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 across it but not a sound came out of her lips, young 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 golden 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 out of her small hands then cuffed her so hard it sent 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 was still lying where she had fallen. She tried to sit up but pain shot through her small body so 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 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 and she managed to push herself to her feet and head 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 her true reflection, that of a tiny beautiful angelic child, her tangled 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 and it would not be many years before the man switched his interest to her instead of her mother if she remained in these dirty rooms. Walking back into the bedroom she headed for the bed to wake her Mama scrambling up next to her like she did every morning she patted her pale grey face with its black eyes, and cut lip,             '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 did the only thing she could do she fell back to sleep only to be rudely awakened when the rotten front door of the neglected rooms they lived in was kicked open and a booming voice called out,                                                                          'She's in here.'                                                                                                          Large hands plucked the little girl from her dead Mama's side startling her into full awakeness and she struggled against them not understanding what they were doing,        '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 the body of her overdosed dead Mama and handed her to the female Social Worker waiting outside,                        'Fucking junkies shouldn't be allowed to have kids, look at the state of this one, poor little thing.'                                                                                                                  She shook her head at the sight of the dirty starving child in her arms and carried her to the waiting car to hand her over to her colleague who took her to the hospital, where she was stripped, scrubbed, and photographed for the police records.Then they dressed her in pretty pink pyjamas gave her some food and a warm bottle of milk and then 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 and 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 where all the Police Officers, Doctors and Social Workers waited 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 but 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 she had been living in but she needed to know how advanced the child 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 with shock,                                                                              '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 and stroking it reverently she looked back at Mary,                                                                                'Is this for me?'