Living a Lie Read Online Free PDF Page B

rows and all the fighting, there was just one thing she wanted more than anything else in the whole world.
    “I want to go home.” Suddenly it was all too much and she was sobbing uncontrollably.
    The women looked at each other and felt uncomfortably helpless.
    “It’s all right, my dear.” Miss Davis hurried to Kitty’s side. Wrapping her great arms about that small frame, she comforted her. There were tears in her own eyes as she told Kitty, “That’s it, my dear, you just cry it all out.” Glancing at the social worker she gave her a sign to leave. In another minute Kitty was alone with the big woman. It was the first time she had cried in such a way and somehow it seemed to drain some of the pain from deep inside.
    Later, when the tears had subsided. Kitty was shown round the big house. Downstairs there were six rooms: the spacious modern kitchen;
    a large dining room with a long sideboard, four round tables and enough chairs to accommodate the twenty children in care; a lounge with a television and a bookcase filled with all manner of literature mainly teenage reading but with a selection of comics and magazines; further down the hall was a games room with a billiard table, two computers and a splendid old juke box that was still functional though the sound output had been governed by the caretaker. There was also a tiny cloakroom, Miss Davis’s office, and then her own private sanctuary at the back of the house. Upstairs were three bathrooms, two small bedrooms allocated to the women who supervised the children, a larger room where the boys slept, and a long wide dormitory which had once been three rooms and was now the girls’ sleeping quarters, furnished with beds, lockers and bedside cabinets. It was a pleasant room with big windows and lots of cheery posters on the walls.
    “Here we are, Kitty.” Taking her to the far end of the room, Miss Davis pointed to a narrow bed and the locker and cabinet beside it.
    “This is your own little corner.” Glancing at a bed further along she revealed, “That one belongs to Georgina. You’ll like her.” She lapsed into thought before adding smartly, “In fact, I shall assign her to look after you.”
    Kitty wasn’t sure about that.
    “Is she the same age as me?” She had visions of being bossed about by someone older, someone she might not like.
    “A good two years older.” Chuckling, Miss Davis said wryly.
    “She’s fourteen going on a hundred, but she has a wise head on young shoulders. She’s been allowed home on a two-day visit, but she’ll be back later tonight.” Her expression clouded when she recalled how these ‘home visits’ always upset Georgina. She hoped this time it would be different.
    “She’s not very talkative, and it will take you a while to get used to her, but I’m in no
     
    doubt Georgina Rogers is the one to keep you out of trouble. “
    In fact ‘trouble’ came looking for Kitty that night.
    At dinner she was publicly introduced to everyone and when the introduction was over they all clapped and she felt sick with embarrassment. ” The two women who lived in were friendly souls. Meg Austin, a fat lady who wobbled when she walked, was a widow who said very little but smiled a lot. The younger, Dorothy Picton, was thin and nervous but with a look that could slay Goliath. She also had the kind of voice that put you at ease straightaway. Kitty liked them both. The children were an odd mixture. There were four boys ranging from a baby in nappies to a snotty-nosed sour-faced eight year old who kicked everyone under the table and was eventually sent to his room in disgrace. Of the girls two stood out in Kitty’s mind; both tall and well built, with plucked eyebrows, they wore multi-coloured Sinbad trousers. One of the girls had long blonde hair; the other had dark hair cropped almost to her scalp, and big green eyes which, throughout the entire meal, stared threateningly at Kitty.
    At eight o’clock the younger children were