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Back When I Was Ten Save as PDF
Chapters (79)
  1. Cover
  2. WHEN I WAS TEN
  3. Dedication page
  4. Epigraph page
  5. PROLOGUE
  6. PART ONE
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. PART TWO
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. 42
  50. 43
  51. 44
  52. PART THREE
  53. 45
  54. 46
  55. 47
  56. 48
  57. 49
  58. 50
  59. 51
  60. 52
  61. 53
  62. 54
  63. 55
  64. 56
  65. 57
  66. 58
  67. 59
  68. 60
  69. 61
  70. 62
  71. 63
  72. 64
  73. 65
  74. 66
  75. 67
  76. 68
  77. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  78. WHEN I WAS TEN
  79. Also by Fiona Cummins

Tears are trickling into Catherine’s mouth, filling it with bitterness. This is it. The moment she has spent the last thirteen years hoping would never come. This is the moment that will change everything.

‘That’s right.’ Her voice cracks like breaking ice.

‘So, that woman on the television—’

‘—Shannon Carter—’

‘—is your sister?’

‘That’s right.’

‘So your sister is alive.’ Her face lights up, and then, wonderingly, ‘I have an auntie.’

Catherine breathes out slowly. Her hands are trembling so much she cannot control them, and so she squeezes Honor’s fingers again, but an incredulous expression passes across her daughter’s face and she pulls sharply away.

‘So what about the other sister? The one Shannon Carter is looking for, the one who stabbed her parents fourteen times with a pair of scissors. What happened to her?’

The question hangs in the air. Catherine’s throat closes up. Honor starts to cry, because she knows the answer, even though she doesn’t want to.

‘That little girl was called Sara Carter and she spent eight years in a secure unit for children. Thirteen years ago, she was released and given a new identity so she could have a fresh start without everybody knowing about her past. She cut all contact with her family, all her old friends. Sara wasn’t a bad person, love. She was very sorry her parents died. She was given a probation officer called Eliza, who helped her to cope with the outside world. She wanted nothing more than a family of her own, and a chance to live a normal life.

‘She moved to a quiet village, got married and had a beautiful daughter, and she was so happy and grateful for her second chance, but then the newspapers got hold of her name and they wanted to tell the world who she was.’

The air in the room is heavy with tension. It is there in the stretched leather of Edward’s belt, the disbelieving look on Honor’s face, the bated breath of the reporters waiting outside, preparing to expose her true identity.

‘Are you’ – Honor’s voice is small and scared – ‘Sara Carter?’

‘Yes, my love, I am.’

And just like that, Catherine Allen was dead.

PART TWO

WHY?

24

Saturday, 19 April 1997

When ten-year-old Sara Carter opened her eyes on that fateful spring morning, she had no inkling that within forty-eight hours her family would be on the front page of every newspaper in Britain.

The year would fill up with major news stories and cultural milestones. Tony Blair elected Prime Minister in a Labour landslide. The Hong Kong handover. The birth of Harry Potter. The death of Princess Diana.

But no news event – except perhaps that car crash in a Paris tunnel – would quite manage to replicate the nation’s collective intake of breath at the Hilltop House murders and the Angel of Death, a blonde-haired moppet who stabbed her parents fourteen times with a pair of scissors.