A Rare Ruby (40 page)

‘Don’t worry, Mum, he’ll be taken care of.’

‘It ain’t my fault she wouldn’t have anythink to do with us, it was her father, you see. He chucked her out when he found she was having a baby. She wouldn’t tell us who his father was. Now he’s sorry, but I told him, he’s gotter live with that on his conscience.’ She sniffed again and, taking a piece of rag from her tatty handbag, blew her nose hard.

‘Don’t upset yerself, Mum. I’m sure Ruby ’ere will let you come and see your grandson now you know where he is.’

She dabbed at her eyes. ‘You do understand. I loved me daughter.’

Ruby quickly looked at Mr Thompson. She felt sorry for this woman who might have lost her daughter.

‘I’m sure you did. Don’t worry, we can make some arrangements, ’ he said kindly.

Mrs Anderson smiled. ‘P’r’aps sometime I could take him fer a walk, or take him back home to see the other kids?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Ruby. ‘It ain’t up to me.’

‘Can I hold him?’ She took Danny from Thomas and sat with him on her knee. ‘He’s a big boy.’ She kissed his head. ‘He’ll be all right with us. The kids’ll love him. And I could have him to sleep some nights if you wonner go out. It will be difficult for a young girl like you to have your own life and to look after a toddler. They get up to all sorts, you know.’

Again Ruby looked at Mr Thompson, searching silently for answers.

‘What about your husband?’ asked Ruby. She didn’t want this woman to take Danny.

‘I won’t tell him it’s Lizzie’s. When he’s tanked up he won’t notice another kid in the place,’ she laughed. ‘He might think it’s one he forgot about.’

Ruby was horrified.

‘As I said,’ said Mr Thompson quietly, ‘it’s early days yet. It’ll take us a little while to get things under control. I might get someone to help Ruby.’

‘I could do that,’ said Mrs Anderson quickly. ‘I could come round and help her.’

‘What about your family?’ said Ruby, looking from one to the other.

Mrs Anderson then let everything slip. ‘My lot are old and bloody ugly enough to look after themselves. They can’t expect me to be pussyfooting round ’em all the bloody time.’

‘Mum,’ said Alfie. ‘Watch it.’

‘Oh yes. Sorry.’

‘I have to go,’ said Mr Thompson. ‘And I think we should leave the little lad, he looks tired.’

‘Yes. Well, all right then. Don’t wonner outstay me welcome. ’ Mrs Anderson gave them all a big smile.

‘I’ve got to be going as well so I’ll see them out,’ said Mr Thompson.

‘You ain’t letting her have him, are you?’ asked Tom as soon as they were out of earshot. He was clearly agitated.

‘I should say not.’ Their father was on his feet. ‘Don’t worry, love. I won’t let any of them get anywhere near him.’

Ruby picked Danny up and held him close. Whatever the outcome now, she knew that Danny would never go and live with the Andersons, even if they did keep saying Beth was one of them.

 

At six o’clock Thomas Jenkins put his coat on.

‘Where’re you going, Dad?’ asked Ruby.

‘To work.’

Ruby tried to keep her excitement under control. In the midst of all their troubles, she’d also been terribly concerned about her dad’s job. ‘But it’s Sunday, you don’t work on Sundays.’

‘I know. I’ve got a lot of explaining to do. If George wants me to stop I may be late, so don’t wait up for me.’

Ruby kissed his cheek. ‘See you later.’ Then she got Danny ready for bed. She put him in his cot, kissed her fingers and touched his forehead. ‘Goodnight,’ she whispered. As she closed the bedroom door there was a soft knock on the front door. She started. Every knock brought fear to the surface. But Mr Cox wouldn’t knock; he knew where the key was. She opened the door.

‘Ernie.’ She wanted to throw her arms round his neck. She wanted to smother him with kisses. But all she could manage to say was, ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I wondered if everything was all right. When you didn’t come to the wedding yesterday I thought something was wrong. Then I realised you might have had to work. Anyway, I was going to leave it till in the week and try and catch you at the laundry, but either I’m in a hurry to get some old dear’s washing back to her, or I somehow seem to miss you on these dark nights, so here I am.’

Ruby’s heart soared. He cared. He was worried about her. ‘Come in. I didn’t know you knew my address.’

‘I remembered Tom telling us you had to move from up the road.’ He lowered his head. ‘I thought it served you right at the time. You know you was always stuck up.’

‘Got nothing to be stuck up about now, have we?’

As he pushed past the pram he asked, ‘This is nice, who does it belong to? It’s too good to collect washing and wood in.’

‘It’s Danny’s.’

‘Who’s Danny?’

‘You don’t know, do you?’ she said softly as they moved into the kitchen.

‘Know what?’

‘You’d better sit down, I’ve got a lot to tell you.’

‘I’m going to bed,’ said Tom. He didn’t want to listen to it all over again. It made him feel ill just thinking about it.

‘I couldn’t get to the church, but I went to Elsie’s house in the evening, but you wasn’t there.’

‘Damn. If only I’d stayed a bit longer. But I didn’t like hanging about, I didn’t really know anybody and it looked as if I was just there for the free handouts.’

‘Elsie wouldn’t have thought that.’

‘Maybe not, but that’s how I felt.’

That was very sensitive of him: yet another reason, Ruby realised, why she loved him so much.

 

‘You can sling your hook,’ were the first words that greeted Thomas Jenkins when he walked into the Green Man.

Thomas stood at the door looking bewildered.

‘You’ve got a bloody cheek walking your arse in here tonight after leaving me in the lurch all over Christmas and the New Year.’ George was wiping down the bar.

‘A lot’s happened.’

‘I bet it has. You been away with that old tom? She ain’t shown her face in here either.’

‘You mean Mrs Bell? Ain’t she been in?’

‘Thought you would have known that, so sling your hook. ’Sides, I don’t ask you to work Sundays.’

‘I know. But please, let me explain.’

‘I was good to you, Thomas.’ George pointed the dirty cloth at him. ‘And you let me down. Now get out before me missus sees you. She had to work down here and she ain’t that happy about it.’

‘I ain’t going till you hear what happened.’ Thomas stood with his foot on the brass rail and felt very confident.

‘Come on then, tell us what was so important.’

George stood open-mouthed as Thomas went into all the details.

‘What can I say? I saw that in the papers. They said it was the girl from the pub, but I’d no idea your lad was involved. And you say your daughter - that the one what come here?’

Thomas nodded. ‘I’ve only got the one.’

‘She’s looking after the girl’s baby?’

‘She has to go to work so me and me boy will have him all day.’

George poured out two generous whiskies and handed one to Thomas. ‘Well, I’ll be buggered. I reckon you’ve had more than enough on your plate. No wonder you didn’t come in. Now, you sure you want to stay?’

‘Yes, that’s if you want me to.’

‘Why not?’

‘Evenings is all right, Ruby looks after the lad.’

‘It must be bloody hard for you knowing you was living with a murderer. And you say you don’t know why he did it?’

Thomas only shook his head.

‘Ain’t they caught the bastard yet then?’

‘No. I’m worried that me lad might have to give evidence.’

‘That could be upsetting for him.’

‘Yes. So have I still got a job?’

George put his thick arm round Thomas’s shoulder. ‘I should say so.’

 

Ernie sat listening to Ruby in horror. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He wanted to hold her, cover her sad face with kisses. Try to make everything better for her. He had wanted to take her away, but now she had this baby to look after any thoughts he might have had of taking up his uncle’s offer had to be thrown away. Would his uncle want another mouth to feed? Would Ruby want to take the baby all that way? And would this Mr Thompson let her? There were so many things going round in his head, he couldn’t think straight. ‘My sisters went to see that funeral,’ was all he managed to say.

‘A lot of people did.’

‘What’s going to happen now?’

‘I don’t know.’

He ran his fingers through his dark hair. ‘I guessed something must have stopped you yesterday. At first I thought it might have been your dad. Then I wondered if they’d made you work till four as usual on Sat’day.’

‘I think they were going at lunchtime, but Mrs Watson let me have all the morning off as I had to help Mr Thompson.’

‘I’d heard the girl from the pub had been murdered. Me sisters knew all about it but I didn’t take a lot of notice, you know how they babble on. I had no idea it was anything to do with you.’

Ruby smiled at him. ‘Well, you wouldn’t. You didn’t know Beth was Elizabeth Norton or that she’d lived here. There wasn’t much about it in the papers. It’s the Irish problem that’s taking up most of the news, I’m glad to say. Don’t want everybody coming round here having a nose.’

‘It’s going to be hard for you looking after a baby.’

‘We’ll manage. Elsie looked really nice, didn’t she?’

‘Yes, she did.’ As he smiled, remembering the joy on the bride’s face, his serious expression was dispelled. Ruby could feel the love she had for him brimming to the surface.

‘Ruby, is there any chance of a cuppa?’

‘Course.’

‘Why did Cox hit Beth?’

‘Don’t know,’ said Ruby as she took the kettle from the hob. ‘How’s your sister getting on in her new job?’

‘She didn’t start.’

‘Why was that?’

‘We had a surprise after Christmas.’ He watched Ruby put the cups on the table. ‘We had another letter from me uncle in Scotland. He wrote again instead of coming to visit.’

‘That’s pretty unusual.’

‘I should say so.’ Ernie played with the spoon in the sugar bowl. ‘It seems me grandma’s dead and he wants us all to go and live up there.’

Ruby dropped the tea strainer onto the cup with a clatter. In those few seconds she knew that any hope she had of them being together had just been crushed. ‘Are you going?’ she asked softly, dreading the answer.

‘I told me mum I wasn’t, but I don’t know. Me mum said she’ll worry about me being on me own. If we go it’ll mean she won’t have any more money worries and she’ll have a nice house to live in. He’s even sent us the fare.’

Ruby could feel her dreams slipping further and further away.

‘Trouble is, if I don’t go I won’t have anywhere to live. I reckon our landlord would ’ave me out of those rooms as quick as blinking so’s he can get more rent. Then there’s a job. Things are as hard as ever for blokes at the moment.’

Ruby silently pushed his tea in front of him. ‘Will there be work for you at your uncle’s?’

‘He seems to think so.’

‘It’s a long way away.’

‘I know.’

‘I bet Mrs Watson will be sorry to see you go.’

‘Why? What makes you say that?’

‘Well, if she wants an escort again, you won’t be here.’

He laughed. ‘There’s a lot more than that I’ve got to think about.’ He took a deep breath. He had to say it. ‘Ruby, would you come with me?’

She closed her eyes. She wanted to pinch herself. Ernie Wallis was asking her to go away with him. ‘But I can’t,’ was all she could say.

‘I know it’s a bit awkward at the moment. Just think about it.’

‘I can’t. I’ve got Danny now. And me dad and Tom.’

‘I know I’ve sprung this on you, but
please
don’t just say no. I want you to come with me. I want us to be together. I’m sure we could make a go of it. I ain’t got nothing to offer you if I stay round here.’

Ruby felt her knees buckle under her. He must love her. He wanted to be with her. She sat down. Oh, this was so unfair. ‘I’m sorry, Ernie. Besides, where would we get the fare from?’

‘I’d ask me uncle.’

‘Shouldn’t think he’d fork out for my family to move in with him.’

There was a long silence. ‘I suppose, thinking about it, it is a bit daft.’ He finished his tea and stood up. ‘I’d better be going.’

‘When are you going to Scotland?’

‘Not sure.’ He picked his cap from off his chair. ‘It’ll be up to me mum, but I think it might be soon.’ He opened the kitchen door. ‘I don’t want to go, but I ain’t got a lot of choice. No work, no home, nothing.’ His voice was bleak.

Ruby walked up the passage with him. She wanted to hold him back, tell him her feelings for him and how much she wanted to be with him, but it wouldn’t be fair to land him with her family and Danny.

‘You will let me know your plans, won’t you?’ She tried to sound calm.

‘Course.’

At the door he held her in his arms. ‘Perhaps something will work out.’ He kissed her lips, then strode away.

Ruby wanted to cry, she was so happy and sad at the same time. She gently touched her lips, remembering the feel of his on hers. Scotland, a new life, no money worries: it sounded wonderful. But was it just another dream destined never to be fulfilled?

When Thomas went to work that Sunday, most of the customers were hostile towards him at first, but when George told them what had happened they were like ghouls hanging on his every word, asking questions about Cox and telling him what they would do if they caught him.

Although it upset Thomas in some ways he was pleased at being the centre of the conversation.

During a busy evening the following Saturday, Thomas found a moment to roll himself a cigarette. As he wiped down the bar he glanced up at the clock. It was ten o’clock. The door opened and, with a lot of giggling, Mrs Bell walked in on the arm of a man Thomas knew wasn’t a regular. She looked wonderful as she sauntered into the pub in a tight-fitting black coat with the large fur collar turned up framing her face. On her head she was wearing a silly little tight-fitting black hat. Thomas felt his heart take a little leap when she stopped and, parting her red-painted lips, smiled at him. He knew he shouldn’t feel like this. But he also knew that deep down this was one of the reasons he had wanted to come back to work. Was it so wrong that he wanted to see this woman again?