'You'd best slow down a bit, Dad,' she warned. 'We need to get there safely for Daisy.'
At the infirmary, Dave stayed with the car in front of the main steps, while Amy ran up to the ward.
'I've come to fetch Daisy,' she told the friendly receptionist. 'I can't wait to get her home.'
So full was she of Daisy actually coming home with her, Amy didn't realise how quiet and nervous the receptionist was.
Fortunately Nurse Rita came along and was able to tell Amy the disconcerting news. 'She left early this morning,' Amy was informed kindly.
Amy stared disbelievingly at the nurse. 'Left? What d'you mean?…She can't have left.' A sudden thought made her smile. 'Oh, no! She hasn't left yet! She must be in the bathroom, collecting her bits and bobs. Y'see, Daisy's coming home with us this morning. I know you've been away for a few days and maybe you weren't told, but the arrangement is that we take her home today. The papers were signed and everything. Dad's outside now, so is it all right if I go and get her?'
Knowing what a very special friend Amy had been to Daisy, Nurse Rita was loath to tell her the truth, and there was no easy way to do so. She took Amy by the arm and, leading her to a nearby chair, sat her down.
'Daisy was waiting for me when I arrived first thing this morning,' the nurse began. 'The truth is, before I went on my short break, we had a little talk. Daisy told me how she needed to get right away from everything. Her life was in tatters—that's what she said—and if she didn't have time on her own, to think and plan, and decide what to do for the best, she believed things would never come right again.'
Amy couldn't believe it. 'I don't understand. She has me. I'll always look after her. She could have had all the peace and quiet she needed. I would never let her be hurt, not by anyone, and if she thought I would bully her into getting back with Roy, she must know I would never interfere. All I want is what's best for Daisy. I love her, Nurse Rita. She's like family to me. I just want to take care of her.' Amy's voice shook with emotion, but she swallowed the tears and regained her composure. 'Don't tell me her parents came and took her away?' she asked fearfully.
'No. They don't even know she's left the infirmary.' In a softer voice the nurse confided, 'Even if they did, I'm not sure they would care one way or the other!'
'I know you and Daisy got on really well,' Amy said, 'and I know Daisy trusted you…'
'Yes, she did.'
Amy hesitated, but had to ask: 'Do you know where she's gone?'
There was a moment's pause before the nurse answered, albeit reluctantly, 'Yes, I do.'
Amy felt a surge of anger. 'So, where is she?'
'I'm sorry, Amy,' Nurse Rita was genuinely apologetic, 'I can't tell you that.'
'Please!' Amy was desperate. 'I need to see her. I need to be there for her.'
'I know you do, Amy, but—don't you see?—that's exactly why Daisy needed to get away. She knows how much you care for her, and more than anyone else, she knows how much of yourself you've given these many weeks.' She paused, tempted to tell Amy of Daisy's whereabouts, but reluctant to break a promise. 'Daisy feels that she's put on you enough. Now she needs the time and space to make decisions. You have to allow her that, Amy. You know it as well as I do.'
Reaching into her breast pocket she took out a small envelope, which she handed to Amy. 'She told me to give you this.'
Tearing open the letter, Amy read it through a blur of tears.
Dearest Amy,
Nurse Rita has found me a wonderful place where I can be alone for a while. I need time to think and work out what I really want. I need to accept the things that have happened to me, so I can decide which way to go.
'I know I should have confided in you, lass, but you would only have worried. Now you needn't worry, because I know I have to do this myself, and maybe, after a time, I'll be able to live my life. I don't know, lass. All I do know is, if I can't be away from everyone and everything, I might do summat very bad, and I think you know what I mean.
You were right. I should never have sent Roy away. I love him so much, but right now I'm so confused, I don't know what I really want.
You and Roy have to trust me. Leave me alone. Please, I need this time on my own. Don't either of you try to find me, or you undo everything. I'll be in touch.
Don't worry, lass.
Luv you.
Daisy XX Slowly replacing the letter in its envelope, Amy asked, 'If I write a reply, will you see that she gets it?'
'Of course I will.'
Rita led Amy to the counter, where she gave her pen and paper before standing back. Amy wrote:
Dear Daisy,
I think I understand what you mean, and I promise, I won't try and contact you.
If Nurse Rita doesn't mind, I will write to you now and again, and maybe you 'II send me a note to say how you 're getting on. But, if you don't want to, that's all right.
'I'm glad you haven't altogether pushed Roy out of your life, but if you did, then that would be your decision and nothing to do with anyone else, including me.
Take care of yourself, Daisy. I'll be thinking of you while you're away.
God bless,
Lots of love,
Amy XX After folding the note into the envelope, she handed it to Nurse Rita, with her thanks.
Nurse Rita put the envelope in her breast pocket. 'Don't you worry now,' she said.I'll make sure Daisy gets the note.' With that she excused herself and made off down the corridor to tend her ever demanding duties.
Outside, Dave waited and worried, and when he saw Amy coming down the steps without Daisy, he jumped out of the car and ran towards her.
'What's happened?' he asked. 'Where's Daisy? There's nothing wrong, is there?'
Without a word, Amy handed him the letter.
While he read it, she watched his face. After a moment his changing expression told her that he was as shocked as she had been. 'My God!' Looking up, he asked, 'Did you ask the nurse where she'd gone? Did she tell anyone?'
'Daisy did confide in the nurse, but she wouldn't tell me,' Amy answered. 'Daisy made her promise not to tell anyone, me included.'
'I see…' Dave glanced back towards the main doors. 'I see.'
He said that once more, then he slid his arm round Amy's shoulders, and with his usual calm manner, told her sternly, 'You have to do as she says. You know that, don't yer?'
'I know.'
'And you'll have to tell Roy.'
'I'll tell him.' Though there was, at least, one consolation. 'She still loves him. She says so in the letter.' Amy smiled up at her father. 'Maybe Daisy's right, Dad,' she said. 'Maybe she does need the time to sort her thoughts out. Afterwards, who knows? Maybe she and Roy will get back together and Daisy will be happy again…like she deserves to be.'
Dave slowly nodded his agreement. 'D'you know summat, lass?'
'What's that?'
'I've come to the conclusion that our Daisy is a wise old head on young shoulders.'
Amy couldn't help but be concerned for her hapless, lovable friend. 'Do you think she'll be all right,. Dad?'
'She'll be fine. Like you say, give her the time she asked for, and I'm sure, in the end, she'll surprise us all.'
'You're right, Dad, and Daisy knows I'll do whatever she asks, as long as it's for her own good.'
Now when Amy looked up, her smiling eyes were swimming with tears. 'Ever since I've known her,' she gave a funny, broken little laugh, 'she's been nothing but trouble.'
Dave walked with her down the steps. 'Daisy's a lucky lass,' he murmured.
Amy was surprised by his comment. 'Why's that?'
With pride glowing in his face he answered softly, ''Cos she's got you, lass. The best friend anybody could ever 'ave.'
'Now then, young lady!' Mother Superior was a large, Irish, rosy-faced woman with hands the size of shovels and a heart as big as an elephant. There are three tings you need to remember while you're convalescing in this convent of St Mary Magdalene.'
; She listed them off. 'Forstly, everyone pulls their weight, so they do! Unless they're too sick or useless to carry out even the smallest task.' Looking at Daisy with raised eyebrows she asked smartly, 'Would that be you now?'
Daisy was equally adamant. 'I'm not sick and I'm not useless, and I'm used to hard work.'
'Good!' The nun went on, 'Secondly, we don't stand for fighting nor arguing in this establishment. You must understand this is God's house and we're only given charge of it! Do you foight?'
'No.' Daisy thought it a strange thing to ask. 'I usually get on with everybody.'
'Foine, foine!'
Mother Superior allowed herself a bit of a smile. 'And thirdly, we have to be disciplined, and we have to be respectful. D'you link you could manage that?'
'I think so, yes.'
'Hmm! Well, I don't tink you can!' She elaborated. 'Forstly, I have a title, so I do! A title I might add, which has not come easy. The title is Mother Superior, and whenever anyone addresses me, that's the title I go by. So now, I'll ask you again.' Taking a deep breath she seemed to add another six inches to the girth of her already sizeable breast. 'I've told you the three tings that are important to us here. Now then, young lady, do you tink you're able to comply with all three?' She winked one eye and glared at Daisy through the other. 'Moind how you answer now!' she warned.
Daisy did 'moind'. 'Yes,' she said. 'I'm certain I can comply with all three things, thank you…Mother Superior.' She emphasised the last two words with slow deliberation, but not so slow she might seem disrespectful.
She must have done it right, because now the big woman was smiling from ear to ear. 'Report to Sister Charlotte in the laundry. Right away now, off you go. Down those steps and into the cellar wit you.' Pointing to the door at the end of the hallway, she half turned, but then as Daisy was about to open the door, she called her back. 'Daisy?'
'Yes, Mother Superior?' Daisy was convinced it was a test. She was wrong, though.
'You have a scar, do you not?' The nun had been told of Daisy's problem, and though she thought it a heavy burden for a young woman to carry, she considered it her duty to make sure the burden was not a crippling one. After all, Daisy had come here for help, and help she would get.
Daisy was momentarily taken aback by the question, but then she realised that Nurse Rita must have given that as part of the reason why she needed to be here. 'Yes, Mother Superior,' she answered. 'I was in a fire.'
'Does the scar bother you?'
Daisy hesitated. 'Sometimes.'
'What was that you said?' The voice was sharp and reprimanding.
'Sorry,Mother Superior. No. It doesn't bother me—at least, not all the time.'
'That's no good, child. You mustn't let it bother you at all. Sure the Good Lord gives us only what we can deal wit and no more. Learn to be strong. Can you do that?'
Daisy nodded.I'll try, Mother Superior.'
Mother Superior nodded. 'So you will. So you will!' And that said, she ambled away, to good-naturedly torment some other poor unsuspecting soul.
On her way down the narrow, spiralling stone steps to the laundry, Daisy thought about the Mother Superior. 'That one would frighten the devil himself,' she muttered. Then she began to smile. The smile became a chuckle, and then a hearty laugh.
One thing was certain, Daisy told herself. If you needed a lesson in life, then this was the place to visit. Somehow, it put everything into perspective.
Chapter Sixteen
'I swear to God, I've never seen a man so changed.' Having popped into the shop on his way home, old Ted Fogarty raised the subject of Luke Hammond with Marie and Maureen. 'By! That poor devil must have been through hell and back, with all that's gone on. Working night and day, they say, trying to get the business up and running again, with nowt to sell and no vans to deliver it if he had.'
Marie agreed. 'It seems unfair that one man should have had so much of a burden.' She glanced at Maureen, who was sweeping up the cabbage leaves where they'd fallen from the crates. 'Drop 'em into a bag,' she suggested. 'Young Johnny can run 'em down to the Barnes' house. They've been given a floppy-eared rabbit, an' it's got the appetite of a full-grown donkey!'
'Yer right, Marie.' Ted was still preoccupied with Luke Hammond's situation. 'It's a bad thing. I thank the Good Lord it ain't resting on my shoulders, I can tell yer that for nuthin'!'
Marie gave him his wad of baccy. 'That'll be threepence,' she said, holding out her hand.
Ted rummaged about in his purse. 'First his wife is beaten up and left damaged beyond repair, and then his factory burns down. It's a terrible, shocking thing!'
Marie still had her hand out, waiting for his loose change, but her thoughts were elsewhere. 'I wonder what Luke Hammond will do now?'
Ted slapped a handful of coins into her palm. 'Sort that lot out, will yer, lass?' he said. 'I can't see a damned thing wi'out me specs.'
While Marie sorted out his loose change he addressed Maureen, who had now come to collect a batch of brown paper bags from beneath the counter. 'Yer seem to have settled down really well, lass,' he remarked. 'No doubt you'll be staying for good now, eh?'
Maureen smiled. 'I hope so,' she answered, pulling out the thick band of bags. The and Johnny are more than content living in Derwent Street. Besides, Johnny starts school soon, so it looks like you're stuck with us.' Also Amy had heard Ma Tooley was looking to fill Daisy's old job at the cafe, and had mentioned Maureen to the old lady with some trepidation. Mrs Tooley had employed her straight away, saying she'd always wanted to have 'a more mature person' working for her.
'Aye,' Ted grinned his gummy grin, 'an' you're stuck with us, an' all.' The grin became a frown. 'All the same, it's a wonder all this awful business ain't made you want to run a mile.'
Maureen quickly dismissed his fears. 'This is our home now. But you're right in what you just said about Mr Hammond. He really has been through a bad time.'
She thought of her Arnie, likely to remain in gaol for some years yet. Funny that—Maureen realised she was able to accept that her husband was fully responsible for his violent temper and that he was being justly punished for it. She seldom visited the prison these days. She had deliberately distanced herself from his influence and the bullying she suffered even when he was behind bars, with his suicide threats and his whinging. Now, living alone with her beloved son, surrounded by friends, working hard and gaining in confidence, she could at last see Arnold Stratton for what he was—a thug and a bully; a man who liked to have power over women. So let him rot in gaol. She was better off without him, and so was Johnny.
Maureen looked around the crowded little shop where less than a year ago she had been welcomed so kindly by Amy and Marie, who she had grown to love so much. No, she would not be moving on. This really was home at last.
Marie took Ted's baccy money and returned his change. 'Stop trying to frighten her away,' she said with a friendly wag of the finger.
'Aw, I wouldn't do that,' he replied. 'She's a grand lass, is Mrs Langdon.'
After he'd gone, Marie served a young woman who'd come in as Ted left and then went to help Maureen collect the cabbage leaves.
When she saw how quiet Maureen had gone, she blamed it on Ted Fogarty. 'You don't want to let him upset you with his alarmist talk,' she said. You know what he's like: one minute he's flirting, and the next he's putting the world to rights.'
But Maureen was thinking of Arnie, and the bad things he had done, so when she didn't respond, Marie put on her brightest smile, and changed the subject. 'Why don't you and little Johnny come round to us tonight?' she suggested. 'I'll mek us a nice tea. As you already know, our Amy's gone with Nurse Rita today, so she might have more news of Daisy. Jack will be here, and Roy too. It'll be like a little party. What d'you say?'
After what old Ted had got her thinking, Maureen didn't feel like being amongst company. 'Thank you, Marie, it's really kind of you,' she answered graciously, 'only I thought I might take Johnny up the park, to feed the ducks befo
re it gets dark.'
'Aw, that's all right.' Marie dropped the last cabbage leaf into the bag. 'You two go and enjoy yourselves. I'll cook plenty of everything, though,' she decided. 'That way, if you change your mind, you'll not go short on food.'
A few minutes later, Maureen and Johnny were ready to leave. 'Has Mrs Tooley offered you more hours yet?' Marie held her back for a minute or two.
'Not yet,' Maureen answered, 'but I reckon she will, 'cause the other girl she's taken on is absolutely useless—or so Mrs Tooley keeps telling me, in between giving me a detailed rundown on her latest romance.' She chuckled, but not unkindly. 'I tell you, Marie, it makes me curl up, the way she goes on about her randy old sweetheart, and how she has to fight him off.'
They laughed at that. 'But you have to give her credit,' Marie said. 'Old Ma Tooley is one of a kind. Here she is, sixty-eight years old if she's a day; running a business, and still keeping the men interested.'
Maureen agreed. 'There aren't many young 'uns that could manage that,' she declared, 'never mind a woman her age.'
'And are you happy working there?'
'Yes, and I've got Amy to thank,' Maureen answered. 'If she hadn't gone to see Ma Tooley, I would never have got the work. But now, what with you giving me a few hours, and then the extra hours at Tooley's Cafe, I'm managing all right.'
She took hold of Johnny's hand and made her way to the door. 'We'd best be off now. Give my regards to Amy, and tell her I hope everything's all right with Daisy. If I don't come round tonight, I'll see you both tomorrow.'
Smiling to herself at the idea of Ma Tooley and her aged sweetheart, Marie locked the shop door while she got herself a sandwich.
When she opened up again, Amy still wasn't home. And, with Maureen and the boy gone, the little shop seemed uncomfortably quiet. It had been a real blessing the day Maureen and Johnny had first come to the shop. Marie now couldn't imagine life without the reticent and private young mother and her gentle little boy.
It was three thirty when Amy arrived at the infirmary to meet Nurse Rita. 'I don't know how to thank you for getting Daisy to see me,' she said gratefully.
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