Winners and Losers

by Catrin Collier

  ‘Can I go with you today?’

  ‘I have no idea how long we’ll be in the court, and you have to work.’

  ‘No, I don’t. Mrs Palmer called on Mrs Morgan yesterday and offered her a job. Mornings and relief work so Lena and I can take a full day off every week. She’s taken over from me today.’

  ‘Betty Morgan has taken a job in a lodging house full of policemen! Ned Morgan will spin in his grave.’ Busying himself so he wouldn’t have to look at her, Victor buttoned his waistcoat, picked up his watch from the table, clipped the chain to the bottom buttonhole and dropped it into the specially made pocket.

  ‘Ned Morgan’s been in his grave for nearly a month and that’s a full month without even strike money,’ she reminded him. ‘What’s Mrs Morgan supposed to live on? Fresh air?’

  ‘The train company will have to pay her compensation.’

  ‘So Mrs Morgan hopes, but there’s no sign of it coming. And in the meantime, the ten shillings a week Mrs Palmer has offered her to come in five mornings a week will pay her bills. So,’ she steeled herself, ‘as I’m not needed in the lodging house today, can I please come to the court with you?’

  ‘To see me in the dock?’ He finally looked at her.

  ‘To support you. I know Sali’s going, because she told me she is. She may need me to go to the school and fetch Harry if your case runs into late afternoon.’

  ‘You’re determined to go no matter what I say, aren’t you?’ He shrugged on his suit jacket.

  Megan opened the cupboard where Sali kept the clothes brush and brushed the back and shoulders of his dark brown woollen suit. ‘There’s a public gallery.’

  ‘So I can’t stop you from going. Is that what you’re saying?’

  She gave him a slightly sheepish smile. ‘Exactly.’

  ‘I’ve taught you too many lessons in how to be an Evans.’ He took the clothes brush from her. ‘I suppose you may as well walk down the hill with us.’

  She locked her arms around his neck and kissed him.

  ‘As long as you know that’s a common criminal you’re kissing.’

  ‘My common criminal, not any old one.’ She opened the door and shouted up the stairs, ‘Sali, Lloyd, Joey, I’m coming to court with you.’

  ‘Good.’ Joey ran down the stairs. ‘I wish Dad was here,’ he muttered to no one in particular as he took his overcoat from the hall rack.

  ‘Don’t we all,’ Lloyd agreed feelingly as he joined him.

  Porth magistrates’ courtroom smelled schoolroom musty, a mixture of dust, beeswax polish and chalk, although Victor couldn’t see any evidence of the chalk. An uneasy silence had settled over the packed public benches, as all three magistrates on the bench focused intently on the witness box, where Abel Adams, dressed in his frayed and only suit, was giving evidence.

  Unnerved at being the centre of attention, Abel pulled nervously on his jacket lapel. ‘Luke Thomas called me a blackleg, which I never was nor will be. I -’

  ‘Then, as we have been given to understand the term used by Mr Luke Thomas, you would not describe yourself as a blackleg, Mr Adams?’ the leading magistrate interrupted.

  ‘In no way, sir,’ Abel protested stoutly. He looked from the magistrates to Luke, who was standing stiffly to attention alongside Joey and Victor in the dock. ‘I support the strike and my fellow workers in the struggle for better wages and conditions, but if some things aren’t done to keep the pits in good condition, none of us will have a colliery to go back to when the dispute is settled. And the only people who have the know-how to do those things are the experienced workers like myself, Sam and Fred.’

  ‘That would be Mr Samuel Winter and Mr Frederick Winter?’ the magistrate clarified with irritating precision.

  ‘Yes, sir.’ It took Abel a moment to recover from the magistrate’s second interruption. ‘All three of us were –are –employed by management to carry out essential maintenance in the pit. Water has to be pumped out of the shafts on a regular basis, otherwise the workings are liable to flood and then the mine would be no use to anyone, management or collier.’

  ‘And on the day in question you were ordered by management to pump water out of the pit?’ The leading magistrate scribbled a note on the sheet of paper in front of him and showed it to his colleagues.

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘And the defendants stopped you from going about your lawful business?’

  ‘Luke Thomas did, sir.’ Abel glowered at Luke. ‘He said we were digging coal for market.’

  ‘And were you?’

  ‘We were only digging coal to fuel the engines that work the pumps. I tried to explain that to him but he wouldn’t listen.’

  ‘Thank you, Mr Adams.’ The magistrate folded his arms across his chest and sat back in his seat.

  ‘But Victor Evans -’

  ‘I said thank you, Mr Adams. You may return to your seat,’ the magistrate repeated curtly.

  ‘But, sir -’

  At a nod from the magistrate, two policemen moved either side of Abel and forcibly escorted him from the witness box, while he was still murmuring Victor’s name. The leading magistrate turned his attention to the police officers sitting on the front benches.

  ‘Sergeant Lamb?’

  ‘Sir.’ The officer rose to his feet.

  ‘We are in receipt of the sworn witness statements submitted by the police. Is there anything you wish to add?’

  ‘We would like it to be placed on record that we have submitted written evidence to the court, in order to prevent the harassment and,’ the sergeant gave the three men in the dock a significant look, ‘further intimidation of the honest citizens of this town. It is our experience, sir, that people are too afraid to make any complaints against members of the Federation of the Union of Mineworkers for fear of repercussions against them and their families. That is why it was necessary for us to submit our evidence in this anonymous and secretive form to protect the identities of our informants.’

  Lloyd, along with every other man sitting in the public gallery, leaped to his feet to protest the injustice of a system that allowed evidence to be presented to the court in such a way that the witness, and the veracity of his or her statement, couldn’t even be questioned.

  The leading magistrate shouted for the restoration of order, the police sitting on the front benches left their seats and turned to the public gallery, but it took them several minutes to quiet the protesters.

  ‘My father’s right,’ Lloyd muttered tersely to Sali, pitching his voice below the din. ‘It’s too much to expect justice in this country for the working man. Especially when he dares challenge the establishment.’

  Victor, Luke and Joey rose to their feet and stood shoulder to shoulder, facing the magistrates on the bench. Despite the air of solemnity, Victor felt faintly ridiculous. All three of them standing to attention in their best clothes as if they were going to a wedding, waiting for the magistrate to begin his summing up after listening to the police relate a version of events at which no officer, or, given the quality of the evidence, any of the supposed ‘witnesses’ could have possibly been present.

  The stipendiary magistrate finally ceased whispering to his colleagues, clasped his hands together and leaned towards the dock. ‘This case is the result of a long period of high feeling, which came to a climax on the morning in question. In particular Thomas’ conduct was not commendable. In fact, it was reprehensible.’ He fixed his attention on Luke. ‘Luke Thomas, you are a troublemaker who has no hesitation in flouting the law, or showing contempt for the officers employed to keep the peace in Tonypandy. Therefore, after giving careful consideration to all the evidence, we impose a fine of fifteen pounds or six weeks imprisonment.’

  A gasp rippled through the public gallery. The magistrate held up his hand and shouted for silence. Two policemen again turned to the public benches in preparation to enforce his order.

  ‘As to your accomplices,’ the magistrate looked at Joey, ‘in the case of Joseph
James Evans, a fine of ten pounds or one month’s imprisonment will be imposed. In the case of Victor Sebastian Evans, a fine of ten pounds or one month’s imprisonment will be imposed. Costs of sixty pounds to be born equally by all defendants, fines and costs to be paid within one week, or all three defendants will be incarcerated in prison.’

  Angry shouts and catcalls echoed around the courtroom.

  The magistrate rose to his feet. ‘There will be a short adjournment before the next case.’ He and his two colleagues stepped down from the bench and walked out through a door behind them.

  Abel Adams glanced up and down Porth Square. Joey, Victor and Lloyd were waiting at the tram stop with Megan and Sali. He crossed the road and walked towards them.

  ‘Victor, I’m sorry,’ he began hesitantly, unsure how Victor would take his apology. ‘I tried to tell the police and the magistrate that you stopped Luke and the others from having a real go at us but they wouldn’t listen.’

  ‘It’s not your fault, Abel,’ Victor said flatly. ‘They were out to get Joey and me and they did.’

  ‘But still -’

  ‘Just do us all a favour, Abel,’ Lloyd said grimly, ‘keep manning the pumps so we have a colliery to go back to when the strike is over.’

  ‘I’ll do that, Lloyd.’ Abel shook his head. ‘Thirty pounds, or a month inside, just for stopping Luke and his butties from beating the Winter boys and me to a pulp. It’s wrong, and worse than wrong, it’s savage.’

  ‘Tell you what, Abel,’ Joey said, ‘if you feel that badly about our sentence, you can do mine for me.’

  ‘I ... I ...’ Abel stammered his way to silence.

  ‘Joey was joking, Abel. But thank you for trying to make them listen,’ Victor said. Abel nodded and moved away.

  ‘It was decent of Abel to apologize for something he had no control over,’ Lloyd commented.

  ‘We have a week to get the money and I’m only ten pounds short to cover both our fines, so I should do it,’ Victor lifted his cap as a crowd of women approached.

  ‘You’ve made fifty pounds boxing?’ Lloyd asked Victor in surprise.

  ‘Thirty boxing, twenty by betting on myself over the last few weeks.’

  ‘Neither of you is going to gaol,’ Sali said decisively.

  ‘No, they’re not,’ Megan broke in earnestly. ‘Because I have more than ten pounds saved. I want you and Joey to have it, Victor ...’

  ‘I wouldn’t hear of it.’ Victor bristled in indignation.

  ‘Why not take the loan Megan is offering?’ Sali looked for a middle ground that would allow Victor and Joey to keep their Evans pride, and also permit Megan to help. ‘You could pay her back as soon as the strike is over.’

  ‘Then there would be no more need for you to box,’ Megan said eagerly.

  ‘The loan would only be for a short while.’ Sali was hoping for support from Lloyd, but he remained stubbornly silent, refusing to be drawn into the argument. Angry with him for what she felt was misplaced pride, she nudged his ankle gently with the toe of her shoe.

  ‘We’re getting married, aren’t we?’ Megan removed her glove and laid her left hand with its glittering engagement ring over Victor’s.

  ‘You know we are, the minute you’re twenty-one.’

  ‘And then everything I own will become yours.’

  ‘And vice versa,’ Victor agreed grumpily, sensing the way the argument was headed.

  ‘Then what possible difference will it make if I lend you some money a little earlier. My motives are purely selfish.’

  ‘Selfish!’ he exclaimed.

  ‘Absolutely. What would I do on my afternoons off if you weren’t around?’ Megan said tartly.

  Sali suppressed a smile but Lloyd burst out laughing. ‘Answer that one if you can, Victor.’

  ‘What I’d like to know is who made those anonymous statements about us that Sergeant Lamb submitted to the magistrates,’ Joey said darkly.

  ‘The troubles caused by the strike are being used to settle a lot of scores.’ Lloyd turned away from the sight of Luke Thomas being marched to the police station in handcuffs. Knowing he had no chance of paying his fine, Luke had opted to go to gaol at once. ‘Much as I hate to say it, little brother, given your behaviour over the last couple of years, there are a lot of husbands, fathers and brothers who’ve good reason to get back at you. We all warned -’

  ‘You’re not Dad, so spare me the bloody lecture!’ Joey thrust his hands deep into the pockets of his overcoat and stormed off.

  ‘Where are you going?’ Victor shouted after him.

  ‘For a walk!’

  ‘Not into more trouble, I hope,’ Lloyd said.

  ‘I’d have a job to get into any more than I am now,’ Joey bit back before turning the corner and walking out of sight.

  ‘Happy days,’ Lloyd muttered. ‘Joey’s never been easy to handle, but I swear he’s been ten times worse since Mam died.’

  ‘Dad being in hospital hasn’t helped.’ The tram arrived and Victor helped Megan on to it.

  Sali and Lloyd sat in the double seat behind them. ‘We’ll leave you in Dunraven Street, Megan,’ Sali said. ‘Lloyd and I have to go to Connie’s to pick up Harry and from there we’re going on to Pontypridd.’

  ‘And we won’t be back until eight o’clock at the earliest.’ Lloyd said meaningfully. He took a shilling from his pocket and handed it to the conductor. ‘Four, please.’

  ‘I can pay my own fare.’ Megan opened her purse.

  ‘Give the penny to Victor. Since the strike started we have so little money we’ve made it communal, not that it goes any further.’ Lloyd pocketed the tickets and the eight pence change.

  ‘You have a meeting, Sali?’ Victor asked.

  ‘With Mr Richards in Ynysangharad House,’ she answered.

  ‘While Sali talks business, Harry and I intend to investigate the books and toys in the nursery again. We’ve already read all the ones we brought back last time we were there. If you’re not in a hurry to return to Mrs Palmer’s, Megan, we’ll see you when we get back.’ Lloyd pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and sneezed.

  ‘As I don’t have to do anything in the lodging house until tomorrow morning, Mrs Palmer’s not expecting me until late this evening.’ Megan glanced self-consciously at Victor. He removed his watch from his waistcoat, opened it and showed it to her. It was only four o’clock.

  The tram stopped and Sali and Lloyd stepped off it first.

  ‘If we see Joey on our way down to the railway station we’ll warn him to keep away,’ Lloyd said before Megan and Victor turned up the hill.

  ‘There’s no need,’ Megan blushed.

  ‘See you later.’ Victor gave Lloyd a stern look of disapproval.

  ‘When are you going to stop teasing those two?’ Sali asked. ‘And don’t say what’s the point in having a brother if you can’t rag him.’

  ‘All right, if you ask me nicely, I’ll stop.’

  ‘I’m asking nicely.’ Sali took Lloyd’s arm and they headed for Rodney’s. ‘Can I have a word with you before we pick up Harry?’

  ‘That sounds ominous.’

  ‘I don’t just want to see Mr Richards to sign my will and sort out the adoption papers for Harry.’ She braced herself for an outburst. ‘I’m going to ask him to sell the ring Mansel gave me.’

  ‘I won’t hear of it,’ Lloyd said flatly.

  ‘Mansel gave it to me as an engagement ring. I’m hardly going to wear it now I’m married to you. It is worth two thousand pounds ...’

  ‘If you really want to sell it, and I don’t think you should, any money you make is yours and Harry’s. I point blank refuse to touch it, and so will my family.’

  ‘Harry will have more than enough money. When Mr Goldman, the pawnbroker, valued it for me, he said that I shouldn’t take less than eighteen hundred pounds for it.’

  ‘Money you want to use to keep my family until the pits reopen?’ he enquired angrily.

  ‘No.’ She gripped his arm
hard, forcing him to slow his pace. ‘I want to buy property as an investment for Harry’s brother or sister.’

  He stopped, turned and stared at her. ‘You’re -’

  ‘Yes, I am. And, as you’ve so often said, the family shouldn’t be dependent on Harry and that goes for future as well as present members. Mr Richards and the trustees told me that the price of property has never been as low in the Rhondda as it is now so I thought I’d ask Mr Richards to take a look around and see if he can find a sound investment. You’re not going to argue with me about that, I hope?’

  He shook his head dumbly.

  They moved closer to Connie’s window, away from the crowds who weren’t shopping so much as escaping their bleak, unheated houses.

  ‘I’m sorry. Now is hardly the time or place to break the news to you, but we’ve never had any secrets between us and I thought you should know that I intend to sell the ring before I finalize the arrangements with Mr Richards.’

  ‘When –when will the baby be born?’ His voice was rough with emotion.

  ‘About the middle of October.’

  ‘You’ve seen the doctor?’

  ‘No, but I had a chat with Nurse Roberts when I bumped into her on my way to the soup kitchen the other day: You are pleased?’ She looked at him through anxious eyes.

  He continued to stare at her for a moment then hugged her, much to the amusement of the passers-by.

  ‘Can we keep it to ourselves –just for the moment?’ she pleaded when she released him. ‘Joey and Victor have enough to worry about between their fines, the strike and your father.’

  ‘We can keep it from everyone for now, sweetheart, except my father,’ he said decisively. ‘A granddaughter might be just what he needs to spur on his recovery.’

  Chapter Eighteen

  ‘Lloyd didn’t mean anything when he said he’d tell Joey to stay away from the house, Megs. He’s only trying to get back at me for the way Joey and I teased him when we first realized that he was carrying on with Sali.’ Victor closed the front door and followed Megan into the kitchen. He glanced at the stove. Lloyd had laid the fire before they’d left for the court. He picked up a box of matches from the mantelpiece. ‘We could put a match to that and sit down here, or ...’ Turning round, he swept her off her feet.