Still Small Voice of Calm

Mike Holden

Description

Kim and Ned are two very ordinary people but they are the most unlikely pair of friends that one could meet. Nevertheless there is a bond between them. She is Chinese, in her 20's and a qualified and practising lawyer. He is in his 50's and owner of a moderately successful business consultancy. Kim is strolling through Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester when she sees a young girl being assaulted and abducted. She uses her newly-acquired martial arts skills to rescue the girl. Realising the determination of the girl's pursuers and the danger facing both of them, Kim seeks ned's help. They are horrified to learn of the traumatic and sickening experiences of Ermeela, the girl, and decide to hide her from this ruthless gang. But they will stop at nothing, using blackmail, threats and sheer brute force to retrieve the girl. Their actions have catastrophic and fatal consequencies to everyone concerned.

Sujets

• Adventure
• Adventure (Guyana)

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 18 février 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781782346999
• Langue: English

Extrait

Title Page
A STILL SMALL VOICE OF CALM
by
Mike Holden



Publisher Information
Published in 2013 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
The right of Mike Holden to be identified as the Authors of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998
Copyright © 2013 Mike Holden
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any person who does so may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.



CHAPTER 1
Day 1 - Thursday
As she lay in her bed in the middle of the night, hurting badly from the soreness of her body, Ermeela Lees came to what was for her, a very momentous decision. She simply could take no more, either mentally or physically. Today would be the start of the rest of her young life and although she feared for the consequences of the decision she was making, she was determined to stand by this decision, no matter what the repercussions were. She knew that she could never again face the people, who had brought all the pain to her. That would be tantamount to suicide. Her only alternative was to escape, run away was how she thought of it. She knew that it would put her mother in serious danger but that now had to be a secondary consideration. Of course, she would do what she could for her but she had felt that, somehow, her mother had let her down. She knew that her mother had been threatened with arson, physical violence, rape and even death, but even this did not reconcile her feelings of abandonment. She slept fitfully the rest of that night awaking with the early dawn.
Ermeela was a slightly built girl; barely over five feet tall whose breasts were still developing and indeed, were only really visible in tight fitting clothes. She had longish blond hair, sometimes swept back into a ponytail and sometimes brushed to the side to accentuate the length. She had never regarded herself as beautiful but her friends and indeed her male contemporaries regarded her very attractive. She had always thought of herself as looking too young for her age and whenever the opportunity occurred; she would always use make-up and dress in clothes to make her look older, a tart, her mother said to her. She realised, sadly too late, that her young appearance was her downfall.
For a girl entering into her teens, she had a bubbly and outgoing personality with a pleasant disposition that had a positive effect on all those people she knew. Her family had been dysfunctional with her father being absent virtually from conception and her mother, whilst a loving one, was often pre-occupied with boy friends that failed to last any length of time.
She packed her sports bag with as many clothes, underwear and toiletries as she could cram in. Instead of her school uniform, she dressed in a t-shirt, sweatshirt, jeans and trainers. On normal days, her mother would have to constantly badger and bicker at her to get up, but not this morning. She was already in the kitchen eating a large bowl of corn flakes when her mother, Julie walked through the door.
“I don’t believe it,” she said smiling, “Have you wet the bed?” Ermeela was in too sombre a mood to make any reply. She just finished her corn flakes. Julie was painfully aware as to what her daughter had been enduring and she cursed herself remorselessly every day for not having the guts or courage to help her. One day, she kept saying to herself that she would do what any self-respecting mother would do to protect her daughter. Sadly, she kept putting that day off.
Ermeela said sombrely and began to cry,
“Listen, mum. I just cannot stand it anymore and I’m leaving today for good. And I’m not coming back, the memories are too painful.”
Julie looked sadly at her daughter. How could she blame her for this decision? Deep down in her heart she knew that this would happen one day and today the self-cursing had raised itself to inner screaming.
“Are you absolutely sure? Perhaps we can go somewhere together, maybe London”
“No, mum. I need to be on my own to get over all this for awhile. I’ll give you a ring and let you know what’s happening. Once it’s safe, perhaps we can start again.”
“You know what’s going to happen, don’t you?” she said quietly to Ermeela, although her head was at bursting point.
“Yes, but if I stay, I swear I’ll kill myself” She paused. “Mum, the best thing for you is to go and stay with Auntie Helen for awhile. You’ll be alright there and besides they don’t know that she exists.” Ermeela finished off her orange juice and picked up her bag.
“I’ve got my phone, it’s topped up and I’ll keep in touch. I’ll see you again when it’s all over”
She approached her mother, gave her a long hug, took her jacket from the hallstand and disappeared through the front door. She did not tell her mother she had decided to catch a train for Manchester. She had enough money for a few nights in a cheap bed and breakfast or a hostel and this would give her sufficient time to decide exactly what she would do. She caught the local bus, which ended its journey at the railway station. As it was not yet school time, she did not expect to meet any of her friends, more like former friends now, she thought.
*
Before the bus had reached the station, Julie, fearing the consequences of her daughter’s action rushed upstairs to pack a bag. Emmy was right, she would go and stay with her sister, Helen, in rural Yorkshire until everything had blown over. She knew that Helen had little regard for her, believing that she had wasted her life, a teenage pregnancy, several short lived affairs with boyfriends who were little more that a waste of space and who valued a roof over their heads as important as anything. Having little self-esteem over the years, she could not argue with her sister but she had become more choosier with her lovers and boyfriends and whilst the quality had improved, the quantity had certainly diminished. She knew that Helen would not refuse her and she now needed a convincing sob story to persuade her. She dare not tell her the truth, as she was ashamed of what had happened with Ermeela. She was a loving mother and had tried to do her best for her daughter but she knew she had failed her so badly.
Once her bag was packed, she made her way to the same bus stop that her daughter had used not too long before. She knew that it would have been disastrous for her to call a taxi.
*
As Ermeela’s bus pulled to a halt at the station, she hurried towards the main station entrance, taking no notice of anyone around her.
This was not the first mistake in little Ermeela’s young life or the first time in her life that she should have been more observant, for the young girl was being closely watched by a dark haired swarthy young man who had just pulled into the station in a taxi.



CHAPTER 2
The taxi driver, who went by the name of Umar Pawar quickly disposed of his paying passenger, parked his taxi in the space next to the rank and ran into the station. He searched the concourse and platform for Ermeela and spotted her on the far one. A train was pulling into that platform as Pawar raced across the footbridge. He saw her boarding the train in the front carriage. She had not yet seen him.
Ermeela sat on a seat facing the rest of the train, simply because there were few seats available. The train slowly pulled out of the station and she was able to relax a little. But not for long! She spotted Pawar in the next carriage and she realised that he must have seen her board the train. She began to shake with fear. She knew him as Afzal, as that was the name he told her: It was not his real name and Pawar ensured that she would never know that. Watching him like a hawk, she began to realise that he had failed to spot her although his eyes were everywhere. She looked around her and saw the toilet. Attempting to conceal herself as much as possible, she crept quickly into the loo and locked the door. How long she had to stay there, she could only guess.
Pawar walked through the four carriages but could find no sign of the girl. Was she hiding somewhere or had she sneaked off the train? Three toilets were engaged and she could be in any one of them. He decided to wait next to one of them until she came out. The gori, as he referred to her since he had met her around two years ago, had been a great asset to him and after a few threats to her and her mother; she had become very acquiescent and very popular with his clients. He did not understand why she had suddenly turned against him like this and his immediate reaction was that he was not going to allow her to escape from him, at least not until he was through with her. On the other hand, he thought, she might just be having a day’s shopping trip to Manchester and would be back this afternoon, although she was carrying a large bag and that suggested that the shopping trip was an unlikely scenario. Perhaps he should just keep his eye on her and not intervene unless it was necessary.
Two incidents happened simultaneously, a large woman emerged for the toilet that Pawar was watching and Ermeela peeped out into the carriage. She recognised the man she knew as Afzal, intently watching a fat woman coming out of the toilet. She dashed out and ran in the other direction, only to be confronted by a door, which she ran through without any hesitation.
“What the ____?” shouted the driver? Ermeela realised too late that she had run into the driver’s cab. She pleaded w