Love Changes Everything (18 page)

Maggie shook her head and gave a deep sigh. ‘No,' she confessed. ‘As I said, I came round to see you in the hope that Ivy might be able to tell me something. I don't know. I thought that she might have heard some news from her. I'm half out of my mind with worry and I can't get a word of sense out of Sam.'

‘I'd better make that cuppa, it sounds as though you need it,' Ella said sympathetically. ‘Make yourself comfortable; Ivy's popped out to get a loaf of bread but she won't be long. In fact, she should be back any minute.'

The moment they heard the door opening, Cilla looked up expectantly, calling out Trixie's name. Her face fell when she saw it was Ivy coming in and immediately she burst into noisy tears.

‘Hey, come on, chuck, what's all this noise about?' Ivy asked, gathering Cilla into her arms and hugging her.

Cilla struggled to get free. ‘Trixie . . . Trixie . . . I want Trixie, where's Trixie?' she howled, her tear-streaked face going red and creased up with crying.

Ivy looked questioningly at Maggie. ‘Have you come to tell us what's happened and where Trixie's gone?'

‘No, luv.' Maggie shook her head. ‘I was hoping you'd be able to tell
me
something. I haven't heard a word from her since she went out of the house with her dad a week ago.'

‘Where did they go? What has he got to say about it?' Ivy asked looking puzzled.

‘He won't say. He told her to pack a bag and that he'd found a job for her and that she'd be staying there wherever it was and not coming home again. He wasn't gone all that long so it can't be too far away,' she added.

Maggie looked beseechingly at Ivy. ‘Did she say anything to you? Have you any idea where she might be? If you know anything at all, then for God's sake tell me because I'm going half out of my mind with the worry of it all.'

Ivy shook her head. ‘I haven't heard a word from her, not since I walked home with her the day she lost her job. I thought she must be scouring Liverpool looking for work and that was why she hadn't had time to pop round. I did think it odd, though, because she'd promised to meet Andrew Bacon to arrange to go to the pictures with him, and I haven't heard anything more about it since; nor has Jake.'

‘Who did you say . . . Andrew Bacon?' Maggie asked in a bewildered voice.

‘Yes, you know, he's the chap who works at the bank; the one who helped her with the Christmas money,' Ivy reminded her. ‘She must have mentioned him; we all went out together on New Year's Eve.'

‘Oh yes, I know now who you're talking about. She's told me all about him . . .' Maggie's voice trailed off. ‘Do you think he might know something?' she added.

‘I doubt it, or he would have said something to Jake,' Ivy said.

Maggie groaned. ‘Something terrible must have happened to her.'

‘Ivy, tell Maggie what Fred Linacre said to you on Monday morning,' Ella prompted, ‘while I go and get you a cup.'

‘Oh yes.' Ivy frowned. ‘He announced that a new girl was starting, Betty something or other, and that she'd be taking Trixie's place. Then he took me aside and said that if he heard me gossiping about Trixie or even mentioning her name then he'd see I was booted out and would make sure I didn't get another job anywhere in Liverpool.'

Maggie looked shocked. ‘Oh dear, Ivy, what a terrible thing for him to say to you; how upsetting. Why on earth was he threatening you like that, do you think?'

‘I've no idea.' Ivy shrugged. ‘I told Mum about it when I came home and she said the best thing I could do if I didn't want to lose my job was to say nothing.'

‘Yes, of course, I can understand that. Jobs aren't two a penny at the moment – not on Merseyside, anyway.'

‘I don't think they are anywhere else either,' Ella commented as she came back into the room. ‘Most companies seem to be cutting back.'

‘That's right. Wasn't that the reason my Trixie got the sack? When she came home and told us she'd lost her job she said that it was case of first in, last out, or something like that.'

‘Yes, that's what Fred said when he announced she was getting the sack; which makes it all the more strange that another girl was taken on right away. I think he deliberately sacked Trixie for some reason, though I can't work out what it was.'

‘This makes it more worrying than ever,' Maggie sighed. ‘My Sam told Trixie before Christmas that there were going to be some changes in the coming year and he hinted that he had something lined up for her. Do you think he could be in cahoots with Fred Linacre and got him to deliberately sack Trixie?'

Ivy looked thoughtful as she took the cup of tea her mother had poured for her. ‘Well, he did persuade Fred to take her on in the first place, didn't he?' she pointed out.

‘You're right, luv,' Maggie agreed. ‘So why ask Fred to sack her a couple of years later and why did Fred have to go and threaten you like he did?'

‘Obviously the pair of them have cooked something up between them. Perhaps he didn't want me speculating about it to any of the other women, but we'll never know the real story till we can ask Trixie herself,' Ivy said philosophically.

‘How can we do that when none of us have any idea where she is?' I've a good mind to go round to this Fred Linacre's place and ask him outright if he knows anything about it,' Maggie said angrily. ‘Do you know where he lives, Ivy?'

‘No, but it's bound to be somewhere around here. All I know is that he's a bachelor and the women on the assembly line say that's what makes him such a misery guts.'

As they talked, the more Maggie became convinced that Trixie's disappearance was somehow linked with Fred Linacre and she resolved that she'd tackle Sam about it the moment he came home. Everything he'd said to Trixie before he'd taken her away the previous Saturday pointed to some sort of collusion between him and Fred.

He hadn't even shown any surprise when Trixie had come home and said she'd been sacked. Under normal circumstances he would have hit the roof and probably have given her a good hiding. Now she even wondered if he'd known before Trixie did what was going to happen. It did seem that she'd been sacked from the factory on purpose, Maggie thought as she sipped her second cup of tea.

‘Ivy, are you sure you don't know where this fellow Fred Linacre lives?' she asked again as she put her cup back on the table, a worried frown creasing her forehead. ‘Haven't you any idea at all?'

‘No, I haven't. I can ask when I go into work on Monday, but I've never heard anyone mention it,' she added with a wry smile.

‘This chap Andrew Bacon who works at the bank might know,' Maggie persisted.

Ivy shook her head. ‘I shouldn't think he's ever met Fred Linacre,' she said.

‘Well, he might have done at some time. If Fred Linacre is careful with his money then he might have an account at the bank where this chap is working.'

‘Even if he does know, Andrew wouldn't be able to tell you,' Ella chimed in. ‘Bank employees have to swear to secrecy when they're taken on, I remember him telling Jake that it's more than their job's worth to talk about any of their customers affairs.'

‘Well, I'll have to see if I can get Sam to tell me; he must know because they drink at the same pub. Trixie might even be at Fred's place.'

‘I'm sure you're wrong if you think that Trixie could be at Fred Linacre's place,' Ivy said in astonishment. ‘She hated him! He was always taunting her about something or other.'

‘I'm not saying she went to his place willingly,' Maggie said hastily. ‘She didn't want to go with Sam last Saturday but he insisted, and what's more he made her take her clothes and stuff with her.'

Ivy and her mother said nothing. As Ella began gathering up the cups Maggie stood up and announced that she must be getting back.

‘I can't wait to talk to Sam and find out what he knows,' she stated. ‘I'll make him tell me; I'll get the truth out of him somehow or other,' she vowed.

‘You be careful,' Ella warned her. ‘Your Sam can be violent, you've said so yourself. He's knocked you about before and he's given Trixie a hiding. Without her there to take your part, or look after you if he thumps you about, then what's going to happen? You've got little Cilla to consider, you know.'

‘I'm aware of that,' Maggie said worriedly, ‘but I've got to get to the bottom of this one way or another. Trixie may be in some awful danger and even if she isn't, this fellow must be keeping her somewhere against her will and she'll be breaking her heart to come home.'

‘Well, that's true enough,' Ella agreed as she helped Cilla to put her coat on.

‘If either of you do hear anything at all about Trixie, then you will come and tell me, won't you? Promise me you'll do that,' Maggie pleaded, looking from one to the other.

‘Of course we will. We'll be doing all we can to find out what's happened to her,' Ella promised. ‘Neither of us had any idea that she was missing like this. Ivy thought she was so busy looking for a new job that she hadn't had time to get in touch.'

‘Have a word with that Andrew and see if he knows anything. If he was as fond of Trixie as you say, then he might manage to find a way to let you know where this Fred Linacre lives, if he knows it, without breaking any of the promises he's made to the bank,' Maggie added hopefully.

Chapter Sixteen

Sam Jackson felt slightly uneasy as he walked into the pub at midday on Saturday and ordered a beer. Fred Linacre was already standing at the bar. It was a week since he'd taken Trixie along to his house and since then neither of them had spoken a word about it.

‘Another pint?' Sam's voice was terse, a clear sign that he was on edge.

Fred Linacre turned and nodded, picked up his tankard, drained it, and held it out.

Sam pushed it across the counter towards the waiting barmaid who had put his beer in front of him. ‘Fill that up again,' he ordered and counted out the additional money to pay for it.

‘Shall we go and sit over in the corner, Fred?' he suggested when she'd pulled another pint and passed it across the counter. ‘There're one or two things I want to ask you.'

‘I thought there might be,' Fred answered laconically as he led the way.

‘Well?' Sam asked as he set his glass on the table and sat down. ‘What's the news? Has she settled in without causing any trouble?'

Fred took a long noisy swig of his beer, put his tankard down, and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth to remove the froth. ‘It takes time,' he prevaricated.

‘You mean she hasn't taken to living there with you?' Sam muttered. ‘I was afraid of that.'

‘I'll tame her; you leave things well alone. I don't want you or your missus sneaking round trying to see her or even speak to her. Is that understood?'

‘Clear as mud,' Sam said tersely. He took another drink of his beer, then thumped the glass down hard. ‘I need to know that she's all right, though. I don't want you hurting her in any way. The odd cuff over the ear or around the gob is one thing if she answers you back, but I don't hold with you giving her a hiding.'

‘Want to keep that sort of thing to yourself, do you?' Fred mocked sarcastically.

‘Children are like animals; you've got to show 'em who's master,' Sam agreed. ‘It's their parents' job to do that, though, not some bloody stranger.'

‘Hardly a stranger, seeing as how she's living with me,' Fred countered with a smirk. He drained his glass and stood up ready to leave. ‘I've got to get back because my meal will be on the table waiting and your Trixie's not too bad a cook,' he taunted. ‘I won't be telling her that I've seen you, so don't worry.'

‘Hold on!' Sam stood up, grabbing the other man by the arm. ‘Set my mind at rest; tell me she's doing all right.'

‘What would you do if I tell you she isn't?' He shook Sam's hand from his arm. ‘We made a deal, remember?'

‘I know we made a bloody deal but I still want to know she's all right,' he persisted. ‘My missus is worried about her and the little one's never stopped screaming and crying for her since the day she left. Driving me mad, it is.'

‘You should have thought about all that.' Fred shrugged and began pushing his way towards the door. ‘Show 'em who's master, I'm sure you know how to do that.'

Sam drained his beer glass and followed Fred out of the pub, intending to try and persuade him to say more, but when he got outside Fred was way ahead of him. Annoyed, he shouted out to him to wait but Fred ignored him. He felt so angry that he decided to follow him back to Cavendish Road.

Fred had already disappeared into the passageway and no amount of hammering on the locked door of number twenty or shouting up at the windows seemed to do any good.

He was on the point of turning away when he spotted Trixie with her face pressed against an upstairs window. She looked scared stiff and she was mouthing something at him but he was too far away to make out what she was saying.

As he stared up, wondering what she was trying to tell him, he saw Fred appear there as well and roughly push her to one side and then look down and shake a fist at him.

Furiously, he hammered on the door again but nothing happened, no one came to answer it. He thought of going into the shop underneath to see if they could tell him anything about Trixie. Then he decided that would be futile and they probably wouldn't even know what he was talking about. He took another look up at the window but there was no one there; the drab grey curtains had been closed. For a minute or two he couldn't put Trixie's face out of his mind; she'd looked so unhappy.