Waiting in the Shadows Read Online Free PDF Page A

obviously wasn’t the time to ask for explanations.
    Ket had gone on ahead to find a good place to cross the river. Stella shuddered with apprehension as they made their way down to the fast-flowing water where he stood.
    â€˜Lon, Jed, guide Stella. I will stay close to Sel,’ he instructed them.
    Ket started to wade across the river, feeling his way carefully with his feet. Sel walked behind him, holding her leather bag high above her head. Lon followed, with Stella holding his hand tightly. Jed had his hand on her back as she gingerly stepped forwards.
    All seemed to be going well, until halfway across the river Ket disappeared from view. Lon let go of Stella and grabbed Sel to steady her. Ket’s head reappeared and he signalled the group to move further to the left. Without Lon’s reassuring grasp, Stella felt panic rise inside her. She gave a cry and disappeared under the water, thrashing her arms and legs wildly. She felt her clothes dragging her down. Her lungs felt as if they would burst. This is it, she thought, as she knew she could hold her breath no longer. Suddenly she found herself pushed to the surface of the water and gratefully took a huge gulp of air. Jed gave her another hard push which landed her on the river bank where Ket and Lon hauled her to her feet. She pulled a long strand of waterweed out of her hair and looked around at them all, muddy and wet. Only Sel had managed to keep the top half of herself and her bag dry. Suddenly she threw back her head and laughed out loud. The others looked at her with open mouths at first, and then slowly began to smile.
    Cold, hungry, and soaking, they travelled on for most of the next day until by sunset they had reached the tumbledown remains of a farmhouse. After checking there was no one around, they made a fire and opened the tins of food Stella had in her rucksack.
    Stella was suffering most from the cold and Ket had found an old, rather dirty blanket in the farmhouse which she gratefully pulled around her as she tried to warm herself by the fire.
    Sel had taken a laptop from the leather bag as soon as they arrived there and had started work on it. She reappeared as they began to eat.
    â€˜I’ve obtained new IDs for us all,’ she explained as she spooned soup into her mouth. She hardly seemed to realise that she was eating. She nodded at Stella, ‘You can collect it from the post office in Castlewell tomorrow morning in your new name.’ She held out a phone bill with the name Ruby Devon and an address in Nottingham. ‘You must get used to your new name quickly.’
    Stella nodded then looked down at her clothes, ‘But I can’t go like this.’
    â€˜Of course not,’ Sel agreed. She looked at the twins, ‘You’ll need to go into the town tonight for new outfits for all of us. And Stella – Ruby – will need to change her hair colour. Anything different to her natural colour. And bring women’s cosmetics. We don’t want anyone recognising her. We’ll need money. I’ve a card set up, I’ll get that.’
    She stood up and beckoned to the twins, ‘Come on. I’ve located a FineMart on the outskirts of town. There’s an ATM there I can use.’
    She turned to Ket as they prepared to leave, ‘Clean yourselves up. You’ll have to look decent. We’ve an interview with a landlord tomorrow, too.’
    Stella watched them disappear down the hill.
    â€˜Wow! She’s really organised!’ She shook her head, ‘All this is happening so quickly! You’ve gone out of your way to help me and you don’t even know me!’
    Ket was clearing up the tins and cups. He looked up at Stella, ‘You came to my rescue without knowing me, didn’t you?’
    He stood up straight. ‘Anyway, you’ve forced us to do something we have been discussing for some time now.’
    Stella waited for him to continue.
    â€˜Sel and I and