‘She wasn’t at her desk,’ Caitlin said glibly. ‘Thanks very much, nurse. We’ll be as quick as we can.’
The nurse made her way back along the ward and the girls perched on Dana’s bed. Caitlin began to describe all that had happened that evening, but when she reached the point where she said James was planning to cheat them, Dana slid off the bed with an exclamation. ‘Shut up, shut up,’ she said, flapping a hand at her friend. ‘Oh my God, no wonder James doesn’t like me! If you’ll just hold your tongue for a moment, I will tell
you
what’s been going on. On the day of my accident, the telephone rang in our flat and I picked up the receiver without really thinking, and put it to my ear. Two men were talking about the restaurant – one of them was James and the other, I think, was Herbie Porter. James was saying that when he had cashed the cheque for the money Mr Porter was paying for the restaurant and flat, everything would be settled. He hoped Mr Porter would continue to employ me in the new restaurant – in some menial capacity, I suppose – and as for you, you would be on the way to the United States as his wife!’
Caitlin stared at her, her mouth dropping open. ‘You’ve remembered!’ she squeaked. ‘Oh, Dana, was that why you fell down the stairs, because you were in such a hurry to tell me we were being cheated?’
Dana put both hands to her head and rumpled her ginger curls. ‘I suppose it must have been,’ she said slowly. ‘Yes, I knew I must get hold of you so we could go to the solicitor, see if we could prevent the sale.’ She
looked thoughtfully at Caitlin’s flushed face. ‘So what did James tell you, this evening? The whole story? I take it he did ask you to marry him?’
‘Oh, yes, he
asked
me,’ Caitlin said bitterly. ‘I was so shocked, Dana, that I threw my dinner in his face and lit out while he was still rubbing stuffing out of his eyes.’
Dana stared at her friend with considerable respect. ‘You threw your dinner in his face? Oh, Caitlin, you are brave! But where were you? In the flat? Oh, don’t say you were in Lyons Corner House!’
‘No, we were at the Adelphi,’ Caitlin said airily. ‘And when James would have followed me, the waiter grabbed him and waved the bill in front of him. I was really grateful because James looked fit to murder, which is why I don’t mean to go back to the flat.’
‘I don’t blame you,’ Dana said fervently. ‘I’ve always had a bad feeling about your James, only he was so generous to us at first, buying the butcher’s shop and only charging a tiny rent. But I never could trust him. His mouth says one thing whilst his eyes say another, if you understand me.’
‘Well I do now, though I took him at face value until this evening,’ Caitlin confirmed. ‘But what’ll we do, Dana? It’s a good while since you overheard that telephone conversation – is it too late to stop the sale?’
‘I doubt if we could do that, no matter how quickly we acted. Can you see a solicitor taking our side against Mr Porter? I imagine that since it is he who now owns the restaurant, our grievance will be against him rather than James.’
Caitlin sighed. ‘I don’t know a thing about business, but I know when I’m being cheated and I know by
whom,’ she said wearily. ‘I’ve not told you yet, but apparently, when we signed all those papers saying that we were agreeable to the improvements being made to the restaurant, we were also signing for James to become our business manager and, when necessary, to take decisions without consulting us. So where does that leave us? He knows no one will rent to us so we can start up in business again – he actually said so, with a smirk. Oh, how I hate that man!’
‘So do I, but I don’t think you need worry that he’ll try to pursue you tonight,’ Dana said, after sitting for a moment in frowning thought. ‘He won’t hang about to find himself embroiled in a legal tangle. I don’t say the law would make him retract the sale or give us all the money, but it would certainly insist that he cough up for the goodwill, and possibly for breaching the terms of our lease. So I reckon by the time the banks open tomorrow, he’ll have left his flat and be aboard a transatlantic liner, even if he has to sign on as a cabin boy!’
Caitlin laughed and gave her friend an impulsive hug. ‘With his pockets stuffed with bank notes,’ she said gaily. ‘Oh, Dana, nothing seems so terrible now that you’ve got your memory back! I suppose we could work at the Willows again if the worst came to the worst, but I hope it won’t come to that. If I wasn’t such a coward I’d go round to his place and insist that I accompany him to the bank tomorrow, so that he can pay me in actual cash for our share of the business, but I
am
a coward, I fear.’
‘I tell you what, you could linger outside his flat tomorrow and follow him when he goes out – keeping well back, of course,’ Dana said. ‘Then when he goes into
the bank and begins to draw out his money, you can say you’ve come for our share.’
‘I suppose I could, but I’m just afraid he’d turn round and either murder me or pretend I was planning to steal from him,’ Caitlin said gloomily. ‘But I’ll come to the hospital first thing, and if they’ll release you we can both go to his flat and then to Mr Porter at the restaurant.’
‘Agreed,’ Dana said. ‘Yes, that’s fine; after all, he can’t eat us. You must go home, Caitlin, because you can’t sleep on the streets and even the YW won’t welcome you at this time of night. Remember there’s only one entrance to the flat and James doesn’t have a key. Once you’re inside, you can slide the bolts across to make doubly sure you’re not disturbed. But no matter how much he disliked having food thrown in his face, I don’t think James will want to have anything more to do with either of us. You’ll be safe in the flat till morning.’
After her friend had left, Dana lay down on her hospital bed, thinking ruefully that her mind was too full to sleep. Presently, almost with a sense of adventure, she began to go over the events that had occurred since she and Caitlin had met and taken up their new lives in Liverpool. Inevitably, thoughts of the tea room and the way they had been treated could not be banished entirely, so she bent her mind to the last thing she remembered before she had had her accident. Yes, everything was there: the pot of tea and the plate of cheese and pickle sandwiches she had made for her lunch. The number of times she had shifted all the furniture one way or another so that the twin beds, when they were delivered, would be able to pass through the kitchen, across the hall and into the bedroom without hindrance. But the beds had not
arrived, so when she had heard the telephone bell she had assumed, not unnaturally, that it would be either Caitlin, demanding to know what had happened to their new furniture, or the shop itself apologising for the delay in delivery. Instead, however, she had heard a conversation most definitely not intended for her ears; heard how James and even Mr Porter had plotted against two young girls who had trusted them. She had heard their receivers go down and had almost dropped hers, for her hand had been slippery with perspiration.
But she had known she must contact Caitlin at once; tell her what was being planned. All thoughts of beds and deliveries had flown out of her head. She had fairly erupted out of the kitchen door, heedless of the cold rain which soaked her in seconds. She had felt her foot slip, had tried to grab the metal banister, and then there had been an excruciating pain in her leg and something had hit the back of her head, plunging her into darkness. After that had come a daze of semi-wakening, so that she felt the rain on her face and the cobbles beneath her back. She had grown cold, cold as death, and had drifted into unconsciousness once more, only to wake to see blue skies arching over her and feel the softness of grass beneath her. For a moment she even felt the warmth of the sun on her bare arms, but then she was back on the cobbles with the rain and the pain.
Dana frowned, trying to dismiss her confused recollection of her accident. Green grass? Warmth? Sunshine even? Oh, she must have dreamed the whole. But what pleasure such a dream could bring after so much cruel reality! She cuddled into her hospital pillow and tried to banish thought, memories – the past, in fact. Soon, she slept.
Chapter Four
THE SUN, PEEPING
through the ill-fitting curtains at the window of Dana’s rented room, woke her even before her alarm had gone off. For a moment she lay there, wondering why she felt rather pleased with life. Of course it might be just the sunshine, because although August was not yet over they had had a pretty poor summer. What were she and Caitlin planning to do today? She frowned with the effort of memory. Ever since her accident her mind had seemed sluggish, but her leg, now long out of plaster, was very much better, the muscles stronger and the skin no longer white and wasted. So just what was making her feel almost jolly, if it was not just the sunshine?
Abruptly, her memory kicked in. The girl at the labour exchange had got her an interview later today with the owner of a small tea room, who wanted someone – on a part-time basis, unfortunately – to do just about any job which came to hand. Caitlin had had a few waitressing jobs but had lost them through bad time-keeping, or bursting into tears in front of astonished customers. In fact Dana herself had got pretty fed up with her one-time partner, who had been given to frequent storms of weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth over James
Mortimer’s defection, blaming herself for introducing Mortimer to Dana, though, as Dana was tired of pointing out, had she not done so they would never have opened Cathy’s Place.
Today, however, Dana decided she would have to have a serious talk with her partner. To be sure, they had been treated abominably, for James and Mr Porter had signed contracts without so much as mentioning either girl’s name, and this meant that they had no claim whatsoever on the restaurant, or the flat.
But Dana decided that today she would tell Caitlin severely that it was pointless crying over spilt milk and warn her that she must put the past behind her and start living for the future. Of course, she had done so many times already and Caitlin always said that she would try to pull herself together, but on this particular day, if Dana got the job at the tea room, she intended to suggest that Caitlin should apply for any waiting on job coming up there in the near future. Caitlin was more than pretty, she was downright beautiful, and if only she would smile and speak cheerfully there was absolutely no reason why she too might not be taken on eventually. Even the half-promise of work might take Caitlin’s mind off her misery, which had to be a good thing.
The alarm clock situated between the two beds gave a small despairing tinkle and Dana, frowning, swung her legs off the mattress, put on her slippers and stared hard at the clock’s small face. Had she forgotten to wind it up last night? She must not do so again, for most employers these days insisted on their staff being early for work. She swished back the curtains and went across to the
other bed, a hand raised to grab Caitlin’s shoulder, then stopped short. The bed was empty.
Dana stood rooted to the spot. Her friend was not an early riser, would use anything as an excuse to remain in her bed, so why … but then Dana saw, pinned to the pillow, a brown envelope with
Dana McBride
written upon it in Caitlin’s rather round and childish hand.
Dana’s heart descended into her scuffed slippers. She grabbed the envelope with a shaking hand, tore it open, sat down on her bed and began to read.
Dear Dana
,
Oh, I know you’re going to be so cross but I can’t help it, indeed, indeed I can’t. Ever since James left and we lost the restaurant I’ve been miserable, and I do so hate being unhappy. I didn’t tell you, but a couple of weeks ago I wrote to my sister – not the one who stole my feller – and asked her what she thought I should do. The postman brought a letter a week ago, only you’d already gone out, so I read it all by myself. Oh, Dana, Catherine was so wonderful. She said I was to come home right away because I was sorely missed. She sent money for my fare and said Felix O’Hara talked of nothing but how he wished I’d come home, and of course Mammy and Daddy are desperate to get me back. I’m a big coward and always have been so I said nothing to you but just kept wondering what to do for the best. I thought and thought because I knew I’d be letting you down, Dana, if I left, but in the end I made up my mind and I put all my savings in that little blue velvet bag which you admired once and left it for you; it’s in the top drawer of the dressing table. Don’t be angry with me. As soon as I get home I’ll write to let you know I’m safe. Then you can write back and tell me how you’re going on
.
I wish you’d come back to Ireland with me, but I know you won’t. You’re so stubborn, Dana, and anyway if I’m honest I know you’ll be better off without me. I’ve not had one decent job since James took off for the States, so I’ve only managed to pay my share of the rent from the money my uncle gave us and that’s running out fast. In fact after I bought my ticket on the ferry I put the rest into the blue velvet bag so I’m penniless! Say you forgive me, darling Dana! You are my best friend but I don’t have your strength. I hate being poor. Sorry, sorry, sorry
.
Love, Caitlin
Dana felt hot rage welling up in her breast and tore the letter across and across, then thought better of it, and sat holding the pieces in her hand until common sense reasserted itself. After all, she had known for ages that Caitlin was deeply unhappy and longed to return to her home and family. I knew it, but I was just as scared as she was of being poor and having no family behind me, she told herself, as her initial hurt and rage slowly ebbed into a sort of resigned acceptance. I’m not really strong, it’s just that I burnt my boats when I left in a way which Caitlin did not. She ran away because it turned out that her lover didn’t love her after all. I ran away because I felt everyone had turned against me, as well as against my dearest daddy. I always meant to go back one day,
when I had proved that I could manage without them, and perhaps I really will. But that day hasn’t come yet and unless I pull myself together right away it never will.