Jade Flowers stood barely five feet tall and was slender and small and the afternoon sun shone on her shoulder length blonde hair.
She was a Doctor, and
a very pretty Doctor at that, though that alone hadn’t been sufficient to change
her marital status in her first 34 years, but despite that she was very
experienced and well respected in the village of Highfinch where she practiced.
The village of
Highfinch sits just on the edge of the Pepperstock Hills and the Lily Green
Hollows Golf Club separates the village from the Hamlet of Lily Green, and the
combination of those two and Kingfisherbridge made up the parish of St Martins
where Jenna Lawton was the Vicar.
Although he practice
was in Highfinch, Jade wasn’t confined to the village obviously and her home
visits could take her all over the north east corner of the Finchbottom Vale
and into the Pepperstock Hills.
The Vale nestles
comfortably between the Ancient Dancingdean Forest to the south and the rolling
Pepperstock Hills in the north, those who are lucky enough to live there think
of it as the rose between two thorns.
The Vale was once a
great wetland that centuries earlier stretched from Mornington in the East to
Childean in the west and from Shallowfield in the south to Purplemere in the
north.
But over the many
centuries the vast majority had been drained for agriculture, a feat achieved
largely by the efforts of the famous Mornington Mills, of which only three had
survived to the present day and even those were no longer functional and were
in various states of repair.
There were only three
small bodies of water left in the Vale by the 21st Century, one in Mornington,
one in Childean and third of course was in Purplemere.
Jade was a singleton
since her louse of a boyfriend, who she was expecting to marry, was now a bitter
memory.
She had suspected for
some time that he was sleeping with her best friend and then out of the blue he
confessed to her one night.
From that moment on
Jade had taken the pledge to pour all of herself into her work and waste no
more time on men.
Of course the age old problem
with pledges and promises is that fate normally intervenes.
Jade had been over to
the Royal Downshire Hospital in Purplemere to attend a case conference.
It was a lovely sunny
summer afternoon as she left Purplemere on Tuesday and headed out of town,
eager to get out into the country again towards Highfinch and was looking
forward to a stress free journey through the beautiful countryside of the Vale,
which was beautiful enough in itself but as she got closer to the Pepperstock
Hills she knew it would get even more so.
On that fateful day
however her trip was curtailed when just ahead of her a school girl was hit by
a car, it wasn’t the drivers fault, the girl just stepped out, distracted by
her mobile phone, and bang she was flying through the air.
Jade was two cars
behind the one that hit the girl, a red Espace, and she immediately got out of
her car and ran to assist, phoning for an ambulance as she did so.
When she reached the
stricken girl it didn’t look good she was lying on her back with her head to
one side.
One arm was under her
back the other lay across her belly, and both legs were in very unnatural
positions, clearly there were multiple fractures visible and an awful lot of
blood.
She estimated she was
either 12 or 13 and the uniform was from a private boarding school for girls
Kettlewell Hill.
Jade checked for a
pulse and found it, it was weak but it was there.
The female driver of
the Espace was absolutely distraught and the man from the BMW behind her was
desperately trying to calm her down.
Jade picked up the
girls phone and then while she was attending to her someone handed her a hand
bag.
A young man said
“Can I do anything?”
“Yes” she said “in the
boot of the blue Clio you’ll find a car rug”
“Ok” he said and off
he went.
She stayed with the
girl and opened the handbag and looked for ID and found it in the purse, a
travel card in the name of Clarissa Yeo.
When the young man
returned with the red plaid blanket Jade covered the poor girl’s broken body
and continued to monitor her vital signs until the ambulance arrived.
“Hi Jade” Paramedic
Sam Liburd said
“Hello Sam, her name
is Clarissa Yeo and it’s not looking good”
She quickly did the
hand over relaying the pertinent facts and then stood back and let Sam and his
partner Andy Mason do their stuff before they loaded her into the ambulance,
which was headed for the Downshire.
Jade remained at the
scene for about an hour after the ambulance left and gave a full statement to
the police, she also sat with the distraught driver until her husband arrived
and then she got in her car and got back on her way home.
It was when she had
arrived back at her house in Highfinch that she realised she still had the
girls mobile phone.
“Shit” she said at the
discovery
Jade was starving so
she quickly made herself a sandwich before getting changed and getting back in
the car.
She ate her sandwich
as she drove to the Royal Downshire Hospital and parked in the staff car park.
In the Emergency
Department she spoke to the Sister in charge who informed her that the girl had
gone straight upstairs for emergency surgery but was now in the intensive care
unit.
So Jade thanked her
and went upstairs to the ICU.
“Hello sister” Jade
said
“Yes” she replied
suspiciously
“It’s Doctor Flowers”
she said
“I recognise the name
but not the face” Sister Madden replied
“I was looking for a
young girl” Jade elaborated to Sister Madden
“A school girl hit by
a car”
“Oh yes” Sister said
“Are you related?”
“No I witnessed it”
she replied “and gave first aid until the ambulance arrived”
“I see, well it’s not
good news I’m afraid” the sister said gravely
“Oh no” Jade said and
sat down and after a moment or two remembered why she was there.
“I have her mobile
phone, she was using it when she stepped into the road I thought I would give
it to her family”
“There’s no one here”
Said the Sister “her only family are in Hong Kong”
The news hit Jade like
a slap in the face.
“Has no one come from
the school?” she asked
“No” replied a Doctor
“But they’ve contacted
the family” the Sister contributed
“Very big of them” the
doctor responded
Jade saw by his name
badge he was Ben Steppenbeck
A relatively young man
with the same colouring as herself.
“Then Clarissa is
dying then?” Jade said
“Yes” he replied “and
it’s unlikely her parents will reach us before she does”
“Are the school aware
of that fact?” she asked and the doctor nodded in response
“Well that just won’t
do” Jade said with determination and stood up
“May I use the phone
in your office doctor?”
“Who do you want to
call?” he asked
“The headmistress” she
replied “Do you have a number Sister?”
“Yes” she replied and
handed her a scrap of paper “her name is Hardacre, and she’s really stuck up”
“You can use my office
on one condition” the doctor said
“What’s that?” she
replied expecting a proposition
“That I can listen in”
he said
“Done” she said
They went into his
office and she sat in the chair and putting the phone on speaker she dialled
the number.
Meanwhile Dr
Steppenbeck closed the door and set his mobile phone on the desk.
“Kettlewell Hill!” a
woman answered
“Mrs Hardacre please”
Jade said
“I think you mean Ms
Hardacre” she responded in monotone
“Yes” she replied
“And you are?”
“Doctor Flowers,
Downshire Hospital”
The line went dead
momentarily before another woman’s voice said
“Ms Hardacre speaking”
“I’m Doctor Flowers
from the Downshire” Jade said
“Oh yes” she responded
flatly
“You understand the
seriousness of Clarissa’s condition? And that it’s unlikely she will last the
night, and certainly won’t live long enough for her parents to see her alive?”
Jade asked at length
“Yes it’s very tragic”
the headmistress replied
“We were wondering
when the schools representative would be arriving to sit with her for her final
hours” she said
“The school isn’t
sending anyone” Ms Hardacre responded with surprise.
“Why not?” Jade
responded
“It’s not our
responsibility” Hardacre replied
“That’s a disgraceful
attitude” Jade said angrily
“She is one of your
charges, she is your responsibility, whatever happened to “in loco parentis”“
“The girl was not on
school property at the time of the accident”
The headmistress
interrupted
“And she didn’t have
permission to be outside”
“So she got what she
deserved? Is that what you’re saying” Jade said red with rage
“Well it wouldn’t have
happened would it if she had remained in school?” Hardacre replied
“So you take their money and then wash your hands of them” Jade said crossly
“I’m not going to
dignify that with an answer” She said
“So I take it you
won’t send anyone?” she asked
“That’s correct” the
headmistress replied
“You’ll let her die
alone?” Jade asked “What about pastoral care?”
“We don’t molly coddle
at Kettlewell Hill” she answered
“What faith is she?”
Jade demanded
“What? I’ve no idea”
she replied
“Then check your records
and find out” Jade barked
“Who are you to give
me orders” she said affronted
“Listen Ms Hardarse”
Jade snapped, deliberately mispronouncing her name
“Clarissa will be dead
by morning and she should have the benefit of her faith at the time of her passing”
“Very well” she said
and tutted
“A few moments later”
she returned.
“Christian” she said
flatly “Anglican”
“I would like to tell
the parents when I see them, what a great support you have been” Jade said
“But I can’t because
you’ve been no bloody help at all and I will be giving them a detailed account
of how you have catastrophically failed in you duty of care to a young child in
your charge”
“How dare you threaten
me, you jumped up little tart” She said angrily
“This school has a lot
of friends to deal with the likes of you”
And then Hardacre hung
up.
“How rude” Jade said
“I hadn’t finished with her by a long chalk”
“What a bitch” Dr
Steppenbeck added and picked up the phone he’d laid on the table.
“That was brilliant”
he added and tapped a couple of keys and then the phone emitted the following
““Kettlewell Hill!”
“Mrs Hardacre please”
“I think you mean Ms
Hardacre”“
“You recorded it?”
Jade said and Peter nodded
“I wish I’d thought of
that” she said
“Not to worry” he said
“give me your number and I’ll send you the file”
“Oh yes! Is that your
normal ploy to get Doctors phone numbers?” Jade said tongue in cheek
“No I’m serious, it
might come in handy if the old cow sets her powerful friends on you” he said
Jade went to the
hospital chapel to see the chaplain but she was told he was already performing
the last rights on an elderly patient.
So she left a message
for Reverend John Stadius and then Jade decided she could not let Clarissa end
her life alone so she volunteered to sit at her bedside until the end.
So she sat and held
the hand of the poor young girl who but for a moments loss of concentration
would have had a life full of infinite possibilities.
At around 2.30am
Reverend John Stadius quietly entered the room.
He was a rather tall
man in his forties, they briefly made eye contact and he smiled at Jade.
No words were
exchanged, Rev Stadius just went straight into his well-practised ritual.
It was less than an
hour later when the candle light of a twelve year old girl was snuffed out and
Mr and Mrs Yeo would have a child to mourn.
The door to the on
call room opened and Jade quietly entered but
Ben Steppenbeck
was not in the bed and then she heard footsteps in the corridor and she turned
around to find him standing there.
“She’s gone” she said
and threw herself at him and burst into tears.
He held her in his
arms for ten minutes or so until she had composed herself.
“I’m sorry about that”
she said as she dried her eyes “I’m normally more together than this”
“It’s fine really” he
insisted “It shows that you care”
“I’m so angry” she
said
Stating that she was
angry was actually a gross understatement she was also overwhelmed with sadness
that the schoolgirl, a boarder at Kettlewell hill girls school, that Jade had
seen hit and mortally wounded by a car had been so disgracefully let down.
The girl’s parents
were in Hong Kong at the time and they were not expected to arrive in the UK
before the girl passed.
Jade was horrified
that a twelve year old girl was going to die alone and she was further angered
by the fact that the girls school weren’t prepared to send anyone to be with Clarissa
as she slipped away.
It was Jade who sat with
her through the night and was holding her hand as she died.
She really wanted to
tell the Yeo’s how appallingly the school had behaved to Clarissa, but couldn’t
bring herself to impose on their grief.
So she decided instead
to try to get the interest of the newspapers but even the “Sunday News” a paper
known less than affectionately as the “Sunday Screws” brushed her off.
Ben Steppenbeck gave her
the name of a well-respected freelance journalist, Bob Philips who was renowned
for being tenacious and he took all the information, a copy of the medical
file, a sworn statement by the attending physician, Dr Steppenbeck, and most
damning of all the recording of the telephone conversation with the headmistress
Ms Hardacre.
Bob gratefully took
the information and wrote a very hard hitting story but even he was
unsuccessful and was blocked at every turn.
When he told Jade of
his failure the words of the headmistress Ms Hardacre echoed in her head.
“This school has a lot
of friends to deal with the likes of you”
And clearly those
friends were being well employed.
So it appeared to Jade
that she had failed Clarissa because she didn’t have any wealthy or powerful
friends of her own to employ.
But she only thought
that because she wasn’t fully appraised of the facts.
Ben Steppenbeck had become
her ally in the quest to expose Ms Hardacre and Kettlewell Hill School, but
that was partly because he had fallen in love with the sparky little firebrand,
with the smell of injustice in her nostrils.
But what cemented his
feeling for her was the comforting hug she sought from him in the minutes after
the girl’s death.
Having watched her
efforts fails with the media Ben knew he had the solution to her problem which
might well have secured her love for him, but it would come at great cost.
Because the solution
to Jades problem was Ben’s father Edwin Steppenbeck.
He and his father had
first fallen out when Ben chose medicine as a career rather than following in
his father’s footsteps but their estrangement hardened after his mother Amanda
died and they hadn’t spoken for 5 years when he and Jade were shown into
Edwin’s study by the butler.
Edwin Steppenbeck was
a very wealthy and powerful man, good looking like his son and for a man in his
early sixties he was slim and athletic looking he might even have been
described as elegant.
“Hello Father” he said
as the butler closed the door
“Well this is a
surprise” Edwin said “You must be desperate, so what is it? Have you knocked
her up?”
“Excuse me” Jade
snapped “I’m actually here”
“She’s a feisty one
I’ll give you that” Edwin said
“I’m still here” she
snapped
“I am right in saying
that you are the reason my son has deigned to visit me?” he said
“I am” she agreed
“Well all I can say is
that he must have the strongest possible feeling for you to come here” Edwin
said and Jade looked at Ben who was looking at the floor.
“Yes and I can tell
you that those feeling are more than a little reciprocated” Jade retorted
raising herself up to her full five foot one.
“I’m glad to hear it”
Edwin said “Despite his stubbornness, he is steadfast and loyal”
Ben looked up at his
father and a smile passed between them, not a bridge building smile, but a “we
know there is a bridge” kind of smile.
They sat in Edwin’s
study and Jade made an impassioned plea for help.
And explained about
how she wanted to give the story to the papers and the way it was being blocked
by powerful friends of the school.
Then she played him
the recording of the conversation with the headmistress.
“No one at that school
cared enough about that poor girl” she said “they were heartless”
“Which journalist did you
give the story to?” he asked
“Bob Philips” she
replied
“I know Bob, he’s a
good man and if he says he’s being blocked then he is being blocked” James said
“and someone is definitely using their influence”
He paused for a moment
and then said
“However I own the
Sunday News”
So when everything was
settled, Edwin and his son shook hands and Jade kissed his cheek.
“I like this girl Ben”
Edwin said “and I wouldn’t mind seeing more of her”
When they were outside
by the car she said
“Why didn’t you tell
me how you felt?”
“Because I didn’t want
to scare you away” he replied
“You could never do
that” Jade said and kissed him and his father was smiling as he looked on from
his study window.
A week later the
Sunday News ran a story on the front page headlined “Scandalous Neglect at
Kettlewell Hill”
Jade was doubly
pleased because as a result of the expose the story snowballed day by day and
the school haemorrhaged pupils from the moment the story broke with an almost
perpetual stream of angry parents picking up their charges .
The headmistress Ms
Hardacre had been sacked by the school governors but the papers wouldn’t let it
go and fresh revelations about her surfaced in each subsequent addition.
Jade felt no pity for
her though, justice had been served.
The main reason for
her happiness however was that she was in love and Ben Steppenbeck loved her
back and after only a few weeks he proposed to her.
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