Unspoken: A story of secrets, love and revenge by T. Belshaw (i want to read a book .TXT) 📕

As my pregnancy went on, I designated the upkeep of the pigs as my personal responsibility. I spent so much time with them I even gave some of them names.

During the third week I decided it was time to confess to Amy. At her door, I hesitated and almost went back home but I eventually summoned the courage, and knocked.

She was, as always, delighted to see me. She took me into her room to show me a Sealed With A Loving Kiss, embossed letter that had been pushed through her letterbox. Thankfully for Amy, she had found it before her father.

‘Who is it from?’ I asked, almost as excited as she was.

‘Barry Tomkins.’ She held the letter over her breast. ‘Be still my pounding heart,’ she said.

‘Barry Tomkins? Isn’t he the lad with the droopy eye?’

‘One and the same,’ declared Amy. ‘In this letter, he professes his undying love for me. He promises that one day he’ll have improved his station and will have a far better job than he has now, an income that will provide for me and our five children.’

‘FIVE! He’s got everything mapped out then,’ I said, laughing. ‘Isn’t he the junior attendant at the men’s toilet up at the station?’

‘He is that very man,’ said Amy, pretending to be serious. ‘To think, he would give up a glittering career like that just for little me. My heart is full to bursting.’

‘Have you replied to him yet?’ I asked.

‘No, I only got it this morning. I’ll let him down gently,’ she said.

I knew she would, there wasn’t a bad bone in her body, as the saying went.

‘Five babies though…’ Amy stuck a pillow up her jumper. ‘I’d be permanently pregnant with droopy eyed babies.’

I tried to laugh but burst out crying instead.

‘Alice, whatever is the matter?’

I tried to speak but nothing but sobs and choking, sniffling and gasps for air would come out. Eventually I pointed to the pillow that was still cocooned in her jumper.

Her face fell.

‘Oh, Alice, no.’

I nodded, looked at her helplessly, then more sobs came. ‘What am I going to do, Amy? I’ve been feeling so alone. I couldn’t tell anyone, not even you.’

Amy put her arms around me and held me until my wailings had subsided. When it had reduced to snuffles, I told her all about it. She was incandescent with rage.

‘The pig, the brute, the absolute swine.’

‘A pig and a swine are the same thing,’ I said, trying to be funny.

‘A total bastard then.’

That shocked me; I had never heard Amy swear.

When she had calmed down, she told me to sit where I was while she made us both a cup of calming tea. Her father was at work and her mother was at the afternoon market shopping for bargains.

We sipped our tea in silence, then Amy spoke.

‘Right, we need a plan,’ she said.

I was so glad she was with me; I knew she would stick by me whatever I had done, but it was soothing to know she would do everything she could to help.

‘I don’t know, I’m totally stuck,’ I said.

‘Well,’ said Amy. She pursed her lips. ‘We know that half the men in the town would jump at the chance of marrying you. You’re Rita Hayworth, and you have a farm, which beats Old MacDonald into a cocked hat.’

I laughed at the joke.

‘No one will want me now though, not in this condition. What man would want to take on some other bloke’s kid?’

‘Plenty,’ replied Amy. ‘As I said, not only are you stunning, you have collateral.’

‘I have what?’ I asked, puzzled.

‘A bloody great big farm,’ replied Amy. ‘Who wouldn’t want to get their sweaty hands on that?’

‘They’re not having the farm,’ I said. ‘It’s a family concern. I’m not going to be the one to hand it over to a stranger.’

‘Right then, that just leaves plan B,’ said Amy.

‘What’s plan B?’ I asked. ‘I couldn’t even come up with a plan A.’

‘We find this bastard, Frank, and we blackmail him into marrying you,’ said Amy, slapping her right fist into the palm of her left hand. ‘The poor man won’t know what’s hit him.’

Chapter 18

Alice

‘Oh, Nana, you poor thing, what a position to be left in. I’m so glad you confided in Amy, she was such a good friend to you, wasn’t she?’

‘She was the best friend anyone could ask for. I helped her out with her own problem a little later on, but that’s a story for another day.’ Alice yawned. ‘I think I’m going to take a nap, Jessica. Will you still be here when I wake up?’

Jess nodded.

‘I’ll stay as long as you need me, Nana. I brought my laptop with me so I’ll do a little bit of work while you sleep. That was an emotional story, no wonder it tired you.’

By the time Jess put the laptop on the table and opened it up, Alice was quietly snoring.

Jess spent an hour editing her article. It was frustrating because she had to rely on memory for the relevant facts. Alice had no Internet provider. Had Calvin been around he would have found a ‘tethering’ solution, using her mobile phone, but she couldn’t remember how to set it up. Jess had often tried to persuade Alice to have broadband installed but she was adamant that she didn’t want emails and pornographic videos popping up on her TV screen in the middle of Countryfile.

Jess smiled at the memory of that conversation. She had explained to Alice that it was impossible, but Alice was sure she had seen a BBC Panorama program about illegal, pornographic internet sites, spreading viruses and child pornography all over the planet.

When Alice woke, Jess made a pot of tea and took two cream cakes from the fridge that Gwen had put there that morning. There was a note on the plate alongside the cakes.

No crumbly digestives left to choke on. Hope these go down better. Gwen. xxx

Jess sat with Alice, chatting about trivial everyday topics until Gwen