‘Are you happy to live that way? Can you see a future where you put up with what he has become every single day?’
Ruby looked at her friend with tears in her eyes. ‘You’ve certainly given me food for thought. In a way, I’ve just got on with things moving here. Apart from losing Sarah, I focused on the house, George’s happiness and my job. Eddie has not been a priority. Do you know, in my heart of hearts I’ve blanked what he has become – but something’s got to change, hasn’t it?’ She ran her fingers through her dark brown hair in frustration.
‘Your married life only has to change if you think it should. If you are happy with the way things are, then let sleeping dogs lie. Many women turn a blind eye to what their husbands get up to – that’s if they’ve picked the wrong one.’
A fleeting smile crossed Ruby’s face as she thought of the man she’d married. ‘Eddie certainly isn’t the same as he was six years ago, but you could just as easily say I’m not the same woman. We all change, don’t we?’
‘I like to think that overall people change for the good, not the bad. Speaking of which, I can hear movement upstairs. Do you want me to stay or go?’
Ruby listened for a moment. ‘That’s Mum coming down. I told her to stay in bed to rest after her experience yesterday. She was quite shaken up with what happened.’
Stella greeted Milly as she hobbled into the room. ‘Hello, Mrs Tomkins, how are you feeling today? I heard you had a bit of a fall?’
‘Bad news travels fast,’ Milly grumbled as she checked the teapot, not even noticing it was a replacement for the one broken yesterday. ‘If you must know, I’m not feeling so good. I can hardly walk on this leg, and it will probably never be the same again.’
‘Oh dear,’ Stella said, avoiding looking at Ruby, as she knew she would smile at the woman’s dramatic words. ‘I’ll make a fresh pot, then I’ll help you bring in the laundry, Ruby. It’s a good drying day.’
‘It’s unlucky to hang out washing on the Sabbath,’ Milly pointed out. ‘Something bad will happen, you mark my words.’
‘Oh, Mum. It’s just one of those old wives’ tales. Monday is not convenient for me to do the laundry as I’m working, as well you know. You are getting as bad as her next door, telling me I’ll upset God by hanging out my smalls on the Lord’s day,’ Ruby laughed.
Milly sniffed. ‘As you know, the Tomkins don’t hold with church and all that, so I can’t say what God likes and what he doesn’t. All I’m saying is it’s unlucky.’
‘Didn’t you say you married in church, Ruby?’ Stella asked, as she returned from putting the kettle on the hob.
‘I insisted on it,’ Milly butted in, crossing her arms over her chest. ‘It is good to have a wedding people can remember, and we had a wonderful do after Ruby and Eddie’s nuptials. People still talk about that party.’
‘I think Stella meant the church part, Mum.’
‘You’ve got to get married somewhere,’ Milly huffed at her daughter. ‘What’s this got to do with you hanging out your washing on a Sunday? All I said was it shouldn’t be done as it’s unlucky.’
The two women laughed at Milly’s confused look. ‘You could always do the washing yourself,’ Ruby suggested. ‘It would help me a lot if you did. There’s a fair amount with four people living in the house.’
‘I’d like nothing more than to help out, but with my dodgy ticker and now my bad leg I’m not even sure if I’m up to going back to my bit of a job at the Prince of Wales.’
Ruby felt her heart drop into her boots. ‘Please don’t say that, Mum. What with Eddie . . .’
‘Gone, has he?’ Milly’s bird-like eyes glistened with joy. ‘I thought he might once I’d given him what for.’
‘You’re jumping the gun, Mum. Eddie is still upstairs in bed, no doubt sleeping off yesterday’s booze, along with the crack on the head you gave him with our teapot. I’ll be having words with him when he comes down, so would be grateful if you could take George out with you for a little while. I don’t want him knowing what his dad’s been up to. The lad needs to grow up respecting his elders, rather than seeing their weaknesses. Perhaps a walk down to the riverside to watch the barges? I take it you can manage a short stroll?’ Ruby could see Milly thinking about her request. No doubt she’d prefer to stay at home and make her contribution to whatever was said between husband and wife. ‘Or, if a walk is too much, you could always start on the garden with a bit of weeding? George could help you.’
Milly could see there was no chance of her staying indoors and blacking her nose. ‘If I take it slow, I can reach the river without making myself bad. But if I feel poorly, we will have to turn back.’
‘Thank you, Mum. As long as you stay out for an hour, it will give me time to talk to Eddie. Now, do you want a bite to eat for your breakfast?’
Milly nodded. ‘Ta, love, then I’ll get myself ready and wake the boy at the same time. Are you staying here all day?’ she asked Stella, with a disapproving look. Clearly Milly felt that if she could not stay to listen to the conversation Ruby would have with Eddie, then why should a neighbour?
‘I’m going to bring in the washing while Ruby gets your breakfast, then I’ll be off over home to sort out my lot. Old Miss Hunter won’t say anything to me if she sees me taking in the dry sheets. It’ll save Ruby getting any grief. In my book she seems to have enough of that at the moment,’ Stella said, with a smile that defied Milly to answer back.
Milly huffed as she got to her feet. ‘What did I say about doing your laundry on a Sunday? It will bring bad luck, you mark my words.’
Ruby took a deep breath and did her best not to be distracted by Eddie’s puppy-dog expression. How many times had she seen that look? This time she would harden her heart, otherwise their lives would continue like this into old age. She didn’t want to look back and regret her life, or that of her son. ‘Eddie, I can’t listen to your excuses any more. Why, only yesterday afternoon you were promising things would be different. I don’t know what to believe. I know you are the head of this family and in the eyes of the law I have to take your lead. But I’m not going to, as I want more for my life and that of my – our son. I do want to respect you, Eddie, but it’s getting harder and harder. Each time you come home with some cock-and-bull story about having been given the sack from your job, or when you lose what you earned on a horse.’
Eddie had enough shame to look down at the table where they sat. Milly and George had already been gone nearly an hour by the time he finally woke up, and Ruby kept glancing at the clock on the mantelpiece. A wedding present from her two sisters, it was a prized possession and one she’d not taken to pawn when times had been harder than they were at present. She hoped Milly wouldn’t rush George back too soon from their walk. Tapping her fingers on the table, she waited for Eddie to speak.
He rubbed his hands over his careworn face and licked his lips, wishing he had a drink in front of him – and he didn’t mean tea. He was awash with the stuff, as Ruby kept filling his cup. ‘I’m just one of those unlucky chaps who makes mistakes. I don’t think I’m made out to do a job where I clock on every day and pick up a pay packet at the end of the week. I like to move about and do bits and pieces for different people.’
‘That was all well and good while you didn’t have responsibilities. Now you have a wife and a son, and dare I say a mother-in-law too.’
‘And don’t I know it?’ Eddie all but snarled. ‘How come she ended up living with us, when your Janie and Fanny have homes of their own and are doing well for themselves?’
Ruby had often thought the same, but in truth she knew that it was probably because her sisters had married well and moved up in the world. They now both spoke with plums in their mouths; to have Milly Tomkins under either roof would risk exposing their lowly roots. ‘I know it doesn’t always seem as though she is, but Mum’s happy with us. She loves our George and fits in,’ she tried to explain, although she had to agree there were times when she’d have gladly shown Milly the
door. ‘You have to remember that I never knew my dad. Him dying as he did before I was born, I have only ever known my mum. Fanny and Janie being older than me, they can remember him. It’s important to me to have Mum about. She’s my only contact with my past.’
Eddie shook his head. ‘I have no idea why these things are important to a woman. I left home as soon as I was able to make my way in the world and I’ve never looked back.’
‘I’d like to have known your family,’ Ruby said.
‘There’s not much to know,’ he said, shrugging off her words. He’d never opened up about his family, even though she’d asked him many times. ‘A man makes his own way in life. He doesn’t need family hanging on his coat-tails,’ was all he’d ever said on the subject. In fact, at their wedding he’d had just a few friends, along with Cedric Mulligan, sitting on his side of the church. He didn’t seem to have any roots, and perhaps this was the reason he wandered so easily from job to job and home to home.
‘Oh well, that’s not what I want to discuss with you at the moment. Eddie, I know you think I keep going on about it, but I want you to understand that I like living here. We have the kind of home I’ve always dreamt of and I don’t want to move on. Our George needs to have a stable home and go to school and learn as much as he can in order to have a decent job and a good future.’ She’d never mentioned meeting Mrs Grant in the cemetery, or her offer of a job for George when he was old enough to be taken on as an apprentice. That might be nine years away, but it would be nine years of studying and learning as much as he could in order to be considered good enough for a decent job. They couldn’t do that if the lad was moved from home to home and school to school. ‘We need to stick it out here and plan for the future. You never know, there may be another child that comes along one day and he or she will need to come into a family with a decent future.’
Eddie’s eyes twinkled as he reached out and took her hand. ‘You’ve started to think of another child,’ he said, kissing her fingers.
Ruby snatched her hand back, even though she had felt a thrill run through her body at Eddie’s tender touch. ‘Oh no you don’t, Eddie Caselton. You’re not getting round me with your sweet talk. I want some promises that you will pull your finger out and think about this family. No more stealing, especially from me, and no doing odd and dangerous jobs for Cedric. You’ve got to realize that he owns this house, and come the day we can’t pay the rent he’ll soon have one of his heavies banging on the door and kicking us out onto the pavement. He’s no friend of yours. You need to find a job and toe the line. Do you hear me?’
Eddie squirmed in his seat. ‘I know what you’re saying, love, but who will take me on? Word’s already out about me getting the boot from the coalyard and helping myself to what wasn’t mine.’
‘You mean stealing. Start using the right words, and it might just get into that bloody head of yours why it’s so wrong. I’ll ask people while I’m working at the cafe. We have all sorts come in, and someone is bound to know someone who will take you on without asking too many questions about your past. In the meantime, why don’t you get stuck into the garden and make it somewhere nice for us to sit out in? Later I’ll heat the water in the copper, and you can have a soak in the tin bath.’
Eddie got to his feet and pulled her close. ‘You’re a good’n, Ruby Caselton. I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve such a good wife. Will you scrub my back?’ he asked, knowing he could not tell Ruby why he’d stooped to taking what wasn’t his in order to save his own bacon and protect his family. He vowed there and then to make it up to her one day. When that day would be, he wasn’t sure.
She slapped his arm. ‘Be off with you. It takes more than a promise to have me forgive you, Eddie.’ It was only as she watched him laugh out loud before heading out the back door that she realized he hadn’t made any promises. Shaking her head, she cleared the table and started to think about their dinner. Spotting Eddie’s canvas bag he’d left on the floor last night, she opened it to check if there was anything that needed washing. A cold chill swept over her as she pulled out the pay packet he had stolen from her the day before, along with the only two pieces of jewellery she had to her name. It was a reminder that Eddie was far from changing his ways. She clasped the jewellery to her breast and sighed. If only there was a way to bring back the man Eddie had once been. Oh yes, she was angry with him, and would continue to be angry – but she would see things through to the bitter end in order to keep her family together. Without saying a word, she dropped her possessions into her pocket and emptied the bag, chucking it into the cupboard under the stairs. If he mentioned it, she would crown him, and it would be with something heavier than a teapot.
Heavy of heart once again, Ruby returned to her housework, glancing at the clock every now and then as the minutes ticked by. It was long past the time she’d expected George and her mum to be home. There again, it was a lovely day, so why shouldn’t they stay out and enjoy the sunshine?
Having swept the floors in every room of the house and wiped down surfaces with a damp rag, she took the few rugs she owned outside and gave them a good beating. Deciding to have a short rest before tackling the bay window at the front of the house, she poured herself a glass of cold water and sat down at the table to take a look at a newspaper that had been left in the cafe the day before. She dreamt of having time to herself in order to read more. Not only would it set a good example to her son, but she also wanted to finish reading The Hound of the Baskervilles, which had been lent to her by Frank Green. He’d enquired how she was enjoying the book when he’d brought over a copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for her to read to George. Stella had told her Frank had amassed many books that were lined up on shelves he’d built himself in his bedroom. Ruby couldn’t think of anything better and would have loved to see the books herself, but felt it would have been an improper request. Fortunately, Frank knew Ruby liked to read from the time he’d sat at her bedside when she was still poorly, and was keen to share his books with her. He’d spoken of the excitement in the town as a Carnegie library was to be built, and hopefully up and running within the year. He was a member of W. H. Smith’s circulating library and had suggested that Eddie join too, so Ruby and George would have the benefit of reading new books. The idea had worried Ruby. Apart from Eddie not being much of a reader, she was not sure about caring for a book – what happened if the book was damaged or lost? How much would it all cost? However, she remembered a second-hand shop in Woolwich that had rows upon rows of books that were lined up on the pavement in front of the shop window on fine days. She had planned to use a few coppers from her savings to start George’s own collection. Her son needed to be well-read if he was to succeed in life. Fat chance of that now, with the lad’s dad having pinched much of her savings.
Thinking of her husband now as he toiled in the garden, she did wonder if it was too late for him to change his ways. Ever an optimist, she would give him time to prove himself. She knew how women were looked down on by neighbours when their husbands left or were kicked out of the house for their wrongdoings. She knew she could hold her head high, but it wouldn’t be fair for George, as kids could be cruel once they latched on to what was going on. Besides, Eddie was the only man she’d ever loved, and in her book that was something worth fighting for.
Deep in thought, it took a couple of moments for her to hear the banging at her front door. Surely Milly hadn’t forgotten her key? No, this was more insistent, and in between the hammering with the brass door knocker she could hear a frantic pounding on the wood and a voice calling her name. It was George.
Hurrying to open the door, she was faced with her son, red-faced and sobbing loudly. He clung to her skirts and mumbled incoherently.
‘Whatever is wrong, my love? Where’s Nanny?’ she asked, looking out into the street as she stood on the doorstep.
‘She . . . she . . . she had a funny turn and fell in the middle of the road in front of the pub by the river. A couple of workmen came o
ut to help her. They put her in a wheelbarrow . . .’
6
With her head still full of Eddie and his drunken ways, Ruby’s first thought was that Milly too was drunk. Had her mum taken George into a public house – and on a Sunday? The pubs down by the river weren’t as refined as the Prince of Wales and were no place for a child. Come to that, only a certain type of woman frequented those pubs. Kneeling down so she was face to face with George, she kissed his forehead and gave him a reassuring smile. ‘What happened to Nanny? Where did the men take her?’
‘They put her in a wheelbarrow. I followed them in case they were stealing her. They went into the hospital up the road,’ he sniffed.
The cottage hospital, Ruby thought. Then her mum must be poorly. Feeling ashamed of her previous thoughts, she wiped George’s face with a handkerchief. ‘What did the men say, my darling?’
‘The men said to tell you they thought she was a goner and she’s going to pop her clogs. What’s a goner?’
Ruby felt her heart plummet. Her mum could be a right moaner at times, but Ruby didn’t want to lose her. Ignoring his question, she stroked his cheek. ‘Stay right there while I get my coat and call your dad,’ she said as she hurried through the house and called loudly to Eddie to come indoors, and to hurry up about it. She just caught a glimpse of Miss Hunter tutting over the fence as she headed back inside to grab her bag, pull on her better coat and hat, then slip her feet into her best shoes. Goodness knows who she would be speaking to in the hospital and she didn’t wish to let her mother down by appearing scruffy.
‘What’s all the fuss about?’ Eddie asked, walking in without his shirt and scratching his chest.
‘Mum’s been taken into the cottage hospital. George came home on his own. The poor mite is so distressed. I’ve left him on the doorstep, so he doesn’t hear me speak to you about it. Eddie, I have a horrid feeling in my bones that Mum’s not long for this world,’ she said, pressing her handkerchief to her mouth.
A Mother Forever Page 9
