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her sister?
    It wasn’t as if Jennifer loathed the village, she just felt like she had outgrown it. There was more to life than being stuck here and ending up married to a local boy and having his babies. She wanted to visit all the places which she read about in her books. She was always in the travel section at the school library, discovering places she would love to see.
    “You’re going to be like him, aren’t you?” Angela asked as she started walking again.
    “Like who?”
    “Uncle Shane?”
    “Why, how do you mean?” Jennifer sounded a little guarded even though she quite liked the idea of visiting all the fabulous locations from Uncle Shane’s postcards.
    “You’re gonna carry on being the little brainbox bookworm and go to uni and never see us again,” said Angela.
    “No, I wouldn’t do that, you’re my sister and I love you. Even if I was the other side of the world I’d write to you or phone you at every opportunity, I swear!”
    Angela lightened up a little, “Knowing you you’d forget all about the time differences and wake me up at four in the morning whilst you were having afternoon tea!”
    “Ha I wouldn’t forget,” Jennifer laughed. “I’d…”
    “Do it on purpose!” Angela and Jennifer said in unison.
    As they climbed the narrow path that led up from the stream in the valley’s dip Jennifer glanced over at the golden fields of wheat. They rose up over the hills like the chubby cheeks of a cherubic colossus. Between the cheeks she could make out the sparkle of sunlight on the River Stour. In the distance a tall row of thin trees framed the scene with a spiky fringe.
    I guess there are things I would miss about this place , she thought, the peace, the chance for solitude whenever I want it and feeling safe .
    Nonetheless, another part of her craved excitement and change.

Chapter Five
    August 1990
     
    “Your sister’s in labour but there are some complications.”
    The phone receiver felt hot against Shane’s ear and he wondered why some people say things like that. Your sister. He didn’t need reminding she was his sister.
    “What’s happened? Is she okay?” Shane said as he turned his back on the other students who loitered in the communal phone area.
    “Your mother’s with her now, she’s fine, it’s the twins that aren’t,” his father said solemnly.
    Shane breathed a sigh of relief that Catherine was okay and instantly felt guilty for the lack of concern for his unborn nieces or nephews.
    “What happened to them?”
    His father was silent for what felt like minutes. Shane could hear hospital noises in the background; a telephone ringing, people talking hospital jargon that he didn’t attempt to understand.
    “They’re Siamese twins.”
    “What?” Shane gasped so loudly the students near him turned to stare at him.
    “They’re conjoined boy! They’re literally joined at the hip. Your sister is going in for a caesarean but they don’t know the extent of the twins’ disfigurement.”
    “Jesus! But they can do stuff for them, can’t they Dad?”
    “What the hell do I know? All I know is they’re alive but they are going to need loads of examining when they’re out.”
    Shane was lost for words; this wasn’t a subject he knew much about. He’d read about cases in the past of Siamese twins and how some had been separated, but from the little knowledge he had, he knew separation was often unsuccessful. As Shane hung up he tried his best to push the news aside and focus on his revision.
    Exams galore clogged up his every waking moment with studying, fretting and evading the clutches of the Sandman.
    He didn’t need this. Why couldn’t things be simpler? He loved his sister dearly and was happy that she was okay but he knew deep down he’d never go back to Brantham. Life was too good here in London and he just didn’t, and wouldn’t, have the time if his career went where he wanted it to. He made a mental note to phone his parents later that day but