A Mother's Duty (44 page)

The early gales of summer had passed but Teddy was taking no chances, so he did not take her through the Mersey tunnel and into Wales. She needed to get used to the feel of the bike so they went out for a spin along to Otterspool, just past the Cassie Shore.

It was the first of many outings and she bought herself a coat similar to his, along with leggings, gloves and a helmet, which she kept at his mate’s. They were so wrapped up in each other that it was difficult to pretend that they did not particularly care for each other at home, but as the weeks passed it became even more difficult to pretend that there was no possibility of another war and their being parted.

Suddenly the newspapers were filled with headlines about Germans in the Sudeten regions of Czechoslovakia demanding self-determination, and of Herr Hitler’s promise to help them get it. Hitler was getting too big for his boots and Germany too powerful, blazoned the headlines. Britain and France had to do something to stop the Nazis invading other countries, But France and Britain did not want another war.

Anxious crowds gathered outside 10 Downing Street and Mr Chamberlain went to Munich on a mission of peace. Everybody held their breath.

He returned with a piece of paper and waved it about. It was Herr Hitler’s promise of peace but it had been gained at a price. Sudetenland was now part of Germany but Britain and France guaranteed Czechoslovakia they would uphold their new frontiers. Most people breathed again. John said grimly that there could be a next time but Kitty did not want to believe it.

The fear that there might eventually be another war crouched like some horrible demon at the back of Teddy’s mind and made his outings with Jeannie all the more precious. It was a week or so after the Munich crisis he persuaded her to skip chapel and have a whole day out with him. ‘It’ll be winter soon and then we won’t be able to get out and about the same. Let’s go to mid-Wales.’

‘I’ll have to think up an excuse,’ she said.

‘Say you’ve got a sick friend.’

‘I haven’t any girl friends I’d need the whole day to visit.’

He racked his brains. ‘What about that girl who stayed at the hotel a few months ago who lives near Chester and said you could visit any time?’

Jeannie smiled. ‘She phoned me up a short while ago. She’ll do.’ John accepted her reason for being missing the whole day without a quibble. As for Teddy he told Kitty he had to work. There was an increasing demand for aeroplane engine parts and it was true enough the boss was saying they were going to have to pull out all the stops.

The leaves on the trees were just turning the colours of autumn but Teddy and Jeannie were full of the joys of spring as they travelled along narrow winding roads between hedges bright with haws and hips. They stopped for a picnic near Bala Lake.

‘One day soon,’ said Teddy, as they lay on a towel on the grass, ‘we’re going to have to confess we’ve been seeing each other and want to get married.’

‘You haven’t asked me yet,’ murmured Jeannie, rolling over on her side and gazing at him.

‘Will you?’ His face was close to hers.

‘Yes.’

Their lips met and he pulled her against him, kissing her with an exhuberance that matched her own. They kissed and kissed. It was not enough for how they felt about each other but they both knew when to call time. They drew apart and stood up, both reluctant to leave what had now become a very special place to them.

‘We’ll come back here,’ said Jeannie.

‘We’ll come for our honeymoon,’ said Teddy, lacing his fingers through hers.

‘Yes. I’d like that,’ she said softly.

They left, still caught up in a kind of enchantment and not ready to head for home. They travelled on, enjoying the countryside and each other’s company. When they rounded a bend and the giant pig came towards them it was so unexpected and happened so fast that Teddy had no time to brake. Before he could take action to avoid it, they hit the pig. He was flung into a hedge whilst the motorbike skidded out of control before falling on its side, pinning Jeannie beneath it.

Fear was uppermost in his mind as he dragged himself out of the hedge and staggered towards her with blood running down his cheek where a hawthorn twig had ripped open his face. He tried to lift the bike but it was too much for him and the scream from Jeannie would have made him stop anyway.

‘Thank God, you’re alive,’ he said hoarsely, getting down on the ground so his face was on a level with hers. There was a bloodied graze right down her left cheek. ‘What is it? Where does it hurt?’

‘My leg, my leg really hurts,’ she groaned and attempted to lift her head again but it was too much effort.

Teddy took off his coat, folded it and placed it beneath her head before attempting to see that part of her beneath the bike. It was all in shadow. He got up on one knee and glanced about him just in time to see the sow lumbering away. ‘It must belong to that farm we saw back there. I’ll go and get help, love,’ he said.

‘Don’t leave me,’ cried Jeannie, reaching out a hand to him.

He took it and held it tightly. ‘I don’t want to leave you ever,’ he said unsteadily. ‘I wish we were married right now.’

‘I want to marry you, too,’ she whispered. ‘But get me out from under here first.’

He nearly smiled then but was too upset. He released her hand and moved away from the bike. It was then he heard the sound of an engine and, suddenly frightened that a car might come round the bend and run into the bike and perhaps kill Jeannie, he ran into the middle of the road and waved both arms and shouted.

A car came round the bend and braked suddenly, narrowly missing him. It stopped and two men got out. ‘Are you suicidal, boyo?’ said one of them.

Teddy swallowed and blinked back tears. ‘I ran into a pig,’ he gulped. ‘My girl’s in pain and I can’t get the bike off her to see what’s wrong.’

‘You’re in luck, Scouse,’ said the other one, a big, broad heavy-set youngish man. ‘My friend’s a doctor. Let’s get her out from under there.’

The three men set about lifting the motorbike, only to freeze when Jeannie screamed piercingly. ‘You two hold it just there whilst I see what’s causing the trouble,’ said the one who was the doctor.

Teddy and the other man braced themselves whilst the doctor lowered himself to the ground. When he got up again his expression was serious. ‘One of the foot rests has gone into her calf and out the other side.’

‘Oh God!’ gulped Teddy, and felt as if all the blood had drained from him.

‘Keep a grip on yourself, boyo,’ ordered the doctor sternly. ‘You’ll have to hold the cycle while I see what I can do to separate them.’ Teddy took a deep steadying breath and did exactly as he was told.

Afterwards, as Teddy sat in the farmhouse parlour sipping hot sweet tea and smoking a cigarette with shaking fingers, he wondered how he had not screamed himself when the doctor managed to get his fingers into the sides of the wound so they could pull out the foot rest. They had brought Jeannie here in the car but Teddy had been turned out of the makeshift surgery in another room because he and Jeannie were not married. It had seemed ludicrous in the light of what they felt for each other.

The door opened and the doctor came in. Teddy shot to his feet. ‘How is she?’

‘I’ve cleaned the wound and put in a few stitches but I’ll have to get her to the cottage hospital in Welshpool.’

‘But – but we’ve got to get home to Liverpool tonight,’ stuttered Teddy, only now thinking of his mother and the big fella.

‘Out of the question,’ said the doctor briskly. ‘She’s not fit. She has a slight concussion and cuts and bruises, but most of all that wound needs attention as soon as possible from someone more expert than me. We’ll take her in the car. You can follow us on your motorbike.’ Teddy saw that he had no choice but to fit in with what the doctor said.

He was, at least, allowed to carry Jeannie out to the car. ‘Keep your chin up, love,’ he whispered as he placed her down on the back seat.

She smiled up at him drowsily and he wondered if the doctor had given her something. He did not wait to watch the car drive off but went in search of his motorbike.

He had not travelled far when the engine died on him and he discovered the return pipe from the crank case to the petrol tank had been flattened. He could have wept but instead he wheeled his motorbike to the side of the road and began walking. It was beginning to get dark and it was now that thoughts of the big fella and his mother crowded in. His stepfather was going to be furious. God only knew what he would do to him. Only now did Teddy admit to himself that he was scared stiff of telling him what had happened to Jeannie, but it would have to be done.

At that moment he heard the noise of a car engine and turned to face it. He waved but the car carried on. In desperation he ran after it shouting and it stopped. When he caught up with it a man stuck his head out of the window. ‘I’m in a hurry, lad. Where are you going?’

‘Welshpool Hospital,’ gasped Teddy. ‘My motorbike hit a pig and my girl’s been taken there.’

The man smiled. ‘Get in. If I’m not much mistaken it’s your girl I’ve been called out to.’

‘You’re a doctor?’ Teddy could barely credit it.

‘That’s right.’

Teddy began to laugh. He couldn’t believe it! But it seemed someone up there was keeping an eye on them.

He was allowed in to see Jeannie for only a few minutes. ‘Sorry, love,’ he said, gripping her hand tightly as he gazed down at her pale injured face.

‘It wasn’t your fault.’

He knew that but, even so, he felt he was to blame.

A nurse came in and told him he had to go. The doctor wanted to see the patient. He kissed Jeannie and left, only to slump down on a chair outside with his head in his hands.

‘I think you could do with some attention,’ said a kindly voice. He lifted his head and saw another nurse. ‘Come with me.’

Teddy felt as if he was in a dream as a doctor stitched the gash in his face. He was given a pill and told to undress and get into bed. He was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

It was not quite light when he woke but he could hear noises. Instantly he knew he was in deeper trouble. His mother and the big fella would be sick with worry and might possibly be putting two and two together. Without speaking to any of the nurses, he dressed and left the hospital to find a telephone box and put a call through to his mother. Then he went back to the hospital to ask after Jeannie and wait.

The big fella came in person and met Teddy outside the hospital. Before he could even open his mouth to say he was sorry, John said harshly, ‘You’ll go home right away. There’s a train leaving for Crewe in a couple of hours and you can get one to Liverpool from there.’

‘No,’ said Teddy, his face white. ‘I’m not a kid anymore that you can boss me around. I know she’s hurt and we’ve deceived you but I wasn’t to blame for the accident.’

‘You broke your promise.’

‘That’s a matter of opinion,’ parried Teddy. ‘I bought a different motorbike. A better one! If that pig—’

‘I want no excuses!’ shouted John. ‘You knew what I meant. I don’t want you having anything to do with her ever again.’

‘But I’ve asked her to marry me and she said yes!’

A muscle in John’s cheek tightened. ‘Marry you! She must be mad! She’s under twenty-one and there’s no way I’ll give her permission.’

‘We’ll wait then,’ said Teddy, his face white with strain. ‘You won’t be able to stop us then.’

‘You’ll wait for years because I’ll see your mother doesn’t give permission either. When I think my Jeannie could get septicaemia I could strangle you with my bare hands.’ His long fingers clenched into a fist.

Teddy swallowed and backed away. ‘She saw a doctor right away. Honestly she’s going to be OK.’

‘She better had be,’ said John icily. ‘Now you get off home. There’s a train leaving in an hour.’

‘But I want to stay here,’ said Teddy desperately. ‘She’ll want me.’

‘I’m here. She doesn’t need you,’ said John scathingly, towering over Teddy. ‘Now go before I do something your mother might make me regret.’

Teddy saw there was nothing for it but to leave. He walked away, but not in the direction of the railway station. He only had a few pennies in his pockets and he’d be damned before he would ask the big fella for money. He felt desperate, angry, guilt-ridden as he wandered along a wide street, thinking of Jeannie and how if she had been with him she would have liked this place. It had some nice old-looking houses and there was a castle up on a hill. He passed a garage, remembered his motorcycle and without thinking twice went in to see if he could get a piece of piping that would do for a temporary repair. After a search the mechanic came up with just what Teddy needed and told him he could have it for nothing.

It was dusk when Teddy arrived back in Liverpool, having travelled via the Runcorn Transporter. He was exhausted as he wheeled his motorbike into the yard of the Arcadia. He slumped against a whitewashed wall wondering what to do. He was no longer a kid that he could expect his mother to rescue him from this fix.

Kitty, who had been in the kitchen and had been roused by Nelson yelping and scratching at the back door, came down the yard with her arms held wide. ‘Thank God you’re OK, Teddy. I’ve been out of my mind.’

‘Ma!’ He went into her arms, burying his head against her neck.

She said soothingly, ‘It’s all right, son. You’re home now. I see you came home on your bike after all. Jeannie told John you had no money for the train. Why didn’t you ask him for some?’

Teddy lifted his head and drew away from her. ‘Ask him!’ he spat out. ‘I’d rather die.’

Kitty was silent, knowing she should have guessed that was how he would feel and could only hope he would get over it. ‘Come inside. You must be tired out.’

He nodded and went with her.

Celia and Hannah were in the kitchen and as they entered Mick and Monica came through the other door. ‘So you’re back,’ said Mick, his expression hot and angry. ‘Bloody fool!’

‘That’s enough of that,’ said Kitty sharply. ‘He’s been through all that with the big fella! Now give it a rest. He needs food and sleep, not recriminations.’