Shattered and Scattered

Bethan blinked at the question. She had reached a crossroads: she could tell Christine about the photos and Katie and see how she reacted or she could play for time to think about how to handle this.

"I was sent a photo. Anonymously," Bethan stated, comfortable that she was not lying. Not telling the full truth neither. Bethan suspected that Katie had not said anything to her mum.

Christine felt dazed. That is where it had all started for her. Bethan had mentioned a camera and now photos. Were they talking about the same thing? Were the photos from the same camera?

Christine asked, "What was the photo of?"

Bethan told her.

"Boys?" Christine questioned. She scrutinised Bethan. "Did they mean anything to you?"

"Yes," Bethan said. "They were Laney's friends."

"Laney." Christine said and Bethan nodded. "Your daughter. Who you had with Dave."

Bethan looked over at Dave's motionless form and nodded again. She hoped that Christine would not quiz her about how she knew she had a daughter too. The wind had picked up in the quarry and a strand of hair caught in Bethan's mouth. She raised her hand to move it.

Christine had been right to follow Dave, right to be suspicious. She had no idea what to believe. Married before? Another daughter?

Bethan continued.

"She vanished one day and there were no leads. Nothing. It was... That's why I was so excited about the photo."

"Why?"

Bethan shrugged, "Because it was a link. It felt like," Bethan searched for the right word, "a clue. After years of nothing, this landed and it was weird, like a gift, you know?"

Christine wondered how she would feel if anything happened to Katie. Devastated. She looked closely at Bethan and felt her sadness and her longing.

Christine said, "I'm sorry" and shook her head as if that would help her to gain clarity. Because she had no idea of who she was, who her husband was, if this woman was telling the truth! Her life had been shattered and scattered.

She asked the question, what she needed to know:

"So why were you meeting Dave and why did he try to kill you?"

***

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