With the ear released from his sister-in-law’s grip, Dan looked at his children. They were lovely, and he said so, his voice shaky and pitched at a higher than normal level. ‘Your Marie didn’t tell me what had happened, though I guessed.’ He rubbed his ear. For a small, slender woman, Marie Stanton had one hell of a grip. ‘They’re perfect,’ he managed.
Alice laughed. ‘With a handsome dad and a beautiful mum, they’re made of good stuff.’
He managed a smile. ‘They’re not creased. Don’t they usually look as if they need dipping in starch and ironing?’
Having disposed of the bowl’s contents, Vera returned. ‘Sit down, Dad,’ she ordered. ‘Marie says you were out playing poker. Men? They’re kids.’
He sat and waited while his next door neighbour, an expert in her field of work, scooped up the twins and placed them in his arms. Dan’s tears flowed. ‘I knew he’d kick off,’ Alice said. ‘He’s been a bit daft since we found out we were expecting.’
Vera grinned broadly. ‘Well, they’re having their baptism of tears. Perhaps you won’t need to take them to church.’
Marie and Nellie came to help Alice upstairs for a warm salt bath, leaving Janet, Claire, Vera and Olga to join Dan in a game of pass the parcel with two new babies swaddled in soft towels. He spoke to his wife before she left the room. ‘Thanks, love.’
‘I’ve ruined Marie’s rug,’ was her reply. ‘It was so beautiful, but look at it now.’
Marie, in the doorway with Nellie, tutted her disapproval. ‘Shut up about the flaming rug. It’s replaceable. Babies aren’t.’
The whole company heard the break in Marie’s voice in her final two words. Everyone knew that she would have given a hundred silk rugs in exchange for a baby of her own. Dan waited until he knew Alice and her two sisters had reached the bathroom. ‘Cruel world,’ he whispered, no longer trying to hide the emotion that flooded down his face. ‘Just one would have been enough for Marie, God love her. And here we are with two. Cruel world,’ he repeated.
Alice Quigley was, for the most part, a sensible and pragmatic woman. A stickler where housework was concerned, she attacked dust and mess as soon as it appeared, cleaned brasses once a week, kept paths, windowsills and doors polished, scrubbed the kitchen floor on hands and knees twice a week, and kept everything in its rightful place.
Suddenly, she had two babies and a husband who was now working full time and overtime. One baby kept waking the other and— ‘Alice? You there?’
And the endless stream of visitors woke both infants. ‘Where else would I be?’ was her reply when Vera walked in. ‘I was trying to have a doze on the sofa. The twins don’t share a timetable, and there’s always one awake.’ She would need to start locking the front door during the day as well. The only person who really helped her always came in the back way when he wasn’t out on a plumbing job. Harry was brilliant with the babies, which was unexpected, since he’d never been a dad or a hands-on uncle, as his siblings and their families had moved south. Dan, on the other hand, wasn’t coping with parenthood . . . Dan was emotionally shallow, possibly weakened and spoilt during his illnesses.
‘You do look tired, love,’ Vera pronounced. ‘I’ve left Yuri running the shop. Do you need any help? Washing, ironing, shopping – I’m having an hour or more off, so I can give you a hand.’
‘I’ve got to find my own way, Vee. I think having two at once makes more than twice the trouble.’
Vera nodded sagely. ‘I don’t know which is worse, Alice, twins or what I had – one at the walking stage, but still with no sense, and the other brand new in my arms. I’d the toddler yelling his head off because he’d fell out of the back door hole, and the little baby screaming hungry. I’d be running to pick Tony up off the path, and our Neil would be crying all over me frock because he wanted feeding and needed a clean nappy. No walk in the park, eh?’
Alice shook her head in agreement. ‘Speaking of walks in the park, will you take Frank out for me? He got a bit confused when we brought the living room down here again and took the bedroom back upstairs, and he’s been sulking in the kitchen ever since. He hates change. I’ve had him out with the babies, but he shows his teeth if anybody comes near the pram, carries on like he’s guarding Buckingham Palace. He’s too protective of our new arrivals. Try to give him a run, please.’
Vera chuckled. ‘Course I will.’ She left the room to get the boxer. ‘Come on, Churchill,’ she said, because she always swore she could see the likeness.
Alice closed her eyes and settled on the sofa in a seated position. Where was Callum now, when she needed a bit of magic? He’d not shown himself since the day of the twins’ birth – even then, he’d been just a pale streak on the ceiling and a few words in her brain. Was Harry at home? Harry had taken to honorary unclehood like the proverbial duck to water, whereas Dan . . . she let the recurring thought drift away.
‘See you later,’ Vera yelled as she dragged a reluctant Frank through the hallway. ‘Behave,’ she told the dog. ‘Alice, if I’m not back by five o’clock, get the police out. Come on – buck up, you lazy hound.’
The front door closed. Alice sighed and sent a silent thank you to God; the twins had remained asleep for almost an hour. Even Vera’s shrill tones hadn’t managed to disturb them. The new mother didn’t need to open her eyes, because she already knew that her house wasn’t up to scratch. She was heavily engaged on a daily basis in the boiling of nappies, the preparation of bottles, and the washing of tiny clothes. The rest of her time seemed to be spent in comforting, feeding and cleaning two new babies, which chores left little time and no energy for her usual jobs.
She sighed heavily. Dan was almost useless. He’d taken a close interest for the first few days, but once he’d realized that crying infants kept him awake and that meals were often late or thrown together in haste, he’d begun to back off. Backing off meant longer working hours, eating out or scrounging off Nellie and Martin – oh, and a tendency towards enjoying pub life in the evenings.
‘Thank God for Harry,’ she whispered. When he visited, Alice always fastened the front door properly, explaining to her locked-out and exasperated husband that a woman with two babies needed to feel safe in the evenings. When they heard Dan at the door, Harry did a quick disappearing act through the rear garden while she admitted the husband from whom she now felt estranged.
Harry told her she was even more beautiful since she had become a mum. She had filled out slightly, especially in what Harry called the upper storey or the balcony, and this made her laugh every time he referred to it. Her face was slightly fuller, too, ‘especially the gob,’ he said, meaning her lips. He was her comfort, her joy, her dirty secret, and her love for him grew exponentially alongside the increasing disappointment she felt towards her husband. She also experienced guilt, though nothing would ever entice her away from Harry’s kisses – of that she felt very sure. Kissing was all she allowed.
‘Why?’ Harry asked repeatedly, his eyes directed at the balcony. He had joined Alice, Ellie and Baby Callum as soon as Vera had left.
‘Stop it.’
‘Stop what?’
‘Looking at me like that.’
He groaned and sat down. ‘Where is he, Alice? How can he bear to stay away from you and these two little diamonds?’
The pair of gems lay on the rug in front of the fire. Dancing flames, clearly visible through the guard, seemed to fascinate the infants. They gurgled and blew bubbles. This was the quietest they’d been all day; Harry seemed to have a positive effect on their mood.
Alice shrugged. She had no idea where Dan was, and she said so, her tone implying that she couldn’t care less. Her husband was becoming another chore – or another child, one who got under her feet.
Harry tried not to jump when a voice whispered in his ear. Callum Senior had arrived at last, but he seemed unwilling to talk to Alice. ‘He’s with a barmaid in the Brook – that pub near Marie’s house,’ the disembodied voice said. ‘Go home in a few minu
tes and stay there. I think Nigel will deal with it. Look after her, Harry.’
‘Harry?’ Alice’s eyebrows were raised.
‘Sorry. I was just in a world of my own.’ He joined her on the sofa, placing an arm across her shoulders. ‘I don’t understand Dan,’ he told her for the umpteenth time. ‘A beautiful missus, two lovely babies, and where is he?’
Alice stared at her companion. ‘I don’t know. It’s probably because there are two babies. He can only manage one thing at a time, so he’s buggered off to find some peace.’
‘Or a piece of some tart in a pub. Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.’
‘Why not? I’ve thought it often enough.’
‘Have you?’
Alice nodded. ‘Of course. He wants female company, not babies.’
‘He was the one worried about dying and leaving you on your own.’
‘I know.’
‘Like a dog with two tails when you got pregnant.’
‘I know.’
‘You repeating the words “I” and “know” gets on my nerves.’
‘I know.’
‘What am I going to do with you, Alice?’
‘Is it all right if I say I don’t know?’
He kissed her until they were both breathless, then he went home. Experiencing a strong urge to kill Dan Quigley, he distracted himself by listening to some light music on the wireless while polishing his best shoes. When the footwear shone like black glass, he sat and tried not to hate Alice’s husband, but it wasn’t easy. And how would Nigel deal with the soft lad and his barmaid? Animal tranquillizers, poisoned dart, a kick up the back passage? Alice. How could any man cheat on her?
A car’s brakes screamed. Harry strode to the front window and watched while Nigel and a man he didn’t recognize dragged Dan out of the vehicle. When they hammered on Alice’s front door, Harry decided to push open his window. ‘Hello, Nigel. She keeps the bolt on because she’s left alone a lot. But Vera’s out with Frank, so Dan should be able to get in.’
‘We’re knocking to be polite to Alice. This is serious business.’ Nigel Stanton seemed to speak while scarcely moving his lips.
Harry decided that Dan’s nose had been bleeding.
Alice noticed the same when she pulled her front door inward. ‘Yes?’
The other man, finally recognizable as the landlord from the Brook, dug his elbow into Dan’s ribs. ‘Tell her, or we tell the whole neighbourhood,’ he growled. ‘We’ll get them all out and let them know about your carryings-on.’
‘I’ll tell her inside.’
‘Too easy,’ Nigel growled.
Alice folded her arms. ‘What’s happened?’ she demanded.
‘When your wife hears the truth, you’ll be lucky to cross the threshold,’ Nigel said, his tone acidic.
Seconds ticked by. The landlord cleared his throat. ‘Molly Evans,’ he shouted. ‘This worthless bugger’s been up to no good with one of our part-time barmaids. At it in the back yard at dinner time, they were, till my missus went to get something out of the shed. And I’m the one who smashed his nose.’
Alice, apparently unimpressed, simply closed the door and bolted it. Her outward calm was followed a minute or so later by the opening of the front bedroom window, from which gap rained down shirts, socks, shoes, trousers and underwear. ‘Nigel?’ Her tone was quiet. She threw down a suitcase.
‘Yes, love?’
‘Take him to our Nellie’s. He can sleep in her spare bedroom until he finds somewhere else.’ At last, she looked at the man she had married, adored, visited in hospital, nursed, spoon-fed and spoilt. ‘You’re not as ill as you were, and you don’t need me, don’t want our children. That’s fine. The Catholic Church and I have been on a slippery slope for a while now. So I’ll sue for adultery and get a divorce.’
‘We’ll back you up,’ Nigel said.
‘We will,’ the landlord.
‘I love you,’ Dan wailed.
Alice closed the window, drew the curtains and signalled that she had left the bedroom by switching off the centre light as she walked out to the landing. Dan knew what was going on and why, because she’d hammered home her feelings about betrayal. ‘One hour spent with one other woman, and you’ll be burnt toast,’ she’d told him often enough.
When she reached the ground floor, the babies were asleep in their day cribs and Harry was back and using a large drill on the back door. ‘More bolts,’ he explained.
‘Thank you.’ She sat in a straight-backed chair. ‘We must be very careful now, or he’ll counter-sue naming you.’
‘Wouldn’t bother me,’ he replied.
‘You’re not a mother of two babies, love. It’s different for me, because I have to protect them.’ She sighed. ‘And he’s going to die. So I might do better if I let him come back until . . . until then. He could sleep in his recovery room, because he won’t be sharing my bed. I just don’t want Ellie and Callum to be the children of divorce. Better to wait till Dan . . .’ She couldn’t say it again. ‘I know it all sounds cold, but I’ve always felt I could bear everything except betrayal, so he knows it’s over. And he won’t force himself on me, so don’t be worrying.’
‘Worrying about you’s my full-time job.’
‘What about plumbing?’
‘A drop in the ocean, sweetheart.’ He winked and returned to the job in hand.
Vera arrived and begged to be admitted by hammering on the door. When Alice let her in, the neighbour was grumbling about the bolted door, and Frank looked cheesed off. He walked away from the humans and settled in his bed. There was something going on and he couldn’t be bothered.
‘He doesn’t like walking in the dark,’ Vera said. ‘I think we’ve had no more than about four hours of daylight today, what with the rain and black cloud. Never mind – soon be spring.’
Alice apologized profusely for locking out her good neighbour.
Vera stepped further into the hall and stood with the other two. ‘What was all that about?’ She jerked a thumb towards the street. ‘I seen it from the bottom end of the lane. It looked a right battle, too. Folk across the way were staring.’
Harry, security supervisor, shrugged – he would leave Alice to explain.
‘He’s got a girlfriend,’ Alice replied bluntly. ‘She’s a barmaid – well, she was – in that nice pub near our Marie’s. I’ve told him time and again that another woman would finish us, and it has.’
‘Blood and bullets,’ Vera hissed. ‘What happened to sense, eh? What happened to love for his wife and kiddies?’ She burst into tears. They were all bastards apart from her Yuri. ‘God love you,’ she sobbed, ‘he’ll not find another one like you, because the mould got broke.’
‘We’ll look after her, Vee.’ Harry’s voice was choked as he pulled the famous gossip into his arms. ‘She’s got loads of friends round here, and then there’s Nellie and Martin and Marie and Nigel.’
‘I’ll kill him,’ Vera whispered. ‘Like I should have killed mine.’
‘You and whose army?’ Harry managed, his voice still rusty.
Vera smiled through her tears. ‘Who needs an army when we’ve got our Olga? She’s better than a Sherman tank, that one.’ She pulled herself out of Harry’s embrace and dried her tears. ‘What are you going to do, queen?’
Alice’s shrug was designed to be determinedly carefree. ‘He can live in his recovery room. He’ll go and see his tart, but he’ll stay away from me. It’s just to keep things looking right for the twins’ sake.’
‘But what if he . . . ?’ Vera’s words died a natural death.
Alice’s eyes were riveted to Harry’s. They shared the near-knowledge that Dan was not long for this world. ‘We’ll manage, Vera, for two reasons,’ Alice stated. ‘One, I warned him that if he was unfaithful, we’d be done. And two, there’s a lot of disease about since the war.’
‘Ooh, I never thought.’ Vera’s eyes were wide, and her specs were slipping – a sure sign that she was flustered. She blushed.
‘Yuri can now,’ she informed them apropos of nothing at all. ‘He won’t have no diseases cos he couldn’t do it for a long while.’
Harry smiled for the first time since the start of the conversation. ‘I’m pleased for you, Vera. He’s a good man.’
‘The best.’ Her cheeks displayed a deeper blush. ‘With . . . the other one, I felt as if he was . . . you know . . . forcing me.’
‘Jimmy knew no different,’ Harry said, ‘and no, I’m not defending him. His was a rough family, and he followed in his father’s footsteps. His mam was so thin, you couldn’t see her if she stood sideways next to a lamp post. Best thing Jimmy ever did for you and the lads was to hang himself.’
Vera sniffed. ‘Right, I’d best get back to the shop. With doing long hours, we’ve wotsnamed – we’ve increased turnover by fifteen per cent. That’s what Olga’s accountant said, any road. Ta-ra.’
Alone once more with his beloved, Harry begged, ‘Don’t have him back, Alice.’
‘He’ll be a lodger, no more. If he wants to be a dad, I won’t stop him, but no way does that man have a wife. I’m engaged to you.’
‘Aren’t you going to try me on the way Olga did with Peter?’
‘No, but I’ll test your nappy-changing skills.’
‘Shit.’
‘Yes, that as well.’
The trouble with women, Harry decided, was that they had an answer for everything.
Sixteen
8 APRIL 1947
Alice Quigley stood before a small audience in her bedroom.
Her children, over six weeks old and fighting fit, were next door with Vera, Olga and Yuri, as was Frank, the family dog. For the first time in over thirty years, Alice was about to lead carefully chosen people into an otherness. ‘I know you’d rather not be here, Muth, but this has to be done.’ She smiled at Peter, whose chair was blocking access to the door. ‘Thank you,’ she mouthed in his direction.
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