by Carol Rivers
Ben growled softly to himself as he took Lily’s arm and led her out to the lorry. He should have guessed. The times he had spotted Noah on the cart and the strange decline in Bob Bright. He should have seen signs! There were men he’d known who’d taken to drink, but this habit took a toll of a man’s brain as swift as it emptied his pocket.
‘I’ll fetch your uncle,’ Ben said as she sat in the cab.
At the back of the lorry he reached under the canvas. Sliding the wrench under his belt, he went quickly across the road.
The door of number thirty-four opened. Noah Kelly frowned up at him. He looked older than Methuselah, Ben thought in dismay.
‘She told you, then?’
‘She did, Mr Kelly.’
‘It was all me fault.’
‘It don’t matter whose fault it was. We’ll bring him home, don’t worry.’
Noah Kelly nodded slowly. ‘Thank you, son.’
Five minutes later they were driving up Westferry Road. The lorry rattled and shook but this was the only noise. His two passengers sat silently beside him.
The best form of defence was attack, he could remember his old man saying. He wished his dad was here now to lend a hand.
But uppermost in Ben’s mind was one question. Bob Bright was a grown man. If they found him here, would he willingly return home?
Chapter Seventeen
Ben turned the lorry into Limehouse and Lily felt a shiver go through her. The roads had been deserted, but one or two figures now emerged amongst the dilapidated buildings.
‘It’s Chinese round here,’ said Ben as he pulled on to the waste ground.
‘Merchant seamen from the East,’ nodded her uncle as a tall man and oriental woman came their way. ‘Lascars. They settle on the banks, don’t go far from the river.’
‘Where is me dad?’ Lily gazed in dismay at the half houses and roofless cottages.
‘The place we want is over there,’ Noah pointed to a tumbled dwelling that seemed deserted to Lily. There were boards across the windows and weeds grew tall outside. She could hear the chatter of the couple passing by, a foreign language, with glances thrown slyly towards the lorry.
Ben sighed as he turned off the engine. ‘Well, Mr Kelly, it ain’t the most salubrious place in town.’
The old man heaved a sigh. ‘You’re right there, boy. I would cut off me arm if I could turn back the clock and change things but then I thought I was doing him a turn, temporary like, to give the poor bloke a bit of relief.’
‘Is there anyone else inside, except the woman you’ve told us about?’ Ben enquired.
‘One fella,’ nodded Lily’s uncle. ‘And he’s twice the size of you, boy. If they’ve got Bob in there, he’s not likely to be above ground, but below stairs.’
‘You mean there’s a cellar?’
‘As black as Hades it is too.’
‘That’s comforting,’ said Ben as he opened the door slowly.
‘Say it was me that sent you. Let her think you’re a customer,’ warned the old man beside him. ‘Watch every move she makes, lad. She looks like a harmless old girl, but she’s as hard as nails, a real pro.’
‘I’ll bear that in mind,’ Ben nodded as he slung his legs out of the cab and jumped down. He looked quickly back. ‘You stay right where you are an’ all, Lil. You and your uncle don’t move, right?’
Lily nodded although it was hard for her to just wait. She felt the tension tightening in her stomach. Her heart jumped into her mouth as she saw him bang his fist on the door. Was he in danger? And if her father was inside that hovel, how would Ben get him out again?
Ben’s heart was hammering as he stepped inside and heard the door close behind him. It was dark as he took a breath and felt his head swim with foul and pungent air. Coughing, he put his hand to his mouth, then managed to breathe again.
A figure moved in front of him. Bent and tiny, she flitted across his vision to stand by a lamp. Her green gown glowed and above it, he could see an ancient face with almond eyes.
‘What you want, nice-boy?’ Her voice was as inquisitive as a child’s.
‘What have you got to offer?’ Ben glanced quickly round. He couldn’t see the guard but to turn and look behind him would show fear.
She gave a birdlike twitch. ‘How you know Mai Chi?’
‘A friend sent me. Noah Kelly.’
‘Ah . . .’ She closed her small hands together. ‘Kelly-Kelly ol’ friend of Mai Chi.’
‘So I understand.’
‘Kelly-Kelly sent you have good time with Mai?’
Ben nodded abruptly. ‘He did that.’ Was Lily’s dad here? he wondered. What if, instead, Bob Bright had taken a drink to ease his troubles? Had old Mr Kelly put the wind up them all for nothing?
Ben frowned into the darkness. He could see nothing in this pig sty that resembled a man.
‘You want smokey-smokey?’
Ben nodded once more. The woman gave a gentle chuckle and crooked a finger. A man appeared from the shadows. Ben caught his breath at the sight of the tall figure. The Lascar’s black face glistened in the lamplight, his muscles bulged as he folded his arms.
‘Nice boy follow Mai.’
Ben felt his blood quicken as she led him down the rickety stairs. Grasping the rotting walls, his fingers slid helplessly against damp and filth ingrained in them.
‘This way, velly nice boy.’
Ben blinked, trying hard to adjust his eyes. He felt swallowed up by the thick, dope-filled air. A candle flickered from a corner and she turned
‘You lay here, Mai make you happy.’ She pointed to a mattress on the floor.
Ben felt his stomach heave as he sat gingerly down. A mist curled before his eyes like a thin curtain and the stench became putrid. In the darkness he was left alone.
Slowly, his vision became clearer. He saw another mattress and on it lay a figure. Ben rose stealthily and went over. Shaking the limp shoulder, he took a sharp breath as a pair of watery eyes gazed up at him.
‘Mr Bright!’ he exclaimed.
‘Who . . . who is it?’
‘Ben James, sir.’
A hand clutched him tight. ‘Get me out of here, lad.’
‘Can you walk?’
‘I dunno. I can’t feel me legs.’
‘Sling yer arm round me shoulder and we’ll try for those stairs.’
Ben lifted the fragile weight, shocked at the change in the man. If only they could get up those stairs . . .
‘Where you going with old man, nice boy?’
Ben froze. The woman appeared out of nowhere. In her hand she held a pipe, long and smoking. The smell that exuded from it made his stomach revolt.
‘I ain’t staying, and nor is he,’ Ben said, unable to hide his disgust.
‘You try smokey-smokey,’ she whispered, pushing the pipe towards him. ‘You come, sit with Mai. You forget all troubles.’
‘The only trouble I got, is getting up them stairs,’ replied Ben as he shambled himself and his burden forward. ‘Now let me pass.’
Quickly she laid down the pipe and sprang on him. ‘You not go till you give Mai money!’
‘You’ll be lucky, you evil crone. After what you’ve done to me mate, you’re lucky I ain’t calling the coppers.’
Her almond eyes were like fire. ‘You threaten Mai Chi?’
‘Get out of me way.’ He was on the stairs now and his grip on Bob was tight. But there was the Lascar to deal with at the top.
‘Nice boy ain’t so nice,’ came the cold words and with them the glint of a blade.
Ben gasped as it flashed to his chin. He had five pounds in his pocket, but he’d be damned if he was going to give it up.
‘You pay Mai,’ she demanded, her voice thick with menace. ‘No coppers round here. This Mai’s place. You pay money or else.’ She levelled the knife at his throat.
He had never hit a woman in his life before but it was her or them. He felt the knife prick his skin. ‘All right,’ he nodded, and she smile
d.
Ben curled his fist and struck out. She staggered and fell and seizing his chance, he hauled his friend up the stairs.
As they stumbled into the lantern glow, the Lascar barred their way. ‘Let me pass,’ Ben warned as the guard came towards them, arms outstretched. As they struggled, the lantern fell and a slick of oil leapt into fire. It spun across the rotten boards and nipped at the Lascar’s feet.
Taking advantage of the distraction Ben hurled himself and Bob Bright at the door. It gave with a snap and they stumbled through the splintered wood. Grasping the older man’s arm he dragged him forward towards the lorry, hauling the pure air deep into his lungs.
Josie was waiting anxiously in the parlour. Getting up from the chair she went to the window and carefully moved aside the curtain. Would they bring her husband home? Would she be able to hold her head up high again? Word would soon get round after this. Tears of self pity filled her eyes.
‘How could you do this to me, Bob?’ she asked the empty street. ‘How could you bring shame on our family?’
She had managed to keep his secret hidden until now. Who had seen her husband leave the house whilst they were at the wedding? People thought he was housebound, that it was his chest that made him unable to walk very far. But now they would know different.
What was she going to do? She sank down on the couch again and trembled with a sudden shudder. How unfair life was! If Bob had been injured in the war he would have been thought of as a hero, like Sylvester. As a young man, her husband had been strong and healthy. That was before the conflict and the Depression. Now he was old before his time. She still loved him but he wasn’t the man she married.
Josie pushed her hands over her face. Her pale blue eyes were full of tears. She had tried to do her best and keep her daughter from the worry of knowing what her father had become. Instead, Lily had blamed her. Life was unjust!
It was all Noah’s fault. Taking Bob to that place – how could he? Josie felt a sob rise in her throat as she plucked at the loose thread of her cardigan sleeve. She looked down at the holes in her clothes. Once, she was a young girl with a good figure and nice hair, just like Lily’s. Now her hair had turned grey and lines of worry had carved themselves into her skin.
She felt like running away. But she had nowhere to go.
An hour later the lorry rumbled into Love Lane. Lily glanced at her father who sat in between her and her uncle. It was a bit squashed in the cab, but Ben had said he could drive well enough. Her father looked ravaged and very old. Every now and then his head dropped on his chest. He muttered some strange words in his confused state and he smelt rather badly. Lily knew that whatever had happened to him in that place, he simply hadn’t known what was going on. Now he was beginning to shake and hold himself tightly. Was this what the drug had done?
When the engine stopped, she took his hand. ‘We’re home now, Dad.’
He raised his head wearily and nodded. He must have understood her, she thought with relief.
Ben helped her uncle down first, then taking her father’s weight, took him inside.
‘Oh, Bob, why did you go off like that?’ gasped her mother as she rushed towards them. ‘Look at the state of you!’ She turned to Lily. ‘Did anyone see you get out of the lorry?’
Lily took her arm. ‘Put the kettle on, Mum, and I’ll get Dad upstairs.’
‘Come along, Josie,’ said her uncle, ‘let’s make ourselves useful and leave the young ’uns to it.’
Lily helped Ben to get her father upstairs. ‘I’ll take his clothes off and give him a wash and shave if you like,’ Ben offered, lowering him onto the bed.
Lily nodded. ‘I’ll get his things.’ Going downstairs she hung her coat on the stand and stood still for a moment trying to calm herself. She was shaking.
‘I’ll take up Dad’s shaving soap and razor and a bowl of hot water,’ she told her mum in the kitchen.
‘Did your dad say why he ran off like that?’ Josie asked as she collected the items together and gave them to Lily.
‘No, and it don’t matter why, Mum. We’ve got him back and that’s what counts.’
Half an hour later, her dad was washed, shaved and lying in bed. ‘You’ll be all right now, Mr Bright,’ Ben said as he gave Lily the dirty clothing.
Lily saw her dad’s lips move before he closed his eyes again.
‘He’ll have a bit of kip now,’ said Ben as they stood out on the landing. ‘Meanwhile I’m off for the doc.’
‘Mum won’t like that.’
‘Why?’
‘She’s worried about everyone knowing.’
Ben shrugged. ‘She’ll soon see it’s for the best.’
Lily had one question. ‘When we drove away from that place I saw smoke coming out.’
He nodded. ‘The lamp went over and caught fire. I couldn’t do nothing, Lil. It was your dad I was looking out for.’
The tears pricked Lily’s eyes. She didn’t wish harm on anyone. But what if someone was hurt?
Ben reached into his pocket. ‘Look, I want you to take this. It’s only a few quid, but it will help.’
‘You’ve already done enough for us.’
He pushed the notes in her hand, then hurrying down the stairs he slipped quietly out of the house. Deep in thought, Lily went to the kitchen.
‘I’ve made the tea,’ her mother said. ‘Is Ben coming down?’
‘No, he’s gone for the doctor,’ Lily replied.
Her mother almost dropped the cup she was holding. She sat down with a sob and the tears gushed forth, trickling down her already tear-stained cheeks.
Lily walked to the factory early the next morning. She had spent most of the night sitting at her father’s bedside, watching him slip in and out of delirium. The medicine Dr Tapper had prescribed soothed his racking cough but did very little else. As she had sat in the darkness her thoughts had turned to Charles. Selfishly, she was afraid that she wouldn’t be able to go out with him. Sunday was going to be a wonderful day. Now she could see her happiness slipping slowly away. What would he think if she didn’t turn up? Would he go away again?
Lily tried to put these thoughts from her mind as she hurried up the long flight of stairs to the foreman’s office. She hoped he would let her have a week’s leave. But when she told him her father was sick, he laughed.
‘If I gave everyone a week off for sickness in the family, the factory would close,’ he stormed. ‘If you ain’t at your place in five minutes, I’ll fill it within the hour.’
‘What about me pay?’ Lily protested.
‘You had it on Friday. And don’t expect more as it’s you that’s let me down.’
She looked into the foreman’s hard face. What of all the overtime she had put in? But she knew arguing would get her nowhere. At least she had Ben’s five pounds, enough for several weeks. Would her dad be better by then?
Josie was up in the bedroom when she arrived home. ‘He’s got a fever,’ she sighed. ‘What happened at the factory?’
Lily took the wet rag from her. ‘I won’t be going back.’
‘Why not?’ Josie asked, alarmed.
‘The foreman sacked me.’
Her mother let out a wail. ‘What will we do now? We counted on your money.’
Lily rinsed out the rag in the bowl beside the bed. Gently she soothed her father’s forehead. ‘We’ll think of something. Now go and have forty winks as you look all in.’
‘I couldn’t sleep last night. So perhaps I will.’
Later that day, Lily gave two pounds to her mother. ‘Ben gave us this. Go to the market and buy some vegetables and meat. We’ll make a broth for Dad and make it last all week.’
‘The rent’s due today.’
‘I’ve got enough for that.’
Josie put on her coat. ‘I don’t feel like going out.’
Lily gave her the basket. ‘Course you do.’ She knew her mother didn’t want to talk to the neighbours.
‘If anyone asks me about your fat
her I’m going to say it’s a mystery illness!’
This brought a smile to Lily’s lips. As she watched her mother walk hurriedly down the road, she decided that although losing her job was a setback, losing her father would have been much worse. With time and patience, he would recover. And Lily was determined to see that he did. No matter what.
The days passed and Lily spent long hours at her father’s bedside. Slowly the fever receded, and gradually he began to eat the broth that Lily and Josie had made for him. In moments he seemed to know what they were doing for him was for the best. At others, he would argue, push away the dish and try to get up. But he was too weak to go far. One night, when Lily had fallen deeply asleep on the couch downstairs, he tried to escape again. But Lily had locked the front door, putting the key safely in her pocket. She had finally persuaded him back to bed, where he had fallen into a deep sleep.
On Friday, Lily woke up in the chair. She had slept there all night. Her heart gave a violent jerk when she saw the empty bed. Hurrying to her bedroom, she found Josie asleep, as was her uncle next door.
She went downstairs to the parlour. It was deserted. Where was her father? He couldn’t have gone out the front door. The key was in her pocket.
Lily went to the kitchen. What if he had escaped over the fence? Then through the window, she saw movement. Peering out, she saw the closet door open. A frail figure emerged. Her father stood in his pyjamas, looking round uncertainly.
Lily rushed out. ‘Oh, Dad, you’re here!’ She put her arms round him. ‘I thought you’d gone off again.’
‘Why should I do that?’
She stepped back in surprise. Had his memory come back?
‘I went to the lav. I ain’t gonna use that bloody pail in the bedroom again.’
‘You’ve been in bed for a while.’
‘Well, I’m up now.’ He frowned as she took his arm. ‘Where are me clothes?’
‘We put them away.’