Meet Me at the Pier Head (17 page)

‘And meanwhile, when someone lets slip that Maggie’s in hospital and no neighbour knows where Rosie is – what then?’

He scratched his head in the manner of Stan Laurel. ‘The police need to know that the child is safe – that’s the main thing. I’ll talk to Emily again tonight, because I
must come clean to her. She’ll take up the slack, I hope. And I do have her home number.’

‘Well, of course you do. Jack says she’s your girlfriend.’

‘Just one of them,’ he said.

Tia picked up a couple of eggs and some milk. ‘Did you see Emily before Maggie went into hospital?’

He shook his head wearily.

‘So you knew Maggie was off the map and you said nothing?’

‘That’s right. Look, I’ll take the rap for all of it.’

‘But why? This is a sizeable risk and we could be in trouble for not following protocol—’ She stopped, open-mouthed; he was lifting up his shirt to show her his back.

‘This is part of the why. Fortunately, the RAF didn’t mind my disfigurement – after all, I was only a rear gunner, so I didn’t need to be a perfect model. The stripes are
cuts made by a whip with a metal core. The prettier, more interesting bits are slash and stab wounds inflicted by a variety of knives. A broken rib pierced my lung, my arms have been fractured, and
I have a metal plate in my skull. I tend to avoid strong magnets.’ He pulled down his shirt. ‘And that’s why I take risks, why I never returned to live in America and why I put my
neck on the line for kids like Rosie. And don’t cry. I can’t cope with weeping women.’

But she crossed the room and pulled him into her arms. A mere two or three inches shorter than he was, she looked him in the eye. ‘Who did that to you?’

He gazed into those violet eyes. ‘Masked men,’ he answered. ‘Probably the same group of cowards who killed my mom.’ He pulled away from her and left the kitchen. She now
knew more than anyone else; even his Liverpool relatives had never seen his back, had never known the full truth about his early years. And there was so much more, too much more . . .

‘Yes, you will get some dinner,’ Rosie was telling one of the tiny dolls. ‘The jumping up and down men don’t come any more, and the bad man got killed in the park. What?
No, he’s never coming back. Nana’s asleep, cos she’s tired, so I’m in charge.’

Theo listened to her before creeping downstairs and returning to his own living quarters. Rosie Tunstall was organizing her own therapy through Tia’s dolls. ‘She is going to be
OK,’ he said as he entered his living room. He poured himself a double whisky for Dutch courage, took a deep breath, and phoned Emily Garner.

The whisky hit his head almost immediately, as his stomach was empty. ‘Emily,’ he almost purred, ‘there’s been a development.’ He gave her an account of his very
long day. ‘So Rosie’s in the upstairs apartment with her teacher. The cops need to know she’s safe. Maggie asked us to keep her until she’s out of hospital – just a
day or two. Feel free to visit and examine Rosie’s accommodation if you need to.’ He paused while she ranted on.

‘Yes, it’s unusual and yes, I know you’ll have to tell your boss, but Rosie is happy and occupied here.’

He allowed her to drone on while he switched to come-hither mode.

‘Are you still there, Theo?’ she asked.

He drained the glass. ‘Emily,’ he whispered, ‘you and I have been friends for many years. In fact, I think we are very close friends. Please, I beg you, try to sort this out
for little Rosie’s sake. She needs continuity, not some anonymous bed in a place filled already by disturbed children. You won’t regret it, I promise.’

‘Theo, it’s not that easy, I—’

‘Go and see Maggie, then. Get her to sign something to the effect that her teacher is Rosie’s babysitter for now. Please, Emily. Do it for me.’

‘Your voice would seduce a saint, Theo.’

Inwardly, he agreed. ‘It’s the American edge, Emily. It makes women think of gangsters and cowboys.’

‘You’re smiling. I can hear your smile.’

‘Yes, I’m smiling. Call me.’ He replaced the receiver. Life was getting complicated, and he needed food. Canned soup and white bread were all he could find, so he heated the
former and dunked the latter, grateful for the only nourishment he’d had since this morning’s bacon sandwich.

Thinking about bacon sandwiches brought breakfast and Tia into his head. It was a strange situation, as he knew so little about her while knowing everything. Had he been waiting for her? Was she
the one who could accept his past, his difficult future, the conditions that bound him even in this country? And how the hell did a person fall for someone as quickly as this? She’d given him
a hug, and he’d run away faster than sand off a new shovel; he’d kissed her forehead, and she’d reacted . . . oh, bugger, as Tia might say.

With his stomach happier and the alcoholic haze dispersing, he went out to the car to fetch Rosie’s clothes. Deciding not to disturb Rosie in case she was asleep, he used the key to let
himself in. He tapped gently on the upper door to the apartment. Tia opened it. ‘Ah, her things,’ she said. ‘She’s in the bath playing with my ducks, and I was trying to
find something of mine for her to sleep in.’

He told her that he and she were probably in the clear to babysit, since he’d managed to persuade Emily Garner to pave the way. ‘It depends on how long Maggie is in hospital and
whether her decision to entrust Rosie to us is enough. Welfare tends towards keeping all eggs in one basket, but I don’t want our hatchling locked in a jail for kids.’

Tia took the clothes from him. ‘Sit down,’ she said. ‘I’ll just get her out of the bath and into bed. I’ve put the dolls’ house in her room, because
she’s had a couple of naps today, and she may not be sleepy. Also, it will be the first thing she sees when she wakes.’ She pondered for a moment. ‘And I’ve made a decision;
I’ll tell you later.’

While she was gone, he went to look at her bookshelves. He found an interesting and rather eclectic mix; Austen, Thackeray and Dickens rubbed shoulders with the Famous Five and Just William. She
had
Beano
and
Dandy
annuals alongside Aristotle, Agatha Christie, Shakespeare, Wilde, George Bernard Shaw and, of course, Tom Quirke. There were hard-backed diaries dating back to
1948, when she had been in her teens, and several photograph albums on a low shelf.

She returned. ‘Voices low,’ she whispered. ‘Our little charge misses nothing. We’re going to play just suppose.’

‘Just suppose what?’

‘Just suppose Maggie is kept in hospital for days. Then just suppose your girlfriend moves Rosie into a children’s home. Then bugger that, and just suppose Isadora
Bellamy.’

Theo frowned. ‘Go on.’

‘Just suppose Rosie is a little pale and underfed.’

‘Which she is, so I don’t need to just suppose.’

Tia nodded her agreement. ‘And just suppose that your foolish and inexperienced new teacher leaves you a note saying that she’s taken Rosie for a holiday in Kent, or London, or both,
depending on where Isadora is. Can you see the headlines? About Isadora Bellamy caring for a neglected child?’

He frowned. ‘But you didn’t want people to know who your parents are.’

‘In your opinion, is that more important than Rosie’s safety?’

‘No,’ he replied without hesitation.

‘And I have little or nothing to lose, Teddy.’

‘You could lose your job.’
And I could lose you.

‘I am very good at acting innocent and stupid. I’m very good at acting, full stop. And my mother could charm the underwear off a monk. If we’re discovered, she’ll fix it.
Pa is, of course, the fly in the ointment, but I can swat him.’

‘And you’d do all this for Rosie?’

Tia smiled. ‘And for you.’

He gasped audibly.

‘Worry not,’ she said, placing a hand on his cheek. ‘There’s something going on, neither of us is ready for it, and we’re both terrified of it, so we slow
down.’

His heart leapt about like a caged bird, and he knew the fear was showing in his eyes. This girl was far too clever for her own good. And too clever for him, of course. ‘Sometimes I think
you’re older than I am, Tia.’

‘My mother has said that for years, and she’s even older than you are.’

He grinned broadly. ‘Then she must be truly ancient.’

Tia agreed. ‘Decrepit, yet still beautiful. Do remember, the world is putty in her hands. For years she carried my father, whose acting skills are nothing unless she’s there to guide
him.’

A thought occurred to Theo. ‘What if she’s on her way here?’

She raised her shoulders. ‘She has her own telephone line. I’ll call her tomorrow. If she’s on the brink of leaving, all the better for us, because she can look after Rosie in
my flat. I can’t imagine my mother letting anything or anyone go without a fight. And Ma isn’t fair when it comes to the protection of her girls. She’ll stop at nothing to get her
way.’

It struck Theo that while Tia might have inherited her father’s lack of patience, she had also gained her mother’s backbone, staying power and acting ability. ‘We’re in
this mess together,’ he said. ‘While I’d hate to lose my job, I can exist on my writing.’

‘And I should manage well on theatre and film work, so we are equal on that score.’

He turned sideways and studied her. ‘I don’t want to lose you.’

‘I know.’

‘How do you know?’

‘I don’t know how I know, but I know. And I know that you know that I don’t want to lose you.’ She frowned. ‘Can we go back to just suppose? It was so much easier
than I knowing.’

The doorbell sounded. ‘You get it, Teddy. I’ll go and make sure that Rosie’s settled.’ She left the room without giving him time to respond.

Theo descended the staircase. He hoped it wasn’t a policeman or Emily Garner or someone else from Welfare, but he opened the door to find Dr Simon Heilberg on the doorstep. ‘Is she
in?’ the visitor asked.

‘Yes, she’s caring for a child. Is there a problem?’

For the first time, Simon grinned at Theo. ‘I think we share a problem, Mr Quinn. The hospital where Maggie Stone is a patient has let the police know that Rosie is here with Tia. I may
need a tetanus injection, because Sadie Tunstall, mother of that child, bit me. Twice. The practice I’m with is attached periodically to Ivy Lane police station. She attacked two policemen,
me, and a woman who was reporting a missing dog. Sergeant Nixon had to go for stitches. She was very, very drunk. And Tia has the child?’

‘Yes, but the grandmother has custody, and she’s in hospital, as you know.’

‘A bit of a mess, then, Mr Quinn?’

Theo nodded. ‘Go up. I’ve given Tia Rosie’s clothes, so I can leave now.’

‘Just a moment.’ Simon placed a hand on Theo’s arm. ‘I want that child in outpatients at Alder Hey on Monday morning. Tia and I will take her and let the experts loose.
I’m aware that there’s probably been neglect and psychological damage, but we need to look for injuries.’

Theo nodded. ‘Good thinking, Doc. Thank you.’

‘I promise you, Tia and Rosie that I’ll do my best to get the little girl away from her mother. Some people are not fit to have kids.’ He offered his hand and Theo shook it,
then the doctor sped upstairs.

Tia was seated on the sofa. She looked tired, tense and beautiful. ‘Hi,’ she said.

He rolled up a sleeve to display a bandage. ‘Sadie Tunstall bit me. I was called in to Ivy Lane, and she attacked several people. She’ll be charged. Monday, you and I will take Rosie
for a full examination at the children’s hospital. She needs a proper, decent family to adopt her.’

Tia nodded. ‘I’m going to bed,’ she said.

‘Do you want company?’

She glowered. ‘Not with a child in the flat, no.’

‘Sorry,’ he murmured.

Tia rose to her feet. ‘Anyway, that’s all over between us.’

‘Have you fallen in love with the little girl? If you want to adopt, you must marry.’

‘Then I’ll marry.’

‘Really? Who?’

‘I have absolutely no bloody idea. Thanks for coming to see me, and please support my intention to keep Rosie here till her grandmother recovers.’ She walked to him and placed a kiss
on his cheek. ‘Some day, your princess will come, Simon.’

Crestfallen once more, he left. She was his princess, but she didn’t want him. And they all lived happy ever after? ‘Not me,’ he mumbled, ‘never me.’

Sunday was quite an adventure for Rosie. She was so excited that she started nibbling at her nails, and she’d already had the gentle, no-nail-biting lecture from her new
teacher just yesterday. If she wanted to be a pretty young lady, she needed clean hair, unbitten nails and a spotless neck. Clothes were just the outer wrapping, and they didn’t cover these
important details. ‘Shoulders back, and head up, Rosie. Not too far up, or you’ll fall over something and give onlookers a free laugh. Oh, and always carry a handkerchief – I have
some pretty ones somewhere. Just remember, you’re as good as, if not better than other people. Walk tall.’

Miss Bellamy had decided to make her charge a whole new outfit of clothes. She took a dress of her own, measured Rosie, and made a pattern from brown wrapping paper before cutting out and
tacking together a skirt followed by a lovely, grown-up style jacket. The little girl had to stand on a chair and stay still after her teacher warned her, ‘I am lethal with pins, or so my
sisters tell me. We all had to learn to sew when we were not much older than you are. Ma taught us to help with her costumes – she’s an actress. Now, we take this off carefully, so that
I can use my Singer to stitch it all together properly. Be brave, and try not to scratch yourself on pins. We don’t want you to be full of holes, do we?’

Rosie was completely enthralled by the process and enchanted by Miss Bellamy; sewing was like magic, far cleverer than Mrs Atherton and her knitting. In a very short time, the sewing machine had
flown over every seam and dart, and the resulting rose-coloured suit was amazing. ‘Oh, thank you, Miss Bellamy. I never had nothing like this before. Dark pink. I like dark pink and light
pink. I like red, too.’

But Tia hadn’t finished the job. From a white nightdress scattered with roses, she produced a sleeveless blouse and a pretty hair band. ‘Will you trust me to cut your hair? You seem
to have more than your fair share of it.’