Marie-Louise Jensen

A father I’ve never met, I think bitterly. A wild goose chase. Wasting a fortune going to find a father who doesn’t know I exist and might not welcome me when he does. I can’t help thinking if my father had wanted to, he could have returned years ago. Besides, how can I do a journey like that alone? I’m sixteen, and I’ve never left Grimsby. The very thought is terrifying.

But Mother’s eyes beg me, desperate. Silent tears trickle down her cheeks. I drop to my knees and take her hands in mine.

‘Mother, I promise to go to Denmark and look for my father if that’s what you wish me to do. I swear it to you if that will comfort you. But surely there is more than enough money here for the journey. Please, please let me get a doctor.’

Her face is set and stubborn. She won’t give in now. And I’ve made a promise I must keep. My mother grows more peaceful.

It doesn’t last, however. By the early hours of the morning she’s no longer able to bear the pain. She is writhing and twisting in the bed, unable to make a sound, wild-eyed and sweat-drenched. I can’t watch her suffer like this.