Women on the Home Front (77 page)

Clifford sat with his newspaper and Gwen sat concentrating on her knitting, a complicated Fair Isle patterned waistcoat in 3 ply wool for her husband.

‘I need to talk to you about something that happened a long time ago,' she told Gwen.

At the end of her row, Gwen looked up uncertainly. Clifford folded his newspaper and stood up. ‘I think I'll just go outside and check on the greenhouse,' he began.

‘If you don't mind, Clifford,' said Connie, ‘I'd prefer you to stay.'

He lowered himself back down into his chair.

‘This is hard to talk about,' Connie began, ‘but it is important that you both know what happened.'

‘You're scaring me,' said Gwen, putting her knitting on the arm of her chair.

‘I don't mean to, Mum,' said Connie, ‘but please try not to interrupt while I do it. Okay?'

‘Okay.'

So she told them. She told them about that meeting with Stan Saul on Long Furlong twelve years ago. She told them how she and Kenneth had brought him home to the house in Patching. She told them about the cider he'd given them and how Kenneth had fallen asleep with his head on the table. Then she told them how she had ended up upstairs with Stan and how he'd got undressed. Clifford stared at the floor in shocked surprise and Gwen at first put her hand to her throat and then reached for Clifford's hand when Connie described her fear and panic as Mr Charles was revealed.

‘Oh, God,' Gwen whispered faintly. ‘So you think …? And Mr Charles …? Oh no, no …' Connie nodded and her mother began to cry softly.

Clifford looked helplessly from one to the other. ‘Am I missing something here?'

‘It's Mandy,' said Gwen. ‘She keeps saying she doesn't want to see Mr Charles.'

It took a second or two for the penny to drop then Clifford leapt to his feet, his face white with fury. ‘Tell me who this bastard is,' he demanded. ‘Where is he? I'll bloody tear him limb from limb.'

Connie put her hand on Clifford's arm. ‘Clifford, I know you're upset …'

‘Upset!' he bellowed.

‘Shh,' said Connie, looking anxiously up at the ceiling. ‘Whatever you do, don't let Mandy hear you.'

He forced himself to lower his voice but he was still white hot with anger. ‘Then tell me where he is,' he spat.

‘Clifford, the man needs to be behind bars,' said Connie. ‘If you go after him, you'll be the one in prison.'

‘Tell me or I swear I shall see Ga and make her tell me.'

‘No!' cried Connie and Gwen in unison.

‘For God's sake, don't do that,' said Connie. ‘You'll do more harm than good. It took every ounce of courage for Mandy to tell me and if you tell Ga, she'll go up there like a bull in a china shop.'

‘But you can't expect me to do nothing,' he cried helplessly.

‘Yes,' said Gwen. ‘No,' said Connie at the same time.

Shocked, Connie stared at her mother.

‘I don't want my child being interrogated by the police,' said Gwen. ‘That's what it'll mean, won't it?'

Clifford put his hands to his head and ran his fingers through his hair.

‘We'll be gone soon,' Gwen said, taking hold of his arm. ‘A few more weeks and we'll be on our way to Australia. Don't you see? It'll blow over. It's going to be all right.'

‘Mum,' said Connie, ‘I understand how you feel but believe me, this won't blow over. Mandy will need help. Right now she thinks it's her fault. She thinks she fell down the hole because she wouldn't do what he wanted.'

Clifford moaned in pain and turned around in a tight circle.

‘And if Stan did the same to me all those years ago,' Connie continued, ‘it stands to reason that he's been doing it to other little girls in between. He has got to be stopped.'

Gwen looked at Connie as if seeing her for the first time. ‘I didn't know,' she apologised. ‘Oh Connie, why didn't you say something at the time? Why didn't you tell me?'

‘Because Ga told me not to,' said Connie. Her mother's expression hardened. ‘Actually, I think for once in her life she did it for good reasons. To protect me, just like you want to protect Mandy, but it has to end here. How many other little girls has that monster frightened out of their wits in between? We can't let it go on.'

‘She's right,' said Clifford.

‘No,' Gwen insisted. ‘I won't have you going to the police. And anyway,' she said rounding on Connie, ‘just because he did it to you, doesn't mean he actually touched Mandy, does it?'

Connie put her hand over her mouth. Her mother obviously had no idea how much that hurt. She sounded so indifferent to what had happened to her. Yes, she was an adult now but that day Stan had robbed her of something. From the moment he had exposed himself to her, she had lost her childhood innocence. Connie knew her mother was frantic with worry over Mandy but she could have done with a little more understanding and a hug.

‘Did Mandy tell you he touched her?' said Clifford. He was quieter now, but just as angry.

‘I don't think he did,' said Connie.

‘How can you be sure?' Clifford asked.

‘I think when he showed her Mr Charles,' said Connie, ‘that was the moment Pip went for him.'

‘Pip,' said Gwen. ‘Oh yes, I'd forgotten about him.'

‘The vet said that Pip had been hit with something, a piece of wood or a log,' said Connie. ‘Someone viciously beat him and left him for dead.'

Gwen took in her breath. ‘And you think Mandy saw all that too?'

Connie nodded.

‘But why didn't she take the opportunity to run away?' Clifford cried.

‘She was too frightened,' said Connie. ‘My guess is that after she saw what had happened to Pip, that's when she ran away.'

Clifford put his head in his hands. ‘And then she fell down the hole.'

‘But Stan went back with the others to look for her,' said Gwen. ‘Why didn't he tell everybody where she was?' She saw Clifford and Connie share a glance and at last Gwen understood. Stan didn't want Mandy to be found. He'd left her down the hole to die.

‘I know we should go to the police,' said Gwen choking back a small sob, ‘but I keep thinking how awful it would be for her. She's only a little girl. How can we put her through all that as well?'

Neither of them had an answer to that. They heard the back door open and close again and Ga walked in. She seemed surprised when they turned towards her. ‘What's the matter with you lot?'

‘You'd better tell her, Gwennie,' said Clifford. ‘I don't think I've the stomach for it. I'm off to the pub.'

‘You won't say anything, will you?' Gwen said frantically.

‘Of course not,' he snapped. ‘What do you take me for?' He reached for his cap on the back of the door. ‘But it isn't right, Gwennie.'

‘What isn't right?' said Ga as he slammed the door.

‘This is all down to you,' Gwen snarled at Ga. ‘You and your bloody interfering. If you had left well alone, none of this would have happened.'

‘Mum, that's not fair,' said Connie. ‘Ga was trying to do the best thing for me, just the same as you're doing for Mandy.'

‘Will one of you tell me what's going on?' Ga demanded.

‘Stan Saul was with Mandy on High Salvington,' said Connie.

Ga lowered herself into her chair as Connie began to explain.

‘No,' she said when Connie had finished. ‘That can't be right. His mother told me he was a changed man.'

‘What are you saying?' said Connie faintly.

Ga looked up sharply. ‘He never actually touched you, did he?'

Connie laughed sardonically. ‘You know as well as I do that he came this close,' she said, holding her thumb and forefinger together.

‘You were drunk,' said Ga defensively.

‘I was thirteen years old!' Connie retorted. Connie was aware that her mother had begun to cry again. ‘And actually, I wasn't drunk. He'd put something in my drink, Ga. And he did the same to Kenneth's. I'd hardly had more than a mouthful when I felt funny and couldn't stand up properly. Kenneth flaked out altogether.'

Ga stared at Connie in disbelief. ‘But he said …'

‘He said, he said,' said Connie angrily. ‘That's the trouble, isn't it? You never once bothered to ask Kenneth and me what happened, did you? You assumed … and just because Stan was older than the both of us you took his word for it.'

There was a thick silence as the two of them digested what Connie was saying.

‘He promised me it would never happen again,' said Ga. Her voice was a lot smaller now. ‘What was I supposed to do? Stan is all his mother has got. She dotes on that boy. It would have broken her heart if I'd gone to the police.'

‘But I was your family,' cried Connie passionately as she crossed both hands over her chest.

Gwen was still furious but Connie felt strangely moved with compassion. She'd never seen Ga quite like this before. ‘Don't you see?' she said sitting down next to her. ‘By not going to the police all that time ago, you separated this family and put countless other little girls in danger.'

Ga looked up at her. Her face was white. ‘He said it was all your fault. He said you'd egged him on and teased him. He said you were up for it.'

‘You're not listening, Ga,' Gwen snapped. ‘They all say that. Men who want to be with little girls. The man is sick … evil … He'll say anything to justify what he's done.'

‘But he got married,' Ga protested loudly.

‘And she killed herself,' said Connie. ‘Didn't you ever wonder about that, Ga? I certainly did, especially when you told us that his wife had been a widow with a little girl of her own.'

The full horror of what Connie had implied shocked them all. The sound of the clock on the mantelpiece seemed to grow louder by the second.

‘So what do I do now?' said Ga eventually.

‘I don't want Mandy to have to talk to the police,' said Gwen helplessly. ‘One day they might treat a child with kindness and care but I know that right now they'll try and get her to say she's made it all up. They'll shout at her and frighten her and I can't have that.'

Connie put her head in her hands. They were back to square one. Her mother began to cry again.

‘It's all right, Mum,' said Connie, rubbing her mother's arm gently.

‘And I'm sorry about you,' said Gwen brokenly. ‘I wish you could have told me. I should have been there for you, darling.'

Ga fished out a handkerchief from her apron pocket and moved away from them to blow her nose.

‘Anyway,' said Gwen. ‘We'll be out of the country soon. We can make a fresh start.'

Ga spun around. ‘Out of the country? What are you talking about?'

Gwen sniffed loudly and drew herself up. ‘Clifford and I are going to Australia. There's a new scheme for migrant workers and we're taking Mandy.'

Ga's jaw dropped. ‘But why?'

‘Don't give me that, Ga,' said Gwen, her voice loaded with sarcasm. ‘You know perfectly well why. We want a life of our own. Clifford wants to be the master of his own destiny, not a slave to your beck and call.'

‘But all this is for you …' cried Ga. She waved her hands expansively.

‘You've trotted that one out for years,' said Gwen, angrily stuffing her knitting back into the knitting bag, ‘and yet every suggestion Clifford makes, you won't allow. He's stifled here and I can't bear to see him so unhappy anymore.'

With head high, she marched out of the room and went upstairs.

‘I don't believe this,' whispered Ga. ‘What on earth is happening to this family?'

‘I think you'll find it's discovered its backbone at last,' said Connie.

Connie was up early but Ga was already sitting at her writing bureau. She was in her dressing gown and her plaited hair hung over her shoulder. Connie, who was already washed and dressed, put a cup of tea on the drop-down lid. She was still annoyed with Ga but she had made up her mind to try and be civil. Ga moved her arm quickly to cover the page and stopped writing. All at once Connie realised that the paper she was using was exactly the same pale cream paper that Matron was holding in her office. Anger exploded in her chest.

‘It was you, wasn't it?' she snarled.

‘What?'

‘You wrote to Matron and got me the sack, didn't you?'

‘What are you talking …?' Ga began.

Connie snatched the page and held it up. ‘Don't bother to deny it. I saw the letter. It was written on paper just like this.'

‘I have never written to your Matron,' Ga bellowed indignantly. ‘I have no idea what you are talking about.'

But Connie was on a roll now. ‘How many others have you written, Ga? What about those horrible letters to Sally Burndell?'

‘Sally Burndell,' Ga blustered, ‘was a silly airheaded girl who was cheeky to the customers.'

‘And you tried to destroy her for that!' Connie shrieked.

There was a small sound and Gwen stood by the doorway. ‘What's going on now?'

‘It was Ga who wrote those poison pen letters to Sally,' Connie accused. ‘And she's the one who got me the sa …' Connie only just stopped herself in time. ‘And while we're on the subject …' she began again. She ran from the room, up to her bedroom and back again. Throwing a piece of paper on the bureau in front of Ga she added breathlessly, ‘Perhaps you'd like to explain that.'

They were looking at a childish picture of a house. It had a red roof and smoke coming from the crooked chimney. On one side was a mummy, a daddy and a little girl. The little girl was holding the hand of another adult, a woman, wearing what looked like a frilly cap. On the other side of the house was a much older woman.

‘What's wrong with that?' Ga said defensively.