‘I’ll get them,’ Claire offered and she stood up, as much for a chance to have another look at Trevor and the dark-haired girl as anything.
‘Are you going to tell Rosie that you’ve seen him?’ Penny asked as they unwrapped their choc ices.
‘I have to,’ Claire said, ‘though I’ve no idea what I’ll say. But I can’t let her—’ She’d been thinking about what was supposed to be happening tomorrow and stopped herself just in time from blurting out Rosie’s secret. ‘I wonder what excuse he gave her?’
‘If he bothered giving one at all,’ Penny said, and before Claire could challenge what she meant, the lights dimmed and the censor’s certificate announcing the main feature flashed onto the screen.
Claire sat glumly through the whole film, hardly even registering when it was over.
‘We can go home now.’ Penny leaned over and whispered to Claire. ‘Unless you want to sit through the whole programme again?’
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to spoil it for you,’ Claire said.
‘You didn’t, though you were obviously not in the mood.’
‘No, I wasn’t. My apologies, because I didn’t realise that I wasn’t. To be honest, I’ve been worrying that much about what I should say to Rosie that I found it hard to give the film much mind.’
‘I tell you what we could do, because I’ve an idea,’ Penny said when they were back in the foyer watching the people lining up for the second house. ‘Why don’t you come back to my house now for a cup of coffee? I think it might help if you talked to my sister, Stella. I bet she can tell you what you should say to Rosie.’
‘What’s it got to do with your sister? Why would she know anything about it?’ Claire asked.
‘I’m not going to say anything more,’ Penny said, tapping the side of her nose. ‘You’ll see.’ And the two girls linked arms and began to walk home.
‘I don’t know why she wanted to get mixed up with the likes of Trevor in the first place,’ Penny said when they were clear of the cinema. ‘I did warn her when she first started working on our bench at the factory and he came sniffing round her because I’d had dealings with him before and I knew he was trouble. The only thing was, she didn’t seem at all pleased that I was poking my nose in where it wasn’t wanted, as she so delicately put it. So I butted out and decided not to say any more. She’s a grown lass and she can do what she likes. But then, when something like this happens, I can’t stand by and watch him—’
‘Do you know who that was?’ Claire interrupted. ‘The girl who was with him tonight? You did say but I’ve forgotten.’
‘Phyllis somebody. I don’t remember her last name, though. As I said, she used to work in accounts at the old mill but I don’t think she transferred when it became the munitions factory. I actually thought her family had moved out of the area.’
‘Did they look like a couple to you,’ Claire said, ‘the way they were acting?’
‘Yes, they did, but does it make any difference? They were sitting in the best seats – in snoggers’ paradise – and it certainly didn’t look as though this was the first time they had been out together.’
‘Do you think I should tell Rosie I’ve seen him out with someone else?’
‘I’m not going to say anything more until you’ve talked to Stella,’ Penny said. ‘I’m going to leave it to her because she’ll help you decide. Believe me, she’ll tell you a thing or two about Trevor Jones.’
It was late by the time Claire got home. Her head was spinning, her thoughts flying off in all directions, and she had quite overlooked the time. Her Aunt Sylvia had nodded off in her chair, and her head, which had been lolling towards her shoulder, shot back up when Claire opened the door. A look of relief flashed across her face.
‘Where on earth have you been? Have you seen the time? It’s not like you to stay out this late without telling me.’
‘I’m really sorry Aunty Sylvia, I was only at the Downs’s house. Penny asked me to come back for a coffee after the pictures and somehow we got talking and I didn’t notice the time, but you’re right, I should have dropped in to tell you where I was.’
‘Well, I’m glad to see you’re all right. I can go to bed now. Rosie’s had a bit of a disappointment this evening and she went to bed early, said she’d got a headache.’
Claire was alerted. ‘You mean about Trevor not showing up?’
‘Yes. How did you know?’
To avoid answering, Claire went to hang up her jacket.
‘He didn’t turn up when he said he would,’ Sylvia said, ‘so not surprisingly Rosie was quite upset by that but she obviously wasn’t going to tell me much more than that. You know what she’s like. Maybe she’ll tell you.’
I doubt it, Claire thought, not when she hears what I’ve got to say – or, more accurately, what Stella and Penny have to say.
Claire crept into the bedroom and though there was no movement from the bed she was convinced from the tensed-up stiffness of her position that Rosie was not asleep.
‘Are you awake?’ Claire whispered, even though she knew the answer. At first Rosie didn’t stir. Claire put her cold hand on Rosie’s bare shoulder that was exposed above the sheet and Rosie’s automatic reaction was to turn over and lash out.
‘I’m sorry,’ Claire said, having provoked the desired reaction, ‘but I thought you might want to talk.’
‘About what?’ Rosie sounded cross.
‘You know very well about what – and I have to tell you that I know about it too.’
‘What do you think you know, Miss Clever Clogs?’ Rosie sat up and Claire could see her eyes were red-rimmed and they still looked watery.
‘I know that you didn’t go dancing tonight.’
‘So, genius, I’ve had a less than satisfactory evening, of course you know. My mother waited up for you, didn’t she?’
‘Yes, but it’s not because of your mother.’ Claire saw her chance and she took a deep breath. ‘It’s because I saw him elsewhere and I know that he couldn’t be in two places at once.’
‘You couldn’t have seen him because he was in bed with flu,’ Rosie retorted.
‘Is that what he told you?’ Claire tried to keep the contempt from her voice. ‘Well, how come I saw him at the Plaza? With another girl? In the back row?’ She decided there was nothing else she could do but come out with it as quickly as possible. ‘He was with someone called Phyllis something and, if you must know, they were snogging like there was no tomorrow.’
There, she had said it, and even she was surprised by how forcefully she had said it. Rosie’s normally pink cheeks drained of colour.
‘That can’t be right!’ Rosie laughed scornfully. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘I’m afraid it is right. I saw him with my own eyes,’ Claire said, not looking at her.
‘Then how come …?’ Rosie began, but stopped to think for a moment. She shook her head. ‘No, you’ve got it wrong. You want to spread nasty tales because you’re jealous that you haven’t got a boyfriend and you can’t bear that I’m engaged and about to be married. Trevor told me he was ill and he is. He was all muffled up and sounded full of cold. What he needed was a good night’s sleep so that he’ll be well for tomorrow, so you can keep your stories to yourself, thank you very much.’ With that, she grabbed at the blanket and, pulling it across her bare shoulders, turned over, her back to Claire.
Ah, tomorrow, Claire thought, though she didn’t say anything further. There might not be a tomorrow, at least not one like Rosie had been envisaging, but there was nothing more Claire could do tonight. She turned off the light and closed her eyes. She could see Penny and Stella, hear Stella’s voice getting more and more upset as she had told her tale. Even after all this time, Claire thought. She was glad Rosie hadn’t wanted to talk more now. Claire was glad to slow things down. It would be too much to hit Rosie with everything at once. What was that line from her favourite film? Tomorrow is another day.
On Sunday morning Sylvia left the ho
use before either of the girls was up, leaving a note to say she’d gone. Claire helped herself to coffee and was attempting to spread some margarine in an effort to revive a rather dried-up piece of bread she had found in the bread bin.
‘Shall I do a piece for you?’ she asked Rosie when she appeared on the stairs.
‘I’m not hungry, thanks,’ Rosie mumbled.
‘Your mother is out already.’ Claire waved the note and Rosie smiled.
‘Good for her. Glad she didn’t suddenly decide to stay home. I trust you’ve made arrangements like you promised, too.’
‘I shall be going to Penny’s,’ Claire said.
‘I hope you didn’t tell her anything – you know what a nosy parker she can be.’
‘Actually, Rosie,’ Claire said, ‘Penny asked me to ask if you’d drop in for a coffee this morning too.’
Rosie frowned. ‘Why on earth would I want to do that? These days she’s more your friend than mine.’
‘I know, but … but her sister …’ Claire was annoyed with herself, knowing she didn’t sound very convincing, but somehow what she was saying didn’t sound like it had when she’d rehearsed it last night. ‘It’s her sister, Stella, as much as Penny, who wants to see you.’ Claire tried again. ‘She’d really like to talk to you because …’ But then Claire froze. She was getting nervous as she could see Rosie was not taking the invitation seriously. ‘The point is,’ she tried again, ‘I hope you’ll come with me because I accepted on your behalf.’
‘Well, you’ll have to go and unaccept then, won’t you. I’m going to be rather busy today, remember?’
‘Rosie.’ Claire put out her hands in a conciliatory gesture. ‘About that … I don’t know how to say this, but I really do think you need to go and talk to Stella before you see Trevor this afternoon.’
‘Oh God!’ Rosie wailed. ‘Not more of the stuff and nonsense you were trying to convince me of last night? You’ve not said anything to them about Trevor, have you?’
At that moment there was a knock on the back door. As Claire was the only one fully dressed, she went to answer it and was surprised to see Penny standing on the step with Stella behind her.
‘I thought maybe we should come here, instead of the other way round, in case Rosie didn’t want to come to our house today,’ Penny said softly.
‘Who is it?’ Rosie called.
‘It’s vital that Stella talks to her before this afternoon,’ Penny said.
Rosie had reached the door and she paled as Penny finished her sentence.
‘You told her my secret!’ Rosie gasped as she turned on Claire, and she glared at her accusingly. ‘Claire, how could you?’
‘I swear I didn’t have to tell them anything, Rosie. They told me, because they already knew what was going to happen.’
‘What are you talking about? How could they know? Unless you told them.’ Rosie almost spat the words out in her anger.
‘Please, Rosie, I beg you to listen to what they have to say before you blame me. Then you can judge.’
‘What’s so important that you have to come round here!’ Now Rosie attacked Penny. ‘You’ve never liked me, Penny Downs, and now you’re trying to make trouble. I always felt I couldn’t trust you.’
‘Rosie,’ Penny said, ignoring the slur, ‘please can we sit down and talk like adults? Stella has something very important to tell you.’
Rosie looked at Stella in surprise, her expression doubtful. It was as though she had only just noticed that she had come too. But then she grudgingly stepped aside and indicated that the two girls should come into the living room to sit down.
‘I’ll let Stella start,’ Penny said, when they were seated at the table, ‘because it’s her story and I think she needs to tell you this in her own words. Go on,’ she urged her sister and Rosie sat down abruptly as the younger girl began.
‘I once fell for Trevor Jones,’ Stella said, not wishing to mince her words. ‘I fell hard, because you’ve got to admit he’s not a bad-looking fella.’ She had taken a handkerchief out of her pocket and as if to distract herself began to roll the lacy edges between her fingers. ‘We were stepping out together, doing a bit of courting, if you like. He’d been to our house and everything, met my dad. We were serious, as far as I was concerned, so I wasn’t a bit surprised when one day he got down on one knee and proposed.’
Rosie stared at her, not sure whether to believe what she was hearing.
‘He said we were engaged but he made me keep it a secret – and that’s when the trouble began. He started trying to persuade me that as we were engaged and as good as married, it was perfectly OK to act like we were married, if you know what I mean.’
Rosie’s expression changed as she recognised the words.
Stella looked away. ‘I was so naïve,’ Stella said. ‘I-I can hardly believe it now. It took me a long time to realise that he wasn’t interested in marriage at all. All he wanted was to get me into bed.’
There was an uneasy stillness in the room as Stella stopped talking. Claire coughed but didn’t say anything.
Then Stella said, ‘I eventually realised that I was just one conquest on a whole list of targets that he had. Conquests that he wanted to boast about to his friends.’ As her words sank in, the four girls sat for several moments in silence.
‘Tell Rosie about the picnic,’ Penny urged.
Stella looked at Rosie questioningly. ‘Are you sure you want to hear this?’ she asked. Rosie nodded as she steeled herself to listen. ‘We went off to the moors one day, just the two of us,’ Stella said. ‘It was his suggestion that we should take a picnic. I said I’d bring the food and he was to bring something to drink. I thought the bottle was lemonade.’ There was a sudden catch in her voice. ‘But I’m sure it wasn’t, though I could never prove it. All I know is that I had a very heavy head at the end of the day and that I was never quite sure about exactly what had happened after lunch.’ She started to cry and wiped her eyes with the now well-scrunched handkerchief. ‘But that was the end of it as far as he was concerned. The next thing I know he’s dumped me.’ She sniffled. ‘He never gave me a reason, just stopped talking to me, but I then heard that he’d told his friends I was too easy and that I’d go with anyone. I was absolutely horrified when that got back to me, as you can imagine.’
‘What did you do?’ Rosie’s voice was barely above a whisper.
Stella spread her hands and lifted her shoulders. ‘What could I do? I denied it of course, but I couldn’t actually prove my innocence. It was his word against mine. And as I say, I was never completely sure what he’d done …’ She began to cry again.
Rosie sat perfectly still, staring at the wall behind Stella. Then she absently began drumming her fingers on the table.
‘Do you understand what I’m trying to say?’ Stella said, leaning in as she tried to make eye contact with Rosie. ‘The thing is, I then found out it wasn’t just me he’d tried it on with and that’s why I’m trying to stop you make the same mistake.’ Rosie didn’t react so Stella went on. ‘He loves the chase but he has no intention of getting married; all he wants is a notch on his belt, like the old cowboys always say in the Westerns.’ Stella sat back, wiping the tears from her cheeks and Penny took over as if determined to make Rosie understand.
‘We all worked at the mill in those days,’ Penny said, ‘before it changed and became the munitions factory, so lots of people knew him and he made sure that everyone knew about his so-called conquests. What most girls didn’t realise, until it was too late, was that he was capable of ruining anyone’s reputation.’
‘I know I wasn’t the only one,’ Stella chipped in. ‘I could write out a list for you now. But no one was prepared to accuse him in public. I felt like they were all pointing the finger at me because I dared to speak up. But somehow he managed to make it sound like it was my fault. It was dreadful. I couldn’t take it and I had to leave in the end because it got so bad.’
There was a momentary silence then Rosie sa
id, ‘But he’s not like that with me.’ Her voice was barely above a whisper and she still refused to look at Stella.
‘No, please don’t tell me you’re different,’ Stella begged. ‘That’s what I used to believe. But it wasn’t true, though it took me a long time to realise it. But that’s how he operates and it was very painful to discover that. He’s no more intention of marrying you than he had of marrying me, I’m afraid. You can be sure of that; it’s happened to too many others for it to be a coincidence.’
Rosie finally turned towards Stella, although she still looked unsure, but it was Penny who spoke up now.
‘Rosie, do you remember when I tried to warn you off him at the beginning when you first came to work at the factory?’
‘Yes, I do remember,’ Rosie said, her voice still quiet. ‘I thought you were jealous.’
‘And now? Do you believe me now?’
‘I … I’m not sure,’ she said and Penny sighed.
‘Let me ask you something,’ Stella said. ‘Did you ever see an engagement ring you liked and he promised to get it for you? And then he said he’d marry you when he could afford to buy it but that it would take him a long time to save up? In the meantime, you weren’t to tell anyone and you’d be secretly engaged.’
‘Well, yes …’ Rosie was beginning to go numb as Stella repeated Trevor’s very words. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear any more but Stella seemed determined that she should.
‘Don’t tell me,’ Stella continued. ‘The next step was for him to say that as you were as good as married anyway there was no point in waiting for a useless piece of paper or even a ring before you could act as if you were married, so why not do it now? After all, life was too short, particularly with the threat of another war just around the corner.’
Rosie stared at Stella, a sudden sob catching in her throat. She had tried so hard not to take any of this on board but now she felt as if the blood in her veins was turning to ice and she sat stiffly in her chair. Now she had to believe.
The Postmistress Page 20
