by June Francis
‘I wonder who it is on the telephone?’ whispered Kathleen.
‘What made you come here?’ asked Patsy.
‘Because of being invited to the wedding. I thought if Miss Kirk was taking an interest in you, then she might do the same for me,’ said Kathleen.
‘What have you said to her?’
‘Didn’t she tell you?’
‘Yes, but I doubt she told me all of it.’
‘I talked about Dad and how I missed out spending time in his company. Unlike you. You were definitely his blue eye.’
‘I wasn’t!’
‘You was! When he died I thought I’ll never get any hugs from him now.’
Patsy got up and put an arm around her sister and hugged her. ‘There’s nothing I can do about it now, Kath. But the day will come when you’ll probably have a husband to give you lots of hugs.’
‘Not if I have to stay away from fellas like you told me,’ said Kathleen bluntly. ‘Anyway, we’re sleeping at the bottom of the garden, yer know, so we won’t bother Mr Bennett. I wonder if we’ll see any fairies,’ she added, with a giggle.
Patsy smiled. ‘I wonder what he’ll say when he knows we’re sleeping there.’
‘If we’re out of earshot, I doubt he’ll ever be told,’ said Kathleen.
A few moments later Joy entered the kitchen. Her colour was high. ‘You’ll never guess who that was.’
‘Mr Tanner?’ hazarded Patsy.
‘Yes. He found your note and asked if his wife had mentioned to you where she was staying. I said no and asked was he going to join his wife in Blackpool.’
‘You didn’t!’ exclaimed Patsy.
Joy bit on her lower lip. ‘It just slipped out. I expected him to tell me to mind my own business but he asked whether Mr Bennett knew if Mr O’Hara was going away for the weekend. I told him that he’d been invited to the wedding on Monday.’
‘What did he say to that?’ asked Patsy.
‘He just rang off.’
‘Oh hell! He’ll know I’ve told you that Mrs Tanner’s gone to Blackpool.’
‘I don’t see what’s wrong with you telling Miss Kirk,’ said Kathleen.
‘If Mrs Tanner meant it to be a secret she shouldn’t have told Patsy,’ said Joy. ‘In fact, she must have wanted him to know where she was going, once she was out of the way.’
‘I wonder if she expects him to go chasing after her,’ said Kathleen.
‘She would have told me the name of the hotel if she wanted him to do that,’ said Patsy.
‘Not if she wants to put him off the scent and hasn’t gone to Blackpool but somewhere else and she wanted him to waste time looking for her,’ said Joy.
There was silence while the three of them thought about that and then Joy said, ‘Let’s have supper and then you two girls can skedaddle. Go for a walk in the park or down to the outhouse. I don’t want you here when Mr Bennett comes in.’
Patsy said, ‘We’ll go for a walk and then slip round the back and down the garden without bothering you.’
Joy said, ‘What a good idea!’
Later Joy had to wait until Robbie came in before putting the question to him whether he knew where Brendan was and if he had gone away for the weekend, say until Easter Sunday evening.
‘Yes. He told me that he had some business up north. He’d hired a car so he could get around easier.’
Joy frowned. ‘What kind of business?’
Robbie shrugged and avoided meeting her eyes. ‘He doesn’t tell me everything he’s up to and I didn’t ask.’
‘But he’s planning to be back for the wedding?’
‘He hopes to be there. Why are you so interested?’
‘Because Mrs Tanner has gone to Blackpool for the weekend without Mr Tanner,’ answered Joy.
Robbie reached for his cigarettes. ‘I suppose you have this information from the Doyle girl?’
‘Yes. I hope you don’t mind but she and her sister are staying in the outhouse.’ Joy steeled herself for his reaction.
When it came it was not what she expected. ‘As long as they stay out of my way that’s OK. I suppose they’re only staying here until the wedding?’
‘Yes.’
He asked if the evening paper had come. She went and fetched it for him and left him to read it while she washed the dishes. She mulled over what he had said and came to the conclusion that he was keeping something from her and this business he mentioned was in Blackpool and involved Mrs Tanner.
The following day Robbie cried off from going to the Good Friday service at St Margaret’s. Joy made up some tinned-salmon sandwiches for lunch and then took the girls to church with her. By the time they returned to the house the afternoon was almost over and she was planning on toasting hot cross buns and making a fish pie for supper.
But she had no sooner cut the buns in half and handed the girls toasting forks than Robbie appeared in the kitchen. His face was ashen.
‘What is it? What’s wrong?’ she asked.
‘It’s Brendan,’ he said heavily. ‘He’s dead.’
Joy could scarcely believe it. ‘Dead! What do you mean, dead?’
‘Dead dead,’ he muttered, lowering himself into a chair.
Joy went and put an arm around his shoulders. ‘It wasn’t Mr Tanner who killed him?’ she asked, aware of the Doyle girls listening.
‘No. But it was him on the telephone. It was a car accident. The police reckon he skidded in a patch of horse muck and hit a lamp post. Mr Tanner didn’t give me all the details but apparently the police got in touch with him. He rang to speak to you about Patsy and said that he wants her to return to the house tomorrow and look after the house and the cat. He said her sister could stay with her if she doesn’t want to be alone. He’ll leave the key under the stone outside the back door. He’s taking the train to Blackpool.’
‘You mean Mrs Tanner was with Brendan?’ asked Joy. ‘Is she dead, too?’
‘No. But she’s badly injured and is in hospital. He’ll be staying in Blackpool until…’ Robbie’s voice broke off and he puffed on his cigarette. ‘What a mess! I suppose the police will get in touch with Brendan’s sister. I’ll need to get in touch with her as well as soon as I can.’
‘What a terrible thing to happen,’ said Patsy, who had heard every word. ‘It’s-it’s like a punishment.’
Joy glanced across at her and saw that she was looking pale, too. ‘Yes. But it doesn’t say that Mrs Tanner is going to die. Now get on with toasting those buns,’ she said bracingly.
‘I’m going to have to do some shopping,’ said Patsy.
‘Will you be all right for money?’ asked Joy.
‘I’ve some,’ said Patsy. ‘I’ll shop in Great Homer Street when Kathy and I go to Paddy’s Market. I presume your wedding will still go ahead?’
Joy glanced at Robbie. He nodded. ‘It’s not as if he was family. I’m upset but…’ His voice broke off.
‘Well, that’s settled,’ said Joy, squaring her shoulders. ‘You’d best go first thing in the morning, girls.’
Chapter Eleven
‘I wonder if Mrs Tanner has died,’ said Kathleen.
‘You don’t have to sound so cheerful about it,’ said Patsy.
The sisters were on a tram going along Oakfield Road in the direction of Liverpool football ground.
‘Well, why should I be upset? It’s not as if I know the woman,’ said Kathleen with a shrug.
‘I know that!’ Patsy had not slept well and was tired. ‘Hopefully Mr Tanner will telephone today with news. I have been wondering whether to go to the house first before going on to the market in case he telephones early.’
Kathleen said, ‘We’ve paid for our tickets to Scotty Road. It would cost more if we were to get off and on again.’
‘I only said I’d been wondering. I’m not doing it because I’d worked that out for meself. I think I’ve enough money on me to buy you a frock. I just hope I don’t miss his telephone call.’
‘If yer ask m
e he’s not going to worry about you when his wife could be dying,’ said Kathleen frankly.
Patsy knew that her sister was probably right and changed the subject. ‘Have you heard from Mick?’
‘No. But then I haven’t written to him either.’
‘I hope he’s getting on all right,’ said Patsy.
‘He’ll be fine. Our Mick gets on with everyone and doesn’t let life get him down. You should know that.’
‘I do, but it’s different once you’re away from your family. Anyway, what are you going to do about a job?’
Kathleen rolled her eyes. ‘I wondered when you were going to ask me that again. I’ll sign on at the Servants’ Bureau on Tuesday. Satisfied?’
Patsy wondered if her sister was just saying that to keep her quiet but decided to say no more on the subject and instead gazed out of the window at passers-by. She thought about Mrs Tanner laying in hospital, still and silent, while Mr Tanner sat patiently by her side.
As they left the tram on Scotland Road, Patsy transferred the money from her pocket to inside one of her gloves for safe keeping. The streets were thronged with people and there were bound to be pickpockets about. She led the way to Paddy’s market where it was even more crowded.
‘So where is this stall, then?’ asked Kathleen, turning her head this way and that. ‘Gosh, look at them!’
Patsy’s eyes followed her sister’s to where there was a line of men all following one another. She chuckled. ‘Don’t you remember seeing the coolies off the ships before? They really know how to haggle with the stall owners.’
‘But there’s about a dozen of them and all carrying stuff on their heads.’
‘That’s how they carry their loads in their own country. I remember Dad telling me,’ said Patsy. ‘And he should know, he’d travelled to lots of places.’
‘See! He used to talk to you!’ The corners of Kathleen’s mouth drooped. ‘He told you things.’
‘I was the eldest, that was the only reason. You were too young to take in such information,’ said Patsy patiently. ‘Use your nous.’
‘OK! I’ll take your word for it. Yer know, Patsy, I’d forgotten Scotty Road was this busy and noisy.’
‘How could you forget?’ asked Patsy, gazing about her at the shawlies selling fruit and flowers and other stuff from handcarts. There was a street musician and vendors selling birds in cages and second-hand books for sale, crockery and oddments that would be useful to someone and stall owners offering bread, cakes, pies and meat for sale. For a moment she was overcome by nostalgia for the days when her parents were alive and her mother hadn’t hit the bottle so much and they didn’t quarrel.
Then she pulled herself together and made a beeline for the second-hand clothes stall that she remembered occupying the same pitch as it did years ago. All about her she could hear the nasal twang of her fellow Liverpudlians mingling with Irish and Welsh, as well as the broken English of the cosmopolitan mix of people that frequented the port. She burrowed her way through the masses until she managed to wriggle into a space near a trestle table spread with all kinds of clothing.
Unfortunately black appeared to be the dominant colour; most likely this was due to the fashion pages declaring it was now out of fashion and that it was time people discarded their mourning clothes. She guessed that it was going to be a real job finding a suitable frock for Kathleen. As she searched through the garments on display, she felt a poke in the ribs and, twisting round, saw her sister.
‘Bloody hell! What a crush,’ said Kathleen. ‘I lost yer for a while because I stopped to have a look at some puppies.’
‘Why on earth were you looking at puppies?’
‘Because of something Miss Kirk said about Mr Bennett’s dog that died.’
‘You mean got killed by our uncle,’ said Patsy grimly, continuing with her task.
‘Here, let me have a look,’ said Kathleen, managing to squeeze in beside Patsy and beginning to riffle through the clothes. ‘There was this little puppy,’ she added, ‘I think he must be the runt of the litter and I’m sure wouldn’t cost much.’
Patsy stopped what she was doing and stared at her. ‘What are you suggesting? That I buy it for Mr Bennett?’
‘For both of them! A wedding present.’
‘I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t be expecting a wedding present from us because they know how we’re fixed for money,’ said Patsy frankly. ‘But I must admit it’s a lovely thought.’
Kathleen’s face lit up. ‘Thanks. Why don’t you go and have a look at the puppies and see what it costs? I can carry on looking here.’
Patsy thought a moment and then she felt inside her glove and removed a couple of thrupenny bits and two pennies. ‘That’s all I can afford for the frock if I’m going to buy a puppy.’
‘Yer don’t have to buy it,’ said Kathleen hastily.
‘Don’t spoil a good thought.’
Patsy began to make her way through the throng. She found the puppies with no trouble. They were inside a hutch squatting or lying on sheets of newspaper. A couple of them were asleep and another was sniffing around the perimeter of the cage. The one that appeared to be the smallest approached the wire netting. It gave a yelp and attempted to poke its nose through one of the holes. It had the brightest eyes she had ever seen and one of its ears was folded over giving its head a lopsided appearance. She decided this was the one for her.
She counted the coins in her glove and went over to the elderly man sitting on a chair. ‘I’d like the smallest puppy but I can only afford to pay tuppence,’ she said boldly.
‘Thrupence,’ he said.
‘Tuppence farthing.’
‘Tuppence three farthings.’
‘Tuppence halfpenny.’
He sighed heavily and got to his feet. ‘Yer drive a hard bargain, girl, but I want them off me hands, so I’ll let yer have him dirt cheap.’
Patsy grinned and waited until he handed over the puppy before giving him her tuppence halfpenny and then she walked away. The dog snuggled against her and licked her chin. It tickled and she laughed. It yelped and she thought it was laughing back at her. Hopefully it wouldn’t wee on her on the way home. She stood on tiptoe on the edge of the crowd surrounding the secondhand clothing stall, trying to catch sight of her sister. Then she spotted Kathleen’s hat and was glad that it was bobbing towards her. Within minutes she had reached Patsy, who saw that she had a frock clutched against her chest.
‘I got it for next to nothing because the stitching had come undone on one side,’ said Kathleen, her blue eyes sparkling.
‘Good.’
‘I see you got the puppy.’
‘Mmm! How much change have you got?’
‘A penny ha’penny!’
‘Good, that will pay for the tram fare.’
‘Come on, then, let’s go. You said you didn’t want to miss a telephone call from Mr Tanner.’
Once on the tram Kathleen showed Patsy the frock which was supposedly a mixture of cotton and silk. It had a mandarin collar and long sleeves. ‘I really like the collar,’ said Kathleen, ‘but I do think a few embroidered flowers about the collar, bodice and cuffs will make it that little bit more special, seeing as how it’s for a wedding.’
Patsy agreed, thinking that she should be able to find a few remnants of embroidery silks in the sewing box.
Fortunately the puppy behaved itself on the tram by not making a mess or too much noise. Even so Patsy was glad when they reached their destination. She bought a couple of halfpenny buns at Edmond’s bakery and headed for the house. It was only when they went round to the back and the cat came running that Patsy remembered that cats and dogs were supposed to fight like, well, cats and dogs. The cat stopped in its tracks, hissed and bristled. The puppy struggled to get down and slid out of Kathleen’s arms. Tail wagging he approached the cat. Immediately it swiped a paw at the puppy. The dog backed off and was about to make another approach when Patsy swept the cat up into her arms.
‘
I should have thought about you before I bought the puppy,’ she said, carrying the cat into the house. ‘Kath, make sure the gate clicked shut properly, so the puppy can’t get out into the front,’ she called over her shoulder. ‘Then give him a saucer of water.’
‘OK!’ Kathleen checked the gate and then watched the puppy as it wandered around the back area. Then she went inside and sat down at the table and gazed about the deserted kitchen, wondering where her sister had gone. The next moment Patsy reappeared, carrying a bottle of milk.
‘So where will I sleep?’ asked Kathleen.
‘Up in the attic with me. I doubt Mr Tanner intended you to sleep in the guest room.’ Patsy shook the bottle before removing the cardboard top and pouring milk into a saucer. ‘I’m wondering what to do about the puppy. I don’t think I should keep it here. What about you taking it to Joy Kirk this afternoon? You can use a bit of rope for a lead, so you won’t have to carry it.’
Kathleen did not look too pleased with the idea. ‘I don’t know about that.’
‘It’s a straightforward walk from here to Mr Bennett’s house. We did most of it on the tram earlier. It was your idea to buy the puppy, so I think it should be you that hands it over.’
‘OK! But am I allowed a rest first and have something to eat?’
‘You can have a rest while I go to the shed and find the rope. I’ll put the kettle on first, so we can have a cuppa and you can butter the buns. Then I’ll need to see what’s in the larder and telephone the shops to see if I should be expecting any deliveries.’
‘OK! Do I come straight back?’
‘Yes, unless you’ve a good reason for hanging around there. You’ll want to get the embroidery to the frock done.’
‘That’s true. I’ll need to try it on first and sew up the side.’ Kathleen suddenly put a hand to her mouth. ‘It’s a good job I am going back to Mr Bennett’s. Yer know what I’ve left there?’
‘What?’
‘My bag from the orphanage with me things in.’
Patsy smiled. ‘Joy Kirk will probably have found it by now and might even be expecting you.’
* * *