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Back The Jump Save as PDF
Chapters (52)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Acknowledgements
  5. BOOK ONE
  6. Chapter One
  7. Chapter Two
  8. Chapter Three
  9. Chapter Four
  10. Chapter Five
  11. Chapter Six
  12. Chapter Seven
  13. Chapter Eight
  14. Chapter Nine
  15. Chapter Ten
  16. Chapter Eleven
  17. Chapter Twelve
  18. Chapter Thirteen
  19. Chapter Fourteen
  20. Chapter Fifteen
  21. Chapter Sixteen
  22. Chapter Seventeen
  23. Chapter Eighteen
  24. Chapter Nineteen
  25. Chapter Twenty
  26. Chapter Twenty-One
  27. Chapter Twenty-Two
  28. Chapter Twenty-Three
  29. Chapter Twenty-Four
  30. Chapter Twenty-Five
  31. BOOK TWO
  32. Chapter Twenty-Six
  33. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  34. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  35. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  36. Chapter Thirty
  37. Chapter Thirty-One
  38. Chapter Thirty-Two
  39. Chapter Thirty-Three
  40. Chapter Thirty-Four
  41. Chapter Thirty-Five
  42. Chapter Thirty-Six
  43. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  44. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  45. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  46. BOOK THREE
  47. Chapter Forty
  48. Chapter Forty-One
  49. Chapter Forty-Two
  50. Chapter Forty-Three
  51. Chapter Forty-Four
  52. Epilogue

He took in their dirty hands and clothes and Carol’s flushed face and said, ‘Stephen died on holiday, Donna. He drowned. My mum sent me over to give you the news.’

Donna stared at Mario for a few seconds before saying, ‘Make a pot of tea for Mario, Dolly. Me and Carol are going up to shower and change, OK? We won’t be long.’

Upstairs Donna listened to Carol on the phone to her elder daughter, asking her to look after Jamie until she got home. Then they looked at one another and shook their heads.

‘Let’s get showered and listen to the News on the radio, Carol. I need to know what the hell is going on with Georgio before I can make my next move. I’ve been frightened to listen to the news today. Once I find out the score, I can make my decision.’

Carol began to take off her clothes.

‘What about Alan Cox?’ she suggested. ‘Why don’t you ring him?’

Donna grimaced. ‘Alan Cox is the last person I want to talk to at the moment.’

Already feeling better at the thought of a hot shower, Carol said saucily, ‘I wouldn’t want to talk to that one either love. I’d be too busy doing other things with him!’

Donna laughed gently. ‘That’s the trouble, Carol, I already have.’

She walked into the bathroom naked and Carol slumped down on the bed and said incredulously: ‘Well, well, well. You are a dark horse, ain’t you?’

Donna looked over her shoulder and said in a low voice, ‘There’s lots of things you don’t know about me, Carol. There’s an awful lot I don’t know about myself.’ She hesitated for a moment and then said, ‘Yet.’

Epilogue

Epilogue

Donna watched as the bodies of Stephen and Georgio were lowered into the ground. She knew she should be crying, but she was dry-eyed. She could see Maeve being held up by Pa Brunos, the rest of her children around her, waiting for her lead as to what to do next.

It was funny, Donna reflected, how she seemed to have no feelings any more. Her husband, the big love of her life, was being buried and she felt nothing at all.

She saw Big Paddy trying to catch her eye and she looked away from him, swallowing down a half-smile. He didn’t frighten her any more, none of them did. She wondered why.

Davey was trying to attract Carol’s attention. Out of the corner of her mouth, she hissed to Donna: ‘If that ponce don’t leave me alone I’ll knock him into the grave along with your Georgio.’