Songbird. Josephine Cox

      

SONGBIRD

JOSEPHINE COX

      Songbird

Copyright

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2008

      Copyright © Josephine Cox 2008

      Josephine Cox asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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      HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication

      Source ISBN: 9780007221141

      Ebook Edition SEPTEMBER 2008 ISBN: 9780007283361

      Version: 2019-05-29

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       This book is for my Ken, as always

      Huge love and acknowledgement to Chloe and Milly.

      Two very special little girls.

      Also to our two fine sons, Spencer and Wayne, And Jane.

      Thank you all, for the joy you give me.

      CONTENTS

       Half Title Page

       Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

       Dedication

PART ONE Bedford Town, 1996 A Caged Bird

PART TWO London, 1978 In the Beginning

PART THREE Blackpool, 1978 Lighter Hearts

PART FOUR Bedfordshire, 1979 Hideaway

PART FIVE Bedford Town, 1996 Sacrifices

       Keep Reading

       Also By

       About the Author

       About the Publisher

      PART ONE

      Bedford Town, 1996

A Caged Bird

      CHAPTER ONE

      SOMETIMES, SHE COULD make herself believe that the bad things had never happened. And then there were the other times, when she could feel his breath against her face and his hands around her neck, squeezing, choking the life out of her. She could see the loathing in his eyes as the darkness enveloped her.

      It was Alice – her dearest friend – who had saved her from the dark. Because of that fine, brave woman, her own life had been spared, albeit at a terrible cost.

      Through the years that followed, the horror of that night had never left her. She remained ever-vigilant. The darkness kept her prisoner, and the daylight was her enemy. And on the rare occasions when she must go out during the daytime, with every step she was looking over her shoulder, anxious to get back and lock herself inside the house alone with her fears.

      It was a lonely, forsaken existence. Her treasured collection of records and tapes, and the music she heard on the TV and radio, were her only consolation.

      For Madeleine Delaney, once known as ‘The Songbird’, music was her life.

      The beauty of nature also gave her immense pleasure. Come the dawn she would hear the birds welcome a new day, and when the sun lit the skies, she would sit at her open window and feel the gentle breeze on her face – until a passing stranger glanced up from the road outside and frightened her away. In her isolation, Maddy had come to love the seasons like never before. Winter had its own special beauty, with snow-covered trees and laden boughs that hung their heads as though in shame. Her heart sang with the first appearance of the tiny robin redbreast that hopped about her front yard and peeped up at her with bright beady eyes. Below her window, the children threw snowballs in the street, laughing and screeching, wrapped in coats and scarves, oblivious to the driving chill of a winter’s day.

      Lighter of heart, she would sit and watch and imagine she was down there with them, a child again, with not a care in the world.

      Inevitably,