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CHAPTER 1 - The Orphanage One chilly, winter's afternoon, the rain was falling so heavily that the noise drowned out the clatter of the trains on Sydney Harbour Bridge. A small girl was kneeling on a chair at the side of her bed, staring out through the rain-spattered window. She had her elbows on the narrow window ledge; her chin resting on cold hands. Her pale, sad face, looked rather tired, which made her seem older than her 12 years. She had a lot of responsibility on her young shoulders, looking after her younger brother and sister, and helping with the daily running of the orphanage. On Sundays, when she had a chance to be alone, she would escape to the dormitory. It was nearly always empty on Sundays because the seven other girls, who shared with her, were all taken out by kind families, leaving her to her own devices. She watched as a blue station wagon pulled up on the other side of the road. After a few minutes, a middle-aged couple emerged, dressed in sensible, heavy raincoats and boots. They walked down the street a little way, obviously searching for a safe place to cross the road, which was beginning to flood. Her thoughts drifted to her life in England only a few years before. Her parents had owned a similar blue car and they used to spend such lovely Sundays driving around the narrow English country lanes, trying to find suitable picnic spots. |
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They were a very happy family. No one could have predicted that their lives would change so drastically. She vividly remembered that dreadful Friday afternoon. She had returned home from school to find their next-door neighbor, Mrs Bronte, looking after her brother, Adam. He was then only four years old and hadn't yet started school. There was an air of excitement in the small house, because this was the day that her father was to bring her mother home from hospital, with their new baby sister, Emma. The two children had watched from the front window, waiting patiently for the blue car to appear around the corner of the street and park in front of the house. When the old clock in the hall chimed six, Mrs Bronte shuffled in and collected them for tea. She then put Adam to bed but allowed Sarah to stay up longer. Just before seven o'clock, there was a knock on the front door. Mrs Bronte and Sarah rushed up the hallway to open it. To their amazement, a very tall policeman was standing there. |
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'Is this where Mr and Mrs Timberley live?' he asked softly. 'Yes, but they're not here. They should have been home hours ago. Has something happened to them?' asked Mrs Bronte. Sarah could hear the panic in the old woman's voice, and her heart began to pound so hard that it quite frightened her. The hallway was dimly lit, so she couldn't see his features clearly but Sarah could pick up the sadness in his voice. 'Well, yes. I'm afraid there has been an awful car accident down at the crossroads. Your parents and the little baby have been taken to hospital.' He looked down at Sarah and gave her arm a comforting pat. 'Your mother has lots of bruises and a couple of broken ribs, but she will be fine. The baby was not injured at all, and she has a good pair of lungs!' he smiled weakly. At last, Sarah managed to find her voice and cried out in despair, 'What about Daddy?'
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