Meet Me at the Pier Head (16 page)

She couldn’t tell anyone; she was unable to share this marvellous news. God, Delia would love to know about this, as would Ma and Juliet.
I can’t betray him. He’s my head
of school, my landlord and . . . and something else. When I look at him, he often moves his eyes away from me, because he fears me, and I don’t know why . . . and I fear him, and I
don’t know why. Madness?

He was back, he was breathing hard, and here she sat with his books.

‘Hello again,’ she said, feeling like an eavesdropper because she was holding his work in her hands.

‘She’s escaped,’ he achieved finally after regaining his breath. ‘Sadie Tunstall got out of the hospital and it looks like she’s taken Rosie from Maggie’s
back bedroom. Poor Maggie’s a heavy sleeper.’

Tia leapt out of her chair. ‘What? When did this happen?’

‘Very early this morning. Get dressed,’ he ordered. ‘I’ll go and do the same. Maggie Stone’s in my apartment downstairs – Jack Peake gave her my address.
Please hurry.’ He ran downstairs.

Uncaring about how she looked, Tia had a quick wash, tied back her hair, and donned the clothes she’d worn the previous evening. She was a good runner, so flats and jeans seemed best from
a practical viewpoint. They had to find little Rosie.

She discovered Maggie sobbing her heart out in Teddy’s kitchen. ‘Come on, now,’ Tia said, her arms wrapped round the weeping woman. ‘They won’t have got far. Did
you go to Sadie’s house?’

‘I went, but nobody was there. They might be with Flo.’

‘Flo? Who’s Flo?’

‘The other whore. Tunstall pimped for both of them.’

Theo stood in the doorway. ‘Where does Flo live?’ he asked.

Maggie shrugged; she had no idea. ‘What I do know is that Sadie is the only one with a key to my house, and she has a load of cash, and she’ll be drinking and my granddaughter will
be watching . . . watching whatever’s going on. Pimps are everywhere. Somebody will take Sadie and Flo on, and it’ll be back to square one for Rosie.’

Theo addressed Tia. ‘Do you have your car keys?’

‘Yes.’

‘You take Maggie. Go to Tom and Nancy Atherton – they live next door to Sadie’s house. Ask if they know where Flo lives. I’m going to the police station. Meet me at the
Pier Head in about an hour from now. If you get her address, do not go to Flo’s place without me. Understand?’

Tia nodded.

‘You know the Pier Head?’ He asked.

‘Yes. It’s Liverpool’s favourite meeting place, isn’t it?’

‘It is.’

‘Right,’ she breathed. ‘Pier Head it is.’

He walked across the room, kissed Maggie on the cheek, then Tia on the forehead. ‘We will find Rosie,’ he said determinedly. ‘Maggie, I am hoping that your daughter is drunk
and that we can get her certified as incapable of remaining in society. The sooner Rosie is free of her mother, the better. I know that sounds harsh, but it’s a fact.’ He left the
house.

Tia listened as his car drove away, her senses reeling slightly in reaction to the feel of his mouth on her face. ‘Right, Maggie. Tom and Nancy Atherton’s house. You’re my
guide.’

‘The cops couldn’t even question Sadie about the murder – she was three sheets to the wind and making no sense at all.’

‘Come on,’ Tia urged. ‘The sooner we leave here, the better.’

Theo made for the police station on Ivy Lane. Speaking to the desk sergeant, he mentioned the murder of Miles Tunstall, and was led into a small room where, after a few
minutes, a detective joined him. ‘Mr Quinn?’

‘Yes. I’m head teacher at Myrtle Street, and Miles Tunstall was stepfather to a little girl who joins my school in September. He pimped for his wife and for another woman named Flo.
Did you find Flo?’

‘We did.’

Theo told the tale of Sadie’s escape from hospital, the subsequent disappearance of a five-year-old child and the distress of Rosie’s grandmother. ‘To be blunt, officer, some
men may prefer younger flesh, so the child must be taken away from her mother. The Tunstall house was a brothel, and Rosie has seen enough. She spent hours locked in the coal shed while her mother,
her stepfather and Flo carried out their business. I need to find Flo. Do you have her address?’

The man shifted uncomfortably in his chair. ‘We do, but we can’t divulge that information. This is a murder case, Mr Quinn—’

‘And this is a child in danger of being contaminated simply by being in the company of her own mother, a known prostitute. What about when paedophiles discover that Sadie and Flo have a
pretty little girl with them? How drunk will Sadie need to be before she sells her own baby?’ Theo jumped up. ‘If anything happens to Rosie because of your incompetence, I’ll have
your job, officer.’ He slammed out of the room.

When he reached the Pier Head, Theo realized that he was very early. He dropped money into the cap of a man with no lower legs; the man sat on a wheeled trolley and played the mouth organ quite
well. Theo gazed out at the water, thinking about his dad, who had often spoken about this part of the city. Here, and further up the coast, the women of Liverpool had stood over the years,
watching, waiting for their ship to come in, the vessel that carried husband, father, brother, son or grandson. Now he was waiting for news of a five-year-old child.

He heard her before he saw her. She was shouting ‘Harry’ repeatedly as she approached the railings.

Harry grinned. ‘My little songbird,’ he said. ‘I thought you weren’t coming.’

Rosie threw her arms round Harry’s neck. ‘Mam got me. She put her hand over my face to keep me quiet, and I couldn’t breathe hardly. She took me to Auntie Flo’s. Auntie
Flo lives over a tripe shop on Southport Road. Nana came knocking with Miss Bellamy, and Auntie Flo was in the bath, so Mam went to the front door and I ran out the back and down some steps while
she couldn’t see me. Then I heard the police bells. I don’t feel like singing today, Harry.’

Theo stared at the child and the man with no legs. What the hell was going on here? ‘Excuse me,’ he said.

Rosie turned. ‘Mr Quinn. Oh, hello. This is my friend Harry. He plays and I sing, and sometimes I help him to sell papers. His sister is Martha, and she keeps my money in a box at their
house and gives me jam butties. There’s no stairs, cos Harry got his legs blown off, didn’t you?’

Harry nodded before speaking to Theo. ‘Rosie’s had a hard life, sir.’

Theo studied the man and saw honesty and genuine concern in his face. ‘I know it’s not been easy. Thank goodness for people like you and your sister. Now, I have to try to get an
emergency order from Welfare. Rosie needs to be away from the Lady Streets until her mother’s dealt with.’

‘Where will she go?’ Harry asked.

‘Wherever it is, her grandmother will be with her if I have any say in the matter.’ He threw more coins into the cap. ‘God bless you, Harry,’ he said. ‘I’ll
look for you next time I’m in town.’

Tia’s red MG drew up. Maggie leapt out and ran to her granddaughter.

‘She found her way here from Southport Road in Bootle,’ Theo told her.

Harry chipped in. ‘Every Scouser knows where the river is. We come with a sixth sense, I think.’

Maggie was in tears, as was Tia when she left her car.

‘Don’t cry,’ Rosie ordered. ‘My mam will be all right, Nana.’

‘I know, love, I know.’

Theo put an arm round Tia’s shoulder. ‘I told you not to do this without me, but you did it; you made it happen. She was in Flo’s place when you got there, and she ran out the
back and down a fire escape, I imagine.’

Tia wiped her face with the heel of a hand. ‘The police came and asked us what we were doing at Flo’s door, so I told them, and they took Sadie away. She could scarcely stand. Rosie
wasn’t there. We drove round for a while looking for her.’
Nor can I stand while you’re holding me. Yes, you’ve made me weak at the knees, Mr Quinn, and I can’t
tell you that. Oh, God, it feels as if I’ve come home.

‘You take Rosie back to your apartment,’ he said. ‘I’ll drive Maggie home to pick up clothes and so forth. Then I must see Emily Garner about an emergency order; we
don’t want Rosie in a children’s home. Maggie is clearly her adult of choice, so they must be kept together. They will live with me until somewhere safe and more permanent can be found
for them.’ He tightened his hold for a second or two. ‘You are one gutsy broad, Miss Bellamy.’

‘Thank you, I think.’ She pulled herself together and grinned. ‘Come along, Rosie. Another ride in my car, you lucky girl.’

‘We must hurry,’ Theo whispered for Tia’s ears only. ‘If the police catch up with us, they’ll take her and put her into care. I’ll get Maggie back to our
place as soon as possible. Rosie must be placed in her charge. Until she is, you are guilty of kidnap, so put your car in my garage and don’t answer your door.’

Our place. He said our place
. ‘Right, I’m gone,’ she said aloud.

She drove homeward in the company of a very serious, quiet child. After opening the door to her flat, she sent Rosie upstairs. ‘Go and see my dolls’ house,’ she said.
‘I’ll put the car away.’

When she finally closed her own front door, Tia shot home a couple of bolts that she hadn’t used before. Suddenly weary, she climbed the stairs and stood in the living room doorway
watching Rosie as she played with the dolls’ house.
I am a kidnapper. Maggie will probably get custody, perhaps temporary, but at this moment I am breaking the law. Where are you,
Teddy?

Rosie was talking to the miniature figures. ‘Don’t be frightened. There’s no coal shed.’

Tia blinked back new moisture. Her hands were bunched at her sides; she felt ready to give someone a beating. ‘Would you like something to eat, Rosie?’

The child turned and blinked. She was hungry. ‘I can smell bacon,’ she said.

‘A bacon butty?’

Rosie laughed. ‘Yes, please, but it does sound funny when you say it.’

‘Oh, you’ll just have to get used to me. And stay away from the windows. If someone comes to my downstairs door, carry on as you are. It’s hide and seek. Mr Quinn has to guess
where we are, and I like to win.’

‘Are we being naughty, Miss Bellamy?’

Tia shook her head. ‘We’re just having fun and bacon, Rosie.’

Her hands shook as she placed bacon under the grill. How much longer was he going to be away?
He’s the adult; I’m still a child because I’ve been so sheltered from the more
disturbing elements in society. But this is why you came here, Tia. You saw a slice of this in London, and you chose Liverpool because London is too close to Pa. You are making a difference. You
are breaking the law, so just live with that fact.

Rosie was rearranging furniture in the dolls’ house.

Tia handed her the sandwich on a plate. ‘Wash your hands first. The bathroom’s through there. Then wash them again when you’ve finished eating, because the dolls’ house
is my most special and precious possession.’

‘Yes, Miss.’

How many items could be packed into the boot of an MG? How many bits and pieces might be fitted onto the shelf behind the seats? Where the hell was he? Time ticked on. Rosie fell asleep on the
sofa, while Tia padded about in bare feet so as not to disturb her. She needed a telephone, and she made a note of that under the titles for Teddy’s Tom Quirke books.

Were he and Maggie hurt; had there been an accident? Three hours? Three hours to collect a change of clothing for two people? She couldn’t leave Rosie, didn’t yet know any neighbours
she might ask for help, had no phone, must stay hidden in case the police guessed where Rosie was . . . oh, God.

When she finally heard his car arriving, she stood at the top of the stairs and listened while he pushed his key into the lock of her ground-floor entrance. It had to be him, because she knew
the sound of an MG’s engine, and he was the only person with a key to her flat. She dashed down and drew back the bolts. ‘Where have you been?’ she asked sharply.

‘Good God, woman – we aren’t even married. Where’s your gun or your battle axe?’

Tia reined in her nerves. ‘Sorry. I was worried. You look exhausted, and where’s Maggie?’

‘Is Rosie OK?’

‘She’s asleep. Maggie?’

‘In hospital. Let me in, please.’

She stood back and allowed him to pass into the small downstairs hall.

He took the stairs first, and she followed behind him.

‘Coffee, please,’ he begged when they reached the living room. The child opened her eyes and gave him a sweet smile. ‘Hello, Mr Quinn.’

He sat at the bottom of the sofa and held the child’s hands. ‘Hello, Rosie. Did you play with the dolls’ house?’

Rosie nodded. ‘I had to keep my hands clean.’

Tia went into the kitchen to make coffee.

‘You must be special if Miss Bellamy let you play with her dolls’ house. She won’t let anyone else near it. I asked if I could play with it, and all I got was a dirty look.
Now, would you like egg on toast and a glass of milk?’

She nodded, wide-eyed. ‘Where’s Nana?’

‘I sent her to bed because she was very tired. So you’ll have to stay with me and Miss Bellamy for a short time. Just let me put your order in with the waitress. Stay there.’
He followed Tia into the kitchen.

‘Well?’ Tia asked.

He closed the door. ‘Maggie collapsed,’ he whispered.

‘Oh no, poor Maggie. Poor Rosie,’ Tia said, her voice low.

‘I got her to the hospital, and her heart’s fine, but she’s completely wiped out. They’ve stuck needles in her and taken about a pint of blood for this, that and the
other – liver test, kidney function test, blood count, all that jazz – she’s on a drip for rehydration, and can Rosie have scrambled eggs on toast with a glass of milk?’

Tia nodded and passed him a cup of coffee. ‘Do you want anything?’

Yes, you, but I can’t have you.

‘Teddy?’

‘Not yet, thanks. My stomach’s in knots.’

She perched on a stool. ‘How do we stand legally?’

Theo shook his head before telling her about his encounter with Emily Garner. An emergency order had been obtained for Maggie to act as guardian, but Maggie was out of the picture just now.
‘I’ll deal with this as soon as I can,’ he said. ‘Emily will vouch for me.’