‘Then I won’t go there again. Although, if she comes into the post office, I won’t be rude and pretend we haven’t met, mind,’ she warned.
‘Mam doesn’t come to Cwm Derw very often.’
‘Will you take the gift I bought for Sandra? You needn’t tell her it was from me.’
Marion nodded. Wringing out the cloth again, she continued with her cleaning and Lowri went into the living room feeling like a schoolgirl who had been dismissed from the headmistress’s office in disgrace. As she added coals to the fire for the last hour of the evening, she suddenly saw how ridiculous they must have sounded. The stilted conversation, and her being reprimanded like a child; she began to giggle. She heard Marion close a cupboard door and turned, expecting her to be angry. The laughter grew and she knew that if Marion began another complaint the laughter would be impossible to control. She looked up, her face red with the heat of the fire and the efforts to be serious and saw that Marion too was failing to hold back her mirth.
Neither could talk for a long time and when they did, apologies were pushed aside. The two friends sat together, both relieved at the end of the silly disagreement.
‘I was pompous beyond,’ Marion said. ‘A stupid idiot is what I am, with no more brain than a scrubbing brush.’
‘And I’m a busybody with a long nose.’
‘I was ashamed of Mam with her eight children.’
‘And I listen to too much gossip at the post office and it’s addled my brain.’
‘Where did you go tonight?’ Marion asked. Lowri was on the point of explaining about Gaynor Dallow but something stopped her.
‘It’s all right, you’re entitled to your secrets.’ Marion said as Lowri hesitated. She smiled to take the criticism out of the words. ‘I thought you might have gone to the pictures that’s all.’
‘I went to see Dic, but he was out.’
‘All the way to Barry? Any reason?’
‘Not really. I was fed up with us not talking and I wanted some company.’
‘After serving half the village with stamps and postal orders and the like, you must have been desperate for company,’ Marion said with a giggle.
In spite of Marion’s efforts the laughter wouldn’t return. Lowri was left with the feeling that behind the casual questions was a real curiosity. For someone who liked her secrets, Marion asked an awful lot of questions, she thought rebelliously.
‘I wanted a cup of cocoa, but it seems I’ll have to make my own,’ she said, brightly. She went into the kitchen and rattling the cups and saucers, wondered what it was that always stopped her confiding in Marion. She’d been hesitant even before Dic had warned her. Friends gradually get to know each other and exchange confidences. Since they had shared Badgers Brook, she had become quickly aware of how secretive her friend could be. It had made her wary of telling her too much because there had been nothing in return.
First there had been the boyfriend who only visited when she was away from home. Then the revelation he was married. It had been clear from the moment they had become closer friends, after the arrest of her father, that she would not be a welcome visitor at Marion’s mother’s home. What else was Marion keeping from her?
She had the vision of the man running down the garden and disappearing through the hedge. Would Marion’s next revelation be that Ellis was alive and was her lover? She smiled grimly. That was too fantastic, even for her wildest imaginings, but there certainly were other secrets to learn. The thought frightened her as she remembered her room being searched. After Marion was in bed, she went down and checked that the doors were firmly locked. Then she checked the key again before settling to sleep.
*
It wasn’t until the following Sunday that she saw Dic. He arrived early in the afternoon with Sarah-Jane and Katie and invited her to go with them for a walk.
‘I’ll come,’ Marion said, surprising them both. Lowri hid her disappointment having hoped there might be a chance to tell Dic about Gaynor Dallow.
Because of the words buzzing around in her head longing to be spoken, she was tense as they walked through the beautiful woodland, with birds flying anxiously around busily searching for food to feed their young. Lowri pointed out to Sarah-Jane and Katie the few remaining wild daffodils which she had found on her wanderings. Bluebells spread a hazy carpet of blue under the trees and on the field beyond they found their first cowslips. She picked ribwort and showed them how to make popguns out of them. Leaving Dic and Marion to talk, Lowri walked with the little girls and marvelled with them at every new discovery.
Dic caught up with them as they walked along the top of the field, from where they looked down on a building site which once had been the Treweather’s farm.
‘Is there anything wrong?’ he asked Lowri.
She shook her head and smiled. ‘No, it’s a perfect day for a walk, with signs of spring everywhere. I think Sarah-Jane and Katie might like to take back a few branches and watch the leaves opening. I always enjoyed that.’
They walked back and from the garden Dic took a few branches from a large horse chestnut tree, where the sticky buds were already starting to unfurl. As Dic took them to the car, Lowri followed and, aware of Marion’s persistent curiosity, she called after him, ‘Will the girls eat beans on toast? There isn’t much here to put in sandwiches.’ She deliberately spoke quietly so he didn’t hear and she ran out and said, ‘Dic, I need to talk to you, but without Marion being aware.’ Louder she said, ‘Beans on toast? Not a traditional Sunday tea, but will it do?’
He walked back with her, an arm on her shoulder and replied easily regarding the food, but said nothing about the rest. They stayed later than usual, the girls playing hide-and-seek and dancing around to music played on the gramophone. Then they admitted to being tired and Dic gathered them up and prepared to leave.
‘I’ll be in Cwm Derw tomorrow, perhaps we can meet for lunch? It’s about time I returned some of your hospitality.’ He turned to Marion. ‘You too?’
‘Yes, why don’t you come?’ Lowri added.
Marion shook her head. ‘I have Mrs Griffiths and Mr Morgan tomorrow, I won’t be able to. But thanks anyway.’
Hiding her relief, hoping the invitation discouraged Marion from guessing she had something urgent to talk about to Dic, Lowri stood beside Marion and waved as the car drove away. As she waited for sleep to end the day, Lowri wondered if she were becoming a bit neurotic about Marion and Ellis Owen and her father and would be better to do as many suggested, and allow things to drift away in sorrowful acceptance.
The chances of the woman called Gaynor Dallow being Ellis’s secret lover and mother of his child and the possessor of the stolen money, was more like an Enid Blyton story for children than possible proof of her father’s innocence. Yet hope wouldn’t die. If Gaynor Dallow did have the missing money, surely that would be the first step towards her father being pardoned? She breathed a sigh of relief. Once they found her, Dic would know what to do next.
After once more checking that the doors and windows were locked, she slept peacefully and dreamed of seeing her father walk out of the prison gates where she and her mother, and Dic Morris waited for him. As she awoke, with the dream still tormentingly real, she wondered vaguely why Ken had not been there.
Seven
When Ken was told by one of his assistants that a young woman wanted to see him, he presumed it was someone looking for work. As he went out to the customers’ area the usual response was running through his mind; he would take her name and details and would contact her if a vacancy occurred. So he was surprised to see Marion.
‘Marion? Is something wrong?’ When she hesitated, glancing at the two women putting together an order, he gestured for her to follow him and led her into his office.
‘It’s Lowri,’ she began. ‘I’m worried about her.’
‘She isn’t ill, is she?’
‘Not really, but I think she’s becoming too obsessed with the dream of her father being freed. He’s
guilty. He has to be. No one is sentenced for something as serious as fraud without convincing evidence, he must be guilty. And there’s also the strong suspicion of murder too, but Lowri won’t accept it.’
He smiled wryly. ‘I don’t think I would either. How can we expect her to believe her father killed someone? Could you?’
‘I can’t imagine my gentle father or my stepfather wanting to hurt someone. But at the time, her father was filled with hatred. Couldn’t that explain it? If we believe the evidence, he’d been stealing money and had been found out by this man, Ellis Owen. His anger towards the man must have been terrifying. He must have been robbing the firm for a while and believed he’d got away with it, then Ellis found out. Difficult to contain his anger then, wouldn’t you say?’
‘I didn’t know Jimmy Vaughan, but I’ve met his daughter and nothing she’s told me has convinced me that the man could hate that much, even if he were guilty of fraud.’
‘If?’ she asked doubtfully. ‘Of course he did it. Lowri is incapable of facing facts. Jimmy Vaughan was seen fighting the man, in the water, at the top of a high, storm-driven tide. He survived but Ellis Owen didn’t.’
‘I have to agree with that, there were plenty of witnesses, but you can’t expect Lowri to accept it. By doing so she’d be admitting that her father’s guilty.’
‘Will you talk to her, try and persuade her to stop hoping? I think it’s ruining her life.’
Ken stared at her. ‘A term in prison doesn’t only affect the criminal. The sentence hurts the accused man’s family and friends too and the pain must be immense.’
‘But you’ll talk to her? Think of a way to take her mind off the vain hope of a reprieve?’
‘I’ll try,’ he said.
‘Something happened recently, something she won’t talk to me about. I think she’s convinced that it will lead to her father’s release. Try to make her talk about it, better to dash her hopes now, rather than let her build it up and watch her fall into another disappointment. I don’t know how much more she can stand.’
‘I’ll try,’ he repeated. ‘But how can I expect her to tell me what’s on her mind? I’ve never given her any encouragement to hope for miracles, in fact I’ve always tried to make her face facts, so what can I say to make her change her thinking?’
‘You could hint that you’re beginning to fall in love with her – she badly needs a friend, and a loving friend would also keep her away from Dic, who keeps her futile hope burning.’
‘I couldn’t do that! That would be cruel, unless I meant it.’
‘Couldn’t you convince her, for a little while?’
‘I do like her, but her father being in prison is just too much of a stumbling block to our relationship. I’m too fond of her to pretend otherwise and then have to let her down.’
‘Just to give her something else to dream about. Please, Ken. It would be kindest in the long run. She’ll waste so many years of her life if she isn’t helped.’
‘There has to be a better way of helping.’
‘You think of something. I can’t!’
‘I could invite her to meet my family.’
‘Brilliant. That isn’t a commitment but it will be an encouraging step. Yes, Ken, do that.’ Ken still looked doubtful as she pleaded, ‘Please, Ken, find out what this latest thing is, what information she has that she thinks will help her father. Then tell me, and together we can help her dismiss it and face the future without dragging the tragedy with her like a loose anchor.’
When Marion had gone, he sat for a while thinking about his feelings for Lowri. There was no doubt that her father’s situation had been in the way of a growing attraction. He liked her and knew he could so easily fall in love, but it could never be. Every time he allowed his thoughts to wander that way, a reminder of Jimmy Vaughan, a picture of him in a prison cell, burst in and ruined it. How could he encourage her to think beyond her father’s plight, without leading her on to disappointment? He could never allow himself to fall in love with the daughter of a man capable of murder.
Marion’s suggestion that he could pretend his feelings were stronger than they were, and there was a future for them, would be justified if it helped her. Then he could encourage her to talk. That wouldn’t be difficult. The difficulty would be walking away. If only she could forget her father and concentrate on the future, then he might be able to cope, allow his feelings to grow. Not while she was so determined to prove the man’s innocence. Remembering Marion’s words he smiled at her analogy – ‘dragging tragedy like a loose anchor’. Living close to the sea, even those who had no connection with it used sailor’s expressions, he mused.
*
Lowri still hadn’t spoken to Dic about the woman with the young baby, who had once known Ellis Owen. Each time they met, there was someone else present and Lowri believed the possibility of a lead was too precious to share until they had made enquiries. She was mentally prepared for disappointment but hope refused to be dashed. Until she had discussed it with Dic she did nothing, except find out where the young woman, Gaynor Dallow was living.
Adding to her suspicious that the woman might be holding the missing money, she learned that Gaynor lived in a small house and earned a little money working at home, finishing garments for Hope Bevan, the dressmaker, the wife of the greengrocer, Peter Bevan. Did she appear to have more money then she earned? She tried not to become excited, knowing she had to hold back until they could learn more about the woman, but it was hard to contain her optimism.
She and Dic had arranged to meet for lunch, but once again the opportunity to talk about the young unmarried woman with a child was thwarted. Ken called at the post office the day she and Dic were to meet and to their further dismay he joined them, chatting amiably to them both, successfully preventing a private talk.
On Sunday morning Lowri and Marion were preparing their lunch. A small joint of meat comprising three week’s ration – saved as a special treat – and potatoes roasted in carefully hoarded dripping, plus vegetables. They planned for it to be just the two of them but as usual, the morning was busy with visitors.
Betty Connors from The Ship and Compass called and was invited to stay and eat with them. Kitty and Bob brought a few vegetables but left soon after, Stella and Colin came, and stayed for coffee as Colin wanted to go into the greenhouse to check on his seedlings. At one o’clock, as they began to serve the meal, there was yet another knock at the door and Ken arrived.
Laughing, Lowri invited him in, saying, ‘Thank goodness we did extra veg. Marion, here’s another lost and hungry soul!’
Ken didn’t explain that he was expected home for a late lunch but accepted the invitation with alacrity. His mother knew he might be delayed. ‘Thanks,’ he said, taking off his coat and sitting at the table. ‘Only four of us?’
‘Oh, they’ve had their usual busy morning,’ Betty told him, helping herself to swede and carrots and the smallest sliver of beef. ‘No one suffers loneliness living in Badgers Brook!’
While Betty and Marion dealt with the dishes, Ken asked Lowri if there was anything worrying her. When she assured him that she was perfectly content, he said, ‘Tell me about your father, what sort of a person he was – I mean is. Talk about him so I can get to know him.’
‘Why?’ she asked curiously. ‘You give the impression you’d rather forget he exists.’
‘I confess that finding out about him was a shock. It changed the way I felt about you, for a while at least. Like most people, I’ve never been involved with anything like this before.’
‘Neither have I,’ she said dryly. ‘So why the sudden interest?’
‘Because of how I feel about you,’ he replied. ‘I’m fond of you – very fond – but this got in the way. I know I shouldn’t have let it, but it was such a shock and, I didn’t deal with it very well and I’m sorry.’
‘You weren’t unusual in that. All my so-called friends cut me off and became strangers. Even distant relatives now ignore Mam an
d me. So don’t feel guilty.’
‘But I do.’
The gramophone was playing softly, being wound up regularly by one or the other of them, dance tunes that had Marion jigging as she passed to and fro putting dishes away and clearing the table. Betty made coffee then announced she was leaving.
‘Come on, Lowri, let’s walk Betty back to The Ship and wander through the fields for an hour.’ Ken invited. ‘Just you and I,’ he added softly, his eyes telling her things she was happy to know.
Puzzled by his change of attitude and excited by it, she gathered her coat and gloves and they set off. Once they had parted from Betty, he slipped an arm around her waist and pressed her against him. Laughing at nothing in particular Lowri knew there was a significant change in their relationship and it was one she welcomed.
For Ken his emotions were in disarray. What he felt for Lowri was no pretence and only the problem with her father prevented him declaring how he had felt from the first moment he had seen her. To be connected with such serious crimes was something he could never have imagined, and despite his words, his subconscious insisted that by being Jimmy’s daughter, Lowri was implicated in those crimes. He tried to put the fears aside. Logic told him he was being stupid but still the doubts held him back like steel bands around his heart.
The fields were muddy in places but keeping to the unploughed edges they managed to stay clear of the worst of it. When they reached a small woodland he put his arms around her and kissed her. She closed her eyes and relaxed into the warmth of knowing she had found someone who cared. He stared down at her and she looked at him longingly until he kissed her again. They stood for a long time, hearts beating close to each other, the temptations of love in her eyes, reciprocating the desire shining in his.
‘I want you to come and meet my parents and brothers,’ he said. ‘I think it’s time we got this on a firmer foundation, don’t you?’
Lowri didn’t think she could be happier as they returned to the house, arms around each other, her head resting on his shoulder.
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