A Daughter's Journe

by Anna Jacobs

  He looked at the others. ‘No mention of this to anyone at all. I think, and pray I’m right, that they’re just keeping an eye on Miss Melling in case she leads them to her cousin. But one murder’s been committed, so make sure you’re protected at all times as well as your cousin, Miss Melling. No walking across the yard to the workshop on your own even, from now on.’

  She grimaced. ‘All right.’

  It was starting to add up, Deemer thought as he used the tunnel to go back to the workshop. He’d gather enough incontrovertible evidence then pounce.

  As he got into his car and left the workshop, he thanked Todd loudly for repairing it before driving back to the police station.

  26

  W ilf started work straight away at Charlie’s. That was a blessing because it got him out of the house for most of the day, away from the arguments and sharp remarks.

  He and Enid were sharing a bed again, mainly because there was nowhere else in the small house for him to sleep. But there was still a coolness between them and she slept on the edge of the bed, trying not to touch him. He didn’t know how to bridge this distance.

  He quickly noticed that she was skimping on their meals, not just one meal but all of them, going back to what he thought of as ‘famine eating’, mainly bread and dripping or margarine. This puzzled him because he was bringing home more than enough money to buy decent food for everyone. Why the sudden change?

  He raised the matter that evening, waiting till after the children had gone to bed. ‘I’m still hungry, love, and so are the little ’uns. You didn’t give us enough to eat today.’

  ‘They haven’t complained.’

  ‘They wouldn’t. They got used to going hungry before they came to live here. And they’re still afraid of upsetting us.’ He sometimes wondered whether the poor little souls would ever feel secure.

  ‘Well, it’s only till we’ve paid off the money we owe. You can use the money I save for doing that. They’ll manage on what I’m giving them for a while.’

  He gaped at her. ‘You’d let the children go hungry because you’ve gone stupid about money.’

  ‘No, because you broke your promise to me. So it’s your fault. And you’ll pay for it, too. None of us are going to be eating lavishly till we’re out of debt. I’m determined about that.’

  ‘I won’t let you do that, Enid.’

  She raised her chin defiantly. ‘You can’t stop me.’

  ‘Oh, can’t I? Well, we’ll see about that. I’ll—’

  She turned her back on him and banged a pan she was holding down hard on the wooden draining board, then banged it again. Her attitude made him so angry, he didn’t let himself finish the threat he’d been going to make, but walked out of the house and slammed the door good and hard behind him.

  If he hadn’t left, he’d have started yelling at her and that’d have upset the children. He’d never hit her and never would, because he despised people who hit those weaker than themselves, but deliberately making little children go hungry had brought him as close to it as he’d ever come.

  When he got into the van, he sat for a few moments clutching the steering wheel tightly and trying to calm down. It wasn’t easy. He’d do better if he could take his mind off their quarrel. Since it was still light, he decided to go and replace the temporary repair on Mrs Morton’s window and see to her leaking kitchen sink at the same time. He always thought better when he was working with his hands.

  On the way he stopped at the chip shop and bought himself a bag of chips slathered in salt and vinegar, eating them quickly and with no enjoyment, but at least satisfying the residual hunger in his belly.

  Mrs Morton opened the door herself, looking surprised to see him there so late in the day. ‘Good evening, Mr Pollard. What can I do for you?’

  He hesitated, then told the truth. ‘I needed to get out of the house, so I thought I’d finish off that little job in the kitchen for you. Is that convenient, Mrs Morton?’

  ‘Of course it is. I’m grateful for your help. Come in. It’s Mona’s evening off, so she’s out at the cinema and I’m on my own.’

  When they got to the kitchen, she asked hesitantly, ‘Would you like to join me in a glass of sherry?’

  He looked at her ruefully. ‘I don’t know that I’ve ever drunk sherry before, Mrs Morton.’

  ‘Then I’ll give you a small amount before I fill your glass. It’s not to everyone’s taste and I don’t want to waste it. My husband and I used to drink it for a treat and I grew to like it. I still have a few bottles left from better days.’

  ‘I’d like to try it, but after I’ve finished the job, if you don’t mind.’

  ‘I don’t mind at all. Um, I won’t be in your way if I stay in the kitchen, will I? It’s warmer in here because I didn’t light a fire in the parlour. The evenings are getting a bit chilly now, aren’t they?’

  ‘You won’t be in my way at all, Mrs Morton.’

  He started on the job and she sat at the table reading the newspaper. It wasn’t everyone who could sit quietly and not feel the need for conversation, he thought. The silence and the tidy room with colourful plates and sparkling glasses arranged on the shelves of the dresser were calming, he found, and his anger began to fade. For some reason, he’d always felt comfortable with this kind lady.

  Half an hour saw the job finished, then he washed his hands and accepted a seat opposite her at the table. She poured him out a scant half inch of pale amber liquid in a pretty glass with a criss-cross pattern etched into its sides.

  ‘Try it, Wilf, just a sip. One doesn’t use sherry to quench one’s thirst, but to enjoy the taste.’

  He took a cautious sip and moved the liquid round his mouth to get the full flavour. When he swallowed it, he saw her watching him and nodded at the glass, saying quite truthfully, ‘I like it.’

  ‘Good. I’ll pour you a proper glassful, if you have the time.’

  He nodded. He definitely didn’t want to go back yet.

  ‘Do make yourself comfortable.’

  She poured for him then picked up her own glass and took a delicate sip, staring at him across the table. ‘Do you want to talk about whatever’s bothering you? I like to think I’m a good listener and it sometimes helps to unburden yourself. Not if you don’t want to, of course.’

  He stared back at her, seeing nothing but kindness in a face that was still attractive in spite of its wrinkles. ‘I’m at odds with my wife and don’t know how to sort it out. We don’t often quarrel, but this is a big disagreement.’

  ‘Go on. I can still remember what it was like to be married and I doubt anyone gets on well with their spouse all the time.’

  He told her about his quarrel with Enid then took another sip, letting silence settle between them. If Mrs Morton had any advice to offer, he’d listen. If she didn’t, well, she was right: it had been good to put the problem into words. It had helped him to see it more clearly.

  ‘I don’t think you can do much except perhaps give the children extra food yourself. Buy them a few treats.’

  ‘Yes. That’s as far as I’d got.’

  ‘I have an idea! Why don’t you bring the whole family here to tea tomorrow? I’ll give them a good, filling meal. Only if you’d like to, mind.’

  He was astonished at this invitation and blurted out the first thing that came into his head, ‘But we’re not – well, the sort of people a lady like you invites to tea.’

  She stiffened. ‘If you don’t wish to come, just say so. I shan’t take offence.’

  ‘I’d love to come – as long as we wouldn’t be imposing on you.’ He watched her relax again.

  ‘Far from it. To tell you the truth, I’m rather lonely these days. And for some reason, I find I can talk to you, Mr Pollard.’

  ‘I feel that I can talk to you, too, Mrs Morton.’

  ‘It happens sometimes that two people can bridge what others might see as a wide gap between them, and even become friends. My only son is dead and though he was married,
he had no children. I never did manage to bridge the gap between his wife and myself, though, and she hasn’t been near me since the funeral. I have no close family left now and most of my friends have died over the past few years.’

  ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

  ‘I’m seventy and in excellent health for my age. My mother lived to be ninety-four and I hope to do the same. That would be a long time to be lonely, though, don’t you think? So if I want things to change, I must do something about it, get to know new people.’

  ‘Well, we’ll come to tea with you happily.’

  She positively beamed at him, which made him feel certain she really wanted them to visit her and wasn’t just doing it out of pity. ‘What time?’

  ‘Come at half past three and we’ll eat around four o’clock. I’ll make sure there’s nothing too fancy for the children to manage.’

  ‘Thank you. For everything.’

  After the last driving lesson of the day, Jo and Nick had left Silas to keep an eye on the house and cars and gone to the town hall to book their wedding. Very fortunately, they could both lay hands on their birth certificates and Jo had her passport with her as well. Unfortunately, they had to queue for nearly half an hour.

  ‘We’d like to book a wedding,’ Nick said when it was finally their turn to step up to the counter.

  The clerk was a sour-faced young man who looked down his nose at them while they went through the formalities.

  ‘You are resident in this town and have been for the past seven days?’

  Nick lied without hesitation. ‘Yes.’

  When they both gave the same address, the young man let out a scornful sniff and Nick almost told him to be more polite. Not worth it, he decided.

  But the fellow continued with the same attitude, not troubling to hide an even deeper scorn when Nick asked about the quickest way to get married. He didn’t want to wait a month.

  ‘It’ll cost you three pounds … sir. And you’ll still have to wait a week.’

  It made Nick furious to see Jo flush and look embarrassed on what should have been a joyful occasion, so he put his hand down flat on the form the clerk was filling out and said firmly, ‘Stop looking at us like that.’

  The clerk gasped and took a hasty step backwards. ‘I beg your pardon?’

  There was no one else waiting, so Nick said, ‘To put it bluntly, we are not living in sin, which you seem to have assumed, though what business that is of yours, I don’t understand. My fiancée is from Australia, as you can see by her passport, and she had nowhere else to stay, so she’s sleeping in another bedroom at the house where I live. If I could marry her today, I would, because I love her. As it is, we have to wait till your little rule book tells us we can wed.’

  Jo dug him in the ribs and he realised he was frightening the clerk. Well, serve the stupid fellow right for being so cheeky.

  ‘I’m not – I wasn’t – please, sir, I can’t fill the form in if you keep your hand over it.’

  Nick took his hand away and glanced quickly sideways at Jo, whose cheeks were still pink but who now had, if he wasn’t mistaken, a twinkle of amusement in her eyes. He winked at her and turned back to the young chap. ‘Go on.’

  ‘You wish to marry here in the town hall, did you say, sir?’

  ‘Yes, here.’

  ‘I’ll need to check that there’s a free half-hour on the day that you become eligible.’

  ‘I shall be very annoyed if there isn’t.’

  Another stiff silence as the clerk took a smaller book from the side of the counter and bent over it. ‘Oh, yes. That’ll be fine. Ten o’clock in the morning. Is that all right?’

  Nick looked at Jo, who nodded and said, ‘Yes.’ She was looking more at ease and there was definitely a smile twitching at the corner of her mouth.

  As they walked out, she took his hand and pulled him to a halt, saying in a false, girlish voice, ‘My hero! You jumped to my defence like a knight of old.’

  Heedless of passers-by, he kissed her and they walked slowly back, hand in hand. It was good to be with someone who had a similar sense of humour. Where would you be if you couldn’t laugh at the silly things you sometimes encountered as you passed through the world?

  Wilf drove home slowly and got back to find Enid still up at well past her usual bedtime. When he looked at her, he could see she’d been crying, so said simply, ‘Let’s not quarrel any more, love. We’ll be careful with money but truly, I’m earning more because of that van, so it’s paying for itself.’

  ‘I can’t bear to be in debt. I just can’t, Wilf.’

  ‘I know it upsets you. But the debt will be paid off by Christmas, I promise you.’

  ‘And you won’t borrow money again?’

  He had to think for a minute because he only made promises he intended to keep, but had to shake his head. ‘I can’t promise that. I can only promise not to do anything rashly.’ He held up one hand to stop her protesting. ‘Let’s leave it like that for now. I want to tell you what I’ve been doing tonight.’

  He explained about Mrs Morton and her invitation and that definitely took his wife’s mind off money.

  ‘We can’t go to tea with a lady like her!’ Enid seemed horrified rather than pleased at the prospect.

  ‘Of course we can. She’s lonely, she doesn’t have much money, and even though she’s a lady born and bred, somehow I’ve made friends with her. I bet you’ll like her, too.’

  ‘She won’t like us if the children spill their drinks or break something.’

  ‘I don’t think she’d mind. She’s sounded wistful whenever she’s asked me about my family, and she told me how deeply she regretted not having any grandchildren.’

  Enid was so bemused by the idea of going to tea with a lady, she forgot to be stiff and chatted about it as they got ready for bed.

  She snuggled down with a sigh and fell asleep almost immediately, but Wilf lay awake for ages. Had Mrs Morton known the invitation would have this effect on his wife? he wondered. She was a wise old lady, that was sure.

  He was looking forward to going out to tea there and it’d do the children good to meet someone new and enjoy a completely different experience. Enid would wrap them up in cotton wool and stand guard over them every minute, if she could. She didn’t even let them play out unless she was standing at the doorway. He wanted to take them out and about, so that they could get used to the world and learn how to deal with it. He and Enid had argued about that, as well, come to think of it.

  Surely the outing would do Enid good? She’d not been looking well lately, seemed to have lost weight, and she’d always been thin, couldn’t afford to lose more. But when he’d asked, she’d insisted she was fine, just a bit tired, that was all.

  He’d have to keep an eye on her. She seemed to think only of the children these days, and might be neglecting herself. She was neglecting him, too, in her thoughts and in her deeds. She didn’t even want to make love when they went to bed in case the children heard.

  And what was the point of doing that anyway, she’d added bitterly, when they couldn’t create children by it?

  He’d need to sort out that side of their life with her. A man had his needs and Wilf certainly didn’t want to go elsewhere to satisfy them. Besides, the loving brought you closer together. She used to enjoy it. Other people didn’t stop once they had children. Why should he and Enid?

  He sighed and turned over, but it was a still night and he heard the town hall clock strike twice more before he began to feel sleepy.

  The hours seemed to pass slowly for Tess, all alone in the bedroom. By the time Jo and Nick closed the office each day, she felt as if she was going mad with boredom. There was a limit to the amount of time you wanted to spend reading, however interesting the books. She’d always wished she could read all day long, but now she had the time to do that and had found she grew restless after a while, wanted to move about, do something, talk to people.

  In the evenings, the other two still di
dn’t let her come downstairs, were very insistent on that, but they brought up the wireless and either listened to it with her or sat and chatted.

  ‘I wonder what Sergeant Deemer is doing about Rathley?’ Nick asked idly when some rather boring organ music came on the radio.

  ‘Making plans to catch him, I hope,’ Tess said with a shudder.

  ‘Be patient. He’s a good policeman.’

  She didn’t say how hard it was to be patient, how much she missed her mother’s company. They were being kind to her, and sensible. She had to be sensible, too.

  The other two went to bed earlier than Tess would have wished. She was more used to late nights. She lay in her narrow bed, wide awake still, and soon there was complete silence from the other bedrooms.

  Suddenly she thought she heard a faint sound outside in the backyard and sat bolt upright. What was that?

  When the sound came again, she flung back the covers and jumped out of bed, holding back the curtain and peeping out of the window. To her dismay, she saw two men at the back gate, one in the process of climbing over it. They were as clear as anything in the bright moonlight.

  At that moment the one on top of the gate glanced up and pointed towards her bedroom window. Oh no! He’d seen her.

  She stepped back, letting the curtain drop and rushing into Nick’s bedroom. She shook him hard. ‘Nick, wake up. There’s someone breaking in at the back of the house. Nick!’

  He jerked fully awake as Tess’s words sank in. ‘What did you see?’

  ‘Two men, one of them climbing over the gate.’

  ‘Damnation! Go and wake Jo.’

  Nick got out of bed, and cursed under his breath. Why did they make pyjama bottoms with that embarrassing gap in the front? He turned his back to her, pulled his trousers on hastily, and snatched at his sweater, dragging it down over his head as he ran next door.