The Mersey Girls

by Sheila Riley

  A little further on, he stopped to let her out of the truck. The post office was not like any Evie had seen before. This one looked like a stone cottage, with its mullioned sash windows and pretty flower garden, and to her right as she walked up the path, she noticed an area cordoned off with wire to allow various coloured chickens to roam free.

  She was going to enjoy finding out for sure who was blackmailing Mr Skinner. There had been another demanding letter this week.

  ‘I have come about the Skinner and Son account,’ Evie said to the post mistress behind the iron mesh.

  ‘No Susie today then?’ the postmistress asked. Evie supposed in a place as small as this, not much went on without the knowledge of the postmistress.

  ‘Not today.’ Evie said determined to talk only on a ‘need-to-know’ basis, like they did during the war, and feeling like a character in a Dick Barton play, which Danny had told her he liked to listen to on the wireless, a zing of excitement shot through her ribs and made Evie’s heart thump faster.

  ‘So I take it you are depositing the money this month.’ The postmistress said conversationally.

  ‘There is no payment going into the account this month.’ Evie told her. Opening a cash box the post mistress took out the official savings book, and wrote something under the date.

  ‘I could take the book back with me if you like?’ Evie said and the postmistress looked up, her eyebrows raised.

  ‘Why on earth would you do that?’ she said. ‘The book stays here until it is collected at one o’ clock.’

  ‘Of course,’ Evie gave an apologetic laugh, she would love to ask the name of the person who would be picking up the book – and usually the money. But if the post mistress didn’t trust her with the savings book, Evie doubted she would give any names. ‘I’ve a head like a sieve when I’m ready for my dinner.’ Evie hoped her light-hearted laugh sounded genuine as she left the post office, astonished that in a beautiful chocolate box village like this, skulduggery was being carried out on a monthly basis. And whoever was demanding outrageous amounts of money was crippling the business.

  ‘Are you in a hurry to get back?’ Evie asked as they waited for their home-made cheese and warm crusty bread in the garden of the country pub, surrounded by ancient, lopsided headstones and verdant countryside

  Danny leaned back on the bench, putting his hands behind his head. Closing his eyes, he offered his face to the brilliant sunshine.

  ‘What do you think?’ he asked. ‘Uncle Henry gives me as much time as I need when I come out this way.’ For the time being he decided against telling Evie he was taking over the business. He still hadn’t got used to the idea himself.

  Evie would not voice her suspicion that Susie had been stealing Mr Skinner’s money. But she couldn’t stay silent either. ‘I don’t really know how to say this…’ Evie took a deep breath, and Danny sat and waited for her to find a way. ‘I think… Well, I know…’

  ‘What do you know?’ he asked quietly, not wanting to rush her. ‘If something is troubling you, Evie, I would be only too glad to help if I can.’

  ‘I know you will,’ Evie answered, giving him a reassuring nod, and trying to find the best way to voice her concerns. ‘It’s like this… You know Susie usually comes here every month?’

  ‘Yes,’ Danny said patiently, taking the first bite of delicious home-made bread and cheese, while Evie’s remained untouched.

  ‘And you know she goes to the post office every trip?’

  Danny nodded and there was a moment’s silence between them. Evie decided if she didn’t speak now, she never would.

  ‘I think Susie’s got something to do with Mr Skinner being blackmailed!’ Evie’s words tripped over themselves in their haste to be out in the open, unable to keep the information secret any longer. ‘And, what with you running the yard while Mr Skinner is recovering, and knowing Susie as well as you do, you must think I’m a right cow for suspecting her, but…’

  Danny put his finger on her lips, and she stopped talking.

  ‘Slow down, there’s no rush.’ Danny said in that soothing manner that immediately relaxed her and Evie took a deep breath.

  ‘Susie usually deposits a large amount of money into the post office account.’ She swallowed hard, knowing she had his full attention, and it gave Evie the courage to go on. ‘Then the blackmailer collects the book and the money at one o’ clock...’

  ‘Why one o’clock?’ Danny asked. Mulling over the new information.

  ‘That’s when the post office closes for the day,’ Evie answered allowing herself to enjoy this feeling of solidarity. They both wanted what was best for Meggie and Henry who were like two halves of the same person and absolutely devoted to each other. But this business was taking its toll on Mr Skinner’s health and Evie was going to get to the bottom of it once and for all.

  ‘How could Meggie carry on if anything happened to Henry?’

  ‘That’s what I thought,’ Evie answered watching Danny look out across the miles of crops and green fields. How handsome he was, she thought, taking the opportunity to gaze. He would make someone a wonderful husband.

  ‘We will have to stay until one o’ clock then,’ Danny said suddenly, and she jumped a little. ‘Do you think you could hang around that long?’

  ‘It’s only another hour or so, I think I’ll manage,’ Evie was delighted to spend longer with Danny and her heart pitter-pattered at a rate of knots.

  ‘I couldn’t believe what Meggie and Mr Skinner have been going through, all this time,’ Evie said, relieved her suspicions were out in the open.

  ‘Do you know why he’s being blackmailed?’ Danny’s voice was low and grave, and Evie shook her head. She was not going to repeat malicious gossip. So, what if Meggie did have a child out of wedlock. It was nobody’s business but hers and Mr Skinner. ‘I’m not being evasive,’ Evie didn’t want to speak out of turn, ‘but I don’t like to surmise.’

  ‘No, of course not,’ Danny answered. She was a good sort was Evie. One of the best. And if he ever put his trust in anybody, it would be her. ‘Penny for them?’ Danny asked, after a few moments of silence, his smile as dazzling at the day.

  ‘They’re worth much more than that, you old skinflint.’ Evie let out an easy laugh even though her heart was beating nineteen to the dozen.

  ‘Less of the old, if you don’t mind.’ Danny laughed. ‘I’ll have you know I am in my prime.’ He flexed his bulging biceps and Evie laughed, realising what had changed. She wasn’t scared of life any more, nor did she automatically wonder what new hell the day would bring.

  ‘If it didn’t swell your head, Danny Harris, I would agree with you.’ Then suddenly she stopped laughing. Did she just say that out loud?

  ‘Well, if we’re exchanging compliments, Evie Kilgaren, you scrub up very nicely too, if I may say so.’

  His words made her feel good about herself, made her feel worthwhile, like she meant something. Not a pumped-up-important-kind-of-something, but worth more than she had ever given herself credit for. It was the same feeling she got when Mister Skinner told her she was in charge of the office.

  But Danny’s compliment was so much bigger. She had never known a man to give praise without wanting something in return. Danny was nothing like that. And for that she would be eternally grateful. Something akin to the weight of a giant concrete boulder lifted from her shoulders, and in that moment Evie realised that not all men were made from the same mould as her father.

  ‘Why doesn’t Henry give you the package to deliver?’ Evie asked the mundane question to break the silence between them and not out of some Marple-like curiosity. Danny shrugged.

  ‘I suppose he didn’t want me to know,’ Danny answered as they ate their tasty lunch. ‘He didn’t want anybody else involved I suppose.’

  ‘We should know who is doing it by the end of the day,’ Evie said, looking out to a cloudless baby-blue sky bursting with golden sunshine. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to get out of a smoky office
and into the wide blue yonder with Danny Harris? The thought brought a rush of heat to her face. There was something liberating about having this much space for just the two of them that gave her the courage to rib Danny and, just for today, she felt complete.

  In that moment, when she saw the dazzling sunshine bounce off a piece of glass, she thought the sparkle was as precious as a diamond and felt something she had never truly experienced before. If she could put into words this glorious epiphany of happiness, she would describe it as the diamond sparkle of broken glass.

  ‘Stop here a minute,’ Evie said, and Danny’s dark brows furrowed to see Evie get up from the rustic bench attached to the wooden table, throw her arms open wide, and run through the wheat fields.

  Danny laughed like he had never laughed before. Evie was like a child let out of school at playtime, and he loved the joy in her. He sighed, seeing this ancient place through new eyes. Her elation gave him hope that seeped deep inside his heart. Unable to tear his gaze from her, Danny knew this was the most carefree Evie had ever been, and his heart swelled with love for her as she made her way back.

  ‘Did you think I’d gone scatty?’ Evie asked, breathless as she sat down opposite him and Danny gazed at her, shaking his head, smiling, longing to take her in his arms…

  ‘What?’ Evie laughed unable to suppress this wonderful feeling of joy that was all thanks to Danny.

  23

  ‘Let’s go and see if anybody’s turned up’ Danny said, never wanting this time to end.

  ‘Hasn’t the day been glorious?’ Evie replied mirroring his own thoughts.

  ‘More so because you’re here,’ Danny said as they headed to the post office. He realised that, from his early years, on the rare occasion the thought of a wife should ever enter his head, she always came in the shape of Evie Kilgaren. The most perfect, self-educated, resilient girl he had ever known.

  ‘I hope we haven’t missed the blackmailer,’ Evie said, covering her elation with the practical matter in hand, although, thrilled Danny found her company as enjoyable as she found his. The time had flown by, with no let-up in their conversation and they had not noticed the time. Hopefully, they had not missed whoever was stealing Skinner’s money.

  As they approached the post office Evie put her hand on Danny’s arm when she noticed someone they both knew well, and Evie had to hold Danny back.

  ‘What is he doing here?’ Danny had fire in his eyes when he saw his father step inside the vestibule of the quaint stone cottage that doubled as the village post office, and as they got nearer, Evie could clearly hear Bert Harris’s voice. And he did not sound pleased as they entered the vestibule and could hear voices inside the post office.

  ‘What do you mean, no money? The girl brings it every month. Look again.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Mr Harris, the usual girl did not turn up and there has been no money deposited in that account today.’

  ‘You’re lying, there should be plenty.’

  Careful not to move a muscle for fear the rickety floorboards would creak, Evie and Danny listened.

  ‘Check it again. It will be there. If not, there will be trouble.’ Bert’s overconfident retort could be heard clearly, and when Evie saw a look in Danny’s stormy eyes that she had not seen before she held her breath.

  ‘Can you tell me who sent the money order?’ the postmistress sounded unconvinced. ‘There has been a considerable amount of money going through this account.’

  ‘Mr Henry Skinner…’ Bert responded, obviously confident his answer would get him what he came for, ‘and I have my National Identity Card as proof of who I am.’

  ‘I see you have, Mr… Harris.’ There was a pause and Evie presumed the postmistress was checking his identification card.

  ‘My father is blackmailing Henry Skinner,’ Danny said, his fists clenched, ‘But why? What’s my father got on him?’

  ‘Susie dropped off the money when you brought her here each month.’ Evie said, ‘but she didn’t give me the impression she knew what the money was for. She told me she just enjoyed the pub lunch.’ Evie had no intention of telling Danny that Susie saw him as a get-out-of-Reckoner’s-Row-free ticket. ‘The strain almost killed your poor uncle.’ And to think Bert Harris had the gall to demand more and more money. There was greed and there was downright wicked.

  ‘Don’t say anything for the time being,’ Danny said, and Evie agreed. The ball was suddenly in his court and he would play the situation whichever way he saw fit.

  ‘But what about Henry?’ Evie asked, ‘what will he say when he finds out who has been doing this to him.’

  ‘I’ll sort it all out,’ Danny said in that reassuring way he had about him, ‘and there will be a lot to sort.’

  ‘It’s not your fault,’ Evie said, ‘none of us can be blamed for the sins of our father.’

  Danny could not look at Evie. He felt too ashamed, ‘You go on ahead. I’ll see you back at the truck.’

  Evie left without another word, knowing Danny needed to do this by himself.

  ‘You make me sick to my stomach.’ Danny’s mouth turned down at the corners when Bert came out of the post office, momentarily taken by surprise. ‘Leeching the lifeblood out of Uncle Henry’s business for years…’ Danny, blazing angry, could hold his tongue no longer. ‘I could kill you for this!’

  ‘I don’t know what you’re going on about.’ Bert Harris obviously thought he could wheedle his way out of the situation with his flippant remark, the way he had for years.

  ‘What has Henry done, that is so bad you almost killed him and sent his business to the brink of ruination. Tell me.’ Danny edged closer, his fists clenched, longing to put this seedy cretin of a man flat on his back, unable to believe he had been sired by someone so low.

  ‘You mind yer own, Danny,’ Bert answered, ‘you don’t want to know.’

  ‘That’s where you are wrong – I do want to know. I want to know all of it.’

  ‘Then you’d better ask your mother,’ Bert said, ‘she’s the one with all the answers.’

  ‘I have never despised anybody the way I despise you right now.’ Danny’s words were pushed out through clenched teeth and he edged closer. ‘Was it because you wanted a comfortable lifestyle without working for it?’

  He watched his father raise his chin while backing off. It would only take the one punch to put Bert on his backside, but Danny worried he might not be able to stop at one, because that comfortable lifestyle his father enjoyed had been provided by cowardly threats and the sweat of his mother’s brow.

  ‘You are a disgrace. A jumped-up little nobody.’ With every word, Danny’s rage grew and he edged forward, scared of what he would do to this poor excuse of a man yet unable to stop himself.

  ‘You’ve never done a hands-turn to help Ma. When she finds out what you’ve done, I hope she turns you out onto the street to be judged by your sorry deeds, you despicable runt of a man.’

  ‘Now you listen ’ere,’ Bert said, still backing away, ‘you’ve got no idea what I’ve had to put up with. Ada is a very demanding woman.’

  Danny, who prided himself on being level-headed, could take no more, and even though it went against everything he believed in, he gave into a base instinct and thumped Bert so hard he went flying across the road.

  ‘Danny, no!’ Evie’s voice cut through the fog of anger and reached that place where reason and good sense dwelt. Turning, Danny heard Evie’s voice and stopped in his tracks. Beating the man to a pulp would certainly make Danny feel better, having watched him take advantage of his ma’s good nature for years, but the satisfaction would not last. Every time he set eyes on him Danny would lock horns. Life would become even more unbearable for his ma, who had encouraged him to join the army at the earliest possible chance to get away from his poison.

  ‘I am sorry you had to be involved in any of that,’ Danny said to Evie as they went back in to the post office. He had asked the post mistress if she would be good enough not to discuss Bert’s o
utburst with anybody.

  ‘He has been under a lot of strain lately.’ He told her.

  ‘He ought to see a doctor,’ said the post mistress and Danny nodded his head in agreement.

  ‘I can assure you he will be getting treatment very soon.’

  ‘Danny, are you OK?’ Evie whispered, and he gave her a reassuring smile.

  ‘Let me do that for you,’ Danny told the post-mistress who had come out to collect the boxes of fresh fruit and vegetables that were on display outside the shop, ‘as a way of saying sorry.’ While Evie unconsciously took in the antics of a large brown cockerel strutting around his harem of chickens. They were all clucking and pecking the ground at the bottom of a sloping plank of wood leading to the chicken coop. At the bottom of the wooden slope was a sign that read, ‘Chicks for sale,’ and a big fat hen made her way to the coop and urged a line of fluffy yellow chicks into the wire mesh pen.

  Heading towards the truck a short while later, Danny was carrying a hessian sack, which he handed to her before he jumped into the truck. Evie felt the heat rush to her cheeks that had nothing to do with the warm weather. Flustered, she made an exaggerated show of settling the sack on her knee.

  ‘Gosh it’s hot in here, shall I open this window?’ She felt the space in the cab was much smaller than it had been on the journey out here. She had never seen Danny so angry, as he had just been, before and she could see he was trying to control his feelings by the way his knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel.

  Then, taking in a huge deep breath, Danny let out a long stream of air that seemed to calm him, and Evie surmised that his army training had taught him the discipline he needed right now. Especially when they saw Bert walking along the dusty lane holding a blood-stained handkerchief to his face, and Danny drove straight past the man to whom he had nothing in common.