Snippets of Downshire Life – ANZAC Day

 

Donna Harding had enjoyed a successful career in the Downshire Constabulary, due to her diligence and hard work she had reached the rank of Detective Constable.

And had done so largely without regrets but she had arrived in her early thirties with her integrity, looks and figure intact, but she still lived the existence of a singleton.

She had friends a plenty and an abundance of family whom by and large she adored, and she had a romantic interest in her life but she still lived alone and that was because her lover was a woman called Claire, and after a year they had not yet had the courage to announce it to the world, and it was thoughts of Claire that filled her head when she was on the road to Millmoor in late April.

 

Millmoor was in the northeast corner of Downshire and was once a Military town, well actually it was always an army town, until the defence cuts tore out its heart.

Now the quarters had been refurbished and sold to eager would be homeowner’s, the old parade grounds had been dug up and replaced with new shoe-box like dwellings in the modern style and the garages, workshops, barracks and stores buildings were now occupied by small business’s.

Millmoor had however retained the Aerospace Britannia Company which was a huge employer in the area, but the town missed the peripheral business which a military establishment brings to a town so consequently the town of Millmoor was not as prosperous as it had once been, their former Football League club had gone bankrupt and now languished two divisions below their former rivals Abbottsford Town.

Having said all that it was not an unpleasant place to be and the people did not live in abject poverty and it had attracted an influx of newcomers including a sizable community of Australians, and that was why Emma was headed there because she and the rest of the Harding clan were from Australia and it was a big clan.

But seeing Claire was only part of the reason she was on the road to Millmoor with a car full of relatives, one was family and another being ANZAC Day.

 

Donna was a small slim blonde and looked like a breath of wind could blow her over, but despite her diminutive stature she was extremely strong and had whippet like speed and subsequently there was more than one criminal now enjoying “her majesties pleasure” because they underestimated her.

She was travelling in the car with her sister Emma and they were as different as chalk and cheese, Donna was quiet, thoughtful and passive whereas Emma was a fiery character, tall slender and redhaired.

Emma was driving, and her driving style was at best described as exhilarating but to most people it was more terrifying than exhilarating.

In fact, it was too terrifying for most people and Donna was the only person who wasn’t bothered by it but then she was immune to her sisters driving because she was actually worse.

Emma turned the wheel violently to the left and shot across both lanes of the dual carriage way and onto the slip road, sign posted Millmoor; it was a dangerous manoeuvre to attempt at the best of times but when she did it, it was lashing down, and visibility was poor.

After several more stomach-churning manoeuvres Emma indicated and turned into Montgomery road and then right into Churchill Court, where the small, neat houses were arranged in tidy formations like platoons of soldiers on a parade ground and then she screeched the car to a halt, half on the pavement, in front of a small parade of seven shops the middle one being an Indian takeaway

“Ok Donna!” Emma said, “where’s your girlfriend?”

“She’s not my girlfriend she’s just my friend” Donna insisted, and Emma smiled because she knew they were more than just friends, she just wished she’d finally come out of the closet.

From Donna’s point of view there was the added complication of the fact that Claire was a Kiwi and Donna wasn’t sure which thing her family would find more unpalatable the fact that she was Gay or that the girl she was in love with was from New Zealand.

 

Since her divorce Claire lived in a small flat above the Indian, and access was via a door between the takeaway and the betting shop.

“I thought she was going to be ready and waiting”

“She was” Donna said “Something must be wrong”

“Go and get her then” Emma said and turned the engine off

Donna exited the car and hurried across the pavement and when she reached the door, she ran headlong up the stairs which was Emma’s cue to get out of the car.

When Donna reached the top of the stairs, she could see the door was open and there was a lot of shouting and commotion, she couldn’t make out everything that was being said, but it was angry, she recognized that.

She resisted the urge to charge right in and instead she paused to look through the crack in the door and what she saw horrified her, a scruffy unkempt man picked Claire up and threw her across the room, she was a small skinny woman and weighed next to nothing, so it looked like he had just thrown a rag doll, then as she lay on the floor, he kicked her in the ribcage.

Donna took a breath and made her move, fortunately she and Emma had driven to Millmoor straight after their shift ended so she still had her batten in her pocket, so with a swish of her arm it deployed to its full length.

As she entered the room the man was holding Claire by the hair with one hand and punching her with the other and shouting as he did so and with his constant shouting and the sickening sound of his fist on her face, he didn’t hear Donna enter the room.  

When she stood behind him, she struck him hard on the side of his knee which got him down to her level and then she struck him on the side of the head as he turned to look at his assailant and then she punched him square in the face and breaking his nose just as Emma burst through the door.

“Jesus” she said, and Donna signalled to her with her eyes, so she read the assailant his rights and put handcuffs on him while Donna tended to her beaten and bloodied girlfriend.

“Oh my God” Emma said, “is she ok?”

“Can you call for an ambulance?” Donna said

And as Emma ran down the stairs, she heard Donna say

“I’ve got you now babe”

 

The Ambulance and Police arrived together, and the paramedics quickly dealt with Claire and got her on board and Donna went along with her lover, while Emma stayed and gave a statement, and handed over the prisoner to the local officers before making her way to the hospital.

 

Donna was sat in reception at the emergency department when Emma arrived and when she sat down next to her sister and put her arm around her to comfort her, she completely broke down.

“I really love her” she sobbed

“I know” Emma said

“How could you know?”

“Everybody knows” Emma said

“Everybody? But I never told anyone” Donna sobbed

“Not even Claire”

“She knows” Emma responded

“But I’ve never told her” she admitted

“But she still knows”

 

When the police arrived to take Donna’s statements, it was the same two PC’s who Emma had already given her statement to.

“Did you know the man who attacked your friend?” one of the PC’s asked

“My girlfriend” Donna corrected him

“Excuse me?” he asked

“She’s my girlfriend” Donna said, and Emma squeezed her hand, Donna had come out of the closet at last.