A Daughter's Duty

by Maggie Hope

  That was it, thought Rose, her happiness was gone for ever. It had lasted for a few short hours only. Jeff didn’t speak, he was holding her but lying so still he seemed to have forgotten that he was. He must be full of disgust for her, she thought dumbly, but couldn’t summon the energy to leave his arms, get out of bed, go. He should be free to find a normal girl, not someone tainted as she was. She opened her mouth to speak but the words wouldn’t come. It was when she felt the wetness on his cheek that she forced herself to say them.

  ‘I’ll go now, I won’t bother you again,’ she said and was amazed at the steadiness of her own voice. Jeff’s arms tightened around her convulsively.

  ‘You will not,’ he said. His voice was husky from tears but strong. ‘You won’t leave me ever again.’

  Chapter Thirty-two

  ‘Jeff’s been out all night.’ Marina, frying pan in hand, was dishing out bacon and eggs to Brian and her mother. It was Sunday morning, early, for today they were going to the new house again, Sunday being the only day Brian had free to help with the painting and wallpapering.

  ‘Hmmm, I wonder what he’s up to.’ Brian looked speculative but unworried. After all, Jeff was a single man and if he wanted a night out on the tiles … well, then. He himself was more interested in the smell of the bacon and breathed it in with pleased anticipation. The bacon ration only ran to one breakfast a week so Sunday mornings were a treat.

  Marina finished dishing out and brought her own plate to the table. She too had her mind on things other than Jeff’s absence. She sighed. ‘At least we know where Rose has been all this time,’ she said pensively.

  ‘An’ she might have let us know an’ all,’ said Kate. She put down her knife and fork and lifted her cup of tea, leaning her elbows comfortably on the table while she sipped from it. By, she thought, she was enjoying this weekend and it was going to be lovely when the three of them were in a house of their own. No more lonely evenings spent listening to the wireless on her own. She’d always been used to a full house and being lonely was a new and unwelcome experience for her. And thinking of the wireless … ‘Put the news on, will you, pet?’ she asked Marina. ‘I like to keep up with things.’

  Obediently, Marina rose and went to the side table where a new wireless stood, Jeff’s really, but he never minded them using his things. She glanced at the clock. Ten-past eight.

  ‘It’ll be nearly over, Mam.’

  The BBC announcer was coming to the end of the news but he was followed by bulletins from the regions, in their case from Newcastle for the North East. Nothing very interesting to them except that Easington Colliery had exceeded its production target for the month yet again. Brian nodded his head and grunted his approval. But then there was an item of traffic news which knocked them all sideways.

  ‘A fatal accident occurred on the road between Shotton Colliery and Durham City yesterday at about one o’clock in the afternoon. A car collided with the parapet of a small bridge over a stream. A man was killed and two children injured and are now recovering in the Cameron Hospital, Hartlepool. The children, eight-year-old Michael Sharpe and his twin sister Mary, are understood not to be seriously injured. Their father, Alfred Sharpe, was killed instantly. If anyone saw the accident, will they please get in touch with their local police.’

  There was stunned silence in the kitchen. After a while Brian got up and turned off the wireless. Marina stared down at the congealing fat on her plate. She felt sick.

  ‘Those poor bairns,’ said Kate, breaking the silence. ‘Those poor little mites. Orphans now.’

  They would be better off without their father in Marina’s opinion, but she said nothing. Rose must have known about this, she suddenly thought. Was that where she had been last night, at the hospital? Oh, she must go to her, never mind about Mam being here.

  ‘I’ll have to go,’ she said aloud and began clattering dishes together, thinking only of getting off.

  ‘Why, Marina, what about the house?’ asked Kate. ‘Why do you have to go, anyway?’

  ‘I just do.’

  ‘I’ll run you through on the motorbike,’ suggested Brian. Kate opened her mouth to protest again but just then they heard a key in the front door. ‘Jeff!’ said Brian. ‘I wondered …’ His voice trailed off as Jeff came into the kitchen, ushering Rose before him.

  Marina flew across the kitchen and flung herself on her friend. ‘Rose!’ she cried. ‘Oh, my God, Rose!’ She was practically weeping with relief at seeing her. The two girls hugged each other, making small exclamations, laughing, crying, then standing back and gazing at each other.

  ‘Blooming heck, Rose, you’re as thin as a lathe,’ cried Marina. ‘Where in the world have you been? Why did you say you were in London? By, I’ve been that worried, I have –’ She broke off, remembering the news item about the car accident. ‘Eeh, Rose, I’m sorry about the bairns, I am.’ She dropped her arms and stood back a pace. ‘How are they, do you know?’ She didn’t mention the death of Rose’s father. There was nothing to say about that.

  ‘Let us get in, eh, Marina?’ Jeff was grinning widely. He put an arm around Rose’s shoulders and led her to the fire, sitting her down on an armchair and settling her as though she were made of glass. And, gazing at her, it was all too evident to Marina that she was fragile, or ‘femmer’ as her mother would say. She looked as though she couldn’t tip the scales at more than seven stones. Marina was filled with guilt. Oh, she should have made more of an effort to look for Rose, she should have sought until she found her. She wondered about the baby Rose was carrying when she had gone, remembered that Sunday when her friend had confided in her. And she, Marina, hadn’t been equal to it, she had failed her friend. Yes, indeed, she’d been too wrapped up in her own concerns. Rose had obviously been through so much since then.

  ‘Are you not well, hinny?’ Kate was asking, forgetting everything but concern for Rose. But she smiled brilliantly, her face alive with happiness. She looked over at Jeff and her white cheeks became suffused with pink.

  ‘I’m fine, Mrs Morland,’ she said. ‘I have been poorly but I’m over it now. Oh, yes, I’m very well now.’

  ‘Well, are you? You look as though you could do with a good feed to me,’ pronounced Kate, folding her arms. ‘Is there any of that bacon left, Marina? Enough for these two?’

  ‘We’ve had breakfast, thanks very much, Mrs Morland,’ said Jeff. He stood by Rose’s chair, his hand on her shoulder as though he couldn’t bear to be separated from her by even an inch or two, and she put up her own hand and laid it on his and he grasped it, holding it close.

  ‘And what about the twins, are they all right? I mean, it said on the wireless they were recovering,’ asked Brian.

  ‘We rang this morning,’ said Jeff. ‘Michael had a good night, Sister said, but Mary was restless though she wasn’t hurt as much as Michael.’

  Mary had been calling for Aunt Elsie, the Sister had told Rose, and had asked who Aunt Elsie was. Could she come to see the child and then she might settle down? ‘It’s not good for head injuries to get emotionally upset,’ she had added.

  ‘We’re on our way to Shotton to see Rose’s aunt, she hasn’t been told what’s happened yet,’ said Jeff. ‘But Rose wanted to come here first.’

  She and Marina exchanged a long look of understanding. There was a lot to be said between the two of them but somehow explanations didn’t seem so important to Marina as she had once thought they would. They could wait. For the moment Rose was thinking apprehensively of her meeting with Aunt Elsie. She had no idea how she was going to react when she saw the woman she felt had betrayed her. But the bairns loved her, Mary especially, and now they needed her.

  ‘Well, have a cup of tea before you go at least,’ said Kate, taking charge as it seemed no one else was. She picked up the kettle and took it to the sink to fill but Rose was rising to her feet.

  ‘No, don’t bother, Mrs Morland,’ she said. ‘We’re going now and after we’ve been to Shotton we’ll go on to the hos
pital, probably take …’ She swallowed, it was a hard thing for her to say even though she had been thinking it. ‘Probably take Aunt Elsie.’ Mary was calling for Aunt Elsie, she reminded herself yet again. Mary loved her aunt. It didn’t matter that if Rose had only herself to consider she would never speak to the woman again.

  ‘Just you go on with your own plans,’ said Jeff. ‘We’ll see you later.’

  ‘Well, that was a brief visit,’ commented Kate after they’d gone. ‘An’ after all that time too, I must say.’

  ‘Oh, Mam,’ said Marina. She was so glad that Rose was back, that she was well and at last with her beloved Jeff, that she had no patience for her mother’s carping.

  ‘So long as Rose is all right,’ Kate said quickly, realising she had sounded somewhat uncaring. ‘Look, let’s get the breakfast things washed up and then we’ll get along to the house. The sooner it’s done, the sooner we can move in, isn’t that right?’

  Jeff drove into Shotton and along the end of the rows, parking on the street where only yesterday they had witnessed Alf Sharpe take the children, Elsie’s distress and the neighbours gawping. Rose sat still, gathering her reserves of strength to get out of the car and face Aunt Elsie.

  ‘Howay, flower.’ Jeff’s heart turned over in love and pity for her, his lovely Rose. But why should she have to do this? Hadn’t she been through enough? ‘I’ll go myself and tell her, if you like.’

  ‘No. It’s up to me,’ she said, and managed a tiny smile for him. Her eyes followed him as he got out of the car and walked round to the passenger side of the vehicle, opening the door and helping her out tenderly.

  ‘Well, remember I’m right here beside you.’

  ‘I know, Jeff. I know, and I’m grateful.’

  They walked close together up the yard to the door of Elsie’s house where Jeff knocked. There was no reply, just a silence, and Rose let out the breath she hadn’t realised she had been holding.

  ‘She’s not in,’ she said, relief flooding through her. ‘Come on, Jeff, let’s go.’

  But he was trying the handle and the door opened, it wasn’t locked. And directly in front were the stairs Rose only vaguely remembered being carried down on that awful night. The pain, the terror … she felt it rising up again in her throat.

  She forced herself to look up and there was Elsie, standing on the tiny landing at the top, a dishevelled, half-undressed, wild-haired woman, face red and swollen from many hours of weeping.

  ‘Rose? Is that you?’ And from standing frozen to stillness at the top of the stairs, Elsie came suddenly to life and rushed headlong down, slipping on a step and righting herself somehow until she was there, standing before her niece. ‘Have you brought them back, Rose? Are they here? Oh, thank you, thank you –’

  ‘They aren’t here, Aunt,’ said Rose, and surprised herself by the calm tones she used.

  ‘Where are they? You didn’t leave them with Alf? You didn’t, did you? No, of course you didn’t.’ The woman was frantic. She peered round Rose, ignoring Jeff altogether. She couldn’t believe it, she had been so sure Rose had the children with her.

  ‘Go and put something on, Aunt,’ Rose commanded and Elsie glanced down at herself.

  ‘Oh, yes, but tell me –’

  ‘When you’re dressed, Aunt.’ Elsie didn’t argue. She ran back up the stairs and they could hear her pulling open drawers and cupboards.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Anxiously Jeff gazed at Rose. Her calm seemed unnatural somehow.

  ‘I am.’ Her chin was set, her teeth clenched together.

  Elsie came clattering down the stairs and into the kitchen. Wringing her hands, she bent over Rose where she sat in a fireside chair. ‘I didn’t want to hurt you. You know that, Rose, don’t you? Afterwards I would have sought you out but Alf said you were dead. I was so frightened, so scared, I didn’t know what to do. I –’

  ‘Never mind that now,’ said Rose. ‘Haven’t you heard the news? It was on the wireless.’

  ‘The news? No, I haven’t had the wireless on, I’m not interested in the news.’ Elsie shook her head impatiently, she could think only of what she wanted to say to her niece. ‘Rose, I wasn’t going to let Alf have the bairns, I wasn’t, I swear it. I said I would lay him in to the police. I did my best, Rose. You know I would lay down my own life for them, you know it –’

  ‘And mine too, I know that.’ Rose couldn’t help the comment.

  ‘No, I told you …’ Elsie dried up at last, unable to think of any more excuses. She gazed in mute appeal at Jeff.

  ‘Rose,’ he said, ‘tell her.’

  ‘Tell me what?’ demanded Elsie.

  Rose glanced at Jeff and he smiled encouragingly. She looked so strained, he thought, was keeping such a tight rein on her emotions.

  ‘There was an accident yesterday, it was on the news,’ said Rose. ‘In fact I’m surprised Mrs Todd didn’t tell you about it if you didn’t hear it yourself.’

  ‘She came to the door but … an accident? Rose, what’s happened? For God’s sake, tell me!’ Her voice was rising in panic.

  ‘It was Dad. Dad and Michael and Mary. The driver of the car was unhurt.’

  ‘WHAT? Don’t tell me they’re dead? Don’t tell me – don’t!’ And Elsie began to moan, her mouth slack.

  Her cry was so anguished that remorse struck Rose. She had intended to make her aunt suffer, drag it out, had thought she would enjoy her revenge, but seeing Elsie’s distress she couldn’t do it. No, she couldn’t do it to any human being.

  ‘The twins are in hospital, Aunt Elsie,’ she said, her voice softening, and Jeff breathed a great sigh of relief. ‘They’re recovering, the doctor said.’

  ‘Oh, thank God for all his goodness,’ breathed Elsie, sitting down abruptly opposite Rose. Then she lifted her head and looked squarely at her. ‘And your dad?’

  ‘He was killed.’

  Elsie bowed her head. ‘My poor brother,’ she whispered. ‘My poor tortured brother.’

  Rose stared at her in blank disbelief. Elsie felt it rather than saw it. ‘You don’t know, Rose, you don’t know … When he was a bairn –’ She broke off, and so low they barely caught it went on, ‘No, you don’t want to hear it, not now, not ever.’ The room became quiet, a cinder settling in the fire the only thing to break the silence.

  ‘We’re going to the hospital now,’ said Jeff, his words dropping into the quiet.

  Elsie shook her head. ‘Rose won’t want me to come,’ she said sadly. ‘But you’ll let me know how they are? Please?’

  Rose stood up. Suddenly she was desperate to get out into the fresh air, out of this house. She looked at her aunt’s ravaged countenance. ‘Go and wash your face, Aunt Elsie,’ she said gently. ‘You don’t want Mary to see you like that, do you?’

  A look of hope blazed on Elsie’s face. Tremulously she stared at her niece. ‘I can come?’ she whispered.

  ‘Go on, wash your face, we’ll be waiting in the car,’ said Rose. Elsie ran to do as she was bidden, pausing only at the bottom of the stairs to turn, suddenly doubtful.

  ‘You won’t go without me?’

  ‘We won’t go without you, Aunt Elsie. We’ll be waiting in the car, I promise you.’

  As Elsie ran upstairs Jeff put his arms around Rose and kissed her tenderly. ‘I’m proud of you, you did the right thing,’ he said. ‘Oh, Rose, everything’s going to be all right, you’ll see.’

  ‘Well, the children love their aunt,’ said Rose, accepting it. They went out to the car to wait. There was no sign of Mrs Todd, thank goodness, thought Jeff. Just at the moment they could do without having to handle a nosy neighbour.

  Chapter Thirty-three

  ‘Morning, Dr Morris. You look as though you could do with your bed,’ Sister said briskly. ‘I gather it was a busy night?’

  Bob glanced up from her desk, where he was sitting writing up notes on the three patients who had come in during the night, all emergencies. ‘Morning, Sister,’ he said and looked at his watch. D
ear me, it was eight o’clock already and here were the day staff.

  Sister Stewart picked up the book with the reports written by the night staff. ‘Goodness,’ she said, scanning it. ‘You really have been busy. Three, eh?’

  ‘Yes. One still under observation and the other two back from theatre and doing nicely, thank you. Mrs Gray, a ruptured ectopic. Ethel Burns, abortion. And the one under observation. But you’ll have it all down there. I won’t be a minute longer then you can have your desk back.’

  A long night indeed, he thought bleakly. Being on call, he had slept in the doctors’ quarters at the hospital, or at least had lain down on the bed between cases. The longest period had been for about fifty-five minutes. Even then he had not been able to sleep at all, no matter how he had tried to empty his mind of anguished thoughts of Rose, so that he had almost been glad of the diversion when the telephone summoned him back to duty. What a fool he had been! Why hadn’t he realised a girl such as Rose would have a boyfriend already?

  He sighed, closed the folder and added it to the pile, deciding he would go home, have a bath and shave, try to rest for a while. His chin felt scratchy, his head ached dully. Maybe then he would feel able to join the rest of humanity.

  ‘I’ll be back for the rounds, Sister,’ he said and left the ward. As he went outside the hospital buildings the fresh air hit him. He felt almost drunk with weariness and depression. The weather matched his mood. Clouds were gathering overhead, it looked like being a wet day.