Diamonds in the Dust (5 page)

‘Did you get much sleep?’ Tom sat at the table bleary-eyed.

‘Not much. I was worried about Lily.’ Dora buttered toast for her brother. ‘She was exhausted though, poor thing, and slept right through the night. How about you?’

‘Not a wink. What are we going to do, Dora? I know we found that few pounds, but it won’t last long, will it?’

‘Oh, don’t worry. I’ve got my job, and if we’re careful we’ll manage for a while.’

‘But what if Mum never comes back? What will we do then, Dora?’

It was obvious that Tom had been turning everything over in his mind during the night.

‘We’ll look for a cheaper place to rent, for a start.’ Dora felt sick with worry, but tried not to let it show. Tom was grey, and Lily’s outburst yesterday had shaken them
both. ‘We’ll stay here for as long as we can though, and hope everything works out in the end. Mum could still come back.’

Tom shook his head. ‘If Mum could get back she’d have been here by now. We must prepare ourselves for the worst. The uncertainty is the awful thing.’

‘Yes, it is, but we’ve got to hang on, Tom, for Lily’s sake. And we’re not on our own. Stan and his sister are helping us.’

Tom nodded. ‘That was a good idea of Lily’s about going to see Stan. I wonder what Mrs Tanner’s husband is like.’

‘We’ll soon find out.’ Dora placed a hand over her heart as if the action would stop it racing. ‘He’ll be round as soon as Stan’s told him.’

‘No doubt.’ Tom glanced at the clock. ‘You’d better hurry, Dora, or you’ll be late. I’ll get Lily up and take her to school. Can I have some money to get something for tea?’

Dora counted out two shillings. ‘Get some bread and perhaps a few biscuits as a treat for Lily.’

‘I’ll get the broken ones. They’re cheaper, and Lily won’t mind.’ Tom pocketed the money.

‘If you both want to stay at home today, I’ll write notes for you and drop them in on my way to work.’

‘No!’ Tom was emphatic. ‘It’s better if we carry on as usual. I don’t want to miss any lessons. You know how important Mum said our schooling was. So off you go.’

‘Oh Tom, you’re so sensible in a crisis.’ Dora could have hugged her brother, but he’d never been one to show
his feelings – except with Lily. ‘I don’t know what I’d do without you.’

He shrugged. ‘We’ve got to help each other as much as we can. I can’t let you take on the whole burden. Mum lied to us, Dora, and she was the one who always told us to be honest. I just don’t understand it. Goodness knows what’s going to come to light. But whatever happens, we’ve got to look after each other.’

Dora agreed with every word Tom said, and felt so ill she wondered how she was going to get through the day. What she wanted to do was go with Stan, but that was out of the question. They were relying on her money now, so she must just grit her teeth and get on with it.

When Dora arrived at the house she found everyone in a high state of excitement. Trunks, cases and boxes were being dragged up from the cellar, and every member of the staff was rushing around.

‘What’s going on, Cook?’ Dora asked.

‘We’re moving to Scotland.’

‘How long for?’

‘For good. The master’s inherited a place up there. A castle, I’m told.’ With a disapproving snort, the cook carried on rolling out pastry for the meat pie she was making for lunch. ‘Bound to be cold with terrible draughts – and what’s the rush, I ask?’

Dora was so stunned by the news that her feet wouldn’t move. The nightmare she was living had just got worse.

‘Good, you’re here.’ Mrs Marsden, the housekeeper, bustled into the kitchen. ‘You’ve heard the news, Dora?’

She nodded, speechless.

‘You’re a good, reliable worker,’ the housekeeper continued, ‘and the mistress said there’s a permanent place on the staff for you at the new residence. This house will be closed in a week’s time.’

The room swayed and Dora held on to the table for support. Oh, dear God, she prayed silently, not this as well. Her world was collapsing around her and turning to dust.

‘What is your answer?’ Mrs Marsden was obviously irritated when Dora didn’t speak.

After taking a deep breath to clear her head, Dora struggled to maintain her dignity. Another thing their mother had always impressed upon them was that they must never make a scene in public. ‘That’s very kind of the mistress, but I won’t be able to leave my family.’

‘That’s a great pity. I shall be sorry to lose you, but you’ll be given an excellent reference.’

‘Thank you,’ was all Dora could manage to say. Memories of the many interviews she’d had to go through before she had been given this job were still vivid in her mind. Most households wanted a maid who lived in, and that was something she couldn’t do.

The rest of the day was a blur of activity. It was no small task to move such a large house, and by the time Dora reached home she was exhausted. But even worse, there was a feeling of hopelessness. What were they going to do if she couldn’t get another job quickly?

‘You look like you’ve had a rough day,’ Tom remarked, studying his big sister with concern.

Dora hugged Lily. ‘How are you, sweetie?’

‘All right,’ Lily said with a quiver of her lip. ‘I was hoping Mum would be here when we got home, but she wasn’t. Do you think she’s lost and can’t find her way back? Perhaps she’s lost her memory.’

‘Maybe.’ Dora sat down, giving a sigh of tiredness. She knew just what Lily was doing. The little girl was running through every conceivable reason in her head, except the one they were all dreading.

Tom put plates in front of them. ‘I’m afraid it’s only sausages and mash again. I’ll need more money for tomorrow, Dora.’

She gave a weak smile. This was Tom’s favourite meal, so they were likely to get it quite often, but he was a real treasure.

Not many young boys of his age would take over the cooking and shopping like this.

‘You going to tell us what’s happened?’ Tom started to eat, never taking his eyes off his big sister.

‘I’ve got more bad news, I’m afraid.’

‘That’s obvious from the expression on your face. Out with it, Dora.’

‘I’m losing my job at the end of the week.’

‘Oh, hell! What a time for that to happen.’ Tom dipped his head for a moment while he took this second blow.

‘Did they sack you?’ Lily wanted to know.

‘No, sweetie, they’re moving to Scotland.’

Tom put down his knife and fork. ‘Did they ask you to go with them?’

Dora nodded. ‘But that’s out of the question.’

‘Because of us,’ Tom muttered.

‘No, Tom! I wouldn’t have gone, anyway. London’s our home and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. We must stay here until we know exactly what’s happened to Mum. Suppose she came back one day and we weren’t here?’ Dora reached out and touched her brother’s arm. He was clearly upset. ‘It’ll be all right. They’re going to give me a good reference, and I’ll soon find something else.’

‘Course you will.’ Tom looked up then, a smile on his face, albeit rather forced. ‘Offers of jobs will be rolling in, won’t they, Lily?’

Lily nodded, her mouth full of sausage, but it was clear that the full import of the news didn’t register with her.

Dora began to tuck into her meal, trying to appear unconcerned. ‘We’ve got that money we found with Mum’s things, and I’ve still got a bit put by. Then there’s my pay at the end of the week. So we’ll be all right for a while.’

‘Nothing to worry about then, eh?’ Tom said, keeping his tone cheerful. ‘Wonder how Stan got on today? He wasn’t in when we came home.’

‘He’ll let us know.’

They had just finished clearing up when Stan arrived, only he wasn’t alone, he had a uniformed policeman with him.

‘This is my brother-in-law, Reg. He needs to ask you some questions.’

‘Erm … yes, of course.’ Dora was flustered and apprehensive when she saw the stocky man with Stan. She stood aside while Tom showed them into the front room. ‘Please sit down. Would you like tea?’

‘No thank you.’ Reg smiled, and both men waited for Dora to sit before they did the same.

Lily’s eyes were wide with fright, so Tom pulled her towards him, whispering in her ear, ‘He’s not going to eat you.’

Reg chuckled as Lily continued to stare at him. ‘She doesn’t believe you. Do you want to put her to bed before we start?’

‘No.’ Dora spoke firmly. ‘This concerns all of us, and Lily stays. You can speak freely in front of her, sir.’

‘Have you found our mum?’ Lily asked, looking braver now her brother had a protective arm around her.

‘Not yet.’ Reg opened his notebook and read something written there. ‘Stan’s told me about the book you found. He’s finished going through it, but there doesn’t seem to be anything in it to help us. It’s just a series of names and places.’

‘Then why did Mum hide it if it wasn’t important?’ Tom frowned.

‘It might well be important, but until we find out what she’s been doing for the last two years, it means nothing to us.’ Reg paused and looked at them all in turn. ‘I want you to tell me everything.’

‘But Stan’s already told you, hasn’t he?’

‘Yes, Dora, but I’d like to hear it in your own words, please.’

It didn’t take Dora long to relate what had happened, with Tom and Lily joining in now and again.

Reg had written quite a lot down in his notebook, and when he stopped writing, he asked, ‘Stan said you
found some letters. Would you let us see them?’

When Dora hesitated, Stan said, ‘We need to build up a picture of your mother, what she liked doing, places she liked to visit, things like that. Letters can often help us do that.’

‘There’s no harm in letting them see them.’ Tom was already on his feet. ‘I’ll get them, shall I?’

‘All right,’ she agreed reluctantly. They had been brought up never to read anything addressed to their parents, and it was hard to break that rule, even in these exceptional circumstances.

Tom soon returned, and Stan and Reg settled back to read. Dora decided to make a pot of tea, more for something to do than from the need for a drink.

‘Do you know anything about your mother’s family?’ Reg asked suddenly, making Dora jump as she was pouring the tea.

‘She never talked about them. I don’t think she had any family.’

‘We never met any grandparents, so we don’t think Mum or Dad had any family,’ Tom told them, looking puzzled. ‘This can’t have anything to do with Mum’s disappearance, surely?’

Reg just smiled. ‘We need to look at every angle in the hope that it might produce a clue. Can we see your mother’s room now?’

‘Er … is that necessary?’ The thought of strangers going through her mother’s things did not sit well with Dora. ‘We’ve already searched every inch.’

‘Dora,’ Stan said. ‘We might find something you’ve
missed. Something that looks out of place, but so ordinary that you wouldn’t think it important.’

‘Let them do it,’ Tom said. ‘There might be something we didn’t notice.’

‘Yes, of course you’re right,’ Dora agreed reluctantly. ‘The only important thing is to try and find out what’s happened to Mum. Were the letters any use?’

‘Not at first glance.’ Reg tied them together again. ‘Would you let us keep them for a while, so we can go through them again? You can have them back in a couple of days.’

‘We’ll take good care of them,’ Stan assured Dora, ‘and I promise no one else will see them.’

‘Very well.’ She gave Stan a brief nod. ‘I know we can trust you.’

‘Good, thank you.’ Reg stood up. ‘Will you show us your mother’s room now?’

Tom led the way up the stairs, followed by Reg and Stan, with Dora and Lily behind them.

Stan had left his stick at the bottom of the stairs, and was using the banisters to swing himself up. Dora knew he would need it when he got to the top, so she took it with her, and handed it to him on the landing.

Tom opened their mother’s bedroom door and stood back to allow them to enter first. The three of them stood by the door and watched Reg and Stan search. Dora felt very uneasy as each item was examined and put back in the drawers or wardrobe. Occasionally they showed each other a pair of shoes or piece of clothing, but they said nothing, and their expressions gave nothing away.

‘What’re they finding so interesting?’ Tom whispered, when they had spent a while studying a frock.

Dora shrugged, just as puzzled.

After what seemed like an age, Reg looked across at them. ‘Do you know if any of your mother’s clothes are missing?’

‘No, sir,’ Dora replied. ‘They’re all there, except the things she was wearing.’

‘I understand that you found the letters and notebook hidden in the bed. Was there anything else?’

‘No, that’s—’

‘There was the necklace,’ Tom interrupted.

‘What necklace?’ Both men spoke at once.

‘Oh, it’s only a cheap thing. Something Mum kept for sentimental reasons, I expect.’

‘Can we see it, Dora?’ Stan asked.

Tom was already lifting the mattress, and when he’d retrieved the box he handed it to Stan, who removed the necklace and held it up to the light.

‘Oh, that’s pretty!’ Lily hadn’t seen it before, and forgetting her shyness of the man in uniform, she rushed forward. ‘Let me see it, please.’

Stan held it out for her. ‘See how it shines?’

‘Dora, look!’ Lily bounced with excitement, her expression animated.

Dora was so pleased to see her little sister smile again that she took the necklace from Stan and fixed it round Lily’s neck. Then she stood her in front of the mirror on the wardrobe door. ‘There, don’t you look beautiful.’

Lily giggled. ‘Look, Tom, look!’

He shaded his eyes as if blinded by the brilliance. ‘Who’s this dazzling girl? I don’t recognise her.’

Giving a shriek of delight, Lily launched herself at her teasing brother. ‘It’s me, silly.’

Tom lifted her up. ‘So it is.’

It was wonderful to hear laughter and see her brother and sister fooling around again. The scene brought a lump to Dora’s throat. And she couldn’t help noticing how big and strong Tom was now. He seemed to be growing every day. He was going to be a fine-looking man.

The search finished, and they let Lily keep the necklace on as they all went downstairs again.