East End Angel (48 page)

‘So you’ve been up to the telephone box?’ he asked Fitz.

‘Yes. Pearl has the number for Syd and Amy’s neighbour, for emergencies, like. Thought I’d ring it, ask Ruby if she had any ideas. Ruby wasn’t much help, though, more interested in telling me how fed up she was. Said that Pearl had most likely gone for a walk as it was a nice day. And I was more inclined to think that meself at the time.’

‘Did you ask anyone on the way home?’

‘No one to ask. It’s a holiday, ain’t it? People are having a tipple or a knees-up.’

It was Ricky Winters who was on Jim’s mind; the thought of him being with Pearl. The drink was the only way to stop himself thinking. Had she gone away with him? Had it finally happened, the outcome he had dreaded?

‘What I can’t fathom out,’ said Fitz, ‘is that Pearl is a home bird. She don’t go out on the razzle, nor does she go without Cynth. She wouldn’t have left her today had there not been a kids’ party across the road. We told her we’d keep an eye out whilst she was gone. It was just to speak to her sister that she went.’

‘Are you sure nothing was said between the two sisters?’ Gwen pressed. ‘They didn’t have a tiff or nothing?’

Fitz furrowed his brow in deep thought. ‘Don’t think so. Ruby just kept on about how Abingley wasn’t the same as the island. That it was lonely in the country, not like the old days at Roper’s Way. Nothing else was said far as I can remember. They didn’t have no tiff, that’s for sure.’

‘Roper’s Way,’ Jim repeated, glancing out of the window to where Percy sat on the cart. The old man had brought him and Gwen back to Pride Place.

Jim smiled at his daughter. ‘Now, you stay with Gwen till I get back.’ He passed her over, gently pulling her plait and making her laugh.

‘Where are you going?’ Gwen asked.

‘Over to Roper’s Way.’

‘Why’s that?’

‘Pearl was talking about it with Ruby.’

‘Shall I come with you, lad?’ asked Fitz.

Jim shook his head. Would he find Pearl and Winters together there? Was Roper’s Way where they met? He was telling himself to keep calm, but the picture inside his brain was of them together, in each other’s arms, in a place no one would suspect them of being.

Jim asked Percy to wait for him in the next road and hurried around the corner to Roper’s Way. As he strode along, he was barely conscious of the bomb sites and derelict houses. Instead Winters’ face loomed large in his mind as he stood in uniform at the Jenkinses’ house, looking the dog’s dinner, and alone in the hall with Pearl. How could she have betrayed him like she had? She had meant everything to him. What if he hadn’t enlisted? Would it have made a difference? Should the blame lie with him for leaving her? The questions and suspicions poured through his mind.

He suddenly realized he was halfway along the street. To add to his confusion, there was nothing he recognized under the mountains of rubble and brick. This was a limbo, a ghost land. What had happened to the lively road he had once known?

Where was number twenty-four? The answer must be, in front of him. He could hardly believe it. He walked closer, narrowing his eyes at the dusty brick. Nothing remained of the house that used to be.

He glanced up and down the road again, trying to remember what it was once like. Then carefully he began to pick his way up to the top of the debris. He found a large crater and beyond this he could see where the factory had once stood. The space was boarded off and had signs to keep out. No doubt about it, this was where the Jenkinses’ old home.

A soft wind blew dust across his face. He looked down at the dip and at last saw something he recognized. Six inches of wooden mantel, black and broken. He turfed away the bricks and lifted it, running his fingers carefully over the splintered edge. But where were Winters and Pearl? He’d had the picture clear in his mind. His fingers itched to take hold of Winters. To have the satisfaction at last of revenge. But there was only the wasteland and the dust still rising.

Suddenly there was a sound. Looking round, Jim saw no one. Even the scavengers and looters had taken the day off.

The sound came again. Jim dropped the wood and began to follow his nose. Was it an animal? He slid down the debris and ascended the Sampsons’, another shattered pile.

Jim stood on the top. His heart lurched as the moaning became clear. He scrambled towards it and fell on his backside as an avalanche of bricks toppled with him. When he came to a halt he was on all fours. Wiping the dust from his face with the back of his sleeve, he gasped aloud.

‘Pearl! Pearl!’ he yelled, scrambling towards her, dropping to his knees and throwing aside the broken bricks that covered her still body.

There was daylight coming through the window, but Pearl didn’t recognize the room. Her eyes ached and as she turned her head, that did too. Her mouth was dry and she put out her tongue to lick her dry lips. The starched sheets felt unfamiliar as she tried to sit up but fell back again.

‘Doctor!’ a voice called.

Pearl lay in confusion, staring up at the ceiling.

‘Mrs Nesbitt?’ A tall, bearded man in a white coat stood over her.

‘Who . . . who are you?’

‘My name is Dr Taylor and you’ve been in my care for the past three days. This is the London Hospital and, I must say, we have been very worried about you.’

‘Why?’ she mumbled. ‘What’s wrong with me?’

He smiled a friendly smile as he shone a torch in her eyes and made her blink. ‘We think you took a tumble on some debris, cracked your head and knocked yourself unconscious. You have a few bumps and bruises that we can’t account for, but perhaps you’ll be able to tell us.’

‘Did you say I’ve been in here three days?’

‘Yes, since last Wednesday and today is Saturday.’

‘But who—’

‘Now before I answer all your questions,’ he interrupted gently, ‘I have a short examination to make. We need to make certain your legs and arms work. It won’t take long. Just try to relax.’

Pearl closed her eyes again as the nurses came in and out of the room, talking in whispers as they bent her legs and arms and tapped her knees and feet. Why were they doing all this? And what was the pain in her head?

Finally the doctor spoke. ‘Well, apart from a slightly raised temperature, I’m very pleased with you. All seems to be in working order but we’ll need to keep you under observation.’

‘Can I sit up?’

‘Yes, the nurse will help you.’

Pearl was grateful for the assistance of the nurse, as when she tried to move she had no strength.

‘Is that better?’ asked the doctor, studying her carefully.

‘Yes, but my head hurts.’

‘We did find a very large lump on it.’

Pearl blinked her painful eyes. ‘How did I get that?’

‘We were hoping you could enlighten us, Mrs Nesbitt. You see, other than what your husband told us, we have very little to go on.’

‘My husband?’ Pearl stared at the doctor. ‘You mean Jim?’

‘Mr Nesbitt has been here every day, at your bedside. It was he who found you on Wednesday and brought you here. And you were lucky that he did as a night out in the open wouldn’t have helped your condition.’

‘But Jim isn’t . . . he doesn’t . . .’ Pelt felt confused. What was she trying to say?

The doctor looked at her curiously. ‘Don’t tire yourself for the moment. Your memory will come back, I’m sure. But I will just ask you a few easy questions before I leave. Can you tell me what year we are in?’

‘Yes, nineteen forty-five,’ she answered slowly.

‘Very good, very good. And your Christian name would be?’

‘I . . . I’m Pearl Nesbitt and I live at . . . at twenty-seven A, Pride Place. And I have a daughter. Her name’s Cynth. And . . . and . . .’

The doctor pushed her gently back again. ‘Well, I don’t think we have much to worry about. For the rest of today I would like you to rest and I shall leave you in the capable hands of the nursing staff.’

Pearl wanted to ask so many questions. She watched him walk out of the room. He’d told her that Jim had brought her here and been at her bedside. Could that be true?

But why was she here? Where had Jim found her? And who was looking after Cynth? The last thing she could remember was Dillys, the little girl across the road. Cynth had gone to her party. But what had happened after that?

As she lay there, she tried hard to think. But even thinking hurt.

*    *    *

It was three o’clock and Gwen glanced out of the shop window to Dillys’s house. Cynth had gone to play in their backyard and taken her white chalk with her. Dillys was teaching her hopscotch.

Gwen glanced the other way. No sign of Jim. He’d gone to the hospital early, in the hope they’d let him see Pearl. He had been like a cat on a hot tin roof since Wednesday. Granted, he’d not been near the booze since finding Pearl at Roper’s Way. And he’d looked after little Cynth like an old mother hen. But he blamed himself for what had happened. Seeing Pearl at death’s door had finally woken him up.

Just then Fitz brought in a box of dried-up-looking greens from the storeroom. ‘We’ll knock these out cheap, Gwenny,’ he told her, ‘’cos if we don’t, they’ll go off before Monday.’ He took the box out in front of the shop and placed it with the others. Glancing up and down the road, he frowned.

‘Do you think they let him see her?’ Gwen asked when he returned.

‘Dunno. Hospitals are funny like that.’

‘They let him stay longer yesterday.’

Gwen didn’t want to think what might happen if Pearl didn’t recover. She was an angel and Jim was only beginning to recognize it.

Gwen served a customer and, as it was late, cleaned the shelves and began to wash the floor. She was on her knees when the door opened. A pair of boots she recognized appeared.

‘Jim! Is there any news?’

He had a big grin on his face. ‘I can’t believe it, Gwen. She’s come round.’

‘What?’

‘She’s woke up.’

Gwen dropped the brush and climbed to her feet. ‘Oh, thank God.’

‘The doctor told me she’s going to be all right. But they’ve got to keep an eye on her.’

‘Did they let you see her?’

‘No. I’m off to visit later.’

‘Do you want a cup of tea or something to eat? I can find you a slice of corned beef and a pickled onion.’

‘No, thanks. I need a wash and shave.’ He pushed his hands over his face. His eyes were full of doubt when he looked up. ‘Gwen, do you think she’ll . . . I mean – will she even want to see me?’

‘I think your missus will be
very
glad to see you.’

‘Can’t blame her if she’s not.’

‘You’re her world, Jim. Only you don’t know it.’

‘I do now.’

Gwen pulled her pinafore across her chest and straightened her shoulders. ‘Is there anything I can do to help?’

‘Watch Cynth for me till I come back?’

‘That’s no trouble, ducks. She’s been a happy little girl since her dad’s come home. You’re where you should be now, Jim Nesbitt. You’ve got your thinking cap on again, and I hope it stays there.’

He nodded slowly. ‘I’ve missed home, Gwen. More than I can say.’

‘Well, you’ll have to find the right words, won’t you? It’ll mean a great deal to Pearl to know your feelings.’ She wasn’t going to let him off the hook. No matter how repentant a man might be, it was actions that counted. But he was a good man at heart. He’d just lost his way for a time, like so many others had in the conflict.

‘I’ve found another lot,’ said Fitz, coming in from the back. He dropped the box when he saw Jim. ‘Is it Pearl? Is she awake?’

Jim smiled. ‘Too right she is.’

‘Oh blimey!’ Fitz took out his hanky and blew his nose. ‘Thank the Lord for that. Any damage done, do yer know?’

‘She’s still got that bump on her head. She had it when me and Percy lifted her onto the cart. The doctor said she had a few other bumps and bruises. But for the life of me, I wouldn’t know where she got them.’

‘It was climbing over that bloody debris,’ said Gwen crossly. ‘What else could it be?’

‘Dunno,’ Fitz shrugged. ‘Something might have fell and hit her.’

‘Like what? There was nothing left standing to fall.’

‘The only one who knows is Pearl,’ shrugged Jim. ‘And the doc said she’s having a job to remember. Now, I’d better get off your clean floor and get meself tidied up.’

‘And, Jim,’ Gwen called as he went to walk away, ‘give her our best, won’t you?’

‘Course, that’ll be first on me list.’

When he’d gone, Gwen looked at her husband and saw tears in his eyes. She walked across the wet floor and put her arms around him. ‘You soft old bugger,’ she sniffed and searched for a hanky too.

Pearl opened her eyes, remembering that after lunch, a bowl of hot soup and a glass of water, she had been transferred from the small room to the main ward.

‘You all right, ducks?’ a voice said from the next bed.

Pearl nodded. ‘I must have dozed off.’