While Brad tactfully took Nora off to the kitchen to make another pot of tea, Maddy slowly opened the letters, one by one, praying for news of her son.

It was a good thing that she was fitter in mind and body then she had been in many years, for the revelations contained in this bundle of papers were about to turn Maddy Delaney’s life upside down. Again.

There was a letter to Grandad Bob from Ellen, dated a year ago, just before he had had his second stroke. The address was Ryde, in the Isle of Wight. As Maddy held the paper with shaking hands, she read Ellen’s message of love and contrition to her grandfather, trying to explain why she had done the terrible things she did – of abducting Maddy’s child and of deserting her beloved grandfather, stealing from him and lying to him. Michael had grown up bonny and bright, she wrote, and now she needed to make her peace with her grandfather, and also with her dear friend Maddy, whom she had never forgotten. She loved them both, and craved their forgiveness.

Please will you tell Maddy that her son is a fine boy of seventeen now, she wrote, and that I love him like my own flesh and blood.

While Maddy was trying to come to terms with all the emotions that arose when she read these words, she opened the next letter, and her heart nearly stopped with the shock of what it contained.

The letter, which was dated eighteen months ago, was addressed to Ellen. Grandad Bob had not opened it, and Maddy imagined that his health had prevented him from making contact with his granddaughter. For Bob Maitland, it had all happened too late.

The letter was from Raymond, the gentle giant from the Pink Lady club, and Maddy read it with amazement and disbelief, followed by a painful kind of joy.

Dear Ellen,

I have finally plucked up the courage to get hold of you, after all these years. I need to tell you what’s on my mind.

The thing is, Alice says it might be time now to tell Maddy the truth, since her tormentor was put out of his misery by another “good for nothing” at the prison some time ago. It was bound to happen, and I for one have no regrets about the demise of Steve Drayton. May he rot in hell, that’s what I say!

Anyway, Ellen, please get in touch. Alice would like Maddy’s address. She needs to break the news gently, so it won’t come as such a shock. But I’m sure Maddy will understand how we only made her believe that Alice had been killed, to keep her from coming back and putting herself and the baby in danger.

I hope she can forgive us, but I know it will be hard, and maybe too much to ask.

So many years have passed and no doubt many things have occurred, but I hope this letter reaches you, my dear. It’s time to put the past to rights. None of us are getting any younger, and we don’t know how much time we have left.

Lots of love – hope all is well with Maddy and yourself, and the boy.

Waiting to hear from you,

Raymond and Alice

XX

The news that Alice was alive more than compensated Maddy for the riveting shock she felt, at learning how the three people she loved had betrayed her.

She tried to think of Michael as he was now. Where had she been while he was growing up? For a long time she had been trapped in another place, in limbo, unaware of the world around her. The years had flown by, and she hadn’t even noticed. The most important thing in her life was to see her beloved son again, to hold him close, against her heart, where he belonged.

The news of Steve Drayton having been murdered lifted her spirits and made her utter a prayer of thanks. For too long she had remained in her own prison – one of fear. And today was the date of her release.

So justice had prevailed, and the evil punishments he had dished out to others over the years had come back to haunt him.

As Raymond so rightly said, May he rot in hell.

Before they left, Maddy told Nora that she wanted no part of Grandad Bob’s money, and that she would instruct the solicitor to make it over to Nora, at the first opportunity.

The old lady could hardly believe it. “I need a new three-piece suite,” she confided with embarrassment. “I’ve had this one for thirty years; it sinks, you know, when you sit on it. And I could do with a new set of teeth!”

Both Brad and Maddy had quietly noticed these things, but thoughtfully kept the revelation to themselves!

Maddy was hopeful that the money would more than replace Nora’s sagging three-piece suite. In fact, she wouldn’t be at all surprised if Nora wasn’t able to get a whole new houseful of furniture, a new car and go on a well-deserved holiday into the bargain.

As for herself, in the years when she worked night shift at the hospital, she had saved most of her wages, using only a small portion for her own modest needs. So she had plenty of cash.

On their way out of Blackpool, Maddy and Brad stopped and bought a bunch of carnations, which they took to the small churchyard where Bob Maitland had been buried; at his grave, Maddy felt the sense of a life chapter closing. “Thank you for being a good friend when I needed one,” she told him, blew him a kiss, and said her goodbyes.

Though she would write to Nora and make sure she was all right, Maddy knew that she would never come this way again.

Maddy wondered if Brad needed to go back home before they set off on the second leg of their journey, to Southampton and the Isle of Wight. “I need to be wherever you are,” he told her lovingly.

Sue and her family were taking care of things, along with the other staff at Brighill Farm, and the veterinary practices all had their own teams running them, so the “Fielding empire,” as Maddy called it, could manage without him for a few days, Brad said. Although he wasn’t sure about Roxy, who was just as silly a four-legged creature as dear old Donald had been.

“Are you sure you’re up to making this trip, sweetheart?” Brad asked, as they settled themselves in the café-lounge on the ferry. He had watched Maddy slowly recover over the past weeks, and though she was truly well now, he was worried that the unsettling batch of news Nora had passed on might prove to be too much for her.

Maddy put his mind at rest. “I’ve been out of it for so long,” she reminded him. “I won’t rest, until all the pieces are back together.”

“I can’t wait to meet your son.” Brad had been told everything, and to his dying day he would regret not being there when she most needed him.

As they drove off the ferry, Maddy noticed a garage and shop at the end of the street. “If you pull over, I’ll go and get a map,” she suggested to Brad. “We need to find the way to Ryde. It can’t be too hard, as the island isn’t very big.”

Brad did as she asked, and drew in and parked.

As Maddy came out with her map, she was almost knocked flying by a burly figure of a man. “Sorry, missus. Born clumsy, that’s me,” he apologized. He was a cheery sort. “Ah! Bought yourself a map then?” he inquired. He pointed to it. “You could ’ave saved your money and asked me,” he said. “There’s not a place or a road on this island that I don’t know about.”

Maddy showed him the address. “I know the place well,” he informed her proudly. “Intending to stay there, are you?”

Maddy shook her head. “I’m looking for my friend. She moved here a while back.” She took her leave, anxious for them to be on their way, now that they were so close to her son. Wishing him well, she made her way back to the car.