The Fight for Lizzie Flowers (24 page)

Ethel buried her face in the pillow. ‘Thanks.’

Lizzie squeezed Ethel’s arm. ‘See you a bit later.’

The din was even louder when Lil and Lizzie went downstairs. Lil had to shout above the noise as she stood at the sink. ‘What’s up with my girl?’ she yelled at Lizzie.
‘You know, don’t you?’

‘She had a tiff with Richard,’ Lizzie explained over the singing and yelling. ‘As you know, the upset gave her a headache.’ Lizzie began to dry the wet china. ‘She
just wanted a bit of peace and quiet to sort out her thoughts.’

‘She’d tell you if she was pregnant.’

‘Well, she hasn’t.’

‘Is that why she and her drip of a husband had a row?’ Lil continued as if she hadn’t heard. ‘Don’t he want another kid?’

Lizzie just shrugged as she put away the plates.

‘Another baby after fifteen years!’ Lil said almost to herself. ‘Christ, no wonder they was at each other’s throats. Richard won’t want the expense of another kid.
He’s a mean sod, I’m sorry to say, even if he is my son-in-law.’

Lizzie realized Lil had talked herself into the fact that her daughter was expecting. She had even forgotten to ask about Danny and when he’d be back for Flo and Syd. Well, who was she to
contradict Lil at this moment ? The suspicion that Ethel was having a baby was engaging all Lil’s attention. And for the moment, her wrong assumption would serve a useful purpose.

As Lil swished the water around the sink, a line of drunken dancers came falling into the kitchen. The men and women were trying to hold on to each other’s waists and kick their legs in
the right direction. But the conga was more like a free-for-all, and the chairs, table and crockery on top of it almost went over.

‘Clear out, the lot of you!’ Lil shrieked. ‘Look at what you’ve done.’

But no one took any notice. They were all laughing and singing too loudly to pay any attention to Lil.

Just then a cheer went up and a man wearing someone’s knickers on his head stumbled into the kitchen. He shouted above the others, ‘Got a cloth ’andy? Cyril’s brought up
his dinner on the carpet.’

Lil’s eyes flashed wide in horror. ‘You Millers are dirty bastards, the lot of you. Out you go in the street and take your mess with you.’

But again no one took any notice. The laughter and jeers followed Lil as she grabbed a rag and elbowed them all out of her way.

Danny looked down at his brother who had woken with a start as he walked into the room. He felt a moment’s pity for the slumbering figure, then pulled himself together.
Frank had got them into a whole lot of bother, no surprises there. But Danny had to admit that the day could have ended tragically, but for Frank’s intervention.

‘What’s going on?’ Frank mumbled as he tried to sit up. ‘Who’s there?’

‘It’s me.’ Danny pulled a chair up to the bed. He looked hard at the man who lay slumped against the pillows. Frank was a mess. Unshaven and bleary-eyed, he could have been
suffering a hangover from hell.

‘Give me them, will you?’ He didn’t acknowledge Danny, but pointed a shaking finger to the bottles on the bedside cabinet.

‘What are they?’ Danny took a bottle and opened it. He tapped a brown tablet into the palm of his hand.

‘They’re for the pain. Me back’s killing me.’ Frank tipped back his head and without water, swallowed the pill.

‘Talking of killing, thanks to you, we’ve got one of Savage’s men enjoying a permanent rest in the storeroom.’

Frank’s head fell against the pillow. ‘It was a lucky shot, that’s all.’

‘Right through the heart. A bull’s-eye.’

‘Yeah, but look at me hands. I can’t keep ’em still.’ He held them out and Danny saw they were shaking. Was he putting it on?

The suspicion was there in Danny’s mind, as it always was with Frank. ‘Where’s Dad’s gun?’ he asked, looking around.

Frank turned his head. ‘In the drawer.’

‘Why did Dad give it to you?’

‘Just in case, that’s all.’

‘Just in case you wanted to kill someone?’

Frank groaned loudly. ‘Course not. But you don’t know what it feels like to be a sitting duck. How can I protect meself?’

‘From your many enemies, you mean,’ Danny said scornfully.

‘Someone did this to me.’

Danny frowned. ‘So you knew Dad’s piece would fire?’

‘No. Well, yes,’ Frank hesitated, ‘but Dad said it hadn’t been used since he come home. It was just to scare someone off.’

‘But you pulled the trigger anyway.’

‘Christ, Danny. The bloke downstairs was aiming for Ethel and your mate.’ Frank turned his head. ‘Give us another one of them pills, will you?’

Danny picked up the bottle. Frank swallowed a pill noisily. Then letting himself sink back he said in a hoarse whisper, ‘What’re we going to do?’

‘
We
?’ Danny repeated, lifting his eyebrows. ‘As usual, it will be me sorting things out.’

‘Thanks, Danny.’

‘I ain’t doing it for you, as you well know.’

Frank was silent as he lay there.

‘I’m going to clear up the shop. Then you’ll be on your tod for a while.’

‘You’re gonna leave me?’ Frank looked alarmed and tried to sit up. He fell back, fear in his eyes.

‘Just stay where you are and keep out of trouble.’ Danny stood up and opened the drawer. ‘So this is it.’ He stared down at the ancient hand gun. It was a wonder it fired
at all. The mechanism looked rusty and the handle was broken. ‘I’ll take this and dump it.’

‘No!’ Frank objected as the sweat poured from his face. ‘It’s all I’ve got to defend myself with.’

‘What if the cops find it? Your name’s on the collar when the body turns up and they dig the bullet out of his head.’

‘But what if someone tries to get to me? Like the bastards who did this.’

Danny shrugged. ‘You’ll have to throw your pills at them.’

‘Strewth, Danny, have a heart.’

‘Yeah, like you did on that day you and Vinnie paid me a visit?’ Danny hurled at his brother. ‘You did to me what someone’d done to you. What were you after, Frank? To
get rid of me once and for all?’

Frank’s head slumped back on the pillow. ‘I was off me rocker.’

Danny pushed the gun into the waistband of his trousers. Many questions flew through his mind. Not the least of them, why was he helping a man who had tried to kill him? Yes, Frank had prevented
Ethel and Cal from being wounded, if not killed. But in Danny’s opinion, this wasn’t heroism. Rather a case of self-preservation. Frank feared his enemies. And he had reason to, after
the years of working as Ferreter’s bookie.

Yet this was his brother. No longer the hard man but sick and sorry for himself. The pitiful sight, Danny reflected, should have given him satisfaction. Instead, all he felt was empty.

As the old saying went, Danny was beginning to believe – against the grain – that blood was thicker than water. Even in Frank’s case.

It was well after midnight and the clearing up was finally done. Lizzie was exhausted. Lil had insisted they go into Flo’s and sweep the decks clean. Any amount of
breakages had yet to be calculated; Lil had threatened to send a list to the Missus and demand replacements.

‘I reckon the tea leaves among them have nicked me best cutlery,’ Lil was complaining to Doug, as she took a long drag of her cigarette. ‘I’ve six spoons here me mum gave
us when we got married. Where are the matching four?’

‘We’ll find them in the morning, love.’ Doug was flaked out in the armchair. ‘I need me beauty sleep.’

‘Have you looked in on Rosie and Timothy next door?’

‘Yes, they’re happy to have a bit of space to themselves.’

‘I suppose their gran ain’t good enough for them now they’re getting older. Did you see Timothy with that Miller girl today?’

Doug waved his hand. ‘They’re growing up fast, love. We’ll have to get used to that.’

‘All right, all right,’ Lil said airily.

‘Well, we all think of them as kids.’ Doug raised his shoulders on a shrug. ‘And anyway, Polly and Tom were happy enough to sleep in the boys’ room. I reckon we’re
all well sorted.’

‘God knows how Ethel got a wink with the racket,’ Lil persisted; as usual, having the last word.

Doug yawned loudly. ‘I’ll be asleep before my head hits the pillow.’ He gave Lizzie a weary grin. ‘You sure you’ll be all right sharing with Ethel?’

‘Like you, Doug, I’m all in. I could sleep on bare boards if it came to it.’

‘You’ll never have to do that in this house,’ Lil interrupted sharply. ‘Now off you go, Doug. I want a word with Lizzie.’

Lizzie’s heart sank.

Doug nodded. ‘Night, everyone, then. Don’t stay up too late.’

When Doug had gone, Lizzie quickly took off her apron, but it was clear Lil wasn’t about to let her go. ‘Might pour meself a nightcap. Me guts were going over today and need
settling. Do you fancy a sherry?’

‘No thanks. Is there anything else needs doing?’

Lil took the sherry bottle from the sideboard. ‘No. But there is one thing you can do for me.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Ask Ethel about the baby. She’ll tell you. I know she will.’ Lil sighed tiredly. ‘I ain’t being nosy, but drawing any information out of Ethel lately is like
pulling a tooth. If she’s having a kid, I’d like to know about it.’ She paused, wrinkling her brow under the turban she’d tied round her head to perform the cleaning.
‘You see, if she’s worried, I’d like her to talk it over with me, if you see what I mean? I wouldn’t like her to do anything silly.’

‘What do you mean . . . silly?’ Lizzie asked in alarm.

‘Well, you know. Get rid of it.’

‘Ethel wouldn’t do that.’

‘But she rowed with Richard, didn’t she?’ Lil pointed out. ‘She might have sprung the news of the baby on him and he didn’t want it. You know what Richard is like
about money. He would have taken into account there’d be another mouth to feed.’

‘Lil, that’s jumping to a big conclusion.’

Lil tapped the side of her nose. ‘Call it a mum’s intuition. Now, off you go, ducks. And thank you for all your help today. I don’t know what I’d have done without
you.’

Lizzie felt very guilty. She had let Lil believe that Ethel was pregnant and all sorts was going through Lil’s mind.

Lil laughed and coughed at the same time as she poured herself a generous measure of sherry. Lizzie wanted to reassure Lil that her worries about Ethel were unfounded. But she was too tired to
make the effort.

‘Night, Lil,’ she said and leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek. ‘Thanks for putting us up.’

‘It’s nice to have your company, love.’

Lizzie left to the sound of a match striking and Lil’s indrawn breath as she savoured a cigarette.

Lizzie made her way quietly upstairs. Inside the boys’ room it was hot and stuffy. There was a faint whiff of mothball as Lizzie tiptoed over to the single beds. Tom and Polly didn’t
stir.

Lizzie knew this room was Lil’s favourite and she liked to put company here when they stayed. When her sons Greg and Neil had been killed in the war Lil had kept the room as it was for
many months afterwards. Their clothes had stayed in the wardrobe and the heavy green eiderdowns the boys had used had remained in place. All their books and toy soldiers on the shelves hadn’t
been moved an inch. Lil dusted in there every day until Doug had begun to worry about his wife’s refusal to let her sons’ memory go.

Lizzie thought of Lil in 1918 as the war had drawn to a close. This house had been a very different place then; dark and gloomy and like a shrine. Although Lizzie had only been twelve she
remembered the depression Lil had sunk into. It was thanks to her own mother, Kate Allen, that Lil had finally pulled through. Doug had been at his wits’ end and grieving for their sons too.
So it was down to Kate to help her best friend through the worst time of Lil’s life. Lizzie recalled her mum gradually persuading Lil into packing Neil and Greg’s things away. After
that, Lil’s depression had lifted. She had got on with her life again; her grandchildren soon filled the empty space her sons had left.

Lizzie sighed softly at the memories. She kissed Polly’s cheek, then Tom’s and left quietly, closing the door behind her. In the next room Ethel was curled up in bed. Lizzie
undressed in the darkness, leaving on her slip. She folded her dress and jacket over the chair.

Lizzie slipped into bed beside Ethel. She waited for sleep to come. But her thoughts churned in her head. Memories came back of childhood; of Vinnie and Bert, and Flo and Babs. They had been a
happy family before the war. Bert and Vinnie at ten and eleven had been true boys, always in mischief. But Pa had kept them in line. That was, until he’d left his family to fight for King and
Country. It was then Vinnie’s mischief had turned to crime. He’d found it was easy to make money as a bookie’s runner. If only Pa hadn’t gone away.

Lizzie turned over but her thoughts rambled on. Had Syd and his brothers stolen Frank’s watch? Could it be Syd and his brothers? Had they tried to kill Frank? And the shop – why had
she let Ethel go back to check on Frank? She should have been the one to face Savage’s man.

Lizzie shivered. What were Danny and Bert doing now? Would the police find out? Could Ethel keep their secret? Lizzie closed her eyes tightly. But another man floated into her thoughts. This
time it was Duncan King, the corpse who Danny had identified as Frank.

‘You awake, Lizzie?’

‘Yes.’

‘I keep drifting off, then waking up with a start. Did all that happen at the shop?’

‘Yes, I’m afraid so.’

‘I was hoping it was a bad dream. There ain’t a breath of air in this room either.’

Lizzie nodded. ‘Let’s go downstairs.’

Quietly they climbed out of bed. Lizzie put her jacket round her as Ethel went to the window and stared into the night. ‘I can’t believe it all happened, Lizzie.’

‘Neither can I.’

‘Was he really dead?’

‘I’m afraid so.’

Ethel shivered. ‘I’ve still got this headache.’

‘No wonder after all that’s happened.’

On tiptoe they left the room.

Ethel stirred her tea, feeling better now. She was sitting with Lizzie at the kitchen table. They were talking in whispers as the pale light of dawn crept through the window.
Ethel was ashamed of herself. She had let everyone down. ‘My life must have been very boring,’ she admitted, fiddling with the handkerchief in her hands. ‘Nothing like that has
ever happened to me before.’