Mary stared back at her. She had stopped crying now but her eyes were luminous and glittering and she looked scared to death. ‘I - I can’t.’ And she began to sob again.
Her voice quieter, Eve said, ‘It’s not your fault, hinny. All right? It’s not your fault, it’s his.’ Straightening, she looked steadily at Phoebe. ‘He was making her touch him there, making her hold his . . .’ She gestured with her hand.
Josiah attempted to look outraged. ‘What did you say?’
Undeterred, Eve glared straight into his red face. ‘You were and you know it. You’re disgusting. Now I know why you wanted us to come and live here.’
‘You ungrateful little scut.’ Josiah looked as though he wanted to strike her and Nell must have thought so too, because she moved quickly to stand with her sisters.
‘He’s been giving Mary money. We’ve bought sweets with it.’
Nell’s whisper made Eve stare at her. ‘What did you say?’
‘He’s given her thruppenny bits, sixpences an’ all. She said it was a secret and she couldn’t tell. He told her not to tell.’
Phoebe appeared transfixed by what had been said. She had not moved or spoken, and now her eyes went to her husband once more. And it was to his wife that Josiah said, ‘They’re lying, damn ’em, but now I come to think of it there might have been money missing from my pocket now and then. Perhaps they’re all in on it, the thieving. Likely it’s been going on since they came. I can’t find me granda’s pocket watch for a start, happen that’s been sold or put in the pawn.’
‘You’re lying.’ Eve’s voice was stronger, it rang in the kitchen. ‘We haven’t taken anything and you know it.You’ve been interfering with my sister and I’ll have the law on you.’
‘The law, is it?’ He advanced a pace but although Nell and Mary cowered, Eve faced him, her eyes blazing. ‘We’ll see about who calls the law in, girl. First the thieving and then attacking me like that. I’ll see you go down the line for this little lot, you see if I don’t. And then them two will be for the workhouse. Thought about that, have you? And they can rot there for all I care. Last time I try to help anyone, that’s for sure.’
An unnameable sensation was flooding through Eve. Never before had she wanted to inflict harm on another human being, but the urge to tear and rake at Josiah’s face, to annihilate him from the face of the earth, was so strong she could taste it. Her rage was scorching and she could see Josiah had read what was in her mind and it disconcerted him. He stepped back, glaring at her. ‘It’ll be my word against yours, remember that, and I say she and maybe the pair of you too have been stealing from us. We took you in out of the goodness of our hearts, got you a job at the vicarage, treated you like our own, and this is how you repay us.’
‘You’re unnatural, twisted.’ The words were fired at him. Eve seemed to have grown inches, so rigidly did she hold herself. ‘To make a little bairn do that. What else have you done—’
‘Stop it.’ Phoebe’s voice was thin and piercing. It brought all eyes to her. ‘Stop this.’
‘He’s lying, Phoebe, I swear it.’
Phoebe’s eyes flickered as they met Eve’s.
She knows
. Eve stared at Josiah’s wife. The reaction, slight as it had been, betrayed Phoebe’s knowledge of the truth.
But then Phoebe shook her head. ‘You’re wrong. This is a mistake.’
‘I know what I saw and it’s not a mistake. He was—’
‘No.’ Phoebe’s face was drained of colour and she was speaking through stiff lips but her voice held a sharpness which belied her slight, girlish exterior. ‘Whatever you think you saw you’ve put the wrong interpretation to it.’
‘That’s right, it wasn’t like—’
‘This is a respectable home.’ Phoebe cut through Josiah’s blustering as though he hadn’t spoken. ‘We’re respectable people. My mam and da’ - she took a gulp of air - ‘they’re respectable too. I’ve got bairns. I won’t have our good name dragged through the mud.’
‘You can’t be taking his side.’ Eve stared at the woman she had come to know and have affection for over the last months. She was shocked and hurt but above all angry.‘You can’t, Phoebe, not after what he’s done.’
‘He’s my husband.’
‘He’s a pervert. A man who likes little children, little girls. He’s sick, dirty.’
Again Phoebe’s eyes flickered. ‘I won’t have you saying these things.’
‘But you know it’s true.You do, don’t you, Phoebe?’
‘No.’ Even Phoebe’s lips were white. ‘No, I don’t, and I won’t have us cut off and shunned by everyone, I won’t. I-I’ve noticed things going missing. House-housekeeping money out of my purse.’ Josiah was staring at his wife but Phoebe did not glance his way.
Harshly, Eve said, ‘You’re making this up.’
‘If you go to the police station I shall swear it’s true.’
‘You’d really do that?’
Phoebe’s chin rose. ‘Aye.’ Her eyes never flinched from Eve’s as she repeated, ‘Aye, I would really do that. And with your attack on Josiah you would most likely be facing a prison sentence, and Nell and Mary, like Josiah said, would be put in the workhouse.’
Eve attempted to say something but the words stuck in her throat. She felt sick with disgust and disillusion.
The look on her face caused Phoebe’s countenance to crumple and her voice held a pleading quality when she next spoke. ‘Please, Eve, for the sake of the bairns.’
‘Whose bairns?’ Eve’s voice was no longer like that of a thirteen-year-old girl’s but someone far older. ‘Your boys? And what of Mary? She’s a bairn too.’
‘You heard what she said.’ There was relief as well as bravado in Josiah’s voice. ‘We’re on to you and the best thing you can do is clear off before you find yourself in real trouble.’
Phoebe turned her head and looked at her husband.The look shocked Eve as much as anything that had gone before. She would not have thought gentle Phoebe capable of such hatred.
‘Please, Eve, please don’t make me tell no one.’ Mary was tugging at her sleeve, whispering. ‘I couldn’t bear it, I couldn’t. Don’t make me. I’ll run away, I will.’
‘It’s all right.’ She patted her sister’s thin arm, her mind racing. She couldn’t bear the thought that Josiah was going to get away with what he had done, but what was the alternative? If Phoebe stuck to her guns, it would be their word against the married couple’s, and with Mary and Nell having bought sweets for who knew how long, it wouldn’t look good. Oh, why hadn’t Mary confided in her? How long had it been going on? What had he done to her? How could Phoebe lie for him when she’d looked as though she hated him? Eve felt sick, bewildered. If she reported Josiah to the law and it went against her, who would take care of Mary and Nell? Phoebe was right, it would be the workhouse for them, the very thing she had fought against all along. Looking at Josiah’s wife, she said, ‘You’ll live to regret this day.’
A spasm passed over Phoebe’s face but she did not answer.
‘Go and get your things together.’ Eve pushed Mary and Nell in front of her as she spoke and then turned to tell Josiah what she thought of him one last time, but as she did so he sat down suddenly on one of the hard-backed chairs, saying, ‘I feel bad.’
That gash would need stitching. The thought brought little satisfaction, she wished him dead, but as she followed her sisters out of the kitchen, she noticed Phoebe made no move towards her husband.
She hoped the pair of them drowned in misery from now on. As she climbed the stairs her eyes were dry but her heart was weeping for her sister. For that man to take a little lass who had just lost her da and brothers and betray her trust the way he’d done was wicked, evil, and Phoebe was as bad. Protecting him like that, she was as bad as him.
The anger kept her going while they packed their belongings into three parcels she made by ripping and knotting the sheets off the double bed. Apart from telling Mary and Nell the large trunk was too heavy to carry and they would have to send for it later when they were settled somewhere, Eve said nothing. For once her sisters were silent too. It was as though the three of them had agreed by unspoken consent that any questions and answers would be kept for when they had left the house. The only sound in the room was Mary sniffing.
When they were ready, the bible and her father’s harmonica at the bottom of her parcel, Eve squared her shoulders. She didn’t know where they were going to go or how they were going to manage without a penny to their name but they couldn’t spend another night under this roof. Anything,
anything
would be preferable to that.
‘Here.’ She stripped the blankets from the bed, folded them and gave one each to Mary and Nell and kept a third for herself. ‘We’ll likely need these and they’re ours anyway.’
They picked up their parcels and went down the stairs. Phoebe was standing in the hall.‘Where are you going to go?’ she asked quietly as Eve met her eyes.
Eve did not answer this. What she did say was, ‘I shall send for my father’s trunk later.’ She reached for her hat and coat hanging on one of the pegs in the hall and passed Mary hers. Nell had kept hers on since coming home from church.
‘Here.’ Phoebe held out a handful of coins. In answer to Eve’s raised eyebrows, she said awkwardly, ‘It’s your wage for last week which you gave me on Friday. I - I thought you’d need it.’
Eve stared at her. She was not going to refuse the money, they would need it. Besides which, she had earned it. She took the coins without comment, slipping them into the pocket of her coat.
‘Are you going to the vicarage?’ Phoebe was blocking their path to the front door. ‘Because if you say anything about Josiah to the vicar I’ll do what I said, Eve. I mean it.’
Still Eve said nothing, staring into the face of the woman she had thought of as a friend until today. Phoebe’s tone became soft, almost wheedling. ‘Try to understand.’
‘What do you want me to understand?’ Eve pushed roughly past her and opened the front door, gesturing for Nell and Mary to step down into the street.‘That you’re protecting him knowing he’s done such a terrible thing? Because you do know, don’t you, Phoebe? Am I supposed to understand that you’re prepared to lie, to see me in gaol and Mary and Nell in the workhouse rather than speak the truth?’
Phoebe’s face was stiff, her voice low but hard now. ‘We took you in when you had nowhere to go. Don’t forget that.’
‘And you were paid for your trouble.You had the best of my parents’ things and my wage each week. You haven’t lost by it.’
They exchanged one last look and then Eve turned and followed Mary and Nell. The door banged shut behind her as she joined them on the pavement.
Chapter 4
They had reached the end of the street before Nell said, ‘
Are
we going to the vicarage, Eve?’
Eve shook her head but did not speak. Most folk were home from church now and although the street was not as crowded with bairns playing their games as on a weekday, there were still enough around to gape at them as they walked along carrying their parcels. She purposely did not glance at the houses they passed. She didn’t want to risk catching anyone’s eye.As they turned into Front Street and the Methodist chapel came into view, she saw Mr and Mrs McArthur standing talking to the new parson at the door to the chapel and kept her head down, breathing a sigh of relief once they were out of earshot. She didn’t know what she would have said to anyone if they had stopped her. She needed to think things through before she talked to anyone.
‘Where are we going then?’ Nell’s voice was small and choked.
‘Don’t cry, not now, neither of you.’ Eve glanced at them once before staring ahead. Their frightened faces pained her. ‘Wait till we get clear of any houses and into the country and then we’ll talk.’
‘Why aren’t we going to the vicarage?’
Eve swallowed deeply. The question was understandable but all she wanted was to get somewhere quiet and find out exactly what had gone on with Mary. She was sick with fear at what Josiah might have done. As calmly as she could, she said, ‘There’s no point, Nell. The vicar - well, I know his views. He wouldn’t take us in. He would be of the opinion the workhouse is there to cater for such a situation and we should be grateful for it. He’s on the Board of Guardians.’
Nell said no more.
They walked steadily for some time and it said much for Mary’s state of mind that she never spoke once, not even to complain her legs were aching or her parcel was heavy. The late September sun had little power to it and the walk in the fresh air would have been enjoyable under normal circumstances. Small flowers starred the green banks on either side of the dusty lane they came to, blackbirds and starlings squawking and quarrelling over the ripe blackberries covering the hedgerow. It was the sight of the berries that prompted Eve to say, ‘We’ll stop here for a bit. Are you hungry?’
Her sisters nodded warily. It was as though they weren’t sure if hunger were permissible at such a time.
‘We’ll pick some blackberries in a minute, but first’ - Eve plumped down on the grass, putting her parcel behind her and patting the bank either side of her - ‘we have to talk.’
Mary started to cry but she sat down. Eve put her arms round her sister as Nell joined them. ‘Don’t cry, hinny. This isn’t your fault, none of it, understand? It was him. He was wrong to do what he did. I have to understand what happened though, Mary.You must tell me it all, from the beginning. It’s important.’
Eve only had the sketchiest knowledge of the facts of life. Her grandma had already died when she had begun her monthlies and so her father had taken her next door to Mrs McArthur. That good lady had told her enough to comprehend what went on between a man and a woman and that it was vitally important to keep yourself to yourself until you were wed unless you wanted to end up in the workhouse with your belly full. Neither of her sisters had started their monthlies yet though, and Eve had never been so thankful for something in her life. The possibility of Mary’s small child’s body carrying a baby was unthinkable.