The Wives’ Revenge

by Lindsey Hutchinson

  ‘Now you’re getting the idea,’ he gave her a feral smile.

  ‘Joshua will bring the police,’ she sobbed.

  Leaning back in his chair, he studied her. ‘Joshua… Ah yes, Joshua Gittins. Well he didn’t find you an hour ago when he came calling now did he? I saw him standing outside… him and his two mates, then he just turned right round and went home.’

  ‘He will come back!’ Kath spat. ‘And when he does and he finds me here like this,’ she struggled again against the bonds restraining her, ‘you’ll be sorry – very sorry indeed!’ Her diatribe left her feeling wretched.

  ‘Oh, he won’t be finding you here, but he might find you face down in the cut if you don’t shut yer yap!’

  Kath watched the anger in him rise and felt her own fear as she thought again of John Sligo found floating in the canal ‘as dead as a doornail’. A cold shudder trickled down her spine as she tried to push the thought away.

  ‘I’m going out a while now but I’ll be back shortly. I have stuff to do. ’ With that he left her in the cold dark room with nothing for company except her fear.

  *

  Waking with a jolt from a sleep she had not realised she was in, Kath saw Potter standing in front of her, holding an oil lamp in his hand.

  ‘I expect to be five hundred pounds richer by this time tomorrow,’ he said, the evil grin back on his face.

  ‘How did you know… about Joshua and me?’ Kath croaked.

  ‘Oh I watched it all happen,’ he said, ‘in fact I’ve been watching you since you opened that piddly little shop! Any woman who can open a shop must have had the backing of a man. Discreet enquiries led me to your house… and Joshua Gittins!’

  The secrecy surrounding the family had been breached and Kath felt her stomach lurch.

  Potter went on, ‘It didn’t take much to keep a watch on your house, taking the odd day off from the salon…’ He sniggered. ‘It aint that far to ride over to Wednesbury. Then the Fates were kind to me and I was fortunate enough to see the vicar arrive one day. I was hiding in the trees, then I sneaked up and watched the whole proceedings through the windows. So Mrs Gittins the rest… is history.’ He let out a laugh that made Kath shiver.

  Lighting the lamp on the desk, he stepped towards her and traced a finger down her cheek to her throat and on to her décolletage, then he said quietly, ‘You know, you are quite a handsome woman for your age.’

  Kath felt bile rise as she shut her eyes tightly.

  Dear God, she prayed silently, don’t let him do this… please don’t let him do what I think he means to do!

  *

  The light streaming in from the window woke her and Kath took in her surroundings once again. She breathed a sigh of relief when she remembered Potter leaving her last night. After his back-handed compliment he had turned and left the room, taking the lamp with him. Kath had cried into the darkness before eventually falling asleep.

  Kath’s body ached now from being tied to the chair for so long and her head throbbed with pain. She was thirsty, hungry and very afraid.

  Bursting through the door, Potter glared at her. ‘That bloody husband of yours…!’ He spat the words into Kath’s face. ‘…He just stood there! I told him in the note where to be with the five hundred pounds and he was there… oh yes he was there… with a load of blokes ready to bash my brains out! This is all your fault!’ Another resounding slap sent her head sideways, leaving her cheek stinging and her eyes smarting. ‘I stood in hiding round the back of the General Post Office watching him and his mates pace up and down so I took off.’

  Kath sobbed, ‘He would have paid you, had you gone to him.’

  ‘I doubt that,’ Potter snarled, ‘he was waiting to give me a hiding, you idiot! I’ll bet he didn’t even have any money with him! Well Mrs Gittins, it don’t look like you are worth anything to your husband, it don’t look like he is willing to pay a penny to get you back!’

  His words whirled in her brain. Surely Potter was wrong? Surely Joshua would pay him for her release? Surely he loved her enough…? Tears trailed down her cheeks as Kath listened to him laugh.

  ‘It don’t matter though,’ he continued, ‘I’ll just chuck you in the “cut” tonight and find another daft bugger with money I can wheedle out of them.’

  He left Kath to her misery. Joshua would come… she was sure he would. He would find her… but would he be in time? How long did she have left before she found herself sleeping with the fishes in the canal? Memories of a frightened Colleen flooded her mind.

  Forty-Nine

  Joshua, Jim and Spencer had waited at the designated spot for Kath to be handed over to them. Joshua held a bundle of newspaper wrapped neatly in brown paper tied with string. As they waited, their hearts hammered in their chests and they looked around them. The streets were busy with people coming and going; carts rumbled past and street hawkers touted their wares, keeping a keen eye out for a constable who would chase them away.

  Spencer’s eyes searched for the man who they suspected had taken Kath. He paced back and forth, anger and distress fusing together. They waited – and waited.

  ‘I don’t think he’s coming,’ Jim said quietly.

  ‘He’d better bloody come!’ Joshua growled. ‘If I get my hands on him – I’ll bloody kill him!’

  ‘Calm down, Dad, you’ll give yourself a heart attack.’ Spencer laid a hand on his father’s arm.

  ‘I can’t lad, I can’t stop thinking he might have…’ A sob caught in his throat.

  ‘Kath will be all right, I’m sure of it. Let’s just wait calmly.’ Unbeknown to his father, Spencer had been harbouring the same thoughts. What if the kidnapper had killed Kath?

  *

  In the meantime, Violet had gathered the others around her in the shop. Harry was with Nancy at Violet’s Play House so Annie had joined them.

  Violet looked at each woman in turn. Martha, Annie, Mary, and Joyce watched her.

  ‘I’m not waiting any longer,’ she began, ‘I’m off to find Potter, because it’s my contention he has kidnapped my mother!’

  ‘Right then,’ Mary said, grabbing her shawl, ‘let’s get going!’

  They walked to Smallbrook Street where Jim had said Potter lived. He had described the place, surprised the man could afford such a fine house. They stopped right outside.

  ‘This must be it,’ Violet said as she marched up the drive to the door. She hammered the knocker loudly. Receiving no answer, she signalled for the others to circle around the back of the house and to peep in windows for any sign of life. Coming back with heads shaking, Violet said, ‘Right. We need to break that window!’

  Joyce took it upon herself to do it and looking around for a boulder, she picked it up and flung it hard against the living room windowpane. There was a resounding crash as the glass gave way to the boulder. Wrapping her shawl around her arm, Joyce pushed out the rest of the glass. She scrambled through the empty window frame into the house and, finding the front door, she let the others inside.

  ‘Spread out,’ Violet said, ‘let’s find that bugger!’

  Running around the ground floor, they searched frantically, and finding no one, they gathered at the bottom of the stairs. No longer worried about the noise, they ascended the stairs and, reaching the top, they heard a voice.

  Looking up at the ceiling, Violet pointed, ‘He’s up there, the bugger’s in the attic!’

  Finding the attic stairs, they made their way up, all the time listening to Potter’s voice raving. They stopped moving each time he drew breath, only continuing when he began to shout again. Who was he shouting at? Was there someone with him? If so, they would have to deal with the other person too. He had obviously not heard the windowpane shatter. Reaching the door, Violet turned to the women behind her; pointing at the door then pushing both hands forward, their nods reaffirmed the action she had indicated.

  Each taking a deep breath, Violet threw the door back on its hinges and they all rushed in. Throwing themselves at
Potter, they pinned him to the floor. Potter gasped as they set about him with clenched fists. Trying to throw them off him, he yelled and cursed, but still they held him down, their anger fuelling their efforts.

  ‘Right Mary, find something to tie him up with,’ Violet said through clenched teeth.

  Mary cast a glance around the room. Seeing nothing suitable, she hitched up her skirt and rolled down her woollen stocking.

  They managed to bind the struggling man’s hands behind his back with the stocking.

  ‘What the hell…!’ Potter yelled.

  Mary took off her other stocking. Dragging him up, they tied him to the chair by the desk.

  ‘Where is my mother?’ Violet demanded.

  ‘How the hell should I know?’ Potter answered with his own question.

  ‘Tell me or I’ll…’ Violet was beside herself with worry, her fists clenching.

  ‘You’ll what? I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ Potter feigned innocence.

  Martha intervened. ‘We know it was you who kidnapped Kath, so tell us where she is and we’ll let you go.’

  ‘Kidnapped! Why would I kidnap someone? Who is this Kath? You’re all mad!’ Potter gave a nervous laugh.

  ‘Five hundred pounds, Potter! That’s why. We saw the note you left on our shop door. The money in exchange for Kath,’ Martha spat venomously.

  Violet pushed her face close to his, causing him to draw his head back so he could focus on her. ‘Mr Potter,’ she said with quiet menace, ‘the mood I’m in right now does not bode well for you.’ Leaning back, she studied him. ‘Do you have children, Mr Potter?’

  ‘Children? What’s that got to do with anything?’ His confusion caused him to frown.

  ‘DO… YOU… HAVE… CHILDREN?’ Violet yelled in his face.

  ‘No – no, I don’t,’ he said, feeling fear creep over him as his eyes pleaded with the other women.

  ‘That’s a shame,’ Violet said as her eyes roamed the small room. Seeing a letter opener on the desk, she picked it up and turned it gently in her hands. ‘This is pretty.’ Standing in front of him, she rasped, ‘So you have no children.’

  Potter shook his head.

  The other women watched silently as Violet circled the man tied to the chair. As she came to face him again, her hand shot out towards his crotch, stopping short before the letter opener touched him. ‘It may be that you will never have any offspring.’

  Potter gasped, sweat forming on his forehead. ‘What do you want from me?’ he croaked.

  Violet waggled the weapon, saying, ‘I want to know where my mother is.’

  ‘I… I don’t know.’

  Violet straightened up and turned to face her friends. ‘What shall we do with this lying piece of rubbish?’

  ‘We could stab him,’ Mary offered up.

  ‘Or we could cut off his baby-making equipment,’ Annie suggested in her own inimitable way.

  ‘Hmm, I like that idea,’ Violet mused, tapping the weapon against her lips.

  ‘Ladies please…’ begged Potter.

  ‘Tell us what we want to know, or…’ Violet brandished the weapon in front of his face.

  ‘All right! All right, she’s in the privy at the back of your shop. Now let me go!’

  ‘Not so fast, Potter,’ Martha said. ‘You’ll be coming with us, then we might hand you over to the coppers. However, what I want to know is how did you get her there without being seen?’

  ‘At night! I took her at night when nobody was about! I threatened to kill her daughter if she made a sound – but I wouldn’t have, I swear!’

  Violet didn’t hear all of Martha’s words. She dropped the letter opener to the floor and rushed from the room, Annie close on her heels.

  The others released Potter from the chair. As they did so, he made a dash for the door, but Joyce stuck her leg out and tripped him. He crashed heavily to the floor, his bound hands unable to break his fall. He groaned as they tied the stocking around his throat like a leash. Helping him up, Martha tugged on the makeshift lead and Potter gagged.

  ‘That’ll do nicely,’ she said. ‘Right, let’s get going. She gave him a shove and he walked towards the stairs. Martha picked up the letter opener as she went.

  Violet ran through the streets, her long skirt clutched in her hands. Her mind was in a whirl. The men were still waiting at the meeting point for Potter to arrive, but she would have to let them wait. She needed to get back to the shop – to the privy out the back. She prayed as she ran, please God let my mother be there!

  Annie, behind her, had slowed her pace, but Violet couldn’t wait for her. She began to sob as she rushed past people who stopped to stare. She dashed across the road, narrowly missing a carter who cursed loudly at her stupidity. Violet ignored him and thundered on, her boots rapping the cobbles in a steady rhythm. She felt a stitch in her side but ignored the pain. She had to find her mother!

  Gasping for breath, Violet ran down the entry at the side of the shop. Yanking the privy door open, she saw her mother sitting on the thunderbox, her hands bound and a gag round her mouth.

  ‘Mum! Oh thank God!’ Violet tore off the gag as Kath stood up. Then she undid the restraints. Mother and daughter wept as they hugged each other tightly.

  Annie came puffing up to them and wound her arms around them both. ‘Thank the Lord you’re safe!’

  *

  Joshua and Spencer arrived back at the shop, raging that Potter had not turned up at the rendezvous point.

  Kath rushed up to her husband as he walked into the shop.

  ‘Kath! Oh Kath, oh thank God you’re safe!’

  Clutching each other tightly, she said, ‘The wenches saved me, Joshua.’

  Looking at the women in turn, nods were exchanged in grateful thanks.

  Speaking up, Violet said, ‘However, we still have this to deal with!’

  The line of standing women parted, revealing Mr Potter still bound and now gagged. The women had walked him through the streets without the leash, but he was well aware of Martha very close behind him with the letter opener occasionally digging him in the ribs. Joshua released Kath instantly and shot towards Potter with his fists clenched. The line of women closed again before Joshua reached his target.

  ‘There are things you need to know first,’ Violet said to Joshua, looking him directly in the eye. Kath shot her daughter a warning look and Violet said to her, ‘It’s time, mother, time he knows everything.’ The women exchanged a look before Kath nodded resignedly.

  With everyone gathered in the shop area, Violet suggested they went home, taking Potter with them, where they could unravel the extensive tale of the Wednesbury Wives for Joshua.

  Once back at Gittins Manor, Potter was pushed unceremoniously into the cellar to await his fate… a clear warning to remain silent being the last words he heard before the door was banged shut, leaving him in darkness.

  Violet rang for tea and once the maid had left the room, the tale began.

  The women watched as Joshua sat listening intently whilst the story unfolded before finally saying, ‘Bloody hell!’

  There was a long silence as everyone gave Joshua time to absorb what he’d been told. Nervous glances were exchanged as the women wondered what he would do about what he’d heard. Eventually he said, ‘After all this damned nonsense with Kath, I can understand. I was ready to kill Potter myself!’ Then using Violet’s words of years before he added, ‘Justifiable retribution for every one of them.’ He was, of course, referring to the people the ‘Wives’ had dealt out punishment to.

  He had been holding Kath close throughout and now Joshua pulled her closer still, kissing her tenderly, a small but significant sign to them all they had done the right thing bringing him into their coterie.

  *

  The following morning saw them all meeting once more at Joshua’s house, Gittins Lodge, to decide about what should be done about Potter. Given breakfast, the man had once more been left alone to think on his plight.

>   ‘Joshua,’ Kath said, ‘he knows we are married, and I don’t think money would keep his mouth closed. After all he was set to keep me in the privy at the back of the shop and continue to ask for more money!’

  ‘Was he now?’ said Joshua. ‘Right then, ladies, what should we do with our Mr Potter?’

  The women looked at each other at a loss for ideas when Mary muttered into her teacup, ‘First of all, that bugger ought to lose all his money, if you ask me!’

  Looking up into the silence of the room and seeing the smiles on the faces surrounding her, Mary sighed heavily, ‘Oh bloody hell!’

  *

  Later in the day, Joshua and Spencer returned to Spencer’s house and went into the cellar.

  ‘Where do you keep your money, Mr Potter?’ Joshua asked as he walked around the man sitting on the floor.

  ‘I ain’t telling you!’ Potter said indignantly.

  ‘Tell us where your money is, and we’ll let you go,’ Joshua added.

  ‘I don’t believe you!’ Potter’s tongue dragged across his thin lips. ‘The women said that and now look where I am!’

  ‘Please yourself,’ said Spencer as he and his father made to leave.

  ‘You promise to let me go if I tell you?’ said Potter pleadingly, as he turned his head to look at them.

  Joshua turned around saying, ‘Just tell us where the money is and we’ll even take you home.’

  Looking from one to the other with fear in his eyes, Potter made his decision. ‘It’s under the mattress,’ he said resignedly.

  Father and son walked from the cellar, leaving the man wondering what was to be done with him.

  *

  ‘Just like that? He told you just like that?’ Violet asked.

  ‘Ar wench, I think he preferred to deal with us rather than you lot.’ Laughter erupted in the living room where everyone was gathered. ‘So,’ Joshua went on, ‘I suggest we all take Mr Potter home, everyone agreed?’

  Teacups saluted the air as nods came from them all.

  Potter was marched up to the living room and he squinted as daylight assaulted his eyes. ‘Now, Mr Potter,’ Joshua began, once again taking a menacing walk around the man, ‘we must have your assurance you will behave yourself on our journey to your house.’