A Rare Ruby (26 page)

Ruby shoved her wayward flyaway hair under her hat and pulled it down hard as she hurried along to the Green Man. It was getting late; she would have to leave it until tomorrow to go and tell Beth that Tom was back. As she got nearer the pub she gave up a silent prayer that there wouldn’t be another incident like before.

Nervously Ruby pushed open the door. The bar was full of men singing loud songs and holding each other up; the floor was wet and sticky with beer. She could see her father. He was laughing and talking to two women at the bar. They had their backs to Ruby, but she could hear their screeching laughter above all the other noise around her. She was jostled as she went towards her father and was pushed against a big man.

He quickly turned on her. ‘’Ere, what’s your game?’

‘Sorry.’

‘Yer will be, yer’ve just spilt some of me beer.’

Fear gripped her. ‘I’m sorry.’

He put his arm round her shoulder. ‘What’s a pretty little thing like you doing in a place like this?’

‘I’ve come to see me dad.’

‘Have yer now? And who might that be?’

‘Thomas.’

He laughed. ‘Thomas. And where might we find him?’

‘Behind the bar.’

‘’Ere, Thomas me old mate,’ he shouted. ‘Yer missus’s gone and sent yer daughter ter come and get yer, so yer’d better stop giving those toms the glad eye.’ He put his face close to Ruby’s. ‘I bet he thought he was gonner get lucky ternight.’

Ruby wanted to die. She looked towards her father, but thankfully he hadn’t heard the man above all the noise.

The man shoved Ruby towards the bar. ‘Out the way, you lot. This little gel’s come ter see ’er daddy.’

Thomas, who was at the other end of the bar, turned when he heard the commotion from the men being pushed aside. ‘Ruby! What’re you doing here? Is it Tom? What’s happened to him?’

‘It’s all right. I’ve just come to tell you that he’s home.’

‘Thank God for that.’ He began filling a glass that had been handed to him. ‘Didn’t think he’d stay away for long, he ain’t that silly.’ Her father looked around nervously.

Ruby could tell he was pleased about Tom and didn’t want these people to see his true feelings.

‘Hello there,’ said George, coming up to Ruby. ‘Everything all right?’

She nodded. ‘Yes thanks.’

‘Not a nice night for a youngster like you to be out.’ He leaned forward. ‘And this ain’t the right area to walk about at night.’

‘I was just going. I just had to tell Dad something.’ As her father continued filling glasses she felt uncomfortable. ‘I best be going, Dad.’

‘See you when I get home. I might be a bit late - as you can see, we’re busy.’

‘Bye.’

One of the women she had seen her father talking and laughing with turned. ‘Thought I recognised that voice.’

‘Mrs Bell!’ said Ruby in amazement.

‘You know this lady?’ said her father.

‘Mum used to do her washing.’

‘Thomas, you’re this young lady’s father?’

He grinned and nodded. ‘This is my Ruby.’

‘You dark horse,’ said Mrs Bell. ‘You didn’t tell me your name was Jenkins.’

‘You never asked.’

Ruby looked at her father.

‘Now you go on home. As I said, I might be late back.’

Mrs Bell smiled at Ruby. ‘I wish you was still doing my washing. Me frillies don’t look the same now. How’s that young brother of yours?’

‘He’s all right, thank you.’

She turned to Thomas. ‘You should be very proud of your kids. They’ve got lovely manners. Can I buy you a drink, love?’ she asked Ruby.

‘No thank you. I’d better be getting back home.’

‘That’s a pity, we could have had a little chat.’

Ruby smiled, then said, ‘See you later, Dad.’ He didn’t answer, as he was too busy serving.

Ruby had guessed Mrs Bell used that pub. As she pushed her way through the crowd, Ruby thought about her lovely flat. Her father had told her about some of the women that frequented the Green Man. Did Mrs Bell pick up her men friends in there? She shuddered when she got out into the cold night air and, putting her head down against the biting wind, quickly made her way home. Her thoughts went to Tom. She was tired of running after her family, making sure everybody was all right. A lot of the trouble was because Tom didn’t have enough to do. She had to find something to keep him busy. She knew some schools didn’t charge and although when she had mentioned it before, Tom had been against it, she had made up her mind that he must go to school.

As Ruby hurried home her mind was going over and over what had happened this evening. Thank goodness Tom was home and her father was pleased she’d made the effort to tell him. Then fancy seeing Mrs Bell; she looked even nicer than before. It must be wonderful to have lovely clothes and make-up like that and sit in a pub laughing and talking. A bit like Beth does, but Beth’s working. Ruby grinned to herself. So’s Mrs Bell, in a way. Ruby pulled her scarf tighter. ‘I hope Dad’s not getting over friendly with her,’ she said out loud. But then she thought again of Beth. After all, it was part of the job, being friendly with the customers. Perhaps she should have waited till Thomas had finished and then they could have walked home together. But she had to let him live his life freely; after all, in his mind he’d been trapped for years.

‘What did Dad say?’ asked Tom as soon as she opened the kitchen door.

‘He was all right.’

‘Was he mad?’

‘No. He was too busy to say much. Now you go on to bed. You just tell him you’re sorry in the morning and that you won’t do it again.’

‘All right.’ Tom put his book away. How could he tell Ruby that he wasn’t going to stop pinching things? If people left them lying about then that was their fault. He smiled to himself when he thought of his loot under the mattress. There were some sweets and five Woodbines; he hadn’t had the nerve to smoke any of them yet, but he knew he would have to soon, just to show he wasn’t a cissy. He didn’t feel guilty at taking things. As his mate Freddie said, ‘They must have plenty otherwise they’d look after what they’ve got.’

Freddie, who was on the plump side, had told Tom about his two brothers and father, who were rough villains and had been in prison a few times. But they were never short of anything and he was very proud of the fact that his mother had more rings than fingers. Freddie was determined to be like the rest of the family.

When she was alone Ruby sat staring at the fire thinking about her father. He was so different now. It was a shame he hadn’t been more like this when her mother was alive. Had it been her mother’s fault? Had she fussed over him too much? Since he had been at work these last few months he had become much more self-assured. But the Green Man was that kind of place; you would quickly go under if you couldn’t hold your own. Thank goodness George liked him and had helped give him confidence again. At the beginning Ruby had been very worried that Thomas would simply run away; now she could see he enjoyed working there. Her thoughts went to Mrs Bell. He must know what she did for a living, surely? Ruby knew he would be paid tonight. She smiled. Would he ever let a woman like that take him home and take all his money? No. She couldn’t see him being led astray like that.

The front door closing woke Ruby who had been dozing in the chair. She looked up at the clock: it was midnight.

‘You still up, love?’

‘Thought I’d wait up for you.’ Ruby could see her father’s eyes were a bit glazed. ‘D’you want a cuppa? The kettle’s boiling.’

‘If you like. Sorry I couldn’t talk much tonight.’

‘That’s all right. I could see how busy the place was.’

‘So, where was Tom?’

‘At the back of the Royal Albert. He went to see Beth but he caught sight of me going in there.’ Ruby stood at the table and put a spoonful of tea into the teapot; she added the water and covered it with the multicoloured tea cosy her mother had knitted years ago.

‘Did you tell Beth I’d walloped him?’

‘No. I just said you’d had words. He stayed round the back for a bit, then came home. He was freezing.’ She put the tea strainer over the cup and poured out the tea. ‘Dad. Does Mrs Bell go in the pub very often?’

‘Not too many times. She’s a very nice woman. Very generous. Always buys me a drink.’

‘You didn’t know Mum used to do her washing?’

‘Not till tonight. She said she was very sorry to hear about her passing away. She missed young Tom collecting and bringing back her washing. She said nobody does her clothes as nice as your mother.’

‘You know she lives in the buildings?’

‘She did tell me that.’

‘You do know . . .’ Ruby hesitated. ‘. . . she’s a woman of the night?’

Her father threw his head back and laughed. ‘Of course I know that. Most of the women who come into that pub are looking for punters.’

‘You will be careful, won’t you, Dad? I don’t want you spending all your money on women like that.’

He smiled and shook his head. Picking up his cup, he finished his tea. ‘Chance’d be a fine thing. ’Sides, she’s only interested in those what’s got a few bob. Got very expensive tastes, has that lady. I’ll be off to bed now.’

 

The following morning Tom was already sitting up when Ruby opened her eyes.

‘Tom. What is it? What’s the matter?’

‘I was frightened to get up in case Dad was still mad at me.’

‘No, don’t worry. Everything’s all right. Now turn round while I get dressed.’ She was getting embarrassed with him watching her. ‘I’ve got to get that fire going then and clean upstairs. And later on you’d better go and tell Beth you’re home. She was very worried about you.’

It was cold in the kitchen. As Ruby raked the ash out from the grate she thought about sharing the room with Tom. She would ask her father whether, if she split the feather mattress in half, Tom could sleep on the floor in his room so she could have a bit of privacy now she was getting older and becoming a woman. She knew Tom wouldn’t like to sleep in the bed with his father, so that could be the solution. After checking there weren’t any bits of coal amongst the ashes that she could use again, Ruby laid the fire and took the ashes out to the yard. It would take a while for the coal to burn and heat the kettle, so she could clean the lav and put the washing into soak while she was waiting. It was still very dark out. She stood for a moment or two looking up at the stars. They were very bright. Her thoughts went to her mother. ‘I miss you so much,’ she whispered. ‘Why did you leave us?’

After they had had their toast Ruby sent Tom along to Beth and then she told her father her plan.

‘That sounds all right. You sure you can manage to divide that mattress?’

‘It’ll be a bit hard, and I won’t be able to do it all at once as I’ve got to put two rows of stitching right down the middle before I can cut through it, otherwise we’ll have feathers everywhere. It ain’t gonner be that easy.’

‘Have you got enough covers for Tom to come in my room?’ he asked.

‘I think we can manage. It’s mostly our coats on the bed as it is.’

‘Well, that’s all right with me.’

‘Good. I’ll start sewing tomorrow night. I’ll have to do it in the bedroom to keep the feathers in one room.’

‘I’ll give you a hand, love. Otherwise you’ll end up with blisters. I don’t think those scissors are all that sharp.’

That night as soon as her head hit the pillow Ruby was asleep. She had been working all day and had forgotten to tell Tom her plan.

 

On Monday, after he had finished his jobs and errands for Milly, Tom hurried to meet his gang.

‘Well,’ said Freddie to the three boys sitting on the coal at the back of the railway. ‘What shall we do today?’

Tom wasn’t listening, however. He was thinking about yesterday, when he had sheepishly told Beth why he had run out of the house. She’d been angry with him and had given him a telling off.

‘Now you listen to me, young man. Your sister and father are good people, so don’t you go bringing home any trouble. I know how easy it is to get in with the wrong sort and even if it seems simple to steal, it ain’t right to take something that belongs to someone else. They might have worked bloody hard to get it.’ Then she had relented and kissed the top of his head.

He smiled. He liked Beth. He could talk to her. But it was all very well saying things like that: she was living in a pub and had her own room, and she had a husband who must send her money sometimes. He had nothing.

‘Can we git some Christmas presents?’ asked Ginger, breaking into Tom’s thoughts. Ginger was the youngest of the gang.

‘Could do. What d’yer want, Ginge?’

‘Don’t know. Me sister wants a doll and me mum wants—’ He stopped. ‘Me mum said she wants everyfing, including a man.’

Freddie laughed. ‘Can’t git her that, she’ll have ter find one of those ’erself. What about you, ’Arry?’

‘Dunno.’ Harry was tall and skinny. He always looked as if he was going to fall asleep. ‘S’pose we could do with a chicken.’

‘We’ll get them on Christmas Eve. What about you, young Tom?’

‘Dunno. I got a wallop for giving ’em coal on Sat’day.’

‘If yer daft enough ter tell ’em yer pinched it, what d’yer expect? Yer could ’ave said yer found it after the coal cart went past. I can see yer’ve got a lot ter learn. Where d’yer keep yer loot then?’

Tom sat up and looked very pleased with himself. ‘Under me mattress. Me sister don’t lift that up. It’s on the floor and it’s heavy.’

‘Good ter see yer learning then, me old son.’ Freddie, at thirteen, was all of two years older than Tom and very streetwise. ‘So what d’yer want fer Christmas then?’

‘Dunno.’

‘I’ll tell yer what. We’ll go down the market and pinch a couple of handbags. Then with a bit o’ luck we’ll find enough money ter share out. OK?’