OOOOOOO

See Ch 1 for disclaimer

Ch. 4

August 5th 2000

Dear diary,

He hit me again yesterday. The last time he hit me, I swore

that I'd never let him do it again, but as usual, there isn't a whole

lot that I can do about it. Jim's lost his fourth job in less than

three months, so he's always looking through my room for money. So

far, he hasn't discovered the cash I hide underneath the loose floorboards,

which I got for doing odd jobs in town. It won't be long before he does

though, so I'll have to find somewhere else to hide it. I was thinking of asking

Coach Manning if he would keep it for me, because I know that I can

trust him. He's about the only person in the whole town who doesn't

have ties to Jim. He arrived in town a few months ago

to take over the teaching position of the old softball coach

whore tired. All I need to do now is think up a plausible excuse

so he doesn't get suspicious. I've got to do that before I see him

at practice next Tuesday.

OOOO

The following Tuesday...

As Catriona walked onto the practice field she saw Coach

Manningwatching her from the stands.

"Nice to see you back, Cathy. Long time no see."

"Thanks coach," she replied, "Its good to be back."

"You mind telling me where you've been this past week?"

"Sorry coach. Jim wanted me to ease up on the sports for a bit. He

thinks that my grades are beginning to slip."

"And are they?" The coach asked

"No, not really," Cathy told him, "Like I told him, my grades

are up in two subjects. I only got a b+ in history, but this

semester it's a lot harder and the whole year-group has gone down in

their grades. I'm working a lot harder, though, so I'm

hoping my grades will go up again, by the end of the semester."

"Yeah well, next time, you ask him to come talk to me. I'm sure I

could have persuaded him."

"It's okay," Cathy insisted, "I managed to talk him round."

OOOO

Rick Manning sat watching Cathy from the side bench as she

practiced batting. He knew that she was a hard worker, even if she

was a bit sporadic in her school attendance. He made a

note to himself to have a talk to Jim Davidson, the next time hesaw

him in town. He got the impression that he was working

Catriona a bit too hard.

OOOO

After practice, Catriona stayed behind in the shower room long

after everyone else had left, trying to get up the courage to

approach Coach Manning. Finally, she scolded herself for being such

a coward and went out to where the coach was sorting out

some paperwork in his office. Knocking softly on the open door,she

waited until the coach gestured to her to come in.

"Hey Cathy," he said to her, "You had a good day out there

today. What can I do for you?"

Taking a deep breath, Cathy just came straight to the point.

"Hi Coach, I was just wondering if I could ask you for a favor?"

"What kind of favor?" He questioned, "I'll do my best to help."

"I was wondering if you would mind holding onto a couple of

things for me, for a short while Jim's going to have a couple ofold

friends coming into town soon and their kids are kinda

light fingered...I'll understand if you can't."

Rick looked at the shoebox decorated with crazy glitter and

sequins, then looked back at Cathy.

"Sure that would be no problem, but are you sure you want me to keep

it for you and not, maybe...one of your..."

"Friends?" Cathy finished off for him, with a snort of laughter,"I'm sure you've noticed that

I don't really have any of those...not close friends, anyway. I guess I don't mix well with

people my age. I never really grew up with other kids."

At Rick's puzzled look, Cathy quickly finished off, "I was an

only child. Anyway, I just want to know that those things are

somewhere safe. There's no lock on my door and the things in

there are kind of irreplaceable. Some of the last things my Mom and

Dad gave me are in there."

"Sure, no problem," the coach told her, "I'll keep them as safe

as scones."

"Thanks coach," Cathy told him gratefully.

As Cathy wandered back into the shower room to get her bag, she

wandered into the middle of a conversation between the members

of the cheerleading squad, who had finished practice and were

now in the showers.

"...Yeah, I've seen her a couple of times in dance club,

she's really quite a freak. She doesn't talk to anyone and you

should see the way she dresses. She lives in the old wreck of ahouse

outside town with her Uncle..."

Cathy cringed as she grabbed her bag and quickly headed to grab some

books out of her locker, so she could get out of there

before she heard anything that would really bother her. She was too

late.

"I heard that her parents are dead," one girl spoke up, "I

wonder if she took a knife to them or they just slit their own

throats to get away from her. That really wouldn't surprise

me, having a freak like that for a daughter and all..."

Cathy gathered her shattered pride up from the floor and walked out

as fast as she could. Outside she wiped away the stray

tears from her cheeks and steeled herself on, thinking to

herself,

"God, I hate those airhead cheerleaders. And their damn pompoms

too."

OOOO

As Rick cleared up the storeroom, later that evening, he saw

that Cathy had left her softball bat behind, yet again.

Sighing, he put it in the trunk of his car, intending to return it to

her in school the next day.

OOOO

As Cathy returned to The House after school, one day, she

noticed a stack of mail on the kitchen counter top, but she knewwell

enough not to touch it. Jim walked in behind her, making

her jump and reflexively stiffen.

"Looks like your little friends are writing to you again," he

slurred, "They just don't give up, do they, these military

types. Still, how much did the damn military do for your

parents, for your entire family?"

Jim proceeded to read one of the letters from the pile, one from Mac,

taunting Cathy as she stood, only half listening. She

stood stock still, waiting for the inevitable slap that would

come.

"Maybe," she thought to herself," if Mac is thinking about

coming to see me, then that would bemy best chance of getting out

of there."

But would Jim let her leave? And did she dare tomake that

escape?

Just then, Cathy was caught off guard by a hard slap to her

face, knocking her into the kitchen island. As a nonstop stream of

punches rocked her, she took solitude in the fact that Mac

was coming to see her soon.

OOOOOOO