A Mother's Duty (36 page)

‘Saw who?’

‘Charley!’ She swallowed noisily. ‘He was walking along the prom eating candyfloss just like a normal person! He leered at me and I panicked, even though there were crowds of people about. I ran, Kit! I ran I was that scared!’ The words came pouring out. ‘I hid meself as best I could in the crowd and when I knew I’d lost him I went in a cafe and had a cuppa tea, but I was shaking that much I decided to come home. I couldn’t cope with the thought I might bump into him again.’

‘Where was this?’

‘Rhyl! I went to see if I could find Jimmy. I’ve been that lonely lately, Kit. I thought, I can’t go on like this. I’ve got to know if I do still love him and I can only know that by seeing him. And then I saw that monster and I thought is God playing some trick on me? I looked for Jimmy and I found that swine and I ran. I’m ashamed of meself. I shouldn’t have let him see I was scared but I am and I’m still shook up.’

Kitty squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. ‘You behaved like most women would in the circumstances – but I’m glad we know where he is now. You’re safe here so stop worrying.’ She moved away from Annie and took a bottle of Scotch from the shelf. She poured a little into a glass and handed it to Annie. ‘Drink this. It’ll calm you down a bit. I’ll just go and have a word with the big fella.’

She found John in conversation with one of the guests in the Smoking Room. She did not interrupt immediately but saw to the fire, catching snippets of their talk which seemed to be about Mussolini and Hitler and some pact or other. She sought an opening and stepped neatly in. The next moment her husband was excusing himself. Outside in the lobby she told him about Charley.

John swore softly. ‘We’ll have to do something.’

‘Such as what?’

It was like a shutter coming down over his face and he shrugged. ‘I don’t know. I’ll go and see Daniel. He might have some ideas.’

She decided not to ask any questions. She wanted Charley dealt with and she didn’t particularly care how her husband did it, but she was concerned about his safety. ‘You’ll be careful?’

He smiled and kissed her. ‘You worry about Annie.’

Kitty returned to the kitchen and found Annie had been joined by Hannah and her sister Monica. ‘What’s going on?’ asked the old woman, resting her hands on the table. ‘This one here’s been drinking. Drink’s not good for thee. It can make thee behave wild.’

‘Dutch courage,’ said Monica, her dark eyes as bright and inquisitive as a robin’s as she looked at her eldest sister. ‘What’s up with our Annie boozing at this hour of the day?’

‘Yer can both mind yer own business,’ said Annie sharply, ramming the glass down on the table. ‘Get on with some work both of yer! There’s vegetables to be done, I don’t doubt.’

‘Done, Miss Bossyboots,’ said Hannah with satisfaction. ‘We’s don’t hang about whether thee’s here or not.’

Kitty hid a smile. ‘You can put them on to boil,’ she said. ‘Monica, go and see if Jack’s all right, love. He’s playing in the yard.’ She turned to Annie. ‘We’ll talk in the basement.’

‘The big fella’s gone to see Mr O’Neill,’ she said as soon as they were sitting down.

Annie sighed with relief. ‘What d’you think they’ll do to him?’

‘I didn’t ask but I think we can stop worrying. They’ll find him.’

Annie’s expression changed. ‘Kit, what if Charley comes here? Yer know – he – he’s seen me and knows where I live. He just might …’ Her voice tailed off and there was fear in her face.

‘Don’t be stupid,’ said Kitty sharply. ‘Why should he? He’s left us alone all this time. There’s no reason why he should.’

‘He’s seen me and he’s a bad ’un. He likes people being frightened of him.’ She laced her fingers tightly together. ‘I’m scared, Kit. I’m scared.’

Kitty rose from her chair and put an arm round her shoulders. ‘You’re not to be scared. The men’ll find him and when they do he’ll be sorry he ever started with us!’

‘How’ll they find him? I never thought – but where’ll he start looking?’

‘Hotels.’

Annie stared at her. ‘That was how I was going to find Jimmy. But of course Charley could be there on holiday. It’d be funny if the big fella bumped into Jimmy.’

‘Very funny,’ said Kitty, her mouth unexpectedly dry. ‘But let’s not be thinking about that. I’ll have to go up and sort out tonight’s meal. You stay here and have a rest.’

‘No!’ Annie jumped to her feet and slipped a hand through Kitty’s arm. ‘I’m coming with you. I don’t want to be left on my own.’

‘There’s nothing to be scared of Kitty sought to reassure her. ‘It’s different now to last time. We have the telephone – and Nelson.’

‘He could cut the wires and slit Nelson’s throat!’

‘You’ve been watching too many films,’ said Kitty, but she saw that Annie would not be reassured and said no more.

They had finished washing the dishes after the evening meal but still no word had come from John, and Kitty was getting restless. She wanted to know what was going on. As if on cue, the telephone rang in the lobby and she ran to answer it.

‘John, where are you?’

‘It’s not John. It’s me!’ Becky’s voice came over the line. ‘The men have gone to Rhyl by ship. I was told not to ring you until they’d sailed and then Sarah played up, so I’ve only been able to get to the phone now.’

‘The idiot! I’ve been on pins. Did he think I’d try and stop him or something?’ cried Kitty.

‘Don’t ask me to try and explain the ways of men. It’s real
Adventure
comic stuff. I’m just following orders. How’s Annie?’

‘Scared out of her wits. She’s worrying in case Charley turns up here.’

Becky said quietly, ‘I bet they haven’t thought of that.’

‘I didn’t until she mentioned it and now I’m all on edge. I’ve got me rolling pin handy and Nelson’s on guard. If there looks like being any real trouble I’ll phone the police, little as I like the idea.’

Becky said a few comforting words and then rang off.

Kitty returned to the kitchen and told Annie and the boys what was happening.

‘So we’ve just got to sit tight,’ said Teddy.

‘It looks like it,’ said Kitty in a voice far more cheerful than she felt. She was realising just how much she had come to rely on having John’s protective presence around but she did not mention to the boys the possibility of Charley turning up at the hotel. She did not want them playing the hero and getting hurt. ‘There’s no need for you to stay up,’ she told them. ‘You both have work in the morning and we’ll be coming up soon.’

‘Forget it, Ma,’ they both said.

But when ten-thirty came and all was quiet they went to bed. Kitty, Annie and Hannah stayed down a bit longer clearing away, emptying ashtrays and setting the tables for breakfast. It was then Nelson began to bark.

The colour drained from Annie’s face and for a moment Kitty thought she was going to faint. She gripped her cousin’s hand and continued to hold it as she picked up her rolling pin and went over to the back door and listened. She could hear a voice trying to calm the dog. She recognised it immediately and, handing the rolling pin to Annie, drew back the bolts.

Jimmy almost fell into the kitchen and only prevented himself from hitting the floor by clinging to the doorjamb whilst Nelson snapped at his heels. Kitty called the dog to her but he was that excited he ignored her. She seized his collar and dragged him under the table. He lay there, a growl still rumbling in his throat.

Jimmy whispered his thanks and she realised that his face was bruised and battered and one of the sleeves of his jacket had been torn away from the stitching at the shoulder.

‘It’s – it’s Jimmy!’ cried Annie. ‘Oh God, what’s happened to you?’ She took hold of his arm and helped him to a chair.

Kitty ordered Hannah to put the kettle on while she went in search of her medicine box. ‘What has happened to you?’ she said.

Jimmy attempted to focus on her face from swollen eyes. ‘You told me that if I was ever in trouble …’ he said unsteadily.

‘I remember,’ said Kitty grimly, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth whilst Annie stood behind him with both her hands gripping the back of his chair.

‘I got into a fight with Charley. Myrtle’s dead!’ He looked completely dazed.

‘Myrtle!’ Kitty’s hands stilled. ‘How?’

He swallowed. ‘She had a gun.’

‘She had a gun?’ Kitty found herself repeating the words as if somehow that would make them sound more real. ‘Good God, what for?’ She stepped back and stared down at him, feeling a mixture of anger and fear. ‘What have you done?’ she whispered.

Jimmy’s head lifted. ‘It wasn’t me!’ he cried. ‘She was threatening me and Charley with it. We were fighting because he’d boasted about what he had done to – to you and Annie. I saw red and I just wanted to beat him into pulp.’

‘You did that for me?’ said Annie, clutching at his shoulder.

Jimmy screamed. ‘Don’t do that! He’s done something to me shoulder. Dislocated it or something. I don’t know how I managed to drive here. Honestly, Kit, it was like something out of a George Raft film. She could have killed me.’

‘The wages of sin are death,’ said Hannah, causing them all to jump. She fixed sharp eyes on Jimmy. ‘What evil hast thou done, me lad?’

‘Not now, Hannah!’ snapped Kitty, filled with a sense of unreality. ‘Just make the tea.’

Annie had moved into a position where she could see Jimmy’s face. Her own was extremely pale. ‘What’s Myrtle Drury to do with you?’ she asked him.

‘I worked for her in her hotel.’ He closed his eyes in obvious pain.

‘And Charley?’ she said.

Jimmy opened his eyes again. ‘She’d long given him the push but he had a habit of turning up now and again and causing trouble.’ He freed a heavy sigh. ‘Annie, can you get me ciggies out of me jacket pocket? I’m desperate for a smoke.’

She scurried to do his bidding, watched by a scowling Hannah who muttered, ‘Thou’s daft, girl. Buzzing around after him like a blue-bummed fly. No good’ll come of it.’

Annie ignored her and placed a cigarette in Jimmy’s mouth. He drew smoke into his lungs and closed his eyes again.

Kitty pulled up a chair and sat close to him so their knees almost touched. She wanted to watch every change of his expression. ‘Who killed Myrtle? And where’s Charley?’

Jimmy moved the cigarette with his tongue to the corner of his mouth. ‘It was Charley. He was trying to get the gun away from her when it went off. It was bloody awful. One minute she was all movement and the next limp like a sandbag with all the sand emptied out of it. I was scared out of me wits. There was Myrtle dead and Charley with the gun. I skedaddled fast.’

‘So you don’t know whether he got away?’ said Kitty.

‘Oh, he got away all right. He wasn’t far behind me.’ He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes. ‘But I beat him to Myrtle’s car.’ He opened his eyes again. ‘God! It’s a nightmare! I was a damn fool to get involved with her.’

‘I warned you,’ said Kitty tartly. ‘But you thought you knew her better.’

‘I should have listened. Nothing turned out the way I expected.’

There was a silence. No marriage then, thought Kitty in passing, and framed her next question. ‘Charley? The police? Do you think they’ll come here?’

Jimmy forced his drooping eyelids up again. ‘The staff know I’m a Liverpudlian and a few know I worked in a hotel here before going to Rhyl. The police could come. I don’t know about Charley.’

Her heart sank. She would have dearly loved to know where that man was. ‘You got here in a car you said.’

‘I parked it well away from the hotel.’ His gaze met hers. ‘Give me that much nous, Kit.’

‘They’ll know you’ve come to Liverpool, though, when they trace it,’ said Annie, her face looking more pinched than ever.

‘I’m sorry. I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go.’ He slumped lower in the chair.

Kitty was silent. For the moment she could not think what to say or do next. She was glad when Hannah handed round cups of tea. Then the old woman sat and fixed her with her sharp eyes and said, ‘The man needs the doctor. Missus Nancy’s man’ll see to him. He might even put him up. Then if the scuffers come we can tell them he’s not here. Don’t have to tell untruths.’

Kitty’s sagging shoulders lifted. ‘You’re right, Hannah! Trust you to show us what to do. We’ll take him out the back way and hope no one sees us. Will you be all right on your own?’

Hannah gave her a look. ‘The good Lord’ll keep me under his wing.’ She nodded sagely. ‘Thee just get rid of him before he goes giving our place a bad name.’

Kitty and Annie lifted a reluctant-to-move Jimmy to his feet and helped him over to the back door and outside. It had begun to rain and the pavement glistened in the light of the street lamps as they made their way by a devious route to the Galloways’ in Rodney Street. The women’s heels rang on the pavement, seeming to give off a hollow sound, and Kitty’s imagination started to play tricks with her so that she could have sworn they were being followed. It was a relief when they came to the doctor’s house.

It seemed an age before anyone responded to the ring of the bell and it was Celia who opened the door to peer through the gloom at them. ‘Is that you, Mrs McLeod? Is somebody ill? That’s not Mick, is it?’ She sounded anxious as she gazed at Jimmy’s slumped figure between the two women.

‘No, it’s my brother-in-law,’ whispered Kitty. ‘Go and wake the doctor. It’s an emergency. And tell your mistress I’d like to see her, as well.’

‘He would have come out to you if you’d rang,’ said Celia, glancing over her shoulder at Annie and the muffled figure before ushering them indoors.

No sooner had Kitty left with Annie and Jimmy than Mick and Teddy entered the kitchen. ‘Where’s Ma?’ asked Mick, glancing round. ‘We heard Nelson barking.’

‘They’s gone to the doctor’s with a wounded man,’ said Hannah with relish. She brandished a blood smeared wad of cotton wool under his nose. ‘Myrtle Drury’s got her just desserts and good riddance I say.’

The brothers exchanged glances and there were matching gleams of excitement in their eyes. ‘You’d better tell us the whole story, Hannah,’ said Teddy. ‘Whose door have you been listening outside now?’

‘Don’t yous be giving me cheek,’ said the maid, bristling. ‘I heard it in this kitchen and saw him with me own eyes. And that Charley’s done murder and’s on the loose again. He’s got a gun.’