Sunlight on the Mersey (11 page)

‘Ah, don’t take that to heart. I told you he can be a bit . . . strange. It was the war, luv,’ Gwen assured her.

Rose nodded. ‘He must have been very handsome before he was wounded. I felt sorry for him, it must be awful to be left crippled like that.’

‘He was indeed a handsome lad. Terrible, it is. Terrible, but those girls look after him well enough and there’s nothing either of us can do to help or change things,’ Gwen replied.

As she began to set the table for supper Rose thought that Charlie had been lucky, very lucky indeed not to have been as badly wounded as David Rhys-Pritchard.

C
HARLIE WAS FEELING VERY
fortunate indeed for as the weeks passed his romance with Florence blossomed and he was becoming quite fond of her. They saw each other twice a week, every week, and it was becoming quite clear that he wouldn’t have much trouble persuading her to agree when he asked to marry her, which he intended to do at Christmas. He got on well with her father so he didn’t expect any opposition when he went formally to ask for her hand. Her mother was a different kettle of fish though. Even though she was unfailingly polite it was quite clear that she neither liked him nor thought him good enough for her only daughter. He hoped that when the ring was on Florence’s finger her attitude would soften.

She wasn’t the only one who thought Florence was above him. He’d had a few rows with Iris too and so now relations
between them were decidedly cool. He’d become really angry the last time she had voiced her opinions, he remembered. ‘You’re jealous, Iris, that’s what you are. You just can’t stomach the fact that Florence really cares for me and prefers to spend time with me rather than you,’ he’d shouted at his sister.

Iris had laughed cuttingly. ‘Jealous! That’s a laugh! Doesn’t she come almost every Sunday? No, I just think she is making a mistake and I don’t want her to get hurt.’

‘I’m sick to death of hearing
what you
think, Iris. It’s what
Florence
thinks that’s important.’

‘For heaven’s sake! Shut up, the pair of you.’ Kate was exasperated.

‘He’s up to something, Mam, I know he is!’ Iris had cried.

‘Like what, may I ask?’ he’d demanded angrily, wondering if she really did have some inkling of his plans.

‘Like courting her just to get your feet under the table with her da—’

‘Oh, for God’s sake, Mam, will you tell her she’s going off her rocker!’ he’d interrupted furiously.

‘Iris, that’s a terrible thing to say!’ Kate had upbraided her. Any fool could see that Florence genuinely idolised Charlie and he seemed to think the world of her, treating her always with affection and respect. She’d wondered if he did have a point about Iris being jealous though.

‘I don’t want Florence to get hurt, that’s all,’ Iris had explained, which made him even more angry.

‘She won’t get hurt! I suppose the fact that I spend every spare penny I have making sure she enjoys herself when we go out counts for nothing?’ he’d said cuttingly. ‘Or that I often get off the tram two or three stops early to save a few coppers?’

Kate had intervened then and firmly told them she didn’t want to hear another word on the subject. She had resolved to speak to her daughter later: a conversation he’d heard part of through the scullery door.

‘Iris, luv, you must stop accusing Charlie of being devious. You’re just going to have to accept that, whether you like it or not, Florence and Charlie seem to love each other,’ Kate had said gently but firmly.

‘Mam, I can’t help it. He wasn’t in the least bit interested in Florence until the day she came here to meet Rose,’ Iris had protested.

‘He hadn’t met her until then. He’d only ever heard you talk about her,’ Kate had reminded her.

‘Yes, well, but after that he wanted to know where she lived and then after I’d been for tea and I’d described their house to you, doesn’t he take himself off to see her father and the next thing is they are courting,’ Iris protested stubbornly. She just couldn’t rid herself of the feeling that Charlie had some kind of ulterior motive.

‘I think you’re making something out of nothing, Iris,’ Kate had sighed.

‘Her mother doesn’t like him. Florence has told me that,’ Iris had persisted.

‘She obviously wanted better for Florence. If they do eventually get married, Florence is going to have to accept that she’s not going to be able to live in the style she does now, but if she loves him, they’ll manage. She’s got a decent enough job. Now, let the subject drop, Iris, please. I hate to see you and Charlie at loggerheads.’

He hadn’t heard clearly what reply his sister had given, but then the conversation had turned to Rose and he’d moved away from the door.

He’d left the office and had walked down to the Pier Head to catch the tram home and was deep in thought about his sister’s animosity towards his courtship of Florence as the vehicle made its way through the streets of the city centre and out towards Scotland Road. As it reached St Anthony’s Church there seemed to be some sort of hold-up, which brought him out of his reverie. Passengers asked the conductor what was wrong. Was there a problem with the overhead trolley? How long did he think they would be stuck here?

‘I’ll have a word with the driver, hang on a minute,’ the man replied. He went to confer with the tram driver and was back in a few seconds. ‘Looks as though there’s been an accident. My mate up front says he can see an ambulance, a bit of a crowd and plenty of bobbies but he hopes we won’t be held up for long.’

‘Probably another bloody horse that’s bolted. Cause mayhem they do, stupid animals, you’ve only got to sneeze and they’re off!’ someone remarked caustically.

It was fifteen minutes before the traffic began to move
again but as he alighted at his stop Charlie thought that at least the women would be busy getting the evening meal organised and wouldn’t be on their doorsteps gossiping, so at least he wouldn’t get waylaid and have to stop and be asked questions, the answers to which they most probably already knew. They did it just to make certain they had the facts right before passing on any information they’d gleaned.

Iris was already home and his mam was shutting up the shop so his sister was setting the table.

‘What’s for tea?’ he asked, taking off his jacket and cap.

‘There’s a pie in the oven,’ Iris answered curtly.

Charlie noticed the envelope on the dresser. ‘I see our Rose’s weekly letter has arrived. No doubt full of gossip about what’s going on in Tregarron, as if we’re really interested.’

‘Speak for yourself. I think her letters are very interesting and often amusing and so does Mam.’

‘What is amusing?’ Kate asked as she came into the kitchen, catching the end of Iris’s conversation.

‘Our Rose’s letters,’ Iris supplied.

‘I have to say I really look forward to them. When she wrote about the flower show it brought back some memories, I can tell you,’ Kate said.

‘When’s she coming home? Or does she intend to stay there for ever?’ Charlie asked.

Kate sighed. ‘Reading between the lines I think she’d like to but I’m going to suggest she comes home next month. Gwen can’t keep her much longer, it wouldn’t be fair to ask her to. No, she can come back before the end of August.’

Iris nodded; she missed Rose. ‘Is Da staying open late, Mam, or will he be in soon?’

‘He closed a bit earlier today, luv, he had some business to attend to. I don’t like him keeping too many pieces of jewellery in that old safe he has in the shop. Gold is too valuable and times are hard, it’s safer in the bank, but he hates going.’

Charlie looked perturbed. ‘I wouldn’t have thought there was that much, Mam?’

‘It mounts up, Charlie. It’s awful really, the number of poor souls who’ve had to pawn their wedding rings and other bits just to make ends meet and haven’t been able to redeem them. No, I told him it was best to take it to the bank for safekeeping.’

‘He shouldn’t be long now though, they close early enough,’ Iris stated, glancing at the clock on the mantel over the range.

Half an hour later Kate decided that rather than let the pie dry up they would eat and she’d plate Bill’s up; he’d probably met someone and been delayed. They had almost finished when the sound of someone banging hard on the shop door interrupted them.

Kate got up. ‘If that’s Mary Duncan wanting more potatoes because she’s run out I won’t be very happy! If she spent more time in her kitchen and less jangling on her doorstep, she’d be more aware of what she needed.’

Iris got to her feet. ‘Sit down and finish your meal, Mam,’ she said firmly. ‘I’ve finished mine. I’ll go and I’ll serve her.’ Quite often people called after they had closed. Hilda Jarvis
who ran the corner shop said she was tormented every night by people who’d run out of things. She never seemed to get a meal in peace.

As she opened the door Iris’s hand went to her mouth and her heart dropped like a stone. A police constable was standing there looking grim.

‘Is your mam in, luv?’ he asked.

She could only nod as panic swept over her. It was Da! Something had happened to her da, she knew it!

‘Then I think I’d best come in,’ he said gently, noting her obvious distress. She led him through the shop and into the kitchen and when Kate saw him she uttered a cry of distress.

‘Mrs Mundy? Mrs Kate Mundy? I think you’d better get your coat, luv.’

‘Oh, my God! It’s Bill! What’s happened to him?’ she cried.

‘He’s in Stanley Hospital. I’m afraid there was an accident, a lorry skidded and went out of control. It’s not good, they say. I’m very sorry. Is there anything I can do?’

Charlie, although white-faced and shocked, reached for his jacket. ‘Can you try and find us a hackney or something? If we have to go on the tram it will take ages.’

‘I can but it will . . . er . . . cost. Cabs don’t come cheap,’ he reminded them. People in this neighbourhood never travelled in such style. They couldn’t afford to.

‘I know, but don’t worry, we’ve got the fare,’ Charlie assured him. This was one time he wasn’t going to quibble over a few shillings.

On the way to the hospital Kate blamed herself. ‘If I hadn’t nagged him to go to the bank, this wouldn’t have happened.’

‘Mam, stop it! It’s not your fault, you were only doing what you thought was best,’ Iris had said and Charlie had agreed but it hadn’t helped, Kate couldn’t stop fretting.

When they arrived, Kate was immediately taken off by the sister in charge, who instructed Iris and Charlie to wait as the doctor was still with their father.

‘Oh, I hope it’s not too bad, Charlie,’ Iris said, biting her lips as they sat on one of the long wooden benches.

‘So do I but that copper wasn’t giving much away, was he? Just said it didn’t look too good. What exactly did he mean by that, I ask you?’ Charlie too was worried but he’d already started to wonder when his father would be able to return to work and how they would manage in the circumstances.

The minutes seemed to drag by but then they were both startled to see a doctor, accompanied by the sister who’d told them to wait, appear and beckon to them. Their sombre expressions made Iris tremble with a growing fear. ‘Can we see him now, please? Is he going to be all right?’ she pleaded.

‘Of course you can see him, but . . . but I’m afraid he has succumbed to his injuries, which were serious. He died a few minutes ago. I’m so sorry.’

The tears that had been welling in her eyes began to slide down Iris’s cheeks as she clung to her brother for support. It couldn’t be true! Da couldn’t have
died
! He’d been fine that morning – his usual good-natured self.

‘Mam . . .?’ Charlie said, his voice cracking with grief.
He’d seen hundreds of men die and die horribly, but this was his father!

‘Naturally very upset and shocked. Would you take them to her please, sister?’

Iris didn’t remember that short journey down the white-tiled corridor but when she saw her mother cradling her father’s head in her arms and sobbing brokenly, the sheet covering him covered in blood, she too broke down. Charlie, too, was fighting back tears as he gently put his hand on Kate’s shoulder.

‘Mam, he . . . he was so badly injured. He must have been in great pain. It . . . it’s for the best,’ he tried to comfort her.

Kate raised a tear-blotched face. ‘What am I going to do without him, Charlie? He was the love of my life, my best friend and I sent him off to the bank! I sent him to his death!’

Before he could answer the sister took charge. ‘Now, Mrs Mundy, you must not think like that! Accidents happen and that’s exactly what they are. Tragic accidents. You are shocked and overwrought but you must not blame yourself. You are all shocked and overwrought. I’ll get one of the student nurses to bring you some sweet tea while the formalities are taken care of.’ She turned to Charlie, who was obviously more in control of his emotions. ‘Young man, could I ask you to accompany me to the office?’

Charlie nodded grimly and followed her out while both Kate and Iris tried to stop crying.

‘He . . . he looks peaceful now, Mam,’ Iris at last managed to say. He did, she thought. If it weren’t for the bloodstained
sheet he’d look as if he were just asleep. Her mind and emotions were in turmoil but she had to try to help calm her mam and stop her blaming herself.