‘Indeed, my love… we could indeed!’
*
Phoebe’s mood was disconsolate as Martha had arrived home, until she relayed the events in the market.
‘Oh mother!’ Phoebe giggled, ‘Serves the bugger right!’
‘He’s been shamed in front of his mother and half the town, wench, and it’s my guess his father will take the strap to him.’
‘No more than he deserves,’ Phoebe said as she poured tea.
‘You want to leave it at that then?’ Martha asked, sipping the hot tea.
‘For Ernie Pit, yes… but…’ Phoebe looked at her mother unsure of how to continue.
‘But…?’ Martha asked tentatively.
‘Well, that Judge let him go, Mother! After he attacked me on the heath – the Judge just let him go!’
‘Ar well, you leave the Judge to us “Wives”, wench, we are sorting that one out.’ Martha watched as her daughter accepted her words without question.
‘Thank you, Mother, and the others too. I should have come to you in the first place.’
‘Ar wench, you should,’ Martha said as they smiled at each other.
Fifty-Seven
Joshua and Spencer trotted through Brunswick Park and down Walsall Road to the Judge’s large house in Wood Green and they were invited in, being asked how well they were doing raising the money for the new courthouse.
‘We are here on another matter, Judge,’ Joshua said as they all sat down in the living room.
‘I see,’ Judge Stanhope stood to get himself a drink, holding the bottle out to his visitors. Joshua and Spencer shook their heads as the Judge shrugged his shoulders and returned to his seat with a full glass of brandy in his hand. ‘What is this other matter I can help you with?’
‘We need you to retire from office,’ Spencer said simply.
Spluttering his drink, Stanhope brushed the brandy from his clothes as he barked, ‘You what?’
‘Retire, Judge… losing your hearing?’ Spencer said his voice calm as he watched disbelief shadow the Judge’s face.
‘What the…? Now you listen to me…’
‘No Judge. You listen to me!’ Maintaining his calmness, Spencer allowed an underlying hint of menace into his voice. Leaning forward, he went on, ‘You are not fit to hold the office of judge. You proved that by what you said about the women of this town and by how you let a man out of jail for a case of brandy!’
‘That was a gift!’ the Judge shouted.
‘It was a bribe!’ Spencer spat back, anger lacing his words. ‘How many others have bribed you to let them go free?’
‘That is slander!’ the Judge retorted, his jowls shaking with anger.
‘You call it slander – I call it truth!’
‘Call it what you will,’ the Judge laughed, suddenly full of bravado, ‘but you can’t make me retire!’ Emptying his glass in one swallow, he looked at Spencer with arrogant triumph in his eyes.
Trumping his triumph with his own, Spencer said, ‘All right, have it your way, but we’ll see what the people of the town have to say when they know you have a lover… a male lover!’
The light in the Judge’s eyes instantly died and his mouth hung open. ‘How did…?’ Realising his mistake of almost admitting to this truth, Stanhope clamped his jaws shut.
‘The Wednesbury Wives have been on your case, Judge Stanhope. Now, have we reached an agreement?’
They watched the thoughts of the impending shame, not to mention his breaking of the law, travel through the Judge’s mind as he nodded, his jowls shaking again.
‘Good man,’ Spencer said as he and his father stood to leave, ‘we’ll expect to hear the news of your retirement in the next few days, if not… you and the man you are seeing will be exposed for all Wednesbury to see. Good evening Judge Stanhope.’
The two men left the Judge drinking brandy like it was the last he would ever taste.
*
Sure enough, the next couple of days saw Judge Stanhope announce his retirement and a younger man, reputedly as straight as a die, take his place.
The Herald made a big song and dance about Stanhope standing down from office and Joshua and Spencer watched the ceremony as the Mayor presented the Judge with a gold fob watch in honour of his past services to the town. The now retired Judge accepted the gift graciously, a forced smile on his face, which turned to a grimace as he saw Joshua and Spencer shake hands with each other.
‘Another job well done, lad,’ Joshua said amid the applause ringing out as the Judge smiled awkwardly.
‘Indeed Father, but I can’t help feeling he deserved much more. He’s being given a hero’s exit here.’ Spencer said as his eyes turned once more to Stanhope. As their eyes locked, Spencer winked and the ‘Judge’ scowled.
“Aye lad, but at least he’s out of our hair now.” Joshua said noting the Judge’s bad tempered expression.
As the congratulatory noise died down, the Mayor spoke again. He explained that he was happy that his last act as Mayor was to have presented Stanhope with his gold watch. Holding his hands up to the gathered crowd, the Mayor announced he too was retiring from office. Glancing over at Joshua, he said a younger man was needed in the position of Mayor of Wednesbury.
The reporters dashed away from the Town Hall steps to write their columns for the next edition of the Herald.
*
Over tea in the kitchen of Gittins Lodge, Violet urged her father-in-law to stand for election of Mayor.
‘I saw the look the Mayor gave you when he announced he was retiring,’ Spencer said to his father, ‘even he thinks you should stand.’
‘What about the factory?’ Joshua asked.
Giving her husband a smile, Kath said, ‘Joshua, you could do both, run the factory and run for Mayor.’
“I think Violet or yourself is more deserving of this than me,” Joshua said.
“Oh goodness!” Kath exclaimed. “A female Mayor? No Joshua, people are just coming round to the idea of women being in business so a woman standing for Mayor would be a step too far. We, I think, are more than happy with our roles in the Wednesbury Wives. It’s you who should stand for Mayor, don’t you agree Violet?”
Violet nodded, “You would make a fine job of it Joshua.”
Candidates for the position of Mayor were submitted, Joshua being one of them, and in no time at all he found himself accepting the Chain of Office from his predecessor. Joshua Gittins had become the Mayor of Wednesbury.
At the ceremony in the Town Hall, everyone was present including Molly and Young Jim. Kath linked her arm through Spencer’s as they watched the proceedings.
‘Your mother would have been very proud of him… as we all are,’ she whispered.
“It’s nice that we know the new Mayor,” Young Jim said as he stood beside Spencer.
“Is he our granddad now?” Molly asked.
“In a way,” Spencer said, “not legally but I’m sure he’d love it if you called him granddad.”
Violet added quietly, ‘And our new Mayor is to have another grandchild!’
Fifty-Eight
On a Saturday morning a few weeks after Joshua was sworn in as the new Town Mayor, Violet was sitting in the living room with Spencer, Molly and Young Jim.
‘Spencer,’ she said quietly, ‘I think we should formally adopt Molly and Jim.’
The children, sitting playing with their toys on the floor by the fire, looked up at her. They didn’t understand what ‘adopt’ meant, but they had heard their names mentioned and knew it either boded good or bad.
Spencer grinned from his place on the floor with the children, saying, ‘I wholeheartedly agree!’
Joining the three on the carpet, Violet explained. ‘Children, Spencer and I would like to adopt you into our family.’ Seeing them look at each other in bewilderment, she went on, ‘It means we have to go to the Judge and ask his permission for you both to live with us forever… or at least until you are old enough to have families of your own.’
The children rushed to Violet and threw their arms around her, tears coursing down their little faces.
‘Steady now, remember Violet is to have a new baby too,’ Spencer said, his smile lighting up his face.
Molly and Jim muttered their apologies as they sat close to Violet who draped an arm around each of them.
Young Jim asked, ‘What if the Judge says no?’
‘Oh, he won’t say that,’ Violet assured the worried child. ‘However, it will mean you have to change your surname from Fowler to Gittins. How do you both feel about that?’
‘That’s all right with us, ain’t it Molly?’ Jim said. ‘As long as we can stay with you.’ Molly nodded her agreement.
‘Good, then that’s settled. We’ll all go and visit the Judge first thing on Monday morning.’
Molly threw her arms around Violet and said, ‘Thank you Mama.’
Violet looked over the child’s head at her husband, seeing the surprised look on his face as they all began to play on the carpet once more.
*
Sitting in the Judge’s chamber, Violet explained their intention of adopting Molly and Jim.
The Judge looked at the children, Molly sitting on Violet’s lap and Jim sat in a chair next to Spencer, doing his best to look grown-up. ‘So children, how do you feel about what is being proposed, would you like to live with Violet and Spencer forever?’
The children nodded their agreement and the Judge went on, ‘And how do you feel about being called Molly and Jim Gittins?’
‘Smashing!’ Molly said and everyone laughed.
‘Right then,’ said the Judge, looking at Spencer then Violet, ‘I’ll get the paperwork drawn up for your signatures.’
Shaking hands first with the adults, the Judge bent down to shake hands with the children. ‘It’s very nice to meet you Molly Gittins, and you too Jim Gittins.’
Jim replied, ‘Thank you sir.’
Violet glowed with pride and happiness as they left the Judge’s chambers.
Back home, once again playing on the carpet of the living room, Spencer said, ‘I think we should build a castle… Gittins Castle… it has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?’
Jim said, ‘This is our stronghold, no one will ever invade the Gittins fortification.’
Violet and Spencer exchanged a surprised smile before they all set to erecting the blocks of the wooden castle.
Every block set in place represented constructing and cementing their relationship together as a family; a relationship that would forever hold strong; a relationship they knew would remain warm and loving for the rest of their lives.
Violet watched the children playing with Spencer, delighting in their squeals of laughter, and she thought again of Harry taken by the fever. She thought of all that had passed over the years of her growing up and decided in an instant that there would only be good things in her life from now on.
The following day she requested a special meeting of the ‘Wives’; the meeting to take place on Friday. The women were intrigued but Violet would say no more on the matter, and as much as they asked, she would not be drawn. For the next few days, the mystery of a special meeting was uppermost in the women’s minds.
Friday morning finally arrived and tea and cake was served before Violet finally joined them in the living room at Gittins Manor.
‘Ladies,’ she began, ‘we have, over the years, acquired ourselves quite a reputation.’ Sniggers sounded and Violet held her hand up for silence. ‘We now appear to have the police constable and the new Judge as our allies.’ Seeing nods from the others, she went on, ‘I now think it’s time to concentrate solely on our business – the one that makes us money.’ Glances passed between the women before Violet spoke again. ‘I asked you here today to tell you I remain one of the Wednesbury Wives in name only. It is my suggestion that, in the future, we leave the punishment of the criminals of this town to the police. I now want to know how you all feel about this.’
Mary was the first to speak. ‘Thank Christ for that! I’ve been wanting out for some time, I just didn’t know how to say!’
‘You open your mouth and the words come out!’ Martha said sarcastically.
‘Well I’ll say this,’ Mary went on, ‘all this dealing with other folks’ problems is turning me into an old woman!’
‘I know the feeling, wench,’ Martha agreed, ‘it’s been making me feel ill for a while now. I’ll be glad to see the back of it.’
Each of the women in turn agreed with Violet and Mary, saying it was weighing heavily on them; each would be relieved to be free of the burden they had carried for so long.
Violet explained that the market grapevine would be informed that they were no longer in the business of dealing with wayward or violent husbands, but that the threat of being exposed to the ‘Wives’ should help with their problems.
With more tea, Violet called for a toast. The women stood and as they raised their cups in salute, she said, ‘To the demise of the Wednesbury Wives.’ Clinking cups was the solemn oath of every woman there that their violent behaviour of days gone by was at an end.
Turning the conversation back to the previous one, Violet wanted everyone’s assurance that the women were all of the same mind. ‘We have to promise each other we are finished with our old “business”,’ she said, ‘ladies… promise me.’
Hands went to hearts and they gave their oath. Violet was satisfied. “We can inform our men of our decision and the oath taken – I’m sure they will be delighted!’
Happy she could now turn her attention to her family, Violet watched the women she loved with all her heart. Although they would conduct no further ‘business’, she knew they would always be there for each other no matter what the future held in store for them.
We hope you enjoyed this book!
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LINDSEY HUTCHINSON lives in Shropshire with her husband and dog and loves to read and has recently discovered photography. She is the daughter of million copy bestselling author Meg Hutchinson.
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Addictive Fiction
First published in the UK in 2017 by Aria, an imprint of Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © Lindsey Hutchinson, 2017
The moral right of Lindsey Hutchinson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of
this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (E) 9781786692528
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The Wives’ Revenge Page 30