Albatross by Ross Turner Read Free Book Online Page B

cardigan that stretched halfway down her arms and pulled in at her petite waist. Clutched at her generous breast, between folded arms, she held her black portfolio case that she always carried with her when making her visits.
                  “Oh, nothing…” Jen lied, though very badly this time, and Mandy looked at her reproachfully.
                  “Jen…” She said calmly then, tilting her head forward slightly, raising her eyebrows and pursing her lips thoughtfully.
                  Jen sighed.
    Of course, it was no use lying to her.
                  “Caroline’s here…” She admitted, as if that explained everything.
                  “Ah…” Mandy replied, suddenly understanding, for indeed that scrap of knowledge did in fact explain an awful lot.
                  Jen sighed, and Mandy looked at the poor girl, only six years or so younger than herself, in a way that spoke volumes of compassion for what she had been through, and in fact was still going through.
                  “Your mom phoned me yesterday to say you had to work…” She noted then, changing the subject as smoothly as she could. “But I was coming past today anyway, and so I thought I’d pop by to see how you are…”
                  “Thank you.” Jen replied automatically. “Yeah, sorry, I had to work.”
                  “Don’t be silly! Don’t apologise!” Mandy laughed then. “Are you still enjoying things at The Rusty Oak?”
                  “Yeah…” Jen replied elusively, glancing down at the ground.
                  Mandy’s expression hardened slightly.
                  “How have things been?” She asked, her voice quite a lot more serious. “Any repeat occurrences? Any new episodes?”
                  “No, no…” Jen replied as reassuringly as she could manage, though, admittedly, her words were not all that convincing. “Everything’s fine…” She concluded rather lamely.
                  “I see…” Mandy commented, clear in her tone exactly how believable Jen had been.
                  Jen spied movement from the house then through one of the downstairs windows, and shifted uncomfortably as she caught Caroline’s gaze for a moment, watching the two of them talking outside.
    Of course, Mandy noticed this too, and kindly released Jen from her suffering.
                  “I won’t keep you then…” She said smiling, and Jen looked at her gratefully.
                  Though sometimes it didn’t seem like it, when she made her visits, Mandy was most definitely on Jen’s side, and came as close to understanding her as anybody probably could, excluding Clare, naturally.
                  “Thank you.” Jen replied, relief coursing through her veins.
                  “But I will be coming to visit again, soon. Very soon.” Mandy assured her, clearly not happy with what she’d seen already that day.
    Jen winced inwardly, but nodded and smiled in response.
                  “Okay…” She said, turning to continue off towards the beach. “Thank you…”
     
                  Soon, though never soon enough, the beach was in sight, and Jen’s pace quickened more and more with every step she took.
    She just wanted to be alone.
    She needed to be alone.
                  And so, naturally, whenever she felt like that, she knew what would come next, without a shadow of a doubt.
                  “Jenny!” A familiar voice called on the wind, and even lost in thought as deeply as she might have been, she knew exactly who it was.
                  There was only one person in the world who had ever called her that.
                  Sure enough, as she halted her frantic pace and stopped and turned to look, the wind