‘I left the pub and came in the hope of seeing you for a few minutes and, when you were not here, I thought I’d go in and fill the hot-water bottle for Margaret’s bed, and the back door was open and… Well, the police are on the way. Best we wait here until they come.’ He put an arm around them both, making jokes to cheer Margaret, taking the sleeping baby from Amy and cuddling her, whilst they waited in the porch until the police arrived.
Harris was on his bicycle but a police car arrived only moments after him and the uniformed men went in, switched on all the lights and searched the house to make sure the offender was no longer on the premises. Then Amy and Margaret were allowed inside and Victor was questioned about the circumstances in which he made the discovery.
Amy was very shaken. She had never worried about living in the house with Margaret and a baby to care for, but now she was too frightened to go upstairs.
‘I’ll stay,’ Victor said. ‘You and the children can go to bed and sleep. I’ll stay down here until morning.’ He turned to the constable. ‘Would you let my wife know, Mr Harris? I’m sure she’ll understand, in the circumstances.’
‘I think, if Mrs Prichard agrees, that would be a good idea. There’s almost no possibility of the person returning, but I’m sure you’ll sleep easier if you have someone else on the premises, won’t you?’
‘Right then. I’ll fill those hot-water bottles and get you lot settled. Don’t worry about me, I’ll sit on the armchair and be perfectly comfortable.’
When the police had finished their searches, Victor made more tea and a few sandwiches while Amy settled the children. Margaret was upset and too frightened to sleep in her own room, so Amy thankfully agreed that they should share. She put her in the double bed, promising to be up soon. The cot was beside the bed; Amy needed to have her dependants close to her. If Victor had not stayed, she would probably have put them all to sleep in the front room, near an escape route through the front door. She wondered how many days would pass before she felt relaxed again and able to go to bed normally.
She went downstairs to where Victor sat waiting for her. ‘Thank you, Victor. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been here.’
‘You’d have coped, like you always do, love.’ He stood up and held her. ‘You’re trembling. The shock hasn’t left you.’
‘I doubt if it ever will. I thought old Archie was overreacting when he said he was afraid to leave the house for fear of having to walk back in, expecting there to have been a repeat robbery, but now I can understand. I’m sure I’ll feel dread every time I put the key in that front door.
‘Amy, how many people know where you keep that spare key?’
‘Practically everyone, I should think. I tell delivery men, Nelly uses it to come in and clean, there’s you, and Billie and some of Margaret’s friends are bound to know. They’d have seen her use it.’
‘Then you’ll have to give Margaret and Nelly a key when I’ve changed the lock, and stop leaving one outside.’
‘You mean someone used that key?’
‘More than likely, according to the police. They thought you were crazy to do such a thing.’
‘But there’s never been any trouble, here in Hen Carw Parc.’
‘Not until now, but things are changing. People aren’t as trustworthy as they used to be. And someone in Hen Carw Parc is using local knowledge, like where you keep your key and what time people are likely to be out, to commit these robberies.’
Margaret called and Amy kissed Victor briefly on the cheek. ‘I’d better go. Margaret won’t sleep before I’m there and who can blame her?’ She went up the stairs and Victor pulled the blanket she had given him around his shoulders and settled to rest until morning. He did not turn out the lights, in case Margaret or Amy became frightened with bad dreams. Best they could see that everything was normal.
The night was black with a low cloud obliterating the moon. Victor could not sleep and his wide-awake mind refused to let him rest. He folded the blanket and stood looking out into the darkness, wondering who could have robbed Amy and destroyed her peace of mind. According to her first hurried searches they had taken about fifty pounds in cash and a watch given to her by her mother – no longer working but with a case of gold. Little else was missing although she admitted that her mind was so frozen with horror that she could not think clearly enough to remember.
So many of the local people had been at the pub. And among those who were not, how many could be even briefly suspected of these robberies? Tad Simmons came to mind. He was obviously short of money; you only had to see how that pest of a kid, Dawn, was dressed to know that. But was he the type to break into houses and take from neighbours and friends? On second thoughts, he doesn’t have any friends, he reflected. But would he risk prison, leaving his daughter to go into care? But then, people who did these things hardly expected to be caught. He shivered at the prospect of a prison sentence, and reminded himself that the police were far from satisfied with his story about coming into a house with the intention of putting hot-water bottles into beds in the middle of summer!
He heard a sound and concentrated on it. If it were Margaret waking, he could hardly go up. He guessed that Amy was sleeping lightly, if at all, and she would hear the moment either of the children woke. Footsteps crossed the landing and he watched the stairs. Amy came down quietly and walked into his arms.
‘I’m too wide awake to sleep and my fidgeting was disturbing Margaret,’ she explained.
‘As you see, I haven’t slept either.’
‘I’m jumping at every sound. Every shadow seems like a threat,’ Amy said, shivering. Victor put the blanket around her and held her close. ‘I’m so glad you’re here,’ she whispered.
He wanted to ask if she would have felt the same if it had been Billie Brown who had arrived in time to discover the burglary but he daren’t. If just anyone would have done to comfort her, he would rather not know.
She moved away from him, looking into the kitchen, touching the bolt that had been pushed into place at the top and bottom of the door. She went to the front door and checked that.
‘I’ve made sure everything is locked, love. The windows are all closed. You have nothing to worry about. In any case, he won’t be back.’
‘I keep thinking of that watch. It’s all I have to remember my mother by. Gold it was, so it will be smashed up and melted down. No value as a watch to anyone but me.’
‘I’ll buy you another and you can remember me every time you look at it.’
The blanket had slipped from her shoulder and he reached to pull it up and suddenly she was crying, clinging to him and her warm body was moulded against his own. Desire flared urgently and he kissed her tears away, the kisses becoming less to comfort, more to arouse. She sank with him to the floor and he slowly, lovingly slipped off the nightdress she wore and soon they lay naked and oblivious to everything but each other and their need for love. Only briefly did Victor wonder at her need: whether it was for himself, Victor, or whether she was blanking out the shock of the robbery for a few precious moments. She whispered his name and he knew her thoughts were for him alone.
For the rest of the night they sat, their arms around each other and kissed occasionally, hugged frequently, each revelling in the sensation of a shared love. The curtains were pulled back and they watched as a grey dawn suddenly brightened and became first tinged with pink then broke into the richness of a beautiful summer’s day. Then, regretfully, Amy returned to her bed so Margaret wouldn’t awake and miss her.
* * *
Later that day they learnt that there had been more than one robbery. Two houses on the council estate had been broken into and money had been taken. Altogether almost one hundred pounds had been taken, plus a few items of jewellery.
Amy called Margaret and prepared to send her to school as usual. ‘There’s no point in making more of a drama out of this than necessary,’ she told Victor as they prepared breakfast. ‘I’ll open the shop a
nd Margaret will go to school as if the day is a normal one. The police will know where to find me if they want me.’
‘I think I’d better ring them to see if they want to question me any further,’ Victor said. ‘I’m afraid I’m a suspect, Amy, my love.’
‘Don’t call me that.’ She hissed frowning. ‘Not with Margaret here.’
But he could not be discouraged after the magical night he had spent in her arms and for once her frown did not affect him.
‘My love, my love, my love,’ he whispered into her hair. Then, as Margaret came down the stairs, he greeted her with a smile and said, ‘Margaret, lovely girl, how would you like to come to the pictures tomorrow night, special treat. And I’ll come back here with you to make sure everything is safe and secure before I go home?’
‘Oh yes. Please Uncle Victor!’ She turned her brown eyes on her mother, ‘Mam, can we?’
‘I think it’s a good idea.’ She smiled her thanks at Victor. ‘What about asking Delina as well?’
So it was decided and, as Victor set off home, promising to return with tools to change the locks as soon as he had changed, Amy was humming happily, pretending for Margaret’s sake that the horror of the previous evening was forgotten.
The news seemed to have reached everyone before ten o’clock. Billie arrived having heard the news early from Mary, whose rounds began before six o’clock with the milking from the previous evening.
‘Amy, are you all right?’ he asked, lumbering into the kitchen as soon as she released the bolts. ‘I was so worried. Why didn’t I call last evening? I could have done so easily. I’ve brought some tools with me. I’ll change your locks for a start, then we’ll think of what else we can do to make sure you and Margaret and Sian are safe.’
‘Hold on, we aren’t hurt!’ She smiled at Margaret. ‘Not even frightened, are we, love?’
‘No, Mam, but I’m glad Uncle Victor was there.’
‘Victor?’ Billie asked.
‘He called after the meeting and we were out, at Ethel’s. He discovered the break-in and waited for us.’
Billie said nothing but his disapproval of Victor’s late- night visit was evident from his tightened lips.
‘He stayed with us all night,’ Margaret added. ‘Then he helped Mam cook my breakfast and heard my piano piece for church today.’
Amy refused to look at Billie, afraid he would see in her eyes that the overnight visit was not innocent. She put the kettle on the cooker and asked, without turning around, if he would like some tea.
‘No thanks,’ he said. ‘I think, so long as you’re all OK, I’ll get back and help Mary clear up after the milking. There’s bottling to do for the second round and…’
Amy felt guilty at the way she had hurt him. He couldn’t know, but something in the way she acted had obviously given him the correct impression of what had happened between herself and Victor. She rummaged in her brain to find a way of easing his suspicions, partly to comfort him and partly because she did not want others to receive the same impression. Billie was slow thinking and he might unintentionally pass on his conviction that she and Victor were lovers. His honest face was utterly readable, especially by people like Milly Toogood.
‘Margaret and I slept together last night,’ she said brightly. ‘And Sian was in with us. At least, her cot was beside the bed. We felt we wanted to be close together.’
‘Yes, and Mam fidgeted all night and wouldn’t let me sleep!’ Margaret added.
‘Better than snoring,’ Amy laughed. ‘Felt safe, didn’t we, love, with Uncle Victor downstairs?’ She felt that even if she had not completely succeeded, Billie would allow her the benefit of the doubt.
Several people called during the day to ask if they could help. Nelly offered to clean through, her answer to everything that couldn’t be cured with a cup of tea. George volunteered to lock some of the downstairs windows, Milly to see what was to be learnt, and Phil puffed up on his bike, furious that he had to be told by Nelly what had happened the previous day. Victor reappeared in the afternoon, with Delina and his eldest son, Daniel, who was almost eighteen. They changed the locks on both doors and gave Amy the new key.
‘I’ll get you the extra keys tomorrow,’ Victor promised. The day was completely disrupted and Amy spent most of it making tea for visitors who had called to offer sympathy and declare their anger. Constable Harris returned and asked if Amy had noticed anything else missing, but in the shock and confusion she had not. When evening came she began to feel frightened. For the first time the house felt threatening and no longer her home.
‘Damn the man, whoever he is,’ she said to Victor, who had returned alone as she was preparing Margaret for bed. ‘How can people like that live with their conscience?’
‘I’ll stay,’ he said. ‘For tonight only, I’ll stay.’ He stared at Amy and in his eyes she saw a pleading as well as a strength. ‘You and Margaret can sleep undisturbed. After tonight you’ll be able to push the fear aside. There’ll be the shop and the dozens of daily irritations to fill your mind and you’ll gradually forget, but tonight I think it’s best I stay.’ Amy nodded agreement. Victor went home briefly to explain to Delina and the boys that he was staying to reassure Amy and Margaret ignoring the accusing look on Imogine’s stern face. He wondered vaguely if she really cared where he would be sleeping and decided she probably didn’t.
Victor had not slept the previous night and, in spite of his efforts to stay awake, his eyes were heavy, and sleep overtook him within a few minutes of settling under the blanket on the couch. When Amy came down during the darkest hour she stood looking down at him and wondered what it was that made one man so dear and another nothing more than a friend. He did not stir, even when she knelt and kissed him.
She made a hot drink and stood for a while staring out into the blackness of the garden, seeing little but imagining it occupied by men waiting for a chance to enter her home and grab what they wanted. Shivering, she turned to the windows at the front and, her eyes took in the faint light from the distant road, saw a figure standing near her porch. She stifled the scream that filled her throat and shook Victor awake.
‘Victor, there’s someone outside,’ she hissed, a sob of fear echoing in the words. Victor shook off sleep in an instant and went to the window.
‘Call the police,’ he said. ‘Hurry.’ He crept to the front door and carefully eased back the bolts. ‘If he so much as touches your door, I’ll kill him,’ he growled.
‘Please, Victor, don’t open the door, stay here with me.’
He watched as she picked up the phone in the hall and dialled the number, waited until the sleepy voice at the other end said he was on his way, then taking her hand, led her back to the window. The man was still there, but as they watched he seemed to fade from their view. Sliding silently into the shadows until he was nothing more substantial than a false memory. Holding Amy tightly against him, Victor opened the door and stared out. The night was still and silent, until the sudden snarl of an engine broke the eerie quiet. But the sound was not of the approach of the police car but that of a motorcycle being driven away from the village.
When Constable Harris arrived, he searched the garden and the surrounding area diligently but left with assurances that whoever it had been was now safely far away.
‘He was probably nothing to do with these robberies, Mrs Prichard,’ he said. ‘Probably a poacher. There’s plenty of them about. Go back to sleep, both of you and I’ll hang around for a bit just in case he comes back this way.’ He glanced at the blanket on the couch where Victor had been sleeping. ‘Just as well you decided to stay again. Makes the ladies feel secure, having a man about, doesn’t it?’
Amy went back upstairs and Victor saw the constable out. The night seemed to take an age to settle; sleep was as far away from him as on the previous night. He lay on the couch watching the staircase, willing Amy to come to him. After an hour he relaxed into sleep, only to be woken by her lips on his. He opened his arms and enfolde
d her, taking her into his embrace and making her a part of a wonderful dream.
He left early on the following morning, after sharing a romantic breakfast with Amy in the early dawn. He walked home through the lane past Nelly’s cottage and the singing woods, his heart swollen with happiness. Amy loved him. There was no doubt in his mind now, only the determination that somehow he would free himself of his soulless marriage and spend the rest of his life with her. Even the need for a cigarette no longer tormented him. He would spend the money he was saving plus the cash, still intact, from his racing success, on buying her a gold watch to replace the one that had been stolen.
Amy’s shop was busy on Monday morning, with people coming in to hear the details of the break-in from her. She dealt with them all with more than normal patience, even spending time explaining to Milly Toogood how Victor had been kind enough, on the recommendation of the police, to stay with her and Margaret through the night. By the time the weekend came around again, the talk had faded and Amy’s fears were set aside. She walked into the house with only the slightest apprehension and knew that for her, the house was again her home – a safe haven after the busy day dealing with customers and wholesalers and being chivied by the constable to remove her vegetables from the pavement. Thanks to Victor, it was also a place where she could wrap herself in memories of love and shared happiness, even if that happiness was brief and stolen.
* * *
On the following Sunday Prue came out of hospital again and for the first time Amy felt encouraged. As soon as Prue came into the room, leaving Amy to pay the taxi, she concentrated on Sian. Margaret was in church and in the afternoon would be at Sunday School, followed by a rehearsal for the concert planned for later in the year. It left Amy and Prue together and instead of the day dragging by on long silences, Amy found to her delight that her sister seemed anxious to talk.
They chatted through the open door as she prepared lunch, adding an occasional word to Prue’s remarks, wondering at the volume of words flowing from her sister. Thank goodness her days of total withdrawal seemed at an end.
The Changing Valley Page 17