Bow Belles

by Bow Belles (retail) (epub)

  The youth mumbled something before edging past the glowering man, and was about to take to his heels when Alex’s gruff voice stopped him in his tracks. ‘Wait a minute, son, there’s no need to run off. I just need a few minutes with my sister indoors, then you can say your goodnights without any interruptions.’

  ‘No, it’s all right, Alex,’ Alice said lightly. ‘I was coming in anyway, I…’

  ‘Nonsense, Alice!’ Alex smiled down at her disarmingly. ‘The night’s still young. It’s only just gone eleven, and I’m sure your friend would welcome some extra time with you, wouldn’t you… Fred?’

  Before the nervous young man could answer, Alex skilfully steered Alice along the street, listening with interest as she went into great detail about her dissatisfaction with Kate’s domineering ways. Within minutes they were inside the house. Noting that the table lamp was still lit, Alex motioned to Alice to keep her voice down as he listened for any sound from above, then smiled.

  During the short walk, Alice had told him how her complaints to her father about Kate had fallen on deaf ears, which was why she had gone to seek solace elsewhere. Glancing again at the glowing lamp, Alex felt a momentary surge of anger against the man who had obviously gone to bed knowing his fourteen-year-old daughter was out walking the streets. It was equally obvious that Kate was unaware of her sister’s absence, else she would have been sitting up waiting for Alice to come home. But she could wake at any time and find the girl missing, so he had to act fast. Still smiling genially, be beckoned Alice over to sit down at the table.

  Bemused by her brother’s attitude, Alice sat, her eyes suddenly wary. It wasn’t like Alex to be so nice. When she’d heard him calling her in the street, she had braced herself for a severe dressing-down at the very least, yet here he was being as nice as pie.

  ‘So, Kate’s been giving you a hard time lately, has she?’ Alex broke into Alice’s thoughts, his sympathetic words banishing her doubts.

  Eager to air her grievances, Alice launched into a further tirade against her elder sister, her confidence building with Alex’s gentle encouragement. Finally running out of things to say concerning Kate, she fell silent her nervousness returning as Alex rose to his feet, coming to stand behind her chair.

  ‘So, you feel like running away sometimes, do you? So why don’t you? Run away, I mean. I’ll help you. In fact, I’ll even give you a head start. Here, this should get you and your friend far enough away from Kate’s clutches.’ Alex laid his last five-pound note on the table. The money would represent a fortune to some, but to him it was merely loose change. There was a ship due in from the Far East the next day, and some of its contents would end up in Alex’s pockets. By the evening, they would have been exchanged for hard cash. If for some reason he was unable to get his hands on the coveted drugs, he still had a small quantity of cocaine hidden in his room that he could dispose of. ‘Go on, pick it up. It won’t bite you!’

  Alice stared down at the white banknote, her lips beginning to tremble. ‘D—Don’t be silly, Alex,’ she said, trying to keep her voice steady. ‘I was only joking. I don’t really want to run away. I—I’m just a bit fed up, that’s all. I…’

  ‘I said, pick it up!’ His voice had changed to a menacing growl, setting the hairs on the back of Alice’s neck on end.

  Thoroughly frightened, her bravado slipped and, like the child she was, she stuttered fearfully. ‘Stop it, Alex, you’re scaring me! I want Kate… Kate…!’

  His rough hand swiftly clamped down on her mouth, cutting off her intended shout for help. Then another hand fastened round her throat, rendering her speechless.

  ‘I wasn’t asking if you wanted to go, Alice, I’m telling you. I want you out of this house, now, tonight. You’re nothing but a tuppeny whore, as your performance tonight proved, and I’m not having any slut under my roof. Now, when I remove my hand, you’ll pick up the money and get out quickly and quietly. If you do as I say, I won’t hurt you, but if you try and shout out for Kate, so help me I’ll break your bloody neck and dump your carcass in the nearest alley. Do you understand… I said, do you understand?’

  More terrified than she’d ever been in her life, and at a complete loss as to why this was happening, Alice nodded, tears streaming down her face.

  ‘Good. You’re being sensible at last.’ The restricting hand was removed slowly from her throat to her shoulder, Alex’s long fingers biting cruelly into her flesh.

  Her hand shaking violently, Alice picked up the money, all the while praying desperately that Kate or her dad would magically appear and save her from this terrifying nightmare in which she had become trapped. But the house remained quiet save for her own rapid breathing.

  Alex too was thinking hard. It would look very suspicious if yet another of his family were to disappear without a word, and the police were no fools. At the time of Florrie’s disappearance, they had questioned them all about the fact that she had left without taking any clothing or personal possessions with her. There was even a time when Alex had imagined they suspected him in having a hand in his stepmother’s hasty departure, but the brief investigation had come to nothing. Yet he wasn’t such a fool as to imagine he could pull the same stunt twice and get away with it. But that time had been different. He hadn’t planned it the way it had turned out, it had just happened. He hadn’t proposed to get rid of Alice either, but the opportunity that had presented itself was too good to pass over. This time he would make sure there were no awkward questions. After all, everyone knew what Alice was like. Always hanging round with anything in trousers, and how many times had she been heard to say she was fed up with being treated like a child and couldn’t wait to leave home? No, no one would be surprised at finding her gone, especially with a little help from himself in establishing that she’d left of her own accord.

  ‘Before you go, I want you to write a little note for Kate. To stop her worrying. We don’t want the entire London constabulary called out to look for you, now do we? Because if they were to find you and bring you back home… well, who knows what might happen then?’

  When the piece of paper and pen were set in front of her, Alice slowly picked up the pen with shaking fingers, dropping it twice before she was able to scrawl the brief note Alex carefully dictated. The words danced in front of her misted vision before the paper was abruptly snatched away.

  ‘Good. Very good. Now I’ll just go and get a few of your things. You wait there quietly until I get back; and remember, Alice…’ Alex drew a threatening line across his throat before stealing from the room.

  Alice sat frozen to the spot, still unable to believe this was really happening. Any minute now Alex would probably return, smiling in that nasty way of his and tell her to get to bed. That’s what this was all about, she thought frantically. He was just trying to scare her because he’d caught her with Fred. But, deep down, she knew the nightmare was real. Her lips began to move in silent prayer. ‘Wake up, Kate. Oh, please, Kate, wake up!’

  Then her head snapped round and she gave a huge sigh of relief as a flustered and disgruntled William came through the front door.

  Chapter Twelve

  Alex stared into the closet packed tight with dresses, skirts and blouses, and cursed silently. He’d forgotten they all shared the same wardrobe. How in hell was he supposed to know which clothes belonged to whom, especially in the dark? It would have been a lot easier if he could have trusted Alice to collect her own belongings, but no matter how terrorised she was in his presence, once she’d found herself alone with Kate, the spell would have been broken, allowing her to run to her sleeping sister for help. By the same token, he couldn’t have risked bringing her with him. Creeping across the room, he gently pulled back the curtains to admit a chink of light from the street-lamp, and, hardly daring to breathe, he returned to the closet.

  He could barely suppress a cry of triumph as he picked out Alice’s favourite blue dress. Next to it were two other dresses that he recognised as hers. Obviously the girls al
l had their own particular portion of the small cupboard. Carefully Alex removed the three dresses and was about to look for some undergarments when he heard his father’s voice from below.

  He stiffened in shock, the blood draining from his face at the realisation that he had been caught out. He should have checked to see if his father was in his room, but, damn it all, the old man always went to bed early. You could set your watch by his habits, so why the hell had he to pick this night of all nights to go for an evening stroll? Then he remembered the lighted lamp and realised what had happened. The old fool must have gone out looking for Alice. But, if so, why hadn’t he woken Kate to tell her? His father had never been the kind of man to worry alone.

  His body slumping with frustration, Alex quickly shoved the clothes back into the closet. There was nothing else for it but to try and bluff his way out of the mess he had landed himself in. After all, it was only Alice’s word against his, and his father wasn’t likely to argue with him, he was too timid to risk an open confrontation. Behind him, hearing Kate stirring, he quickly left the room, anxious to get downstairs to try to rectify the situation. But as he stepped out on the landing he came face to face with William, looking more angry and alive than Alex had seen him in a very long while.

  ‘What in the devil’s name have you been up to this time, Alex?’ William barred his way, his face suffused with rage. ‘Is it true what Alice says? Did you threaten her with violence if she didn’t leave the house?’ When Alex attempted to brush past, William caught hold of his arm, his eyes staring in horror. ‘You did, didn’t you! My God, what’s wrong with you? Why would you do such a dreadful thing? She’s only a child. What’s the matter with you, man! Have you lost your mind?’

  ‘Keep your voice down, you stupid fool!’ Alex hissed savagely, pushing his father towards the stairs. Suddenly he was no longer concerned with making excuses. Why should he have to explain himself? He was master in this house; he didn’t have to answer to anyone least of all this pathetic apology for a man. ‘Your child, as you call her, is nothing but a cheap slut, and if I say she goes, then she goes. As a matter of fact, you can go along with her. That’ll be two less for me to keep.’

  William kept staring into the twisted face of his son and was surprised to find that he felt no fear, only sorrow that his eldest child had turned into a man driven by bitterness and cruelty. His son, his own flesh and blood, was filled with pure evil. And, like many a parent before him, William wondered where he had gone wrong. Sickened to his very heart, he peered into Alex’s hate-filled face.

  ‘You’re sick, Alex, sick in your mind. Florrie knew. She tried to warn me, but I wouldn’t listen. It’s no wonder she left like she did, and, knowing what I do now, I can’t say as I blame her. But it ends now! I let my wife down where you were concerned, but I won’t fail my children, not again. I’ve turned a blind eye for the last time. The only one who’s going to be leaving this house is you.’

  For a second, a tiny flicker of respect stirred in Alex’s heart for the portly man barring his way, but before it had a chance to grow, his frustration at being thwarted, coupled with the innate desire to hurt and destroy, overpowered him. Without stopping to think, he savagely kicked the unprepared man full in the stomach.

  Caught off guard, William staggered back in shock and pain at the vicious attack, his arms flailing as he tried to catch hold of the banister and found only empty air. He was about to give a high-pitched wail, but his pitiful cry was abruptly silenced as his head struck the hard wooden stairs with a sickening thud. His weight increased the momentum of his fall as he crashed heavily downward with alarming speed, bounced off the bottom step and lay still.

  The loud crash brought Kate fully awake, her heart beating rapidly.

  ‘What’s happened? What’s going on?’ Sally sat bolt upright in her bed, her eyes straining towards Kate in the semi-darkness.

  ‘Stay where you are,’ Kate ordered as she ran towards the door. ‘I’ll see what’s happened. You wait till I come back.’

  Gathering the bedclothes to her for comfort, Sally suddenly became aware that she was on her own. ‘Kate! Alice isn’t in bed!’

  But Kate was already out of earshot. Once on the landing, she turned up the wall gas-light, her hand flying to her mouth in horror at the sight of the crumpled figure. ‘Dad! Dad!’ The words barely made a sound as she took the stairs two at a time in her frantic haste.

  Alex watched from his bedroom doorway as Kate raced to her father’s aid, a chilling smile touching his lips at the sight of the unconscious man sprawled in a heap. Then he, too, was running, his expression swiftly changing to one of concern. ‘Oh, my God! Is he all right?’ He knelt beside Kate as she gently cradled the limp head in her lap. ‘I was just going to bed when I heard the noise. Is… Is he still alive?’

  Half out of her mind with worry, Kate laid her head to William’s chest, giving a sigh of relief as she heard the faint but steady beat of his heart. Lifting her head, she gave a tremulous smile. ‘He’s breathing, thank God, but we’ll have to get him to the hospital. He might have… Oh, Sally,’ she called up to the child who had come out of the bedroom to see what was going on, ‘fetch me a pillow, love. Quickly now, there’s a good girl.’

  With the pillow supporting William’s head, Kate sent the frightened girl back to bed with gentle reassurances that her father was all right, even though she herself wasn’t sure of the truth of her words.

  Watching Kate’s loving ministrations, Alex railed inwardly. Damn his luck! Was nothing ever going to go right for him? Getting to his feet, he stared down at his father. Why couldn’t he have broken his neck? He could come round at any minute and blurt out the truth of what had happened. That thought almost paralysed him. The police would be called in and he, Alex, would likely be charged with attempted murder. If he was under arrest, the police could well start delving into the past, raking up the mysterious disappearance of Florrie. He couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t go to prison; he’d rather die!

  Then a look of cunning came over his face. If he could just get a few minutes alone with his father, just a few minutes. That’s all it would take to finish off the job. All he had to do was hold the pillow over the despised face and exert a bit of pressure. Who would know? The old man’s death would be put down to heart failure brought on by the violent fall. He could almost feel the pillow in his hands when a movement from the doorway caught his eye, and he jumped in surprise at the sight of Alice staring at him.

  He’d forgotten all about Alice! Staggering slightly, he moved away from Kate and William, his mind working furiously, then he saw the look of abject terror in the young girl’s eyes and began to breathe more easily. He could still get away with it if only Alice kept her mouth shut! And she would keep quiet… he had put the fear of God into her. She wouldn’t speak out against him, he had made sure of that, at least.

  ‘Alice! What on earth are you doing up at this time of night?’ Kate exclaimed on seeing her sister, whom she imagined had slept through all the commotion. ‘Oh, never mind about where you’ve been, that’s not important. Look, there’s been an accident; dad’s hurt. Go and get my purse, there’s about three shillings in there. Get a cab to the hospital and tell them what’s happened. You can ride back in the hospital cart with the doctor.’ When Alice didn’t move, but stood as if frozen to the spot, Kate got unsteadily to her feet, and grasping her shoulders, said urgently, ‘It’s all right! He’s still alive, but he needs a doctor. Alice! Come on, love, there’s no need to be frightened, but you must hurry… ALICE!’

  But Alice was looking past Kate to Alex, who stood watching her, his eyes filled with menace. When Alice began to tremble violently, Kate shook her head in despair. Turning to Alex, she said, ‘It’s no good, she’s in shock. One of us will have to go for help instead.’

  ‘I’d best stay here, just in case he comes round and needs to be helped upstairs,’ Alex said smoothly, his eyes never leaving Alice.

  Anxious to get help
for her father, Kate nodded and was about to run upstairs to dress when Alice almost threw herself into Kate’s arms.

  ‘Don’t leave me with him, Kate! Don’t leave me! He’ll kill me. Please, Kate, don’t leave me with him!’

  Taken by surprise, Kate tried to extricate herself from the suffocating embrace but, maddened with fear, Alice hung on tightly.

  ‘Alice, for goodness’ sake, what are you going on about? Let go of me, I have to get help. Let go, Alice, let go!’ Seeing her sister to be on the verge of hysteria, Kate swiftly hit out at her terrified face, the hard slap rocking the girl’s head back.

  For a split second there was a deathly quiet, then, her eyes almost bulging from her head, Alice screamed wildly, ‘He did it! He kicked dad down the stairs. I saw him, I saw him do it, Kate! A—And he said he’d k—kill me if I—I didn’t do what he s—said…’

  Kate reeled back, Alice’s words hitting her with the force of a physical blow. Yet, most disturbing of all, she immediately believed her sister’s accusation. There was no doubt, no hesitation, in her mind. It was almost as if she had been expecting something like this, and that knowledge alone was enough to bring a wave of nausea into her throat. Swallowing hard, she spun the fraught girl round sharply, pushing her into the living-room.

  ‘Get help, Alice! Take my purse and get help.’ The words seemed to be forced through the tightness in her throat, and when Alice still didn’t move, Kate gave her another hard push, whispering urgently, ‘Now, Alice!’

  The frantic words at last succeeded in rousing Alice. Snatching Kate’s purse from the sideboard, she quickly opened the front door, and with one last fearful gaze towards the hall, she vanished into the night.

  ‘You’re not going to take any notice of her, are you, Kate?’ Alex’s voice was filled with indignant surprise. ‘She’s just trying to get back at me because I found her in some dark doorway with a boy. One of many, I’ve no doubt. I brought her home, and, like I said, I was on my way to bed when I heard dad falling. He must have gone out looking for her. See, he still has his coat on…’