The Oyster Catchers (23 page)

Eline hesitated, her hands clenched into small fists, torn between joy and despair. Why couldn’t he leave her alone and stop torturing them both in this way?

‘Who is it?’ She scarcely recognized her own voice and then the door was opening and he was there, so much more handsome, so much more dear than in her imagining.

‘Will, Mr Davies, what can I do for you?’ She forced herself to speak formally, as though he was a stranger. He paused, looking down at her, and then he had entered the room and was holding her arms almost roughly.

‘Don’t shut me out like that,’ he said in a quiet anger. ‘I don’t deserve that from you.’ He sighed, released her and thrust his hands into his pockets, while Eline closed the door. There was no point in letting everyone in the building know her business.

‘I shouldn’t have let you go like that,’ Will said. ‘When you came to my shop to fetch Gwyneth Parks I could see how upset you were. Don’t you think I needed to know what was wrong?’

Eline stared at him steadily, resisting the urge to accuse him of paying too much attention to Gwyneth Parks. It really was not her business to interfere, Will
must make his life elsewhere; he had no future with Eline that was sure.

‘It’s kind of you to worry,’ she said sitting down and clasping her hands in her lap, ‘I
was
upset.’ She shrugged. ‘But who wouldn’t be? It wasn’t pleasant seeing Nina so ill and Joe, my husband,’ she smiled wryly, ‘sick with worry. Perhaps I’m a coward but I just had to get out of there.’

‘No woman could be expected to cope with a situation like that,’ Will said reasonably, ‘no one could blame you for leaving.’ He looked down at her but didn’t touch her.

‘I don’t understand why you went to see
him
in the first place. There was really no need for you to go back to Oystermouth at all, was there?’

There was a reproof in his words and Eline spoke up defensively. ‘Whatever he’s done, Joe is still my husband, I had to make sure he was all right.’ When Will didn’t reply she rushed on. ‘I’ve known Joe ever since I was a child, he was always there for me, a strong presence when everything else had gone and Joe loved me, still loves me come to that.’

‘Why did you make way for another woman then?’ Will asked sharply. ‘Why didn’t you fight for what was yours?’

Eline felt a pain deep within her but she would not show Will how much his words hurt her.

‘I think that is my business,’ she said coldly, ‘I don’t have to make any excuses to you.’

‘You’re right,’ he said and moved towards the door. ‘I’m sorry I bothered you, I see it was a mistake.’

Her voice stopped him. ‘Will,’ she said softly and when he turned to look at her she held her hands up in despair. ‘There’s no future for us, can’t you see that? Go on and live your own life because I’ll never be free of Joe, never.’

Without a word, Will went out and closed the door.
After a moment, Eline moved to the table and stared down at her drawings determined to work. But the patterns swam before her eyes and her brain could think of nothing but Will and at last, Eline collapsed into a chair and, covering her eyes with her hands, gave herself up to despair.

Emily was in the nursery, having just settled Pammy down for the night, when she heard a commotion in the hallway. She moved out on to the landing, her skirts swirling around her slippered feet, her heart thumping so loudly she thought it would burst through her flesh.

‘I have every right to be here, I’m your daughter after all.’ The voice was raised an octave. ‘And you’ve got my baby or have you forgotten that?’

‘Sarah!’ Emily felt the blood draining from her face, she clung to the ornate banister and stared down at the girl standing with her hands on hips, her eyes staring upwards in what appeared to be fiendish delight.

John caught Sarah’s arm and hustled her into the sitting room while Emily hurried down the stairs to join them. What could it mean? Surely Sarah wasn’t coming to claim Pammy after all this time? It couldn’t be, the little girl was Emily’s life, she had brought her up from the day she was born, loved her as though she had carried her herself. Sarah had abandoned her child, she couldn’t want her back now.

None of the turmoil Emily was feeling showed itself in her voice when she greeted her step-daughter. ‘So, you’ve come back to Swansea, Sarah, do you think that was wise?’

‘It’s my home,’ Sarah answered petulantly, ‘you’ve no right to keep me out of it.’

‘I have every right to call the police and have you arrested, madam!’ Emily said sharply, aware that John was looking at her beseechingly but she did not soften her tone. Sarah might be John’s daughter but she was a
disruptive influence, a wicked girl who would stop at nothing to get her own way.

‘You haven’t forgotten that you and your boyfriend abducted Hari Grenfell’s child and held him for ransom, almost getting yourself killed into the bargain, have you? Because you can be sure none of us have forgotten and never will.’

Sarah subsided into a chair and Emily sat down opposite her. ‘You were lucky that Craig Grenfell saved you and your precious Sam from the explosion. Lucky, too, that you were quick enough to get away from here before you faced prosecution for your crime.’

Sarah didn’t answer but stared moodily down at her hands.

‘I suppose Sam Payton has at last run out on you,’ Emily said cruelly. ‘You didn’t expect a man like that to stay faithful, did you?’

Sarah glared at her for a moment and then smiled. ‘I give Sam the push, so there, and anyway, I got fed up of living in Port Eynon, one-eyed hole that it is. I’ve got a new boyfriend now, Tom Parks is handsome and honest and he was good enough to bring me back to Swansea with him.’

‘Port Eynon?’ Emily was incredulous, she had believed that Sarah would have fled abroad or at least to England. Who would have though she would be hiding away in a small seaside village not more than sixteen miles from Swansea?

‘Well,’ Emily tried to compose herself, ‘what do you expect of us now, madam? Why shouldn’t we turn you over to the police constable right away?’

‘Now then, Emily,’ John intervened, ‘I think Sarah has suffered enough and it was Sam Payton who instigated that whole thing, you know.’

Emily was momentarily irritated by her husband’s blindness. Couldn’t he see his daughter was a bad lot and that nothing would change her?

‘I only want a job,’ Sarah said coaxingly, looking up at her father, ‘and somewhere to live.’ She glanced at Emily slyly. ‘I won’t interfere with the way you bring up
my
baby, honest.’

Emily forced down the feeling of anger and sickness that threatened to engulf her. ‘Well, you are not living here!’ she said positively. Sarah had manipulated her once before, forcing herself on Emily and John, disrupting their lives and Emily wasn’t going to have that again.

‘You can stay at the emporium for the time being at least,’ she said, ‘and if you don’t like it there, you can get out of my life and stay out, understand?’

Emily turned to John. ‘Take your daughter down to town and let her share Eline’s rooms for now. We’ll talk more about it in the morning.’ Her voice brooked no refusal and John, after a moment, nodded.

‘Come on, Sarah, you’ll be comfortable enough and we can talk everything out when we are all much calmer.’

Emily clasped her hands together aware they were trembling. ‘And Sarah,’ she said firmly, ‘try not to upset my staff too much.’

She stood rigidly still until she heard the door close behind John and his daughter and then Emily sank into a chair and sighed with relief. She had got rid of Sarah for the moment but what sort of havoc was the girl going to cause this time?

Emily chewed her lip, thinking about Hari and Craig. What would their reaction be when they knew that Sarah was back in Swansea? Would they wish to prosecute the girl for her part in the abduction of their son? If so, she couldn’t blame them. And in a small corner of her heart, Emily wished it would work out that way, because with Sarah imprisoned, her own worries and fears would be over.

Emily went upstairs and stared down at the little girl she had come to think of as her own, the child she had
taken into her arms at birth when her mother had rejected her so brutally.

‘Don’t worry, Pammy,’ she whispered, ‘I won’t let anything happen to you.’

Eline was not happy with the arrangement, not happy at all. From the first moment she had met Sarah Miller she had disliked the girl and now, a week after that first introduction, her dislike had hardened into a feeling of contempt.

Sarah made no secret of her past, she even boasted about her many conquests and it seemed that she was leading poor Tom Parks around like a bull with a ring through its nose.

Sarah did very little work but worse she disrupted Eline when she wanted to sit over her drawings and had ruined the precious sanctuary in the little suite of rooms above the emporium. The only respite Eline had was when Sarah went out walking with Tom and often returned smelling of gin. Eline didn’t think of herself as a prude but it was clear that Sarah held virtue very lightly indeed.

Then one night, Eline was awakened by the sound of laughter and loud voices and startled, she sat up in bed, staring around her, feeling for a moment disorientated. Her eyes grew accustomed to the dark and she pushed back her heavy plaits of hair, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

Another shriek of laughter from the direction of Sarah’s room brought a feeling of anger rushing over Eline. She slid out of bed and drew on her robe, tying it firmly around her waist with sharp movements of her fingers.

She crossed the small hallway and knocked on the door but it was not latched and swung open at her touch. The scene before her was one of complete abandonment and Eline recoiled in embarrassed fury. There on the bed with her stays undone and her legs wrapped
around the naked body of a red-faced Tom Parks was Sarah.

She was not at all abashed when she saw Eline but shrieked with laughter once more, her head flung back, her hair loose around her white shoulders.

‘Come in, Miss Poe Face,’ she laughed, ‘you might learn a bit about real life and how a woman keeps her man interested!’

Eline started to close the door but Sarah’s voice continued remorselessly. ‘Lost your husband to Tom’s mam, I hear, what a scream! But then there’s no red blood in your veins from what I hear, you’re so cold and barren that no man would want you anyway!’

Eline returned to her room and sank down on to the bed, her whole body trembling. Was there any truth in Sarah’s words? Was Eline cold and barren? The accusations had stung and Eline climbed into bed, her robe still wrapped around her because, suddenly, she was shivering.

The sun was shining the next morning but the brightness of the day did nothing to dispel Eline’s feelings of dejection. One thing she knew, she could not continue to live in the same building as Sarah Miller.

‘Thank heavens it’s my day off!’ Eline said aloud. It would be good to get outdoors into the freshness of the day, to walk beside the sweetly rolling tide that crept into the crescent of Swansea Harbour. Eline would forget work, forget the emptiness of her marriage and forget the hurtful words spoken in derision by a woman little better than a whore. Bur first she must speak to Mrs Miller.

Emily was entirely sympathetic; she welcomed Eline into her sitting room as though she was an honoured guest and instructed the maid to bring some cordial. When they were alone, she turned to Eline and there was a patient smile on her handsome face.

‘I know it is a difficult situation and I intended it only
to be a temporary solution,’ she said at once when Eline complained as politely as she could about Sarah’s disruptive presence in the emporium. ‘Indeed,’ Emily added, ‘I have taken the precaution of finding my step-daughter some lodgings with a Mrs Marsh, a very respectable landlady, living a little way out of Swansea.’

Her tone implied that the further away the better. ‘You are a hard-working girl, Eline,’ Emily continued, ‘a special sort of person just as Hari Grenfell was when I first met her.’ She smiled ruefully. ‘I didn’t treat Hari’s talent with enough respect – that’s a mistake I don’t intend to make with you.

‘Mrs Marsh’s boarding house?’ Eline repeated. ‘Isn’t that where, Will, Mr Davies, lodges?’

‘You are right, I never thought of that,’ Emily said, ‘but I think he’ll steer well clear of her type these days.’

Emily Miller smiled, speaking again before Eline had time to ponder on her words. ‘I believe Sarah’s new follower lives in the vicinity, perhaps his attentions will be enough to keep her occupied for most of the time. Who knows, this Tom may even marry her one day.’ Her tone indicated that it would be a great relief to have Sarah safely off her hands.

Emily rose from her chair and Eline knew that the meeting was over. Outside, Eline began to walk towards the bay thinking how peaceful her life would be with Sarah out of the way. Oystermouth would suffer from Sarah’s disruptive presence but Eline could not see the villagers putting up with any nonsense from her.

She pushed a curl of hair from her forehead. Poor Will, he would not appreciate the loudness of a woman like Sarah under the same roof as him but, by all accounts, Mrs Marsh would be a strict landlady and would keep Sarah in check.

It was warm on the edge of the sand with the coarse grass shooting between the golden grains like pointing fingers reaching for the sky. Out in the bay, small ships
bobbed on the restless waters but not oyster skiffs, they would be beached for another few weeks yet before the season began again.

Eline seated herself on a flat piece of stone and felt the warm breeze fan her cheeks with an almost sensuous pleasure. As she lay there self-indulgently, she was struck by the idea that perhaps she was being foolish in remaining faithful to her husband while Joe was so obviously unfaithful to her.

Perhaps she should allow herself to yield to Will’s embraces; she knew she loved him so could it be wrong? She wanted to prove to herself that the harsh words spoken by Sarah were untrue. Eline was not cold, she was a woman with hot blood singing in her veins and she wanted Will with more passion than she could begin to express.