Dick frowned. ‘I won’t bring Luke, not this evening. I need to speak to you alone first, Em.’
Emma saw the worry on her brother’s face, but before she could question him further he turned to leave, insisting he had to get back to the stall and almost running from the house.
Emma was left chewing her bottom lip. She had been so wrapped up in the baby, in her own
problems, that she had given little thought to what was worrying Dick. He was evidently concerned about Luke, agitated.
Wondering what the problem was, she now found herself waiting impatiently for his return.
It was seven o’clock before Dick knocked on the door, and Emma hurried to answer it. She led him through to the drawing room, and after a quick peep at Patricia, asleep in her drawer, he took a seat.
Emma saw that his face was still drawn with worry, but he sat, hanging his head, saying nothing. ‘Come on, Dick, spit it out,’ she urged.
He exhaled loudly. ‘All right, but this ain’t gonna be easy. Luke left home and he’s staying at my place.’
‘But why?’
‘It took me ages to get it out of him, but apparently he came to his senses and when that happened, he couldn’t stand the guilt.’
‘Slow down, you’re rambling and not making any sense.’
‘Sorry, I’m doing my best. According to Luke, he’s been keeping Polly happy.’
‘Keeping her happy. What on earth do you mean?’
‘Blimey, Em, do I have to spell it out?’
‘Yes, because I don’t understand what you’re talking about.’
‘Oh Christ, I don’t know how to say this,’ Dick
said, his face flushing. ‘Polly has been…well…making Luke go with her.’
‘Go with her! What do you mean?’ The penny finally dropped and Emma stared at her brother in horror. ‘No, surely not!’ Emma continued to look at her brother in stunned dismay, but then a memory surfaced. Polly had once said something about loving too much, and in the wrong places. Luke! She had been talking about Luke!
‘He’s in a terrible state, Em, and spends more and more time at church. The guilt seems to be eating away at him.’
‘What has Luke got to feel guilty about? My God, I can’t believe this. What does Polly want with Luke? He’s just a fifteen-year-old boy.’
‘It started a few months after Dad married Polly. Luke feels bad because he enjoyed it. Well, he did at first, but then as I said, he came to his senses. I told him that he shouldn’t feel guilty, that I enjoyed a bit of a feel too, and started with a girl behind the bike sheds at school.’
‘But Polly isn’t a schoolgirl. She…she’s his stepmother! Have you told Dad?’
‘No, not yet, but it was hard to keep my mouth shut. He came down to my place looking for Luke, but the lad became hysterical and begged me not to say anything.’
‘So what excuse did you give him for Luke leaving home?’
‘It was a bit sticky, but in the end I just said that he’d had a bit of a fall-out with Polly. I said that as I live nearer to the market, he might as well stay with me.’
Emma’s mind was reeling. First Horace had left her, then she’d had the baby, and now this. She flopped back on the sofa. ‘I don’t know if I’m coming or going. I can’t take this in.’
‘Bloody hell, you’ve got enough on your plate and I should have kept my mouth shut. Come on, Luke’s all right with me for now, and we can sort Polly out later.’
‘But what about the girls? We can’t leave them with that…that woman.’
‘That’s just it, Em. According to Luke, the girls are very fond of Polly, and she dotes on them. It would break their hearts if the family broke up; it would be like losing their mother all over again. The thought of putting them through that is tearing Luke apart and that’s why he doesn’t want us to say anything.’
Oh, poor Luke
, Emma thought. Always the quiet and sensitive one, always so protective of the girls. Bile rose in her throat. ‘But Polly isn’t fit to be a mother. She must be sick in the head or something. My God, it…it’s disgusting.’
Dick hung his head. Then, red-faced, he said, ‘Look, some women are a bit mad for sex and I think Polly is one of them. Luke’s a good-looking
lad, and maybe she couldn’t resist, but it doesn’t mean that she’s incapable of looking after the girls.’
‘I can’t believe you’re saying that. Luke was a minor, under-aged. Surely it must be illegal.’
‘Maybe, but if you get the police involved, it’ll only make matters worse.’
‘But we can’t just do nothing, Dick, it wouldn’t be right.’
‘Yeah, I know, but so far Luke won’t see it that way. Look, Em, it’s obvious that you’re not up to dealing with this now. I’ll bring Luke down to see you on Sunday, and between the pair of us I’m sure we can persuade him to see sense.’
Emma wanted to argue, but in truth she needed time to think, to plan, to work out what they were going to do. ‘Yes, all right.’
Dick rose to his feet. ‘I know you’re in a bit of a fix, Em, and I wish I could help you out a bit. I ain’t got much in the way of money, but I can always supply you with fruit and vegetables.’
Emma stood up too, and went across to give her brother a cuddle. ‘Thanks, love, but don’t worry, I’ll be fine. There are loads more ornaments to sell, along with a few other things.’
‘Yeah, and I bet you can get more out of that old skinflint of a pawnbroker than I did. Anyway, I’d best be off. Take care and I’ll see you on Sunday.’
It was only when Dick left that Emma’s
emotions rose to the surface again, but she fought the tears. Crying solved nothing. Instead she was determined to help Luke. She felt a wave of disgust at what Polly had done, resolving not to let the woman get away with it. Not only that, now she could move Luke in here, and she was thrilled at the thought. It would be lovely to have her favourite brother close again, and she’d no longer be alone. In fact, the girls could move in too. There were still plenty of things to sell, and they’d be fine.
On Sunday afternoon, Emma opened the door to Dick and saw Luke hovering behind him. ‘Come in,’ she invited, but though Dick smiled, she saw that Luke kept his head lowered, and he continued to avoid her eyes as they went into the drawing room.
Patricia was asleep, but acted like a magnet to Luke, his expression brightening as he looked down on her. With just one finger he gently stroked her cheek.
‘Hello, Tinker,’ he whispered.
‘Patricia,’ Emma corrected.
‘Yeah, Patricia, but I reckon she’s gonna be a right little tinker.’ He then smiled at last, adding, ‘And with the surname of Bell, she’ll be Tinker Bell.’
Emma chuckled. ‘She’s Patricia Myra Bell.’
‘That’s nice,’ Dick said. ‘Mum would’ve liked that.’
‘Why is she sleeping in a drawer?’ Luke asked.
‘I haven’t been well enough until now to get her a cot or anything else. I’m going shopping tomorrow, but without a pram it won’t be easy.’
‘I know a place that sells second-hand prams,’ Dick said. ‘Pop down to the market and I’ll show you where it is.’
Emma would have loved a new pram for Patricia, but knowing that money was going to be tight, she nodded. ‘Yes, I’ll do that.’
‘I’ll give you a hand,’ Luke said.
‘Thanks, with so much to buy, it’ll be welcome.’
They all fell silent, but then Dick blurted, ‘Dad came down the market yesterday, and I told him you’d had the baby. Mind you, I didn’t tell him that Horace has buggered off. If I did he’d be down here like a shot to see what he can get his hands on.’
‘Yes, he would, and anyway, I don’t want him here.’
Luke asked to use the bathroom, and as soon as he was out of sight, Dick said, ‘Be gentle with him, Em.’
‘Of course I will,’ Emma said, and when Luke came back into the room she told him to sit down, perching beside him on the arm of the chair. ‘Luke, I know you’re upset, but we have to talk about what happened with Polly. For a start, Dad needs to know.’
‘No!’ Luke cried. ‘You can’t say anything to Dad or anyone else. It’ll break up the marriage, and you can’t do that to the girls.’
‘Luke, can’t you see that she isn’t fit to look after them?’
‘They think the world of her, Em, and it would break their hearts. Don’t you understand–they see Polly as their mother now.’ Luke stood up, pacing the room. ‘Look, what we did was wrong and I shouldn’t have gone along with it from the start, but I’m just as much to blame as Polly. Oh, Em, I hate myself for allowing it to happen.’
‘Who instigated it, Luke?’
‘Well, Polly did, but I should have said no.’
‘Luke, you were only fourteen, a minor, and Polly knew that. She’s the adult, the responsible one, and you’re her stepson. What she did was terrible, sick, and we can’t let her get away with it. In fact, I’m feeling much better and I think we should all go to Balham now. Dad’s got to be told.’
‘No! I’m not going anywhere near Dad. If you tell him, he…he’ll kill me.’
‘All right, calm down,’ Dick placated, ‘but you’ve got to see sense. Like us, Dad isn’t going to blame you, so put that worry out of your mind. If you like, you can stay here. Emma and me will sort it out.’
‘Emma and I,’ she automatically corrected, and then flushed. From now on she could be herself,
and if she used incorrect grammar, what did it matter? ‘Sorry,’ she murmured, ‘force of habit, but Dick’s right. You can stay here until we come back.’
‘Please,’ Luke begged, ‘please don’t go. It’s over now, finished with, and I promise I’ll never go near Polly again.’
‘Oh, Luke, can’t you see that what Polly did to you was tantamount to rape?’
Luke’s face reddened. ‘It
wasn’t
rape!’
‘All right, calm down,’ Dick urged, and then obviously trying to break the tension he forced a laugh. ‘Bloody hell, Em, what sort of word is “tantamount”?’
Emma went along with him. ‘Oh, you have no idea how many new words I have in my vocabulary. Let me tell you, I could write a dictionary.’
‘Listen, both of you,’ Luke said, suddenly sounding older than his years. ‘Don’t you understand that if you bring this out into the open, it will be the girls who suffer? If Dad chucks Polly out, who’ll look after them?’
‘I’d already decided that they can come here-you too, Luke.’
‘And what will you do for money, Em? From what Dick has told me, Horace has left you penniless.’
‘I’ll manage. I’ll find a way.’
Luke’s eyes took on a strange, unfocused look
that made Emma shiver. ‘No, you won’t, Em. In fact I have a feeling that things will become increasingly hard for you.’
Emma stared at Luke worriedly. He sounded so sure of himself. Patricia woke up squalling and she moved to pick her up.
Luke spoke again, his voice hard, and Emma hardly recognised her brother, the innocent boy gone. ‘I’ll tell you something else. If you tell Dad, if you tell anyone, I’ll leave Battersea; in fact, I’ll leave the bloody country.’
Emma shivered again. She knew that Luke meant every word. Oh, what had Polly done to her brother? She couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing him again, she just couldn’t.
Dick, too, looked horrified, but he shook his head in denial. ‘Luke, leave it out. Don’t say things like that.’
‘What choice have you given me? Dad’s going to go potty, and I can’t, I
won’t
, stay around here to see the girls hurt.’
Emma could see the hardness in Luke’s eyes, the determination. ‘He means it, Dick.’ She paced up and down, her mind twisting and turning. ‘All right, you win, we won’t tell Dad. But even if I have to grin and bear it, having to sit in the same room as that bloody woman, I intend to keep an eye on her and the girls.’
Dick heaved a sigh. ‘It still sticks in my craw,
but if it’s the only way to stop you doing a runner, I’ll go along with Emma.’
Luke seemed to fold, slumping onto a chair in obvious relief. Looking at him, Emma’s back stiffened. All right, she may have to keep her mouth shut now, but one day the girls would grow up, leave home, and when that day came, by God she’d have her time with Polly.
Emma felt well enough to go shopping on Monday, but knowing it would be impossible to manage without a pram, she wrapped Patricia in a cut-down blanket, praying she wouldn’t bump into anyone she knew as she went straight to the market.
Dick greeted her with a smile, but Luke still looked strained, though once again he brightened when he saw the baby. ‘Hello, Tinker Bell.’
Resisting the urge to correct him, Emma said, ‘Dick, where’s this place that sells prams?’
‘Come on, I’ll show you. We aren’t busy so Luke can manage the stall for a while. If you ask me, the nipper could do with some togs too.’
‘I know that, but this is the first chance I’ve had to go shopping. After buying a pram I doubt I’ll have any money left so I’ve brought another piece to take to the pawnbrokers. I’ve looked it
up in one of Horace’s catalogues, so this time I’ll make sure I get a decent price.’
‘Yeah, well, in that case you’re bound to do better than me.’
They moved away from the stall, and were out of earshot before Dick spoke again. ‘After leaving you yesterday, I sent Luke home and then went to Balham.’
‘Did you say anything?’
‘No, of course not, but if you ask me, Polly is worried sick. She must have asked me three times if Luke was all right.’
‘What about the girls?’
‘They’re missing Luke, but he’s right, they think the world of Polly. She also asked about you, about the baby, and when you’ll be taking her to see them.’
Emma’s mouth drooped. She wanted to see her sisters, to let them see Patricia, but dreaded being in Polly’s company. With a sigh she said, ‘All right, once I’ve got a pram and some decent clothes for Patricia, I’ll go to Balham, but I’m not looking forward to it.’
‘There’s something else. If you ask me Polly is up to something. She was on about a letter she’d had from her sister and the possibility of a really good job for Dad.’
‘Why does that mean she’s up to something?’
‘’Cos the job is where her sister lives, and that’s in Kent.’
Emma shook her head. ‘There’s no way Dad would move out of London, or give up a rent-free flat.’
‘Now that Horace has gone, it may not stay rent free. Have you thought of that?’