by Rosie Clarke
She was almost at the tram stop when the back of her neck started to prickle. Turning, she saw him following – the man in the overcoat with the trilby pulled low over his face. He was back; she’d seen him three times now, he had to be following her! Lizzie sensed the menace in him and shivered. Her tram was just coming down the road and she hastened her step, but the man was quicker. He grabbed her arm just as the tram pulled to a halt.
‘Got you, you little bitch,’ he hissed. ‘Think yourself clever, don’t you – but I’ll always be there waiting and when I get the chance – you’ll be sorry…’
Lizzie didn’t answer, because she was too scared. She pulled away from him, kicking out at his shins in desperation and he cursed her. His hand released her as swiftly as it had grabbed her and Lizzie rushed for her tram as it was about to leave the stop, managing to jump on board as it began to move.
‘Careful there, lady,’ the conductor said and grabbed her arm to steady her. ‘Left it a bit fine, did we?’
‘That man…’ Lizzie was still shaking as she sat down. ‘He grabbed me and threatened me…’
The conductor peered at her and shook his head; then memory dawned. ‘I recall you tellin’ me the other week, miss. You want to go to the coppers. He sounds a nasty piece of work – did you know him?’
‘No. This is the third time I’ve noticed him following me, but this time he threatened me…’
‘Take my advice and go to the police,’ he advised, issuing her ticket and moving on as the tram slowed down for the next stop.
Lizzie drew a deep breath and tried to stop herself shaking. What would’ve happened if she hadn’t managed to get away from him? It was like being back in her nightmare and she felt sick. She was going to have to speak to someone about it – either the police or Ed. Ed thought Harry’s uncle was behind it, and she supposed he was the most likely person to want to upset Lizzie – but it just didn’t seem Bert Oliver’s style. He could be mean and he had a sharp temper – but was he the sort to hire someone to frighten her? That spoke of a truly vindictive nature and she just couldn’t see him going to those extremes. Telling lies about her was one thing, but paying someone to threaten and frighten her was quite another – and why else would a stranger follow her and make threats? Who would dislike her that much? Lizzie didn’t think she had enemies, but someone must hate her. Could it really be Harry’s uncle behind it all?
Somehow it didn’t fit in Lizzie’s mind, but she decided to go round at the weekend and speak to him. She couldn’t just let things drift the way they had, and she was pretty sure the police couldn’t do much to help her. It would need someone to keep watch over her wherever she went and the police didn’t have time for such things. These days it took all their time to keep up with the looters and rescuing people from bombed-out areas. No, she was going to have to sort this out for herself…
Lizzie had calmed down by the time she got home and felt it would be wrong to distress her friend by telling her what had happened. Beth had more than enough on her shoulders as it was.
‘Mum says Mary won’t stop crying,’ Beth announced as soon as Lizzie walked into the kitchen. ‘They need her bed at the hospital and the doctors are talking about sending her somewhere – somewhere they treat mental patients – if she doesn’t calm down and stop accusing them of murdering her baby.’
‘Oh, Beth,’ Lizzie sympathized. ‘You’ll have to talk to her, shake her out of it somehow. A mental institution is the last place she wants to go. Once you’re in there it isn’t easy to get out…’
‘You went somewhere a bit like that when you had that trouble as a young girl, didn’t you?’
‘Yes, and what I remember of it – and that isn’t much, because they had me drugged most of the time – was horrible. Tell Mary that she wouldn’t like it in one of those places, Beth. She has to come home. Losing a baby is bad enough; she doesn’t want to lose her freedom or her sanity too. If Uncle Jack hadn’t used all his savings to help me to move me to the private sanatorium, I might still have been a prisoner in that place. Even though I’d been raped, I was treated as if I was a bad girl just because I’d miscarried a child and I was only fourteen. It’s all still hazy, but since Aunt Jane told me, I’ve half remembered things about that time…’ A shudder went through Lizzie. ‘But it’s too horrid to want to remember it properly…’
‘Oh, Lizzie, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have reminded you,’ Beth apologized. ‘It’s just that Mum is so worried about Mary.’
‘Of course she is,’ Lizzie said. ‘Speak to Mary tonight, Beth, and if she won’t listen to you I’ll visit her and tell her where she’s headed if she doesn’t attempt to get better.’
‘Mum says she can’t do anything with her. She thinks the doctor is right and Mary might be better off somewhere like that for a while…’
‘No, she wouldn’t,’ Lizzie corrected instantly. ‘Tell your mum, and tell Mary, what it was like for me. If that doesn’t make her stop nothing will…’
‘I’ll try.’ Beth sighed. ‘So what sort of a day did you have today?’
‘Pretty quiet,’ Lizzie said, not wanting to worry her about her narrow escape at the bus stop. She would tell Ed the next morning, but Beth had enough on her shoulders just now. ‘Only a couple of customers and Ed finished the order for Mr Johnson. The order book is almost empty after that, Beth. Unless things change…’ She sighed and took the cup of tea Beth offered. ‘I’ve done some new designs for the window. I can only hope that will bring some customers in…’
*
‘Right,’ Ed said when she told him the next day. ‘I’ll go round this evening and sort things out with Oliver, Lizzie – and I’ll be walking you to the stop every night now.’
‘That man warned me that he’d always be there, waiting for me,’ Lizzie said. ‘Do you think I should go to the police?’
‘It’s disgusting, threatening a decent girl like you – and you a widow…’ Ed said. ‘I can’t see that going to the police would do a lot of good, Lizzie. They might come round, take a statement and keep watch for a few nights – but that sort knows to stay in the shadows when coppers are about. He would wait until they gave up and then come after you again. If we want protection we’ll have to pay for it – and once that type get their claws into you, you might find yourself in a worse place.’ Lizzie knew he meant the criminal types who would offer protection to a business for payment. ‘It might be that someone is trying to put the squeeze on you – a protection racket…’
‘Oh no, not that,’ Lizzie groaned. ‘Surely they wouldn’t bother with us – we’ve only just started to trade. We don’t earn enough to make it worth their while – do we?’
She knew that some businesses in London did pay protection money to racketeers, but they usually went after club owners and successful restaurants and pubs. As yet she was only a small wholesaler and if she had to pay protection money she might as well close her doors. Lizzie didn’t feel that it was a petty criminal threatening her – but someone with a personal grudge, and the only person she could think of was Harry’s uncle.
‘Who knows?’ Ed shrugged. ‘First off I’ll pay Oliver a visit and warn him to leave you alone and then we’ll see. I could ask around a bit. I’ve kept out of their way, but there was a time when I knew people – the wrong sort of people, Lizzie. I could see if some of my old contacts have heard anything…’
‘Just talk to Harry’s uncle,’ Lizzie said, ‘and then we’ll see…’ She wasn’t sure it would do much good, but as long as Ed kept his temper and didn’t hit him it surely couldn’t make things worse. Ed wasn’t usually a bad-tempered man, but she knew he felt protective of her and it had upset him to hear that she was being threatened.
*
Ed met her the next morning as she arrived at her premises and told her about the row he’d had with his former employer, Lizzie was speechless and then she started to laugh when he told her the reason for their quarrel.
‘Oh, Ed, that is just so ridiculou
s that it would be funny – if it weren’t so serious. He must be losing his mind… to accuse us of having an affair!’
‘He means it, Lizzie, and he’s tellin’ everyone who will listen that we’re lovers…’
‘How could he be so unfair?’ Lizzie asked. ‘I do love you as a friend and I respect you as a colleague, Ed – but I’m not in love with you and you aren’t with me either. It would be an insult to Madge’s memory to think you would do something like that so soon after…’
‘That’s what I told him, Lizzie,’ Ed said, a tiny pulse throbbing in his neck. ‘To say such a thing about you… I’d have thumped him, but to tell you the truth he looks ill. I think he’s taken on too much and he can’t cope – and he’s let Harry’s death fester inside him until he’s so bitter he can’t see the truth even if it’s in front of him.’
‘Yes, I think that must be his problem,’ Lizzie said. ‘He’s working too hard, worried about his business and grieving all at the same time. I understand the bitterness, but sending someone to threaten me…’
‘No, I don’t think that was Oliver,’ Ed said and looked thoughtful. ‘I asked him straight out and said we were going to the police and he looked shocked. Told me he would ruin your business if he could by blackening your reputation, but he swore he hadn’t sent someone to break your shop window or threaten you…’
‘Did you think he was telling the truth?’
‘Yes, I did think so…’ Ed hesitated, then, ‘He almost looked upset at the thought. Told me I should go to the police because there were some nasty types about…’
‘What did he mean by that? Lizzie wondered aloud. ‘I think I shall have to talk to the police – and perhaps you should ask people you know, see if anyone has been noticed hanging around…’
Chapter 5
‘Mary has gone home with Mum,’ Beth greeted Lizzie with the news when she walked in that evening. ‘The hospital let her go because she promised to stay with Mum for a while, until she feels better again.’
‘I’m glad she’s out of the hospital. If they’d decided she needed treatment at a mental institution…’ Lizzie shuddered at the idea. ‘Thank goodness for that, Beth.’
‘Mum said she’ll have the children again as soon as she can – but we could leave them with a neighbour for a while if you need me back in the showroom.’
‘I’m not sure,’ Lizzie said. ‘What do you feel, Beth? Perhaps we should interview a few people or look for a nursery?’
‘Mum will have them again soon. I just thought you might feel I was letting you down?’
‘I want you back at work, of course I do,’ Lizzie said. ‘But I’d rather you stayed here to look after the children until your mum can take over again, love. I don’t trust other people with our babies…’
‘All right then,’ Beth said. ‘You’re the boss…’
‘We do everything together,’ Lizzie said. ‘I was thinking we ought to have them all christened soon, ask the vicar if he will do it all on one day. Perhaps the twins’ birthday in June…’
‘Lovely idea,’ Beth said. ‘It would cheer us all up to have something nice to think about…’ She yawned and stretched. ‘Do you think Hitler’s lot will let us have a bit of rest tonight?’
‘God knows what will happen if they don’t soon let up,’ Lizzie said. ‘Did you hear the news? Half of London was on fire this morning, one of the worst raids we’ve had since the Blitz started.’
‘The papers say Hitler’s claiming it’s in reprisal for us bombing their towns. I don’t know who’s to blame, I just wish it would stop…’
Lizzie shook her head and went upstairs because she could hear one of the children crying. Betty was sleeping peacefully and Lizzie resisted the urge to pick her up and cuddle her. Jenny was fretful and when Lizzie touched her forehead, she discovered she felt a bit hot so she picked her up and took her downstairs.
‘She’s awake again then,’ Beth frowned as she saw that Lizzie had brought her daughter down. ‘It took me ages to get her off and…’ she broke off as the doorbell rang. ‘I’ll go – it might be Bernie…’
Lizzie was sitting nursing the baby when Mary walked in. Her eyes went to Jenny, who had quietened, her eyes closed and for a moment a look of sheer envy showed on her pale face, but in an instant it had gone.
‘I came round because Mum said you were staying off work to look after the children,’ she said. ‘I wanted to tell you there’s no need. Mum can come round here or have them at home. I’m going back to my house tomorrow.’
‘But the hospital let you go because you promised to stay with Mum…’
‘Who cares what they said,’ Mary shrugged. ‘I’m fine now, Beth. Can I hold Jenny for a bit?’
Beth hesitated and Lizzie knew she wanted to refuse, but she met Lizzie’s eyes and then nodded. ‘All right, but Lizzie has just got her to stop crying. Please don’t upset her.’
‘She’s hot, probably teething,’ Mary said and there was resentment in her eyes as she looked at her sister. ‘I do know a bit about children. I was on the children’s ward until I got pregnant.’
‘I’m so sorry for your dreadful loss,’ Lizzie said as she handed over the baby. ‘It’s very hard for you… if there’s anything we can do…’
‘Oh, well, I suppose it happens,’ Mary said carelessly, but she looked down at the baby with such intensity that Lizzie felt a jolt of fear. It just wasn’t natural that she should look at her sister’s child that way.
‘Come up with me and we’ll put her back in her cot,’ Beth said. ‘Come on, Mary. She needs her sleep…’
The two sisters went up the stairs together. Lizzie made a fresh pot of tea but Mary refused the offer when she came down. ‘No thanks, I’ve been drinking tea all day. Remember what I said, I’m going home so you can bring them round to Mum and go to work – it’s quite safe…’
Lizzie and Beth looked at each other as she left. It was obvious to both of them that Mary still wasn’t right, even though she was pretending she was over the worst.
*
Beth washed her hair before she went to bed that evening. She hadn’t much time to look after it lately, because of all the visits to the hospital and having three young children to care for. She was in two minds about leaving the children with her mother, because something kept niggling at the back of her mind – something in the way Mary had looked at Jenny.
She knew that Lizzie had noticed it too, but being Lizzie she hadn’t said anything. Beth didn’t want to worry her, because Lizzie had enough to cope with. Beth was well aware that the business wasn’t doing as well as it had at the start – and she knew her friend was hiding something, even though Lizzie wouldn’t say what. Once things were back to normal she’d get it out of her – but was it too soon to return to work? Yet no one could force Mary to stay at home and be fussed over if she didn’t want it.
Beth was thoughtful as she sat drying her hair. It had got a bit long recently and she ought to have it trimmed; it was less trouble when it was shorter, but she’d let it grow because Bernie liked it long and shiny – like spun gold, he said when he’d come round a few weeks earlier and found her just after she’d washed it.
Bernie was pressing hard for marriage. Beth couldn’t blame him, because he’d been patient for a long time, but she still didn’t feel like giving him an answer. The truth was that he was good to her and she found it useful when he ran her about in his car – but did she want to be his wife?
Beth knew she would have to give him an answer soon. It would make sense to say yes, because she wasn’t likely to find anyone else to take her on with another man’s children. The man she’d once believed she was in love with certainly wasn’t interested; he’d been angry because she’d fallen for Mark and had his twins. Tony had told her bluntly when she was pregnant that he wouldn’t be such a fool. Beth sighed and a sharp surge of regret went through her. Tony had been so impatient because she wouldn’t go to bed with him; they’d quarrelled, and he’d stopped comin
g round, and that was when she’d gone to the party at Mr Winters’ house and met Mark. Sometimes she wished she’d never met Mark, never fallen in love with him – and if she could go back, she certainly wouldn’t be as careless again. She had loved Mark but she’d been too reckless and it had been a heavy price to pay, losing him too soon and having to bear the shame of her condition. Yet she loved the twins and wouldn’t be without them, which was a complete contradiction and made her laugh and throw off her reflective mood.
She had time enough to make up her mind, and she wasn’t sure what she was waiting for; it was just something inside her that held her back every time she was on the verge of telling Bernie that she would marry him. Perhaps she was a fool to hesitate; her parents had made it clear they thought she should marry him for the sake of her children.
They would be a year old in June and were already difficult to control. When they started running around and getting into mischief they would be a handful and she wasn’t sure whether her mother would cope, which would make it difficult for Beth to work. Perhaps they did need a father and at least Bernie was prepared to take them on, which a lot of men wouldn’t.
*
‘You told me you’d soon have her in the palm of your hand,’ the man in a suit said glaring at the thin man with the scar on his cheek. His light topaz eyes glittered with anger. ‘I haven’t seen any signs that she’s running scared. In fact, I’ve reason to believe that she intends to carry on regardless of your efforts…’
‘I smashed her winder, got a floosy of mine to steal from her – and I give her a warning the other night afore she caught the tram. If yer give me the word, I’ll mark her,’ Norm muttered and fingered the knife he always wore strapped to his arm inside his left sleeve. ‘One word and she’s dead.’
‘If you so much as touch her with that knife, I’ll make sure the cops know where to find you,’ Norm’s employer muttered. ‘I want her scared. I want her out of business – but I want her alive and unmarked. Is that clear?’
