Authors: Ellie Dean
Peggy sighed with relief. ‘How was she when she arrived? Did Ron say anything about what had happened up at the Frasers’?’
Fran shook her head. ‘We didn’t know that was where she’d been staying,’ she said. ‘But she looked as if she’d been through the mill a bit and was clearly upset about something, but as she didn’t say anything, we didn’t like to ask.’
Peggy didn’t like the sound of that at all, but she’d have to wait until she got Ron on his own before she could discover what had happened. At least the girl was safe now, and that was all that really mattered. Her thoughts turned to her second worry. ‘What about Doris?’
‘Doris is in a bate over the fact Anthony telephoned Suzy and not her – and that he didn’t tell his doting mother that he was actually coming back to Cliffehaven tonight to see Suzy.’
Peggy rolled her eyes. ‘When will Doris realise that Anthony has his own life? He’s a grown man, for heaven’s sake.’
Fran lingered for a spot of unnecessary tidying of the top of the bedside cupboard. ‘It’s all a wee bit odd, though,’ she murmured. ‘From what Doris said this morning, it sounds as if Anthony doesn’t know she’s living with us – but surely, if he’d telephoned home, her husband would have told him.’
Peggy shrugged. ‘No doubt Ted’s making the most of being left to his own devices. I suspect he’s all but living at the golf club while Doris is out of his hair.’
Fran nodded and smiled, then went off to make sure the other nurses had the ward neat and tidy before the visitors arrived.
Peggy surreptitiously loosened the sheet and blanket so she could get into a more comfortable position, and then settled down to watch the doors in eager anticipation. She’d written a note to her friend Alf, the butcher, and Suzy had dropped it into his letter box on the way home this morning. She just hoped he’d managed to find someone to watch the shop so she could talk her plan of escape over with him.
There was a general rush on the dot of two and she was beginning to think no one was coming to see her today when a beaming Ron appeared with Daisy in his arms, followed by Alf, who was trundling Cordelia along in an ancient wheelchair.
Her smile touched them all as she reached out for her tiny daughter and held her close, breathing in her lovely familiar scent and revelling in the feel of her sweet little hands touching her face. She caught Ron’s eye over Daisy’s curls, and her questioning look was answered by a wink, so she knew for sure that whatever had happened last night, Ron had sorted it and Ruby was safe.
She smiled at Cordelia Finch. ‘My goodness, Cordelia, that was quite a regal entrance.’
‘I hate the blessed thing,’ she said after she’d kissed Peggy, ‘but Alf borrowed it from his grandmother and it’s a means to an end if I’m to get anywhere in this vast place.’
Alf’s large ruddy face was glowing with pleasure as he pecked Peggy’s cheek and handed her a small paper bag. ‘My Lil made the fudge especially,’ he said, ‘and you’re not to give most of it away, there’s another lot in Cordelia’s handbag to share out when she gets home.’
‘Oh, Alf, how kind of Lil to use her sugar ration so generously.’ Peggy took a small square of creamy fudge, fed a tiny piece to Daisy and popped the rest in her mouth. It was soft and very sweet and absolutely heavenly after so many months of going without sugary things. ‘Hmm,’ she managed. ‘Hmm, hmm.’
They sat and chatted while she finished the treat and then carefully tucked the paper bag away in the bedside cupboard. Holding Daisy close, she kissed her little face and laughed back at her as she gurgled. ‘She’s looking wonderfully bonny,’ she said wistfully. ‘You all seem to be coping very well without me.’
‘We muddle through,’ said Ron. ‘But the auld place isn’t the same without you, Peg.’
‘Me and Lil miss you and all,’ said Alf gruffly, his Cockney accent still strong even after the many years he’d lived in Cliffehaven. ‘That Mrs Williams is a tricky customer, forever poking me meat about and complaining about me sausages.’
‘Are you coming home soon?’ asked Cordelia fretfully. ‘Only I don’t know if I can stand living with Doris much longer.’
‘I’m surprised she’s lasted this long,’ said Peggy as she eased the baby’s weight off her bandaged stomach and kept hold of her as she tried to crawl across the bed. ‘Perhaps now Anthony’s back, she’ll go home.’
‘Aye, it would be a blessing. And now Rosie’s home again and eager to help out, I can’t see we need Doris at all.’
Peggy giggled. ‘I noticed there was a glow about you today, Ron. I might have known it had something to do with Rosie.’ She squeezed his fingers. ‘I’m so glad she’s home. Was she pleased with everything you’ve done at the Anchor?’
Ron’s cheeks were suspiciously red as he nodded. ‘Aye, she approves of the way I’ve converted the cellar into an air-raid shelter bar, and she’s very pleased with the accounts and her freshly painted rooms. All in all, I think I’ve earned me stripes while she’s been away.’
Peggy saw the happiness in his face and the sparkle in his eyes that had been missing for too long. Ron was back to his old self again, and Peggy’s heart swelled. He was such a good man, he deserved all the joy he could get in the autumn of his life, and Rosie Braithwaite was the perfect mate for him. ‘I suppose I’ll have to dust off my wedding hat,’ she teased.
He shook his head. ‘Afraid not, Peg. She’s still tied to that husband of hers – but we’ll certainly throw a welcome home party.’
Daisy was growing restless, wanting to crawl and explore the bed, threatening to topple off the sides or get entangled in the blankets. As Peggy retrieved her yet again from the very edge, she felt the painful pull on her scar. ‘Could you take her, Ron? She’s too heavy to lift, and far too adventurous to keep still.’
Ron took the squirming baby, who immediately began to howl in fury at being thwarted. ‘I’ll take her for a wee walk before she has Matron marching in here complaining about the noise.’
Peggy watched as he carried the wailing Daisy out of the ward, and then turned to Cordelia. ‘Do you have your hearing aid switched on?’
‘Of course,’ she replied. ‘I can hear you perfectly well if you don’t mutter.’
‘Good, because there’s something I want to discuss with you and Alf, and I don’t want the rest of the ward listening in. In fact,’ she added, ‘I don’t want this conversation going any further than this bed.’
‘Goodness, that sounds intriguing,’ breathed Cordelia as she edged the wheelchair closer, her eyes bright with excitement. ‘Are we plotting something?’
Alf sat down in the chair by the bed, his expression anxious. ‘This ain’t gunna get me into trouble with the wife, is it?’ he asked.
Peggy grinned. Alf adored his wife, but for a tiny woman, Lil had a fierce temper and a sharp eye which missed very little – and despite his size, Alf was terrified of upsetting her. ‘It will probably get all of us into hot water one way or another, but needs must when the devil drives,’ she said purposefully. She beckoned them even closer. ‘I’m coming home on Friday afternoon,’ she said quietly.
‘Oh, but that’s wonderful news,’ squeaked Cordelia.
Alf wasn’t so easily taken in, and he eyed her suspiciously. ‘Have you actually got the doctor’s permission to come ’ome, Peg?’ he rumbled.
‘They said I was making excellent progress,’ she said airily, ‘and I feel so much better that I’ve decided it’s time for me to leave and make way for someone who needs this bed more than I do. The wards are full at the moment after that tip-and-run and I—’
‘Peggy Reilly, you can’t just up and leave,’ hissed Alf, going very red in the face. ‘Jim would never forgive me if anything ’appened to you, and I’ll not be a party to any daredevil escape.’
‘Oh, Alf, and I thought you enjoyed a bit of an adventure,’ she retorted with a teasing smile. ‘You see, I’m going to need you to drive me home in your van.’
Alf shook his large head, his brawny shoulders hunched mulishly. ‘I ain’t doing it, Peg – and there ain’t nothing you can say what will change me mind.’
She shot him a sweet smile. ‘Are you sure, Alf?’ she murmured.
He looked decidedly uneasy and Peggy could almost see the cogs churning in his mind as he tried to figure out exactly which of his many guilty secrets she knew. ‘Positive,’ he said without much conviction.
‘Remind me,’ she said softly, ‘how did you
really
pay off the loan for that van?’
His eyes widened and he went quite pale. ‘How did you know about that? I didn’t even tell Jim.’
‘I have my ways,’ she said enigmatically. ‘Does Lil know the truth, Alf?’
At the mention of his little wife, Alf’s face went from ashen to puce and his Cockney accent thickened. ‘Lil don’t know nothing, ’cos if she did she’d ’ave me guts fer garters.’ He looked quite terror-stricken. ‘You ain’t gunna tell ’er, are yer?’
‘No, but I could drop enough hints for her to put two and two together,’ she replied, struggling to keep a straight face.
‘Bloody hell, Peggy, that ain’t playin’ the game. I thought you was my friend?’
‘I am,’ she said evenly, ‘which is why I’m asking you to drive me home on Friday.’
‘That’s blackmail, Peggy Reilly.’
‘Putting ten quid on a horse is gambling,’ she retorted, ‘and you were lucky it came up trumps, otherwise Lil would have had something to say.’
‘Lil would have done more than ’ave a word,’ he muttered, his expression grim. ‘She made me promise to stay away from the gee-gees.’ He looked at her in appeal. ‘But it were a sure-fire thing. Got it from the ’orse’s mouth, so ter speak. I couldn’t let an opportunity like that pass me by, could I?’ He wrung his great beefy hands.
She managed to keep her expression stern, but it was very difficult. ‘So, Alf, do we have a deal?’
‘Yeah, all right,’ he muttered. ‘But I ain’t ’appy about this, Peg.’
‘But you promise you’ll drive me home on Friday?’ He nodded and looked so woebegone that she relented. ‘Thank you, Alf,’ she sighed with relief. ‘And don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me because I never had any intention of telling Lil anything.’
His face split into a grin and he roared with laughter. ‘Peggy Reilly, you’re a devious woman, and I should have known you’d never drop me in it with Lil. I’ve a good mind to call yer bluff and keep the van at ’ome on Friday.’
‘But you won’t,’ she said, ‘because you’re a good friend and I trust you to keep this particular promise.’ She smiled at him and wondered how long it would be before he confessed to Lil and discovered she already knew about his lucky win at the races.
‘I’ll be ’ere,’ he said, ‘though Gawd knows how we’ll get past Matron.’
Cordelia had been silent during this exchange, her gaze following the banter back and forth like a spectator at a tennis match. ‘You’re both no better than naughty children,’ she twittered, her eyes bright with laughter. ‘But I too like a challenge, and I know exactly how I can help.’
They both looked at her in puzzlement, and she tapped a finger against her nose and grinned impishly. ‘You get on and plan the escape. I will deal with Matron,’ she said mysteriously.
Ron could understand Peggy’s need to be at home, but he wasn’t at all sure it was wise for her to leave hospital after such a big operation until the doctor gave his permission. And yet, he’d been incarcerated in the damned place himself a couple of years back and had made his escape, so he supposed he had to go along with this mad idea and just hope it didn’t have any long-lasting or disastrous repercussions.
He’d returned from the hospital with Cordelia and Daisy in Alf’s van. Alf was still very nervous at the idea of helping Peggy escape, but Ron had assured him that Lil would never find out what they were up to, and he’d gone back to his shop feeling slightly better about things.
Having settled Cordelia in her chair with a cup of tea and a biscuit, he’d gone back down to the basement to check on his ferrets. What with all the responsibilities on his shoulders at the moment, he hadn’t had the time to take them out or walk Harvey properly, and after the stifling atmosphere in the hospital, he felt the need to stretch his legs and get back up into the hills.
The scullery was better than new with its freshly plastered wall, replacement door and shiny stone sink, but his bedroom was in its usual state of chaos. He decided he’d clean it up before Peggy got back, but as there were a couple of days to go it seemed silly to waste a lovely day by doing it now.
He cleared away the discarded socks and pants, pulled the wooden cage from under his bed and knelt down to greet his young ferrets as Harvey whined and tried to sniff them through the wire mesh. Flora and Dora were looking sleek and quite plump, and their eyes were bright. They seemed delighted to be taken out of their cage and carefully tucked into one of the deep pockets of his poacher’s coat.
Harvey thumped his tail on the cellar floor, ears pricked in anticipation of an outing as Ron tied the laces on his sturdy boots, found his woolly hat and dug the specially adapted army-issue canvas bag out from beneath the pile of boots and wellingtons he’d left in the corner.
He’d carried this bag across his chest throughout his time in the trenches, and it had once carried maps, identification papers, first-aid kit and compass, as well as his tobacco and pipe – but after he’d come home he’d adapted it for a far more pleasant task, and with the long shoulder strap, it had proved ideal. Once he had gathered up everything he would need, he carried it all upstairs to the kitchen.
The house was quiet and, thankfully, there was no sign of Doris, so after feeding Daisy, he dressed her warmly and wrapped her like a cocoon in one of her small blankets before fitting her snugly into the canvas bag.
‘What on earth are you doing?’ asked Cordelia in alarm.
‘I’m taking my granddaughter onto the hills,’ he explained. ‘She’ll be quite safe. I used to do the same with Frank’s boys when they were this size – and with Peggy’s brood as well.’
‘Doris won’t like it,’ she muttered.
‘I don’t care if she likes it or not,’ he retorted as he hung the bag from his neck and secured it around his waist with the long tapes he’d sewn into its seams. ‘It’s time Daisy got to know what lies beyond this town of ours.’