A Stolen Childhood: A Dark Past, a Terrible Secret, a Girl Without a Future

A Stolen Childhood: A Dark Past, a Terrible Secret, a Girl Without a Future
Casey Watson

Bestselling author and teacher Casey Watson shares the horrifying true story of Kiera Bentley, a 12-year-old girl with a deeply shocking secret she’s too young to even understand.When Casey first meets Kiera, a small slight girl who’s just lashed out at a fellow pupil in assembly, she immediately senses something’s wrong. Something in Kiera’s eyes alerts Casey that this is an “old head on young shoulders”, and with Kiera’s constant tiredness and self-soothing habit of pulling her hair out, she follows her instinct and takes Kiera under her wing.At first the answer seems simple enough; Kiera’s parents aren’t together and they don’t get on, which makes life hard for Kiera as she’s so close to her dad. But as the weeks roll on, Casey begins to understand that there’s something much darker going on behind closed doors. And when she finally learns the truth, she’s terrified she won’t be able to save Kiera from it.

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Copyright (#u10c92795-2028-5623-bcd0-026eb462cc4d)

This book is a work of non-fiction based on the author’s experiences. In order to protect privacy, names, identifying characteristics, dialogue and details have been changed or reconstructed.

HarperElement

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First published by HarperElement 2015

FIRST EDITION

© Casey Watson 2015

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015

Cover photograph © Marzena Kosicka/plainpicture (posed by model)

Casey Watson asserts the moral right to

be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record of this book

is available from the British Library

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Source ISBN: 9780007543090

Ebook Edition © June 2015 ISBN: 9780008118624

Version: 2016-10-19

By the Same Author (#u10c92795-2028-5623-bcd0-026eb462cc4d)

The Boy No One Loved

Crying for Help

Little Prisoners

Too Hurt to Stay

Mummy’s Little Helper

Just a Boy (short story)

Breaking the Silence

A Last Kiss for Mummy

Scarlett’s Secret (short story)

The Girl Without a Voice

Nowhere to Go

No Place for Nathan (short story)

Contents

Cover (#u7ff80eaf-34c0-5a6b-b920-76cc67e7fb93)

Title Page (#ulink_f5e84a65-96df-560b-983a-ef46eb5408b8)

Copyright (#ulink_edfec721-bf8d-5e16-bee1-c933d666a05d)

By the Same Author (#ulink_74565cb4-1ccf-5b71-a24e-589d50fdd406)

Dedication (#ulink_8a4a50c5-fe73-556d-a35e-f6d972191c0c)

Acknowledgements (#ulink_a5a8659f-d3a4-5965-98b7-3897c2829d43)

Chapter 1 (#ulink_d7f5d27a-5633-50e9-967d-53687d20d7eb)

Chapter 2 (#ulink_ce9ff1d0-b606-5d17-9cc7-086abb4d9ea1)

Chapter 3 (#ulink_4ae8ff41-b329-5630-9e78-ede34a37418a)

Chapter 4 (#ulink_1ec4b864-9d52-50c1-ac3b-3c1843fe8488)

Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)