by Cathy Sharp
Billy turned her so that she was lying back against the cushions, pushing down her bra and kissing and caressing her breasts. His hand slid down the side of her thigh and then he inched her skirt up, his hand slipping underneath to caress her inner thigh and then slip beneath her knickers to touch her. She felt a shiver of anticipation and parted her legs for him to stroke her there, where he’d never touched her before, something inside her begging for him to do more – to make her his own – and a soft mewing sound escaped her.
Groaning, Billy buried his face in her neck and then she felt him tense as he jerked away and sat up, giving her a rueful look.
‘This wasn’t such a good idea, Ellie love,’ he said and gave her his hand, pulling her to her feet. ‘Come on, if we stay here I shall do things I promised myself I wouldn’t until we’re married …’
‘You can if you want,’ Mary Ellen said, looking at him trustingly. ‘I love you, Billy – don’t think I don’t want to as much as you do …’
‘I’m not going to give Rose the satisfaction of proving I’m what she thought I was,’ he said and laughed wryly. ‘I’m better than that, Ellie, and so are you. We’ll wait until Rose relents and lets us get married. We’re goin’ to the club and you’re goin’ to pass your exams and take that teaching course …’
Billy was thoughtful as he walked home after seeing Mary Ellen safely in her door after their time at the club. It was still early and he didn’t feel like going to bed. He would rather have been out with Mary Ellen somewhere having a lovely time, but lately all she seemed to do was spend a short time with him and then get back to her studies.
Something drew his attention to the girl leaning up against the wall just ahead of him. He was sure he knew her and when he got closer he saw it was Marion. She was crying and her pretty blouse had been torn.
‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, stopping to put his hand out to her. She shrank back but then, seeing it was him, she threw herself against him and started weeping into his chest. Billy held her carefully. ‘Did someone hurt you?’
‘He beat me ’cos I wouldn’t do it with another bloke who paid for me …’ Marion wept. ‘I ain’t a whore, Billy, you know I ain’t – and I won’t go with men for money …’
‘I know you’re not,’ he replied and frowned. ‘Who did this to you, Marion? What’s his name? Tell me and I’ll give him a good hidin’ …’
‘Oh, Billy …’ Marion looked at him with tears on her cheeks. ‘I wish you loved me. I’d never have got involved with him then …’ She pressed close to Billy, reached up and kissed him hungrily on the mouth. ‘Please, Billy …’
He pushed her gently back, looking at her sadly. ‘I can’t do that, Marion, you know I love Mary Ellen – but I’m your friend and if you tell me the name of the brute that did this to you, I’ll give him a thrashin’ …’
‘No – he’d stick a knife in your back,’ Marion said and looked over her shoulder. ‘Leave me alone, Billy. You can’t help me.’
‘You should tell Sergeant Sallis, he’ll arrest him.’
‘No! I shouldn’t ’ave told you …’
She started to run down the street. Billy stared after her, shaking his head. There was nothing he could do if she wouldn’t either tell him the name of her tormentor or go to the police.
‘Thanks for coming to see me, Billy,’ Sam said when he visited the showroom the next morning. ‘Mary Ellen told you I wanted to ask a favour of you?’
‘Yeah, anything I can do,’ Billy said. ‘You know I’m working for Mr Connolly most of the time, but I can do any job you want in my own time …’
‘I was going to ask you for two things,’ Sam said and hesitated, then, ‘I want you to take a good look at our stuff and keep your eye out for anything you think might have come from here when you’re round the markets. A lot of it will be legit of course, but you never know what you might see when you’re travelling round the various areas.’
‘I’m already doing that,’ Billy said. ‘Mary Ellen told me about that stolen blouse she saw being unloaded. I think I know whose stall it is, Sam, but I’ll make a few more inquiries and be certain before I say – and I’ll let you know if I see more of your stuff in suspicious circumstances. Now, what was the second thing?’
‘Have you found somewhere to live yet?’ Billy shook his head. ‘Well, I’ve got a few rooms above this place. I lived there myself when I started out, until some years ago when I bought my cottage. The rooms need a bit of repair and I’m going to set it in hand straight away, but it will be a couple of weeks before it’s all done – I wondered if you’d take the rooms on, Billy. I’ll have the plumbing and electric seen to, but you do them up yourself, paint them a bit …’
‘What rent are you lookin’ for?’
‘I don’t want rent – at least not money,’ Sam said. ‘I want you living on the premises, Billy. I don’t like this place bein’ empty every night. If I stop the rogues pinching from the showroom when they come in, the next thing will be a break-in. If you’re on the premises it should deter some of them from smashing their way in … you see there’s more to this than meets the eye, lad. I’m being threatened, because I won’t pay protection money to someone. The pilfering is just to let me know that they’re watching me – and I know it’s just the first step. I’ve been told I’ve got one last chance and if I don’t do as I’m told …’
‘They’ll beat you up and then they’ll smash this place up … is that it?’
Sam nodded, his gaze very intent. ‘Would you take on the job of night watchman, Billy? Be here and stop them breaking in and smashing it to pieces?’
Billy stared at him in amazement, thinking he was dreaming. ‘You mean I can have it rent free just for keepin’ an eye on the place?’
‘If you’re willing?’ Sam arched his brows. ‘I know you’ve been lookin’ for somewhere to live and I’ll feel much better if I know you’re here a lot. I’ll put the phone on for you and you can telephone me if you think there’s something fishy goin’ on – and I’ll get some mates of mine round. The police are worse than useless. Call ’em out tonight and they’ll arrive three days later and take notes. What I need is to warn the buggers orf!’
‘That’s why Mr Connolly hired me,’ Billy said and grinned. ‘I don’t mind doin’ the same for you – I’ll be glad to move in tonight.’
‘There’s no electric yet …’
‘I’ll manage with oil lamps and a couple of torches until we get it put right,’ Billy said. ‘I don’t mind camping out for a bit … even though I’ll need to go back to St Saviour’s to wash and eat for a while.’
‘No need for that, you can come round the corner to me,’ Sam said. ‘It’s time you left there, lad. I’m sure Sister will be glad to get rid of you …’
‘Yeah,’ Billy laughed. ‘I’ll bring my stuff round later when I’ve finished work. I’m not sure what Mr Connolly wants me to do for the rest of the day, but it’s not often much on Saturday.’
‘Don’t let anyone know what you’re doing yet,’ Sam said. ‘Oh, you can tell Sister Beatrice, of course, but no one else …’
‘All right,’ Billy agreed. ‘We’ll keep this between us, Sam – but I’m very grateful and it will make all the difference to Mary Ellen and me. Once I’ve got the place fixed up, Rose will have no reason to say we can’t afford a place of our own …’
‘So you’re leaving us for your own home at last, Billy,’ Sister Beatrice said when he told her his news. ‘Well, I’m very pleased for you. I think it’s an excellent opportunity for you – effectively, you’ll be doing two jobs. Working for Mr Connolly and acting as night watchman for Sam. Yes, that sounds very satisfactory – providing you’re not placing yourself in danger?’
‘Oh no, Sister, I’m sure it will be fine,’ Billy said. ‘Sam’s had too much pilferin’ lately and he’s putting a stop to it so he’s afraid the rogues may try to break in at night, but if I’m there on the premises they’ll think twice about trying it on …’ Bi
lly knew better than to tell Sister what Sam had told him or what he planned to do if the rogues did break in, because she certainly wouldn’t approve of any rough stuff.
‘Well, I’m sorry to see you go, Billy, but as you know, I have two more children staying here on a longer-term basis now and your room will come in useful. However, if you ever need advice or help please feel free to come to me. I stand in place of a parent to you and I am always here …’
‘Yeah, I know,’ Billy said. ‘I heard Archie Miller and his sister were back. You could tell Archie Ted Hastings was asking after him this morning. He might give him a job if he asks …’
‘Yes, I shall speak to him,’ she smiled and nodded approvingly. ‘You are one of our success stories, Billy Baggins. I am proud to know you …’
Billy stared in surprise and then reached out and gave her a quick bear hug, from which she emerged looking flustered and unsure. ‘I reckon you’ve done us proud, Sister,’ he said. ‘Yeah, I’m proud to know you an’ all.’
CHAPTER 21
The woman entered the prison meeting room, looking round nervously. When she saw Beatrice she came towards her, some of her apprehension disappearing as she responded to the female prison officer’s order to sit down. Drawing out a chair from the small table, she looked at Beatrice in inquiry.
‘It’s lovely of you to come and see me, Sister, but I’m not sure why …?’
‘I should have come long before this,’ Beatrice admitted. ‘Forgive me, Mrs Miller, but like many others I assumed there was no smoke without fire and now I am ashamed that I did not immediately take steps to offer you my assistance. However there were reasons why I delayed …’
‘Why should you bother about me? We’ve never met, have we?’
‘No, but your children were brought to me a short time after your unfortunate arrest …’ Beatrice took a deep breath. ‘I have more than one piece of news for you, some of it is unpleasant, and I fear that I hold some small blame in it, though others are more culpable.’
‘You’d better tell me the worst,’ Sandra Miller said and her hands were tight with tension on the table in front of her, her face pale and strained, and yet there was strength there too.
‘Firstly, I think I should give you hope,’ Beatrice said. ‘I have been reliably informed that an action I and some others put in motion has seen some positive results. I believe it will not be too long before you are released – and another is tried for the crime of which you were accused.’
‘Someone else told me that …’ Her eyes closed for a moment, and Beatrice saw a tear roll from the corner of her right eye, and then she was looking at her. ‘I must thank you for your efforts, Sister Beatrice, though I still do not know why you should have gone to so much trouble on my behalf.’
‘Archie convinced me that you are innocent, and though at first I thought it just the words of a loving son, I have since learned to understand him – and therefore I am certain that his mother is not a thief.’
A smile touched Sandra’s lips briefly. ‘He’s just like his father …’
‘A good man, I am sure, and much missed.’
‘Yes.’ Sandra’s eyelashes were wet with unashamed tears. ‘Do you know when I am likely to be released?’
‘The lawyers are working on it, but I cannot give you precise details. The person who has done most to help you was to have accompanied me today, but was unable to do so, but he assured me your release would be soon. It could even be within a few days, or it may be longer – but Mr Hendry assured me that I might pass the news on as he believes it definite.’
‘Thank God …’ Sandra smiled through her tears. ‘You are extremely kind, Sister Beatrice.’
‘I did only what I thought right, but I fear what else I have to tell you will not be pleasant hearing. Indeed, it will hurt you and you may blame me for not trying harder to prevent it, but I can only apologise and say that it was not my choice.’
‘Has something happened to Archie?’
‘Archie is well. I fear his sister, although now safely back in my care, has suffered in a way I wish she had not.’
Sandra gripped the edge of the table between them, her knuckles white with tension. ‘What happened?’
‘She was taken into foster care despite my doubts and against my advice – and I fear they were not good people. It was this that made me delay visiting you for I hoped she would be back safe with me before I saw you, and she is now. Unfortunately, June has been badly treated … violently molested, and she is suffering. She needs her mother and cries for you constantly, though Staff Nurse Wendy does her best to comfort her, as does Archie himself …’
Sandra stared at her, dismay, anger and bewilderment chasing themselves through her expressive eyes. ‘How could such a thing happen?’ she asked at last. ‘I thought foster parents were rigorously checked?’
‘And so they should have been, and were, I dare say,’ Beatrice agreed. ‘However, mistakes were made, and I believe the whole affair was rushed and botched. I have already put in an application to have the order for fostering rescinded and June placed legally in my care until you are able to take her back into your own loving arms.’
Sandra stared at her, tears trickling silently down her cheeks. She brushed them away impatiently. ‘It must have been hard for you to come here and tell me this,’ she said. ‘What is being done about these people? Have the police been informed?’
‘Yes, that was set in motion immediately by the man who took it upon himself to rescue her from those people, Mrs Miller. I have not yet heard the outcome but I imagine Mr Bailey and his wife will be arrested …’
‘This man … the one that rescued June,’ Sandra said. ‘You’re talking about Ikey, aren’t you? He visited me a couple of days ago.’
‘I didn’t know Ikey had visited,’ Beatrice replied and frowned. ‘Did he tell you about June and how he rescued her?’
‘No, he didn’t,’ Sandra said, a glint of anger in her eyes now. ‘What sort of a man is he exactly?’
‘He declined to tell me his story, but I believe he has known suffering of his own. All I can tell you is that he has been a good friend to Archie and June – he was the one that snatched her from her foster parents’ house …’
‘Snatched her?’ Sandra frowned. ‘Are you sure he is to be trusted?’
A little smile touched Beatrice’s mouth. ‘As sure as I am of anything in this life. They say you should not judge a book by its cover, Mrs Miller, and it is certain that you should not judge a man by his clothes …’
Sandra joined the other women at the work benches sewing mail sacks. She was seething with anger as she stitched at the coarse material, which roughened her hands and tore her nails, resenting every second she was forced to spend in this place. Her anger was directed at the people who had believed a liar and ruined her life, the way she’d been treated as if she were a thief and her story disbelieved, and at the woman who had taken her daughter away from the safety of Sister Beatrice’s care and given her to those wicked foster parents.
If she’d thought there was a chance of getting out of that place she would have fought her way free, but the sound of keys in locks haunted her sleep and she knew she was trapped until they let her out. It didn’t stop the bitterness frothing inside her to know that people were working to get her free – she shouldn’t have been in there and if she’d been home with her daughter June would not have suffered physical abuse.
Tears burned in her throat as she remembered the happy glow she’d felt after Ikey’s visit. He’d told her that he was working to get her free – why hadn’t he told her about June instead of letting her think her children were both safe? She wanted to shout at him, to hit him and vent her frustration and fury on him for not telling her – because how could she trust a man who had lied to her? How could she believe that he would really do what he’d promised?
Archie hovered at the edge of the market. Billy had told him to accompany him that morning and use his time to speak t
o Ted Hastings about getting his job back.
‘Where shall I meet you afterwards?’
‘If Ted isn’t pleased to see you, just wander about the market and look at the stalls selling clothes. I’ll ask you to look at some things at Sam’s place later and you can tell me if you noticed anything similar while you were lookin’ round.’
Archie decided he’d mooched about long enough and walked through the covered market. Ted was serving a customer and didn’t see him immediately, but then he frowned.
‘What are you doin’ here, lad?’
‘Billy Baggins brought me with ’im,’ Archie said. ‘He’s doin’ his job and said I should ask if you had a job for me …’
‘I gave you a job before but you let me down.’ Ted looked at him hard.
‘They sent me away and I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to come and ask for a job as soon as I got back to London, but I couldn’t … you were talkin’ to Billy and I thought you would turn me in …’
‘Did you do something bad?’
‘Not wicked,’ Archie said. ‘They sent my sister somewhere else and I had to find her so I ran away and came back to London, but at first Sister Beatrice wouldn’t help us … but then Ikey found the address and we went and fetched June from them rotten devils.’
‘I think I need to hear more of this, lad,’ Ted said, turning away as someone came to his stall and asked for a bag of onions. ‘Look, come and see me at home this evening, and we’ll talk.’
‘I don’t know where you live …’
‘Go across to me daughter and she’ll tell you,’ Ted said. ‘You come round for yer tea tonight – half past six – and we’ll sort things out …’
Archie nodded and left Ted to get on with his work. His hands shoved in his pockets, he was thoughtful, because although Ted had seemed friendly enough, he wasn’t sure he would trust him to work for him again. As he approached Ted’s daughter’s stall, he saw that she appeared to be angry and he heard her tell the man standing there to clear off or she would have the market warden after him.
