On the afternoon that Sarah’s daughters were taken away from her, they had been due to go to a paddling-pool(戏水池，浅水池) party. It was July 2020 and, with the easing(放宽，缓解) of lockdown restrictions in England, the girls – then nine and six – were excited about seeing their friends again after months apart. Sarah had just bought them matching swimsuits: blue with sequin(亮片，闪光装饰片) unicorns.
萨拉的女儿们被带走的那天下午，她们本要去参加一个戏水池派对。那是2020年7月，英格兰的封锁限制正在放宽，两个女孩——当时一个九岁、一个六岁——因为能与分别数月的朋友们重逢而兴奋不已。萨拉刚给她们买了一模一样的泳衣：蓝色，上面印着亮片独角兽。
But the girls never made it to the party. Three days before, Sarah had received a call from her solicitor(事务律师，初级律师). “I could not comprehend(理解，领会) what I was hearing,” she says. “My legs started shaking.” Her solicitor explained that she had been called a “narcissist(自恋者，自恋型人格者)” in evidence presented to the family court, which claimed she was an immediate danger to herself and her children. Both of her girls could be removed from her with immediate effect(立即生效).
但女孩们终究没能去成那个派对。三天前，萨拉接到律师的电话。“我无法理解自己听到的一切，”她说，“我的双腿开始发抖。”律师解释说，有人向家事法庭提交的证词中称她是“自恋者”，并声称她对自身和孩子构成迫在眉睫的危险。她的两个女儿可能被立即从她身边带走。
“I kept saying to him: ‘It makes no sense.’” Sarah had committed no crime. Her children’s social worker(社工，社会工作者)s, teachers and other professionals with whom they were in contact had seen no problem with her parenting(育儿，养育方式). The girls had spent lockdown with their mother “doing maths and fishing for tadpole(蝌蚪)s. They were safe and happy.”
“我一直在对他说：‘这根本说不通。’”萨拉没有犯任何罪。她孩子的社工、老师以及其他与她们有接触的专业人士，都看不出她的育儿方式有任何问题。两个女孩和母亲一起度过了封锁期，“做数学题、捞蝌蚪。她们安全又快乐。”