Part Five
On the Thursday morning, Yvonne drove towards Jo's office. The last time she'd been here had been on the day Lauren was remanded in custody, almost two years ago now. It was funny how time flew, she thought to herself, as she moved the Ferrari through the virtually static London traffic. That had been in mid January 2004, and now it was early October 2005 and Lauren had been tried, convicted, and had been released after completing her sentence. Lauren had started her therapy with Meg Richards and was beginning to get back into the work she had been doing with Cassie before Fenner had been killed. She was slowly putting her life back together and Yvonne was proud of her for putting in the effort. Yet now, here they all were, at the beginning of yet another crusade for justice, this time with absolutely no question as to guilt or innocence. There was no way Barbara had killed Henry and anyone who had been in prison with Barbara last time would know this. She had hated every minute of prison, had found it extremely difficult to deal with, therefore she would never have done anything to risk going back there no matter how good the cause might have been.
When she came to a stop in the car park, she sat for a moment and looked up at the office block in front of her. When she'd been here last, that had meant the beginning of a long and extremely drawn out period of anxiety for her, did this time perhaps mean the same for Barbara? She vehemently hoped not, but being well versed in the ways and probabilities of the law she was inclined to believe it would be. She had talked to Jo the day before and said that there was something she wanted to discuss with her regarding Barbara's case and Jo had said she could spare her half an hour, but Yvonne didn't think it would take that long. As she was escorted upstairs by Jo's secretary, Yvonne tried to keep her thoughts away from how Jo was getting on with George. She knew that George and Karen had broken up a few weeks ago, not because Karen had told her but because Nikki had mentioned it. Karen was obviously avoiding discussing it and Yvonne hadn't wanted to push the issue by asking her. But Yvonne had known this would happen from the day she'd caught Jo buying George's birthday present. So, if George and Karen had broken up, that probably meant that Jo and George were together, along with the Judge. Oh well, she thought ruefully, each to their own.
As she walked down the corridor and saw Jo standing in her office doorway waiting for her, Yvonne wasn't the only one to experience a feeling of deja vu. Jo could also remember Yvonne's last visit only too well. "Yvonne," she said, offering her usual professional smile. "come on in." "I was just remembering when I was here last," Yvonne found herself admitting. "Yes," Jo said seriously. "so was I. How's Lauren getting on?" "She's going to her sessions with Meg Richards and she's staying out of trouble, but I'm not sure how much good it'll do in the end." "Try to have a little more faith in her, Yvonne. She might have the residue of Charlie's influence very deep down, but she's also got your determination somewhere in there too." "Let's hope so," Yvonne said dryly. "Now, what I really came to see you about was Barbara." "Yes, so you said. I saw her yesterday but I'm all ears for anything else you might be able to tell me." "It's not information I'm here to give you," Yvonne replied, fixing Jo with her penetrating gaze. "I came to let you know, that as long as Barbara agrees, I will be footing the bill for her defence." Jo had been about to take a sip of her coffee but replaced the mug back on the desk. "Yvonne, are you absolutely sure about this?" She asked carefully, her surprise completely outweighing her usual level of tact. "Very," Yvonne said firmly, "there's no way Barbara would ever admit it, but she's going to find it very hard to pay your fees. She would manage it somehow but it wouldn't be easy. Money, or at least Charlie's money, isn't something I like to talk about because I'm ashamed of how he came by it. But if I can use some of it to help get Barbara out of Larkhall, then that's all to the good." Jo didn't know what to say. Yvonne had uttered those words with such sincerity, such humility, that it brought home to her just how much of a change had come over Yvonne since she'd first met her in the lead up to Snowball and Ritchie's trial. "That is extremely generous of you, Yvonne," Jo said eventually. "and I do understand why you want to do it. But before you make your final decision on this, I must make the position as clear as possible to you. To start with, I may not be the only barrister working on this case. When I saw George last night, after seeing Barbara, George drew my attention to just how difficult I am going to find this case. I don't mean professionally but emotionally and, though I am loath to admit it, she does have a point. I don't know how aware you are, of my personal circumstances of a few years ago, but I was once in a similar position to Barbara, in nursing a terminally ill husband. So yes, I am going to find this case far more difficult than most, which is why it has been suggested to me that I take on the equivalent of a junior, to provide me with the necessary support when I should need it." "No, I didn't know," Yvonne replied gently, admiring Jo's courage in taking on such a case in the first place. "George is going to visit Barbara tomorrow, to ask her permission to become involved, and to act as my junior. I don't think George intends to ask for payment for doing this but she would be well within her rights to do so. There is also the question of expert witnesses which at the moment is an unknown quantity." "Jo, it's really not a problem," Yvonne tried to reassure her. "even if Barbara's defence ended up costing two hundred grand, it's hardly going to be a drop in the ocean." "I see," Jo said, her eyes widening slightly. "and you say that Barbara doesn't know about this yet." "No, not yet and if I know Barbara, she'll take a bit of convincing. I'll go and see her with George tomorrow and use my endless powers of persuasion on her." "Once she's come round to the idea it ought to take at least a little bit of the worry away." "Her friends are all the family Barbara's got left now," Yvonne said with feeling, "so it's up to all of us to do whatever we can for her." When Yvonne left a short time later, Jo marvelled at the true sense of togetherness and support that Larkhall women seemed to feel for each other. She knew that this wasn't confined to ex or current inmates because Karen and Helen had always given off this feeling of strength as well. Had their united influence somehow spread to herself and George over the last couple of years, and if so, did it by extension make them better barristers, better people? She couldn't help but to hope that it had.