Snatched (19 page)

Not that she would tell any of the neighbours that, because they’d think she’d gone totally gaga. And she wouldn’t start preaching to them about friends in need, either, because they’d all be quick to point out that Sue Day was no friend of any of theirs. No, she would have to do it craftily, make them think they had made the decision to help Sue all by themselves. And that wouldn’t be easy when Pauline had had more than a small hand in turning them against her in the first place. But nothing that was worth doing was ever easy. Like marriage: a sacred vow which couldn’t be broken under any circumstances – no matter how many times you imagined yourself choking the life out of your other half along the way.

Determined to get cracking, Pauline called a meeting at her house on the Monday morning, using the pretext of wanting to discuss ways of getting the council to do something about the unsafe state of their houses. Which was plausible enough, given that how the council spent so much on the surrounding estates while doggedly overlooking theirs was already such a contentious issue amongst the neighbours.

John had just come downstairs when the neighbourhood women trooped in that morning. Ignoring Pauline’s hissed order to go and get dressed, he plonked himself down in his pyjamas and dressing gown and switched on the TV. He’d waited years for the luxury of indulging himself in daytime TV, and he was buggered if he was going to let the Fitton Witches disturb him with their gossip. And Pauline could call it a ‘meeting’ if she liked, but he knew she’d only called them round to get them all gassing about Sue Day.

Making tea while the neighbours settled themselves on the semicircle of chairs that she’d arranged in front of the table in the living room, Pauline carried the cups through and handed them out, telling them to help themselves to biscuits – to get them good and relaxed.

Sitting at the table when everyone had been served, she kicked the meeting off by thanking them for coming at such short notice. Then, looking around with a suitably solemn expression, she said, ‘As you know, I called you round to discuss the quality of our houses, and—’

‘
Quality
?’ Irene sneered. ‘That’ll be the day! It’s been a year since they fixed my lavvy, and it’s still not flushing right. And I have to have an umbrella to walk through my back room, the roof’s leaking that bad.’

Tartly reminding her not to interrupt the chair, Pauline said, ‘Anyway, because there’s been so many complaints, I’ve decided to start a log, and I want you all to tell me what you’ve reported, and when, and what results you got. I know this has been a common subject at these meetings in the past,’ she went on, ‘and we’ve all suggested ways to get the council to pull their fingers out, but I say it’s time to
make
them listen, because I for one am not willing to sit back and wait for something like what happened next door to happen to
me
.’

As she’d fully expected, the mere mention of the fire got them all talking at once about how awful it had been to see the house go up in flames like that. Which inevitably led on to how horrified they’d all been when Connor had been brought out and they’d all thought he was dead. And then on to what everybody thought might have happened to Nicky, who still hadn’t been found.

Sipping her tea, Pauline sat back, content to wait until they got around to the subject of Sue. Then she’d jump back in and tell them what she had in mind, while making out like she’d only just thought of it.

‘If you ask me, it weren’t no accident,’ Mary Holden from number nine was saying, echoing what most of them already thought. ‘I reckon Nicky started it.’

‘Oh, that’s not true,’ Jackie Harris from number twenty-four countered softly. ‘She’s not the kind of girl to do something like that. She’s been great with Connor since her dad left, so there’s no way she’d hurt him on purpose.’

‘Never can tell,’ Irene murmured, throwing the cat in amongst the pigeons for the sake of it. ‘They say it’s the quiet ones you’ve got to watch. And she’s quiet to the point of being downright bloody mute, that one.’

‘What, just because she doesn’t spend all her time gassing like you lot?’ Carole Miller scoffed. ‘Anyway, you’re all way off the mark, if you ask me. If anyone started it, it was Sue. She’s not been right in the head for months, her.’

Jumping back in here before they took it in the wrong direction and started to blame Sue, Pauline said, ‘No, now you’re wrong about that. Sue might be guilty of a lot of things, but you all know she’d never hurt her kids.’

‘Bloody hell, you’ve changed your tune,’ Irene snorted incredulously. ‘It was only the other day you were going on about what a bad mother she was for going out with that mate of hers of a weekend.’

‘Yes, well, I’ve been thinking about that, and maybe I was a bit harsh,’ Pauline admitted shamefacedly. ‘Maybe we
all
were,’ she added, gazing around at them. ‘I mean, we’ve not exactly been nice to her lately, have we?’

‘We’ve not exactly had
reason
to,’ Irene pointed out bluntly. ‘Come on, Paul, don’t try and make her out to be some kind of saint just because she’s had a bit of bad luck.’

‘A bit of bad luck? She’s lost her bloody house, Reen. How much worse
could
it be?’

‘At least the kids are alive –
that
would have been worse.’

‘Yes, but one of them nearly wasn’t. And no one even knows where the other one is, so anything could have happened to her by now.’

‘That Nicky’s her mother’s daughter, all right,’ Carole said darkly, reaching for the biscuit tin. ‘They probably thought it up between them, knowing them. How to get the social to give us more money – oh, I know . . . let’s start a fire and lose everything, then they’ll have to give us a big fat cheque.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Pauline snapped. ‘Sue had no idea what was going on. She left Nicky babysitting while she went out for her friend’s birthday, that’s all. And Nicky’s fifteen, don’t forget, which is perfectly legal. But that’s not the issue,’ she went on, prodding a finger down on the table to emphasise her point. ‘The issue is, Sue had no idea. And if anyone thinks different, they’d only have to have seen the state she was in when she got back and saw the place to know that it’s true.’

Snorting softly as she dunked her biscuit, Irene said, ‘Some of us
did
see her, but she didn’t convince anyone, ’cos we can all make ourselves cry if it makes us look less guilty about something. My Eddie says—’

‘Your Eddie says a lot of things, but it doesn’t mean he knows what he’s talking about,’ Carole muttered.

Flicking her a dirty look, Irene said, ‘He knows a damn sight more than
you
do. Anyway, what you doing here? You don’t even live on this side. This has got nowt to do with you.’

‘It’s still my road, so it’s just as much my business as yours.’

‘Yes, but you’re not on the residents’ committee, are you, dear?’

‘So?’

‘So, you shouldn’t
be
here.’

Irritated with Irene for veering them off course, Pauline reminded her that the meetings were open to all the residents.

‘Well, tell her to keep her opinions to herself, because none of us is interested in anything she’s got to say,’ Irene replied snottily.

‘I know more about this than any of you lot, so my opinion counts for more than yours any day,’ Carole informed her smugly. ‘And if anyone needs to keep their big gob shut, it’s you.’

‘
I
’ve got a big gob? That’s rich, coming from a mouthy get like
you
.’

‘Eh, I might be mouthy, but at least I can back myself up. Not like
you
– flapping your gums all over the shop, then hiding behind your husband when someone comes after you!’

‘Least I’ve still
got
a husband. But then, yours never got so far as to put a ring on your finger before he took off, did he?’

‘And you’ve only still got
yours
’cos he’s too fucking fat for anyone to want to pinch him off you.’

‘Didn’t I hear a rumour that your Dave got very friendly with someone lately?’ Irene sniped, a vindictive smile on her wrinkled face. ‘Can’t quite remember who – oh, yes, that’s right. It was Sue, wasn’t it?’

‘No, it fucking wasn’t!’ Carole growled, her eyes flashing a clear signal of warning. ‘And if you ever try and mug me off like that again, I’ll—’

‘STOP IT!’ Lynne Jackson blurted out. Blushing when everyone turned to gawp at her, she flapped her hands nervously. ‘Sorry, but I really can’t stand all this shouting.’

Listening to all this with glee, although he was still pretending to be watching TV, John gave a little chuckle of amusement. Mousy Lynne Jackson standing up for herself – well, well, well.

Flicking him an irritated glare, Pauline said, ‘Lynne’s right. We shouldn’t be arguing, we should be making decisions.’

‘I propose a petition,’ Jackie said, thinking that they were finally getting back to their real reason for being here: the council. ‘If enough of us sign it, we should be able to get them to do something.’

‘Wouldn’t hold my breath,’ Irene said, picking biscuit out of her teeth. ‘I’ve been here a lot longer than you, and I’ve still not got central heating or double glazing.’

‘I’m more concerned about all the old wood frames,’ Jackie said worriedly. ‘None of us is safe, and after what happened at Sue’s I’m seriously thinking about moving into a private let as a protest.’

‘I wouldn’t do anything hasty,’ Irene warned her. ‘If you let your place go, you’ll never get back in with the council.’

‘We’ve got to do something,’ Lynne said quietly. ‘I can’t wait till they tell me it’s safe to go back to my house, but at the same time I’m terrified I won’t be able to sleep once I get there. I’ll probably just lie awake all night, every night, thinking about what could have happened to me and David if we hadn’t got out when we did.’

‘Yes, but you
did
get out,’ Pauline reminded her gently. Then, ‘Anyhow, getting back to Sue . . . I’ve been thinking while you’ve all been talking, and I reckon the least we can do is get a collection going.’

‘You’re joking,’ Irene snorted, looking at her as if she’d gone mad. ‘Who’s going to put money into a pot for
her
?’

Wondering how she could be so cold, Pauline said, ‘She’s lost everything. And she didn’t know what was going on. She’s in a right mess.’

‘She
would
have known, if she’d been at home like she was supposed to be,’ Irene pointed out self-righteously. ‘And Nicky might be fifteen, but she should
never
have been left to look after the boy for the whole weekend. And you know I’m right, Paul, so I don’t see why you’re sticking up for her.’

‘I’m not.’

‘Yeah, you are,’ Carole said – in rare agreement with Irene. ‘Sue’s a lying bitch, and them kids nearly died because of her. And I should know, because my Leanne tells me everything. Sue was out with some bloke when it happened, and didn’t give a toss that she’d left them with no food or electric, and no way of getting hold of her –
that
’s the truth of it.’

‘That’s where you’re wrong,’ Pauline argued. ‘And
I
should know, because I was here when the police talked to her. She’d left money for the electric, and the kids
did
know how to get hold of her.’

‘So
she
says.’

‘And why would she lie?’

‘Oh, come on.’ Drawing her head back, Carole gave a cynical smirk. ‘She’s not going to admit that she took off and left them to fend for themselves, is she? You want to talk to Terry if you want to know what she’s
really
like. It’s a wonder them kids haven’t starved to death by now, ’cos she’s never got any food in. All the money she gets off the dole goes on booze. And don’t get me started on what she does with the maintenance money she gets off Terry, ’cos the kids sure as hell don’t see a penny of it.’

‘I wasn’t aware he was paying maintenance,’ Irene slipped in snidely. ‘As far as I know, he’s not paid a penny since he took off with
your
lass.’

‘Bollocks!’ Carole shot back aggressively. ‘He gets half of whatever he earns taken straight out of his bank and handed to that bitch before he brings a penny back to our Lee.’

‘That’s not true,’ Tina Murphy interjected quietly. She’d kept out of the discussion so far because she didn’t want to risk getting into an argument with Carole, who was one of the most unreasonable and volatile women she’d ever met. But, as one of the few neighbours who still considered Sue a friend, she just couldn’t sit back and let them assassinate her like this.

‘You calling me a liar?’ Carole demanded, turning on her nastily.

‘No,’ Tina replied calmly, determined to stand her ground. ‘I’m just saying that it’s not true that Sue gets half of Terry’s wages. He might get some taken off him, but it doesn’t get handed to her. It doesn’t work like that.’

‘Like you’d know.’

‘I
do
, actually,’ Tina said firmly. ‘And I know what a struggle it’s been for her since Terry left.’ Looking earnestly around at the other women now, she said, ‘I know you’ve all fallen out with her lately, but she’s not as bad as you all make out. She’s probably not been as friendly as you think she should have been lately, but you can hardly blame her, can you? Think how
you
’d feel if your husbands left you and everyone started whispering behind your back like it was your fault? She’s in
bits
about Nicky. She’s not slept in days, and she’s lost so much weight it’s awful. So, unless you’ve talked to her like I have, please don’t tell me she doesn’t care, because she really, really does.’

A silence had fallen over the room by the time Tina had finished speaking, only broken by the sound of the TV that John was still staring at. After a moment, Jackie Harris stood up. Taking a ten-pound note out of her purse, she walked over to Pauline and put it down on the table.

‘That’s all I’ve got till I get paid, but she’s welcome to it. And I’ll have a sort-through of the kids’ stuff when I get home from work – see if I can find any clothes or shoes to fit Connor.’