Meet Me at the Pier Head (7 page)

‘Shut up, petal,’ her husband begged. ‘You’re only halfway down one side of the bloody street.’

‘You’re right, love, but don’t swear till we get home.’ She continued to knit the cardigan for little Rosie.

Theo squashed a wry smile. Tom and Nancy Atherton were a comedy duo; most statements they made began with ‘You’re right’ or ‘She/He’s right’, and it was clear
that Tom cherished her. This was the way it was supposed to be, he told himself. This was happily ever after, something he could never experience.

Tom continued to hold Maggie’s hand. ‘I’ll get the cops, love. I’ll fetch them to our house and they can pin their lugs to the wall and listen. It will be nothing to do
with you. You can stop upstairs in our house while it’s all happening, then you can take Rosie home. He’ll not be locking her in the coal shed no more after that.’

‘Thanks for keeping an eye on her,’ Maggie managed. ‘And feeding her, too. I’m that ashamed of our Sadie . . .’

Theo glanced at his watch and jumped up. ‘Sorry, folks, it’s not that I don’t care about Rosie, but Jack and I have to go – he’s giving me a hand with something at
home. Mrs Stone – Maggie – try to hold yourself together while this terrible business is going on. The rest of you, look after this lady.’

He awarded his full attention to Maggie Stone, bending over to look into her eyes while he spoke. ‘There’s no other way of handling it, believe me. Any time you feel despair, fear or
panic, remember Rosie. She hasn’t yet reached the age where she can make her own decisions; all she can do is learn from the pattern of family and school. You know we’ll do our best
here, but I’m hoping we’ll find a way for you to be her family.’

‘He’s right,’ Nancy said, hurriedly finishing her row of stocking stitch.

‘We’ll meet again on Friday.’ Theo grabbed his briefcase. ‘And on the following Friday, we carry out the plan. Maggie, I’ll be upstairs with you in Tom and
Nancy’s house on that evening. You aren’t alone – just remember that.’

‘But—’

‘But nothing. I’m not having you listen to all that nasty business by yourself. Friday is the Tunstalls’ busy night, so Rosie will be in the shed. You’ll need support,
Maggie.’

‘Thanks, Mr Quinn.’

‘Theo. Outside school hours, I’m Theo or Ted. OK?’ He gave her a big smile and followed it with a hug. For an unguarded moment, he thought about his own mother, the way she had
hugged and treasured her boy until—No, he wouldn’t go there.

‘Thanks,’ Maggie said, the word distorted by tears.

When the Athertons, Maggie and Roy had left, Theo and Jack checked school security. As they walked through the gate, Jack glanced sideways at Theo. ‘Are you sure you know what you’re
doing? She’s a beautiful woman, that Miss Bellamy.’

‘Not my type.’

The caretaker laughed. ‘She’s everybody’s type. Good-looking, great clothes, posh voice, money, interesting car—’

‘A teacher, Jack.

‘So? That shouldn’t stop you.’

‘Get in the car and shut up. If you’re going to carry on like this, I’ll help her to move in and you can go home. No suggestive remarks, right? Her sister’s coming, too.
No personal questions. We just carry her stuff in and leave them to it. Don’t let me down, Jack.’

‘Would I ever? Have I ever?’

‘There’s a first time for everything.’

Jack, after muttering darkly about some people not knowing which side their bread was buttered, climbed into the passenger seat and folded his arms like a teenager who’d been told off
unfairly.

Theo sat next to him. ‘Don’t sulk. I get enough of that from the children.’

‘You’re right,’ Jack said, the pitch of his voice lifting in an attempt to imitate Nancy Atherton.

‘Shut up and get on with your knitting.’

They arrived back to find furniture vans blocking the driveway. Theo opened the door to the upper flat, allowing men in brown overalls to carry up sofas, armchairs, beds, dining furniture,
dressing tables, chests of drawers and boxes of smaller items judged by sales people to be necessary in the setting up of a home.

‘You’re letting it fully furnished, then?’ Jack asked, wondering how on earth a headmaster could afford such an enormous house.

‘It seems so. Though it was almost unfurnished, because this lot is three days late.’

‘And she’s due any minute?’

‘They’re due. Miss Tia Bellamy and her sister, Miss Delia Bellamy.’

‘Two for the price of one?’

‘She isn’t subletting, Jack. I told her to use it as her home, so if she wants guests, she has guests. You stay here and wait for them – sit on the wooden bench. I’ll
feed Tyger.’

The cat was weary, as usual. Theo tempted him with tinned salmon, feeling very guilty because of the poverty he had witnessed during childhood, though love for his feline companion overcame the
distress. Tyger had been his sole companion for six years, and it looked as if this one close domestic relationship was drawing to a close.

Tyger sniffed the offering and drew back, baring his few teeth as if intending to hiss and spit. This was it, then. This was the end. Mom had always said about cats, ‘If they don’t
drink and don’t eat, and if they’re old and tired, the kindest thing is a goodbye shot.’ Had she meant a bullet or an injection? He stroked the striped fur on his old
friend’s head, picked him up, looked at the clock and walked outside. ‘Jack?’

‘Yes?’

‘I have to go out.’

‘Oh?’

‘I’m taking Tyger to the vet. It’s just round the corner. If anything can be done for him, I’ll get it done. Otherwise, well . . .’ He sighed deeply.

‘Shall I come with you?’

‘No. Wait here for Miss Bellamy. I shouldn’t be long.’

Jack waited as instructed. He smoked a couple of cigarettes, plucked a few weeds out of a border, said cheerio to the deliverers of furniture, decided he was bored and went inside. The boss had
left the door to his flat unlocked, so Jack made his way to the kitchen and set the kettle to boil. If Mr Quinn’s cat was going to die this evening, the poor man would be in need of a cup of
tea.

‘Jack?’

He turned. ‘Mr Quinn? You all right, Sir?’

‘It’s Theo unless we’re in harness, Jack. Or Ted, if you prefer.’

‘I thought I’d just put the kettle on, Sir – I mean Theo. What happened?’

Theo swallowed. ‘I traded Tyger in for a newer model.’ Two tears made their way down his cheeks while he held up a tiny box with holes punched in the top. ‘This is Tyger-Two.
Another stripy one.’ He sniffed. ‘I kept my hand on Tyger till I was sure he’d gone. Then the vet gave me this little article.’ He opened the box. ‘He was fished out
of the brook with his brothers and sisters. Every one of them was saved. We have a terrific vet. So I seem to have won a bundle of trouble in a cardboard carton.’

Jack peered in. ‘It’s all mouth,’ he said.

Theo gave the kitten the bit of salmon Tyger had refused. ‘A lot of growing to do, Tyger. Now I have to train him,’ he told the caretaker.

‘No, you don’t. Dump him where the old cat used to pee, and he’ll make his own arrangements. For nights, find an old tray and put sand in it. You just watch – he’ll
behave exactly the same as the old cat did. He’ll sleep where he slept, walk where he walked and eat you out of house and home.’

Theo sat and lifted the kitten out of his box.

‘He’s handsome,’ Jack said.

‘A tiger in miniature,’ sighed the kitten’s new owner.

Jack heard vehicles arriving and, as Theo appeared not to notice, he dashed outside alone. He spoke to Tia when she alighted from her MG. ‘Theo – I mean Mr Quinn – is a bit
upset because his old cat just died, so he’s inside, Miss.’

She brushed past him and walked into her landlord’s living room. ‘I am so sorry,’ she said. He was using a shirt cuff to mop up the tears. ‘I know,’ she continued.
‘When my pony had to be destroyed, I wanted to sue the vet. This happened just now, did it?’

‘Yes, and the vet gave me this ravenous little beastie instead.’

She smiled. ‘Dry your eyes on him, Mr Quinn. Let the tears for the old cat be wiped away by the new. Incidentally, that’s one gorgeous kitten. There’s a man outside, by the
way.’

‘School caretaker, Jack Peake. He’s here to help you get your stuff upstairs, as am I.’ He placed the kitten in a basket, followed Tia out and closed the door. No matter what,
life moved. Poor old Tyger . . .

Jack was standing at the side of the house, and he was covered in clothes of many colours. ‘The trunks are heavy,’ he explained to Theo. ‘She’s brought
more frocks than bloody Lewis’s, plus about forty pairs of shoes—’

‘Shut up,’ Delia snapped. ‘You’ve still got the toy department to deal with.’ She walked upstairs with a pile of suits and blouses.

‘Toy department?’ Jack asked.

‘Rocking horse, dolls’ house, a bear and a rabbit.’ Tia’s face was serious.

‘Ar, ey,’ Jack moaned as only a Scouser can. ‘Me ma says I haven’t to carry nothing heavy on account of me trouble, like.’

Tia folded her arms and tapped a foot. In her best Liverpoolese, she answered him. ‘Listen, la’. My ma’s bigger’n your ma and she’ll give you the rounds of the
kitchen if you don’t shape. If you want trouble, she’ll ’ave you down that back alley with your arse on fire quicker than you can shout for ’elp.’

In spite of his heartbreaking loss, Theo had to turn away in order to prevent his smile becoming laughter. Delia, by no means as pretty as her sister, reappeared and delivered a very damp
raspberry in Tia’s direction. ‘You must have an outfit for every day of the year.’

‘Not Good Friday. I stay in bed on Good Friday and wear only black.’ She turned to Theo. ‘The furniture’s lovely, Mr Quinn. Amazingly good taste for an
American.’

He smiled at her. ‘Me owld feller’s an Irish Scouser, Miss.’

‘Ah yes, I forgot. You’re half and half, aren’t you?’

‘I am indeed, and I’ve no idea which half is the more dangerous.’

The banter continued until the van was unloaded. Theo carried the dolls’ house while Jack dealt with the antique rocking horse.

‘Come into my place,’ Theo said to the girls when Jack had left to catch a bus. ‘I made a chicken salad and an apple pie. My guess is that you’ve lived on snacks all
day.’

‘We have.’ Delia eyed her companions as they entered Theo’s domain. As well as three adults and one kitten, there was another presence in the room; she could almost taste it.
Theo and Tia scarcely looked at each other. Ah. Cupid was here.

They sat at the dining table eating a delicious meal, welcome after many hours on the road. Delia, while appearing to concentrate on filling her stomach, watched her sister closely. Tia glowed.
She had a habit of glowing, but on this occasion she was radiant, animated and talkative. Her voice was slightly high-pitched, while the subject matter was deliberately cheerful, designed to
deflect attention almost totally from herself, because she was in hiding. She spoke about their journey, the appalling condition of public conveniences, her lovely flat and the dressing room big
enough to accommodate her vast collection of garments and accessories. ‘I’m a magpie,’ she explained. ‘I collect things.’

Delia took a chunk of crusty bread and tore into it, smearing a little butter on its soft interior. There were two Tias – or were there three? There was the carefree, runabout child who
had dashed about just this morning on the green – was that only this morning? It felt like days ago. The Tia here and now was reacting to a very attractive man, her landlord and her boss.
Messy. Elegant Tia emerged when required. Elegant Tia was another coat of armour. So was the child the only real Tia? Was the child going to become mother to Tia? What was the quote? Oh yes,
the child is father of the man
. So was this big sister still adolescent at the age of twenty-six? Or was there yet another side to this clever, complex female?

Then the penny dropped; Tia, like Ma, was a consummate actress. ‘Thanks for the lovely meal,’ Delia mumbled. ‘I’ll go and do a bit of tidying. Bring my apple pie up,
please, Tia.’ She left in a hurry.

Tia found herself relaxing. Delia was an astute, intelligent woman with good instincts, and her presence had inhibited her older sister. Now, Tia could be herself, couldn’t she? Looking
up, she saw that he was gazing at his new kitten. ‘Are you all right?’ she asked.

Theo shrugged. ‘It’s not the worst day in my life, though it comes in at about number four. Tyger was here when I moved in; he refused to leave with his owners when they went. I
inherited him. Once again, I seem to have won a cat. That poor scrap was left to drown, so what could I do?’

‘He’s pretty.’

‘They’re all pretty till they start eating furniture.’

She laughed.

‘My mom usually kept a cat,’ he mused, almost to himself.

‘Is she still in America?’

He nodded. ‘She’s buried there, yes. In Georgia.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you came from New York City.’

‘I did.’

‘And your father?’

‘Remarried. Living in Plainfield, New Jersey, and working in Perth Amboy. When I was old enough, I moved back to New York before coming to England.’

‘Ah.’ She paused. ‘May I help myself to apple pie? I didn’t realize how hungry I was till I started to eat.’

‘Of course. Cut a slice for your sister.’

Taking this as dismissal, she excavated two portions of pie and placed a blob of whipped cream on top of each. ‘May I borrow spoons until I find my own?’

‘Please do. Oh.’ He gave her his full attention. ‘You’re going?’

Tia felt heat arriving in her cheeks. ‘Er . . . I thought that was what you meant.’

He stood up. ‘I imagine you need sleep, Miss Bellamy. It was a long drive. But before you leave, may I ask a small favour?’

She nodded.

‘If I give you a key, will you look in on this little chap while I’m at school? He’s young, and he’ll miss his family.’

She was suddenly sad. ‘I’ll do that with pleasure, Mr Quinn.’

‘Theo out of school.’

‘Very well, Theo-out-of-school.’

At last, they looked at each other. She was very pretty, he thought. She was also clever, interesting, witty, funny and kind. And her laugh was cute, like bells tinkling –
oh, stop it,
Theo. You know the rules, and you should have waited for a male tenant.