Reggie Probert was waiting where they had arranged to meet, sitting on the park wall not far from the shops. He had seen Maude and the others walk past on their way back from the café and had smiled, contented to wait until she could get away. It was a very warm night and there were several couples strolling around, enjoying the balmy summer night, unwilling to go inside where the air was stuffy.
She was later than they had arranged, but he understood, having seen them walking back so recently. She was running when he saw her and he went to meet her, urging her to take her time. ‘You know I’ll wait for you,’ he assured her.
‘I can’t stay,‘ she panted. ‘Auntie Marged has forbidden me to meet you and I’ve slipped out to tell you.‘
‘Forbidden you?’ He frowned. ‘How can she do that? Eighteen you are, Maude, not eight!’
‘She knows about the police questioning you and, well, she’s over-protective I suppose. It’s difficult for me, Reggie. Myrtle and I owe them so much and to be honest, I don’t know where we’d go or how we’d manage if we had to leave the Castles. They’re our family now and we depend on them so much we can’t risk upsetting them.’
‘How long will this go on? How long will you be dependent on them and have to do as they say?’
‘Myrtle’s not yet sixteen, even though she pretends to be. I couldn’t face being on our own again, even though I’m well enough to work and keep us fed. Not like last time. But it would still be miserable not having a family.’
‘They won’t throw you out. And besides, you’re old enough to think about a family of your own,’ he said softly and as she glanced at him, she knew he was thinking of the two of them as a married couple with children and a home built around them.
There was a need for honesty and she said, ‘I’m real sorry, but in the heat of the argument I let it slip that your brother was the suspect.’
He pulled away from her and stared at her. She could not read his expression, his eyes were dark pools in the fading light. She knew they would have shown hurt and disappointment, but his reaction was greater than expected.
‘The military police came today. Did you know he’s supposed to be in the army? Hiding he is, using different names and moving around so they can’t catch him. Blamed me they did, convinced I know where he is, but I don’t. He’s been living away from home since he was about twelve and we’ve rarely seen him.’
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t help telling Auntie Marged, but she wasn’t the reason they called on you. He’s been cheating people out of their belongings, and stealing that horse and cart then burning the cart, well, it isn’t a very secretive way to go on, is it?’
‘You promised not to tell anyone.’
‘Auntie Marged and Auntie Audrey are different. Myrtle and I don’t keep secrets from them, or the uncles.’
‘Even when I ask you to?’
‘Sorry, but you can’t blame me for the military being after your brother. He’s got the fault, not me!’ Her voice became shrill as the stupidity of the argument increased. ‘Your brother Andy is a crook so why are you trying to blame me?’
‘At least I know where your loyalties are,’ he retoned angrily. ‘The Castles, with their dogmatic rules and unreasonable demands, are more important to you than I am.’ Without another word he turned and hurried off, through the park and out of the furthest gate. He didn’t look back.
‘Of course they are, stupid! We’ve only known each other a few weeks!’ she shouted after him, then, as he showed no sign of stopping, she pleaded, ‘Reggie, please wait.’ She stood there and listened as his footsteps faded.
* * *
In the small hotel in Tenby, Audrey and Wilf sat at one of the tables overlooking the sea, and held hands. ‘I hope Maude or Myrtle tells Marged about our little holiday,’ Audrey said. ‘This was so unexpected, your friend inviting us to spend these few days with them, there wasn’t time to do anything except pack.’
‘That’s how life should be for us, never two days alike, taking impromptu decisions with no planning for a future that’s precarious, to put it mildly,’ he replied.
‘Marged won’t be very pleased.’
‘That problem is Marged’s. Our only problem is whether to have the lamb or the beef. Not that there’ll be much of either,’ he added with a laugh. He waved as their two friends appeared and Audrey forced any thought of her sister out of her mind. This time was for Wilf and no one else.
* * *
Myrtle had arranged to meet Stanley and his brothers to go back to the beach after work for a late swim. None of the brothers were good swimmers but that didn’t matter. The weather was so hot that no excuse was needed to get into bathing costumes, and splash about in the refreshing foam.
After a busy day in the café, Myrtle was looking forward to her swim. With the meal dealt with and her offer to help with the ironing thankfully refused, she picked up a towel and headed for the door.
‘Myrtle! You aren’t going out and leaving me on my own, are you?‘ Maude said in astonishment. ‘How can you be so mean? Reggie and I have quarrelled, and you know how miserable I am.’
‘But I’m only going for a swim. I’ve been looking forward to it all day, our Maude.’
‘With Auntie Audrey and Wilf away I’ll be on my own.’
‘Come with us then, the three boys need some help with their swimming, with two of us they might learn quicker.’
‘I can’t. It’s too cold. You promised you’d never leave me when I need you and I need you tonight. I’m so miserable, I liked Reggie so much and now I won’t see him again.’
In momentary defiance, Myrtle said, ‘So you want me to stay home and be miserable with you, do you? And disappoint Stanley, Harold and Percival.’
‘Oh, go if you want to. Your promises aren’t worth much, are they?’
Myrtle got as far as the front door, then threw the rolled up towel on to the bottom stair and went up to her room.
Later on, she went down to the sitting room where Maude was struggling with a khaki sock she was knitting. ‘This isn’t the best way of dealing with it, Maude, sitting here being miserable. Best you show Reggie you don’t care, then he’ll want to come back to you.’
‘You’re right,’ was the unexpected answer. ‘In fact, I think we should go to the dance on Saturday, just you and me.’
‘The dance? But we’ve never been to a dance. I don’t know how to and neither do you!’
‘Best we start learning then!’ Maude declined to add that she believed that Reggie was going, with Beth and a few friends.
There was dance music on the wireless and they plodded around the room to a one-two-three beat or whatever rhythm the band played, laughing and planning what they would wear. Myrtle laughing loudest of all, pretending she didn’t mind missing her planned trip to the beach.
In Morgan’s house in Conroy Street, the three boys waited, sitting clutching their dippers and watching the clock. The heat was intense, pressing down on them, making the thought of a swim change from happy anticipation to urgent necessity. Anthony was restless, and crying, unable to sleep. Eirlys pleaded in mime to her father and eventually, Morgan offered to take the boys himself down to the sea. ‘If Myrtle comes, I’ll tell her to follow you,’ Eirlys promised.
‘She won’t come. That sister of hers has called up some promise to stop her,’ Stanley grumbled. ‘Wicked old witch.’
‘Old? She isn’t more than eighteen.’
‘That,’ Stanley said with great authority, ‘is old!’
‘In that case, why don’t I come, too? Anthony might go off to sleep in his pram.’
The sands were surprisingly full considering the lateness of the hour, many people thinking the same as Eirlys and taking children out into the cooler air instead of forcing them to stay in too warm bedrooms and expecting them to sleep. Shirley was there with her mother and Hetty took over the pram, giving Eirlys a chance to go to the water’s edge with the three boys. Stanley managed a few strokes but failed to ma
ke any real progress in the water, Harold struggled too, and young Percival was satisfied with kneeling down in the shallow water, and shuffling along pretending to do impressive strokes with his skinny arms.
Beth was there too, and her brother Ronnie with Olive and their little girl. ‘Lucky our Mam doesn’t know,’ Ronnie joked. ‘or she’d have us opening the café!’ Although the enjoyment was the same, the mood was different from the sands during the day. The excitement was muted, voices less raucous, as though they had no right to be there and were afraid of being caught.
Myrtle slipped out, leaving her sister still struggling with the sock she was knitting, and on her bicycle rode to Conroy Street. To her disappointment, there was no one in and she went home dejected and discarded her dippers in disgusted disappointment.
* * *
When it came to the moment. Maude wanted to forget their plan to go to the dance. She had never been keen on dancing, she lacked the ability to let herself go and enjoy moving to the music. On the rare occasions she had tried, she had come away hating herself for her shyness and swearing never to do it again.
She stopped at the doorway where they had to pay for their ticket and would have gone back home, but Myrtle saw someone she knew and went straight in and she had no choice but to follow. They stayed a long time in the cloakroom as Maude was worried that once they got into the hall she’d be asked to dance when she didn’t know a waltz from a foxtrot.
Marged had guessed that it would be difficult and she had explained her predicament to their daughter Beth, who rounded up a few extra friends and planned to help the two girls enjoy their evening out. On hearing about the arrangement, Stanley had asked to borrow a tie from Morgan Price and said he was going too.
‘They’ll never let you in,‘ Harold jeered. ‘You’re only fourteen.’
‘I’m almost fifteen!’
‘An’ you look eleven!’
‘All right you two,’ Morgan said. ‘You and I will go, Stanley. Eirlys and Ken will keep an eye on you two. They’ll be home anyway, with the baby.’
‘I’m not sure I want to go with an old man,’ Stanley looked doubtful. A hand aimed at his cheeky face made him duck but in a consenting tone, he added, ‘All right, Uncle Morgan. Just this once and make sure you be’ave and don’t embarrass me.’
Eirlys’s husband Ken was home and they arranged a babysitter and came too.
The hall was crowded and it was like walking into an oven, Maude thought, as they joined the dance in the hall, finding a corner, Myrtle and Maude thought they would be brave and make an attempt to become part of the chattering people moving around like a giant, lethargic Catherine wheel. However, the band was very loud, the people so sure of where they were going and what they were doing, that the girls soon lost their nerve and decided to stand and watch until it was time to leave.
When Eirlys, Ken, Mr Morgan and the others walked in everything changed.
‘We’re only here to watch,’ Maude said at once.
Stanley had no such ideas. He pulled Myrtle on to the floor and with great enthusiasm and little skill, moved to the music with such abandon that they found themselves with a space around them in no time.
He had taken a few lessons from Morgan and Ken, and loudly chanted the one, two, three of the waltz, oblivious to the stares of amusement and disapproval that were pointed their way. Unable to be serious, Myrtle relaxed and enjoyed the experience, shouting as loudly as Stanley, when Eirlys and Ken, then Maude and Morgan, moved sedately past them.
With a group of friends with whom she felt easy, Maude relaxed and the evening became a pleasant one. If only Reggie had turned up as she had hoped, it would have been perfect.
That Saturday dance was the first of many that were attended by Maude and Myrtle and the others. There were dances each Wednesday and Saturday, although it was a rush to get there on Saturday as it was always the busiest day of the week on the sands, and when some extra entertainment was taking place the day could be even longer.
Reggie knew about these outings but was nursing his hurt over the way Maude had refused to ignore what Marged had told her, so he didn’t try to see her. Instead he went out with one of the other boys he knew from college and stayed away from places where he might expect to see Maude.
Then Huw met Constable Charlie Groves and was told that there was no evidence to suggest Reggie had been helping his brother to rob local people.
‘But you questioned him and acted as though he were guilty,’ Huw said.
‘The police and the military are looking for Andy and there’s been no contact between them or he’d have been caught. The military police are diligent and they don’t relax their search for a man who should be serving in the army. If Reggie had been setting up the thefts by pointing out the best houses to call on, he’d have been caught. There are plenty of people looking for him.’
‘Young Maude likes the boy and we’ve sort of stopped her seeing him. You know what it’s like. Marged worries about them.’
‘To be honest, Mr Castle, we don’t think he even did the burglaries he went to prison for. Andy allowed his brother to take punishment for something he did. Nasty piece of work. Charming, mind, but a man without morals, a character who doesn’t care who he steps on to get what he wants.’
Later that evening, Huw repeated what Charlie Groves had told him, to Marged.
‘Do we have to tell her we were wrong?’ Marged asked.
‘I don’t think it would do any harm to admit we were mistaken, do you?’
When they next met Bernard Gregory they explained the doubts about Reggie and their change of heart and he promised to tell the boy that he was welcome to call if he still wanted to see Maude.
‘After all,’ Marged said as they left Bernard, ‘he won’t be here for much longer, he’ll be going into the army as soon as he’s finished at the smallholding, so the friendship will die a natural death.’
‘You still aren’t convinced, are you?’
‘Not really. There’s bad blood in the family, if you ask me.’
* * *
Beth was struggling to finish the day at the café. She stacked the last of the dishes and was tempted to leave them until the following morning, but she knew that starting ‘all behind like a cow’s tail,’ as her mother would have said, was not a good idea. Following her mother for efficiency and speed, she normally ran the place with ease, but the last week she had found it hard to keep going after the middle of the afternoon. On Sunday, instead of the usual chores, she fell asleep and Bernard let her stay deeply sleeping on the couch under the open window until five o’clock, quietly dealing with the dinner dishes and setting the table for their light tea.
The realization that she might be expecting a child brought dismay and a feeling of vulnerability upon her. It was as though her greater need of Peter was daring fate to intervene. She knew she was going to cry and, rising from the couch, she hurried to her room and hid her sobs in her pillow.
Peter knew she was not her usual self and when he went back to his work his thoughts were of her, wishing his travelling was over and he could stay and look after her. Then he deliberately pushed useless worrying aside. To survive over the next few months he needed a clear mind, uncluttered with worries about which he could do nothing. Concentration on the moment kept him and others alive and staying alive was the best way of helping her. That she might be carrying their child did not occur to him.
* * *
Audrey and Wilf had returned from their visit to Tenby and Audrey was surprised to be greeted by her sister with less than delight. Whenever they met, Marged gave the impression she was in a hurry, reminding her sister wordlessly that life was hard without her help and trying to make her feel guilty.
Discussing it with Wilf, they decided it was best to ignore what they saw as Marged’s latest attempts to make her change her mind about helping in the business, and concentrate on enjoying the last few weeks of summer.
Marged had a set routine and a
s soon as she reached home each evening, her first job would be to light the boiler ready to start the washing. While the water was heating, they ate a meal and the girls would clear the dishes and get everything ready to begin cooking. Myrtle and Maude were both competent cooks by this time and it was they who usually dealt with the dry mixtures for Welshcakes and scones ready to be finished and then cooked the following morning.
On a night when the sisters had gone to the dance, Marged found herself alone. Huw had gone to help at the fish and chip café to give Bleddyn and Hetty an evening off, and feeling more irritable and put upon than ever, she went into the kitchen to discover that the boiler had begun to leak. The kitchen floor was flooded with soapy water. Where was Huw when she needed him? Why were Maude and Myrtle never there to help? A part of her mind told her she was being unreasonable, but her frustration was so great she felt that the whole world was against her and she was standing alone.
Ronnie and Olive might be in, but to reach them she would have to disturb her sister and suddenly that was too much. Having to face Audrey and show her she wasn’t coping — something she had been trying to point out ever since she and Wilf had returned from Tenby — was now the very last straw. Pride made her want Audrey to understand how badly she had let her down, but not allow her to think she couldn’t cope.
She was ladling out the last of the water from the boiler when Huw came in. It was almost eleven thirty and he had expected her to be in bed. He listened as she angrily told him about the latest disaster, then he made her sit down while he dried the floor and examined the boiler.
‘I can fix it in the morning, it’s only a small job,’ he told her. ‘But tomorrow you are having a day off. You aren’t going to the café, and you aren’t going to deal with the washing.’
Holidays at Home Omnibus Page 130
