Private Sorrow, A (23 page)

Snappy Sal had invited herself in for a cup of tea and she sat while Dolly took the cups out of the cupboard. ‘I hear Nancy has recovered from the Asian flu but has now come down with pneumonia. I suppose Edna will be kept on for another couple of weeks,’ said Sal, who was a bit jealous of Dolly’s friendship with Edna.

Dolly sniffed. ‘I suppose so.’

Sal’s antennae quivered. Did she sense a split in the friendship? If so, she was delighted; like a lot of lonely elderly women, Sal liked nothing better than a good gossip – or even better, a bit of drama or scandal – to bring a bit of colour to her dull life. ‘I think Edna’s not looking well, what do you think, Dolly?’

Once again, the sniff. ‘I’ve never noticed.’

Sal could hardly conceal her pleasure. Yes, there was a definite cooling of the friendship, but what had brought this all about, she wondered. When Dolly began to pour the tea, Sal tried to bring the subject back to Edna. ‘I really thought she would get together with Eddie but I hear he’s now going out with a girl from his shop. I wonder what Edna thinks about that? I bet she feels rejected.’

Dolly realised that Sal was just fishing for information and although she felt annoyed with Edna, she wasn’t going to indulge in any backhanded gossip with Mrs Little. She changed the subject. ‘How is that sore leg you had last week? Is it any better?’

‘It is and it’s not,’ explained Sal. ‘I can hardly sleep some nights with the pain, but then during the day it seems to get better. I’m really fed up with it, Dolly.’ She quickly drank her tea and made a quick exit. ‘I almost forgot, I have to buy some tea from the shop. I’ve only a couple of spoonfuls left in the caddy.’

Dolly knew she was only rushing out to the shop to check on Edna. Her pleasure would be brimming over if she could catch Edna with tears in her eyes or a deep mournful look on her face. But Dolly knew Edna wasn’t like that. She would keep any hurt or misery hidden, and that’s why she had never mentioned John. She decided to go to the shop as well. She didn’t trust Sal not to come out with something hurtful or stupid.

When she got there, Sal was trying to strike up a conversation with Edna and Dolly could see Edna wasn’t pleased. ‘That’s a quarter-pound of tea, Mrs Little. Is there anything else?’

‘Now, let me see.’ She glanced around the shop then said, ‘No, I think that’s all I need. Will you be going up to see Dolly at dinner time?’ Edna said she probably would. ‘It’s just that I got the impression she was annoyed at you for some reason, Edna.’

Edna was amazed. In spite of herself she said, ‘Why would Dolly be annoyed at me, Mrs Little?’

Sal gave an exaggerated shrug. ‘Beats me, but that’s what I thought.’

Sal saw Dolly and said, ‘Here she is. She’ll tell you herself what’s bothering her.’

Dolly ignored her and told Edna she would see her at dinner time. Edna couldn’t think what she had done to annoy Dolly but no doubt she would find out later. Meanwhile, Sal ventured forth from the shop with her bag of tea and a smile on her face.

Albert was watching while this exchange was going on and he said to Edna, ‘Never mind Snappy Sal. She likes making mischief.’

Edna was glad when it was time for her dinner break and she hurried up to see Dolly. She was stirring a big pan of broth and the table was set for two but before she sat down, Edna asked, ‘Have I said something to annoy you, Dolly?’

Dolly sat down beside her. ‘No, of course not, Edna, and as I’ve told myself, it’s your own business and nothing to do with me.’

Edna was puzzled. ‘What’s my own business?’

‘Well, I thought you might have mentioned John.’

Edna had to compose herself for a minute. ‘I didn’t mention him because I haven’t seen him for over two weeks. He’s seemingly engaged to his sister-in-law and doesn’t want to see me again.’

Dolly was surprised. ‘What?’ Edna repeated the story. Dolly said, ‘I saw him in the infirmary a couple of nights ago; he’s in the men’s surgical ward. There was a blonde woman and another man visiting him and I just thought, as you never mentioned he was ill, you didn’t want me to know.’

‘John’s in the men’s ward? I didn’t know that.’ Edna was shocked that Sonia couldn’t even drop her a line about him. She quickly put Dolly in the picture and she told her how unhappy she was over the whole thing. ‘I must get up to visit him. Are there visiting hours tomorrow?’

‘Yes, in the afternoon.’

‘How did you see him, Dolly?’

‘My cousin’s husband is in the same ward and I recognised John, although he didn’t see me.’

Edna was so worried she ate her soup without tasting it and was glad to get back to the shop. When she got home, she told her mother what Dolly had said and Irene said that Sonia was a wicked piece of goods.

Saturday morning seemed to drag. Edna took Billy to the barber for a haircut, then into the town to let him buy a toy from Woolworth’s. Then, in the afternoon, she set off for the infirmary. There was a large queue and Edna joined the end of it. It seemed to take forever to move but once it did, she was soon heading for the ward. A young nurse sat at the entrance to the ward, a small table with visiting cards in front of her. Edna approached her. ‘I’ve come to visit Mr John Knox.’

The nurse glanced at the cards and said, ‘Mr Knox has got his two visitors. You’ll have to wait downstairs in the waiting room for one of them to come out and then you can go in.’

‘Is it not possible to have a few moments with him?’

The nurse shook her head. ‘No, sorry. We have a strict rule of two visitors for each patient.’

Edna was so disappointed she almost burst into tears but she had no choice but to go back to the waiting room. She waited until the visiting times were up but no one came out. Then she spotted Sonia and John’s brother James. She jumped up but a wave of people suddenly appeared in the doorway and when she managed to get out, they were gone. Edna was furious with Sonia. She had told her John was away on business and all the time he was lying ill in the infirmary. She didn’t feel like going home and telling her mother that she hadn’t been allowed to see John. Irene was already furious with Sonia and this would make her worse. On the spur of the moment, she decided to go and see Dolly.

Dolly had been out but she was just opening her door when Edna arrived. Like Irene, she was angry when Edna told her the story. Then she had a brilliant idea. ‘Tomorrow, I’ll borrow my cousin’s two cards and we can go in and see him. Then, when the nurse isn’t looking, you can pop over and see John.’

Edna could have hugged her. ‘That’s a wonderful idea, Dolly. I’ll meet you at the gate tomorrow afternoon.’ As she went back home, she felt a lot happier. Even if John didn’t want to see her, then at least she would have the chance to see him.

On the Sunday, she felt nervous. Dolly clutched the two cards in her hand and they made their way to the ward. ‘What if the nurse recognises me from yesterday?’

Dolly said not to worry. ‘It’ll probably be a different nurse today.’ And it was. The two women walked quickly over the highly polished floor to a bed situated halfway along the large ward. The man looked puzzled when he saw Edna but Dolly said she was her friend. As the two of them had a great conversation, Edna scanned the rest of the ward and it was Sonia she saw first. John’s bed was only a few yards away. Then James arrived but, thankfully, he didn’t look at the rest of the patients and their visitors. Edna could hardly breathe and she listened with half an ear to Dolly asking if the food was good.

‘Aye, it’s not bad but it’s a bit tasteless, Dolly. Not like your homemade broth.’

A bell sounded and Dolly said that this was the first warning that visiting times were almost over. Sonia and James looked like they had taken root and Edna began to despair. Then, suddenly, Sonia and James stood up. ‘We’ll be back in to see you tomorrow, John,’ she said in her breathless voice.

Edna turned away as they passed and the minute they were out of sight, she darted to John’s bedside. He looked pale and listless but the minute he saw her, his eyes lit up. ‘Edna, I’ve been waiting for you to visit but Sonia says you didn’t want to come.’

As quickly as she could speak, she told him the whole story and he became angry, especially when she mentioned his engagement to Sonia. ‘What happened, John?’ asked Edna.

‘Peritonitis. I’d been suffering severe pains for a while after you left and my appendix burst and that is why I’m in here.’ He held her hand tightly. ‘I’ll be getting home in a few days and I want you to come to the house. I’m going to sort Sonia out once and for all. My fiancée, indeed! There’s only one woman I’m in love with and it’s you.’

The bell sounded for the second time and Edna said, ‘I have to go but let the office know when you’re home and I’ll be there to see you.’ She gave him a quick kiss. ‘Oh, I’ve missed you so much, John.’ She hurried back to Dolly and they made their way out of the ward, but not before Edna turned and waved to John and he blew her a kiss.

When they reached the street outside, Dolly said, ‘Well, are you happier now?’

Edna’s eyes were shining. ‘Oh, much happier, Dolly, and thank you so much for all your help. I wouldn’t have been able to see him if it hadn’t been for you.’ Dolly looked pleased.

Charlie Johns was outside Robina Price’s close. He gazed up at the windows before climbing the stairs and knocking loudly on the door. No one answered and he rapped even louder. He was getting fed up with this case. This was the second time he had been here and he was getting nowhere. He had left a note last time requesting a word with her. He went and knocked on the other door, which was immediately opened by an elderly woman. ‘Yes, what do you want?’

‘I’m trying to see Miss Price next door. Do you know when she’ll be in?’

‘Oh, I don’t think she’s gone out as I haven’t seen her waiting for the bus. I always look out of my window.’ She smiled. ‘It passes the time for me.’

He thanked her and went back to knock again. However, this time he looked through the letterbox and said, ‘It’s the police. Please open up.’

The door was yanked open and a fierce looking Miss Price glared at him while the next-door neighbour peered out. ‘Can I come in or do you want to conduct the conversation on the doorstep?’ he said.

She grudgingly told him to come in but she was still furious. ‘How dare you shout out like that about being the police. I’m a respectable woman and I don’t want all my neighbours to know my business.’

‘Well, you should have answered the door. I did leave a note the last time I was here, saying I would be back today,’ he answered. He wasn’t in the best of humour himself.

‘Well, you better come through to the kitchen.’ Although she didn’t say it, Charlie just knew she was thinking ‘and don’t expect a cup of tea’. The room was like a cell: white painted walls with no pictures and the furniture consisted of a simple wooden table and chair, plus a lovely desk that sat by the window. The floor was covered in brown linoleum and the only concession to comfort was a colourful crocheted blanket, which was placed on the back of the chair. A kettle stood on the cooker while the fire was barely visible, and it certainly didn’t throw out any heat. He got straight to the point. ‘I’m investigating two attacks on your sister, Mrs Vera Barton, and another on a Mr Peter Walsh, and I would like to know your movements on …’ he glanced at his notes and mentioned the dates.

She sat quite relaxed with her hands in her lap. ‘I can’t tell you what I was doing on the first two dates but when you say this man was attacked, I was in church. I was probably in church on the other occasions as well.’

Charlie Johns didn’t believe her. ‘What, at ten o’clock at night? That’s the first time your sister was almost run over.’

‘If it was as late as that, then I would be in my bed. I go to bed every night at nine.’

‘When you go to visit Mrs Frances Flynn, have you ever met her son Jimmy’s work colleague, Peter Walsh?’

‘No, I haven’t. And I have to tell you that I have had no contact with my sister since 1929 when I went to see her and her husband. They didn’t make me welcome then and I’ve never repeated the impulse to see her.’

‘What about Etta, her daughter? Did you see her before she disappeared or did she come to see you after her father died in the accident?’

‘No, she did not. I knew retribution would come to Vera and Dave for their sins.’

Charlie was shocked by this statement. ‘Retribution? What do you mean by that?’

‘They were having a child before marriage. That’s a sin. I told my parents that at the time and, on my last visit, I told Vera and Dave as well.’

‘What did they say to that?’

‘They practically threw me out, but I was right. Retribution came to Dave Barton and it will come to my sister.’

Charlie felt he was being battered by dogma. ‘When did you leave Ireland?’

‘I came back a year ago but I plan to return.’

‘And you’ve no idea where Etta might have gone?’

She shook her head and the dark eyes glared at him. ‘No, I don’t. She didn’t come and see me then, nor have I seen or heard from her since my visit in 1929.’

‘One other question, Miss Price. Do you have a job?’

‘No, I don’t. I’ve saved my money over the years and I live a very simple life. I go to see Frances now and again as I was her primary teacher when she was a child in Ireland, and I go to church. Apart from people I meet there, I have no other friends.’

Charlie couldn’t think what else to ask her. He knew she would deny anything he said, so he stood up. ‘I might have to come back, Miss Price, and be sure to answer the door if you’re in.’

When he got outside, he was glad to be in the fresh air. In one way, she was a very intimidating woman but, on the other hand, he felt a bit of sympathy for her. She was a woman of strong religious principles, but to have her family throw her out must have hurt her a great deal. He wondered if there was more to the family feud than what she had told him.

His next visit was to the infirmary. The doctor had said he could have a word with Peter. The patient was in a small side room and he seemed to be a mass of white bandages. Whoever had cut his bike brakes had almost killed him and that’s what they would be charged with … when they caught them. As well as his injuries, Peter had a lot of bruises to his face where he had hit the edge of the pavement.