The Loner (21 page)

Stronger of heart, he returned to where Joseph was waiting. ‘I’m ready to go home now, Dad,’ he said quietly, and that’s what they did.

He had plans, though. ‘I’ll go and have a word with the authorities and see what they have on their files. You never know, there might be a clue as to where he could be.’

Joseph was visibly relieved. ‘I’m glad you’re thinking that way, and not taking off again,’ he commented. ‘Matter o’ fact, if you were to go out looking for the lad, he might well make his way back, just as you have done, and then you won’t be here to welcome him home.’

‘So, I’ll stay awhile… if you’ll have me?’

Joseph put up his hands in horror. ‘We’ll have none of that!’ he assured him. ‘This is your home for as long as you want it – Davie’s too.’

‘I think you’re right when you say Davie will be back.’ Don had convinced himself of it. ‘I’ll get a job. I’ll work hard, and save all I can. I’ll give myself time to breathe, and if Davie still hasn’t come home, I’ll go after him. Meanwhile, I’ll build a new life for all of us. What d’you say to that?’

Joseph laughed out loud. ‘I say that’s bloody wonderful!’

At long last the awful loneliness was over, and with two of them praying for Davie’s return, who knew? Yes! With Don’s homecoming, the old man really felt as though he had turned the corner.

Sadly, Rita was gone. But Don was here, and now Joseph was convinced that Davie would not be far behind. ‘I reckon we should celebrate!’

With that he scurried off to the corner shop, in search of ‘summat to warm the cockles’!

‘You get on with what you’re doing.’ Beth feigned indignation. ‘Me and the mutt enjoy our morning song.’

‘Huh!’ Tom spoke directly to the horse, which seemed oblivious to everything but the juicy hay hanging from its teeth. ‘‘‘Morning song’’ is it?’ He sniggered. ‘More like the sound of all hell let loose, if you ask me!’

Through her bedroom window, Judy heard it all. Scrambling out of bed, she went to the window, opened it and called down, ‘Who’s being murdered?’

‘What d’you mean?’ Beth looked up. ‘You’re as bad as your father. No sense of music at all, the pair of you.’ Collecting a bedsheet out of the basket, she put two pegs between her lips and at once order was restored; the screeching stopped and the dog rolled over at her feet in a fit of exhaustion.

‘Thank God for that.’ Tom was greatly relieved.

‘You’d miss me if I wasn’t hereto sing you a lullaby.’ Taking the pegs out of her mouth, Beth used them to secure the sheet to the clothes-line.

‘Don’t count on it,’ he replied, though he felt a shiver of fear at the idea of her not being around. He had wooed Beth when they were both in their late teens, and they’d been together ever since. The thought that there might come a day when she wasn’t at his side, was unthinkable.

‘Your breakfast will be ready in ten minutes.’ Taking up the clothes prop, she lifted the washing-line to catch the breeze.

‘Any chance of an extra slice o’ bacon this morning?’ Tom peered out of the stable to see her going across the yard, a plump figure with a few strands of grey in her hair, but a pretty thing all the same.

‘No chance at all,’ she replied. ‘You’ll get one slice and think yourself lucky.’

Having witnessed the conversation, Judy dashed downstairs and promptly threw another couple of slices into the frying-pan. She knew all too well how her parents loved to tease each other.

Having left her clothes-basket by the back door, Beth came into the kitchen to check on the breakfast cooking. ‘Morning, lass.’ As always, her smile was bright and cheerful. ‘You’re up early for a Saturday.’ Glancing at the wall clock, she noted it was still only eight-thirty. ‘Couldn’t sleep, eh?’

‘No, Mam.’ The girl tried hard to keep a straight face. ‘I had this terrible nightmare.’

‘Aw, pet.’ Beth was quickly across the room, her chubby arms outstretched to give her daughter a hug. ‘Bad, was it?’

‘Oh, Mam, it was just awful.’ Keeping her composure, Judy returned her mother’s embrace. ‘There was this noise … a kind of unearthly wailing. I thought the devil himself was after me.’

And then she was laughing, and her mother too. ‘You little sod, you!’ Thrusting her away, Beth chided, ‘You and your father have no appreciation of a good voice.’ With that she grabbed the kettle, filled it with water and put it on the gas ring. ‘Your dad wants a couple more slices of bacon.’

‘Already done.’ Judy scooped out the slices, along with four plump sausages, from the frying pan and transferred them to a dish that she placed under the low-lit grill. She then cracked the shells of four eggs, which were soon sizzling and spitting in the pan, while her mother washed her hands and made a start on the bread and butter.

A few minutes later, the table was laid; Tom’s plate was dressed with two plump sausages, two slices of crispy bacon, and two eggs with swollen yolks ready for bursting. The remainder was shared equally between Beth and Judy.

‘By!’ Tom walked in just as the tea was being poured. ‘Now,
there’s
a sight to win a man’s heart.’

‘Is that the bacon, or me?’ Beth asked with a mischievous grin.

‘Both,’ came the immediate reply. Then: ‘Though if I was made to choose, I reckon the bacon would win every time.’

Judy shook her head. ‘You two!’ she laughed. ‘You get worse.’ No one in the whole wide world could ever know how much she loved them.

Over breakfast, they talked of this and that and Beth told her husband how Judy had fooled her. ‘Said she had a terrible nightmare,’ she tutted, ‘and all the while she was taking the mickey out of my singing.’

‘Oh, she heard it then?’

‘Said it were like the divil himself was after her.’

‘I know just how she feels.’ Tom gave his daughter a sideways wink. ‘Did you know that when your mam starts with the wailing an’ screaming, you can actually hear the wild creatures run for cover?’

‘Hey!’ Beth warned him. ‘You got your two slices o’ bacon today, but I wouldn’t count on ’em tomorrow, if I were you!’

‘Oh, and why’s that?’

‘Because it’s Sunday, and I’ve promised myself a lie-in.’

‘What!’ Tom was wide-eyed. ‘That’ll be the day. I’ve never known you have a lie-in through all the years we’ve been wed.’

‘That’s what I mean,’ she retorted. ‘So, like I say, you’ll have to get your own breakfast, because it’s time I gave myself a little treat … wouldn’t you say, Judy?’

He caught her giving Judy a sly secret grin. ‘Up to your old tricks again, are you?’ he chided. ‘If you’re not careful, I’ll turn you over my knee and slap your bottom!’

‘Promises, promises. You’ll be asking me to marry you next.’ The kitchen was in uproar as father and daughter laughed at Beth’s hilarious attempt to feign the shy maiden.

Afterwards, tucking heartily into their breakfasts, Tom asked Judy, ‘How are you getting on at work, now you’ve been promoted?’

‘I’m really enjoying it,’ she answered. ‘When I first started I was only allowed to show people in and out and take them to the fitting room … oh, and I got to work at the till that day Mrs Gregory was ill. But I was never trusted with anything too responsible.’

‘And now she trusts you with all manner of things, isn’t that right?’ Beth was proud of her daughter’s humble achievements.

‘That’s right.’ Judy’s excitement shone through. ‘I get regular hours at the till, and help advise the customers while they’re trying things on. Miss Maitland, the vicar’s daughter, she told Mrs Gregory that I was an asset to her, and that she values my opinion because I seem to know what suits her best.’

‘Good grief!’ Beth was astounded. ‘It’s well-known what a difficult woman Miss Maitland is. I’m surprised she even noticed you.’

‘Well, she did, and now Mrs Gregory lets me help her do all the things I’ve never been allowed to touch before. I get to dress the window with the new stock, and she’s trained me up to create displays inside – and oh, we’ve just taken delivery of two new dummies. They have arms and legs that move, and Mrs Gregory lets me put them in any position I want.’

Tom burst out laughing. ‘Is that so?’ he said. ‘It’s just as well your mam isn’t let loose on ’em, then ’cause she’d have the poor things standing on their heads, showing their knickers and all sorts!’

Beth chuckled at that, because it was true. She
was
ham-fisted, had no sense of style and she wasn’t ashamed to admit it.

‘Some time over the next month or so, Mrs Gregory is taking me to a trade show in London,’ Judy went on. She had never spent a night away from home before, and the prospect of being taken to London had thrilled her. She knew her parents would take a little time to get used to the idea, so had waited until now before bringing up the subject.

Tom and Beth were delighted at the news, but worried all the same. ‘London, eh?’ Never having been to the big city, Beth imagined all kinds of horrors. ‘How are you getting there?’

‘We’re going on the train.’

‘And what happens at a trade show?’ All Tom knew was farming and delivering milk.

Judy recalled what Mrs Gregory had told her. ‘There’ll be all the fashion people showing off their new designs and such, and all the buyers will be looking to takeaway samples or place orders. Mrs Gregory says if you don’t keep up with the new fashions, you’ll fall behind, and the customers will go elsewhere.’

‘Important stuff then, eh?’ Tom was impressed with the way his daughter was getting on.

‘I’ll pack you some sandwiches for the journey,’ Beth announced with authority. ‘We can’t have you going hungry, now can we?’

‘I won’t go hungry, Mam.’ Judy imparted her other bit of news. ‘Mrs Gregory says she’s taking me somewhere posh for lunch.’

‘Ooh! Posh now, is it?’ Beth’s eyes opened like saucepan lids. ‘By! It sounds like she’s giving you the full treatment, lass.’

‘You know what?’ Tom was that proud. ‘The way things are going, I reckon your Mrs Gregory sees you as a future partner. I mean, you’re enthusiastic, and willing to learn, and there’s nothing you won’t take on. She could search the world over and she’d not do better than you.’

The girl’s face broke into the widest smile. ‘A partner? D’you really think so, Dad?’

‘Well, she seems to have taken a shine to you, that’s for sure. So, let’s look at the facts.’ He put his thinking cap on. ‘We all know she’s coming up to a certain age; her husband got killed on the railways some years back and as far as we know, they had no children. According to that nosy old bugger, Mavis Taylor, who cleans the surgery, Mrs Gregory is in to see the doctor almost every week for this and that.’

Beth reprimanded him. ‘That’s none of our business, Tom, and I’ll thank you not to discuss other folk’s problems.’

‘All right, all right, I’m sorry. But it’s only the truth. Look now, she’s already taken our Judy on because she couldn’t manage on her own any more, and here she is, taking her to London, to the very heart of her business, and offering to treat her to a slap-up lunch.’

He now addressed himself to Judy. ‘I didn’t mean to be disrespectful to Mrs Gregory, but you do see what I’m saying, don’t you, lass? She obviously sees you as someone she can trust. So, that said and done, she must be thinking along the same lines as I’ve said – training you up – and happen, if you meet with her expectations, she just might consider making you a partner at some time in the future.’

But the girl wasn’t comfortable with her father’s speculation. He was going much too fast for her. ‘You’re wrong, Dad. Mrs Gregory is not thinking of taking me on as a partner.’

‘But why wouldn’t she?’ Tom was reluctant to relinquish the idea.

‘She just wouldn’t, that’s all. She’s very proud of what she’s achieved, and she isn’t about to share it with anyone – especially a girl not yet seventeen. She’s just training me, that’s all. She knows I love what I do, and she’s showing me how it all works, so I can be even better at my job.’

Tom would not be dissuaded. ‘Say what you like,’ he told her with a wink, ‘but you mark my words, lass, one o’ these days – happen it’ll be next month and happen it’ll be some years from now – when she feels the need to take a back seat, I’ve a feeling your boss will be looking at you to take over the reins.’

Afraid to tempt providence and worried that she might soon be given her cards and sent on her way, Judy refused to discuss it further.

‘I was thinking of going round to see Joe in a while,’ she said instead. ‘Unless you need me for anything, Mam?’

The past six months had gone by so quickly, she thought. Don was working for an antiques showroom and workshop that had been set up adjacent to the auction rooms in town. Here, he repaired furniture and used his carpentry skills to wonderful effect. Working with wood again, in this environment, was like starting all over again, he had told Tom. But it wouldn’t bring back Rita, nor his boy.

Beth gave her a reassuring smile. ‘No, lass, there’s nothing that won’t keep. You go ahead and give Joseph our regards. In fact, he’s very welcome to join us for dinner tonight, if he wants – Don too.’ She paused, her mind going back a few months to when Don had turned up out of the blue. ‘It’s wonderful that Don is back,’ she said. ‘It seems to have given old Joe a new surge of life.’

As Beth sighed, thinking of it, Tom broke into her reverie. ‘Aye, it’s made a world of difference to the old fella, but he still hasn’t been persuaded to get back into the darts team. Look here, our Judy, you tell Joe that we’re choosing the new darts team down at the Corporation pub on Wednesday. Say we’re in need of a good player and there’s none better than his good self.’

‘I thought he gave that up some years back,’

Beth recalled. ‘Didn’t he say as how staring at the board made his eyes sore?’

‘That’s what he said, right enough, lass. But I reckon it were more a sore heart than sore eyes. Ask him all the same,’ he reminded his daughter. ‘Joseph is still the best player we ever had. You tell him that, lass, will you?’

‘’Course I will.’ Judy took the dirty crockery to the sink, where she scraped the few leftover scraps into the special bowl: a treat for the pigs later on.