by Joan Lingard
‘Watch it,’ said Tommy. ‘The word’s going round.’
They did not quicken or slacken their pace. They kept their hands in their pockets.
‘There’s a shop,’ said Tommy. ‘We’ll ask there.’
It was like Mrs McConkey’s shop: it sold everything. There were no customers.
‘Can you tell us where Kevin McCoy lives?’asked Tommy.
The woman came to the door to point out the direction.
They followed her instructions and easily found the street. They noticed more youths around, leaning against walls, idling. No one spoke or moved.
The McCoys’ door was closed. Most of the others in the street stood open. Tommy knocked and stood facing it. Steve leant against the wall facing the street.
The door was opened by Kevin McCoy.
‘Well, well!’ he exclaimed, but Tommy could tell that he was not at all surprised. ‘Have you come on a social visit? It would seem to be a formal call, with you knocking at the door.’
‘I’ve come for my sister.’
‘Your sister?’ Kevin frowned, and for the first time Tommy wondered if he was right.
‘Yes, Sadie. You know her.’
‘Oh, I know her all right,’ Kevin smiled. ‘We keep bumping into her. But she’s not here.’
‘Where is she then?’
‘How should I know? Why don’t you know? You’re her brother, aren’t you?’
A few youths had moved up and stood in a semi-circle round them. Steve watched them warily.
‘She’s missing,’ said Tommy.
‘Missing?’ Kevin laughed. ‘That one couldn’t be missing. Run away more than likely. Right tearaway.’
‘We haven’t seen her since last night.’
‘Have you not now? Dear me. I am sorry.’ And all the while Kevin grinned.
‘You’ve seen her, haven’t you?’
‘Never set eyes on her.’
‘Liar!’
The semi-circle tightened, closed in a little.
‘What is it, Kevin?’ Brede’s voice came from behind him.
She appeared by his side and looked at Tommy.
‘Who’s this, Kevin?’
‘Nobody you know. Or want to.’
‘I’m Tommy Jackson,’ said Tommy quickly. ‘Sadie’s brother.’ He saw recognition in the girl’s eyes. ‘You know her, don’t you?’
‘We’ve met,’ she said slowly.
‘I’m looking for her. She’s missing from home.’
‘We can’t help you,’ said Kevin.
‘But Kevin…’ Brede began, looking at him.
‘What is it?’ asked Tommy.
‘Nothing,’ said Kevin. ‘Away to the kitchen. Brede.’
‘I’ll do nothing of the sort,’ she said. ‘You won’t order me into any kitchen, Kevin McCoy.’
Tommy smiled. She had soft brown eyes and short dark hair that curled close to her head. He appealed to her.
‘Have you seen Sadie? Please tell me if you have. I’m worried about her.’
Brede hesitated. There were a lot of eyes watching her.
‘Was she here last night?’
‘Yes.’
‘She came and messed up our kitchen. But we don’t know where she is now,’ said Kevin roughly. ‘And that’s the God’s own truth.’
‘You wouldn’t know the God’s own truth if you saw it,’ said Steve, unable to stay out of it any longer.
The youths muttered at that, pressed forward again. One was knuckling Tommy’s back now. He did not look round.
‘It is the truth,’ said Brede. ‘We haven’t seen her since the early hours of the morning.’
‘Someone must have,’ said Tommy.
‘We’ll be saying good day then,’ said Kevin. ‘If you go back home you’ll likely find her there. She’s probably been hiding all this time to give you a fright. I wouldn’t put it past her.’
The semi-circle opened to allow them to get out. Tommy looked back at Brede.
‘I hope you find her,’ she said.
‘You boys let these two go,’ said Kevin. ‘We’re not wanting them telling tales of being set on by five dozen Catholics.’
Tommy and Steve were followed at a distance of about ten yards. The group behind whistled ‘The Boys of Wex-ford’, and some called out insulting remarks about King Billy and his followers. Steve’s face grew redder and redder.
‘Never let on you hear,’ said Tommy. ‘We’re not wanting any fights. They’d trample us into the ground.’
‘If there was half the number I’d take them on,’ said Steve.’ What are we going to do now?’
‘Go home and see if she’s there.’
‘And if she’s not?’
‘Tell me da.’ Tommy sighed.
‘What’ll he do?’
‘Go to the police I suppose.’
‘McCoy was in a queer hurry to shut the door. I shouldn’t wonder if he didn’t know more than he let on to. I don’t think he was telling the truth.’
‘But I’m sure his sister was,’ said Tommy.
Chapter Twelve
Sadie Discovered
Kevin closed the door and followed Brede into the kitchen.
‘What did you have to tell him for?’
‘He was worried.’
‘That’s her look-out. And her fault’ Kevin stood at the back door and looked out into the yard. ‘I wonder where she is.’
‘I hope she’s all right.’
‘It’ll be no doing of ours if she’s not. She came over here of her own free will and threw flour all over me and wrote all over our table. Remember that.’
‘I’m not forgetting.’ Brede took a bottle down from the shelf and unscrewed the cap. The pungent smell of bleach filled the kitchen.
‘No, don’t do that,’ said Kevin as she began to pour some of the bleach into a basin. ‘Let the table alone.’
‘But why?’
‘Evidence. We might well have the police over here.’
Brede screwed the cap back on. ‘I hope this is all over and done with before da comes back.’
‘So do I! The quickest way to get it over would be to find the girl and send her packing.’ Kevin scratched his head. ‘She must be hiding some place.’
‘Over here do you think?’
‘It’s beginning to look like it. We had the block sealed off so unless she slipped past Brian when he was sleeping she must still be inside it.’
‘That means she must be in somebody’s backyard.’
Kevin nodded thoughtfully.
‘But there’s hardly room to hide a cat in the yards,’ Brede objected. ‘She’d have been found in the morning as soon as the back door was opened.’
‘Unless the back door wasn’t opened.’
‘Everyone opens their back door in the morning. Especially in the summer.’
‘They don’t if they’re away.’ Kevin’s eyes lit up. ‘Brede, that must be it!’
‘You could be right. There’s a few of them away just now.’
Kevin found a piece of paper and a pen and they made a list of unoccupied houses in their street. They were not so sure about the one backing on to it so Brede ran and fetched Kate for that was her street. There were eight houses in all. Kevin studied the list carefully.
‘But how are you to get into the yards, Kevin?’ asked Brede.
‘I’ll have to go along the back wall.’
‘You’ll get bawled off before you’re a yard or two along,’ said Kate. ‘You know what they’re like round here.’
‘And that would warn the girl,’ said Brede. ‘Anyway, we don’t want to let the whole street know what’s going on.’
‘Ay, a bit of discretion’s called for,’ Kevin agreed, and Brede winked at Kate. ‘What we need is a diversion in the street. Something to bring them out to their front doors.’
‘In two streets,’ Kate reminded him.
‘We could start a fight,’ said Brian, who had come in a moment before.
Bre
de groaned. ‘That’s all you boys can think of. That wouldn’t bring them to their doors.’
‘You’ll just have to make a noise,’ said Kevin. ‘Round up all the kids and tell them to make as big a racket as they can. Bang drums, yell, anything they like.’
Brian and Kate ran off.
‘I’ll stay at headquarters,’ said Brede. ‘You never know – I might be needed here. To bandage the wounded or the like.’
‘There’s no call to be sarcastic!’
She followed him into the yard. ‘Now take care you don’t slip and do yourself an injury.’
He made to cuff her lightly across the ear but she ducked. He waited beneath the wall until they heard the noise gathering in the streets.
‘Sounds like they’re taking it seriously,’ said Brede.
Kevin sprang up on to the wall. He went quickly along it, stopping at the first house on the list. He dropped into the yard, checked it over, tried the back door, found nothing. Up again, and on to the next one. The yards were deserted, the front doorsteps would be crowded. There was enough noise going on to gather the whole of Belfast. The next yard was empty too, and the next. The last on the list was at the end of the street. That too revealed nothing. Where could she have gone? He stood for a moment frowning and running his hands through his hair. Then he vaulted over the end wall and almost landed on the back of Mrs Lavery, renowned for the sharpness of her tongue.
‘What in the name of goodness is going on the day?’ she demanded. ‘The din is something terrible and then I get near knocked on me back by a great lout like you. What were you doing in there anyway, Kevin McCoy?’
‘Nothing.’
‘That’d be right! Up to no good, I wouldn’t wonder. Just you wait till your da gets back.’ She went off muttering to herself. She clouted a couple of children over the head as she passed them.
Kevin found Brian and told him to call off the demonstration. The children were enjoying themselves and were reluctant to stop.
‘O.K. then, break it up. Break it up.’ Brian patrolled the block like a policeman.
Kevin went back to Brede.
‘Maybe she’s home by now,’ suggested Brede. ‘It might be an idea to find out.’
‘It might at that.’
‘But 1 don’t think you should go. They know your face too well.’
Brian came in to report that all was quiet, more or less. There were a few enthusiasts still banging drums but no doubt they would soon tire of it or would be persuaded to tire of it by the neighbours.
‘What now?’ he asked.
They told him what they were thinking and he offered to go over to the Jacksons’ street himself. ‘They don’t know me well. And 1 can wear me sister’s sunglasses.’
‘Be unobtrusive now,’ said Kevin who would rather have been going himself. But he knew Brede was right. And anyway, he had a funny feeling that the girl was still around somewhere, not far away, and if anyone found her it was going to be him.
He went out again and patrolled the block. Kate joined him. She chattered to him the whole time, about the cheek of Protestant girls and related subjects. He did not speak much. He did not even look as if he was listening. But men were like that. Her father was just the same when her mother talked to him.
After they had been round three times they were allowed to take a rest. They leant against the end wall to await Brian’s return.
‘Here he comes,’ Kate let out a peal of laughter. ‘He’s a right looking eejit in those glasses.’
The glasses were large and round, like blue moons, and covered half of Brian’s face.
‘I should think you had the half of Belfast looking at you in those things,’ said Kevin.
‘Nobody looked at me twice.’
‘Maybe you couldn’t see them.’
Brian took off the glasses and blinked in the sunshine. ‘I don’t know how our Nancy wears them. I was beginning to feel sick with everything looking blue.’
‘And what have you to report?’
‘She’s not turned up yet. There’s a great fuss going on. The women are getting agitated and the men are getting badgered to do something. There was talk of kidnapping.’
‘Kidnapping!’
They went back to the McCoys’ house. Brede was sitting on the doorstep. They squatted on the pavement beside her.
‘I’ve been thinking,’ she said. ‘She must have got into somebody’s house. Somebody must have forgotten to lock the back door.’
‘But I tried them all,’ said Kevin.
‘Of those eight you did. But I was wondering who else might be likely to leave their door open. And I came to the conclusion that it could be old Mr Mooney. He was taken away to the hospital very sudden yesterday, you remember?’
‘Brede, that might be it’ Kevin jumped up. ‘I’d forgotten him. The front door might not have been locked either. We’re going to find out. If it’s open. Brede and I’ll go in, and you and Kate keep guard outside, Brian.’
The street was fairly quiet now, except for a few small children preoccupied with their games. Kevin tried the handle of Mr Mooney’s door. It turned.
He nodded to Brede and she passed into the house in front of him. Then he shut the door.
It was dim in the hall. The two doors leading off it were closed. Kevin went to the one that led into the kitchen. He flung it open.
There, sitting on the table eating biscuits and reading a crumpled old newspaper, was Sadie Jackson.
‘I forgot to check the front door,’ she said. ‘That was stupid of me.’
‘Real stupid,’ agreed Kevin.
‘Been looking for me? I saw you crawling along the back wall a while back. You looked like one of the monkeys you see in the zoo.’ Sadie smiled and swung her legs. For once Kevin seemed to be at a loss for words.
‘How long were you going to stay here?’ asked Brede.
‘Until it was dark. I had a look out into the street once or twice but there was no chance for me to get away.’
She was still smiling and swinging her legs but she was watching them warily. Kevin stood with his back to the hall door.
‘You’ve caused us a lot of trouble.’
‘That was my intention.’
‘And your family’s worried about you,’ said Brede. ‘Your brother was looking for you this morning.’
Sadie shrugged. She slid off the table. ‘Maybe I’d better be going now.’
‘Oh no you don’t.’ Kevin caught her by the arm. ‘Not just as easy as that.’
‘Let her alone, Kevin,’ said Brede. ‘You wanted to get her home.’
‘Not before she atones for her sins.’
‘Get that!’ Sadie tossed her long mane of hair. It looked tangled and in need of a brush. ‘Sounds like real Papist talk.’
‘You can come and clean our kitchen table up and then we’ll let you go.’
He led Sadie to the front door. Kate and Brian were waiting on the pavement.
‘So she was there after all,’ said Kate. ‘She’s a right looking sight. She looks as if she’s been in the dustbin.’
Sadie gave Kate a murderous look.
‘Hey,’ said Brian, ‘look at what’s coming!’
They turned and looked. Advancing up the street was a small band of men headed by two policemen.
‘HELP!’ screamed Sadie.
Chapter Thirteen
A Confrontation
The men quickly surrounded the children. Sadie placed herself between her father and brother and allowed her father to put his arm around her shoulders. She rubbed at the marks that Kevin’s fingers had left on her wrist making the skin redder than ever.
‘They kidnapped me,’ she said. ‘Held me prisoner all night.’
‘That’s a lie,’ roared Kevin.
‘Indeed it is,’ said Brede quietly.
‘Why else would she stay here all night?’ asked Sadie’s father, stepping forward to confront Kevin.
‘It might be an idea if you were to ask
her that.’
‘Now then,’ said the police sergeant, nudging Mr Jackson back. He could foresee trouble if they didn’t get this sorted out quickly. Doors were opening all up the street, They only needed a few insults on either side, a stone or two, and they’d have a riot on their hands. ‘Let me handle this.’
‘What is it you’re handling, officer?’ asked a voice over the head of the crowd.
Brian’s father, Pat Rafferty, stood there, all six foot three of him, and shoulders as wide as an ox. He had them squared now. He was well known for the weight of his fists and had languished the odd night in jail on account of them. It took four policemen to get him to the barracks when he was drunk. He was sober now but had his fists loosely clenched.
‘Keep your head on. Pat,’ said the sergeant. ‘There was a girl reported missing and we got the tip off that she might be here and she was.’
‘Held against my will,’ put in Sadie.
‘Liar,’ yelled Brian.
‘If my son says she’s a liar then she is,’ said Pat Rafferty. ‘I’ve brought him up to tell the truth.’
‘The truth!’ said one of the Protestant men. ‘You don’t know the meaning of the word.’
‘Is that right now? Come on out here and I’ll soon show you the meaning of it.’
The children cheered and Pat Rafferty brought his fists up from his sides.
‘Stow it, Rafferty.’ The sergeant saw that a large crowd had gathered now: women and children. They must be coming from all the streets around. Their group was getting pinned up against the wall and would soon have no room to manoeuvre. ‘Back!’ he shouted. ‘Keep back!’
Nobody paid a bit of attention.
‘If it’s a fight they’ve come for they can have it and welcome,’ said Pat Rafferty.
‘We’ve come for no fight,’ said Mr Jackson. ‘I came for my daughter.’
‘Well, you’ve got her now by the looks of it. You can take her home. Nobody’s stopping you.’
‘We want justice done,’ said Mr Mullet. ‘We’re not going to have our girls kidnapped under our noses.’
‘Who’d want them?’ said Brian.
The crowd laughed, swirled around a little, and someone, accidentally or not, knocked off the constable’s hat. A small child footed it up into the air and it was caught by Pat Rafferty who stuck it on the back of his head. It was about three sizes too small. More laughter.
