Plot
Alison Payne and Bettina Clarke (Linda Lee in the reprint) are being fostered by the Frazers on a trial basis for adoption. Alison has looked after Bettina/Linda ever since she was blinded in an accident. But Bettina/Linda has secretly regained her sight and is keeping it that way until she gets rid of Alison, because she does not want to share the Frazers with her. And Bettina/Linda is going as far as animal cruelty (below) in her tricks to get rid of Alison. Bettina/Linda turns everyone against Alison, and there is even talk she should be sent to special school.
Then Bettina/Linda makes a very ironic mistake. She turns a light on while pulling another trick on Alison, while Alison distinctly remembers she had turned it off. As a blind girl would not need a light, Alison begins to suspect the truth. Further investigation confirms Alison’s suspicions, and she makes the accusation against Bettina/Linda in front of all her accusers. A doctor proves Alison’s claims that Bettina/Linda is not blind. Bettina/Linda is taken the children’s officer to be dealt with, and the Frazers adopt Alison.
Notes
- Artist: Dudley Wynne
- Originally named The Dark Secret of Blind Bettina it was renamed The Lying Eyes of Linda Lee in the reprint.
Appeared
- The Dark Secret of Blind Bettina – Mandy: #491 (12 June 1976) – #503 (04 August 1976)
- Reprinted as The Lying Eyes Of Linda Lee – Mandy: #809 (17 July 1982) – #822 (16 October 1982)
- Reprinted as The Lying Eyes of Linda Lee – Mandy: #1160 (08 April 1989) – #1173 (8 July 1989)
The Lying Eyes Of Linda Lee ran in Mandy 1160 (Apr. 8 1989) – 1173 (Jul. 8 1989). This serial should not be confused with The Lying Eyes Of Linda in Mandy 605 (Aug. 19 1978) – 618 (Nov. 18 1978), which is a different story.
Thank you.
I wonder why it had a new title in the reprint? Maybe they didn’t like the old one?
I could have sworn I saw this story printed under the Linda Lee title at an earlier date than 1989….
Yes, your memory isn’t letting you down, Mistyfan. There was an earlier printing of The Lying Eyes Of Linda Lee in Mandy 809 (Jul. 17 1982) – 822 (Oct. 16 1982). To my way of thinking this was a very curious editorial decision because it came a mere two and a half months after the end of Diana’s Dark Secret, a serial with a not dissimilar theme which ran in Mandy 786 (Feb. 6 1982) – 798 (May 1 1982).
Diana Sefton is an excellent gymnast at Linwood School despite being completely blind. She is successful because, thanks to her PE teacher, she knows in advance the exact positions of all the apparatus. She is also allowed to have her guide dog Goldie with her at all times. When she starts to cross a road correctly on a zebra crossing even though Goldie hasn’t obeyed her ‘Forward’ instruction because she has seen a lorry approaching rapidly, due to a brake failure the lorry cannot stop so Goldie gets in front of her and knocks her backwards. This saves Diana’s life but as she falls she bangs her head, and is soon aware that she can see. Realising that she will therefore have to part with Goldie, which she cannot bear to do, she decides that she will have to pretend to be blind from then on.
Her conscience troubles her throughout the deceit because she is so aware that Goldie should be helping some other blind person who might be waiting for such a wonderfully trained dog. Goldie has appeared to be making mistakes but this is because she is aware that her owner is no longer blind. When, as a consequence, Goldie is sent for retraining, Diana knows she will have to own up. On the way to the training centre Diana sees some hooligans dropping large stones off a bridge onto an old man. Diana manages to push him out of the way, banging her head in the process, but the stone crushes Goldie’s leg. As her parents come into the hospital ward to visit her she thinks they are going to give her bad news about Goldie, so when she says ”It’s bad news, isn’t it? I can see it in your faces.”, they realise she can see. However, because they think that it is the recent bang on the head that has restored her sight, she doesn’t have to admit her deceit. A vet says that Goldie’s leg will heal nicely, and Diana is allowed to keep her.
But Diana had far different reasons for faking blindnesss than Bettina/Linda and the story was quite different. So the two stories are not that similar although they both have a girl who fakes blindness.
Thank you, Derek. I was sure I caught the final episode of Linda Lee earlier than 1989.
Be interesting to see a full entry on this sometime. Bettina/Linda could well be the most evil of schemers to attempt to get rid of a foster girl.