Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Trevor’s presents which
turned out to be some fairly awful perfume and a box of
chocolates.
    ‘ Sorry it’s nothing more exciting, love, but you know we’re a
bit strapped at the moment. We’ll get you something better when
Trevor’s back at work again.’
    ‘ No, no it’s nice of you to have got me anything. Thank
you.’
    She knew
everyone had been making a real effort, but she just felt really
down. On her birthday, she always ended up thinking of her mum and
what it might have been like if she hadn’t died. She couldn’t even
remember their father. He’d done a runner when she was only three,
when her mum had got pregnant with Ben.
    Her mum had
died from a brain haemorrhage when Maddy was eight and Ben only
four. They had no other relatives and her dad had been untraceable,
and so began their journey through the care system - a catalogue of
misery and instability.
    For years
she’d refused to believe her mum was really dead. Madison hadn’t
actually seen the body or even attended the funeral, so she’d
convinced herself there’d been a mix up at the hospital. Like most
of the children she’d met in care, Maddy harboured a secret hope
her mother would eventually come to claim her, but it had never
happened. As Madison grew up and toughened up, she realised she’d
been clinging to a stupid fairytale dream. Her mother wasn’t any
more real than Father Christmas or the Tooth Fairy.
    She had to
accept this was her life and it was up to her to keep the two of
them safe. So she had badgered and bullied her support worker for
months and months until the wheels of bureaucracy finally started
turning in the right direction. Not until Ben and Madison were
placed together at the Johnsons, did things start to get a bit
better. But Maddy still couldn’t let herself fully trust anyone,
nor could she shake the constant insecurity that gnawed in her
guts.
    Later that
day, after her lunch break, Maddy was given the exciting task of
restocking tinned soups. But she didn’t mind. She actually found
the job quite soothing and monotonous. Madison allowed herself to
concentrate on the labels without thinking about anything else: pea
and ham, carrot and coriander, chicken noodle, tomato, the list
went on. It irritated her when a customer came to buy from the
section she was working on - she’d be forced to stop and move out
of the way, breaking her calm concentration.
    Now, out of
the corner of her eye, she saw one of the cashiers giving
directions to a customer - a tall man in a dark grey suit. The man
was heading her way. She hadn’t quite finished restocking country
vegetable, when he approached and asked her something.
    ‘ What?’
    ‘ Are you Madison Greene?’ he repeated
    She looked the
man up and down. He looked to be somewhere over thirty, but not as
old as fifty. As far as she was concerned, anyone over the age of
twenty was ‘old’. He looked like he had a good job, not the usual
class of customer they got in here. Maybe he’d come from school,
something to do with her suspension. He didn’t look like anyone
from social services - he was far too well dressed and smelt of
something expensive. Madison prided herself on being able to spot a
social worker at fifty paces.
    ‘ Who wants to know?’ she asked.
    ‘ My name is Robert Vasey-Smith and I represent a firm of
solicitors called Hamilton Blythe.’ He had a strong voice with no
discernible accent.
    Maddy felt
unsettled. What would a solicitor want with her? Had she done
something wrong? Was she in trouble again? Great birthday this was
turning out to be.
    ‘ What do you want?’
    ‘ I need to confirm you are Madison Greene, daughter of
Sally-Anne Hathaway.’
    Madison didn’t
know whether or not to answer. How did he know her mum’s name? She
saw Angie walking up the aisle towards them.
    ‘ You okay, Maddy? Does this gentleman need any
help?’
    ‘ He wants to know if I’m Madison Greene.’
    ‘ Who are you then?’ Angie took on a defensive