[stylist] Last chapter. Is this ending better or worse?

[helene ryles]

Chapter 30
Madrella at large
Fiona the fader

I'm glad things have changed round here.
I've finally been asked to bear witness.
In fact I've been ordered to bear witness, and kept confined in a
couple of hospital wards that the police have sectioned off, along
with all the other witnesses.   She insists on keeping us all together
here just in case Madrella tries to kill us off before Madrella is
caught and put on trial.  Some of the witnesses are taking it better
then others.
"Listen sunshine, I've got a life to lead out there. I can't afford to
be stuck with a bunch of demons in this place," Demanded a large woman
in a gaudy pink dress. She was very pale, and smelt strongly of
tobacco and cheap perfume.
“Be my guest.  You can go as soon as I get someone to videotape a
testimony from you.   I didn’t want any of the witnesses to get hurt,
but I guess a brutal murder would help us put together a better case,”
P.C. Rickshaw commented through gritted teeth.
   The woman turned an even paler colour then she normally was, and sat down.
“I’ve changed my mind,” she stated.  I didn’t know whether to boo or
cheer.  After all she did see a lot of what Madrella did to Nadia.
She was the cleaning lady at the central elementary school in
Stilosarka and also Madrella’s neighbour.  She was also the most
dislikeable witness that P.C. Rickshaw had lined up.
"That’s a pity.  If she stays she better stop smoking.  There is a no
smoking sign up there, just in case she can’t read.  Who does she
think she is calling a demon anyway?" P.C. Rickshaw’s brother
retorted. He sat next to Madrella's other ex husband Mr Murat who had
only just been released from prison, since P.C Rickshaw had decided he
would be safer with the other witnesses.
I saw the two men practicing sign language together.  In addition to
regular newspapers and magazines, P.C. Rickshaw left several
instruction manuals on how to learn Darthrilan sign language. I see
her pouring over them whenever she has a moment spare, which is not
very often.  Sometimes she will go over to me or Katrina to ask us if
she's got the signs right.

At that moment I saw Liza making her way carefully to where Nadia was
sitting.   She sat next to Nadia, holding both hands so Nadia could
feel her aunt’s signs.  Nadia now wore a bright frilly dress, which
had been given to her from one of the witnesses.  It was the kind of
dress that little girls wear, but Nadia seems particularly fond of it.
  The operation to remove her cochlear implant had been successful.
Nadia’s physical health had greatly improved but she seemed still as
listless as ever.
“Nadia?  Are you ok?” Liza signed using tactile sign language.  Nadia
seemed to respond better to that then visual sign language.  It’s hard
to know how much she can see these days since she hardly ever wears
her glasses unless her aunt insists on it.
Nadia made no response.
Liza made an impatient noise.  She seemed to be running on a
particularly short fuse since she was brought here several weeks ago.
 She let go of one of Nadia’s hands so she could count to a hundred,
in sign language. Then she turned back to her unresponsive niece.
“Would you like some soup?” she persevered.
 “Is it vegan?” Nadia signed back using the same method.
“Yes, it is vegan.  One of the Parvesh witches made it for you
especially.  She even typed out all the ingredients for you to read,
to put your mind at rest,” Liza reassured her.
“My mind is never at rest.  I had that dream again.  I keep dreaming
about mother.  I won’t have to see mother again will I?” Nadia asked
her.
“No, your mother will be sent to prison soon as the police catch her,”
Liza told her reassuringly.
“I saw her last night, standing at the doorway.  I saw her coming
towards me…” Nadia told her.
“You must have had a bad dream.  She wouldn’t come here because there
are a lot of police officers guarding this ward.  They would arrest
her in no time if she came anywhere near this hospital.  Your old
bodyguard Katrina is also here,” Liza told her.
“But the police don’t believe me,” She commented.
"They do now.  They are going to arrest your mother as soon as they
can find out where she‘s gone to.  You are safe here with us, and when
she is arrested and put on trial I will take you to the cave where
Sunniva and Pluto live.  They are very keen to see you and so is
Vinny.”
“I don‘t feel safe.  I feel scared.  You won‘t abandon me again for
Vinny will you?” she replied.
Liza started counting again.
I only hoped Liza didn’t run out of patience entirely.  I know how
it’s like as my husband and I both suffered from PTSD.   I've somehow
managed to overcome my problems as long as I avoid certain triggers,
but my husband still suffers from regular flashbacks whenever he goes
indoors.  His fear of enclosed spaces is so great that he spends most
of his life roaming about outdoors.  He’s a very lovable man
underneath it all, but he does need a lot of patience at times.

              ***  ***  ***


“Look at this! It’s really disgusting, and to think I was planning to
send my daughter there,” exclaimed Mr Rickshaw passionately.
He handed me the newspaper article.

“Dark secrets discovered at the dodgy deaf unit
Many will know about the 'let them fly' research team.  However, the
research team were recently horrified to make discoveries of an
entirely different nature, concerning the heartless hearing impaired
unit that they formally shared the premises with.
"All this started when Adam Wood went completely deaf," admits Mrs
Bird from 'Let Them Fly', "Adam is one of our most promising fliers.
We were hoping the hearing impaired unit would assist us in finding an
appropriate mode of communication for him.  Unfortunately he was far
too deaf to befit from their training methods.  They advised us to get
a cochlear implant for Adam, which we did at great expense.  Sadly
Adam died soon after being returned to the hearing impaired unit.  We
were assured that this was a fluke of nature.  Lots of children are
implanted without them dying, so we put Adam's death down as a tragic
accident and carried on as before.  I'm deeply ashamed to confess that
although we shared the building, we have never really had much to do
with the hearing impaired unit before Adam's deafness was discovered.
They took care of their children, and we took care of ours."
A few months after Adam's tragic loss,   the units dark secrets were
discovered, when a severely abused and starved child was found.
'Let them fly' hired an undercover agent to investigate further.
Their shocking finds reveal outdated forms of corporal punishment and
the regular withdrawal of food.  Such forms of discipline simply don't
belong at the end of the 20th century.
"I'm absolutely appalled,” Mrs Bird continues, "We had no idea any of
this was going on, under our very nose.  I'm glad to say the culprits
have been sentenced to jail and long may they rot there.   We have
just evicted the whole unit.     The deaf children have now all been
transferred to a really good deaf school in Druzil where they will be
more appropriately cared for.

                          ***  *** ***

I woke up that night to hear Nadia screaming in her sleep again.
She's been having really bad nightmares recently.
I turn to see that pale skinned cleaning lady shaking Liza awake.  It
seems wrong to disturb her.  After all, the advantages of being deaf
are you don't get disturbed by such notices.
I watched Liza putting on her cochlear implant.  Not that it helps
that much now she can't see well enough to lip read, but she still
seems to want to wear it. In fact she's been talking about going
Bilateral.

“It’s all right Nadia, you were just having a bad dream,” Liza signs.
“I saw mother again.  She was coming to get me.  Keep her away from
me!” Nadia signs back.
“Don’t worry, we won’t let her hurt you,” Liza soothes.  She's given
up trying to convince Nadia that her mother wasn’t really there.
Nadia can't see that far even in the best light conditions which this
isn't. I doubt she can see anything at all and neither can her aunt.
Yet the notion that her mother was in the room was unshakable.
Liza wrapped Nadia in a loving embrace, while Nadia clung to her in a
state of terror.  I left them like that and tried to get back to
sleep.