Forgotten Children

by Cathy Sharp

  Mary Ellen hung her head and wouldn’t answer.

  ‘I hope that you are right, but I take leave to doubt it.’ Sister Beatrice seemed annoyed with Angela for speaking up for Billy. She stared coldly at Mary Ellen. ‘I hope that you are speaking the truth when you tell me you knew nothing of Billy’s plans to run away. I am disappointed in you, Mary Ellen. You cheated by writing out those lines and putting Billy’s name to them. I want you to promise me you will not do anything so underhanded again.’

  ‘Yes, Sister.’ Mary Ellen’s bottom lip trembled. ‘I just wanted to save Billy from getting the cane …’

  ‘I very seldom cane anyone, child. Just a rap over the knuckles occasionally. But some children need discipline. I am not a cruel person, please do not start to think of me as an ogre, for it was not my intention to cane Billy this time, whatever he may have thought, because it clearly does not work for him – and if you know where he is hiding, tell him to come to me and we shall discuss his position here.’ She paused, then, ‘Very well, you may go. I have decided that I shall not withhold your privileges since you confessed your crime – but any further transgressions will be severely punished. Do you understand me?’

  ‘Yes, Sister.’

  ‘Very well, run along.’

  Mary Ellen looked at Angela, who smiled and nodded. Making good her escape, she went out of the door but did not close it and heard Angela speak to Sister Beatrice.

  ‘Shall you inform the police?’

  ‘Not immediately. I hope the foolish boy is simply hiding somewhere. If that is the case he will come out sooner or later, when he gets hungry.’

  ‘We must hope you are right,’ Angela said, sounding anxious. ‘I’m not sure it wouldn’t be a good idea to let the police know he’s gone missing. He is out there on the streets somewhere and I don’t like the idea that a man may be hanging about in the garden.’

  ‘I cannot imagine what he hopes to find here. We have nothing of value for him to steal. Besides, you were not certain there was an intruder, were you?’ Angela shook her head. ‘I believe that we shall discover my version was the truth and the boy has run away – but, because I think I may have frightened him into it, we shall give him a few hours to return. If he does not then I shall have to report this incident to the police.’

  ‘If they knew he was missing the police might find him and bring him back …’

  ‘If I report Billy missing the matter could be taken out of my hands. It might then be a decision for the magistrates as to whether Billy could remain here. I am as worried about his welfare as you, Angela, but I believe he is just as likely to be hiding here in the house and will give in when he’s hungry.’

  Mary Ellen felt a shiver down her spine. She didn’t think Billy was hiding. He had run away like Sister said – and she was afraid that he’d gone to his brother to stop him setting fire to the home. Arthur would make him do bad things. Perhaps she ought to have told Sister about Arthur, but Billy would never forgive her for being a snitch. All Mary Ellen could do was to pray that he was safe and would come back when he was ready.

  TWENTY-FIVE

  Sally was listening to the radio as she helped her mother clear the table and wash the supper dishes with hot water and soap powder. It was a music programme and they were playing all the popular tunes of the last few years. She hummed one of the latest hits and then started to sing the words: ‘Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner …’

  ‘Sally, can I borrow your blue dress tomorrow?’ Brenda asked, entering the kitchen, her hair in wire curlers and wearing only her pink rayon pyjamas. ‘I’ve got to see the office manager first thing Monday and I think I may be in line for promotion. If he makes me a secretary rather than just one of the typing pool I’ll get a rise and I’ll take you to the flicks.’

  ‘You don’t have to bribe me,’ Sally said. ‘Of course you can wear my best dress, Bren – but don’t get ink all over it.’

  ‘You’re a love,’ Brenda laughed and grabbed her about the waist as a dance tune came on the radio, waltzing her round the kitchen. ‘The office manager is absolutely dishy. I should love to work for him.’

  ‘I thought you were going out with that chap from the accountant’s office?’

  ‘I am sort of, but it isn’t serious,’ Brenda said. ‘It’s a bit like you and that apprentice plumber. Why don’t you go around with him any more?’

  ‘Keith doesn’t come round any longer, because we quarrelled. Besides, I don’t think of him as anything but a friend.’

  ‘You don’t mind that he doesn’t come, do you?’

  ‘No, not a bit. It was fun going out with him for a while, but I’m not in love with him.’

  ‘Good, because I saw him out with another girl. He was in the queue at the Rex last week and they seemed to be very lovey-dovey.’

  ‘Oh, well, good luck to him and her,’ Sally said. ‘I really don’t mind what he does, Bren.’

  ‘Is it Mr Markham?’ Brenda whispered confidentially as their mother hung the tea towel over the kitchen range to dry.

  ‘You know I think a lot of him, but he hasn’t said anything definite yet. We’re still getting to know one another, Bren.’ Sally turned her head so that her sister couldn’t see her face. She was falling deeper and deeper in love with Andrew every time they met, but although he’d told her he liked her an awful lot, and he’d kissed her a few times, she wasn’t sure if it was more than a flirtation on his part. Sally sometimes felt that he was the one and longed for him to tell her he loved her as much as she loved him, but she knew he was way above her and it seemed unlikely that he could really be serious about her.

  ‘I hope you’re not falling for him,’ Brenda said. ‘You know it would never work, don’t you? He isn’t our sort. The folks wouldn’t like it – they wouldn’t feel comfortable asking a man like that to tea, let alone seeing him married to their daughter.’

  ‘Stop being daft,’ Sally said, although she knew her sister was right. Dad had seemed to get on all right with Andrew when he’d called round to take her out, but her mum had made it plain she didn’t approve. ‘I’m tired and I’m going to bed.’

  She snapped off the radio, feeling out of sorts with her sister. Brenda was just being priggish. What did it matter if they did come from a different class to Andrew? Besides, there was never going to be anything between them so it was all nonsense. As she’d told her sister, she admired Andrew for his work with the children and as a surgeon. The fact that his smile turned her insides to mush was neither here nor there.

  She pushed the silly ideas Brenda’s words had aroused to the back of her mind and went up to bed. They were busy at St Saviour’s and she had another long day ahead of her in the morning.

  ‘Hi, Michelle,’ Sally said when she went up to the sick room with a parcel containing sterilised dressings and various medications that had been delivered the following morning. ‘Sister said you needed these so I brought them up. How are you? I haven’t seen you for a chat for ages. I wondered if you’d like to go to the flicks one night.’

  ‘Yes, why not? I should like to see The Ghost and Mrs Muir – it’s the new Cary Grant film and I like him. I think that might be fun.’

  ‘Yes, I’d like to see that,’ Sally agreed. ‘When shall we go?’

  ‘What about tomorrow?’

  ‘That suits me. I don’t have a class that night. I’ll bring a change of clothes and we’ll go straight after work. Have a cup of coffee somewhere first, perhaps?’ She hesitated, then, ‘Are you worried about anything? Only you’ve seemed a bit quiet lately.’

  ‘My father isn’t well,’ Michelle said. ‘He has a bad cough, that’s all.’

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry about that,’ Sally said, accepting her word, though she had a feeling there was more. ‘I’ll see you on Tuesday, then?’

  ‘Lovely,’ Michelle agreed. ‘I shall have to get on. I need to check these supplies and then I have a dressing to do. Jilly Watkins has a nasty sore on her leg and I’m afraid it might
turn septic.’

  ‘Poor little thing; I’ll leave you to it. I’m glad we had a chat,’ Sally said and left her to get on with her work. Michelle was friendly enough, but she obviously had something on her mind, but whatever it was she didn’t intend to share it.

  Sally wondered if it concerned Alice, because she’d noticed that the other carer hadn’t been paying as much attention to her work recently as she ought, and perhaps Michelle had noticed too. Sally would have liked to ask Alice what was wrong, but didn’t like to intrude.

  Oh, well, it wasn’t her problem. She’d better get on with her own work or she’d be the one in trouble! And the last thing she needed was to lose her job.

  Sally was reading to the children when the door of the schoolroom opened and Mr Markham entered quietly so as not to interrupt her, but the children had seen him and started to whisper, giggling and looking at each other excitedly. Sally finished her story and closed her book.

  ‘Children, say hello to Mr Markham.’ Her heart jerked as she saw the little expression of expectation on his lips, and she felt the happiness dancing inside her. How handsome he looked with his soft, slightly overlong hair and that teasing smile, but she had to behave as if he were just another staff member and stop herself wanting to laugh for the pleasure of seeing him.

  ‘Hello, Mr Markham,’ they chorused and looked expectant. Then one little boy piped up, ‘Have you come to tell us a story?’

  ‘Well, I do happen to have a copy of my latest book about the Big Hairy Spider …’

  Cries of delight greeted his announcement and then absolute hush as he took a seat next to Sally and opened the large picture book. His story finished, he left them to peruse the latest book and puzzle, and he joined Sally as she stood by the window, her face half-turned from him. His nearness sent her senses spinning but she forced herself to act naturally.

  ‘Perhaps we could go somewhere this evening?’

  Sally felt a crushing disappointment as she said, ‘I have evening class tonight. I’m sorry …’

  ‘What time does it end?’

  ‘Eight thirty.’

  ‘I’ll meet you and we’ll go for a snack somewhere. Perhaps some of those excellent fish and chips we once shared?’

  ‘Yes, lovely, thank you,’ Sally said and blushed as she became aware that the children were watching.

  ‘Say thank you to Mr Markham, children.’

  ‘This evening, then,’ he said and walked to the door.

  The children chorused their thanks and he left them, sending Sally what she thought of as his special smile. He really was a lovely man and he did seem to like her, which made her happy. It was the odd the way his smile made her heart beat faster and her tummy tumble with excitement, because no one had ever made her feel like that before.

  Her thoughts turned for a moment to her future, because she wasn’t sure if her hopes of becoming a nurse would ever come true. With the present state of her father’s finances she simply could not afford all the books she would need.

  She sighed deeply as the bell rang and she ushered the children into the dining room to drink their milk. She was an idiot to feel this way about Andrew Markham, because, as Brenda had told her, nothing could ever come of it – their worlds were too far apart.

  TWENTY-SIX

  Alice looked for Jack in vain as she reached the corner where he normally stood in the shadows to wait for her. He was nowhere in sight and her breath caught in her throat. This was the third evening in a row that he hadn’t been waiting for her – and she was sure now that she’d missed her period. It was the twenty-fifth of November now and she was due the previous week. She’d always been as regular as clockwork until now. The trickle of fear went down her spine as she thought about what would happen if Jack didn’t come any more. How long would she be able to keep her condition a secret – and what happened when her parents found out?

  Choking back the tears that threatened, Alice looked about her one last time before moving on. It was too chilly to stand about long and she already had a bit of a cold. She wished she’d told Jack of her suspicions the last time they’d met but she hadn’t wanted to say until she was sure. He got angry if she went on about things, especially when she asked about his plans to leave Butcher’s employ.

  ‘Are you tryin’ to get me killed, Alice?’ he’d demanded the last time she said anything. ‘If I go too quickly they’ll get suspicious and then I’m for the chop.’

  ‘Sorry. It’s just that I’m scared. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you. I just want us to be together.’

  ‘It’s what I want too,’ he told her and kissed her, smiling down at her. ‘I’m not goin’ to break my promise, Alice luv. We’ll go away together and we’ll be married. I shan’t change my mind.’

  ‘Shall I see you tomorrow?’

  ‘I’ll be here and we’ll go for a meal and then back to my place,’ he’d promised, but he hadn’t come and Alice had been on thorns for days.

  She had started to walk home when a car drew up beside her; the door opened and Jack’s voice told her to get in quick. She obeyed and he glanced over his shoulder and then set off down the lane, driving as if all the bats in hell were after him.

  ‘Is something wrong, Jack?’

  ‘Butcher has had someone following me for the past couple of days. He thinks I’ve done somethin’, but he doesn’t know what – and if he discovered the truth I’d be dead. I couldn’t meet you as usual, because I was scared he would cotton on to us goin’ steady. If he knew, he would use you against me – threaten to harm you if I didn’t do what he wants.’

  ‘Does he want you to do something bad?’ Alice turned her head to look at him fearfully as he shot down one lane and up another, doubling back on himself several times until he finally parked in the seclusion of a pub yard. It was dark in the shadows away from the lights of the building and Alice couldn’t see his face. ‘Why is he having you followed?’

  ‘Because Butcher wants me to kill someone and I’ve told him I won’t do it. I’ve done some things I’m not proud of, Alice, beaten up a few men who wouldn’t pay up – but I stop short of murder. He knows that and they’ve never asked before, but now they say it’s a test to prove my loyalty. I reckon they know I want out, girl. And some stuff of theirs has been pinched … some stolen stuff they had stashed away in an office safe. Butcher reckons Arthur Baggins had a hand in it and they want me to kill him – but I’ve refused, told him I won’t do it.’

  ‘Jack! You haven’t taken that stuff, have you?’

  ‘Nah, I ain’t a thief,’ he protested, but she thought he was lying. ‘He wants me to kill the bloke he suspects of stealing the stuff. Butcher says that if I’m not in with Arthur, I’ll do as he asks, but I ain’t goin’ to do it, Alice. I ain’t goin’ ter swing for him – even if it means we have to go sooner than I intended. I’ve got to get hold of some more money. I know you won’t like this, Alice – but me and Arthur are goin’ ter do a job together. And then we’ll clear orf and I promise I’ll go straight. I’m only doin’ it fer you, so we can have a decent life in America.’

  ‘Oh, Jack, please don’t do whatever it is you’ve planned …’ Her breath caught in her throat. ‘We’ll manage with whatever you have. I don’t need much if I have you. I just want to get away from here and I couldn’t bear it if you were killed. How soon can we leave? What do you want me to do?’

  ‘Just carry on workin’ same as usual, Alice. You can’t tell anyone or I’m a dead man. If they got wind of what I’ve been up to they would kill me without a thought.’

  ‘I thought you said they were suspicious?’

  ‘They are but they don’t know what I’m really doin’, Alice. I just need to get a bit of extra money, and then we’ll go. I promise, Alice. I really care about you, love – and I’ll look after yer. Just trust me and it will all be all right.’

  ‘Don’t do anything silly!’ Alice cried. ‘I want you, not money. I need to tell you something, Jack – I’
m pretty sure I’m pregnant …’ Her voice died away as she saw the shock in his eyes and his quick frown. ‘I knew you wouldn’t like it … I’m sorry.’

  ‘It takes two,’ Jack said gruffly. ‘I’d say I’m pleased, Alice, but it just complicates things – makes it all the more important that you don’t get dragged into this.’ He was silent for a moment, and then nodded as if his mind was made up. ‘I can’t take you with me when I go, Alice. I’ll have to make a quick break for it – and you would just slow me down.’

  ‘But you promised …’

  He leaned forward, touching his mouth to hers. ‘I’m not abandoning you, Alice. You must stay here and carry on as if nothing was different. As soon as I get settled and I’m sure I haven’t been followed I shall send for you. I’ll send you a letter with some money and you can come and join me wherever I am.’

  ‘Oh, Jack.’ Alice’s eyes filled with tears but she struggled to hold them back. Jack would be angry if she made a fuss but she was frightened – frightened that once he’d left London he would simply forget her. Why should he bother with a pregnant girlfriend who was plump and plain? He swore she was lovely and that he loved her, but Alice didn’t feel glamorous or pretty and she knew Jack would always be able to sweet-talk a girl into bed with him. She’d fallen for the charm and the kisses that drew her heart from her body.

  Alice was about to say she would risk anything to be with him when car headlights swept into the car park. A man got out and started to walk towards them. Jack swore loudly, grabbed the steering wheel and took the brake off, revving his engine as he attempted to swivel about and leave the car park by another exit.

  ‘Get down,’ he hissed at her. ‘I don’t want him to see you.’ He put his foot down, deliberately crashing his car into the other as he swept past. His car was bigger and sent the other swerving off at a tangent. Jack reversed into a dark lane, and then took off down another at terrific speed, leaving Alice trembling and shaken. ‘Damn them to hell! That was Big Harry and I’d bet my last shilling that he was going to kill me. I can’t go back to my place. I’m going to leave you near St Saviour’s and keep goin’, Alice. You’ll have to get home yourself – and remember to carry on as normal. I’ll get back to you when I can …’