The Boy with the Suitcase, page 14
‘I did – I do,’ Davey admitted reluctantly. ‘One day – but not yet. I like what we do, how we live here.’ It was an idyllic life at times, especially when the sun was warm and his bare arms and legs went brown in its rays, freckling across his face and turning the ends of his hair a dark blond. He was growing up too, into a leggy thin boy with wide, inquiring eyes and a thirst for knowledge that Bert did his best to quench with all his tales of life at sea and here in Canada.
‘Yeah, me too.’ Bert looked up at the sky. ‘I reckon a squall’s comin’ out there.’ He looked towards the inlet and the wider ocean they could just see from here, which was shrouded in a thickening mist.
Davey was happy most of the time, though at night his thoughts would go to Alice and he’d wonder if she was all right. Had she got used to being without him now? Had she forgotten him? Davey hadn’t forgotten his promise to look after her, but he was far from anywhere and the only news from England came to them when Albert visited. So he contented himself with learning all he could and helping out the man who was so kind to him. One day he would go home and look for Alice but for now he must stay here.
The long summer had been gorgeous, working and playing in the sun, but now snow fell and winds from the north-east that Bert called nor’easters blew hard and it was cold at night in the shack, despite the furs they piled on their mattresses and the big fire Bert kept burning in his trusty old range. But it was a good life and if he’d Alice with him he might have thought he was better off here than at home.
Albert came to visit every three to four weeks with his heavy sack filled with provisions over his shoulder to make certain they were coping and bring the luxuries they both looked forward to, but there was never any definite time when they knew he would come. Why was that? He asked Bert now.
‘Because the sea is unpredictable,’ Bert said, ‘and you can never guarantee when you’ll get back to your home port. Come on, lad. I caught some fresh fish for our tea tonight and they’re just about smoked. We’ll eat and then batten down the hatches just in case the storm comes inland. It can be fierce at times.’
Davey nodded and followed him to their cooking fire where the fish were on a spit over the smoking wood. They tasted amazing that way – salty and smoky – and they pulled the tender flesh off with their fingers. Davey smiled at Bert as he wiped his finger on his shirt. His friend made him take a bath once a week and their clothes were washed then, too, but Bert wasn’t all the while fussing over keeping them clean like his mother. He said there was no way they could live like that out here and it suited Davey just fine. Left to himself he would probably not have bothered to wash or cut his hair, but Bert lopped his hair when it got too long and put his head under a jug of cold water if he didn’t wash it in his bath so he didn’t neglect that too often. Bert didn’t fuss but his rules had to be respected or he could heft a heavy clout behind Davey’s ear that near fetched him over.
Not that Davey deliberately disobeyed him. Right from the start there had been mutual respect and now he’d come to care for the old man like the grandfather he didn’t remember. Dad’s father had been dead before he was born, and Mum’s father was seldom mentioned. Davey had asked Gran about him once but she’d shaken her head.
‘Just as well you never knew him, Davey. He wasn’t a nice man to live with, unlike your dad who is a good man. Just be glad you’ve got him to look up to.’
Davey missed his father. He lay awake at night sometimes, wondering where Dad was and what he was doing. He thought about his mother and Gran but supposed his grandmother had passed on by now. Where was his mother and what was she doing? Had she fetched Alice home? No, she wouldn’t have, Davey realised, because the bombs were falling on London. Albert had told them that on one of his visits. He’d brought a newspaper with pictures so that they could see what was going on. People had been killed and injured so it was a good thing Alice was safe in the country. Perhaps Mum had gone down to be with her. Davey hoped so because she’d be safe there. He wanted her to be safe, even though she’d sent him away.
Albert had brought them news each time he came. He’d told both of them, because he said it was best that Davey knew the truth.
‘There’s no use in you worrying about your family,’ he’d told Davey, ‘because you can’t do anything, and you couldn’t even if you were there. If your ma has any sense, she’ll get out of London and head to that farm where your sister is living.’
‘Yeah. Let’s ’ope so,’ Davey had replied with a shrug. He cared what happened to his mother, but it was so far away, and he couldn’t picture what it must be like, despite the English newspaper with pictures that Albert had brought. ‘Flames lit the night sky’ the headlines proclaimed, but there was no mention of Silver Terrace so it didn’t worry Davey too much, because it was surely factories and stuff like that the enemy planes were after. He saw Bert shake his head over it and look sad.
‘Why will they do it?’ he asked of no one but himself. ‘You’d have thought they would learn. Just look at the last time. As if enough didn’t die back then!’
Davey had learned about the First World War at school so he knew what Bert meant and asked no questions. Albert had told him that his father had been on merchant ships during the last great war.
‘He always says it was better than being in the army, especially back then,’ Albert had told him. ‘But I think he had a couple of narrow escapes – don’t ask him, though, because he won’t talk about it.’
After Albert left the last time, Bert said to him, ‘I’ve been thinking, mebbe it’s time we tried to get a message to your ma. If you want to write her a letter – and one for your sister too – Albert will see they are sent next time he comes.’
So, Davey had written his letters – one for his father too – and now they waited for Albert.
CHAPTER 14
Rose’s leg was nearly back to normal. She’d missed her home more than she’d expected when she was in hospital, missed the peace and quiet and the independence she’d had, and it didn’t seem a bit lonely on her own as she’d thought it might after the bustle of the wards. Not that she was on her own that much. Neighbours kept popping round with meals they’d cooked and saved a plate for her and Harry Smith called twice a week to ask how she was and whether she was ready for work, and Dora had popped in for two minutes but couldn’t stop, because Sally was worse again.
‘So will you fetch your Alice home when it is over?’ Rose had asked Dora. ‘You must miss her, love? I know I would if she were mine.’
Seeing the flash of annoyance in Dora’s eyes, Rose knew that even the mild censure in her voice had upset her friend, but she wasn’t sorry. Her opinion of Dora had dipped these past months. Letting those lovely kids be sent away and then taking up with that Mick George. It wasn’t right and Rose would have let her have a mouthful if she hadn’t been afraid that she’d never see Alice again if she did. Surely, Dora must miss her kids? She hadn’t been a bad mother, just a careless one sometimes.
‘Why do you have to remind me, Rose?’ Dora asked and there were tears in her eyes. ‘If you must know, I wish they were both here – especially Davey. I know where Alice is and I can fetch her home when it’s safe, but my poor boy is lost, and I think he must be dead.’
‘You can’t know that.’ Rose tried to reassure her, sorry now that she’d upset her. Dora had a lot to cope with these days. ‘Your Davey isn’t the sort to fall overboard. I reckon he just ran off because he didn’t like the look of the folk that came for him.’
A spark of hope appeared in Dora’s eyes. ‘Do you really think so, Rose? His father said he didn’t believe Davey would fall over the side of the ship either, but supposing someone pushed him in?’
‘Why would anyone do that to Davey? He’s a good lad. They’d be more likely to have taken a fancy to him and carried him off with them,’ Rose said and then, seeing the alarm in Dora’s eyes, added, ‘I didn’t mean for any wrong purposes, but because he’s a clever, lovely lad. I reckon he’s somewhere having the time of his life and one day he’ll come back and tell you all about it, love.’
‘Oh Rose, you’re a good friend,’ Dora said and rushed to hug her. ‘I’m sorry I haven’t been a better friend to you when you needed help.’
‘Nah, don’t worry, Dora. I ’ad plenty of ’elp.’
‘I’ll make it up to you,’ Dora said eagerly. ‘When Ma has gone – and it won’t be long – we’ll go and visit Alice together. Have a nice day out and then we’ll bring her home and she can spend some time at yours. Maybe we could work it so you’re home when I’m at work and the other way around?’ Dora was arranging things to suit herself but it would suit Rose too.
Rose gave her a warm hug and smiled. ‘Dora, you can be a lovely person when yer want and I’d love to ’ave a day in the country wiv you and Alice.’
‘That’s what we’ll do,’ Dora promised. ‘But I have to go – it can’t be long now and I daren’t leave Ma for more than a minute or two.’
She tore herself away and stopped at the door to look back and wave. ‘We’re still friends, aren’t we?’
‘Course we are, you daft thing,’ Rose said and chuckled as Dora looked relieved before she went out. Dora could be both selfish and careless but you couldn’t help loving her all the same – and those kids, well, they were a joy, the pair of them, and she just hoped she was right and Davey was having a good life, wherever he was.
So that was it. All over at last. Dora sat on the side of the bed and looked at her mother’s peaceful face. Sally had passed away in her sleep and never made a murmur. After all the sleepless nights and the worry, pain and frustration, she’d slipped away without saying goodbye and Dora felt guilty. She hadn’t been with her that night because Mick had called round and he’d stayed over.
Sally had been sleeping when Mick arrived and the woman who sat with her for a few hours each day had gone home. Dora had meant to sit with her all night but Mick wanted her to be with him and so she slept beside him until he left in the early hours. She’d gone to Sally’s room then and found her, pale and still and out of her misery at last. Had she cried out or opened her eyes and looked for Dora in the night? If she had, Dora hadn’t heard her and there was no sign of the sickness that had so often plagued her in these past months.
The sound of an explosion in the distance made Dora start. Was it a daylight raid? They were getting bombing raids most nights now but, so far, she and her neighbours had been lucky. A lot of folk went down the underground at night or took shelter in the dugouts in their back gardens but Dora reckoned she’d be just as safe under the stairs or the kitchen table. Besides, the bombs were not falling near her home. The noise had come from somewhere near the docks and might well have been caused by a fractured gas main. It was the damage done to the gas mains that caused a lot of the destruction and set off the fires that were terrorising people, and they could suddenly go off hours after the raid had ceased.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said and bent to kiss her mother’s cold face. ‘I hope you went peacefully. I never heard …’
Sighing, Dora returned to her own bedroom and made herself look decent and then went next door to ask her neighbour to pop down and ask the doctor to come. After he’d certified her mother’s death, she would ask the woman who did the laying out to call. She’d help Molly Briggs when she came but couldn’t face doing it alone. Molly was used to it and would do all that was necessary – and she was so down to earth that it would stop Dora fretting when there was no earthly use in crying and making a fuss now. Sally was gone and it was a mercy to see her peaceful. It might have been better had she gone weeks ago, though, and been saved a lot of suffering.
Her mind started to think of what she had to do now – Sally’s funeral, and a bit of a tea for her friends as well as registering the death – and then she might at last have time to visit Alice at the farm. Dora felt guilty over the neglect of her daughter. No wonder Rose had that tone in her voice. But it was good that Alice was safe in the country – thank goodness she had sent her! For months she’d felt bad about it, but now her actions were justified, though she ought to have visited somehow.
Life was worrying these days. People were being killed here in London and others were losing their homes. The sound of sirens in the night were frightening and those people who left their houses and rushed to the underground stations or the nearest air raid shelter were terrified. Dora’s neighbour had an Anderson shelter and he’d offered to get one for her, but it cost money and she hadn’t bothered. Mick had pointed out that she couldn’t get her mother into the shelter anyway.
‘You couldn’t move her, Dora, love,’ he’d told her. ‘So you might just as well get under yer kitchen table. That will be as much good as that thing they’ve got next door, I promise you.’ Dora hadn’t needed much convincing. She’d been in an Anderson once and found it damp, cold and stuffy.
Sally’s condition was the main reason Dora hadn’t run to the underground or bothered with a dugout in her garden. There was no way she was going to abandon her mother and run for safety herself, so why bother? If they went up in a puff of smoke, they’d go together.
Mick said if a bomb had your name on it, it would get you wherever you were and Dora thought he was probably right, because people had been killed in the shelters when there was a direct hit. She listened to the wireless and heard the reports about how the battle for Britain was being fought in the air – all them brave young men risking their lives to stop the bombs. Mick said they weren’t making much of a job of it if the amount of damage in London was anything to go by, but he was quick to complain, even though he did nothing but make money where he could.
Dora had learned more than she wanted to know about Mick’s business and the things he did to make money out of the war. She didn’t like a lot of what she heard but she’d learned to hide her feelings. Mick looked after her, but at times, she wished she’d never let him into her home. Yes, he’d taken care of her and Sally these past months, but she’d managed before he took over. Now, she felt he would make a bad enemy.
Dora knew the die was cast. Dave would never take her back now and Mick loved her. He couldn’t do enough for her, but at times she looked at herself in the mirror and hated who she saw. How had she come to this – the kept woman of a criminal? Dave had thought Mick was small-time, but he had his fingers in a lot of pies these days and his wallet was bulging. He’d told her that after the war was over, he intended to buy a big house for her and the kids away from the East End.
‘We’ll have everything,’ he’d told her more than once. ‘You’re mine now, Dora. I’ll look after you – but don’t you let me down. I wouldn’t like that and I wouldn’t just walk away like that husband of yours.’
Dora had felt a shiver at her nape when Mick had said that, but he needn’t have worried. She was too scared of being on her own to try anything. Now that her mother had gone, she felt suddenly lonely. Tears filled her eyes as she tried to carry on and then, suddenly, she was weeping.
After a while, she pulled herself together. No use in crying over spilled milk. Dora had made her own choices and she just had to live with them.
CHAPTER 15
Annie Greene looked at the letter she’d written and sighed. She’d done something she’d never wanted to do but she didn’t have much choice. After what the doctors had told her at the hospital, the evacuee children were going to have to move on. It broke her heart to have to write the letters that would see them taken to new homes or back to their parents – what mother would want her child back in war-torn London?
Annie knew that it would cause her real grief to part with the two little girls, especially Alice. That child had become special to her; she wasn’t sure why exactly, but there was just something about her. Add the fact that her mother seemed to have abandoned her, and it tore her heartstrings. No letters since the first and no visits.
‘Nearly done, love?’ Annie’s husband said, entering the kitchen, a worried look in his eyes. ‘It’s time we left for the hospital.’
‘Yes, I know …’ Annie sealed her final envelope. ‘You will see these letters get posted, Bob?’
‘Yes, of course I will, Annie, love. You’re not to worry about anything. Jack Saunders’ wife is coming in to cook and clean while you have the operation and rest in hospital. We’ll manage fine for a few weeks.’
‘I’m thinking of those poor little children,’ Annie said, tears filling her eyes. ‘You can’t look after them, Bob. It means they will have to go away – back home or to another family that will take them on.’
‘Yes,’ he agreed, because even if he could manage a few weeks on his own, Annie needed to take things easy when she got home after the operation. ‘But some of the boys want to go back to London and the others – well, it isn’t our fault. We’ve done our best for them and we might have them back when you’re ready, love.’
‘Yes, I suppose we might,’ Annie agreed. She wanted to tell him how she felt about Alice, how she’d like to adopt her if her mother didn’t want her, but knew he was already too worried. The Government had brought in so many new restrictions for the farm that it took all his time to keep up with them and he was anxious for her too. Her operation wasn’t just a routine one and if the disease had gone too far … but she refused to think about that until they told her the results. She was expecting to have the hysterectomy and come home in a few weeks’ time to complete bed rest for a while. There was no way she could keep her evacuees but if she recovered fully, she could apply to have them – or some of them – back again.
In the kitchen, Alice and Mary were sitting side by side on the mat, playing with the kitten, who was a young cat now but still liked to play. Knowing she might not see either of them again brought tears to her eyes and as they jumped up and came to her, she gathered them into a hug.
