McQueen's Agency

by Reynolds, Maureen

  Later, when Ronald and his wife had gone out to the sheds with Christie and Mike, Nelly suddenly said, ‘Now Kenneth, we’ll have to discuss our plans for the wedding. I thought we could get married in the Registry office or would you prefer a church wedding? I also thought we could have Lena and Joe as witnesses.’

  Joe scowled at her while Lena looked as if she would throw her drink over Nelly’s bronze frock.

  To everyone’s surprise, Kenneth stood up and said, ‘Goodnight Nelly.’

  ‘But we have to make our plans.’

  Kenneth stood in the doorway and looked at her. ‘There are no plans to make because there isn’t going to be a wedding. Now, I’m going out to help Ronald and Betty choose their furniture.’

  He turned and marched through the door. Leaving Joe and Lena with small smiles on their lips which they tried to hide.

  Nelly’s mouth was wide open. She was an astonished and unhappy woman.

  Nelly was furious as she remembered Kenneth’s cold voice saying there would be no wedding. She wandered around her house which overlooked the Magdalen Park bandstand.

  Although it was almost midday, she was still wearing her nightdress and dressing gown which had been a present from her late husband, Hans.

  Her marriage had been a loveless match, at least on her side, but had been a reasonably happy one and she wasn’t daft enough to throw away any good quality clothes. Nelly didn’t have Lena and Kenneth’s good taste in clothes although heaven knows she tried hard enough.

  She made some coffee in a pot but didn’t drink it. She was so sure Kenneth would have been overjoyed at this marriage proposal. He knew she had been in love with him ever since she met him and she was an important customer to the firm. Surely he hadn’t found someone else, had he?

  Her eyes narrowed as she thought of Molly. Nelly had seen how he looked at her and although she was sure the girl didn’t reciprocate his feelings, things could change rapidly.

  The fury returned. So he wouldn’t marry her, well she would see about that.

  Now that she had made up her mind on her next course of action, she poured herself a cup of coffee.

  Molly was in the middle of a hectic morning. Kenneth had brought back most of the house sale items and Christie and Mike had already been out on the road delivering some of them. As usual, Ronald and Betty were waiting for some pre-war items they had purchased on their last visit. This time it was an arts and crafts cabinet and sofa plus two oil paintings.

  Lena was lying down, said Joe. She wasn’t feeling well but hoped to be up and about later in the afternoon. Molly typed out all the invoices and catalogued the furniture and paintings that were as yet unsold. She was sending out letters and price lists to some of the shop’s regular customers.

  Mike was in a particularly bad mood and even Joe was staying out of his way. The weather was hot and humid. Molly wondered if a thunderstorm was imminent. Even with the office window open, there was hardly a breath of air.

  She heard a noise at the door and when she turned around, Lena was standing there, moaning. Molly ran over and helped her to a chair. Lena was wearing a long woollen dressing gown and the edge of her plaster peeped out from the sleeve.

  ‘You should be back in bed, Lena. You don’t look well.’

  Lena grabbed Molly’s hand with her good arm. ‘I think I’m going to die, Molly. Where’s Kenneth?’

  Molly ran out to the shed where Joe and Kenneth were arguing about where to place a large sideboard. They both looked up when she ran in.

  ‘It’s Lena … She’s downstairs and she’s ill. She’s asking for you.’ She didn’t mention it was Kenneth she had asked for. After all, maybe Joe would be hurt to know his wife had asked for her brother before her husband.

  The three of them went into the house but there was no sign of Lena.

  ‘She must have gone back upstairs,’ said Joe, as the two men went to look for her.

  When they came back down, they gave Molly a queer look.

  ‘Lena said she’s been in bed all morning. She says she never came downstairs and that you imagined it.’ In fact, Joe was lying when he mentioned this last bit as Lena had said that Molly was lying.

  Joe left but Kenneth remained. Molly went to the desk and sat down. Why would Lena lie about coming down?

  Kenneth said, ‘I believe you, Molly. Lena’s not herself at the moment and I’m making an appointment at the hospital to get a doctor to look at her arm. We have to make an allowance for her just now. I think she’s suffering from an infection in her arm and the sooner we get it sorted out the better.’

  ‘She told me she was dying.’

  He laughed. ‘Nonsense! She’s just feeling a bit sorry for herself because she thinks the business can’t run without her and of course it can.’ He gave her a smile as he turned to go. ‘Only don’t tell her I said that. It’ll hurt her feelings.’

  Molly sat for ages after he left and tried to think things through. The Lena she had seen today was a shadow of the woman who had come into the agency a few weeks ago. Then she had been a vibrant, confident woman and now she was a ghostly waif-like figure. Molly looked outside where the heat was shimmering on the river. Voices floated from the sheds and the sound of the van driving into the courtyard filtered through the open window.

  She made up her mind. She would finish at the end of this week. Even if it meant losing the lucrative contract, she would go out to the temporary jobs that Betty and Jean were now doing. Some of the work was a few days at a time or maybe a week at the most.

  The postman arrived and there was the usual pile of business mail plus a letter for Kenneth. Large, flowing handwriting took up all the space on the cream envelope; a woman’s handwriting Molly thought. She dealt with the business mail and left the personal letter on the desk but Kenneth didn’t come back in.

  Christie wandered in for some of the invoices. Molly asked him to tell Kenneth that a letter had come for him.

  ‘Oh, he’s away with the van. He’s taking some things over to the shop but he’ll be back by early afternoon.’

  ‘Well, will you tell him it’s here. I’ll probably be away by then.’

  But she wasn’t. Joe came in with some extra work at about four o’clock and it took an hour to deal with it all. She was on the verge of leaving when Kenneth arrived back. He looked weary as he threw himself down in the chair.

  Molly asked, ‘Can I make you a cup of coffee or get you some water?’

  She handed him the letter and went into the kitchen. She was coming out with the cup in her hand when he passed her. He looked like he’d had a shock. He looked stunned. Then to Molly’s horror, his face filled with fury and he marched back into the office.

  She put the cup down on the small table beside him but he didn’t seem to notice her. Then he went upstairs.

  Picking up her bag from under the desk, Molly went quietly to the front door and let herself out. The voices were angry and loud. It was Lena and Kenneth. Molly stopped, wondering what was going on then she realised they were arguing. Kenneth’s voice was filled with anger and fury.

  ‘This is Lizzy and Ben we’re talking about. What about them Lena? And the baby?’

  Molly didn’t hear Lena’s reply.

  When she got home, the weather darkened and rain poured down the windows in a torrent. Thunder and lightning crashed in the sky and it seemed as if the very heavens were having temper tantrums.

  She lay down on her bed and fell fast asleep.

  The man was trying to shelter in the doorway but the rain was coming down in large wet drops and he was soon soaked. His good shoes which he had just bought from Birrells in the Overgate were going to be ruined if he stayed here much longer.

  He had been coming to check on Edna most mornings and then again at closing time. Up till now she seemed to be doing a job and nothing else, although he could tell that the red-haired guy was attracted to her. Still he was no threat. A young skinny lad like that.

  Dolly went to the
window. That man was there again. He came most days and seemed to look at the shop. He didn’t always stay in the same close or doorway and today he was sheltering diagonally across from her window.

  Suddenly, as if he became aware of someone’s scrutiny, he looked directly at her. Keeping her composure, she pretended to sort out her curtains, twitching them back and forth as if shaking dust from them. Then she drew a pretend duster over the sills, keeping him in her sights.

  He looked away and went back to glancing at the grocer’s shop.

  ‘That’ll sort you out, my lad,’ she said out loud. ‘Thought you would scare me, did you? Well my old granny always said the Pirie family never fell aff the back o’ a bus.’

  But she was worried nonetheless and went back to the window with feather duster in her hand. He must have been watching someone in one of the shops across the road.

  But when she looked out again, the doorway was empty.

  27

  The man was becoming desperate. He didn’t have much time left and he had to deal with Edna before he went. This job in the shop seemed to be going on forever. It was now the start of a second week and he had no idea how long she was hired for.

  He saw her come out of the shop with a bank bag in her hand and walk down the road towards the bank at the corner of Arbroath Road and Princes Street. He decided to make his move and went into the shop.

  The skinny lad served him with some biscuits. A fat woman was being served by the cheery faced man and she was enjoying a good gossip.

  ‘When’s that sour-faced Nancy coming back?’

  ‘Now, now, Mrs Baxter, she’s my niece so no bad mouthing her, and she’s due back next week. You’ll only have another week of Edna so make the most of it.’

  The man picked up his bag of biscuits and hurried out. He didn’t recognise Dolly when she came in but she knew him.

  ‘Eddie, see that man. He’s been standing every day last week watching somebody and I think it’s this shop. Do you think it’s Edna he’s watching?’

  Eddie looked worried but wasn’t sure if Dolly was fantasising. Living on her own, maybe she liked a wee bit of drama in her life. Still he was going to be vigilant.

  Edna came back but neither Dolly nor Eddie said a word. Perhaps the man had nothing to do with her and it would be a shame to worry her needlessly.

  Mary was puzzled. Molly had brought some invoices into the office but she normally left them in alphabetical form. Ever since she had started here, that had been Molly’s way. In fact, Mary had a quiet laugh at this little foible. But this morning it was different.

  Jean had worked a week at Acorn Potato warehouse and Edna at Albert’s shop. They should have been on the top of the pile but they were in the middle. Molly was at the Lamont’s business and Betty at a firm called Williams the Ironmonger. The Williams’ invoice was on top and Molly’s one was at the back.

  It was almost as if someone had rifled through them and had not put them back the way they were.

  Then the phone rang and she forgot all about it. The caller, a woman, wanted a temporary secretary to work next Monday. Mary wrote the address down and said someone would be there at nine o’clock as arranged.

  The woman came out of the call box and looked at the man. ‘Is that all you wanted me to do?’ she asked.

  The man’s voice was barely audible. He must have a bad cold the woman thought. Poor soul, and him such a big strong fellow.

  ‘I’m really grateful,’ he croaked. ‘I’ve lost my voice and I do need some help with my business, especially as my phone’s broken.’ He tried to laugh but it came out a wheeze. ‘It never rains but it pours right enough, and thank you again.’

  The woman walked off with her message bag and headed for the City Arcade. What a lovely man, she thought. She felt virtuous. It was a good feeling to be able to help someone in need.

  She bought a chicken from Imrie’s stall in the City Arcade and promptly forgot about the man.

  Dolly had kept a discreet eye on the shops across from her house but the man didn’t come back. Maybe she had been wrong about him. Perhaps he was just some man waiting for a girlfriend or wife.

  Today was Friday and she was going in to say cheerio to Edna as she was leaving again after her week’s work was finished. The dreadful Nancy would be back on Monday, but how long for?

  Edna was sorry to be leaving again. She enjoyed the camaraderie of this shop and she was going to miss everyone. She thought Eddie might ask her out to the pictures but he didn’t.

  He was worrying about her because Dolly had mentioned the man and he had also seen him standing in the doorway watching the shop.

  ‘What’re your plans now, Edna?’ he asked, as she was taking off her overall.

  ‘I’ve got a week’s work at an office in Dura Street on Monday. I start at nine o’clock.’ She dug the memo out of her handbag. ‘Steven’s Scrap Metal Company. It’s probably a small company. It usually is. Molly gets work from people who can’t employ a lot of staff and if one or two go off ill, or for whatever reason, then they ask us to help and we then ride to the rescue.’

  ‘I wish you would consider coming here to work all the time, Edna. I dread the thought of Nancy coming back.’

  ‘Surely she can’t be that bad.’

  ‘She is. She can’t count and she gets the customers’ change all wrong. Then she won’t admit it and gets cheeky with the poor customers. We’ve had people who say they won’t be back but, thanks to Albert, they always are.’

  ‘Well, maybe I’ll be back soon if Nancy goes off ill again.’

  ‘If she’s ill then I’m a monkey’s uncle,’ said Eddie and they both laughed.

  Molly was also dreading going in to work. She was normally off on a Friday but because there had been so much work with the house sale items, she had said she would help out. That had been a couple of weeks ago, before all this domestic tension had built up. The house had an oppressive feel about it, which wasn’t helped by the heat. The past week had seen record temperatures and yesterday’s thunderstorm had done little to freshen the air.

  There had been no sign of Lena and while Joe, Mike and Christie were still working hard in the sheds, the house was quiet. At dinnertime, she went upstairs to the bathroom to wash her face in cool water. She tried to be as quiet as possible in order not to waken Lena. As she left the bathroom, she thought she heard quiet sobbing. Then she heard Kenneth’s voice. It was quiet and subdued and she couldn’t make out what was said so she hurried downstairs.

  An hour later, Kenneth appeared and she couldn’t get over the change in him. Gone were the dapper good looks and he looked gaunt and ashen-faced. Molly couldn’t help wondering if the letter had been the cause of this. That and the engagement to Nelly.

  All this tension had started the night the engagement had been announced. Still, after next week she wouldn’t have to think about Lamont Antiques any more.

  When he came into the office, she said, ‘Kenneth, can I have a word with you?’

  He gave her a blank eyed stare before focusing on her. ‘Yes, of course, Molly.’

  Molly hesitated. She didn’t know how he would take it. After all, they were very busy and Lena was no help at the moment. She hoped he wouldn’t be very disappointed at her decision.

  ‘I would like to finish here next week if that’s all right with you and Lena.’

  A muscle twitched in his jaw but he was calm. ‘Yes, I think that’s for the best, Molly. Shall we say next Thursday?’

  Molly was dumbstruck. She knew she wasn’t indispensable but she had thought he would at least have made a show of regret at her leaving. She hadn’t expected this blank-eyed comment.

  Well it all goes to show how wrong you can be with people. She had liked him a lot and she thought he felt the same. They had become friends.

  When she got home, Marigold was waiting for her. She had taken a pot of tea and a jug of orange squash out to the garden.

  ‘Molly, would you like a drink?’ she call
ed over.

  Molly opened the gate and sank down on the wicker chair with the squashy cushion. She was annoyed at herself because all the way home, she had been on the verge of tears. How professional is that she thought as she wiped her eyes with her hand.

  Marigold sat down beside her. ‘I was talking to Peggy again today and she’s been making enquiries about old Mr Abbott. She was speaking to Bunty who’s ninety-one and who used to be a sort of a housekeeper to him. She didn’t live in or anything like that but she went in every day and did his cleaning, cooking and shopping. Now she says that he did have a daughter called Elizabeth who ran away and got married when she was seventeen. She had a son but the husband died. When the lad was about ten they came to visit Mr Abbott and she told her father she was going abroad to marry a widower who had two children.’

  ‘Do you know where she went, Marigold?’

  ‘Bunty thought it was Belgium. She wasn’t sure but Mr Abbott told her it was in Europe.’

  ‘When he died, who would have inherited the house and farm?’

  Marigold took a sip of her orange squash. ‘I suppose it must have been his daughter or the grandson. Bunty said she never set eyes on the two of them again and neither did Mr Abbott.’

  Molly told Marigold about leaving Cliff Top Farm. ‘I think there’s been some sort of family crisis or maybe a bereavement. Kenneth was quite cold when I told him. Maybe they’ve been trying to get rid of me for a while and didn’t want to tell me.’

  Later, back home, she made plans to go to the office tomorrow and see what was on the books. Edna would also be finishing today so Molly hoped some work had come in.

  There was a letter from her parents and Molly read it without taking it in. Nell was keeping well and her parents were enjoying the new scenery and the weather. Her father had signed off with: ‘Hope you’ve got lots of work in the agency.’

  Edna and Irene took Billy to Broughty Ferry beach on the Sunday. It was still warm and sunny and she thought the outing would do them all a world of good.