Angels with Dirty Faces: Five Inspiring Stories

Angels with Dirty Faces: Five Inspiring Stories
Casey Watson

Collection of 5 short stories – The Little Princess, No Place for Nathan, Daddy’s Boy, The Wild Child and Scarlett’s Secret – previously available as individual e-shorts.A collection of inspiring and moving real life short stories from foster carer and New York Times bestselling author Casey Watson.Darby, whose parents keep her locked in her bedroom, and who arrives pale and terrified one Christmas Eve.Nathan, who lives with his cruel, violent father, and no longer knows who he is.Paulie, just five, who’s been rejected by his mother, and accused of a sickening crime.Connor, who, at only eight years of age, is delivered to the Watsons in a secure prison van.Scarlett, who, along with her twin sister, Jade, carries the weight of a devastating secret.

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Copyright (#u58d0e834-c290-5515-ae91-c3ade3fea809)

These books are works 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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The Little Princess first published by HarperElement 2016

No Place for Nathan first published by HarperElement 2014

Daddy’s Boy first published by HarperElement 2016

The Wild Child first published by HarperElement 2015

Scarlett’s Secret first published by HarperElement 2014

This collection first published by HarperElement 2017

FIRST EDITION

© Casey Watson 2016, 2014, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2017

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2017

Cover photograph © Shutterstock.com

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Casey Watson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

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Source ISBNs: 9780008142711; 9780007543106; 9780008142704; 9780007543113; 9780007544202

Ebook Edition © November 2017 ISBN: 9780008274771

Version: 2018-01-17

Contents

Cover (#uea3cdafd-d99a-5644-a6ae-2c667fdef13d)

Title Page (#u8a3913b1-b0df-5222-81f7-f57ad83c073f)

Copyright (#u5e94d53d-54d8-5cc0-bb6e-b808d77fedb5)

Introduction (#ub445e2d2-daab-59d8-bba0-27e3e3d63d6d)

The Little Princess (#u92779de6-1f3d-5003-b704-825825778a60)

No Place for Nathan (#litres_trial_promo)

Daddy’s Boy (#litres_trial_promo)

The Wild Child (#litres_trial_promo)

Scarlett’s Secret (#litres_trial_promo)

Casey Watson (#litres_trial_promo)

Moving Memoirs eNewsletter (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Introduction (#u58d0e834-c290-5515-ae91-c3ade3fea809)

Dear readers,

I’m excited to share with you a collection of short stories about some of the children who have briefly passed through our lives yet left a lasting impression. Although Mike and I are specialist carers, and ideally are meant to look after children for much longer periods of resettling, we are often asked to take in emergency or short-term children in between placements. We love doing this, of course, and through it we have met some delightful new people, both of the little variety (the children) and the larger kind (social workers and new teams of staff), whom we otherwise wouldn’t have met.

These shorter placements can bring a feeling of achievement, when we’ve been able to play some part in helping a particular young person in need, but they can often leave us feeling sad and discontented that we’ve only been a stop-gap, a stepping stone on a much longer journey that we won’t be part of. That, unfortunately, is the nature of the beast, and we are well aware that fostering doesn’t always guarantee a happy ending. But it doesn’t stop us from hoping and trying.

When I was a small child I remember watching a James Cagney film with my grandmother called Angels with Dirty Faces. That film – and the morals behind it – have always stayed with me; the idea that circumstances determine what will become of us and our ability to change lives. I often think of our foster children as angels with dirty faces, and although I am neither a racketeer nor a priest, I like to think that I can play a small role in helping these kids move on to lead stable, happy lives.

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Chapter 1

It was the Sunday before Christmas. Almost my favourite time of year. Actually, in some ways my most favourite time of year, because it was the date of our annual family pre-Christmas dinner – or my practice run, as my son Kieron had always called it. Which was just like the main one, only in lots of ways nicer, as it involved all the fun without any of the stress, plus the anticipation of Christmas proper still to come.

Well, to my mind, at any rate. I should have known better than to mention it to my ever-loving husband Mike. ‘More like a prelude to a nightmare,’ he quipped, ‘with this gaggle of little monsters around. Look at them. If this level of mania is anything to go by, heaven help us when we get to the actual day!’