Try a Little Tenderness (34 page)

When Mick saw a tear glistening in the faded blue eyes, he cursed himself. ‘I’m sorry, Auntie Lizzie, I shouldn’t have been so nosy. Now I’ve gone and upset yer.’

‘No, yer haven’t, son, I’m glad yer asked. I often think about him – his name was Bill Furlong – but I never talk about him because there’s no one to talk to. So it’s good for me to be able to say his name. I’ve still got me engagement ring, and every letter he sent me is in me drawer upstairs, tied with blue ribbon.’

John swallowed hard to remove the lump in his throat. ‘That’s a real love story, Auntie Lizzie. Yer must have loved him very much to have remained true to him.’

‘I never looked at another man after he was killed,’ Lizzie told them. ‘I’ve lived with me memories all these years.’

‘I hope I find a love like that.’ Mick rounded the table and hugged her. ‘You are one lovely lady. I can see why your Bill fell for yer.’

‘I’m a lucky lady, to have young people around me at my age. Yer’ve brightened my life for me and I do appreciate it.’ There was a glint in her eyes as she smiled at him. ‘But we’ve all missed the girls tonight, haven’t we?’

‘Yeah.’ Mick returned her smile. ‘I’ll have to have words with Mrs Nightingale, see if I can work me charm on her.’

‘Yer’d better let me do that,’ John said. ‘I mean, it’s a well-known thing that I’ve got heaps more charm than you.’

‘In yer dreams, pal, in yer dreams. Yer might stand a chance charming a snake, but when it comes to Mrs Nightingale it’s a different kettle of fish. A real expert is called for, and that’s yours truly.’

‘If you two don’t stop messing around, yer’ll miss Jenny,’ Lizzie said. ‘She’ll be on her way back from Janet’s about now.’

John gave his friend a dig in the back. ‘Yer talk too much, mate. Move yerself before it’s too late.’

‘Right, it’s all hands to the pump, then.’ Mick pointed to
the fire. ‘You bank that down while I fill Auntie Lizzie’s hot-water bottle.’

Five minutes later the boys were standing in the street listening for Auntie Lizzie to shoot the bolt on the door. When they were satisfied she was safe, they turned just in time to see Jenny passing on the opposite side, with Bill by her side. ‘Oh,’ John groaned, ‘she’s got that long streak of misery with her.’

‘Let’s spoil it for him, eh?’ Thinking all was fair in love and war, Mick called, ‘Hang on a minute, Jenny.’

Jenny was grinning as she watched them cross the cobbles. ‘How did it go?’

John got in first. ‘We’ve had a very interesting night, especially the last half-hour.’

Oh, he’s not stealing my thunder, Mick thought. I was the one who asked Auntie Lizzie about her life and now he’s trying to cash in on it. ‘She told us all about herself, when she was young, and it wasn’t half sad.’

Jenny looked up at Bill. ‘Thanks for walking me home, Bill, but yer may as well go now, it’s no good standing here freezing.’

Bill wasn’t very happy about that. ‘I said I’d see yer home, and that means seeing yer get safely inside yer house. I don’t mind waiting.’

‘That’s daft, that.’ Mick couldn’t help himself. If this bloke was going to walk Jenny home every other night, they’d be courting in no time. ‘This is John’s house, Jenny’s is next door and I live in that house opposite. We’ll see she gets inside safely, so it’s no good you getting yer death of cold.’

Bill was now becoming irritated. ‘Aren’t you frightened that
you
might catch
yer
death of cold? It strikes me that yer stand as much chance as I do.’

‘Yes, but you’ve got that walk ahead of yer, Bill.’ Jenny hadn’t a clue that there was a fight for supremacy going on under her nose. ‘Anyway, I’m freezing meself so I won’t be
hanging around for long. I’m certainly not standing listening to a long drawn-out tale from these two. So you make tracks, Bill, and tell Janet I’ll see her tomorrow night.’

Unless he wanted to make a fool of himself, there was little Bill could do. He knew what he’d like to do, and that was punch these two blokes on the nose for cramping his style. But that wouldn’t go down well with Jenny. So with as much sincerity as he could muster, he bade them good night, and with his shoulders hunched, walked away. They’d pulled a fast one on him tonight, but if they tricked him like that again, he’d marmalise them.

Thinking they’d put paid to the enemy, Mick and John were standing with grins on their faces. ‘D’yer think yer mam would like to hear about what Auntie Lizzie told us?’ John asked, hopefully. ‘It’s not half sad.’

‘Would she heckerslike!’ Jenny was thinking her mother would have a fit if these two walked in and she was sitting with dinkie curlers in her hair and a nightdress on. ‘It’s half-past ten, yer daft nit, yer don’t go visiting at this time of night. Anyway, I’m too cold to stand here any longer, I’m going in. Auntie Lizzie can tell me the story herself, tomorrow night.’

Left on their own, the pals looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. ‘The only good thing about that, pal,’ Mick said, ‘was we put a halt to the queer feller’s gallop. I only hope he hasn’t put a death wish on us.’

‘If he does, the one I’m putting on him will cancel it out.’ John felt in his pocket for the front-door key. ‘Don’t worry, mate, there’s always tomorrow. We’ve got an excuse to call and see Auntie Lizzie, I’ve made sure of that. I dropped me comb on the floor under her table, accidentally on purpose, like. So who’s a genius, eh?’

‘I only hope the genius hasn’t dropped his comb on top of my handkerchief.’

Inside the Nightingales’ house, Mary shook her head when she heard roars of laughter outside. ‘Just listen to
them! I’m laughing with them, but I haven’t a clue what I’m laughing at. I don’t know which one of them is the funniest.’

‘They’re both cracked, Mam,’ Jenny said. ‘But in a nice way.’

Cynthia huddled in the shop doorway, stamping her feet to try and get some feeling back in them. They were like blocks of ice and she’d probably get chilblains after this. And for what? If Larry and Jeff didn’t put in an appearance she’d have wasted her time and frozen to the death in the process. She folded her arms and stuck her hands under her armpits for warmth. This was the coldest night she’d known, and if the people hurrying by knew why she was there they’d think she had a screw loose. The best place on a night like this was home, in front of a fire roaring up the chimney.

Thinking of home, Cynthia’s mind took her to her parents. Her dad never questioned where she was going or who with. All he’d said when he’d seen her going out in the old coat and shoes was, ‘What are yer wearing that old coat for? Surely yer’ve got better than that?’ But when she’d told him she was saving her best coat for Christmas, he seemed satisfied. Her mam, though, never said a word, but Cynthia knew she was thinking plenty. She could always tell when her mam knew she was lying, you could see it in her eyes. What a shock they’d both get if they knew what she was up to, and why. Her dad would go stark raving mad and want to find the blokes who had harmed his beloved daughter. He would want to kill them with his bare hands. But her mother would stay silent. Only her eyes would speak, and they would say she wasn’t surprised because her daughter was a wayward girl who had probably contributed to what had happened.

Cynthia bent down to press on her toes, which were giving her gyp. And she would have missed the two men passing by on the opposite side of the road if it hadn’t been for Jeff’s burst of loud laughter. Instantly she was alert, the cold and her pains forgotten as her heart thumped in her breast like a drum. She let them walk a safe distance before crossing the road and following them. And as she pulled her scarf low over her forehead, she vowed she’d stay with them until they made their way home. She was determined that tonight she would find out where they lived, and put a stop to this twice-weekly vigil. Once she had their addresses she would work out how to make the best use of the information. It was only two days to Christmas so there was little she could do before then. What she had in mind had to be planned right down to the last detail if it were to be successful.

There were fewer people on the road now, and Cynthia, afraid of one of them turning, moved in closer to the wall. They wouldn’t recognise her as the well made-up, fashionable girl they knew, but if they noticed a lone woman walking behind them for too long, they just might get curious. They’d covered some distance by now, and Cynthia’s toes were so sore every step was an effort. It was sheer willpower that kept her going. Then the two men were no longer in front of her, and she hurried to the spot where she’d lost them to find it was a corner pub. That meant she’d have at least half an hour’s wait, but even though her nose and eyes were running with the cold, she told herself she couldn’t give up now, not after coming so far. So she looked for a safe place to hide, one where she’d be sheltered from the wind. There was a block of shops opposite and she quickly made up her mind that in the shelter of one of the doorways she’d be out of the wind and have a good vantage point.

When Larry and Jeff came out of the pub they were closely followed by a woman. They were all laughing as the woman linked their arms and the trio set off, not in
the direction the men had come from, but towards Liverpool centre. Cynthia’s instincts told her that if the men ran true to form, they wouldn’t be walking very far. As she waited for them to cover a safe distance, she made a mental note of the woman’s appearance. Probably about twenty years of age, slim figure, reddish hair, and dressed in a dark green swagger coat. This information would be written down when she got home, under the details of the two girls she’d last seen them with. Times, dates and places were also noted.

When she saw them stop at the top of an entry, Cynthia held back. She was thinking how easy it was for Larry and Jeff to pick girls up, when she heard the woman’s raised voice and saw her struggling. Then to her horror, she saw the men pull the same trick they’d pulled on her. She saw them grab the woman’s arms, and just before they were lost to view, Jeff’s hand was muffling her screams. Cynthia couldn’t move, she felt as though she’d been turned to stone. Then memories came flooding back, memories of pain, horror and humiliation. This had the effect of setting her in motion. They’d not get away with putting some other poor woman through what she had suffered. Galvanised into action, Cynthia flew across the road and made for the entry. She didn’t know what she could do, but she couldn’t stand by and do nothing.

‘Oh, thank God,’ Cynthia cried with relief when two men rounded the corner of a side street. ‘Please mister, will yer help? I’ve just seen two men dragging a woman down that entry. She was crying and struggling but they wouldn’t stop. Yer’ve got to help her, please.’

The two men didn’t even stop to think, they moved like greased lightning. And as they ran down the dark entry, one shouted, ‘The bastards, I’ll kill them.’

Cynthia knew if she had any sense she’d make herself scarce, but she couldn’t go, not until she knew what happened. She moved closer to the entry and could hear
roars of anger, then Jeff’s voice, shouting, ‘What the hell’s it got to do with you?’

‘I’ll show yer what it’s got to do with me.’ This came from one of the men Cynthia had asked to help. ‘Yer dirty buggers, I’ll flay yer alive.’ There was the sound of scuffling and cries of pain as fists landed on their target. After a minute, the same voice shouted, ‘You make a run for it, love. We’ll sort these two out, they’ll not bother yer again.’

Cynthia flattened herself against the wall as the woman rounded the corner. Her hair and clothes were dishevelled, and her eyes red-rimmed with tears. ‘Are yer all right, love?’ Cynthia stepped from the shadows. ‘I saw what happened and asked those two men to help.’

‘Thank God yer did.’ The woman ran the back of her hand across her eyes. ‘They’re beasts, those two are. If you hadn’t got help for me, I don’t know what they’d have done to me. I honestly thought I was a goner.’

‘D’yer know them?’ Cynthia asked.

‘I’ve never seen them in me life before.’ The woman was shaking like a leaf. ‘They came in the pub I go to, and they seemed nice and friendly. So when they asked me if I’d like to go to another pub they know, I didn’t think anything of it.’

‘I think yer should go on home, love, before they come out.’ Cynthia was thinking that she too should put a distance between them and herself. Heaven alone knew what was going on in the entry, there were still sounds of fighting. ‘Go on, love, take my advice and scarper.’

The woman took a few steps, then turned. ‘I don’t know how to thank you; yer saved me life.’

‘That’s all right, love. I might need help meself some time, yer never know.’ As she watched the woman running as quickly as her high-heeled shoes would allow, Cynthia was glad she’d been able to get help for her before she was put through the nightmare she herself had endured. And she was taking great satisfaction from knowing she’d upset
the apple-cart for Larry and Jeff. But what was happening in that dark entry? Were Larry and Jeff getting their just deserts, or were the Good Samaritans being punished for their act of kindness? She couldn’t go home without knowing.

Ten minutes passed, then the two strange men who would forever be heroes in her mind, came out of the entry dusting their hands as though they’d touched something unpleasant. And Cynthia, huddled in the shop doorway opposite, gave a sigh of relief. They didn’t appear to be hurt, in fact just the opposite. She could hear them talking and they seemed in high spirits.

‘That sorted the dirty buggers out.’

‘Aye, they’ll not be going down an entry for a very long time. Serves the sods right.’

‘Let’s hope it’s taught that young woman a lesson. As my old ma used to say, “Never trust a man until yer’ve met his family”.’

Their voices faded as they walked away, and Cynthia was left to consider her position. Nothing would drag her away until she’d seen Larry and Jeff and satisfied herself that they’d been taught a lesson. But after that, what should she do? Go home and put the whole thing out of her mind? Going home would be the sensible thing to do because she was so cold her teeth were chattering. But in the darkness of the doorway, she shook her head. She didn’t want to be sensible; she wanted to accomplish what she’d set out to do. Those two evil devils might have got a hammering tonight, but it would be nothing to the terrible things they’d done to her. Acts so terrible, she’d never tell anyone, not even Laura.