For The Sake Of His Child

CHAPTER NINE

THEY set their departure for nine o’clock next Monday morning. Gina was glancing around her room to see if she’d forgotten anything, when Carson looked in.

‘Ready to go?’

‘All present and correct,’ she said cheerfully.

She opened the connecting door to Joey’s room, and stopped at what she saw there. Alerted by her sudden stillness, Carson came and stood beside her.

Joey, oblivious to them, was standing before his mother’s picture. His hands moved as he explained to her that he was going away, but would come back soon. When he’d finished, he stepped back and made his final gesture, hands folded, crossed at the wrists and laid against his chest.

‘What does that mean?’ Carson asked quietly.

‘It’s the sign for love,’ Gina said heavily. ‘He’s saying that he loves her.’

‘Damn her! Damn her!’

Gina forced herself to smile as she went in and attracted Joey’s attention. He took her hand eagerly and almost pulled her downstairs. Once outside, he couldn’t resist displaying his quirky sense of humour by heading for Gina’s little car.

Carson touched him on the shoulder and spoke. Now that he addressed Joey more often, the little boy was growing skilled at reading his lips. ‘This way.’

But aren’t we going in the peanut?

A vision of three people and four suitcases being squashed into the tiny vehicle made Carson grin and Gina chuckle. Joey hiccuped with laughter as she ruffled his hair.

‘You shouldn’t call it a peanut,’ Carson told him. ‘It isn’t polite.’

You did.

‘Well, I’ll be- Who told you that?’

Gina. She said you called it a peanut on wheels.

‘Oh, did she? Well, you’re a cheeky little wretch!’

It was delightful to see Carson sharing the joke with his son.

And what is Gina?

‘What is Gina? Well, Gina is-’

She waited, her heart beating unreasonably fast.

‘I don’t know,’ Carson said at last. ‘What shall we call Gina? You say.’

For answer Joey raised one hand, the fingers together, the thumb apart. He rested the thumb briefly against the side of his face, drew it away, returned it, then away again.

Gina felt as though something was choking her. Joey had made the sign for ‘mother’.

‘We should be going,’ she said hastily. ‘Or we’ll get caught up in traffic.’

It was three hundred miles to the little coastal resort of Kenningham. Once it had been packed every summer, then its popularity had declined. But it had fought back with a funfair, and a first-class aquarium, and now it was flourishing again.

‘You did book us in somewhere, didn’t you?’ Carson asked as they drove along the crowded seafront.

‘At the Grand, with rooms overlooking the sea.’

She’d booked two rooms-one for Carson and one for herself and Joey. As they unpacked Joey was in a fever of excitement, like any child at the seaside.

When can we go to the aquarium?

‘Soon.’

Now?

‘Not now. Your father has driven a long way. He’s tired and he needs a meal.’

After that?

‘As soon as we can.’

But today, today, today!

She looked at her watch. ‘I don’t know when the aquarium closes.’

Then can’t we go now?

And so they came back to the beginning of the argument.

It was a first-class hotel with an haute cuisine restaurant, but Carson, who was learning fast about his son, declined this in favour of a nearby burger place.

‘I think I deserve a medal for getting it right this time,’ he joked, watching Joey stuff himself with burger and chips.

‘Yes,’ she agreed. ‘And it’s quicker eating here, so maybe we’ll get into the aquarium before it closes.’

‘We will. I’ve checked closing time, and we have another three hours.’ He saw her admiringly raised eyebrows, and said self-consciously, ‘Organisation. That’s the key to a successful enterprise.’

‘I’m impressed. Why don’t you tell Joey?’

Joey was eating with one hand and holding a brightly coloured pamphlet in the other. He showed it to them, pointing to something in the small print. They looked at each other and laughed.

The pamphlet was about the aquarium and Joey had found the opening times.

‘He’s not your son for nothing,’ she said. ‘He must have picked that up in the hotel foyer. Now that’s real organisation.’

‘Yes, it is.’ Carson regarded his offspring fondly.

‘Why don’t you ask him now to tell you about wrasse?’ she suggested, adding quickly, ‘You haven’t cheated, have you?’

‘No, I don’t even know how the word is spelled.’

She spelled it for him and Carson turned to Joey.

‘What can you tell me about wrasse?’

Joey looked quizzical, as though unsure how seriously to take this request.

‘Go on. Tell me.’

Joey needed no more encouragement. He began signing and spelling so vigorously that Carson had to stop him.

‘Steady,’ he said, speaking. ‘You go too fast for me.’

Joey nodded and went back to the beginning. Carson watched his fingers, his brow furrowed with concentration.

‘Wait,’ he said at last. ‘Do it again. I couldn’t understand-I thought you said-no, that must be wrong.’

Joey shook his head. Not misunderstand.

‘Go on,’ Gina urged. ‘Make it easy for your father.’

‘Thanks,’ Carson said with a grin.

Joey did it all again while Carson watched his fingers and his frown grew deeper.

‘You’re kidding me!’ he said explosively at last, forgetting to sign or speak slowly. But Joey understood and grinned.

‘Did I get that right?’ Carson demanded of Gina.

‘It is pretty incredible, isn’t it?’

‘He says wrasse is a fish. And they’re all female-that is, they’re all born female.’

‘Good. Go on.’

‘They live in groups of about twenty females to one male, and when the male dies one of the females changes sex, and becomes the resident male? You expect me to believe that?’

‘Don’t ask me. Joey’s the expert.’

He turned to his son, looking harassed. ‘That can’t be true.’

Joey nodded, then finger-spelled, Aquarium-wait.

After that Carson was as eager as his son to get going, because he wanted to find out if he was being taken for a ride.

As soon as they were inside the aquarium it was obvious that Joey was different from other children. Instead of lingering over the more colourful or outrageous creatures, he bypassed them, to spend long periods studying small fish and shells which to the untrained eye looked drab and uninteresting.

‘He’s like a little professor,’ Carson said.

‘Yes, he is. When he’s on his own subject he’s older than his years.’

Joey passed from one esoteric item to another, deeply absorbed, leaving the other two to pass the time with the more accessible exhibits.

‘I feel like I’m the child and he’s the adult,’ Carson complained, although not too seriously. ‘Joey.’ He tapped the boy on the shoulder but Joey, instead of turning, held up a hand, flapping it slightly in a gesture that clearly said, Not now. I’m busy.

‘Did you see that?’ Carson demanded.

‘Don’t get mad at him.’

‘I’m not mad. I’m just wondering what’s happening here.’

‘It’s simple. You’re in the presence of a superior intellect.’

‘I’m beginning to believe you.’ He sounded dazed.

Joey came out of his happy trance, smiling at them.

‘Wrasse,’ Carson said firmly.

Joey nodded like a teacher telling his class that the time had come, and beckoned them to follow him.

And there it was, wrasse, with a notice beside the tank, confirming everything Joey had said. Carson was speechless. Joey regarded his father with his head on one side as if to say, Believe me, huh?

Carson’s answer delighted Gina. He extended his hand. Joey placed his small child’s hand in it, and they shook, man to man.

There wasn’t time to see everything, but Joey was ready to leave, on the promise of a return visit next day. They paused in the bookshop long enough for Carson to load him up with enough literature to keep him happy for the evening. He also purchased a basic introduction to the subject for himself-a survival mechanism, he explained to Gina.

They had a merry evening. Joey was allowed to stay up late because it was a holiday, and by the time he was ready for bed the other two were feeling glad of an early night.

Another visit to the aquarium was the first thing on the next day’s agenda. Gina and Carson might feel that they’d seen everything, but the expert had barely started.

But at last he took pity on them, seeming to understand that not everyone could be riveted by a mollusc the size of a penny. They headed downstairs to where they could walk through the aquarium’s main attraction, a huge perspex tunnel through the water. Sharks swam beside them, flatfish drifted overhead, and lobsters scuttled beneath their feet. Joey pointed out what neither of them had noticed-a conger eel peering from its hiding place, motionless, cold-eyed and evil.

Over burgers and orange squash it was agreed that the adults needed a little light relief, and they headed for the funfair. Here Joey stopped being a professor and became an excited little boy, darting hither and thither, wanting to try everything at once. A go on the rifle range showed that he had a keen, straight eye. Not to be outdone, Carson also took a turn, but managed only one bull’s-eye to Joey’s three.

A contest ensued, at the end of which Gina was laden down with furry toys and plastic jewellery, and her two escorts were thoroughly pleased with themselves and each other.

At last Joey stopped in front of the Ghost Train. Skulls leered, skeletons dangled, hideous creatures darted and peeped. It was the most effectively horrible Ghost Train that Gina had ever seen. Joey gave a sigh of pure pleasure.

‘This?’ Gina asked him.

He nodded vigorously.

‘You’re sure?’ she said faintly.

He nodded again.

‘I don’t think we have a choice,’ Carson said.

He paid three entrance fees and they squeezed into a car, Joey on the inside, Gina in the middle and Carson on the outside.

‘I don’t like these things,’ Gina said. ‘I never did.’

‘But you have both of us to look after you,’ Carson pointed out mischievously.

A hideous wailing drowned him out. With a jolt the cars began to move, pushing through the black curtains ahead of them. Then they were inside, swerving violently from side to side, the ghastly moaning louder, sounding as though it was everywhere.

Neon skeletons appeared and vanished. Gruesome figures loomed and leered. Gina glanced down at Joey, but she needn’t have worried. The flickering lights showed that he was relishing every moment.

She wished she could say the same of herself. Of course her rational mind knew that it was only paint, cardboard and a few special effects. But her irrational side flinched from the things that swooped out of the darkness without warning. Something flapped in her face, making her jump and squeal.

‘Are you all right?’ Carson asked, slipping a protective arm about her.

She had to make him repeat it, as the noise was playing havoc with her implant. Understanding, he said it clearly in a brief interlude of bilious green light, and this time she managed to follow his lips.

‘Of course I’m all right,’ she said, trying for dignity. But the effect was ruined by a huge grinning skull that appeared in front of them, getting bigger and bigger-

Then the car charged right through it and the darkness enfolded them again.

‘Yuck!’

Carson’s arm tightened. At the same time she felt his fingers gently on her chin, urging her head to look at him.

‘As long as you don’t turn into a skull,’ she pleaded.

Crimson light came and went, casting his eyes into shadows and giving him a satanic look. It crossed her mind that if she were skilled in the traditional female arts she might use this situation. She could do a little swooning and screaming, then cast herself on Carson’s manly chest for protection, and the rest would follow. Maybe Victorian maidens knew a thing or two after all.

But she’d been reared in a different school, and for the life of her she couldn’t have put on such a performance.

Then help came in the form of a freezing skeleton that swooped down from the roof and caressed her face, before vanishing. Startled, Gina gave a perfectly genuine shriek and the next moment her face was buried against Carson’s shoulder. She could feel him shaking with laughter.

‘Beast!’ she said in a muffled voice.

Through a break in the moaning she heard him say, ‘It’s all right, it’s gone now.’

‘I’m not looking up. That thing was disgusting!’

‘It’s safe, I promise you.’

Tentatively she raised her eyes and found that they were in total darkness. The hellish moans had resumed, but there were no more flashing lights. She waited, ready to duck again if anything touched her face.

But when she felt the first soft brush against her lips she didn’t duck. Nor did she want to turn away from what might be happening. Rather, she wanted to stay and make sure that it really was happening.

It was the lightest of feather touches, a soft caress of lips on lips, now here, now gone. Perhaps real, perhaps imagined. In the darkness she couldn’t be sure.

But then it came again, a little firmer this time, a lot more determined. Warm lips moving over hers, asking silent questions, receiving silent answers. And they must have been the right answers because his arm tightened around her shoulders and the pressure of his mouth grew more intense.

She responded eagerly to the kiss she’d been waiting for ever since the first time on the stairs, when he’d backed off so soon. This time he wasn’t backing off, but holding her close, caressing her lips with fierce intent, telling her that he wanted her, desired her.

And here, where the darkness gave privacy while heightening every movement and sensation, she could tell him of her own desire, and of the love and longing for him that filled every moment. She could caress his lips with her own, letting him know the things she didn’t dare to say. Now there was just the two of them in a place where all feeling was heightened, and everything was possible.

In the din that surrounded them he could hear no more than she, so she was free to whisper his name against his lips. She could gasp as his tongue explored her, surrendering to the exquisite sensation of fire, knowing that he couldn’t be sure of anything except what her answering kiss hinted at.

She was gloriously free to do as she liked in the enclosed world of wicked lights and ghastly visions, while joy pervaded her, and skeletons shrieked and gibbered around them.

At last she felt his arm about her shoulders relax, and realised distractedly that they were coming to the end of the ride. They mustn’t be seen like this. She separated from him and composed herself just in time. The next moment they’d burst through the curtains into daylight.

And there was Carson, laughing and relaxed, as though nothing had happened.

Had anything happened? Or had it all been nothing but her own fevered imagining? Her lips still burned and her heart was beating fast from the passion that had surged up in her. Yet it seemed to her that Carson showed no sign of disturbance, unless perhaps his hands trembled a little as he helped her out of the car.

Again, Joey demanded eagerly.

‘In a minute,’ Carson told him. ‘I need a moment to recover.’ He gave a sudden grin.

‘What is it?’ Gina asked.

‘I was just thinking what I might have been doing this afternoon. Going through the balance sheet, perhaps. On the whole, I think I prefer hooking plastic ducks out of the water.’

As he spoke he was paying the stall keeper for a rod and taking his pick of the ducks that came floating by. He was rewarded by a toy that might have been shaped like a fish, but it was hard to tell.

‘What is it?’ Carson demanded, studying his prize from various angles.

‘Why don’t we ask Joey?’ Gina looked around and knew a flash of alarm. ‘Joey! Carson, he’s gone. Oh, my God!’

‘Relax,’ Carson told her. ‘There he is.’

She followed his pointing finger and felt faint with relief as she saw Joey getting into one of the Ghost Train cars. As they moved off he waved at them cheekily. Then the black curtains engulfed him.

‘Wretched brat,’ Carson said without heat.

‘I suppose he simply got tired of waiting for us and decided to strike out on his own,’ Gina said. ‘I’m glad he feels so confident; it’s just-’

‘I know,’ Carson said with feeling. ‘I nearly had a heart attack. Let’s fortify ourselves with a cup of tea. There’s a little café just over here, and we can keep the Ghost Train in sight.’

Gina sat down at a table while Carson fetched their tea. She felt as though she’d been through a wringer.

There was a queue and it was several minutes before Carson returned. Gina kept her eyes fixed on the Ghost Train and, after a few moments, Joey reappeared. She managed to attract his attention, and he smiled and waved, but didn’t get out. He simply gave the man his money, and squeezed over so that a little girl in a red dress could get in beside him.

The man held out his hand to the little girl. She didn’t move and the man began to talk, obviously explaining that she couldn’t ride if she didn’t pay. Joey tapped him on the arm and offered him more money. The man took it, and the cars moved off.

‘What are you staring at?’ Carson asked, returning with tea.

‘I think I’ve just seen Joey being gallant to a lady.’

She described the incident and Carson grinned. ‘He’s starting young-just like his old man.’

‘You started at eight?’

‘I didn’t wait that long. When I was seven I was sharing my ice cream with Tilly next door. I can’t recall her last name, and even her face is a bit vague. But her appetite for raspberry ripple will stay with me for ever.’

It was good to see him relaxing enough to be humorous. He was casually dressed in a short-sleeved shirt, and the sun had caught him, tanning his face, neck and forearms. For once the tension was gone from his face, and he looked simply a handsome, vital male animal.

There was a small disturbance behind them and they turned to see a man and a woman, both middle-aged, with pleasant, worried faces.

‘What are we going to do?’ the woman asked frantically.

‘Don’t fret, Helen. She’s probably all right.’

‘How can she be all right, so alone and helpless? Excuse me-’ the woman pounced on Gina ‘-you haven’t seen a little girl, have you? She’s eight and she’s wearing a red dress-she wandered off-’

‘Don’t worry, I’ve seen her,’ Gina reassured them. ‘She went on the Ghost Train. She’ll appear in a minute.’

‘But she hasn’t got any money,’ the man said.

‘Joey took care of that.’

The couple sat down and introduced themselves as Helen and Peter Leyton.

‘Sally’s very vulnerable,’ Helen explained. ‘She’s Down’s Syndrome.’

At that moment the cars appeared again and drew to a halt. Joey and the little girl were there, sharing the smiles of children who had enjoyed a fantastic adventure. Helen stood up and waved, but she couldn’t attract Sally’s attention.

‘Wait,’ Gina said as Helen started forward. ‘Let’s see what happens. Don’t worry about her. She won’t come to any harm with Joey.’

‘Gina-’ Carson protested.

‘It’s all right. Can’t you see he knows what he’s doing?’

Joey was handing over more money, evidently having the whole situation under control. As the adults watched he took Sally’s hand protectively between both of his, and they were off again.

‘Well, I’ll be-!’ Peter was scratching his head and grinning. ‘What a nice kid your son is, Mrs-?’

‘He’s Mr Page’s son. I just look after him,’ Gina explained.

‘Well, someone’s doing a great job,’ Helen said. ‘He’s a real little knight in shining armour. You must be very proud of him.’ This was to Carson.

‘Yes,’ he said quietly. ‘I am.’

‘It’s so good to see Sally making friends with a normal child,’ Peter said. ‘Most of them flinch away from her, but your son treats her naturally, and that’s what she needs.’ He noticed a strange look on Carson’s face. ‘Is something wrong?’

‘Nothing,’ Carson said quickly.

But Gina knew the pleasant shock he’d had at hearing his son described as a normal child. Because that was what anyone would think from Joey’s bearing. He wasn’t a victim. He was potentially a young man with a lot of confidence.

‘Sally’s a darling,’ Helen said, ‘but she’s got a will of iron. If she wants to do something she tends to wander off, so we have to look out all the time. This time we slipped up, I’m afraid.’

‘And she has a problem talking,’ Peter added. ‘Things don’t come out quite right and people don’t understand her. Then she gets upset.’

‘We haven’t had her long,’ Helen put in. ‘We’re foster parents, and we specialise in children with problems. It’s a kind of thank-you because our own three are all disgustingly healthy.’

When the cars reappeared they could see that some sort of dispute was going on. Sally didn’t want to get out. Joey took her arm and urged her, but she wouldn’t budge. At last he climbed over her feet, grasped her hand firmly and pointed to the café. Faced with this display of authority, she gave in and meekly followed him, her hand tucked in his.

Gina looked at Carson’s thunderstruck face, and her lips twitched. ‘I’ll bet Tilly Whatsername didn’t let you order her about like that,’ she said.

‘She didn’t. The one time I tried, I got ice cream all over my face.’

Joey appeared at the table with his new friend, and protectively pulled out a chair for her. Sally had a sweet face and myopic eyes behind thick glasses. Her smile was enchanting.

‘We’re so grateful to you for taking care of her,’ Helen said to Joey.

She was looking straight at him, so that he could lip-read easily.

‘Could you understand what she said?’ Helen added. ‘Most people can’t, I’m afraid.’

Joey understood this perfectly. His smile contained a hint of mischief, and his eyes went from Gina to Carson, inviting them to share the joke.

‘What is it?’ Helen asked, catching the look. ‘What have I said?’

‘Joey’s deaf,’ Gina explained. ‘So Sally’s problem doesn’t matter to him.’

‘Well, I’ll be-!’ Peter fell back in his chair, scratching his head again. ‘I thought I knew about deaf children. We’ve fostered several. But I never guessed.’

Carson had a strange look on his face. ‘My son has great style,’ he said simply.

‘Yes,’ Gina said eagerly. ‘That’s the word. Style.’

Peter began to sign, introducing himself, Helen and Sally. Joey nodded and returned the courtesy, but he was interrupted by Sally, who pulled his shirt to indicate that she wanted something.

Can we have some ice cream? he signed. Strawberry for Sally and chocolate for me.

‘How do you know Sally wants strawberry?’ Gina asked.

I’ll give it to her. She’ll like it.

And she would, Gina realised. She would like whatever Joey gave her, because it came from him. The little boy had found exactly what he needed-someone with bigger problems than his own. And, before their eyes, he was growing to meet the challenge.

She met Carson’s gaze and found there what she’d hoped for-pure fatherly pride. His grin had a touch of self-consciousness, but the pride was unmistakable.

Before they parted, that evening, they made plans to meet up with the Leytons next day. Joey’s eyelids were drooping, and after a meal he was ready for bed. Gina left father and son to say their goodnights, while she wandered down to the lobby and browsed the book stall. She bought a showbiz ‘news’ magazine, and looked idly through the pages, until she found a headline that made her stiffen.

Angelica Duvaine-on the slippery slope?

The story that followed was written in tones of sympathy that dripped with malice. After her role in the blockbuster Angelica’s career hadn’t taken off as expected. Good parts were thin on the ground. A TV project had just fallen through. Her romance with a notable producer had ended suddenly.

Gina let the magazine fall into the waste bin. Suddenly she felt uneasy.