Robert laughed at her partisanship. 'I'm not invincible,' he said. 'Amy is going to do another flight now. Look, the tow's being fixed to the Gull.'
Kate watched, marvelling for twenty minutes as the glider found air currents to take it even higher than when the tow was slipped. She breathed a satisfied sigh as her heroine finally came in to land, but it turned into a gasp of horror as the glider seemed to drop coming over the trees by Aldridge Lodge, and the tip of one wing caught the top of the fence.
'Oh no, it's flipped over!'
'She'll be all right,' Robert reassured her, sitting back in his seat. 'Look, there are people around already, helping her out.'
'Safer than if there's fuel to set alight,' Peter agreed.
Kate watched, still horrified and apprehensive, but she was reassured as she saw Amy released from the straps which held her upside down, and taken away in a car rather than the ambulance which had appeared.
'Has that put you off flying?' Peter asked later, when they had managed to get away from the congested roads round the aerodrome and the three of them were dining at the George Hotel.
Kate shook her head. 'Of course not. I expect everyone has accidents, including the best flyers. I actually spoke to her before the demonstration started!' she marvelled. 'I never believed that could happen. It was like a dream come true.'
*
Robert had been devastated for weeks after Kate rejected him, but he was determined to persevere. What could he do to change her mind? After her second refusal, an idea struck him. She'd never directly mentioned her family, but she'd looked wistful when he'd talked about his parents. If he could find her mother for her, might she be so grateful she'd agree to his proposal? Then he realised she was probably refusing him because of what had happened to her. His spirits lifted slightly. He could have sworn it had been difficult for her to say no. And she was unlikely to tell him herself what had happened, if she were ashamed of it. He still had to find the man involved. When he'd found Kate he'd forgotten about his plans to trace the man was who'd hurt her, or about looking for her mother. There'd seemed no need. But if he found the man, found out the truth, and then told Kate he didn't care what she'd done in the past, might that change her mind?
He had several days free the week after the exhibitions at Walsall, for his father had insisted he take some holiday now he himself was so much better, and Kate would be working. They couldn't go flying together. He'd spend the time in Coventry, stay at an hotel there so as to lose no time travelling back home. As Lionel had, he tried post offices, but they could not tell him much. Nor would the people who lived at the lodging house. Then, feeling it was a last hope, he went to ask at the police station late on the second afternoon.
'Martins? That name rings a bell.' The man at the desk poked his head into the room behind the desk. 'Hey, Stan, wasn't that old biddy who was creating a fuss in the market a while back called Martins?'
A large constable emerged, chewing a sandwich. 'Yes, why?'
'Young feller's asking if we know any.'
'Only this one.'
'Where does she live?' Robert asked eagerly. 'I've been to call on dozens of Martins, but none of them were the right one. This one has a daughter called Kate, and they used to live in Birmingham.'
'Daughter I saw was Maggie Pritchard. But they did come from Brum. What do you want with 'em, lad? Not a friend of Sam Pritchard, are yer?'
'I've never heard of him. No, a friend of mine went to school with Kate Martins, and they've lost touch. I thought they'd come here, and as I was staying here I said I'd ask around.'
To his relief they believed him, but he was puzzled by the references to Sam Pritchard. The tone of the man's voice had made it plain they did not like him. However, they gave him the address and directions. It was late in the evening, but he was too anxious to wait until the following day, when people would be at work in any case. He was soon knocking on the front door of a pleasant house in one of the suburbs. Rather better, he was thinking, that the lodgings where Kate had lived when he first met her.
A woman in her late thirties, hair bound up in a headscarf, but still pretty, opened it. 'Hello? What is it?'
'I'm looking for Kate Martins' family,' he said. 'Are you her mother?'
'Kate? Her mother?' There was a long pause. 'No, I'm her sister, Maggie Pritchard. Do you know Kate? Where is she?'
'In Walsall, working in a gloving factory. I'm Robert Manning, a friend of Daphne Carstairs. I met Kate again quite by chance a little while ago, but it's taken some time to track you down.'
Maggie was biting her fist, tears streaming down her face. 'Kate's all right? Oh, tell me where she is! I must go to her! Oh dear, this is such a shock! I thought I'd never know. But what am I thinking about? I'm sorry, me wits have gone begging. Do come in. This way.'
Another woman, slightly older, had appeared from the kitchen at the back of the house.
'Maggie, are you all right? Why are you crying? Who is this?'
'It's OK, Sheila. Mr – I'm sorry, I've forgotten, I'm that bemused. This is Sheila's house. I don't live here now. He knows where Kate is, Sheila! He's come to tell me!'
Sheila hugged Maggie. 'That's wonderful, Maggie! What you prayed for. Go into the parlour while I make a pot of tea.'
Maggie led the way into what was clearly a little-used parlour. 'Please sit down. Where is she? Do you know her address? Is she all right? How did you meet her?'
'She's well.' He wrote down Kate's address on a sheet torn from his diary and Maggie clutched the paper to her. 'I'll take you there if you want, on Saturday when she won't be working, but might it be best to write to her, explain how you lost touch?'
'Does she resent me for that? I never meant to, and I tried to find her. Why are you being so kind?'
'Because I liked her when we used to meet at Daphne Carstairs' house, but a little while ago I heard she – well, was in trouble, and I wanted to help.'
Maggie stared at him, frowning. 'In trouble?'
'That was what I heard. She'd been working for some people Mrs Carstairs knew, but I don't know who. Daphne told a mutual friend she was expecting a baby. I want to find the man responsible and make him help her.'
'I know.' Maggie's voice was no more than a whisper. 'I went there, but I just missed her. She'd been sacked, but they didn't say why. Oh, Kate, what happened to you? Does she have the baby?'
'Not with her. She's never mentioned it, and I've not told her I know about it. Do you know who the man was?' Robert held his breath. Was he at last going to find out the name of the man he both hated and was jealous of, the man who had enjoyed Kate's love?
'They dismissed her, and she vanished. Before that I used to write, but she never wrote back. That wasn't like Kate.'
'Who was the man, do you know?'
'He and his parents rejected her,' Maggie said bitterly.
'Of course. Now, let's sort out details. Tell me everything you know.'
*
Robert had decided to go to Lincolnshire that evening, and confront John Wilson first thing in the morning. He'd rung Mr Wilson the previous day, when he got back from Coventry, and asked for John's address, saying that he had news for him. He and Maggie had compared what they knew, and decided that she must have had the wrong address when she wrote to Kate, and she had moved so that Kate's letters had not followed her. She had been writing to Oscott, and there was also New Oscott. And she'd already discovered there were lots of houses called The Laurels, which was the only address she had.
He'd promised Maggie that if Kate wished, he'd bring her to Coventry on Saturday. Maggie had explained that she was actually living in Spons End, but Sheila insisted Kate be brought to her house. That would be easier than taking Maggie to Walsall. Meanwhile he had to deal with John Wilson.
He found him at nine the following morning, in a small office.
'Remember me?' he asked, walking in without knocking.
The other man looked startled, then smiled. 'Robert Manni
ng! How could I forget you! One of the best wing halves we ever had. Remember that game against Rugby? We thrashed them, mostly due to you.'
'Perhaps, but I didn't come here to talk about rugger matches. I want an explanation from you, about Kate Martins.'
John, who had leaned back in his chair, balancing on the back legs, sat forward and the front chair legs crashed to the floor. 'Who?' he asked.
Robert held back his temper. He had to remain cool until he found out the facts. 'I think you know who. Kate, who used to work for your parents in their shop. Who was seduced by you, and then abandoned when she became pregnant.'
John laughed. 'Oh, come, Robert! Surely you don't believe the tales a little shop girl tells you? Why on earth should I even notice someone like that, let alone make her pregnant?'
'Because she was pretty, lonely, had no friends and trusted you? Easy game. I remember at school you always preferred the soft option. If you could crib someone else's prep, you did, rather than do it yourself.'
John stood up and turned his back on Robert, looking out of the window across the flat fields. 'Robert, you're being offensive. Whatever you may do with the women your father employs, don't judge me by the same standards. I don't remember anyone called Kate, and I never had anything to do with the shop girls. They're all good time girls anyway, like bitches on heat. I'm surprised you should accuse me of even looking at them. As for marrying one of them, it's laughable. But if those are your standards, old man,' he said, turning and smiling at Robert, 'good luck to you!'
'I don't believe you. You made Kate pregnant, and then abandoned her. Do you intend to support your bastard?'
'If the silly drab claims her bastard's mine, she lies! No doubt she went with any man who could pay! But she picked on me because I'm the one with the money. You won't get any of it out of me.'
'So you're a coward as well as a liar!' Robert said contemptuously.
He'd kept his temper with great difficulty, hands clenched into fists, but he saw with rising anticipation that this taunt had found its mark. Even now, though, John Wilson was not prepared to make an honest move.
'Get out of here,' he said, and as Robert, with an ironic bow, turned to leave, swung a fist at him.
Robert was ready. He swerved sideways, and as John was caught off balance, smashed his own fist into a paunch which was becoming flabby.
John gasped and doubled up in pain, then flailed his fists at Robert again. 'Damn you!' he gasped. 'What's the bitch mean to you?'
Robert didn't deign to reply. He stepped away from John's unco-ordinated attack, and then drove in a punishing left hook to the chin, followed by a right which caught John as he was staggering backwards. He fell heavily, moaning, and lay there.
Robert stood over him. 'Do you want more of the same?' he asked quietly.
'OK, OK. Does she want money? How much? Not that I have a lot, this job doesn't pay well.'
Robert turned from him in disgust. 'A couple of hundred?' he suggested. 'I'll take a cheque, and since Kate isn't likely to have a bank account, you can make it payable to me.'
John groaned, complained, and threatened Robert with an accusation of blackmail, but he dragged out his cheque book and made it out.
'Here, and I hope the pair of you are satisfied! She wasn't worth it anyway. Meek little virgins never are. But you can tell her I wouldn't mind seeing her again if she's had a little more experience. She knows where I am.'
He cowered away from Robert's raised fist, but Robert stepped back.
'I think it's you that isn't worth fighting, Wilson. Just keep away from Kate in future, or you'll be thrashed worse than today. Much worse.'
*
Kate glanced at Robert when, instead of taking the normal route to the aerodrome on the following Saturday, he took the road to Birmingham.
'Have you moved the Tiger somewhere else?' she asked.
'No, I want to do something else today.'
She stiffened. Was he taking her to his flat, in another attempt to persuade her to marry him? 'No. Robert, stop!'
'In a minute, when we're on a quieter road. You don't know what it is, yet. Look, if you don't want to when I've explained, that's fine, but I think you will.'
Kate subsided. She looked round suspiciously when Robert drove onto the Beacon. What was he planning up here? It was isolated apart from a few people riding horses, and so high it felt like being in an aeroplane, she could see for such a long distance.
'Well, what is it?'
'Kate, did you ever try to find your mother and sister?'
Kate blinked. This was the last thing she'd expected. 'Yes,' she said, wishing her voice didn't tremble so. The sudden memory of them had shaken her. 'I went to Coventry. That was where they were going. I never had any replies to my letters, so I tried to find them, and discovered they'd moved. I couldn't find out where they'd gone.'
'They moved several times, from what Maggie told me.'
'Maggie? You've seen Maggie? Robert, how?'
Kate could hardly take it in. It was more than a year and a half since she had seen Hattie, or heard from Maggie, and she had given up all hope of finding them.
He explained, and Kate had to blink away her tears. 'If you want, I'll take you there now, to Coventry. Maggie's expecting you.'
Kate had no hesitation. 'Yes please! Oh, Robert, how can I thank you for doing this for me? Why did you?'
'Because I love you.'
'No, Robert, not now, please!'
He was silent, but Kate scarcely noticed, she was wondering how Maggie was, whether Hattie was more content, whether they were managing. The children would be so much bigger. Would she recognise them?
When Robert drew up in front of Sheila's house he spoke again. 'Maggie doesn't live here, it belongs to a friend, but she'll explain. I'll leave you with her, come back later to drive you back to Walsall.'
Kate hardly listened. The door of the house had opened, and Maggie stood on the step. She was out of the car and running up the path before Robert had time to come round to help her.
Maggie opened her arms and Kate, bursting into tears, fell into them, hugging her tightly. She heard the car driven away, but it barely registered.
'Maggie, oh Maggie, I thought I'd lost you for ever!'
'Never mind, love, we're together again now. It's all right, Kate. Come inside, meet my best friend Sheila, who's been so good to me.'
It was some time before Kate was calm enough to ask questions. It was enough to sit with Maggie's arms round her. After Sheila had brought tea and some cakes she'd baked that morning, Kate pulled herself together.
'Robert told me how the letters got mixed up,' she said. 'But if you gave them to Hattie to post she probably forgot. Where is she?'
'Living here, but she's gone out with George and the kids to the park. He and Sheila thought it was best if we met by ourselves to begin with.'
Kate nodded. 'I want to see the children. But if Hattie's living here with Sheila, where do you live?'
'Lodgings nearer the town centre,' Maggie said. 'All except poor little Sid.'
'Sid? What's happened to him? Maggie – ?'
Maggie, who had been wiping her eyes, took a deep breath. 'I don't know where he is, what's happened to him,' she said, choking back sobs. 'Look, I'd better explain from the beginning.'
She did so, and Kate was horrified, wanting to go at once to the police. 'That's criminal, keeping a child, and forcing you to live with those dreadful men!'
Maggie shook her head. 'I know, but you haven't met the devils who have Sid. Ronnie didn't tell us much, he had no idea where he'd been taken, but he said they'd threatened him and Sid if they didn't do what they was told, and he believed them. Sid was defiant, and one of the men knocked him down and then beat him with a strap. They'd kill him without a second thought.'
Kate's instinct was to beg Robert to do something, but from what Maggie said it might be more dangerous than leaving things alone, and hoping Sid was being treated reasonably. Besid
es, she was getting more and more into Robert's debt. The more favours she asked, the more he did for her, the less would be her determination to resist his proposals.
'Now, what about you?' Maggie asked. 'I went to find you, saw Mrs Wilson. She said you were pregnant. My poor Kate, how did you manage?'
Kate bit her lip, but she couldn't keep secrets from Maggie. She told her everything, and they wept together.
'But I'm fine now,' Kate said, wiping away more tears. 'I've learnt to fly an aeroplane, and I mean to find a job flying one. What about Sam? Is he still working, keeping his job?'
'He's working at the moment,' Maggie said, and explained how good Sheila and George had been to her. By the time she'd finished Hattie and the children were back, and Kate had to endure some tart comments from Hattie about ingratitude, it was all very fine for some to swan off and leave the people who'd looked after them all their lives in poverty, and she needn't expect to come back here and live.
'She gets worse,' Kate said after Hattie, with a final glare towards Maggie and Kate, swept upstairs. 'Sheila, you're a saint to put up with her, when she isn't any relation to you.'
'It's easier when she's no relation,' Sheila said comfortably. 'It doesn't hurt like it would from your own flesh and blood. Besides, there's no room for her at Maggie's place.'
They were still talking when Robert came back. George met him at the door and insisted that he came in for a drink.
'You brought about this reunion, you should join the celebrations. I've fetched some beer from the pub on the corner, have some before you set off home.'
With promises to write, to tell all the news there had not been time for, Kate and Maggie eventually said goodbye.
'I'll come again next week,' Kate called as Robert escorted her down the path.
She was silent on the way home. Maggie clearly had problems, and it was wicked how Sid had been taken from her. She'd get a job here. There were lots of factories, making aeroplanes, motor cars, weapons and hundreds of other things. She could work for George, perhaps. She had to help Maggie.
Can Dreams Come True? Page 29
