Chapter 4
Emma’s in a mood already. Beth was sat in the back trunk of the pickup with her camera in her hand. She pretended to be skipping through her pictures as if examining her handy work, but really she was just trying to stay out of what had the makings of another awkward ride home.
Glen Valley was lovely. The people were lovely, and everyone said hello with open arms. Literally, from all the hugs Beth had happily received. Emma on the other hand squirmed and tried her best to politely decline each one. Mostly without success, of course. Ben was super hands on since arriving ‘home’ as well. It’s like he’d forgotten that Emma was prickly, and kept hugging her to his side when introducing her to the unending waterfall of friends he had. She’s trying though, at least. Beth nodded to herself as she raised her eyes from her camera. Currently Emma was biting her lips together, forcing a smile, and do doubt counting down the seconds to her freedom. All day she’d been on edge waiting to get to her real goal. Not looking around the many white and pastel coloured dream homes, the laughing children, the calm in the air, and the smell of fresh baking everywhere. Nope, none of the things that normal people thought made their new home a dream come true. She’d even bristled at the many invitations from people her age to come out for a drink and get to know them over at the local dance hall. A dance hall! Towns don’t have dance halls anymore! Beth tried to get an invitation, but they seemed to already have the same ability her peers had back in Seattle. To see the invisible ‘weirdo’ sign over her head. ‘Too young’, they said. Beth wasn’t buying that. They just saw her as being a geek and not as cool and badass as her older sister.
Anyway, Beth was sure she’d find a nice geeky person her age in Glen Valley to befriend. Or perhaps when she went to college in the fall? Either way, Beth was very optimistic about this place. It had been years since Emma had lived at home for more than the holidays, and she was confident with time she’d warm up to Ben. He was a cool guy, if not a bit over protective.
Beth smirked to herself as she thought of the time ‘boys’ came up in conversation over the dinner table. Ben turned pale, and then asked Beth if she had a boyfriend. At first he was pleased when he said no. Joanna suggested that with her becoming a young lady now she’d be swatting the boys off in no time.
Ben bought her pepper spray, a taser, and said that Beth was too good for anyone he didn’t approve of. She was allowed to date, of course, but only after the ‘gentleman’ introduced himself and his intentions to her parents. Beth nearly died of embarrassment, but her amusement at his touching attempt to protect his new daughter’s chastity kept her alive. And laughing. For hours.
Oh lord she looks ready to explode. They were parked up outside the Hatherway Clinic, meters away from the one place Emma actually wanted to go today. Not the local supermarket (Joanna needed groceries), not the bakery their mum was going to run, not the highstreet, not the Church or even the dance hall. Oh no. Hatherway Clinic was the mecca she desired, and a lovely old lady had blocked their path. Claire Kelly, a retired teacher with all the time in the world to talk about Ben in his youth. 30minutes later, and Emma looked like she would blow a fuse any second. Not outwardly, of course. But Beth knew her sister’s tells. The way she would move her hand to hold the back of her neck, then her elbows, then her pocket, then repeat. Beth knew the signs, and so did Jo, who was trying to give Ben a warning look from the other side of the eldest daughter, but he wasn’t getting the message. Do I intervene? Beth preferred not to get involved in arguments or drama, but she wanted Glen Valley to work. For them to be a family together and not let her skittish-trust-issues sister have a reason to run back to Seattle. Better step up. Hopefully this won’t back fire. The introvert took a deep breath, jumped down from the pickup and shoved her hands into the pockets of her long pink cardigan. Her camera sat on her chest from the lanyard, and she shuffled up to her mother.
Mrs Kelly had kind brown eyes, sunken by age and a wrinkly happy face. Her glasses had thick lenses, blue rims and she dyed what had to be white hair blonde, so it was very yellow. Rollers still in her hair and pink lips, she struck Beth as the kind of teacher she would have enjoyed having at school. Her turtleneck long sleeved top was cream, but her baggy cotton trousers were blue, as was the flats, scarf and jacket she wore.
“-terrible handwriting. The hours he spent re-writing his homework would have filled a week by the time he-”
“Hi, my name is Beth.” She awkwardly injected herself into the conversation, and in front of her sister. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’m a bit of a photography nut, and I love your image. Can I take a picture of you?” Beth held up her camera with one hand, and put the other behind her head. With the same hand she pointed for Emma to make her escape, before bringing it back forward to hold her camera. “I’m making a collage of all the new people I’ve met and places I’ve been for my new bedroom. We live with Ben now, I’m the youngest, Beth.”
“Oh my.” Claire chuckled, and was totally captivated with the youngest Carter. She didn’t even see Emma edge her way slowly around the group and down the stone slab path to the clinic. “My picture, really? But I’m hardly wearing any makeup!”
“I prefer natural pictures. You look perfect!” Beth looked down the lens at her new subject and shuffled round, prompting Mrs Kellyto turn with her and give her back to the clinic. Shielding Emma’s retreat from view from the older lady. Ben however saw her and seemed to panic, but Joanna gripped his arm to keep him in place. Beth was too busy taking pictures of Mrs Kelly and praising her like a model, to notice the anxious look her parents were sharing. She also didn’t notice when after a silent argument, the pair of them also slipped away to the clinic. Alone with the nice old Mrs Kelly, they laughed and took more pictures. It was only apparent she’d been abandoned there when a hand dropped onto her shoulder suddenly and firmly.
“What are you doing to my Gran?”
“Ah!?” Beth snapped round, camera and all, and took a picture of him up close and with the flash on. She briefly saw dark brown eyes and a scowl before snapping a picture and dazzling him. The stranger growled and back handed her camera out of her hands, snapping the clasp at her neck and sending it flying. “Hay!”
Smash.
Beth stood there, looking down at the pavement in front of Mrs Kelly at her beloved camera. “M…my camera…” She lowered to one knee and her hands hovered over it. The screen was cracked and the pixels distorted behind it, the casing around the lens was shattered in places, and broken glasson the ground told her the lens was broken too.
“Oh now look what you did!” Mrs Kelly marched over to the new comer and chided him like it was her job to. Beth started to phase them out as she collected the pieces of glass off the floor. She pulled her long green tank top at the end to act as a basket for the pieces. This was exactly why Beth didn’t like getting involved in other people’s drama. She should have stayed out of it and let Emma deal with the old lady. It wouldn’t have killed her, but it did kill her camera. I saved up for a year for this model. For the faster shutter speeds and cloud upload features. I might be able to rescue the card, but the camera is a goner.
“She flashed that thing right in my face!” He snarled from behind her, but Beth ignored them. She was far too busy retrieving the pieces of her camera. The shock was wearing off now, and the sadness crept in. Her doe eyes welled with tears and the angry tone of the man behind her made her flinch.
“Well you surprised her is all! Poor young girl nearly jumped out of her skin!”
“Who the hell is she? Hay? Who are you and why were you taking pictures of my Gran?” He reached down and fisted at her pink cardiganover her shoulder. “Come here.” He must have expected her to be heavier, as even he was surprised when she fell backward in a heap. What a sight she was? On her back, her wavy ginger hair a mess around her face, broken pieces of glass and the remnants of her camera across her front, big brown eyes wide and full of tears…staring up at him like a he was the grim reaper. Ebony hair in choppy curtains, brown eyes so dark they looked black, Mediterranean olive skin and a dark beard trim to his face. He looked like he belonged on a motorbike,with those steel capped boots, thick jeans, chain hanging from his left back to front pocket, and a white wife-beater vest so tight it showed the bulge of every muscle beneath. He even wore a black leather jacket. He looked to be mid twenty to thirties in age, and glared down at Beth like she was disgusting.
Yanking her onto her back and glaring down at her seemed like the longest second of her life, as Beth began trembling and fearing another back hand was coming her way. She’d never been manhandled before. Bullied yes, but never physically. “Hay I asked you a-”
The hammering sound of footsteps almost faded behind the thundering sound of her own heartbeat. Beth would have questioned if she heard the sound at all, if the stranger didn’t snap his head up and step back in time to avoid the collision.
“GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!” Emma stood over her, fists raised, and ready for action. “MUM! CALL THE POLICE!” She shouted over her shoulder. Beth was still on her back, trembling, but managed to look up at her sister and saviour to see pure rage on her face. “THIS ASSHOLE JUST ASSAULTED BETH!”
“What?!” He snapped his hands up and suddenly looked less angry and more confused. “No I didn’t! She flashed that damn camera inmy face so I swatted-”
“You swatted my sister to the ground?! You heard that!” Emma barked at her mother and Ben, who had now joined them. “He just admitted to attacking her.”
“Oh dear.” Mrs Kelly pulled her cell out of her pocket and made a quick call to one side.
“No I didn’t I just-” He took a step towards them, and Emma seethed.
“TAKE ONE MORE STEP AND I’LL-” Emma raised her fist ready.
“You’ll what little girl?” He switched from confused to defensive and braced himself.
“Hey!” Ben seemed to get pumped up pretty quickly. He ran forward, leaving Jo to drop to her knees to coo over Beth, and stand between his family and the threat. “You’ll back off and calm down around my girls, for a start.” Beth and Emma both could have sworn they heard actual growling. Joanna scooped Beth into her arms and shuffled her back from the altercation.
“You’re alright baby.” Joanna brushed off the broken pieces of camera and cupped her face. “What happened?”
“H-he came up behind me.” Beth cried, breaking down into sobs and shaking with fear. She didn’t see the way the brute suddenly looked ather in shock. “M-made me jump. My finger was already on the button so I pressed it b-by accident and he attacked me, and then threw me to the g-ground and-and-” Tears flowed from her big brown eyes as she looked down at the remains of her camera. Slivers on her green tank top, but mostly back on the pavement. “I swear I asked Mrs Kelly’s permission before I took her picture!” She shouted up, distraught and afraid at the guy, who looked ashamed of himself.
“I didn’t-” He tried.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Emma tried to get around Ben, but he barred her with his arm. “Bethany wouldn’t hurt a fly! How DARE you attack and manhandle my baby sister!” Another growl. Oddly it sounded like it had come from Ben…
“Honey no.” Joanna warned him with a worried edge.
“You put your hands on my Beth.” Ben snarled, and Joanna barely launched forward in time to and wrap her arms around Ben’s waist to stop him lunging forward.
“That’s quite enough.” Mrs Kelly boldly put herself between Ben and her grandson, both hands raised and treating them like angry children. “There is no need for this to escalate. Everything’s going to be alright.” Mrs Kelly rubbed at his arm. “Don’t worry Jason. I’ve called for Caleb, he’s on his way.” She nodded, and even Jason seemed to dial his rage down a few notches.
“Good.” Ben snipped and narrowed his raging stare on the younger man. “He will choose the right punishment for you for attacking my daughter.”
“I didn’t attack her!” Jason shouted and in desperation. Beth unfortunately chose that moment to gingerly get to her feet, and got his attention. “Tell them! Tell them your camera went off in my face and I just swatted the damn thing away. You got down after it, and when I tried to get you to stand up you fell over! Tell them damn it!” All his scowling and pointing ather just scared Beth into her mother’s arms. This didn’t help calm Emma or Ben down.
“Now now Jason. Caleb will hear all sides and sort this whole thing out.” Mrs Kelly put a hand on his chest to calm him. But Jason wouldn’t stop staring at the back of Beth’s copper head, hurt and anger coming off him in waves.
“You called the Mayor?!” Emma didn’t like the way this Jason was looking at her sister. She barged across to pull her into her arms. “Screw that! Mum, when are the police getting here?”
“Police?” Joanna was still guarding her fiancé from attacking.
“Yeah the police. You called them right?”
“…” Emma’s jaw dropped.
“Why the hell haven’t you-fine. I’ll do it.”
“I’m the police.” Ben barked at her infrustration. “And I’m involved and unable to be impartial, so-”
“So call another officer over.” Emma countered. “You can’t be the only officer Glen Valley has, right? So call the police so we can press charges on this jerk.”
“It’s alright dear.” Mrs Kelly tried to sooth her with a kind smile. “Caleb is coming and-”
“The MAYOR?! What kind of town is this where the mayor investigates assaults on the street?!”
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