Madeleine was unrepentant about her failure to let Zena know about his presence in her flat, insisting she hadn’t wanted to worry his little countrygirl. Happily, Jake took the simplest way out and believed she had acted out of kindness and nothing more.
Rose hadn’t been to see them since she had called and found Jake lying on Madeleine’s couch. She was embarrassed, and also sad, presuming that his presence there was more than Madeleine helping a sick friend to recover. As she imagined them becoming close, she was reminded of her empty life and the loss of Greg. Sadness turned to bitterness at the thought of how the Martin family had ruined everything. Bitterness was easier to cope with than sadness. She missed the company of Jake and Madeleine but they probably didn’t want her intruding.
Jake was at the shop watching the people coming out of the staff entrance and waved when he saw her. ‘Madeleine has tickets for a show,’ he said taking her arm and tucking it in to his own. ‘You’ll come, won’t you? Meet you early and go for a meal first. Celebrate my mended arm. We’ll be here when the store closes on Saturday. All right?’ Other plans were made over the next few days and it was with relief that she returned to their casual friendship.
His arm injury still prevented him driving but did not stop Jake working. He delivered messages by bus and sometimes on foot, and collected payments. He became expert at collecting long overdue amounts, smiling with perseverance and developing a knack of embarrassing people and persuading them to pay up. He told them he only received wages on what he collected, and thanked them with great humility when they succumbed to his deceit. The plaster on his arm helped. He’d be sorry to lose it.
When something especially good happened, he celebrated by inviting Madeleine and Rose for a meal or to the theatre. He intended to tell Zena every time they went out together, to prevent more misunderstandings, but each time he changed his mind and decided not to. It was innocent and telling her might make it sound more important that it was, so he said nothing. After all it was connected with his work, keeping the secretary sweet was part of the job, she was an important cog in the wheels of his increasing success. When changes were made in the running of the firm, he was informed immediately and before anyone else, so he knew exactly what was happening. She was also good at covering when he was inadvertently late for an appointment.
There was the time a lady was almost knocked down by a car so he called for a taxi to take her home, after buying her a cup of tea in a nearby café. Then there were the hours he wasted helping a youngster to hunt for his missing dog, which they found sitting outside a café, where they then sat and drank tea to recover from all the effort.
Madeleine kept a diary of their entertainments and saved their theatre programmes writing on them the date and who had taken her, although it was she who usually paid.
Zena increased the time she spent with Mr Roberts without charging him. She liked him and was pleased to help. She had learned that he had three sons who rarely visited. Dick and William lived in Newport and Jack, the youngest, lived just a few miles away in Bridgend. She was curious to know why the three sons so rarely contacted their father and hoped it wasn’t a quarrel. Quite likely it was just the usual lack of need as they grew to adulthood with lives of their own and, now involved with their own families, had allowed things to gradually drift.
She learned from Doris that it was his birthday soon. Perhaps she would find out then. He was sure to receive cards from them, wasn’t he? She crossed her fingers with a silent wish.
She continued to take a few cakes when she went to clean. She enjoyed cooking and living with her mother who dealt with the catering for the three of them, she had little reason to do so. Mr Roberts happily accepted her gifts, muttering about paying her until she smilingly threatened to bring no more if he mentioned the subject again. He thought of a thank-you gift. She was engaged wasn’t she? She wouldn’t refuse a gift for her bottom drawer.
He banged on the wall one day soon after she’d gone and shouted, ‘Doris! Do-o-ori-i-s.’ His neighbour came in and he asked her to choose a suitable gift for his young cleaning lady who was so kind. ‘Engaged she is, so something for the wedding, d’you think?’
‘If it’s that Jake Williams she’s marrying it’s a pot of patience is what she’ll need,’ was Doris’s reply, ‘and you can’t buy that!’
‘What’s wrong with him?
‘Feckless, irresponsible. Everyone’s best friend. But as a husband, perish the thought! He thinks charm is all he needs to make his way in the world.’
‘She’s making a mistake?’
‘Jake is harmless enough, mind, but he loves helping people and although that isn’t a bad thing, old cynic that I am, I think it’s the praise he needs rather than the joy of helping. Zena will always come second, believe me.’
‘So, flowers then?’
‘Perfect! I’ll find a really pretty bunch.’
Greg began to enjoy brief visits to London, but always spent some of the time scouring the shops, foolishly hoping for a clues to where Rose was working. Several times he thought he saw her and hurried over only to find it was a stranger.
Once he did see her but at first he didn’t recognize her and when he did he was so surprised he didn’t approach her. She had cut her hair and had bleached it to a startling blonde. Her clothes were smart and there was such a look of confidence about her that for a moment he couldn’t believe what he had seen, but this time he wasn’t mistaken. He followed her, trying to decide what he would say but she jumped a bus, standing on the platform at the back of the double-decker as passengers slowly moved in and found seats. She didn’t look back. He stood, staring after the bus and saw her still on the platform, holding onto the post at the foot of the stairs. Then she turned and climbed to the top deck, and he walked away.
He had noted the number of the bus and the time but wasn’t sure whether he would come again. A completely new style of dress, a more impressive job and an air of confidence he had never before seen, perhaps meant a new man in her life. Unbelievably, Rose had become a stranger.
He bought a book to read on the train but although he turned pages, he didn’t take anything in. Between his eyes and the print, Rose’s face with its changed image interrupted his concentration.
Rose had surprised herself by discovering a skill for selling. Learning to use make-up and fashionable dress helped her confidence, and selling is as much confidence as knowing your stock and enjoying what you do. She loved her new job having quickly realized she had a flair for it. She was able to assess a price range with which a customer was comfortable and by not offering anything at prices too high or too low she helped them to relax and enjoy selecting their gifts.
She enjoyed the social side of London with Madeleine and Jake, thankfully treating Jake as nothing more than a friend; she didn’t want any more traumas in her life. She had invited him to her room once, when they had needed to shelter from the rain, but both had been uneasy. Greg had appeared without warning and if he did so again when they were together it would be embarrassing to explain.
Frank and Mabs’s first customer for their night café had been little Sid. He had turned up one day while the café was still only a daytime business and one day when it closed he had been upset and told Mabs he had nowhere to go.
‘What about your family?’ she asked, and he explained that they had taken over the house where he and his wife had lived for thirty years.
‘I know it sounds impossible but it happened. Once my wife died, my daughter-in-law and son pushed me out of my room, insisting my large room was wasted on one small person and they put the children in there. Then I was moved again. What I have now is what was a store room next to the kitchen. The kitchen, I am reminded, is strictly out of bounds. All the furniture has been replaced, my things thrown away. When their friends visit I’m expected to disappear into my miserable room.’
Mabs and her husband Frank had listened to his story, at first with disbelief and then with anger. He wa
s their reason for opening the café, Sid and others like him. The reasons varied but the people who found their café, all needed somewhere safe and warm with the companionship of others, to pass away the lonely hours of darkness.
Frank had invited a few of the night people he saw regularly from his bus, and Sid had gradually introduced them to other men who had similar stories. Some had no family, some had been left when their children had moved away. Henry had lost his family when they could no longer cope with his constant fighting, drinking and the resulting court appearances.
Mabs and Frank began to stay open later than usual and allow the men to enjoy the warmth and friendliness of an increasing group of lonely people. They usually closed after midnight. When Frank died, and Mabs found the nights long and sleepless, she’d extended the hours until early morning. Since then her life had been fulfilled. Her busy routine was nights at the café, the mornings sleeping. Then Richard Thomas came to help.
Richard was another insomniac and, once he found the night café, he became a regular. He was a retired ex-teacher. After the untimely death of his wife, he’d been spending his night hours unsuccessfully courting sleep, eventually giving up to wander the streets, where he gradually got to know others and was introduced to Frankie’s night café. He became a volunteer after a few months and now Mabs – known as Frankie – worked four nights and Richard Thomas dealt with the rest, with Greg coming whenever he could.
Greg sometimes called as a customer when he had a long wait between journeys. He didn’t tell other drivers and conductors though. They weren’t the kind of people Mabs wanted to attract and their presence would have discouraged the people she did want. He drank his tea and ate a cake, helped when there was need and time, before going back to his bus for the next journey.
Sid, being the first of Mabs’s night time customers so long ago, considered himself to be the most important and he began to check newcomers before inviting them in. He knew Mabs wouldn’t have anyone who smelled of drink and if there was a sign of an argument it was he who quickly jumped up and opened the door for them to leave. All, that is, except when the quarrel included Henry. They were all a little afraid of Henry. Sid being less than five feet tall was the bravest but also the fastest on his feet if he didn’t think he could cope.
When a newcomer came in late one night, Sid stepped forward. ‘Hi, mate, I’m Sid, what’s your name?’
‘What’s it to you?’ the man asked. Sid shrugged and nodded to Greg, who came over and took the man’s order for tea and a sandwich.
‘I don’t like the look of him,’ Sid whispered to Greg. ‘That’s a prison haircut or I’m the Christmas fairy. And he’s got angry eyes.’
‘Don’t worry, Sid. I’ll watch him,’ Greg promised.
The man didn’t stay long but he came back the next night and for several after.
‘His name is Arthur Johns,’ Sid had learned, ‘and he’s been in prison for cheating money out of someone.’
‘How do you know that?’
‘Just a few innocent questions, and a couple of guesses.’
Mabs frowned at him. ‘No more questions, Sid. We don’t want to stop him coming.’
‘But I don’t like him,’ Sid confided. ‘I hope he moves on.’
‘Me too,’ another muttered. ‘He’s got greedy eyes.’
Mabs laughed. ‘First angry eyes, and now greedy eyes! Have you two been reading books again?’ she joked.
The following night Arthur didn’t appear. In the local paper a few days later there was a report of a man called Arthur William Johns, who was in court on a charge of breaking and entering. Sid was jubilant. ‘Didn’t I tell you he was a bad ’n?’
‘Sure it was our Arthur, are you?’ Mabs asked.
‘I could see straight away that he was a bad ‘n.’
Mabs sighed. In a place like the night café, they were certain to attract a few unsavoury people. Best to forget about them, and carry on.
Lottie had refused to take money from Greg or Zena to help with the burden of the mortgage. It had to be cleared, she was determined on that, but the large debt was alarming and it seemed impossible. She smiled then, remembering a plaque on her mother’s wall, saying ‘The difficult we do at once, the impossible takes a little longer.’ It might take a little longer, but it would be done, she promised herself.
She had been working until Ronald had become so ill, so decided to ask for her job back. She had been working in the stationers and called after another visit from Mabs who had reminded her she had to face up to the difficulties in which Ronald had left her. She owed hundreds of pounds and had very little in the bank. The first thing she had done was sell the car and that money had gone straight to building society.
She constantly wondered what Ronald had needed the money for, and how he had spent it, but there was no clue to be found in the papers he had left. All she knew was that the money had gone. Whatever his reason it was her task to deal with it. She was determined to leave the house for her children to inherit rather than leave them with a debt.
The mortgage had been in arrears and she had practically emptied her own bank account and used it to cover the overdue payments and for two months ahead. That gave her a breathing space. The first thing she must do was to get a job, and fortunately the girl they had taken on in her place was leaving. It seemed that luck was with her so far. It was with relief that she took home her first week’s wage and parcelled it out in to the various books and tins for weekly payments and shopping and the frighteningly large mortgage. She decided to try and keep two months ahead in case there was a time she couldn’t pay and with just a small amount in her purse, she began her second week with a growing confidence, but still with a fear in the back of her mind that living so precariously meant she could fall into even more serious debt if her luck didn’t hold.
Both Greg and Zena insisted on increasing their contribution to the household expenses and Lottie accepted gratefully. Sam Edwards offered her a lift to work several mornings but this she refused, knowing how inconvenient it would be for him even though he’d have coped willingly. ‘I have to prove to myself I can manage on my own,’ she explained after thanking him. ‘It’s important to me.’
‘Then at least tell your Zena I’ll take her shopping when I get what Dad and I need, will you?’
‘Thanks, Sam, but we get most of it delivered.’
He nodded and smiled. ‘Any time you want help I’m there for you. All of you. Right?’
‘Right.’
Zena had come to an understanding with Nelda. The place was in a muddle every time she went there and at first she was afraid she had been too interfering by sorting out the dozens of wools and cottons and materials with which Nelda made her items to sell at the gift shop at Ilex House. But Nelda had been pleased with the result of Zena’s streamlining, her visits made it easier to find what she needed and, ordering supplies had become much simpler as she could see at a glance when she was running low. Zena had improved the stock reordering system by means of a simple notepad and had gradually sorted out the muddles and brought order to the storage. She checked regularly and left notes for Nelda to remind her when items were running low.
Bobbie and Georgie had bedrooms as chaotic as their mother’s workroom but she didn’t make the same determined effort to tidy up after them. She moved everything and cleaned, but then put everything back where she had found it. She smiled, remembering how she had hated having her room tidied when she’d set it out exactly as she wanted it. Several times she stayed with the children when Nelda had a large order to fill and usually found some new game for them to enjoy.
To her amusement, Bobbie began leaving notes for her. ‘Don’t touch the table, we’ve set it for a teddy bears’ picnic,’ was one. And ‘Will you tell Mammy that we are out of Marmite.’
Greg couldn’t forget Rose even though she had so completely moved away from him. He needed to talk to her just once more. There had to be a reason. Once he understood, he’d
be able to let go, start dating again. There was a new girl at the bus garage called Susie Crane. She was pretty and had an appealing cheerfulness that attracted him. From the little he’d learned, she seemed open and relaxed about her family, a definite improvement.
If only he could escape from this obsession with Rose – but it wasn’t that simple. He had to know why. Those brief moments at the railway station and the glimpse of her running and jumping onto the bus, swinging aboard, hanging onto the pole before climbing the stairs was not enough. Before he invited Susie Crane out on a date, he decided to go to London for one last time.
‘Zena,’ he called as he went into the house. ‘Fancy a day in London? I have someone to meet and you could see Jake and we could go for a meal before coming home. Better still,’ he added, as the thought entered his head. ‘Let’s book a theatre and stay an extra day!’
‘Great! What days are you free? I’ll ring Jake and see if he’s in town, shall I?’
Arrangements made, they set off early. Zena enjoyed watching the scenery they passed; the fields were larger, there were fewer birch trees, but as at home, everywhere leaves were beginning to clothes the branches for the summer glory to come.
Jake was at the station to meet them. Zena and Jake left to wander around the crowded shops and Greg went to brave the large imposing store to ask about Rose Conelly.
For Zena it was a wonderful day. She and Jake bought gifts for the family and for each other, hiding them so the purchases were a surprise for later. ‘You deserve the best,’ he said, laughing, as she pushed him away from the window of an expensive jewellers.
‘Nothing expensive,’ Zena warned, ‘we’re saving to get married, remember.’
‘You deserve only the best,’ he said.
Jewellery was also involved in Greg’s day but the day wasn’t as happy. He stepped into the store and found himself in the fashion department and hurried through, head down feeling very self-conscious and uneasy. Then he relaxed, aware of the large number of men standing around waiting for wives and girlfriends, and nodded to a few as though sharing their bemusement at the behaviour of their women. He stopped to look around at the glittering counters and the glamorous assistants until he saw Rose. She was smilingly attending to a young lady at a jewellery counter. He stopped to watch her for a while before going up and asking to see some necklaces.
The End of a Journey Page 10