The Orphan Daughter

by Sheila Riley

  When they entered the warm, steamed-up interior of the chip shop, the delicious aroma of cooked chips made Connie’s stomach growl. She hadn’t realised she was so hungry, and she couldn’t wait to get back home with Angus.

  As they walked arm-in-arm, turning back into Reckoner’s Row, Connie felt her good humour take a dive when she saw Ada Harris hobbling towards them. That was all Connie needed. When Ada saw her on the arm of the good-looking Scotsman, it wouldn’t take her long to blab to Mim.

  ‘Hiya, Connie,’ Mrs Harris called from the other side of the road, her smug tone letting Connie know it was too late to worry now, ‘and hello, Mr McCrea. Just out for your nightly stroll?’

  Connie and Angus answered in unison. ‘Hello, Mrs Harris!’

  ‘No phone calls tonight, Mr McCrea?’

  ‘Not tonight, Mrs Harris,’ Angus called back.

  ‘Nosey cow,’ Connie muttered. ‘If you ever need information and Mim’s disappeared off the face of the earth, Ada’s your woman, she will fill in the details. The two of them would put you lot to shame.’ Connie laughed, and her steady pace was a sign that, for the first time since Rene had been found, she could relax a little. Life in Reckoner’s Row had returned to its usual hubbub of activity. It didn’t take long for people to get back to normal. The war years had given them a determination to get on with life, tomorrow could take care of itself.

  Angus hugged her linked arm close to his body again and a piercing thrill caused Connie’s chin to raise higher, her backbone straighter. That one small gesture changed everything. The air seemed charged with his presence, fizzing with life and laughter.

  His involvement in her life was the start of something. She would even go so far as to admit she had fallen head over heels in love with this man. And though she didn’t want to think of it now, she would miss him when he went away. Nothing would ever be the same.

  ‘No doubt she will break her skin to get to tell Mim what she saw tonight.’

  ‘Is that such a bad thing?’ It wasn’t what Angus said, but the way he said it that caused an unsettling quiver to take over her body.

  ‘Shall we let Mim know we’re back?’ Angus asked, heading towards the door of the tavern.

  ‘I’ll put her supper by the fire to keep warm.’ Connie felt reckless. ‘Just the two of us tonight, hey, Angus?’ Her eyes lingered on his for a moment longer than was necessary. And she could tell, he knew what she meant. As secrets purred like ghosts looking down on the living, Angus quietly closed the side door. Tonight was theirs alone.

  ‘What did I tell you?’ Connie said later, after checking on Mim who went to bed with a headache immediately after locking up the tavern. ‘I’ve left two aspirin and a glass of water on her bedside table. They’re still there and she’s fast asleep.’ She felt so happy. She and Angus had spent a lovely night together. ‘Is there anything I can get you before I turn in?’ Connie asked, and he looked up at her from the sofa, his eyes tender.

  ‘Just you,’ he said patting the space beside him on the sofa, and maybe a brandy to finish off the night.’

  ‘Why did you come to live here in Liverpool?’ Connie asked after settling down beside him. There was just enough light from the fire to see the faraway look in his eyes.

  ‘For the excitement,’ he said rolling the brandy glass between the palm of his hands. ‘And my wife.’ This latest piece of information brought Connie up sharp. She hadn’t expected him to discuss his wife tonight.

  ‘You must have loved her very much,’ Connie said, covering up a covetous stab of something that had hovered in her heart since the first time she met him.

  ‘I still do,’ Angus said. ‘She was everything.’

  ‘She was a lucky woman.’ The words were out of her mouth before Connie could stop them. Angus said nothing as his tender gaze turned into something deeper and held her captive.

  He put his arm around her and gathered her close. The intimate gesture was the most natural thing in their world of late, and Connie burrowed into his arms, her yielding lips waking a hungry passion that had for so long lay dormant…

  ‘I’m the luckiest man alive to have found you,’ Angus murmured through his kisses. His deep voice low and husky as his fingertips lightly following the outline of her face, her neck, her arm…

  Connie’s sensual response flooded her body at his touch. And her breathing quickened, surrendering to delicious shivers. Longing to feel his skin on hers. Connie drew him towards her bedroom, knowing tonight would be special for both of them...

  27

  ‘It’s not easy settling back into civvy street, but you’ll get used to it,’ Angus said amiably to Danny Harris, keeping his eyes and ears open for any clues that might help in the capture of the warehouse robbers or Rene Kilgaren’s murderer.

  ‘I don’t fancy working in Uncle’s yard forever, I want to buy my own wagon,’ Danny said after taking his first sip. ‘But since Da’s been laid off the dock, Ma depends on me to bring some money in.’ Owning his own business had always been a dream of Danny’s, but it looked like he would have to put it on a back burner for the foreseeable.

  ‘Civvy street not the place you remembered?’ Angus grinned, standing at the end of the bar where he could observe unfettered.

  ‘You’ve hit the nail on the bonce, old son!’ Danny said. He loved his mam, he really did. He also loved treacle tart, but he was sure he would get fed up with it if he ate it every single day. ‘I want to be king of the open road in my long-distance lorry. See the countryside. Get the soot out of my lungs. Be my own man. No ties. No restrictions… But Ma has other ideas.’ There was a lull in the conversation while the two men cogitated, lost in their own private thoughts. Angus enjoying the new closeness he and Connie shared and…

  ‘Have you seen Evie?’ Danny said, breaking into his thoughts and Angus told him she was in earlier mopping floors and emptying ashtrays. Danny looked troubled and it wasn’t long before Angus found out why.

  ‘Evie’s really good with people, you know. Friendly, without being forward. There’s always sparkle when she’s around. She listens, you see.’ A slow smile spread across his handsome, weathered features. ‘She has many attractions, don’t you think, Angus. A beautiful face, a cracking figure and a fine pair of legs.’

  ‘Not that you’ve taken much notice?’ Angus gave a low rumbling laugh. Danny lifted his glass as if he would drink from it, and then put it back on the bar.

  ‘A fine girl is Evie,’ Angus said. Danny looked as if he had something else on his mind, and then Angus realised what it was.

  ‘D’you think she’ll let me take her to the pictures, Angus?’ To hell with what his mother said about her mother’s carry-on.

  ‘I’m sure a night out would do her good after what she’s been through. But what about Susie?’

  ‘Susie’s just a friend of my sister’s,’ Danny said. The drink was giving free reign to his tongue. ‘Not being there for Evie, when she had to go through the horror of identifying her own mother. I can think of nothing more tragic.’ He lowered his head and was quiet for a while. ‘I should have asked her if she wanted support. I know that. We’re friends and that’s what friends do isn’t it?’ Angus nodded but doubted Danny noticed. ‘She’ll think I don’t care. But I do.’

  Angus had never seen Danny like this; he didn’t seem the kind to wear his heart on his sleeve, though he suspected he felt things deeply. Danny was one of those men who didn’t think it was appropriate to bear their soul to an all and sundry.

  ‘Since the canal incident,’ Angus said referring to the discovery of Rene Kilgaren’s body, ‘Evie’s had more friends than she knows what to do with.’

  ‘I only spoke to her for a short while after the funeral,’ Danny said. ‘I should have asked if she needed anything.’

  ‘With hindsight we are all wise, and she would probably have said no, you know how independent she is.’

  ‘Evie was the first to offer her condolences and her help when Ma’s brother, unc
le Bill, died. So why couldn’t I do the same for her?’ Danny looked at Angus like he had the answer, but all Angus could do was let him talk. Then, Danny said something that really caught Angus’ attention.

  ‘It struck me,’ Danny said, ‘I might have been one of the last people to see Evie’s mother alive. I feel guilty for not telling anybody… but, you see…’

  ‘What’s that?’ Angus was all ears. They say men speak the truth when they are in their cups, and Danny had certainly had a few tonight. So now was the time to pay attention. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I heard Rene arguing with a man,’ Danny said. ‘Fierce it was, too. I’d just said a stiff goodbye to Pa, who was awkward, as usual and you know what Ma’s like.’ Angus nodded. It was common knowledge that Ada Harris worshipped the ground her soldier son walked on. ‘Pa’s more reserved. Like me.’

  ‘You heard Rene arguing?’ Angus urged Danny to continue, growing impatient for information, he couldn’t believe his luck. He didn’t want Danny meandering down the scenic route.

  ‘I was returning to barracks after a forty-eight-hour leave, halfway up the stone steps… I heard raised voices under the bridge.’ He swilled his drink around the bottom of the glass, but he drank none of it. ‘I remember slowing down, in case she needed help, but didn’t want to butt in, it sounded like a lover’s tiff. But…’ he shrugged, ‘I didn’t think much of it, I was concentrating on getting to Lime Street to catch the last train. Memories of that night have niggled inside my head like burrowing woodworm since they fished Rene out of the canal,’ Danny said. ‘Something I can’t put my finger on… I hadn’t given the canal incident any more thought once I caught the bus into town… You don’t mind me telling you all this, do you Angus?’ Danny asked, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He liked the genial Scotsman – well, everybody did, he was a good man who got along with everyone. Angus always had time for folk. ‘I had to tell someone. I couldn’t go to the law with a suspicion. And when I saw you in here tonight, I knew you were just the man who’d understand.’

  ‘I’m always here to listen, Danny.’ Especially when it was in the public interest.

  ‘I didn’t know the voices at first, the hailstones battering the cobbles muffled them,’ he said, ‘but then, as the hail slowed, I recognised Rene’s voice echoing under the bridge.’

  Hardly able to believe his luck, Angus quietly sipped his pint, standing at the bar, nodding in all the right places.

  ‘Rene’s words were slurred, after a drinking session in here,’ he said. ‘I remember her words.’ Danny imitated the woman’s high-pitched voice. ‘“You stay well away from my kids, they don’t need nothing from you, and I don’t want no police sniffing ‘round my ‘ouse!’” But this is the baffling bit. The man who was with her said, “If the police turned up, they wouldn’t be looking for me.” He sounded like he was trying to keep his temper in check, you know?’

  Angus nodded even though he wasn’t too sure what Danny was alluding to.

  ‘Or that might be my imagination, considering what’s happened, I’m not too sure… But it’s what he said next that baffled me even more. He said, “I squared that when I got back. I went to the police and they told me I had nothing to answer for, nothing to fear…”’

  ‘Nothing to fear?’ Angus asked, adrenaline pumping through his body. ‘What do you suppose he meant by that?’ He didn’t want to sound too eager, but this was getting interesting.

  ‘Rene sounded angry, called him a coward,’ said Danny. “Believe me, Rene” he said, “I’m not a coward! And if you call yourself any kind of a mother you would be with them now – not making a fool of yourself – not throwing your legs up to any passing serviceman who’d look twice.”’

  ‘What happened then?’ Angus asked. He was taking nothing for granted at this stage of the investigation, but this latest turn sounded very promising.

  ‘I heard a slap. And then everything sort of went quiet except for shuffling.’

  ‘Shuffling?’ Angus asked. He didn’t want to lead Danny to say something he might not have heard, but he had to be sure he understood what he meant.

  ‘Yeah, you know like… I dunno, feet scuffling the canal bank… well, groaning, I suppose.’

  ‘Groaning?’ The young man looked nervous and he shifted, looking around the bar, making sure he was not being overheard, his neck turning as red as a cock’s comb. ‘You know… groaning. Like they were… making up… You know.’

  ‘Ahh,’ Angus said when the penny dropped. Danny might seem like a man of the world with his cheeky banter after two pints, but he was as inadequate about discussing that kind of thing as any other man. ‘Get a good earful, did you?’

  ‘Here! None o’ that.’ Danny’s colour crept further up his throat. ‘The traffic was busy, so it took ages to get across the bridge. I heard a loud splash in the water. Then the man stormed off. He was halfway down the towpath before I could cross over the road, I could see him.’

  ‘Did you recognise him?’ Angus asked, his heart beating faster. Danny Harris could be a key witness to Rene Kilgaren’s demise.

  ‘It was dark, there was a power-cut, and though there was a full moon it kept going behind the clouds,’ Danny said, ‘I was on the top of the bridge, looking over, but couldn’t make out if she followed him because there was a lull in the traffic by then.’

  ‘Did you hear a scream, or a cry for help?’ Angus lifted his empty pint glass, offering to buy Danny another, not interrupting.

  ‘When I got over the other side, there was no sign of anybody. The water was calm… there was nobody in sight… I thought I imagined the splash.’

  ‘If you could hear it over sound of traffic…’ It must have been a big splash, thought Angus.

  ‘I had to run for bus into town. Otherwise I’d have missed my train and been put on a charge for getting back to barracks late… And, if truth be told,’ Danny said, ‘that’s the reason I haven’t been to see Evie. I felt ashamed for not doing more to help.’

  ‘It’s not your fault. You weren’t to know,’ Angus said, eager to get more information. ‘Could the man under the bridge have been Darnel?’ Danny shrugged. Sitting at the end of the bar, he looked like he had lost a shilling and found a tanner.

  ‘Nah.’ He shook his head, ‘Don’t think so. He was down the dock road, helping himself to merchandise, waiting to be off-loaded from a warehouse onto a waiting ship, according to local sources.’

  ‘Local sources?’ Angus looked puzzled and Danny tapped his nose.

  ‘Like the three wise monkeys… I see all, hear all, say nothing. Know what I mean?’ Angus nodded, realising the shutters were coming down. Danny had said his piece and there was no use asking for more information.

  ‘Terrible business,’ Angus said. ‘I feel so sorry for Evie and those poor kids.’ He had been in the game long enough to know when he had outstayed his welcome. He had gathered a lot of information tonight and mustn’t be greedy. ‘Aye. Well, that’s me done,’ Danny said, downing what remained of his Dutch courage, and deciding to go and see Evie. ‘I’ll bid you good night.’

  ‘Mind how you go,’ Angus called as Danny, hands in pocket, wended his way out of the bar. Now it was time to see Connie. Mend fences. Make love.

  Alerted by the knock at the front door, Evie seized the poker.

  ‘Who’s that at this hour, Jack?’ She didn’t like opening the door once she had locked up for the night.

  ‘Put that down, you’ll do someone a mischief.’ Jack took the poker from her hand. ‘I’ll go.’

  ‘Be careful,’ Evie whispered, feeling her heart swell with pride.

  ‘Like you said, things will change around here, and one of them is me taking more responsibility, not putting everything on your shoulders.’ Evie was genuinely relieved, realising that since they had found their mother’s body, Jack had gained a maturity that wasn’t there before. She listened, assuring Lucy that everything would be fine when she heard voices at the door. One voice belonged
to Jack, but the other one was not so clear.

  ‘Come in, come in,’ she heard Jack say. Lucy, curled up on the couch, was reading an American comic that Bobby Harris had lent her earlier.

  ‘Go right in, she won’t mind,’ Evie heard Jack say and when the kitchen door opened, she could have knocked their Jack’s head off, for letting Danny Harris see her looking like this! Her hands, red raw from scrubbing the tavern and keeping this place spotless, went to her hair. Coiled into Catherine wheels and secured with hair grips, a turbaned scarf covered her hair.

  Her face was pale, devoid of lipstick or rouge, and her old frock was hidden by a full-length wraparound pinny. Making do wasn’t a national duty in this house, it was a way of life!

  ‘Hiya, Evie, I hope you don’t mind me barging in like this,’ Danny said, wringing his cap. feeling as if he had a pond of frogs jumping about inside him. A feeling he had never experienced before.

  ‘It’s a bit late,’ Evie said, feeling irritated, ‘couldn’t it wait until morning?’ A knock on the front door at this hour was rarely good news. Look at the state of him, she thought. Drunk as a Lord.

  Danny perched on the edge of the sofa, aware that he was the centre of their unwavering attention. ‘I thought I’d better pop in to see if… to say how… to just…’

  Evie sighed. Some men just couldn’t show their sensitivity when they’re sober, she thought, some had to get a few pints down them to loosen their tongue.

  ‘I know.’ She gave him a tight-lipped smile. ‘We’ve had that many people knocking to offer their sympathy, haven’t we Jack?’ Jack nodded, amused at his sister’s fluttering hands, and inability to keep still.

  ‘I didn’t mean to intrude,’ Danny said, making to get up from the sofa. ‘It was a mistake coming so late.’ He had nothing to offer in the way of sympathetic words and he wanted so to hold her, comfort her, tell her everything would be all right.