Love or Duty--A saga set in 1920s Liverpool (14 page)

‘That young man is not only rather handsome but he has a very forceful way with him,' Ma Reilly said with a smile. ‘Still, it will do you good to mix with some of your own sort even if it is only for a couple of hours. After all,' she added with a chuckle when she saw that Penny was about to speak, ‘you will have to go because it's “doctor's orders”.'

Their outing was a great success and the first of many. When the tennis season ended in late September he invited her to all sorts of other events. Gradually it became an accepted arrangement that Bryn Cash would be calling to take Penny out somewhere most Saturdays and that Ma Reilly would keep an eye on Kelly.

The more Penny saw of Bryn the more she grew to like him and enjoy his company. He seemed to have a dual personality; a somewhat curt manner as a doctor and a warm benign manner when he was off duty. They shared the same interests and sense of humour and Penny particularly enjoyed their visits to the theatre or to the Philharmonic Hall to listen to a concert.

By the end of October Kelly was fully recovered. The plaster cast had been taken off her arm and with gentle exercise she quickly regained full use of it. She no longer needed her crutches and could walk and even run. She had also been discharged from the hospital clinic.

Penny knew that Kelly was fit enough to go home to her own mother but she delayed saying anything or taking any action about it because she realized how much she was going to miss her. It also meant that she would have to take a decision about her own future.

Once she was no longer responsible for Kelly there was nothing to keep her at Blenheim Road. Also, the teacher she had been filling in for was due to return to school after Christmas so she would no longer have a job there.

After thinking about it for several days she broached the subject of Kelly starting school. Ma Reilly thought it would be a very good idea but she wasn't at all sure that Kelly's mother would be in agreement.

‘Ellen Murphy counts on young Kelly being at home to look after the other nippers so that she can go out to work,' she pointed out.

‘Yes, I know that but that's only in the evenings when she goes charring, isn't it? Kelly will be at home then so it shouldn't make any difference.'

‘Well, there's Kelly herself to be considered,' Ma Reilly went on. ‘Never had a lesson in her life, so how do you think she is going to feel about it?'

‘Perhaps if we stayed on here with you for a little while longer then Kelly could start school while I am still there and that would give her more confidence,' Penny suggested. ‘She's very bright, you know, and I could help her to catch up with the lessons.'

‘Well, I suppose that could work,' Ma Reilly conceded. ‘It might be best if you had a word with Father O'Flynn and see what he has to say on the matter,'

Father O'Flynn was in full agreement with the idea and Kelly was quite excited when she heard the news that she would be starting school. She was equally delighted when she discovered it meant that she wouldn't be going back to her own home for a while longer.

‘I will only be staying on at the school for a month or so, Kelly, so it is up to you to learn all you can in that time,' Penny warned her.

Kelly assured her that she would try to do so and she was as good as her word. She worked extremely hard and by mid-December was reading quite well. She was also able to spell more than one hundred words and write her own name although her handwriting was atrocious.

Penny knew that the time had come for Kelly to be reunited with her own family; even so she hesitated when Ma Reilly brought the matter up and said she thought Kelly ought to return to her own home for Christmas.

‘I suppose you are right,' Penny agreed. ‘I was hoping that we could make this a very special Christmas for Kelly by spending it here with you,' she confided to Ma Reilly.

‘Sure now and I'd like nothing better, Penny, but the poor child ought to be with her own family,' Ma Reilly said with a deep sigh.

They argued about it in a friendly way for several days and finally decided to ask both Father O'Flynn and Dr Cash for their opinion. Penny couldn't help feeling slightly ruffled when both of them agreed with what Ma Reilly had already said; namely, that by rights Kelly should celebrate Christmas at her own home with her family.

As a form of compromise Penny agreed that Kelly could go back to her own home before Christmas but promised that she would go on living at Blenheim Road at least until the New Year in case things didn't work out for Kelly.

Penny and Ma Reilly also made plans to have a party for Kelly the week before Christmas and asked her whom she wanted to invite. To their surprise, it wasn't any of the little girls in her class at school but Dr Bryn Cash and Father O'Flynn.

Two days before the little party that Penny and Ma Reilly had planned to hold for Kelly they received an unexpected visit from Dr Cash.

He came straight to the point. ‘Penny, I'm afraid I have some bad news. Your mother has had a heart attack and is seriously ill and you need to go to her right away.'

‘My mother? What are you talking about? How do you know that?'

‘I received the news from Dr Ian McAllister, your mother's doctor. He was trying to get in touch with you on behalf of your father. He thought that as I lived and worked in the Scotland Road area I might know the whereabouts of the Murphys and through them I might be able to find out where you were living.'

‘Are you sure about this?' Penny stared at him in astonishment remembering all that had happened between her and her parents only a few months earlier and her father's anger on the day he'd turned her out.

‘Your mother is asking for you and your father is desperate for you to return home,' Bryn Cash confirmed.

‘On my own?'

Bryn frowned. ‘He didn't say anything about that but Kelly is fully recovered from all her injuries now so there is no reason why you should feel you need to take her with you.'

‘Hold on a minute both of you,' Ma Reilly interrupted. ‘I'm listening to what you're saying but there's no way that I am prepared to have young Kelly staying with me on her own, indeed I'm not. I don't mind keeping an eye on her for an hour or so when the two of you want to go out but I'm far too old to be taking sole charge of her. Now that she's off them crutches there's no knowing what she'll be up to or where she'll be going off to on her own. No, I'm not having that.'

‘There's no need for Kelly to stay here any longer if you don't want her to do so,' Bryn Cash assured her. ‘She's perfectly fit now so she can go back home to her family whenever you wish. You were thinking of sending her home for Christmas anyway weren't you?'

‘Yes, that's quite true,' Penny admitted reluctantly. ‘As yet though we haven't mentioned the matter to her,' she added, a trifle worriedly.

‘Kelly is perfectly able to cope on her own so I really think you should be considering your own family's needs, Penny, and putting them first,' Bryn Cash insisted firmly, locking his eyes with hers.

As she met his steady dark gaze Penny felt some of the tension ease and although she felt too choked to speak she nodded in agreement.

‘I'll take Kelly back to her mother and explain the situation so that she understands what is happening,' he assured her with an understanding smile. ‘From the way Dr McAllister spoke, your mother really is desperately ill and I don't think we should waste any time.'

She thought how different he was from Arnold. Arnold would merely have shrugged and said it was up to her what she did; Bryn was helping her to reach a decision in a thoughtful constructive way.

‘I think I ought to be the one to tell Kelly about why she is being taken back to her family,' Penny prevaricated. ‘I don't want her to feel I am simply walking away from her.'

‘Very well, but we'll do it together. I don't want her cajoling you into changing your mind.'

‘Well now, there's glad I am that that's all settled,' Ma Reilly said with a sigh of relief. ‘I'll go and make a pot of tea and find some biscuits for Kelly. She'll take it better if we can sit down comfortably and explain the situation to her in a friendly manner,' she added firmly.

Kelly was in tears when they called her into the kitchen and told her the news.

‘You're like all the others – you're fed up with me,' Kelly sniffled when Penny put her arms around her and hugged her, trying to console her. ‘I don't care though,' she gulped, pushing Penny away. ‘I hate you, I hate all of you and I hate having to live here with you,' she stormed, looking round the warm comfortable kitchen.

‘You don't mean what you're saying Kelly and it is not Penny's fault,' Bryn Cash told her quietly. ‘Penny's mother is very ill and so she has to go home and look after her.'

‘Her ma wouldn't even say goodbye to her when we left their house and her dad told her never to darken his door again,' Kelly reminded them stubbornly.

‘Grown-ups often say things they don't really mean, especially when they are very upset,' Bryn explained.

‘Yeh, like she did after she knocked me down with her motor car. She said she was going to look after me until I was better,' Kelly responded glaring at Penny.

‘Now then young lady, that's not a fair thing to say,' Ma Reilly interrupted. ‘Penny has been like a fairy godmother to you and don't you ever forget it. She's cared for you for months and months, spent her own money looking after you and buying you new clothes. She's given you a far better time than you would have had at home. Don't let me ever hear you say bad things like that about her ever again. Understand?'

‘She made promises and you made promises and now neither of you want me,' Kelly gulped with tears running down her cheeks.

‘Of course they care about you,' Bryn Cash told her firmly. ‘It's just that other things have happened that have changed the situation.'

‘You're all grown-ups so you can do whatever you like,' Kelly snuffled, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand and glaring round at them.

‘If it was your mother that was ill and asking for you then you'd want to go and see her now wouldn't you,' Penny said gently, pulling the child into her arms again.

Kelly wriggled uncomfortably and shrugged her thin shoulders. ‘P'rhaps,' she muttered giving a loud sobbing sniff.

‘Well, it's what I want to do,' Penny said gravely. ‘I'll come back to see you again as soon as my mother is well enough for me to leave her and I'm sure you will be seeing Mrs Reilly from time to time.'

‘I want to see you again and I want to know now when that will be.'

‘I can't tell you that until after I have seen my mother and found out how ill she is. I tell you what I'll do, I'll write and let Mrs Reilly know how my mother is getting on and when I will be able to come back to see you,' Penny promised. ‘She will tell you what is in the letter when you pop round to see her. She might even let you help her to make some of those special fairy cakes for our tea when I tell her I am coming to visit you.'

‘Penny, we really should be on our way,' Bryn said worriedly. ‘I'll take Kelly and her belongings round to Cannon Court while you pack your suitcase. I should only be about ten minutes so be ready to leave when I get back.'

Throughout the journey over to Wallasey Penny felt very apprehensive about what sort of reception she would receive from her parents. Her mother might want to see her, especially if she was ill, but she was not at all sure that her father would make her welcome. When he had turned her out he had been so emphatic that he didn't want to see her ever again and he wasn't the sort of man who changed his mind.

When she confided as much to Bryn he reassured her that Dr McAllister had been extremely relieved at tracking her down. He'd also mentioned that her father had stressed how important it was that she should return home as soon as possible.

‘Yes, he might have said that because my mother was asking for me …'

‘Look, why don't you stop worrying about it and wait and see what happens when we arrive,' Bryn advised as they reached Penkett Road and walked down the drive of the house she indicated. ‘I'll stay until we are sure that you are welcome,' he added reassuringly.

Mary let out a tiny scream when she opened the door to them. ‘There's glad I am to see you, Miss Penny. Mistress has been asking over and over again for you.'

Hearing the commotion, Captain Forshaw came out of his study to see what was happening. There was one brief moment while father and daughter stood looking at each other in uneasy silence. Then suddenly they were in each other's arms and he was hugging her close and thanking her for coming back home.

She introduced him to Bryn Cash and as the two men shook hands Bryn explained that he had to get back to Liverpool immediately as he had a clinic to attend at the hospital. ‘I'll call again in a day or so to make sure that Penny is settled in,' he said as he prepared to leave.

‘There is no need to waste your time doing that,' Captain Forshaw assured him forcibly. ‘This is her home remember; she'll settle in all right, it's where she belongs. Thank you for bringing her home.'

Bryn nodded but there was a twinkle in his eye as he said goodbye to Penny and gave her hand an extra squeeze as he saw the apologetic look on her face.

The minute the door closed behind him, Penny headed for the stairs anxious to go up and see her mother but her father laid a restraining hand on her arm.

‘Take it slowly,' he cautioned. ‘Your mother has been gravely ill, Penny, and she is still extremely frail. Too much excitement would not be good for her.'

When she went into the bedroom Penny was shocked by her mother's emaciated appearance. She appeared to be sleeping and Penny's breath caught in her throat and tears filled her eyes as she stood by the bedside staring down at the thin white face that looked almost like a mask.