Songbird (3 page)

Betsy gently urged him on. “What was she like, your mother?”

He smiled, a soft, loving smile. “Best mother ever. She was caring and understanding. And small, much like you. She always knew what to say and when to say it. Oh, and she could be so funny. She made us all laugh with her silly jokes and made-up stories.” His voice caught with emotion. “She was more than my mother. She was a special friend. I never felt lonely when she was around.”

When the emotion threatened to overwhelm him, he took a moment to compose himself before going on. “After my teacher came round to see him, Dad worried they might send social services to check up on us. So, eventually he found a married couple to come and stay. Joan and Tom were lovely — they were a great help to Dad on the farm, and Joan used to make me all my favorite puddings. I was so upset when they went to live at the seaside. Dad was, too.”

An enormous grin suddenly spread over his face. “After that, we had Sheelagh. I’ll never forget her, Betsy. She made our house really happy again… But I’ll tell you all about her some other time. Still miss her, all these years later, you know. She was like a second mother, for the short time she was with us. As for Dad, looking back, I think he fell in love with her, only to be left alone again.”

Restless, Robin got up. “For a while when Sheelagh left us, he seemed hellbent on destroying himself again. He turned his back on his business… leaving things to his accountant. It was another really bad period for us — one minute up, the next down. The turning point came when two of Dad’s best vets left the practice and he had to close down one of his clinics. Then he discovered that his accountant had been stealing huge amounts of money from him. He finally came to his senses, got himself together and picked up the reins. He built on what he had, and now he has those four clinics within a twenty-mile radius. Somehow I got through school without making too much of a mess at it, thanks to Dave, whose mum was a friend of our family.”

Like the others, apart from Dave, Betsy had known nothing of Robin’s background. Now she asked: “Do you think you’ll ever meet up with Sheelagh again one day?”

Robin shook his head. “Dad did try to find her, but nothing came of it. He stopped looking… said she deserved to have her own life back, if that was why she had gone missing.

“And has your Dad come to terms with losing your mother and… everything?”

“He still lives on his own and works far too hard. I’m his only child, and that’s why he was so disappointed when I wouldn’t join him in the family business.”

“He sounds like a determined bloke.”

“He is. But so am I, and he won’t change my mind.” Robin grinned down at her.

“Do you look like your dad?” she asked.

“Hmm… not much. I’ve been told I take after my grandad on my mother’s side.”

“So, what did
he
look like?”

Smiling broadly, Rob gave Betsy a little playful shove. “Oh, you know — handsome, well-built, and with this animal magnetism that women couldn’t resist…” They were still chuckling as, arm-in-arm, they arrived at the phone box.

Robin asked if she wanted to come inside with him, out of the cold.

Betsy graciously refused. “I don’t want to eavesdrop on your conversation,” she said, stepping back. “I’ll wait out here.”

As it was, she couldn’t help but pick up some of the conversation, because the evening was unusually clear, and Robin’s voice could be easily heard.

“Yes, Dad, everything’s fine. Yes, I would tell you if it wasn’t. No, I don’t need any money — I already told you, I’m getting my accommodation and meals free at the hospital.”

There followed a short pause during which Robin turned and rolled his eyes at Betsy through the glass. “No, I haven’t reconsidered,” she heard him say patiently “…and I wish you’d stop asking me, because it only causes friction.”

Another pause. “I’m in the booth at the bottom of North Park Street. No, I’m not on my own. My friend Betsy’s waiting outside.” Another slight pause before he chuckled and said, “I don’t think she’d appreciate you saying that.”

The conversation was ended with Robin assuring his father, “You know I will. I’ve said before many times, I don’t mind helping out with the animals when I’m home. I just don’t want to do it for a living.” He nodded. “Okay, Dad. Take care of yourself. Talk again soon.”

When he emerged from the booth, Betsy asked him, “What did you mean when you said I wouldn’t appreciate that?”

The boy grinned. “Oh, nothing.”

“Tell me!”

“Well, for some reason, he thinks you’re my girlfriend.”

“I see. And that worries you, does it?”

Concerned that she might have been offended, Robin changed the subject. “He should not assume things. He has a way of doing that — like thinking I would naturally follow him into veterinary medicine, without ever actually talking to me about it.”

“I suppose he just wants what’s best for you.” Disappointed that he had chosen to shift the conversation on to a less personal level, Betsy nevertheless played along. But all the time she wanted to shout out, “I’d love to be your girlfriend! The first day I met you, I knew I wanted to be part of your life!”

But she made no mention of her feelings, and neither did Robin. Instead, they walked on together, chatting of other things. There was to be a student fashion show soon, and one of the models would be wearing a dress designed by Betsy herself.

“I can see you being one of the best designers in the country,” Robin told her proudly.

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Betsy was not one to brag. But in truth, she had already set her heart on establishing her own label one day.

They were almost home, when Betsy whispered, “She’s there again… look.”

Against the soft background lighting of the next-door front bedroom was the silhouette of a woman.

“Sometimes I want to knock on her door and make friends with her,” Betsy told Robin. “She must be so lonely.”

The boy looked down on this lovely young woman beside him, and his heart was warmed. “You know your trouble?” he said tenderly.

She looked up. “No. But I’m sure you’ll tell me.”

He took a moment to regard her, that small uplifted face and those appealing dark eyes, and he felt the urge to kiss her right there and then. Not wishing to frighten her away, he answered, “You’re far too nice for your own good.”

He desperately wanted to tell her how he felt, but some instinct held him back. Besides, if she’d wanted to be his woman, she had had her chance to say something back there when he told her what his dad had said, about her being his girlfriend. Anyway, a girl like Betsy, talented and pretty with an exciting future before her — why would she be interested in a humble young doctor like him? Though there was a fleeting moment when he was tempted to convey his true feelings. Twice he opened his mouth to speak, and twice he could not bring himself to say anything.

So, the moment passed, and with it his opportunity to tell her how he felt.

As they went up the steps and into the house, Betsy never knew how close he had come to sharing this last secret with her. From the relative safety of her hiding place, the woman watched them disappear into the house. “So young,” she sighed. “Such a lovely couple.” She drew away. “My life is over now, but they’ve got all their lives in front of them. Don’t be like me… so much heartache,” she muttered brokenly. “Don’t waste your chances of happiness.”

Turning from the window, she drew the curtains together and ambled across the room to the sideboard. In the light from the small lamp, she opened the drawer and took out a bundle of papers tied with string.

Taking them with her to the chair, she sat down and for a moment made no move to open the bundle. Instead she laid herself back in the chair, and allowed the anger to envelop her. “I stood up to him once,” she murmured proudly, “Oh, but he was such an evil man…
an evil, evil man!
”

Taking a moment to compose herself, she then untied the string and laid it carefully across her lap, then the same with the bulk of the parcel. Rummaging through the photographs, she found the one she was looking for. It was a photograph of herself many years ago. She gazed down on it with fondness. “That was me!” she whispered incredulously. “I may be haggard and worn now, but there was a time when I could hold my head high.”

Clothed in a clinging dress that drew in at the waist and fell naturally over her young figure, and with her long dark hair caught in a black bandana about her head, she looked amazing. “I remember that dress as it was yesterday,” she chuckled joyfully. “Purest ivory it was, with a sweetheart neckline, and a teasing split at the hem…” She laughed out loud. “Cost me a week’s wages it did!”

Her mood sobered. “That was the night it all started to go wrong,” she whispered, laying the photograph on her lap.

Having taken a few minutes to reminisce, she glanced again at the photograph and a whimsical expression crept over her features. “Was that really me,” she asked wonderingly, “with a figure like that… up there on the stage with everyone looking at me, listening to me sing…” She tried to recall the feelings, but like so much of her past, they were pushed to the depths of her mind.

She looked again at herself as a young woman with the world at her feet, and a sense of desolation took hold of her. “Come on now!” she reprimanded herself. “It won’t hurt to remember the way it was… the laughter, the songs. You did nothing wrong, you have to remember that.”

Shyly glancing down to study the photograph once more, she gave a hearty laugh. “What a dress! And look at the black patent-leather high heels, oh, and the silk stockings. It’s all coming back… and how it riled him, when the men couldn’t take their eyes off me.” She groaned. “Hmh! If they could see me now, they wouldn’t even help me across the road, and who could blame them, eh?”

Standing the photograph on the mantelpiece, she began gently swirling and dancing around, losing herself in the joy of yesteryear. In her head she could hear the soft music of her favorite song, “I Believe.” Twirling and swaying, she began to sing…

One of her all-time favorite songs was “I Believe.” As she sang it how her heart was filled with joy as the poignant words took her back over the years…

All alone now, with no audience and no wickedness waiting for her, she danced in the twilight, lost herself in the song, and for a while she felt incredibly free. It was easy to imagine herself back there, in the night club, with the people looking up, their hearts and minds tuned into the song and the music.

But always in the wings or leaning on the bar… he was there watching… waiting.

She could see him now, dark and menacing in her mind’s eye. It was a bad feeling.

He had always
been confident that Madeleine would return to him. But on this particular night, he had no inkling that she was about to make a surprise entrance.

Alice Mulligan knew though, and she had done everything in her power to dissuade the girl from coming back to a man who had proved time and time again that he could make her life a misery. But her young friend was utterly besotted with their boss.

Steve Drayton had never accepted any of the blame for the couple’s rows. And this time, as usual, he believed himself to be the injured party.

Turning to Alice, the manageress of his club, the Pink Lady Cabaret Bar off Soho Square, he murmured, “If I find out she’s left me for another bloke, I swear to God… she’ll live to regret it.” He stared at the little Irishwoman suspiciously. “You know something about this, don’t you? Thick as thieves, you two are. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you’d known where she was all along. All right — out with it! Where is she?
Is
she with another man? Is that why you’re afraid to tell me?”

When Alice chose not to answer, but merely carried on removing notes from the cash register to transfer to the office safe, he grabbed her by the shoulders and almost lifted her off her feet. “Answer me, woman!” he hissed. “Where is she?”

“Well now, you’d best ask her that yourself, hadn’t you? You being the big boss-man an’ all.” Small in stature but big in courage, Alice had been around the block a few times and was not one to be intimidated by the likes of Steve Drayton.

“Don’t you get clever with me,” he growled. “No one’s indispensable, lady!”

With a flick of her head, Alice gestured to the door. “Like I said, she’s here now, so you can ask her yourself, can’t you?”

The open street door sent a rush of cool air through the smoke-filled haze of the nightclub. Curious, he glanced up, and there she was: the Songbird, star of the show — his woman.

Though secretly relieved to see her, Steve was inwardly seething with anger, vowing that he would make the bitch pay for humiliating him. But he was cunning enough not to show his feelings here, in front of all these adoring people. Madeleine was a valuable asset, the reason why his club had flourished. In the early days, when he had let his gambling habits get the better of him, her charismatic appeal and popularity as a singer had brought him back from the brink of financial ruin. He still owed money to some undesirable types, but was reluctant to settle his debts. Steve Drayton never liked to pay what he owed. Arrogant and selfish, he played on his sexual appeal to get what he wanted — from women — and sometimes from men, too.

In the three weeks or so since Maddy had gone on the trot, his takings had dipped to an uncomfortable level. Deeply concerned, Steve had searched high and low, had even put the word out on the streets, but to no avail. The girl had simply disappeared.

Meanwhile, Steve had recruited other entertainers but they were no substitute for Madeleine. She had a certain special something — the punters came back to hear her time and again. “Songbird” was what all the regulars called her. Or, “our own Pink Lady” when she wore one of her glamorous pink stage dresses. Her accompanying musicians, pianist and bass player Dave and Dino, were very grumpy without her. In desperation, with clients and money rapidly dwindling, Steve had been forced to sack the odd cleaner and even one of his two chefs but that was merely throwing out ballast to keep the ship afloat.