The Silent Lady

by Catherine Cookson

  ‘Oh, dear me! What have I said? I’m sorry, lass. I’m sorry. Don’t look like that. You have nothing to fear, ever. Whoever did what they did to you I hope they rot in hell. But come on, lass, come on, else we’ll both be blubbing again. Wait till I tell the lads. And . . . and what say I give the fellows five shillings at the end, will that please you?’

  The light slowly returned to Reenee’s face and she made one small movement with her head, then they both left the room hand in hand together, the slight, grotesquely dressed girl and the little homely woman.

  6

  It was three weeks later and the changes that had already taken place both in the house and downstairs in the cellar were unbelievable. There was now going off the kitchen a bathroom, formerly the big larder and the long broom and oddments store. That the colour of the bath, the basin and the lavatory yelled their bold red at you as soon as you opened the door was of no account. The walls had been painted what John called a dove grey. Next to the wash-basin was a two feet by eighteen inches long window covered with a floral-patterned curtain. Looking through this window across the yard you knew something was happening to the wash-house, but that was as yet unfinished.

  Downstairs, in what had been Reenee’s sleeping quarters, a great transformation had taken place. At the far end were two doors leading into separate rooms, each holding a single iron bed on top of which was a good mattress and a quilted bed-cover. Besides this there was a chest of drawers and a curtained-off corner that acted as a wardrobe, and a repaired chair rescued from the attic. Neither Joe nor Pimple could believe that these rooms had been furnished for them alone. Such was the effect on Pimple that he had dared to put his arms around Reenee and kiss her cheek. This had been done, it must be admitted, at a rush and had taken her off her guard. But as he had stood back from her, he said, ‘I had to do that, Reenee, because the miracle could never have happened without you.’ He did not add ‘pawning your rings’.

  Along two sides of the long room were roughly constructed low wooden platforms waiting for mattresses.

  Then there was the outside, the new latrines and the wash-place that held two basins, each with its roller towel. The material of the towels was rough but that did not lessen the men’s appreciation of them.

  That the four men had worked wonders was said over and over again by Bella. But now there was a snag, and they were having a meeting about this down in what was to become the bunk-house or, to give it its common name, Big Bella’s Pad. It was Joe who had thought up the title.

  They were now sitting on forms at each side of the long central table. This had been constructed from two cement-covered planks found amongst a heap of builders’ rubbish. They had picked up the trestles for it and the forms while scrounging in the dump yard, the same place in which they had found the red bathroom suite. The condition of the latter had amazed them: as John had said, probably somebody had been unable any longer to stand the colour. Nor could they believe their luck when the old grubber asked only four pounds five shillings for the lot.

  Bella sat at the end of the table. To one side of her were Joe and Pimple, and next to Pimple sat Willie. On the other side were Andy, Tony and John. It was Willie who now put in plaintively, ‘I wouldn’t be in the way, ma’am.’

  ‘I know that, laddie, I know that. We all know that. But she’s a sick woman in her head, at least half of it, and I don’t know how it’s gonna be overcome. Perhaps, as she got used to Joe here and Pimple, she might get used to the rest of you, if you stay that long.’

  ‘Oh, if the plan works out, ma’am,’ came from Tony, ‘you’ve got me for life.’

  ‘And me,’ said John.

  But what Andy said was, ‘I wish I could say the same, but I have a wife and two bairns back there, and if things get turned round I’ll have to go back. In fact, to be truthful I’d want to go back. As I’ve said, I miss me bairns and they’re growin’ up without me. But I can’t see it happenin’ for a year or so, not from readin’ the papers.

  ‘About the lass, though, ma’am, what are we gonna do? We can’t keep out of the way all the time, can we? Now that things are about to get working? Willie there is a very good cook – I know that just from the experience of the last few weeks – but he tells me he’s best at makin’ bread and pastry, so if you would let him make bread,’ he was nodding at Willie now, ‘each man could have a shive with their broth at night and, in the morning, a slice with their mug of tea. If they wanted to buy a pie, a meat one that is, it would cost them twopence, or they might want just a bun for a penny. But he said quite a lot of money can be made out of that kind of thing, and if it got round there was a wash-up place as well as a place around a big fireguard where they could dry their boots or hang their clothes if they were wet, you would have your beds filled every night, I can tell you.’

  ‘But would they, if they’re on their uppers, be able to pay a shillin’ a night?’ put in Bella.

  ‘Aye, that’s a point, because there’s many a night we hadn’t a shilling among us, let alone one each. Yet there were other nights when we had, and what we got for a shilling . . . well, I’ve told you all about it. But here, what are you offering? They can have a wash straight away; they can come in and they can get warm sitting on the forms around a fire; then they can have a bowl of soup and a shive, and the soup isn’t just soup, it’ll be broth with plenty of vegetables in. Joe there said he could get all the vegetables he could carry from the market every morning, like he does the fruit, and all that’s needed to go with them is a couple of penn’orth of bones, preferably with meat on them,’ he laughed now, ‘and half a pound of hough meat.’

  ‘What’s hough meat?’ said Bella, looking from one to the other.

  Joe said, ‘Oh, it’s the rough end of the cow. But one of the main things I would say, Andy, besides having a good few taties in it, is the barley. Add half a pound of barley to that and that kale pot will have more nourishment in it than any restaurant in London town. What d’you say, Willie, ’cos you’ll be the one that’s doin’ it?’

  ‘Oh, aye. Aye. But . . . but remember, I won’t be the only one that’s doing it. The missis here, she’ll be running things and she’ll see what is used, and know how much she can spend and what she can make in order to carryon ’cos, as she’s said, there’ll be no fruit stall outside once it gets going.’

  ‘The way I see it,’ put in Tony, ‘the ones we’ll get here are mostly those fellows with part-time jobs, and for a shillin’ a night they’ll be only too damn glad of the chance to come.’

  ‘Well,’ said Bella, quickly now, ‘this all brings us back to the point, what about the lass? How are we goin’ to get her to accept that you’re goin’ to be in that kitchen all day, Willie?’

  ‘If I talk to her . . .’said Willie.

  ‘No. No, that wouldn’t be any good.’ This came from John. ‘I have an idea. I don’t know what you’ll think about this, ma’am, but I’ve only been in your front room, or parlour as you call it, once. To me, it was a dark, dingy place, and I’m quick at taking in things. There was a great big sideboard that could be halved in size by the middle part being taken out. They’re as old as the hills, those things. One day they’ll be worth money, but they’re not now. And there’s two big leather chairs in there, besides a roll-top desk. The window . . . well, it hardly lets any light in at all.’

  ‘You’re not touchin’ the roll-top desk, John. That stays as it is, no matter what else you change.’

  ‘Oh, aye, and it’s a very good piece of furniture; but that window could be made twice its size. The sideboard could be made half its size and look better for it. Then fresh wallpaper and a bit of paint and that room could be a very comfortable place. And I saw there was quite a good grate in the fireplace, which had a tiled surround. It could be made cosy like, and I’m sorry to say it’s anything but cosy to me now. Well, there you are, ma’am. What d’you think? What I’m getting at, really,’ John finished, ‘is that it will be some place for her to . . . well, she
seems to want to hide, and it will be comfortable and nice, in fact, for you both, because there’s no place in the house I can see that provides the two of you with any privacy, not even the kitchen.’

  Bella looked at him, and she smiled and said, ‘You must have taught yourself a lot, lad, decoratin’ those boats. You’ve got an eye for things, haven’t you?’

  ‘Aye, ma’am, I pride meself on having an eye for how things should be in a room. It hasn’t brought me very far, as you can see, but I’m never happy unless I’m fixing something or altering something to look better.’

  ‘Well, I can say this to you, laddie, you have my go-ahead about that room. Anything you do in it, I say carry on. Only leave the roll-top desk where it is.’

  ‘You mean that, ma’am, after . . . after we finish extending the wash-house?’

  ‘Yes, I mean it. And was it your idea to extend the wash-house?’

  John hung his head for a moment, then quickly raised it as he said, ‘Aye, it was; and it’ll be fine when it’s finished. We’ll have two double bunks, and some bare necessities. We’ll make it a comfortable pad for as long as you need us. Isn’t that so?’ He looked round the table.

  ‘Yes. And we’ve been very grateful for it,’ said Andy. ‘You’ll never know, ma’am, how grateful. And to think you’re paying us what you can, an’ all.’

  ‘Five shillings a week isn’t much, lad.’

  ‘It’s a bank roll when you haven’t got owt,’ said Tony. ‘By, it is! But as you said last night, we know you can’t go on doing that until you see how this business is going to work. So if you stop after this week we’ll understand, won’t we?’

  John said, ‘It’ll be enough payment to be working on your parlour, ma’am.’

  ‘You’re good lads. They are, aren’t they?’

  She had turned to Joe and Pimple, and Joe said, ‘Never better. But you see, Bella, they’re from my part of the country, they couldn’t be otherwise, could they now?’

  She reached out her hand to slap his face, but he leant back from her and they all laughed.

  Joe said now, ‘I must tell them at the warehouse about the mattresses tomorrow, Bella, because I know they’re goin’ to move the lot. Supposedly for the retail business, but that lot of mattresses they’ve brought in was for no ordinary order. There must be a hundred of them if there’s two, and they want rid of them as quick as possible. He was asking five shillings each, and I got him to phone through to the other warehouse and tell them that they were for you, and the word came back ‘half price’; but that’ll cost thirty bob, Bella, and there’s the blankets. They’re full size, there’s no singles, and he wanted four bob each, but you could have them for two. That will be another twenty-four bob.’

  Bella shut her eyes and put her head back for a moment, as if considering, and then she said, ‘Dear Lord, I don’t know where the money’s comin’ from. Anyway, you’d better get them, ’cos there won’t be another chance like it. We can always take in sewing – there’s an old Singer machine in the boxroom upstairs and nobody to use it. We’ll manage. All right, then.’

  But Willie stopped her rising by saying, ‘I can’t start in that kitchen, ma’am, knowing that I’m puttin’ that lass out or hurtin’ her in some way.’

  ‘You won’t have to,’ said John quickly. ‘You lot can carry on with finishing off the wash-house. I’ll set to work in the parlour. The only thing is,’ he turned to Andy, ‘I’ll want you for the window, but that won’t be for, say, a day or so. All right?’

  He had addressed this last remark to Bella and she said, ‘All right, if you can do it in a couple of days; we’ll manage till then.’

  She rose slowly and heavily from her chair, saying, ‘Good night, lads.’

  ‘Good night, ma’am. Good night. And thanks again. And that’s from all of us.’

  She nodded at Andy; then, looking at Joe, she said, ‘You and Pimple come upstairs for a minute or two, will you? I want a word with you.’

  The kitchen was empty and Bella stood looking at the two men as she said, ‘It isn’t only the cookin’ business that’s worryin’ me. It’s that damn coat. She’s taken to wearin’ it every minute of the day. It’s all since the lads have come into the yard and, of course, up in the house, and when I cornered her yesterday morning in the bedroom and said, “Look, lass, you’re not naked underneath, so why do you . . . ?” That’s as far as I got. It was the word “naked”. Her eyes seemed to pop out and then she stiffened on the bed and, believe me, lads, she went into one of those up and downers, you know her stomach risin’ and fallin’, as if it were bein’ pumped up and down. And as she was coming round she looked at me as if she didn’t recognise me, but when she really came to she said, “Sorry,” like she does, you know; and then she said, “Coat,” and she hugged herself as if she was huggin’ the coat to her. And I said, “All right, then you must wear it; but there’s one thing I can’t understand, lass . . . You don’t wear it in front of Joe and Pimple.” Then I saw a look come on her face as if she was trying to question something, you know when you’re trying to think something out and the corners of your eyes crinkle up. She even bit on her lip as if she was tryin’ to fathom why she didn’t wear the coat in front of you two.’

  ‘Oh, I shouldn’t worry,’ said Joe, ‘not so much about the coat. The lads wouldn’t mind her wearin’ the coat, but it’s the business of her acceptin’ Willie in the kitchen here. And, you know, you’ve got to have him because, as he says, the bit of money you’ll make after you settle up everything will come from the extras on pies and things that he turns out. He says there’s money in the bakery lark, but for that he needs an oven and a kitchen.’

  ‘There might be money in it,’ said Bella, ‘and he’s right, but what else can I do about it? There’s no way of persuading her. And although John’s going to alter the parlour, she can’t stay in there all her days.’

  ‘Listen,’ said Pimple, ‘leave it, will you? I have an idea that might bring her round. But . . .’

  ‘Well, let’s have it, then.’

  ‘I can’t, it’ll just have to be worked out when the opportunity arises. Leave it for now. You might be downstairs and she’ll be washing up or something, but just leave it. It might work and it might not. I only know this: half her brain’s gone into the past, into a fearful past, I should say, but what’s left is quite clear and she understands much more than any of you imagine. Now, just leave it.’

  ‘Well, if you say so, mister,’ said Bella, mockingly now, ‘we’ll do as you ask. Won’t we, Joe?’

  Joe did not grin, he just said, ‘Well, he does get things right at times, you know, Bella.’

  ‘Go on with you. Get along! I’ve got enough to think about without any more new ideas.’

  After they left the room Bella turned and went into her new bathroom. She switched on the electric light, then stood looking around. Eeh! She’d never thought to have a bathroom like this. And, oh, how she would love to get into that bath. Yet, somehow, she was a bit frightened. But fancy having your own bath and being able to lie in it. She had been amazed when Tony tapped into the boiler at the side of the fireplace so they could have hot water in the bath and the basin. Of course it would mean more coal and more stoking up, all that, but she put out a hand and stroked her red acquisition and she said to herself, I’ll get in one night when Reenee’s in the kitchen, to be on guard, and then I’ll do the same for her.

  Thinking back to what she had seen through the window of the wash-house, she said to herself, She’ll love a real bath; oh, I bet she will. But if only we could make her see that with Willie in the kitchen everything would run smoothly. Well, as smoothly as it can, because this is a big concern I’m taking on and, really, God only knows how it’s gonna turn out.

  Pimple had made sure that Bella was downstairs with the men sorting out the mattresses and the blankets, and he had taken Joe aside saying, ‘Come on upstairs with me for a minute. No, not that way, she’ll see us as we go in. Come on round thro
ugh the gate.’

  They came in quietly through the front door, and when they entered the kitchen Pimple knew that Reenee was down at the scullery end of it, washing up. He said quite clearly to Joe, ‘There’s nobody here. Reenee must be upstairs. So what d’you think we should do about it, Joe?’

  Joe didn’t for the life of him know what the little fellow was alluding to, but he said, ‘I don’t know, Pimple. Bella’s put all she has into it, you know; she must’ve spent every penny; and now she’s faced with buyin’ new glass for that sittin’-room window because they can’t get that second-hand. They couldn’t get a frame small enough, and they’ve had to get one made. She’s not goin’ to like that when she hears about it. And, you know, her fruit and veg stall will stop once the pad opens downstairs. And what she’ll make out of the pad business will just get her by and nothin’ more; and she certainly won’t be able to pay the fellows the bit she’s givin’ them now.’