Diamonds in the Dust

by Beryl Matthews

  The key turned easily, and as Dora walked into the lounge she had the most peculiar sensation. She almost expected to see her mother sitting there with a book in her hands. She was a great reader. But her imagination had run away with her again. This place was nothing to do with their mother. It couldn’t be!

  Lily was gazing round the room, eyes wide in wonder. She trotted across the carpet and stopped at an exquisite gold satin settee, running her hands over the soft furnishing. ‘Can I sit on this?’ she whispered.

  ‘Of course you can.’ Stan came in, swung himself over to Lily and sat down, patting the seat beside him. When the little girl clambered up beside him, he said, ‘There, told you there were more comfortable chairs here, didn’t I?’

  Her smile couldn’t get any wider. ‘Is this like the house you worked in, Dora?’

  ‘Not really.’ She didn’t quite know what to say. Everything here was clearly expensive, but it lacked the elegance of the Barrington house. This was too bright …

  Tom had been darting from room to room. Finished with his first inspection, he stood beside his sister. ‘Strange place,’ he muttered under his breath. ‘Wait till you see the rest of it.’

  ‘I’m not sure I want to.’ She felt uneasy and it wouldn’t have taken much to make her walk out. But she had better stop being silly and get on with what they had come here for. ‘What do you want us to do, Reg?’

  ‘Go through every cupboard and drawer. We’re looking for papers, letters, photographs – anything that might have been missed in the first search. There must be something to tell us who this woman was.’

  ‘Right.’ Tom was immediately opening a desk in the corner of the room.

  An hour later they had nothing. Every piece of correspondence was in the name of Duval, and there was very little of that. One thing that struck all of them was that there wasn’t a photo in the place.

  ‘Knew it was a waste of time,’ Tom declared. ‘This woman is nothing to do with our mum.’

  ‘These are Mum’s. She was wearing these when she left for work.’

  They all spun round to face Lily. She had a pair of shoes in her hand.

  Dora rushed over and took them from her sister, willing her hands to stop shaking. She wasn’t going to show weakness again. A couple of times she had crumbled – and she wasn’t going to allow that to happen again. It was too worrying for Tom and Lily. Willing her racing heart to slow down, she examined the shoes. Their mother did have a pair like these and they weren’t in the wardrobe at home, but …

  ‘Are they?’ Stan was beside her now.

  ‘They are her size, but it’s a common shoe sold in all the shops. Where did you find them, Lily?’

  ‘There’s a cupboard by the front door.’ Tom was soon on his hands and knees searching through the jumble of things packed in the small space. Eventually, he sat back on his heels. ‘There’s nothing else here that could possibly belong to Mum.’

  ‘That’s a relief,’ Dora said under her breath. ‘I don’t want Mum to have anything to do with this place. I don’t like it.’

  ‘Why?’ Lily looked puzzled. ‘It’s pretty.’

  ‘I don’t know why, sweetie.’ Dora shrugged. ‘Put the shoes back. I expect the lady used them for walking when the weather was bad.’

  ‘’Spect so.’ Lily handed them to Tom and watched him close the cupboard door.

  Tom stood up. ‘Dora’s right. Loads of women have shoes like those.’

  ‘Well, there’s nothing more we can do here.’ When Reg opened the front door he was confronted with the neighbour. ‘Oh, it’s you again. Have you found her?’ she demanded.

  ‘No, madam.’

  She pushed past him, staring at the Bentleys. Her eyes narrowed as she studied Dora. ‘Who are you? What’s your name?’

  ‘Dora Bentley, madam.’

  Lily slid behind Dora, peering out at the imposing woman.

  Before the neighbour could ask more questions, Stan moved forward, smiling politely. ‘If you’ll excuse us, madam, we must be going.’

  He was taking up so much room with his crutches that the woman had no choice but to step back onto the landing. Reg locked the front door and urged them down the stairs, staying behind to help Stan.

  ‘Who was that?’ Dora asked as soon as they were in the car and on their way. ‘I wouldn’t like to get on the wrong side of her!’

  Reg chuckled. ‘She’s a concerned neighbour. The local station say she’s haunting them, demanding to know what they’re doing.’

  Dora said nothing. After seeing the flat she had expected to be able to dismiss this other woman from her mind, but that hadn’t happened. She was ill at ease, and during the morning she had come to a decision. It was time their mother’s past was uncovered, because there had clearly been lies and secrets. To her mind that meant there was something her parents had kept hidden. And now she wanted to know … had to know. How were they ever going to put their lives back together again with unanswered questions hanging over them? And it was no good continually pawning things so they could pay the rent. They would have to move, and soon. The waiting to see if their mother returned was over! There were tough decisions to make about their future.

  ‘We’re home.’ Tom touched her arm, bringing her sharply out of deep thought. He was frowning, looking as troubled as her. ‘We’ve got to talk, Dora.’

  She gave a nod. Her brother was a bright boy and she knew that, like her, he’d had enough of waiting for the police to turn up any clues. Lily was still bubbling with energy after their morning, and Dora was pleased to see Winnie waiting by Stan’s gate. The little girl ran to her, the words tumbling out in her excitement to tell about the flat.

  ‘You look tired,’ Winnie said to Dora when she reached her. ‘Did you find anything this morning?’

  ‘Nothing.’

  ‘Lily could spend the rest of the day with me if you like.’

  ‘Would you like that, sweetie?’ she asked her sister.

  ‘Yes please!’

  ‘Good.’ Winnie smiled. ‘You can have tea with June, and Dora can collect you after that.’

  While they had been talking, Stan had gone into the house. After helping him, Tom came out again. ‘Stan’ll sleep this afternoon,’ he told them. ‘This morning’s trip has tired him out. He shouldn’t have come really. I don’t think he’s strong enough yet.’

  Winnie pulled a face. ‘You can’t stop my brother doing anything he wants to. I’ve never met such a determined man.’

  ‘So we’ve noticed.’ Tom took Dora’s arm. ‘Come on, we’ll leave him in peace for a while.’

  ‘I’m going with Auntie Winnie,’ Lily told her brother.

  ‘Ah, in that case you behave yourself, urchin.’

  She gave him an offended look. ‘I always behave myself!’

  ‘Funny, I hadn’t noticed.’ He gave her a distracted pat on the head and urged Dora towards their own house. Once inside he wasted no time. ‘We can’t go on like this. They’re still keeping secrets from us. We’ve got to do something!’

  ‘What do you mean? And stop pacing, Tom!’ Dora grabbed his arm to make him stand still. ‘What secrets?’

  ‘Reg was looking through a drawer when he handed Stan a letter or something. After looking at it, Stan slid it into his pocket. They didn’t know I’d seen them.’

  This news hurt Dora more than she would have believed, the hurt quickly turning to anger. ‘How could they? Well, that settles it. I honestly believe there’s something unpleasant hidden in our mother’s background, and we need to know what it is!’

  ‘Ah, that’s my big sister talking.’ Tom nodded in approval and then, surprisingly for him, he gave her a hug.

  Her mouth set in a determined line. ‘We’ll give Stan time to rest and then we’ll demand to know what he took from the flat. And it’s strange that we haven’t found a marriage certificate, or anything relating to our mum and dad’s past. Why aren’t the police looking into this? They were ordinary, decent, hard-wo
rking people and I can’t imagine what they were hiding. But it was something they obviously didn’t want us to know.’

  Tom was shaking his head in disbelief. ‘I can’t believe any of this is happening. We’ll never be able to rest until we know what the hell’s been going on!’

  ‘I agree, and there’s a very urgent matter we must discuss.’ Dora’s practical mind was trying to sort out the mess they were in. There was one thing she had been avoiding, but now it would have to be faced. ‘You understand we’ve got to find somewhere cheaper to live, don’t you?’

  ‘I know, Dora. I’m not daft.’

  ‘I’ve never thought you were. I’m not looking forward to telling Lily, and we’ll wait until I’ve found another place for us.’

  ‘She’s not going to be happy about moving away from Stan, but when we explain I’m sure she’ll accept it.’

  ‘I do hope so. But she’s also become very fond of Reg and Winnie. Have you noticed the way she calls them Auntie and Uncle now? I think she’s reaching out to other people for comfort and a sense of stability.’

  Tom shrugged. ‘Well, if it makes her feel better, then there’s no harm in it, is there?’

  ‘No, I suppose not. They don’t seem to mind, and they’re kind people.’ They had been sitting round the table talking for nearly two hours when Dora stood up. The time had passed without them noticing. ‘Stan’s had time to rest and now we must talk to him.’

  Reg let them in and Dora said, ‘Ah, I’m glad you’re still here. We want to know what you found in the flat this morning, please.’

  Reg darted a quick glance at his brother-in-law. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I saw you hand something to Stan, and he put it in his pocket,’ Tom told him.

  ‘Tell us what it was, please.’ Dora couldn’t hide the hurt in her voice. ‘Why do you keep things from us? I’m sick and tired of secrets! Do you think we’re so silly that we wouldn’t understand, or so weak that we can’t face anything unpleasant?’

  ‘Of course we don’t! But this is a police investigation and we can’t—’

  ‘And this is our mother we’re trying to find!’ Tom rounded on Reg angrily. ‘Surely we have a right to know about anything you find, or even suspect?’

  Stan was now on his feet. ‘We intended to tell you when it’s been looked into. There’s no point raising your hopes for nothing.’

  ‘The uncertainty’s tearing us apart, Stan.’ Dora didn’t believe these men, however kind, had the faintest idea what they were going through. ‘We’re desperate for news, even if it leads to nothing. And we need to find out what our mother was hiding, so please tell us what you’re keeping from us – again!’

  Stan spoke firmly. ‘I know I’ve been out of action and will be for a while yet, but the police are doing all they can—’

  ‘But it isn’t enough!’ Tom lifted his hands in an apologetic gesture. ‘Sorry, but it’s taking too long. We can’t stand much more. Can’t you understand that?’

  ‘We do know how you feel, and we’re just as frustrated, but you must remember that this isn’t the only case the police have on their hands.’ Stan looked imploringly at Dora. ‘I know it’s a hard thing to ask, but you must try to have patience and trust the police. This is a complicated case and there’s no telling what may come to light.’

  ‘We do know that the chances of our mother still being alive are slim.’ Dora’s tone of voice showed the deep sadness she felt. ‘But you must stop trying to protect us … And I know that’s what you’re doing. Now, we’d still like to know what you found.’

  ‘It’s nothing of importance.’ Reg was still reluctant.

  ‘Then there’s no harm in letting us know, is there?’

  Reluctantly, Stan pulled the letter out of his pocket and handed it to Dora. ‘It’s only the name and address of a firm of solicitors. Reg is going to see them in the morning. It needs to be someone in uniform. They won’t talk about a client otherwise.’

  ‘I doubt if they’ll say anything even when they’re faced with the police,’ Reg told them. ‘But I’ll do my best to persuade them.’

  Tom scribbled down the address on a dog-eared piece of paper from his pocket and Dora handed the letter back.

  Stan was grim faced. ‘Don’t go there yourselves. You’ll only be interfering with the work of the police.’

  ‘If we agree to that then you’ve got to promise to tell us exactly what they say.’

  ‘You have my word, Dora.’ Stan nodded in agreement.

  ‘Thank you. Now we must go and collect Lily. Tom?’

  ‘Dora!’ Stan caught her by the door. ‘We’ve only been trying to save you from unnecessary distress.’

  ‘We realise that, but you can’t protect us from what’s happening. It’s something we can’t escape. We have to face it, and not knowing what’s going on is making things worse, not better.’ The expression on his face tugged at her heart. He obviously cared very much. Forcing her mouth into something like a smile, she reached up and kissed his cheek. ‘Stop worrying about us and get some rest. You’ve got to take care of yourself or Doctor Burridge will have you back in hospital.’

  He ran the back of his hand gently down her cheek. ‘I’ll take care. And trust me, Dora.’

  Flustered by his gentleness, she merely nodded and hurried to catch up with her brother.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  There was a new air of purpose and determination about Dora as she made her way to Wandsworth the next morning. Her discussion with Tom yesterday had cleared her mind. They were on their own now and had to move on with their lives. As frightening as that was, they had each other, and that was a great comfort. The main priority was to find a cheaper place to live. Once that was done they prayed that the police would be able to find out what had happened to their mother. They missed her dreadfully, and knew that it wasn’t going to be easy to recover from the distress her disappearance had caused. The fact that the police were having so little success only added to their agony. She would give them a couple of days to talk to the solicitors, and if they didn’t find out anything she would visit them herself. Not that it would do much good, but at least she would feel as if she was doing something. And the need to find somewhere else to live was now urgent. Their little sister was going to be upset. They all were, but the move was unavoidable.

  Dora was pleased to see the doctor’s car already parked outside the house, and she headed straight for his office.

  ‘Ah.’ He looked up and smiled when she walked in. ‘Good morning, Dora. You’re nice and early this morning.’

  ‘Yes, sir. Would it be all right if I left at two o’clock today?’

  ‘Of course you can.’ His eyes narrowed as he studied the strain showing on her face. ‘Sit down, my dear. You’re tired. Is there anything I can do for you? Is there news of your mother?’

  ‘No, there’s no trace of her, and we can’t afford to stay where we are. I need the time off to find somewhere else for us to live.’

  ‘Finding it hard, are you?’

  ‘Impossible is the word I’d use.’ Dora had always found it easy to talk to him. ‘I had no idea how expensive it was to live in that nice house. Even if I still had my other job I would have found it too expensive. I don’t know how Mum managed.’

  ‘Is the move urgent?’

  ‘I’d say so. We can’t leave it much longer. We’re pawning things every week now in order to pay the rent, but it’s silly to keep doing that. We must assume Mum isn’t coming back, and we’ve got to learn to take care of ourselves.’

  Dr Burridge looked thoughtful for a few moments, and then he stood up. ‘Come with me.’

  Dora followed him up the stairs to the top of the house, a place she had never been before. He stopped by a door and unlocked it, then led her along a wide passage with a series of rooms either side.

  ‘This used to be my grandmother’s private flat when my family lived here. There’s a kitchen, bathroom, sitting room and three other rooms th
at could be used as bedrooms. The place needs a good clean, of course, it hasn’t been used for years.’

  ‘Erm … it’s very nice.’ Dora was almost afraid to ask, but she did anyway. ‘Why are you showing me this?’

  ‘I’ve come to rely upon you, Dora. You’re efficient – in fact the best help I’ve ever had – and you’re good with the men who come here. You see past their injuries and they appreciate you being so natural with them. You make them smile, and some of the poor devils have little to be cheerful about.’

  ‘I enjoy helping them.’

  ‘That’s obvious, and I’d be a fool to let you go. So, I’ll make a deal with you. Work for me full time, here and at the hospital, and you and your family can live here rent free. I shall, of course, increase your wages, but they’ll still be rather low. However, if you don’t have to find rent each week, then you should be able to manage better. What do you say?’

  Say? Dora just stared at him as the full import of what he was offering her struck home. She had come to work this morning feeling that their lives were in ruins, dust at their feet, and this wonderful man had wiped out their desperate need. Not only was he offering them a home – and a very nice one at that – but he was offering her full employment.

  He was waiting patiently for her answer, and she grasped his hand and shook it. ‘Oh, thank you, sir. Thank you. You won’t regret this. I’ll work very hard for you.’

  ‘I know that.’ He smiled and glanced around the room. ‘And it will be good to have a family living in the old house again. Now, let’s go and see who’s arrived. John is still having difficulty walking and needs lots of encouragement.’

  There were already six men in the main room, including John, who appeared very dispirited this morning. Nevertheless, he brightened up when they walked in.

  ‘Good morning, gentlemen.’ The doctor’s gaze swept over every face in turn, missing nothing.

  ‘Morning, Doc. Morning, Dora.’

  ‘I’m here for most of the day,’ he announced, ‘so if you have any problems come and see me. And I have some news. Dora and her brother and sister are moving into the rooms upstairs, but they are in a state of neglect. If any of you feel able to help Dora make the place habitable, she would be most grateful.’