by Joan Jonker
‘No, your baby is alive, Mrs Campbell, I can tell you that. And everything seems to be in order, the head is in the right position to be born. But it is my duty to warn you that your husband’s vicious attack may have caused untold damage to the wee mite.’ Dr Gray was a tall, thin man in his fifties. He was a kind man who cared deeply for his patients, many of whom were living in abject poverty. ‘I’m quite concerned about the conditions in which you live, Mrs Campbell. If your husband is such a violent man, I’d be fearful for the safety of yourself and the baby. I would like you to go into hospital for the birth, and spend two weeks in there until you have regained your strength.’
‘No, please, Doctor, don’t send me into hospital, my friends will see I’m all right.’
He sighed as he pushed his horn-rimmed spectacles back into place. ‘I’ll ask them to come in and we’ll hear what they have to say.’
Gertrude, Betty and Maggie listened as he explained the position. ‘Mrs Campbell doesn’t want to go into hospital but I feel I would be neglecting my duty if I left her here, where she would be in danger.’
Betty, her arms folded and her lips set firm, said, ‘Yer don’t need to worry about her bleedin’ husband, Doctor, ’cos I’m going to kill him when I get me hands on him.’
‘That, Mrs Mason, would indeed be a just reward for what he’s done. But as it’s not likely to happen I’m still concerned for Mrs Campbell’s safety, and the baby’s. Good neighbours as you obviously are, you cannot be with her twenty-four hours a day.’
‘I can,’ Maggie said. ‘I’ve got a spare room she can have and I’ll make sure she’s well looked after for a few weeks. Everything is there now, all the baby things, so there’d be no problem. She could be moved now, couldn’t she? Sure, we’d have her settled in, all nice and comfy, before the baby comes.’
Mary lifted herself up on an elbow and reached for the doctor’s hand. ‘Please, let me stay with me friends, they’re all I’ve got.’
Just then the door burst open and Tom Campbell rushed in, his face contorted with anger. ‘What the bleedin’ hell’s going on? Get out, the lot of yer.’ He pointed a finger at his wife. ‘You, get downstairs and see to me dinner.’
Disgust was written all over the doctor’s face. ‘Your wife is in labour.’
‘You can sod off. She’s not going to drop the thing now, is she? So she can just get down those stairs and see to me bleedin’ dinner.’ Tom Campbell moved towards the bed, his arm outstretched to pull the bedclothes back, but his hand never touched them as Betty grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and swung him around.
‘I’ve got a bone to pick with you, yer yellow-livered bastard.’ Betty moved her hands quick to grab the top of his coat. Lifting him a foot off the floor, she looked up into his snarling face. ‘You and me, outside.’ She carried him aloft to the top of the stairs, threw him on to the floor then dragged him by the back of his coat down the stairs. He screamed with pain as his body came down heavily on each stair, but Betty didn’t care, his cries were like music to her ears.
In the bedroom, Gertrude looked at the doctor. ‘Would you excuse me for a minute, Dr Gray? I wouldn’t miss this for the world.’ With that, she took Maggie’s hand and they fled.
Dot was hurrying up the street when Betty dragged Tom Campbell down the two front steps and on to the pavement. ‘Oh, my God, what’s going on?’ Dot muttered aloud as she ran the last few yards. ‘Betty, for heaven’s sake, what are yer doing?’
‘Keep out of it, girl, this is just between me and this thing that calls itself a man.’ Betty slammed Tom against the wall, and in one movement, curled her fist and aimed. Not for his face as he expected, but for his beer gut. In pain, and winded, he tried to double up, but she wasn’t having any of that. Another blow was aimed at the same target, but Betty wasn’t seeing Tom Campbell’s pain, she was seeing Mary’s swollen tummy and an unborn baby fighting for its life.
Dot grabbed her arm. ‘Stop it, Betty, that’s enough.’
‘Leave her, Dot, me darlin’, he deserves it, so he does.’
‘But what’s he done, Maggie?’
‘Go upstairs and see what he’s done to Mary, then yer’ll understand why Betty wants to hurt him.’
Dot gazed at her neighbour for a few seconds then almost fell over the two steps in her haste to get to Mary. As she scrambled up the stairs, she was praying, ‘Oh no, please God, don’t let him have hurt her.’
A few minutes later Dot ran back down the stairs. She didn’t look at anyone, just made for her own front door and dashed inside. ‘Colin, I want yer to run round to John’s and ask him to come as quick as he can,’ she panted out. ‘Tell him it’s trouble and I need his help.’
‘What’s the matter, Mam?’
‘I’ve no time to tell yer now, sunshine, but I will later, I promise. Just run as fast as yer can, there’s a good boy.’
‘What number is Mr Kershaw’s house, Mam?’
‘I don’t know! Yer’ve passed it often enough, yer’ll know it when yer see it. If I’m not in when yer get back, I’ll be next door.’ Dot put her bag down and slipped out of her coat. ‘Oh, go out the back, son, it’ll be quicker.’
When she got outside, Paddy was holding Betty away from Tom Campbell. His overalls at his feet, where he’d thrown them, he was trying to calm the big woman. ‘Come on, Betty, leave him be.’ He knew a little of the reason for the onslaught, for Maggie had run to meet him when he’d turned the corner, but, angry as he was, he could see Campbell had suffered enough. ‘Ye’re even with him now.’
‘No, by God, I’m not! Nothing I could do to him would be as bad as what he’s done to that poor girl. You haven’t seen her, Paddy.’ Betty covered her face with her hands and her whole body began to shake as she sobbed her heart out.
Dot rushed to her friend’s side and took her in her arms, while Paddy helped Campbell up from the ground, where he’d slumped. He was moaning as the Irishman walked him inside the house and pulled him roughly on to the couch. But while Paddy put a cushion under his head, he was not prepared to do more for a man who had so little respect for the woman he’d married and who was carrying his child. So he went out without a backward glance and closed the living-room door behind him.
The neighbours who had come to watch out of curiosity drifted away, and Mary’s friends stood in a small group. ‘Dry yer eyes, Betty, if yer intend going back in to see Mary,’ Dot said. ‘The last thing she needs is to be upset. Just play the whole thing down.’
Maggie was telling Paddy she was sorry there was no meal ready for him. ‘Me and Betty have been with Mary all morning, me darlin’, I haven’t had time to cook yer anything.’
‘Sure, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve eaten bread and jam, and been glad of it. Food is the least of me worries now, sweetheart. It’s young Mary that’s on me mind. How is she going to stay in that house as things are?’
‘The doctor wants her to go into hospital, but the poor girl doesn’t want to. So I did suggest she could come to us and we’d look after her and the baby for a few weeks. That’s if you have no objection, me darlin’.’
‘Have I ever objected to you doing anything, sweetheart?’
Maggie stood on tiptoe to kiss him. ‘It’s a man in a million, yer are, Paddy O’Connor.’
‘That’s a marvellous idea, Maggie. You and Paddy are a couple of crackers,’ Dot told them. ‘We’ll all muck in and give yer a hand, yer know that. So let’s see if we can talk the doctor round and ease Mary’s mind. She’s got to go to hell and back very soon, she needs her friends around her. I wouldn’t change places with her right now, not for a big clock.’ Dot cupped Betty’s elbow, saying, ‘And you keep yer tears until yer get home, like me. Anyway, the sight of yer standing in the street bawling yer eyes out, I never thought I’d live to see the day.’
‘It takes a lot to get me so worked up, girl, but when I saw the state of Mary I just blew me top, couldn’t help it.’
The midwife was standing outside the
bedroom door when the three women reached the landing. ‘Doctor’s examining Mary again, so you can’t go in just yet.’
‘How are things looking, Mrs Wainwright?’ Dot asked. ‘Is Mary going to be all right?’
‘I hope so, my dear, but we’ll know more after she’s been examined.’ Gertrude Wainwright had been delivering babies for more years than she cared to remember, but this was one day she would never forget. ‘Whether she has the baby at home or in the hospital, she’s going to have a hard time. She’s in agony with the injuries to her back, never mind having to cope with labour pains as well.’ She glanced at Betty and smiled. ‘D’you know that first punch you gave her husband? Well, can I say you gave him that one from me, with my blessing?’
‘Yeah, of course yer can,’ Betty said sheepishly. ‘It was a good punch, that one.’
‘And the second one was from me,’ Maggie said. ‘With my blessing.’
‘Hey, hang on a minute! If yer carry on like that, it’ll end up that I didn’t get a punch in for meself! It’s me what’s got the sore knuckles, and it’s me what’ll get a name like a mad dog when my feller hears about it. Fair play, now, ladies.’
The bedroom door opened and Dr Gray appeared, crowding the tiny landing and causing Betty and Maggie to step down on to the two top stairs. ‘I’ve made her as comfortable as possible, but she is in a lot of pain. I really believe she would be better in hospital – they could give her something to relieve the pain – but she got very distressed when I suggested it.’
Gertrude’s eyes swept over the three neighbours before she asked, ‘Are you expecting it to be a normal delivery, Doctor?’
‘Yes, I’m sure it will be. But I’m not so sure what condition the baby will be in.’
‘We’ll cross that hurdle when we come to it.’ The old lady was once again the brisk nurse who was used to making decisions. ‘I suggest we move Mrs Campbell to Maggie’s house right away, while there’s still time. Her good friends will be on hand to help me if needed, and if at any stage I’m concerned, I will send for you.’
The doctor’s spectacles were resting on the end of his nose, pinching his nostrils, and he pushed them back into place with a forefinger. ‘One woman I would argue with, Gertrude, two I might be tempted to argue with, but I would never be silly enough to consider taking four of you on in a fight. So Mary can have her baby at home and I will call first thing in the morning, unless you need me before. But there’s one thing I must point out, and it is important. The baby’s head is engaged, so under no circumstances must she walk. She’ll have to be carried. And quickly, too, because the contractions are now coming every fifteen minutes.’
‘We’ve got two strapping men to carry her, Doctor,’ Dot said. ‘There’ll be no problem there, they’ll treat her like a piece of Dresden china.’
‘Right, well, I’ll be on my way – I’ve got several other calls to make. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you’re concerned, Gertrude, no matter what the time.’ Holding his black leather bag in front of him, he squeezed past the women and made his way down the stairs, followed closely by Maggie.
‘Doctor, I’d be grateful if yer’d have a look at Tom Campbell. My husband carried him in and put him on the couch, but no one knows how badly hurt he is. I’ve no love for the man, but sure he might be lying there dead for all we know.’
‘You wait here.’ The doctor opened the living-room door and disappeared inside, leaving Maggie biting nervously at her fingernails. She didn’t mind the man being in pain, in fact she hoped he was suffering the same agonies as Mary, but she’d not wish him dead.
‘He’s complaining about severe pains in his stomach,’ the doctor said, closing the door behind him, ‘but I’ve given him a quick examination and I don’t think there’s any serious damage been done. He is badly bruised, and I can assure you he’ll still be in agony long after Mary’s labour pains are over.’
He opened the front door and stepped into the street. ‘Which is your house, Maggie? I’ll need to know for my next visit.’
‘Next door, on the left.’ The doctor was walking away when she called, ‘We’ll take good care of Mary, Doctor.’
He turned. ‘I’m sure you will, my dear, I’m sure you will.’
Mary sat on the side of the bed and lifted first one arm and then the other, for Dot to put her coat on over her nightdress. ‘I hope there’s not a crowd in the street to see me being carried next door. I’ll feel so stupid.’
‘Paddy’s going to carry you, John will walk at the side of yer and I’ll walk in front. No one will see yer, it’s only a few yards. Anyway, that should be the least of yer worries, sunshine, fretting about the ruddy neighbours. Yer don’t owe them nothing; they don’t pay yer rent for yer.’
‘It was just for something to say, Dot, to take me mind off things. I don’t know what I’m going to have to go through and I’m terrified.’
‘Yer wouldn’t be normal if yer weren’t, sunshine, every woman feels the same. Having a baby isn’t as easy as falling off a bike, that’s for sure. But after yer’ve fallen off a bike, yer don’t end up with a beautiful baby in yer arms, do yer? So if yer just concentrate on what you’re doing yer’ll come through with flying colours.’ Dot had borrowed a pair of bedroom slippers off Maggie and she slipped them on Mary’s feet. ‘I’ll call the men up now and get yer next door before yer next pain starts. Maggie’s in there now, with Betty, getting everything ready for yer.’
The street was deserted except for one man, and he was walking with his back to them. There were no women standing at their doors gossiping, because Saturday was payday and the weekend shopping had to be done. So the only one to witness the scene was Miss Amelia Green from her vantage point opposite. She had seen what Betty had done to Tom Campbell and, guessing the reason, she had applauded every blow. And now, observing Mary being carried into the O’Connors’ house, she put two and two together and came up with the right answer.
‘Put her on the bed, Paddy, and we’ll see to her.’ Maggie could see Mary was in pain and she quickly shooed the men away. ‘Off with yer, this place is out of bounds for men.’
Paddy patted Mary’s shoulder. ‘Don’t you keep us waiting too long, me darlin’. Sure I can’t wait to see the wee baby.’
John kissed her cheek. ‘You’ll be fine, Mary, just you wait and see.’
Mary gritted her teeth until they were out of the room, then doubled up in pain. ‘Oh, dear God, I’m in agony with me back and me tummy. I don’t know which is the worst.’
‘Let’s get you lying down, my dear.’ Gertrude beckoned to Betty to give her a hand. ‘You’re the strongest, Betty, lift her gently.’
When the worst of the contraction had died away, Mary gasped, ‘How much longer, Mrs Wainwright?’
‘It’s hard to tell, my dear, only the baby knows that. It could be a couple of hours, it could be longer.’
‘Dot, why don’t you and Betty go home for a short break?’ Maggie suggested. ‘See to yer families and get yer shopping in. Me and the nurse can manage fine, so we can.’
‘I’ll have to get to the shops,’ Betty said, ‘otherwise the cupboards will be as bare as Old Mother Hubbard’s. There’ll be nowt in for the Sunday dinner.’
‘I can send our Colin for me shopping, he’s sensible enough. So I’ll make a list out for him and come back and relieve yer in an hour or so, Maggie, give yer a break.’ Dot took hold of Mary’s hand. ‘I’ll see yer later, sunshine, OK?’
Mary gripped her hand. ‘Yer won’t be long, will yer, Dot?’
‘No, of course I won’t. Me and Betty will take turns sitting with yer, to give the nurse and Maggie time to have a cuppa. Yer’ll be sick of the sight of us before this is over.’
Mary clung to her hand. ‘I’m sorry I’ve burdened yer with all me troubles over the last year. I’ve been nothing but a worry to yer and yer must be fed-up with me.’
‘Never in a million years would I get fed-up with you, sunshine, never in a million years. Me and you a
re mates and we’re here to help each other.’ Dot bent to stroke the fevered brow. ‘I’ll have to go now, but before I do, I’d better tell yer about yer husband. Yer haven’t asked, but I know yer must be wondering. Well, our other mate, Betty, gave him a good hiding which he richly deserved. But the doctor’s seen him and he’s all right. He’s flat out on yer couch and I bet any money he’ll be in the pub tonight, as usual.’
‘That’s where all his money will go this week, he won’t give me any to pay Maggie for me keep. And he wouldn’t dream of putting the rent-money away.’
‘Listen, sunshine, sod Tom Campbell and sod the rent-man. Right now yer’ve got enough on yer plate.’ Dot saw her wince as the pains started again. ‘I’ll be back before yer know it, so behave yerself and do as the nurse tells yer.’
John heard Dot and Betty coming down the stairs and he quickly drained his teacup. ‘I’ll go home with Dot, see if she wants me to do anything for her. But if you need me, Paddy, just shout out.’
The minute she got back inside her own house, Dot bent over the table, scribbling a shopping list for Colin. ‘Ask the butcher for half a shoulder of lamb, and tell him I said if it’s not lean I’ll come and wrap the ruddy thing around his neck.’ She tapped the pencil on her teeth as she tried to think of what groceries she needed. ‘Yer’ll have to make two trips, son, yer’ll never do it all in one go. Leave the potatoes and veg for the second trip because they’ll be heavy.’
‘Would you like me to go with him?’ John asked. ‘I wouldn’t mind.’
‘No, you stay put in case of emergency.’
‘Is Mrs Campbell having her baby today, Mam?’
‘We hope so, son, we hope so. Now you scarper and I’ll have poached egg on toast ready for when yer come back.’
With the shopping list in his hand, the basket nestling in the crook of his arm, Colin left the house whistling cheerfully. ‘Oh, what it is to be young and innocent, eh?’ Dot said, pulling a face. ‘Just wait until he’s married and his wife’s having a baby, then he’ll find out what life’s all about.’