by Dee Williams
‘Me mum wanted to know how it happened?’
‘She was murdered.’
‘So we heard. Who did it?’
‘As far as we know, a certain Mr Cox.’
Ruby sat looking at Alfie. She could see now that there was an uncanny likeness between him and Danny. Like Beth, they both had fair hair and bright blue eyes, but more than that, they had exactly the same shaped noses and mouths. Surely Mr Thompson could see it as well?
‘D’you know why?’
Mr Thompson looked at Ruby, then shook his head.
‘Is he inside?’
‘Not yet,’ replied Mr Thompson.
‘Me mum said she’d like to see the kid. That’s why I’m here.’
‘That could be arranged.’
‘Me mum said, even though there’s a few of us at home and me dad ain’t at work, she’d be happy to look after the kid.’
‘Thank your mother, but that won’t be necessary.’
‘You don’t know who its father is, so who’s gonner look after it now?’
Ruby stood up. ‘I’ll be looking after Danny.’
‘How much is he paying yer?’ He nodded towards Mr Thompson.
‘I’m not doing it for money.’
‘I bet. I know how hard up you Jenkinses is.’
‘I shall be giving Ruby an allowance.’
‘Me mum’s better at looking after the kids than she is. ’Sides, we’re family. Yer can’t keep ’im.’
‘And who says so?’
‘It’s the law.’
‘You can’t prove her name’s Anderson,’ said Mr Thompson.
Alfie looked agitated. ‘She is, was, me sister. ’Sides, Ruby goes ter work.’
‘How do you know?’ she quickly asked.
Mr Thompson signalled for Ruby to sit down.
‘I know a lot about yer. I used ter meet our Lizzie over the park sometimes.’
‘Were you blackmailing her?’
‘Come on now, Mr Thompson, that’s a nasty word. She used ter give me a few bob now and again fer me mum. So you see we ’ave got some rights.’
‘I don’t think so, young man. If we don’t know who Danny’s father is, in the eyes of the law he is an orphan and I shall see about adopting him. He’ll have a better upbringing with me.’
Ruby took in a quick breath.
‘And we don’t know if you’re telling the truth about Beth.’
‘She never said anything when you was bullying our Tom. Was she ashamed of you?’ asked Ruby.
‘I think we’d better leave it for now,’ said Mr Thompson.
Ruby looked at Mr Thompson. As much as she loved Beth and Danny, she didn’t want to spend the rest of her life looking after him. To her this was only a temporary measure.
Mr Thompson stood up. ‘Now I think you’d better go. Tell your mother to come here tomorrow afternoon after closing time. I shall then take her up to the Jenkinses’ house and she can see Danny. But don’t have any ideas about trying to extract money from me.’ He left the room.
‘You think you’re being very clever, don’t you, Ruby Jenkins, but you wait. Us Andersons don’t like being ridden rough shod over be anybody.’ Alfie stood up and moved towards the door. ‘And that goes for that wimp of a brother of yours as well. Tell him I know all what he gets up to with that Freddie Porter.’
Ruby watched him leave. Who was Freddie Porter? What did he know about Tom? It must be to do with the money. Ruby was angry. All this trouble was about money and the lack of it. Beth would still be alive if they had had money. ‘I must get away from all this. I can’t stand much more,’ she whispered. But as she went out of the room she asked herself: Where can I go now I have Danny to look after?
As soon as she walked back into the bar Milly and Mrs Moss raced up to her.
‘What happened?’ asked Milly. ‘Was she his sister?’
‘Not sure. They want Danny.’
‘What?’ said Milly and Mrs Moss together.
‘They can’t do that, can they?’ asked Mrs Moss.
‘Mr Thompson reckons he’s gonner adopt him.’
‘Adopt? How can he?’
Ruby shrugged.
‘What about his father?’ asked Milly.
‘Well, we can’t find out who that was, can we?’
‘But who’ll look after him?’ asked Mrs Moss.
‘It looks like me for the moment.’
Mrs Moss pulled herself up to her full five feet. ‘Well, I don’t like to speak out of turn, but I think it’s a lot to ask of you.’
‘So do I,’ said Milly.
‘You’re only a girl and you’ve got all your life in front of you. The last thing you want is a young child to bring up.’
Mrs Moss meant well. How could Ruby tell her she didn’t have a lot of choice? That it was because of her brother that Beth was dead?
‘Mrs Anderson’s coming round tomorrow to see Danny.’
Milly could see that Ruby didn’t want to discuss this so, looking across the room, she said, ‘Mrs Moss, looks like they need those other sandwiches.’
‘All right, love.’
As soon as they had walked away, Tom came up to her.
‘What did that Alfie Anderson want?’
‘Danny.’
‘Why?’
‘He said Beth was his sister.’
‘She wasn’t, was she?’
‘Don’t know.’
‘He can’t have him, can he?’
‘I don’t know.’ Ruby felt drained. ‘Who’s Freddie Porter?’
Fear filled Tom’s face. ‘Who told you about him?’
‘Alfie Anderson. So who is he?’
‘Just a mate.’
‘What’s he like?’
‘All right.’
‘Is he the one who’s been leading you astray?’
Danny began crying and Tom started to walk away.
‘Just a minute,’ called Ruby.
‘I think this little ’en needs his bed,’ said Mrs Moss, who had come back and picked Danny up out of his pram.
‘Yes. I’ll be off now.’ Ruby looked round the bar; it was six o’clock. Mr Thompson had told his customers that he wasn’t opening the pub tonight. Many of the people who had been to the funeral had begun to leave. ‘You coming, Dad?’
‘No. I’m staying to give Len here a hand.’
Milly gave Ruby a smile. ‘I’ll walk with you.’
‘What about you, Tom?’
‘I’ll stay with Dad.’
‘Milly,’ said Ruby as she pushed the pram through the doors and out into the cold night air, ‘d’you think it would be wrong? As it’s not very late, d’you think Beth would mind if I went to the wedding?’
‘I think she’d be tickled pink. You go and enjoy yourself. And wear that lovely frock. It’ll be a nice change for you.’
‘But what about Danny?’
‘I’ll take him over to our place.’
‘Would your mum and dad mind?’
‘No, course not. Besides, he’s a dear little chap.’
‘Thanks.’ Although part of her was very sad, she was pleased she’d be seeing Ernie and Elsie. She had so much to tell them.
Outside it was very dark. The hissing from the street’s gas lamps and foghorns from the river made the dank, damp night feel eerie.
‘I only hope that fire’s stayed in,’ said Ruby as she pushed the large bassinet along the empty street. ‘It can be freezing at home.’
When they turned into Hill Street Milly put out her hand to stop Ruby.
‘Look. The lamp upstairs in Cox’s place is alight.’
Ruby felt her stomach churn. She felt sick. ‘He must be home,’ she said softly.
‘Shall I go back and get Mr Thompson?’
‘No,’ said Ruby forcefully. ‘What if he tried to kill him or something?’
‘Yes, you could be right, he’s that angry. But what we gonner do?’
Ruby was pleased Milly had said ‘we’, she didn’t want to
confront him alone. ‘I don’t know.’
‘We could go to the police station?’
‘He might be gone be the time we got back.’
‘That’s true.’
They stood for a while looking up at the window.
‘I’ll go and get me dad.’ Milly left Ruby standing.
It was only a short while before Milly’s mum and dad came out, but Ruby was freezing cold and had been banging her hands and feet to keep warm.
‘Has he come out?’ asked Milly’s mum.
‘No. I must go in.’
‘D’you know you’ve got a dew drop hanging from the end of your nose,’ said Milly light-heartedly.
‘So would you if you’d been standing about here.’
‘Now, girl, come on. We’ve got to think of something.’ Milly’s dad was a businessman and he was trying to be practical.
‘What we gonner do?’ asked Ruby.
‘Let’s get in first. He might come down when he hears us.’
‘What will he say about his door?’ Ruby manoeuvred the large pram up to the front door. She took the key from the shelf and opened the door.
They all stood in the passage looking up the stairs. Ruby could hear him moving about.
Milly’s dad slammed the front door and they waited for a reaction.
‘Who is it?’ came a voice from upstairs.
Ruby looked at Milly’s family. ‘That ain’t Mr Cox,’ she whispered, then called out, ‘It’s me, Ruby.’ Danny stirred and Ruby gently rocked the pram.
One of the policemen who had been before appeared at the top of the stairs. ‘Sorry. I should have come down.’
‘What are you doing here?’ asked Ruby.
‘Searching his place.’
‘You ain’t found him yet?’ asked Milly’s dad.
‘No. But we think he might be in Southend.’
‘Southend?’ repeated Ruby.
‘Yes. We found a bill from a guest house among his things - it appears he was there some time back.’
‘He did go away once, but he didn’t say where.’
‘Does this mean you’ll be arresting him shortly?’ asked Milly’s dad.
‘We do want to question him.’
‘How did you get in?’ asked Ruby.
‘We just felt around for the key. We knew you were at the funeral and we hoped we’d be gone before you got back, that way you’d be none the wiser. Everything’s just as he left it, except the door of course.’
‘What if he gets back before you get the chance to nab him?’ asked Milly’s dad.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll catch him. He might not even know he’s wanted for questioning about Mrs Norton’s murder.’
‘I bet he does. He reads the papers. Come on, missus. Let’s get home.’ Milly’s dad looked in the pram. ‘He’s a bonny lad.’
‘Don’t you dare wake him,’ said his wife. ‘This poor girl needs all the rest she can get.’
The policeman and Milly’s parents left. Ruby silently closed the door behind them.
‘Come on, we’ll see if this fire’s still alight, then I’ll make you a cuppa.’
‘Thanks, Milly. I wonder how the wedding went, and if Ernie missed me?’
‘You’ll have a chance to find out soon.’
‘I don’t know if I should go.’
‘Now come on. No second thoughts. You like Ernie, don’t you?’
Ruby nodded. ‘Yes I do.’ But the thought that was going round her mind was: Would he want her now she had Danny to look after?
Milly must have read her thoughts as she said, ‘Did Mr Thompson say what arrangements he was going to make for the boy’s future?’
Ruby shook her head. ‘Not really.’
‘I suppose it’s early days yet, but he can’t expect you to look after him for ever, surely.’
‘I don’t know.’
‘It’s been a long day for you. You go and get ready.’
‘Thanks. But I’m still not sure.’
‘Go!’ said Milly forcefully.
Milly gasped when Ruby walked back into the kitchen. ‘You look really lovely. You certainly made a good job of that frock.’
Ruby smiled and twirled round. ‘Now, you’re sure it’ll be all right? Dad and Tom shouldn’t be that long.’
‘Do I have to throw you out?’
‘No. I’m going.’ Ruby put on her coat and hat.
As they went along the passage Ruby looked in the pram. ‘Good night, little ’en.’ She kissed her fingers and placed them for a moment or two on Danny’s forehead. Milly stood at the door and watched her hurrying along the road. She reflected on all that had happened to this young girl. She deserved much more than life had thrown at her. After Ruby left Milly quietly closed the front door behind her. She’d wait till Mr Jenkins and Tom returned. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts.
As Ernie made his way home he found that although he was worried, he was also angry. He went over the day. Earlier, before the ceremony, he had wandered around outside the church looking for Ruby. Slowly the congregation had begun to move inside, and he’d wondered if Ruby had gone inside already? Should he go in and look? He hadn’t liked the idea of going in alone and she had said she would meet him outside. He hadn’t been to church since going with his mother after his father had died. She’d said she felt she should pray even if she didn’t have a body to bury. Ernie stamped his feet to bring life back into them. It was very cold. Had she gone in to escape the cold wind? He didn’t know what to do. When Elsie and the bridesmaids arrived, Elsie had caught sight of him and had given him a little wave. Half an hour later everybody came out. There was much laughter and noise, but still no sign of Ruby. Ernie stood back as Elsie called for different members of the family and friends to join her and her new husband for the photographs. Gradually the crowd began to make their way to Elsie’s house, and Ernie had followed at a safe distance. Inside the house was very crowded, but no Ruby. Had she changed her mind? After an hour or so, with his hands deep in his pockets to keep warm, he left the party. Why hadn’t Ruby turned up? Something must have happened. Could it be her father? He was so unpredictable. She’d been so looking forward to this wedding it must have been something terrible to keep her away. It was then that he realised she might have had to go to work till four, but she would have made it to the house by now. If that was the case, should he go back? He would have a word with Mrs Watson about keeping his girlfriend working so hard. He smiled, he knew Mrs Watson was fond of him in a motherly way. She had told him how she wished she’d had a son. Should he have stayed at Elsie’s house and waited for her there? But he didn’t know Elsie that well and had felt like an intruder; besides, it wasn’t the same without Ruby at his side.
As slowly he walked alone, he wondered about going to her house; he knew where she lived. But what if she didn’t want to see him? Had she known she’d have to work today and this was a way of putting him off? His mind was in such turmoil. Should he hang about and see if she turned up? There was so much he had to tell her. He really did love her. He wanted to be with her. But could they have a future together?
Chapter 31
As Ruby hurried along the road to the church, part of her was sad, but she was determined she wasn’t going to let it show, and she certainly wasn’t going to tell Elsie where she had been today. She didn’t want to spoil her friend’s day. Ruby knew that this could be the most wonderful evening of her life. She felt grown up and although she was cold in the flimsy frock, she was burning with excitement. She was going to see Ernie and for the first time he would see her looking nice, except for her boots. She would have loved to have been able to buy a pair of fancy shoes, but it wasn’t to be. Ruby remembered Elsie telling her that her house was near the church. She was pretty certain she’d be able to find it, and, sure enough, when she heard the sound of a piano and singing and lots of laughter, she knew she was at the right place.
The front door was on the latch and she pushed it open to make her way in
side.
‘Ruby!’ screamed Elsie, throwing her arms round her friend. ‘I was so worried you might not make it. Let me look at you.’ Elsie took her coat and held her at arm’s length. ‘You look really lovely.’
Ruby blushed. ‘Thank you. And what about you? That’s a really wonderful frock. You look like a princess. Oh Elsie, I’m so happy for you.’ She kissed her friend’s cheek.
‘I am pleased with it.’
‘Turn round. It’s gorgeous. I love the way the satin clings.’ Ruby knew the frock must have cost at least a couple of pounds.
Elsie ran her hands over her slim hips. ‘I feel ever so grand. Ain’t had nothing like this before, that’s why I don’t wonner take it off. Come on,’ she said. ‘Come and meet my husband.’ She giggled as she grabbed Ruby’s hand and led her through the crowd. ‘Charlie. Charlie,’ she called, and a tall good-looking man turned and smiled. ‘This is Ruby, my bestest mate, after you of course.’
‘Hello, Ruby. I’ve heard a lot about you.’ He kissed her cheek.
Ruby could see why Elsie had fallen for this man.
‘I ain’t seen Ernie since we got back,’ said Elsie.
‘Was he at the church?’
‘Yes. He should be here somewhere, but you might have a job finding him in this crush. Try the kitchen, usually the blokes like to hang round the booze.’
After the introductions to her husband and her sisters, Elsie said she had to mingle.
Ruby had been scanning the rooms looking for Ernie, but she wasn’t having any luck. After a while she sat on the stairs. She was enjoying watching people coming and going. The singing and the laughter got louder as the drink was being consumed and she smiled at the stolen kisses being enjoyed by many and wished she was sitting here with Ernie.
When Jenny, Elsie’s sister, sat next to her, Ruby quickly hid her shabby boots under her frock.
‘You’ve made a wonderful job of altering this.’ Jenny picked up the hem.
‘I hope you didn’t mind.’
‘No. As you can see I’ve got a bit large for it. If I ever get slim again and need any alterations, do you think you could do ’em for me?’