A Mother's Duty (43 page)

‘And that’s the last thing we want,’ said Jeannie,

‘Definitely,’ he said.

It was not until they arrived home that Jeannie realised her stockings were torn and there were grazes and dried blood on one of her legs. Her coat had also picked up dirt from the gutter. She tried to creep upstairs but was caught by John as he was taking in the supper drinks. ‘What’s happened to you?’ he asked solicitously.

‘It’s nothing,’ she said swiftly.

‘You’ve cut your leg.’ He frowned. ‘You’ll have to wash that.’

‘I’ll do it!’ She smiled reassuringly, although she felt irritated over his fussing. ‘Don’t worry. I know something about first aid. I wanted to be a nurse once.’ She carried on upstairs.

‘Jeannie, you didn’t say how you did it,’ called John.

‘I slipped – uneven pavement!’ She did not look back.

John stared after her. For some reason he could not explain, he felt she was not being quite open with him and that disturbed him. He went into the Smoking Room before returning to the kitchen and Kitty.

‘Jeannie’s had a fall,’ he said abruptly, standing in the middle of the room.

‘Is she OK?’ Kitty came over to him drying her hands on a tea towel.

‘She says she is.’

‘Then what are you worried about?’

‘She’s cut her leg. Perhaps you could have a look at it, Kit? You know what young ones are like.’

‘You’re probably making a fuss over nothing,’ said Kitty.

The back door opened and Teddy entered.

‘Just look at it, Kit, and don’t argue,’ he said irritably. ‘Don’t you understand I feel uncomfortable asking my own daughter can I look at her leg.’

Kitty sighed. She was tired and wanted nothing more than to get to bed. ‘OK. I’ll do it. But I don’t think she’ll thank me for it.’

‘I don’t care about that. Neglect can kill. Just get on with it.’

‘What’s neglect going to kill?’ asked Teddy, taking off his gloves and coat.

‘Jeannie’s cut her leg,’ informed his mother, taking the first-aid box from a drawer. ‘You make yourself a hot drink, son. You look cold. I bet it was freezing on that motorbike.’

‘Not too bad.’ He avoided looking at John as he put the kettle on.

Kitty left the kitchen with the box and Teddy sat down.

John stared at him and said, ‘What have you done to your knee?’

For a moment Teddy could not think what to reply when he saw the tear in his trouser leg. He had become aware of his knee throbbing five minutes ago. Cold had a habit of freezing out pain and he had almost forgotten how he had done it. ‘I skidded and had to put my knee down.’ He could feel the blood rushing to his face and ears and hated himself for being unable to deal with any embarrassment or trouble in a cool calm manner.

There was a silence and then John said in a hard voice, ‘She was with you, wasn’t she? Where did you take her?’

Teddy realised there was no use in lying. ‘Not far.’

‘Where?’

Teddy eased his throat. ‘Along by the cathedral and down to the river and along the dock road.’

John’s breath hissed between his teeth. ‘You’re mad! I bet you went too fast down Parliament Street and that’s when she came off. You could have killed her!’ He towered over Teddy.

‘No!’ cried Teddy, getting up but having to lean on the table because of the pain in his knee. ‘Do you think I’d take chances with her? It was a dog! I had to swerve to miss it in Hope Street. I wasn’t going fast.’

‘So you say,’ said John in a voice he could barely keep under control because it came as such a shock that Jeannie had lied to him. ‘You don’t take her for a ride on that motorbike again. It’s bloody dangerous.’

‘She was game,’ protested Teddy. ‘She enjoyed it!’

That made it even worse in John’s eyes because hadn’t he warned her not to go on Teddy’s motorbike? But maybe she wasn’t to blame. Teddy had probably talked her into it and she was her father’s daughter and would have enjoyed the excitement, even so the thought of her coming off the bike and being injured made his blood run cold. ‘You don’t take her on that motorbike again! Do you hear me, Teddy?’

Teddy stared at him tight-lipped. There was a long silence.

‘I asked you a question,’ roared John. ‘And you won’t leave this room until you give me your promise, or I’ll get rid of that motorbike.’

‘You’ve got no right,’ said Teddy furiously.

‘Don’t talk to me about rights,’ said John in a low voice. ‘I’m the boss here, laddie, and don’t you forget it or you’ll rue the day.’

There was a loaded silence and then Teddy yelled, ‘OK! I bloody promise.’

‘Now you’re showing sense,’ said John, and flicked him across the cheek. He left the room as Mick entered it.

Feeling as if he was going to explode Teddy dug into his pockets and took out his cigarettes and matches.

‘What’s wrong with your face?’ said Mick. ‘What’s going on? I could hear the big fella in the lobby.’

Teddy lighted up and scowled at him through a haze of smoke. ‘Mind your own bloody business. I have enough people poking their nose into my life.’ And he limped out of the room.

Very early the next morning Teddy went down the yard to check his motorbike. He was having trouble bending his knee and knew he would not be able to ride to work and would have to walk. He felt all knotted up inside, not only because of his knee but because of the big fella forbidding him to take Jeannie out on the bike again.

‘Are you all right?’ said a husky voice behind him.

He turned and saw Jeannie and held out a hand to her. ‘My knee’s giving me hell but I can take that. What sticks in my throat is that I promised not to take you out on the Rudge again. I wish I hadn’t.’

She took his hand between both hers and held it against her breast. ‘Poor you.’

‘Did he make you promise?’ he asked.

‘Not promise. But he was so understanding and sympathetic that he made me feel terribly guilty. He said I was a sensible lass and he knew I wouldn’t do it again.’ There was a wistful expression on her face. ‘Just as I was getting the hang of it, too.’

‘The fall hasn’t put you off?’

‘No. But if I ever did get to ride on a motorbike again I’d like some proper clothes like yours.’ She gazed into his eyes and Teddy raised one of her hands and rubbed it against his cheek before kissing her knuckles. ‘What are we going to do? He said I wasn’t to go out with you anywhere again.’

Teddy’s anger threatened to choke him. ‘Bloody swine! He’s got no right!’

‘He’s not a swine,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘He’s nice and kind and generous but now he’s coming the heavy father and it’s not what I want from him. It reminds me too much of Granny and Aunt Emily. They were always worrying about me, thinking a man was going to carry me off. They treated me like I hadn’t a ha’p’orth of common sense. There has to be a way round your promise. We can’t go places without transport and I want to go places with you.’

He lifted his head and they smiled at each other. ‘I’ll find a way,’ he said. ‘We’ll have to be careful, though, or he’ll have my hide.’

‘We need to put him off the scent.’

He nodded. ‘We’ll have to go out separately and meet up elsewhere.’

‘Yes, and I could—’ She hesitated.

‘What?’

‘Be really nice to your Mick and young Doctor Calhoun to make him believe I’m not that fussy on you.’

Teddy did not like that idea but he could see she thought it would work. ‘I hope our Mick’s not really in love with you,’ he said with brotherly concern.

‘He’s just in love with my face,’ she said assuredly. Teddy knew he had to believe her or else he would have all kinds of reservations but he wanted to be with her so that settled it. He knew now as he looked at his Rudge exactly how he was going to get round his promise. It might be splitting hairs but love had to find a way.

He began to peruse the advertisement columns in
The Motor Cycle
magazine, as well as the
Echo
in search of what he wanted.

Come Sunday, Teddy discovered that the big fella and Mick were going along to the Central Hall with Jeannie so he decided it might be to his advantage to go. He did his best to appear to be hanging on to every word the preacher said but most of the time he was too aware of Jeannie sitting between Mick and her father to take much notice. Even so, Teddy made out he was interested and asked her to explain a few things to him on the short walk home. She behaved coolly towards him and was nice to Mick, but despite that Teddy got to walk next to her. He guessed he wasn’t fooling his stepfather by his apparent interest in religious affairs but he had decided that if he made out he had already given up all interest in Jeannie on John’s say-so, he would be acting out of character and the big fella might become suspicious. Teddy gave no thought to what his brother was feeling. At least not until they went to bed later that evening.

‘Why did you have to go?’ Mick said in a furious voice as he undressed. ‘You’re not holy!’

‘I’m not pretending I am! But since when did you get a halo?’ said Teddy. ‘Admit you only went to get in with Jeannie.’

‘I do have some interest in religion. I believe in God!’

‘So do I! And the Ten Commandments.’

‘Well, remember the one about not coveting and keep your eyes off Jeannie. She’s too old for you.’ Mick slid into bed.

‘I like older women,’ said Teddy loftily. He had not given a thought to Jeannie’s age.

‘Just find somebody else,’ muttered Mick presenting him with his back. ‘Or me and you are gonna fall out.’

So what, thought Teddy, and pulled the covers over his head. The battle lines were drawn and no longer would he worry the least little bit about his brother’s feelings.

Kitty, who was aware that her two eldest sons were vying for Jeannie’s favours, wondered if she should do anything about it. She knew that John had forbidden Teddy from taking the girl out on his motorbike and they had had words on the subject. There was a definite atmosphere between her husband and son and how Kitty managed to keep her mouth shut and not rush to one or the other’s defence when they spoke to her about it, she did not know. Nor could she help wanting to lay the blame on Jeannie’s shoulders for such a serious falling out. Kitty felt she walked an emotional tightrope to keep the peace and that one innocent but wrong word from her could only make matters worse.

It would have helped Kitty if she could have spoken to Jeannie like her own daughter but however hard Kitty tried she could not. She had never nurtured her as she had her own children. There were no shared memories to look back on, only the thought that this girl was Margaret’s and John’s daughter and she had no part of her.

Easter came and on the Sunday afternoon John suggested they went out as a family for a picnic to Sefton Park. It was soon obvious to Kitty that Mick and Teddy were out to impress Jeannie in the games they played, hogging the bat and giving Jeannie more second chances when caught out than her being a girl warranted. It was not fair on Jack and Ben who got fed up hanging around and wandered off. Jack fell in the lake and Ben had to go in after him, and the afternoon ended in an argument between Teddy and Mick, with John storming off carrying a sopping wet Jack, blaming
her
sons for what had happened.

The atmosphere in the private quarters of the Arcadia was still fraught when the Galloways left for Canada.

John, Kitty, Jeannie and Jack went to the landing stage to wave them off. Nancy and Malcolm tried to persuade them to leave England. ‘Hitler’s not going to be content with just Austria,’ said Malcolm. ‘And what about Italy and Abyssinia? Hitler and Il Duce are already in cahoots. They’ll be marching into somewhere else next.’

‘We’ll think about it,’ was all John would promise but, thinking of her sons, Kitty thought that perhaps they should. Several weeks passed and during that time Teddy made out that he was losing interest in Jeannie and religion. He also got rid of his Rudge motorbike.

The O’Neills came to see them. Daniel was cock-a-hoop because the economic war between Eire and Britain was finally over after six years. ‘Hopefully it’ll improve relationships.’

‘It won’t if a member of the Dáil carries on suggesting dropping poison gas on Ulster,’ said Kitty.

Daniel sighed. ‘Crazy. But de Valera did condemn the idea.’

She agreed he had more sense.

Celia came to work for them – a washed-out looking Celia with lank hair and a waist that could be spanned by a man’s hands.

‘You look like you need a holiday,’ said Kitty, shaking her head.

‘It’s Ma. And it’s been hectic at the doctor’s the last few weeks,’ replied Celia, straightening her shoulders. ‘I’ll be all right now I’m here.’

Kitty decided what Celia needed was feeding up and she made sure that was what the girl got by standing over her and making her eat. She was rewarded for her efforts and bought Celia a new frock and bullied Mick into taking her to the Laughter Show at the Pivvy.

Jeannie and Teddy narrowly missed bumping into them because they went there on the same night. ‘I told you Mick wasn’t in love with me,’ said Jeannie, looking relieved. Teddy was not so sure but he kept his mouth shut.

At last, one night in June, he saw what he had been looking for and although it was not the most auspicious of days when he set out he was determined to get what he wanted. Gales had swept the country, bringing down telephone lines and ruining the punter’s hopes of a Derby winner because of wreckage on the course. But as soon as Teddy saw the second-hand 1932 Ariel he fell in love with it and his thoughts turned to days out in the country. Without telling his family, he kept it at a mate’s house and after a couple of practice runs he felt competent enough to take Jeannie out on it so arranged for them to meet at the Pier Head one Sunday afternoon.

‘Yes, yes!’ she exclaimed with a rapturous expression on her face when she saw him astride the Ariel. ‘A proper pillion seat! You have gone up in the world.’

‘I had to.’ He glanced over his shoulder as she climbed up behind. ‘I promised the big fella I wouldn’t take you on the old Rudge but I didn’t say anything about a different motorbike.’

‘Big improvement.’ She marvelled as she found the foot rests and settled herself. ‘Let’s go.’