East End Jubilee (18 page)

‘Yes,’ he nodded. ‘It’s me favourite.’

‘Good. You can do me homework for me then,’ Marlene grinned.

‘No he can’t,’ Donnie objected haughtily. ‘That’s cheating.’

‘It ain’t, not if I couldn’t do it in the first place. Miss won’t have to write so many red crosses will she?’ They all began laughing and Rose knew the children
would get on like a house on fire, something of an achievement it had to be said, after the events of the day.

Supper consisted of thick wedges of bread, bloater paste, corned beef and a slice of Em’s own homemade fruitcake that she had brought with her in the heavy bag. After everyone had stuffed
themselves full, the girls wheeled Will out to meet their friends and Em and Rose sat drinking tea.

‘They’re lovely girls,’ Em commented. ‘You and Eddie have done yourselves proud.’

‘I just wish he was here,’ Rose murmured softly as she twisted the teacup between her fingers. ‘Still, he isn’t and I ain’t gonna moan about it.’ She looked
up and caught her sister watching her. ‘Was Arthur ill before his heart attack?’

Em’s mouth twitched. ‘No, it was quick,’ she said offhandedly.

Rose sighed. ‘How dreadful for you.’

‘Dreadful? Merciful, you mean.’ Her sister’s voice was bitter.

‘Em, what do you mean?’

‘It’s the truth, Rosy.’ Her face went very pink and her eyes shifted this way and that. ‘I couldn’t have stood living with him any longer.’

Rose gasped. ‘But you and Arthur were happy!’

‘You don’t know the half,’ her sister burst out as she gripped the table and her knuckles showed white. ‘No one knows what goes on in other people’s
lives.’

Rose had always thought that Arthur, despite his righteous ideas and his stuffiness, had provided a comfortable life for his family, a lovely home by the sea and no money worries for his
wife.

Em looked down at her hands. ‘If you’ve been wondering why you weren’t asked to his funeral, it’s because there wasn’t one. At least, not in church.’

‘But wasn’t Arthur a member of St John’s?’ Rose asked in surprise. ‘I’ve still got that picture you sent me of him standing next to the vicar in his black
gown at his investiture as choir master.’

‘You can tear it up and burn the pieces,’ Em said vehemently as she hid her face behind her hands, little sobs shaking her body. For a while Rose sat there, wondering what terrible
events had befallen Em to make her so unhappy. They were not tears of grief falling from her eyes, Rose understood that now, but because she was ignorant of the cause of her sister’s pain she
didn’t know what to say.

Eventually Em sat back, her body slack against the chair. Silence enveloped them and Rose studied the ravaged face in front of her, a shadow of the pretty young girl her sister had once
been.

As if coming out of a deep trance Em stared around the kitchen. ‘Do you remember our strip washes at the sink?’ she asked so softly Rose almost didn’t hear. ‘It was so
cold in here we had goose bumps the size of St Paul’s. I longed for Dad to drag in the old tin bath and tip in the saucepans of hot water that made all the condensation drip from the windows
so that we could draw pictures on them with our fingers. That was lovely. I can still feel the warmth now, the smell of soap . . . Sunlight, wasn’t it . . . that Mum used?’

Rose nodded as the pleasurable memory engulfed her. ‘Yes, and afterwards when we were all dry and wrapped in our dressing gowns, you’d sit on my bed and read me a story from
Grimm’s. Your voice lulled me off to sleep, you know.’

Em’s eyes were faraway. ‘Mum let me have a go on the Singer if you went off quick enough. Well, you were only six and I was twelve. I could make a dress at that age, in fact I did,
for both of us.’

Rose smiled faintly. ‘You were so good at sewing.’

‘Mum taught me everything I know.’

‘I was like Marlene, impatient to get things done, but you took your time, even when the bobbin kept sticking and breaking the cotton, you’d just wind it all through
again.’

Silence descended once more until Em shifted on her seat and said in a resigned voice, ‘Oh Rosy, I’m such a coward.’

Another statement that shocked Rose. ‘What on earth do you mean, Em?’

‘Look at you after all that’s happened. Eddie in prison, the burglary, me turning up with all me troubles and you haven’t shed a tear.’

‘Oh yes I have. Plenty of them.’

But Em wouldn’t have it. ‘I’m weak, I’ve always been weak.’

‘Stop it, Em, you’re talking daft. You’ve lived through a war and survived it and whatever happened between you and Arthur, well, you survived that too.’

‘I’m not sure that I have.’ Em’s bottom lip wobbled. ‘Look at me, I’m a wreck.’

‘If you say that again I’m gonna scream. Now let’s talk about something nice and practical,sleeping arrangements for instance.’

Her sister smiled faintly. ‘Me and Will can sleep on the floor.’

‘I wouldn’t dream of it,’ Rose said firmly. ‘We can sleep in my double and Will can have the camp bed which will fit nicely by the wall in the girls’ room. Though
of course, thinking about it, a boy of ten would probably need his privacy. If so, the front room will be better.’

‘He’d like to be with the girls I think, at least for the first couple of nights. Sometimes . . . well, sometimes he wakes up. He has bad dreams.’

‘Poor little lad,’ Rose said, dreading to think what the dreams consisted of. ‘Well, he won’t feel alone with Marlene, I can tell you that for certain. In fact,
she’ll probably cure him of nightmares keeping him awake all the time.’

‘You know the last time I saw Marle was when she was ten months old,’ Em said faintly, her eyes misting again. ‘Arthur drove us down for the day, remember?’ Her bottom
lip quivered and Rose spoke quickly.

‘Will was what? Five?’

‘Yes, he’d just started school.’

‘Donnie would have been nearly three. It’s unbelievable, isn’t it?’

Em nodded slowly, then giving a deep sigh she picked up her little black bag from beside the chair. ‘Now, I’ll give you some housekeeping.’

‘But you’ve only just arrived,’ Rose said, embarrassed.

‘And I don’t expect charity,’ her sister said with a big sniff. ‘Here’s five pounds. I can well afford it.’

Rose hesitated, embarrassed again. Five pounds would go a long way to stocking the larder, but could her sister really afford it?

Em looked into her eyes. ‘I’ve got Arthur’s pension, you know. At least they didn’t stop that. Now take it.’

Once again not understanding her sister’s comment, Rose reluctantly accepted the five pounds. She had to feed them and she couldn’t perform miracles. Perhaps when she was working she
could repay the money. ‘Actually, I’m looking for a job,’ she said as she tucked the money into her own purse and slipped it into her bag.

Em stared at her. ‘Really?’

Rose flushed under her sister’s scrutiny. ‘I know what you’re going to say. That Eddie never liked the thought of me working and it’s true he didn’t. But
circumstances have changed, haven’t they? And most women round here work part time at least.’

‘But it’s the holidays coming up. What are you going to do with the girls?’

Rose repeated her little mantra. ‘If I find a cleaning job, I can take them in with me. I’ve seen the cleaners at school and they take their kids who wait in a classroom or
playground. The same happens in offices and factories when the staff aren’t there.’

Her sister sat up eagerly. ‘Rosy, what if I looked after the children for you? It would be one way of repaying your kindness. And you know they’d be safe with me.’

It was dawning slowly on Rose that her sister and nephew’s visit was going to be of some duration, not just a few days or even weeks. She couldn’t help asking, ‘But what about
Eastbourne, your home and all your friends?’

Em looked at her solemnly, her big hazel brown eyes fluttering as she tried to form the words that she had resisted saying all day. ‘I . . . I haven’t got any friends, none at all
after what’s happened. And I haven’t got a home, either. All we have is the clothes we stand up in and those we brought with us in the bag.’

Once again Rose couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘What happened to your lovely house by the sea?’

‘My lovely house, as you put it, was never Arthur’s property despite how he lied about owning it.’

‘But I thought Arthur said he bought it outright?’ Rose still recalled the endless hours of lecturing Arthur had given them on his house purchase before they moved to Eastbourne. The
lectures that Eddie had found too much to swallow and for which he had disliked his brother-in-law.

The bitter expression returned to her sister’s eyes. ‘Yes, that’s what he wanted everyone to think. But the truth is, after his death I found out about a lot of things. Some of
them I just hadn’t admitted to myself though I would have had to have been blind not to know. Other things, I was really and truly ignorant of. The day after he died the landlord came round
and asked me for six months’ back rent that Arthur hadn’t paid. I was so shocked I just stood there looking at this bloke who I didn’t know from Adam. He was telling the truth, of
course, and chucked us out.’

Rose shook her head wordlessly. ‘Oh Em, you poor thing.’

‘There’s a lot I have to tell you, but I’m so ashamed.’

‘It’s not your shame,’ Rose said in a shaky voice. ‘It’s Arthur’s. I still can’t believe it.’

Em clutched her hand. ‘Could you put us up for a while till I get on me feet? Will Eddie mind?’

‘He’s not here to mind, is he?’ Rose said without thinking, then realized her mistake. ‘But if he was, it would be no different.’

Suddenly the front door burst open. Three happy children came running in. The girls had roses in their cheeks and Will had a big grin plastered on his face.

‘I like it here, Mum.’

Em sniffed deeply. ‘Yes, love, I knew you would.’

Rose held out her arms. ‘Come here you lot, it’s bedtime, but we want a cuddle first. A big family cuddle.’ She intended it to be the first of many.

On Saturday morning, Rose and Anita met at the fence as usual and behind Rose there was a long line of striking white washing blowing in the breeze. ‘Em scrubbed all that
at the crack of dawn,’ Rose said, frowning at the house and hoping her sister wasn’t still working in the kitchen. ‘Ever since arriving she’s been on the go.’

‘Is she feeling better?’

‘A bit. She doesn’t say much.’

Yesterday Rose, Em and Anita had spent an hour in Rose’s front room catching up on all the news of Em’s arrival and the burglary. Anita’s recommendation had been to report it
to the police and Rose had given it some thought overnight. Not that she had really done much thinking for Em had tossed and turned beside her, and although they’d covered the mattress with
an old linen sheet, Rose still had unpleasant images flicking up in her mind. Neither of them had slept well and Rose had been woken at the crack of dawn with a cup of tea made by a restless
Em.

‘What about the coppers?’ Anita asked as Rose knew she would. ‘Are you going to tell them?’

‘No, it’s too risky.’

‘They were quick enough on the doorstep when they were after Eddie. You should make them earn their keep.’

‘I don’t want to tell them about the shoebox.’

‘Leave it out, then.’ Anita shrugged, inhaling deeply on a Woodbine. She had started to smoke again and was making up for lost time.

‘They might not believe me. There’s only the couch and beds with rips in to show anything happened.’

‘You’ve got Em as a witness.’

‘I don’t want her brought into it.’

Anita put her two lips together and blew out a cloud of smoke. ‘Still, I really think you should report the facts.’

‘But what good would that do?’

‘Well, they’d have a record, somewhere to start, just in case it happens again.’

‘Charming!’ Rose looked appalled. ‘You don’t think it will, do you?’

‘You never know.’

Rose shuddered. ‘You’re scaring me now.’

‘I just think you should report it, that’s all. I would, if it was me.’

‘But you’ve got nothing to hide.’

Anita laughed. ‘Neither have you, you silly mare.’

Rose wasn’t so certain about that. There were lots of unanswered questions in her life and combined with those that she already knew the answers to, she was beginning to wonder if Eddie
had always told her the truth. For instance, why had trade been so good recently when last year it had been so poor? They’d been penny-pinching before Christmas, buying second-hand toys for
the girls and sacrificing their own presents to find the money for a heavy winter’s electricity bill. Yet six months later they’d miraculously accumulated savings! The more Rose thought
about it the more she had doubts.

From a window upstairs, a sheet came flying out under the sash to be shaken fiercely. ‘I wish I could get Em to relax a bit,’ Rose mused.

‘What’s the matter with her?’

‘She says being on the go helps to stop her headaches. I said fresh air would probably be better, but she won’t have it.’

‘She’s probably feeling rotten after Arthur.’

‘Yes, probably.’ Rose hadn’t mentioned the Arthur business. She didn’t know the whole of it herself yet, and Anita would want to know all the gruesome details.

‘Are we going to market this morning?’ Anita asked, flicking her ash on to one of Benny’s spare tyres, carelessly abandoned in the yard.

Rose shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. What about you?’

‘Well, if I don’t go out I won’t spend.’ Anita raised a discerning eyebrow. ‘Talking of which how are you gonna feed another two mouths when you’re brassic,
girl?’

Rose was swift to her sister’s defence. ‘Our Em’s paying her way, bless her.’

‘Well, that’s good to know.’ Anita threw her cigarette to the ground and stuck her heel on it. ‘By the way, I asked Mrs H if she knew anyone who wanted a reliable
cleaner. She’s asking around. But there is something else I thought might interest you . . .’

Rose was all ears now. ‘What?’

‘Alan went to Kirkwood’s Construction for his interview.’

‘Oh, I forgot to ask,’ Rose apologized quickly. ‘Did he get the job?’