Free 1911021494 by MICHAEL HAMBLING Page A

there’s some bacon that needs to be used up and I’ve decided to introduce Nadia to the joys of black pudding. Dad bought some at the weekend.’
    ‘I might have known. Any excuse for you and your father to eat that foul stuff.’ Sophie laughed.
    ‘There’s white wine in the fridge, Mum. But I think Dad would have a fit if we had it with this. Do you want to open a red so that it’s ready?’
    ‘You’re too young to know all these things, Jade. We’ve ruined you.’
    ‘Yeah, well, don’t worry about it. It’s all cool.’
    * * *
    Martin did his best to appear relaxed when he arrived home, but Sophie could sense his tension. He was too conscious of Nadia’s story, she thought. And she was aware of the frustrated anger he felt towards abusive men.
    ‘Jade’s chosen some wine that she claims will be appropriate for black pudding,’ she told him. ‘She sounded like a real expert.’
    ‘It’s all Dad’s fault. He’s the one who tells me all about choosing wines to go with the food. All that stuff about real ale and getting the hoppiness right. I could never be a binge drinker. All my mates’ll be knocking back the booze by the pint, while I’m still sniffing the bouquet. Do you realise how much you’ve ruined my future? I’ll be mentally scarred for the rest of my teenage years. I’ll get to my mid-twenties and all my friends will have passed through the binge drinking phase. I’ll have missed a whole important phase of my development, and he’ll be to blame. Wine-tasting. Huh.’
    ‘What have I done to deserve this?’ asked Martin.
    ‘It’s alright, Dad, I’m only kidding. Nadia’s going to help me with the dinner. It’ll be ready in about half an hour, okay? Now kindly leave us alone to get on with our work.’
    Sophie and Martin dutifully returned to the lounge, a little shell-shocked. The sound of giggles drifted in from the kitchen.
    ‘How did you and I manage to create that girl?’ asked Martin.
    ‘Maybe there was a full moon on the night in question. I can’t think of any other explanation. But I tell you what, I feel a whole lot more cheerful than when I first came home. She does wonders for my mood. And she’s looking after Nadia so well. That cheerful prattle is just what the girl needs, and no one could do it better than Jade. In fact, I’m not sure anyone else could do it at all. We’re all treating her with kid gloves, and maybe all she needs at the moment is light-hearted chatter with someone her own age. Jade seemed to know that instinctively. I keep thinking that I might have underestimated her, you know.’
    ‘One of the staff from her place was across at my school today. He looked at me in amazement when he found out who I was. “But you seem so normal,” was his first comment. Apparently Jade did a song and dance routine at school assembly which brought the house down. Everyone loved it apart from the head, who thought it lacked a moral message. Jade told him that it did have a message — have a good time. He added that she is far and away the brightest kid in her year, so we must be doing something right.’
    ‘So that was the reason for all the thumping from her room. Do you think we should ask her about it?’
    ‘Probably better not to. We don’t want her to think we’re spying on her.’
    Sophie’s mobile phone rang. She told Martin what Mark Benson had said.
    ‘Rohypnol traces in her blood. We’d guessed that they’d used something like that on the girls.’
    ‘What do you plan to do with her for the next few days?’
    ‘She’ll be coming into the station with me tomorrow, and possibly Saturday morning. I may ask Lydia to look after her on Sunday if we go to Gloucester. They might have to stay here if she’s still fragile. Is that okay?’
    ‘I’ve no objection as long as she’s with someone you trust. Remember that we don’t really know her, Sophie. We don’t know what she was like back in Romania. We don’t know anything about her