Read Online The Soft Whisper of Dreams by Christina Courtenay - Free Book Online

might not want to be reminded of. And although they will not have forgotten, they may not be pleased to hear from you. That, in turn, would affect you badly as well.’
    Maddie felt her stomach contract painfully. ‘I know,’ she whispered.
    ‘It could be that you were adopted because your birth mother wanted to keep her pregnancy a secret, and in her later life she may not want the secret to be discovered. I’m sure you can understand that.’
    ‘Yes, of course I do.’
    ‘I just want you to know the possible effects of your actions before you do anything else. You have to be absolutely sure you are ready to face whatever facts you find. Believe me, you hear a lot of stories about people who find each other after twenty, thirty years and hit it off straight away, but the reality isn’t always quite so rosy. In fact, most often it’s not.’
    Maddie stared out the window, attempting to keep her own emotions in check. This interview was a lot more painful than she had imagined it would be.
    ‘However,’ Ms Wells continued, ‘on a more positive note, there is a slight chance your birth mother would have changed her mind by now and is longing for you to contact her. After all, this happened a long time ago, and just as you are curious about her, she might wish to know what has become of you. Her circumstances could have changed as well. You could begin by checking on internet sites where people can reconnect with one another.’
    Maddie nodded and fidgeted on her chair, studying her poor mistreated fingernails in minute detail. ‘So what happens now?’
    ‘I have here the details of your original name, date and place of birth, et cetera.’ Ms Wells pushed an A4 size paper across the desk towards Maddie, who picked it up almost reverently. ‘With this information you can apply for a full birth certificate from the Registrar General. That takes about five working days. Once you receive it, you will have to try and trace your birth parents yourself.’ A slight frown creased her brow. ‘I’m afraid there’s been some sort of administrative hiccup though and at the moment we don’t have any more information relating to your particular case. There should have been some, but it has most likely been saved in the wrong file or something. We are working on it and we’ll soon find it, I’m sure.’
    ‘I see.’ Maddie lifted the piece of paper with shaking fingers and read the scant notes. The stark black writing stood out against the pure white of the paper. To begin with, the letters danced in front of her eyes, and she had trouble making sense of them, but she took a deep breath and the words finally settled down into a coherent sentence. ‘Madeline Browne, original name Sorcha Kettering, born 19th August 1984, Shepleigh, Wiltshire. Mother’s name Ruth Kettering, father unknown.’ The name of the local authority who had authorised the adoption was also stated.
    Maddie’s chest felt as if it were enclosed in an iron vice, and her stomach refused to settle down.
    ‘Ms Browne?’
    Maddie realised Ms Wells was speaking to her. ‘What? Sorry, I ...’
    ‘I was just saying that you’re welcome to call me at any time if you have any further queries. And I will, of course, be in touch once we find the missing file.’
    ‘Thank you. You’ve been very kind. I, er ... thanks.’ Maddie was about to leave when she noticed something. ‘Hang on a minute. The date of adoption – it’s three years after my birth. Can that be right?’
    Ms Wells nodded. ‘Yes, it’s not just babies that are adopted. Sometimes single mothers try to cope and later find they can’t. But we’ll know more about your case when we find that file.’
    ‘Oh, right. Okay. Well, goodbye.’
    Blindly, Maddie stumbled out of the little office, down the hall and out into the reception area. I was three when I was adopted? So she could have had memories from a time before after all. The dream – was it real?
    Jessie was waiting for her.