‘Yes, sawing wood, chopping down trees, mixing cement, carrying rocks, you’d love it.’
After they’d gone, and Megan and Mali were in their own room, Henry stood to leave. ‘Toni has a point, you know. Now there isn’t as much to do here, you could work for a few hours each day and still cope with everything.’
‘I do have to earn some money,’ she admitted. ‘I’ve been trying to ignore it, although I have been looking in the paper for something that appeals. Without the boys contributing I’ll soon be needing some.’
‘Shops? Office work? Canteen assistant? What about cooking, like Mali and Megan? You wouldn’t find that difficult after all the years you’ve fed the boys. Or you could learn to type, that would open many doors.’
She laughed. ‘You’ve given this idea some thought, haven’t you?’
‘You need to get out and make a life for yourself.’
‘I’m thinking about it but the idea is scary. I haven’t mixed with many people over the past ten years, have I?’
‘It’s time you did.’
‘All right. For a start, what about inviting Tabs and her father and the formidable Martha for dinner one evening? I’d like to talk some more about my family.’
‘Tabs and George and Martha and all your brothers, I suppose.’
‘No,’ she said, changing her mind rapidly, ‘just you.’
When they arrived on the following Saturday, Martha carried a large flat package which she handed to Ruth. It was a painting, not a very good one, obviously painted by a child and cheaply framed in wood that had been stained to the colour of dark oak. ‘No letters. I must have thrown them away. But this was painted by your poor Uncle Ralph,’ Martha told her, ‘while he was still at infant school. Your mam kept it until she died. I don’t know why, but I couldn’t throw it away. There ought to be something for him to be remembered by.’
Ruth was staring at it. ‘Thank you. I’ll treasure this. I know nothing about my Uncle Ralph. So you rescued this? How d’you know it was Ralph’s work?’ She looked at it then said, ‘It isn’t signed.’
‘Your mother told me. It was the only thing she had to remind her of her brother. When she and your father died and her things were sorted out, it was going on the back of the fire. I asked your brother Emrys if I could have it and he looked at it, saw it was of no value or interest and agreed. If you would like it back, it’s yours. I don’t know why I kept it, perhaps so I could hand it back to someone who might be interested.’
‘I am interested. Thank you, Martha.’ Ruth propped it up on the mantelpiece and stared at it for a while. ‘Poor Ralph. I wonder what became of him?’
‘Probably dead by now, poor dab.’
Henry’s mother lived in the pretty seaside town of Penarth, and he saw her often. She ran one of Henry’s shops in which she sold mostly old jewellery. She didn’t do much business, but she needed something to fill her days now she couldn’t get around very well. He was happy to keep it going and he encouraged her to buy as well as sell as she became more knowledgeable.
He lived above the shop that was the base for his antiques business, built up since the war. Tabitha, shy, nervous, yet extremely interested and with a basic information about many aspects of the business, helped by looking after the shop for a few hours each day.
Thinking of his mother, he went to a phone box and invited her out for a meal, with Ruth. When he went to unload the items he had bought, it was past 5.30 and he was surprised to find the shop open and his assistant still there.
‘Tabitha? You’re working late today. Have you been busy?’
‘I’ve been waiting for you, Mr Owen.’
‘Something wrong?’
‘My father is marrying again and, he – she—’ She began to cry. ‘I’m sorry, Mr Owen, but I—’
‘Come on, Tabs, I’ll make us a drink and you can tell me all about it.’
She had calmed down by the time he handed her a cup of tea and she explained.
‘They want me to leave. They’re getting married in July and want the place to themselves. I don’t blame them,’ she said quickly, as he began to respond. ‘They need time together without someone like me hanging around. I understand that, but where will I go?’
‘Someone like you will have plenty of choices, Tabs. You’d make an excellent lodger if you fancy living with a family, or there’ll be a room to rent somewhere that will make a comfortable home. Look, don’t worry about it. I’ll make enquiries and we’ll have you settled in no time.’
‘It’s only April. They aren’t getting married until July.’
‘No need for you to wait for a formal goodbye and have them close the door behind you. You tell them goodbye, let them manage without you for a few weeks.’
‘I couldn’t do that, Mr Owen. Dad will need someone to look after him until Martha moves in.’
Henry chuckled and looked at her. ‘What is it about me that I attract silly women?’ Tabitha looked shocked and she half rose out of her chair. He touched her shoulder and pressed her gently back down. ‘Silly because they are too kind, they worry too much about others and not enough about themselves. You and Ruth are so much alike.’
‘Too kind, or too silly?’
‘Both! Once you find a suitable place, don’t wait, take it! It’s what they want, isn’t it? For you to find a place of your own? Honestly, Tabs, you mustn’t allow them to use you until they no longer need you then tell you to go. That’s silly. D’you see?’
‘I’ll look for a place in the local newspaper.’
‘Good girl!’
‘Hardly a girl,’ she said sadly. ‘I’ll be twenty-nine soon.’
‘All the more reason to get out and find a life for yourself. Honestly, you and Ruth, you both need a shove. Tabs, don’t be sad, get excited. This might be the best thing that’s happened to you.’
He discussed Tabs over the meal with Ruth and his mother. ‘It’s a pity there isn’t a way to help her. She just lacks confidence. Can you suggest anything, Ruth?’
‘Too busy!’ Then she laughed and explained her flippant remark. ‘It’s Mickie! I didn’t dream that two year olds could be such hard work. But he’s a darling child, such fun. I’m enjoying having Mali and Megan staying at Ty Gwyn, I really am.’ She added, ‘I will think about Tabs, and there is a way I think might solve her problem. I’ll tell you about it later.’
Ruth was pleased at the way Megan and Mali and little Mickie settled into life at Ty Gwyn. They went out a lot when they weren’t working during the day, and took the little boy to parks and to the beach and for picnics in sheltered places on mild afternoons. He would come home happy and tired and slept easily from the moment he was put into bed. Megan and Mali both went out often in the evenings, to dances and to the cinema or simply to meet friends, but never together, they shared the care of Mickie completely and, listening to how they were with him, there was no discernible difference in the way he was treated.
They spent more and more time in the large, comfortable kitchen and would occasionally share their meal with her. In May 1954, fats and cheese ration ended and they celebrated by making a supper of baked potatoes to which lots of cheese had been added, with piles more sprinkled on the top and melted under the grill with a crisp bacon garnish. Butter was thickly spread on bread and topped with jam, and they declared it a feast.
One evening when they were all in, Henry came, and to everyone’s surprise, he brought Tabitha, his shy, nervous assistant. ‘Tabitha’s looking for accommodation,’ he announced to the sisters. ‘She’s decided to leave her father now he’s remarrying and, thank goodness, she isn’t needed to look after him any longer. Wise girl, our Tabs, eh?’ She was about to disagree with his reverse summing up of her situation, but he smiled encouragingly and she nodded agreement.
‘Stay for the evening, Tabs,’ Ruth invited, and ignored the girl’s immediate attempt to refuse, took her coat and offered her a chair near the fire. Back in the kitchen, she said to Henry, ‘It might
be a good idea to break her in gently to leaving home by coming here for a few evenings to get used to people rather than go straight into a room with strangers and probably become a hermit!’
Tabs said very little but seemed to enjoy the company, as long as she wasn’t given too much attention. She ate sparingly, as though convinced that everyone was watching her. She went into the kitchen to start on the washing up once the meal was over but was stopped by Ruth, who insisted that she was a guest.
Tommy and Toni, Bryn and Brenda called in and Tabs began to scoot away, reaching for her coat like a life-line, but she was persuaded to stay. For Ruth the evening was perfect, chatter and laughter and the house filled with people demanding food.
Although the evening was warm, Toni wore a loose coat that swung from her shoulders, which she seemed reluctant to remove.
‘Cup of tea, Toni?’ Ruth asked. Toni shook her head.
‘Off tea she is,’ Tommy said. ‘Who’d have believed that, eh?’
With a twinkle in her eyes, Mali said. ‘You’ve put on some weight, Toni. Being married suits you, doesn’t it?’
‘When’s it due?’ the more forthright Megan asked.
Into the sudden silence, Toni brushed the remark aside and she and the others didn’t stay very long.
‘Shy, is she? ‘Megan asked, when they stood at the door to wave them goodbye.
‘Toni? Of course she isn’t shy. She’s as at home with me here as in her new flat.’
‘Told you about the baby, then, has she?’ Mali asked.
‘What baby?’
‘Come on! Putting on weight, wearing a coat that looks like a tent, on a mild day like today? Refusing a cup of tea? All the usual signs.’
‘She can’t be expecting. I’m the first person they’d have told.’
She went to Toni and Tommy’s flat the following morning and found Toni there. ‘No work today, Toni? Everything all right?’
‘Yes, everything’s fine,’ Toni said, sitting down and pulling a cushion onto her lap to hide a pregnancy that was hardly visible.
‘Why didn’t you tell me about the baby?’ Ruth asked softly. ‘I felt such a fool, Mali and Megan guessing before me.’
‘We had to get married and we couldn’t tell you, it was too embarrassing, you being an unmarried sister. It sounds stupid but we hoped we could hide it until nearer the time so everyone would think it was a honeymoon baby, even if it comes suspiciously early.’
‘You should have told me.’
‘Why?’ Toni asked in exasperation. ‘You’re only my sister-in-law and your opinion isn’t our first thought.’
Ruth felt the shock of the unkind words and stood to leave.
‘Don’t go.’ Toni sighed. ‘Look, you have to face the facts, Ruth. You were wonderful looking after the boys all these years, but it’s over and you can have your life back. Surely you want a life of your own? Or are you going to spend all the years ahead waiting for visits and cooking big-huge meals in the hope that someone will come and eat them?’
‘You’re so unkind.’
‘If it’s unkind to be truthful then yes, I’m unkind. But trying to make you see you have a life to live?’ She shook her head. ‘Who but you would call that unkind? You must know deep in that coping, caring, motherly nature of yours that I’m right. Marry Henry, have babies.’ She patted her barely visible swelling. ‘This one will be needing cousins, won’t he?’
Ruth was tearful as she walked back home, but by the time she had reached the house, and heard the sound of Mickie shrieking with laughter as he played ball with his mother, she had calmed down. Toni was right. It was a time to look for a new direction. Change was never easy, and change of attitude was the hardest of all. But marry Henry? She couldn’t marry him simply because there was no alternative.
The first stage of this new life that beckoned, was a job, Toni had been right about that, too. She turned away from the gate and went to buy a local paper to look for the jobs vacant column. Today she would restart her own life.
Turning the pages carrying advertisements her eyes stopped at the accommodation required section. Perhaps she would see something suitable for Tabitha. Then her eyes lit up. Her life Toni had told her, then she could make her own decisions. She would invite Tabitha to come and live with her in Ty Gwyn. Whatever anyone said, it was what she wanted, the house filled again and with people she chose. New life, new attitude. If it was what she wanted, then that was what she would do. Tabitha would benefit from being there, seeing her brothers and their wives calling in, they’d ease her out of her shyness. She was humming as she hurried once more towards home.
She didn’t go into the house but instead went to see Tabs. She asked her straight out, if she would like to come and live in Ty Gwyn and was surprised when Tabitha shook her head, her eyes wide in alarm.
‘No, I couldn’t! You’re very kind but I’ll manage, you don’t have to put yourself out for me.’
‘I’m not being kind, I would prefer not to live in that house all alone and Mali and Megan will be leaving soon to move into the flat they are renting. Please, Tabs, I think we’d get on very well. At least give it a try.’
A lot of persuading was required but Tabs finally agreed to move in – ‘Just as soon as my father doesn’t need me any more. I’ll have to stay until he and Martha marry.’ We’ll see about that, Ruth thought, having been told of the situation by Henry.
Henry walked into the shop later that day, stopped and stared in disbelief at the silver tea-set which Tabs had polished and which stood in the centre of the window. He picked up the teapot and looked at the marks and the unfortunate dents. Frowning, he looked at Tabs. ‘Where did this come from?’
‘I told you, I bought it on Friday.’ She took out the form which the tramp had filled in and he snatched it from her.
‘What have I done?’ she asked. ‘I rang Sergeant Miller, what else should I have done?’
‘I gave this set to Ruth. How could she sell it?’
‘It wasn’t Ruth, Henry. A rather scruffy individual brought it in. I suspected there was something wrong, the way he looked, all nervous. But I checked and it was a good price and … Oh, I’m so sorry.’
‘She might not have brought it in, but I gave it to her and somehow it ends up here.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Tabs repeated.
‘Don’t be. Could you lock up for me, please, Tabs? I think I need to go and talk to Ruth about this.’
‘Of course.’
Henry took the silver and when he got to Ty Gwyn he unpacked it onto the kitchen table. ‘If you hadn’t wanted it you only had to tell me. I offered it but I wouldn’t have been heartbroken if you hadn’t liked it.’
Ruth stared at it.
‘But where has it been? I thought you’d changed your mind and taken it back. I didn’t accept it very graciously.’
‘I left it here, on this table and the following Friday it ended up in the shop.’
‘But how? I didn’t see it after you’d gone and I presumed you’d changed your mind about giving it to me.’
‘A man came into the shop and offered it to Tabs, who bought it, not knowing it was already mine.’
‘Then someone must have taken it. Truthfully, Henry, I didn’t see it after you’d gone.’ She was alarmed at the expression in Henry’s eyes. ‘Henry, I don’t know what happened. I only know I didn’t sell it or give it away. I wouldn’t. You must know me better than that. It must have been stolen the night I found the door unlocked. I thought at first I’d packed it away somewhere after another sleep-walking incident, but then, as nothing else was missing, I thought you must have taken it back.’
‘Another mysterious happening in this house?’
‘Yes, so it seems. It also seems that once again you don’t believe me.’
‘I do believe you. I’m trying to work out what could have happened.’
‘Well, seeing you looking at me with such a suspicious, disbelieving expression, I wish you’d work out what happ
ened somewhere else! Please go away!’ She pushed him through the door and slammed it after him. ‘So much for my happy fresh start,’ she muttered. ‘No Henry, no Tabs as a lodger and, from the smell coming for the oven, no dinner either!’ She pulled the too large cottage pie out of the oven and sighed over its blackened edges and threw it outside the door.
Chapter Three
Tabitha’s father was trying to move some of the furniture out of the bedroom into which he was going to bring his bride. Martha Howard had made it clear that she didn’t intend to move in and live amid the trappings of his previous marriage.
‘A fresh start is what you deserve, George, dear,’ she had explained, when he told her magnanimously that she could rearrange the rooms as she pleased. ‘We need a complete change. After all my taste is different from your first wife’s and poor Tabs doesn’t have much idea about furnishing a room. With some new furniture and some cheerful curtains instead of those drab, heavy old browns, you’ll feel like a young man just setting out on life.’
She had chosen the main bedroom and suggested the second bedroom would be perfect for the occasional guest.
‘Tabitha – silly name, dear – can manage in the box room. There’s plenty of room for her things and she can sit up there in the evenings for us to have some privacy. She’ll be quite comfortable there with a chair and a small table.’
‘But Tabs won’t be here!’ He smiled in expectation of her delight. ‘Surprise, surprise, dear. She’s moving out so we can have the place to ourselves. That’s my special news, Martha. The whole house will be ours, just like you wanted. We’ll be starting out like two young newlyweds should.’
Martha hid her disappointment well. She had imagined that Tabitha would be running the household as she always had, leaving her to enjoy the freedom of not having to deal with the boring chores.
Later, after she had cooked George his favourite meal of liver and onions and given him a glass of beer, she broached the subject again.
‘If Tabitha is leaving you without help, I hope you aren’t expecting me to do all the housework as well as the cooking, George.’
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