The Runaway Read Online Free PDF

me.’
    ‘Afraid you won’t like hearing about his previous girlfriends, no doubt.’
    ‘Maybe that’s all it is, but somehow I have the feeling there’s more. Anyway, this near-accident and the stay in hospital has given me a second chance. A time to really consider. Lucky for once, don’t you think?’
    ‘I never had any doubts about Paul, not for a minute, so perhaps you’re right to hesitate. Come on, I’ll walk you back home. I expect Matt and Carol are getting anxious.’
    Winnie loosened the scarf around her neck, worn against the chill September breeze, took it off and put it around Faith’s neck as though she were the mother, then they walked, arm in arm, back to the workshop and house where Faith lived with Matt and Carol.
    Faith felt less and less happy as they drew nearer to the house. Carol was waiting for her, looking anxious, and Faith whispered to her friend, ‘Winnie, I don’t want to stay here tonight.’ Matt appeared and she said, ‘I’ll just collect a few things, I’m going to stay a day or so with Mrs Porter.’
    ‘Why? You can’t do that, you’ll make me look a fool!’
    ‘Just for a few days, Matt. How can that make you look stupid?’
    Matt pleaded, became a little angry, but Faith was adamant. ‘No, Matt. I need my old room for a few days, maybe more. All my things needed for school are here. I need to sort them out, then I’ll go. Winnie will call every day, and you and Carol aren’t far away if I need anything. Just for a while.’ She glanced at Winnie, aware she was being stubborn, but something inside her was warning her not to fully accept Matt into her life, nor to cut herself off from everything until she was sure. When that would be she couldn’t guess.
    Mrs Porter welcomed her with delight but she was curious. With difficulty she refrained from asking questions, filling the first few minutes by making sure Faith’s room contained all she might need.
    Faith didn’t sleep well even though the room with its familiar furnishings felt like home. She was filled with the urge to run away from Matt and the over-anxious Carol and her undefined doubts. But with a baby due in a few months that was no longer possible. What is wrong with me, that I get myself into situations I can’t manage and from which there is no escape except to run away, she asked herself over and over again during the dark, silent night hours. Bad judgement? Over-concern with the opinion of others? A ridiculous need to please people, have them like her? Had her lonely childhood distorted her natural good sense? Did the obsessional need to belong at all costs colour every action and thought?
    She stayed a few weeks until local gossip was embarrassing Matt so much that she couldn’t stay away any longer. She had left her job and Carol called daily and went practically everywhere with her. Everyone told her how lucky she was, what a blessing it was to have such care during her pregnancy, but it made her want to hide like a naughty child. Once she went back to Matt, with him working only yards away, she would never be alone.
    With tearful goodbyes to Mrs Porter she went back. Walking in was so depressing that she felt a surge of longing to go straight out again. In spite of Carol’s and Matt’s protests she insisted on going for a daily walk on her own. Sometimes, like today, she met Winnie for a chat and, while waiting for her friend, she stood at the school gate watching the children enjoying the freedom of playtime. A teacher stood watching them, a whistle on a chain around her neck in case of trouble. Games of tag, hide and seek and hopscotch engrossed many of them but several, gathered in chatty groups, glanced up and described a swollen belly with their arms and grinned saucily before small hands covered their mouths. With her pregnancy now obvious, Faith was aware that she was an excuse for merriment.
    Amid all the noise and movement, a timid-looking girl stood alone near the school entrance. She