It Had To Be You (17 page)

Emma nodded, but she was still concerned about Dorothy worrying about Betty. Somehow she had to get information to her quickly to prevent her mother from reporting Betty missing to the police. Maybe if she could get in touch with Dougie? She didn’t like doing so having not heard from him for ages, but then needs must when the devil drives.

She escorted her sister upstairs to the small bedroom that overlooked the garden. ‘I’ve put an
old pair of my pyjamas under the pillow for you,’ she said.

‘Thanks,’ said Betty, managing a smile. ‘It’s a nice bedroom. Not as big as mine back in Litherland but I’ll feel safe here. Can I keep Tibby with me?’ she asked anxiously, seeming a lot younger than her sixteen years.

‘Aye, but don’t force her to stay. You don’t want her making a mess on the bed.’

Betty nodded.

Emma hesitated. ‘Will you be all right here on your own for a short while? There’s an errand I must do.’

‘Yes, I’m sure I’ll be OK here,’ said Betty, heaving a sigh.

Emma put an arm around her sister’s shoulders and kissed her. ‘I’ll come up and see you when I get back. If you’re awake I’ll bring you a cup of cocoa.’

‘Thanks. That’d be lovely.’ Betty sat on the bed. ‘And will you make me a chocolate cake sometime?’

Emma’s face softened. ‘I haven’t forgotten my promise the first time we met.’

Betty’s eyes suddenly filled with tears. ‘I didn’t think you would forget,’ she said in a shaky voice.

Emma sat on the side of the bed. ‘Now, why are you crying because I said I’d make you a chocolate cake?’ she teased.

‘It’s your not forgetting,’ said Betty, resting her head on her sister’s shoulder for a moment, and then
she straightened up. ‘You can go now. I’ll be OK.’

‘Are you sure?’ asked Emma, reaching out and touching her sister’s brightly coloured hair.

‘Yes. You go.’

So Emma left the cottage and went to seek the help of the local bobby. Although it took some time to get the telephone number, she was eventually able to speak to the desk sergeant at the police station in Liverpool where she had spent the night in a cell. He remembered her. Unfortunately Dougie was off duty but the sergeant promised to get a message to him. Relieved, Emma returned to the cottage, wondering whether she would possibly see Dougie again in the near future.

Dorothy wrenched the front door open and stared at the policeman standing on the step. She should have been on her way to work but she was late because she had been to the Gianellis’ to see if Betty was there, but had had no luck. The policeman was young, with fair hair and blue eyes.

‘Oh God!’ she exclaimed, placing a hand to her mouth. ‘Something terrible has happened to my cousin, Betty, hasn’t it? She’s thrown herself in the canal and has drowned.’

‘Calm down, luv,’ he said firmly. ‘It’s nothing like that. Am I talking to Miss Gregory?’

‘Yes!’ Dorothy’s lovely features relaxed. ‘It’s just that she’s gone missing and I’ve searched everywhere
but can’t find her. I was all for getting the police last night but my uncle said to wait and that she’s probably gone off somewhere just to annoy us. My mother agreed and so—’

He held up a hand as if to stem the rush of words. ‘Betty’s safe,’ he said. ‘I’m Dougie Marshall. I believe you know my brothers. I received a message from my station concerning your cousin. I was to tell you that she’s with her half-sister, Emma, at her cottage up Lancashire.’

‘What! You’re Dougie Marshall and Betty’s with Emma! How did she manage to get there? She hasn’t any money as far as I know. I wish she’d told me she was going!’ babbled Dorothy.

‘Calm down, luv,’ he said. ‘Emma will be writing to you.’

‘Is that all she said?’

‘That’s all I know, Miss Gregory.’

Dorothy put a hand to her head. ‘I see. Thanks. Perhaps I should go and visit them. I’ll have to check the train times.’

‘Why don’t you wait until you get Emma’s letter?’ suggested Dougie. ‘It could be that your cousin will only be staying up there for a few days and will be back soon.’

‘You could be right,’ said Dorothy, feeling some of the tension drain out of her.

‘Have you been to the cottage before?’ asked Dougie.

She shook her head. ‘But I know you have. Emma told me that you’ve visited her.’

‘Lovely fell-walking country nearby. Do you walk?’

‘No. I’m a real townie.’

He smiled. ‘You should try it. Keeps you fit and is relaxing.’

She thought that he had the bluest eyes. No wonder Emma had fallen for him. ‘Thanks for the advice and for letting me know Betty’s safe,’ she said, giving him a dazzling smile.

He flushed. ‘All part of the job.’

‘Even so, I’m ever so grateful.’

‘My pleasure. See you around.’ He raised a hand and hurried down the drive.

Dorothy stood, staring after him for a moment, and then she went inside the house. ‘Who was at the door?’ asked her mother. ‘Was it one of our Betty’s other friends come to tell us where she is?’

‘No, Mum.’

‘She’ll get the edge of my tongue when she comes back,’ said Elsie, exasperated, lighting a cigarette. ‘She’s doing it deliberately to annoy me.’

‘What she needs is a good hiding,’ growled Teddy. ‘You’re best rid of her. She’s no good.’

Up until then Dorothy had given no thought to what she was going to tell her mother, but both Elsie and Teddy had so maddened her that she decided to keep them guessing as to Betty’s whereabouts.
‘I’m going to have to go to work now, Mum. I’ll see you later. Let’s hope Betty’s returned by then. If not, then I really think you should start being less annoyed and a bit more worried about her!’

She picked up her swagger coat and handbag and walked out the room, thinking she would drop by at the Millers’ house in the hope she might find Maggie there. Her sister had left the house early, so she and Irene could make their own search for Betty. It would mean Dorothy would be even later for work, but as she was already going to have money docked from her wages, what did it matter?

The Millers’ door was opened to her by a man in a khaki shirt and trousers. He was well built and of medium height, with neatly cut mousy hair and straight eyebrows. His eyes were grey and they scanned her face and figure in one quick movement that brought a blush to Dorothy’s cheeks.

‘Can I help you, luv?’ he asked.

‘I hope so,’ she said, checking the number on the door. ‘I have got the right address, haven’t I? Irene Miller’s house.’

‘My stepmother’s name was Miller before she married my dad. I’m Billy McElroy,’ he said, holding out a hand.

Dorothy stared at the workmanlike shape and texture of that hand and its cleanliness before touching it. ‘Dorothy Gregory,’ she said.

‘Ahhh!’ His expression was instantly serious. ‘You’ll be Maggie’s sister.’

‘Is Maggie here?’

He freed Dorothy’s hand and rested a shoulder against the door jamb. ‘You’ve just missed her and Irene. If you had your running shoes on you might be able to catch them. They’re walking along the canal, hoping they might find a clue to Betty’s disappearance.’

Dorothy heaved a sigh. ‘They’re wasting their time.’

He raised those straight dark brows of his. ‘You mean she’s been found?’

‘Yes.’

‘Alive?’

She nodded.

‘Where?’

She hesitated.

‘You can trust me, you know,’ he said. ‘I know all about Emma.’

‘What!’ She stared at him in annoyance. ‘Did Irene tell you?’

‘No need to get yourself in a twist,’ he drawled. ‘I’m stationed up north Lancashire and I heard Irene and Maggie talking about Betty having a half-sister living near Clitheroe this morning.’

‘Damn!’ exclaimed Dorothy, vexed. ‘It’s supposed to be a secret.’

‘You can’t expect schoolgirls not to natter to each other. Is Betty there?’

She chewed on the inside of her cheek, staring at him and comparing him with Dougie Marshall, thinking the policeman was more handsome but Billy McElroy was oh so much tougher-looking. ‘Oh, all right, she is.’

He smiled and his face was completely transformed. ‘I can go after the girls if you like and let them know she’s safe. When will she be back?’

‘I don’t know,’ replied Dorothy, shrugging a shoulder.

‘Perhaps you’d like me to suggest to Irene that she tells the teacher that Betty’s had a relapse and is having a week or so convalescence in the countryside,’ suggested Billy.

Dorothy stared at him in astonishment. ‘What a good idea! I see you know she’s been ill.’

He nodded. ‘As I said earlier, girls natter.’

‘OK! Do what you suggested,’ said Dorothy hastily. ‘As long as Irene doesn’t tell her form mistress where she’s staying.’

‘Does it really matter if the teacher knows Betty has an older half-sister living up north?’ asked Billy, pulling the door closed behind him.

‘She might mention it to my mother,’ said Dorothy, beginning to walk up the street in the direction of the library.

He fell into step beside her. ‘Isn’t it time your mother knew that you’re aware of Emma’s existence? Especially now Betty’s taken refuge with her.’

Dorothy dug her hands deep in the pockets of her swagger coat. ‘What do you mean by refuge? What else has Irene been saying?’ she asked, slanting him a challenging look.

Billy’s grey eyes met hers. ‘That Betty doesn’t like your uncle.’

‘Neither do I, so that’s nothing new,’ said Dorothy. ‘He’s a creep and Mum was a fool to marry him.’

‘Does he know about Emma?’

‘I’ve no idea. I hope not.’

Billy frowned. ‘Let’s think about this a bit more. If Betty is frightened of him, then she won’t want him knowing where she is. She definitely won’t want to come home. That’s bad. After all, she’s got important exams coming up and she’ll need to be in school for them.’

A thought suddenly occurred to Dorothy and she felt her heart begin to thud. ‘What else did Irene have to say about my uncle?’

‘I got the impression he could be a bit violent. He might be clouting Betty while no one’s around, and if he’s threatened her with worse, then she might have been too scared to mention it to your mother. It’s surprising what goes on in families, but secrets have a habit of coming out when you least expect it,’ said Billy.

They had reached the corner of the street and paused there. ‘You sound like there’s been skeletons
in your family cupboard,’ said Dorothy, curious to know more about him despite finding his presence rather overpowering.

‘I wouldn’t deny it, but I’m not telling you what they are,’ he said, a smile lurking in his grey eyes. ‘I hope I’ll see you again, Miss Gregory.’ He raised a hand and walked away.

She gazed after him until he vanished round the corner of Bridge Road. Then, as a Ribble bus came into view, she crossed the road. As she climbed aboard, she thought of her uncle. Betty wouldn’t talk to her, but was it possible she would do so to Emma about whoever was responsible for getting her pregnant?

Dorothy stared out of the window, watching people passing by without really seeing them, wondering if it would be worth mentioning her suspicions to her mother. She sucked the inside of her cheek, she had all day to decide what to do. One thing was for certain, and that was she was going to keep a careful eye on Uncle Teddy in future.

As soon as Dorothy entered the kitchen that evening, her mother pounced on her. ‘What’s this I hear about you knowing that Betty is safe and convalescing in the countryside?’ she cried.

Dorothy darted a look at Maggie sitting at the table with an exercise book open in front of her and
a fountain pen clenched in her fist. She watched her sister’s face turn pink. ‘What have you told her?’ asked Dorothy angrily.

‘I didn’t tell her where she is or with who,’ said Maggie, bravely meeting her sister’s gaze. ‘Mum was worried and wanted to know where the Gianellis lived. She thought Betty might be hiding out there.’

‘I’d already been there,’ said Dorothy, turning to her mother. ‘I told you she wasn’t.’

‘You could have been lying. You could have been protecting someone.’ Elsie thrust her face into Dorothy’s. ‘What have you got to add to the story?’ she demanded.

Dorothy jerked her head back and went into the lobby and hung up her jacket. Her mother followed her out. ‘Well?’ she asked.

‘Betty ran away, most probably because she was scared of your husband. She’s gone to stay with her half-sister up north,’ said Dorothy, facing her mother. ‘And don’t tell me, Mum, that you don’t know who I’m talking about.’

Elsie stared at her in silence and then she returned to the living room and lit a cigarette. She stood in front of the fire. ‘How did you find out?’

‘Emma wrote to Betty when you didn’t answer her letters last year.’

‘You’ve known all this time and kept quiet about it?’

Dorothy could sense the fury simmering beneath
the surface of her mother’s seeming calm. ‘No! I didn’t find out about her for months, and when I did, it was by accident,’ she said, sitting on the sofa and easing off her court shoes.

‘Why didn’t you mention it to me at the time?’ asked Elsie.

‘Why didn’t you answer Emma’s letter? Why keep it secret from Betty?’

Elsie opened her mouth and the cigarette clung to the bright purplish-pink lipstick on her bottom lip but no words came out. She sat in a chair and stared into the fire. ‘Betty didn’t need a half-sister in a village up north. She had a family. She has us.’

Dorothy was flabbergasted. ‘I don’t think that’s a good enough answer. She could have both, but you decided for her. As it happens, Betty was made up to have a big sister and the pair of them get on really well. Otherwise she wouldn’t have gone running to Emma when she felt desperate.’

‘Desperate!’ cried Elsie, hitting the arm of the chair with her fist. ‘I got her out of trouble! There was no need for her to go running off when it was all over.’

‘Perhaps she didn’t believe it was all over,’ said Dorothy. ‘Didn’t you hear what I said, Mum? She was scared of Uncle Teddy.’

Elsie stared at her elder daughter and then flicked her cigarette stub into the fire and lit another cigarette. She dragged smoke into her lungs and
broke into a spasm of coughing. It was several minutes before she had breath to say, ‘What are you insinuating?’

‘I believe I don’t have to put it into words. I think you know what I’m talking about.’ Dorothy flicked a glance in Maggie’s direction. ‘I’ve been thinking all afternoon about New Year’s Eve.’

Elsie continued to stare at Dorothy for several moments before saying, ‘I don’t believe it.’

‘That’s because you don’t want to accept you made the worst possible mistake, welcoming that man into our home. We hardly saw him when Dad was ill. Then afterwards he came calling and pestered Aunt Lizzie. Her death must have come as a real shock to him but that didn’t prevent him from starting to pester you. Week after week he was here, then it was a couple of times a week, then three times. Once our Jared left to do his national service, he was scarcely ever away from the place. The next thing we knew was that you’d married him in a registry office.’ Dorothy was trembling and she hugged herself. ‘A real hole-in-the-corner affair. You must have felt guilty, because you didn’t want us there.’

‘So I made a mistake in marrying him,’ said Elsie unevenly. ‘But it’s too late to do anything about it now. He might have his faults but I can’t believe he would do what you’re hinting at. He doesn’t even like Betty.’

‘But she’s scared of him, Mum,’ said Maggie, fiddling with her pen. ‘I’m a bit scared of him, myself.’

‘And so you both should be,’ said Elsie. ‘It’s good for you young ones to have a healthy fear of adults, or goodness knows what’s going to happen to society. Discipline will break down altogether. I have to listen to enough cheek from our Dorothy as it is, so I don’t want you siding with her, Maggie.’

‘Mum, I’m over twenty-one,’ said Dorothy. ‘I’m not a kid anymore, and our Maggie will be fifteen next year. I should be able to talk to you as an equal. The suffragettes fought for equal rights with men, nothing was said about us women all being equal and I think that’s wrong. Older people don’t always get it right.’

Elsie’s face turned puce. ‘While you’re living under my roof, what I say goes,’ she said indignantly. ‘As for Betty, she can stay up there with Emma. Let her have the responsibility of keeping her on the straight and narrow.’

‘What’s our Betty done that’s so terrible?’ asked Maggie.

‘Never you mind,’ said her mother, her eyes glinting. ‘It has nothing to do with you.’