The House by the Brook

by The House by the Brook (retail) (epub)

  ‘At least we won’t have to clear out all the rubbish, like last time. Which reminds me, where is Rhodri?’ Geoff asked.

  ‘He’s been missing since early morning. He’s probably waiting until we’ve moved back in before showing himself; he gets very agitated by upheavals. He’ll probably wander in and inspect his bedroom and handle his few possessions without a word.’

  Rhodri was happy to be once more out of hospital, and he had been given a list of jobs to do to help with the move. Before dawn, however, he had left the room where he’d slept since they had left Badgers Brook and, having taken a couple of slices of bread and an apple, was in the wood not far from the house, waiting for the van to arrive with the first load. He was hiding behind a hawthorn bush, peering through the close tangle of branches, a dejected expression on his face, like a child expecting punishment and delaying it for as long as he could. His limbs shook with fear.

  The van came along the lane and he darted further into the protection of the prickly branches. He heard the van doors open and the shouts as Geoff and the twins began to remove the load. Light footsteps ran down the path he had helped to clear of weeds. When they stopped he only imagined hearing the door of the house opening, but the gasp of annoyance from Marie, the shout for Geoff to come, was heard as clearly as though he were standing next to her, staring in at the mess he had once again created.

  ‘No food or filth this time, be thankful for that,’ Geoff said as he looked at the piles and scattered spread of newspapers that almost filled the kitchen and living room.

  ‘We haven’t looked upstairs yet!’ Marie said.

  They explored the house and found that apart from some rather neatly arranged newspapers in the bedroom that had been used by Rhodri the place was clear.

  ‘So this is why he disappeared so early this morning,’ Geoff said and he began to laugh.

  Ruefully, Marie shared his amusement. ‘At least I can’t complain of life being dull.’

  Emptying the van of their personal belongings then refilling it with the newspapers to take to the rubbish tip was hard work, and to Marie’s surprise her sister turned up mid-morning and began to help. She had never known Jennie volunteer for anything, certainly not anything that could be described as work, but she helped Roger and Royston place the rugs and carpets then began emptying boxes and filling the kitchen cupboards while they moved the furniture back into place.

  It was Jennie who made tea once Geoff had got the fire burning well. She also made toast with bread and margarine, which Belle had provided and which she had remembered to bring with her. Marie was grateful, but wondered what had happened for her sister to change so much. With a cynicism that shamed her, she wondered whether her sister wanted to ask a big favour.

  When everything had finally been put back in place and every box unpacked, and Badgers Brook looked once more like a home, Geoff walked around the garden. He spotted a lone figure darting through the trees.

  ‘Rhodri is out there,’ he said when he came back inside. ‘He’s watching us but when I try to approach he runs away.’

  ‘I’ll go and talk to him, he must be hungry as well as upset.’ Marie said.

  ‘Better if I go, Mam,’ Violet said. ‘He’ll talk to me.’

  Jennie had gone home and it was almost time for bed and Rhodri still hadn’t been coaxed into the house. It was again Jennie who came to the rescue. ‘Rhodri’s very fond of Jennie,’ Marie said. ‘Perhaps he’ll come inside if she asks?’ Marie looked at her daughter. ‘It’s very late, but will you come with me and ask her, Violet?’

  She had guessed from her sister’s appearance and her lack of joy that Jennie and Ernie had had a quarrel. Marie was dreading the meeting, convinced that she was walking into a row, but Ernie seemed pleased to see them. He kissed Violet lightly on the cheek and offered a hand to Marie. ‘So you’ve finished for today, have you?’

  ‘Jennie’s been a wonderful help,’ Marie said. ‘I don’t think we’d have done half as much if she hadn’t been there. ‘Now we’d like to borrow her again. I know it’s late but we’re worried about Rhodri. He’s upset and won’t come into the house. We think he’d come if Jennie asked him.’ She declined to explain further, waffling about the move upsetting him rather than tell him about Rhodri filling the house with rubbish. Ernie wasn’t too keen on Jennie befriending the confused old man and he mightn’t allow her to go with them if he thought the man was even the slightest threat.

  Jennie agreed at once and, carrying a cushion that she had bought as a house-warming gift for her sister, and a box of Cadbury’s Milk Tray, she said, ‘These will coax him back. He won’t be able to resist a couple of gifts.’ She climbed into the back of the van and sat with her feet curled sideways, and Ernie handed in a couple of cushions so she could be comfortable. Violet sat beside her and they set off, the little girl very excited, treating the whole thing as an adventure.

  When they reached Badgers Brook Violet jumped down and went straight into the wood, Jennie following.

  ‘Grandfather?’ Violet called. ‘Come on, silly. I’m allowed to stay up for supper if you come in now.’

  ‘We’re all starving and if you come home now I can have some too,’ Jennie called. ‘Come and see how cosy it looks.’

  ‘And we’ve got presents for you,’ Violet added.

  Jennie held up the carrier bag containing the cushion and held out the box of chocolates. Then she offered her hand and he came slowly out. ‘Here you are, a new cushion for your chair,’ Jennie said, ‘and some chocolates just for you.’

  No criticism was spoken. They greeted him as though his absence had been something he couldn’t have avoided, and they all went in for supper: their first meal back in their home. It was eleven thirty when Jennie was once more dropped off at home, Ernie and Bill were there to welcome her. Jennie kept away from Bill, making sure that Ernie was between them. What they had done must not happen again.

  *

  When they weren’t at work, the twins spent time clearing the garden of weeds that had flourished in their absence. They invited friends to help, which resulted in a party atmosphere that delighted Marie. The twins had changed a great deal, becoming more thoughtful and willing to help. They were protective of Violet, no longer considering her a nuisance. They were now fifteen and the troubles of the past months had sobered them, driven out the stupidity and rebelliousness of their age. Marie watched them with pride, and sadness too. Ivor should be here to share it.

  *

  Effie didn’t tell Ivor that his family had moved back to the house he had found for them, or that his father had left the hospital and been given into Marie’s care. She wanted him to forget his family. He belonged to her now and nothing would ever come between them.

  Although they now shared a single room, it had been a disappointment to realize that her suggestion to divide the room, partitioning off an area with curtains and bookshelves, would be more than a temporary arrangement. She had believed it would last just long enough to save embarrassment and ease those first few moments, after which the barriers would fall and they would share a bed.

  When he continued to sleep on a couch that was too short to accommodate him comfortably she offered her bed, and when he’d looked startled she had hastily added that she meant to change with him and sleep on the couch. Although she had been able to cover her error, it confirmed her fears that he had no intention of moving into her bed. Somehow she had to make him forget Marie and his children. But how? She didn’t harbour enough hatred for Marie and the children to really harm them. Not like that other girl who had come between her and the man she had loved. No, she had to convince Ivor that they no longer needed him and he was free.

  *

  Ivor’s promotion and the reduced rent resulting from the shared room meant he could send money regularly to Marie at Geoff’s, and he wondered how soon they would find themselves a home away from the cramped situation behind Geoff’s shop. Surely they could manage to rent a small house now, w
ith Marie managing the gown shop and both boys in regular employment. And no one to steal the rent money, he added silently. What a fool he had been, basing his happiness on lies. Marie would have accepted his true story as easily as she had accepted the plight of the poor confused man who was his father.

  He occasionally had to use the manager’s car to go to out of town meetings, and late one afternoon when he was returning from an appointment he was passing near Cwm Derw, and on impulse turned the car and drove to Steeple Street. He had no intention of going into the hardware store, or asking about Marie and the children. He didn’t want to ruin everything for them again.

  He knew the car was not one Geoff would recognize, and he sat there for a long time, within sight of both the hardware store on one corner and Nerys’s smartly painted gown shop on another. He didn’t move, just watched customers come and go and wondered what time Marie closed her shop. He only wanted to see her, assure himself that she was well and looked happy.

  Five o’clock came and went, and there was no sign of her. Geoff put the closed sign on his door and dropped the shutters on the windows. Ivor watched Marie’s shop through the driving mirror but didn’t see her leave. Then at twenty to six she came out and pulled the door closed and leaned on it to make sure it was firmly shut. She set off, high heels clacking, but not, as he had expected, towards Geoff’s shop.

  Puzzled, he wondered whether she was going to put takings into the night safe. But no, she went past the bank and stood at the bus stop. She was dressed in a smart sky-blue two-piece suit and white high-heeled strappy summer shoes and she carried a white handbag and wore a cardigan loosely over her shoulders.

  An aching longing and an anguished regret swelled within him, love for her making tears threaten. He loved her so much and he’d destroyed their marriage by his lack of confidence in her love for him. His hand reached for the door handle and he was about to leap out and run to her, hold her and beg her forgiveness. As his fingers grasped the cold metal a bus turned into the road and lumbered to a stop. She jumped on and he started the engine prepared to follow.

  It was unlikely she was going out for the evening; she would go home and attend to the family first. Yet the bus was taking her out of the town in the direction of Badgers Brook. What could she want there? At every bus stop he slowed the car and waited until the bus had deposited passengers and moved off again, making sure she was still on board.

  At the stop closest to Badgers Brook she stepped off, waved to someone she knew and set off along the lane. He parked the car and, careful to avoid being seen, he followed.

  Violet opened the door and hugged Marie and again he was almost overwhelmed with love and sadness. The door closed and he crept closer. Few people passed the house and neighbours were too far away to observe as he stood near the gate, hidden by the tall privet hedge. Although he watched for a long time, no one came out and he dared to step forward and look inside. The place was furnished with things he recognized. They were living there and it was as though they had never been away. So she was using the money he’d sent.

  He was pleased about that. It was at least some compensation for what he had done to them. The owner had presumably changed his mind about selling. He hurried back to the car, telling himself he should be content to know they were safe, but his heart was heavy and he didn’t think that would ever change.

  It was after returning the car and beginning to walk to the room he shared that he wondered why Effie hadn’t told him. Only days ago she had reported seeing them and assured him that they were with Geoff and apparently settled. From the little he had seen of Badgers Brook they had been there for a while. The garden was orderly and obviously regularly tended. Perhaps they hadn’t moved out after all. But Effie told him they had been living with Geoff Tanner above the hardware store. Effie was a friend and she wouldn’t lie, there had to be another explanation. But he couldn’t think of one.

  ‘Sorry, but I didn’t want to upset you by telling you they were happily settled back in the house you’d found for them, which they’d then lost.’ Effie said, helping him off with his jacket.

  ‘But you know I’d have been pleased to see them safely back in a home of their own. They must have been very uncomfortable in the rooms behind Geoff’s shop. It was no way for a family to live.’

  Seeing her chance, she said. ‘How many rooms were there? Enough to give Marie one, and Violet, and the twins? And still find a room for Geoff? It didn’t look big enough for there to be more than three bedrooms. Five they’d have needed.’

  ‘Why would they need five?’

  ‘Your father was there too.’

  ‘I didn’t know that.’

  ‘I was trying not to worry you. Although he seemed perfectly well when I saw him.’ She put an arm around his shoulder and bent her head towards him. ‘Don’t worry, Ivor dear. Let it all go, they don’t need you now, you’re free.’

  ‘If you love someone you’re never free, nor want to be.’

  ‘Love has to be reciprocated.’ Then she turned to set out knives and forks on the folding table set for supper. ‘Three bedrooms? I wonder who shared with who?’ She spoke the words almost silently, but he heard, she was certain he had heard. She took a salad from the meat safe and added two small slices of corned beef to the plates. Best she say nothing more, just allow the idea to germinate in its own time.

  She could see that he was upset. The relief of knowing Marie and the children were safely settled again was gone. A depression emanated from him that filled the room like a fog. He looked at the food, shook his head and went into the small area that was partitioned off during the night. To her dismay he moved the bookcase and pulled the curtains across.

  She left him for a while then offered an alternative meal or a cup of tea, then tried to coax him with the suggestion that they might go to the pub for an hour before it closed. To everything she tried he simply shook his head without a word.

  At nine o’clock she went to bed but she didn’t sleep. She was alert to the possibility that he would get up at least to undress. It was unimaginable that someone as fastidious as Ivor could sleep in his clothes.

  She heard the church clock chime midnight and crept over to see that Ivor was still dressed, and hadn’t moved from when he’d collapsed on the bed. She undid the buttons on his jacket and then removed his belt. The buttons on his trousers were a little stiff but she managed, and she gently eased them down, planning to remove them and cover him with a blanket from her own bed.

  He sighed, hardly more than the expelling of air, and she stopped and waited until he was relaxed once more. With only a faint light from the street lamp outside, she didn’t see him open his eyes or realize he was watching her until he sat up and pushed her roughly away.

  ‘What are you doing?’ he demanded, whispering out of respect for the hour.

  ‘I was only trying to make you comfortable, Ivor. Here, see? I have one of my blankets to put over you.’

  She was wearing a nightgown that was open at the neck, and seeing her generous figure so close made desire wash over him, quickly followed by anger. ‘Go away.’ His voice was threatening.

  ‘I was only making you more comfortable so you’d sleep,’ she sobbed, wrapping herself in the blanket she had meant for him.

  It was five o’clock when she was again roused from light sleep by the sound of him moving. ‘Ivor?’ she whispered. ‘Do you need anything?’

  ‘I’m going for a walk.’ Reaching in the recess for his coat, he left the house, giving her no time to follow.

  *

  At five o’clock that morning, Jennie was also unable to sleep. The afternoon before, while Ernie took his usual afternoon nap, Bill had opened the door of the room where she sat beside her gently snoring husband and beckoned to her. She turned away, but he came slowly into the room, his eyes watching her, his smile trying to share the amusement of his father’s unconscious form beside her. He kissed her cheek, her throat, her neck, his breath like a tempting breez
e, hardly there at all, but the gentle touch made resistance impossible. He offered his hand and she rose, guilt and desire in equal parts making her tremble. Ernie moved slightly, reacting to the loss of her weight beside him, then settled back peacefully into his slumbers.

  ‘How can it hurt him?’ Bill asked when they were alone in his room. ‘He’ll never know.’

  ‘But I know, and he’s been so kind to me.’

  ‘Kind!’ Bill snorted derisively. ‘He’s an old man and he’s stealing your youth.’

  It was easy to be persuaded. Jennie suffered loneliness and also the humiliation of Ernie’s indifference. She desperately longed for evidence that she was desirable. She was in a marriage that was outwardly perfect but which was, in truth, a sham. It was taking its toll and she felt her attractiveness shrinking away. She would soon be middle-aged, yet a few short months ago she and Lucy were living like twenty-year-olds, with a constant stream of admirers, sure of fun and laughter every time they went out.

  She was no longer encouraged to wear clothes that added to her attraction; instead Ernie constantly reminded her that she was now a respectable married woman, whatever he meant by that. Married? Hardly a marriage when he turned from her every night. Respectable? Then why was she in Bill’s room allowing him to undress her, while Ernie slept the afternoon away?

  So at five the following morning she lay awake, wondering how she could escape from the stupid deal she had entered and return to how things were. Even with the increase in the number of divorces since the end of the war, and the comparative ease with which they could be obtained, there was still a stigma when a woman was the guilty party, and she didn’t think she could persuade Ernie to allow her to divorce him.