A Wanton Tale (17 page)

Back in Circus Street, two smartly dressed women were walking towards number 10. The cut of their coats, their smart shoes and hats made them look decidedly out of place in this shabby street. The two women arrived at the Boyle’s house and saw it had an air of abandonment. Sally Walsh, who lived opposite, was sitting in her chair looking out of the front window. She was intrigued by the sight of the two ‘ladies.’

‘Judging by their style of dress, they are definitely ladies.’ She thought.

Sally craned her neck further forward and pulled back the lace curtain so she could get a better look at what was going on across the street. As it was the day of the court hearing she knew that there would be no answer. The three children, she imagined would be playing out. Sally wasn’t fast on her feet but she decided to go to the front door to find out what they wanted.

‘Maybe they are from the church.’ She thought. She was quite a stocky woman and with some determination she stood up from her comfortable chair. She was keen to speak to these women. She eagerly rolled up her sleeves and strode out to the front door. Her presence attracted their attention.

When they had introduced themselves she was most surprised to learn that they were from Dr. Barnado Homes. Sally was relieved to hear that there was someone who would help the children. She learned of Charlie’s jail sentence and Lottie’s committal to the lunatic asylum. She was saddened by the news, but was more concerned for the children who were now effectively left orphans. The women had told her that they had come to collect the three children.

‘Please come in ladies, can I make you a nice cuppa tea?’ Asked Sally kindly. The two women looked in need of refreshments, they had come on foot from another part of town. On hearing that the children would be taken away Sally was upset at the thought of not seeing them again. She knew that the girls in particular would have to be cared for.

‘Things are bad around here, there is thieving and drinking and I know that girls as young as twelve can go missing, like their sister Alice and never be seen nor heard of again. I wouldn’t want the bother of having a daughter in this neighbourhood, there are evil, cruel men out there who misuse them. We must find Rachel and Ruby, I don’t know where they are but I saw Jim up the street about ten minutes ago. I fear for the girls.’

They had a long conversation and drank their tea, the women listened to Sally with interest. They went on to explain how they were charged to help abandoned children. She was told that their work involved finding loving adoptive homes for children who are suffering from neglect and exploitation. This struck a chord with Sally and after careful thought, she expressed a willingness to offer Jim a home.

‘There’s plenty of room here and my brother helps me out moneywise. Jim wouldn’t like to be taken away from here. I know he couldn’t bear to be parted from his friends.’ She smiled at the women, then added, ‘Especially not Florrie, she lives at the top of the street with her mother.’

One of the women offered Sally a note on which had been written their address. She asked her to get in touch with them as soon as the children returned. In the meantime, they would ask the police to look out for them. Sally agreed to look after all three children until they came back to collect the girls. They made a point of telling her that they were acting on the orders of the court.

‘The next time we meet, Mrs. Walsh, we will bring the papers for Jim’s adoption. We are satisfied that he will be brought up in a loving and caring home, thank you.’ Sally assured them that he would be well taken care of and showed them to the door. She sat down and anxiously waited for the children to return. She would keep her eye on the door of number 10 for the rest of the day. She was ruminating as to where the girls might be and wouldn’t rest until they came back.

An hour later, two burly men were seen hammering on the door. Sally recognised them as bailiffs, she had seen them in the area before. ‘They’ll get nothing worth a light out of there.’ Thought Sally with a sigh. ‘The parents deserve all they’ve got, but the children don’t deserve this at all.’ She thought it was terribly sad.

It was nearly five o’clock and there was still no sign of Jim nor his sisters. Sally had been on pins all day and couldn’t wait any longer, she was feeling impatient. She was relieved to have caught sight of Jim earlier that day, he had been running up the street so fast that she had been unable to catch up with him. She was sure that she would find him again but had misgivings about the girls.

‘I must go out and find them, ask around to see if anyone has seen them.’ She quickly pulled on her boots and tied the laces and grabbed her shawl. By now, her concern had turned into worry and anxiety, she feared for the girls. They had been locked out and were vulnerable. Surely, they would all be hungry by now and should have been well back. Sally couldn’t afford to feed all three of them, but today, she had bread, cheese and milk ready for them.

Now out in the street, she set off in the direction of Minnie Ryan’s house. Minnie was Florrie’s mother, the four year old girl that Jim occasionally played out with. She didn’t know Minnie very well at all, she had only lived in the street for a short time and had kept herself to herself. It was a mystery why she had come to live here in the first place. Sally had heard some ‘cock and bull’ story about her becoming widowed before she moved here with her brother. His name was on the rent book, he then suddenly disappeared. Minnie told everyone that he went to sea. It was strange that he hadn’t returned in two years and local gossips were certain that he was her fancy man. Minnie claimed that she was married to Albert Ryan, she had told everyone that he had died of consumption. She was previously unknown in the neighbourhood and nobody knew what her maiden name was.

There was something about Minnie Ryan that didn’t add up. Sally had no idea why, but she couldn’t take to the woman. There was something about her that she didn’t like but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Not that she was a drinker, she appeared to be a respectable widow with a job in the laundry. Her step was always well scrubbed and her lace curtains were as white as snow. Her little daughter Florrie, although a bit of a tomboy, was always well turned out. She had never been seen without shoes.

Sally was now at the front door of number 67, it was wide open. Sally didn’t like houses with the door left open all day. ‘Tells me something that.’ She thought that houses run like a ‘free for all’ were not respectable.

‘Are you there Minnie?’ Called Sally through the open door. Despite being sixty years old, Sally was in robust health. Unlike most women of her age the brisk walk up the street hadn’t left her short of breath.

The dark haired woman who came to the door couldn’t have been quite thirty. Although it wasn’t at all uncommon, Minnie was young to be a widow. Sally guessed that she couldn’t have been married long as she would have had more children. She came here when Florrie was just two years old.

‘What is it Sally?’ She asked quizzically, although she knew full well that there was trouble in the air. Jim had told her that his father was going to be locked up in jail. Everyone knew it was the court hearing today and the outcome was unlikely to be good.

‘Has young Jim been here?’

‘He has, as a matter of fact, he came running here all upset. He said that his sisters had gone up the street with a ginger haired young woman. She took them by the hand, for some reason Jim was afraid to go with them. He was confused and scared, he then ran away through the courts and came in here through the back way.’

‘Where is he now?’

‘He’s playing out with our Florrie. Would you like to come in Mrs. Walsh?’

‘No thank you. There’s a court order for Dr. Barnado Homes to take the children, they look after orphaned children. Two women came to the house looking for them and they came over to speak to me.’ Sally told her that soon she would be adopting Jim.

‘I am so relieved Mrs. Walsh. If I see the girls I will tell you, I’ll ask all the neighbours to keep their eyes peeled for them. I reckon Jim will go to your house later, no doubt he’ll be starving. There’s no dinner here for him, have enough trouble feeding ourselves.’ She then added, ‘Jim will tell you all about the young woman, he said she was nicely turned out, but funny things have been happening ‘round ‘ere. I’ll have to keep an eye on our Florrie when she’s older, young girls go missing.’

Sally had no idea why but she couldn’t take to Minnie. She was perfectly polite but at the same time sounded insincere. Her words were right, but her hard faced expression made her appear dispassionate. But Sally thanked her all the same.

On the way back to her house, Sally bumped into two of the neighbours. ‘Have you seen Rachel and Ruby?’

‘Funny you should ask but we saw the two of them walking up the street holding hands with a snooty looking girl. She couldn’t have been more than sixteen might have been younger, never seen her ‘round ‘ere before.’

‘Where did they go?’ Asked Sally earnestly, she was now really afraid for the girls. The two neighbours pointed up the street.

‘And what did she look like, this girl who took them?’

‘She had ginger hair, freckles, nice clothes, I remember she had bright green eyes, she was looking us up and down as though we were beneath her notice.’

‘I’d say she looked well off too, quality.’ Added the other neighbour. It dawned on Sally that Jim’s tale was true, a ginger haired girl or young woman had taken the sisters. She now wondered if they had been lured to a brothel. She knew that lots of whores could appear perfectly respectable and they certainly had money to buy good clothes.

‘For God’s sake they are only eleven and twelve years of age.’ Said Sally. One of the women shrugged.

‘You don’t think they’ve been snatched by a whore house madam do you?’ Sally was furious and couldn’t bring herself to answer them. The look on her face said it all, she couldn’t believe they were being so flippant. Deep in thought, she then walked off towards her house where she found Jim sitting on her door step.

‘Can’t get any answer, Ma hasn’t come back and I know me Pa’s gone to jail, all me sisters have gone. I just didn’t want to leave Florrie, I didn’t want to go with them.’ Said Jim with panic in his voice.

Sally took him in and he told her everything, all about the mysterious girl. He told her she was well spoken and had said they were in danger. Sally couldn’t fathom how he knew that his parents were not coming back. Later that evening she gave him a bath then told him that he would be able to stay with her. She was forced to tell him that it was true, his Ma and Pa would not be coming back. For the first time in his young life Jim felt safe.

Sally had a strong feeling that Betsy had something to do with the girls’ disappearance. Everyone knew about Betsy Hale. She was notorious and was hated by all in the neighbourhood. Tomorrow, she would tell the Barnado’s women all about it.

Betsy turned up the oil lamp in her front parlour and put down her glass on the sideboard. Her bony hand reached for the box of cigars. She crudely bit the end off one of her favourite Havanas. She had never got the hang of using a cigar cutter. She thought that the fancy silver cutters on sale in the tobacconist’s were a waste of money. Her teeth had started to rot years ago and she had no regard for her appearance. Her liaisons with men were a long distant memory. ‘No one cares what I look like.’ Thought Betsy as her mind drifted back to her murky past.

Her thoughts were disturbed by the squeak of the turning knob of her parlour door, most unusual without anyone knocking. Her eyes darted nervously towards the opening door.

‘How dare you come in here without knocking and what do you want?’ Betsy snapped. Even with her anxieties, she always thought she had the upper hand.

The fact that Freddie was out of the way did not faze her at all, in fact she felt stronger for it. She was angry that Lou and Ellen had walked straight in, as bold as brass without shutting the door behind them. The parlour looked small with all of Betsy’s clutter, the girls moved closer to her as she struck a match to light her cigar.

‘That’s a filthy fucking habit of yours, I suppose you bit the end off it and spat it out on the floor for someone else to pick up, you dirty old bag!’ Lou’s dark eyes looked full of fire and contempt.

Betsy stood back in shock, she couldn’t believe the audacity of the girls. Immediately she sensed danger.

‘Look at the state of your teeth, what’s left of them. Your complexion is worse, is all that powder hiding the pox?’ Continued Lou.

‘How dare you, how
dare
you confront me, you bitches!’ Betsy knew that attack was a good form of defence. After all, what harm could they do to her? Betsy had no idea that they knew about Lily’s establishment in Seymour Street. A while ago, she had wrongly dismissed any concerns that they were in cahoots with Lily.

Betsy knew that they hated the smell of cigar smoke, she inhaled a puff and blew it directly into their faces.

‘I neither know nor care what you want or what has brought this about but spit it out.’ Said Betsy.

Always ten steps ahead, she knew that they wouldn’t speak to her in this aggressive manner if they were not about to leave her. All of a sudden she felt her heart hammering, she was now afraid of the effects on her purse if they did leave. What would she do for money?

She, rightly, guessed what was coming next. She was choked, she felt that she had the right to be genuinely upset, cheated, swindled. Her anxiety heightened her anger. She inhaled a puff of her cigar and again blew it straight in their direction.

She launched into a tirade of abuse and venom but, disappointingly for Betsy, her insults were like water off a duck’s back. At just eighteen years of age, they were already hardened prostitutes, dragged up from the gutters of the poorest streets.

Ellen wanted Betsy to be quiet, she had heard quite enough, it was nearly time to go. Betsy’s insults were now starting to provoke her. She raised her hand in a threatening manner towards Betsy’s face. Betsy was afraid and held her tongue. The silence was broken by the sound of a rattling carriage now drawing up outside the house. The two women had arranged for their belongings to be moved out earlier in the day when the Hales were down at the court.