by Anna King
Minutes later, Annie pulled herself away and, with tears rolling down her cheeks, and a trembling smile on her lips, said, ‘Would ye look at the three of us. Begod! You’d think someone had just died.’ Raising her eyes to the ceiling, she added, ‘If you’re up there, Elsie, I hope ye can hear me, ye miserable auld divil.’
Then the three of them were laughing and wiping the tears from their blotched faces.
‘I’ll be away home, Josie, but you get that table clear. Ye don’t want Ida Black to be knowing your business. And I wouldn’t put it past the auld beggar to come sniffing around on some excuse.’
Josie gave a nervous start at the mention of her neighbour’s name.
‘Blooming ’ell! That’s all I’d need, isn’t it? If I wanted me business known to all and sundry, I’d be better off writing to the papers than have Ida find out about the money.’
Moving quickly, she once again cleared the table, putting the money back under the kitchen sink, hopefully safe from prying eyes. Then she paused. Opening the drawer again, she took out six five-pound notes and twenty sovereigns.
‘It’s no good going shopping without money, is it?’ she said happily as she closed the drawer.
Annie’s jaw dropped in amazement.
‘Jasus, love. When ye said we were going shopping, I thought ye meant to buy from the shops, not buy one of your own.’
‘And why not, Mum?’ Jane cut into the conversation, her voice merry. ‘Josie could buy herself a shop if she wanted to, couldn’t you, Josie? Then you wouldn’t have to stand on your feet all day making more money for Mister Joe Lyons.’
The words were spoken casually, but they struck a chord in Josie’s mind.
As Annie and Jane made to leave, Josie said, ‘Actually, Jane, would you mind if your mum stayed here for a while? There’s something I need advice on… You’re not offended, are you?’ she asked guiltily.
But Jane merely grinned.
‘Of course I’m not offended. Besides, it gives me the chance to break the news to my dad and the rest of them. Pat’s gone round to Freda’s, but Shaun and Rory are still home. They’ll be so pleased for you.’ Jane stopped as she heard the words tumbling from her lips; now it was her turn to feel guilty. ‘That’s if you don’t mind them knowing your business.’
‘Don’t be daft.’ Josie looked at Annie. ‘I’ve no secrets from me family.’
Annie returned the look, saying slowly, ‘That’s nice of ye to say so, love. And ye can be sure they’ll not be opening their mouths outside the house. Ye have me word on that. Though I can’t speak for Freda. She’s a gob on her the size of the Blackwall Tunnel. Mind you, ye’ll suddenly find ye’ve a new friend, ’cos that one would sell her own mother for a packet of Woodbines.’
As soon as Jane had left, still laughing, Annie, her face thoughtful, said, ‘All right, Josie. Let’s be having it. There’s something worrying ye, else ye’d not have asked me to stay.’
Sitting across the table, Josie met Annie’s shrewd gaze.
‘It’s about Ida, Annie. She knows about the money. Oh, maybe not how much, but she knows there was some. Why else would she have been so desperate to get the bed? She said me mum left it to her in her will, but I don’t know anything about a will.’ Josie lifted her shoulders listlessly. ‘Then again, I’d’ve been the last person she’d have told.’ She attempted a watery smile, and Annie’s heart went out to her.
For the life of her, Annie couldn’t understand Elsie’s unfeeling behaviour to her only child. Being a mother herself, Annie knew only too well the trials and tribulations of raising a family. Many a time she’d been driven to distraction by one or another of them, especially when they were younger and she’d had them under her feet all day. But for all the smacked backsides she’d meted out, and there had been many, her children had been compensated tenfold by an affectionate kiss and cuddle from their mother at bedtime.
Afraid she would start bawling again, Annie said quickly, ‘Now then, we’ll be having no more tears or sad faces. I don’t know why your mother was the way she was, but ye mustn’t blame yourself. She could have given birth to the Lord himself, and still found fault. She was lucky to have a daughter like you, love. Ye could have walked out and left her to fend for herself, an’ there’s many who would have done, believe me.’ Her head bobbed up and down vigorously. ‘She made your life hell when she was alive, and I’ll not stand by and see ye haunted by guilt, ’cos ye’ve nothing to be guilty about. Besides…’ she gave a hiccup of a laugh, ‘that’s the prerogative of us Catholics.’
Josie stared into Annie’s twinkling blue eyes and felt the corners of her mouth turn up in a grin.
‘Oh, Annie,’ she laughed. ‘What would I do without you?’
‘You’d do just fine, love,’ Annie said brightly. ‘An’ ye know why? ’Cos ye’ve a strong character. If ye hadn’t, ye’d never have been able to put up with your mother all these years.’
‘Thanks, Annie. I needed to hear that.’
Patting Josie’s hand, Annie said briskly, ‘And now ye have, so ye can put the past behind ye. Now then, that just leaves Ida to deal with. Ye say she’s certain Elsie left a will? Well, to my mind something must have put the thought into her head, ’cos she hasn’t the brains to think up something like that by herself. Come to think of it, I saw Ida coming in here a few times, while ye was out at work. I never thought anything of it at the time. But now… Well, let’s face it, who else would have time for either of them?’
Annie’s forehead creased in thought as she tried to determine what to do concerning Ida Black. For until the business of this so-called will was sorted, Josie would always live in fear of having the money taken away from her. Because if there was a will, Annie would bet her life that it wouldn’t benefit Josie. Then she jumped as Josie, as if reading her mind, said timidly, ‘What if there is a will, Annie? What if I spend that money and one day it turns up! I know I’ve seemed happy about my good luck, and I am, but inside I’m scared. Scared it’ll be taken away, an’ I’ll be left with nothing again.’
Annie stood up abruptly, her face set in hard lines.
‘Then there’s only one way to find out, and that’s to get Ida in here and hear what she has to say for herself.’
Before Josie could protest, Annie was out in the yard calling for Ida to come over. To Josie’s dismay her neighbour appeared, and that act alone spoke volumes. For if she didn’t think she was wholly in the right, there was no way Ida Black would face Annie’s wrath.
Josie’s heart began to race as Ida, her expression fearful, came into the kitchen with Annie behind her. Without any preamble, Annie said curtly, ‘Now then, Ida, what’s all this about a will? Or were ye just making it up to get your greedy hands on Elsie’s bed? ’Cos a bed like that’s worth a few bob. So, let’s be having the truth.’
Josie looked from Ida’s fear-filled face to Annie’s grim one, and for a moment she felt sorry for her neighbour – but not so Annie Flynn.
‘Well?’ Annie barked. ‘We haven’t all night.’
At the tone of Annie’s voice, Ida crumbled. Her mouth quivering, she said, ‘I wasn’t lying, honest I wasn’t.’ Frighteningly aware of Annie’s presence, the words spilled from her lips. ‘I was visiting one day while you was at work, Josie, an’ your mum asked me to witness her will. I… I didn’t see what was in it, like, ’cos it was all folded up except for the bottom bit where I signed. She… I mean, your mum, she said she’d leave me her bed… That’s the truth, Josie, honest.’
Josie looked hard into the pinched face, trying to gauge if Ida was indeed telling the truth, but she could see no evidence that the woman was lying.
Annie, on the other hand, was older and wiser, and not so easily taken in.
‘D’ye think we were born yesterday, Ida? There must have been something about that bed that made ye so desperate to get your hands on it: and ye’ll not be leaving this house till we hear the truth.’
Faced with the formidable woman, Ida’s las
t vestige of courage collapsed. Licking her dry lips, she said in a tear-filled voice, ‘All right, I’ll come clean… Can I sit down, Josie?’ she appealed to the younger woman. This time Josie didn’t look to Annie for guidance.
‘Of course you can, Ida,’ she said kindly, thinking that the woman had already suffered enough from Annie’s harsh demeanour. Though she was perfectly prepared to change tack if she thought Ida was concealing the real truth of the matter in hand.
Sitting herself down, Ida placed her elbows on the table, and tried to concentrate on Josie’s face while ignoring Annie, who had sat down beside her. She took a deep breath and began to talk.
‘It all started on Christmas Eve. I was out in the yard bringing me washing in when your mum pulled up her window and asked me in. I was glad of the invitation, ’cos I didn’t ’ave anything better ter do. I was feeling a bit low, what with it being Christmas an’ ’aving no family ter share it with, so I let meself in the back door an’—’
An angry grunt from Annie interrupted Ida’s flow of words.
‘Jasus, woman, we don’t want to be hearing your life story. Just get to the point.’
‘Annie,’ Josie said reproachfully, ‘let Ida tell it in her own words.’
Annie fell silent, but not before she had cast a malevolent look at the skinny woman sitting next to her.
‘Go on, Ida,’ Josie said, trying to inject some warmth into her tone.
Swallowing hard, Ida continued.
‘Like I said, I let meself in an’ went up ter see yer mum. We ’ad a nice chat, Elsie asked me ter make some tea, an’ I ended up staying fer nearly two hours. I would’ve stayed longer, but Elsie wanted me outta the ’ouse before you got ’ome from work. Anyhow, I started coming in ter keep yer mum company while you was working. Then one day I fancied some fish an’ chips an’ I popped in ter see if your mum wanted some. She didn’t ’ear me coming up the stairs, an’ when I looked in she was kneeling on the floor. At first I thought she’d fallen outta bed, so I ran in ter ’elp, but when she saw me she started shouting something awful. Well, I couldn’t understand it. Then I saw the money…’
Ida stopped for breath, then carried on, reluctantly now.
‘There was a bundle of fivers on the floor. She must’ve been counting it before I came in. I only caught a glimpse of it though, ’cos, quick as lightning, she turned ’er back on me. I ’eard a sound like a drawer closing then she pulled the sheets and quilt over the mattress and got back into bed. I didn’t know what ter do at first, it was a bit awkward like, but yer mum apologised fer shouting, then acted like nothing ’ad ’appened. I went an’ got the fish an’ chips, and that was the end of it at the time. But she must ’ave got scared that I might tell someone what I saw, ’cos a couple of weeks later she asked me ter sign her will, and said she’d left me her bed, fer being a good neighbour an’ friend.’
Ida paused again, and Annie began fidgeting beside her. Ida knew only too well what Annie thought of her, and that knowledge brought with it a flash of bravado. Pulling her chair sideways so her back was to her old adversary, she said, ‘I know what some people think of me, your mum and present company included, but I ain’t daft. When I was a kid my auntie ’ad a box bed. She kept all ’er money in there, said she didn’t trust banks. She showed me once. There was a sort of panel built into the bottom half of the bed, an’ that’s where she kept ’er life savings. That was over fifty years ago, but I never forgot it. After that it didn’t take a genius to figure out that your mum’s offer of the bed was ter keep me mouth shut. Oh, I knew whatever money was in it would be long gone before I got me ’ands on the bed. But I couldn’t ’elp but ’ope there might be a few quid left in it: yer know, money your mum didn’t get the chance to move before she died.’ Her voice trailed off sadly.
‘Anyway, that’s the God’s honest truth. If you don’t ’ave it, then I ain’t got a clue where that money is now. The only thing I do know is that I’m never gonna see a penny of it.’ Her voice was weary now, as was her thin body. ‘There’s nothing more I can tell yer, so if yer don’t mind, I’ll get back ter me own ’ouse.’ She rose unsteadily to her feet and, without another word, left the house.
‘Well!’ Annie was the first to speak. ‘I thought she knew more than she was letting on. Mind you, if she hadn’t made such a fuss over that blasted bed, Shaun wouldn’t have taken a closer look, and the whole lot would have ended up in Harry’s scrapyard.’
Josie nodded in agreement.
‘And if Pat hadn’t dropped it, the spring that kept that drawer in place wouldn’t have broken, and that money would never have been found, unless someone knew where to look. You know, Annie, that bed first belonged to me great-grandmother. She had it made ’specially for her when me great-grandad died. It must have been her idea to have that secret drawer built into the base. Me mum loved telling me dad about how her side of the family had money, but whenever he asked where it’d all gone, Mum used to fly into one of her rages, so in the end he stopped asking. Though he often said to me he wouldn’t be surprised if Mum had a secret bank account somewhere. But he never suspected he’d been lying on hundreds of pounds for years. He might have been mild-tempered, but he’d never have stood for that.’
Josie looked at Annie and asked in bewilderment, ‘Why, Annie, why? Me mum always liked nice things. That was the main cause of me parents fighting, ’cos she never missed an opportunity to tell him how she’d married beneath her, and how she’d had to go without the luxuries she’d had before marrying him. I don’t understand, Annie. I know she’d have resented sharing the money with me and Dad, but by hiding it she had to go without as well. It just doesn’t make sense. I’d’ve thought she’d have liked nothing better than to show off to the neighbours, making sure they knew she was better than them. You know what a snob she was.’
Annie sighed heavily.
‘I’ve lived a long time, love, an’ seen things that made no sense. Sometimes we have to accept there is no reason for why people are the way they are: they just are. I’ve known many a soul to hoard every penny they owned, and go hungry rather than spend any of it. I’ve never understood it. After all, they can’t take it with them, can they? And at the end of the day, people like your mum end up cutting off their nose to spite their face.’
Seeing Josie’s expression, and fearing she was about to fall back into her maudlin mood, Annie rose briskly to her feet and said brightly, ‘Well now, that’s Ida sorted, an’ I don’t know about you, Josie, but I’m ready for me bed.’
Josie smiled gratefully.
‘Me too, Annie. And thanks, I couldn’t have coped without you.’
Wagging her finger in mock anger, Annie said, ‘We’ll be having no more of that nonsense. I told ye before, ye’re stronger than ye think. Now I’ll get meself off before Paddy starts a search party. No, you stay where ye are,’ she added as Josie made to stand up. ‘I’ll show meself out, I know the way. You get a good night’s sleep, love. After all, we’ve a long day ahead of us tomorrow, ’specially with Jane tagging along. She’ll have us in and out of the shops more times than a baby needs its nappy changing.’
She glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece and was shocked to see it was nearly ten thirty. She deliberately ignored the wedding photograph next to the clock. Josie must have wanted it on show for the sake of her father; she certainly couldn’t have wanted it there to remind her of Elsie.
‘Jasus! Will ye look at the time,’ she cried. ‘It’s just flown by.’ Hurrying now, she was moving towards the hall when a sudden thought stopped her. Turning round, she said, ‘Will ye be all right on your own, Josie? I mean, what with all that money in the house. I could come back an’ stay the night, if ye want me to.’
Josie’s face registered her surprise.
‘I never thought of that,’ she said, then shrugged. ‘If it’s been here for the last twenty years or longer, then I don’t suppose another couple of nights will matter. Though I will take it up to bed with me.’ She smiled
tiredly. ‘Just to be on the safe side,’ she added.
Worried now, Annie replied, ‘Are ye sure, love? Now I think of it, I don’t like leaving ye on your own.’
‘I’ll be fine, Annie. I’ve got good strong bolts and locks on the doors. Mum got me dad to fit them. He did tell me he thought it strange she was so adamant about making the house secure; now I know why.’
‘Well, if you’re sure, Josie.’
‘I’m sure, Annie. Now get yourself off home. I’ll see you in the morning.’
‘Good night, love.’
‘Good night, Annie.’
Annie yawned loudly as she crossed the hall. Stopping for a moment to adjust her shawl, she looked at the ordinary piece of furniture, and marvelled at the fortune it had been protecting for years. Her inquisitive nature overcame her, and she bent down to look at the broken drawer. Pulling it out further, she spotted what seemed to be a folded piece of paper. She picked it up, intrigued and suddenly fearful.
‘Annie? You all right?’ Josie shouted from the kitchen.
Quickly now, Annie put the paper in her pocket.
‘Just being nosy, love. It’s not every day ye see a treasure chest, ’cos that’s what this bed is. Good night again, Josie.’
Her heart pounding, Annie headed for home, the paper seeming to burn through her pocket. Because if it was what she thought it was, it would be up to her to decide Josie’s fate, and she feared the burden she might have brought upon herself would be too hard for her to handle alone.
Chapter Nine
It was only ten thirty and already Annie’s feet were killing her. She was also tired and thirsty. Tired because she’d hardly had a wink of sleep worrying about the paper she had found. She’d wanted to confide in Paddy, but realised it would be unfair to drag her husband into something that might well have legal repercussions. As yet she hadn’t read it. She’d tried to, but her courage had failed her. For all she knew, it might just be a letter from an old friend. But as desperate as she was to believe it, that notion was too implausible even for her to swallow.