Where was number twenty-four? The answer must be, in front of him. He could hardly believe it. He walked closer, narrowing his eyes at the dusty brick. Nothing remained of the house that used to be.
He glanced up and down the road again, trying to remember what it was once like. Then carefully he began to pick his way up to the top of the debris. He found a large crater and beyond this he could see where the factory had once stood. The space was boarded off and had signs to keep out. No doubt about it, this was where the Jenkinses’ old home.
A soft wind blew dust across his face. He looked down at the dip and at last saw something he recognized. Six inches of wooden mantel, black and broken. He turfed away the bricks and lifted it, running his fingers carefully over the splintered edge. But where were Winters and Pearl? He’d had the picture clear in his mind. His fingers itched to take hold of Winters. To have the satisfaction at last of revenge. But there was only the wasteland and the dust still rising.
Suddenly there was a sound. Looking round, Jim saw no one. Even the scavengers and looters had taken the day off.
The sound came again. Jim dropped the wood and began to follow his nose. Was it an animal? He slid down the debris and ascended the Sampsons’, another shattered pile.
Jim stood on the top. His heart lurched as the moaning became clear. He scrambled towards it and fell on his backside as an avalanche of bricks toppled with him. When he came to a halt he was on all fours. Wiping the dust from his face with the back of his sleeve, he gasped aloud.
‘Pearl! Pearl!’ he yelled, scrambling towards her, dropping to his knees and throwing aside the broken bricks that covered her still body.
Chapter 31
There was daylight coming through the window, but Pearl didn’t recognize the room. Her eyes ached and as she turned her head, that did too. Her mouth was dry and she put out her tongue to lick her dry lips. The starched sheets felt unfamiliar as she tried to sit up but fell back again.
‘Doctor!’ a voice called.
Pearl lay in confusion, staring up at the ceiling.
‘Mrs Nesbitt?’ A tall, bearded man in a white coat stood over her.
‘Who . . . who are you?’
‘My name is Dr Taylor and you’ve been in my care for the past three days. This is the London Hospital and, I must say, we have been very worried about you.’
‘Why?’ she mumbled. ‘What’s wrong with me?’
He smiled a friendly smile as he shone a torch in her eyes and made her blink. ‘We think you took a tumble on some debris, cracked your head and knocked yourself unconscious. You have a few bumps and bruises that we can’t account for, but perhaps you’ll be able to tell us.’
‘Did you say I’ve been in here three days?’
‘Yes, since last Wednesday and today is Saturday.’
‘But who—’
‘Now before I answer all your questions,’ he interrupted gently, ‘I have a short examination to make. We need to make certain your legs and arms work. It won’t take long. Just try to relax.’
Pearl closed her eyes again as the nurses came in and out of the room, talking in whispers as they bent her legs and arms and tapped her knees and feet. Why were they doing all this? And what was the pain in her head?
Finally the doctor spoke. ‘Well, apart from a slightly raised temperature, I’m very pleased with you. All seems to be in working order but we’ll need to keep you under observation.’
‘Can I sit up?’
‘Yes, the nurse will help you.’
Pearl was grateful for the assistance of the nurse, as when she tried to move she had no strength.
‘Is that better?’ asked the doctor, studying her carefully.
‘Yes, but my head hurts.’
‘We did find a very large lump on it.’
Pearl blinked her painful eyes. ‘How did I get that?’
‘We were hoping you could enlighten us, Mrs Nesbitt. You see, other than what your husband told us, we have very little to go on.’
‘My husband?’ Pearl stared at the doctor. ‘You mean Jim?’
‘Mr Nesbitt has been here every day, at your bedside. It was he who found you on Wednesday and brought you here. And you were lucky that he did as a night out in the open wouldn’t have helped your condition.’
‘But Jim isn’t . . . he doesn’t . . .’ Pelt felt confused. What was she trying to say?
The doctor looked at her curiously. ‘Don’t tire yourself for the moment. Your memory will come back, I’m sure. But I will just ask you a few easy questions before I leave. Can you tell me what year we are in?’
‘Yes, nineteen forty-five,’ she answered slowly.
‘Very good, very good. And your Christian name would be?’
‘I . . . I’m Pearl Nesbitt and I live at . . . at twenty-seven A, Pride Place. And I have a daughter. Her name’s Cynth. And . . . and . . .’
The doctor pushed her gently back again. ‘Well, I don’t think we have much to worry about. For the rest of today I would like you to rest and I shall leave you in the capable hands of the nursing staff.’
Pearl wanted to ask so many questions. She watched him walk out of the room. He’d told her that Jim had brought her here and been at her bedside. Could that be true?
But why was she here? Where had Jim found her? And who was looking after Cynth? The last thing she could remember was Dillys, the little girl across the road. Cynth had gone to her party. But what had happened after that?
As she lay there, she tried hard to think. But even thinking hurt.
* * *
It was three o’clock and Gwen glanced out of the shop window to Dillys’s house. Cynth had gone to play in their backyard and taken her white chalk with her. Dillys was teaching her hopscotch.
Gwen glanced the other way. No sign of Jim. He’d gone to the hospital early, in the hope they’d let him see Pearl. He had been like a cat on a hot tin roof since Wednesday. Granted, he’d not been near the booze since finding Pearl at Roper’s Way. And he’d looked after little Cynth like an old mother hen. But he blamed himself for what had happened. Seeing Pearl at death’s door had finally woken him up.
Just then Fitz brought in a box of dried-up-looking greens from the storeroom. ‘We’ll knock these out cheap, Gwenny,’ he told her, ‘’cos if we don’t, they’ll go off before Monday.’ He took the box out in front of the shop and placed it with the others. Glancing up and down the road, he frowned.
‘Do you think they let him see her?’ Gwen asked when he returned.
‘Dunno. Hospitals are funny like that.’
‘They let him stay longer yesterday.’
Gwen didn’t want to think what might happen if Pearl didn’t recover. She was an angel and Jim was only beginning to recognize it.
Gwen served a customer and, as it was late, cleaned the shelves and began to wash the floor. She was on her knees when the door opened. A pair of boots she recognized appeared.
‘Jim! Is there any news?’
He had a big grin on his face. ‘I can’t believe it, Gwen. She’s come round.’
‘What?’
‘She’s woke up.’
Gwen dropped the brush and climbed to her feet. ‘Oh, thank God.’
‘The doctor told me she’s going to be all right. But they’ve got to keep an eye on her.’
‘Did they let you see her?’
‘No. I’m off to visit later.’
‘Do you want a cup of tea or something to eat? I can find you a slice of corned beef and a pickled onion.’
‘No, thanks. I need a wash and shave.’ He pushed his hands over his face. His eyes were full of doubt when he looked up. ‘Gwen, do you think she’ll . . . I mean – will she even want to see me?’
‘I think your missus will be very glad to see you.’
‘Can’t blame her if she’s not.’
‘You’re her world, Jim. Only you don’t know it.’
‘I do now.’
Gwen pulled her pinafore across her ches
t and straightened her shoulders. ‘Is there anything I can do to help?’
‘Watch Cynth for me till I come back?’
‘That’s no trouble, ducks. She’s been a happy little girl since her dad’s come home. You’re where you should be now, Jim Nesbitt. You’ve got your thinking cap on again, and I hope it stays there.’
He nodded slowly. ‘I’ve missed home, Gwen. More than I can say.’
‘Well, you’ll have to find the right words, won’t you? It’ll mean a great deal to Pearl to know your feelings.’ She wasn’t going to let him off the hook. No matter how repentant a man might be, it was actions that counted. But he was a good man at heart. He’d just lost his way for a time, like so many others had in the conflict.
‘I’ve found another lot,’ said Fitz, coming in from the back. He dropped the box when he saw Jim. ‘Is it Pearl? Is she awake?’
Jim smiled. ‘Too right she is.’
‘Oh blimey!’ Fitz took out his hanky and blew his nose. ‘Thank the Lord for that. Any damage done, do yer know?’
‘She’s still got that bump on her head. She had it when me and Percy lifted her onto the cart. The doctor said she had a few other bumps and bruises. But for the life of me, I wouldn’t know where she got them.’
‘It was climbing over that bloody debris,’ said Gwen crossly. ‘What else could it be?’
‘Dunno,’ Fitz shrugged. ‘Something might have fell and hit her.’
‘Like what? There was nothing left standing to fall.’
‘The only one who knows is Pearl,’ shrugged Jim. ‘And the doc said she’s having a job to remember. Now, I’d better get off your clean floor and get meself tidied up.’
‘And, Jim,’ Gwen called as he went to walk away, ‘give her our best, won’t you?’
‘Course, that’ll be first on me list.’
When he’d gone, Gwen looked at her husband and saw tears in his eyes. She walked across the wet floor and put her arms around him. ‘You soft old bugger,’ she sniffed and searched for a hanky too.
Pearl opened her eyes, remembering that after lunch, a bowl of hot soup and a glass of water, she had been transferred from the small room to the main ward.
‘You all right, ducks?’ a voice said from the next bed.
Pearl nodded. ‘I must have dozed off.’
‘You been asleep a good hour.’
‘What time is it?’
The big woman, with rosy red cheeks, laughed. ‘Half-past four, and time for a cup of tea if they remember us. My neighbour has just smuggled me in a nice piece of bread pudding. You can have some, if you like.’
‘I don’t think I can eat any more.’
‘Please yerself But it’d do you good.’
Pearl eased herself up on her elbows. Her back ached from where she had been trying to sit upright, even in her sleep. She wanted to get up but the nurses wouldn’t let her.
A man and woman were leaving and waved to the girl in the bed opposite. Was it the end of visiting time?
‘By the way,’ said her companion, ‘a bloke has been sitting on the chair beside you. He was very worried when he saw you kipping. He kept asking the nurse if you was all right. I told him meself that you were, but I could see he didn’t believe me.’
‘What did he look like?’ Pearl asked.
‘A bit rough round the edges. He had lovely blue eyes, though.’
Pearl smiled. ‘That would be my husband.’
‘Said he’d be back.’
Pearl felt very strange. She was trying to remember what happened. Had Jim really come each day to the hospital? She wondered what his feelings towards her were now.
The ward door opened and closed but no one came in. Had he gone away? Once more she closed her eyes. She was very tired and was on the edge of sleep again when she heard a voice.
‘Mrs Nesbitt?’ A nurse was shaking her.
‘Yes? What?’ Her head swam.
‘Your husband is concerned about you, although I’ve tried to reassure him that you’re only taking forty winks.’
Pearl saw Jim standing there. He was wearing his best trousers and short-sleeved white shirt. His hair had grown a little and he’d parted it on the side and combed it flat.
When the nurse had gone, she smiled hesitantly. ‘Hello, Jim.’
He pulled back his shoulders and placed a bunch of chrysanthemums on the bed. ‘It’s lovely to see you awake, gel.’
‘Are those for me?’
‘I wouldn’t buy ’em for anyone else.’
‘Thank you.’
‘You know, you’re a real sight for sore eyes.’
‘Am I?’ She didn’t know what she looked like as she didn’t have a mirror. She felt embarrassed in her starched hospital gown.
‘Can I sit beside you?’
‘Course you can. The lady in the next bed said you was here.’
‘Did she give you the weather report an’ all?’
For the first time since she’d been awake she wanted to laugh.
‘How are you feeling?’
‘I want to get up but they won’t let me.’
‘The doc says it looks like you took a nasty fall.’
Pearl tried to remember having fallen, but she couldn’t get beyond her head aching. ‘The last thing I remember is going over to Roper’s Way after I’d phoned Ruby.’
‘Yes, Fitz went after you when you didn’t come home. Gwen came to fetch me from the yard and we put our heads together and came up with Roper’s Way. So Percy and me went over.’
‘The doctor said I was lucky you found me.’
He moved the flowers to one side and took her hand. ‘When I saw you lying there, I thought you was dead. You know what they say, that your life flashes before you? Well, mine did just that.’
Pearl felt as though she’d gone to sleep in one world and woken in another. Jim was his old self, just like he used to be. She felt confused.
He squeezed her hand. ‘Oh, Pearly-girl, don’t cry.’
‘I’m sorry,’ she sniffed.
‘Listen, we want you to get well. Cynth is fed up with me cooking already.’
She smiled. ‘I miss her.’ Had he come back home? She didn’t have enough courage to ask.
For a few moments they were quiet. ‘I wish I could remember,’ she sighed.
‘Don’t try now.’
‘I must.’ She closed her eyes. ‘I was standing looking at the debris. There was just the wall and the chimney. Everything else was . . . it was just bricks and dust.’ She swallowed. ‘Then . . . then someone grabbed me.’ Her eyes flew open. ‘It was Ricky.’
His face went pale. ‘He was there?’
‘Yes,’ she faltered. ‘He said he’d been watching me. That . . . that he knew you’d left. I tried to get away . . . he . . . was coming after me. I ran. There was a loud noise and . . . I fell.’ She burst into tears.
‘What’s up over there?’ the woman called from the next bed.
‘Nothing,’ Jim called gruffly. He squeezed Pearl’s hands hard. ‘I should have been there to protect you. Instead I’d got it into me head that was where you and him met. I must need me brains tested.’
‘And I should never have gone to Abingley,’ she admitted. ‘He said if I didn’t do as he said, he’d tell you and Ruby everything.’
‘So he’s still up to his old tricks?’ His eyes had grown cold.
‘Jim, I’ve always been faithful to you.’
‘I know that, Pearl,’ he whispered. ‘When I saw you at Roper’s Way, all I wanted was to take you in my arms and tell you I was sorry. So I’m asking you now, for another chance.’
‘I love you, Jim. But what if he comes back? Will you still trust me then?’
‘If the bugger does,’ he replied fiercely, ‘then you’ll have me beside you and nothing he says will touch us. I’ll feel like bloody murdering him, but I won’t as I’ve too much to live for now. I’ve made the biggest pig’s ear of me life that a bloke could make, but I promise you this: no one i
s going to steal any more of our happiness. You’ve got me with you every step of the way and I intend to prove it.’
‘Jim, if only that could be.’
It was cooler as Jim made his way home. The late afternoon was overcast and unsettled, and a few specks of rain wet his cheeks. A rumble of thunder caused him to remember the day at the yard when Pearl had told him about Ricky. He’d never known such bitterness inside him. Instead of hearing her out, he’d acted like a jealous fool.
All his life he’d been a moderate man. He’d enjoyed a few beers, but the drink had never really interested him. Not until he’d let Winters get under his skin so deeply there was no turning back. Well, now he was facing things square on. He’d known when Pearl was lying in hospital that he wouldn’t want life without her.
But what would happen if Winters returned? He’d replied that he’d be beside her this time. And he would. But could he really shape up?
Suddenly he stood still, allowing the salty breeze to blow into his nostrils. Was he still Jim Nesbitt, the man who had chosen to fight for his country and prove himself? A man with a passion for life burning inside him? Or was he a shadow of his former self? What could he offer Pearl other than promises? What prospects did he have for the future?
The traffic was going homeward; heavy vehicles, those that were still issued with petrol, lined up with the horses and carts, all moving towards the lifting bridges to wait their turn to cross. The island stretched around him, the Blitz and Hitler’s secret weapons having done their work. Bomb craters, piles of debris and mountains of bricks. On impulse he turned towards Roper’s Way.
It wasn’t long before he came to the wasteland that was once the Jenkinses’ street.
‘Bit of an eyesore,’ said a voice, and Jim turned to find a young bobby beside him. Tipping his helmet back an inch he sighed. ‘You from round here?’
Jim nodded. ‘My wife lived at number twenty-four.’
‘Blimey, she wouldn’t recognize it now, would she?’ The policeman frowned. ‘This time next week they’re having this lot away. They’re going to build these prefabricated efforts. With all the blokes being demobbed, they need something to tide them over.’
East End Angel Page 36
