The Elite Journey - chapters 1 to 5

THE ELITE JOURNEY

Chapter 1

At a long abandoned railway station the very young woman screams at the night. Her family hasn’t been near her since they threw her out for ruining her chances at a successful life. 

There’s no one there, just a mattress someone dumped months ago. The girl, for at 16 she was legally still seen as one could barely breathe through the pain, but she knew from the doctor at the free clinic that she must when the time came. The pains continued to get stronger and more frequent until t she barely had a rest between them. Suddenly she felt the urge to push. So push she did, but the blood came too fast and heavy, not even stopping with the arrival of the next generation.

She felt weak but still she reached in to the blood to pull her baby to her chest. At first she can’t find any life signs, and hopes she won’t have to use the first aid skills she learnt at school. She is too weak, to even attempt them. Then when the baby cries she pulls some strength from somewhere.

The new strength allowed her to grab a chunk of chalk, which someone has also dumped there, and use it to write the words:

Abigail Jane never gives up.



When they finally found  her the girl had a jacket wrapped around both  her upper body and the baby. They also saw that the umbilical cord had been cut, probably with a piece of glass from the ground, as shown by the cuts on the dead girl’s hands where she’d held it.

Later as the baby lay in a crib at the hospital, the nurse asked the paramedic who’d bought her in what name should be put on the admission forms and card above her head.

“Well her mum wrote Abigail Jane, so I’m guessing that’s what she wanted to name her”

“You sure it wasn’t her name?”

“We don’t know, she had no ID”

“Abigail Jane it is then, but what last name?”

“How about Boga, that’s the station she was found at”

“I thought it was closed and demolished years ago”

“It was, but her mum was living there”

“Ok. Did you find anything of her mum’s she could keep?” the nurse was asking to find out because she’d grown up with no memories or items related to her mother after being left at a local orphanage when she was only two days old.

“Just the jacket she was wrapped in, she only had the clothes she wore, and most of them are soaked in blood from the haemorrhage”

“Can we leave it with the baby?”

“I don’t see why not, it’ll give her at least some link to her mum”

“That’s what I’m thinking”



Finally the doctors allowed Abigail to be released from hospital in to the arms of her first foster parents. A couple who had never cared for a baby before but had always wanted to try; they accepted her in to their life with the intention of eventually adopting her.  They soon found out however that she wasn’t what they thought she’d be. 

“So what’s wrong with her?” asked Jenifer taking her in for a check up at the age of two, because she’d finally decided something needed to be done about her lack of speech.

“She’s delayed”

“How bad?”

“I’m not sure, but I’ll refer you to a speech pathologist in Melbourne who can test and then help her”

“So it’s only speech she’s delayed in?”

“Let’s find out.  Abbey?” he asked to get her attention

She looked up from Jenifer’s lap.

“Can you get down for me?”

She followed his instructions. Then seeing the puzzle he’d left on the floor ran towards it.

“Well her mental and physical stuff definitely isn’t impaired”

“How do you know?”

“That’s a puzzle more suited to four year olds”

“But she’s doing great with it”

“And her running gait is very mature for someone so young”

“Probably because she refuses to stay in the stroller when I take her with me”

“You mean she run’s with you?”

“Only for short distances, but she’s been going longer each time for the last six months”

“What’s her furthest so far?”

“About 200 metres, but she usually walks for about the same distance and then repeats it to get up to one k”

“Sounds like she’s a natural”

“Yeah, but I think she’s getting bored staying with me all day”

“Then send her to childcare”

“Without being able to talk?”

“Maybe not, but try looking at it after she’s started treatment with the speech path”

“OK” she agreed wondering  exactly what it would accomplish.



Chapter 2

After the appointment Abbey found herself on the receiving end of a stream of yelling, screaming and insults which she didn’t totally understand but knew meant her dad was angry with something. So running away from him she retreated to her puzzle filled bedroom and donned the tracksuit jacket she’d been told was her real mother’s in an effort to remind herself that these adults didn’t matter.

A few days later she received news from Jenifer that they couldn’t keep her. Abbey didn’t understand why, but she decided it had something to do with the person she’d seen at the hospital.

“You’ll be ok, just don’t do what they don’t want you to” advised her new roommate while putting her to bed the first night.

Abbey grabbed the picture her speech pathologist had given her to show she didn’t understand.

“You will honey”

How? She asked showing another picture.

“By listening and watching us big kids. It’s mostly stuff around not making a noise or showing you’re different in any way that makes you better.”

She still didn’t understand,  but feeling this older girl knew what was happening she let it pass and closed her eyes to sleep.  This didn’t help things get better. Indeed she found out quickly that whatever she did was wrong. Staying quiet was easy since her only vocal sounds had no communicative meaning behind them. It didn’t mean they couldn’t punish her for trying to communicate with pictures or gestures though, basically because they saw it as something that made her better than what they’d been told she was.

The punishments were varied and Abbey never understood why she was being punished, but the worst they did usually involved pain. She escaped this by going to her room and wrapped in the jacket she’d first donned after her speech appointment,  completed all the puzzles the family had left in there for her sister who was almost six years old. She actually found them quite easy, but since the bigger kids inflicted pain whenever she tried to enter their rooms, she stuck with the ones she had unlimited access to.

Another punishment they gave her which Abbey saw as an escape rather than a punishment was to stick her outside with the dogs. This allowed her to run, jump, and practice the skills she’d started doing at gymnastics because her new parents refused to care for one child while the others did activities. There was no real method behind why they’d sent her to gymnastics except that it was the only one to accept young children. It soon proved something she was good at though because she loved it. The exceptional progress she made because of this love and her natural athletic ability caused severe problems and made the punishments worse. This being because it was irrefutable , proof she would never fit in the hole they felt she belonged in.

So one day while being punished for doing the puzzles they’d bought for Trudy, Abigail took the opportunity to not only run but run away. It hurt to breathe and she couldn’t use her arm very well thanks to a beating she’d received earlier in the day for another silly mistake, in this case actually saying a proper word, but she kept going because she knew she had to get away from this world where every step of progress resulted in  being shut down because the adults wanted to keep her the way she’d been since they got her.

Finally she woke up in hospital with her caseworker sitting next to the bed. So taking the pictures out of the pocket of the jacket she’d ran away wearing, she asked ‘what?’

“What’s happening?” Cheryl asked to clarify the meaning of Abbey’s picture question.

She nodded

“You fell over a long way from home”

‘after run?’ she asked putting two pictures together for the first time in front of an adult

“I’m guessing so. Though I’m not sure how you got so far”

‘Why?’

“Because you’re very badly hurt”

“Fall” she suggested having grasped and then repeated the word

“Well it would explain the broken leg, but you didn’t land on your arm or chest”

‘how?’

“Well, the arm and ribs have started healing, and you’ve also got internal bleeding, so I’d be guessing whatever happened happened a while ago” the doctor told her entering the room.

“Uh?” this was the main word she used with adults. It showed she didn’t understand what they were saying.

“Can I ask you something then?” asked Cheryl turning back to her.

She nodded

“What’s been happening at your foster home?”

She lifted the arm that wasn’t in plaster and started hitting Cheryl.

“Is this your way of showing me?”

She nodded

“So someone’s been hitting you?”

“Mada”

“Is that mum or dad?”

She held up two fingers

“Both?”

She nodded then held up another three fingers.

“Who are the other three people hitting you?”

She pointed to the three oldest children in the picture taken of her family.

“Any idea why?”

She shook her head before turning the picture over

“You telling me you don’t want to go back?”

She nodded again.

“Ok, we’ll look for another one while you stay here getting better”

‘run?’ she asked grabbing the picture again

“When you get better”

She shook her head and pointed to the family picture again.

“You want the new family to run?”

She nodded

“OK” she accepted deciding she’d follow up on exactly what was happening at the home Abbey had just run away from and make sure her new family was willing and able to help her develop the language skills she needed before starting school.

Chapter 3

When she was fully healed Cheryl escorted the girl to her new home. It didn’t look as good as the last one. Just a two bedroom unit with three beds in the kid’s room, a set of bunks and a single. 

Where kids? She asked putting the picture cards she needed together.

“Are you asking where the other children are?”

She nodded

“They’ve been sent back to their families” answered Joseph joining them.

“Da?” she queried seeing him

“Yes, and I’m going to help you as much as I can”

She pointed to her mouth and legs.

“Especially with your speech and running”

She smiled, and gestured towards the beds before pointing back at herself.

“You can choose between the single and the bottom bunk”

“Good choice” he agreed when she threw the oversize jacket she’d been wearing on the bottom bunk before following it and drawing the curtains he’d strung up when he had a girl and two boys to give her  some privacy.

The next day he took her in to Swan Hill to get some new clothes. When he tried to buy her a new jacket however, she started screaming.

“What’s wrong? This one’s going to fit much better”

“NO!” she screamed

“Is it very special to you?” he asked having got the story of it from Cheryl.

She nodded.

“Then let’s keep it for special occasions, and get you a new one for normal”

“No ee?” she asked knowing the word she wanted had that sound in it but not the exact word.

“No we’re not replacing it, just adding more clothes to what you’ve already got”

She nodded and grabbed a pretty pink jacket off the rack in her size.

“Good girl”

Not long after that he took her back to Melbourne to see the speech pathologist. Who having done a full re-assessment found how little she’d  progressed in the last two years.

“Are you her new foster parent?” she asked turning to Joseph after she was finished

“Yes, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help her”

“Promise?”

“Promise”

“Good, the first thing is to find a way Abbey can communicate more effectively”

“She already does that with her pictures though”

“True, but you’ve already told me she gets frustrated when she doesn’t have the one she needs”

“Yes, but what’s next?”

“A form of sign language called Makaton”

“And how’s that work?”

“You sign the words while talking to her in the hopes that she’ll pick it up”

“The words or the signs?”

“Both, but the signs start to ease off after a while when she gets more comfortable speaking”

“So are you going to do anything to actually treat the speech delay?”

“Yes. I’m going to set up weekly appointments to work one on one plus give you a set of exercises to do with her at home”

“OK” he agreed as Abbey crawled in to his lap.

Over the next few months Abbey and Joseph progressed in learning this new form of communication. Joseph doing it via classes with other adults and the aid of a dictionary which showed pictures of each sign which he consulted when he needed to know one he hadn’t learnt in class.

Finally she started using this new method of communication with other adults such as her gymnastics coach. She still couldn’t keep up with the other kids but this new found communication method was making her more confident about trying to. This helped her majorly in social situations, where because she was willing to try, a number of the other neighbourhood  kids were also willing to try understanding her.  Unfortunately this group were in a minority. She was still being laughed at by the children she competed against in little athletics, and no one would accept that she had the brains to succeed at school even though she was now of the right age.

Joseph however was the exception to this rule. So on her sixth birthday he took her to the local primary school for enrolment.  She liked the new challenges set by this form of education.  The language was still unfortunately too challenging. They wanted her to read and write and talk in complete sentences. She couldn’t do any of these. She couldn’t even identify the letters in her name beyond the first two. As for writing she could barely hold a pencil and make lines, let alone draw any shapes or letters. Talking was still her main issue although sign language was continuing to help her improve on the length of communicative efforts, with the new record being a combination of speech and signs to lengthen a request out to four words.

The success she’d had through the last two years at little athletics was also paying off. The main area being in confidence. Indeed it had increased so much that she was not only able but willing to use her language to ask for what she needed in the way of education resources at the end of the year.



Chapter 4

The need for extra education resources became apparent when on the last day of school Jo arrived home from work to find her lying in the bottom bunk wrapped in her mum’s jacket with the curtains drawn crying.

“What’s wrong princess?” he asked pulling the curtains back and sitting on the single bed which now belonged to her new older foster sister.

“Sool” she sobbed signing the word school

“But it’s finished for the year” he reminded her

“I no want back”

“But the law says you have to”

“NO!”

“You wanna end up with another family?

“How?”

“If you don’t go to school, DHS’ll think I’m not looking after you”

“Ut you do” she argued signing the word but at the start because she knew the word wasn’t quite right the way she was saying it

“I know I do, but the law says I have to make sure you do some things”

“What?”

“Go to school, and be fed and clothed well”

“K” she agreed

“So will you go back to school?”

“NO!”

“Abigail you have to”

“NO here” she told him signing the words not there

“You mean you don’t want to go back to Lake Boga Primary?”

She nodded

“Where then?”

“Eter” she answered not knowing the sign to go with it

“You mean better?”

She nodded again

“Better how?” he asked picking up the sign dictionary to find the correct sign so he could show it to her in conjunction with the spoken word.

“For me”

“And what would a better for you school have?”

She pointed to the pictures of reading and writing on her schedule and then signed the word help

“Anything else?”

“Eter maths” she answered signing the words

“Ok I’ll see what I can do”

She smiled as she wiped her eyes

“Good. Now what are we going to do tonight”

“Book” she suggested pointing to one in the pile he’d collected over time.



The next morning she woke him up asking “find one?”

“Give me a chance Abs, I haven’t even looked yet?”

“Why?”

“Because I just got up”

“When then?”

“After breakfast”

“K”

“Good girl, now go get dressed”



Finally she went out to play with her friends again. She loved being part of a group where she was accepted for who she was, but still felt something was wrong. All these new friends had parents instead of case workers, and they didn’t have to live in fear of getting separated and sent off to someone who was horrible and nasty again. A conversation with Cheryl about a week later however revealed that she’d never have to worry about this again.

“Jo Da?” she asked having listened to the explanation Cheryl gave of a permanent foster carer.

“Yes”

“How Long?”

“Usually until you’re 18”

She used the sign for 11

“Yes Abbey, 11 years”

She smiled while thinking of what it would be like to have a permanent home she never had to leave. She decided quickly that this was the best Christmas present she’d ever received. She couldn’t remember every Christmas of her short life but this definitely beat getting bashed because you were able to play with the older kids toys and didn’t really care about your own.

So a month later she left Jo on the morning bus to a school in Swan Hill. He’d promised they had better resources to help her with language and could even provide her bigger challenges for maths, but she was scared. She wore over her uniform the Bombers football jacket she’d had her entire life even though it was a warm day and she already had one included in her uniform. She’d never been this far away from Joseph since being accepted in to his life. It had always just been a short walk home from school and not even her new foster sister was coming along with her on this trip.

On arriving at the school though she found he was right. She met the individual needs teacher in the first thirty minutes while her classmates were picking out their first readers for the year. All books that were too hard for her.  Miss Granger was nice. She even took Abbey in to a separate room so she didn’t have to be embarrassed at how limited her skills were compared to the other children. The first thing they worked on was her letter naming skills.

“You’ve improved since your last report I think”

“I ave?” she asked leaving the h sound off the second word like she usually did.

“Yes. You just named over half the letters in the alphabet”

“So”

“So the report I was given from your last school said you only knew two”

“and now?”

“I counted 15”

“How more?”

“You mean how many more?”

She nodded

“There’s another eleven and you’ll know them all”

“What next?”

“I want you to try reading this” she said offering her a book called ‘I can’

“No laugh?” she asked remembering what everyone else had done last year when she was asked to read in class

“Of course I won’t laugh”

“OK” she agreed opening the book and staring to read it letter by letter

“Is that how you always do it?” asked Miss Granger stopping her after one page

“Yeah”

“But you’re meant to be reading words”

“I am”

“No you’re not, you’re reading letters”

She threw the book on the floor and ran out of the room, to the gate. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“No read” she told Miss Granger, looking to see who it was.

“Even if it’s just pictures?”

Abbey put her head on a slant and stared at this woman who she now thought was crazy. Finally she asked “how read pitures?”

“Come back to the room and I’ll show you”

“They mine” she told the teacher excitedly on seeing the pictures she’d put on the table

“No, they’re mine but you’re speech therapist said you have the same ones”

Then going over to the table she asked ‘I read them?’ by pointing to each picture in turn.

“Yes, you just did”

“No lets” she argued pointing to the alphabet chart

“That’s why we put them under each word”

“What word?”

“A group of letters that mean something when put together”

“Like A-b-b-e-y makes Abbey?”

“Exactly like that.”

“That name but”

“And names are very special words”

“I try?” she asked pointing to both the book and the pictures

“Of course you can. I need you to do something first though”

“What?”

“Pick up the book”

Once she’d done that she watched her teacher put the pictures under what she now knew were words on the first page.  Then sitting down again she read each picture.

“Good job Abbey. You want to try more?”

“No pitures”

“OK” agreed Miss Granger turning the page. 

It went well except that she reverted back to reading letters when she found a word that hadn’t been on the first page.

“Look at the picture Abbey” she suggested pointing to the picture on the page “now, tell me what the boy is doing”

“Run”

“Good, can we keep going?”

“No”

“Why not?”

“I want run”

“After we’ve tried some writing”

“I can’t”

“Just try”

“Run?” she asked adding the sign for then

“Yes” agreed Miss Granger giving her a pencil.

Then seeing she was able to at least draw straight and curving lines the teacher gave her a sheet with letters she could trace.  Abbey had never done this before but following the simple instructions she was given improved quickly by practicing each day. Indeed by the end of her first term at this new school she was writing her first name independently without needing to trace it.

The teachers also quickly noticed Abbey’s excellence in maths. This gave her the chance after one term, where they’d been testing her to see how high she could go, to move in to the grade three class for maths. It was her first step towards being able to express her love of maths. A love which soon caused her to move towards science.



Another bus trip halfway through the day three years later would take Abigail to her first true challenge. A high school where she would undertake both maths and science classes which she had high hopes of fitting in to. Her clothing was no different to the other people she knew she’d meet there. It was a casual clothes day and she wore a simple denim skirt over ivory tights with a t-shirt that read 99% angel on the front. She could feel the tightness of the t-shirt against her chest, Joseph had offered to buy her the next size up but when she felt the looseness she’d told him not to. She liked things to be tight. It reflected the way she felt most of the time. The ensemble was completed as always by her bombers jacket.

Suddenly she heard a boy asking if the seat was taken. She answered no and moved the books from the seat next to her to her lap.

“Are they really yours?” he asked seeing a distinct difference between her childish looks and the year 7 printed on the covers.

She nodded

“What school are you at?”

“Mary Mc...” she trailed off thinking he’d laugh at her if he heard her pronunciation of the rest of the name

“As in Mary McKillop?” he asked

She nodded

“Same, when’d you start?”

“Today”

“So where’s your other books?”

“We not use them”

“who’s we?”

“Little school”

“What do you mean little school?”

“Prep to six grade”

“Ah, so you’re really a primary school kid?”

She nodded

Suddenly he knew the meaning of the brilliance he saw behind her eyes even though it didn’t come out via her simplistic, almost functional mute answers. He could hear her hesitation every time she spoke, and knew immediately that she wasn’t used to conversing with strangers. It didn’t change his feelings towards her. Indeed, it increased them through the knowledge that just by talking to him she was trying to make herself better. He admired that in a way he felt he’d never get over.

Then as the bus trundled towards their school, they both heard the birds singing through the open window above their heads along with ringing church bells. It was something neither had really paid attention to before. Bells normally just told you the time or that a church service was starting or finishing but these sounded absolutely beautiful to their ears. No mere dongs you had to count but a true tune they’d remember forever.

Soon they were among their maths classmates. Tristan as always had actually forgotten his book, but instead of asking the teacher for one like he’d done the previous session he shared with the new girl whose name he didn’t yet know. She was a mystery but so was he.

She still felt the words in the book were beyond her, but reading them out loud helped with clarification, as did his translation when he saw her staring at them in pure bewilderment. It was something he’d accepted as his job the moment he’d heard her speaking to him on the bus, and made formal by sharing the book. Together they made quite a team.



Chapter 5

The new relationship between these two youngsters did not however make a good impression on the community. For many it was seen as a short term thing which would never last. It couldn’t. Tristan was from money, and Abbey had nothing. Not even her own name. Everyone knew she’d been named after the place they found her, and that jacket she always wore was a joke. So last decade, even millennium but still she clung to it. 

The majority of the community settled for letting things take their course, but secretly hoped someone would split them up. Even Joseph didn’t know how much they each meant to each other. He had noticed she didn’t wear the jacket nearly as much as she used to, when she was out with him though. He could also see that all this meanness, for something other than what she’d become used to was affecting her life. She wasn’t doing any good in athletics anymore, and her school grades were almost roc at k bottom. She’d even bought home an E on her last maths test. 

Then one day he noticed how much weight she was putting on. He knew it wasn’t normal. She was always careful with her food intake, and did plenty of exercise. So he took her to the doctor for tests.

“Congratulations Abigail”

“what for?” she asked not having a clue what the test she’d just done was

“You’re pregnant”

“What?!” yelled Joseph in shock

“You not know?” she asked surprised he hadn’t been following the development of her relationship over the last two years.

“Know what?”

“Me and T, sex”

“When’d it start?”

“May”

“Which means you probably got pregnant close to your first time” interrupted the doctor having completed the examination which told him how far she was.

“Why?”

“Because you’re about 18 weeks already”

“Is that far?” Abbey had no idea how long a baby normally stayed in someone. She’d had no sex education at school, and no other women around who had babies.

“Almost half way”

“So come when?”

“Mid February”

She held back the tears until they were in the car going home. Then sobbing she signed to her dad that she couldn’t stay in either Lake Boga or Swan Hill. No one liked her and Tristan being together, and they’d hate this baby even more. If only because it represented how far they’d come.

Joseph knew she was right, but pleaded with her to let him sort something out.

“What?” she asked having finally controlled her crying well enough to allow speech

“We’ll move somewhere”

“And Flea?” she asked wondering about the girl who was now her sister

“Will come with us”

“NO!”

“Why not?”

“She has life here”

“So what do you want to do?”

She shrugged. Then suddenly remembering the letter she’d received from her coach came up with a plan.

Her original decision was not to tell Joseph about the plan. There was a major problem with that though. That being that on reading the letter she saw she needed his permission. Permission she was sure he wouldn’t give if it meant not coming with her.

To her surprise he gave it, even arranging a unit for her and Tristan to live in while they completed their education so he could care for her. People still didn’t get why Tristan cared so much for this girl who couldn’t even read and write like a primary school graduate but since they weren’t the community’s problem anymore it didn’t matter.

So at the close the 2008 school year Abbey and Tristan caught a train to Melbourne. They’d packed everything they had. Even Tristan’s bike was along for the ride. It was after all the reason he’d been chosen to attend this new sports school in Maribyrnong. Abbey even with the impact of the pregnancy to her abilities had also qualified for this school. The main way she had done this was by being a top person in her region and state when it came to long distance races.

She was still worried how she’d do at this place. The information about them said they valued both sport and academics. The latter being what she’d always struggled with. Pretty soon after she started however her fears were relieved. A special program put in place to support her as a whole, took both the good side of her academic talent and the bad. It included a year 10 maths class with year 9 science alongside special help in English which was implemented by making her part of a class with students who had similar issues because of their lack of background in the language.

The sports side of her program took longer to implement. Mainly due to the doctors not wanting to let her do too much so close to the baby’s due date. They were right. When she did overdo herself in a basic swimming lesson after only two weeks of school she knew something was wrong. Pain like she’d never felt before, and it kept coming and going.

The teacher in charge had the presence of mind to call an ambulance, but the big problem had already happened. The baby, being pushed out feet first was being strangled by the cord which had kept her alive for so long. She was born not breathing, and with a barely audible heart beat. She wasn’t even healthy enough to receive a first hug from her mum. Not that Abbey would have been in a fit state to do so at the time. She’d been drugged in to almost unconsciousness while they cut her open to get her daughter out.

Bethany for that’s what she was named by her parents fought just as bravely as her mum once had. Proving very quickly that she would not give up, but she wasn’t as lucky. The lack of oxygen to her brain had damaged it.

No one knew quite how much until three months later Tristan bashed a man for abusing Abbey as they came out of the hospital where she’d been given a diagnosis of cerebral palsy. He was already in a foul mood. He’d just been told his darling little angel would never talk, walk or sit unsupported. He needed something to take it out on and this man was the first thing he saw as worthy. He had after all called his beautiful girlfriend a slut.

It resulted in his getting the maximum prison sentence he could get as a juvenile and he knew he’d miss much of Beth and even Abbey’ life but it was what he both deserved and needed. His temper had been controlling him for far too long. So in August of 2009 he started the long road to gaining control of both it and himself.