Chapter One

The small child cowered in the corner of the room under the table her hands over her ears as the adults shouted at each other again, her whole short little life this was all she had known. The arguing came closer and the little girl trembled trying to sink into the wall behind her covering her face with her hands, if she could not see them then they could not see her she thought with a small child's intelligence.                          'Come here you fucking brat.'                                                                                          A large calloused male hand grabbed her by the hair and dragged her out from under the table banging her head on the table top as he did so.                                       'You're always fucking hiding you little fuck, now make yourself useful and go and fetch me the whisky.'                                                                                                                He tossed her to the kitchen door and she banged her leg on it as she skidded through but not a sound came out of her lips small as she was she had learned never to show any emotion. Quickly she jumped to her feet and raced into the other room where the cupboard held the bottle the man wanted. Grabbing the bottle with the gold liquid she ran back to where she knew the man would be and this part sickened her, she tried to keep her eyes on the floor as she stumbled into the room. The man was naked and underneath him was her mother, to her frightened little eyes, he was hurting her Mama as she was crying and moaning. He caught sight of her and grabbed the bottle then cuffed her hard sending her tumbling to the floor and the world turned black. When she opened her eyes the sun was pouring through the grimy windows and she tried to sit up but pain shot through her small body and she curled into a silent ball,                      'Don't make a sound Melody, don't make a sound.'                                                       She chanted to herself terrified the man would hurt her again if she made any kind of sound she closed her eyes and let the blackness claim her again. The next time she woke the pain in her head was not quite as bad so she pushed herself to her feet and headed to the bathroom to relieve herself and wash the blood off her face. Blinking she gazed at her reflection in the mirror looking back at her was a thin dirty little girl with a face and body full of bruises, what she did not see was a tiny beautiful angelic child, her hair was molten gold and her eyes glittered like gold nuggets. She was a true beauty, even though she was caked in dirt and her hair was matted but it would not be many years before the man switched his interest to her instead of her mother. Walking back into the room she headed for the bed to wake her Mama scrambling up next to her she patted her face,                                                                                                     'Mama? Mama? Wake up Mama I'm hungry.'                                                                She patted harder but Mama never moved so the tiny child curled against her cooling body and fell back to sleep only to be rudely awakened when the rotten front door of the scruffy rooms they lived in was kicked open,                                                      'She's in here.'                                                                                                          Large hands plucked the little girl from her dead Mama's side startling her awake she struggled against them,                                                                                                 'No, no Mama, Mama, wake up, wake up.'                                                                      She screamed fighting the hands that held her firmly, the Police Officer said nothing as he carried the frightened half starved child away from her dead overdosed Mama and handed her to the female Officer waiting outside,                                                    'Fucking junkies shouldn't have kids, look at the state of this one, poor little thing.'  She was taken to the hospital, stripped, scrubbed, photographed then dressed in pretty pink pyjamas given some food and a warm bottle of milk and put into a baby's cot. She was too old for the bottle and the cot but so traumatised by the day's events she curled under the warm blankets and fell instantly asleep. When she woke up the next day they gave her more food and she ate it ravenously, the kind Nurse then helped her to the bathroom where she stood looking up helplessly.                                                      'What did this woman want her to do?'                                                                        She thought her golden eyes wide and round, seeing her confusion the Nurse showed her how to clean her teeth, wash with soap and water, and then put on the clothes they had found for her. Melody did as she was told pulling on the pretty blue dress, white socks and cardigan and letting the Nurse put the shiny black shoes on her feet. Now she was clean and clothed in appropriate clothing the little girl was stunningly beautiful, her golden hair had been brushed until it shone and then braided into two thick braids that hung to her waist. When the Nurse led her into the room with the Police Officers, Doctors and Social Workers waiting for her she felt a pang of fear and clung to the woman's hand. One of the Social Workers, an older woman called Mary, detached herself from the others and crouched in front of the scared little girl Melody hid behind the Nurse,                                                                                                          'Hi there my name is Mary can you tell me yours?'                                                       She watched the tiny child carefully unknown to Melody they knew all about her from the documents they had found in the hovel they had been living in but she needed to know how advanced she was Melody looked up at the kind Nurse who smiled reassuringly and pushed her forward,                                                                                                'My name is Melody and I am five years old.' She whispered to Mary and then stuck her thumb in her mouth, 'It's very nice to meet you Melody and as I know it's your birthday today I have a little gift for you.' Melody was wide-eyed, 'How did these people know it was her birthday?' She blinked in confusion and then beamed with happiness when Mary produced the most beautiful pale golden teddy bear with a pink ribbon around its neck and handed it to her. Melody clutched it in her hands, awestruck by its soft silky fur stroking it reverently she looked back at Mary,                                                             'Is this for me?'