Let it Shine

by Let it Shine (retail) (epub)

  Betsy looked at Ellie in astonishment. ‘She’s been listening, the whole time.’

  Ellie nodded. ‘I expect she’s lonely.’ Going across to the old woman, she reached into her pocket and found the coins returned to her by the stationmaster. Discreetly dropping them into the old lady’s hand, she told her softly, ‘I hope you find your son, and grandchildren.’

  The tramp clutched the coins in her fist. ‘God bless yer, dearie.’ Looking up at Betsy, she added, ‘You look lovely. Go on home now, eh?’ Then she ambled out into the night, across to the pub where she would partake of a drop o’ the warming stuff. After that, she would set off again, searching for her long-lost family.

  Chapter Fourteen

  At four o’clock the following Monday, Tilly’s great-nephew John arrived at Summerfield House, the Williamses imposing home in West Gardens, Lytham St Anne’s.

  From the dining-room window, Daisy noticed him arrive. She saw him pause at the gate and look up at the house in awe, and she wondered who he might be. Looks like a smart alec to me, she thought, observing his clean-cut jacket and dark tie which she thought did not hide the rascal underneath.

  Greatly impressed with the size and quality of the house, John could not help but wonder what he was getting himself into. ‘Best foot forward, lad,’ he said. ‘The man was good enough to offer you a job, so you should be grateful. All the same, you would do well to find out what’s expected of you, afore you say yes to anything.’

  With this in mind, he lingered a second or two longer before coming up the path to the front door, where he straightened his tie, rubbed his shoes against each trouser leg and, raising his hand, took up the knocker and let it fall twice against the brass plate.

  After tripping over the table-leg, Daisy went at a run to the front door. Guardedly inching open the door, she peered at him. ‘Yes?’

  John thought her strange. ‘Is this the house of Mr Peter Williams?’

  Opening the door wider, she gave a little cough. ‘Yes, sir, can I help you?’

  ‘I’ve come to see Mr Williams,’ he said, holding out the card he was given that day outside Brindle’s shoe-factory. ‘I’ve got an appointment.’

  ‘I see.’ Yet she couldn’t ‘see’ at all, because Daisy had never learned to read nor write. ‘You’d best come in then. I’ll see if he’s in his office.’

  Stepping aside, she allowed him to walk by her. ‘I say!’ Taken aback by the luxury of his surroundings, John gave a whistle. ‘He’s not short of a bob or two, I can see that.’

  Hurriedly closing the door she saw him loitering too close to the dining room, where she had been polishing the silver. ‘If you’ll just wait here, sir?’ Gesturing to a high-backed chair, she waited until he was seated before scurrying away to find the master.

  The moment she’d gone, John took the opportunity to wander a little. He peeped into the drawing room and was amazed at the wonderful pictures adorning all four walls. ‘All right for some!’ he marvelled.

  The dining room was the same, except there were all manner of beautiful silver artefacts, set out on a cloth over the table, obviously in the process of being cleaned. ‘Bloody ’ell!’ Stepping inside, he touched them with reverence; the silver candlestick, the fruit bowl, and the dainty figurines. ‘Beautiful!’ The fact that he had never owned such things didn’t mean he couldn’t appreciate them. He fingered the smaller pieces – the Georgian snuff-tin and matching miniature clocks. ‘Hmh! I could make off with these and no one would be any the wiser.’

  ‘Don’t even think about it.’ Peter Williams was right behind him. ‘Unless you want your fingers chopped off one by one?’

  Badly shaken, John dropped the ornaments and swung round, his eyes wide as midden-lids. ‘Mr Williams! I didn’t see you there. I didn’t mean nothing – just idle talk, that’s all it was.’

  Daisy backed away, waiting for the explosion she was certain would come. She was wrong.

  ‘Down the corridor, first on the left, and keep your eyes forward.’ Indicating the way, Peter Williams waited until John had started the short journey, then he followed at a discreet distance behind. ‘Inside!’ he barked when John paused outside the doorway. ‘And don’t sit until I tell you to.’

  As the two of them disappeared one behind the other into the office, Daisy peeped from the dining-room doorway. ‘I wouldn’t like to be in that young man’s shoes, no, I would not!’ Before the master might look out and see her there she fled back into the dining room, where she examined the small silver pieces he had held, crossly polishing off his fingermarks. ‘Still, it would serve that devil right, if somebody did make off with his precious silver,’ she mused.

  Just then she almost leaped out of her skin, when the grandfather clock in the corner struck the quarter hour. White-faced and shaken, she grabbed up the rest of the pieces and began polishing like a fiend out of hell.

  In the office, Peter faced the younger man across the desk. ‘I suppose you’ve come about the job?’ He smiled, but it was an odd, lopsided kind of smile – more like a nervous twitch, John thought.

  ‘Yes, sir. I was worried you might have forgotten.’ His weary eyes shifted to the deep leather armchair beside him. He had walked a long way to this house, and now he ached to sit down. Besides, standing to attention was not something he was used to.

  ‘I never forget anything.’ Getting out of the chair, Peter walked round the desk.

  Feeling bolder, John grinned widely. ‘That’s good, ’cause I need a job, and I’m ready to start whenever—’ The word lodged in his throat when, without warning, the other man drew back his fist and punched him hard on the face.

  ‘Jesus!’ Looking up from the chair where he had landed, John wiped blood from his nose with a trembling hand. ‘What was that for?’

  Peter stared down on him. ‘That was just a small reminder that you are never again to touch anything that belongs to me.’ Giving him a kick he growled, ‘Do you understand my meaning?’

  Realising he had stepped out of his depth, John feverishly nodded his head. ‘Yes, sir, I understand.’

  ‘Get up!’

  When John scrambled out of the chair and stood before him, Peter leaned forward, his eyes staring into the younger man’s. ‘Do you still want the job?’

  ‘Yes, sir.’ After what had happened, he was almost afraid to refuse. His whole head throbbed with pain and he felt in a state of shock. He just hoped none of his teeth were loose.

  ‘Can I trust you?’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘It didn’t seem like it back there.’

  ‘That was just a slip. I would never steal from you.’

  ‘Ah! Then you would steal? If not from me?’

  ‘No, sir.’

  ‘Liar!’ Peter banged his fist on the table.

  John had to admit, ‘Well, if my life depended on it, I suppose I might.’

  ‘Ah, the truth at last. I suppose that’s something.’

  ‘I would never steal from you,’ John assured him. ‘As God’s my judge, I wouldn’t.’

  Peter laughed out loud. ‘I should hope not.’ The laugh was abruptly silenced as he glanced at John with menace. ‘Take anything of mine, and you sign your own death warrant.’

  ‘I wouldn’t! You have my word.’

  ‘Your word?’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘Tell me the truth now. Are you afraid of me?’

  John hesitated. In all his life he had never been afraid of anyone. But this fella was something different. To John, Peter Williams seemed quite mad.

  ‘Well?’

  ‘Yes, sir, I think I am.’

  Delighted, Peter laughed out loud again. ‘Good! Good! It means you’ve learnt a lesson.’ Quite matter-of-fact now, he threw a piece of paper across the desk. ‘Read it. Aloud, so I know you’ve got it right.’

  Taking the paper between his hands, John first scanned it.

  ‘I said read it. Or can’t you read? If you can’t follow a simple instruction you mi
ght as well go now, because you’re no good to me.’

  Inwardly angry, John began to read, and while he read, Peter leaned back in his chair and listened intently. When the reading was over, he praised the young man. ‘You read well. Now tell me what it all meant.’

  Feeling like a kid at school, John interpreted the instructions as he understood them. ‘I’m to collect rent from these addresses; the money collected will be kept safe in a bag, supplied by you, and I must bring the same bag to you at the end of each day…’

  ‘Without fail,’ Peter prompted.

  ‘Yes, without fail.’ Swallowing hard, he continued, ‘I’m to write down anyone who has not paid, or will not pay, and hand the names to you at the end of each day. The tenants should have the rent money in the correct coinage. I’m not to give out any change.’

  ‘So?’ Impatient, Peter began tapping his pencil. ‘For pity’s sake, get a move on, man!’

  ‘So… whatever they offer over and above the rent for that week, will be carried over and taken off the following week. There will be no change given, no matter how much they might argue.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘If anyone should miss paying the rent for two weeks on the trot, I’m to throw them out and change the locks, so they can’t ever get back in again.’

  ‘That’s it. And now for the best bit?’

  ‘I’m to be paid a regular wage of two shillings a week, and an extra sixpence for every rent I collect.’ He took a deep breath. ‘I’m to be paid on a Friday, but my money will be reckoned from Thursday to Thursday, since you won’t have time to check the Friday collection until the Monday.’

  Peter finished it for him. ‘And if the Friday collection doesn’t add up, you will be the loser when I next pay you.’

  ‘That’s about it, sir.’

  ‘And are you still interested?’

  ‘Yes, sir. Like I said, I need the work and I need the money.’

  ‘I have one more instruction which I would rather not have written down for any nosy parker to see.’ Coming to sit on the edge of the desk, he asked meaningfully, ‘Have you ever had a woman, young sir?’

  Shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other, John was acutely embarrassed. ‘Not lately. But yes, I’ve had a woman, o’ course I have.’ And even if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to admit it.

  ‘Cast your mind back, man. What kind of woman was she?’

  ‘OK, I suppose.’

  ‘Warm?’

  ‘I expect so.’

  ‘Squirming like a puppy in your arms?’

  ‘Not that I recall, sir, no.’

  ‘Did she have a mass of hair, red as fire and shining like gold? Did she purr like a kitten whenever you kissed her? When you made love, was it the most exciting, most wonderful experience of your life? And when it was over, did she lie in your arms, moulded to your body, your two hearts beating as one? And did you long to make love all over again?’

  John licked his lips. ‘No, sir. It was never like that.’

  ‘Then you lied!’

  ‘Beg pardon, sir?’

  ‘You’ve never had a woman!’ Peter’s voice softened. ‘But I have. She was the only woman who ever made me feel like that. She made me love her like I have never loved anyone in the whole of my life before. I adored her! Spent a fortune on her, and then she ran out on me.’

  ‘I’m sorry, sir. That’s terrible.’ In truth John couldn’t blame her for running from this madman, whoever she was.

  ‘I want you to find her. Find her and bring her back. Promise her the world if you have to.’

  Horrified, John shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, sir. Happen it might be best if I didn’t take the job, after all. I thought it were just collecting rent. I didn’t know you wanted me to go people-searching. I’m not a detective, sir. No, sir. I can’t do it, thank you all the same.’

  ‘You don’t understand, you fool!’ Gripping him by the collar he lifted the young man off his feet. ‘I’m not asking you to kidnap her, or drag her here against her will, nor am I asking you to go out in search of her.’ He dropped him to his feet with a bump. ‘I’m not so foolish to imagine you’re capable of such a delicate job. No! I’m saying when you go about your work, collecting the rent and peering into people’s parlours, keep a wary eye out for her. If by chance you should happen to see her, or hear of her whereabouts, come back and tell me, and I’ll do the rest. Can you do that?’

  ‘I reckon so. What’s her name, sir?’

  ‘Ruth. Ruth Clegg. She’s young, shapely, with such a mass of flame-red hair and green eyes – green like the ocean.’ He grew excited. ‘If you saw her, you’d know her straight off.’

  ‘I’ll keep her in mind, sir. If I happen to catch sight of her, or hear of anything, like you said, I’ll let you know right away.’

  ‘That’s it!’ Peter had a feeling that at long last, with two pairs of eyes searching, his Ruth would be found.

  ‘When am I to start, sir?’

  ‘Right away, this very evening.’ Going to his desk, Peter took out a small leather pouch from which he drew a single silver florin, which he laid on the desk. ‘One week in hand,’ he explained. ‘Take it.’

  Before the other man could change his mind, John snatched it up. ‘Thank you, sir.’

  ‘You will need this.’ Pushing a narrow briefcase across the desk, Peter told John, ‘In there you’ll find a ledger, each page written with names and addresses. When they pay you, you must sign their rent-book and enter the payment against their name in this ledger.’

  ‘It sounds simple enough.’

  ‘It is. There is also a leather bag in the back cover, for putting the money in.’ He handed him another list. ‘These are new properties I’ve recently acquired. As yet I’ve not had time to enter the names into the ledger. I shall expect that to be done before you come back with your first day’s collection.’ He pointed to the door. ‘Now be off with you. And mind you hide the bag well on your person, or you’ll be set on by villains before you know it.’

  ‘Right, sir.’

  ‘You won’t forget what I said, will you? About the stealing?’

  ‘No, sir, I won’t forget.’ Not in a month of Sundays, he wouldn’t.

  Once outside, John took a deep, invigorating breath of air. ‘“Red hair shining like gold”,’ he quoted. ‘Makes a man want to love her all over again.’ Clicking his tongue, he sauntered away. ‘Too good for that bastard, I shouldn’t wonder!’ He felt the coin lying in the bottom of his trouser pocket. ‘First stop the pub,’ he decided. ‘By! I’ve a thirst like a bull elephant.’

  Daisy watched him go. ‘You’ll regret it,’ she said sagely. ‘One way or another he’s ruined everything he’s touched. He’ll ruin you too. You just mark my words, Mr Smart Alec.’

  Chapter Fifteen

  It was Ellie’s turn to make the tea.

  ‘I want an extra spoon of sugar in mine.’ The big, jolly-faced woman had worked at the factory ever since it opened; next week she would retire with honours. Outspoken and amiable, there was no doubt she would be sadly missed.

  ‘Well, bugger me, Bertha!’ The woman on the second but one chair to her left couldn’t believe it. ‘I’ve never known you to have sugar in your tea,’ she said. ‘Not in all the years I’ve known yer!’

  ‘Aye, well, I had a fella for the first time in two years last night.’ Her raucous laughter echoed all over that big warehouse. ‘I need me energy.’ Winking at Ellie she asked, ‘Best mek it two spoons, lass. I’ve an idea I might bed him again tonight… if I’m lucky.’

  Past being embarrassed by anything these lovely ladies said, Ellie went away chuckling. In the little scullery at the back of the factory, she sang softly as she busied herself making the eight mugs of tea. She had so much to sing about, she thought. She and Mick had spoken of their love for each other, and now she couldn’t wait to get up of a morning to be with him. They had their nights out together, and everything was right and above board. Just as Mick ha
d promised, he had never done, nor would ever do, anything to harm her.

  Also, things were better at home since that awful incident with Betsy. It was as if she had come through a storm and now she was more settled in herself. She had even knuckled down at work.

  Ellie herself had never been happier. In love for the first and last time in her life, she couldn’t wait for the months to pass, so she and Mick could announce their love to the world. For now though, she had to settle for a stolen kiss and holding hands, and a night at the pictures where they kissed and cuddled in the back seat. Even here, at work, when no one was looking, he would take her in his arms and hold her. It was the most wonderful feeling. Her family – Grandad and Larry and Betsy – meant the world to her and always would. But Mick was her reason for living.

  And so now, she sang and boiled the kettle, spooned the tea into the pot, and almost fainted when she turned about to see Mick standing at the door, a smile on his face as he enjoyed her singing. ‘Someone’s happy,’ he said, and came in to be with her.

  Embarrassed to be caught offguard, Ellie blushed pink. ‘I didn’t know you were standing there,’ she chided. ‘Sneaking up on me like that.’

  He slid his arm round her. ‘It’s lovely hearing you sing,’ he murmured. ‘Since you’ve been here, this place has been so much brighter. You’ve brought everybody together, and they all love you.’ He stroked her hair and smiled into her pretty eyes. ‘You’re like a ray of sunshine on a dull day.’

  Ellie snuggled up to him, her eyes shining with mischief. ‘Kiss me then.’

  He laughed at her boldness. ‘You little hussy!’

  ‘Go on. Kiss me!’ She glanced at the door. ‘There’s nobody about, and anyway, I’ll be sixteen soon and we can tell them all.’

  He, too, glanced at the door and it was true; there was no one there but them. Sliding his arms round her waist he drew her to him, for a moment gazing down on her and thinking how fortunate a man he was, to have the love of this delightful creature. Bending his head, he put his mouth ever so gently over hers; he felt the softness of her lips and the moistness of her mouth, and his senses were deeply stirred.