To Find Hope

Lorna checked her watch. Five o’ clock in the morning. Nobody in her house would be rousing till at least half past six, so she could make a clean getaway. Taking one last look around the house, she felt a wave of sadness, but it didn’t last long. She had to do this. It was now or never.

Lorna moved as quietly as she could to the front door. It opened with its usual squeak of hinges gone rusty. She quickly shut the door before she chickened out. There. She had done it now. There was no way of going back as she had made sure that she left her keys behind.

It was bitterly cold as Lorna made her way to the train station. Apart from the occasional car, it seemed as though the whole world was asleep. She stopped at the shop outside the station, but it was closed. She hadn’t thought to bring any food; she only had some loose change that was left over from her lunch money for the previous day. Wishing that she had done a bit more forward planning, Lorna stepped into the station.

There was no one there, except one man in the ticket office, snoring lightly. Lorna breathed a sigh of relief. Once her stepfather realised she was missing, this would probably be the first place he came to. But Lorna knew that he would not be looking for her with a heart full of love. He didn’t care about her, and she wasn’t even sure if he loved her mother. Ever since her mother first brought him back she hadn’t liked him. But once they got married, well, she positively loathed him.

She looked up and down platform, then at the board. The next train was in exactly one minute. Pacing up and down to try and warm herself up, Lorna wished she had thought to bring gloves. But before she had time to think of anything else she hadn’t brought, the train pulled into the station. The doors opened, but Lorna didn’t move. She could go back home, hide her bag, say that she had gone for a walk but had left her keys behind. Going for a walk at five o’ clock in the morning? She mentally scolded herself for even thinking such a foolish thought. She came back to her senses, and quickly stepped onto the train, a second before the doors shut.

Looking around, she found that the carriage was empty except for a woman. She looked terrible, with unkempt hair and swollen, red eyes, which had a haunted look about them.

Staring out of the window, Lorna tried desperately to ignore the woman, as she had watched people doing on trains in the past, but when tears began to trickle down the woman’s cheeks, she simply couldn’t ignore her. Looking around to check that there was really no one else there; Lorna got up and sat next to the woman. Feeling rather uncomfortable she asked the woman what was wrong.

Looking up in surprise as if she had only just realised there was someone else in the carriage, Lorna saw fresh bruises on the side of the woman’s face. Shocked, she asked again what was wrong. The woman simply shook her head, and studied her lap.

Gently touching the bruises on the woman’s face, Lorna felt a wave of compassion for this stranger. Whoever had done this to her had obviously not done it by accident.

“The person who did this, they were related to you, weren’t they?” she said quietly. Shamefaced, the woman stared at Lorna.

“How did you know that?”

“I didn’t,” Lorna explained. “You just told me.” Sniffing, the woman gave her a tight smile.

“It was … it was my husband.” She sniffed again. “He can’t … he won’t do it again.”

“How do you know that?” asked Lorna. “It looks like he didn’t have any problem doing it to you this time round.”

“I … I’ve left him. This morning … I got my things and walked out…” This brought a fresh bout of tears from the woman.

This time it was Lorna who was surprised, as she realised that her mother was in the same situation as this woman. The only difference was that she didn’t have the guts to do anything about it. Shivering, Lorna reflected why she had left. How could she love her mother, knowing that she wouldn’t even stand up for herself?

“I’ve … I’ve run away too.” Lorna lost her inner battle and spilled out her feelings to this woman. She didn’t know why, but she had complete trust in this stranger.

“And where are you going?” The woman’s question made Lorna think. Where exactly was she going?

“I don’t know. I didn’t think about it … I just wanted to get as far away as possible …” Even saying it, Lorna realised how silly this was. She had no food, very little money, and she didn’t even know what she was going to do next.

“Do you want to stay with me?”

“Really?” Ventured Lorna. After all, what did she have to lose? “Do you really mean it?”

“Well … I reckon that we’re both in the same boat. I was going to stay in this bed and breakfast …”

“Yes! I mean, if it’s all right …”

“That’s why I offered.” The woman smiled at Lorna, but out of happiness now.

So when the doors opened at the next stop, Lorna followed the woman, knowing that, at least for the moment, life was looking up…