She found a lost phone and returned it to its owner. But when he saw the pendant around her neck, he froze
“Eliza!” came the gruff voice of her stepfather from deep inside the flat.
“Wake up,” the girl thought sadly. “Here we go again”
Glancing around quickly, she grabbed a hoodie, threw it over her shoulders, and dashed out of the house into the yard.
“Liz, where are you going?” came the feeble voice of her grandmother. “Wont be long, Gran!”
At the entrance, two neighbours watched the girl uneasily. “Trouble again?”
Eliza simply gave them a polite nod. Maybe she could wait out his morning mood somewhere on the street.
She walked slowly along the pavement leading to the nearby shop, kicking pebbles now and then. The same thought circled in her head:
“If Mum were alive he wouldnt treat me like this.”
Elizas mother, Anne, had passed away a year ago. A drunk driver had fallen asleep at the wheel, his car slamming into a bus stop at full speed. Anne and three others died instantly. Several passengers were badly injured. The driver only woke when rescuers surrounded him.
After the funeral, the question arose: who would care for the girl? Her grandparents refused outright.
“Were too old to raise a teenager,” her grandmother said. “Kids these days arent easy. And our health isnt what it was” She turned to her husband. “Say something. We cant manage this. Let her stay with Davehe adopted her anyway.”
David, Annes husband, had indeed legally adopted Eliza after her birth. But he never treated her as his own. He didnt hurt herhe just ignored her. At first, the little girl called him “Dad,” but one day he said sharply,
“Im not your dad. Call me Uncle Dave, understand?”
Eliza wanted to ask her mother who her real father was, but Anne just joked it off. After her death, David started drinking more.
When Eliza turned seven, school was inevitable.
“Half my wages go to you,” her stepfather grumbled, tossing a new backpack full of textbooks, notebooks, and stationery onto her bed. “Now you pull your weight. Youll cook for yourself, clean too. The house is your responsibility.”
“Yeah, obviouslywho else?” Eliza thought, but she nodded silently to avoid trouble.
Then David started sending her to the shop for groceries, having arranged with the cashier not to ask questions. At first, Eliza was ashamed, but she got used to it. She even got used to the cashier slipping her treats now and then, out of kindness.
Now, once again, she walked the familiar path to the shop, crossing the car park. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something. A mobile phone.
Glancing around, Eliza picked it up.
“Wow,” she murmured. “Not even scratched!”
She pressed the power buttonmiracle! The phone lit up, unlocked. She sat on a bench outside the shop and scrolled through the contacts. Most were company names with “Ltd” or “PLC,” then surnames. Finally, she found: “Wife.” She dialled.
After a few rings, someone answered.
“Hello! I found your husbands phone,” Eliza said calmly.
“Hello. How did you know who to call?”
“It wasnt locked. Found you that way.”
“Right. Where are you? Ill come get it.”
“Sure, but dont go through anything else, yeah?” Eliza felt a twinge of offence.
“Fine, fine. On my way.”
She gave the address and hung up. As the screen went dark, it buzzed. The display read: “Snout.” Eliza laughed despite herself. It reminded her of a boy in nursery with a big nose, whom her stepfather called “Snout the Nose Bug.”
“Hello,” she answered.
“Thats my phone! Im calling from a mates. Oh, from Snout?”
“Exactly! So your wifes coming?”
“Shes nearly here.”
“Waitwhats your name?”
“Eliza.”
“Right, Eliza. Dont give it to her. Ill be there in a sec. Where are you?”
She started explaining but was cut off.
“I know where you are. I was there an hour agomustve dropped it getting in the car. Wait there!”
The call ended. Eliza tucked the phone under her hoodie and waited. Soon, a sleek red car pulled up, and a stunning woman stepped out. Eliza froze, awestruck. The woman scanned the area and walked over.
“Hi, are you the one who called?”
“No, he stepped aside. Said hed be back in a minute.”
“How impatient!” the woman snapped. “Im in a hurry!”
“Wonder where Im going,” a dry male voice chimed in behind them.
Turning, the woman saw a tall man with dark hair. His face was serious, his gaze sharp and faintly amused.
“Did you rush here like a rocket when you heard the phone wasnt locked?” he continued. “Hoping to drain my card?”
“Very funny,” she tried to joke, but it was clear hed hit a nerve.
He sat beside Eliza.
“Hi. Thanks for finding my phone. Youre a good kid. Tell your mumshell be proud.”
“I dont have a mum,” Eliza whispered, looking down.
She unzipped her hoodie and handed over the phone. The man reached for it, then froze. His eyes locked onto the pendant around her necka tiny resin maple leaf with a ladybird at its base.
The woman tensed at his expression. She closed her eyes, as if fleeing memories, and when she opened them, every muscle in her face seemed to protest what she saw.
“Where did you get that?” the man asked coldly, touching it with two fingers. The contact seemed to pain him, and he let go quickly. Eliza jumped back, startled.
“My mum gave it to me when she was alive Ive got to go.”
She leapt off the bench and ran. But the man called after her:
“Wait! Im Robert Maxwell. How can I thank you?”
“Dont need anything. Bye.”
Eliza walked away, puzzled. “Why did he react like that to my pendant?”
She remembered her mother fastening it around her neck when she was five:
“Foxling, may it bring you the same happiness it brought me.”
“What kind of happiness did it bring you?”
“You, silly! Youre my happiness!”
Anne had spun her around the room, laughing and kissing her cheeks.
Eliza kept walking, unaware Robert was following at a distance. Hed sent his wife home, drawn to the girl inexplicably.
When Eliza passed some elderly ladies on a bench and vanished into her building, Robert approached them.
“Evening. Could you tell me which flat that girl lives in?”
“Who are you?” one asked suspiciously.
“Just wanted to return some money. She dropped a tenner in the shopcouldnt catch her in time. Heres the receipt.”
“Oh, well then!” The ladies softened. “Poor Eliza, with that stepfather of hers Probably gave her grief again today. Go on up.”
And they told him everything they knew about the girls family. Just then, a crash of broken dishes and a drunken shout echoed from above
“Eliza, you brat! Whereve you been?” Davids hoarse voice rang down the hall. “Ill box your ears!”
Robert flew up the stairs in seconds and knocked. The door swung open before he finished. David stood therehaggard, red-eyed, reeking of booze.
“Whore you? What dyou want?” he slurred.
Robert didnt answer. He pushed past him. Inside, Eliza was curled in the corner of the sofa. She looked up, meeting his gazefull of warmth and concern. Without a word, she stood, took his hand, and walked toward the door.
But David blocked their way.
“Where dyou think youre going?” he growled, though his voice cracked into a cough.
Robert calmly pressed a palm to his forehead, and David swayed, collapsing slowly to the floor.
“Did you kill him?” Eliza whispered, eyeing her motionless stepfather fearfully.
“Dont be daft. You cant kill a man that easily,” Robert said gently. “Hell sleep it off. Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head. No, David wasnt a villain. Just a man drowning in grief.
Roberts home stunned Eliza. It wasnt huge, but it was light, cosy, magazine-perfect. Shed never seen anything like it.
His wife, Irene, greeted them in casual clothes but still looked effortlessly elegant. Her voice was sweet, her eyes cold.
“Hello again,” she said, leading Eliza to a room. “Thisll be your temporary home.”
The word “temporary” stabbed Elizas heart. “Then what? Foster care?” But she
