I had been given a lot of clothes, so was more than happy with that. I didn’t have many clothes, and I knew that I was going to grow out of stuff fast from now on.
Gareth gave me a Dansette record player, as the one we had was a big radiogram in a large sideboard-like piece of furniture. It was very kind of him, and so I gave him a hug and a kiss.
He gave Mummy some French perfume, so she kissed him as well. Only she didn’t kiss him on the cheek.
After tea, Charlie and I went up to her room and played some games. Gareth and Mummy went for a walk. We watched them and as they reached the lane, they held hands.
“My daddy has fallen in love with your mum,” Charlie said.
“I know.”
“Do you think they’ll get married?”
I shrugged. “Probably,” I said.
“I hope they do, that’ll make us sisters.”
I smiled. “Step-sisters,” I said.
“Still sisters. I always wanted a sister, haven’t you?”
I shrugged again.
“I just didn’t like being alone. That’s why they should get married.”
“Do you think you’ll come to live here, or we’ll go and live at your house?” she asked.
“Well, this is your Gran’s house, isn’t it?”
“No, it’s Daddy’s. My Gran has her own bit at the back.”
“Then we could live at our house, and your Gran could get some peace and quiet for a change. But if ever our parents go away, then your gran could look after us at her house.”
“That’d be fun,” she said and I smiled.
New Year. 1960 - 1961
We were allowed to stay up to midnight. There was a Scottish show on TV, which it was pretty awful, but it was nice to stay up late. We were in our house, so Charlie was staying the night with me. I had two beds in my room and it was nice having company.
We were quite tired, so we kissed our parents goodnight, went up and snuggled in quickly; Charlie was asleep in no time. I lay there for a moment, and just reached out with my mind to see if I could see whether Gareth was going to marry Mummy.
They were downstairs on the sofa. Gareth had his arm across Mummy’s shoulders, and his mind was very mushy. He had some strange thoughts, so I came out and went red with embarrassment. He wanted to do things to Mummy that would make me have a brother or sister (of sorts). I reached back in, ever so gently, to find his thoughts were very nice. He loved her very much and wanted her.
They were kissing. Not the lip-kissing that aunties did, but real kissing, with open mouths. Gareth was feeling more funny thoughts, so I decided to leave him alone for a bit. I wasn’t quite sure what he was thinking about, but had a fair idea it involved taking clothes off.
I didn’t have to go into Mummy’s mind to know she felt the same way. I just hoped they’d marry before the child was born.
CHAPTER SEVEN. 1961.
I was the only new girl to start at the Manor in January. It was so much nicer going to school as a girl. Charlie came with me and we held hands for most of the first day.
I was shown my coat peg (very important).
I was shown where to keep my shoes (very important).
I was shown my classroom, (Less important) and everything else they thought I needed to know.
Mrs Chambers is our form teacher, and it didn’t take me long to realise that I am ahead of the rest of the class. I am comfortable being me, so I just get on with everything as I am told to.
We play netball and not rugger, thank goodness. I find it easier to make friends as a girl. There are a few boys in the lower forms, but they don’t bother me at all.
The days seemed to fly past, and as spring appeared so did my ninth birthday.
Going home each afternoon was wonderful, as Charlie and I would do our homework in our dining room each evening. Mummy was a teacher and therefore she was able to help should we need it.
She suddenly found herself with time on her hands, so she set herself up as a private tutor for children who needed to catch up with their schoolwork. The system of exams at the age of eleven meant that if a child didn’t do very well, then he or she had to go to a school that may not be that good. There were many parents who wanted their children to pass, and then they could go to Grammar Schools, from where there was a better chance they would go to University.
Charlie and I were in the private system, so we didn’t have to worry about eleven plus. We had the Common Entrance exams for our secondary schools, and that happened at thirteen or so.
I liked school, except for Miss Squelch, as we called her. She was horrid, and could be really beastly!
She once stood over one girl who didn’t like her dinner and she made her eat it all. The girl was sick, so then she almost made her eat the sick! Apart from her, everything else was pretty good. Charlie is a bit older than me, but I was put into her class, which was the year above my age group.
I look slightly older than my age, so I fit in well.
I only use my powers occasionally, and am able to control what little I do much better now. I find it fun reading the teachers, so then I know the test questions before the test starts. I know it’s cheating, but in some subjects, I’m not as brilliant as they think, so I just help myself a little.
They could never prove it, so I didn’t hurt anyone.
Being able to read adults had its disadvantages.
One afternoon playtime, in March 1961, I was in the playground, holding an end of a skipping rope. Charlie was holding the other end and Juliette was skipping. I suddenly ‘overheard’ a really nasty thought, and it almost made me drop the rope.
I looked round and saw a man outside the school looking in through the railings. He was quite an old man, I suppose about fifty.
(Note by Amber, aged fifty one… This is not that old!)
He was dressed in a long dark coat and had scruffy grey hair. His face had lots of lines on it, and he was about twenty yards away from us.
He was looking at Juliette, and his mind was a little like what Gareth was thinking about Mummy, that evening on the sofa. Only there was no love and he wanted to do things to Juliette that were really horrid!
I was a little more aware of the differences between boys and girls, for obvious reasons, but I had not really thought about what boys and girls did before. His mind was very open and full of pictures. They were of naked girls and boys and he was doing strange things to them. I had heard of the words ‘sex’ and ‘fucking’, and they were just rude words that we giggled at.
I wasn’t giggling now!
I read his mind, seeing that he had done things to young girls and boys in the past. He even had a rope in his pocket as he stood there. He had one hand down his trousers playing with his thingy.
In his mind were pictures of what he wanted to do to all three of us!
I couldn’t help it, as soon as I saw my face in his mind, I screamed and dropped the rope.
“What’s the matter?” Charlie asked.
I couldn’t tell the truth.
“I saw a wasp,” I said.
We all looked for the wasp, and then the skipping started again.
My mind was in a whirl.
What could I do?
I went back into that horrid mind, and looked into his memories. It was hard, because the mind was twisted and very strange. It wasn’t normal at all.
I found memories of photographs, as he had albums of the girls and boys he had done things to. I felt a little sick, but started to see that there was something I could do.