THE PREY OF THE TERRIBLE
(Isaiah 49:25) 

By Tessa Harvey


    Next day, Jessie Wilkes came to visit Sylvie who was sat out of bed gazing out of the window. She had just placed her breakfast tray on the bedside table.
    "Why did nobody tell Ainslie and Jack they were twins?" Sylvie asked abruptly.
Jessie answered, handing her a carefully wrapped package. "Because you both changed your surnames and disappeared," was Jessie's calm reply. "Our son probably didn't want to pay maintenance - not that it would have mattered to us."
    "And I couldn't cope," Sylvie's eyes filled with tears. "Couldn't you still have told Ainslee?"
    "After you disappeared, Ainslee would not talk. In fact it was nearly two years before she said one word. The doctor advised against giving her more loss to deal with and I am sorry we didn't tell your daughter as she grew older. Was the father of your younger children kind to you?" Jessie ventured, curious yet mindful of causing further offence. "Yes," Sylvie softly answered, tears welling again in her dark eyes. "He recently died in a building site accident. Robert was lovely."

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