by Lynda Paige
As soon as the men had been manhandled out of the van into one of the two police cars parked out of sight by the edge of the living van area, now alone with Solly, Detective Inspector Marshall, a tall solid man in his early fifties, said to him, ‘I bet you could do with a stiff drink?’
Solly nodded. ‘A couple. I was terrified of giving myself away before you got all you needed.’
‘Well, thanks to you we did and Morrison and his band of merry men won’t be at liberty for many years to rob or hurt anyone else or, in your case, blackmail anyone else into working for him. And, if nothing else, some of what they’ve stolen over the years will be handed back to their rightful owners. Well, I’m just glad to be out of that coffin under your bed as I was starting to get cramp and Jones doesn’t seem to take a bath as often as he should, if you get my drift.’ The inspector then looked at Solly. ‘Clever man who built this van, to include a hiding place like he did that one. I never would have guessed it was there if you hadn’t told me about it. Well, that’s another favour you’ve done the law today, Mr Grundy. Now we’re aware that vans like this are not always what they seem.’
Not that it was likely but, in the future, if they did find themselves needing to hide something they didn’t want the police to discover, it wouldn’t be in the hidden space under the bed as, from now on, hidden hiding places under beds would be the first thing they looked for, Solly thought.
The inspector was musing, more to himself than to Solly, ‘I wish I had a place like that at home that the wife had no idea about so I could hide whatever I wanted that I didn’t want her to know I had.’ He then placed his hand on Solly’s shoulders and said, ‘I know how guilty you must be feeling having to shop your brother to us. I have two brothers and I can’t imagine how it would feel if I had to do what you did to one of them. But you had no choice unless you wanted to be at the mercy of Morrison until he decided he’d no need of your services any longer. And I don’t need to tell you that, had the police got wind stolen stuff was being hidden by you here, no matter that you were blackmailed into it you would have been in line for a lengthy stay in jail. Whenever you’re feeling bad about it, just remember what position your brother left you in when he decided to scarper. We will be searching for him. He’s got charges to answer to. If he makes any contact with you in the meantime, try and persuade him it would be in his best interests to turn himself in. Anyway, we’ll need you to come down to the station tomorrow and give a statement. Then just keep us informed of where you are so we can contact you when the case comes to trial. I bet your wife is desperate for you to let her know you’re safe and I need to get back to the station. Thanks again, Mr Grundy. It’s honest men like you we police have a lot to thank for or there’d be a lot more like Morrison free to blight the lives of innocent people instead of rotting in jail where he belongs.’
Moments after the inspector left, Gem breathlessly charged in and immediately accosted her husband, ‘Someone told me they’d seen two men in handcuffs being frogmarched towards two police cars. It is that Bossman and his brute, isn’t it? Your plan worked? Please tell me it did?’
He smiled as he put his arms around her and pulled her close. ‘Worked a treat, love. Just a treat. It all went just as me and the inspector worked it out. The only worry I had was that Morrison… that’s Bossman’s name, by the way, or that bear of a chap who’s his minder, would hear the inspector and his sergeant getting out of the hidey-hole after we’d left the bedroom. Thankfully, we haven’t got any squeaking floorboards to worry about like houses have.’
Her taut body sagged in mortal relief against him. ‘I can’t believe this nightmare is over and we can sleep peacefully tonight.’
Just then Jimmy and Robbie dived through the door, one after the other. Jimmy exclaimed, ‘Is it true, Dad? You’re a hero and helped the police collar a well-known criminal and his sidekick? That’s what’s going around the fair anyway.’
Solly puffed out his chest and grinned proudly. ‘Well, hero might be exaggerating a bit, but yes I did.’
The boys both grabbed an arm, each pulling him away from their mother and over to the kitchen table. They pushed him down on a chair, then each took seats next to him.
‘Come on then, Dad. We want every little detail!’ Jimmy urged him.
‘Yes, come on, Dad, spill the beans. I can’t wait to hear it all,’ Robbie demanded.
Gem laughed. ‘I’ll put the kettle on.’
Chapter Twenty-Four
Solly threw himself into the chair at the side of his wife and said breathlessly, ‘That’s got to be it, surely. There can’t be any women left I haven’t had a dance with.’
Gem chuckled. ‘Every woman wants to brag that they’ve had a dance with the ringmaster at the end-of-season party, Solly. Especially one as handsome as you,’ she teased.
He gazed at his wife for a moment, thinking how pretty she looked tonight in a full-skirted white dress patterned all over with large red roses, broad black belt around her trim waist and a lacy red shawl draped around her bare shoulders. She wore red court shoes on her feet and her hair was piled up in a fashionable French roll. ‘You know I’m a sucker for a bit of flattery. What are you after?’
‘Another drink, please? Just a small one as I’m already feeling tiddly from the three glasses of sherry I had already. The party will go on for hours yet and I don’t want to miss any of it from conking out.’
He went off to oblige her, having to fight his way through others milling around to get to the front of the trestle table holding the barrel of beer for the men, bottles of sherry or port for the women and a variety of fizzy drinks or cordial for the children. Solly had paid for it all and it sat beside another trestle that held the food which each family had contributed towards, some bringing plates piled with cheese and cooked ham sandwiches, some sausage rolls, others cakes and trifles. Gem herself had contributed three huge meat pies, a mound of mashed potatoes and several jugs of tasty thick gravy.
As she waited for her husband to return with her drink, her eyes travelled around, for a moment settling themselves on each separate group of people enjoying the social event of the fairfolks’ year; much looked-forward to. Early on that afternoon, a group of men had temporarily broken off from their duties in the main fairground for the last time that season, dismantling the rides and stalls, to push a dozen or so of the living vans closer together to make space for the party to be held in. Once that was done and the men returned back to work, a group of women, Gem included, had set to work stringing up lengths of bunting, draping them around the vans surrounding the party space, then placing oil lamps in strategic places to light up the area once the night drew in. It was now just after eight, much food and drink had been consumed and the party was in full swing, everyone enjoying themselves.
At least forty people were dancing together in their own particular style, amongst them her two sons and nieces Nita and Rosa, in a clearing a little ahead of her, to the music provided by old Wilf Griffin. Despite his age of nearly ninety, his fingers were still nimble enough to produce a recognisable tune on his equally as ancient fiddle and, perched on a wooden box beside him, was twenty-nine-year-old Tommy Jaffa, one of the gaff lads, accompanying Wilf on a battered-looking accordion. Then, to Gem’s surprise, suddenly everyone stopped dancing and was looking over at the musicians, bemused. She wondered why for a moment, then started laughing as it seemed that Wilf had forgotten what tune he had been playing and had suddenly starting playing a different one to the one his companion was. The mistake rectified, much to an embarrassed Wilf, the music started up again, this time both musicians playing the same tune and the dancing resumed.
On the side of the dance area some other people were singing along to the music, others were talking and a couple of men, obviously the worse for drink, were having a heated discussion which looked to Gem like it might turn into a full-blown argument. When she saw one poke the other hard in his chest, she could see it would need intervention from Solly soon t
o break it up before either of them got hurt. Suffering a hangover was one thing but it would not do for any of the men to arrive for work bright and early tomorrow morning suffering from any damage to their limbs preventing them from fully pulling their weight. Work might have stopped so that all could enjoy the party this evening, but there was still a lot to be done tomorrow before the first convoy of lorries could start to transport all the dismantled rides and stalls to their winter rest site in Nottinghamshire, a disused World War Two airfield Sam had persuaded the MOD to allow them to use for the last five years.
She smiled then as she watched several children over at the food table, Col amongst them – Iris and Bert were well aware of what he was doing but good-naturedly turning a blind eye, as this was a time for fun after all – filling their hands and pockets with food and then disappearing under the table to consume it. She then spotted her sister-in-law Fran sitting on one of two chairs outside her van, her head close to Jonny’s, both sharing a plate of food. The way things were heading between them, she would predict an engagement announcement from them soon, with a wedding to follow, and she couldn’t be more pleased.
She couldn’t be more thrilled either for Ren and Donny, who walked past her now, not even noticing her. Or, in fact, anyone else either. They only had eyes for each other. There would be no wedding soon for them; Donny hadn’t even begun divorce proceedings because he had no idea where Suzie was. She doubted they were at all bothered though. The obtaining of a piece of paper wasn’t going to change how they felt about each other one iota.
It was such a shame though that such a happy ending would never happen for Velda, who she was now looking at sitting in her chair next to Fran and Jonny, a wide smile on her face, foot tapping in time with the music. It would seem to all that looked at her that she was enjoying the party as much as everyone else, but Gem knew that, deep down, she was so very sad that the man who had been the love of her life and had been such a very dear friend to her was no longer around for her to enjoy the company of. Like everyone else close to Sam who was mourning his loss, come time Velda would come to terms with it.
Emily Dunn sat the other side of Velda sipping on a small glass of sherry, tapping a finger against the glass in time with the music as she watched the dancers. She had a look of utter contentment on her aged face. A look that told Gem that she had no regrets whatsoever over her decision to leave her old life behind for a new one with Grundy’s and fulfilling a lifetime ambition to impart her knowledge on those who otherwise had great difficulty obtaining it. Once they were settled in their over-winter place she was going to start her adult reading and writing classes. There was a general reluctant amongst the fairfolk to participate mainly through pride or embarrassment and the opinion that they had reached their age without these skills and managed to survive so why bother now. Once it got around that the owner himself was going to be taking them, some minds changed and Gem had no doubt that more would in time. She had been stunned when she had finally plucked up courage to inform Solly that she had volunteered him for Emily's lessons in the hope of encouraging others of the community to, as instead of his annoyance, he had been extremely enthusiastic. It seemed that his inability to read the newspaper article involving Emily and him having to ask others to do the honour for him had not only caused him an amount of shame but served to make him realise just what he was missing out on by not being able to read. And now, presented with the opportunity to and with someone who had the patience to bear with him, unlike his wife, he was more than willing to try. In future, hopefully, it would be Solly informing Robbie about an article he'd read in the newspaper and not the other way around!
Thinking of Solly, a vision of his brother Sonny suddenly came to mind and, for a moment, her good mood left her to be replaced with one of anger as she remembered how he’d put her family and all the livelihoods of the Grundy community in jeopardy. She wondered where he was now. Lying low, afraid to be spotted by either the police or any of Morrison’s eyes and ears if he’d no idea that, thanks to his brother, the man had been arrested for his crimes and was now in jail awaiting his trial. Or was he swanning around in full view, unrecognisable in his disguise, using a new name and background he’d invented, building a new life for himself; something he was clearly very adept at, having fooled people for years that he was a successful businessman when, in truth, he was a fairground worker. All those people he had used, abused and stolen from purely to seek vengeance on that woman. Would he be feeling any regret for his actions? She doubted it. She was naturally an extremely forgiving woman, didn’t hold grudges, didn’t uphold violence, but it would be a very long time before she felt she would ever be able to be in the same company as Sonny again without giving him a piece of her mind.
There was one person though whose company she would give anything to be in. She knew exactly how many weeks, days, hours, minutes and maybe even seconds had passed since she had rushed away telling Gem she needed time to digest the fact that the mother she had believed had thrown her away at her birth, like she had meant nothing to her, hadn’t at all. That she had been told by her mother that her baby was dead and had had it adopted. As the days had gone by and Jenny hadn’t returned to take her rightful place with her real family, Gem was beginning to worry that Jenny didn’t want to and that she would never see her again.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the return of Solly. She smiled at him as she took the glass of sherry off him. As he sat down, he said to her, ‘Penny for them?’
‘Pardon?’
‘Your thoughts. You were miles away just now. I don’t need to ask though as I know. Jenny. Come on, love, cheer up. I keep telling you she’ll come back when she’s ready, I’m positive she will.’ He dearly hoped his words of comfort weren’t hollow ones. It would break Gem’s heart if she didn’t. It would break his too. It would also devastate her two brothers who were so looking forward to meeting her and having an older sister around to carrying pranks out on.
Solly was right, she did need to cheer up. Velda, in her wisdom, had once told her that if she willed something to happen hard enough, it would. She had willed Jenny to come back so many times she had lost count. She would pray that Velda was right and very soon she would have willed Jenny back enough times for it to happen. And, besides, this was a party; a special one to celebrate the end of another Grundy season which the owners laid on by way of thanking the community for all their hard work. It wouldn’t look good to the rest if the owners didn’t look like they were enjoying themselves.
She spun to face him. ‘Oh, Solly, I have just realised there is a woman you certainly have danced with yet.’
His face fell and he groaned. ‘Oh no, Gem. I can’t dance any more tonight, I don’t think I’ve got another one in me.’
‘She’ll be very upset if you don’t make the effort.’
His better nature took over. ‘Oh, all right then. But this is the last. Who is it?’
‘Me,’ she said, jumping up and holding out her hand to him.
He grinned at her. ‘For you, I’ll find the energy for anything you want me to.’
He took her hand and stood up to join her, then looked at her in surprise as she made no effort to go over and join in with the dancers who, at the moment, were failing miserably to dance an Irish jig, most of their attempts resembling more a Scottish fling, but seemed frozen to the spot.
He asked, ‘What’s the matter, Gem? I thought you wanted to dance. Have you changed your mind?’
She didn’t answer him, so he asked her again. She turned her head to look at him blankly. ‘Pardon. Oh, yes, of course I still want to dance. It’s just that…’
‘Just what?’
As she had stood up to lead her husband onto the dance space she thought she had caught a glimpse of Jenny, over in the distance by the drinks table, talking to someone. It was just a quick glance, very fleeting, before someone had stepped in the way and blocked her view. But then the person had, only seconds later, moved away again an
d there had been no Jenny behind them, so it must have been her eyes playing tricks on her. In her desperate need to see Jenny she had conjured a vision of her up. She declined to tell Solly for fear he might start to worry that she was going mad.
And then, as she led her husband into the middle of the dancers, she saw her again. This time she knew she wasn’t seeing things. It really was Jenny. She was walking towards them, a big smile on her pretty face, a bunch of flowers in one hand, weighed down by a huge suitcase in the other. Velda was right. If you will for something to happen enough times, eventually it will.
Tightening her grip on Solly’s hand, much to his bemusement, she launched him off with her to greet their daughter. They had already lost out on the first twenty-two years of her life and she wasn’t prepared for them to miss any more of it. The sooner they reached her, the sooner they could gather her into their midst where she truly belonged.