Love or Duty--A saga set in 1920s Liverpool

by Rosie Harris

  There were cheers, clapping and catcalls from the audience until the ringmaster once again held up his hand for silence.

  A huge grey elephant its great head decorated with embroidered trappings and tinkling bells was then led into the circus ring. On its broad back was a decorated raised dais that was draped with gold tassels that bobbed against the elephant’s sides as it lumbered into the ring.

  Perched high up on this seat and sitting on a purple velvet cushion was a tiny figure dressed in a skintight pale pink leotard. There were gossamer wings edged with silver fixed to her back and on her head was a glittering silver crown. She was waving a thin, gleaming wand, topped by a large silver star, in time to the music, as the enormous animal moved slowly around the ring.

  The crowd sat mesmerized. Penny leaned forward in her seat trying to see more clearly. Instinct told her that this new attraction, this so-called little angel, was none other than Kelly, but even so she wasn’t sure.

  Then the music stopped and there was a loud fanfare from a bugler. Once again the ringmaster asked for quiet. The crowd held their breath expectantly as a dwarf who was dressed as a clown and wearing a pointed floppy hat with a silver bell on the end that jangled as he moved led a high-stepping jet black horse into the ring.

  ‘On the count of three the clever little angel will fly through the air from the elephant’s back and land on the horse,’ the ringmaster told the audience. ‘Are you ready?’

  There were shouts of agreement and encouragement. Then in unison the audience began counting aloud, ‘One; Two; Three.’

  Dexterously the elephant swung his trunk round and picked up the tiny little angel and wafted her through the air and deposited her on to the horse’s back. For a moment she wobbled precariously struggling to keep her balance as she tried to stand up. Then as she finally managed to do so the crowd cheered her loudly.

  Penny’s heart was in her mouth as she watched. The high stepping horse, prancing and dancing, was paraded round the ring with the angel on its back waving her wand in the air.

  Despite all the tinsel and glamour Penny was more than ever convinced that the little ‘angel’ was Kelly.

  Suddenly there were screams and shouts; panic broke out among the audience after a press flashbulb exploded, frightening the horse.

  In the pandemonium that ensued the horse reared up and broke away from the leading rein and made straight for the exit. The dwarf ran after him trying to grab the leading rein that was now trailing on the ground.

  The little angel lost her balance and began screaming hysterically and grabbing at the horse in an effort to keep on its back. She managed to twine her fingers into its mane but they were not strong enough to hold her weight and she began to slide down the side of the horse.

  The ringmaster lunged at the horse and, grabbing hold of the trailing rein, managed to stop the horse as it reached the barricade but not before the little angel, screaming and crying, had been dragged face down through the sawdust all the way across the ring.

  Her screams were so familiar that Penny now knew for certain that it was Kelly. Ignoring the protests from people all around her Penny pushed and elbowed her way through the crowd to Kelly’s side.

  Kneeling down and cradling the little girl in her arms, she tried to calm and console her, anxious to ascertain how badly hurt she really was.

  Kelly was sobbing and her thin body was shaking with fright. Gently Penny tried to brush away the sawdust and grime from her little face, talking to her and trying her best to comfort her all the while.

  Kelly appeared to be covered by cuts and grazes and many of them were bleeding profusely. They were not only on her face but also on her bare arms and legs.

  ‘Here, use this.’

  Without looking round Penny took the large clean white handkerchief that was being pressed into her hand and gently dabbed at the lacerations. As she did so the little girl stared up at her in bewilderment.

  ‘Penny? Is it you? Are you really here?’ she snuffled, clinging on to Penny’s arm. ‘Don’t leave me, I’m so scared of that horse, don’t let them make me go on its back again,’ she pleaded as she shuddered.

  ‘Yes, I’m here, Kelly, so don’t worry, I’ll stay with you. You’ve had a nasty fall but we’ll soon have you better again,’ she promised.

  ‘I hurt my bad leg again when I fell off that horse,’ Kelly whimpered.

  Very gently Penny ran her hand down Kelly’s leg where she said it hurt. The skin was badly grazed but it didn’t feel broken.

  ‘I think it is all right,’ she consoled her.

  ‘If I’ve broken my leg again will you look after me like you did before?’ Kelly pleaded in a frightened little voice.

  ‘Of course I will, Kelly,’ Penny assured her as she started to sob again when a flashlight bulb went off so close to them that it made her flinch.

  Penny looked round to thank whoever it was that had so kindly passed her his handkerchief. As she did so she found herself looking up into the powerful features of a man who had deep-set, magnetic black eyes in a swarthy, handsome face.

  He was in his mid-forties, wearing a smart dark brown suit and a brown and beige check shirt.

  ‘Kelly seems to know you; she called you by name,’ he stated.

  For a moment Penny felt a frisson of alarm in case he was a policeman looking for Kelly and wondered if he had been following her hoping she might lead him to her.

  ‘I’m Ferdinand Bilkie, the owner of this circus,’ the man informed her. ‘And you are Penny …?’ He paused waiting for her to finish the sentence.

  ‘My name is Penny Forshaw and Kelly is my responsibility,’ Penny said stiffly.

  ‘Really?’ He looked at her suspiciously. ‘You mean you are a relation?’

  ‘Not exactly. She is temporarily in my care,’ Penny said awkwardly.

  ‘Really!’ There was disbelief in his voice and on his face but Penny was not prepared to go into details.

  A fresh burst of sobbing from Kelly brought them both back to the need for action.

  ‘Well, if you will permit me, Miss Forshaw, I will carry Kelly across to my van where someone will attend to her cuts and grazes.’

  Penny hesitated, frowning, unsure what to do for the best. She felt reluctant to let him do this and wished Bryn was there to take charge

  ‘It will also mean that she is away from the rabble and all the publicity,’ Ferdinand Bilkie added grimly as the crowd pressed closer, eager to see what was happening.

  Without waiting for Penny to answer he bent down and lifted Kelly up in his arms. As he did so there was another flash as a press photographer took more shots of the scene.

  Without another word Ferdinand Bilkie strode out of the tent with Kelly in his arms.

  Penny hurried after him. Now that she had found Kelly she was determined to stay with her at all costs. She had no intention of letting this man whose motives she was unsure about whisk Kelly away out of her sight.

  Twenty-Four

  Penny felt very uneasy as she followed Ferdinand Bilkie out of the circus tent. As they hurried past the sideshows and various other funfair attractions and across to the far side of the Tower Ballroom grounds she wondered exactly where he was taking Kelly. Then her heart lightened a little as she saw the long row of caravans parked there.

  His van stood slightly apart from the others and was by far the largest one there. Inside it was opulent with Axminster carpet on the floor, heavy velvet drapes at the windows and well-polished built-in furniture.

  Kelly was still whimpering and complaining that her bad leg was hurting as Ferdinand Bilkie very carefully set her down on a dark green leather couch.

  ‘I think I had better telephone Dr Bryn Cash and ask for his advice; he attended her before when she broke her leg,’ Penny said quickly.

  ‘Do you think it might be broken again?’ Ferdinand questioned, his deep voice full of concern.

  ‘I hope not. It happened about a year ago and—’

  �
�It broke because you knocked me down with your motor car,’ Kelly snuffled loud enough for him to hear.

  Ferdinand Bilkie raised his eyebrows questioningly and Penny felt the hot colour rush to her cheeks but she didn’t offer any explanation.

  ‘If you direct me to a telephone I will call Dr Cash and ask his advice,’ she repeated.

  Ferdinand Bilkie shook his head.

  ‘If you suspect her leg is broken let us take her straight to the Liverpool Infirmary. I will drive you there,’ Ferdinand Bilkie told her.

  ‘No, that’s not necessary; I can manage perfectly if you find me a taxicab.’

  ‘I will take you myself. After all, the accident happened in my circus,’ he said sharply.

  Penny bit down on her lower lip. She didn’t want him accompanying them but she couldn’t think of how to refuse. In some ways she supposed he was right in what he was saying and for the moment at any rate Kelly was his responsibility.

  Ten minutes later Penny was sitting in the back of Ferdinand Bilkie’s huge dark green Citroën motor car. She was cradling Kelly, who was wrapped in a rug, and trying to console her as Ferdinand Bilkie drove as fast as possible.

  ‘Where are you going?’ Penny asked anxiously, leaning forward and tapping him on the shoulder as he drove towards Poulton and then over the Penny Bridge in the direction of Birkenhead.

  ‘To get on the ferry, of course. The ones that take cars don’t operate from Seacombe. I thought you would know that.’

  ‘Yes, of course,’ Penny murmured. She had been so concerned about Kelly that she had forgotten all about this and felt rather foolish because for one moment she’d been quite scared about where he was taking them.

  She breathed a sigh of relief when they eventually reached Liverpool, drew up outside the hospital and Ferdinand Bilkie was out of the driving seat and opening the back door of the car. He lifted Kelly out of Penny’s arms and strode inside with her.

  Penny hurried after him and reported to the admission desk. The receptionist immediately summoned a porter and instructed him to take them straight to Dr Cash.

  The porter took them into a small consulting room and indicated to Ferdinand Bilkie to put Kelly down on the examination couch.

  ‘Don’t leave me, Penny,’ Kelly begged, clutching at Penny’s hand. She was still sniffling and crying and complaining that her leg hurt but she calmed down when Bryn Cash entered the room.

  Penny saw Bryn’s jaw stiffen as she introduced him to Ferdinand Bilkie even though he shook hands with the other man and greeted him cordially.

  ‘So what have you been up to this time, Kelly?’ he asked in a cheerful manner as he walked over to the examination couch and bent over her.

  As he pulled back the rug he stared in surprise. ‘Why are you dressed like this?’ he asked when he saw the leotard with the gossamer wings attached that Kelly was still wearing.

  ‘I’m an angel and I have been riding on the back of an elephant in the circus,’ she sniffled.

  ‘And you fell off?’

  ‘Not off the elephant! I fell off the horse but it was the horse’s fault not mine,’ she said defensively. ‘He stood up on his hind legs and I lost my balance and couldn’t hold on. He dragged me all across the ring and now my broken leg’s hurting bad again.’

  ‘Then I’d better have a look at it and see if I can make it better,’ Bryn told her.

  After he’d examined Kelly he listened intently to Ferdinand Bilkie’s detailed account of what had happened at the performance that afternoon and asked one or two relevant questions.

  ‘If you two would like to go to the waiting room,’ Bryn said focusing his attention back to Kelly, ‘I will arrange for Kelly to be X-rayed to make sure that she hasn’t damaged her leg in any way or broken any other bones.’

  The waiting time seemed to be interminable and Ferdinand Bilkie paced restlessly up and down the room reminding Penny of one of the caged animals he kept in his circus.

  ‘If you need to get back to New Brighton I can always get a message to you later, Mr Bilkie and let you know how Kelly is,’ she told him.

  ‘No. I would prefer to wait and hear what the doctor has to say,’ he said firmly.

  When Bryn eventually came to the waiting room his manner was curt. ‘Kelly hasn’t broken any bones but she is very badly bruised.’

  Ferdinand Bilkie looked relieved.

  ‘Thank you, Dr Cash. I will take her away and see that she is well looked after,’ he assured Bryn. ‘One of my staff has nursing experience so she will be in charge of her recovery. We retain a professional nurse; we need one with all the minor tumbles and falls our acrobats get from time to time,’ he added with a deprecating laugh.

  ‘Kelly will be staying here in hospital overnight,’ Bryn said firmly. ‘She is still suffering from shock and it is important that we keep her under observation for at least twenty-four hours.’

  Ferdinand Bilkie looked slightly taken aback. ‘In that case I will return tomorrow and collect her.’

  ‘It is not quite as simple as that, Mr Bilkie,’ Bryn prevaricated. ‘Kelly has had an accident and it is one that must be reported to the authorities.’

  Bilkie’s manner changed abruptly. ‘Surely that’s not necessary,’ he blustered. ‘I’ll make sure she is looked after and in a couple of days the incident will be forgotten.’

  ‘No, Mr Bilkie, I’m afraid it is the rule that when an accident occurs in a public place it has to be reported. I don’t intend to contravene it,’ Bryn Cash stated firmly.

  As Penny watched the two men standing there like stags at bay arguing about what had to be done, her own thoughts were more concerned by what was best for Kelly.

  If the police were informed about the accident Kelly had been involved in there would be an enquiry about how she came to be at the circus in the first place. And then, when they discovered who she was and the rest of the details, she would be taken back to St Saviour’s Remand Home. Penny was determined to stop that happening if it was at all possible.

  From his manner she sensed that Ferdinand Bilkie didn’t want the police involved either so at least he was on her side as far as that went. On the other hand, she knew that Bryn was anxious to let the police know that Kelly had been found so that they could call off their search.

  She tried to intervene in the conversation but both men ignored her. Their argument became more heated and personal.

  ‘I see no reason at all for involving the police,’ Ferdinand Bilkie stated, his dark eyes flashing angrily. ‘What happened was a mere incident not a full-blown accident.’

  ‘In that case, Mr Bilkie, why are you so concerned about the police being informed? If it is only a mere incident then they will simply make a note of what happened for their records and take the matter no further,’ Bryn pointed out.

  ‘You do not understand,’ Ferdinand Bilkie said in an exasperated tone. ‘When you are running a fairground and circus you try not to become involved with the police because they begin asking all sorts of difficult questions. They inform all sorts of other officials who then send inspectors to make sure that all the safety regulations are being observed. They are also concerned that the animals are well-cared for and—’

  ‘And they ask for details of where all your dancers and acrobats have come from especially when they are very young children,’ Bryn interposed. ‘By the way, how did Kelly Murphy come to be involved in one of your circus acts?’

  Bilkie looked from Bryn to Penny and then back again in a hostile manner. ‘What are you trying to imply, Dr Cash? I hope you are not accusing me of kidnapping this little girl?’

  ‘When neither of them answered but continued to stare at him questioningly he shrugged and spread his hands wide in a gesture of despair.

  ‘Very well, I will tell you all. She was brought to me by a youth who for a short time worked for me at the fairground. He was a no-good type of lad, a desperado. He has cheated and stolen from me in the past; but he is also clever. He knew that I have for
a long time been looking for someone very small, very appealing and dainty to act as a fairy or angel because he knew that the child who was playing the part at the start of the season became sick and so …’ he shrugged, leaving the rest of the sentence unfinished.

  Bryn’s jaw hardened. ‘So when this young blackguard brought a scrawny little girl along and said that she wanted to join the circus you thought your luck was in.’

  Ferdinand Bilkie shrugged. ‘She certainly seemed to be exactly what I was hoping to find,’ he agreed.

  ‘You were prepared to shell out the money he was asking for her and ask no questions about her background in return for him saying nothing to anyone about what had taken place between you,’ Bryn went on relentlessly.

  Ferdinand smiled as though in relief. ‘I can see that you are a man of the world Dr Cash; you comprehend perfectly.’

  ‘I understand what you did but I don’t approve of your motives,’ Bryn Cash told him. ‘For one thing, it would seem that you did not make any checks at all about her background or why she was on her own. Did it never occur to you that she might be running away from home?’

  ‘I am well aware that many young children run away from home sometimes because they are unhappy and they usually make for the circus,’ Ferdinand said deprecatingly.

  ‘Kelly Murphy didn’t run away from home,’ Bryn said quietly.

  ‘What do you mean? Are you saying that this boy forced her to do so in some way?’

  ‘Kelly had run away from St Saviour’s Remand Home,’ Penny said quietly.

  Ferdinand Bilkie looked startled. ‘Heavens! Do you think the boy knew that?’

  ‘Oh yes! What is more he had promised Kelly that you would take her back to Spain at the end of your season at New Brighton,’ Penny told him.

  Bilkie looked bemused. ‘How do you know all this?’ he said, frowning.

  ‘He told me so when he demanded money from me before he would tell me where Kelly was and how to find her.’

  ‘I had no idea at all about any of this!’ Ferdinand Bilkie declared firmly. He looked perplexed and shook his head in a gesture of bewilderment.