Mummy’s Little Girl: A heart-rending story of abuse, innocence and the desperate race to save a lost child. Jane Elliott

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       Chapter One

      Twelve years later

      Dani Sinclair heard the bell go for morning break. All around her, her classmates scuffed their chairs back and started talking. The teacher at the front of the class – Mr Wynn – called out something, but it was lost in the hubbub of noise as everyone hurried out excitedly for breaktime.

      Everybody except Dani.

      Nobody stopped to run out to the playground with her. Nobody called to her, or smiled at her, or paid her any attention at all. And for that, Dani was pleased. When the other children did pay attention to her, it wasn’t the kind of attention she wanted.

      She was the last to leave the classroom, and Mr Wynn hurried her on. ‘Come on, Dani,’ he said impatiently. ‘Outside for break-time, please.’

      Dani nodded timidly and left the classroom; Mr Wynn followed her out into the playground.

      It was a clear winter’s day, cold enough for the raw chill of the air to burn Dani’s bare legs. Her school skirt was short, not as a fashion statement, but because her mum – her foster mum, actually – had not bought her any new clothes for ages. All her school mates seemed to have new trainers every other week, and they certainly noticed that Dani was not as well dressed as them. It was one of the many things that they used to pick on her.

      She skirted round the edge of the playground, trying to make it look as if she was busy doing something when in fact she was just wandering aimlessly. As she passed certain groups of kids, they shouted names at her, but she was so used to them doing so that she hardly heard them.

      Dani had been wandering for perhaps five minutes when they stopped her. Ashley and Tammy were the two most popular girls in the class. They had long hair and wore perfume and make-up, even though you weren’t supposed to at school. It made them look much older than their twelve years, and it also put them on a different side of the playground to Dani, who never had anything to make her look pretty. Ashley and Tammy were mean girls. They were always picking on Dani, always teasing her for being so quiet, always trying to get her to say dirty words she didn’t want to say. They made her cry on an almost daily basis, and she hated it when they turned their attention to her.

      Dani tried to carry on walking, to get away from the potential confrontation, but they weren’t having it. Tammy wolf-whistled at her, and Ashley stepped forwards and grabbed hold of the hem of her skirt, pulling it up and down so that it billowed. From somewhere else, Dani heard the sound of other children laughing, and she felt blood rise to the skin of her face.

      ‘What you doing, Sinclair? Going on the pull?’ Ashley called.

      Embarrassed, Dani looked down at the ground and carried on trying to walk away; but the girls kept following her.

      ‘Don’t think there’s anyone fancies you much round here,’ Tammy added.

      ‘Shut up,’ Dani retorted from behind clenched teeth.

      It wasn’t like her to answer back. The other girls knew it and they jeered. Ashley went for the skirt again. This time, Dani swung round and lashed out at the other girl. It was a pitiful sight – Dani was no fighter, and the other two were good at it. Immediately they piled in, pushing Dani to the ground and pulling at her hair. Dani wanted to fight back, but she was not good at this sort of thing, and she curled up into a little ball as a crowd gathered round to watch the entertainment. There were shouts of encouragement as the girls started punching her curled-up body. Dani was in no doubt about who they all wanted to win the fight.

      ‘Fucking cry-baby,’ Ashley shouted gleefully when she noticed the hot tears that had suddenly started to stream down Dani’s face. And then again, in a sing-song voice, slightly babyish but all the more aggressive for that: ‘Fucking cry-baby …’

      ‘All right, you three. That’s enough!’ a man’s voice barked from nearby. Dani looked up to see Mr Wynn, his green eyes flashing angrily. ‘I said, that’s enough!’

      The scratching and clawing stopped. Humiliated at being the only one still on the ground, Dani pushed herself up.

      ‘That’s not the first time I’ve seen you three fighting,’ Mr Wynn said severely. ‘I don’t expect to see it happening again.’

      Dani looked wide-eyed at him, smarting from the injustice of it.

      ‘Don’t look at me like that, Miss Sinclair,’ Mr Wynn snapped. ‘I won’t have any fighting in the playground while I’m on duty. Is that understood?’

      Dani felt herself nodding. ‘Yes, sir,’ she said quietly.

      ‘Ashley? Tammy?’

      ‘Yes, sir,’ they replied in unison, their voices chanting almost sarcastically.

      ‘Good.’ Mr Wynn nodded his head decisively, and then turned and walked to the other end of the playground. With his back to them, he did not see the spiteful little smile that Ashley and Tammy cast in Dani’s direction.

      It was late on Friday evening, and there were three people in the meeting: Kate Swinton, a tall, curly-haired social worker with a thin face and kind eyes; Andy Martin, also a social worker – a young man with a shaved head to hide the fact that he was balding; СКАЧАТЬ