A Promise Between Friends (33 page)

Then the front door opened.

Ruby moved down onto the steps of a basement. As she peered through the iron railings, her tummy tightened. Who would come out of that door?

It was Janet who appeared on the doorstep. The house-keeper hurried down the white steps, carrying two small suitcases. She waited on the pavement looking left and right. The lights in the house
went out.

Ruby’s heart pounded. Who was Janet waiting for?

A car came slowly along and stopped. Ruby fell back, catching a painful breath when she saw it was the Buick. Her stomach twisted as Nick climbed out and greeted Janet. He quickly took the
suitcases and stowed them in the boot of the car.

Janet disappeared into the house again. Ruby blinked rapidly as, a few seconds later, Anna stepped out and hurried down to Nick. She was dressed in the same pale fur coat that Nick had given
Ruby to model. Bitter tears stung Ruby’s eyes. Her body seemed ice cold as Nick took Anna in his arms and kissed her.

Ruby held tightly to the railings. This was the man she thought she had loved. The man who she thought had loved her. He wasn’t hurt, or lying injured somewhere, or waiting cold and alone
in a prison cell.

He was here with Anna.

Their kiss was long and passionate. If only she could make her legs move, Ruby thought in a daze, she would run across and confront them. But all she could do was stare helplessly as Nick
assisted Anna into the car.

The roar of the Buick’s engine rumbled into the night.

And the car disappeared.

When Janet came out of the house again she took a key from her purse and locked the door.

Slowly Ruby climbed up the steps and crossed the road.

‘What are you doing here?’ Janet asked, looking surprised.

‘Is Anna going away?’

‘I don’t know.’ Janet tried to pass by, but Ruby grabbed her.

‘I’m sure you can tell me,’ she said, suddenly filled with anger. ‘Would you rather I call the police?’

Janet shook her hand away. ‘What do you want to know?’

‘Everything.’

The housekeeper stared ahead coldly. ‘The agency has closed. It’s over, Ruby. Whatever you’ve come back for, it’s too late.’

Ruby remembered what Paula had told her that day in Hyde Park. ‘Was Anna raided by the police?’

‘How do you know that?’

‘Never mind. Just tell me where Anna and Nick are going.’

The small woman gave a long, uncaring sigh. ‘Have it your own way, much good it’ll do you. They’re leaving the country.’

Ruby felt her legs buckle. ‘Do you know where?’

Janet shrugged. ‘Europe, America, Australia – the choice is yours.’

‘But what about the agency girls?’

‘What about them? Anna and Nick don’t care. They’re off to pastures new.’

She laughed coldly at Ruby’s shocked expression. ‘You surely couldn’t have thought a man like Nick Brandon had eyes for a silly, greedy little upstart like you?’

Ruby gulped back the tears as Janet watched her.

‘Wake up, you little fool,’ Janet continued. ‘He used you, just as Mrs Brandon did.’

Ruby’s mouth fell open. ‘
Mrs
Brandon?’

‘Oh yes, she is his wife and between them they have a good thing going. He with his warehouses and she with her girls. They juggled you between them. You were a pawn in their game. Not
that you were the first. There were others before you and will be again. Wherever they go, they will attract more gullible victims. Girls falling over themselves to snatch what the Brandons tell
them is a glamorous new career.’

Ruby sank back against the railings. ‘Did Paula know they were married?’

‘Everyone did, it seems, except you.’

‘Why didn’t she tell me? I thought Paula was my friend.’

‘You have no friends here. They all did what Anna told them and kept their mouths shut. And when they didn’t, well, you know for yourself what could happen to someone who crossed
her.’

Ruby stared at this unremarkable woman who had just delivered a blow equal to the impact of a bus and was now staring at her with undisguised pity.

‘Go home to the East End, Ruby, where you belong.’ She pushed past, shoulders squared as she marched off along the pavement.

Ruby stared up at 10 Dower Street and the memories crowded back. She was both ashamed and angry. How could she have been so blind?

Well, she was blind no longer. Good riddance to bad rubbish, as they used to say as kids. With her chin held high, she made her way back to Marble Arch, leaving Dower Street behind her
forever.

‘Merry Christmas, one and all!’ It was Kath who opened Bernie’s newly painted red front door on Christmas Day. ‘Hello, Ruby, Mr Payne – Maggs!
Welcome everyone!’ She kissed them on their cold cheeks as they stepped in. ‘Let me take your coats.’

Ruby thought how lovely Kath looked in her red dress, with sparkly festive twine wound carefully in her long dark hair. Since knowing Clem she had certainly blossomed.

‘Thank you for inviting me,’ Maggs said, touching her newly permed hair as she slid off her coat. ‘Now, how can I help you, ducks? I’d like to make myself
useful.’

‘This is your day off, Maggs,’ Kath replied with a grin. ‘But if you like, you could give Clem some help in the kitchen. I left him with the carving knife and instructions to
slice the turkey breast first, but I’d feel happier if you could keep an eye on things.’ Kath hung the coats on the hall stand. ‘Mr Payne, why don’t you go through too and
get Bernie to pour you a beer?’

‘Don’t mind if I do,’ Ruby’s dad said, swiftly disappearing down the hall.

‘Let’s have a chat before the party gets started,’ Kath whispered, pushing Ruby into the front room.

‘Oh, this is lovely,’ Ruby gasped as she gazed at the freshly decorated walls glowing in the light of a modern cone-shaped lampshade. In front of the window was a small Christmas
tree, complete with coloured balls and tinsel. ‘Last time I saw this room, there was just a stepladder and a pot of paint.’

‘Bernie’s worked hard to finish the house,’ Kath nodded. ‘He wanted to have it ready for today.’

Ruby looked around once more. She walked over to the heavy, patterned drapes that hung each side of the window. ‘These curtains are very good quality.’ She ran her fingers over their
softness and smiled ruefully. ‘I can see Tina had a say in choosing these.’

‘That’s where you’re wrong,’ Kath said with a grin as she stuck a poker in the fire and the scarlet flames roared up the chimney. ‘Bernie has surprisingly good
taste. And anyway, the two lovebirds have split up.’

‘They have?’ Ruby frowned at this news. ‘But I thought Tina and Bernie were going strong.’

‘He didn’t have his heart in it.’

‘Why was that?’

‘He said he wasn’t ready to settle down. Tina, of course, was mad keen to start a family.’

‘Well, Bernie’s not getting any younger.’ Ruby sat on the comfortable new settee. ‘All he really needs now is someone to share this house with him.’ She recalled
how empty and desolate this room had once seemed, but now it felt like a real home, except perhaps for the finer details of a woman’s touch.

‘I’m so happy you agreed to come to us for Christmas,’ Kath said eagerly. ‘I’ve been dying to introduce Clem to friends and family.’

‘Do I hear wedding bells?’ Ruby asked, raising a curious eyebrow.

‘It’s early days yet,’ Kath declared but Ruby noticed she was blushing deeply. ‘We’ve both got our careers to consider. And for now, we are having the time of our
lives at the Windmill.’

‘Who would have thought last year,’ Ruby said on a long, wistful sigh, ‘that I would be sitting here this Christmas, talking to a real-live Windmill girl, the star turn of the
chorus line?’

Kath blushed again. ‘Not quite yet, Ruby.’

‘You were made to be a dancer with those long legs of yours. Just look at you, all glammed-up and a real head-turner. As for me, well, it’s obvious, ain’t it? I’ve got
big boobs and a wiggle but I’ve no talent and I’m broke.’ Ruby half-laughed, trying to hide the cheap and tacky blue sheath dress that she had found on the market stall.

‘Ruby, you are gorgeous, you know that.’

‘Thanks, but I miss all me nice clothes.’

Kath chuckled. ‘Cheer up, you’ll soon get a job again. And be back down the shops spending all that money you ain’t got.’

Ruby smiled. She had learned a very big lesson, that money and the life it bought wasn’t everything. It had hurt deeply to know that she had been a willing victim to Nick and Anna. But
after careful consideration, she had taken steps to redress the balance; a thought that now gave her some comfort.

Kath knelt on the furry brown rug by the fire and looked into Ruby’s eyes. ‘So, from what you told me on the telephone last week, I take it that Nick and Anna are long
gone?’

‘Yes. And I wish them the worst of luck.’

‘That doesn’t sound like you.’

‘I’ve grown up a bit, Kath, and got to thinking. What they did was unforgivable, to me and to the other girls. In fact it was fraud.’

‘Who told you that?’

‘I went to the police and told them everything.’

Kath sat back on her heels in alarm. ‘You did what?’

‘I thought about what Janet said,’ Ruby replied, folding her fingers together on her lap. ‘There would be other girls like me. If not in England then abroad. Some would believe
their lies and end up with broken hearts if not broken morals. Or perhaps both. Like I nearly did. So, I decided to tell the law.’

‘What did they say?’

‘I had to write a statement about Anna and the agency that was really a high-class brothel and Nick with his warehouse of furs, and of course McBride and the man from the Soviet
Union.’

‘Crikey, Ruby, that took some nerve.’

‘The detective told me that Interpol would be informed as Nick was already on their wanted list for other scams in this country. I got a ticking off for not reporting him and Anna
immediately. They said I was withholding evidence.’

‘What did you say to that?’

‘I said better late than never. What could they do to me that hadn’t been done already?’

Kath giggled. ‘My God, Ruby, talk about a woman scorned!’

‘I just hope there’s justice in all this. And most of all, no one else gets caught up as I did. I was such a fool.’

‘You were in love.’

‘With a dream,’ Ruby corrected quietly as she met Kath’s gaze.

‘We all have those.’

‘Yes, but yours came true with Clem.’

Kath’s pale skin flushed. ‘He is rather wonderful. I never thought I had a chance at love. My dad was a brute. After what he did to me and Bernie I was left with a fear of men. But
then I found a passion in the dancing. That saved me. And through dancing, I met Clem. And I found love again.’

Ruby knew Kath deserved love. But did she? She was beginning to wonder lately if love had passed her by. ‘You are amazing, Kath. You’ve been through so much and come out on
top.’

‘So will you.’

‘I hope so.’

Ruby was thinking of Pete. She hadn’t told anyone, not even Kath, about her meeting with Johnnie Dyer. She would keep Pete’s secret for him, although, perhaps one day in the future,
she might be able to unburden herself in the knowledge that society would no longer condemn Pete as a criminal. Until that day dawned, she would honour the pact she kept with her dead brother and
know that, wherever he was, he would at last be at peace. ‘I want to move on, Kath. I truly do. But I haven’t a clue how.’

‘You’ll think of something. One thing is certain, your Pete would want you to be happy. And your mum too. Isn’t that the important thing?’

Ruby nodded. She still had her dad and it was the living who counted, after all.

Kath stood up and opened her arms. ‘Happy Christmas, Ruby.’

Ruby returned the embrace, sharing a silent but deeply intimate moment with her dearest friend.

‘Enjoying yourself, doll?’ Bernie called as they entered the hot and steamy kitchen.

‘Don’t call me that,’ Ruby returned, though with a smile.

While the others were talking, drinking and laughing, Bernie made his way to her side. As she gazed into his dark eyes, she saw how their expression had changed over the years. How rock-steady
they were, how honest and genuine. And how the curve of his smile held a warmth that spoke of the bond they had shared through thick and thin. This tall, impressively handsome young man dressed in
a dark suit and white shirt had grown into maturity before her very eyes. And the odd thing was, she hadn’t really noticed before.

‘It’s hot in here. Do you fancy a breath of fresh air?’ Before she could answer he slipped firm fingers over hers and led her outside into the cold winter air. He saw her
shivering and took off his jacket to slide around her shoulders. ‘Kath told me what happened with your bloke,’ he said abruptly. ‘Sorry it worked out that way.’

‘You’re not sorry at all, Bernie Rigler,’ she dismissed. ‘You never liked Nick or Anna, did you?’

‘Can’t say as I did, no.’

Ruby gazed down at the hard winter earth and sighed. ‘Why don’t you say “I told you so”?’

‘Because . . .’ He lifted her chin and said huskily, ‘I want to say something else instead. But I might get me face slapped.’

Ruby nodded slowly. ‘Yes, you might at that.’

‘Well, all the same, here goes.’ He pushed a hand in his pocket and brought out a wilted green leaf, holding it up between two fingers.

‘What’s that?’

‘Mistletoe. Or it was before I sat on it.’ He threw it aside and took her gently in his arms. ‘Think I’ll just go for it and hope for the best. Happy Christmas,
doll.’ With tender lips he bent to kiss her, and instinctively she knew he was waiting; waiting for her to pull away and their old pattern of behaviour to resume as the insults flew far and
wide. But to her own great surprise, she found her lips remaining, seeking and enjoying, wanting a firmer pressure.

Very slowly her arms went around his neck and his jacket fell to the ground. She barely noticed the cold air on her skin. Or the Christmas breeze that blew her hair around her face, causing
Bernie to slide his fingers through its softness. But she did notice the warm rush of desire inside her growing steadily into something very different to anything she had ever known – or
wanted – before.