AUTHOR'S NOTE: Anonymous, thanks for your review. I didn't watch H&A's first few years so all my information has come from the characters' biographies and from asking questions on the "Sally" thread on the Back to the Bay website. You're probably right about Steven being fostered by the Fletchers AFTER Sally and Lynn, but the information I was given at the time seemed to indicate that Sally and Lynn were the last to be fostered and, unfortunately, that's what I went with. Hope it hasn't spoilt the story too much for you - I can't stand inaccuracies either!

chapter 13

Now if I tell you that Pippa and Tom Fletcher weren't perfect I imagine you may be shocked. It might even seem as though I'm breaking some golden rule and whispering words I should never dare whisper. But Tom and Pippa weren't perfect. They were human and, like all of us, they had doubts and fears and made mistakes. And, you know, I think perhaps that's what made them so loved as foster parents. I'll let you into a little secret now and take you to a scene you will rarely see.

It was the day Carly and Lynn took Sally with them to the beach. Frank had already gone to work and the girls had left too, setting off early, weighed down with bags and sun creams. Steven was the last to leave, running downstairs and barely popping his head round the corner to yell a quick "Catch ya later!" before the door banged shut.

"I swear he's got Frank's guitar, Pip!" Tom said, hastily whipping the tea towel off his shoulder - Tom had been drying off a couple of dishes that Carly and Lynn had been in too much of a hurry to finish but had become distracted by a slightly leaking pipe under the sink - and racing after him.

But it was too late. Steven hadn't been awarded sportsman of the year at his previous school for nothing and he had no intention of waiting around to be challenged.

Tom sighed. It had caused a huge row last time Steven had used Frank's guitar without permission - though at least last time Steven hadn't decided it had been cooped up in their bedroom long enough and needed fresh air. But Tom could sympathise with both his foster sons. Steven was very much in the wrong to take the guitar without asking Frank but Steven enjoyed music too and Frank was so fiercely protective of the guitar that Carly teased him he thought it was a real person. He could call it Milky, seeing as Sally had Milko, Carly added, and Milky, Milko, Frank and Sally could be all be bezzie mates...seeing Frank's face, Carly wisely decided to call a halt to her teasing and picked up a magazine to flick through instead.

Though he tried hard to control it, Frank had a hot temper and, although he was always genuinely sorry afterwards, the damage was already done. Usually it was Steven or Carly who got the tongue lashing or were the reason for Frank smashing his fist against the wall - one time Carly had deliberately riled Frank so much that he'd shaken her, bringing back such terrible memories of her father that Carly had raided the Fletcher's drinks cabinet and downed three large cans of lager before Tom found her and brought her, shouting and swearing, back home. But none of the Fletchers had been spared Frank's fury. Even little Sally, to her terror, had once been yelled at to get out of the way as Frank stormed past her up the stairs and crashed his bedroom door behind him.

But, after that, Frank really did make a superhuman effort to keep his anger in check and, taking Pippa's advice, would often walk away and count slowly to twenty whenever he felt the red mist of rage descending on him. Never again did he want to live with the guilt of seeing Sally scuttle off in fear whenever she saw him. It had only been very recently that the kid had come to trust him once more and Frank was determined to never lose that trust again.

One thing that did always have a calming effect on Frank however was music and he poured his heart and soul into his dream of being a rock star.

Proud of being good at something for once in his life, he'd tried to teach the rest of the family to play guitar, but Carly had been too impatient, Lynn too nervous and Sally had just blushed and whispered she had to go see Milko and it was very important when Frank, worried she might feel left out - Frank's red hot temper was softened by a very kind heart - offered to show her some basic notes. But Steven, although he lacked Frank's natural talent, picked it up quickly like Steven did with everything he learnt.

There had even been a few evenings when Frank had managed to get everyone singing - well, everyone except Sally who was far too shy. (Presumably Milko was singing along too as Sally had been seen, when she thought no one was looking, nodding her head, tapping her foot and whispering to someone invisible.) Tom joked that maybe he should get a fiddle and they could all dance a jig every night but, as only Pippa was old enough to remember the Litttle House on the Prairie TV series from their childhood, only Pippa smiled and then, catching Tom's eye, they had fallen into helpless fits of laughter as they tried to picture the Fletcher family of Summer Bay dancing a jig รก la the Ingles of Walnut Grove. Their four eldest kids stared at them in baffled amusement and Sally shrugged her shoulders at Milko. But what pleased Tom and Pippa most was the rare sight of Frank and Steven grinning at each other.

Frank and Steven were chalk and cheese but their shared love of music could be what would finally brought them together. But, if Frank let his temper get the better of him when he learnt Steven had taken his precious guitar, music might be what drove them apart forever.

Tom sighed again at the empty driveway that led down to the caravan site and was startled when he heard a small sob behind him. He turned to see his wife standing by the kitchen table, her shoulders hunched and obviously crying.

"Pippa...?" Tom Fletcher was a man of few words when it came to emotions and his natural reticence had driven away many a girlfriend in his younger days. He drew the only woman he had ever truly loved into a hug and stroked her hair, waiting till Pippa herself was ready to talk.

At last Pippa drew breath and wiped the corners of her eyes. "It's silly..."

She sniffed and gave a watery smile, but didn't elaborate so, guessing correctly that this was about one of the kids, Tom winked and kissed her, flicked on the kettle and busied himself rattling cups and spoons and plates.

Mugs of strong tea and the old brown teapot that had once belonged to Pippa's grandmother and the tartan-patterned biscuit tin that had once belonged to Pippa's grandmother too, filled with assorted biscuits and plenty of them. Talk Time, Pippa and Tom always called it. A rare quiet time when all the kids were out, when they could brainstorm each other on how everyone was doing or simply let off steam. Because, although there was back-up from social workers if needed, like all parents, they were very much on their own in making decisions and judging what was right or wrong for their kids. No child ever breezed through this world yet, fostered or otherwise, packaged and perfect, but the kids who came to the Fletchers had suffered more trauma than most.

Guiding them through their problems was far from easy and I'd be lying if I led you to believe that tea was the only ever drink that soothed Tom and Pippa's frayed nerves. There were a few times when something far stronger was poured, when fostering was an exhausting and thankless task, when they wept openly in each other's arms. But the downtime, as people would call it today, was a much needed break that gave both the strength to go on and this, together with a sense of humour, probably the only way they were able to keep their sanity.

"It's everything. It's nothing. It's me being over-dramatic. Frank's so responsible nowadays, but his temper, I still worry it's going to get the better of him and he'll really hurt someone. And I KNOW Steven had something to do with trashing Sally's room, don't ask me how, I just do by the way he's acting, but how much longer is he going to hold out on us? Carly and Lynn, I'm sure they're up to something, and Sally, I hope so much she can love Mrs Martha as much as I did..."

Pippa fiercely broke a digestive in half because the tears she'd so recently wiped away were threatening again.

"Oh, Tom, I want so much to reach that little girl, but she's so far away. Have I sent her even further away today, by sending her out with Carly and Lynn? What if she thinks nobody wants her? Milko seems to have gone, nobody knows where, and Milko was all Sally had in the world. Was it something I said or did? Did I hurt Sally in some way, break her heart with some stupid, careless remark that made her tell him to leave? I keep having this mental picture of a suitcase floating through the air on its way to the station...oh, I told you it was silly!"

"It's not silly. It's Sally," Tom grinned, and received a sharp slap on the arm from a half laughing, half crying Pippa for his bad joke. I should add that Tom's terrible jokes were probably another reason that all the girls, till Pippa who saw the beautiful, kind human being behind the awkwardness, had loved him and left him.

"If Milko's gone, Sal has to love Mrs Martha, she has to," Pippa said, because Tom, knowing the whole story, understood...