Sitting at his bedside while he slept, as she did every afternoon, she rose to make herself a cup of tea, trying not to disturb him, but his eyes opened. ‘Write and tell Katie the truth,’ he said, hoarsely.
‘What good would that do?’
‘Maybe none, but she should ken.’ Another cough made him hold his chest as if the pain was too much to bear.
His wife waited until he seemed easier. ‘Tell her she was dumped on our doorstep? How d’you think she’d feel about that? All her life she’s thought her mother and father were dead, and it’ll not hurt her to keep thinking that. Now, I was going to make some tea, would you like a cup?’
When she returned with the tray, she held his cup to his lips because his hands were too shaky to hold it himself. ‘Telling her the truth now would be like opening Pandora’s Box,’ she murmured, carrying on the conversation as though there had been no break. ‘Can you not see how hurt she’d be? Things is best left the way they are.’
Too weak to argue any more, William John sighed, ‘Aye, I suppose you’re right.’
But he had made his wife think. Had she been wrong all along? Should she have told Katie from the beginning that her mother had abandoned her? But how could she, without explaining the rest? Even William John didn’t know why she had taken such an ill-will at Lizzie Baxter. If she had been more friendly to the lassie, they wouldn’t have gone away. It was her fault, Mary Ann thought remorsefully, she had always known that, and she had done what she could to salve her conscience – something her man knew nothing about and never would now – but was it enough? And would poor Katie understand when the time came?
On the Sunday three weeks after she started work at the baker’s, Katie was sitting by the fire knitting a pair of socks for Sammy – who was leafing over a comic Jackie had given him – when someone knocked. Thinking that it would be Lottie, her only visitor these days, Katie rose to unlock the door. Her welcoming smile froze when she saw, not the familiar cheery face, but the saturnine features of Angus Gunn, Her legs turned to jelly and the knitting fell from her nerveless fingers.
‘Well, well!’ he sneered, shoving past her and standing just inside the door. ‘You and Sammy have a cosy little love-nest here.’
The sound of his voice stirred a far-away memory in Sammy, a memory that made him cringe and put his hands over his eyes, and Angus gave a wicked laugh. ‘So you remember your father, do you, boy?’
‘Wh-what are y-you d-doing here?’ Katie stammered, her heart pounding.
Advancing into the room, he waved a finger at her. ‘That’s not a very nice welcome.’
His sarcastic smile made her flesh creep, but she found the courage to say, ‘You’re not welcome.’
Another spine-chilling laugh. ‘I think it’s time you and I had a little talk, Katie.’
His teeth baring now like a wolf ready to pounce, her bravery deserted her, and afraid to move in case her legs gave way, she muttered, fearfully, ‘We’ve nothing to talk about.’
He still had the horrible grin on his face. ‘Sit down, my dear, and tell me why you ran away with my son and left me lying unconscious. That was not very charitable, was it?’
Rooted to the spot, she had difficulty forcing the words out. ‘I thought … you were dead.’
This had obviously not occurred to him, and his expression became less evil. ‘Ah! I begin to see things more clearly. You thought that my son had killed me, and you made him run away to escape justice?’
‘Yes.’ Her lips were stiff, every inch of her body felt as though it had been anaesthetized, and she desperately longed for outright oblivion.
He smiled encouragingly. ‘You can relax. I have not come to do you any harm.’
‘What did you come for?’ Noticing the long jagged scar on his cheek, she shuddered at the memory of how she had raked his face with her scissors.
‘Please sit down. You make me feel that you are afraid of me, and I can assure you that you have nothing to fear.’
She flopped into her chair again. ‘What did you come for?’ she repeated.
‘I am going to take you back to Fenty.’
She cast a beseeching glance at Sammy, but Mr Gunn’s soft voice having reassured him, he had picked up his comic and was paying no attention to them. ‘You can’t force me to go back,’ she said, hoping that she sounded confident enough.
‘Hear me out, my dear. As you probably know, I married again after poor Marguerite died, and it is for Betty’s sake that I came here. I want her to have some help in the house, and I am offering you the position of maid again, Katie.’
‘Me?’ Terrified as she was of him, Katie couldn’t help laughing at his audacity. ‘You’d have to be kicking up the daisies before I’d set foot in your house again.’
An ingratiating smile followed his brief frown. ‘It would be on a different footing this time, Katie.’ Stretching out his hand, he stroked her knee.
She sprang to her feet. ‘Keep your filthy hands off me!’ she shouted. ‘I don’t want to be on any kind of footing with you!’
When he jumped up and made a spring at her, she wished she still had the steel knitting needles in her hands, not just to jab at his face, but to plunge them into his heart. But she was powerless against him, and he had her pinned against the wall with her arms behind her, his face close to hers as he hissed, ‘This is where I should say, in the words of the old melodramas, “Come to me, my fine beauty”.’
Giving a sneering giggle, he forced her legs open with his knee and put his arms round her neck, but at that, Sammy, who had been keeping an eye on him since Katie raised her voice, leapt out of his chair roaring, ‘Leave her! You leave Katie alone!’
Angus did not move, but his body was tensed in readiness for the onslaught. ‘Go on then, boy! Hit me! The police will not overlook a second charge of assault against you.’
Realizing that this was what he wanted, Katie screamed, ‘Don’t hit him, Sammy! Put him out and lock the door so he can’t get in again!’
Grinning happily, Sammy grabbed his father under the arms from the back and hoisted him off the floor in one seemingly effortless heave. ‘Let me go, you idiot,’ Angus squealed, threshing his legs about, but he was carried to the open door and flung out with such force that he landed on his knees on the flagstones. The door slammed and the key clicked in the lock, but he knew that he was beaten and picked himself up to scurry through the pend to his car.
Trembling uncontrollably, Katie held on to the nearest chair for support, her knuckles turning white from gripping so fiercely. ‘Thank goodness you were here, Sammy,’ she breathed.
His chest puffed out with pride. ‘He was trying to kill you, wasn’t he, Katie?’
‘I think he was.’ She knew he hadn’t been, but it was best Sammy did not know what his father had tried to do. She was scared enough as it was that he might try the same at any time.
‘And I saved you?’
‘Yes, you saved me, but I want you to sit down again and read your comic.’
Crossing obediently to his chair, he said, ‘Will that man be coming back?’
‘Oh, God, I hope not!’ Seeing his agitation at that, she said, ‘No, no, he’ll not be back. It’s all right, Sammy, just read your paper.’
When she was sure that he was engrossed once more in the Wizard, she sat down in her own seat to think. That old devil had likely waited three weeks after he discovered her address so she would be off her guard. And what about Mrs Gunn – the first Mrs Gunn? He couldn’t have strangled her, because the doctor – or the police or the undertaker – would have seen the marks. He could have smothered her, but how had he got her back into bed? However he had managed, she had no proof of anything, and what did it matter now?
He would be mad enough at her as it was, without raking that up, and she would have to find out who was at her door in future before she opened it to anyone.
Chapter Eighteen
’You’ve been here every night for weeks,’ Beth observed, with
a smile. ‘Have you no other girls on the go just now?’
‘Not one,’ Dennis laughed, then added, seriously, ‘I don’t want anybody but you.’
‘What about the girl you lived with before … Katie?’
‘That was all finished ages ago. I told you, I’m living in at the Temperance again.’
‘I never know when to believe you.’
‘Now, Beth, that’s hitting below the belt. I told you one little fib … Listen. I love you with all my heart, truly. I know I’ve said it before, but I mean it this time. I’ve come to my senses and I’ll never look at another girl.’
‘If I could only believe that, I’d …’
‘I’ll prove it. I didn’t mean to say it yet, but … will you marry me, Beth?’ He was fed up with his present life and she was the only way out he could see.
‘Well!’ she gasped. ‘I wasn’t expecting that. I was going to say I’d let you move in with me.’
He wished he hadn’t been so impetuous, but she would throw him out if he retracted the proposal and he’d have to stand by it. ‘You haven’t given me an answer.’
‘I’ll have to think about it. Oh, Dennis, it’s not that I don’t love you, I do, but you’re so much younger.’
‘I don’t give a damn about age, I want you to be my wife, so think about it if you have to, just don’t take too long.’
Walking back to the Temperance, Dennis felt glad that he had burned his boats. His whole lifestyle would change once he was Beth’s husband. No more suits off the peg, no more cheap shoes and shirts. Best of all, once they had been married for a month or two, he would hint that he’d like a hotel of his own and she would likely fork out the needful. Once he got it established, he could start spending the odd night with any girl he fancied … at Beth’s expense.
The encounter with Mr Gunn four weeks earlier had made Katie long for the comfort of her lover’s arms, and the more she thought about Dennis, the more miserable she became. She had tried to convince herself that he was a waster and that she was better off without him, but she still loved him. Night after night, she cried herself to sleep, and she knew she would be ill if she didn’t stop. Of course, worrying about Sammy didn’t help. She had often noticed him with his hand in his pocket, his face red, his breathing fast, and then he would jump up and go into his bedroom. She was well aware of what he was doing, and was thankful that she’d paid a joiner to fit a lock to her bedroom door. She would never let him see her in her wrapper again, so surely he wouldn’t try anything during the day.
In the room next door, Sammy was lying wide awake. He hadn’t had peace to get a good night’s sleep for ages. Why was Katie always so unhappy? She hardly ate a thing nowadays and that wasn’t good for anybody. She was awful short-tempered with him, and all, even when he did everything she told him. She’d once said she would have to send him away – that had stuck in his mind – and every time she’d been angry with him after that he’d been scared she would do it. He didn’t like it when she lost her temper, but he’d rather put up with it than have to live in some other place without her.
Sammy propped himself on one elbow to plump up his pillow, hoping that Katie wouldn’t go on like this for much longer; it was an awful long time already. Was it Dennis she was crying for? But she hadn’t been so bad till they came back from … that place where the bobbies had tried to get him into their van. Was she upset because he hadn’t gone? Did she want rid of him?
At this thought, a dull ache started inside him, so bad that he had to get out of bed. He would never know if she wanted him out of her house unless he asked her. Barging out of his room, he tried Katie’s door, but it wouldn’t open. His need to speak to her made him rattle the handle. ‘I want to come in, Katie,’ he shouted, ‘but the door’s stuck.’
‘Go away, Sammy!’
His mouth fell open in surprise. He had to get in; he had to ask her. Banging on the wooden panel with his knuckles now, he roared, ‘I need you, Katie!’
‘You can’t have me! Go away!’
When he put his shoulder to the door it didn’t budge, but Katie screamed, ‘I put a lock on to keep you out! Go away, you can’t get in!’
More hurt than he had ever been in his life, he returned slowly to his own room and sat down on the edge of his bed. His head was going round and round, and he felt like a horse had kicked him in the guts. Bending over, he dropped his head into his hands and rocked backwards and forwards until his dim brain started to work again. He didn’t need to ask her now. She’d told him she wanted him to go away! She’d even locked him out! But where would he go? Katie was the only person he had; she was his mother. How could a mother send her son away?
Ten more minutes passed before he remembered the man that had come to see them, the man Katie had made him throw out. He had said he was Sammy’s father. He wasn’t a nice man, but he had wanted to take them to a place called Fenty. Fenty? Sammy had a vague recollection of hearing that name before. He could go there and let Katie be on her own, and maybe she would get tired of being here by herself and she might come to Fenty some time, and all. A mother and father should be together.
Getting off the bed, Sammy put on the clothes he had been wearing the day before and made a bundle of the rest.
When Katie was calm enough to think over what had happened, it occurred to her that maybe Sammy had not been trying to get in to rape her. What was it he had said? ‘I need you, Katie’, that was all. Maybe something had scared him? Maybe he just wanted to tell her something. If he got an idea into his head, he usually couldn’t wait to tell her. She had been all upset anyway, crying about Dennis, and she had jumped to a wrong conclusion with Sammy. Poor soul, he must have been hurt by the things she’d said.
Wondering if she should go and say she was sorry, she decided to wait until rising time. Her nerves were all to pieces just now, and she had better try to get some sleep.
When she woke up some hours later, she was surprised that she had slept so well. She had been needing it, of course, and she felt a lot better for it. Making up her mind to forget about Dennis in future, she got up and went through to the kitchen, knocking on the other bedroom door as she went past. Then she knelt on the hearthrug to clear out the grate, but even by the time she had lit the fire Sammy had not come through. Wondering why, she rose to empty the ashes into the pail in the coalshed, and when she came in, she rapped on his door again. ‘Come on, Sammy, or you’ll be late for your work.’
When she got no reply, she turned the handle and looked in, then stood stock still in dismay. He wasn’t there! He must have got up earlier, she thought, and ran to see if he was in the WC, but the key was still hanging on its hook by the outside door. Could he have gone for a walk? Yes, that’s where he must be. She had better make the breakfast, for he’d be hungry when he came in.
When the porridge was ready, she filled two plates and sat down to sup hers, but by the time she was finished, there was still no sign of Sammy. Panicking now, she tried to think where else he might have gone. Could he have gone to work? Had he been so hurt by what she had said last night he had left without speaking to her? She would have to go and find out. On her way to the Salutation, she went in to tell Lottie that she would be late for work, and when her friend heard what had happened, she said, ‘Off you go and see if he’s there. I’ll easy manage here myself till you’re back.’
The heavens opened as Katie went out, and she was soaked to the skin by the time she returned from her fruitless errand, frantic with worry. She went straight home to change her clothes, then had an urge to check Sammy’s room. It was the same as always: the old patchwork quilt pulled up over the neatly made bed, the cross-stitch runner smooth on top of the chest of drawers, the little alarm clock he had been so proud of when she bought it though he couldn’t read the time, the teddy bear she had bought for him the Christmas before last because he had been taken with it in a shop window.
When she opened the drawers, her heart sank. Most of his underclothes and
shirts were gone. Remembering that he kept his money tin under the bottom shelf in the cupboard, she put her hand in to search for it, but it, too, had gone. There must have been quite a bit in it, for when the lid wouldn’t shut on the coins, she had always changed them for notes which didn’t take up so much room. He had definitely meant to go away for good, but maybe he would come back if he didn’t like being on his own. He must come back, for anything could happen to him and she didn’t know where to start looking for him.
Blaming herself for being nasty to him, she felt too upset to go to work, but she didn’t like to let Lottie down. Her distress, however, was so great when she went to the bakery that Lottie told her to go home again. ‘You’re in such a state you’ll not be able to put your mind to things anyway. And it’s best you’re there in case Sammy comes back. Stay off as long as you like, lass, and stop worrying. I’m sure he’ll turn up.’
Katie was a little soothed by Lottie’s optimism, but she was so afraid that Sammy would go away again if he came home and she wasn’t there that she didn’t leave the house at all for the next few days, except to go to the lavatory or take in coal and sticks.
On the afternoon of the fourth day, her eyes were sunken from lack of sleep, her face was drawn when she went to answer a knock at the door and her hand flew to her mouth when she saw the constable.
‘Can I come in?’
Numb with fear, she followed him inside. ‘Is this where a Samuel Gunn lives?’ he asked.
‘Sammy?’ she whispered. ‘Yes, but he’s not here.’
‘I know that. The Banff police picked him up last night.’
‘Picked him up? What for?’
‘I’m sorry, but I’m not at liberty to tell you. My orders were to inform you of his whereabouts.’
‘How did you know where he lived? He can never remember.’
‘They found a ticket in his pocket with his name and address on it.’
‘I wrote that in case he got lost. Can I go to see him?’
The Three Kings Page 20