Read Wednesday's Child for Free Online Page B

was being kept for carnal reasons.
     
    ‘Handsome beast.’
     
    ‘Gorgeous.’
     
    Five o’clock rolled around. Andi looked at me.
     
    ‘I’m getting pissed off, Shane.’
     
    ‘Well, do you want to call it a day?’
     
    Andi leaned her whole weight on the car’s horn. And stayed there. The horn was surprisingly loud. It, incredibly, silenced the dogs for a moment. They stood there in surprise, their tongues lolling out over yellow teeth. Then the barking erupted again in competition.
     
    ‘Watch
Countdown
now, you bitch,’ Andi muttered.
     
    It took ten more minutes of barking and horn competing before the front door opened and a woman came out.
     
    I put her in her early forties. She was dressed in faded jeans and a raggedy woollen jumper, and her brown hair looked as if it hadn’t been washed in weeks. As soon as she set foot outside the door, the dogs became silent and stood quietly watching her. She approached us smiling, walking easily and in a relaxed manner, as if we hadn’t been there for an hour and a half waiting for her to deign to speak to us.
     
    ‘And here’s the lady of the house,’ Andi said, finally letting go of the horn.
     
    As Libby O’Gorman got closer, I saw that she had once been extremely beautiful. Harsh circumstances had taken their toll, but the residue of how stunning she had been was still very much in evidence. As she came to stand outside my window and Andi pressed the button to lower the glass, I became aware of apowerful sexuality. She exuded it from every pore, and I could see how she had such a huge hold over her daughter and how she had proven such a problem for so many Health Board workers. There was a strong intellect at play here – albeit tempered by psychiatric problems of deep complexity. She smiled at me, and I smelled alcohol from her. Cheap whiskey.
     
    ‘Well, I didn’t know you were here at all,’ she said. Her voice was husky and full of humour. We all knew she was lying. It was a game.
     
    ‘That’s okay, Mrs O’Gorman. We weren’t in a hurry. It’s a pleasant afternoon to be out of doors in the country. Those are some fine dogs you have.’
     
    She looked appreciatively at the animals, now sitting and dozing in the late-afternoon light.
     
    ‘They’re grand, aren’t they?’
     
    I smiled and tried to steer the conversation to the subject of her daughter. I needed to introduce the concept of me as Gillian’s new worker, and also instruct her to bring the child to the doctor for a checkup as soon as possible. I had to assert that, while I would try to work in partnership with her, I was, fortunately or unfortunately, in charge to a large degree. I had statutory power, and could have Gillian taken into care. This is a factor that is always underlying any interaction between a parent and a state-appointed child-protection worker. Since the development of the Child Care Act 1991, the Health Board and the gardaí have the power, if they feel that a child is at serious and immediate risk, to removethat child without a warrant. This means, effectively, that at any moment, if I felt that Gillian was in danger, I could call for garda assistance and have Gillian placed in care without reference to the courts or anyone else. I would have to secure an Emergency Care Order within three days of this, but that would not be difficult under the circumstances. I always had a policy of not pulling rank with a parent unless it was necessary, but I had a sense that Libby was going to give me plenty of cause during our relationship.
     
    ‘Mrs O’Gorman, my name is Shane Dunphy, and I’ve been appointed to work with Gillian for the next while. Did you receive any letters about that?’
     
    She laughed aloud in a great guffaw.
     
    ‘Do you think that any postman is going to want to bring letters out here? I pick up letters in the post office in town every now and again. It’s usually nothing I would have wanted delivered anyway.’
     
    She eyed me