Blood-Tied (20 page)

She sipped her tea and thought about Mary. Polly had chosen not to involve the police even though Esme was concerned that Mary might try to use her knowledge again. She was equally fearful that Polly’s blackmailer would escape justice. But what about Polly’s offence, the abduction of a child?

Esme reflected that, ironically, both women had been guilty of crimes which, in their different ways, had resulted in self-inflicted punishment. Polly had spent her life in a continual state of fear of exposure following an impulsive decision as a naïve young woman. By contrast, Mary had wasted a huge portion of her life eaten up, almost to the point of destruction, by the anger with and hatred of the person she saw as the cause of her son’s death. Her suffering was the realisation of that fact. Esme had seen it in her face when she returned to the kitchen after Will had confessed his own secret.

Esme realised with some alarm that Mary’s circumstances mirrored her own. Hadn’t she been in a similar destructive spiral? It had taken years of isolation and withdrawal after she lost Tim, before Lucy had been able to persuade her to let go of her anger and rebuild her life. She would be forever grateful that Lucy had never given up on her.

Below her an ambulance arrived at the entrance to the Accident and Emergency department. Esme had a birds-eye view of the A & E staff, milling around as though on wheels, manoeuvring the patient out of the vehicle and into the building. What effect would that patient’s accident or illness have on his life and the people around him? What decisions would be made and what would be the consequences?

Esme’s thoughts turned again to Polly. It was exactly as Polly had said that she and Esme were in the same boat. They both had emotional claims on Elizabeth but were not her true family. Soon Elizabeth would find out about Mary and Will. And the young lad, Billy. What would she make of him? Esme was amused by the thought. They might be connected by birth but they were such different people. In the bigger picture, what did that really mean?

She glanced at her watch. Time enough for stories to have been told and truths revealed. She turned away from the window. She wouldn’t make the mistake of the past and withdraw. Not this time. She might have experienced a shift in perspective, but Elizabeth was still the same person and so was she. If they had been related, would it have changed anything? How could it? They would be different people. The question wouldn’t arise.

She dropped the empty cup into the wastepaper bin and headed out of the day room. It was time to join the family, blood-tied or otherwise.

Acknowledgements

My thanks to my readers Emily Percival, Diane Owen and Caren Denton for their time and positive feedback, to Margaret James for her sound advice, and to friends and family for their continuous encouragement. Also thanks to Heather Chaddock, Andy Barrett and Andy Szczelkun for allowing me to pick their brains on various technical matters.

Finally, special thanks and love go to my husband Brian, for his constant and enthusiastic support which has made the writing of this novel so enjoyable.

About the Author

Wendy Percival was born in the West Midlands and grew up in rural Worcestershire. After training as a primary school teacher she moved to North Devon for her first teaching post, and remained in teaching for 20 years.

An impulse buy of
Writing Magazine
prompted her to begin writing seriously. She won
Writing Magazine
’s Summer Ghost Story competition in 2002 and had a short story published in
The People’s Friend
before focusing on full length fiction.

The time honoured ‘box of old documents in the attic’ stirred her interest in genealogy. While researching her Shropshire roots Wendy realised how little most people know of their family history and this became the inspiration for
Blood-Tied
.

Wendy continues to be intrigued by genealogy, its mysteries and family secrets. Her discovery of an Australian death certificate, dated 1868, the final year of convict transportation, inspired the novel she is currently writing.

An enthusiast for old buildings both in the UK and abroad, she has visited historic sites across the world from Angkor Wat to Machu Picchu.

Wendy lives in a Devon thatched cottage beside a 13th century church with her husband and a particularly talkative cat.

Read more about the author at
www.wendypercival.co.uk

Copyright Notice

First published in 2008 by Robert Hale Ltd

Second edition (revised) published in 2013 by SilverWood Books, Bristol, BS1 4HJ

www.silverwoodbooks.co.uk

Copyright © Wendy Percival 2013

The right of Wendy Percival to be identified as the author of this work

has been asserted by her in accordance with the

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,

without prior permission of the copyright holder.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ISBN 978-1-78132-158-4 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-78132-159-1 (ebook)