That'll Be the Day (2007), page 39
part #3 of Champion Street Market Series
He’d told them a dozen times how the load was worth a small fortune, but he’d also added that this was just the beginning, that he was moving up into a new league, leaving the petty stuff behind him and working with the big boys now.
‘How can I lose with my family behind me?’ He meant that there would be no one to grass on him, as Betty had done all those years before.
Lynda could see her brother chewing on his finger nails as he sat waiting in the van, knew that Ewan and a couple of his cronies were tucked away in the back of it. There were other members of this make-shift gang in a second van at the other end of the yard, waiting only for her to walk into that office. This would be the signal for them to drive quietly along the wharf, break into the warehouse and start shifting the electrical goods.
‘Easy as taking sweets from a baby,’ Ewan had told her.
Lynda straightened the short, too-tight skirt she’d been instructed to wear for the occasion, and, turning her back on the van, walked towards the office. The crack of light under the door grew brighter as she approached, the strains of What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For? playing on Radio Caroline rising to an ear-splitting crescendo, in competition with the hammering of her heart.
She’d vomited up the supper Ewan had made her eat, but was well beyond fear now. Her limbs weren’t even shaking and her hand was rock steady as she turned the door handle.
And there he was, the night-watchman she was supposed to entertain, standing before her like a huge lump of blubber, piggy eyes bright with desire in a round, shiny face as he wiped sweaty hands on the back of his trousers. He flapped at her to come in, pushing the door shut behind her and quickly shooting home the bolt.
The sound snapped in her head like the shutting of a trap but somehow Lynda managed to smile up at him, perhaps hoping to charm this fat man into not hurting her. He put out one hand and squeezed her breast, quite hard, and with a jolt of shock Lynda recognised her mistake. She’d secretly hoped that she could talk him out of it, now she saw no chance of that. He’d no doubt been looking forward to this moment all day, and could hardly contain his excitement. One hand was in his trouser pocket, fiddling with something.
‘Do you want a drink?’ He drew out a whisky bottle, from which he’d obviously already drunk half. Lynda shook her head.
He took a long swig himself, licked his fat lips then swiped one podgy hand across his slobbering mouth, small beady eyes boring into her with lascivious greed. ‘Get on with it then.’
‘What?’ She was startled by his directness, though what exactly she’d expected, Lynda wasn’t sure.
‘Strip off! I want me money’s worth. I want to see the merchandise before I taste it.’
Oh God, this was going to be a thousand times worse than she’d imagined! Lynda felt drained, incapable of reaction or running away, even had there been anywhere to run to. It was as if she were standing outside herself watching what was going on from a great distance as she went through the motions of taking off her jacket, folding it with painstaking care upon a nearby desk. Next she unbuttoned her blouse, let it slip from her shoulders and folded that in the same punctilious way.
She heard him give a low groan as his salacious gaze fastened hungrily upon her breasts, daintily clad in a pretty, lace-trimmed bra.
Lynda hesitated, unwilling to go any further, but again he flapped a hand frantically at her, urging her on and this time her fingers did start to tremble as she reached for the button on her skirt. The horror of her situation was beginning to slowly dawn on her, fear rising like bile in her throat.
Jake and Ewan and the rest of their motley crew must surely have reached the warehouse by this time. How long would it take them to load up the gear? Not that this had any bearing on her own part in the performance, Lynda bitterly reminded herself. She’d been ordered to give satisfaction so that there’d be no come-backs.
Their own getaway in the van driven by Jake had been carefully planned but her own was a much more hazy affair, apparently depending on how long it took her to ‘do the business’. Lynda had been instructed to ‘slip away into the darkness’ when the job was done.
But Ewan had promised that when this night was over her mother could well make a miraculous return. Lynda could only pray that this was true.
The fat man was fiddling with his trousers, had them unbuttoned and was growing increasingly impatient with Lynda’s own fumbling attempts to remove the skirt. He seemed to be panting for breath and, reaching out, made a grab for her, causing Lynda to cry out in alarm.
The next moment she was being pushed down on to the office floor, her legs being dragged apart as panic swelled and bloomed inside her, paralysing her with fear as she wondered frantically if she would survive this, or if the fat man’s enormous weight would crush her. And then all hell broke loose.
The air was suddenly filled with the sound of police whistles, the roar of engines and car tyres screeching to a halt. An inner door burst open and amazingly there was Leo Catlow, half a dozen pairs of hands dragging the heap of blubber off her, and her own darling Terry gathering her into his arms telling her to stop crying because everything was going to be fine now.
Even Constable Nuttall was grinning at her saying she was perfectly safe, that he hadn’t let her down this time.
Chapter Fifty-Two
One morning at the snack bar Judy was surprised to see Sam walk in. He marched right over to the counter, ignoring an old lady ordering a cup of tea and a sausage roll. ‘You have to come home. The children need you.’
Judy stared at him, stunned. ‘I don’t think this is the time or place to go over all of that again, Sam.’
‘I mean, it’s an emergency. The kids haven’t been well and now my mother has the ‘flu an’ all, so you’ll have to come home to look after them all. They’re on the mend but still not fit to return to school yet. You’ll have to come at once.’
Judy was already untying her apron and reaching for her coat. Turning to her employer she gave an apologetic smile. ‘Sorry, but you heard what my husband said. I’ll have to go.’
‘Don’t expect me to keep the job open for you!’ he shouted as Judy followed Sam out of the snack bar.
‘Suit yourself but my children must come first.’
Judy took one look at her mother-in-law and instantly called the doctor. Mrs Beckett’s ‘flu had swiftly deteriorated into pneumonia and she needed to be taken into hospital.
It felt strange to be in her own home again. Sam had simply dropped her at the door and gone straight back to work but Judy loved having Ruth and Tom to herself for the entire day. They played Ludo and Snakes and Ladders by a roaring fire, drank mugs of cocoa and nibbled on chocolate fingers. A delicious, cosy day with her beloved children.
She stayed with them until Sam came home then put on her coat and prepared to leave. ‘Your tea is in the oven, and I’ll be back in the morning before you leave for the shop.’
‘Where are you going?’
‘Home. If I hurry, I’ll just catch the six o’clock bus back to Salford.’
Sam had settled in the chair with the newspaper, now he jumped to his feet to protest. ‘I don’t think so. What if the children are sick during the night?’
‘Then you’ll have to take care of them.’
‘But you know that I always go to the British Legion on a Wednesday evening. You’ll have to stay and look after them.’
Judy shook her head. ‘Sorry, no can do. I have to go. I couldn’t possibly sleep here. It wouldn’t be right. Oh, and you’ll have to help out a bit more with money, since I lost my job coming here today, not that I mind and I’m sure I can get another once the children are back at school, but in the meantime I have my rent to pay, electricity bills and so on.’
Tom began to cry. ‘You aren’t leaving us again, Mummy, are you?’
Judy rushed over to the small boy to kiss and hug him. ‘Of course not, darling. Don’t worry, I’ll be back first thing in the morning. I’ll be here just the minute you open your eyes.’
Tom instantly brightened and gave his mother a tremulous smile. ‘I wish you were there every morning, for ever and ever.’
‘Of course he does, and so you should be,’ Sam barked at her, furious that he no longer seemed to have the control over her that he’d once enjoyed. ‘Stop being so stupid, stop all this nonsense about divorce and come home to your children, where you belong.’
‘But nothing has changed, has it?’ she challenged him.
There was a short telling silence in which Judy had no wish to ask him, not in front of the children, if he were still seeing Helen Catlow. Though by the guilty flush creeping over his cheeks, she’d guess that he was, or else had some other woman in his sights.
‘I thought not.’
Judy kissed Ruth, and, surprisingly her daughter clung to her and hugged her back. ‘I’ll look after Tom, Mummy. Don’t worry, he’ll be all right. We’ll see you tomorrow, and thank you for a lovely day.’
My goodness, Judy thought, can my little girl be growing up at last?
It proved to be a busy week for Judy as she came each day to care for her children, one in which they were able to grow close again and be a family.
And each evening, on her way home, she would call in at the hospital to see her mother-in-law. The old lady was not at all well, and it looked unlikely she’d be able to cope with a pair of lively children for some considerable time even if she did make a full recovery.
Once the children were fit enough to return to school Judy returned to the snack bar and, amazingly, found that her old job was still available after all. Perhaps nobody else was prepared to work for the pitiful wages her boss paid. But she made him shorten her hours slightly, since she had to pick the children up from school every day in Castlefield now their grandmother wasn’t well enough to do that any more.
Oh, but it was so wonderful to spend time with them again, and it had given her hope for the future, that she might one day win them back entirely. The only problem was that part-time work meant a part-time income. Judy knew that she needed much more money and security in her life if she was to prove her worth to the court.
But then she had great hopes for her painting . . .
Lynda stood in the fold of Terry’s arms and quietly wept with joy This was the day she’d dreamed of for so long: the day she became his loving wife. They were married at the local register office, exactly as planned, except that it no longer needed to be kept secret. Everyone was there smiling up at her, the blushing bride, beautifully attired in a cream wool sack dress with matching jacket, a tall walking stick umbrella and one of Patsy Bowman’s wide-brimmed feather hats. Terry had whispered that she looked utterly gorgeous.
It was all over. Everything. That dreadful night was nothing more than a bad memory now.
The police had taken Ewan away in handcuffs, Jake too unfortunately, although Lynda had put in a strong plea for them to go easy with him. ‘He didn’t have any choice. My brother either had to do what our father said or be beaten senseless, as I was.’
‘Don’t worry, Lynda love,’ Constable Nuttall had assured her. ‘All of that will be taken into account, including the fact that he tipped us off about the robbery. Fortunately Mr Catlow guessed at once what Jake was referring to, just as soon as your Terry mentioned Friday. A couple of phone calls and we were ready for him.’
Leo said, ‘I can’t tell you, Lynda, how very grateful I am that Jake found the courage to do that, at great risk to himself. I’ve already arranged for my solicitor to be there at the police station ready to represent him.
Lynda had smiled her gratitude, then turning back to Constable Nuttall, had said, ‘I’m sorry for all those names I called you. I realise now that in your own way you were keeping an eye on us, there just wasn’t anything you could do about it, any more than we could.’
‘I did what I could, Lynda love, but I agree it wasn’t enough. The law has to be changed. Women have to be better protected, even in their own homes from their own husbands.’
‘I might still have a mother, if they’d done that already,’ Lynda said, her face a mask of pain. ‘He did for her too, didn’t he, just like Queenie? She never was locked up anywhere, was she?’
Constable Nuttall looked sorrowful. ‘We haven’t given up, lass. We’re still looking for her. My colleagues are combing the docks and canal basin all over again, even as we speak, checking on anyone connected with this robbery.’
Lynda could hardly swallow the great lump that had come into her throat. ‘I wanted to believe so badly that Mam was still alive that I was prepared to go through with all of that, to sell myself, body and soul, to that great lump of blubber.’
‘Nay, you’d have given him a kick in the googlies when the moment came. I wouldn’t expect anything less from a daughter of mine.’
‘Mam!’ Lynda flung herself out of Terry’s arms and into Betty’s. ‘I don’t believe it! You are alive.’ She stroked her mother’s plump cheeks in disbelief, smoothed her wild mass of grey hair, hugged her tight and looked in danger of never letting go.
‘By heck, you’re near throttling me, lass. Don’t you do for me, when I’ve managed to survive that great bully.’
Everyone gathered round then, shaking Betty’s hand, patting her on the shoulder, saying how good it was to see her walking with the aid of only a stick. Leo Catlow looked pleased as punch, as if he’d organised the entire rescue himself.
‘But where were you, Mam?’ Lynda wanted to know. ‘Where did he put you?’
Her face took on a sheepish look. ‘Well, it was a bit of a scam actually. I wasn’t locked up in no cellar or warehouse, and I didn’t drown, as you can see, but I was hoping that everyone would think that I had. Then they’d arrest that rascal, throw him in jail and toss away the key. That was my little scheme. I’m only sorry I had to let you and Jake think I was a gonner. I couldn’t do anything about that if my plan was to work.’
‘But the police couldn’t arrest him. They couldn’t find any evidence.’
‘Aye, that were a big disappointment, that were. I’ll admit things didn’t turn out quite as I expected, or planned. I never wanted you and Jake involved or hurt in any way. But the toe-rag couldn’t resist taking advantage of the fact I was missing, presumed drowned, to tighten the screws on you both, and set up a scam of his own. But we got him in the end, eh?’
Everybody laughed. ‘We certainly did.’
‘Good old Betty,’ Leo added with a grin. ‘I owe you.’
‘Don’t worry, I’ll charge you double in future for your mother’s carnations.’
More laughter but Lynda was still looking puzzled. ‘You still haven’t told us where you’ve been all this time? We looked everywhere.’
‘You didn’t look under your own nose. I was round at Moll’s, hiding in her back bedroom.’
Only then did Lynda become aware of Big Molly standing grinning just behind her mother. Lynda burst out laughing. It was all suddenly so ridiculous she couldn’t help it. ‘So that’s why you’ve been stuffing me with meat and potato pies, Molly Poulson? You were mothering me in her place.’
‘I couldn’t let you fade away, chuck. Somebody had to keep an eye on you who knew exactly what was going on.’
‘Speaking of food, I’m feeling a bit peckish meself right now,’ Betty put in. ‘I’ve been well taken care of by Moll and Ossie, but I’ll be glad to put me feet up in me own home, knowing we’re free of him at last. Come on Lynda love, let’s go put the kettle on.’
Terry said, ‘I’m coming too, and I’m going to make you the biggest plate of bacon and eggs you ever saw in your life.’
‘Eeh, the man of my dreams: a chap who can cook. Welcome to the family, lad.’
As they were about to go, arms wrapped around each other, Betty turned back to Constable Nuttall, face grim, finger wagging. ‘I’m going to give you some bramble to grow in your garden, Bill Nuttall. It’s for remorse, and will remind you of your own failings. Or happen hemlock, since you were very nearly the death of me.’
This brought forth a few chuckles but the policeman’s eyes were bleak as they regarded her. ‘I know I failed you, Betty, but it wasn’t entirely my fault. I was only doing my job, inadequate though it might be at times. Lynda and I have already spoken about this and agree police attitude towards domestic violence needs changing. I’m sure it will change eventually. We’ll certainly be putting in a report to the Chief Constable pointing out the problems we’ve encountered in this case. But I hope you and I can still be friends.’
Betty regarded him coldly for a long silent moment, then she clicked her tongue, giving her head a little shake. ‘I never could stay angry with you for more than five minutes, you great daft lump. But see that our Jake is home in good time to enjoy his breakfast. You owe me that much at least, Bill Nuttall. You failed to save me from that ex-husband of mine, so the least you can do is give me back my son.’
‘Don’t worry, Betty. I’ll make sure he’s there. And I’ll also make sure that Ewan Hemley is locked up for a long time and doesn’t ever return to Champion Street.’
‘Music to my ears. I might spare you the hemlock then.’
And so here they were, all of them, all her friends and neighbours from Champion Street Market, her mam and Jake, all joining Lynda to celebrate her marriage to Terry Hall, and she’d never been so happy in her life.
And by her side as matron-of-honour was her best friend, Judy Beckett. The two girls hugged each other in delight.
‘Everything all right with you, Judy love?’
‘Oh, yes,’ Judy said, eyes shining. ‘Everything is just wonderful.’
Mrs Beckett had died of pneumonia and Sam could no longer manage the children without her help. A few weeks after that when Judy had taken her case back to court the magistrates had been much more sympathetic to her case. They decided that the children were happier with their mother and the fact that she only worked part time was a definite point in her favour.
