Daddy's Here(83)

“What did you say?”

“I do not want to leave. I want to stay here with Mr Westall. He is a great man.” She was rewarded by a look of disgust on her stepmother’s face.

“A great man? What kind of man dresses grown women up in nappies? I saw one just now with a dummy in her mouth. It is disgusting.”

“Please, I beg you to reconsider.”

“I will not hear another word on this matter. We return home this instant, whether you are willing or not.”

Maria stormed past Mr Westall, grabbed Laura by the arm and began dragging her outside, ignoring her protests.

“Please, papa,” Laura called out. “Save me papa.”

“Papa?” Maria gasped. “Saints preserve us. She has gone insane.”

Laura could only look behind her as she was shoved into the waiting carriage. “Drive on!” Maria shouted before the door was even closed.

“No!” Laura cried out, reaching for the handle.

Maria grabbed hold of her, pulling her over her lap. “By the heavens, you will maintain some sense of decorum my girl.” She grabbed the nappy and roughly pulled it loose, tossing it aside whilst Laura squirmed to escape her lap. “Your father may dote on you but I see only a spoilt brat who needs more than fads and snake oil to set her on the straight and narrow. You need a bloody good thrashing.”

Laura could hardly believe what was happening. One minute she was beside her new papa, the next she was on the lap of this harridan whose hand was lifting into the air. How was she so strong as to hold her in place with one hand in the air like that?

Maria’s hand came slapping down onto Laura’s naked posterior, causing the poor girl to shriek in pain. “Stop it!” Laura cried. “You are hurting me.”

“Good. Perhaps you will begin to learn.”

Laura continued to shriek as Maria’s hand landed on her rear again and again. She did not stop until she was quite breathless and by then Laura could do little but slump to the opposite seat, wincing as her battered posterior pressed into the thin cushion beneath her, little protection from the hard wood underneath.

She began to weep as her stepmother sneered at her. “You are pathetic,” Maria said. “Do you know that? Cannot even take the spanking you deserve without whining like the brat you are.”

Laura glared back at her but said nothing. All she could think about was Mr Westall. Her papa would make it all okay, she knew that. But would he come for her after she turned down his proposal of marriage? Her body hurt but her mind was in agony. She felt that she was in the thrall of a thoroughly wicked woman, like the stepmother from the old fairy tales. Could she win out against such a villain? “I hate you,” she said as her tears finally stopped falling.

“I care not.”

“I will tell my father what you have done and he will want nothing more of you.”

“I doubt you will be telling anyone anything.”

Laura felt suddenly terrified. Something in the coldness of Maria’s tone of voice was far more threatening than the beating she had just doled out. “What do you mean?” she asked, afraid of what the answer might be.

“You will see soon enough. Now you will be silent and sit still like a respectable woman. I have a headache.”

Laura sat in silence, her fingers trembling with fear and cold, her flesh white as a draught blew through the edge of the carriage door seemingly headed straight for her. She had no idea how much time had passed since she last spoke but as the sun began to set, she grew increasingly afraid. They should have reached Rothsfield House by now. Where were they?”

Maria looked up and smiled, a cold smile that lacked any warmth. “This will do,” she called out and the carriage stopped.

“What is this place?” Laura asked, glancing out into nothing but darkness.

“The place I shall forever remember,” Maria said, opening the carriage door. “The place where I got rid of you for good.”

Laura gasped as a pair of rough hands reached in and grabbed her. She caught a glimpse of the carriage driver’s face as he dragged her out and tossed her to the ground.

She fell into thick mud and as she rose to her knees, she saw the driver climbing back into place. “What are you doing?” she cried, already beginning to shiver.

“You freeze to death,” Maria called back as the carriage rolled away. “I gain your inheritance. Isn’t marriage a wonderful institution?”

The driver lashed at the horses and the carriage raced away leaving Laura alone in the darkness. “Come back!” she screamed but only the wind heard her, taking her words and whipping them away into the night.