I'll Get By (3 page)

Laughter filled her. ‘Stop grumbling like an old bear. I more or less told you to do the same thing on several occasions. You took no notice.’

He laughed. ‘Your dancing hormones must have deafened me . . . besides I knew you adored me right from the moment we met. You just needed a little encouragement.’

‘You’re encouraging me to beat you up at the moment. Stop being so provocative. Will you keep an eye on Meggie, or not?’

He nodded. ‘I’ll hang around like a bad smell and glower.’

When he demonstrated she kissed his ear and whispered, ‘I adore it when you glower, you remind me of an amiable bloodhound.’

Footsteps clattered down the stairs before he had time to howl, and Meggie burst through the door. Smiles radiated from her like sunshine as she flung her arms around him. ‘Hello, Uncle Leo.’

‘You’re strangling me,’ he grumbled, but he hugged her back and kissed her cheek before they let each other go.

‘Are you pleased to see me?’

He gave her a stern look. ‘Since I value my peace and quiet, certainly not. I understand you’ve been dragging stray coppers in off the streets.’

‘Only one; I’m not going to make a habit of it.’

‘Good answer, Meggie.’ Esmé could have kissed him when he said, ‘I hope he doesn’t stay long because if the day is clear I intend to hire a Tiger Moth and take you flying. It will take us half an hour to get to the airfield.’

‘Oh . . . that’s absolutely wonderful. You’re the caterpillar’s clogs, Uncle Leo.’

‘Good Lord, am I? That takes some thinking about. Thank you, sweetheart . . . I think.’

‘It’s my turn to cook the dinner so I’d better get on with it,’ Esmé said. ‘It’s grilled lamb chops, boiled vegetables and gravy. The vegetables are prepared, so it won’t take me long.’

‘Can I help?’

‘Yes . . . you can set the table if you like, then take Leo a glass of white wine. He likes to relax and listen to the radio before dinner.’

‘Why don’t you relax with him while I cook dinner? I often cook it at home, and that’s for six of us. I’m quite good at it, I promise. Besides, Leo looks as though he needs some company.’

‘Especially the company of a good looking popsie like you, Es,’ he invited.

Esmé bestowed a smile on him. ‘That would be lovely, Meggie. Thank you so much. I’ll fetch the wine.’

Leo gazed from one to the other and grinned, as though he’d realized that having two women in the house looking after him might be good for his comfort.

An hour later, when Meggie went into the sitting room, it was to discover Leo sprawled untidily on the dark red couch, asleep. In the same state, her aunt was hugged against his body, her head resting comfortably in the crook of his shoulder. Two empty wine glasses stood on the coffee table and Victor Sylvester’s orchestra was a melodious low hum coming from the radio.

They looked so sweet and relaxed; Meggie thought it would be a shame to wake them. For a moment or two she wallowed in the love she felt for them.

She closed the door gently, then knocked and called out, ‘Dinner’s ready, you two.’

It was Wednesday.

From the outside steps leading to the basement of the boarded-up house opposite, Nicholas Cowan had watched the man kiss his wife and leave in the green Morris car that had been parked outside the house. An hour later the two women emerged, laughing together. They hooked arms and headed for the underground station around the corner, walking in step.

It had been nice of them to tell him when they’d be out for the day.

Giving them a few seconds to turn the corner Nicholas crossed the road, and stood in the shadows of the porch at number forty-three, Queen’s Road.

‘You could have let yourself in,’ the Thornton woman had said to the girl. That meant the key was concealed somewhere. It wouldn’t be on the ledge over the door because it was too high for the women to reach.

A cement pot supported limp vegetation that bore an unsavoury sprinkle of grey berries. It smelled vaguely of cat’s spray, and was the most obvious place. Wrinkling his nose he forced his fingers into the dirt and raked gingerly through it. When he was rewarded with a small slice of metal, Nicholas smiled.

The door opened quietly. Nicholas doffed his hat and for a couple of moments he stood there, his mouth opening and closing as if he was talking to someone who’d opened the door to him. It was a precaution in case a neighbour passed by. He pushed the door wider with his foot, so it looked as if he was being allowed entrance by someone on the other side, and slid through the gap. He closed the door quietly behind him.

He stood in the hall for a couple of minutes and listened. Apart from the tick of the clock, all was quiet. Unlocking the door to the basement he went down the steps to the abandoned kitchen, now turned into a junk room. Some of these roomy houses had been converted into small flats, but this one had escaped so far.

The house wasn’t in bad repair but there was no mistaking the signs of neglect. Bubbles of faded paper disguised the occasional damp patch and the paint and plaster were flaking. Some of the floorboards groaned under his weight. The fire grates had wide chimneys of the type that sucked out the heat rather than allowed it to radiate with cosy warmth into the room.

He turned the key in the lock and pulled back the bolts to the outside door, in case he needed to escape quickly through the basement.

It had been lucky that he’d run into the girl. He’d learned a lot from her. She was a good-looking young woman with fine skin, and dark, astute eyes . . . a little on the awkward side yet, but outgoing.

Her aunt was a corker. He grinned, shaking his head. She was just the type he liked, but he had a rule never to mess with married ladies. He wasn’t about to break it.

Taking the stairs two at a time he went back up to the hall then on up to where the bedrooms were situated. Only two were furnished. The bigger bedroom had a sage green eiderdown. He went to the man’s dresser first, found fifty pounds in a wallet and a pair of gold cufflinks to pocket.

The woman’s jewellery box was on the dressing table and yielded some gold trinkets. He didn’t have time to sort out the dross, so he tipped the contents into his handkerchief, tying it securely. There was also a purse. It had a fiver, and five separate one pound notes in it. He pocketed three of the pound notes and left the rest, mostly because he’d liked the owner. Besides, he’d made a good haul earlier.

A creamy pink satin nightdress hung over the footboard, and a flimsy flower-patterned scarf lay on the floor. He picked up the scarf and held it to his face, closing his eyes as he inhaled the scent. He hadn’t enjoyed a woman for some time! She was the feminine type who wore silk and lace under her clothes. Rifling through the top drawer confirmed it. Her husband was a lucky dog.

There was the swift tock tock of heels on the pavement outside. Fingering the curtain aside a chink, he gazed through it. Damn . . . the women were coming back! While the girl stayed on the pavement, her aunt called out. ‘I won’t be a jiffy, Meggie. I’m sure I left it on my dressing table.’

Nicholas dropped the scarf and purse on to the bed. The nightdress slithered to the floor. Swiftly he moved across the landing to the empty room opposite. The floorboards creaked a couple of times. He held his breath as he gazed through the crack in the door.

She slowed down when she neared the top of the stairs as if she’d heard the floorboards give under his weight, caution in her expression. She was so close he could have reached out and touched her. He experienced a vicarious thrill when she moved through the open bedroom door. His heart began to work overtime when he caught a whiff of her perfume in the current of air she left in her wake.

Through her open bedroom door he watched the woman’s pert little backside as she went to the dressing table. She looked round, gazed at the purse for a moment, then snatched it from the bed and placed it in the brown leather handbag she carried over her arm. She frowned as she bent to pick up the nightdress from the floor, and gazed at it for a few minutes before hanging it back over the foot of the bed. Pulling the bedroom door shut she rattled it to make sure the latch had closed, and then padded off down the stairs, her footsteps as light and agile as those of a cat.

Back at the window, he gazed at her through the net curtains. As if she could sense his presence, she gazed up at the house, her glance suspicious, and moving from window to window. He kept very still when her eyes seemed to gaze into his, but she couldn’t see him in the shadows.

Then she shrugged and the pair linked arms and hurried off again.

He went back to her bedroom and dropped her nightgown to the floor again, leaving the door open when he left. He wanted her to know he’d been there – watching her. It would teach her to be more cautious of strangers.

The man couldn’t find much else worth taking. There were no collections of knick-knacks, silver or household goods. The couple lived with the basics, as though they were temporary tenants rather than permanent homemakers.

There was a ring in a trinket bowl on the bedside table in the second bedroom, which obviously belonged to the girl. It had garnets in it. They weren’t worth much, but the setting was gold.

A folded newspaper was on the bed, cryptic crossword face up. She was young to have mastered the cryptic. One clue was left unsolved. ‘Lively movement noted in the pit,’ he murmured. The s and h were filled in. He smiled, and unable to resist he picked up the pencil and supplied the rest, coming up with the answer. Scherzo.

When he went downstairs the street was empty, except for a man and woman walking away from him. Pulling his hat down to shade his eyes he left via the front door. The key was dropped into the pot plant and he smoothed the earth over it when he pretended to do up his shoelace. The visit would have hardly been worth the risk in monetary terms, but it was the thrill of possible discovery and the touch of danger by being so close to his victim that he’d enjoyed. He certainly didn’t need the money.

But now it was time to go and lunch with his uncle at their club. No doubt the old boy would be tedious and would want to discuss politics, and his future. He’d have a heart attack if he knew.

Esmé wore a thoughtful air on the way to the bus stop.

‘Is something bothering you, Aunt Es?’

‘Yes, actually . . . you might put it down to my imagination, but I think we have a ghost in the house.’

Meggie grinned widely, ‘How exciting; what did it look like?’

‘I didn’t see it, but I had this weird feeling that I was being watched when I went in. And I heard a creaking sound, as though someone was treading on a loose floorboard.’

‘Does a ghost weigh enough to make creaking sounds?’

‘Trust you to come up with a question like that. I’ve never weighed one. All I know is the hairs on my neck and arms prickled. And I was sure I’d left my purse on the dressing table, but I found it on the bed.’

‘Have you checked the contents?’

‘That’s a thought.’ Esmé opened it and gave a quick look. ‘There’s still some money in it, though I thought I had two or three pounds more.’

‘Perhaps Leo borrowed it.’

‘Yes, that must be it, though usually he tells me. I’ll have to go to the bank before we shop.’ Esmé shrugged. ‘I could have sworn my nightgown had been moved, too.’

‘Now you’re spooking me . . . if I see your nightgown floating around the house by itself I’m going to run a mile.’

Esmé grinned, looking slightly shamefaced. ‘So will I.’

Meggie spent a wonderful day with her aunt. She had her hair trimmed and fashioned into a style with easy, shoulder length curls. They had lunch in Lyons Café, and then went shopping at Selfridges.

At the cosmetic counter Esmé advised. ‘Buy the Ponds cold cream and vanishing cream. It’s inexpensive, but a good product, and it smells nice.’ She added a powder compact, a pink lipstick and a bottle of flowery smelling cologne.’

In the clothes department, Meggie fell in love with a blue checked dress with a velvet collar and cuffs, but couldn’t afford it. With a sigh, she hung the dress back on the rack.

Her aunt bought her a serviceable grey suit with a slightly flared skirt, and two blouses, one white with a lace yoke and one in pale pink dotted with ruby coloured rosebuds, murmuring, ‘You can wear anything with this suit. Go and change back into your other clothes while I pay for this, then we’ll go and find some shoes.’

There were dark grey shoes with heels and a matching handbag. A small brimmed hat trimmed with a pink silk rose and net completed the purchases.

They forgot Esmé’s ghost until they arrived home, just as it was getting dark.

‘Whoooooo . . . watch out for the ghost,’ she said as her aunt inserted the key in the lock.

‘Dry up, Meggie Moo else I’ll make you go in first in case something’s waiting there to eat us,’ she warned.

The house was cold. They stood in the eerie dimness of the hall hugging their bags and looking at one another in the gloom, ears strained to collect every alien sound. Meggie gave a nervous giggle. ‘We’re being stupid. Come on let’s summon up some courage. We’ll take everything upstairs and then we’ll light the fire in the sitting room and have a cup of tea.’

Meggie unpacked her new clothes, smiling over the blue-checked dress that her aunt had slipped into their purchases. She was arranging her beauty products on the dressing table when she noticed that her garnet ring was missing.

She looked everywhere, and then went downstairs. ‘Remember that garnet ring you gave me? I can’t seem to find it. I’m sure I left it in the trinket bowl, and I’ve looked everywhere else.’

‘Perhaps you put it in my jewellery case. Remember, how you used to keep it in that secret compartment before I left home. Go and have a look there.’

She did as she was told, and then went back downstairs, feeling scared. Her aunt was in the kitchen making the tea. ‘You know you said you thought you felt a ghost in here?’

Esmé nodded, then laughed. ‘Don’t tell me you’ve seen one.’

‘Your jewellery box is empty.’

Her aunt gazed at her, eyes wide. ‘Are you sure?’