The Forgotten Family of Liverpool: A gritty postwar family saga novel that will break your heart

by Pam Howes

  ‘Ah, well that’s the odd thing. These, along with at least a dozen other assorted plates, a saucepan and some cutlery, were found in the old bike shed on the land where Palmer’s factory used to stand. There were some old blankets and a few items of clothing as well. Someone has been living rough in there for a good few weeks, it would seem.’

  ‘Flipping ’eck,’ Frank said. ‘Two women I spoke to earlier on Old Mill Lane said they’d seen the woman in a black coat near there, but she vanished. I was going to report the sighting to you next time we came in.’

  ‘Well, we’ve a couple of officers down there now keeping a low profile. Hopefully an arrest will be made very shortly. We’ll keep you informed.’

  Dora chewed her lip. ‘Do you think Mam’s attacker was the woman in black, then?’

  ‘There’s a strong possibility,’ the officer replied.

  ‘But why would a complete stranger hurt an old lady in her own home?’

  ‘We’ll get to the bottom of it, Miss, don’t you fret yourself. We’ll be in touch.’

  Dora linked Frank’s arm as they walked back to his car. ‘We need to call at Mam’s house now, make sure it’s all locked up and get you some bedding, then we’ll head back over to Wright Street and pick up Jackie.’

  Frank sighed. ‘I’m knackered, love. Be glad to get my head down tonight. Been a funny sort of day.’

  It certainly had, Dora thought. There must be more to this than food stealing, though. The woman had obviously done that to survive. But who was she and was it also her who had targeted Joanie’s grave and left that horrible message? It didn’t make any sense. Dora was really uneasy about the whole thing.

  On Wednesday afternoon Dora felt Jackie’s grip on her hand tighten as they made their way into the Empire Theatre. A uniformed concierge approached them and smiled.

  Dora smiled back. ‘I’m from Samuel Jacobs’. I’ve brought some outfits for the show.’

  ‘Follow me.’ He led them into the theatre, where a dress rehearsal was in full swing. ‘Sit on the front row there.’ He pointed. ‘When they stop for a break the choreographer will come over to you.’ He caught the eye of a man and pointed to Dora, who held the clothes bag aloft. The man nodded and carried on organising his dance troupe into line.

  Dora took a seat and Jackie sat down next to her, her eyes wide as she took in the on-stage activity. When the music struck up and the little girls began to dance to Shirley Temple’s ‘On the Good Ship Lollipop’, Jackie was on her feet, copying the dance movements and actions and singing along with them. Dora tried to get her to sit back down but she was having none of it and threw herself into the routine as though born to it. The man on stage turned to look at her halfway through; he smiled and nodded his approval.

  Dora’s cheeks were hot with embarrassment as the routine came to an end and the man left the stage and joined her. ‘I’m so sorry—’ she began but he held his hands up to silence her.

  ‘There is no need to apologise. Your child is talented.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Much more so than a few of them up there! She must be encouraged at all costs. Do you have her enrolled in a dancing school?’

  ‘I do, yes. She attends Marjorie Barker’s in Kirkby on a Saturday morning.’

  ‘Ah, sometimes I use Miss Barker’s pupils for my reviews. What is your daughter’s name? I shall ask for her for the Christmas show.’

  ‘Jacqueline Rodgers,’ Dora said proudly. Wait until she told Frank, Joe and Mam. They’d be so thrilled. ‘I’m from Samuel Jacobs’, by the way. I’ve brought the outfits for the show.’ She held out the bag.

  ‘Ah, lovely, my principals’ outfits. If you’d like to wait a moment, I will ask them to try them on and make sure they fit.’ He hurried away as Jackie tugged at her sleeve, her eyes bright.

  ‘I like it here, Mammy,’ she said. ‘Can we come again?’

  ‘Of course we can. I’ll bring you along each time I need to do a theatre visit, as long as it’s not your bedtime.’ If Jackie indeed had a talent then she would make certain they all encouraged her as much as possible.

  On the way back to Jacobs’ to report that all was well with the outfits, Jackie hung onto Dora’s hand and sang ‘The Good Ship Lollipop’ all the way down Lime Street. People stopped to stare and smile at the giddy little blonde, doing her Shirley Temple impersonation.

  Esther welcomed them in. It was the final hour before closing time and she produced the biscuit tin and let Jackie have first pick. She poured tea for them all and Dora took Sammy’s upstairs.

  ‘Ah, Dora, how did it go?’

  ‘Fine. Everything fitted well and my daughter showed off her dancing skills and might be chosen for a Christmas show.’ Dora laughed. ‘She’s a one. Full of herself.’

  Sammy chuckled. ‘Always nice to encourage confidence and talent from a young age. My son has two left feet, even now in his twenties he still can’t dance. He trod on his poor bride’s feet throughout the first dance at their wedding.’

  Dora smiled. It wasn’t often he and Esther mentioned their only child, Sonny. Maybe they weren’t as close to him as she and Frank were to their mam. Sonny didn’t live in Liverpool like his parents; he’d moved to London and worked in a bank. Perhaps there was disappointment that he hadn’t followed in his father’s footsteps.

  As she hurried back downstairs she could hear Jackie’s piping voice as she sang for Esther. She was also dancing, holding out the hem of her dress at each side, just like she’d seen the performers do earlier.

  ‘She makes a grand Shirley Temple,’ Esther said, clapping as Jackie took a bow. ‘Dora, if you’re ever stuck for a babysitter you can bring her in here to keep me entertained. The customers will love her too. Now I mean that. While your mother is laid up, it could be ideal.’

  ‘Thank you. That’s wonderful. I hate to let you down. You’ve been so good to me, but I can see it will probably take Mam some time to get right.’

  As Dora and Frank were leaving the ward after visiting a much-improved Mam that night, Sister Ashton beckoned them into her office.

  ‘We’re going to keep your mother with us for one more day and then discharge her on Friday afternoon following doctor’s rounds. I also wanted to let you know I have a message here from an officer at the station: he and a fellow officer would like to come round to see you. They’ve been to the house in Knowsley but there was no one there. I said I’d ask where you’re staying tonight and let him know.’

  Dora gave her Wright Street address and Sister said she would pass it on.

  ‘They must have some news for us,’ she said as Frank drove them home. ‘I wonder if they’ve arrested someone.’

  ‘Well, let’s hope so. You go and get the kettle on and I’ll nip and get Jackie from Sadie’s. I just want a quick word with Stan. He asked if there are any jobs going down at the docks; his hours have been cut and things are looking a bit dodgy at the moment. Don’t mention it to Sadie though. He doesn’t want her worrying with her expecting.’

  ‘I won’t. Can you help him, though?’ Dora asked, unlocking the front door.

  ‘Aye, I think so. He’ll need to go down and see the boss as soon as he can.’

  Dora threw a shovel of coal on the fire in the back room and filled the kettle. Frank was back in minutes with a sleeping Jackie in his arms.

  ‘She was spark out on the rug,’ he said. ‘Shall I carry her up to bed?’

  ‘Yes, but put her in mine. She’ll only scream the place down if she’s in her own. You might as well as sleep in it, Frank, because she won’t. She’ll be tired out with all the singing and dancing she’s done today.’

  Dora jumped up at a knock on the door and let in two police officers. She led them into the front room where Frank had lit a fire. ‘Please take a seat.’ She gestured towards the sofa. Frank sat down on the floor and Dora in the armchair under the window. ‘The sister on Mam’s ward said you needed to see us,’ she began as one of the officers took out a notepad and pen.

  ‘Does the n
ame Myrtle Carter mean anything to you?’ The officer looked at Dora.

  She frowned as Frank blurted out, ‘That’s Jack Carter’s missus, I think. Am I right, officer?’

  ‘You are, sir. The woman we arrested earlier, the person seen wearing a black coat and stealing food, is indeed known as Myrtle Carter, wife of Jack Carter who is serving a manslaughter sentence. She’s been living rough in the bike shed on Palmer’s land for several weeks now. But, according to our investigations, prior to that she was in a mental institution for several years. We are still investigating her movements and she will be kept in custody until we get to the bottom of things.’

  Frank nodded slowly. ‘You do know that my wife Joanie,’ he nodded towards the framed photo Dora kept on the mantelpiece, ‘was the girl who died in the fire?’

  ‘We do, sir. I know it was a few years ago now and we weren’t on the force at the time, but please accept our condolences.’

  ‘I don’t understand the connection to us,’ Dora said. ‘Could she be the one who left the horrible message on Joanie’s grave out of some sort of spite? But I still don’t understand what it meant. She said Joanie got what she deserved and so did I. And she called me a bitch. But I have no idea what she meant by so did I. It’s almost like she carries a grudge.’

  The officer nodded his head. ‘That will be part of our investigation over the next day or so.’

  ‘Why was she living in the bike shed?’ Frank asked. ‘She and Jack had a house and family. Where are the kids?’

  Dora nodded. ‘They had four young children. I remember Jack telling me that.’

  ‘I’ve no idea,’ the officer replied. ‘Possibly in care or with relatives if she’d been admitted to an institution.’

  ‘Bit of a sorry state of affairs,’ Frank said. ‘Well, thank you for coming to let us know. I’ll be staying here with Dora and my niece until Friday and then I’ll be back in Knowsley with Mam. She’s being discharged on Friday.’

  ‘And I’ll be staying there too from Friday,’ Dora said. ‘So you know where to find us.’ She saw the officers out and scowled at Gloria Smyth, who just happened to come to her door at the same time. Probably hiding behind her filthy nets and spying, Dora thought.

  ‘’Ere, gel, what did the scuffers want?’ Gloria squawked as Frank came to stand behind her. ‘What you bin up to then?’

  ‘Mind your own bloody business,’ Dora shouted as Frank pulled her out of the way and yelled across, ‘They’ve been looking for the murder weapon for that body they found down the docks. But I’m hardly going to hide it in my sister’s house, now am I? So they still can’t pin anything on me!’

  Dora grinned and shut the door, but not before she saw Gloria’s jaw drop and then run to her sister’s door and hammer on it. Dora drew the curtains across in the front room, but couldn’t resist a peek through the nets to see Gloria gesticulating across at her house and Freda nodding her head and waving her cigarette in the air as she ooh-ed and aah-ed. Ha, bet it wasn’t often a police car came down Wright Street unless it was going across the road. Makes a change, Dora thought.

  Frank patted the sofa and she sank down beside him. ‘So what do you reckon then?’ he said. ‘Myrtle Parker… but why target us? If anything, it should be us making her life difficult after what her bloody husband did to our family. I thought she’d moved away. I haven’t heard anything of her for years.’

  ‘I don’t get it,’ Dora said. ‘Okay, I can understand her stealing food if she was hungry and maybe she hung around our village because she knows it well and has some idea of who’s in and out. But what I don’t understand is the message on Joanie’s grave. And why did she attack Mam?’

  Frank blew out his cheeks. ‘I have a feeling that may have been accidental. She’d been in the church that morning, according to Maisie across the lane. She saw me go out, might have thought Mam was still out too and took her chance. Perhaps she got a shock when she saw Mam in the kitchen and lashed out when Mam spoke to her, thinking it was me. Mam would have recognised her if she’d turned and seen her face. That would have given the game away so she wasn’t taking chances, and remember, she’s most probably not all there if she’s been in an institution.’

  Dora sighed. ‘Well I know all about mental health problems, don’t I? They make you do stuff you wouldn’t normally do. No doubt we’ll get to know a bit more tomorrow.’

  ‘Yep. When are Joe and Carol back from Morecambe?’

  ‘Friday. I’ll need to let him know that I’ll be at Mam’s when he brings Carol to see me on Saturday.’

  15

  Dora opened the official-looking envelope that popped through her letterbox on Thursday morning, and held her breath. It was a reply to her recent letter to the welfare department, with her request that Carol be returned to her care as soon as possible now that she was living in her own house. She read it quickly. It was signed by Mr Oliver, who had previously instructed that her daughter was to live with Joe. He wanted to make a call to the house next week to discuss the matter with both her and Joe, who would also be in receipt of a letter, and had given the date of Wednesday at eleven thirty.

  Dora sighed. Was nothing ever straightforward? Joe would be back at work. He wouldn’t be very happy at having to take extra time off. She’d be back working by then too, and how the heck could she ask for more hours off? Sammy and Esther didn’t even know she had another daughter. She’d been too ashamed to say that she’d lost custody of her. If she told them now they’d think she had something to hide and might judge her to be a bad parent. Another problem that she’d need to face in having Carol back was school and getting her settled in properly. And then who would take her and pick her up? She couldn’t rely on Sadie, whose baby would be arriving in the next few weeks, and Sadie’s mam would be busy popping over to help her. And yet, as a mother, she knew she had to fight for her rights. But would Carol even want to live with her and Jackie? What if she hated it and played up and caused problems?

  Frank came inside from his visit to the lavatory and washed his hands at the sink. She read him the letter and he frowned when she told him she and Joe would be at work then. ‘They don’t make it easy, do they?’ he said. ‘Why not ask Sammy for a couple of hours off? You could tell him you need to take Mam to the doctor’s or something, unless of course you tell him the truth. Make it simpler all round.’

  ‘I don’t want them to think badly of me,’ she muttered, shoving the letter back into the envelope and putting it up on the fireplace behind the clock.

  ‘They don’t sound like judgemental people to me, Sis. And have you thought about how you’ll explain Carol away if she does come back to live with you? I’d get it out of the way now, before it becomes a problem too big to deal with. Either of the kids could be poorly at any time and you’ll have to take days off to look after them. I don’t think Mam will be able to do as much as she did for you. She’s getting older and quite frail now and this head injury will have set her back a bit too. If you want to keep working, you need to get it sorted.’

  Jackie looked up from her bowl of Weetabix. ‘Will you play jigsaws with me, Uncle Frank, while Mammy goes to work?’

  ‘Uncle Frank needs to go out soon, you’ll have to go to Vi’s,’ Dora said. She turned to Frank. ‘I’m just going to knock on Vi’s door to make sure she’s okay to have Jackie. She only got back from her son’s last night. Won’t be a minute.’

  Vi answered the door at her knock and invited Dora inside. She seemed a bit flustered, and she wasn’t even dressed yet. That wasn’t like Vi, who was always up early and dressed promptly. Today a hairnet covered her curlers and she wore a blue quilted dressing gown over a long nighty with matching blue slippers.

  ‘I’m glad you’re here, Dora, I need to talk to you.’ She poured Dora a mug of tea from a brown tea pot and pushed it across the table.

  Dora wrapped her hands around the mug and frowned. She had a feeling that what Vi was about to say was not what she wanted to hear.

  �
�I’m, er, I’m giving up my house and going to go and live with my son and his wife in Southport,’ Vi began. ‘They’ve had a little annexe built onto the side of their house for me. It’s got its own private entrance and it’s lovely, just like a little bungalow. They’re expecting their first baby and when Sheila goes back to work I’m going to be in sole charge. It’s my first grandchild and I’m that thrilled to bits about it, I can’t tell you.’

  Dora tried to look happy for Vi, who looked so excited, but inside she felt sick. There would be no one to look after Jackie now. She’d have to give up her job and go back to trying to scrape a living from her own occasional sewing jobs that were few and far between, and accept Joe’s money with good grace. Sometimes it felt like the fates were conspiring against her; all she wanted was to be able to work and have her girls with her again. Then she pulled herself together; it was selfish of her to feel this way. Vi needed her family around her. She just hoped they wouldn’t take too much advantage of her lovely neighbour and would appreciate everything she did for them. ‘That’s wonderful news, Vi. I’m so happy for you.’

  ‘Thank you, dear. I’m sorry I’ll be letting you down over having Jackie. I hope you’ll be able to find someone else to mind her.’

  ‘Oh, don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine. I’ve just popped in to tell you I’ll take her with me today, so you can have a rest after your trip,’ she fibbed. ‘When will you be leaving us?’

  ‘On Saturday. Our Colin phoned my landlord and gave him a week’s notice. I have to be gone by twelve o’clock. Colin’s booked a van to come and take my things and he’s picking me up. So it’s all arranged, barring the packing and clearing out. But I’ve got today and tomorrow to do that.’

  Dora finished her tea and got to her feet, feeling sad. Apart from losing a lovely friend and neighbour, there was the worry of who would be moving into Vi’s house. She said goodbye and dashed into Sadie’s, knocking and entering without being asked.