Had an idea for a new story so decided to start writing it. First got the idea from the Rachel/Lindsay storyline but I've changed it loads and the characters aren't based on Lindsay and Emily.

Chapter 1

It was a Thursday morning and Rachel had just come out of a meeting and was on her way back to her office to get on with a bit of work.

She started her laptop up and started checking through her emails that were stacking up.

After replying to a few she read one from Tom telling informing her about a year 11 pupil who had arrived late to registration for the fourth time this week.

Over the years that the girl, Poppy James, had been there Rachel had built up a really good relationship with her and had grown really fond of the girl. So when she read the email she decided to have a little chat with Poppy, just to make sure everything was okay.

After checking the rest of the emails she looked up Poppy's timetable before making her way down to her maths classroom.

Rachel knocked on the door before going into Eddie's classroom. She looked through the window and saw them all getting on with their work.

"Sorry to interrupt Mr Lawson, can I just ask for Poppy James to come up to my office at break time"

Poppy nodded her head and gave a small smile. She wondered what it was Miss Mason wanted; she really hoped she wasn't picking up on the signs that things weren't very good at home.

When Rachel was on her way back from her office she bumped into Amy James, Poppy's sister, as she went around the corner.

"Sorry Amy, I was miles away" Rachel said but when she looked at Amy's face she realised she had tears rolling down her cheeks

"What's happened?" Rachel asked

"Nothing, I'm just going to the toilet miss"

"Your face suggests it's not nothing somehow, why don't you come up to my office for a little chat?"

"There's nothing the matter really, honestly"

"Even so you can come with me for a little bit, I think I've got some chocolate biscuits up in my office"

Amy sighed before following her head teacher up to her office.

"Take a seat love"

Amy went and sat on the sofa and Rachel closed her office door before grabbing the pack of biscuits that was on the table in there.

She took a seat next to Amy and offered her a biscuit

Amy smiled before taking one. Rachel hadn't had many encounters with Amy in the few months since she started in year 7 but she'd always thought of her as a very friendly and polite girl and quite quiet.

"Now do you fancy telling me why you were upset?" Rachel asked and Amy shook her head

"No not want to tell me. Okay well you know anything you told me I wouldn't tell anyone else it would just be between me and you"

"It doesn't matter, I'll be fine now"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah I was just being silly"

Rachel wasn't entirely convinced but she didn't want to push Amy into telling her anything she didn't want to.

"Okay, you know my office door is always open though if you do want a little chat"

Amy stayed up with Rachel for a few more minutes before returning to her class.

The bell soon went for break time and it didn't take long for Poppy to get up to Rachel's office. She knocked on the door and was soon told to come in by Rachel.

"Hi Poppy, take a seat" Rachel said smiling

Poppy took her bag off her shoulder as she took a seat at Rachel's desk

"What was it you wanted to see me about Miss?"

"I just wanted to check you're okay really, you've been late every morning this week so I just wanted to make sure everything's okay at home"

"Everything's fine" Poppy snapped but immediately she regretted it "sorry I just keep oversleeping that's all"

"Are you sure there's nothing more to it than that? Because you know you can talk to me if there is something going on" Rachel said. Poppy had always found Rachel a really easy person to talk to in the past, so Rachel hoped that hadn't changed now

"Honestly, I'm fine Miss"

"Okay, and what about Amy? I found her in tears this morning but she wouldn't say what was wrong"

"She cries all the time, she is 11"

Rachel thought this was a fair point as she knew that girls in the younger years could get all upset over the last smallest of things, however she couldn't help but think there was something going on that neither girls were telling her.

"Thanks for coming up to see me, just try and make sure you get into school on time from now on"

"I'll try"

Poppy picked up her bag and got up off the chair and went to the door

"Bye Miss"

"Have a good day"

Poppy was just walking down the stairs to go and find some of her friends when she felt her phone vibrating in her bag. When she got it out however she realised it was actually her Mum's phone and it was her younger sister's primary school calling.

Poppy sighed before going round the corner where it was a bit quieter and then answering the phone.

"Hello"

"Hi it's Mrs Jones, Lucy's teacher"

"Is everything okay?" Poppy asked sounding worried

It wasn't until after Poppy had said this that Lucy's teacher had realised it wasn't Lucy's Mum on the phone

"Sorry can I ask who I'm speaking to?"

"Sorry, its Poppy Lucy's sister"

"Right, can I speak to your Mum please?"

"She's gone out for the day but she's forgotten to take her phone, is everything okay with Lucy?"

"Well she's been complaining of not feeling very well all morning and she's just been sick, so she needs to be collected really, is there anyone around that can pick her up?"

"Yeah I'll come now, I'll be there as soon as I can"

Poppy put her phone back in her bag thinking about how she was going to get out of school without anyone seeing her. She'd only ever done it once with a group of friends, and they got caught so she never did it again.

Poppy went outside and hovered for a few minutes and when she was sure there were no teachers looking quickly made her way to the school gate and walked out of it.

Poppy felt really guilty for doing this but it wasn't like she really had any other choice.

Unluckily for Poppy, Rachel had seen her walking out of school through the office window. This was so unlike Poppy so Rachel knew there must be something going on now.

Rachel put on her coat and grabbed her car keys before going and getting into her Audi TT.

She drove and it didn't take her long to catch up with Poppy.

Rachel pulled up beside Poppy and rolled the window down.

Poppy couldn't believe her luck when she saw Rachel beside her, she didn't know what she was going to do now.

"Care to explain what you're doing?" Rachel asked raising her eyebrows

"I have a doctors appointment"

"You know you're not allowed to just sign yourself out, where's your Mum?"

"She's at work but she wrote me a note so the lady at reception let me go"

Poppy really didn't know why she was lying, she was just getting herself into more trouble

"Let me see your slip then"

Poppy just looked at the ground not knowing what to say

"You didn't even sign out did you? Get in the car we'll talk about this back at school"

"No I really need to go"

"You know I can't just let you walk off, come on get in"

Poppy got in the car next to Rachel and looked at her

"Miss I can't go back to school because I have to go and pick my little sister up"

"Poppy why do you keep lying to me? I'm trying to help you"

"It's not a lie I really do need to pick her up, she's not very well and Mum's not around"

"Where's your Mum?"

"She's urmm, she's gone on holiday so I've been looking after Amy and Lucy while she's been away. That's why I've been late to school all week"

"Your Mum's just left you? She can't do that you'er still just a child yourself"

"Well she did" Poppy said looking away from Rachel as tears filled her eyes

This time Rachel did believe what Poppy was saying so realised they'd need to go and pick Lucy up.

"Right what Primary school does your sister go to?"

"Heybrook"

Rachel started the car up and starting driving

"Aren't we going back to school?"

"No we can hardly leave your sister at school when she's poorly can we?"

"Well what are we going to do once we've picked her up?"

"I suppose she'll have to come and stay with me up in my office"

"You can't do that, I'll just have to take her home"

"No I'm definitely not having your missing school, is there no-one around that can look after you? No family or anyone?"

"No, we've never even met any of Mum's family apparently when Mum got pregnant with me they didn't want anything to do with us"

"Well we don't really have any other option then do we?"

When they got to the primary school Poppy and Rachel got out and went into reception. Luckily Poppy used to go to the same primary school so they knew who she was and there wasn't a problem signing her out.

Rachel saw Lucy sat on the sofa in reception, and she looked just like Poppy and Amy too with her brown, curly hair.

Once Poppy had signed Lucy out the three of them walked back to the car. Poppy was holding Lucy's hand

"Poppy" Lucy said quietly

"Yeah"

"Who is that?"

"Miss Mason my head teacher, she's going to look after you today while I have my lessons"

"Is she nice?"

"Very"

Rachel had heard this and couldn't help but smile a little bit.

"How are you feeling now Lucy?" Rachel asked gently once they were back in the car

"I still feel poorly"

"Oh dear, well maybe when we get to my office you could try and have a little sleep that might make you feel better"

Lucy was feeling quite nervous, she always was around new people, however Rachel did seem really nice.

Once they got back to school the three of them went up to Rachel's office and got Lucy settled.

Rachel then wrote Poppy a note explaining why she was late.

"Okay Poppy, you can get to your lessons now"

Rachel could see Poppy was worried about leaving her sister, but she didn't want her missing out on any school work at such an important time in her life.

"Okay, can I come back and see her at lunchtime?"

"Of course you can"

Once Poppy had left Rachel went and sat down on the sofa next to Lucy.

"Do you want to try and have a little sleep?"

"Okay"

Lucy started to lie down and Rachel placed a cushion under her head.

"I'm going to get on with some work at my desk, just shout if you want anything though"

Lucy tried her eyes to try to go to sleep, however she was starting to feel really sick again.

The longer Lucy was lying there the worst she was feeling. She knew she should probably tell Rachel because she thought she was going to be sick, however she was too embarrassed to say anything.

Lucy suddenly sat up and started being sick all down herself and the sofa. Rachel rushed over to her with the bin and then rubbed Lucy's back whilst she continued to be sick.

Once she'd finished Lucy immediately burst into tears, partly because she felt poorly and partly because she felt so embarrassed.

"I'm really sorry" Lucy cried

"It's okay love it's not your fault. Stand up and I'll get you out of those dirty things"

Lucy had a little pinafore on so Rachel took that off and luckily her tights, cardigan and polo shirt were all still clean.

"You can just wear that can't you?"

"What about when we go outside though?"

"I'll tell you what I'll give you my cardigan to wrap around your waist"

Rachel took Lucy to the staff toilets so she could wash her hands and face before going back to the office.

Now that Lucy had been sick she was feeling a lot better so sat at the table in Rachel's office and started to draw a picture.

Time was passing really quickly and it was nearly lunchtime. Rachel was thinking about taking Lucy out for a little walk so she could get some fresh air before everyone was out of their lessons.

Just as she was about to stand up there was a knock at the door.

"Yeah come in" Rachel shouted

The door opened and a policeman came in.

"Can I help you with something?" Rachel asked politely

"We've got some news, it may be better if we were alone though" the policeman said looking at Lucy

"I'll be back in a minute Lucy" Rachel said before walking out of her office with the policeman and closing the door

Rachel noticed the policeman had quite a serious expression so was feeling a bit worried about what he was going to say.

"I'm afraid to tell you that earlier this morning a woman's body was found in the canal, and we think it's the Mum of a couple of your students"

"Oh god, who is it?" Rachel asked sounding really shocked

"Sharon James, we believe her daughters Poppy and Amy attend Waterloo Road"

"They do" Rachel said taking a seat

It was obvious from this morning's events that Poppy and Amy were having problems at home but nothing could have prepared Rachel for this. She felt truly sorry for all three of the girls.

"Obviously we know it's going to be a massive shock for the girls, so we're hoping a familiar face can be there when we tell them"

"Yes of course, I'll be there. I'll get the girls come up now. Lucy's just through there in the office"

The policeman looked a bit confused about this but didn't ask anything of it.

Rachel got Bridget to fetch the girls from their lesson before going back into her office with the policeman.

"Can I get you a drink of anything?"

"No I'm fine thank you"

Rachel could see Lucy looking a bit confused about what was going on so went and sat down by her at the table.

"Poppy and Amy are on their way up here, and then we've got something we need to tell you"

"What is it?"

"You'll find out in a minute"

Poppy and Amy both came up to Rachel's office about five minutes later wondering what was going on.

"What's going on miss?" Poppy asked when she saw the policeman

"Take a seat girls" Rachel said

Poppy and Amy went and sat down either side of Lucy who was now sat back on the sofa.

"I'm afraid to tell you… urmm… well the thing is" the policeman began however he was clearly struggling to get the words out so Rachel decided to take over

She crouched down in front of them and then just said it

"Your Mum passed away this morning"

Amy and Lucy immediately both burst into tears but Poppy didn't show any emotion.

"Does that mean we'll never see Mummy again?" Lucy asked

"I'm afraid so" Rachel said placing her hands on the top of Amy and Lucy's legs.

"How?" Poppy asked "How did she die?"

"She urmm, she was found in the canal but they don't know how it happened"

Poppy had a pretty good idea of what she thought probably happened but she didn't want to say anything in front of her little sisters, the last thing she wanted to do was upset them even more.

Seeing the girls so upset brought tears to Rachel's own eyes.

They stayed in there for a few more minutes before Rachel decided to give them just a little bit of space to try to come to terms with what they'd just been told.

"So what happens next?" Rachel asked the policeman once they'd stepped outside

"Well social services will be contacted and I guess they'll have to go into care"

"That's the last thing those girls need, have they really got no-one else? No family or anything"

"Not that we're aware of, I'll urmm, I'll give them a call now so we can get things sorted as soon as possible"

"No don't"

"We don't really have any other option Miss Mason"

"They can come home with me tonight, and then I'll give social services a ring in the morning. Even if it's only their head teacher, I think they should be with someone they know tonight"

"If you're sure"

"I'm sure"

"Okay, and we'll let you know once we found out the cause of Mrs James' death"

Rachel looked through the window to her office and saw the three girls cuddling up together. She knew how they must be feeling and knew they definitely had a tough time ahead.

Lunchtime had just begun and Rachel had completely forgot about the little meeting she was meant to be having with Kim until she came up.

"Oh Kim I completely forgot after everything that's gone on"

"Why what's happened?"

"Poppy and Amy James' Mum was found in the canal this morning"

Kim took a seat after hearing this

"Have you told the girls?"

"Yeah they're in the office now, they have absolutely no-one Kim" Rachel said running her hand through her hair

"They've got us"

"I mean at home"

"Will they have to go into care then?"

"I guess, they're coming back with me tonight, well if they're happy to, I just hate the thought of them being taken into care you know?"

"There's not really anything we can do though"

"I don't know" Rachel sighed

"If you want to take them home now, I'm happy to watch over things until the end of the day"

"Are you sure Kim?"

"Yeah sure, go home and get them settled"

"Thanks Kim, just phone me if there's any problems though yeah?"

"Of course"

Rachel went back into the office and explained what was going on. It was all feeling a bit surreal for her, so she was sure it must be for them too.

"You know you really don't have to do this, we're not your problem"

"You're my pupils so of course you're my problem, I'm hardly going to turn my back on you when you need me most am I?"

Rachel was worried over the fact that Poppy still hadn't cried. She knew she must be hurting.

Poppy took hold of Lucy's hand as they walked through the corridors, as it was lunchtime now so there were pupils everywhere.

"Right, we'll go back to your house so you can all get some stuff, and then we can go to my house" Rachel said once they got in the car. Rachel knew where they lived as she'd dropped Poppy home a few times before.

The three girls were really quiet the whole way to their house, Rachel was just letting them be as she knew they didn't want anyone trying to talk to them.

Poppy got her keys out of her bag and let them all in.

"Shall I help you get some of your things together Lucy?" Rachel asked

"Yes please"

"Okay, let's go to your bedroom then"

Rachel followed Lucy up to her bedroom, Poppy and Amy went up too.

"How much stuff should we pack?" Amy asked

"Pack enough for a few days, you can come back at another time to pack up the rest"

Poppy and Amy went into the bedroom they shared to pack some stuff.

Once they were gone Rachel turned her attention to Lucy who was now sat on her bed with tears rolling down her cheeks.

Rachel saw this so went and sat down next to her.

"So are we not going to live here anymore?" Lucy asked

"No, I'm afraid not?"

"Why?"

Lucy was still really young so she didn't really understand what was going on.

"Because you're going to be moving to a new house, because there's nobody in this house anymore that can take care of you"

"What about Poppy?"

"She's not old enough, she's still a child herself really"

"But I don't want to go"

"I know you don't" Rachel said, she lifted the girl onto her knee and rubbed her back while she continued to cry as she didn't know what else to say

After a while Lucy had calmed down a bit so Rachel took her off her knee and started to pack her up a few things.

She asked Lucy what she wanted to bring but Lucy just shrugged her shoulders, so she decided to just pack her up some stuff that she thought she'd like.

After getting Lucy changed into some clean clothes Rachel was searching around for a bag to put it all in when Amy came in with her bag of stuff.

"Got everything?"

"I think so"

"Where's Poppy?"

"I think she's in the loo"

Rachel found a bag and put the stuff in.

"Shall we go downstairs and wait for your sister then?"

Rachel took hold of Lucy's hand and started to walk downstairs.

When they were on the landing Rachel heard sobs coming from the bathroom, although it was obvious Poppy was trying to not be heard.

"You two go on down and wait downstairs, I'll be down in a sec"

Amy and Lucy did as Rachel said, so Rachel went over and knocked on the bathroom door

"Poppy are you alright in there?"

"Yep I'll be out in a sec"

"Okay"

Poppy presumed that Rachel had gone downstairs so just let the tears fall down her face.

Rachel waited for a few more minutes, but she hated hearing her so upset on her own so knocked on the door again.

"Come out a second Poppy"

Poppy tried her hardest to stop crying and then wiped her eyes before stepping out of the bathroom.

"I'm so sorry you're having to go through all of this"

"It's hardly your fault" Poppy said but then she burst into tears again

Rachel immediately pulled the girl into her chest.

She knew there was nothing she could say to make her feel better, so she just held her while she cried.

Once Poppy had calmed down a bit they went downstairs where Lucy and Amy were sat on the stairs.

"Come on then, let's go"

They got back in the car and drove to Rachel's.

The girls were all really nervous when they got there, it just felt so weird for Amy and Poppy being in there head teacher's house.

"Make yourselves at home girls, shall I put the TV on for you?"

The three of them perched on the sofa so Rachel flicked the TV on and then passed the remote to Poppy.

"Put whatever you like on" Rachel said "How are you feeling now Lucy?"

With everything going on Rachel had completely forgotten about Lucy being poorly, but Lucy definitely had more colour in her cheeks than when Rachel had seen her earlier.

"Better, I feel hungry now"

"I'll get you some dry toast then, what do you two want for lunch?"

"'I'm not hungry" Poppy replied

"I'm not either" Amy said

"Well I think you should eat something, how about I make some sandwiches"

"Okay"

Rachel went into the kitchen to get them all a bit of lunch before carrying it back into the girls. They had the TV on but none of them were really watching it.

Lucy managed to eat the toast; Amy and Poppy didn't eat very much but it was better than nothing.

After they'd eaten Rachel decided to show them around just so they knew where everything was. She showed them where they could sleep, and they decided to go in a room each.

Amy and Poppy both wanted a bit of time on their own so stayed upstairs but Rachel went back down with Lucy.

Rachel could tell how shy and nervous Lucy was, so Rachel was trying to make her feel more relaxed.

Rachel put a film on that they could both watch before going and sitting on the sofa next to Lucy.

Lucy was sitting there but she was bursting for the toilet, however she felt too embarrassed to say anything so she just started jigging her legs.

Rachel turned around and noticed her looking uncomfortable.

"You can go to the loo whenever you need to" Rachel said smiling

Lucy didn't say anything, she just jumped off the sofa and practically ran to the toilet.

When she got back she sat down next to Rachel and continued to watch the film.

She wasn't really concentrating on it properly though, she just thinking about her Mum and before she knew it she was crying again.

As soon as Rachel realised this she put the little girl on her lap.

"I don't mean to keep crying" Lucy sobbed

"It's only to be expected, crying is a good thing you know it helps you to feel better when you're sad"

"Poppy always calls me a cry baby though"

"She doesn't mean it"

The day passed really slowly for them all. Although the girls were still really quiet they definitely seemed more comfortable being at Rachel's house than they did when they first arrived.

Lucy had been sick again in the afternoon so Rachel thought it best she didn't have any tea. She'd made some pasta for herself and the other two girls so they were at the table eating that, while Lucy was laying down on the sofa.

Once they'd finished Rachel put their plates in the dishwasher before going into check on Lucy. When she walked into the lounge she saw Lucy had fallen asleep on the sofa; she looked really cute.

Rachel felt bad waking her, but she knew she'd be comfier in bed.

"I want to go back to sleep" Lucy said sleepily

"You can in a minute, you'll be comfier in bed though so come on let's take you up"

Rachel picked her up and Lucy rested her head on Rachel's shoulder while they walked upstairs.

"Do you fancy a little bath before you go to bed?" Rachel asked and Lucy nodded so Rachel carried her into the bathroom

Rachel ran her a bath with lots of bubbles. Once it was ready she helped Lucy out of her clothes and into the bath.

They were both in their own worlds as Lucy was in the bath. Rachel felt so worried about the girls and what was going to happen to them.

After her bath Rachel lifted Lucy out and wrapped a towel around her before carrying her into the bedroom she was sleeping in, the one just next to Rachel's.

Lucy couldn't stop yawning. It was only 6:30 but Rachel knew she must be shattered after everything that had happened today, especially with not feeling very well.

She helped Lucy to change into her pyjamas and then got her sorted for bed.

Once she was in bed Rachel sat down next to her.

"If you wake up and you're feeling upset or you want a cuddle don't be afraid to come and find me, you know where my bedroom is and if I'm not in there I'll probably be downstairs still"

"Okay"

Rachel stayed with Lucy until she fell back to sleep and then quietly walked out of her bedroom.

She went downstairs where Amy and Poppy were

"I've just given your sister a bath and put her to bed, do either of you fancy a bath?"

They both shook their head

"Are you sure? I'll run it for you and put lots of bubbles in"

"Actually please can I have a bath?" Amy asked

"Of course you can, shall I run it for you now?"

"Yes please"

Rachel went upstairs with Amy and got her bath run. Once it was done she left Amy to it and went back down and sat with Poppy.

There was something she wanted to talk to Poppy about on her own. She hadn't stopped thinking about it all day.

Rachel thought that the girls could come and live with her. She'd been approved as a foster carer anyway, and she really wanted to be there for the girls to help them through this. The only thing was she didn't know how Poppy and Amy would feel about living with their head teacher.

"Poppy I want to talk to you about something"

"What is it?"

"Well, I was just wondering how you would feel about coming to live with me. I know it might seem a bit weird to start with, but I really would like to help you"

"You've already done so much for us, you really don't have to"

"But I want to Poppy"

"Are you not just saying that?"

Rachel took one of Poppy's hands and held it.

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't want to, the three of you are such lovely girls and I really just want you to be happy. But obviously I do understand if you don't want to"

"Are you sure though Miss?"

"Yep, so what do you think?"

"We'd love to"

"Okay, well I'll give social services a ring tomorrow and see what they say, but I don't think they'll have any problems"

All of this made Poppy cry again, she was just feeling so emotional today with everything that was going on.

Rachel moved a bit closer to Poppy and wrapped her arm around her.

"Everything's going to be fine in the end, I promise I'll make everything better"