Wendy Gold watched her two young daughters playing on the roundabout. They were so sweet-natured, so innocent. "I wonder how Brandon is?" she said. "I do miss him, Richard. Richard?""Er - yes. I miss him too," her husband agreed quickly. "Of course. I mean, he is my son. But Granny Gold's is the best place for him at the moment. We just couldn't put up with the way things were, Wendy. And besides, he and your mother seem to have some sort of bond. She's never bothered with the other three, that's for sure."
"But were things really that bad, dear? I'm sure he thinks we sent him away because of his hair." Wendy patted her own dark locks, tucked beneath the sun visor she always wore. (She had once dated a professional tennis player, and she liked the look.) Her husband was strawberry blond and all their children were a bright, vibrant auburn. All of them, that is, except Brandon. He was dark and curly-haired, a bit like the professional tennis player. Which was odd, as she hadn't seen Goran for years, apart from that one time where she had run into him at the Holiday Inn Express fifteen years ago.
"His hair?" repeated Richard. "But that's ridiculous. Doesn't he realise what he did to the girls was serious?"
Amy and Abigail shrieked with laughter on the roundabout. They seemed so much more relaxed and happy these days, Wendy mused.
"They were just larking about like children do," she said.
"Larking about?" exclaimed Richard. "Brandon trapped them under the see-saw and then took photographic evid
ence - look!" He produced a photo from his wallet."But the girls are smiling!" said Wendy uncertainly.
"They're grimacing with pain. And this one. He pushed a tree down on to them!"
"He told me they were playing a nice game of Murder in the Woods," said Wendy.
"Oh, wake up, Wendy," Richard said angrily. "There's something wrong with that boy."
"You're telling me," said a voice. The Golds' eldest daughter rolled her wheelchair up beside her mother.
"What do you mean, Anita?" said Wendy.
Anita glanced at her legs and sighed. "Nothing, Mum. Nothing at all."
