Chapter 2

Stephanie is nine years old

The death of her mother had rocked Stephanie greatly. At the start she could only think about how she was gone, about her hugs and kisses and what she was going to miss the most. Losing her dad hadn't been this bad but she had been naive then, too young to know better. She couldn't even remember his face. Now she was older, she understood. She'd never see her Mummy again.

How was she ever meant to go back to normal?

She hadn't been scared though, and she knew her Mum would be proud. First, Uncle Fergus had shown up and taken her to his house. She didn't like it there. She was given a hot chocolate and the twins weren't in sight. Beryl was very quiet, which was almost stranger than anything else. Almost strange enough to distract her. Then she got picked up by her Grandma and was told she'd stay with her for a while, which was nice. It was Grandma that explained that her Mum was gone forever and was sent to Heaven. She just cried. She didn't even know if Heaven was real! What if it wasn't and her Mum had disappeared? What if she was somewhere else? It just didn't make sense and all the questions made her feel like she was slowly going crazy.

That Friday, six days after Melissa died in a car accident, only a few hundred yards from the building where her husband had fallen to his death, Gordon came to Grandma's house while she was asleep.

She crept to the top of the stairs, immediately happy to hear his voice from her bed.

"-with me," Gordon was saying. "Melissa already arranged it that way."

"Then where were you, Gordon?" Grandma said with more anger than Stephanie had heard from her before. "Honestly, you are a bad influence on that girl! What makes you think you deserve her? She needs stability, not you. You have to be the last person she should be visited by when she's so upset, and I intend to not let you see her again."

That's when Stephanie got scared.

She ran to her room and got her backpack and quickly filled it with all the things she had been given when family had visited, all brought from her house. Her Mum's house. She didn't have much. Quickly, she grabbed her favourite toy panda and bolted down the stairs.

"-we'll see about that!" Grandma shouted. She was in Gordon's face. He was red with anger and his fists were balled.

"It should be her choice, Veronica! At any rate, it's in the Will! I'm her godfather, I'm her guardian and I have full custody! If she wants to stay she can. But I won't just leave her and never come back," he growled at her.

"How dare you–"

"I want to go with Gordon."

The adults jumped out of their skin and looked at Stephanie. She was still in her little shorts and top, her hair probably all over the place. She walked to Grandma and gave her a hug.

"I love you," she said softly. "But I want to go with Gordon."

Grandma started to sob but after a lot of hugging, she was finally pried away by her uncle and walked to the car. They drove in silence.

She wasn't scared anymore. In fact, she was a tiny bit excited that she might see her friends again. That would be fun, even if she were still upset and missing her mother. She smiled, drifting off to sleep.

.*****.

"AAAAAAAAGGHHH!" Stephanie shouted, throwing a snowball over at Gordon. It hit his head just as he looked over his fort. "YYYYEEEEAAAHH! I'm the victor!"

"Never!" And he got her on the shoulder.

Stephanie laughed and continued to scream and pelt him with snowballs. When they were finished trying to annulate each other, they went inside to get hot chocolate. Stephanie sat on the sofa in the living room, blowing at the hot liquid. It would be Christmas in a few days and the big Christmas tree was almost hovering off the ground because of the amount of presents that were stacked underneath. Stephanie had bought Gordon and her six friends gifts which Gordon promised to give them. She was also going to bake some biscuits which he said he'd give to them also. That was tomorrow's job. The rest of it was for her.

Sometimes she felt bad that they always bought her things. But it wasn't like she made them do it, so she didn't think about it much.

"So, what are you hoping to get for Christmas?" Gordon asked, sitting across from her.

"You know what I want," she said, taking a sip finally. It almost scalded her tongue. "I want to see my friends."

He sighed. "Why can't you want fun things like TV's and games and money?"

"So… I can have a TV?"

"No. But that's what you're meant to want," he told her. "Not even a book?"

She shrugged. "That would be nice, but I'd really like to see them."

He smiled at her. "You know I can't let you do that. I'm sorry Steph. I just want to keep you happy, you know."

She smiled weakly. "I know. I love living with you. I just want to see them."

"When you're older, I promise. When you're older we can all go on holiday, we can do anything you want. You're just too young now. You could get hurt."

She nodded and tried to think of what to do to make him see her as stronger and older. She bit her lip. "How would I get hurt visiting someone?"

"Because of their jobs. They take down bad guys, and you're just too small. And don't act like you wouldn't get involved because we both know the first thing you'll ask after you meet them is to go and work with them!"

Stephanie hesitated and decided it was best not to push. "Maybe I could do something now, before I meet them? Like learning to fight. Then I'll be really strong when I'm older."

He grinned. "Now that's a good idea."

.*****.

It was summer again and almost Stephanie's tenth birthday. In the nine months since Christmas, she had grown almost two inches and she'd been doing well at learning to fight. She had been allowed to join a junior Muay Thai class on Mondays and Thursdays, a boxing class on Fridays, and a morning kid's fitness club on Monday through Friday mornings. There were mostly older kids there, but after a few months of fighting, she was good enough to keep up with them. On Tuesday and Wednesday evenings she swam. It really helped her relax and blow off steam from school. She really didn't like school.

The weekends were strictly for her and Gordon, with a little homework time, so Stephanie was looking forward to tomorrow when they would get to go to a theme park. Plus the day after was her birthday. It was going to be a good birthday, especially since school had been so bad since she started. Year Five was not fun!

"Steph, are you ready?" Gordon called from the hall. "And have you seen my keys?"

"Here!" She grabbed Gordon's key's and they drove to the small gym where a load of kids were already standing around outside. She supposed it was still alright to do the class on the grass. The sky was white, and not in the about-to-rain way.

"I can't wait until we start training inside again," she moaned. "I like the inside."

He grinned at her. "You'll be alright. Now go kick their arses! If I get back and you're not in trouble I will be deeply disappointed, young lady!"

Stephanie laughed and hurried to join the group. It was a good lesson and she had progressed enough that their teacher, a young man called Cory, allowed her and one of the older kids – they were all boys except for her – to spar.

"I can't spar her!" He said, thrusting his small training glove at her. "She's a girl!"

Stephanie put her mouth guard in and crawled into the ring. They had gone inside for the sparing. Gordon entered the building and waved to her. She grinned and waved back.

"Mate, just spar her. Trust me, she'll be fine," Cory told him. "Now get in there."

The boy, maybe twelve and not much bigger than her though she could see he had more muscles, got in but he didn't look happy. "I'm not fighting you," he said lowly to Stephanie.

"Why not?" She frowned.

"You're a girl!"

Stephanie rolled her eyes and punched him in the nose.

The boy's mum was furious with her. She had broken her poor boy's nose and he had been crying all the way to the hospital to get it fixed. Their trainer had kept her behind while they got it sorted and then high-fived Stephanie when he was gone and sent them on their way.

"I did it," she claimed, sitting back in the car. "I did what you said. I won."

"You did," he grinned. "You have a mean punch."

"I have," she said seriously. "I want to meet my friends and go on adventures."

His smile lessened but she felt he was not exactly upset. "So, what do you want for your birthday?"

She snored. "I still want to see my friends. Obviously."

"When you're older Steph. I promise. I'm going to tell them all about this though."

She grinned. "Awesome."

.*****.

Secondary School was not fun. She had thought Primary School had been bad. This was a lot worse. She hated Secondary School. Who did Mrs Miller think she was? She was an idiot. She was a bitch. An idiot bitch.

"Steph?" Gordon called up the stairs as she stomped away. "What happened?"

"Nothing," she growled, stomping to her room. She hated school.

She dumped her bag by her bed and laid down against the pillows. She'd had it redesigned for her eleventh birthday, choosing to get black display cases for all her gifts with lots of book space, a long desk, big bed and fluffy rug. The two big windows showcased the front garden beautifully and she got to see every time her friends came over. She never saw them themselves though. Not even from their cars. They were always blackened, and she couldn't help but feel left out and upset that they didn't want to see her. They still left her gifts, but a friend to talk to would be more appreciated.

"Steph?" Gordon asked quietly. "Can I come in?"

She shrugged, looking out the window. He sat at the end of her bed.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Nothing."

"Please. I'm not that stupid. Tell me what's up."

She thought about it for a moment. "I hate Mrs Miller."

" And why's that?"

"She's nasty."

"How?"

"She said something nasty."

"What did she say?"

"We got into an argument. I was making a drawing on my book, and I know that's wrong, but she screamed at me in front of the whole class and then ripped my book apart."

"What book?"

"My school one, the one I write in! She pulled out the page with pictures on it, even the one with things in the margins and put it all in the bin."

"That's not everything, is it?" He said, putting a hand on her knee.

She shook her head. "She got in my face and said 'Do you think you're smart? You're going to grow up to be an idiot and never do anything in your life. Your parents will wish they never had you, they'll wish they never knew you at all. Do you want that?' and then she made me stand in the corner, but I refused, and she told me to leave the room, and I did, but I heard her say under her breath, 'No wonder she has no friends.' Who does that? This isn't a – a – a fucking movie!"

He kissed the top of her head and let her language slide. "Let me call the school."

She nodded and waited until she thought he was far away from the room before she cried.

Later that night after a takeaway pizza and ice cream, Stephanie laid in bed with her eyes closed, trying hard to fall asleep.

Her door opened.

"She was so upset," Gordon said softly from the door. Stephanie tried to be as still as possible. "I'm worried about her."

"She doesn't seem to get on with people her own age well," Crow's velvet voice said. She really wanted to move now. "Perhaps you should reconsider our agreement."

Gordon made a tutting sound. "I want Stephanie to have every opportunity in the world. Going on adventures is one of them. Until she's at least a little older she won't be able to realise the hardship and pain that comes with that type of life. I want her to be certain, to not hold her back. Just give her a little longer to have fun."

"I understand," Crow said quietly.

Her door shut.