Born Bad (46 page)
She shuddered. ‘As if I would ever want to! I wouldn’t have used that one,
if he hadn’t tumbled over backwards in his rage and it had fallen at my feet.’
In fact, when it had seemed to go off all by itself, it frightened her so much, and that was why she ran – that and the knowledge that he truly meant to kill her.
She took a deep breath, for she had not thought she would ever say these words, but now she must.
Try to help my father, Lord, wherever he is. After all,
he is what You made him. I believe that somewhere along the way, things went wrong. I’ve tried so hard to forgive him, but I can’t. I never will. But I’m asking You, please … Maybe if You could forgive him, it might help me to.’
She stayed a moment longer, watching the skies shift and move in that great heaven, and she felt a sense of peace.
Returning to the house, she went to look at the almost-dead
embers in the grate. The letter was just black ashes now; except for the two words which lay charred and crumbling.
Forgive me
– that’s all she could read now.
With grim determination, she picked up the poker and swished the remains about, until it was as though the letter had never existed.
She was relieved about that. She had a future now, with the man she adored.
That future was sealed when,
three months later, Judy found she was having Harry’s child. ‘A brother or sister for Tom,’ she announced.
As it turned out, the child was a sister for Tom; strong-featured and perfectly formed, Kathleen said that little Susan looked just like Harry.
A year later, Harry was promoted at work, and the couple bought their own little house not too far away from the lovely Kathleen.
Soon after that,
there was another addition to the family.
‘Twin boys!’ Sammie was thrilled. ‘That’s three boys and one girl. You’d best even it up,’ Nancy laughed. ‘We can’t have an odd number, can we?’
Two years later, Harry and Judy obliged with another daughter, Vicky. ‘That’s it!’ Harry declared. ‘There’s no more room in this house.’
As it turned out, there was room for one more – a girl, in the image
of Judy.
The six children were named: Tom, Susan, James and Joseph, Victoria and little Anna.
All dearly cherished, born out of a love that refused to die.
At long last, for Judy the badness was over.
Josephine Cox was born in Blackburn, one of ten children. At the age of sixteen, Josephine met and married her husband Ken, and had two sons. When the boys started school, she decided to go to college and eventually gained a place at Cambridge University. She was unable to take this up as it would have meant living away from home, but she went into teaching – and started to write
her first full-length novel. She won the ‘Superwoman of Great Britain’ Award, for which her family had secretly entered her, at the same time as her novel was accepted for publication. Her strong, gritty stories are taken from the tapestry of life. Josephine says, ‘I could never imagine a single day without writing. It’s been that way since as far back as I can remember.’
Visit
www.josephinecox.co.uk
to read her exclusive serial, catch up with her online diary and to find out more information about Josephine.
‘This is vintage Cox. Passionate and touching, an irresistible read. It’s a perfect book to while away an afternoon. Just make sure you hide
Born Bad
away from your mum and grandmother because they’ll love it too’
News of the World
‘The latest emotionally charged story from the mega-selling author won’t disappoint her army of fans’
Bella
‘Cox’s talent as a storyteller
never lets you escape the spell’
Daily Mail
‘Another masterpiece’
Best
‘A born storyteller’
Bedfordshire Times
‘Any regular readers of Josephine Cox will tell you that the second you start to read one of her books you are actually living the scenario along with the characters’
Sue Brunton
QUEENIE’S STORY
Her Father’s Sins
Let Loose the Tigers
THE EMMA GRADY TRILOGY
Outcast
Alley Urchin
Vagabonds
Angels Cry Sometimes
Take This Woman
Whistledown Woman
Don’t Cry Alone
Jessica’s Girl
Nobody’s Darling
Born to Serve
More than Riches
A Little Badness
Living a Lie
The Devil You Know
A Time for Us
Cradle of Thorns
Miss You Forever
Love Me or Leave Me
Tomorrow
the World
The Gilded Cage
Somewhere, Someday
Rainbow Days
Looking Back
Let It Shine
The Woman Who Left
Jinnie
Bad Boy Jack
The Beachcomber
Lovers and Liars
Live the Dream
The Journey
Journey’s End
The Loner
Songbird
Divorced and Deadly
Harper
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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins
Publishers
2009
Copyright © Josephine Cox 2009
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
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.
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Source ISBN 9780007221172
Ebook Edition © FEBRUARY 2009 ISBN 9780007290048
Version: 20130723
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
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