Secrets to Keep (37 page)

N
o one was prepared for the sudden change in the weather. Overnight the temperature had dropped over ten degrees and Aidy was among the thousands of people living on the east side of England, from Newcastle down to just before Northampton, who went to bed to a light drizzle pattering against their windowpanes and opened their curtains the next morning to be greeted by a thick blanket of snow, at least three inches deep, which was growing deeper from the blizzard still raging. Thankfully George had filled the water jugs the previous evening as the standpipe in the jetty was frozen solid now, thick, lethal-looking icicles hanging from it.

Children were about the only ones who delighted in this weather. Few adults did as it brought with it an extra strain on their already stretched resources, having to find the money to buy the additional fuel needed to combat sub-zero conditions. The thought of trudging through the biting snow-filled winds to
work brought few people joy, Aidy included. At least for her, though, at journey’s end her place of work would be warm. The doctor would not, for reasons Aidy couldn’t work out, employ a daily to do for him, but he did pay a night watchman three shillings a week to come in at six each morning after his shift had finished, to set the fires in the downstairs rooms and bring enough fuel in to see them through the day.

Ty having already left on his morning round, before she started her other duties Aidy was going around replenishing all the fires. She pictured the doctor and the nun, trudging from house to house in the freezing cold, barely having time to warm up properly before they were off to their next port of call. She didn’t envy them in the least. Most people, though, would offer them a cup of tea, unless they happened to be the desperately poor type who hadn’t any to offer. She doubted, though, that Doc would have time to spare to stand and drink one as he’d a long list of patients to get round this morning, but Sister would probably snatch a minute or two as, lucky for her, her list for today was light compared to some days. Whether she had time or not, Aidy doubted Beattie Rogers would let her leave without refreshment as the woman had made it clear to Aidy yesterday that she meant Sister to have one with her, so she could satisfy her own curiosity about life inside a convent.

Then Aidy froze.
That
was what Doc had asked her to do yesterday, add Beattie Rogers’ name to the list of Sister’s calls today, only the visitor had annoyed her so much she had forgotten to do it.

Aidy was furious with herself. If Beattie’s wound wasn’t checked today but left until tomorrow and infection set in, it could be too far advanced to stem its spread, and then Beattie could end up losing her arm and it would be all Aidy’s fault. There was nothing for it. She had to go and find Sister, tell her she’d another patient on her list to call on that she’d forgotten to add. Being the kind person she was, Aidy was sure Sister Teresa would be understanding, but she wasn’t so sure her employer would, should he find out. Her lapse had potentially serious repercussions. He might therefore deem Aidy not fit for the responsible post of his receptionist any longer, which in turn would have very serious implications for her family and herself.

Without further ado, she abandoned the coal bucket to wrap herself up warm against the Arctic conditions, lock up the premises, and set off on her search. Half an hour later, having called on at least half a dozen of the patients, Aidy was icy cold and wet.

Hopefully Sister would be here, she thought, as she purposefully rapped on the door of the next house, so Mr Coleman would hear. Stanley
Coleman had had a tumorous growth removed from the side of his neck a week or so back by Doc, leaving a gaping hole which had not yet healed. Sister was keeping her eye on it. Aidy could hear the deaf old man slowly shuffling his way down the passage to open the door to her, and willed him to hurry before she became frozen to the spot.

When he finally did and Aidy asked her question, he slowly shook his head and shouted back, ‘Sister ain’t due to come for another four days. She came yesterday, ducky.’

Aidy’s heart sank. She should have known that, since she’d written up the list of calls herself. ‘You haven’t seen her going about at all then, on your way to the shops perhaps, Mr Coleman?’

‘Ain’t been out, love. Don’t intend to either. Got to be a damned sight warmer before I’ll put me nose out of the door. Me wife’s out, though. I could ask her if she saw Sister on her travels when she comes back.’

‘I’ve seen her.’

Aidy turned to see a woman beside her, so covered in white she resembled a snow woman, just like Aidy herself in fact. She was weighed down by heavy shopping bags.

She shouted over the wind, ‘Didn’t mean to eavesdrop but yer can hear Stan halfway down the street, even in this blizzard. If it helps, I saw Sister about
fifteen minutes ago, going in the back gate of a house in Gladstone Street, just as I was cutting through the jetty on me way to the butcher’s. I remember thinking at the time that I hoped she was wearing summat warm under her habit or she’d been needing treatment herself for pneumonia.’

Aidy frowned. As far as she was aware they didn’t have any patients in Gladstone Street at the moment who needed the services Sister provided. Regardless, at least thanks to this woman’s hawk eyes she was closer to finding her quarry. ‘You don’t happen to know what number Gladstone Street she was going into, I suppose?’

The woman shook her head, which caused the build up of snow on her headscarf to dislodge and cascade over her shoulders. ‘No, sorry, love. But I’d only just turned into the jetty, so at a guess I would say number four or six … eight at the most.’

Gladstone Street on a nice day was less than a couple of minutes’ walk away, but now Aidy was battling against the blizzard it took her over ten minutes to reach.

She tried number four first but the shabby young woman who answered the door, a snotty-nosed baby in her arms and a grubby-looking toddler clinging to her skirt, told her that no nun had visited her that day. She advised Aidy that if she was making enquiries next door, she’d better go round
the back as the old lady who lived there couldn’t answer the door anyway. She had broken her hip a few months back in a fall and was still recovering in a makeshift bed in the back room. This information gave Aidy hope that at last she had found Sister. And she also had the answer to why the nun was in this street when it was not on her list today. Beattie Rogers had told her that Sister made it her business to find out if any old bodies were in need of her help, and would call upon them to offer her charity to them. Obviously the old lady next door was one of these cases.

After the young woman had shut the door on her Aidy stood for a moment, surrounded by the swirling snow, wondering if her trudge around the back would be worth all the trouble. Sister might have come and gone by now. But her need to find the nun was desperate. She couldn’t leave any stone unturned.

When she went to open the back gate a few minutes later, it was apparent that someone had recently gone through it as it opened easily and a mound of snow was piled the other side against the wall. There was also a trail of footprints, albeit rapidly filling with snow, leading up to the back door. Aidy hoped Sister Teresa had made them and not the milkman.

There was a gap to one side of the net curtain that hung against the back window. Looking through it, Aidy saw an old lady lying in a makeshift bed in the
recess at the back of the room. She appeared to be asleep. She also saw a long black garment draped across a dining chair by the ancient oak table. She was positive it was Sister Teresa’s cloak. Hopefully she had found her quarry at last.

Tapping lightly on the back door so as not to frighten the old lady from her sleep, she then let herself deftly inside, hurriedly shutting the door behind her and making her way into the back room. The old lady obviously had acute hearing as she was sitting up and looking suspiciously across at Aidy when she entered.

In an apologetic tone Aidy said to her, ‘I’m very sorry to come in without being asked, only I saw you were sleeping through the window and didn’t want to startle you by knocking.’ She thought she’d better introduce herself and added, ‘I’m Aidy Nelson, from the surgery.’

The look of suspicion vanished from the old lady’s prune-like face to be replaced by one of delight. In her aged voice she said, ‘Oh, then welcome in, deary. I am such a blessed woman today, having all these unexpected visitors. Would you like a cuppa? Only I’m sorry to say you’ll have ter mash it yerself … as yer can see, I’m indisposed at the moment. I am getting around a bit more now. In fact, I was out of me bed and hobbling round with the help of the walking sticks the hospital borrowed me for a good ten minutes
earlier this morning. Carrie, me neighbour next door who comes in every morning to light me fire for me and regularly pops back to keep a check on it, helped me up and then back to bed afterwards, good old soul that she is. Only me little walk around tired me out and that’s why yer caught me napping.’

‘I appreciate your offer of tea but I’m looking for Sister Teresa. I need to speak to her urgently and I understand she could be here? That is her cloak on the back of your chair, isn’t it?’ Aidy wondered where Sister actually was as there was no apparent sign of her apart from her cloak.

The old lady looked disappointed for a moment that Aidy hadn’t come to visit her after all but then her face brightened. ‘Yes, dear, it is hers. And wasn’t that a lovely surprise for me? The good Sister calling in to see if I needed anything doing as she’d heard through a patient she attends a few streets away that I’d broke me hip a few weeks back and couldn’t do much for meself just now. I’m a widow, yer know, lost my Arthur a couple of years back from a heart attack.

‘To be honest, dear, he wasn’t that much of a loss to me. He were a good man when I married him, but over the years he grew more and more miserable, and by the time he retired he was no joy at all to be around. He’d sit in his chair all day, moaning and groaning about anything and everything he could
have a grumble at, expecting me to run after him. We had three lovely daughters, though. They each come over to see me as much as they can, but they all live two bus rides away and have families of their own to see to so they can’t get in as often as they’d like. I’m lucky with my neighbours though …’

She was rattling on and Aidy was loath to interrupt her but she really needed to tell Sister what she had to then get back to the surgery. She’d been absent for well over an hour by now and was worried she could have missed important telephone calls or visitors urgently looking for the doctor.

‘I’m very sorry to interrupt you, Mrs … er … but I really do need to speak to Sister urgently. Where is she?’

‘Oh, er … upstairs. She very kindly offered to freshen my bed up with clean bedding while she was here and give the room a sweep and dust as I’d not used it since my fall. I’m hoping to start sleeping back up there very soon. I did tell her she needn’t go to all that trouble as one of me daughters would see to it, but she said it would be her pleasure. She must be doing a good job as she’s been up there a good while. I expect she’ll be down in a minute.’

Or she could be another five and Aidy should be getting back to work. ‘Would you mind if I just went up and saw her? I really do need to get back to the surgery,’ she politely asked.

The old woman looked hard at Aidy for a moment. It was apparent she wasn’t happy about having a stranger in her bedroom. Obviously nuns didn’t count. Finally she said, ‘Well, I suppose not. You must be honest if you’re the doctor’s receptionist. When you get to the top of the stairs, turn right and go along the short corridor. My room is at the end, at the front of the house.’

Aidy found the door to the bedroom shut. Politely tapping on it while announcing, ‘Sister, it’s me, Mrs Nelson from the surgery,’ she immediately opened it and went inside. Her mouth open ready to deliver her message, the words died on her lips and her jaw dropped in disbelief at the sight that met her.

Sister Teresa was kneeling on the bare floorboards by a tallboy. The bottom drawer was wide open. Items of clothing had been removed from it. In one hand she was holding an open oblong cigar-type box, and in the other a locket which she seemed to be in the process of inspecting. The skirt of her habit was spread out and on it were several pieces of jewellery – difficult to say whether it was expensive or not from where Aidy was standing – and a pocket watch. By the side of the pocket watch lay a bulky pouch. She was staring frozen faced at Aidy.

The two women looked at each other for several moments before Sister Teresa seemed to give herself a mental shake and broke the silence with, ‘You
startled me, Mrs Nelson. I’ve been giving Mrs Franks’ room a freshen up, ready for her to move back into.’ She nodded her head in the direction of a pile of dirty bedding at the side of the door where Aidy was standing to prove her point. ‘While I was up here, Mrs Franks asked me to find a brooch that her husband had bought her. She wanted to have it close to her as a reminder of him, as she’s missing him so much. That’s what I’m doing … looking for it. I can’t seem to find it, though.’

With narrowed eyes, Aidy responded matter-of-factly, ‘Well, that’s odd because the old dear has just told me that she
wasn’t
missing her husband at all and in fact his death was a relief to her.’ Her voice began to take on an accusing note. ‘I know what I’m seeing, Sister, and that’s
you
rifling an old lady’s jewellery box! Those pieces on your skirt are what you’d already picked out for yourself before I interrupted you.’ Her face darkened then. ‘You’re no more a nun than I am! You’re a thief, using a disguise to carry out your robberies. Very clever, I must say. Whoever would suspect a nun of doing anything so ungodly? Huh! No wonder you didn’t want me to go on some of your home visits with you.’