt you like that. It was an accident. I didn't mean to. I was so angry. You have to understand. You just have to. I can't go back to prison. It's so dark at night. I hate the dark. I always have. And they switch the lights off. And that's just the start. They don't like me in there. None of them do. Not the guards, or the prisoners. My room mate, she's done alsorts of things. I don't want to even think about the things she's done. She calls me princess but not in a nice way. Certainly not in a nice way. It's hell, Mary. Pure hell."

"What do you want me to do?" I croaked.

"Tell them you made it up. Tell them I didn't push you. I did. We both know I did but I was just so angry. I love Jack so much but he's never loved me back. You don't know how much I love him. I tear at my own skin, I love him that much. Look…" She lifted up her sleeve to reveal large scratch shaped scabs running up her arm. Jack looked disgusted. I bit my lip then looked up at her again.

"You really love him?" My voice was a little stronger this time.

"I really love him." She said confidently, her past upset was forgotten in a moment and now there was a glint of hope in her eyes. Jack looked at me. He looked at Karen, his face crumpled up and his eyes bulging.

"Don't believe her, Mary. She doesn't even know what love is. All she wants is a husband and a family to brag about. It's all she's ever wanted. Love? She only wants that when she's drunk, and even then it's not the sort of love me and you have. She just wants to satisfy her night time needs, then it's see ya later. Unless one of her mates comes over so she can show off, that is."

"I only drink because it hurts so much." She insisted. "Think what it would be like if you really longed for someone and you couldn't have them. You would want something to make it better, wouldn't you? That's what the drink is for. And he's twisting things. I can understand it, because he wants you to hate me. But he's the one who only wanted me at night. There's so many things I love about him but he only wanted one thing." Her voice was so much different from when I heard it last. It almost like she was a completely different person.

"You're making me feel sick." Jack said, in one of the most threatening tones I had ever heard him use. His eyes were like slits, staring at her as if he would love to punch her if she had been a man. "You're a spoilt brat, Karen. You always have been, you always will be. You'll do anything to get your own way, won't ya? Lie, steal, even kill. But ya don't usually have to go that far, do ya? All you have to do is smile sweetly put on the-little-girl-lost act and everyone falls at your feet. You've never had to suffer. Well, now you will. I was weak, I fell for you and your poison but not anymore. And ya can't stand here, in front of Mary. Whose had to put up with all of your dirt and act like you're the poor deprived child. Mary's what you'll never be. She's strong, good-hearted, loyal, intelligent and beautiful. People only fall at your feet because you put on your little act. Mary doesn't have to. 'Cos even when Mary does things that annoy me I love her. I love all those annoying things she does. And to think you nearly took her away from me for good, just because for once in your small, pathetic life someone beat you, it makes me wanna… wanna…"

"Jack…" Holding back tears, I tapped him on the arm. I had seen the way his hands were bending into claws and the agitated expression on his face. I didn't want him to get too angry and do something he might regret. "I want to say something." Karen looked at me like I had decided to run naked through rose square on a festival day. "You say you love Jack, that you long for him, that you know him like I do. I… If it's true then can you tell me what made you fall in love with him so deeply? What was it about Jack that was so amazing?" I asked quietly.

"Um…" She fiddled with the side of her outfit. "Well… I suppose it was the way he looked at me."

Jack made a noise that was somewhere between a laugh and a gasp.

"I find it odd that you just picked that one thing." Seeing her crumble was giving me confidence. "For me, it was everything. Everything you can possibly imagine. I remember a while ago, when you and Jack were still together, I went to see Carter and he told me that love was tricky because it stopped you from seeing people's faults and that's what leads to heartbreak. The more I have thought about that the more I see that he's wrong. Because for me that's what love is. It's about accepting somebody as they are, faults included. I don't think you love Jack like you say you do. I think you just saw something you wanted and you set out to get it. When I was a child you did something that scarred me for the rest of my life. You might have thought it was a joke, you might not even remember it but from then on I've been terrified of you, terrified of everybody. You stopped me from trusting people. Then you went and did it again. Maybe it's not your fault, you can't help it that your parents gave in to you. But you can help standing here, trying to wrap me around your little finger because you still think I'm weak, that I will just listen and believe everything you say. Well, you may have given me scars, Karen, but you have also given me something I am grateful for. Because now I can see through you and your manipulation. If you hadn't have pushed me down the stairs I probably would have gone along with you. And although you tried your hardest to wreck what Jack and I have, you've just made it worse for yourself because now we are stronger and I've fallen in love with him all over again. And there's nothing you can do to stop that this time." My voice was a little timid to start with but as I went on I got louder and louder until I was almost shouting. Jack squeezed my hand and smiled proudly while Karen just stood there looking resentful. It reminded me when we were at the music festival so long ago and Karen tripped me over with evil intentions, only for it to lead to Jack giving me his hand and pulling me upright. I felt all that again. Only this time I had done it on my own. I had finally, finally stood up to her.

When I was led into the court room I didn't know what to expect. Was there going to be a fierce looking lawyer who would probe me with questions until I broke down like it always happened in books and movies? I daren't look into the dock or the gallery, I knew the stares of Sasha and Karen would be waiting for me and I had to remain focused, so I could tell my story. To my surprise the woman who began to question me didn't even faintly resemble the victory obsessed monsters of the fictional world. You know the kind, they would tear you to pieces for the sake of another win to add to their record. No, this woman was dark and brainy, with almond eyes that seemed to read people quicker than mine. Taking in my slouched back, my clenched fists, my reddened cheeks.

"Perhaps, Mrs Johnson…" She started, once the formalities were overwith. "You could tell us your version on the events of the night in question." The silence seem to intensify, I knew without moving that every pair of eyes in the room was fixed on me. The woman lowered her head, her chocolate eyes splintering right into my skin. "Why did you leave the house last night, where were you going to?" I could see she was gently propelling me forwards and into the story.

I swallowed. "I went to my best friend Elli's house. She wanted to show me her wedding dress and I had to meet Gray at the beach afterwards so…"

"Gray?" Her head jerked up. "Who is Gray, Mrs Johnson?"

"He is a friend. A very close friend." I added, seeing Sasha's blue dress shift about with the corner of my eye.

"Just a friend? That's funny, because people in the village led me to believe that Mr Jones and yourself were a bit more than friends at one point. In fact, when you and your husband were seperated, you were even thinking of marrying Mr Jones, were you not?"

"No. I wasn't." I looked over at the judge. He was watching me closely, one eyebrow raised. I shivered.

"It isn't true then, that Gray Jones gave you a blue feather?" Someone in the gallery gasped. I clutched my knees.

"Yes, that is true but I wasn't thinking of marrying him. I never had any intention of marrying him. We have always been friends. Nothing more than that."

"That's odd. Gray Jones must have got the impression that you were more than friends at one point otherwise why would he make such a gesture?"

I opened my mouth to reply, when a sandy haired man sitting on a desk at the front of the room jumped up with a hand in the air. "Objection." He called, looking angrily at the judge. "Mrs Johnson's relationship with Mr Jones has no relevance to the matter of whether she was or was not attacked by Miss Miller."

"Your honour, I am merely trying to establish Mrs Johnson's feelings on that night, so that we may have a better insight into what happened."

"Objection overuled, continue Miss Levingly." Came the throaty voice of the judge. The sandy haired man sank back into his leather chair sulkily.

"Mary," I wondered why she had chosen that particular moment to use my first name when before she had resorted to formalities. "We both know that for a man to propose he has to have a certain amount of persuading…" A few female members of the jury tittered. "Surely you must have said or done something to indicate that you had serious feelings for Gray?"

"We were friends." I insisted. "I never expected him to propose and I certainly didn't do anything to encourage him. He knew that I still loved Jack. He said he wanted to look after me, but afterwards he admitted that he knew I would say no, go back to Jack."

"Why then, did he bother asking in the first place?" There was a hint of an amused smile on her lips.

"I can't answer you that. You would have to ask him." I bit the inside of my lip.

"I must say, Mrs Johnson, that it must have been awfully flattering. This man suddenly proposing out of the blue." Her eyes scanned the women on the jury. "It's the sort of thing we have all dreamt about. Do you have daydreams, Mary? All alone in that little library and then all of a sudden there was Jack, handsome, kind… I bet you didn't believe it when he said that he wanted to marry you. I bet you thought it was one of your daydreams. Am I right?"

"Yes." My voice was small and mouse like.

"It must have been a terrible blow when you found out he had been secretly seeing Miss Miller, behind your back, while you suffered with your child and mental problems on top, right Mrs Johnson?"

"Yes."

"I put it to the jury, that when Miss Miller moved into Mary Johnson's home, she was insanely jealous. She, understandbly, wanted her husband back. She had never been in love before, we all know what it's like." Her eyes slanted knowingly at the female jury members. "So she decided that she would start a relationship withGray Jones, and in the process make her husband so jealous that he would come running back to her." She paused for dramatic effect. "And it worked. Is it not true, Mary, that on the very night you went to the inn, you and Jack met up on the beach?"

"Yes, that's true."

"Tell the court what happened between the two of you." She flicked violently through a notepad full of notes while I cleared my throat ready to explain.

"He was upset because he had heard Gray and his father arguing about the blue feather. He put two and two together and assumed I would be wanting a divorce. I told him it wasn't true, that I didn't want a divorce. We talked about what had gone wrong between us and he told me that Karen had moved out of the farm and gone back to her parents." I sighed, realising exactly what this was going to sound like to the jury. They were going to think I had made him jealous on purpose, to make Jack come back to me. "We kissed each other." I admitted.

"Then what happened?" Miss Levingly pressed.

"Gray came looking for me and saw us." Tears pricked the back of my eyes, but I knew I had to stop myself from crying. Miss Levingly went on, wanting to know every detail about the night. She also quizzed me about my post natal depression, putting emphasis on the fact that something like that clouds your judgement, making you do all sorts of things that you wouldn't think about doing normally. She drilled it into the jury that I had been upset and angry that my plan to get Jack backfired, I saw Karen at the inn, fell down the stairs and when I awoke to find Jack at the hospital, desperately worried about me, I decided that I could win him back by gaining his sympathy and saying that Karen had pushed me. I was glad when she finally sat down and the sandy haired man got up to speak. He handed around a certificate from the doctor, saying that at the time of the incident, I was mentally stable and my medication for my post natal depression was working well.

He asked me to explain about my relationship with Karen. To tell every last detail about the bullying and the previous incident, when she had pushed me into the ocean when I was a child. It was very hard, I had only ever told those things to Jack before but I kept my eyes on him. He kept nodding and smiling, telling me that I was doing well.

"How can they not believe you?" He said when my time out there had finally finished. "Ya stood there looking all earnest and clever. I tell you, if they fall for Karen I'll eat my hat."

"You're not wearing a hat." I remarked, giggling.

"Well I'll eat my invisible hat then." He said, tickling my tummy.

Jack also had to go and give evidence. They asked him all about the time we had been together in Rose Square before I went back to the inn. He had to tell them all about our kissing and making up but also the trouble there had been with Gray. That's when I bit my lip and clutched hold of the wooden seat. Karen's lawyer kept trying to push him into admitting that I had been bitter towards Karen after our split. Jack, however, was not easily budged and insisted that although I had been upset, I had never said or done anything that led him to believe I had a huge hatred towards her. They also quizzed him about my post natal depression and how it caused me to do irrational things. This also made me sweat but Jack looked straight at me with a reassuring smile in his eyes and said that I was taking medication, things were sorted out with Charlie and he didn't believe I could have had a relapse. In fact he was absolutely certain I didn't. I relaxed, but not too much.I knew anything could happen and the case was strong on either side.

The jury didn't seem to take long deliberating. I couldn't work out whether this was a good sign or a bad sign. Jack kept telling me to stay positive but I was far from positive as everyone made their way back to the court room. I saw Sasha and Jeff sit down at the back. Sasha was preened to perfection as usual, her head was held high as she looked over the jury beseechingly, as if she could persuade them just by the right look in her eye. Jeff was crumpled and pale. He saw me looking at him and his mouth flickered in a smile but it happened so quickly that I couldn't be sure that I hadn't just imagined it. Then I saw Sasha giving him a stern jab in the ribs and knew I hadn't. I looked at Karen as she gazed expectantly at the jury. Her hands were in her lap and she looked strangely innocent. When I caught her eye I expected to find that intense hatred that had always lain there but instead they were blank and emotionless. Almost as if she were looking right through me. I suddenly realised that the battle we had fought for most of our lives was over. Even if they said she wasn't guilty, I would never be scared of her again and Jack would never give in to her again so nothing more I could say would bother her and nothing she could say would bother me. It was an odd feeling.

"Have you reached a verdict?" The judge said loudly to the jury spokeswoman, interrupting my thoughts.

"We have."

I swallowed down a rising lump in my throat.

"And do you find the defendant, Karen Miller, guilty or not guilty on the charge of attempted murder?"

Jack gripped my hand.

The jury spokeswoman opened her mouth to speak.

And the whole court room held it's breath…