“You hurt Frank?” Peg looked at her incredulously. “But he was your uncle. He cared about you. His wife cared about you! Tom is your cousin. They would have helped you.”
“They have no money,” said Cassie, a coldness creeping into her voice.
“You really are your mother’s daughter,” Peg said. For some reason she felt disappointed. She had hoped that Cassie would turn out to be one of the victims in all this. She supposed blood would out. But even that could not be right, because Tom Yeardley was a good, honest boy.
Archer called for the constable, who had been joined by other men, as per Archer’s instructions. “Take them both away,” he said.
“Andrew,” said Cassie, gazing at him with limpid blue eyes as they put handcuffs on her. “Please, help me.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Why don’t you start taking your things up to your room, darling?” Peg said to Mary. She looked around the hallway of the Old Constable’s Cottage. It looked much brighter with a fresh lick of paint. She opened the door to the sitting room, which had also been decorated. There was still much to do and Peg had spoken to a builder about extending the house. They had turned the old jail cell into a larder, but Peg wanted a larger sitting room and another bedroom, just in case Sheila did decide to live with them.
“Can’t Izzy do it? I want to go and look in the garden.”
“I’ve told you, dearest, that Izzy can only come in for a few hours a week. I can’t afford to pay her any more. We’re going to have to start doing things for ourselves now.”
“Very well.”
Mary picked up a box and slumped up the stairs.
“Are you all right?” Peg asked. “Really all right, I mean?”
Mary put the box down and turned around. “I am now that I know mummy didn’t leave me. I knew she wouldn’t. Though I’m still sad she’s gone. And Sheila.”
“But Sheila will come back and see us, sweetheart.”
Norman, along with thousands of other young men, had been injured in the Battle of the Somme. Sheila had rushed to the southern hospital where he had been taken, and had written to say that they would marry down there and then move to Sheffield as soon as he was well.
“And Freddie.”
“Hopefully Freddie will return to us one day.”
“Why does everyone leave?” Mary asked, her little face wan. “You won’t leave me, will you, Peg?”
“No, I will never leave you.”
“If you want some of mummy’s money from the house to pay Izzy…”
“No. That’s for you, for when you grow up. I have enough money for what we need until then. But we’ll just have to do without the things we don’t need. Do you understand?”
Mary nodded. “We’ll be very happy here, won’t we?”
“Yes, of course. And you’ll be able to go and visit Sheila in Sheffield whenever you want. When you get fed up of me.”
With the resilience of youth, Mary laughed, stood up, turned back around and bounded up the stairs with her box.
Peg heaved a big sigh. She had no idea how to bring up a ten year old girl, but she would do her best.
Feeling a wave of sadness rush over her, she looked around for something to do. There was plenty, with boxes strewn in the hall, but where to start? She had been working on emptying a box full of crockery for a while when Izzy arrived.
“I just thought I’d come to give you a hand,” she said.
“Izzy, I can’t afford to pay you any more hours.”
“I don’t want any money, Miss Bradbourne. I’m here to help. So let me.”
“Thank you.” Peg blew her a kiss. “You’re an angel.”
They worked together happily. Every now and then, Mary came down for another box. The last time, she stood in the doorway of the sitting room, looking nervous. She had something behind her back.
“What is it, darling?” asked Peg.
“I want to ask something.”
“Go on then!” Peg smiled.
“Can I put this picture of mummy and Aunt Penelope – the real Aunt Penelope – on the mantelpiece? I know you didn’t always like mummy…” Mary held out the photograph which she had put into a wooden frame she had decorated with shells from a trip to the seaside.
“Yes,” said Peg, emphatically. “Yes, we will put it there.” Peg took it from her and put it in pride of place on the mantelpiece. The sisters stood wrapped in each other’s arms, looking at it. “Veronica and I didn’t always get on, darling, but she did leave me a very precious gift.”
“What’s that?”
“Not what? Who?” Peg touched the end of Mary’s nose with her fingertip. “She left you.”
A few hours later, the packing had been finished and Mary was in bed fast asleep.
“Izzy?” Peg asked, hesitantly as they sat in the kitchen drinking tea.
“Yes, Miss Bradbourne?”
“I wonder if you’d mind staying for on an hour to look after Mary. I will pay you for your time.”
“You go on, Miss Bradbourne. We’ll argue over money when it comes time for my wages.”
Peg put on her coat and went out into the autumn evening. She walked along Spinsters Row, conscious of the curtains tweaking, as the elderly ladies sat at their windows, drinking a sherry and tutting about the modern world and a young woman who dared to go out alone at night.
A soldier was walking up the road towards her, but he was almost abreast with her before she realised who it was.
“Doctor Pearson?”
“Hello, Miss Bradbourne. I was just coming to bid you farewell.”
“You’re joining up? But why? You’re needed here.”
“I’m needed on the front, where young men are dying through lack of rapid medical care.”
“Can I say nothing to change your mind? I don’t want you to go. So many don’t come back…”
“Oh I’ll probably be miles from the front in a medical tent, so don’t worry about me.” A train tooted in the distance. “I’d better be off. Take care of yourself, Peg.”
The use of her name in such a tender manner was almost too much to bear. He reached down and kissed her on the cheek.
“You too, Andrew,” she whispered. “God bless you.”
The Quiet Woman pub seemed bathed in a warm glow when she reached it. She went into the ladies lounge, having no gentleman to accompany her into the bar, but it was not in Peg’s nature to hide away in a corner. She pulled a tall stool up the bar and perched on it.
A young man turned around, wincing slightly. “Miss Bradbourne!”
“Hello, Tom. I’m so glad to see you home again.”
“They let me out because of this.” He pointed to his leg. “And to take care of dad.”
“How is Frank?”
“Better every day thanks. He doesn’t remember much about what happened, or even that my aunty Tilly had come back to Midchester pretending to be Mrs Harrington, but he remembers me and our George and that’s all that matters to me. Anyway, what can I get you? On the house.”
“No, Tom…” Peg thought she might cry. So many people had been so kind to her when she had often been abrupt and tactless.
“If you hadn’t found dad he might have died. I owe you at least one drink, probably more.”
“In that case, I’ll have a bottle of stout, please.”
Tom raised an eyebrow. “Stout?” His look said that it was hardly a lady’s drink.
“My old nanny used to give it to me because I was anaemic as a child. Got a bit of a taste for it.”
Tom grinned and gave her what she asked for.
“You’ll be wanting help, won’t you?” she said to him when he returned.
“Yes, I reckon. Especially in the evening when it’s busy.”
“No, need. I’ll do a couple of evenings a week if you want me to.” Peg quickly estimated that even if she paid Izzy a bit for babysitting, she’d still have extra money to spare.
“You?”
“I
’m sure I could learn how to pull a pint, Tom.”
“But you’re a well-born lady, Miss Bradbourne.”
“I’m someone who needs a job desperately.”
Tom nodded. “Okay, come in tomorrow at six o’clock and we’ll see how it goes, shall we?” Even a short time in the army had changed him. Gone was the gangly, awkward youth with the innocent eyes. His eyes now spoke of a man who had seen too much and had to grow too quickly and he had made a decision about giving Peg a job without dithering. Tom Yeardley was going to be all right.
“Thanks Tom. I’ll just enjoy my last night of freedom, shall I?”
From the stool in the snug, Peg had a view of the whole pub and everyone who came and went.
She allowed herself a satisfied smile. It was much better than peeking out at the world through net curtains whilst nursing a lonely sherry.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
The Doctor's Daughter (The Peg Bradbourne Mysteries Book One) Page 11
