‘Go away, Jack. I don’t want to see you. I’m sure you can understand.’
‘I didn’t neglect Gloria,’ he pleaded. ‘Please listen and I’ll explain exactly what happened.’
‘Guilty or not in law, I believe you were culpable. Whatever you say won’t change that.’ She closed the door firmly and ignored his continued knocks. She leaned against the back of the door until she heard his footsteps walking away. She wanted so much to call him back. Anything would be better than this loneliness.
He came the next evening, and the next. When he made his fourth visit it was in a snow storm and he was drenched and looking so ill she let him in. ‘Just to dry off, then you have to leave,’ she said.
‘Thank you, my darling Abi,’ he said ‘I knew you wouldn’t let me down.’
‘You aren’t staying,’ she retorted angrily. ‘Dry yourself, have something warm to eat, then you go.’
The centre attracted a few guests, even in the coldest months and even snowfalls added to the delight of winter walks along the lanes and through the fields. It was a gift to photographers. The guests were mostly bird-watchers, interested in the winter visitors and enjoying the extra visibility with the trees bare of their leaves.
Rachel felt the cold and stayed in her room. Ruth and Henry plus two staff managed well enough, until one, then the other phoned to tell Henry they were ill and wouldn’t be in. It was difficult, as besides cooking and checking the rooms, Ruth also had to cope with the cleaning. Henry took the groups out on walks but had to rise early to get wood chopped and coal brought in and two fires lit. Paths had to be cleared of snow, which returned in fury and had to be moved again. Clothes and boots worn by the visitors had to be dried which added to the task of dealing with the laundering of bedding. It was frequently after midnight before they went to their separate rooms, and six a.m. when they met in the kitchen for a cup of tea before beginning their daily tasks.
Henry contacted a part-time assistant who worked only during the summer months, and to their relief she agreed to help, but then she called them back to tell them she too was unable to come as promised due to another heavy fall of snow.
Henry said, ‘D’you think we should cancel next week’s bookings?’
Ruth shook her head. ‘All we need is someone to help with the fires and the snow clearing. We’ll manage the rest.’
Henry rang several people he knew to find someone to help them but no one was available. He even asked his mother and Abigail if there was someone near where they lived who might be willing to work for a few days but no one came. Then Jack arrived.
‘I hear you are looking for some help for a few days,’ he said, as Henry opened the door.
‘Not you, thanks,’ Henry said, beginning to close the door.
‘I’ll work hard and you won’t find anyone else willing to come out in this weather.’ Jack stood and watched as the door opened again.
‘You can sleep in the barn but you’re not to come into the house.’ He offered the sum he was willing to pay, knowing it was generous. Jack nodded, and Henry began to lead him towards the wood pile and asked him to saw some logs and chop some kindling.
‘It’s all right, I know where the tools are,’ Jack said, and walked off insouciantly to leave Henry frowning suspiciously. Then he went to tell Ruth what he had done.
Three days passed and Jack did all they asked of him, sleeping in the barn with the fire burning to keep the place warm. Ruth washed his clothes replacing some with a few of Henry’s cast-offs
On his final day, when the permanent staff returned, and the snow was disappearing under heavy rain, Henry paid him and he gathered his bag of freshly laundered clothes to leave. The next day he returned asking for a jumper he’d left behind. He packed it into his bag and said, ‘Sad about your Tommy, isn’t it?’ He slung the bag onto his shoulder and began to walk away.
‘Tommy?’ Ruth frowned. ‘What’s the matter with Tommy?’
‘Had an accident, didn’t he? How will your Bryn manage without him? I’m just off to see if I can help.’
Ruth had a word with Henry and, leaving the others in charge, he drove her to where Tommy and Toni lived. They could hear the baby crying as they knocked on the door, and Ruth called through the letter box. ‘It’s me, Toni. Is everything all right? Only we heard something about Tommy being hurt.’
The door opened and Toni stood there in a dressing-gown, holding the baby. Her hair hadn’t been combed and she wore no make-up and looked distraught. Seeing her like that worried Ruth more than the words spoken by Jack. She went in and Henry followed.
‘Stupid man,’ Toni began tearfully. ‘This will ruin our plans. He just doesn’t think.’
‘Tommy isn’t hurt then?’ Ruth asked.
‘He’s broken a leg and won’t be able to work for weeks and weeks. He might not ever go back to the work he and Bryn do.’
‘Come on, broken bones heal,’ Henry soothed. ‘But what happened?’
‘He was lopping branches from a tall sycamore tree. They were over-hanging the road and they were going to deal with them later, when the weather improves, but your Tommy couldn’t wait. Bryn had gone off to price another job and Tommy decided that, snow or not, he could climb up and deal with it himself. His foot slipped on an icy branch and he fell.’
‘Where is he? Can we see him?’ Ruth asked.
‘At the hospital, where he’s joking and making them laugh at his description of his acrobatic fall,’ Toni said bitterly.
‘When did this happen?’ Ruth asked.
‘Three days ago. He’ll be home tomorrow, when the swelling’s gone down.’
‘Three days ago?’ Henry said, reaching for Ruth’s hand. ‘Why didn’t you tell Ruth?’
‘She wasn’t my first thought!’ Toni snapped. ‘I was shocked, frightened, but I didn’t feel the need to run to Ruth. I’ve been worrying about how we’re going to manage while Tommy can’t work.’
‘Come on, Henry, let’s get to the hospital.’ Ruth walked to the door without a another word.
‘You’re too early,’ Toni called. ‘They won’t let you see him until visiting time and that’s not for a couple of hours.’
At the hospital, Tommy was sitting in the waiting-room, his leg in plaster above the knee reading a newspaper. ‘Tommy? Are you all right?’ Ruth asked, running towards him.
‘Where have you been?’ Tommy demanded. ‘Why haven’t you been in with grapes?’
‘We were only told an hour ago. Jack told us.’
‘Waiting for the ambulance to take me home I am.’
‘Coming home? Does Toni know?’
‘Yes, they told her yesterday.’
Ruth and Henry exchanged looks. They asked questions and learned more about the accident, which wasn’t an impulse or a careless climb. It had been arranged for him to start the preparations while Bryn went to look at another job.
‘It hurt more than I’d have expected,’ he said ruefully. ‘But they tell me it’s a clean break and I should be as good as new in a few months.’ He patted his leg, ‘I’m not allowed to climb trees until the plaster’s gone, mind,’ he joked.
‘Why did Toni tell us to wait before going to the hospital?’ Ruth asked Henry. ‘We’d have missed him if we hadn’t gone straight away.’
‘She’s determined to separate Tommy from the rest of the family.’
‘Why?’
‘I don’t know, but she wants to move up socially and you and the rest of us don’t fit with her vision.’
Toni sat imagining her savings dwindling while weeks passed with Tommy inactive. She knew she had to do something. Next year they had planned to move to one of the better houses near the park, a detached house, with a proper garden. She had worked out the finances. It would be tight but would be worth it once they’d recovered from the initial expenses of moving and they’d be so happy there among more ambitious people. Now they’d have to forget it all, unless…. She began to look through the advertisements in the loca
l paper. There were jobs she could do and if Tommy couldn’t earn then she’d have to. She was writing a list of possibilities when the ambulance men brought him in.
‘I’m going to find a job,’ she told him as soon as they had gone.
‘Hang on a minute, first we have to decide what Bryn will do. This affects him and Brenda as well as us, remember.’
‘Oh, they’ll manage. They aren’t planning to move, are they?’
Ruth was surprised when, a few days later, Toni came to see her. She had come by bus and on foot, with the baby in her push-chair.
With only a brief greeting, she said, ‘Your Tommy won’t be able to work for months and I’ll have to. So if you will look after the baby for us, we’ll cope somehow.’
Ruth stared in disbelief. ‘You want me to look after your child while you work?’
‘I’ve asked nothing of you since we married, so I didn’t think you’d mind. I know how you feel about families.’
Henry stood near, putting away biscuits and cakes left from afternoon tea and he said nothing. But he was tense, wondering how Ruth would react and how he would deal with it if she agreed.
‘I’m sorry, Toni, but I can’t possibly help you. I’m needed here and I won’t let Henry down.’
Henry’s shoulders sank to a more normal position as he was filled with relief. When Toni left, he put an arm around Ruth’s shoulders. ‘Thank you. I know how hard that was for you.’
Ruth moved away reluctantly and began filling the sink with hot water ready for the teatime dishes. ‘Toni has always made it clear she can manage without me, hasn’t she?’
‘Is that why you said no?’
‘Henry, you and this place are my priority now. I want it to succeed.’
He smiled. ‘Things have certainly changed, haven’t they?’
‘We all grow up, eventually,’ she replied, taking the plates and putting them into the sudsy water to wash.
When Toni reached home Bryn and Brenda were standing at their door talking to someone carrying a bag across his shoulders. Bryn called to her. ‘I want to talk to Tommy, all right if I come now?’
Toni nodded, irritated at being addressed so loudly across the road. She went in and Bryn and Brenda and their baby followed.
‘I’ve tried everyone I can think of but no one is willing to work for us,’ Bryn said, ‘then along comes Jack.’
‘You don’t want someone like that working for you,’ Toni called from the kitchen.
‘We haven’t any choice.’ Brenda replied.
‘He said he’s worked for Henry and our Ruth, so if they trusted him – and he’s promising to be honest if we take him on. What d’you think?’
‘Like you said, we haven’t any choice,’ Tommy said. Toni’s disagreement was noted by saucepans banging about and Tommy cringed jokingly, grinning at Bryn.
‘What puzzles me,’ Ruth said, when she and Henry were told, ‘is how Jack knows what’s happening. He knew about Tommy’s accident before I did, and before that, he came here, knowing we needed help.’
Toni found a neighbour willing to look after the child and went back to work in the wool shop.
‘Should I do the same?’ Brenda asked guiltily.
‘No, we’ll manage, love,’ Bryn said. ‘We aren’t as desperate as Toni. It would serve her right if she gets pregnant with triplets!’
Tommy got around easily and he dealt with the books, and went out pricing jobs or dealing with the occasional complaint. He went on foot with the aid of a stick and by bus, occasionally being given lifts by Henry. Jack worked hard and caused no trouble, but where he lived and how he spent the time between jobs they didn’t discover. He was careful not to give them any information and after a while they no longer asked. He did what they asked of him, there had been no complaints about his work, and they left it at that.
On one of their rare free days, Henry and Ruth went out for a drive. Henry wanted to take photographs of some of the beauty spots for a new brochure. The weather was fine and the winter scenes and the few spring flowers emerging made every view perfect. Before going home, Henry decided to check on Lillian’s house as she was still in North Wales with her son.
Ruth hadn’t seen the house before and she was as enchanted with it as Henry had been. ‘I think I’ll take a photograph of the view from the garden and enlarge it as a surprise for her. She might like to sent it to her son to show him what he’s missing,’ he said. They gathered the post, which included several Christmas and New Year cards and put them on the hall table. Then Henry opened the door of the lounge to show Ruth the beautiful view. He stood to let her go first and, expecting a cry of delight, was shocked to hear her scream. ‘Henry! The place has been burgled!’
Henry telephoned the police and explained why they were there. Then they sat and waited until the police arrived. While some officers looked around they were questioned for a long time and then waited until Lillian was contacted and assured the police their presence was not suspicious.
‘I’ll come tomorrow morning and drive you back,’ Henry said to Lillian. ‘You’re upset and it’s too far for you to drive after a shock like this.’
Ruth spoke to her and invited her to stay at the centre until the place was restored to its usual harmony.
They drove back in a sombre mood, both wondering whether Jack was responsible. He could have heard them discussing Lillian and noted her absence. It wouldn’t be the first time he had broken into a house to steal. Abigail knew of his dishonesty, and told Ruth what she knew of his crimes, adding the suspicion that he had neglected her mother after her fall, and had caused her death, something about which the police were still unsatisfied.
Henry drove to North Wales and brought Lillian back. She visited her home which had been cleaned and tidied by Ruth, and talked to the police. They had no suspects and it seemed unlikely that the criminal would be found. Henry had added stronger locks, blocked the side entrances to make things more difficult, but she came away wondering if she would ever be safe there again.
When Ruth and Henry took her back after a few days, they avoided talking about the burglary, they just said, ‘Cheerio’ and ‘See you soon’ and went away as though nothing untoward had happened.
Lillian drew the curtains, and looked in every room before locking herself in and after three days, during which she determinedly went in and out frequently, her fears had eased and it was her home again. But she wondered whether she’d be brave enough to visit her son again over the Easter holiday. She had to go back soon to retrieve her car.
Ruth hadn’t seen Abigail for a while and not wanting to lose touch with her, she knocked on her door one evening, carrying some cakes she had made. The door opened, very slightly and stopped her walking in as usual. Through the gap, Abigail said, ‘Hello, Ruth. Nice to see you, but d’you mind if I don’t invite you in? I’m in the middle of something important. Tomorrow perhaps?’
‘Not tomorrow, we have people leaving and more coming,’ Ruth said, stepping back from the door. ‘I’ll write a note suggesting a time, shall I?’
‘Thanks.’ The door was swiftly closed, leaving Ruth feeling surprised and curious.
‘There was someone with her, I’m sure of it,’ she told Henry when she got back.
‘A new boyfriend? I hope he’s an improvement on Jack!’
In the small rooms she still rented, Abigail smiled at Jack. ‘I’ll have to tell people soon, but let’s have just a little more time together, just the two of us, before I admit to forgiving you and having to listen to their warnings about loving you, shall we?’
Mali and Megan invited Ruth one evening to talk about Mali’s wedding. ‘We want to book your barn,’ Mali told her. ‘And we want you to do the catering.’
Tabs at once began talking about pretty drapes and wall decorations and the lighting they could hire.
‘As you gather, our Tabs is already in charge of the setting,’ Megan said with a laugh.
Notebooks were filled with lists and
although the wedding wouldn’t take place until the following spring, every detail was discussed. More seriously, when they put the lists aside, Tabs said, ‘You’ll want me to move out, won’t you, so Kenny and Mali can live here?’
‘No,’ Megan said. ‘They’ll find a place nearby.’
‘My father heard about your wedding plans and he wants me to go back home.’
‘No!’ Ruth, Megan and Mali shouted in chorus.
‘What about working with Henry and me at the centre?’ Ruth suggested. ‘A room of your own, and you’d be able to arrange help with baby Melanie.’
Tabs thanked her, touched by the offer, but she declined. ‘We get on so well, Megan and me, and the children are safe with the arrangement we have. I don’t want that to change,’ she said.
Mali added, ‘Megan and I will still work at the café and share the care of Mickie. Nothing will change.’
‘Perfect,’ Ruth said happily.
A few days later Ruth called to see Aunty Blod, but when she went to open the door, the key wouldn’t turn. It was locked, bolted, and the kitchen blind was down.
‘Aunty Blod?’ she called. It was only at night that Blod locked her door. Perhaps she was out for the day. She was just turning away when the key turned, the bolt was pulled back and Blod beckoned her in. ‘You’d better come in – and prepare yourself for a shock.’
A man was sitting on the couch and, when she entered, he stood and offered his hand.
‘Hello, you must be Ruth. I’ve heard so much about you so it’s wonderful to meet you at last.’
She shook his hand and looked at her aunt for an explanation.
‘This is your uncle Ralph, the one we thought must be dead. Your mother’s little brother.’
‘Uncle Ralph? But you can’t be!’ she sank into a chair and stared at him. ‘Not after all the years that have passed without a word. Where have you been? Why didn’t you find us before?’
‘It’s a long story, but do you mind if I wait to tell you? I want the family to gather together and then I’ll tell you everything.’ He sat back down and she saw then that he was ill. ‘I don’t have much energy, you see. In fact, if you don’t mind, I’ll go and rest while my sister explains as much as she can.’ He walked slowly from the room, stopping at the doorway to turn and smile and wave.
Nothing is Forever Page 29
