‘Ooh, look, what’s in Mummy’s bag?’
Not a moment too soon. Terry came out of the shop. Wendy’s heart was thumping so loudly that she was sure he would hear it.
‘What’s all this row about?’ he asked. He sounded positively cheerful. He thrust a lolly into Coral’s hand and a huge heart-shaped box of chocolates into Wendy’s. ‘There y’are, girls. Watch your waistlines.’
‘Oh!’ Wendy had to use all her limited acting ability to sound delighted. ‘How lovely. Chocs. My favourites.’
As ill luck would have it, Terry chose to eat at home that evening. Wendy’s hands shook as she served up steak and kidney pudding followed by Bakewell tart. Terry ate it all with gusto.
‘Very good,’ he said. ‘Not quite up to my old mum’s, but not bad at all.’
‘Thanks,’ Wendy said.
‘You hardly touched yours. What’s up? You’re not in the pudding club again, are you?’
‘No, no—’
Heaven forbid! That really would be the end.
‘Well, I gotta see a man about a dog. Bye, doll.’
‘Bye.’
To her vast relief, he left the house. Wendy forced herself to clear the table and wash up. She was feeling so feeble and shaky that it took her over an hour, but it had to be done because Terry didn’t like things to be left. Her mind tried to shy away from what she had seen, but she could not blank it out. A gun. Terry had a gun. All the time she had known him, people had been trying to tell her that he was a crook and she had always denied it. Terry was a businessman. People were jealous of him because he was successful, so they told lies about him. Now, at last, she had been brought face to face with the truth. An ordinary businessman did not keep a shotgun hidden down the back seat of his car.
And, just as she finally admitted that to herself, she remembered something else. For the last three weeks the local paper had been full of an armed robbery in the High Street. A shop assistant had been wounded in the chest. The men had been masked and the police were appealing for sightings of the getaway car. Could that have been Terry? Was that the gun that had been used in the raid? Nothing was certain any more. She was adrift on a sea of anxiety.
For the next two days, her every waking moment was taken up with brooding over the gun, her new view of Terry and Coral’s outburst with the teddy bear. To make it worse, the only people she spoke to, apart from Terry and the children, were the butcher, the greengrocer and Mrs Riley. Towards the end of the second afternoon, she cracked and phoned Lillian.
Her sister didn’t sound especially pleased to hear from her.
‘Oh, hello, Wend. How’s things?’
‘You were right,’ Wendy gabbled.
‘What?’
‘You were right—he is a crook, Terry. I see it now. And Lillian, it’s horrible, I’ve been so worried. The other day I saw Coral playing and she was hitting her teddy, like, punching it really hard in the head and she was saying “Bitch, stupid bitch” and stamping on it. I didn’t know what to say, it was just so horrible seeing her do that, just like, just like…’
‘Just like her father?’
‘Yes,’ Wendy whispered.
There. It was out.
She waited for Lillian to say I told you so. But, to her surprise, her sister was sympathetic.
‘It must’ve been dreadful for you. Coral’s a sweet little thing really.’
‘She is, she’s the loveliest child, an angel—’
‘But having all that going on round her must be doing her harm.’
‘I know,’ Wendy admitted.
‘And what’s going to happen when Terrance is old enough to take in what’s happening? You don’t want him to do the same to his wife when he grows up.’
Wendy was appalled. She hadn’t thought of that. ‘But he won’t be like that.’
‘How do you know? If he thinks that’s how husbands treat their wives, he’ll just do the same.’
‘Oh, my God—’
Her mind skidded about helplessly, trying to avoid taking this on board. While she was still floundering, Lillian struck out on a different tack.
‘What’s brought all this on, Wend? What’s made you sure Terry’s a criminal?’
‘Well I…he’s…’
It was all too much to cope with. She couldn’t tell Lillian about the gun, not on top of what Terry was doing to Coral and Terrance.
‘I just do,’ she said.
‘Something must have changed your mind.’
‘I…I can’t tell you, not really, please…’
‘Well, whatever it was, I’ll tell you something else, Wendy, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was behind Frank’s being sent down.’
‘What? What’s that? Frank?’
So many mental blows were making her punch-drunk.
‘Yes. It was no use saying anything to you before, because you wouldn’t listen, but James and I think your Terry had some sort of hold over Frank over money for his motorbike, and he got him to do some of his dirty work for him.’
‘But, but—’ Now she really couldn’t think straight. ‘What am I going to do?’
Back came the answer she knew she would get.
‘Leave him, Wendy. Leave him before anything worse can happen. Do you want to be killed in front of the children?’
Shocked, Wendy gave a gasp. ‘Lillian!’ she managed to squeak. ‘Don’t say that!’
‘Then do it. Be brave. All you got to do is give me the word, and James and I will come and take you away.’
‘I can’t,’ Wendy whispered.
And exasperated noise came down the line. ‘For God’s sake! Or at least for the children’s sake. Think of them, Wend.’
‘I know, I know—’
In her delicate state, she couldn’t stand any more nagging.
‘Terrance is crying,’ she lied. ‘I got to go.’
Another few sleepless nights, and she finally accepted the fact that there was only one choice if she wanted to be safe, and to keep the children safe. But she couldn’t quite face admitting it to her sister. Instead, she phoned James.
‘All right,’ she whispered down the phone. ‘I’ll do it.’
Chapter Thirty-Four
‘WE’RE off!’
James’s voice rang down the phone line. For a moment, Lillian was so pleased just to hear from him that she didn’t grasp what he was talking about.
‘What?’
‘We’re off. Wendy’s agreed.’
‘She hasn’t? What, just like that?’
Lillian couldn’t believe it. Wendy had been hanging on for so long that she’d almost given up hoping she would ever be brave enough to leave.
‘Yup. I don’t know what’s happened, she didn’t say, but, whatever it was, it was enough to make her jump. So are you ready?’
‘You bet!’
‘OK, then. See you at half past nine. We’ve got to give Dempsey enough time to get out of the house, and then we’ve got to get in there and get Wendy out before that cleaning woman arrives.’
‘Right—but James, does Wendy know what she’s got to do? About not letting Terry find her packing and all that?’
‘I’ve told her. She seemed to understand. I mean, it’s not that difficult, is it?’
‘No—’
It wasn’t difficult for James or herself to grasp, but Wendy seemed so dozy. It was hard to know what was going on in her head, if anything.
‘Till tomorrow, then! Operation Rescue Plan is underway!’
The lethargy that had gripped Lillian ever since the funeral dropped away like magic. Here at last was something positive, something active that she could do. She rang Eileen’s neighbour to ask her to pass the message on that they would be coming tomorrow, then started setting up a cover story about going to see Janette in Colchester. It was like breaking out of a cocoon.
They met up the next morning in a side road in Southend that had a phone box on the corner. James was waiting in a big rover.
‘Ready
for anything?’ he asked. His face was alight with excitement.
‘I suppose so.’
Now that it had come to the point, Lillian was feeling nervous. Supposing Wendy was wrong, and Terry came back before they could get away? The consequences didn’t bear thinking about.
‘Eileen knows we’re on our way,’ she said.
‘Good. I’ve just rung Wendy, and Dempsey left half an hour ago. We’re all set. Great, this, isn’t it? I’ve been looking forward to showing Dempsey that he can’t get away with whatever he likes. I just wish I could be there to see his face when he finds out she’s gone.’
That was the last place Lillian wanted to be.
‘D’you think she’ll really go through with it?’ she asked as she got into the car.
‘She will, even if I have to tie her up and kidnap her,’ James said.
They put on their disguises. Lillian had a short black wig. James a peaked cap and a heavy pair of glasses. Lillian had to laugh. He looked so strange.
‘You do look daft,’ she said.
‘Hark who’s talking! Just promise me something.’
‘What?’
‘Never dye your hair black.’
‘Why ever not? I rather like it.’
Joking helped her deal with the tension as they drove out to Thorpe Bay.
Wendy was looking sick with fear as she opened the front door to them.
‘Are you ready?’ Lillian asked, kissing her cheek and trying to sound more confident than she felt. ‘Have you got your bags packed?’
‘Yes—well—no. Sort of. It’s so difficult—I don’t know, Lillian. Is this really the right thing to do?’
‘Absolutely. Look at you! It’s the only thing to do. It’s all organised and, once we’re on our way, I’ll tell you where we’re going. You’ll be so surprised! Now, come on, I’ll help you get things together.’
Between them, she and James ushered Wendy upstairs.
‘Valuables,’ James instructed. ‘Have you got all your jewelry and anything else that’s small and saleable? Pity he never let you have a joint account.’
Wendy’s face crumpled. ‘I’m going to be poor. The children are going to be poor. How can I do that to them?’
‘How can you let them stay here with a father who beats their mum up?’ James said.
‘But it’s nearly Christmas—’
‘Best time to go.’
While Wendy dithered, Lillian grabbed winter clothes and stuffed them into Wendy’s half-filled suitcase and James patrolled the house picking up anything he thought might bring Wendy some cash.
‘It’s so hard to decide. I tried to last night, but I kept changing my mind,’ Wendy said.
Alarm bells rang in Lillian’s head. ‘You didn’t leave a case where Terry could see it, did you?’
‘No, no—at least—no, he never goes in the spare room—’
‘Wendy?’
There was no point going into it now. She noticed that Wendy had at least packed the children’s things, including food and bottles and nappies for the journey.
‘Have they got their favourite books and toys?’ Lillian asked. ‘It’s going to take us quite a while to get there. What about their Christmas presents?’
Wendy filled yet another bag.
‘That’s enough,’ James decided, looking at the pile he had loaded into the car. ‘Come on, let’s go.’
Wendy looked anguished. Lillian glanced at James. They mustn’t let her back down now. Mrs Riley would be here any minute. Together, they ushered her and the children into the back of the car. Lillian and James got in the front and they pulled out of the driveway. Once they were moving, Lillian’s heart slowed a little and the sick feeling in her stomach subsided. They had done it. They had got Wendy and the children out of the house.
‘Now, just guess where we’re going?’ she said in an effort to distract her sister from the enormity of what she was doing.
‘I don’t know,’ Wendy said dully. She was sitting hunched up in the back seat with her babies in her arms, her pretty face pinched and hollow with misery.
‘Aunty Eileen’s!’
Wendy just looked vaguely puzzled. ‘Who?’
‘Aunty Eileen. Our Aunty Eileen. I found her. Well, no, she found me, actually. We were in the same café when I was on tour, and she heard someone call me Lindy-Lou, and she recognised me! Isn’t that amazing? After all this time.’
‘Mmm. Amazing,’ Wendy said in the same flat tone.
Lillian chattered on about Eileen, bringing Wendy up to date with everything that had happened to her since she’d sneaked out of the house all those years ago. She did not succeed in lifting her sister’s spirits, but by the time they got to Basildon, she found that she had lifted her own. Talking about her favourite aunt made her keen to see her again.
Wendy didn’t seem to be listening. She had tied a scarf over her head and kept glancing out of the back window. ‘D’you think he’s following us? I thought I saw a Jaguar.’
‘There’s plenty of them about. Your Terry’s not the only man in town with money,’ James said.
‘I don’t know—’ Wendy wailed. ‘P’raps I shouldn’t of done it. P’raps we ought to go back. There’s still time.’
After all they had done to plan this for her!
‘For God’s sake—’ Lillian muttered.
But James seemed to have endless patience with her. ‘No. You’re doing the right thing, Wendy. If you go back now, one day you could end up dead, and then what would happen to the children?’
He knew her well, Lillian realised sadly. He had hit upon the only argument that cut any ice with Wendy. She glanced round. Her sister was kissing the top of Coral’s head.
‘It’s all right,’ she was murmuring. ‘Mummy’s always going to be here to look after you.’
How odd it was. Three years ago she would never have thought that her sex bomb sister would be the least bit interested in children, but here she was, the devoted mother. Her children meant more to her than the clothes and the cars and the film star life she had always craved. Wendy’s dream had turned out to be a false alley as well. Of the three of them, it was only James who was still forging ahead with his ambition of being a successful businessman. Only last week he had taken on another fitter at While-U-Wait Chelmsford, and he was already talking about where he should open the next branch.
It was a slow journey. The traffic round the North Circular was dreadful, with roadworks holding things up. By midday they were still in London and Terrance needed feeding and Coral was getting grizzly.
‘We’ll have to make a stop,’ Lillian said. ‘Look, there’s a café over there.’
‘I don’t know. Maybe we should just keep going,’ James said.
He sounded tense. The excitement of the morning had died. Lillian put it down to the difficulty of driving in traffic with Wendy moaning in the back.
‘You need a break as much as anyone,’ she said.
As she spoke, a van pulled away from right outside the café. James braked and swerved into the gap.
Wendy had to be coaxed out of the car, still convinced that the moment she showed her face then one of Terry’s cronies would recognise her. But once they were all fed and watered and the children were happy again, she seemed to relax a little.
‘Fancy you finding Aunty Eileen,’ she said. ‘Where did you say she was living?’
Lillian told her all over again. James fiddled with his teaspoon.
‘Come on,’ he said, ‘we haven’t got time to hang about.’
He chivvied them all out again. Lillian watched as he helped Wendy into the back seat, holding the door for her, supporting her elbow, making sure she was comfortable before closing the door carefully. Something in his gestures, a quality of care, of tenderness, brought a jolt of pure jealousy that made Lillian gasp aloud. And then, as if a curtain had been drawn back, it all became horribly clear. There was more to this than just rescuing Wendy. Once she was away from Dempsey, there was
a good chance she would one day be a free woman again. And who had been obsessed with her from the first moment he’d clapped eyes on her? James.
How could she have been so blind? Lillian stood staring at the pair of them, stunned. An incident from way back slid into her mind. She and James were in the yard at Sunny View, mending her bike, talking nineteen to the dozen. She was totally happy, basking in the warmth of his interest. And then suddenly his attention switched off, leaving her cold, leaving her on the outside. James was staring over her shoulder and, even without looking, Lillian knew who had come into the yard. Wendy. It had always been Wendy for him. Just as it had always been James for her. Why else had he never got serious about any of those girlfriends of his? Because he was waiting for this moment. Waiting for Wendy.
‘Come on, Lindy,’ James said. ‘Stir yourself. We’ve got miles to go yet.’
Like a puppet, Lillian got into the car. She hardly noticed the next stretch of the journey, nor the fact that both James and Wendy had gone quiet. She was too absorbed with her own gloomy thoughts.
At last they reached the new Ml.
‘It’s like something out of the American movies, isn’t it? Two lanes and a hard shoulder each side all the way, no roundabouts, no crossroads, no traffic lights. Just these slip roads feeding traffic in and out,’ James said, like a courier pointing out the sights. ‘See the cars going over the bridge? Nothing to hold you up at all. We should make good time now.’
‘Good,’ Lillian said, since he seemed to expect an answer.
She looked at him as he drove. As she did, she realized that he was only acting being cheerful and trying to interest them in the wonders of the motorway when all the time he was uneasy about something. He was usually a relaxed driver, but now his hands were clamped tight to the wheel and his jaw was tense. She waited till Coral was taking Wendy’s attention and she could speak without being overheard.
‘What’s the matter?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Yes, there is. You’ve been worried for quite a while.’
‘I’m not. Everything’s all right.’
‘Don’t treat me like a kid. I know you. What’s up?’
James said nothing. He glanced in the rear-view mirror. Lillian leaned to one side to look in the wing mirror. They were going down a slight slope, so she could see the cars behind clearly. Four or five back was a two-tone Jaguar.
Follow Your Dream Page 36
