Secrets to Keep (30 page)

‘The man with the lump hammer broke through the back-room window, and him and another of the hefty blokes climbed in. While one fended off Pat from attacking them with her frying pan, the other
moved the furniture away from the front door and let the rest of them in. I couldn’t believe me eyes then, seeing Jim Nelson come out acting like he wasn’t aware all the neighbours were watching, or that he was actually in the process of being evicted. He just went off down the road like he was taking a stroll to the pub. Probably was, come to that.

‘Next thing all their belongings were being brought out and piled in a heap in the street. It had started raining an’ all.’ She paused for a moment to look sadly at Aidy. ‘All that stuff was yours and Arch’s, wasn’t it? Though there didn’t seem to be half what I remembered you having when you lived there. I’ve a mind Pat pawned most of it after Arch left and pocketed the money.

‘Last thing to come out of the house was Pat Nelson herself. It took all six of those beefy men to heave her out between them and, believe me, for all their strength they were struggling under her weight. That’s when all we neighbours went back inside our houses, just in case she decided to attack any of us.’

Aidy wondered where the Nelsons were now. Not back in their old place. Despite the dire condition it had been in, hardly fit for humans to live in, some desperate people would have snatched it up and be settled there now. Her in-laws wouldn’t have been able to park themselves on their other two sons, as they had done with Arch. Fortunately for them both,
their respective homes were only just big enough for their growing families. That left only one place the Nelsons could have gone that Aidy could think of: the Leicester Union Workhouse. She could not find it in herself to pity them after all they had done to her.

Mr Morris was heard to call out then: ‘Any chance of a cuppa, love?’

Hilda called back, ‘I’ll put the kettle on.’

Aidy took this as her cue to leave and stood up. ‘I’ll let you get on, Mrs Morris.’

Hilda Morris stepped over to Aidy and, much to her surprise, took her hand and patted it, saying, ‘It’s a grand thing you’re doing. Not many young women would abandon their own future to make sure their family has one.’

‘That tea ready yet?’ her husband called out, an irritated edge to his voice.

She called back good-naturedly, ‘Give the kettle chance to boil.’ Though she hadn’t actually put it on yet.

A few minutes later, Aidy sat perched on a low factory wall. She withdrew from her pocket the envelope Hilda Morris had given her. Arch had never written a letter to her before, he’d never had cause to. For a moment she looked at it, at her name written in Arch’s clumsy handwriting. Some
of the letters had started to run through becoming wet. Sadness gripped her then. When Arch had been writing her name on this envelope, he’d been crying. Using a fingernail, she slit the envelope open and took out the folded piece of paper inside.

Dear Aidy,

I’m sorry I didn’t stand by you when I should have. When you first told me your plan it sounded simple, but now I’ve had time to think about the consequences, come time, I would have ended up resenting your family for making me give up my plans for the future. I know that now.

In the circumstances, it’s best I go away and make a fresh start.

I will always love you.

Arch

Aidy folded the letter back up and replaced it in the envelope. At least he was finally being honest about his own feelings now. A part of her would always love him too, and she genuinely wished him well. Hoped eventually he found love again, to take away the pain of losing her. Arch had proved to have traits in his character that she couldn’t live with, but it would not be right of her to begrudge him happiness with someone else. And she did still care very much about him, always would.

He hadn’t much liked his younger brother but he
was close to his elder one, Stanley, and wouldn’t put him through unnecessary worry over his whereabouts and welfare. She knew Arch would let him know where he was, once he got settled, and since she’d got on well herself with Stanley, knew he would inform her how Arch was faring, to set her mind at rest.

Aidy made to put the letter safely away in her handbag. As her left hand passed through a shaft of light coming from the gas lamp there was a glint of light from the rings on her wedding finger. She held her hand out, spread her fingers and looked at them both. She knew how she could raise the money for a flock mattress …

It was upsetting for her that she had to resort to pawning the rings. that had been given to her with so much love, but at the moment they were the only things of any value she possessed. Arch had bought her the best he could afford at the time. The diamond on her engagement ring was only tiny, just a chip, and her wedding band was thin. But hopefully their second-hand value would cover the price of what she so desperately needed. The pawnbroker opened until nine every night except for Sunday so she had time to go tonight.

Aidy waited on tenterhooks while behind the counter Sidney Wilks took a quick glance at her engagement ring through his magnifying eye piece to assess its
worth. He was an elderly little man, thin bodied and sharp featured, who always wore a red velvet smoking jacket, heavily embroidered on the collar and panels down the front. His grey hair was collar length and his short-sighted eyes peered at his customers through thick-lensed glasses. There were very few, if any, residents of the area who had not had cause to come through his doors at one time or another so he was acquainted with most of them. Although Aidy, as an adult, had never had cause to visit Sidney Wilks’ establishment, he knew her from the times she had come here as a child, when Jessie had found herself short and needed to raise a shilling or two to see her through.

Aidy had always been eager to attend to her mother’s business at the pawnbroker’s on her behalf, when she wasn’t able to go herself. This place had been a source of fascination to her. It was an Aladdin’s cave … a treasure trove. There was nothing that couldn’t be got here, from a tiny silver locket to a brass-framed bedstead, an ear trumpet to a zinc bath. As a child, while she waited her turn on busy days, Aidy used to try to guess some of the uses for many of the weird, dusty objects she’d never come across before.

‘Three shillings,’ Sidney Wilks said gruffly to her now.

‘Each?’ she asked hopefully.

‘For both.’

Aidy gave a disdainful tut. ‘Oh, come on, Mr Wilks, my two rings are worth more than that, even second-hand.’

‘I agree, they are, but I have to make a profit. I have to eat too, yer know.’ He gave a deep sigh. ‘Three and six, and that’s my final offer.’

‘And it’s still too low. But it’s not actual money I’m wanting to exchange them for, Mr Wilks.’

His eyebrows rose as he eyed her suspiciously. ‘Just what are you after in exchange for them then?’

‘A decent flock that you know comes from a good source. I was hoping for some blankets too.’

He said sardonically, ‘You don’t want much then. Single flock?’

‘Double.’

He shook his head. ‘No wonder I’m not rich when I let a pretty woman like yerself fleece me.’ He looked at her for a moment before he gave a resigned sigh. ‘Might be able to exchange a flock for the rings, depends what quality yer after, but as for blankets as well … Come through the back and I’ll see what I can do.’

Fifteen minutes later Aidy returned to the front shop feeling very pleased with herself. At first Sid had tried to convince her that her choice lay between several moth-eaten, thin and stained flocks, which she had flatly refused to consider. Her two rings were
worth more than those and the pawnbroker knew it. She had pointed at flocks worth well in excess of what her rings would cover. She knew it and so did the pawnbroker. This went on until finally an agreement was reached.

The flock she had settled on was the well-padded sort, covered in thick twill and according to Sid Wilks had come from a good family fallen on hard times. It had arrived only the previous day which hopefully meant bugs hadn’t spread to it yet from others she knew to be infested by the looks of them stacked close by. Aidy would still give it a thorough shake and a meticulous scrub with turpentine and salt before she would sleep on it, though. That meant another night or so in the armchair while it dried, but at least she knew her discomfort was coming to an end.

Sidney Wilks had also reluctantly agreed to her having three grey army blankets, if only because Aidy had made it clear she wasn’t leaving his shop until he did. Well, a flock was no good to her without blankets. Regardless, she felt she had got herself a good bargain.

Sid Wilks back behind his counter and Aidy the other side, she informed him, ‘I’ll take the blankets with me, then I’ve just got to arrange for a strapping lad to collect the flock for me. I’ve several neighbours whose sons I’m sure would oblige if I slip them
a copper each at the end of the week. Hopefully they’ll fetch it for me tonight.’

‘Well, you’ve an hour before I close.’ Sid then looked at her hopefully. ‘Before you go, though, do you think you could do me a favour? Mind the shop for me while I nip out the back.’ There were very few people he would entrust his shop to while he relieved himself but, although he hadn’t seen Aidy for years, he knew she was the trustworthy sort.

Aidy sat herself down in the comfortable wing-back chair where Sid Wilks spent much of his time in between customers, reading books. There was one resting on the small table to one side of the chair which he had been engrossed in when she had arrived. She too enjoyed reading, losing herself in a good adventure yarn or a soppy love story, but since the death of her mother hadn’t had time to enjoy such pursuits. She made to pick up the book but was stopped by the tinkle of the bell on the door, announcing the arrival of a customer.

The shop was over-full and badly lit so all Aidy was able to see was a shadowy figure approaching the counter. It was a woman, that much was evident. It wasn’t until she was almost at the counter that her features could be made out. On recognising them, Aidy exclaimed, ‘Col! Oh, how good to see you.’

Colleen Brown stared at Aidy, the very last person
she had expected to find behind the pawnbroker’s counter. Equally as delighted to meet her, she responded, ‘It’s good to see you too, gel.’ She then asked, puzzled, ‘Are yer working here now?’

‘No, just minding the shop while Mr Wilks nips out the back. He’s only just gone but he shouldn’t be long.’ Then she told her friend proudly, ‘I work for the new Doc as his receptionist.’

‘I had heard that. Well, I don’t know how you swung getting that receptionist’s job, Aidy, being’s you wouldn’t have had the experience for it, but hats off to you for doing so.’

If Colleen knew the truth of just how she’d managed to land the job, would she still be so admiring? Aidy wondered.

Colleen was pulling a rum face. ‘I wouldn’t fancy working for that doctor meself, though. Not that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him yet, and thank God I’ve not had to call him in as I couldn’t afford his fee, but by all accounts his face would crack if he smiled, and he’s rude and arrogant too … so it’s no wonder he’s not married, ’cos who’d put up with a man like him, eh? Good looking, though, so I’ve been told. Anyway, he can’t be paying you enough if you’re in here having to pawn summat.’

‘Well, the wage isn’t quite what I got in the factory, when I was filling my quotas, that is, but with very careful handling we can just about scrape by on it.
I’m in here for another flock and some blankets. My father unexpectedly decided to come back home.’

‘Oh? I got the impression your mam was a widow, from what you told me. Well, what a relief for you. With your dad back, you’re not responsible for your family now, are yer? You and Arch can sort yer differences out and carry on where yer left off.’

If only Colleen knew that her father had only come back because he was broke and had nowhere else to go. Aidy wasn’t inclined to tell the whole sad truth, though, and especially not in the pawnbroker’s, risking the possibility that Sid Wilks would overhear. To change the subject she said, ‘I heard about the lay offs at the factory, and I was worried you was amongst them, Col.’

She flashed Aidy a wan smile. ‘I was one of the lucky ones who’s been kept on. For now anyway. I dread to think what the future holds, the way the country is going. Flo, Beattie, Lily and Muriel have gone. It’s not so bad for the other three as their husbands are all in work, but Muriel’s a widow with three kids to look after. How the hell she’ll manage, I can’t imagine. I fear it’s the workhouse for her and her kids. I don’t know what the hell I’ll do if I end up losing my job. Bob got laid off two weeks ago, Aidy, and ain’t had a tickle of nothing since. If he does hear of anything going, there’s a queue a mile long in front of him after it too.’

Aidy was devastated to learn this. Flo, Beattie, Lily and Muriel had worked nearby and the six of them used to sit together in the canteen at tea breaks and dinner-time, chatting about the trials and tribulations of their daily lives. But Colleen was her closest friend and so it was with her that Aidy’s main allegiance lay. She was relieved her job, at least for now, was safe in light of her husband losing his. But a worry did present itself to Aidy. ‘I so hope Bert gets set on with something before you have to stop work yourself, with the new baby.’