Before I had a chance to speak, PC Tregurtha guided me across the wet flagstones to his vehicle and opened the passenger side door. He took my bags from me and gestured that I should climb in. My heart was thumping really hard in my chest and I felt a bit dizzy. It was honestly all I could do to pull myself up into the vehicle.

"Seat belt". He said calmly.

We pulled out onto the road and headed up the hill, away from town, and in the opposite direction from my house. I was so dazed, I didn't say a thing but a million horrible scenarios spun around in my head. I dug my hand into my pocket and felt for the watch that my dad had given me. I gave it a squeeze and prayed that he was ok.

PC Tregurtha began to ask me about my day. His voice was calm and he seemed happy to chat about mindless stuff, while my anxiety level was going through the bloody roof. I bit as hard on my lip as I could without drawing actual blood.

Finally, when we were out of sight of the village, and up on the main road, he pulled the vehicle over, crunched on the handbrake, and turned to face me. His forehead was deeply furrowed and I was alarmed to see that, despite his relaxed tone, he looked worried and upset.

He spoke very slowly and quietly to me: "Now, young Louisa. Firstly, no one's been hurt so I need you to be very calm and grown up, and hear me out, d'you understand?"

I swallowed hard.

"Please just tell me what's going on. I'm really scared." I replied, almost whimpering. I felt tears pricking my eyes and the hammering of my heart was becoming unbearable.

He reached over and put his enormous hand on my forearm.

"Your dad's in a spot of bother." He said gently. "Well, rather a lot of bother really so we're just going to go up to Mrs Norton's and see if we can't sort out what we're going to do."

"What do you mean bother? What's happened?" I was almost shouting now. "Where is he?"

"I'm sorry Louisa love. He's been arrested in Truro. And I'm afraid it's very serious." He looked at me sadly. "If it's half as bad as I think it is, he won't be coming home for a while, and so we need to make sure that you are taken care of..."

He carried on talking but I wasn't listening any more. Everything started to spin. The muscles in my chin went rigid.

"Oh God!" I thought as I scrabbled desperately to open the window. My mouth filled with saliva, I retched once and then vomited bile down the outside of the door. I remember wiping my mouth before teetering and then everything went black.

I was vaguely aware of the journey. We pulled into Mrs Norton's farm, bumped our way down her rutted driveway. I saw that she was waiting by the door. I recall them supporting me on either side as we made our way down to the house. I could hear my own voice, insisting that I was ok but my legs were like jelly. I found myself on the couch with a glass of water being pressed into my hand. My mouth was dry, my throat burned and I struggled to swallow. Every so often the room began to swim again and I was terrified that I would be sick in the house.

Someone put a little table next to me and on it appeared a mug of tea and a plate of chocolate digestives. I was offered a sandwich and then soup. Mrs Norton came back with a cold flannel which she pressed to my forehead. That felt nice. On her insistence, after a while I drank some tea and ate a biscuit. Gradually, I felt a bit better and managed to compose myself. I could focus on the circle of concerned faces that surrounded me; the villagers I had been relying on for most of my life. And now it seemed that things were only going to get more difficult because I now was obviously, at age fourteen, totally and utterly on my own. The room began to swim again.

I heard Mrs Pratt tell someone that I should lie down and, the next minute, I was being helped up the stairs. I managed to sit on the edge of the bed and felt my shoes being removed. My anorak was slipped off over my shoulders and off my arms and I lay over on my side. The linen had that fresh, sweet smell of being line-dried on a sunny day, and the bedding was so soft and inviting. I pulled the eiderdown up over my throbbing head and, gratefully, closed my eyes.

For a while I was aware of the murmur of voices downstairs but it was not long until I fell into a deep and exhausted sleep.

xxxxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxxxxx

It had been a solemn afternoon and everyone had felt rocked to the core by Terry Glasson's arrest. A basic care plan had been agreed on and the consensus had been that Louisa should stay with Joan for a few days while she adjusted to the day's events. She would be sheltered at the farm because goodness knows what would be said once the news of Terry's behaviour became common knowledge in the village.

As soon as Louisa was ready, they would go back to her cottage and gather her things. Joan had offered to be the one to speak to her and gauge her feelings when she felt the time was right. The next move could only be determined after that.

Of course, the timing couldn't be worse with her nephew's impending visit but Joan couldn't help that. It was regrettable but Marty would just have to cope. Right now, her heart ached for Louisa. She just hoped that collectively the village could do enough to keep the girl's head above water. The alternative was too awful to contemplate.

The clock in the hall struck eight. She wondered what time Marty would arrive as she fought the urge to close her eyes. There was silence upstairs. Perhaps a little nap wouldn't hurt.