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.⬠SI thought we⬠"!d be married.That he was a good man.But oncehe knew I was ⬠¦ was⬠⬠Julia stopped again, shaking her head and clutching the bor-rowed handkerchief tight.Joey glanced at the guards.Neither was paying them the slightest attention.His eyesflicked to Gabriel.The other man stared back at him with hooded eyes and compressed lips.But the moment their gazes locked, Gabriel turned back to Rebecca, beaming his mostcharming smile.⬠SWhat about Dora?⬠Joey asked.⬠SDoes she know?â¬Julia⬠"!s laugh was alarmingly high-pitched.⬠SOf course.Two women can⬠"!t livetogether without one knowing if the other⬠"!s monthly visitor doesn⬠"!t call.Dora gave mesix weeks to change Frank⬠"!s mind.But the day I started to show, she put me out.â¬â¬ SWhat?â¬â¬ SI⬠"!m staying at the Nautilus Hotel.It⬠"!s not terrible.Very modern.The managernever asks questions.I couldn⬠"!t be luckier.Joey,⬠Julia said suddenly, reaching acrossthe table to take his hand.⬠SWhen you⬠"!re released, you can start over.Men can dothat; they can marry and start a family at any age.When I read your letter, when I felt howgood and honest you were, I knew I had to come.To prove how lucky you are to be shut ofme.â¬Joey blinked.⬠SBollocks.â¬â¬ SWhat?⬠Julia sniffed, startled.⬠SI never heard anything so ⬠so medieval,⬠Joey said.⬠SNor so perfectly foolish.You fell in love with a man.He lied to you.Now you⬠"!re ⬠¦,⬠Joey forced his voice lower,⬠Syou⬠"!re going to have a baby.This isn⬠"!t a penny dreadful, Julia.It⬠"!s the his-tory of half the human race.⬠Squeezing her hands, Joey stared into her frightened eyes.⬠SIf you weren⬠"!t six months gone, you might have another option.It⬠"!s very clandes-tine, mind you, very secret⬠â¬â¬ SNo.⬠Julia shook her head.⬠SI wouldn⬠"!t have that on my conscience, even if itwere possible.I think perhaps God has something different in mind.That perhaps He⬠"!s⬠¦,⬠her gaze slid away, ⬠Scalling me to Him.Me and the baby.â¬â¬ SJulia.â¬Her head jerked up, shocked by the authority in Joey⬠"!s voice. ⬠SIf there is a God, which I doubt, He didn⬠"!t do this to you.And the last thing Hewants is for a healthy young woman to give up her life before it⬠"!s begun.If we concen-trate,⬠Joey said more gently, still holding her hand, ⬠Swe can devise a plan.A way foryou to go forward.â¬â¬ SI won⬠"!t go home to my mother,⬠Julia said defiantly.⬠SDora wrote her a letter.I⬠"!ll throw myself off a roof before I face Mum now.Besides, the village turned on you,Joey.I despise them for it, I always will.â¬â¬ SJulia.Did you tell everyone we were finished?â¬She shook her head.⬠SDo they understand Wentworth⬠"!s rules? That you couldn⬠"!t even visit beforenow?â¬â¬ SNo.â¬Joey leaned back in his chair, thinking hard.⬠SRight.First.Go to the guard.Ask for apen and paper.Write down your address and telephone exchange for me.And I may not beable to contact you directly, so be sure to accept any message from Wentworth.â¬* * *Joey and Gabriel ate supper in uncharacteristic silence.The meal was enlivened only byLonnie, who seemed uncomfortable when more than a minute ticked by without someonespeaking.The meal was fish fingers, macaroni and cheese, prompting Lonnie to compose apoem that rhymed ⬠SJoey Cooper⬠with ⬠Stasty grouper.⬠When Gabriel ignored that,Lonnie challenged him to arm wrestling, struggling comically against Gabriel⬠"!s mostgentle pressure.By the time Joey and Gabriel returned to their unlocked cell, the unspokentension had mostly dissipated.Then Joey opened their small cupboard and drew out his copyof the Wentworth Prisoners⬠"! Handbook.Until now he⬠"!d refused to read it, believingthat the moment he did, he accepted his lot.But suppose it contained the answers heneeded?Joey read until lights out, plowing through page after page without any luck.The hand-book was haphazardly organized, Wentworth⬠"!s rules and regulations enumerated in theorder the authors remembered them.Once they were plunged into darkness, Joey consideredasking Gabriel for the electric torch, then thought better of it.Gabriel hadn⬠"!t enjoyed see-ing Joey with Julia.And Joey hadn⬠"!t liked watching Gabriel flirt with Rebecca Eisenberg.Demanding use of the torch would be asking for a fight.⬠SWell?⬠Gabriel demanded, already stripped and stretched out on the bottom bunk.⬠SWell, what?⬠Joey shrugged out of his shirt.His pajamas remained folded in thecupboard; he never bothered with them anymore. ⬠SWhat act of God or man prompted you to crack the handbook?â¬â¬ SI was wondering.⬠Joey stepped out of his trousers.Peeling off his shorts, he slid in-to Gabriel⬠"!s warm, hard embrace, closing his eyes as the other man kissed him.⬠SWondering what?â¬Joey pulled back, squinting as he tried to see Gabriel⬠"!s face in the gloom.⬠SIf thegovernor would allow me to get married.â¬* * *It took considerable effort to secure permission, but Joey was determined.First he peti-tioned the lieutenant governor, then Wentworth⬠"!s chaplain, then Governor Sandersonhimself, who initially declined to see Joey.It was Gabriel⬠"!s suggestion ⬠dropping thename Rebecca Eisenberg ⬠that turned the tide.Her organization British Women for PrisonReform was always looking into prisoner complaints, bombarding the Home Office with let-ters, phone calls, and threats of legal action.Governor Sanderson was already fighting Re-becca on two fronts: ⬠Sslopping out⬠and corporal punishment.He was in no hurry to adda third.⬠SYou understand this is most irregular,⬠Governor Sanderson began.A big, bullishman with salt-and-pepper hair, he was the sort whose coat and tie always looked rumpled,even at ten in the morning.⬠SI do
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