Authors: Ellie Dean
Chapter Twenty-Four
RUBY FELT MUCH
calmer after the storm of tears and the quiet, loving way Peggy had listened to her story without judging and comforted her. She hadn’t realised how much she’d bottled things up, or what a heavy burden she’d been carrying ever since her baby had died and she’d been forced to run for her life. Now the burden seemed lighter, and although things remained the same regarding her marriage to Ray, and her exile from London, the love and support she’d found here in Cliffehaven would make it easier for her to cope.
She finished dressing after her bath, and took extra care with her make-up before brushing out her freshly washed hair. There were russet lights in it again, she noticed, and her green eyes, although a little swollen after the tears, were sparkling. She could start to see the old Ruby emerging again, clear-skinned and bright-eyed – no longer the dreary, wan drudge, but the young girl she was meant to be.
Dressed in her new sweater and skirt, the lovely two-tone shoes cushioning her feet, she gathered up her warm overcoat and ran downstairs and into the kitchen to find Peggy arranging an enormous bunch of beautiful roses into a vase while Rita finished the washing-up. ‘I see Stan’s been visiting,’ she said.
‘Yes, he called in at lunchtime. Beautiful, aren’t they?’ Peggy smiled. ‘And you look beautiful too,’ she said softly.
‘Yeah,’ laughed Rita, ‘you scrub up all right for someone who isn’t at all bothered about meeting the handsome Mike for a drink.’
Ruby blushed. ‘A girl’s gotta have some pride, Rita. I looked a right mess this afternoon.’
Peggy looked at the clock and became businesslike. ‘What time are you meeting the others?’
‘Oh, Gawd, I’m late,’ groaned Ruby. ‘He’ll think I ain’t coming, even though I promised.’
‘He’ll wait,’ said Peggy implacably as she put the plate of food on the table. ‘You can’t go out without something in your stomach.’
Ruby sat down at the kitchen table, aware that it was almost seven o’clock – but that her stomach was rumbling. She tucked into the corned beef hash with a will and soon cleared the plate. ‘That were lovely, Peggy, but I ain’t one to break me promises, so I gotta go.’ She looked across at Rita. ‘Why don’t you come too?’
Rita shook her head and picked up the hessian bag of tools she’d dumped on a nearby chair. ‘I’ve still got a bit of work to do on the motorbike. And as there’s just enough light to finish up, I want to get it done before I go to bed.’
‘Have a lovely evening, dear,’ said Peggy warmly, ‘and if you see the other girls, tell them there’s hot cocoa when they get in. Ron somehow managed to get a big tin of it this afternoon.’
Ruby kissed her cheek, grabbed her coat and hurried down the steps to the back door. It was just after seven and the sky was darkening, threatening rain. Rita would have to get a move on if she wanted to finish tinkering with that bike.
She carefully picked her way along the rough alleyway until she reached the main road, and then pulled her coat over her shoulders as the chill wind came up from the sea. Crossing the road, she hurried down the hill towards the turning for Camden Road where the large corner house had been almost flattened in an air raid. She was very late and she wouldn’t be at all surprised if Mike had given up on her.
The arm grabbed her round the waist, lifting her off her feet and holding her so tightly she could barely breathe. The hand clamped over her mouth, stifling her scream as she was carried into the black shadows of the burnt-out house. ‘Hello, Ruby. Remember me?’
Ray!
She kicked at his legs, squirming and flailing her arms, fingers clawed to scratch his face and eyes as she desperately fought to wriggle free. She tried to bite his hand, but it was pressed too firmly over her jaw, threatening to crush the delicate bones. Her heart was pounding with terror, and although the fear engendered greater strength, he was stronger – and she could do nothing to stop him from pulling her across the rubble, deeper and deeper into the shadows and down steps into what smelled like a coal cellar.
The resounding thud of a trapdoor stole the final glimmer of light and sealed them off from the rest of the world.
‘It’s no good you fighting me, Ruby,’ he hissed in her ear. ‘I got you now, and there ain’t nothing you can do about it.’ His arm tightened around her waist as he held her against him. ‘Where’s me money?’
She made a high-pitched keening sound in her throat as she tried to wrest away from his smothering hand.
‘I know you got it,’ he continued. ‘And I ain’t going nowhere till you give it back.’
She felt his hand ease from her mouth, but the grip of his fingers was now a vice around her jaw as he thrust her head back against his shoulder. ‘I . . . I . . .’
‘Where is it, Ruby?’
‘In . . . post office,’ she managed. ‘The passbook’s . . . safe . . . deposit box.’
‘Where’s the key?’
‘In me bag.’ The tears were hot and rolling down her face; her terror was a living, breathing thing that crawled through her and electrified every nerve and sinew.
His grip remained as firm as ever on her jaw. ‘Give it to me.’
She scrabbled for her shoulder bag, her fingers slick with sweat, and fumbled to undo the catch and feel inside. She knew the key was in her purse, but she was so terrified, she couldn’t seem to make her fingers work properly. She dropped the bag.
‘Bitch! You done that on purpose,’ he hissed. ‘Pick it up.’
She felt his arm relax round her waist, his hand move from her jaw to grasp a handful of hair, yanking her head back until her neck was stretched to its limits. She gasped with the pain and then felt his knee jab into the backs of her legs so she fell to the cellar floor. Scrabbling in the dense darkness, her breath coming in ragged gasps as his fingers threatened to pull her hair out at the roots, she felt the handbag strap and grasped it.
‘Hand it up to me,’ he ordered.
Terrified he’d break her neck, she did as she was told. ‘Please, Ray,’ she begged. ‘Just take the money and go. I won’t tell no one.’
He was still kneeling behind her, his fingers still cruelly entwined in her hair as he fumbled in her bag, clicked open her purse and then tossed them away. ‘It’s not just about the money, though, is it?’ he said softly in her ear, his breath warm and foul as he slowly traced the sharp edges of the cold key over her cheek. ‘You left me to die, Ruby. And for that you gotta pay.’
Daisy was asleep in her cot in the bedroom, and Rita had been forced to abandon her work on her motorbike as the rain came down in wind-blown sheets. The other girls were out at a fundraising event, so Peggy and Rita were keeping Cordelia company as they waited for their favourite show, ‘It’s That Man Again’, to come on the wireless.
It had just begun when someone rapped on the front door, and with a cluck of annoyance, Peggy went to answer it. As she opened the door and saw the Canadian officer standing on her doorstep she frowned. ‘I thought you were meeting Ruby at the Anchor?’
‘She’s not here?’
Peggy felt a stab of alarm. ‘She left over fifteen minutes ago.’
The handsome young Canadian ran his fingers through his hair. ‘But there’s no sign of her. Are you sure?’
‘Positive.’ Peggy quickly reached for her coat. ‘We’d better go and look for her.’
‘But where can she be? The pub’s only minutes away. She can’t have just disappeared.’
Peggy shivered as she thought of Ruby’s brutal husband and the revenge she feared he would take on her if he found her. ‘I’m telephoning the police,’ she said briskly.
‘Surely that’s a bit—’
‘It might be – but I’m not prepared to risk it.’
The first punch came without warning. It landed hard against the side of her head. The second caught her jaw. The third sent her sprawling to the concrete floor.
Ruby’s head was ringing, the pain like a knife in her jaw, and a sickening ache in her side. But she knew that if she didn’t move quickly he would kill her. The darkness was profound, but her only protection, and she scrabbled away from him through the remnants of the coal, her hands desperately searching for something to use as a weapon.
‘You can’t get away from me this time,’ he snarled. ‘It’s just you and me, Ruby – and there’s nowhere to hide.’
She had lost a shoe and was pressed against a wall, the strong smell of coal rising all around her, the crunch of it beneath her feet as she blindly peered through the darkness. She couldn’t see him, to move silently was impossible, and there was very little room in here to manoeuvre. But she could hear him getting nearer, could smell his rancid breath and almost feel the rage emanating from him.
He stumbled into her, pinned her to the wall and caught her another glancing blow under the chin. She was spun across the coal cellar, stumbling and then crashing against the concrete steps. She slid to the floor and felt something hard beneath her leg. Hardly daring to breathe and almost passing out with the pain, she examined it with her fingers. It was long and round, like a thick wooden pole, the splinters slicing into her exploring fingers. She found the metal plate at the end of it and felt a spark of hope. It was a heavy shovel.
Grasping it firmly, she stayed on the floor, her back pressed against the side of the steps. She could hear him moving about, trying to find her in the pitch-black, his breath harsh in the silence. Her heart was hammering so loudly she was certain he could hear it, but she held her nerve, waited until she gauged he was standing very close, and then swung the shovel with every ounce of her strength.
He cried out and she heard his feet lose their purchase on the floor. She advanced on the sound of his heavy breathing and swung the shovel again, felt the strike resonate through her arm, and heard his grunt of pain. Keeping the shovel firmly gripped in front of her, she edged back until she found the steps.
‘I’ll kill you for that,’ he groaned as he crunched coal beneath his feet.
He was getting too close. Ruby stealthily climbed the cellar steps until her head came into contact with the wooden trapdoor. She reached up and pushed hard, feeling the trapdoor lift and then clatter to the floor above her. One step. Two. And then freedom.
His fingers grasped her ankle, bringing her to her knees and making her drop the shovel. She kicked out wildly, felt his hold loosen and scrabbled free. Slipping, sliding and stumbling over the wreckage and bomb debris, she started to scream for help. The rain soaked her to the skin as she ran up the road towards Beach View, still screaming.
Ray was behind her, hobbling from his injuries, but moving fast enough to catch her. She swerved and darted across the street, her screams echoing through the twilight.
Suddenly there was an ear-piercing blast of police whistles and two men came running from the darkness of a nearby alley, leading a group of uniformed policemen.
She saw Ray hesitate. Saw him turn this way and that like a hunted animal before he raced into Beach View Terrace. The men gave chase and Ruby could only stand and watch as they pounded past her.
The roar of a motorcycle engine drowned the shouts and whistles, and the policemen scattered as Ray shot out of Beach View Terrace on Rita’s bike and roared down Camden Road. The policemen quickly gave chase in their cars, their clanging bells bringing the startled citizens of Cliffehaven to their doors and windows.
Ruby’s legs felt as if they’d been turned to jelly, her head seemed stuffed with cotton wool and the pain from Ray’s blows was throbbing in every part of her. She staggered to lean against a wall, the shock and terror rushing in to overwhelm her as her eyelids fluttered and she began to sink into oblivion.
‘It’s okay. I’ve got you.’
The reassuring Canadian voice soothed her and she felt his strong arms about her. She sank into his embrace as he lifted her up and carried her through the cold, wet darkness to the light and warmth and love that was Peggy Reilly and Beach View Boarding House. She was safe.
Ruby opened her eyes to discover she was lying on a bed in the hospital emergency ward, and a careworn Peggy was sitting beside her, holding her hand.
‘It’s all right, Ruby,’ she said softly. ‘You were out cold so we brought you in. But the doctor says there’s no lasting damage and you can come home with us once he’s organised the medication to help with the pain.’
She tried to sit up, but her head swam and the pain in her jaw shot through her head. ‘Ray? What happened to Ray? Did they catch him?’
Peggy took a firmer hold on Ruby’s hand, her expression suddenly very serious. ‘They chased him through the town and caught up with him by the humpback bridge. He was going too fast and lost control of the motorbike on the wet road. The bike crashed into the bridge wall and he was flung over it and landed on the railway lines. He’s dead, Ruby. It’s over.’
Ruby closed her eyes, wanting to mourn the man she’d thought she’d loved so deeply – but feeling nothing. He’d killed her love and her unborn child and now he was gone and she was free.
‘How did the police get to me so quickly?’ she asked softly.
‘They got information from London two days ago that he might try to get to you once he knew where you were hiding. There was a girl on the telephone exchange in Raymond’s pay that they’d been watching since he’d gone to ground, and it didn’t take much to persuade her to talk.’
Ruby nodded her understanding. There was always someone ready to take a bribe, especially when Ray was involved. ‘So why didn’t they arrest him earlier? Why wait until he’d half killed me?’
Peggy licked her lips, clearly unhappy about having to continue. ‘Two detectives from London followed him down on the train. They needed to know where he’d hidden his money and account book, you see, because it was evidence against him. They thought you might be acting as his accomplice.’
‘Gawd,’ Ruby breathed, ‘coppers can be thick at times. Didn’t they realise I was the last person to help him?’
‘But you had his money, Ruby. They found your passbook, and all those food and clothing stamps in your safety deposit box.’
Ruby closed her eyes. ‘I needed it to get away – to see me through until I could go home again.’