Chapter Four

Anna could barely get through each day herself and she had nothing left inside her to give the helpless little girl. It all became a blur as the days went by and Anna deteriorated as soon as it became clear that she could not look after herself or the small child the brothers were left with no choice.  When they found Melody in her pyjamas desperately trying to clean Anna up after she had fallen out of bed they found her in a terrible state, confused and afraid. The Doctor diagnosed Dementia and advised that she needed specialist care and that they must put her into a Nursing Home for both her and the general public's safety.                                                                                                                                                          Within a week, Melody's life changed again, she was moved from the comfortable home she had lived in for five years with 'Parents' who had loved and adored her to the box room at her eldest brother's house. The brothers did not know what to do with her, they all had families of their own and their wives were not keen on having this little cuckoo in their nests. For her part Melody sensed her 'good' life was over she heard the brothers discussing her and her hopes were raised when they mentioned sending her to a Boarding School.                                                                                                                                           'She would not mind that.'                                                                                                                              She thought,                                                                                                                                                  'She loved school and anything was better than the limbo she had been left in.'                                         She had not been able to grieve properly for Henry and Anna, things had moved too fast from him dying to her Dementia, and it appeared the couple had been hiding how bad Anna was. He had been managing her condition without help from anyone, they had decided it was better to keep it to themselves because he was coping. His death had exacerbated Anna's condition so rapidly that she lived for just six weeks in the home they had put her in. On Melody's tenth birthday, she found herself standing by the graveside of the only mother she had ever really known, her birth mother had ignored her for her first five years but Mary had given her the security and love all children deserve. Tears fell on her young cheeks as she laid the bouquet her brothers had given her on top of the coffin and her tender young heart broke as she watched Anna laid to rest beside her beloved Henry.                                                                                                  Her brothers held her small hands as they led her back to the car and then to one of their houses for the Wake, placing her on a chair where she was petted by Anna's friends while the brothers did their duty talking to all that came. Melody was frozen in her grief, she longed for someone to put their arms around her and tell her not to worry it would be alright but she knew it would not be.                                           The voice in her head that had helped her through her darkest times was back with a vengeance,          'You must protect yourself, be prepared, something bad is coming.'                                                               It kept telling her so she kept out of the adult's way, trying to be invisible, hoping they would forget about her but of course, they did not, they watched her go to school and then scurry to her little room and they heard her crying herself to sleep. They did want to help her, they all cared about her but it was their wives who stopped them, saying they had enough to deal with and the situation became untenable for them when both wives discovered they were pregnant again. One of them with her fourth child and the other with her third and there was no room in their hearts for this broken little girl so they began the arrangements for her to go to Boarding School.                                                                                           She was so close to her happy ending, the school was impressed with the exceeding bright little girl they presented, so quiet and obedient and very beautiful and they would be happy to take her. Melody wanted to go, she knew she would be happy there but the voice in her head told her it was not going to happen and sure enough the Authorities arrived two days before her admittance.                                                  The two Social Workers arrived with two Police Officers and explained to her brothers that as the adoption had not been finalised and now both their parents had died Melody was legally a Ward of the Courts, in other words, an Orphan who had to be cared for by the State. They went on to explain that it would be a simple procedure to change the application into one of their names if one of them wanted to adopt her instead. Both the brothers wanted to, and they said as much to the Social Workers, who went away smiling thinking this case would be wrapped very quickly. That night though their wives sat them down and pointed out all the responsibilities they already had and taking on this child, who hadn't anything to do with them if they were being honest. She was not their sister by blood, she was the child of a violent drug user who had overdosed and also who knew who on earth had fathered her? They went on to add that, as she grew up these problems would manifest themselves and she would more than likely become a wild teenager and would almost certainly take drugs herself. That would mean she would steal from them to get the money to pay for the drugs and cause them no end of problems. Sadly for Melody, the brothers listened to their wives even though she had never displayed any of the antisocial behaviours her mother had. Even though she had been the star pupil at her school, and every single person who met her adored her they believed the lies their wives told them.                                                                                            The Social Workers could not believe the brother's cruelty when they rang them back the next day to call off the adoption. Three days later they had to return and collect a terrified little girl with a suitcase clutching a battered old teddy bear who did not cry or make a fuss when they placed her cases in the back of the car.