Memories Are Made of This (6 page)

Jeanette pulled a face and glanced at her employer. ‘I'm going to have to go. Mrs Cross will be on my back if I linger here any longer.'

‘OK, but you are listening to me, aren't you? I don't want to have to report you to my sergeant. It's best coming from you.'

Jeanette nodded and left Hester to finish her coffee.

Jeanette was ready to collapse by the time she arrived home. And – oh joy! – she had the house to herself. Her feet and back had never ached so much. Only briefly had she given a thought to going into Quiggins as she passed the shop and speaking to Peggy's brother, only to decide she was too tired to cope with any hassle about what had happened Friday evening. She concealed her minuscule wages and the tips she had received in a safe place in her bedroom and was just considering having a bath when she heard the sound of a key in the front door. Her heart began to race. Most likely it would be Ethel and she still had not worked out exactly what she was going to say to her. Then the door opened and Sam entered the lobby.

Her half-brother was a good-looking bloke with a thatch of thick flaxen hair and chiselled features, just like the film star Douglas Fairbanks Jnr. He was also protective towards her, on the whole. She remembered him telling her that he was the last person to speak to her mother before she had left the house that fateful day in May 1941, when she had asked him to keep an eye on Jeanette.

‘Am I glad it's you,' she said. ‘Would you like me to make you a cup of tea?'

‘You can if you want to get on the right side of me,' said Sam, hanging up his mackintosh.

She slanted him an uncertain look before hurrying into the kitchen. ‘D'you want me to make you a cheese butty as well? I don't know what Aunt Ethel is planning for tea. She's out.'

‘A couple of cheese butties will be fine. I'm working this evening, so I'll get something more substantial at the canteen later.' Sam sat at the kitchen table and drummed his fingers on the table top, gazing at her from narrowed brown eyes. ‘I'm glad I found you here. Where were you earlier?'

‘Working.' She filled the kettle and put it on the stove.

‘Don't lie. Dad was in a right state this morning when I got up, and the old witch was blowing her top because you'd vanished. She swore that it was your Saturday morning off and, just to make sure, Dad phoned your workplace.'

Jeanette was horrified. ‘Oh no!'

‘He'd been informed that you were involved in an incident in the chippy in Norton Street last evening.'

‘Oh bloody hell!' The tea caddy slipped from her fingers, but she managed to prevent it landing on the floor and placed it on the table. ‘I was going to tell him when I saw him, but I haven't had a chance to do so yet.'

‘So you don't deny being there,' said Sam, scowling.

‘What would be the point if you already know? Who was it who gave my name to the police?'

‘It was a friend of yours, Peggy McGrath.'

‘Peggy!' Jeanette was stunned. ‘Is she all right? Only she was dragged away by the fellow she'd been going out with. He said that he had a bone to pick with her. I suspect her brother beat him up because of something she had said about Greg.'

Sam rolled his eyes. ‘Some old dear had suggested that he and Peggy McGrath might be able to help the police with their enquiries.'

‘Blast and double blast,' muttered Jeanette. ‘I bet she hates me now because a policeman turned up on her doorstep! I should have minded my own business, instead of thinking I had to stick up for her because she was my friend.'

‘At least she won't have to go to court because she didn't witness the fight. But you might,' warned Sam.

Jeanette groaned. ‘Does the old witch know about this?'

He raised his eyebrows. ‘What do you think?'

Jeanette stared at him gloomily. ‘Where are she and Dad now?'

‘She mentioned having shopping to do, whilst he went off to see if he could find you.'

‘Couldn't he have just waited until I came home?'

‘Perhaps he thought you mightn't come home? You're forgetting you went out without saying where you were going and you must have known you were in trouble.'

‘I sneaked out because the old witch locked me in my bedroom. Hester let me out because I'd found myself an extra job, working part time in a milk bar. I didn't want Aunt Ethel knowing because she'd take all my earnings.'

Sam's lips set in a grim line. ‘I bet she didn't mention locking you in your room to Dad.'

Jeanette sighed heavily. ‘I suppose I'd better go down to the bridewell and make a statement. Will you be here when I get back?'

‘Probably not. Do you want me to come with you? I can do without the tea and butties if you're desperate for my company,' said Sam, his stern features suddenly relaxing into a smile.

Her eyes brightened. ‘Oh, I do love you! I know I shouldn't expect any favours because three members of my family are in the police force, but I admit with you there I'm hoping they'll be lenient with me. I'd best get my coat.'

‘Don't expect me to defend your actions,' he warned, switching off the gas under the kettle. ‘You should have come straight home after the pictures, knowing Aunt Ethel would be watching out for you.'

‘I didn't expect there to be a fight at the chippy.'

‘All right. Now get a move on.'

She got a move on.

As they walked to the bus stop, Jeanette asked if he knew whether the priest had been questioned yet. ‘That I don't know,' replied Sam. ‘Tell me exactly what happened.'

She told him most of it. Sam looked disturbed. ‘Nasty. And like you, I hope the priest's words got through to the injured man and he went to the hospital.'

‘I'd like to know what happened to him.' Jeanette sighed.

He fixed her with a stare. ‘Don't go getting ideas about him, just because he came to your rescue. There's plenty of blokes who would have done the same where someone looking like you was involved.'

‘There's nothing special about me,' protested Jeanette.

‘You're petite and your figure's not bad at all. You've got a cute nose and unusual green eyes and there's an air of innocence about you. You stir up the protective instinct in men.'

Jeanette was so taken aback that she could not think of anything to say immediately. They walked on in silence for a while. Then she blurted out, ‘I'm not an innocent, though! I know there's a lot of nastiness in the world and people can't always be trusted. I don't normally need a bloke to fight my corner.'

‘Maybe not. I would hope you'd use your common sense and stay out of trouble. In the normal way of things, I'm here if you're desperate. You could have got the woman behind the counter to phone directly through to me.'

‘But you mightn't have been available. I mean, you're going to be out this evening.' Jeanette glanced at him. ‘I don't suppose you can tell me what it's about?'

He smiled slightly. ‘Why d'you need to know?'

‘I don't. I'm just interested.'

‘All I can tell you is that I was down at the docks this morning.'

‘On a job? Thefts from warehouses or ships?'

‘We've been working in cahoots with the Customs on a case.'

‘You mean smuggling?' Her eyes sparkled.

‘I'm saying no more.' Sam changed the subject. ‘You need to prepare what you're going to say to Dad when you see him. Aunt Ethel was going on at him about you running wild, saying you're completely out of control. You have to prove to him that you're not. Make sure there's no getting involved in incidents such as last evening again. And if you're a witness to such an event, no running away! You do the telephoning.'

Jeanette flushed. ‘There won't be a next time,' she said in a low voice. ‘Aunt Ethel will see to that. I'll be on bread and water and locked away.'

‘Don't be melodramatic. She's no fool and knows she wouldn't get away with it these days.'

Jeanette stared at him and said seriously, ‘You can say that, but she still hurt me and locked me in my bedroom last night. You can't always be there and neither can Dad. I have to find a way of dealing with her myself.'

Sam frowned. ‘You know, there was a helluva row going on between her and your mother that evening she disappeared.'

‘You've never mentioned that before.'

‘That's because it was a terrible day for me and I don't like talking about it.' Before she could ask, he added, ‘And I still don't!'

She dug her hands deep in her pockets. ‘OK! I won't nose into your affairs. The day will come when the old witch pops her clogs and until then I'll put up with her. Unless—'

‘Unless what?'

Jeanette's green eyes glinted. ‘Unless she goes completely crackers. Then I'll have to retaliate in a way she'd never expect.'

‘She's not worth swinging for, our kid.'

‘I know that,' said Jeanette.

For a while they were both silent, and then she said, ‘You don't think the old witch followed my mother and did something nasty to her?'

‘You mean murdered her?'

Jeanette nodded. ‘She could have removed all identification and hid the body. I hate to think of it and I suppose I'm talking nonsense in the light of what she says about my mother having upped and left because she had another man. I get the impression she still thinks she's alive.'

‘Yes, and it's a mystery to me why she says it,' said Sam tersely. ‘Your mother wouldn't have upped and left you.'

‘So where was she going that evening? You're the detective!' burst out Jeanette. ‘Can't you solve this mystery?'

‘I wish I could find out the truth for you, but right now I have other things that need my attention.'

‘Sorry,' said Jeanette, biting her lip. ‘That was unfair of me.'

His face softened. ‘No, I can understand your frustration, but digging up the past takes time, our kid.' He placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘Here's our stop. Have you worked out exactly what you're going to say?'

‘I'm going to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,' she said, taking a deep breath.

Jeanette had expected to feel much better when she emerged from the bridewell, and she did. Of course, having Sam with her had made a difference and, as it turned out, Billy had confessed to being in possession of a dangerous weapon and admitted to unintentional grievous bodily harm. It could be that he and his mate would be treated less severely than they might have been in the circumstances when they appeared before the magistrate at the juvenile court on Monday.

As Jeanette closed the back door, she could hear Ethel talking, and then came the low rumble of her father's voice. She filled the kettle, expecting them to come rushing into the kitchen at any moment. She could feel her heart thudding in her chest and told herself that it was stupid to be so nervous. With her father present, Ethel was not going to hurt her.

She knew as soon as they realized there was someone else in the house. They went quiet, and despite their attempts to open the sitting room door without making a noise, she heard a hinge squeaking. Then came the sound of her father's size elevens and Ethel shuffling along in her slippers. Jeanette did not wait for her father to fling open the kitchen door, but did so herself and pinned on a smile.

‘Cup of tea?' she asked.

‘Don't you cup-of-tea me, my girl,' said Ethel, wagging a finger. ‘Where've you been? We've been worried about you.'

‘At the bridewell in town giving a statement. Our Sam went with me as I was a bit nervous about going on my own.' Jeanette poured milk into cups. ‘I wanted to do my duty, but I was apprehensive. Who's to say that one of the youths involved in the fight won't come after me. What do you say, Dad?'

George felt a catch at his heart as he stared at his younger daughter – so like her mother when he had first seen her. He would never forget the fear and defiance in Grace's green eyes. She had reminded him of a stray cat he had once found in an overgrown garden. The animal had given birth to kittens and was prepared to defend them with her life. In Grace's case, the only life she had been defending was her own against a drunken ex-soldier from the Great War. She'd had a penknife and her hand was clenched so tightly on the shaft that George had a job persuading her to hand it over to him. He remembered she had been wearing a worn floral frock of red and green that was much too small for her, so all the more revealing of the feminine form beneath. He was newly widowed with two young children and she was a waif living on the streets, so she told him. Two months later he had asked her to be his wife.

‘Cat got your tongue, George?' said Ethel. ‘You're not going to believe all that, are you? It wouldn't take her all day to go to the bridewell and give a statement. You do realize that she lied to me last night!' Her voice sounded like a rusty nail being pulled out of a plank.

‘That's not true!' Jeanette avoided looking at her great-aunt and concentrated all her attention on her father. ‘I didn't tell any fibs, Dad. I just didn't tell Aunt Ethel the entire truth. I thought she might have nightmares, thinking how close I'd come to being killed. If you'd seen that bicycle chain flying through the air, Dad, you'd have been terrified for me.'

Aware that the kettle was boiling, Jeanette paused to give herself time to think; she switched off the gas and warmed the teapot, knowing that from the way he was looking at her and ignoring Ethel, her father was hooked. He really enjoyed a good story, consuming crime novels and westerns from the library at the rate of two a week. ‘If I hadn't have ducked,' she continued, ‘it would have been me who was hit in the face.' She shivered. ‘Scarred for life! All my looks gone. If you could only have seen that young man, Dad, you'd have pitied him.'