Lizzie Flowers and the Family Firm: The long-awaited third book in the gritty Lizzie Flowers East End saga series.

by Carol Rivers

  'May this soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.'

  I hope you are happy wherever you are, my dear Madge, Lizzie thought silently. You are always in my thoughts.

  Father Bergen continued as Lizzie threw in a handful of soil. Madge had been given the send-off that she had asked for, but would it be more proper for that missing son to be here? She looked around, at the many headstones and long grass and the winding path that led out of the cemetery. A single female figure lingered some way off. She wondered if someone had turned up who had not been to the church. But as the figure moved off, she returned her attention to Father Bergen.

  He closed his prayer book and smiled at Lizzie. 'I hope you approved of the service?' he asked.

  'Thank you. It was what Madge wanted.'

  'We shall say prayers this week for the repose of her soul.'

  'Can I drive you back to church?' Lizzie asked.

  'No, I have my bicycle. God bless, my dear.'

  Lizzie watched him walk away very serenely through the untidy graveyard. Once again, the wind caught the leaves of the tree over Madge's resting place as the gravedigger began his work.

  Slowly Lizzie turned, only to come to a sudden halt. The figure she had seen down the path appeared in front of her. A scarf was tied over the woman's head, coming down almost to her nose. The coat she wore was a shabby tweed and her flat shoes were dull with age. There was something familiar about her and Lizzie took in a sharp breath. Stepping slowly forward, she said cautiously, 'Elsie? Elsie? Is that you?'

  The figure nervously retreated a few steps. Lizzie called out again.

  'Elsie, please don't go!'

  The hunched shoulders began to jerk with sobs. As Elsie looked up, Lizzie saw her eyes were swollen with tears.

  'Lizzie, oh Lizzie, is Madge really dead and gorn?'

  Lizzie hurried forward to take the sobbing girl in her arms. As light as a feather, Elsie fell into them, shivering and shaking.

  'Elsie, what's happened to you?'

  But Elsie couldn't reply. Her loud sobs echoed throughout the churchyard. Lizzie took her gently by the shoulders and guided her towards a nearby bench.

  Chapter 50

  Gertie opened the door and gasped. 'Blimey, look who it ain't!' She stared at Danny, blinking. 'Is it you or an apparition?' Her startled eyes descended to Tom and Polly. 'Just look at you two! The terrible twins! There won't be no gloomy faces this time, eh Pol?'

  Polly flung her arms around her grandmother's neck. 'Grandma, I had a ride in Uncle Danny's posh car. Auntie Lizzie's gone to the cemetery.'

  'Then you'd better all come in.' Gertie smothered the two little faces in kisses. 'Go along with you both. The grub's in the kitchen.'

  Danny stepped into the dark passage. 'Hello, Gertie.'

  Gertie's eyes filled with tears. 'Hello, stranger.'

  'Long time no see.'

  'Last bleeding October it was,' retorted Gertie. 'Why didn't you visit at Christmas?'

  Danny held her close. 'Sorry,' he whispered.

  'I was beginning to think the next time you showed up it would be to bury me or your dad.'

  'Don't say that, Gertie.'

  She smiled in a forgiving manner, her wrinkled face under her thin, grey hair reminding Danny of the hard life she had led bringing up two young boys that were not her own. It felt good to be close to her once more.

  'Your brother is here,' she warned. 'Don't start any fights.'

  'I didn't come for a fight,' Danny assured her. 'At least, not with my brother.'

  'That's good, then.'

  She led him into the front room where his father and Doug Sharpe were sitting in the comfortable armchairs beside the hearth.

  'Hello, Dad. Doug.'

  'Well, bless my soul, if ain't Danny,' Doug cried. 'Good to see you, my lad.'

  Bill stared in a bewildered fashion at his son. 'Danny! What are you doing here?'

  'I asked him the same meself,' chuckled Gertie. 'So, don't tear him off a strip.'

  Danny embraced his father. 'How are you, Dad?'

  'Better for seeing you, boy. Were you in church?'

  'No. But I saw Lizzie.'

  Bill's lips parted in a smile. 'Is everything all right with you two?'

  Danny didn't answer but drew up a chair. 'Sorry it's been so long.'

  Doug touched Danny's shoulder. 'Like a beer?'

  'You bet, Doug.'

  'Well now,' said Bill when they were alone. 'You'd better spill the beans.'

  'There's something on my mind, Dad. I need to speak to Lizzie.'

  'Is it this other woman?' Bill stared at him with watery eyes. 'I never thought I'd see the day when you two split up. Thought you would work it out somehow.'

  'Dad, I've been a fool.'

  'I've dropped a few clangers in me time as well,' grinned Bill. 'But it's never too late to put them right.'

  Danny nodded. 'It's about the pub that I've come.'

  'The Mill Wall? Your brother ain't doing a bad job. He's doing the best he can for Lizzie.'

  'I know.'

  'I hope it ain't sour grapes,' said Bill looking anxious. 'You was never up for the likes of running the Mill Wall in the first place. You figured you'd do better with that posh place in Euston.'

  'No Dad, it's not sour grapes.'

  'Must say, your showrooms was an eye-opener. We spent half a day gassing with that that fella of yours, what was his name – Hugo? Didn't understand a word he spoke, mind, but he cut quite a dash. Me and Gertie reckoned you were on to a winner even though you'd turned your back on the East End.'

  Danny heaved a sigh. 'After Leonard Savage, I'd had enough.'

  'He was a bastard, no doubt about that.'

  'I figured I'd get a square deal up West with the gentry. Better class of vehicle and customer, clean money.' Danny laughed emptily. 'But I've found it's a better class of crook, too.'

  Bill's jaw dropped as he listened to his son's tale of woe.

  'We've been having agitators outside the showroom. Hugo got threatened and then I did, too. And it's not just a threat against me. It's the pub as well.'

  'Is Lizzie in danger?'

  Danny knew Lizzie was like a daughter to his father. Bill had protected her the best he could from the early days when Mik Ferreter, the bookie, had tried to steal the shop. Leonard Savage, both thug and murderer, had followed and had so very nearly succeeded, where Ferreter had failed.

  'A few weeks back,' Danny explained, 'I was pushed inside a car and driven somewhere. They put a hood over me head so I couldn't see. When we arrived, the welcome party put the boot in. They want the Mill Wall and my showrooms.'

  'Does Lizzie know?'

  'That's what I need to tell her.'

  'Did they rough you up bad?'

  'Nothing I couldn't handle. But I'm worried about Lizzie.'

  'She's got Frank and a few of Murphy's boys.'

  'But is that enough?'

  Bill looked up as Doug returned with the beers. 'Do you know who took you?' Bill asked gruffly.

  'His name is Salvo Vella.'

  At this, Doug sat down with a thump. His face turned white. Beside him stood Frank.

  'You're joking,' Frank gasped, having overheard what had been said.

  Danny shrugged. 'I wish I was.'

  'I was going to say it's good to see you again, brother,' Frank muttered. 'But after hearing that I've changed me mind.'

  Danny forced a smile. 'At least this time we're on the same side.' A remark that everyone present agreed with.

  Chapter 51

  Lizzie listened as Elsie poured out her sad story. 'I met Madge years ago when we both lived in Stepney. She was a cook in a cafe and I was her skivvy. She was like the muvver I never had. I'm an orphanage kid, see.'

  Lizzie gave Elsie a hanky and she wiped her tears. 'I thought you first met Madge at the bakery.'

  'When Madge got the job with you, she told me you was a nice lady. But by then I wa
s shacked up with Ted, Madge's son. He was a real charmer at first. Madge said I'd regret the day I ever set eyes on him. And she was right. He pinched all me money and bashed me about. So me and Madge ran away from Stepney. While Madge fell on her feet and started at the bakery, I kipped at the Sally Army. We thought he couldn't find us. But he did. He said if I didn't go and live with him at that pigsty in Lavender Court, he'd do us in.'

  'Oh Elsie, you should have told me.'

  'Daren't.'

  'Is that why you said he was sick?'

  Elsie nodded. 'It was the only thing I could think of.'

  'Did Jenny know about this?'

  'No, 'cos she would have told you. Ted threatened to rough her up, too, if we didn't take money from your till. But Gawd's honour we didn't.'

  'Elsie, you and Madge must have been very scared.'

  Elsie nodded and slowly pulled off her scarf. A red line showed round around her neck and there were bruises on her throat. 'This is what he done to me last night. I thought it was me end.'

  Lizzie stared at the dreadful marks of strangulation. 'Oh, Elsie, he almost killed you.'

  Elsie nodded. 'I can't go back there. Ted will come after me.' Her tears plopped onto her shabby coat. 'It was Ted who started the fire because we wouldn't pinch any money.'

  'What?' Lizzie gasped.

  'Ted came in the bakery and hit Jenny. He must have knocked her out. Madge went to help but he done her over, too. I was too scared to stay and scarpered. But, oh, Lizzie, if I had tried to stop him, Madge might still be alive.'

  Lizzie drew a sobbing Elsie into her arms. She understood the guilt that Elsie was feeling, for she had felt it, too.

  But the fire was down to one man only. Not Salvo Vella as she had thought. But a perfect stranger called Ted Booth whom no one had suspected.

  'You'd better come with me, Elsie.'

  'Where to?' Elsie croaked.

  Lizzie took Elsie's arm as she climbed unsteadily into the car. 'My in-laws live in Poplar. You'll be quite safe there.'

  The front door to Gertie and Bill's house stood open. Elsie peered out from under her scarf. She looked up and down the street, refusing to move. 'I don't want to cause no trouble, especially as it's the day of Madge's funeral.'

  'Elsie, you've nowhere else to go,' Lizzie protested. 'We can't stand out here in the road all day.'

  Just then a small figure wearing a black beret tottered out from the house. 'Lizzie, gel, we've been waiting for you.' Gertie stared at Elsie. 'Who's this?'

  'Elsie worked at the bakery with Madge.'

  'Oh Gawd,' cried Gertie, taken aback. 'You was the one who don't like the cops!'

  At this, Elsie burst into tears.

  'Now, now,' said Gertie sternly, 'don't upset yerself. We ain't fond of the rozzers round here, so you're in good company.'

  The two children came running after their grandmother. 'Auntie Lizzie,' cried Polly excitedly, 'Tom and me have been playing hide and seek and - ' She stopped in alarm when she saw Elsie's tear-stained cheeks and frightened face.

  'Come along all of you,' said Gertie, taking Elsie's wrist and pulling her along. 'We'll sit in the kitchen and finish up them currant buns, kids.' As she herded them together, Gertie looked over her shoulder at Lizzie. 'The others are waiting for you in the front room. We'll join you later.'

  Relieved that Gertie had taken charge of Elsie and the children, Lizzie walked into the front room. Danny was standing at the big, unlit fireplace. One arm rested on the shelf above and his blue eyes met hers with an unspoken welcome. Doug and Bill reclined in the big easy chairs whilst Frank and Syd sat opposite one another on the dining chairs. Flo, Lil and Ethel all looked up from the settee.

  'You'll be surprised to see we ain't killed each other yet,' cackled Lil, the first to break the tense silence.

  Flo chuckled. 'Those two over there came close.' She nodded to Syd and Frank who deliberately avoided each other's gaze.

  'We waited till you arrived, love,' greeted Bill in his wheezy voice. 'Danny here has something to tell you.'

  Lizzie smiled. 'And I've something to tell you, too.'

  'Then we'd best get on with it,' said Doug officially. 'The last time we had a pow-wow like this was almost three years ago.' He looked at Frank. 'When you walked back into our lives on Lizzie and Danny's wedding day and buggered everything up.'

  Frank shifted uncomfortably on his chair. 'You don't have to rub it in, Doug.'

  'I'm just giving a sense of proportion.'

  'As Danny said, we're all on the same side this time,' Frank agreed, glancing at his brother.

  'We all have an interest in the future,' Syd chipped in.

  'Yes,' agreed Lil, 'are you still up for the factory, Lizzie?'

  Lizzie walked to the dining table and sat beside Syd. 'More than ever, Lil. But first, I'd like to thank everyone for turning up today. Madge would have appreciated the effort.'

  'Poor mare,' said Flo and Lil nodded.

  'That bloody foreigner needs stringing up for what he done to her,' Lil muttered as she sipped her sherry.

  'The fire wasn't started by Salvo Vella,' Lizzie announced. All heads swivelled towards her. 'Elsie was at the churchyard today. She's in the kitchen with Gertie.'

  Bert sat forward. 'Did she come clean?'

  Lizzie nodded. 'It was Madge's son, Ted, who started the blaze. Ted is the man she's been living with. She lied about him being sick so people wouldn't find out he beat her and Madge on a regular basis.'

  Bert jumped to his feet. 'She could have told us!'

  'He swore to kill her if she did.'

  'I'll soon sort him out!' Bert strode to the door.

  'Bert, come back and sit down.' Lizzie shook her head firmly. 'Time for that later. We have a bigger problem to deal with.'

  'Salvo Vella,' Danny interrupted as Bert returned to his seat. 'A thug who may not be responsible for the bakery fire but he does have other plans to take over the Mill Wall – and my showrooms.'

  'How do you know all this?' Frank asked suspiciously.

  'I know because I was at the wrong end of his boot when he gave me the warning.'

  'But how did he know where to find you?' Lizzie asked in alarm.

  'You and me have a reputation, Lizzie. Leonard Savage ain't forgotten by a long shot. You were right,' he admitted, facing her. 'You can't leave your past behind, not with what we've done.'

  Lizzie gazed around her at the expectant, if solemn, faces of the only people she trusted. Murphy's words went through her mind. Family and friends, gathered together as they always had through the trials and tribulations of the passing years. But she had never expected Danny to be present. Nor Syd and Frank to sit at the same table together.

  'United we stand, united we fall,' muttered Syd, glancing across at Frank. 'But you better be on your bloody toes this time, cocker.'

  Frank ignored this and looked at Lizzie. 'Vella will only take the Mill Wall over my dead body.'

  At which Lil roared with laughter and spluttered, 'And do us all a favour!'

  But Lizzie spoke in Frank's defence. 'Lil, if we are all in this together, then Frank don't need knocking. He deserves credit for sticking it out at the pub.'

  Just then the door flew open and Polly and Tom burst in. 'I lit a candle at church,' Polly said to Frank, 'and made a wish that you was me dad.'

  Frank looked surprised. 'Well now, Pol, if that's your wish, I reckon it's granted.'

  'But I still want to live with Auntie Lizzie.'

  'Sound thinking, gel' Frank replied looking at Lizzie. 'There ain't no place like home.'

  'Dad, if Uncle Frank is Polly's dad when he was her uncle,' interrupted Tom, 'what do I call you, if I'm adopted?'

  Danny slipped his arm around his shoulders. 'You call me what you've always called me, Tom. You're my son, and I'm your dad.' Danny looked at Frank and gave a brisk nod. 'And this is your Uncle Frank. We ain't seen much of him lately, but all that's about to change.'

  Flo took out her hanky an
d blew her nose. Ethel smoothed a tear from her eye.

  'Now we've got all that sorted, then,' said Bill unsentimentally, 'can we all get on with business?'

  'I second that,' said Gertie as she walked into the room. 'Get your thinking caps on the lot of you. Like Bill says, you have to decide what's to be done about this foreign bugger.'

  At which everyone hurriedly nodded.

  Chapter 52

  Danny cleared his throat; he hadn't expected to be standing here, pouring out his heart. But he found himself explaining what had happened at the showrooms and, looking at Lizzie, told of his meeting with Murphy. 'We've made a plan. It's not foolproof. But it's worth considering.'

  'Are you sure Murphy is on the level?' said Lil and lit yet another cigarette. 'I mean, he's no saint himself.'

  'That's true Lil,' Danny agreed. 'But neither is he a devil.'

  'What made you go to Murphy?' asked Lizzie.

  'It was when I was face down in the dirt at Vella's feet,' he growled. 'I saw myself back at Chancel Lane and my best mate Cal was drowning in a stinking well not fifty feet away. Frank and Bert were expecting a bullet to their brains and you were hooded, Lizzie, just like Vella did to me. So, I asked myself one question. How many more times are you going to end up a mug making the same mistake again, Danny Flowers? I decided then, if I got out of Vella's alive, I would do whatever it takes to make him pay.'

  Once more there was a stunned silence until Doug spoke.

  'There's an alternative to violence, son. You could turn him into the law. There's a chance he's on their books.'

  'But how could he be, Doug?' Danny asked. 'No one knows what he looks like, or where he operates from.'

  'What's your plan then, Danny?' Syd asked eagerly.

  'It's the Mill Wall he wants, Syd. And we are going to give it to him.'

  Once more there was not a whisper.

  'We give him exactly what he wants,' Danny repeated. 'And this is where Frank comes in.' He turned to his brother. 'From now on you let Vella's women trade on the condition you get a backhander.'