Making matters worse for her was her mother’s attitude when she walked in the door. Eddie had gone outside saying he wanted to see Albert, and Maryanne was also in a bad mood.
‘I see you haven’t brought anything back for your son’s tea or anything to put in the cupboard,’ said Maryanne.
Sadie snapped, ‘He gets his tea at Grace’s house and I’m not hungry.’ She walked back out of the door and decided to go and see Bella. Bella was listening to the wireless and she didn’t seem pleased when Sadie knocked once and opened the door. Sadie was oblivious to this and went and sat down.
‘What a day I’ve had. Nothing but work, work, work.’
Bella, who was an astute person and noticed that Sadie had been drinking, said, ‘If you’re looking for Eddie, he’s with Albert. He’s promised Eddie an old fishing rod he had years ago and he’s gone to get it.’
Sadie wasn’t happy about this. ‘I don’t like him to be near water in case he falls in.’ She stood up. ‘I’ll go and see Albert and tell him not to give him the rod.’
Bella was annoyed. ‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, Sadie, sit down and let the lad have some fun. You’ve dragged him over here, away from his father and yet you expect him to sit and twiddle his thumbs because it suits you.’
No one had ever spoken to Sadie like this before and she didn’t like it one bit. She made to stand up but she staggered. ‘I can see I’m not welcomed in this lane by any of you, not even my mother.’
As she reached the door, Bella said, ‘Try not to drink too much, Sadie, you’ve got a young boy to look after.’
Sadie gave her a venomous look and swept out of the room while Bella switched the wireless back on to listen to her play which had been rudely interrupted. She saw Eddie and Albert through her window and the lad went off with his fishing rod while Albert came in to see her. Sighing heavily she switched off the set. ‘Albert, how nice to see you. Did Eddie like his rod?’
Albert said he did. ‘I’ve told him to take it down to the esplanade and do some fishing there. Rory from next door said he would make him a small box to hold his worms and he’s away making plans to catch some fish on Saturday.’
‘I’ve just had Sadie in and she’s not pleased about Eddie going fishing.’
Albert dismissed this with a laugh and changed the subject. ‘Did you hear that Martha twisted her ankle when Eliza was at the shops?’
Bella said she had heard. ‘She told Eliza she tripped over a chair but I’ve heard that she was trying to reach the box of chocolates that was on the top shelf of the cupboard. It was seemingly a present to Eliza from an old school friend and she thought she had it well hidden.’
Albert laughed again. ‘Nothing is ever well hidden from Martha. She’s like a bloodhound when it comes to biscuits and sweets and I hope she’s learned her lesson not to go searching on top shelves. In fact I think she even looks like a bloodhound with her fat jowls and beady eyes.’
Still chuckling, he left Bella sitting in the quiet room. She decided not to try to listen to her play as she would have lost most of the plot and instead she thought about Sadie. She had always liked her even though she had been a difficult child, wayward and totally obsessed by herself, but Bella knew there was a vulnerable side to her. Maryanne had tried to bring her up in the right way and it had been a hard job but Bella knew she was relieved when Sadie was engaged to young Peter Ronaldson and equally upset when she threw him over for Ed Boyd and ended up in America.
Then there was the problem of her apparent drinking. Was it a one-off thing or was it a daily thing? A shaft of late evening sunshine shone through the window and Bella switched the wireless back on again. As she listened to music, she knew it wasn’t her problem but that didn’t help. She had known heartache in her life and that was why she was adept at recognising it when it reared its unhappy head again. She gave a small shiver as if the air had turned cold, and hoped her intuition was wrong.
Eddie had carried the fishing rod into his bedroom and he turned the reel with pleasure. He needed to buy some hooks and then he was ready to cast the line in the river. Maryanne had said it was good he was going to have an outdoor hobby.
There was no sign of his mother. ‘She said she’s got a headache and has gone for a walk,’ his granny said, and he felt guilty at his pleasure that she wasn’t there to make unhelpful remarks or even ban the whole idea. He placed the rod upright in the wardrobe. He couldn’t wait for Saturday. Evie and Tommy could go into town with him but he wouldn’t be going into any shops and he planned to spend a solitary day by the river.
He came out of the room when he heard his mother’s voice. She had brought three fish suppers for the tea but she must have taken her time coming from the shop as they were lukewarm and greasy. Maryanne put the oven on to warm them up while he set the table. Sadie went into the bedroom with her coat and handbag and when she came out a few minutes later her face was a bit flushed.
Maryanne, who was bending over the oven, didn’t notice this but Eddie was worried as his mother didn’t look well. However she managed to finish her meal. When they were washing the dishes she suddenly remembered the fishing rod.
‘I don’t want you going to the river to catch fish, Eddie, so give that rod back to Albert.’
Before he could answer, Maryanne said, ‘Oh for heaven’s sake, Sadie, let the boy have some fun with his new hobby. You can’t keep him cooped up here in this great weather.’
Sadie had a stubborn look. ‘I’m not keeping him cooped up, Mum, I just don’t want him to go near the river in case he falls in.’
Maryanne made a dismissive noise but she picked up the paper and began to ignore her daughter while Eddie was annoyed about his mother’s displeasure at a simple fishing trip. He made up his mind he would leave the rod at Grace’s house and then his mother would never know when he used it.
As if the matter was closed, Sadie said she was going to read her book in the bedroom and after she left Maryanne gave her grandson a huge wink.
‘Happy fishing, Eddie. Try and catch a whopper for our tea some night.’
As it turned out, on Saturday morning, Sadie was still in bed and Maryanne had gone out for her weekly grocery shopping when Eddie went to pick up the rod. By now it was in its case and he would assemble it at the river. Albert had shown him how to do it.
Evie and Tommy were waiting for him and they said they wanted to come with him instead of going to Woolworths. Eddie wasn’t too pleased about this and he said so but Tommy was adamant they should all be together so he gave in. There was a debate about the best place to go and Tommy said she had seen people fishing at the docks so that was where they made their way to, going through the Victoria Arch and crossing one of the little bridges that took them to the river.
Eddie found a suitable spot and the two girls sat down on the wooden pier while he assembled the rod and put a worm on the hook. He had dug one up from the patch of earth at the front of the house. Tommy screwed up her face at the sight of the worm while Evie stretched out her legs in the warm sun. The river was calm at this spot and there was slight film of oil on the surface but he reckoned there had to be fish in the water.
Tommy joined Evie in basking in the sun. She had overheard her parents arguing this morning and she was glad of the company of her friend.
‘My Auntie Lizzie is coming for a visit at the end of next week. She’s coming from Ireland and my dad isn’t happy about it. He says she is a meddling besom and Mum told him to stop being nasty about her sister.’
Evie said that it was great to have an auntie coming to see her but Eddie was too intent on casting his line into the water to comment.
‘Yes it is, she’s Mum’s oldest sister and her children are grown up now and Mum told Dad that she acted like a mother to her after my granny died and Dad mumbled something about “how noble of her”.’
The sun was now getting hot and it was so peaceful to be beside the water. In the distance, people kept passing on their way to the swimming baths but apart from
that everything was calm with the sound of the river lapping against the wooden pier.
Tommy called, ‘Have you caught a fish yet, Eddie?’
Eddie mumbled something and Tommy called out again. He turned in annoyance. ‘No, so keep quiet or you’ll scare the fish away.’
An hour went by and Tommy announced she was hungry and Eddie told her to leave if she was getting bored. She looked at Evie for support but Evie said they could maybe wait a little longer. She had no sooner said this when an elderly man walked past and as he did so, he called over to Eddie.
‘You won’t catch anything today, laddie, as it’s too sunny. You need a bit of cloud to catch fish.’
Eddie asked if this was true and the man nodded. ‘Aye it is, it has to be a cloudy, grey day for fishing.’
The girls stood up and Eddie pulled the hook up to the pier where the worm was still attached and he threw it into the river. Packing the rod away he sighed and turned to the girls.
‘I suppose we had better go to Woolworths then.’ He walked away followed by a happy Tommy and Evie who was so sorry he hadn’t caught anything.
32
Sadie was sorry she had taken this job as it seemed to be old men who were the drinkers in the pub. Every day a few of the locals would come in for their half pints and then sit playing dominoes. The young workmen who had been in earlier must have moved to another job and her tips had virtually disappeared which meant if she wanted a drink she had to pay for it herself with money she couldn’t really afford to spend.
On this particular Monday, trade was so slack that she consoled herself with a gin and tonic, which she didn’t pay for but she would put the money in the till on payday. Hal was upstairs with his wife who was waiting for a doctor’s visit. She hadn’t asked him what was wrong because it was none of her business. She had enough problems of her own and she had no sympathy with anyone.
She had heard that Tommy was telling people that her parents had had a big row over the imminent arrival of her Irish auntie. Sadie shuddered and couldn’t understand why the girl had to tell everyone her family’s business. She hoped Eddie wasn’t telling them anything about America and his father.
The pub door had a squeaky hinge which warned her that a customer was coming in so she quickly downed her drink and washed the glass. It was Hal. He came over to the counter and laid a set of keys down on the surface.
‘Gladys has to go into hospital for tests and I have to go with her, Sadie. Can you lock up the pub at closing time and then open up again at five o’clock?’
Sadie gave him a big smile and said that was no problem. ‘I hope your wife is all right.’
Hal said he hoped so and he left, stopping by a small group on men who were sitting together by the side of the counter. One of them called out, ‘Tell Gladys we’re asking for her, Hal.’
This situation pleased Sadie because she knew there wasn’t a lot of work to do in the office which meant she could maybe skive off early. She hadn’t met Gladys and she briefly wondered what tests she was getting at the infirmary, before calling time on the drinkers. The men rose up and she collected their glasses and then locked the door after their retreating backs.
Filling up her glass again she carried it through to the office which was a stuffy room at the back. There was a comfy chair in the corner and she sat down with her drink. She sometimes brought a magazine in to read when business was quiet and she fished it from her bag, finishing her drink as she did so. She hadn’t been sleeping very well recently, mainly because of her mother’s lumpy mattress, and now she fell asleep. It was the loud knock on the door that wakened her and for a brief moment she couldn’t think where she was.
Jumping up, she hurried to the door. She glanced at the clock and it was four-thirty. It was Hal.
‘Gladys got her tests done early,’ he said, ‘so I’ll open up if you want to get home.’
Sadie said she would just nip into the office to get her bag. She was thankful that she had washed the customers’ glasses and wiped the tables. Spotting her own glass by the side of the typewriter, she quickly stuffed it into her bag along with the magazine and she spread out a few typewritten accounts she had done the previous day. Perhaps Hal hadn’t read them so it would look like she had been busy.
As she walked along the street to the tram stop she felt light-headed. I have to stop drinking, she told herself silently, or else I’ll be falling over in the road. Later, she wished she had fallen in front of the tram.
Eddie arrived home with Evie, and Grace produced the blue airmail envelope. He took it with a look of satisfaction and said he would read it at home. He opened the flimsy letter carefully in case he tore some of the contents and he was dismayed when he read that his father had already sent two letters to him and was wondering why he hadn’t answered. He said that he missed him terribly as did his grandad and Esther and he hoped that his mother would bring him home.
Eddie felt a dull ache as he read his father’s words and he was so angry at his mother for hiding the letters from him. Putting the letter in his pocket he hurried down to the post office to buy an airmail letter so he could answer it right away.
He was busy at the kitchen table when his mother walked in. ‘Hullo Eddie, I thought you would be at Grace’s house.’
He stood up and shoved the letter under her nose. ‘I got this from Dad today and he wants us to go home right away. He says he’s sent two letters and I haven’t seen either of them. What did you do with them, Mum?’
Taken aback, Sadie tried to bluster her way out of this. ‘Your dad is lying, Eddie, he hasn’t sent anything to you or me.’ She stopped, suddenly wondering where this letter had come from as there had been nothing from the postie this morning. ‘Where did you get that letter?’
Eddie was defiant. ‘I was sure you were destroying my mail so I got Dad to send his letter to Grace’s house.’
Sadie went white with rage. ‘You did what?’
‘Well it worked, didn’t it? All these weeks and no word then when I send a letter, I get one back right away. Another thing, Mum, I’m writing to Dad to tell him to send me money for me to come back home. You can stay here if you like.’
Sadie was livid as she walked out of the door and went along the lane to Grace’s house. She was making the tea and Evie and Tommy were watching television when Sadie entered the room without knocking.
Grace looked at her and she knew what Sadie was going to say before she opened her mouth. ‘I was unhappy about letting Eddie use this address and I told him he had to tell you.’
Sadie’s anger exploded. ‘What right have you got to poke your nose in my affairs, Grace Gow? That’s what’s wrong with this lane, you are all malicious, nosy parkers who think they have the moral right to interfere. I did what I thought was the proper thing in keeping those letters away from my son and you come along and tell him he can be underhand and listen to his father’s lies.’
Evie and Tommy sat in silence as the television programme went on unwatched. Sadie gave it an angry glance and for one moment Grace thought she was going to throw something at the screen. Instead she said, ‘You think with your fancy house and a television set that you are above the rest of us, you snooty cow.’
Grace said, ‘My fancy house? What on earth are you talking about, Sadie?’
Just at that moment Bill walked in and Sadie gave him a venomous look before striding out. Bill looked bemused. ‘What’s wrong with her?’
Grace said she would tell him afterwards and Tommy also departed, no doubt going to pass on the row verbatim to her parents.
Sadie stalked back to her own house where her mother had arrived home from work. There was no sign of Eddie. Maryanne was busy making her tea.
‘Do you want me to make anything for you and Eddie?’
Sadie picked up a cup and threw it. It shattered against the window and both broke. ‘I’ve just come back from Grace Gow’s house where I found out she has let Eddie use her address to contact his father. How dar
e she do this? It’s none of her business.’
‘Well you should have let him write and get a letter here, Sadie, so you’ve only yourself to blame,’ said Maryanne, staring at the glass and china shards.
Sadie couldn’t believe her ears, even her own mother was against her, and she picked up her handbag and walked out of the house. She walked as far as the licensed grocer where she bought a quarter bottle of gin and went straight back to her bedroom. Eddie was still out.
33
By the next morning, the entire lane had heard of the argument.
Eddie had come in at about eleven o’clock the previous night and his granny had made him a hot cup of cocoa. ‘You mustn’t get upset at your mum as she has your best interests at heart.’ Eddie said he was going to write back to his dad and tell him about the missing letters. Maryanne said he must do what he thought best. She had covered the window with a bit of cardboard and hoped that the landlord would repair it, and she noticed Eddie looking at it but she said nothing. Sadie was now fast asleep and she hoped everything would go back to normal tomorrow.
Grace hadn’t slept all night and she was sitting up drinking tea at three in the morning while Bill told her not to worry about what Sadie had said. ‘Maybe you shouldn’t have agreed to help Eddie. It’s up to his family to sort out.’
‘I was only trying to help the boy as he was sure there were letters coming and he suspected his mum was keeping them back.’
‘Well it’s been done so try and get some sleep and don’t worry about it as it will probably be over soon.’
Grace wasn’t as sure as he was and she had an awful feeling that things were about to get much worse. However, she took Bill’s advice and went back to bed but she didn’t sleep.
In the morning, Bill got ready to go to work and Grace was glad when the kids went off to school. Eddie hadn’t come in and instead waited awkwardly at the door but she let it pass. She felt sure he would come in after school as usual.
Meadow Lane Page 17
