‘Well, there’s plenty of other things to be bottomed.’ And on this she shambled from the room.
Turning now to Emily, George rasped the palms of his hands together before he said, ‘I feel I should speak out about this now. I’ve never spoken about it afore in case I was thought to be daft or, truth to tell, that I might get the push, but…but…well, it’s my idea that the boss is right, he did find her by the fender, ’cos if I’m to believe me eyes she could walk. Aye, yes, she could walk.’
Her mouth fell open, her eyes widened. ‘What you sayin’, George?’
He now leant towards her and, his voice low, he said, ‘Just what I said, she could walk.’ He nodded his head. ‘It was like this. The first week I was here Rosie was off colour, her bags all swollen an’ that. I heard her mooing, and I thought it was either Betsy going for her, ’cos they never got on those two, or she was rubbing her bag and it was giving her gyp, so up I got. The moon was shining, it was a nice night, and when I got across to the byres sure enough it was her bag that was the trouble. Well, after I’d seen to her I came out into the yard an’ all sleep had gone from me, and there was the moon bright and bonny and the clouds scudding across the sky. It was one of those rare nights, so I strolled to the arch, and it was in me mind to dander on into the top field when I was pulled to a stop and me breath shot up through me throat into me nose and nearly choked me ’cos as sure as I’m standing here, Emily, I was positive I was seeing a ghost in the wall above this very kitchen window. It’s a fact.’ He nodded at her, and she whispered, ‘Well, go on, man.’
‘Well, I screwed up me eyes and peered at it. I couldn’t have run not to save me life, I was too stiff with fright, I’m tellin’ you. All this side of the house was mostly in shadow, the door, the kitchen window, her window above it, right to the gable end, and then I realised what I was looking at. In the shadow the glass in the window appeared as black as the wall, an’ I was looking at somebody standing behind the glass, in white it was, a tall figure, her hair hanging over her shoulders. I stood without moving as long as the figure did, and that was all of ten to fifteen minutes or more, and that’s a long time to stand still, Emily, feeling as I did.’ He drew his hand around the back of his neck. ‘Can you imagine how I felt? I was positive I had seen somebody standing at that window, a woman, a tallish woman, but from what I understood the only other woman in the house besides yourself was the mistress and she was paralysed and had never walked for years; so I ask you, if I had opened me mouth what would have happened? I’d have likely got the push. Anyway, I thought to meself, well, if she can walk like that he must know all about it, I mean the boss, an’ for some reason he’s keeping mum. I was for speakin’ of it to the old man; but then I guessed what he would have said if I did…Sit down’—he put out his hand and took Emily by the arm—‘you look as white as a sheet.’
And she felt as white as a sheet, but strangely not at the moment with relief when she realised that George’s evidence might help the master, but with a surge of anger that was now tearing through her. Not until this instant had she really believed that the mistress could have taken a step out of that bed; now she did believe it, and what was making her rage inwardly was the thought of the times that the dirty bitch—for that’s all she was—had done her business in the bed pretending she had no power to hold it, while all the time she had been able to move those legs. How many times had her stomach heaved during the past year, and she’d had to fly along to the day closet and retch the smell out of her being!…Oh, she was glad she was dead, she was. She had been a bad woman all along, wicked, nasty, vile. And now George would swear that he had seen her at the window. She looked at him again and asked, ‘Was it only the once you saw her?’
‘No…no.’ He shook his head and each movement had a definite emphasis to it. ‘I had to prove to meself that I wasn’t just seein’ things, or goin’ round the bend; and so I got up the next night, and there she was again. But the third night it was raining whole water and although I stood under the arch I couldn’t see her. But I’ve seen her twice since, and it was both on moonlight nights. The moon wasn’t bright like it was that first time, it was on the wane, but nevertheless it was light enough for me to see her standing there, and also to see her turn about and move away from the window.’
‘Why didn’t you come and tell the master this afore?’
‘Well’—he now half hung his head—‘I was in a bit of a stew; I didn’t know what to do for he was supposed not to know that she could move from the bed. I thought this was a bit odd—he was her husband, he could go in and out of the room when he liked.’
‘No, he couldn’t, George. She had a way of locking the door; she could push a bar across it from where she was sitting in the bed. The head of her bed was next to the door.’
‘Well, I never! But, you see, I thought there was something fishy an’ I kept tellin’ meself to keep me mouth closed because I wanted to stay on here—it’s the best job I’ve had in many a long day an’ I’m sick of the road—so you see how I was placed.’
‘Aye, yes, George; I see how you are placed. But now, you go in there and tell him exactly what you’ve told me; it’ll make all the difference, I’m sure. But mind, you’ll likely have to go to court to speak, you know.’
‘Oh, I don’t mind that. The only thing is they might say I was just makin’ it up ’cos it’ll only be my word, for nobody else, I don’t suppose, has ever seen her walk. You haven’t?’
‘No, not me, George. No’—her voice held a deep note of bitterness—‘No, I certainly never saw her walk.’ She now rose from the chair, saying, ‘Come along, I’ll take you in.’
It was an hour later when Larry, having changed into his working clothes, came through the kitchen. He stopped by the table and, without any preamble, said, ‘It was good of him to come forward, but I doubt if they’ll take any notice of him on his own.’
‘There is somebody, if he had a mind, I’m sure could bear out what he said.’
‘Abbie?’
‘Yes, Abbie.’
He gave a short laugh and half turned towards the door, saying, ‘And do you think that if one word could save me neck he would speak it? No; Abbie would see me swing first. He’s enjoying the situation at this moment. Do you know something?’ He turned his head towards her again. ‘I saw him standing in the arch when we rode in. He looked a disappointed man for he was hoping they’d stick me behind bars straight away.’
‘Oh no!’
‘Oh yes, Emily; you know I’m speaking the truth.’ He thrust out his lips, nodded, then went out.
From the window, she watched him crossing the yard. There was a stoop to his shoulders and her heart ached at the sight, for he had always held himself so straight, too straight for naturalness she had sometimes thought, and as he disappeared through the arch she whispered to herself, ‘What’ll I do if they send him along the line?’ And the answer came: ‘Wait until he comes out.’
It was the following morning at eleven o’clock when the knock came on the back door. There was a high wind blowing and Emily didn’t take any notice of the first knock, thinking it was the sneck rattling, but when the knocking became louder she went to the door, opened it, and then said, ‘Oh!…Why! Hello!’
‘Hello. Can I come in?’
‘Oh aye, yes, come on in.’ Emily pulled the door wide, then banged it closed on the girl who was walking before her into the kitchen, into the kitchen in which she had worked for three years.
‘Sit down. Sit down, won’t you? I’ll get you a cup of tea; it’s an awful wind, it chews you, doesn’t it? Would you like something to eat? Have you come far?’ She was gabbling and she didn’t exactly know why, except she’d got a gliff to see the girl standing there.
Chrissey sat down, and she looked around the kitchen before making any answer. ‘Aye, I could do with a cup of tea,’ she said.
As she thrust the kettle into the heart of the fire Emily said, ‘Have…have you come after a job?’
/> ‘A job? No! No! Why, I wouldn’t work in this house again if I was paid with gold dust.’
Emily straightened her back and turned about and stared at the girl, and her expression was demanding, ‘Well then, why have you come?’
‘Is he around?’
‘You mean the master?’
‘Aye, who else?’
‘He’s over at the farm.’
‘Well, tell him I’m here and I’ve got somethin’ to say to him, somethin’ to tell him.’
‘Yes, yes, all right.’ Emily turned about and only just managed to stop herself from flying from the kitchen. She must show a little dignity in front of this girl whose place she had taken, and not act like a brainless numskull, as she felt inclined to do with the excitement in her, because she knew there could be only one reason for the girl coming here this morning, and that was to help him in some way.
But having passed through the arch she did run. Lifting her skirt and petticoats, she jumped the gutter that ran down the middle of the yard, looked in the byres, then the barn, where Abbie turned to her and said, ‘What is it?’ Ignoring him, she ran on and into the harness room. And there he was, and she grabbed at his arm as she spluttered, ‘It’s Chrissey…you know. Chrissey who worked here. She’s come; she wants to see you about something.’
‘Chrissey?’
‘Aye, yes, you know, Chrissey. She hasn’t come lookin’ for work. She said she wouldn’t work…Well…I mean, I think she’s come to tell you something, I feel it. Come on. Come on.’ She tugged at his arm as she would have done if he had been George, and then they were both hurrying side by side across the yard and through the arch.
When they arrived in the kitchen Chrissey got to her feet, and Larry, walking to the table, looked across at her and said pleasantly, ‘Hello, Chrissey.’
‘Hello…sir.’
‘Have you had a drink?’
Chrissey turned her head and looked towards the stove, saying, ‘I’m about to.’ Then wetting her lips, she went on, ‘I…I saw the papers last night, and me ma and da thought I should come an’ see you an’ tell you somethin’.’
‘Yes Chrissey?’ He pointed to the chair again. ‘Sit down. Sit down.’
When she had seated herself he, too, sat down and, putting his forearms on the table, leaned towards her, saying, ‘Go on.’
‘Well, it’s like this.’ Chrissey didn’t look at him but her eyes moved about the room as she began to talk. ‘You know how feared I was an’ upset about things towards the last? Well…well there was a reason for it. The first time it happened, ’twas…’twas a long time ago. It was during the time you were heavy on the booze an’…an’ I was sleepin’ in, an’ me ma was sleepin’ out. Remember? Well, I had the toothache and I came downstairs. I could hear you snorin’ afore I reached the foot, I was in me stockinged feet and I made no noise. I hadn’t brought the candle because I knew there’d be a glimmer, as there always was from the lamp at the top of the stairhead. Well, I’d just reached the bottom step when I saw it. It was a ghost, a tall ghost. It was bent forward as if leanin’ on something, an’ it walked right through the mistress’s door, at least that’s what I thought. I…I must have passed out with fright because when I came to I was sittin’ with me back propped against the foot of the stairs an’ me head leaning sideways on me arm, just as if I’d slid down. I…I didn’t tell anybody ’cos…’cos they’d say I was makin’ it up, not even me ma, but as you might remember I was off sick with diarrhoea for a week.’
She now gulped in her throat and wet her lips.
Without taking her eyes from her, Emily turned to the stove and, taking the boiling kettle, mashed the tea, and when she brought it to the table Chrissey was talking again.
‘The next time was on Fellburn Fair Day. You had been out all day and when you came back you had a load on, and not being satisfied you had some more. Then you came upstairs singin’, and you went into the mistress’s room. You were bawling at the top of your voice bar songs an’ the like, and she screamed at you. Then she shouted for me and told me to put you in your room and to lock the door an’ bring her the key. And I did. But I didn’t go upstairs to bed ’cos you were carryin’ on so much I knew I would never get to sleep…I sat in the kitchen here with me head on me arms an’ I fell asleep; an’ when I woke up it was nigh on two o’clock in the mornin’, so I tiptoed out and up the stairs. My eyes were still full of sleep. And then just as I was nearin’ the landing I saw it again, the ghost as I thought. It was standin’ outside your door.’ She now nodded slowly at Larry, and as he looked at her his head moved slightly back onto his shoulders and his mouth fell open before he said, ‘Go on.’
‘Well, it was bent over two sticks; but it was the sticks that showed me it was no ghost ’cos one was longer than the other. One was the one with the rubber end an’ the shepherd’s-crook handle that she used for banging on the floor when I didn’t answer the bell quick enough; the other was a slat of ordinary wood. I didn’t recognise then what this was in the dim light, but I recognised it the next mornin’ all right; it was one of the slats from out of the back rest. You know, they slide in and out…Well, I stood there petrified. I was more frightened then when I knew it wasn’t a ghost an’…an’ it was her. I…I saw her trying to support herself against the wall with one arm. I think she was aiming to open your door with the key but she couldn’t do it, an’ she turned round and came back towards her own door. She seemed to float. She was bent over to the side but still she seemed to float.’
‘Drink your tea, Chrissey.’ His voice was deep and soft as he put out his hand and pushed the cup towards her.
She drank the cupful without taking breath, and then he said, ‘I’m not going to ask you why you didn’t mention this a long time ago, because I know that if you had no-one would have believed you.’
‘No…that’s it, you’re right, nobody would’ve believed me; in fact, ’cos of the way I acted me ma thought I was goin’ wrong in the head. You see, you know yourself, sir, she couldn’t move in bed, at least so she made out. An’ then there was the doctor givin’ me instructions what to do and what not to do to make her comfortable.’
‘Was that the last time you saw her up?’
‘No, no. That last time was the night afore I walked out, or ran out. You know, she had the keyhole bunged up so you couldn’t look in; and now I knew why she barred her door. To keep her privacy or some such, she used to say. But this day when it was barred, I heard a shuffling noise just beyond the door and so I got flat on the floor and lay on the side of me face. I knew I wouldn’t be able to see far into the room but I was sure there was a pair of feet moving close to that door, an’ sure enough I saw the side of her foot. I wouldn’t have been able to make it out if it hadn’t moved an’ in its place came a bit more light; but then, with lying so near the floor, the dust must have got up me nose ’cos I sneezed.’
She now looked from Larry to Emily, and it was to Emily she said, ‘I was petrified to go in with her meal that night, but when I did, do you know what she said?’ She now turned her eyes towards Larry. ‘She just looked at me straight in the face, sir, and she said, “They lock up mad people.” Aye, she did; that’s what she said. And I knew she was tellin’ me that if I opened me mouth people would say I’d lost me mind. It was as plain as if she had put it into words. I couldn’t stand any more. Even me ma, when I told her, would hardly believe me. An’ then me da said to keep me mouth shut because people like her could have you up, and if you weren’t put away you could go along the line for defaming them.’
‘Oh, Chrissey!’ He put out his hand and took hers and shook it up and down. ‘Thank you for coming. Thank you, thank you. Now will you be prepared to repeat all you’ve said in court? And listen’—he wagged her hand again within his—‘you’re not the only one who saw her. George did, the new hand. He saw her up at the window two or three times, but like you he thought it wiser to say nothing. It’s funny’—he now glanced up at Emily—‘it was a thing I n
ever even dreamed of. She looked so helpless and she acted so helpless, except with her tongue. Oo…h!’ He rose abruptly to his feet and walked round the table and then towards the fireplace, where, turning and standing with his back to it, he raised his arms upwards and exclaimed, ‘I’ll never again know relief like I do at this moment.’ Then as if realising what he must do, he took three strides towards Chrissey, grabbed her arm and said, ‘Come on; I’ll get Archer and we’ll go in right away and tell the authorities.’
‘But I’ve got to go back to me job.’
‘Never mind about that, I’ll make it up to you, doubly, trebly. Come on.’
Emily was again standing at the window, laughing now as she watched them running across the courtyard hand in hand. They looked funny. The laughter welled in her, she laughed out loud; she laughed as she hadn’t done for months. Swinging round from the window, she picked up the sides of her wide serge skirt and whirled round the kitchen table, until she collapsed onto the settle, still laughing. It was over. It was over. Everything from now on would be marvellous. The house would become happy. She would open all the windows and let great draughts of air blow out the stench of that woman, the evil stench of her, then with the help of Mrs Riley she would spring-clean from top to bottom. Yes, autumn or no autumn she would spring-clean.
And what about the situation?
What situation? She was no longer laughing as she asked herself the question. Aw. She got to her feet now and, lifting up the teapot from the hob again, she carried it to the table and as she poured herself out a cup of tea she told herself to stop beating about the bush. He liked her, he more than liked her. She could see it in his eyes. And she…well, she had grown fond of him, more than fond.
As much as she had liked Sep the thought of marriage to him had been distasteful to her; but not this time; not to this man. No; this time the thought of marriage was filling her brain and body with a whirlwind of excitement.
The Tide of Life Page 27