McQueen's Agency (21 page)

Tam felt his throat constrict with fear and he gazed at the plate of yellow custard and red strawberry jam. He wasn’t sure if he could manage to eat it.

Jock was still talking. ‘It’s not like you’re going to be out on your own. I’ll be there and nobody will tackle me willingly.’

That was true because Jock manhandled a crane every day at the docks and he was a big, muscular man.

Tam started to say he couldn’t but he caught sight of Rover gazing up at him with his brown pleading eyes.

‘All right, Jock.’ He looked at Mrs Kidd. ‘I think I’ll leave my pudding and have it at teatime, if that’s all right.’

He got up and put on his jacket. Jock beamed. ‘That’s the spirit, Tam. Never say die.’

Rover was ecstatic and danced around the two men as Jock tried to put on his lead. ‘Now, lad, calm down or we’ll never get away.’

The heat hit Tam as soon as he stepped out onto the pavement. The street was busy with families all heading off somewhere for the day and there was a festive spirit in the air.

Tam suddenly felt enjoyment as they strolled towards the docks.

The Shore Terrace bus stances were busy, especially the one for Broughty Ferry. The queues stretched right beyond the City Arcade and almost reached Crighton Street. The children were becoming fractious in the heat, wondering when they were going to see the sand and sea but there had been extra buses laid on and the queue slowly made its way towards the front. However, more people kept joining and it never seemed to get any shorter.

The two men made their way to the Victoria Arch and meandered towards the various wharves and bridges that connected the various small docks It was quite busy here as well as people took the chance to walk in the warm sunshine. Jock let Rover off the lead and he briskly made for the edges of the road where there were a hundred smells to be investigated.

Jock said, ‘Is that where the man drowned?’

Tam said no, it was nearer the cargo ships that were docked at the wharf but he didn’t want to go there, he said. So the two men turned and walked back. They were almost at the entrance to the Victoria Arch, or the Pigeon’s Palace as it was also called, when Jock called Rover to come and get his lead back on.

There was a huge crowd of people all strolling or walking at the entrance and they mingled with the crowds standing at the bus stances. Suddenly Rover took off. He was barking loudly as he ran towards the road. Some of the people scattered out of the way and Jock, taken by surprise, said, ‘What on earth is he up to?’

Tam darted forward and called his name. Rover stopped and came back to the two men.

He was still growling quietly and he was shaking.

Jock put on his lead. ‘He’s never done that before, Tam. What got into him?’

Tam was suddenly very afraid. ‘He saw who attacked us, Jock.’

Jock looked sceptical. ‘How can you know that?’

‘When he was a puppy, the man in the shop where I bought him hadn’t been very good to his animals and Rover always growled every time we passed the shop. Just like now. After the shop was sold to someone else, the growling stopped. You can take my word for it … he saw our attacker just now.’

Jock looked towards Shore Terrace but there were hundreds of people there. The person responsible for the attack on Tam and Rover could be any one of them. He scanned the crowd but no one looked suspicious. He said this to Tam.

‘Oh no, the person is long gone. Otherwise Rover would have bitten him and we would know who he was.’

As that person hurried away, they were in shock and a deep anger welled up inside. They made up their mind to sort out that yapping dog and the old man once and for all.

Edna was washing her hair which was full of sand. They’d had a great time at the beach, Billy especially. Edna and her mum had relaxed on deckchairs which they had been lucky to hire, while Billy had spent the entire afternoon building his sandcastle. Although Edna looked calm, she was still nervous and apprehensive. There hadn’t been any more contact since Arbroath but she sensed he was still watching her.

The entire beach was a mass of humanity as people were all intent on enjoying the warm sunny day. Children ran in and out of the sea. In spite of the weather, the water was cold, so not many swimmers lingered for long in the waves.

When she bent down to help him finish off his masterpiece, Billy had scooped a bucketful of sand which he had tipped accidentally over his mum’s head. Edna had tried combing it out but she could still feel the tiny gritty bits in her hair.

Billy was now in bed and Edna was getting ready for her new assignment in the morning. Molly had left the job sheet in the letter box and she had read it when she returned from the beach.

She had laid out her suit and white cotton blouse and the new pair of nylons she had bought in D. M. Browns. She had never been in a jute mill before so this new job promised to be a challenge. Seemingly the wages clerk was off ill so Edna would be in charge of overseeing the pay packets of hundreds of mill workers for next Friday’s shift.

It was still as hot the following morning and she debated about wearing a dress instead of the suit but she wanted to give a professional image on her first morning. The hours were seven thirty till five thirty so Billy was still asleep when she left the house and walked quickly along Victoria Road to the jute mill.

The mill road was as busy as the beach had been yesterday, as hundreds of mill workers converged through the gates. Edna wasn’t sure where she had to report but she found the lodge and asked the man in charge of the timekeeping machine where the office was. He pointed to a long corridor which had windows along one side and said the office was situated half way along.

Edna wasn’t usually so unsure of herself but she felt her stomach churning as she knocked on the door. It was opened by a tall woman with grey hair and a grey dress.

‘Yes, can I help you?’ she said politely.

Edna held out the job sheet, which Molly had typed out. ‘I’m the agency worker who’s covering for your wages clerk. The one who’s ill.’

The grey-haired woman looked surprised. ‘Our clerk?’

‘Yes,’ said Edna. She a little worried by this cool reception. ‘I work for McQueen’s Agency and this firm requested a temporary clerk to make up the wages. It was to be a two or three-week job.’

The woman said, ‘You’d better come in.’ She ushered Edna into a large office. There were quite a few people already working at the desks. ‘Please take a seat while I get Mr Davidson.’

Edna felt self-conscious as she sat down but no one paid her much attention. This didn’t feel right, she thought, and hoped Mary hadn’t taken down the wrong address.

After ten minutes, the woman returned with a small, stout man in tow. He was bald with a round, pink face, and was wearing a pin-striped suit with a waistcoat which had a watch and chain across the front of it. He looked important.

The grey-haired woman was still holding the job sheet. ‘This is Mrs McGill,’ she said, then left and went to sit at one of the desks.

Mr Davidson introduced himself and said, ‘We’re at a loss about this appointment, Mrs McGill. We never contacted your agency about a job and Miss Evans,’ he indicated the grey-haired woman, ‘Well, she’s our wages clerk.’

Edna was speechless. Mary must have made a mistake and now she would have to go and sort out this mess.

She said, ‘I’m very sorry, Mr Davidson. There must have been a mistake at the office. It must be some other jute mill that’s needing some office help.’ She stood up to go. The quicker she was out of this terrible situation the better.

Mr Davidson walked with her to the door, full of apologies. Edna found herself standing outside on the sunlit pavement, totally flummoxed.

She walked to the Wellgate and into the office. Mary was busy typing and looked surprised when she saw Edna.

Edna could hardly contain her annoyance but she didn’t want to accuse Mary of making a mistake until she had heard what the girl had to say.

‘Mary, you did say this job was at the Eagle jute mill today, didn’t you?’

Mary said it was. ‘Have they changed the work times, Edna? They did say to start this morning.’

Edna slumped down on the vacant chair. ‘Well, I turned up for work at seven thirty this morning to find that they have no record of being in touch with this agency, or any other agency for that matter. The wages clerk is a grey-haired and very efficient woman and she doesn’t look the least bit ill.’

Mary remained silent during this speech then she got out the diary and showed it to Edna. It stated quite clearly: ‘Wages clerk for two or three weeks at Eagle jute mill, Dens Road.’

‘Do you think you could have taken down the wrong name, Mary? Maybe it was another mill with a similar name.’

Thankfully, Mary didn’t look offended. ‘No, Edna, I wrote it down right away as the person on the phone was saying it. They said you couldn’t get lost because it was at the end of Victoria Road and was well signposted. I remember the man being quite clear in his instructions.’

Edna tried to recall if she had seen any men in the office but she couldn’t remember.

‘Well that’s one job that doesn’t need done. Have you anything else on the books?’

Mary looked embarrassed. ‘We did have but Jean and Betty are away doing them. I’ll have to phone Molly but she’ll be at her work at Cliff Top House. I won’t be able to get her until she gets home tonight. I’m really sorry.’

Edna felt for the girl. ‘It’s not your fault, Mary. Maybe the original mill office will call back wondering why I haven’t turned up. If that happens, can you let me know?’

Mary said she would and Edna left to go back home. Her mother was surprised to see her. ‘What’s happened?’ she asked.

Edna said there had been a mix up with jobs and Mary was going to try and get hold of Molly tonight. Billy wasn’t in the kitchen. Edna asked, ‘Where’s Billy, is he still in bed?’

Irene said he was downstairs playing with his friend and the Meccano set.

‘Can you not go back to the office this afternoon and see if anything else comes in?’ suggested Irene.

Edna said she would do that. She felt very unsettled about this whole chapter and hoped it wasn’t going to be the start of a lot of job mix-ups because she really needed the regular wage coming. Still Molly would sort it out when she got to hear of it.

Edna tried to get on with some housework but her heart wasn’t in it. Irene was putting on her coat to go to the shops but Edna said she would do the shopping.

‘It’ll take me out of the house,’ she said.

She walked to Willie Low’s grocery shop on Victoria Road and got some bread, cheese, eggs and milk. As she passed the Wellgate steps she decided to go and see Mary, to see if the mistake had been sorted out. Not that she held any hope because it was barely ten o’clock and she knew Mary couldn’t get in contact with Molly till the evening.

When she went into the office, Mary said, ‘Oh, I was coming round to see you at dinner time, Edna. I’ve had the manager of that job this morning at the Eagle jute mill on the phone and he apologises for getting the name wrong. He meant to say the Bowbridge Works, on Main Street. Can you start there tomorrow morning at seven thirty?’

Edna was puzzled. ‘Why did he say the Eagle jute mill?’

‘He explained that. He said he was the manager there up till two months ago when he moved to the Bowbridge Works, and he must have had a slip of the tongue.’

Mary seemed pleased that it had all been sorted out and Edna was relieved as well. Now that she had a definite job tomorrow, she could enjoy the rest of the day off.

She would take Billy to Dudhope Park later and let him play on the swings to give her mum a rest.

Billy was excited at the thought of the outing. The swing park was busy with children playing but Billy managed to get a swing and Edna pushed him.

‘Push me higher, Mum,’ he said. ‘I want to go right over the bar.’

Edna laughed. He didn’t know what that meant and was just copying the other children who were shouting while trying to swing higher and higher into the air.

‘That’s high enough Billy,’ she called but his little legs thrust forward and backwards and this was taking him higher.

Edna became alarmed and frightened he would fall off and she tried to grab the wooden seat to slow it down. She couldn’t quite catch it but a man stepped in beside her and grabbed the swing, almost bringing it to a halt.

Billy wasn’t pleased. ‘I wanted to keep swinging.’

Edna turned to thank the man and was surprised to see John Knox.

‘Hello again,’ he said. ‘How are you keeping?’

Edna was flustered. ‘John. How nice to see you.’

Billy was swinging idly with his feet still on the ground.

Edna said it was time to go home and Billy ran to her side.

‘It was nice seeing you again, John. I heard Mary did a great job with your book.’ John said, yes she had.

‘Well, I’d better get this wee lad home for his tea.’

John looked at her and said he’d better be getting back home also, then he turned and walked away. Edna gazed after him but he didn’t turn round.

Billy was running towards the merry-go-round. ‘I want to go on that,’ he said.

‘I don’t want you to be sick.’ Edna had vivid memories of days gone by when she had always been sick riding this circular swing.

Her mind was in turmoil. Why hadn’t she been more welcoming to John? Why hadn’t she suggested having a walk along some of the paths with him and Billy?

Well, it was too late for regrets now. She probably wouldn’t see him again. Billy was having great fun sitting beside the large group of children who were going round in circles. Their screams and childish voices floated over to where she was standing.

Suddenly she felt cold and sensed someone was staring at her. She turned around but there were only the other mothers and one or two fathers either pushing swings or sitting on the benches.

She looked to see if John was watching her but she saw his figure marching up the path as he made his way home. She almost shouted out to him then felt stupid.