They had entered the corridor when Katie’s running steps down the stairs halted them. And she, leaning over the bottom of the banister, said, ‘I’ve left her…she’s had a bath…I’ve left her in my room, trying things on. Mam’—she shook her head—‘she’s all marked, on her back and her thighs, and she’s as thin as a rake. But…but I really do think the doctor should see her.’
‘He’s going to, dear. Yes, your father’s going to phone him.’
‘And…and she’s got bruises on her arms. You remember, she was plump and white.’
‘I’ll be up in a minute.’
‘No. No, I’ll see to her. She’s nervous. All the time she’s nervous. There’s something wrong with her, Mam.’
‘Yes, we know, dear. Anyway, once she’s dressed bring her down into the recreation room and see how she reacts.’
Sep and Willie were in the midst of a game and they did not turn to look at Fiona and Bill as they entered the room. But both Sammy and Daisy came up to them, and it was Sammy who asked, ‘Is she all right? Is there anything wrong with her?’
‘She isn’t well, dear, that’s evident. Anyway, she’ll be down in a minute. But Willie, don’t touch her. If you talk to her, just don’t touch her.’
‘No. No, I won’t.’ He shook his head.
Fiona closed her eyes for a moment, saying, ‘It’s…it’s because something has happened that we don’t know about.’
‘Well, is it she doesn’t want any male to touch her, Mam? It seems pretty evident.’
Fiona looked at her son, thinking, Willie would speak his thoughts, wouldn’t he?
Daisy now said, ‘I’ve never seen her before today. How old is she?’
Fiona and Bill exchanged glances as if asking a question of each other, then Bill said, ‘Just on sixteen.’
‘Well, she looks older in one way, yet younger in another.’
‘Who’s winning?’ put in Bill, looking towards the table where Bert was standing at the far side, umpiring. ‘Willie’s one up,’ Sammy answered, ‘but I think Sep’s going easy with him.’
‘He’s not! He’s not! Not that our Sep wouldn’t, but Willie’s playing brilliantly.’
‘All right, all right, if you say so.’ Sammy laughed at her. Then they all went back to the table to watch the game in progress.
Fifteen minutes later, after Willie had, in fact, been allowed to win the game, the recreation-room door was thrust open, and Katie entered, calling behind her, ‘Come on. Come along in, dear, it’s all right.’
When she drew Mamie into the room, the transformation in the girl surprised them all. She was wearing one of Katie’s dresses, held up round the waist with a belt so that the bodice part appeared like a blouse. Her hair was combed out from the tight bun at the back and hanging loose on her shoulders. And on her feet were a pair of open sandals.
‘Oh! well.’ It was Bill who broke the silence. ‘Oh, now you look more like yourself.’
As he made to go towards her, Fiona gently restrained him, and it was she who advanced halfway down the room to where Mamie was now standing close to Katie; and smiling at her, she said, ‘Oh, you do look nice, Mamie…like your old self.’ And without hesitation, she indicated Daisy, saying, ‘This is Daisy, Katie’s friend, and that young man,’ she pointed to Sep, ‘is Daisy’s brother Sep. Now let’s all sit down and watch the champions.’
And so it was that Sammy and Willie took up the game, and the rest sat round watching them, making favourable and unfavourable comments on their actions.
It was as if they all knew now that everybody was in a game, and the game was to put this strange girl at her ease.
It was leaving time. They were all in the hall, and it should happen that Willie was standing next to Bert Ormesby, when Bert, his head lowered, said under his breath, ‘When you get to Daisy’s, don’t keep bragging about winning, because Sep let up on you.’
Willie’s head jerked and he stared at Bert for a moment before saying, ‘He didn’t! Did he?’
‘Oh, yes, he did. He’s a good fellow, is Sep.’ Then nudging Willie with his elbow, he said, ‘But you’re not bad yourself, you know.’
Willie’s voice was very low as he muttered, ‘I feel an idiot, and that’s what I am most of the time.’
‘Well’—and Bert was also whispering now—‘God has a special place for idiots of your type.’
Willie glanced sideways at this good man who rarely pushed his religious belief and he grinned at him now as he whispered, ‘You’ll be there ushering us specials in.’
‘I hope so. I hope so.’
‘What d’you hope?’ Bill demanded loudly. ‘Oh’—Bert laughed—‘I was just saying that I hope the council grant you the building licence for the fields tomorrow; with one exception, of course, they’ll cut out the cemetery.’
‘So do I,’ Daisy called back from the step, ‘those poor souls shouldn’t be turfed out of their basement flats. They likely had enough of that when they were alive.’
‘Get on with you.’ Bill pushed Daisy forward. ‘No cemetery, no work for your three brothers. Just think of that, madam.’
‘Aw, you!’
‘And you, miss! And you.’
And on this note they drove away. But the door had hardly closed on them when Nell said, ‘We too will have to be on our way; Andrew is getting whingy.’
‘He’s always whingy, because he’s spoilt.’
Nell rounded on Bill now, ‘He’s not spoilt, and he’s not always whingy. Anyway, if he was spoilt, I haven’t very far to look for the cause of it, have I? Give him this; let him have that; leave the child alone.’ She turned now to where Mamie was standing next to Fiona, and she said, ‘He’s ruined Andrew. D’you remember Andrew?’
Mamie nodded, and Nell went on, ‘Every time he comes here, all the good we do at home is undone.’
Fiona laughed and said, ‘Well, not quite. Remember Bill taught him a grace before meals.’
‘Yes,’ put in Bert, ‘but one that shouldn’t be heard.’
‘Oh, you’re a couple of old fogies,’ said Bill as he turned now and made for the drawing room; and Bert, winking at Fiona, said quietly, ‘But we must be off. I’ll go and bring the car round.’ And Nell said, ‘Do that and we’ll go upstairs and get the children ready. Will you come and help us?’ She looked at Mamie; and Mamie turned quickly towards Fiona as if she were asking permission, and Fiona said, ‘Yes, let’s all go up. It’s far past Angela’s bedtime,’ and to Mamie she added, ‘You’ll be surprised how she’s grown.’
Mamie said nothing, but just walked with them up the broad stairs and into the nursery. But there, she didn’t speak to the children or take any part in their dressing; and Fiona was reminded of the defiant silence Bill had encountered; and yet this wasn’t of the same kind, she was sure; this was a fearful silence, and it was frightening in itself.
Willie’s room lay at the end of the long corridor from which a shorter one went off at right angles and in which were the three guest rooms. It was in one of these, and next to the one known as her room that Nell had made up the bed for Mamie.
Later in the evening, after Willie and Bill had gone to their rooms, Fiona took Mamie up to hers. She had one of Katie’s shorty nightdresses with her and, handing it to Mamie, she said, ‘This will certainly fit you.’
She stood aside and watched the girl take off Katie’s dress, fold it and lay it over a chair. Then what followed next caused her eyes to widen and her mouth to gape; first, the girl brought her arms out of the taped shoulder straps of what looked like a rough linen petticoat; then picking up the nightie from the bed, she pulled it over her head and began to wriggle out of her underclothes. But then she stopped and said, ‘I needn’t, need I?’
‘You needn’t what, dear?’
‘Undress under my nightie,’ and with a swift movement she pulled the nightdress back from her head and almost savagely now she tore off the knickers which were apparently of the same material as the petticoat. And she stood for
a moment looking down at her thin body before again picking up the nightdress, when Fiona gasped, ‘Oh, my dear, wait! Wait a minute,’ and she gently turned Mamie about, only to mutter, ‘Oh no! No! Oh, my dear! Who did this to you?’
Now she recognised the old Mamie, for the girl bowed her head and remained mute; and it came to Fiona that the action was the only characteristic she had brought over from her childhood.
After Mamie had put on the nightdress, Fiona sat down on the side of the bed with her and put her arm around her shoulders before drawing her gently to her, saying, ‘We’ll get to the bottom of this.’
The head came up quickly now as Mamie muttered, ‘No, no! He may come.’
‘You were going to say that somebody might come back? Well, you’re not going back there, so you need not fear. You’re back home; you’re safe here,’ and she was about to add, ‘You’ll soon get back into your old life,’ but, oh no, she wouldn’t want her to do that. Oh, no. So she added, ‘And we all want you and are glad you are home again.’
The head was lifted now, the deep fear-filled eyes holding a question, and Fiona answered it by saying, ‘No, you’ve got to believe this, never again will anyone harm you. You must try to forget what has happened. And those who have done this to you will be punished.’
She felt the thin body shiver now, and she thought she heard Mamie mutter, ‘Punished. Punished.’ But when the word wasn’t spoken aloud, she said, ‘Now come on, get into bed. Nell has put hot-water bottles in. Let me feel. Oh, yes, it’s lovely and warm, you’ll soon be asleep. And tomorrow we must think about getting you some new clothes, pretty clothes, like you used to have. Eh?’
There was no answering smile, just that stare. And again the words, oh, dear Lord, passed through Fiona’s head. When the girl lay down onto her pillow, Fiona bent over her but found that she couldn’t kiss her…well, not as yet. But she put her hand on her face and stroked it gently; and as she did so the girl closed her eyes as if she were already asleep. ‘Goodnight, dear.’
‘Goodnight.’ Mamie did not add “Auntie Fi”, but Fiona hadn’t reached the door when she turned quickly to see the girl sitting upright and saying on a gasp, ‘You…you won’t lock me in?’
‘Oh, no, my dear.’
‘Can…can I have it open?’
‘Yes. Yes, of course. And if you want anything in the night, well, you know where our room is, just round the corner. Now lie down. Lie down and go to sleep. We’ll see you in the morning.’
In their room, Fiona said two words in answer to Bill’s, ‘How is she?’
‘I’m devastated.’
Willie was the first to be woken by the scream. It brought him upright in the bed, blinking and gasping as if he were going to choke. He had been dreaming about something, but there had been no screaming in the dream.
Or perhaps there had.
When it came again, and a voice shouting, he sprang out of bed and pulled on his dressing gown. On opening his door it was to see his mother running up the corridor towards him with Bill behind her, the while dragging on his dressing gown. And he was about to speak when the scream came again.
As Mamie had requested, her door had been left open, and when Fiona switched on the light, it was to see Mamie rolling about in the bed, her arms and legs flailing. The bedclothes had piled up at the bottom of the bed, and when Bill, gripping her arms, went to lift her back onto the pillow, his head jerked backwards as she let out another scream. ‘It’s all right, Mamie,’ he shouted. ‘It’s all right. Wake up! Wake up! It’s all right.’
Of a sudden she collapsed back onto her pillows, muttering, ‘Don’t! Don’t! I…I’ll do it. I’ll do it. Don’t, Owen! Don’t!’ The last word came out as a wail and Bill, who was still holding her arms, cast his glance towards Fiona and the knowledge it conveyed was repeated in her own.
Gently she pulled the clothes over the now limp form, and as she did so Willie said in an awe-filled whisper, ‘Somebody must have been at her. She’s terrified out of her life.’
‘Shh!’ Bill’s warning came as Mamie slowly lifted her lids and, peering up at the group standing to the side of her, she whimpered, ‘I…I’ll sign, I will.’
Fiona pressed Bill to one side now and stroked the girl’s hair back from her wet forehead, and her eyes, opened wide now, looked into Fiona’s face and she said, ‘Oh! Oh! I…I’ve been dreaming.’
‘Yes, dear. Yes. But go to sleep now. You’re all right.’
‘I’m…I’m here?’
‘Yes, you’re here. You’re back home. You’ll be all right.’
She watched the small breasts rise upwards; then on a sound like a long, drawn-out sigh Mamie said, ‘Will you leave the light on?’
‘Of course, dear. Of course. And I’ll push the door wide, so don’t worry. Now go to sleep.’
They were making for the door when a small voice came to them, whispering, ‘Auntie Fi?’
When Fiona stood by the bed again, Mamie raised herself from her pillow and in a whisper she said, ‘I…I did see Sammy last night, didn’t I?’
‘Yes. Yes, of course you did, dear. He’s not dead.’
‘No, of course not. I thought I had dreamed that I saw him, but he was there, wasn’t he?’
‘Of course, my dear, he was. You mustn’t trouble your head any more about Sammy.’
The girl now lay back on her pillows and she whimpered, ‘They said he had died, and all through me, and that unless I stayed with grandpa I’d go to prison. But…but he was downstairs?’
‘Yes. Yes, of course, my dear, he was downstairs. And now you must try and forget everything but that you are back home. And you’ll never be hurt again.’
When the girl’s head turned on the pillow and two round eyes were directed at her, Fiona found the expression in them unbearable, and quickly she said, ‘There now. There now. Go to sleep, dear. You’re home. Nothing can happen to you here. You’ll never be hurt again.’ And this time she did not pat Mamie’s face but bent over her and kissed her gently on the cheek, and at this Mamie closed her eyes …
Down in the kitchen, it was Bill who put the kettle on and mashed the tea. Fiona sat at the table, one hand covering her face, and she repeated for the third time since sitting down, ‘You’ll never be hurt again.’ Then, looking up at Bill, she added, ‘Her look seemed to say, I’ve no need to be hurt again; I’ve suffered enough to last me a lifetime.’
‘Oh, that’s in your mind, woman.’
‘No, it isn’t in my mind, Bill; You didn’t see what was in her eyes. They looked old. She’ll never be a girl again; and yet, in some ways, she’s returned to childhood.’
‘I know what you mean, Mam,’ Willie put in. ‘I sat looking at her last night and seeing her when she was about seven or eight. She seemed like that one minute and then a stranger the next. And I thought a lot about it before I went to sleep, and it’s this. We’re all in this, you know about having sent her away. I couldn’t stand the sight of her—well, I fought with her when she was young—she was such a little upstart, and always on about her grandfather’s money. And as she grew she seemed to get worse. And then the whole thing came to light, and we nearly lost Sammy. We mustn’t forget that, Mam; she had been shoplifting and lying to you in a clever way. And when she took whiffs of drugs she must have known what she was doing. True, she might have just started on them, but she would have gone ahead. So we mustn’t blame ourselves for not wanting her back here. But…but whatever they’ve done to her at that end has had a terrible effect. At times last night she looked like an old woman.’
‘Willie’s right.’ Bill now sat down opposite Fiona, then added, ‘You mustn’t be like that. If it were to happen again I would act as I did then, definitely, for all our sakes. And we mustn’t forget Sammy could have died through her. But at the same time, as Willie said, we mustn’t forget that she has been treated in the most terrible way, and it’s my guess, and a strong one, that she’s been interfered with and bodily abused, besides being starved. So, somebody
’s going to pay for this, and I’m going to see to it. I’ll have those two hunted down, because the old ’un couldn’t have done all this on his own.’ He took a drink from his cup, then said, ‘Well, Dr Pringle will be here in the morning and one thing I’m going to get him to do straight away is to get in touch with her doctor at that end. What was that fellow up to, not to know what was happening to her? There’s something fishy somewhere. Well, this time next week we should know a great deal more. But in the meantime, life has to be lived. There’s work to do for all of us. And you, my dear, are going to have your hands full for some time, because it’s on you she is going to rely.’
As Fiona rose from her seat, she said, ‘Strangely, I don’t mind. My only hope is that we can get her back to normal, because, as she is now, she is far from it.’
Three
It was a week later and Bill, Fiona and Nell knew most of what there was to know about Mamie’s stay with her grandfather, but not all.
Before the doctor’s visit on the Monday morning, it had taken some time for Fiona and Nell to convince Mamie that all he would do was examine her bruises, and that they would be with her all the time. After his examination he had sat on the side of the bed and patted the young girl’s hand, saying, ‘Now, what you must do, my dear, is to eat big meals, really big meals’—he had nodded at her, emphasising the ‘really big’—‘because you need a lot more flesh on this long frame of yours. And when your cheeks puff out, we’ll have a very, very pretty young woman.’
Mamie made no reply to this, but just stared at the grizzled man.
But once out of the room, the doctor’s note had changed. He had walked smartly down the stairs and into the drawing room, where coffee was awaiting him, before he said, ‘Bad business that. Very bad. Oh, yes,’ he nodded at Fiona, ‘she’s been interfered with, and roughly. The scars on her back are old, but not those on her thighs. And they weren’t made with the strap. I fear that whatever has happened to her has affected her mind in some way. I don’t know who her doctor was, but I mean to find out, and this very day. I shall come back to you with what he has to tell me. And if what I have to tell him doesn’t come as a surprise to him, then there has been great negligence on somebody’s part. Oh, yes. Oh, yes.’
The Bondage of Love Page 32
