A Mother's Trust (12 page)

‘I’m saying them because they’re true. We’ve got to leave this place tonight or first thing in the morning at the very latest. God knows where we’ll go or how we’ll live, but if we stay here we might all die. Do you understand me now, Ma?’ She hesitated, looking over her shoulder as someone tapped on the door, and Dolly
peered
nervously into the room. ‘Come in, love. It’s going to be all right. Don’t look so scared.’

‘You was shouting and it’s my fault.’ Dolly entered, carrying a tray of tea which she thrust into Phoebe’s hands. ‘I should go back to Ma. I’m causing you nothing but grief.’

Phoebe placed the tray on the washstand, shaking her head. ‘You’re not to blame, Dolly. And we’re going to go somewhere nice.’ She paused, closing her eyes as once again the scent of brine and fresh air filled her nostrils. ‘We’re going to the seaside.’

‘Have you lost your mind, Phoebe?’ Annie stared at her in horror. ‘To the seaside?’

Phoebe smiled. ‘I know it’s a lot of nonsense, but the crystal ball showed me the way.’

Dolly picked up a cup of tea and handed it to Annie. ‘I never seen the sea, but I heard people talk about it.’

‘I did have an elderly aunt and her spinster daughter, who lived in Brighton,’ Annie said, sipping her tea thoughtfully. ‘My cousin Judy and me kept in touch for a while, but the old lady could by dead for all I know. All my family die young.’

‘Brighton it is then.’ With more certainty than she was feeling, Phoebe lifted a cup of tea to her lips. ‘Best pack what you need for the journey. We’re leaving in the morning before the rest of the street wakes up.’

They caught the first train from Victoria next morning. Their escape from Saffron Hill had gone unnoticed in the dark and they had caught a horse-drawn omnibus which took them directly to the station. Dolly had been
subdued
when they left the house but once settled on the hard wooden seats in the third class compartment of the train she became as excited as a small child on Christmas Eve. Annie was less enthusiastic and although she said little, Phoebe knew that her mother still believed that Ned would have married her had he known about the child. It had taken all her powers of persuasion to get her this far. Until they were safely on the train Phoebe had been afraid that her mother might suddenly make a bolt for it and return to Saffron Hill and the man she loved, but at least now she could relax a little and pray that Aunt Egeria still lived in the house on West Parade that Annie remembered as a child.

The house was at the end of a Georgian terrace. It had seen better days. Phoebe stood on the pavement, staring up at the crumbling white stucco and the rusty wrought-iron balconies. The end wall bulged slightly as though it was about to dive into the sea taking the whole terrace for a morning dip. The smell of boiling cabbage wafted up from the basement next door, mingled with a hint of fish that was not at its freshest. Annie dropped her carpet bag on the ground with a stifled groan. ‘It wasn’t like this when I last came here. I remember it as being all white and lovely, like a rich person’s house. Inside there was red carpet and a statue of a blackamoor standing at the foot of the staircase holding up a lamp. Aunt Egeria wore lavender silk gowns in the afternoon and her maid brought us tea in dainty cups with primroses and bluebells painted on them.’

‘I expect she’s dead,’ Dolly said in a sombre tone. ‘Old people die. Kittens die too. I had one once but it died when I cuddled it, and it was all floppy.’

Phoebe gave her hand a sympathetic squeeze. ‘Never mind, dear. I’m sure it went straight to heaven.’

‘And the dog I used to give scraps to died as well,’ Dolly continued soulfully. ‘And I once found a dead pigeon in the privy.’

‘If you don’t shut up I’ll scream,’ Annie said with feeling. ‘We’ve come all this way on a wild goose chase and all because Phoebe took it into her head that she can foretell the future. That’s my talent, not yours, my girl. I wish you’d mind your own business sometimes. I’ve left everything I care about in London to come to this.’ She gesticulated dramatically and burst into tears.

Phoebe released Dolly’s hand to pat her mother gently on the shoulder. ‘You’re tired, Ma. There’s only one way to find out if your aunt is still alive. I’ll knock on the door and ask.’ She left them standing disconsolately on the pavement while she climbed the stone steps leading up to the front door which was in sad need of a lick of paint. The lion’s head doorknocker might well be made of brass but it was green with verdigris and blackened by exposure to the elements. She raised it twice and let it fall, cocking her head on one side and listening to the echo. She waited for a while and then knocked again. This time she could hear shuffling footsteps coming towards the front door. It opened with a grinding sound and she found herself looking into the face of a tired-looking woman who could have been any age between thirty and fifty.

‘We’re full. Can’t you read the sign?’ The woman pointed to a piece of cardboard stuck in the front window bearing the legend
No Vacancies
. She was about to close the door when Phoebe put her foot over the threshold.

‘Does Mrs Egeria Edwards still live here?’

‘She’s dead. Died ten year ago. Now push off.’

‘She was my mother’s aunt,’ Phoebe said hastily. ‘Did you know her?’

‘I should know the old battleaxe. I’m Judy Edwards, her daughter, and we’re still full. No rooms to let, especially for poor relations.’

Before Phoebe had a chance to speak Annie had her foot on the bottom step. ‘Here, you. I heard that and we ain’t poor. We’ve got money to pay for bed and board. You was always a stuck-up, spiteful little cow. Moody Judy I used to call you when we was younger and I see you ain’t changed much.’

‘And neither have you.’ Judy gave her a speculative glance. ‘Any fool can see that you’re in the family way, and no wedding ring, I’ll bet.’

‘I’m a respectable widow woman for your information, Judy Edwards,’ Annie said, holding up her left hand to demonstrate the narrow gold band. ‘I don’t see no wedding ring on
your
finger. Obviously no one wanted to marry a sour-faced old maid like you.’

Phoebe sent a warning glance to her mother. ‘Please don’t fight. This isn’t getting us anywhere.’

‘She started it,’ Annie said darkly. ‘She always did, and I’d get into trouble from Aunt Egeria. She never liked me.’

Judy stood with arms akimbo, eyeing her cousin with obvious distaste. ‘Then you must be desperate to come looking for her now. You never showed much interest in Ma while she was alive. You never come to the door with calves’ foot jelly nor a bunch of grapes when she was struck down by illness. The last time you put pen to paper you was living the high life in London with the Eyeties, and travelling to Italy for the winter while we froze to death down here on the coast.’

‘We’d best leave, Ma.’ Phoebe could see that Dolly was distressed by this spirited encounter and she was feeling far from happy herself. ‘We won’t trouble you any longer, Miss Edwards. I’m sorry that your ma passed away, it must be hard for a woman on her own.’ To her intense surprise, Judy’s dark eyes filled with tears.

‘You ain’t like your ma and that’s for certain.’ She blew her nose on a scrap of tattered cotton that she took from her apron pocket. ‘Looks like rain. You’d best come inside. You can have a cup of tea and a bite to eat. Never let it be said that Judy Edwards is a mean woman or that she bears a grudge.’

‘Not much,’ Annie muttered.

Hoping that Judy had not heard this last remark, Phoebe managed a smile. ‘That’s very kind of you. We’ve been travelling since before dawn and I’m sure that Ma and Dolly could do with a sit down. We’ll move on as soon as they’re rested and perhaps you could direct us to a cheap lodging house.’

‘Never mind that now,’ Judy said, stepping aside
and
ushering them in. ‘Straight along the corridor and downstairs to the kitchen. Leave your bags in the hall.’

Phoebe hesitated at the foot of the steep staircase as a pale-faced girl leaned over the banisters. Dark curls framed an oval face and her large brown eyes were fringed with thick lashes. She smiled but her expression changed as Judy pushed Phoebe aside and mounted the first step, rolling up her sleeves as if she meant business. ‘I can see you, Rose Jackson. You and your old man owe three weeks’ rent. I want it by suppertime or you can look for digs elsewhere.’ She shook her fist as Rose disappeared from view. ‘I should have known better than to take entertainers, they’re a fly-by-night lot.’ She glared at Phoebe. ‘Well, go on then. What are you waiting for? And remember, girl. This is only temporary. Don’t go running away with the idea that Judy Edwards is a soft mark.’

WITH AN EXASPERATED
tut-tutting sound Judy went on ahead, still mumbling beneath her breath. The passageway was dark and narrow with doors leading off on either side, but these were firmly closed. A staircase at the end of the corridor led down to a large basement kitchen with a flagstone floor and a blackleaded range which took up at least half the space along one wall. A fire burned in the grate and a large black kettle bubbled cheerily on the hob. Pots and pans hung from the low beamed ceiling and a scrubbed pine table with benches on either side stretched almost the complete length of the room. The remnants of a meal lay where they had been abandoned and the stone sink was piled high with dirty dishes. Judy, it seemed, was not a very efficient housekeeper.

Annie looked around with her lips pursed and Phoebe knew instinctively that her mother was about to say something scathing. ‘This is very kind of you, Cousin Judy,’ she said quickly, before Annie could open her mouth.

‘Being too kind is my greatest failing,’ Judy said gloomily. ‘People take advantage of my good nature.’ She set about making a pot of tea. ‘Sit down, for goodness’ sake. You’re making the place untidy.’

Annie made a point of dusting the bench before she took a seat, but Dolly flopped down on the floor, spreading her legs wide so that she looked like a rag doll that a bored child had discarded. ‘I’m tired,’ she said, leaning back against the brick wall and closing her eyes.

‘Is she always like this?’ Judy demanded, warming the pot with hot water from the kettle. ‘Not all there?’

‘Dolly’s had a hard time,’ Phoebe said, leaping to her defence. ‘She had an operation on her head.’

‘That accounts for it.’ Judy finished making the tea and left it to brew while she searched for cups on a dresser crammed with oddments of china, household ledgers, broken ornaments and candle stubs stuck onto saucers and pot lids. ‘Who is she anyway? Not one of yours by the looks of her, Annie.’

‘Certainly not.’ Annie bridled visibly. ‘Anyone would think I was a woman of easy virtue if they listened to you, Moody.’

Unabashed, Judy poured the tea. ‘So who’s the father of this one? I don’t see a husband hanging on your coat tails.’

‘It’s a long story,’ Phoebe said without giving her mother a chance to launch into an account of her affair with a much younger man who just happened to belong to a notorious street gang. ‘If we might have something to eat, please, cousin? I can pay.’

Judy eyed her suspiciously. ‘So if you ain’t broke how is it that you came here looking for lodgings? What’s going on?’ She turned to Annie. ‘What happened to your old man? And why aren’t you off to Italy, as normal?’

Annie choked into her teacup. ‘Paulo’s dead. He was killed by the high mob ten years ago.’

‘So the nipper isn’t his then? Ma would be spinning in her grave if she could see you now. She always said you’d come to a sticky end.’

‘That’s cruel, Judy, even for you. But then you was always spiteful.’

Judy cleared a space on the table with a sweep of her arm and began slicing a loaf of bread. ‘I speak as I find. So are you going to tell me the truth or do I have to guess?’

Annie covered her eyes with her hand. ‘I can’t. It’s too painful.’

‘Then I will.’ Phoebe launched into an explanation making it as brief as possible, interrupted by occasional snores from Dolly, who had fallen asleep on the floor.

Judy listened attentively while she buttered the bread and carved slices from a leg of boiled mutton. ‘So you’re running away then? I guessed as much.’

‘Just until the baby is born,’ Phoebe said, eyeing the food and realising that she was extremely hungry. ‘We need to find somewhere to stay until the New Year. Then we’ll return to London.’

‘With a baby in tow.’ Judy raised her eyebrows. ‘No one will think it strange, of course.’

‘I’ll tell Ned,’ Annie said, snatching the plate that Judy offered her. ‘When he sees our child he’ll do the right thing by me.’

‘You always was soft in the head, girl.’ Judy took a plate over to Dolly and prodded her with the toe of her boot. ‘Wake up, sleeping beauty.’

Dolly opened her eyes. ‘I was dreaming about dinner.’

‘Well here it is. You can earn your keep by helping Phoebe do the washing up when you’ve eaten.’

‘Ta, miss.’ Dolly snatched the plate and began cramming bread and meat into her mouth.

Judy took a seat in a Windsor chair by the range. ‘Well now. You’re all in a pretty pickle, I must say. How do you propose to support yourselves during the long winter months?’

‘I’m a clairvoyant.’ Annie said proudly. ‘I do séances and table tipping. I read the crystal ball and tell people their fortunes.’

‘And no one’s ever found you out as a cheat and a liar?’

Annie almost choked on a mouthful of cold lamb. ‘That’s not fair, Judy. I can see into the future and I do get messages from the other side.’

‘It’s a pity you didn’t foresee that little complication, isn’t it?’ Judy said, staring at Annie’s swollen belly.

‘He’s not a complication,’ Annie cried angrily. ‘My son will be the best thing that’s ever happened to me.’ She shot an apologetic glance at Phoebe. ‘Next to you, of course, ducks. You’re a good girl and I dunno what I’d have done without you.’

Phoebe put her empty plate down on the table. ‘Ta for the food, Cousin Judy. I’ll do the dishes and then we’ll be on our way. We need to find somewhere to stay before dark, and the nights are drawing in.’