‘Look, Oscar, it is Clara and the baby. Das ist gut, ja?’ Marta pushed Clara forward into the room and took the wailing Sarah from her. ‘What a noise, little one,’ she fussed, rocking her vigorously. ‘Are you hungry? I’m sure you are hungry. Clara, do you have milk for the little angel?’
Clara fished in her bag and handed over the half-drunk bottle. ‘She can be difficult,’ she apologised.
‘She’s a baby,’ Marta exclaimed, as if this was reason enough. Taking the bottle, she started to feed Sarah in her arms. The baby’s crying turned to snuffles and gulps. ‘See, she is happy now,’ Marta said, looking pleased. ‘Sit down, Clara. Oscar will pour you some tea.’
Clara stared in amazement as Oscar did as he was told while Marta smiled and cooed over Sarah. ‘She is beautiful, ja?’
Suddenly, Clara was blinded by tears. No one, not even her mother, had ever called Sarah beautiful. How could a baby who squinted and gaped, took fits and screamed till she went purple be anything but ugly? Yet, watching her lying contentedly in Marta’s arms, sucking and raising a starfish hand, Clara saw the beauty that Marta saw. Sarah broke off drinking and Clara tensed in expectation of her howling. Abruptly, Sarah’s mouth opened in a lopsided smile. Marta responded with an answering one.
‘You are playing with me!’ she laughed.
A sob welled up inside Clara. ‘I’m so sorry!’ she cried. ‘I can’t believe what’s happened to your shop — to Benny. It’s wicked. I know we don’t see eye to eye on many things, but not this—’
Oscar saw her distress and guided her into a chair. Marta clucked. ‘It is very bad.’
‘Is Benny going to be all right?’
‘We hope,’ Oscar said with a fatalistic shrug.
Clara twisted her hands together. ‘Do — do you know who did this to him?’
She saw the couple exchange a wary glance. Marta said, ‘We were in bed asleep. There is loud noise in the street — glass breaking. Oscar looks out.’
‘It was dark,’ Oscar said. ‘They had scarves tied across their faces — four or five of them. Benny went down to stop them—’
‘We shout at him not to,’ Marta added in distress, ‘but he is not listening.’
They both fell silent, then Oscar continued, ‘By the time I got down, Benny is lying in his own blood and the men are gone. So quickly,’ Oscar said hoarsely.
‘Reenie, she stop the blood,’ Marta said, tears in her voice. ‘My poor boy!’
Clara went to her and hugged her, Sarah jammed between them. ‘Let me help you,’ she pleaded. ‘I have money saved from my job — Vinnie doesn’t know about it. Perhaps Benny needs special care?’
Marta shook her head. ‘No, Clara, we cannot take your money.’ She handed Sarah back. ‘But we will take your prayers.’
‘Prayers!’ Oscar said in disgust. Clara turned to him, surprised by his unusually bitter tone. His look was angry. ‘All we want is to find the men who did this to my son.’
Clara’s insides lurched. Please God, may Jimmy not be one of them. ‘Is Reenie here?’ she asked tensely.
‘She is at the hospital watching her brother,’ Marta answered quietly.
Clara made for the door. ‘You must let me know if there is anything I can do. I’m sorry I’ve stayed away. Whatever my differences with Benny and Reenie — I’ve always been grateful for your kindness — both of you.’
Marta nodded and followed her; Oscar watched her go, his look wary. Downstairs, Clara forced herself to ask, ‘Have you heard from Frank?’
Marta gave a small sigh and shook her head. ‘The consul he say Frank is to be — what you say? — repatriated. But nothing. No word, no news.’
Clara leaned forward and gave Marta a swift kiss on the cheek, then hurried from the forlorn place. When she got home, Vinnie was dressed for work and frantic with worry.
‘Why didn’t you wake me? I would have fetched Sarah. You shouldn’t be driving.’
‘Why not?’ Clara asked. ‘I’m perfectly fit now.’
‘Why did you take so long?’ he asked, suspicious.
‘Don’t you even want to say hello to your daughter?’ Clara handed him the carrycot.
He carried it inside and put it on the hall table. ‘I’m going to be late for work.’
Clara blurted out, ‘The Lewises have been attacked. Did you know about it?’
Vinnie was startled. ‘Attacked?’ he repeated.
‘Their shop’s smashed up and Benny’s in hospital,’ Clara said, heart hammering. ‘Tell me you had nothing to do with it.’
He stared at her. ‘Me? How could I have had anything to do with it?’
‘Mam says Jimmy and the lads have been questioned; there must be a reason the police picked on them,’ Clara persisted.
Vinnie ran a hand over his lacquered hair. ‘Aye, picking on them. That’s typical they’d try to point the finger of blame on my lads.’
‘So it’s not true?’ Clara held his look.
‘Course not.’ Vinnie was indignant.
‘Why did Jimmy ring you on Saturday night, then? It wasn’t about Sarah; Mam says he wasn’t there.’
Vinnie looked annoyed. ‘Is Patience trying to stir it up between us? Is that what this is about?’
Clara trembled. ‘It’s nothing to do with Mam. I just want to know if you’re behind the attack.’
Vinnie stepped close, his eyes blazing. ‘I’ll not have my wife questioning me like a criminal,’ he hissed. ‘I’m sorry for the Lewises but Benny’s had it coming for a long time. I’m surprised you’re so concerned for him after what he did to you and the bairn. You should be worrying about your brother and his comrades being falsely accused. That’s the only thing that bothers me!’
He pushed past her, grabbed his hat off the stand and strode out of the house. Clara was left shaking and more confused than ever. Immediately, Dolly appeared from the kitchen. Clara knew she had been listening to their argument.
‘What you go and upset him for?’ she reproached Clara. ‘My Vinnie’s given you more than you could ever have dreamed of; the least he can expect is a little more loyalty.’
Clara was about to tell her to mind her own business when Sarah started to cry. Nerves jangling, she picked her out of the cot and fled upstairs.
Chapter Thirty-One
A tension hung over The Cedars all week, as the impact of the attack on the Lewises reverberated around them all. Somehow Vinnie got to hear that Clara had gone to see Marta and Oscar. He came home furious and ordered her into the sitting room, slamming the door behind them.
‘How do you think that looks?’ he accused her. He gave her no time to reply. ‘It looks like we’re guilty or some’at, that’s what!’
‘No it doesn’t.’ Clara was shocked by his vehemence. ‘I just wanted to see that they were all right.’
‘You wanted to see Benny, didn’t you?’ he said, full of suspicion. ‘Do you still care for him?’
‘Don’t be daft,’ Clara replied. ‘He was in hospital, remember?’
‘It looks disloyal,’ Vinnie railed. ‘My own wife sneaking around in the early morning fraternising with the enemy.’
Clara was dumbfounded. ‘The enemy?’ she cried. ‘Marta and Oscar don’t deserve any of this. They’re canny people. You should’ve seen the way Marta handled Sarah — like she was a normal bairn.’
‘You had no right to take my daughter in there,’ Vinnie snapped.
‘You had someone watching the place, didn’t you?’ Clara retorted.
‘People talk,’ Vinnie said coldly. ‘There’s nothing goes on in Byfell I don’t know about. Just remember that.’
But Clara would not let it go. The doubt about her husband was gnawing at her all the time. ‘Then tell me, Vinnie,’ she challenged him, ‘if you know everything, who did attack the Lewises? Tell me to my face you had nothing to do with it.’
He grabbed her by the arms and shook her hard. ‘I had nothing to do with it! Why do you doubt your own husband?’
Clara gritted her teeth, suppressing her fear. ‘Because of what you did for me dad. You killed a man for him!’
Vinnie looked thunderous. ‘What are you talking about? I’ve never killed a man!’
‘Arranged it then,’ Clara cried. ‘Mam said you arranged to get rid of him — the foreigner — six years back.’
Vinnie looked at her with incomprehension. Then suddenly his expression changed. ‘Brodsky?’
‘I don’t know his name,’ Clara gasped.
Vinnie barked with laughter and let go. ‘I didn’t get rid of Brodsky,’ he snorted, ‘at least not in the way your mam said.’
Clara rubbed her arms. ‘In what way then?’
Vinnie’s look was still cold. ‘I shouldn’t have to explain any of this to you — it was an arrangement with Harry. But just to satisfy your journalist’s nosiness, I didn’t have Brodsky done away with.’
‘Then what became of him?’ Clara demanded.
‘I employed him.’ Vinnie looked pleased at Clara’s surprise. ‘He was a clock-maker — mended watches. He was useful. I sent him round country houses mending their grandfather clocks — until he disappeared.’
‘Disappeared?’ Clara echoed.
‘He was unreliable so I sacked him,’ Vinnie said with disdain. ‘But that doesn’t surprise me — he was a Jew and Russian — the worst sort. I strongly suspect he was a Communist spy. If he turned up again I’d send him packing or have him arrested.’
‘Why should my father be so afraid of a Russian clock-maker?’ she said, puzzled.
‘Probably after him for a load of money he couldn’t pay.’ Vinnie was dismissive. ‘Brodsky was a money-grabbing little Jew.’
Clara flinched at his tone; he had never spoken like that about Jews before. Vinnie misinterpreted it for doubt.
‘Believe me, I did Harry a favour as a friend. Patience should show more gratitude.’
‘But she said that was the cause of Dad’s drinking and gambling,’ Clara croaked, ‘thinking you’d done something terrible to the foreigner.’
Vinnie grew angry again. ‘That’s a load of rubbish! Harry just had a weakness for drink. He never asked me about Brodsky, else I could have told him, couldn’t I? Now don’t ever ask me about my business dealings again.’
Clara bit her tongue. She was shaken by their argument. Vinnie took her silence as a sign of acceptance.
‘Listen, lass,’ he said, his tone suddenly conciliatory, ‘let’s not fall out over ancient history. I’m just asking you to stay away from the Lewises. I’m worried for my lads — and for you. I don’t want them Bolshies taking advantage of your kind heart.’
Clara let it drop. She was relieved her mother’s suspicions about Vinnie were unfounded, yet his hardness over the matter disturbed her. She felt a nagging unease that there was more to the Brodsky affair than either Vinnie or Patience was letting on, but she could not see what. Vinnie had made it plain he would talk no further about it — or about the Lewises.
Clara found herself marooned at the house, starved of information while Vinnie spent long hours at work. He had the Albion taken away, saying it was needed elsewhere. Clarkie, she was told, was far too busy to run her around. She rang her mother at the garage, but all she could gather from the snatched conversation was that Benny was out of hospital. She rang the Lewises’ shop but there was no answer. The operator said the line was dead.
Jimmy moved in. Clara suspected it was to keep her brother out of the way until the fuss died down, but Vinnie said otherwise.
‘It’s to protect you and Sarah,’ he told her. ‘In case some Bolshies take it into their heads to have a go at us.’
‘But you said the BUF had nothing to do with it,’ Clara challenged him.
‘We didn’t,’ he said tersely, ‘but that doesn’t mean some hotheads won’t think we had and try a tit-for-tat. They’re itching to have a go at us.’
Jimmy slept downstairs in the dining room next to the front door. He was tight-lipped about the whole affair, except to inadvertently let slip that he had never rung Hoxton Hall.
‘What’s the number of the Bell-Carrs’ place?’ she asked him. ‘I want to ring Cissie.’
He shrugged. ‘How should I know?’
‘You rang us there that Saturday night,’ she reminded him.
‘I never—’ He stopped abruptly.
‘Why should Vinnie say you rang if you didn’t?’ Clara asked.
Jimmy flushed in annoyance. ‘That’s Vinnie’s business,’ he mumbled.
Her brother spent a large amount of time in the kitchen drinking cups of tea with Ella or listening to the radio with Dolly, who made a show of spoiling him while criticising Clara as if she was not there.
‘You’d think your sister would be content with all this,’ Dolly needled, with a sweeping gesture of the room, ‘but no, our Clara is always hankering after something else. It was her idea to come and live here in the first place, Jimmy. Now she spends all her time trying to go back to Byfell. Some people are never satisfied.’
The weather was bad, but Clara made a point of pushing Sarah out in the large pram to escape the claustrophobic atmosphere. Irritatingly, Jimmy would follow her. He never offered to push the pram or chat, just kept two paces behind like a shadow she could not shake off.
At the end of the week, while Dolly was snoozing and Jimmy was in the kitchen, Clara quietly telephoned her old newspaper. She spoke to Jellicoe. He sounded cautious.
‘Things are pretty tense around the town,’ he said. ‘The Lewises are keeping their heads down, not speaking to the press. Benny’s been seen out on crutches, but not even he wants to talk. I think it’s shaken them badly.’
‘Are they open for business?’ Clara whispered.
‘After a fashion,’ Jellicoe confirmed. ‘Their Labour friends have rallied round and cleared up the mess, but the window’s still boarded over. It’ll remain to be seen how much it’s damaged their business.’
‘And there’s no word about who was responsible?’ Clara asked nervously.
‘None. They’ve covered their tracks well, and no one’s talking — not one witness has come forward. Amazing, isn’t it?’
‘The police must have their suspicions,’ Clara pressed him.
‘They’re keeping an open mind,’ Jellicoe said sardonically.
‘And you?’
He paused. ‘Off the record?’
‘Yes,’ Clara said.
‘I assumed the BUF were behind it — or a renegade group from their ranks. It’s possible Vinnie knew nothing about it. Now there’s a counter-rumour going about that left-wing extremists did it, to provoke a revenge attack on the BUF. But maybe your husband’s behind that one. All I’m certain of is that no one trusts anyone else — and everyone’s watching their backs.’
Clara glanced nervously at the kitchen door. ‘Will you do something for me?’ she asked quickly. ‘Arrange for a glazier to replace their shop window. I’ll pay you back — I’ve got money of my own.’ There was silence at the other end. ‘Please, Mr Jellicoe.’
‘Does Vinnie know about this?’ he asked.
‘He doesn’t need to know,’ Clara said hastily. ‘It’s just between you and me.’
‘Guilt money?’ Jellicoe was blunt.
Clara winced. ‘They were good friends of mine once, that’s the only reason.’ She heard movement in the kitchen. ‘I have to go. Please say you’ll do it.’
‘Very well.’
‘And let me know if you hear any more about the Lewises.’ The kitchen door opened and Jimmy came out. Clara said clearly, ‘And a quarter pound of salami, my husband’s favourite. No, that’s all, thank you. Goodbye.’
She heard Jellicoe chuckle on the other end, ‘Goodbye, Clara — and good luck.’
Two weeks on, Vinnie seemed more relaxed. The police investigation had found nothing to link the attack to the BUF, except the accusations of the anti-fascists. He came home with a copy of the Tyne Times.
‘Anonymous donor paid for
their window to be fixed.’ He showed Dolly. ‘Waste of money, mind.’
‘Why?’ Clara asked, her heart skipping a beat. She had slipped out and posted the money to Jellicoe the previous week.
He eyed her. ‘Cos they’re moving.’
‘Good riddance,’ Dolly declared, ‘after all the trouble they’ve caused.’
‘Where too?’ Clara tried to keep the tremor out of her voice.
Vinnie shrugged. ‘Rumour has it Max Sobel has found them somewhere. Probably all for the best; they were struggling to pay their rent on Tenter Terrace.’
‘How do you know?’ Clara asked in surprise.
‘Questions, questions!’ Dolly interrupted. ‘Do you ever stop? Put your feet up, Vinnie, and Clara will fetch you a whisky.’
Vinnie handed Clara the newspaper and sat down. ‘I bet the landlord’s happy with the arrangement,’ Vinnie commented, ‘getting his window replaced for free and the Lewis family out.’
Clara dropped the newspaper on the table and walked to the door.
‘Where you going?’ Dolly called after her.
‘To see to Sarah,’ Clara answered without a backward glance.
***
It was nearly Christmas before Clara discovered what had become of the Lewises. She ran into Max in Newcastle, as she came out of the Laing Art Gallery with Willa. They had gone there for an exhibition while Ella looked after Sarah for a brief afternoon. Their husbands were now working in closer partnership, though neither wife knew the details.
‘Clara!’ Max cried. ‘You look well.’
Clara smiled and introduced him to Willa. After a few stilted pleasantries, she dared to ask, ‘How are the Lewises?’
His look was guarded. ‘They’re surviving. Oscar has a small shop in Sandyford.’
‘Is that where they’re living?’
Max nodded.
‘And Benny?’ Clara asked awkwardly.
‘He’s just off his crutches,’ Max said, ‘but the mental scars will take longer to heal. He keeps to himself these days.’ His voice took on an edge. ‘While the brutes who put him in hospital walk freely on our streets. Makes you proud to belong here, doesn’t it?’
THE TYNESIDE SAGAS: Box set of three dramatic and emotional stories: A Handful of Stars, Chasing the Dream and For Love & Glory Page 33