The Fight for Lizzie Flowers

by Carol Rivers

  ‘You’ll have twenty-four-hour cover,’ he had explained. ‘Don’t ask them any questions. If there’s trouble, you and Pol get in the van and drive over to me. Leave them and Bert to sort out a problem.’

  ‘I can’t afford four extra wages,’ she’d protested, but Danny had shrugged this away.

  ‘They’re paid for.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘It’s settled, Lizzie. Don’t ask no more.’

  ‘They’re dodgy, ain’t they?’

  ‘They’re what you need right now.’

  She had reluctantly agreed and forced herself to watch the men dressed in porter’s clothes, cloth caps and boots acquaint themselves with her business. She hadn’t liked it, but she’d had to accept it.

  Lizzie smiled as she thought of Bert’s indignation. That was, until Lizzie reminded him of Savage’s visit. The ineffectiveness of a broom against a revolver.

  Now as Flo and Lizzie watched two of the men heave the sacks of vegetables onto their shoulders, puffing and grunting like genuine porters, Lizzie couldn’t resist a chuckle.

  ‘You should have seen Bert when they first arrived,’ Lizzie said as she and Flo walked out to their bicycles. ‘He stood them in the yard and explained the difference between a King Edward and a cauli.’

  Flo burst out laughing. ‘What are they going to do if the opposition arrive? Clock ’em with ripe tomatoes?’

  Lizzie’s smile faded. ‘I don’t want no guns.’

  ‘So what will they do?’

  ‘Use their initiative, I hope.’

  ‘Yes, but have they got any? Who is the one who ties back his long hair with a bit of string?’

  ‘That’s Fowler. The other is Elmo, with the red hair and beard. They work in the day and the other two come at night.’

  ‘What do your customers think?’

  ‘As big as they are, the men are good at the job.’

  Flo laughed. ‘What does Bert think of that?’

  ‘He don’t trust them an inch.’

  ‘Good old Bert.’

  Lizzie pushed her bike to the gutter and climbed on. For modesty’s sake, she was wearing trousers. She’d wound her long black hair into a knot at the back of her head. Flo was wearing a loose smock.

  ‘I can’t wait for you to see my dress,’ Flo said as they began to cycle together.

  ‘Is this your first fitting?’

  ‘Yes, if I ever get there!’ Flo was wobbling all over the road. Lizzie began to wish they’d taken the van. Poplar was a good twenty minutes’ ride away. And Flo had put on a lot of weight.

  ‘I need the exercise, as you can see,’ said Flo, trying to cycle in a straight line. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll get me breath in a minute.’

  It was the end of the week and the roads were busy. They cycled in and out of horse-drawn carts and one or two motor cars. The docks lay baking in the sunshine and smelled of the waste and flotsam flowing into them.

  Lizzie was worried about Flo. Her sister was fighting with the handlebars. The basket on the front bounced up and down. She was more than relieved when they finally arrived in Poplar. The dressmaker’s shop was in the High Street, in between the fishmonger’s and the bakery. Early morning bagels had already left the ovens and were on their way to the traders. The fishmonger was cooling his trays of fish with cold water and swatting away the flies.

  Lizzie stepped to one side as the street sellers hurried by. The Indian sweet man with his box of candyfloss slung over his shoulders. The French onion seller in his striped Breton shirt.

  Flo dismounted and stretched her back. ‘Me bum’s killing me.’

  ‘We should have taken the van.’

  ‘Yes, but it stinks in there.’ Flo mopped her damp forehead. ‘All I need now is for me waters to break. That would really cheer Syd up. He’s wearing a face like a slapped arse at the moment.’

  ‘Why’s that?’ Lizzie asked as they leaned their bikes against the lamp-post.

  ‘You’ll only get upset if I say.’

  ‘Now you’ve said that, you’ll have to tell me.’

  Flo brushed her wet fringe from her eyes. Blowing out air, she shrugged. ‘He’s got the hump, cos of Danny finding those blokes.’

  ‘Why should Syd care about them?’

  ‘When I told him Danny was hiring, he wanted to know why Danny hadn’t come to him. He said he offered you help on the day Frank turned up.’

  ‘Yes, but I didn’t want to involve Syd’s family.’

  ‘What’s wrong with them?’ Flo asked indignantly. ‘Aren’t they good enough for you?’

  ‘I didn’t mean that. You’ve always wanted Syd to steer clear of his family.’

  ‘It’s different now,’ Flo reasoned with a shrug. ‘I’ll be a Miller on the 1st of July. So will this.’ She pointed to her bump.

  Flo’s tune had definitely changed, Lizzie thought with alarm. She had always kept her distance from Syd’s family. And with good reason. Syd was the only one of the Missus’s sons without a criminal record. A fact, the Missus boasted, not due to his good character but because he had escaped detection.

  But with the baby on the way and marriage not far off, what else was Flo to do? Lizzie reflected anxiously. Syd’s family were now to be hers.

  ‘The Millers have cleaned up their act,’ Flo said in defence of her soon-to-be-in-laws. ‘Walter and Clifford are legit.’

  ‘So why was Syd offering their help?’

  ‘To keep things in the family,’ Flo said hurriedly, blushing.

  ‘So, if they’re as straight as you say, why would they want to lock horns with someone like Leonard Savage?’

  ‘They ain’t angels,’ Flo said heatedly. ‘But they know how to take care of themselves. You’ve got to in a world like this.’

  ‘Flo, granted you’re nearly a Miller,’ Lizzie replied carefully, ‘but you’re also an Allen. Don’t try to fit in with views you don’t hold with.’

  ‘And what do you mean by that?’

  ‘Well . . .’ Lizzie hesitated. ‘You sound different. Don’t change from the person you are.’

  ‘So I suppose you didn’t change when you married Frank?’ Flo accused angrily as they stood on the hot, crowded pavement. ‘Well, you did. I can vouch for that. If Babs was here, she would agree.’

  ‘This isn’t to do with Babs. I’m surprised at you, Flo, going on about guns and things. If Ma heard you talking that way she’d turn in her grave.’

  ‘Our mother is dead, Lizzie. And our father,’ Flo said, tears welling in her eyes. ‘And anyway, Ma wasn’t slow to take our brother’s dirty money. She knew Vinnie worked for Ferreter, but she still took it. Without Vinnie to provide for us, we’d have all starved.’ Flo added spitefully, ‘Beggars can’t be choosers.’

  Lizzie stood open-mouthed as she listened to her sister. This was a darker side to Flo. Was it all bravado?

  ‘Flo, do you love Syd?’ Lizzie asked curiously.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You ain’t getting married because of the baby, are you?’

  ‘Christ almighty!’ Flo almost stamped on the ground. Her cheeks went scarlet. ‘Syd was right about you. You act the Lady Muck. But really you’re just the same as any of us.’

  ‘Flo, don’t swear like that.’

  ‘Don’t tell me what to do. I wish I’d never asked you to come with me today.’

  Lizzie stared in bewilderment at her sister. Flo might have a temper but she never said cruel things. Lady Muck? Was that really what Syd had called her? Lizzie felt the sting of tears in her own eyes.

  Suddenly Flo clasped her stomach. ‘Ouch!’

  ‘What is it?’

  Flo gasped. ‘Don’t know. Must be that bloody bike ride. I’ve got the stitch.’

  ‘Let’s go inside. You’ll feel better if you sit down.’

  Lizzie led Flo inside the dark, stuffy shop filled with racks of clothes hanging in every available space. There was a long white gown on display at the far end and a pair of white shoes beneath
it.

  ‘That’s me dress,’ Flo groaned, still clutching her stomach. ‘I told Mrs Davies to make it on the large side as I’d put on weight.’

  Lizzie led Flo to the chair at the counter.

  ‘Is something wrong?’ asked a grey-haired lady emerging from another room. ‘Oh Miss Allen, it’s you. Have you come for your fitting?’

  ‘Can my sister sit down, Mrs Davies?’ Lizzie asked, holding tightly to Flo’s arm. ‘She’s not feeling well.’

  ‘Oh dear! Yes, of course. I’ll fetch a glass of water.’

  ‘Don’t say I’m expecting,’ Flo warned when they were alone. She leaned forward on the chair, her legs apart.

  ‘Flo, is it the baby, do you think?’

  There was no answer as Flo wriggled around.

  Lizzie waited anxiously as Mrs Davies returned with a glass of water. She put it to Flo’s lips.

  ‘It’s very hot today,’ said Mrs Davies. ‘You may have a touch of the vapours.’

  But Flo barely had taken a sip before she twisted and turned with her arms wrapped tightly around her belly.

  Lizzie had a feeling something was very wrong. Flo’s skin was grey. Her eyes were beginning to roll in their sockets.

  ‘I’m going for help,’ Lizzie decided as Flo seemed to go into a world of her own. ‘Stay with her, please.’

  Looking startled, Mrs Davies nodded. ‘I’ll do my best, dear. But I think you’d better hurry.’

  Outside in the street, Lizzie looked around. There wasn’t a policeman in sight. Was the baby in distress? Would Flo be all right? These thoughts filled her mind as she waved her arms at a passing vehicle, trying to make it stop. But the motor car chugged steadily on its way.

  What was she to do? Panic filled her. There was no sign of the law when she wanted it.

  She saw a horse and cart making its way in the other direction. She tried to run after it, but it was soon lost in the busy traffic.

  Lizzie stood on the hot pavement trying to catch her breath. She cried out to the people milling around her. ‘Please help me!’

  But it was as if they were deaf, staring at her suspiciously. Then, just as she was about to run back to the shop, a hand fell on her shoulder.

  ‘Are you all right?’ a voice asked.

  She turned quickly on her heel. But the sudden, small hope was dashed when she saw who it was.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  ‘What are you doing here?’ she demanded as she gazed at Frank.

  ‘I might ask you the same. Running up and down the pavement like you was on fire.’

  ‘Get out of my way, Frank.’

  ‘Well, that’s a nice greeting, I’m sure.’

  ‘Trust you to turn up like a bad penny.’ Lizzie knew she had to get back to Flo. But Frank was in her way.

  There was the sound of someone shouting. Lizzie saw Mrs Davies outside the shop, waving her arms. She left Frank and ran as fast as she could to the dressmaker. ‘What’s the matter? What’s happened?’

  ‘Miss Allen’s collapsed,’ Mrs Davies told her. ‘I couldn’t do anything – she just fell off the chair.’

  Lizzie hurried inside and went on her knees beside Flo. ‘Oh, Flo, Flo! What’s the matter?’ But Flo was out cold.

  ‘Has she fainted?’ Mrs Davies asked anxiously.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Lizzie shrieked. ‘Flo, wake up!’

  ‘Can I help?’ Frank was standing there.

  Lizzie looked up; she didn’t care who it was that she pleaded with. ‘Please go and fetch an ambulance.’

  ‘That’d take time. I’ve got me car parked just down the road. Give me a minute and I’ll bring it up and drive you to hospital.’

  Lizzie watched Frank, her disaster of a husband who would not normally lift a finger to help anyone but himself, run out of the shop. Could she trust him to help? But what else could she do?

  Flo suddenly moaned. ‘Oh Flo, please come back to us.’ Her eyelids flickered. Lizzie stroked her hot forehead. Her sister was trying to say something. Was she delirious?

  The next few minutes went very slowly as she cradled Flo in her arms. But Frank soon returned and, drawing Lizzie gently aside, he lifted Flo into his arms. He carried her outside to the dark blue car parked by the shop. Lizzie helped him to lay Flo on the back seat.

  ‘Take this for her head, dear.’ Mrs Davies gave Lizzie a cushion.

  ‘Thank you.’ Lizzie climbed in and sat on the edge of the seat. ‘Hurry, Frank, please.’

  As the car sped along, Lizzie saw a red stain seeping through Flo’s dress. Was Flo losing the baby? She heard Frank use the horn as the car swayed from side to side, going fast. Flo opened her eyes, but they rolled up in their sockets again. Lizzie kept talking, but she didn’t think Flo could hear her.

  Lizzie looked anxiously out of the window. Frank was driving them into one of the side entrances of the hospital.

  ‘Are we in the right place?’

  ‘Yes,’ Frank shouted as he jumped out of the car. ‘I’ll get someone.’

  Within a few seconds a blue-uniformed nurse and two porters arrived. Lizzie watched, heart in mouth, as they laid Flo on a stretcher. ‘My sister is expecting,’ she told the nurse as they took Flo through the entrance and into a room smelling strongly of disinfectant. ‘Her name is Flo Allen. We were just visiting the dressmaker’s when she felt unwell.’

  ‘Do you know why she was unwell?’ asked the nurse calmly.

  ‘It could be because we rode our bicycles. There’s blood on her dress.’

  ‘Yes, I can see that.’

  ‘Can I stay with her?’ Lizzie asked.

  ‘The doctor will examine her first. Take a seat in the waiting room. I’ll keep you informed.’ The nurse was about to walk away when she glanced at the figure behind Lizzie. ‘Frank, please put your car around the back. You know the rules. Only ambulances are allowed there.’

  As the nurse hurried after Flo, Lizzie turned back to Frank. Before she could speak he dashed away. The waiting room was crowded so Lizzie found a space in the passage. She walked up and down, wondering when she would be told what was wrong with Flo. And how did the nurse know Frank?

  ‘Sorry. This is a very busy time of day for the hospital,’ Frank said as he hurried back.

  ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘I work here as a porter.’

  ‘You’re a porter – here at the hospital?’ Lizzie asked incredulously.

  ‘Mostly on night shifts.’ He smiled hesitantly. ‘It was being in hospital meself that did it. I saw a lot of illness and it scared me into doing something that wasn’t crooked.’

  ‘But how did you get a job in this hospital?’ Lizzie blurted, her mouth falling open.

  ‘I was given a letter of reference from the asylum.’

  ‘Is that allowed?’

  ‘Dunno. But it started me off on the road to redemption.’ He laughed at himself, then added seriously, ‘It’s never too late to change, so they say.’

  ‘I find that hard to believe in your case. And what were you doing by the dressmaker’s shop?’

  ‘I’d just finished my shift.’

  ‘And happened to be walking along the road when me and Flo turned up?’ Lizzie was beginning to think that somehow he’d followed them.

  ‘My lodgings are in the next street.’

  ‘You mean you ain’t at the brothel?’

  ‘No. All that’s over with, gel,’ he assured her. ‘I’ve got decent rooms and a shared lav. It will tide me over till I can find something better.’

  ‘So it was just a coincidence you saw me?’

  He nodded. ‘Well, heard you first. You was too busy yelling and screaming to notice me.’

  If someone had told her that her lying, cheating, lazy, good-for-nothing husband had got a job and digs, she would have laughed in their face. She looked closely at the man who always wore gangster-style suits and coats. But the padded shoulders and fedora were now gone. So too were his trademark two-tone shoes. His blond hair was c
ut short and combed smartly into place. The navy-blue shirt and black trousers looked very much like the uniform the porters were wearing under their brown coats.

  Lizzie suddenly felt her head swim. At the same time her legs began to tremble. She knew the after-effects of shock.

  ‘You don’t look too good.’ Frank guided her to one of the chairs by an open window. ‘Take the weight off your feet. Then stick your head between your knees.’

  She did as he told her. She couldn’t allow herself to faint. Not when Flo needed her.

  ‘Take deep breaths,’ Frank said quietly, still steadying her, as she tried to fight off the dizzy spell.

  ‘I suppose now you’re going to tell me you’re a doctor in your spare time,’ she couldn’t help saying as she slowly sat up.

  Frank grinned, seeming to take no offence. ‘I ain’t so keen on the sight of blood meself.’

  She pulled her arm away. ‘You can let go of me now.’

  He sat beside her, staring down at the floor.

  ‘I suppose I should thank you,’ she managed to say as she felt more like herself.

  ‘You don’t need to.’

  ‘I hope Flo didn’t recognize you.’ Realizing what she’d said she added, ‘You know how she feels about you.’

  ‘Yes, I know,’ Frank agreed lamely. ‘But I’ve always had a soft spot for the girl. I couldn’t help overhearing what you said about a baby.’

  Lizzie flushed. ‘Please don’t repeat what you heard.’

  ‘I’ve forgotten it already.’

  When a nurse came along, Lizzie jumped up. But the young girl hurried past. Lizzie slumped down again.

  ‘Don’t worry,’ Frank said, ‘they’re a good bunch here. They’ll look after her.’

  ‘I hope so.’

  Frank clasped his hands together. With a lurch of her stomach Lizzie saw he was wearing his wedding ring. ‘I remember a time like this all them years ago,’ he said to the floor, ‘when Flo had scarlet fever. She was in a bad way. We took her on the cart to the isolation hospital.’

  Lizzie turned away. ‘Your good deed was only to impress me.’

  ‘I thought a lot of you both.’

  ‘You mean you thought a lot of number one.’ She stood up. ‘Please go, Frank.’

  He slowly got to his feet. ‘You sure you’ll be all right?’