Free Amelia's Story (Box Set the Complete Series Books 1 & 2) by D. G. Torrens Page A

was unhappy and hated being alive, she spoke often of death. Her history -involved sexual abuse by her step-father, and beatings by her mother, to her at 13-years-old life was not worth living. We heard later that evening that Cindy was stable and on suicide watch for the next 48 hours. Following that incident, Cindy was never returned to Breeton House instead she was sent to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation.
    The following day there was a new female arrival at Breeton House called Angela, she was 11-years-old, very pretty with beautiful raven hair and deep blue eyes. She would not look directly at anyone or barely lift her head up to speak. I discovered several days later she was pregnant.
    “Pregnant,” I said.
    “How can this be possible?” I asked.
    The member of staff watching over her advised the rest of the children to give her lots of space as she was in a delicate way. This in itself was enough to raise the curiosity of all 30 children residing at Breeton House. Her father had systematically abused her for years and I remember the chilling shock I felt about her pregnancy – I did not think children could get pregnant.
    Almost as soon as she arrived she was gone again, just like that. This sort of thing happened a lot, but I just could not stop thinking about Angela for a long time. The haunted look in her eyes; she was like a frightened child, too scared to move. All I kept thinking about was how could that happen. It horrified me and scared me. Sadly, stories like this were all too common place in children’s homes.
    There was soon to be a case review, which was held every six months for each child in care. My case review was next on the list and I prayed so hard most nights running up to my review for approval to be sent home. I could not bear to think what Jake was going through. These meetings were held to determine your future going forward. They never asked me how I was doing and how I was getting on, are they treating you well at Breeton House? They just weren’t interested in what I had to say.
    At the case review meeting there would be my headmaster, from Mount Pleasant Girl’s School, my 2N form teacher, my Social Worker, Gary the head of Breeton House and a member of staff. I dreaded these case reviews as this was where everybody got to talk about you and your life - except you. Did it not occur to these people that having a little input from the child they were discussing would make life so much easier for all concerned, as everyone would understand the child so much more, then maybe, just maybe, the child would be better placed going forward. This would have been far too logical for them and don’t forget, I was living in times where the child should be seen and not heard.
    After my case review I was called to the office. Gary asked me to take a seat and he proceeded to tell me that it had been decided that I was to return home for a trial period only. This was a huge shock and despite praying for this decision, I was not sure how I felt. I felt excited at the prospect of being with my brother Jake and my sisters Jenny and Susie once again, but a part of me felt dread - yes I longed to be with my family more than anything in the world. However, I had not missed the complexity of daily life with my mother.
    All those emotions must have poured out through my face as Gary looked at me very confused and said, “I thought you would be happy Amelia.”
    “I am,” was my response , not quite telling the truth. I then asked myself why did I say that and why didn’t I just share my fears with him? More importantly, why didn’t I ask him whether mother wanted me home, was this at her request or was it the sole decision of the case review panel? This was very important as this would determine how life would be for me once I had been released into my mother’s care for the umpteenth time. I wanted to share with him the real reason for my wanting to go home so desperately, but I just couldn’t in