by Emma Hornby
‘Nasty business, that fire.’
The icy shiver that travelled the length of her spine had nothing to do with the cold. She forced herself to turn towards the man towering behind her. ‘What did you say?’
‘Oh aye.’ Ambrose nodded slowly. ‘Very nasty business indeed.’
The inferno the Cannock brothers had ignited as she and her father left for Manchester … The thought exploded inside her head. But that was impossible – he couldn’t know. He couldn’t—
‘Nice owd bird is that Mrs Hanover,’ he added, shattering to pieces in an instant Laura’s hopes that she was wrong. ‘Such a shame that the wench were caught up in your trouble.’
She had to push her response through trembling lips: ‘What have you done?’
‘I reckon it’s you should be answering that, hmm?’
‘Listen to me.’ Her heart was beating so fast she could barely feel it. ‘If you’ve run your mouth off in Bolton as to my whereabouts … Dear God, I’ll be done for – and my father along with me!’
‘Eh?’ The intensity of her desperation had clearly thrown him. ‘Just what the divil is tha hiding?’
‘Please.’ Her breaths came in jagged gasps. ‘Tell me what you’ve gone and done.’
‘I visited Bolton town, aye. And yes, I asked around about thee.’ He lifted his chin defensively. ‘Didn’t I warn thee I would if tha crossed me? Well, didn’t I?’
‘You made mention that I was in this city?’
‘Might’ve done, and what of it?’
She couldn’t breathe, was drowning … ‘Ebenezer Court? You … You were specific about Ebenezer Court?’
‘What …?’
‘Answer me, goddamnit!’
His mouth fell open at her tone and, once more, his expression was one of slight concern. ‘I had a few pots of porter in the local inns and taverns, got talking to one or two people – that’s how I learned of the shop you dwelled above being burned down – but I can’t rightly remember … what exactly I might’ve …’
‘Try,’ she ground out through gritted teeth.
His brows drew together as he tried to recall just what he might have divulged to any listening ear in his drunken stupor. Finally, he shrugged. ‘I don’t … I don’t know.’
‘Nay … Nay, you can’t have …’ Silent tears fell from her frantic eyes and splashed to her cheeks. ‘Have you any idea what you’ve done?’ she rasped.
‘Laura, I—’
‘Save your breath.’ An apology from him at any time would have carried little impact – now, with this, it meant even less than nothing. ‘May God forgive thee, Ambrose Todd.’
Just then, Amos appeared, killing any further discourse. He drew Kenneth to a halt beside them. ‘Brother.’ He nodded an awkward greeting to Ambrose. ‘I’m glad I caught thee. It’s a sorry you’re owed.’
‘Lad …’
‘Nay, hear me out. You were right, I’m norra well man. It were sensible for business that tha let me go. I bear thee no ill will.’ Eyes soft, Amos held out a hand. ‘We’re … all right?’
‘Aye. Aye, lad,’ said Ambrose quietly, his gaze flicking to Laura. He took the proffered hand in both of his.
How she kept her tone even, she didn’t know. ‘We’d best be off, Father.’
‘Aye.’
Taking her seat beside him, she stared straight ahead as her father waved goodbye to his brother. Only when they had turned the corner did she let her shoulders sag – she wouldn’t have that poisonous fiend witness another second of her anguish.
As they bumped along the snow-cushioned cobbles to the new coal yard, she closed her eyes. And she prayed like she’d never done before.
‘All right, lad?’
If the devastating meeting that morning with Ambrose hadn’t been enough to put her in a black place, the day’s work had certainly contributed. Desperate for a hot drink and dog tired – and there was still the evening meal to prepare yet – she hadn’t the spirit to drag a smile to her lips at Daniel’s quip. She mumbled a greeting and continued for home, head down.
She was frozen to her very marrow. Deliveries had taken longer than usual, owing to the careful pace they had to set Kenneth – one slip of a hoof could have disastrous consequences. Moreover, the snow, which had fallen steadily for most of the day, had quickly swallowed the pavements and she’d been forced at every house they stopped at to sweep clean with her bare hands the flagstones for the buried metal coal plates. As it was a new round, it had been guesswork as to their locations – right now, she doubted whether her fingers, blue with cold, would ever regain feeling in them.
‘I heard about your betrothal,’ Daniel added as she reached her front door.
Joyce had been to offer congratulations and her pleasure that she’d soon be joining her family, but of her elder son, Laura had seen nothing. She turned to face him. He wasn’t smiling now, but his voice hadn’t been unkind. ‘Aye.’
‘I just wanted … Well, congratulations. Nathan’s a sound fella.’
‘Aye,’ she said again. ‘Well, I’d better …’ She indicated her working clothes and her need to get changed and washed. ‘Bye for now.’
‘Laura?’
‘Aye?’
Searching her face, a frown appeared. ‘You’re all right?’
She nodded. ‘Tired is all. It’s been a long day.’
‘Whitewashing.’
Laura had entered the house and was closing her front door when Daniel called out yet again. She poked her head back outside. ‘What?’
‘Mam said the walls of yon place could do with it. I don’t mind. Call it my way of saying sorry to your father for our Smiler’s antics with his horse.’
‘That’s kind of thee. Although you already apologised that day, if I recall. Twice.’
‘Your father weren’t having none of it, mind.’
The corner of her mouth lifted. ‘He has a temper on him when he chooses, ’specially where Kenneth’s concerned. He loves him almost like a child.’
‘Where is the owd man, by the way?’
‘Settling the horse in at the yard. Father insisted I weren’t to wait outside for him in this weather but was to go on home in front. I’ll tell him of your offer when he returns. I’m sure he’ll be most grateful, as am I.’
Daniel nodded, raised his arm in farewell and walked away. A smile still playing about her lips, Laura turned and went inside.
She’d scrubbed the day’s toil from her skin, changed into her usual wear and had just finished peeling vegetables for the broth they would have for their meal when she noticed the time. She frowned. Father should have arrived home by now.
Donning her shawl, she went to the front doorstep and scanned the end of the court, but there was no sign of him. Her frown grew, along with her worry, with the passing minutes. She’d just decided to go in search of him when three figures emerged into the tiny yard through the entranceway.
The first things to crash through her brain were memories of her nightmare. First the snow, now the three demons out to destroy her, just as she’d dreamed … But the scream that had risen to her throat died when she noticed that the person in the middle was being supported by the other two. Bent double, he was leaning on them heavily, as though unable to walk unaided. Who …?
They drew closer and now, the cry she’d been holding back was given life. Those clothes, the white hair … It was Amos. Dear God.
‘Father!’
‘There’s been an incident, lass,’ one of the men told her, breathless from the exertion, as she rushed towards them. ‘We need to get your father inside and by the fire. He were lying in the snow Lord knows how long.’
‘Lying in …? But why? How? What happened to him?’
‘Hurry and get yon door open, lass. And fetch blankets. As many as you can lay your hands to.’
Knowing they were right and that her questions could wait – right now, Amos needed tending to – Laura dashed off in front. As she threw open her door Nathan emerg
ed from his facing and called her name, and she ran to him. ‘Oh, lad. Father …’
Taking in the situation, he ushered her back to her house. ‘I’ll go and give the fellas a hand. You wait for us inside.’
She was scrambling about collecting blankets, as instructed, when they entered. They carried Amos to his chair by the fire and she quickly covered him up then rubbed his arms and legs vigorously, desperate to instil some warmth into his frozen frame. His face was the colour of bleached bones, his lips tinged a terrible shade of purple. His rapid breathing was harsh and laboured.
‘Father? Oh God, Father, please speak to me!’
‘Lass …’
‘I’m here. I’m here, Father. What the hell’s occurred?’ she asked tearfully of the two strangers now hovering nearby. ‘You found him collapsed?’
‘That’s right.’ The elder stepped forward. ‘I’m Mr Howarth of Howarth’s Yard, his new employer. Amos had fed and shut in the horse and, after wishing me goodnight, he headed for home. Some time later, Jim here,’ he continued, indicating the man beside him, ‘left the yard and was himself homeward bound when he spotted Amos lying prone in an alleyway. He came and fetched me and we helped him here. That’s all I know, lass.’
‘Happen he slipped on t’ ice, banged his head, like,’ offered Jim.
Though Laura didn’t voice it, she suspected otherwise. This was his heart again, had to be. Why hadn’t she waited for him instead of going on ahead? Why had she agreed to him working again in the first place? She’d known he wasn’t up to it, had let him talk her into him providing for the wedding; now look what had resulted. She should have put her foot down, insisted he wasn’t to toil any more. This was all her fault. She’d never forgive herself for this. Never.
‘I’ll be away now, if you don’t mind, only the wife will be wondering where I’ve got to,’ said Jim.
Mr Howarth moved to the door with his employee. Taking a last look at Amos, he shook his head. ‘You’d do well to send for t’ doctor, I reckon, lass.’
When they had gone Nathan pressed Laura’s shoulder. ‘I think he’s right. Your father … he really don’t look too good, lass. I’ll fetch him, shall I, the doctor?’
‘Aye,’ she choked. They couldn’t continue trying to handle this by themselves any longer. Medical intervention was needed and not before time, whether her father approved or not.
‘I’ll not be long. I’ll ask Mam to sit with thee whilst I’m gone.’
‘Ta, Nathan.’
Alone with him, Laura stroked his weathered cheek. ‘I love thee,’ she whispered. ‘Please don’t leave me, Father. Please.’
‘Lass …’
‘Sshhh. Everything’s going to be all right.’
‘I must … Lass …’
Tears streaming, her breast throbbed in anguish as she watched him struggle to speak. ‘Please, Father. Rest.’
But Amos was insistent: ‘They … They …’
‘They who? What are you trying to tell me?’
‘They’re … here. In … In …’
‘Father?’
‘In … danger.’
Her blood froze in her veins. She blinked rapidly. ‘What?’
‘You’re … in danger.’
‘The Cannock brothers?’
He managed a pained nod.
‘They’re in Manchester? They did this to thee!’
‘Lying … in wait. Wanted to … know where tha was. Wouldn’t … tell them. Never.’
Laura was shaking all over with a mixture of terror and fearsome fury. ‘They hurt thee?’ she forced herself to ask, though she couldn’t see any obvious injuries on him.
‘They … didn’t have to.’ He tapped his breast.
The stress had brought on a severe and devastating attack. Those bastards! My God, she was dying inside …
‘I’m sorry. Can’t … protect thee … no more.’
‘Oh, Father. Father.’
‘Lass …’
Wracked with dry sobs, she buried her face in his chest. Moments later, she felt beneath her cheek the tired heart, as big as an ocean, cease its beating.
Unearthly wails tore from her. She clung to him and drowned in blind despair.
‘Laura? Come away, now. Come on, lass.’ Joyce drew her from Amos’s limp body and wrapped her own arms around her, murmuring soothingly. ‘Eeh, you poor love.’
‘Father’s dead.’
‘A crying shame, it is.’
‘I can’t … I can’t … live without him!’
The older woman didn’t say any more, just let her cry and release the anguish threatening to suffocate her. At some point, Nathan returned and he ushered her across the cobbles to his own dwelling whilst the doctor carried out his preliminary examinations.
Neighbours drifted in and out, alerted by the buzz of activity in their private court. Here was like another world all their own – they rarely got outsiders wandering in or otherwise. Sensing her pain, Smiler stuck close to her, his warm body pressed up against her leg. Someone put a cup of sweet tea into her hands and she sipped it absently. Then the doctor was back, speaking quietly of the likelihood of a defective valve and mitral disease, which he informed them meant heart failure, and offered his condolences along with, last but by no means least, his fee.
Talk of necessary arrangements, of laying out the body, of candles and coffins and undertakers, hummed above Laura’s head, but she took in little of it. Matters moved swiftly in such circumstances. Death was a common occurrence; folk grew accustomed to loss in the slums. Grief would come later; now was the time to be practical.
‘Me and Bee O’Brien shall see to the laying out,’ announced Joyce. ‘Haven’t we both buried a husband apiece, and a handful of children betwixt that besides? We’ve the experience, aye.’
‘I’ll see to the undertaker, will call round there the morrow.’ Nathan was talking now. ‘And I’ll visit Mr Howarth’s yard whilst I’m at it, inform him of the sad tidings.’
‘Good lad. ’Ere, what about kin?’
Nodding, Nathan rose. ‘I’m for going round to see Ambrose Todd now—’
‘Nay!’ Laura cut in.
‘Lass?’
All eyes were on her. She shook her head wildly, sending fresh tears spilling. ‘Not now, not yet. I’ll tell him myself the morrow.’
‘But lass, the boss man’s his own blood brother. He deserves to—’
‘I said nay, Nathan.’
She’d be the one to inform her uncle. And by God, he’d pay for this. They all would.
As this vow was made, the queerest sensation overtook her. She at once felt calmer, clearer of mind and heart. Revenge would be her crutch now in the black days ahead, and she welcomed the fresh purpose with open arms. Anything so long as she needn’t focus on life without him. Anything.
‘There’s also the matter of where you’ll sleep the night and the next few days to follow, lass.’ Joyce’s voice was gentle. ‘Tha can’t be alone with the … with your father. Wouldn’t do your mind no good, that wouldn’t. I’d have thee here in a heartbeat, only given the circumstances with you and the lad, it wouldn’t be right and proper, like, youse sharing a dwelling afore you’re wed …’
‘The lass will stop with me,’ announced Mrs Price. ‘I’ve no lodgers at present so can spare the room. And I’ll not take nay for an answer.’
On instinct alone, Laura reached across and pressed her thin, aged hand. ‘Thank you.’
Some time later, she roused from her numbing thoughts and, glancing around Joyce’s homely kitchen, saw that she and Nathan were alone. He put his arm around her and rubbed her back in silent comfort.
‘Father died in my arms.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘I don’t know what I’ll do without him.’
‘I do know how you’re feeling, Laura. When I lost my father—’
‘It’s not the same.’ Hugging herself, she shook her head. ‘You still have a parent left. A sibling, too. I have no one.’ Nev
er had she felt so wretched and alone.
‘Aye, you do. You have me. I’m going nowhere, I promise thee.’
‘Oh, lad.’
‘And there’s your uncle, of course. He’s fond of thee, aye.’
She closed her eyes. She’d have to tell Nathan about Adam and his brothers, reveal the truth about Ambrose. She must if she was going to be his wife. They couldn’t start their marriage with secrets between them. And yet, as much as she loathed the prospect of dragging him into all this, of their involvement possibly placing him in danger, she prayed he wouldn’t give up on her. Not now, for she really would be on her own. Selfish, she knew it to be, but desperation had a habit of bringing out the unpleasant in people.
‘You know I’m a widow?’
‘Aye. Adam died in an accident at work.’
‘Nay, he didn’t.’ She waited for a response, but Nathan simply stared back in silence. ‘I first caught Adam’s eye one day at the market back home. He was there every week after that, pursued me for months. It weren’t long afore I discovered he was from a lawless family with the reputation to go with it, but he convinced me he wasn’t like them, that he was different, decent. He was handsome and charming and I wanted to believe him, despite Father’s warnings. Father saw through his deceit from the beginning, pleaded with me to see sense, only I was too blinded by love to listen. Turned out Adam was as bad as the rest of them. I’d been duped. I felt so foolish that I kept my silence for a long time, hated admitting I’d been wrong.’
Nathan was frowning deeply. ‘He hurt thee?’
‘Aye. Once that ring was on my finger, he turned into a whole other man. Or rather he discarded his mask and revealed the real one beneath. I’d beg him to go straight, give up the criminal activities, the stealing and scheming and drunken brawling, but he wouldn’t. He didn’t want to, nay.
‘One day, he struck me. It became a regular thing after that, but I never gave up trying to change him. I was sure that if he’d only steer clear of his brothers, he’d be better. They’re another level of rottenness. Poisonous to the core. They … They boasted to have murdered folk, Nathan, and I believe them. They have a touch of insanity about them, aye. And now, they’re after my blood. That’s why me and Father came to Manchester. We were fleeing them. And today … today … His death is their doing!’
