Pauline’s eyes swam with tears. ‘Judy’s gone,’ she said.
‘What d’you mean, she’s gone?’ He glanced towards the door, ‘Why?’
‘Does it matter?’
‘But where’s she gone?’
‘Back to
him
, I expect.’
Alan poured himself a cup of
tea and stood across the kitchen from her. ‘Why would she do that? Especially after last night.’ He gave an audible gasp. ‘Did you see that thug with the knife, ready to slit that poor man’s throat. And I’ll tell you what …’
He had her attention now. ‘What?’
‘When Judy threw herself at the bloke, I reckon she did it to stop him from being killed.’
Like Alan, Pauline had seen that particular
incident. ‘I thought that too,’ she said. ‘I knew it wasn’t like her to attack a man in such a vicious way.’
‘So why didn’t she stay with us a while longer? What made her go back to Saunders?’
Pauline leaned against the sink. ‘I’m not sure, but I think it was something I said.’ She remembered the question that had sent Judy running for the door: Do you want to talk about the ‘bad thing?’ That’s
what she had asked Judy, and obviously it was too difficult for her to talk about.
‘Pauline?’
‘Mmm?’
‘What’s wrong with Judy? Why does she hang about with thugs and bullies like that?’
‘I don’t know the truth of it, but I have a suspicion.’
‘Oh, and what might that be?’
In her mind, Pauline went over the entire conversation between herself and Judy, and the more she thought about it, the
more she was convinced. ‘There’s more to this than meets the eye,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘I think Judy is punishing herself.’
‘That’s ridiculous! What has that lovely girl got to punish herself for?’
Pauline looked up at him with a serious face. ‘You are not to repeat a word of what I say now.’
‘Shame on you.’ Alan was offended. ‘I’ve kept many a secret told over the bar these past years.
I think I can look after our Judy’s interests, don’t you?’
‘I’m not sure what it is that troubles her,’ Pauline confided, ‘but something really bad must have happened a long time ago. It involves a young man called Harry, and Judy’s hatred of her family, who she says she never wants to see again, as long as she lives.’
‘Good grief! I didn’t even know there was a young man called Harry in her
past, let alone a family.’ Alan was still unsure. ‘So, for some reason she didn’t want to talk about, you have a suspicion that she might be punishing herself?’ He shook his head emphatically. ‘Maybe it’s just you reading more into it than there really is?’
‘All I’m saying is, way back in Judy’s past something happened to turn her young world upside down.’
The landlady was convinced it was not
altogether because of Harry leaving, though that in itself had obviously been a real blow. ‘Whatever it was, Judy still thinks about it. It’s the real reason she went to Phil in the first place. It’s why she stays with him, even though she has no real feelings for him.’
Alan was not convinced. ‘There you go again.’ He had seen it all before. ‘You’re letting your imagination run away with you,
as usual.’
He recalled the time when Pauline was convinced that the previous owner of their pub had hanged himself in the cellar; he reminded her of it now. ‘It’s like the time you claimed that the previous landlord of this pub had hanged himself in the cellar. You said how you had an unsettling feeling every time you went down there. It “stank of death” was what you said.’
He laughed out
loud. ‘When that regular old codger told you the cellar had been used to hang raw meat as a favour to the butcher, you felt a right fool, didn’t you, eh?’
In spite of herself, Pauline had to smile. ‘I was right about the smell though, wasn’t I?’
‘So now, will you stop imagining there are monsters in Judy’s past, and get her away from the monster she’s with
now
!’ Quietly chuckling, Alan sauntered
away, leaving Pauline in a quandary.
She knew instinctively that there was more to Judy’s story than she’d let on. The odd thing was, Pauline could bet a pound to a penny that this ‘bad thing’ Judy talked of had little to do with the boy called Harry. When Judy had talked of Harry, her face lit up, but when she had mentioned the ‘bad thing’, Pauline got the feeling that whatever had happened
all those years ago was too disturbing and cruel for Judy to cope with.
Pauline wisely decided not to broach the subject with Judy again. Instead, she would wait for Judy to come to her.
She was not giving up though.
One way or another, however long it took, she would get to the bottom of whatever it was that still affected Judy so desperately.
It was the most beautiful evening.
Not too
many miles from where Pauline was pondering on Judy’s situation, Irish Kathleen was happily chatting away in her chair in the house on Fisher’s Hill.
‘I had the offer of a date with the coalman,’ she was saying. ‘Oh, he’s not handsome nor is he young, but then he’s a man after all, and I haven’t had a date with a man for many a long year. I told him no though. I mean, what would I be doing with
a fella? I’ve lost the habit of it, if you get my meaning.’
She looked up from her knitting. ‘Oh, now will ye look at that!’ She glanced about the room. ‘So, where’s he gone off to this time?’ She had soon learned how restless Harry was. One minute he was here and the next he was gone, and here she was chattering to herself, like some silly old woman losing her marbles.
Putting down her knitting,
she made her way to the kitchen. ‘Harry, where the divil are ye?’
She glanced out the window, and there he was in the moonlight. ‘Aw, Harry Boy.’ She was sad for him. ‘What is it that makes you so restless, me darlin’?’ Like a cat on hot bricks he was forever
on the move; he was here, then he was there, and then he was nowhere at all!
She remained at the window, careful not to let him see her
if he suddenly turned round, but near enough so that she could keep an eye on him. ‘God bless ye, Harry Blake. Yer good woman is gone to her Maker and there is no way on God’s earth you can ever bring her back.’
Her kind old heart went out to him. ‘I can’t help ye,’ she whispered. ‘Nobody can. Oh, but you’ll not rest … not until you come to terms with it all.’
She watched him pace the garden,
then sit on the bench, then he was walking again, and now he was leaning on the fence, looking lost and alone, his face upturned to the skies.
She shook her head forlornly. ‘Ah, you’ll be missing your lovely wife so ye will,’ she muttered. ‘But I imagine there’ll be someone else on your mind just now; someone you loved very deeply when you were just a boy.’
She cast her mind back. ‘I miss her
too. Sure, didn’t I love that girl as though she was me very own? Soon after you went away though, Harry, it was like she disappeared off the face of the earth.’ As did her entire family, she recalled.
Watching Harry now, she could hardly imagine what trauma he had suffered; back then when he was so young, and more recently, when his beloved wife was so tragically taken from him and young Tom.
‘I wonder what the future has in store for you.’ Leaning forward with a grunt, she collected her knitting. ‘Already the world has turned time and again, taking your darling wife into the past. Sure, wouldn’t it be a fine thing if the world has altogether done a complete turnabout, and the girl Judy, is destined to be your future?’
She chuckled to herself. ‘Ah, but the Lord has a strange way of
doing things, so He has.’
She stole another glance at Harry, alone in the dark with his deepest thoughts, and thought of the boy-child upstairs soundly sleeping. ‘Harry’s son,’ she said, smiling, ‘out of Sara.’
With much regret, Kathleen now recalled the last time she had spoken with Judy, and the secret they shared. A secret she had promised hand on heart never to divulge to a living soul.
Thinking of it now, Kathleen’s heart was sore. Oh, poor Judy! Such a terrible burden for a young girl. She paused in her knitting. ‘I pray to God you took note of what I said,’ she whispered, furtively glancing
again to where Harry was standing. ‘Oh, my darling girl … I hope you did the right thing in the end.’
On that day when Judy sobbed in her arms, she had given her love and comfort, and
good sound advice. Whether Judy had acted on it, Kathleen never did find out.
So, being the wise old woman she was, and knowing she could do nothing more than she had already done, Kathleen left it all in the hands of the Master, and went quietly back to her knitting.
Unaware that she had been watching him, Harry remained by the fence, looking up at the skies and talking with Whoever was up
there listening. ‘I don’t know what to do, or where to start,’ he whispered. ‘I try so hard to put her out of my mind, but I can’t. I really can’t!’
He shifted his gaze to the ground; thinking, remembering … and now he was talking again. ‘It all ended badly, but I still love her … so very much.’
He gave a weary smile. ‘But then you always knew that, didn’t you, Sara … my precious love. You were
the one who carried me through. The one who kept me sane all those years, and made me promise to come back here, to my roots. Now that you’re gone, it’s as if I’ve been cast adrift. I know now, how Judy must have felt. It was all wrong. We were just children. Too young, too reckless.’
For a time he was quiet, looking up at the skies and wondering if Judy was looking at those very same stars.
‘Where is she?’ he kept saying. ‘Should I try and find her? Or should I leave her to the life she has now?’
Another moment of solitude, and then he made his way inside.
‘Aw, there ye are, you rascal,’ Irish Kathleen greeted him with a wide smile. ‘Put the kettle on, will you, me darlin’? I’m that parched, me tongue is stuck to the roof of me mouth!’
Like the canny old soul she was, Kathleen
made no mention of seeing him outside.
Harry had thought he was alone with his precious thoughts; and that was fine by her. Yes … fine and dandy, so it was.
‘F
ETCH IT,
L
OTTIE
!’ Throwing the stick into the canal, Don sat on the bank while the stocky, white bull terrier launched herself belly-first into the murky waters. He laughed at the dog’s antics as she spun round and round, frantically searching for the stick. ‘Look, there it is … right in front of your great big nose!’
Catching the stick between her huge jaws, the dog swam
back. Struggling out of the water and up the bank, she dropped the stick at Don’s feet, before shaking the excess water from her plump body and spraying him from head to toe.
‘Whoa, you gormless bugger!’ Scrambling to his feet, Don wiped himself down. ‘Are you trying to drown me or what!’
In reply, the dog gave another almighty shake, and when Don ran for cover, she followed him at the gallop,
thinking it was a game and giving a loud, excited bark.
Laughing, Don dug into his pocket and fed Lottie a biscuit treat. ‘Well, at least we’ve stretched our legs and felt the sunshine on our backs, eh?’ He looked up at the skies, noting the fluffy white clouds beginning to move in. ‘We’ve been lucky with the weather all week, and we’ve still got a few hours of daylight yet,’ he told her. ‘Tomorrow
night the family are back, so we’d best make the most of it, eh?’
When he settled himself on the fallen tree trunk, the bitch fell against him, shifting and fidgeting until she was as close and as comfortable as she could get.
Don didn’t mind; in fact, he welcomed her genuine affection.
Since the day he had gone into town and witnessed for himself the way his daughter had let herself be drawn
into a life of violence and debauchery, he had been more than grateful for the company of this faithful old friend.
Cutting across the back ways to the little corner shop in Heath and Reach, he bought the basic necessities ready for the family’s
return: bread, butter, cornflakes, and a good helping of ham and cheese. ‘Oh, and I’d best take a new jar of marmalade; the old one looked a bit worse
for wear, so I threw it out. And I’ll need a two-pound bag of dog biscuits, please.’ He pointed to the sack spilling over with the bright colours and shapes of the biscuits that Lottie loved.
‘So, is that it then?’ The shopkeeper was a man of considerable proportions, with a friendly manner and a bright twinkly smile.
Don gave a firm nod of the head. ‘It’ll have do till Nancy comes home,’ he
answered. ‘I’ve kept me and the old dog going all right, but I’m blowed if I know what else to get the family. I know young David likes his cornflakes, and that Sammie looks forward to her marmalade on toast, so there you have it. The milkman is going to leave three pints tomorrow.’
While the shopkeeper packed the goods into a bag, he chatted as always. ‘So, the family have enjoyed their holiday
then, have they?’ Don’s family were regular visitors, so he knew them well enough.
‘I think so, yes,’ Don informed him. ‘Apparently they’ve had excellent weather and they’ve each done what they wanted. Me and the faithful mutt have wandered hill and dale and even been swimming in the canal, so it can’t be bad, can it, eh?’
The younger man agreed. ‘So, it was daughter, son-in-law and two children,
was it?’
‘That’s it, yes.’
‘Must be nice, having a grandson … especially as you don’t have a son of your own, eh?’
‘That’s right, and he’s a good lad, is our David.’
‘Me and the missus, we had three daughters and one son, though I would have liked more children.’ The shopkeeper smiled. ‘At least we had three girls … all of them Daddy’s little darlings.’ He gave a sigh. ‘I would have welcomed
a dozen more just like them.’
‘Just be grateful for what you’ve got.’ Don was thinking of Judy. ‘We don’t always get what we want.’
‘So were you disappointed? I mean, it
is
just the one daughter you have, isn’t it?’
Taken aback by the other man’s pointed question, Don took a moment to answer. When he did, it was with a forced smile. ‘Just the one daughter, yes. But like I say, we don’t always
get what we want, do we?’ With that he collected his brown carrier bag of groceries and took his leave.
‘Good afternoon, then. Nice seeing you.’ The shopkeeper was
surprised when Don left so abruptly. ‘Must have been something I said,’ he muttered, closing the till with a clatter.
The bull terrier was excited to see Don emerge from the shop doorway. She could smell the ham. ‘Come on, old lass.’
Don untied her from the lamppost. ‘Let’s get off home, eh? We both need a bath, or the house will smell of canal water, and Nancy would not like that, would she, eh?’ he chuckled. ‘What! She’d be down on us like a ton of bricks and no mistake.’
No sooner had he got inside the kitchen than the telephone rang. ‘Hello?’ Dropping the groceries on the table, Don snatched up the receiver.
It was Sammie.
‘Hello, Grandad, are you all right?’ came her voice.
‘Hello, love – yes, I’m fine. Me and Lottie have just got back from a long walk.’ He told her how the dog went in after the stick and soaked him top to toe, ‘… shook herself all over me, the dopey mutt.’
When she laughed, he playfully chided her. ‘Oh, go on – mock your poor old grandad. Never mind that I might get pneumonia.’
They chatted
for a while, about the holiday, and how Uncle Mac and Rita were already on their way home, and that they would all be together for their last night. ‘Uncle Mac said we’re to put our glad rags on, because he’s taking us out to dinner, as a thank you for looking after the house. We’ll be home tomorrow though, Grandad.’
‘So, you’re being wined and dined, eh?’ Don smiled. ‘That’s your Uncle Mac for
you – nothing but the best, eh?’
‘I wish you were coming with us though, Grandad.’
For a moment, Don thought he detected something in Sammie’s voice, something not quite right. ‘Is everything all right with you, my love?’
Sammie sounded brighter. ‘’Course! Why shouldn’t it be?’
‘I mean, you’ve not caught the sun or anything, have you? I hope your mother’s keeping an eye on you.’
‘Huh! Mother
ALWAYS
keeps an eye on me, fussing and fretting. She doesn’t seem to understand that I’m old enough to look after myself.’
Now Don realised the problem. ‘Oh, I see. So your mother’s been laying down the law as usual, has she, and now the two of you are at loggerheads. So go on – tell me I’m wrong.’
‘Not exactly, Grandad. Only she caught me chatting to this boy I met at the beach, and now she’s
watching me like a hawk.’
‘Oh, I’m sure you’ve got it all out of proportion. She just doesn’t want you getting in any trouble.’ Judy came to mind, and his heart sank.
‘I knew you’d say that.’
‘Well, if it all gets too much, you can always call me and have a moan.’
‘Sammie laughed, ‘All right, I will!’
‘Oh, and tell your mother she’ll find her house all spic-and-span. I’ve not been partying
or entertaining, and the dog hasn’t chewed everything in sight. In fact, you tell her we’ve both been very well behaved.’
‘I will, Grandad. Got to go now and put on those glad rags. Apparently, we’re being taken somewhere really posh.’
‘Ah well, only ever the best for your Uncle Mac.’ Don was not surprised. ‘It’s very thoughtful of him, especially when he’s only just got back.’
‘That’s what
I told David, but you know what he’s like.’ Her voice dropped. ‘David is always looking for a reason to dislike him. He says Uncle Mac is only taking us out to show off.’ She gave a grunt of disapproval. ‘I think he’s just jealous!’
Don gave a little smile. There had been a time when even he had been jealous of his younger brother, but not any more. Not since he’d seen how hard Mac worked, and
how many hours he put in.
He relayed that to Sammie now. ‘Besides, your Uncle Mac enjoys treating people, especially family, and there is nothing wrong with that in my book. So, you tell David he’s to enjoy the evening, and not to forget his manners. All right?’
‘All right, Grandad. I’ll tell him.’
‘Have a good time then, and give my regards to everyone.’
‘I will. Bye then, Grandad. Love you.’
‘Love you too, Sammie. Bye, see you soon.’
Replacing the receiver, Don took a minute to consider his younger brother. ‘Mac has done very well for himself,’ he told the dog. ‘But it didn’t come easy. He always said he would be rich one day, and by God, he’s kept to his word. Even as a kid he would work after school, running errands and whatever else might earn him a pocket full of coins. All us
other kids used to laugh at him, but we’re the fools now, because here he is, all grown up and making money hand over fist, with a big grand house, a boat in the Mediterranean and a healthy bank balance, while the rest of us have little to show for all the years of slogging.’
He laughed out loud. ‘If I’d let him show me a trick or two while we were kids, who knows? Even I might be a wealthy man
now.’
In his mind he went back over the years. ‘Funny how we were so different,’ he muttered while unpacking the groceries. ‘I’d be out them school gates and off to the woods, climbing trees and collecting conkers, or swimming in the canal, and there was young Mac, doing his deals and leaving the rest of us far behind.’
He nodded approvingly. ‘Oh, yes! Whatever young David thinks of his Uncle
Mac, he can’t deny that hard work pays off.’ He felt a rush of impatience with the boy. ‘Matter of fact, it might do our David a world of good, if he was to take an example from his uncle.’
He chuckled, ‘Especially when it comes to chasing girls instead of getting on with your school work. By! You would have never seen my brother chasing girls, oh no! Work first, play later, that was Mac’s philosophy.’
Pausing in his task, he looked down at the dog, who was waiting for a biscuit, her whipcord tail wagging and her soulful bloodshot eyes fixed on Don’s face.
Giving her a playful pat on the head, Don threw her a biscuit. ‘We may never be rich, Lady Lottie,’ he murmured, ‘but y’know what? You and me over the fields and down at the canal today – I wouldn’t swap that, not even if you were to offer
me a heap of banknotes. Oh no!’
Though he regretted not having been successful in material matters, he had lived his fair share of joy and contentment, and felt not a shred of envy towards his younger brother. Instead, he felt a rush of sibling pride. ‘The boy has done well! He deserves the best.’
Apart from his profound shock and sadness at Judy’s downfall, he was mostly content with his lot.
‘Best get this place shipshape.’ He gave the dog another biscuit. ‘Take it outside now,’ he instructed, ‘and don’t you be dropping crumbs, or Nancy will have our guts for garters!’
Nancy was in a panic as usual. ‘Honestly, Brian, we ought to be headed back to Mac’s now. There’s so much to do, what with all the clearing up and packing, and you know what Sammie’s like when she’s getting ready.’
Slapping the sun-tan lotion on her hands and face, she smothered her legs with it before tucking the bottle underneath the
cushion. ‘I swear, that girl believes the world revolves round her.’ Phew! She couldn’t believe the amazing weather they had had this week. One or two days had been hotter than July. They were all tanned and healthy-looking.
Lying beside her on his deck chair, Brian seemed
not to have heard, or he had shut his ears as he had long ago learned to do when Nancy was on the rampage.
‘Brian!’
‘Yes?’
‘Did you hear what I said?’
‘Er … yes, and I totally agree with you.’ He had not the slightest idea what she was talking about.
‘Brian!’
‘What now?’
She gave a loud tut. ‘I swear, the world could be tumbling round your head and you wouldn’t even notice.’
‘What’s wrong
now?’
‘Nothing – at least, nothing I can’t handle.’
Thankful that he was let off the hook, he flicked the pages of his newspaper. ‘Ah!’ Arriving at the racing page, he scanned the list of runners in the four-thirty. ‘Fair Play, eh?’
‘Are you talking to me?’ Nancy stared down at him.
‘No.’ He tapped the page with his finger. ‘I was just talking to myself.’
‘Huh!’ She gave him a scornful glance.
‘That’s about right.’
Igoring her cynical comment, he concentrated on the horse’s form. ‘I think I’ll put a couple of quid on Fair Play. It’s won the last three times out, and was pipped at the post just last week.’ Licking the end of his pencil, he put an asterisk beside the horse’s name.
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, is that all you can think of … horse-racing?’
‘Ah well, you wouldn’t say that
if I won a fortune. You’d be up the high street, shopping for another holiday before I could say Jack Robinson!’
‘You might be right,’ she conceded with a little smile. ‘But just now, I’m more concerned about getting us all back to the house. First we need to clean ourselves up, and then make sure the house is thoroughly clean before Mac and Rita get home.’
‘Which won’t be for at least another
six hours.’ Brian looked at his watch. ‘It’s just gone midday. They’re not due home until after six. There’s plenty of time, so stop panicking. Just enjoy the
beautiful day – our
last
day remember – before we get back to the hustle and bustle of life at home.’
Nancy had to smile at that. ‘Heath and Reach is hardly hustle and bustle, is it?’
‘Stop nit-picking. You know very well what I mean –
daily routines, driving to work, keeping to schedules. All that.’ His smile fell away. He felt really down now. The reality of this wonderful, lazy holiday coming to an end had only just dawned on him.
Nancy had stopped listening. She was too busy keeping an eye on Sammie. At the far end of the beach, talking and laughing with a group of people her own age, Sammie was in her element. ‘I do wish
she wouldn’t keep talking to strangers.’
‘Who?’ Shifting his sunglasses to the end of his nose, Brian followed his wife’s concerned gaze. ‘Oh, you mean Sammie? Oh, now look, Nancy, you’re going to have to stop treating her like a little kid. She’s a teenager. She likes to chat. Where’s the harm in that, eh?’
‘Don’t you dare take her side on this!’ She was still bristling from the other day when
she and Sammie had strong words, about the very same subject. ‘I was hoping you might back me up on this, but I should have known better than to count on any support from you.’