A/N: much thanks to Michael for helping me with the 'law talk' in this chapter.
Review responses sent out as usual.
Also thanks to: LandUnderWave, Glitterfrost, Raine's Tears, Aiko Moonchild, Mewhoelse, annatari.the.writer, Phoenix, Apo, Duck Goddess, Hello, XxBlackChaosxX, Saldaen farmgirl, TheFasterYouUpdateTheBetter, RoseFae, Queen Dragon, fikle, refloc (so happy to see you again!), starfiregracen, hollieshortgirl, xav
Chapter 19
Nobody's Father
Five days earlier
Martha curiously followed Mrs Dawson into a room. The only times when the woman had called her aside had been when she'd done nasty things like putting earthworms or slugs into Isabel's bed. But Isabel had deserved it, she was such a stuck-up little jerk… Now, however, Martha hadn't done anything wrong, hadn't even threatened Isabel with spiders for over a week. What could the matron want from her then?
The woman shut the door behind her, took a place on the moth-eaten sofa and patted it gently next to her. "Come, dear child, sit down next to me."
"Have I done something wrong, Mrs Dawson?" Martha asked, sitting down and trying to look as polite as possible, which had always been a struggle for her.
"No, dear." The woman shook her head, smiling. "A wonderful thing has happened, Martha. A gentleman has just arrived to take you with him."
"Take me away?" the child gasped. "But why? Because I'm not a good girl and I put slugs into Isabel's bed? Is that why you want to send me away?"
"Oh, no, dear." Esther put a hand around the girl's shoulder. "This gentleman will take you to a magician's home to London. You will be a magician's apprentice."
The little girl blinked. "Me? A magician's apprentice? Does that mean that some day I will be a magician?"
"Yes, dear."
Martha got excited. "Will I be able to make things fly if I point my wand at them and say Wingardium Leviosa?"
Esther laughed. "I don't know, I don't think real magicians use wands."
Martha's face fell. "Oh. That's bad. I wanted to show I could do it just like Hermione, if not better! Are you sure real magicians don't use wands?"
"I'm quite sure, dear," Esther replied. During Kitty's pregnancy, she had asked her daughter-in-law a few questions about magic, and Kitty had replied to the best of her knowledge. From all that she had heard, Esther drew the conclusion that magic was done through summoning demons who did the work instead of the magician.
The child pouted. "I don't want to become a magician then."
"It's not something you can decide, dear. You're a very lucky girl to have been chosen for such an important role. The magicians lead this country and you will be one of them."
Martha seemed contemplative for a moment. "Only if I get to be Minister for Finance. Can I be Minister for Finance?"
Esther suppressed a laugh. "Perhaps. It all depends on you. If you learn diligently, you will be good at magic and if you show talent, you might get the chance-"
"Like that funny long haired man from last week's newscast?"
Esther felt a flip-flop in her stomach. Last week there had been an interview with a few ministers and her son had been one of them. Ever since they had got enough money to buy a small TV for the orphanage, she kept following the 'London developments', in the hope of catching a glimpse of Nathaniel. He appeared in newscasts at least once a month. Esther knew that every time she saw him, he'd just announce something in his usual impassive way, giving her an urge to tell him off like she'd done in his childhood, but she still couldn't resist the temptation to grab every chance to see him, if only through a television screen. That was her only link to her son besides the monthly donations he kept sending the orphanage. Now she was quite disappointed that Nathaniel had sent someone to pick up the child and hadn't come in person. She so missed him…
"Yes, dear, just like that," she replied with a smile. "But why do you think he's funny?"
Martha shrugged. "Well, his hair. It's just stupidly long, isn't it? Boys don't have such long hair… he looked like a girl, only his voice was much deeper."
"What do you think of him… apart from the fact that he has stupidly long hair?"
"Oh, I don't know… he looked cute enough."
"Cute?"
The little girl nodded. "Yes, but he was talking about things that I didn't understand, and in such a weird way… so high-flying."
"High-flown," the woman corrected her gently.
"Yeah, that. Say, Mrs Dawson, couldn't I be a magician's apprentice but stay here? I don't want to go away, I like it here. Perhaps, we could tell the magician that I can read already and he could send me books, and I'd learn from them."
"Unfortunately, that is not possible, dear. You'll need to have a closer relationship to your master, as he will teach you several things in person."
"Do you think I could talk him into teaching me to make things fly?"
"I don't know, but you may try," Esther said with a gentle smile. "And now, let's go. We'll pack your things and this gentleman will take you to your master to London."
"Will you and the others visit me there? Or can I come visit you?"
The woman heaved a sigh. She'd been expecting this question. "I'm afraid not. A magician's apprentice needs to severe all ties to his or her previous home, family, or in your case, us."
"Severe the ties? What does that mean?"
"It means you can never see us again," the woman said, not looking at the child. She felt that a part of her heart was being ripped out at the moment.
Martha crossed her arms and shook her head. "I'm not going then. I won't leave you, Mrs Dawson!"
Her grandmother blinked back a tear. "I'm sorry, dear, but you have no choice."
o o o O O O o o o
Martha sat in the man's black car, staring at the landscape flashing by, tears rolling down her cheeks. Mrs Dawson had forced her to leave with this unsympathetic man dressed all in black! At the moment she hated the matron who apparently didn't like her either or she wouldn't have given her away to this nasty-looking man. There was one thing she didn't understand, though: if Mrs Dawson didn't like her, then why had she cried when she escorted her to the car?
The only thing Martha was happy about was that she had managed to give Isabel one last shock. That irritating, stuck-up little girl had come to her, asking with a grin 'So, we're getting rid of you at last? Mrs Dawson is sending you away because you're always so nasty, isn't she?'
Martha had replied: 'I'm going to London to be a magician's apprentice and to be magician when I grow up! I will be the Minister for Finance some day, and you'll be green with envy!'
'Martha!' Mary, the other matron had told her off with a disapproving stare. Isabel, on the other hand, looked downright envious of her luck. This gave Martha some satisfaction, but it wasn't enough to suppress her sadness. Had she been such a bad little girl that they wanted to get rid of her? Why, even Timothy had put a bunch of ants into Isabel's bed once… she hadn't been the only naughty one among the children. If that magician wanted a naughty child as his apprentice, he could as well have chosen Timothy. But no, he had apparently chosen her.
'I'm sure that your master will grow fond of you soon and his wife will treat you like her own child,' Mrs Dawson had told her while packing her things. 'You will have a family. Isn't that wonderful?'
Martha had just given the matron a scowl and defiantly looked away.
A family? – She wondered, staring out the car window. Could she have a mother and father? Would they love her? Would they love her if they found out she'd been putting slugs and earthworms into Isabel's bed? No, she'd better never tell them or they surely wouldn't like her.
By the time they got into London, her tears had ebbed and she watched the weird, tall houses with awe. She'd never seen buildings like these, and definitely hadn't seen so many at once. And the cars, oh the cars! There were cars everywhere! Big and small, black, red and blue, cars in all sizes and all colours of the rainbow! Why, that was a Mercedes over there! Martha got all excited by the sight of the Mercedes. She had been fascinated by cars since the age of three, and had been collecting paper cuttings about various types of cars. She could determine a car's type without seeing its emblem, just by looking at its design. She had learned to read at the age of four (she wouldn't leave Mrs Dawson alone as long as she didn't teach her to read) and she read everything in the papers about cars, even though she didn't understand half of what was written there.
"Does my master have a car?" she asked the driver all of a sudden.
"Yes, this is her car," the driver replied.
"Her?" Martha frowned. "Isn't my master a he?"
"I'm afraid not, missy. Last time I checked, Miss Farrar was a woman."
A female magician? – The child wondered. That sounded good. She was less afraid of adult females than adult males. Females were so much gentler… she'd surely get along well with this Miss Farrar. Perhaps she'd love her enough to be like a mother to her?
Soon the car stopped before a pretty garden. Seeing all the trees and bushes in the garden, Martha's spirits lifted a bit. One of the things that had disturbed her about London was the lack of greenery. In Fenny Bridges she'd got used to having nature around, she'd played in the grass and picked flowers in the nearby meadow. Perhaps this Miss Farrar would let her pick flowers in her garden…
The unsympathetic man opened the car door for her and led her deep into the garden, to a nice, white house with pink and magenta curtains in every window. Martha had never seen such a pretty building. She was almost looking forward to living here.
The man led her into the house and told her to stay in the hall until he announced their arrival to Miss Farrar. Upon being left alone in the hall, Martha looked around, her eyes drinking in all the beauties: a chandelier prettier than she'd ever seen before, a staircase with carved wooden banisters, and a really soft-looking red carpet on the stairs. She decided to check whether it was indeed as soft as it looked. She was busy poking the carpet on the lowest step when a cold female voice spoke up behind her.
"Stop ruining my possessions and come into the salon, child. And before you do, take that ridiculous cap off your head!"
Martha turned around to see a pretty young woman in her late twenties. She wore a green silk dress and her dark hair was twisted into an elegant knot on the back of her head. She looked like a real princess, the likes of which Martha had only seen in children's books, but there was something about her she didn't like. Perhaps the way Miss Farrar's green eyes were staring at her through long eyelashes, perhaps the way her lips were tucked into a supercilious grimace… Martha didn't know, all she knew was that her master gave her the creeps.
"I'm sorry," she said quickly, pulling her favourite red baseball cap (that she usually wore back to front) off her head. "I didn't want to ruin anything, Miss Farrar. Oh, I'm Martha Jones, by the way." She held out her hand which the woman didn't take. After a while the little girl pulled her hand back. "Er… you may call me Mar, if you like that better…"
"I won't call you Martha or Mar or anything of the sort," the woman replied coldly. "You will simply be 'child' until you get your new name."
"My new name?" Martha asked, surprised. "Why? I like my current one."
Her master heaved a sigh, looking annoyed. "Every magician gets a new name at the age of twelve, when they turn adult in our society. You'd better forget your old name. People could use it against you. And should anyone ask your birth name, don't tell them."
Martha made a grimace. "Then would you call me Hermione, please? I like that name too. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is my favourite movie, and-"
"I'm not interested in the movies you like, and no, I'm not going to call you Hermione," the woman replied with a sneer.
"Why not? It sounds much better than 'child'," Martha insisted. "Besides, that's the name of a really great witch, I mean, a female magician. I want to be just as great as she is, and-"
"Stuck-up…" the woman murmured. "Amazing how much you resemble that…"
"Who?" The little girl asked curiously.
"Never mind," Miss Farrar said sharply. "Don't ask questions. Come with me, I'm going to show you your room."
o o o O O O o o o
This continued like this: whenever Martha asked a question, Miss Farrar told her off for having spoken without being asked. But Martha simply couldn't not ask questions, there were so many things she wanted to know about magicians… Now, after having spent five whole days in Miss Farrar's home, she still didn't know whether magicians used wands for making things fly or not.
Her master didn't spend much time at home – according to Geoffrey (the man who had picked her up in the orphanage and who had turned out to be a real demon in human disguise) – she was spending most of her time at Whitehall. Martha didn't know what Whitehall was.
The only times she met Miss Farrar had been at dinnertime, but the woman had always been careful to finish dinner quickly so that her apprentice couldn't ask her questions. She treated Martha with cold impassivity and for the first time in her life Martha felt she was not being loved by anyone. At night she usually cried herself to sleep, longing for Mrs Dawson's bedtime stories, and sometimes she even missed Isabel.
Now, after barely having talked to her master, Martha was quite surprised when Geoffrey told her to appear in the salon and behave really politely because Miss Farrar was about to introduce her to someone important.
o o o O O O o o o
Nathaniel drove back to London, not even remembering when he'd last felt this upset. And his poor mother… Esther had got into a really bad state, sobbing and shaking, and he had had to lead her into the hall, ask Mary to bring her a sedative, then sit down next to her and embrace her, whispering 'I'll find her, I promise, don't be worried' into her ear again and again. When he'd left the orphanage, she looked somewhat calmer, but Nathaniel was quite sure that if it weren't for the sedatives, she still would have been in hysterics.
And truth be told, he felt he was on the verge of losing his nerve too. He tried to calm down telling himself that he was Deputy Prime Minister, there was no way he wouldn't be able to find out who had taken his daughter and persuade that person to hand the child over to be his apprentice. He could also offer that magician another child from any orphanage, and the magician would surely be delighted to have the honour of handing the girl over to the second most powerful man in the country!
With his heart beating in his throat, he stopped the car in front of the Employment Ministry.
o o o O O O o o o
"…I hope you know that all children's papers are destroyed once they are taken by a magician as an apprentice, Sir," the clerk said.
"Of course I know," Nathaniel said with barely hidden anger. "But you can surely tell me who took a child from Fenny Bridges during the last week?"
The clerk bowed slightly. "As far as I remember, it was a lady who handed in her claim for a female child last week and promised to send her servant for the child so that we didn't even have to bother with it. Five days ago she came into our office, handed over the child's papers to be destroyed and signed all the necessary forms."
"And who was this lady?"
"A moment, Sir, I shall look for the form…" The clerk began looking through a huge stack of papers. "Oh, there. Miss Jane Farrar."
Nathaniel felt he had once again been slapped in the face. Jane! This couldn't be a coincidence! Jane didn't even like children! There was no way she'd want to claim an apprentice as soon as possible… only if she wanted to be quicker than him. After all, she knew when his birthday was, they had celebrated it together a few times all those years ago… She surely knew he'd have to wait another five days to claim the child, and… Nathaniel felt dizzy all of a sudden. She must have known it was his child! But how on earth had she found out?
"Are you all right, Sir?" the clerk asked, looking worried. "You've turned as white as a sheet. Perhaps you'd like a glass of water?"
"No, thanks, I'm fine." The young Deputy Prime Minister took a deep breath, forcing himself to breath evenly. This lowly ministry employee wasn't supposed to see him all agitated. "Thank you for the information."
"You're most welcome, Sir."
o o o O O O o o o
His insides were squirming as he got out of the car in front of the gate of Jane's garden. The last time he'd been here had been almost six years ago. Jane's neatly trimmed bushes were starting to show the first buds and hundreds of white, yellow and lilac crocuses bloomed on both sides of the garden path.
Nathaniel didn't know what he was expecting from this visit, as he doubted Jane would willingly give Martha over to him, but he had to try at least. For Kitty and for his mother. And well, a little bit for himself as well. He didn't want to admit it to himself, but deep down he had been looking forward to meeting his daughter. He wasn't fond of children – sometimes they downright scared him – but Martha was still his child. He doubted he could ever really love her, but a part of him wanted to be proud of her at least.
He rang the bell and Jane's demon Geoffrey whom Nathaniel had known from the 'good old times', came to open the gate for him. "May I announce your arrival to my mistress, Sir?"
"Do so," Nathaniel replied, smoothing his jacket and adjusting his tie.
The demon led him into the salon that had a dark green curtain, an emerald green sofa, several green armchairs and even the carpets and the vase on the glass table were green. For a second Nathaniel felt he was the same seventeen-year-old boy who had entered this salon after having brought Jane home from a ball where she'd claimed to have drunk a little too much to drive her own car. He had been the gentleman, and she had been the seducer, taking his virginity on that very sofa… The inexperienced boy hadn't been nearly as nervous in this salon eight years ago as he was now. Back then he had been shaking with anticipation and fright over the prospect of disappointing Jane. The current Nathaniel was shaking with anticipation over seeing his daughter (if Jane let him see her at all) and fright that he might have lost her already.
"Why, what a pleasant surprise," the woman's mellifluous voice spoke up behind him. He whirled around to see an evilly smiling Jane Farrar.
"Don't tell me it's a surprise. You knew I'd come."
Jane shrugged. "Yes, I knew. I was pretty sure you'd find out I had claimed little Martha as my apprentice… Oops, have I said her name?" She let out a small laugh that made Nathaniel's stomach clench painfully. This infernal woman had his daughter in her clutches and knew her name!
"How did you find out?" he asked, forcing his features not to show the turmoil that was raging in his soul at the moment.
"She told me."
"Not the name," he said. In the Amendments to the Apprenticeship Act, there was a section that handled this. 'Whereas when the magician selects his or her apprentice from an orphanage, it is inevitable that he or she finds out the child's birth name; and whereas when he or she hands in his or her claim to the Employment Ministry, it is also inevitable that the clerk accepting or refusing the claim will find out the child's name: it shall be an offence under this section:
(1) for the said magician or clerk to mention the child's name to anyone other than those to whom it is already known (which same shall without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing include the staff at the aforesaid orphanage); or
(2) to use the child's name to its detriment;
and in surety thereof, the said magician and clerk shall be required to sign a magical contract, the curse of which shall exact severe punishment for any breach thereof.' Nathaniel knew this well, as he had been the person to suggest the cursed contract. "I'm rather curious to know how you found out about her existence."
"Oh, that…" Jane dropped herself on the sofa, crossing her legs and looking casual. "Let that remain my secret."
"What are your intentions with her?" he questioned her darkly.
"Oh, let's see… annoying you and that little commoner tramp… er… sorry, forgot her name…"
"It's Kitty and you haven't forgotten it," he hissed. "I want you to hand over the child, or-"
"Or what?" Jane arched an eyebrow at him. "Will you use your power as Deputy Prime Minister to take her forcibly from me? Hold your horses, Johnny… You might have power over the whole Empire, but I have power over you. If you try to take the child from me, I will tell everyone she's yours. You might find yourself making photocopies as a lowly clerk quicker than you can imagine. Not to mention that… I know the child's name, remember? I could use it against her."
"You wouldn't dare," he said through gritted teeth. "The curse-"
"Oh, the curse." Jane waved. "You might not have heard yet, but Arnold Callaghan, the deputy to the Employment Minister is my current boyfriend. He made sure the contract I signed had no curse on it. See, I have my contacts in the right places, even though you tried to make sure I don't. And don't even think of sacking Arnold, or the world will find out about your being a daddy…"
Giving him a nasty grin, she stood up and walked up to him. "As for the child… should you do anything… say, try to get her from me…" She wound her arms around his neck, "I'll use her name against her." She traced his jaw-line with a finger. He didn't even budge or push her away – he felt paralysed.
"You… you wouldn't…"
"Oh, believe me, I would," Jane replied with a sickeningly sweet smile.
"How can you be so cruel?"
"Cruel, me?" she snapped, taking a step backwards. "It was you who left me for a commoner tramp! It was you who humiliated me twice before important people! I haven't been able to get myself promoted ever since, thanks to you!"
Nathaniel gulped. "I'm sorry… Jane… just think this over… she's… she's my child."
The woman shook her head. "By blood, yes. But only by blood. If you want to make sure that the girl doesn't suffer any harm, and if you want to keep your position as Deputy PM, you won't tell anyone. And since no one knows… you're officially nobody's father. Grin and bear it, John. She's mine and I'm not letting you have her."
Nathaniel again felt dizzy. For the first time in his life, power didn't mean anything, as he couldn't use it. He was trapped. But he wouldn't leave without seeing Martha. "At least… let me see her. Just once."
Jane shrugged. "Why not?" She clapped twice and Geoffrey materialised next to her. "Bring the child here, and tell her to behave. I want to introduce her to someone… important."
This was the longest two minutes of Nathaniel's life. His heart hammering in his throat, his hands involuntarily clenched into fists, a vein pulsing on his temple, he waited. Finally, the pattering of little feet could be heard – someone was running down the stairs. In the next instant, she stood there in the doorway, her long, wavy black hair cascading over her shoulders from under the red baseball cap she wore back to front.
As her eyes met his, Nathaniel felt his knees go weak. His own blue eyes were staring back at him from a face that was a younger version of Kitty's. For a few seconds they just stared at each other, then Jane broke the silence.
"How many times do I have to tell you to take that ridiculous cap off?"
"Oh, forgot." Martha quickly pulled the cap off and hid it behind her back.
"Well, John, this is my apprentice." Jane gave him an indulgent smile. "A little ill-mannered, but what can you expect from a village girl? Don't worry, within a few months, she will be tamed into a perfect young lady."
The young man's eyes flashed at the word 'tamed'.
"Child, this is-"
"The Deputy Prime Minister, I know!" Martha said quickly. "Seen him on TV! Hello, Mr Minister!" With that she held out a hand.
Before Nathaniel knew what he was doing, he took her hand. It was so tiny and warm… For the second time in his life he felt that fuzzy warmth he'd first felt when he'd held the newborn Martha for the first time. He couldn't have described it with any other word but 'magic'.
"First: don't interrupt when I'm speaking, second: don't offer your hand to a person of a much higher rank than you are," Jane hissed to Martha, breaking the magic of the moment.
Martha made a grimace, pulling her hand out of her father's. "S'ry."
"Third: it's 'sorry', fourth: never grimace in my presence," the female magician said sharply.
"Yes, Madam." Martha looked away from her master, and her eyes again met her father's. "I want to be Minister for Finance one day. Can you arrange that?"
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Nathaniel couldn't stop his lips from tucking into a small smile. "Perhaps."
"Cool!" Martha beamed.
"Fifth: a lady never says 'cool'," Jane said coldly.
"Why, what does a lady say?"
"A lady says 'wonderful' or 'excellent'," Nathaniel replied before Jane could.
"Oh, all right." Martha shrugged. "But I'm not sure I want to be a lady at all…"
"Only if you become a lady can you become Minister for Finance," the young man said, bending slightly to be closer to her height. "And you'll have to learn a lot from Miss Farrar if you want to be a perfect lady and Minister for Finance."
"But I'm not sure I want to." The child pouted. "I don't like it here."
"Sixth: it is an important rule here: do not lie," Jane hissed at Martha.
"But I'm not lying!"
"Yes, you are."
"I'm not!" Martha stamped her foot. Jane clapped, and in the next moment Martha was hanging upside down, her long black locks sweeping the carpet. She'd dropped the red cap in fright.
Nathaniel felt one of the worst memories of his life rushing back to him: himself hanging upside down, an invisible club beating him until he lost his consciousness…
"Stop!" he shouted, jumping between Martha and Jane. "Don't hurt her!"
The woman seemed to be amused by his expression of utter horror. "As you wish." She clapped and the invisible force dropped the child onto the carpet. "Next time you will really be punished for lies, child. Now, get out of here, and no dinner tonight!"
Tears welling up in her eyes, Martha grabbed her baseball cap and stormed out of the room without giving Nathaniel a second glance.
"See? She didn't even thank you," Jane said with a sarcastic smile. "You'd better forget about her, John. If you want your child as your apprentice, then go and get your wife pregnant again. If she's willing to sleep with you, which I seriously doubt…"
o o o O O O o o o
Kitty was staring out the window, getting more and more worried every minute. Where was her husband? He should have arrived back by four o'clock! It was eight p.m. and still no sight of him… Had he been in a car crash? The mere idea made her shudder. No, he's fine and he's bringing our daughter back! – She tried to convince herself. But what's taking him so long?
Finally, a pair of headlights appeared in the end of the garden, shining through the darkness. Kitty's heart began racing. Nathaniel was home with their little girl! In just a few minutes she'd be able to embrace her Martha at last! At that moment she felt she could have forgiven her husband everything and loved him again, given themselves the chance to be a family at last…
She ran out of her room, down the marble stairs. The front door opened to let a haggard looking Nathaniel in. Kitty stopped in her stride. There was something on his face that sent a chill down her spine. His eyes held a haunted look, and his features looked anything but that of a proud father.
He banged the door shut and that was when she realised that there was no Martha with him.
"What… what happened?" she croaked.
He cast his eyes down. "Jane."
"Jane what?"
"Jane has somehow found out we have a child and… claimed her as her apprentice before I could."
Kitty gasped. "No! Tell me you're kidding!"
He didn't reply.
She grabbed his shoulder and shook him. "Tell me you're kidding! Tell me it's not true!"
Finally he looked up and she saw eternal sadness in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Kitty. It's true."
"H…how?"
He shook his head. "I don't know how she found out, but she did and she's unwilling to hand over the child. She blackmailed me."
"Black… blackmailed?" she breathed. "With what?"
"She knows Martha's birth name and said she'd use it against her if I tried to get her back… she also said if I tried anything, she'd tell everyone Martha is ours, and…"
Kitty stepped back from him. "But you can surely make up something… you can, can't you?" Her voice wavered.
"I'm sorry…"
Something snapped in Kitty. "For heaven's sake, you're the second most powerful man in this bloody country! Do something!"
"I can't."
"Of course, you can't! You don't care for anything but your fucking reputation again, our child means nothing!"
Something snapped in Nathaniel too. "I never even wanted this child!"
All the anger she'd suppressed for five years exploding out of her, Kitty punched him across the face, sending him reeling backwards until his head hit the end of the banister. He collapsed.
Her eyes widened with shock, Kitty stared at his crumpled form for a few seconds. The thought 'heavens, I've killed my husband!' ran through her mind. She needed another few seconds to screw up her courage to crouch down and touch his wrist. There was a pulse. It was somewhat erratic, but strong. Tears welled up in her eyes at relief.
She stood up, her tears now freely flowing down her cheeks. She loved this man and hated him at the same time. She'd lost everything because of him, even her daughter. Now that she knew her husband wasn't strong enough to do something about the situation, she no longer had a reason to stay.
She ran up the stairs. In the space of five minutes she packed a few clothes into a tiny bag, and had almost left her bedroom when she doubled back. With a sudden thought she pulled the wedding ring off her finger and placed it on the vanity table. As she did so, something caught her eye – something that glinted. It was the diamond necklace she'd worn the previous night to some stupid minister's stupid party. She slammed the necklace into its box and dropped the box into her bag.
When she reached back into the hall, her husband was still out cold. Her glance lingered on him for a second. "Good bye, John," she whispered and hurried out of the building.
o o o O O O o o o
A/N: Nat's getting left all alooooone… sniff-sniff
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