ANITA WALLER

Prologue

 

Once upon a time there were three sisters, Rose, Violet and Lavender; a fairytale beginning was always there for the three girls but it was never destined to be a fairytale ending.

Rose was the eldest of the three girls, born on the 16 March 1959 to doting parents Flora and Alan Paulson. They adored the tiny girl and thought hard before naming her. Using the mother’s name of Flora and the grandmother’s name of Iris as an influence they agreed on Rose and thus unwittingly started their first family tradition. Rose mirrored her name exactly. She had dark brown hair with a typical pale English complexion and huge brown eyes; she was a true beauty who charmed everyone she came into contact with.

And then early in 1962 Flora discovered she was pregnant once more. They were delighted; two children had been their decision when they married and Flora hoped this child would be the boy she longed for. Their second child was born on 3 November 1962 and it mattered not one iota that it was another girl; they loved her just as much as they loved her big sister Rose. They named her Violet and she was very much like Rose in appearance with her dark brown hair and big brown eyes.

Rose and Violet shared an idyllic childhood living in Castleton, Derbyshire. They lacked for nothing, they were loved and they loved each other.

However, Christmas 1972 was not a happy time. Flora spent almost the entire Christmas period ill in bed and when she finally dragged herself off to the doctors in mid January he confirmed that she was pregnant. The two girls were delighted, Flora and Alan not so much so.

The pregnancy was difficult; this came as something of a shock to Flora who had happily sailed through her first two. She convinced herself that it was a boy this time and when she went into bootees into hospital with her.labour on 6 August 1973 she took a pair of blue

When she arrived home six days later with the new baby she swapped them for pink ones. Lavender entered their lives with gusto.

The blonde haired beautiful whirlwind took no prisoners; everyone adored her and when she fastened her startling blue eyes on anyone they simply did as she demanded.

Rose and Violet both left home at various points to continue their education at university and Lavender was left to keep her parents young and her grandparents, Robert and Iris Paulson on their toes in their later years.

By 1991, Rose, at thirty-two years of age, had become a teacher at the small primary school in Castleton, Violet, three years younger, became a translator and lived in Paris.

Lavender, the youngest, was dead.