Blue Moon (24 page)

‘How are the German lessons going?’

‘I haven’t had that many,’ Ruby confessed, ‘but I’ve enjoyed them so far. John refuses to take any more money.’ She laughed nervously. ‘He says I’m a natural.’

‘Go on then,’ Jim chuckled. ‘Impress me.’

‘
Ich wohne in Worthing
,’ said Ruby. ‘I was born in Worthing.
Wo wohnen Sie
– where were you born?’

Jim nodded and pulled a face. ‘I
am
impressed,’ he said.

Ruby felt a little glow of pleasure. ‘What did you do today?’

‘Not a lot,’ said Jim. ‘We didn’t get anybody in the studio. It’s too close to the Christmas holiday, so I spent the day clearing up. We’ve got a big order in the New Year.’

‘Oh?’

‘The Blackshirts are encouraging their people to be photographed in uniform, so several have booked themselves in for the week after,’ said Jim. ‘We’ve been lucky enough to get a few of the knobs coming.’

‘Is that good?’ asked Ruby. They were crossing High Street and moving into Upper High Street and had to wait for a bus to pass. The rain had become even more penetrating. The hem of Ruby’s coat was saturated and brushed across her already-wet legs as she walked, making it very uncomfortable.

‘If the picture gets in the paper, or printed somewhere else,’ said Jim, ‘it should bring in more business.’

‘You’re beginning to sound like more than an employee,’ Ruby joked.

‘I was going to tell you something when we got home,’ said Jim, ‘but I can’t wait.’

‘Good news or bad news?’ Ruby asked cautiously.

‘Good,’ said Jim. ‘You remember that photograph I took of you on the burnt-out pier?’

‘The one you called “Beauty and the Beast”?’ Ruby asked.

‘You remember I entered it in a competition?’ Jim went on excitedly. ‘Well, it won a prize.’

Ruby stopped dead. ‘Jim, that’s wonderful!’ she cried.

‘It didn’t come first,’ Jim added quickly, ‘but it got second place.’

She reached up and kissed his cheek.

‘It deserves a better kiss than that,’ he said. The sound of the pouring rain on the umbrella didn’t matter, as he put his arm around her waist and drew her close. His lips were warm and tender, and even a trickle of cold water from the tipped umbrella running down the back of her neck didn’t spoil the moment.

‘Put that girl down, Jim Searle,’ said a gruff voice coming out of the darkness towards them. ‘You don’t know where she’s been.’

‘Percy!’ cried Ruby, as the two of them broke apart. All else forgotten, she threw herself into her brother’s arms.

Their laughter and happiness spilled over as Percy walked through the front door of the house. Bea was beside herself with joy to see her son – all apologies and explanations momentarily brushed aside. Percy was kissed and hugged so hard that he thought before long he’d have no breath left in his body. May came downstairs and threw herself into her big brother’s arms. ‘You came back!’ she cried. ‘Did you bring me a present?’

Once he had been stripped of his wet coat, they could see Percy’s uniform.

‘You actually joined the Blackshirts?’ said Bea faintly.

‘I did,’ said Percy. He had been plonked into the best
chair and given a towel to dry his hair. A modest brandy had been placed beside him. ‘But I’ve jacked it in. I told them I have family commitments, so I’m back home now.’ May climbed onto his lap and helped to dry his hair. ‘I’m sorry about Father,’ he told Bea. ‘I only found out two days ago.’

‘I went to the BUF HQ at least four times,’ said Jim indignantly. ‘I guessed you were there, but they wouldn’t help.’

‘And Edith and I tried the area office,’ said Ruby.

‘I would have come back, but they withheld the information from me,’ said Percy. ‘I was damned annoyed, I can tell you.’

‘Why didn’t anyone tell me you’d looked for him?’ Bea complained.

‘We weren’t absolutely sure Percy was there, Mother,’ said Ruby, ‘and we didn’t want to worry you.’

Bea placed a brown paper bag in front of her son.

‘What’s that?’ he asked.

‘Your father’s effects,’ she said. ‘We thought we should keep them for you.’

Percy pushed them away. ‘I don’t want them.’ He picked up the brandy and downed it in one. ‘I originally wanted to complete my training before I made contact with you again,’ Percy went on, ‘but they should have overridden that. No one seemed to understand the urgency of the situation. How are you coping?’

‘We’ve taken a lodger called John,’ said Bea.

Percy’s mouth dropped open. ‘In my attic room?’

Bea shook her head. ‘We got rid of the front parlour,’
she replied and, noticing his shocked expression, she added, ‘Nobody ever used it, and I got quite a few pounds for the furniture.’

‘It was the only way we could survive,’ said Ruby, putting the brown paper bag in the drawer, out of sight. She felt uneasy. Was her brother angry or simply a bit surprised?

‘Your mother and sister have been pretty amazing,’ said Jim. Ruby was spreading Percy’s wet coat over the clothes horse near the fire. ‘My landlady virtually threw John out on the street.’

Ruby gave him a nudge. She didn’t want Jim to mention that John was Jewish. Percy was a Blackshirt, and so was Mrs Grimes’s new lodger and he had some very disparaging opinions about the Jews.

‘If they hadn’t opened up their home to him,’ Jim went on, ‘I dread to think where John would be.’

‘Why did she chuck him out?’ asked Percy. ‘Couldn’t he pay the rent?’

‘It wasn’t like that,’ said Bea.

‘She had a fancy man,’ Ruby said quickly. ‘John was in the way.’

‘He’s a good man,’ Bea continued. ‘He’s opened a little cobbler’s shop in the shed at the back. He’s already proving to be very popular, and we’ll soon get double the rent: one for the room and the other for the shop.’

Percy burst out laughing. ‘And here’s me, thinking you couldn’t do without me.’

‘Oh no,’ cried Bea, ‘don’t say that, Son.’

Percy stood up and kissed her cheek. ‘It’s good to be home, Mother.’

While everybody had been talking, Bea had warmed up the leftover stew from dinner-time. She placed a dish on the table and encouraged her son to sit up and eat. It was a small portion but, with two doorsteps of bread, it would do nicely.

‘Back to bed now, young lady,’ she said to May. Percy let her down and went to the table. May protested, but knew it was no use arguing. The grown-ups smiled one to the other as her thunderous footsteps reached the top of the stairs and her bedroom door closed firmly.

‘This looks good,’ said Percy, reaching for the salt cellar. ‘I’m absolutely starving, and you won’t believe the journey I’ve just had.’

Bea was alone in her bedroom. It was the day before Christmas Eve, and the next day, Sunday, the shops would be shut. If she needed anything more for the holiday, today was the last day she could get it. This promised to be the best Christmas for a very long time. Ruby had gone to work; May was playing with her dollies under the kitchen table; and Percy had gone out. The wonderful thing was, she had all her family at home, and Bea was determined to make this Christmas one to remember.

She was looking at John’s ring. Should she sell it now? It was very tempting. She was almost at the end of the trinkets she’d found among Nelson’s things in his drawer. She had recognized some as his mother’s
jewellery, but the rest was a bit of a mystery. Still, it had kept the wolf from the door. Ruby had no idea how or why they still managed to eat fairly well and keep the bills paid, but as winter came on, it would get harder. Bea could already feel her chest getting tighter, and the coal in the coal-hole was going down quickly. Now that John was here, she couldn’t expect him to live in a cold room, so she had two fires to keep going.

She turned the ring over in her hands. It could easily bring in fifteen shillings – maybe a lot more. She had planned to use it only if she had to. She’d wanted to hang onto it and give it back, if ever that was possible, for the poor man had so little. As difficult as things were for her, she and her family still had each other, and there was no danger of her family being taken from her. Thank God she owned the house. She had already eked out what little Nelson had left behind, but there was still the boat and his fishing gear in his locker on the beach. Now that Percy was back home, he would need that. The thought cheered her up. Of course, what on earth was she thinking? When Percy started fishing again, they would have food – and plenty. She wrapped the ring up in a clean handkerchief and pushed it to the back of the drawer.

As she took her hand out again, her fingers brushed Nelson’s pocket watch. She would wrap it up in some paper and give it to Percy as a Christmas present. He and Nelson didn’t always see eye-to-eye, and the watch had little value, but it was something to remember the man who had fed and clothed him all his life.

Downstairs, she opened the jar on the mantelpiece
and peered inside. There was three shillings and sixpence left. She would buy a little fresh fruit, as a special treat. It would be nice to use the fruit bowl again. Fruit had been the first thing to go when Nelson died. It was funny, but life was one of two extremes. When Nelson was alive, she’d had plenty, but was desperately unhappy; and now that he was dead, she was a lot happier, but life was a struggle.

She glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She’d lost weight. It wasn’t a drastic loss, but she was a lot slimmer. Eating only two meals a day had its benefits, but by going without herself, to make sure the family had enough, she hoped she wouldn’t end up like some. Mrs Stanton had eight children and had dropped dead in her own kitchen – malnutrition, they’d called it. Her husband had been out of work for three years and, with all those mouths to feed, they’d made her sell just about every stick of furniture in the house before she could qualify for the dole. Even that was means-tested, and their eldest boy’s paper-round money was deducted from the amount they received.

Bea shook away the dark thoughts. Thank God that wasn’t going to happen to her. She would be all right. With John’s money and Percy fishing again, things were looking up, not down. Taking the money from the jar, she called May to come out from under the table and, grabbing their coats and her bag, they set off for the shops.

CHAPTER 19

Ruby thought the hotel room was empty, but by the time she’d been working there for a few minutes she realized that she wasn’t alone. Mrs Harper, a frequent guest at Warnes, was rummaging through a washbag in the bathroom.

‘Oh,’ said Ruby, surprised. ‘Excuse me, madam. I’ll come back later.’

She opened the door wide. Outside in the corridor, Winnie was putting the finishing touches to a flower arrangement. Ruby turned to leave, but when Mrs Harper looked up at her, Ruby was surprised to see that she was in tears.

‘Have you seen it, dear? I know I put it down somewhere.’

Ruby came closer. ‘Seen what, madam?’

‘The brooch,’ said the old lady. Judging by her clothes, she was clearly a wealthy woman and her fingers, wrist and neck were already covered in heavy jewellery. ‘I can’t find Louisa’s brooch.’

‘Have you tried looking in your handbag or the
dressing table?’ Ruby suggested kindly. She didn’t think anyone would find a brooch in a washbag.

They returned to the bedroom and Ruby helped her, but to no avail. Ruby was on her hands and knees looking under the bed when the door burst open.

‘Come along, Mother,’ said an irritable female voice. ‘For goodness’ sake, hurry up. The car will be here soon.’

‘Yes, dear,’ said Mrs Harper. ‘I’ve just got to put on my shoes, that’s all.’

‘I’ll wait for you downstairs then.’

The door closed and Ruby got up from the floor. ‘I’m sorry, madam. It’s not under the bed.’

‘Oh dear, oh dear,’ said the woman, clearly distressed. ‘My daughter gets so cross when I lose things.’

‘If I do find it,’ said Ruby, ‘what shall I do with it?’

‘Pop it in the drawer beside the bed,’ Mrs Harper said. ‘It goes in the little red box.’

Muttering distractedly, the guest put on her shoes and hurried from the room. Mrs Harper had left a fox-fur stole and an umbrella on the bed, so Ruby tidied them away. As usual she had to strip the beds and put on new clean linen. She pulled the sheets off and remade the bed. When she took off the pillowcase, something fell onto the sheet. It was a pearl-and-amethyst brooch. Smiling to herself, Ruby opened the bedside drawer. There were two red boxes inside. She picked up one, but it had another brooch inside. The second box was empty, and she was just putting the pearl-and-amethyst brooch inside when a cold voice behind her said, ‘What are you doing, Bateman?’

Ruby whirled round to find Mrs Fosdyke staring at her.

‘I … It’s not how it looks,’ she stuttered. ‘I found it on the bed, and I was putting it back.’

Mrs Fosdyke raised an eyebrow. A small smile played around her lips. ‘You don’t know how many times I’ve heard that one,’ she said coldly.

‘But it’s true,’ Ruby cried. ‘I wasn’t taking it. The guest asked me to help her look for it, and I found it caught inside the pillowcase.’

The door was still open, and Ruby saw the florist packing up the rest of her things. ‘Winnie, you’ll vouch for me, won’t you?’ she said. ‘You heard the guest say that her brooch was lost.’

Winnie stood with a bewildered expression on her face. ‘What brooch?’

Ruby looked helplessly from the florist to Mrs Fosdyke. ‘I had the door open,’ said Ruby, ‘and the guest was upset because she’d lost her brooch.’

Winnie began to look uncomfortable. ‘I’m sorry, dear,’ she said apologetically, ‘but I’m afraid I didn’t hear anything.’

Ruby’s heart sank.

‘Leave everything as it is and come straight to the office,’ said Mrs Fosdyke.

‘But I haven’t done anything wrong,’ Ruby cried helplessly.

‘Now, Bateman,’ she snapped.

They emerged into the corridor just as Mrs Harper
was coming back. ‘I left my stole and the umbrella,’ she said, looking flustered.

‘I found your brooch, madam,’ said Ruby.

‘Bateman!’ Mrs Fosdyke snapped again.

But Ruby wasn’t going to go down without a fight. ‘I’ve put it in the drawer, in the red box.’