Lizzie of Langley Street (37 page)

Danny looked at Lizzie. ‘I don’t want you going anywhere alone for the next few days. Not even up to the market or over to the school. Flo or Bert can go with you.’

‘But Frank wouldn’t show his face round here, surely?’

‘Why not? He came to the workshop.’

‘Do you think he’ll go looking there again?’ Lizzie felt a ripple of fear run through her.

‘He might.’

‘I wish I’d kept me hands round his neck and squeezed harder,’ Bert said with sudden aggression. ‘It would’ve saved us all a lot of trouble.’

‘And you’d be on a murder charge,’ Danny pointed out. ‘Bert, I appreciate what you did for me and I owe you my life, but this is down to me.’

Everyone was surprised when Bert shook his head. ‘No it ain’t, Danny. I got me own bone to pick with Frank and me brother. And they both know it.’

Lizzie was shocked. She hadn’t ever heard Bert speak like this.

‘Well, just watch your step,’ Danny warned.

Lizzie knew that, despite his injuries, Danny meant what he said, but it came as a surprise when he told them he was returning to the workshop.

Flo choked on her tea. ‘What, now? You must be joking. Look at the state of you.’

‘What do you wanna go back for?’ Bert asked.

‘All my tools are there.’

‘You think Frank might nick them?’ Flo spluttered.

‘Anything’s possible.’

Bert shuffled his feet. ‘To be truthful, I was going to go over t’night without telling anyone. I thought now I can drive I’d borrow yer car and take over food and water to the
’orse.’

‘I got an idea,’ Flo interrupted. ‘Syd’ll be over soon. We was going up the pub for a quick one. He can go with you.’

‘No,’ Danny objected at once, ‘I don’t want Syd involved.’

‘I don’t reckon you got much choice,’ Bert said with shrug. ‘You ain’t in no state to go lifting tools, even if you did manage to get over there.’

And what Flo said next settled the argument. ‘You gotta sink yer pride, Danny, and let us help. After all, what are family for?’

‘Well I think you’re all mad,’ Lizzie said angrily. ‘The horse will survive one night on his own and the tools aren’t as important as being safe. You heard what the
doctor said. You had concussion and you’ve two broken ribs—’

She stopped when she saw Danny was smiling at her.

‘So you do care?’ he grinned, jerking up an eyebrow.

She knew she was going red and that everyone was looking at her. Hiding her blush, she got up and went to put the kettle on.

Whilst the men were away, Lizzie and Flo made up the mattress for Tom beside Danny’s bed.

‘Don’t worry, they’ll be all right. They’re big enough and ugly enough to look after themselves,’ Flo tried to reassure Lizzie.

‘You didn’t see what happened today,’ Lizzie replied shortly. It was all very well Flo saying that. She hadn’t been there.

‘Well, it’s out of your hands now.’

‘I still keep seeing it all in my mind,’ Lizzie murmured. ‘Frank hitting Danny with that iron bar and the look in Vinnie’s eye as he came up those stairs.’

‘Our Vinnie wants his brains tested.’ Flo tucked in the sheet and pulled over the blankets. ‘Terrifying his own sister like that.’

‘I don’t know what he’d have done if he’d got into the office.’ Lizzie felt the awful lead weight in her stomach again. She had tried to think of another
explanation for his behaviour, but she always came up with the same one: Vinnie had said he didn’t want a witness, and, sister or not, she was a witness.

‘Come on, it’s over. Forget about it,’ Flo said, attempting to shake her out of it.

Lizzie knew it wasn’t over. It had only just begun. What would they try next and where? Wouldn’t it better if Danny went back to Australia? He had Tom to think about. But what would
happen if he did leave? She couldn’t bear to think of life without him again. At the same time, she could never have him in her life the way she wanted. She was married to his brother.

Later, Bill came down with a bottle of port. By nine o’clock the children were asleep and Lizzie had been over the whole story again, answering all Bill’s questions as best she
could.

Lizzie knew that Bill was deeply shocked. In silence, he listened to every word that she said. She saw the dismay spread over his face. He was an old man, hoping for a peaceful retirement. He
had always known what Frank was, but he had tried to protect Frank from himself. He had hoped that it was not too late for his eldest son to reform. Now Bill was having to face the truth, that
Frank would never change.

Conversation exhausted, the three of them sat by the fire. Lizzie wondered, as she had wondered many times before, how their lives would have turned out if she hadn’t married Frank. Would
Frank have been a better son? Would he now be running the shop? Would Danny have remained in Australia? Would she have married someone else? And Polly . . . what of her?

Polly had brought meaning to her life. She was like her own daughter. Lizzie would have been content to be a loving aunt if things had been different between her and Babs. But they
weren’t. Babs had shown no love for her own child. How could she have neglected Polly the way she had?

Lizzie thought of Danny, his body bruised and his handsome face disfigured. Her love for him was stronger than ever. She ached for his love, to have his arms round her and to feel his body lying
beside her. Fate had not dealt kindly with their love. What was to become of them?

At a few minutes past ten, they heard the sound of Danny’s car outside. Lizzie jumped out of her chair. ‘They’re back,’ she cried, waking Bill, who had just drifted off,
his cheeks red from the port.

Flo and Lizzie ran to the door. Danny entered looking very tired. The blood had seeped right through the bandage. Syd and Bert were quiet, but they smiled as a strong odour of petrol wafted in
with them.

‘We’re back safe and sound, Mrs F.,’ Syd said in a subdued tone.

‘Is everything all right?’ Lizzie asked breathlessly.

Bert nodded. ‘Yeah. There weren’t no sign of them.’

‘I should hope not.’ Lizzie closed the door. ‘You don’t mean to tell me you really went over there expecting to . . . to—’

‘No, no,’ said Danny quickly, glancing at the other two. ‘All me tools are in the boot, and Benji’s got plenty to eat and drink.’ He saw his father sitting in the
chair. ‘Hello, Dad.’

‘Hello, son. Well, come and tell me all about it.’

Syd and Flo disappeared into the kitchen. Lizzie left them alone to say goodnight. She watched Danny sit wearily down in the fireside chair opposite his father. She sighed. She didn’t know
whether she believed him about the reason for their mission over there. But she did know she would have been worried sick if she thought they’d gone to find Frank.

‘You remember them old ’urricane lamps we had for the cart,’ Bert told Lizzie as he took her arm and steered her to the chairs by the sideboard. They sat down. ‘Well, we
took them with us. Put all Danny’s stuff that was too big for the car in the office and locked it. All the small tools we brought with us. I give Benji a good feed and he was right as
ninepence. Tomorrow I’m gonna get him back. Danny said that big lorry he’s mending is big enough.’

‘What, to put Benji in?’

Bert nodded. ‘All we got to do is make a ramp.’

‘I hope you know what you’re doing.’

Bert grinned. ‘No, but Danny does.’ He looked bashful for a moment. ‘I ain’t good enough to drive a lorry yet, but I reckon I can learn.’

Lizzie had to smile. Out of all this, something special had happened to Bert. He’d never been very bright and always felt inferior. Now he could drive a motor vehicle, after a fashion, and
the wonder was written all over his face.

Lizzie looked over at Danny, speaking quietly with Bill. He had made an impression on all their lives since he had returned. What would happen if, in the end, he was forced to leave the
island?

L
il walked into the shop the next morning. She was dressed in a smart brown coat and a new hat. She had her large shopping bag with her, in which
she carried her cakes. But before Lil could take them out, Lizzie put her finger to her lips, then led her into the storeroom.

‘I won’t be a minute, Bert,’ Lizzie called.

‘Yeah, all right.’ Bert continued to serve the customers.

Lizzie closed the storeroom door. ‘Danny and Tom are staying here.’

It took a moment to sink in. ‘Blimey, what’s happened?’

Lizzie sighed. ‘It’s a long story.’

‘Tell me whilst I unwrap these.’ Lil began to take the cakes from her bag but stopped when Lizzie told her about Frank and Vinnie’s visit to the warehouse.

‘Never!’ Lil exclaimed, wide eyed.

Five minutes later Lizzie had given Lil the whole story.

‘Well, you know what I think,’ Lil said angrily. ‘I think that Frank needs to be taught a lesson he won’t ever forget.’ She paused. ‘You know, gel, maybe you
should’ve called the coppers even though Danny didn’t want to.’

Lizzie shrugged, tying an apron round her navy blue coat. It was freezing in the shop, but as soon as she was on the move she’d warm up. She had curled her hair up in a thick, dark roll
round her head, tucking a square of pale blue chiffon into the collar of her coat. ‘What could the police do? It would have been our word against Frank and Vinnie’s.’

‘But it’s bloody Frank who’s got a grudge against Danny!’ Lil spluttered. ‘And the way Danny was bashed up, he didn’t do that to ’imself, did he? And
what about you, then?’ Lil added exasperatedly. ‘Vinnie wasn’t banging on that office door to give you a bunch of roses!’

‘There’s no proof against Frank. As Danny said, who are they going to believe?

‘Well, all I can say is they should be put away,’ Lil grumbled. She pulled back her shoulders, pausing for breath. ‘How long is Danny gonna stay here for?’

Lizzie shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Not long, I shouldn’t think.’

Lil gave one of her quick laughs. ‘Bet the kids are loving it, ain’t they?’

Lizzie nodded. She had left Tom and Polly playing happily down in the airey. They seemed to take everything in their stride.

‘By the way, Bert didn’t come home last night. Doug said he reckoned he kipped here.’

Lizzie nodded. ‘He slept on the couch. Just in case.’

‘You don’t reckon Frank’d try anything here, under everyone’s noses?’ Lil’s pencilled eyebrows shot up.

‘I don’t know.’ Lizzie had asked herself that question so many times she was sick of it. But if he did appear, he would get more than he bargained for. She wasn’t going
to be ruled by fear. If she was a man, she would probably have gone looking for him, just as Danny, Bert and Syd had. At least it was doing something – though she would never have admitted
that last night. In the cool light of day, the beginnings of a deeper anger had taken the place of fear. Why should men like her husband and brother be allowed to ruin other people’s
lives?

Lil shook her head despondently. ‘Can me and Doug help at all?’

‘No, I just wanted to put you in the picture.’

Lil sighed. ‘Yeah, ta. Well, I better be going, love. You got customers to serve.’

All week they waited, and nothing happened. Lizzie felt close to snapping. She was no longer certain of her own reactions. The anger inside her was like a weapon and she wanted
to use it, yet Frank and Vinnie weren’t there to use it on. No one had the right to hurt or terrify other people like they had.

She also couldn’t help worrying about Danny when he was at the workshop. And she wasn’t alone. Sydney kept calling over there to ‘have a chat’ and Bert, saying he was
practising his driving, made constant detours, often disappearing for an hour at a time, as he had now.

On Wednesday, Danny and Bert had brought Benji back in the lorry. They made a ramp of wooden struts for the old horse to climb up on. The farrier provided new shoes, but couldn’t cure
lameness. So Bert drove the van and made the deliveries, collecting stock from the market early in the mornings.

A trickle of visitors started calling at the airey. The news had leaked out about Danny. With the scar on his forehead and his bruised face rumours flew everywhere. Boston Brown and Reg Barnes
were the first to call, followed by Elfie Goldblum and Dickie. The story was repeated once again. As well intentioned as everyone was, Lizzie was pleased when they had all gone. Flo and Syd came
back from the pub with a few drinks. When the children were in bed, they sat round the fire, going over all that had happened once more.

On Sunday, Lizzie and Flo cooked dinner. Bill and Gertie stayed until four. At tea time, Flo and Syd took the children out for a walk. Danny was quiet, not like himself at all. Lizzie was
washing up in the kitchen, trying to hide her concern.

‘You’ve been on your feet all day.’ Danny came up behind her at the sink. ‘Go and sit down. I’ll make you a cuppa.’

It was the first time they had been alone. She took off her apron and sat down by the fire, listening to his movements in the kitchen. She sensed the anger in him. He wasn’t happy here.
Were there too many memories from the past? This was the place he had left, at sixteen, to serve in the war. This is where he and Frank had lived together as they had grown into men.

Danny returned with a cup of tea. He sat in the armchair. The world suddenly seemed to have slowed down around them. The fire crackled, the light of the late afternoon dimming as it filtered
through the window. They sat, each with their own thoughts.

The moments ticked by. Finally Danny sat forward, easing himself into a comfortable position. He smiled, a crooked grin, like the old Danny. ‘Nothing’s changed for me,’ he said
heavily. ‘I want you with me more than ever, Lizzie. But I can’t stay here much longer.’

‘You’re welcome to stay—’

‘That’s the trouble,’ he interrupted her gently. ‘I’m getting used to it. I like seeing you at the end of the day, eating with you . . . talking.’ His blue
eyes held hers. ‘And I want more.’

‘Danny—’

He held up his hand. ‘It’s all right. You don’t have to say it. I know you won’t consider living with me whilst you’re married to Frank. But before I leave . . .
there’s something I want to tell you.’