Welcome Home (37 page)

They were both thinking of the one who could never come back.

‘Are you sure, Reggie, really sure that this is what you want?’ She was still clinging to a last vestige of hope, even though in her heart she knew it was in vain. And she knew for
certain when she saw the light in his eyes.

‘It is, Mam, I promise you.’

She nodded, the lump in her throat almost choking her as she said, ‘Then so be it. We’ll say no more about it now, but, you understand, your dad will have to agree.’

Reggie nodded, his eyes shining. He had no fear of his dad doing anything else.

But there was still plenty that Edie had to say to Ruth, though this time it was not about her son. For the twenty minutes or so whilst the farmer and his workers drank tea and ate a fruit pasty
as their ‘elevenses’, Edie held her tongue. She wanted to be alone with Ruth once more before she broached the delicate subject of her daughter-in-law.

She watched the easy rapport between Joe Schofield – a big, quiet man, with a firm handshake and gentle eyes – and his workers. The two land army girls were quite sweet with Reggie,
teasing him as they might a younger brother – in fact, they reminded Edie heart-achingly of the way Beth and her brothers had been together when they’d all been at home. Shirley,
though, she thought sadly, had always been the odd one out, but Edie realized now it had been the young girl’s own fault; she had never joined in the family banter, holding herself aloof and
always looking slightly disapproving. But now, there was hope even for Shirley. She, too, seemed to have found her niche in life, even though, to Edie’s chagrin, it would keep her away from
home as well. And here, the two girls and Reggie – and even Joe and Ruth – were just like a family. Reggie would miss these two lasses when they went home. But, as the conversation went
on, Edie gleaned that one of the girls – Pearl, with dark hair and brown eyes – was also thinking of staying on.

‘She’s found herself a boyfriend on the next farm,’ her companion, Eve, with red curls and dancing green eyes, said.

Edie nodded and smiled. Perhaps, she was thinking, it was Pearl she ought to be talking to about Irene.

When Joe rose to go out, the three workers got up at once.

‘You stay here, lad, and talk to your mam. We can manage for an hour or so.’

‘No, no,’ Edie said at once. ‘I wouldn’t want to keep him from his work.’ She stood up and clasped the embarrassed boy to her ample bosom before saying firmly,
‘Off you go, but don’t forget where we live now, will you?’

‘We’ll see he comes home often to see you,’ Joe said in his deep voice. ‘Things should get easier now.’

Edie was touched that the man referred to the house in Grimsby as Reggie’s home, but she knew in her heart that this was no longer so; the farm was where the boy wanted to be and these
good people would parent him from now on.

She nodded and forced a smile, though, for a moment, she was unable to speak.

When they’d all gone out, chattering and laughing together, Ruth busied herself at her sink to wash up the cups, saucers and plates that had been used. Automatically, Edie stood up and
reached for a tea towel.

‘Ruth, there’s summat else I want to ask you.’

‘I thought there might be,’ the woman said softly, setting a cup carefully on the wooden draining board for Edie to pick up to dry.

‘About Irene.’

Ruth sighed as if she had been dreading the inevitable question. She’d known that Edie’s visit wouldn’t only be about Reggie.

‘D’you know who the father of her baby is?’ Edie asked bluntly.

Ruth’s slight hesitation before she answered spoke volumes. ‘Not – really.’

‘But you can guess? Am I right?’

Ruth bit her lip but was obliged to nod.

Edie felt guilty at interrogating this nice little woman who was so good to Reggie, and yet, she had to know. ‘So?’

‘The girls – Pearl, Eve and Irene – used to go to the village dance on a Saturday night. Reggie went too sometimes, but me and Joe used to look after Tommy. We didn’t see
any harm in it, Edie.’ Ruth turned towards her with pleading eyes. ‘We wanted the young ones to have a bit of fun – oh, I know, maybe Irene shouldn’t have gone,’ she
added swiftly, as she saw Edie open her mouth to make some retort. Ruth hurried on, not giving Edie a chance to speak. ‘But she worked so hard on the farm alongside the others, we thought she
deserved a night out once a week and she was missing her husband so much—’

‘Was she now?’ Edie muttered sarcastically.

‘There’s a bomber station not far from here,’ Ruth went on, ‘and the lads from there used to come to the village dance if they weren’t flying. Of course, there was
a bit of rivalry between the local farmhands and the RAF boys in their smart uniforms. Caused a bit of ill feeling now and again, I think, when they’d all had a bit to drink. But the local
bobby was very good. He was usually around on a Saturday night to stop any quarrels getting out of hand. But one night there was a bit of a fisticuffs between Pearl’s boyfriend and one of the
airmen. Evidently, this RAF lad was getting a bit too friendly with Pearl, if you know what I mean.’

Oh aye, Edie thought wryly, I know exactly what you mean, but she didn’t interrupt this time; she didn’t want to stop Ruth, who seemed to be a long time coming to the point.

‘Well, it seems your Irene—’

She’s not ‘my’ Irene, Edie wanted to shout. Not any more. And I doubt she’ll be Frank’s when he gets home. But she bit her lip and remained silent.

‘– stepped in and broke up the fight. Ken – that’s the RAF lad – had a cut and a black eye and Irene administered first aid.’ Ruth smiled. ‘All the
girls went on a first-aid training course in the village hall one night a week.

Another night in the week when Irene had left her son in Ruth’s care! Not that Edie thought that a problem; she liked this woman and would have trusted her own children with her. With a
jolt, she realized that that was exactly what she was going to do; leave her Reggie to be looked after by Ruth. But now, she wondered, just how many nights a week Irene had left Tommy to go out
dancing or . . . she shied away from the picture that came into her mind.

‘Irene patched him up and they got talking and’ – she sighed – ‘well, you can guess the rest. They were both lonely. Irene’s husband was far away and she
didn’t even know if he was ever going to come back. And Ken – well, he was facing danger and possible death every time he went up in his bomber, wasn’t he?’

‘Did he ever come here – to the farm? Did you meet him?’

‘A group of the lads from the station used to come now and again and, yes, he was one of them. Especially at festive times – like Christmas and Easter – when they
couldn’t get leave to go home or it was too far for them to travel in the given time. But I promise you, Edie,’ Ruth turned troubled eyes to her, ‘I had no idea things were
getting out of hand. I feel so guilty now that we encouraged her to go out and have fun. If I’d thought for one moment . . .’ Ruth picked up the corner of her apron and wiped her
eyes.

Edie was touched by how upset Ruth was over something that was hardly her concern and certainly not her fault. She had opened her home and, it seemed, her heart to strangers in dangerous times.
She’d looked after them all and tried to do her best for them and this was how Irene had repaid the kindly woman by bringing shame to her door. Edie was moved to put her arms around Ruth.
‘It’s not your fault, love. You’re not responsible in any way. Irene is. And the feller, of course.’

Edie patted her back and released her and they both sat down at the table again.

‘Do you know much about him?’

Ruth shook her head. ‘Only that he got killed on a bombing raid just before Irene found out she was carrying a child.’

‘Killed!’ For a moment, Edie was stunned. This was something she hadn’t thought of. She’d imagined meeting up with him somewhere and giving him a piece of her mind. It
took her a moment to recover before she said hoarsely, ‘So – he didn’t know, then? She didn’t have a chance to tell him?’

Ruth shook her head.

‘Do you think,’ Edie asked slowly, ‘it would have made any difference if he had known?’

‘How – how d’you mean?’

‘Would he have stood by her? Married her?’

Ruth gasped. ‘But – but she’s married. I mean, your boy’s coming home, isn’t he?’

‘Thank God, yes, but I don’t reckon he’ll want to take on someone else’s kid. I reckon he’ll divorce her.’

Ruth stared at her for a moment and then glanced away, mouthing a silent ‘Oh’.

‘So,’ Edie said grimly, ‘the little madam’s come home to see if my Frank’ll be daft enough to forgive her and take on a cuckoo in the nest, has she?’

‘If that’s how you see it, Edie,’ Ruth said, her tone a little stiff now. ‘But I told Irene before she left that if things didn’t work out for her and her kiddies
back home, then she was welcome back here.’

‘Well, she’d be coming without Tommy, I can tell you that now. Tommy’ll stay with his dad – with us. You’ll not take any more of my family from me.’

Ruth blanched and her mouth trembled. Edie could have bitten her tongue off. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said swiftly, but the damage had been done, the words had been spoken and could
not be unsaid.

Ruth waved her hand and shook her head. ‘I can understand how you must feel and, to be honest, we wouldn’t have suggested them coming back here except that we felt so guilty it
happened whilst she was under our roof and – and’ – she avoided Edie’s eyes – ‘Irene said she thought that that was what would happen. She wasn’t even sure
if her own mother would have her back.’ Now she glanced at Edie. ‘She’s your best friend, isn’t she?’

Edie sniffed. ‘She was, but we haven’t spoken since the day Irene arrived home.’

‘That’s a shame.’

Edie didn’t answer.

As Edie waited for the train, carefully carrying a basket laden with eggs, butter and cheese from the farm, her thoughts were in turmoil. Ruth had hit a raw nerve when speaking
about Lil. Edie was missing her old friend more than she would ever have believed possible. Ever since the day that Lil and Tom had moved into the house next door that was only a wall’s
thickness from Edie’s home, the two women had been close friends. Each of them having a baby of a similar age had brought the women together as perhaps nothing else could have done. When Tom
was lost at sea, Edie became Lil’s rock and she, in turn, was there to help Edie at the births of both Shirley and Reggie.

Edie sighed as she heaved herself onto the train and found a seat. She hardly saw the countryside passing by the window; her thoughts were turned inwards. What was the right thing to do? Should
she go round to make peace with Lil and then they could face this problem together? But the thought made her shudder. Though she longed to see her grandson Tommy, she didn’t want to see Irene
and she certainly didn’t want to clap eyes on the little bastard in their midst.

But there was no doubting the fact that she was missing her dear friend.

As Edie alighted and left the station, she thought, I’ll wait until Archie gets back from sea. He’ll know what’s best. She sighed again. It had been the story of her life:
waiting for Archie to come home from the sea before she could make any momentous decision that affected the family. The only time she’d had to decide something really important had been when
she’d sent Reggie away to the countryside with Irene and Tommy. There, she thought, it always comes back to bloody Irene!

Irene was sitting near the window of the front bedroom overlooking the street below. Lil – though still unsure of the future – had, for the moment, insisted that
her daughter should have the bigger bedroom for herself and the baby. Having just fed Marie, Irene had buttoned her blouse and moved closer to the window, watching the comings and goings on the
street below. The house was silent. Lil had taken Tommy into the town to buy him some new shoes and even the restless baby was quiet for the moment, replete and sleepy in her arms.

Irene saw Edie coming along the street, carrying the heavy basket, her expression like thunder. Irene’s hopes died in that moment. Whatever her husband would feel, the woman walking along
the street below was never going to allow her son to forgive his wife. As Edie crossed the road towards her home and disappeared from Irene’s view, the young woman tensed, holding her breath
as she waited for a knock on their door. But no knock came and Irene breathed a sigh that she wasn’t quite sure was relief or disappointment.

She laid the baby in the battered cot, which she and Lil had struggled to get down from the attic room. Normally, Lil would have enlisted Edie’s help – and certainly Archie’s,
if he’d been at home – but this time . . .

The baby slept soundly and Irene, exhausted by loss of sleep the night before – Marie had been particularly fractious – lay on her own bed. But sleep eluded her even now for her
thoughts were troubled. Of course, she hadn’t meant it to happen. She loved Frank; she still did and she always would. But stuck in the countryside – which she’d hated –
miles from family and friends, she’d been lonely and bored. She did her share of the chores in the house and around the farm – she wasn’t an idle girl – but she missed being
able to dress up, wear a little make-up and high heels, going into town and having her hair done or going to the cinema. She longed for a girly chat with Beth as they got ready together in
Irene’s bedroom for an evening out. She missed town life, the life she was used to and, most of all, she hungered for Frank’s arms around her and his kiss. Of course, she’d got
Tommy and young Reggie with her. He was like a younger brother, but it wasn’t the same as having Beth – or even Shirley – here. Besides, Reggie was growing to love the country
life. She could see it in his face every day. He actually revelled in being out in all weathers, working in the fields or tending the animals. Young as he was, he worked as hard as any man and
certainly as hard as the land army girls, Pearl and Eve. Irene smiled wryly as she thought about those girls. They had been the saving of her sanity and yet the reason for her fall from grace too.
For a while, they’d been friendly enough but they hadn’t included her in their evenings out. To them, she was a staid, married woman with a young child, whilst they were young and
fancy-free. But one night, when the two girls were getting ready together in the bedroom they shared, Irene had offered to do their hair for them.