Faye's Diary

Chapter 13: 111-128 Prayer Road

111-128 Prayer Road was all one big building. When I went in, I didn’t know what to expect. I’d had to turn my phone off because Mum was ringing me so much. I knew I’d be in big trouble when I got home.

“Um, hello, where am I?” I said when I saw what seemed to be a reception desk.

“Are you ok love? You are in Prayer Road Councillors, are you one of our customers?” The receptionist said.

“No, I just need to talk to someone who works here; someone who has been here a long time,” I said.

“Anyone in particular?” The lady said.

“No, just anyone, please, quickly!” I said, so the lady called over an old woman. “Julie has been here for twenty-five years.”

I jumped up in excitement and said, “Can I talk to you please Julie; in private?”

So Julie led me into a room. It was nothing like the one that I had just been in. The walls were just plain white and there were about fifteen plants scattered around.

Julie saw me looking and said, “It’s meant to be good for feng shui but I think its rubbish. Back in the day, we never had such fancy foreign words and phrases, we put up a plant or two if we wanted and that was that, no special order about it or nothing! Anyway dear, did you want something?”

I ignored her comment and said, “Do you remember people? I mean the people that have been here, that you have helped?” I hardly dared to breathe with anticipation.

“Well, I’ve got an old memory, but for most of the people I do remember a name. Are you thinking of anyone in particular dear?”

“Yes, my sister Charlotte,” I said. It felt weird to say her name to a stranger. I barely dared to say it to my own Mum in case she has some sort of breakdown again. I always seem to be treading on eggshells around her.

“Charlotte? There have been lots of Charlottes here actually. Did she tell you to come here did she? Are you close, the two of you?” To my horror, the words actually made me cry. Tears spilled from my eyes like a flooded river.

It could have been true, that’s what really did it for me, the fact that if Charlotte was still here, then it could have been some sort of school project that I had to do and I chose to do it on my dear sister since we were so close. But she wasn’t here was she? She might be dead, she might not. I didn’t even know anymore. I thought I had it so clearly mapped out in my head, I was going to come here and she’d work here or something, or they at least had her death records. Just something to make the huge question mark go away.

Julie reached over and gave me a tissue. Her kind old eyes looked at me with worry and concern and I ended up telling her the whole story. Well, most of it.

“I used to have a sister called Charlotte and she’s gone missing kind of. Mum is convinced that she is dead but I don’t think so. I think that she is still alive and I’m trying to find her. I didn’t know where I was when I first came in here; I just found this address in her diary.”

Julie was very understanding and I felt guilty for not telling her the complete truth, but I couldn’t just tell anyone about it.

“Well, I would love to help you, really I would, but although we do keep records of everyone who ever came here, it’s illegal to give them out to just anyone.”

I fumed at that! “Just anyone? But I’m not just anyone am I? I am her sister!”

“Calm down. Yes, I know that you are her sister and so do you, but the authorities might not see it that way if they find out. I could lose my job!” She said.

“Please? I really need to find her; it will make everything ok again.” I pleaded. “Please?”

“Have you thought about what might happen if your Mum is right? What might happen if you find a corpse? Will that make everything ok again or will it just bring more destruction to a broken family?”

“At least it will end the confusion in my mind. Every day is spent wondering where she is; if she is dead or alive. We can have a proper funeral and then maybe I can move on. I have to find her, please. You don’t have to do anything else; just help me.”

The old woman looked truly moved by my little speech. Tears had welled up in her eyes. “I’ll just go and check if you are allowed, but I’m not promising anything.”

She went outside the room where I saw that a different woman was now on reception. Julie bent over and whispered something in her ear. At first the lady looked slightly perplexed but then Julie whispered something else and the woman gave a slight nod.

My spirits rose through the roof. ‘Hopefully this means yes.’ I thought to myself.

Julie entered. “The receptionist checked and she said that if you can prove that you are her sister then you can see anything about her you want. But I don’t suppose you can prove it.”

“No.” My heart sank to my feet. Just as I thought I was about to start crying, I had a brilliant idea.

“Look,” I almost shouted as I jumped to my feet. I still had my school bag with me, and out of it, I produced my school planner. “This is my planner, and it says my name on it, and here are some goofy photo’s of me and my friends in it, which kind of proves that it is mine, and my name is Faye Baskerville. I want to see information on Charlotte Baskerville, so we are sisters!” I said in one breath.

“But that only proves that you have the same last name, not that you are sisters,” Julie said.

“Oh, come on. Now you are just putting excuses there that don’t even exist. Come on; just let me see some records. No-one will find out!” I said.

Julie sighed, admitted defeat and told me to follow her. We went down into a basement where there were hundreds of filing cabinets.

“Do you not have this all stored on computer?” I said.

“Well, we did, but there is too much here to store it so we only keep names and very basic detail on the computer. The real stuff we keep down here. What year would she have come here?”

I thought for a moment. She was about twelve when she wrote the diary I would say, so that would make it about six years ago.

“About six years ago I think.” So Julie went to the cabinet that was dated six years ago and started to look through the B section for Baskerville. There was only one folder with the name Baskerville; Charlotte Baskerville.

I could have jumped for joy when I saw my sister’s name there.

I grabbed the folder out of the cabinet and opened it up. To my dismay, there was only one piece of paper inside the folder.

It only had her basic details on it:

Name: Charlotte Baskerville

Address: 55 Long Street

Age: 12

Situation: Violent step-Father and in care.

Guardians: Daniel and Lilly Hicks.

So that was where Dan and Lilly lived. I was surprised, I knew Long Street, and the diary was true, it was about a twenty minute walk from my house.

It had been only a short while since I’d thought she was dead, but I knew now that my sister was very much alive. It was just the small matter of finding her.