The Loner (34 page)

Sliding his arm round her shoulders, Lenny sat her down on the new divan bed. He couldn’t wait to be sharing it with her. ‘In two days’ time we’ll be man and wife.’ His hand reached out to stroke her hair. ‘You could have any man you wanted,’ he murmured, ‘but you chose me.’

‘You wouldn’t let me
not
choose you,’ she laughed, a little sadly.

‘You don’t regret it, do you – saying yes, I mean?’

Detecting the nervousness in his voice, Judy felt guilty and was quick to reassure him. ‘I wouldn’t have said yes, if I didn’t want to marry you.’ Cradling her two hands round his face she drew him down and kissed him full on the mouth, a soft and loving kiss that quickly aroused him.

‘I do love you so.’ Unbuttoning her blouse, he slid it over her shoulders, baring her small, pert breasts.

The knock on the front door startled them. ‘Who can that be?’ While Lenny went down to answer the door, Judy quickly buttoned up her blouse and went to put the kettle on.

It was Annie. ‘Is Judy here?’ she asked, and Lenny thought she looked as though she’d been crying.

Concerned, he drew her inside. ‘Are you all right?’

Annie nodded. ‘Yes. Look, I’m sorry to bother you of an evening, but tomorrow’s the last day before the wedding, and there are things I need to go over with Jude.’ She paused, her voice shaking as she added, ‘I’m sorry, Lenny. I just needed to get out of the house.’

He took hold of her, could feel her trembling. Something tugged at him. ‘I know there’s summat wrong at home,’ he said sharply. ‘I’ve seen you go downhill for some weeks now, and I’m worried about you. Look, Annie, I care for you, and I want to help. But I can’t do anything if you don’t tell me the truth!’

‘Annie?’ Hearing voices, Judy had come downstairs, and she was shocked to see Annie there, looking so upset. ‘Come upstairs, sweetheart.’ While Lenny secured the door, she took Annie up to the sitting room.

‘I’m in terrible trouble,’ Annie burst out as they went in and sat down on the settee. ‘I just don’t know what to do any more.’

For a full minute she sobbed in Judy’s arms, then when she became quieter, Judy gently urged her, ‘Talk to me, Annie … Tell me what’s happened to get you into this state.’

Annie wiped her eyes and sat very still and very quiet for a while, deep in thought and now bitterly regretting her weakness in having come here and worried the only two real friends she had in the whole world.

Raising her face and plastering a false smile on it, she declared in a bright voice, ‘Look, you two need your privacy.’ She stood up. ‘I’d best be off.’

They were amazed. ‘What are you talking about?’ Lenny blocked her way. ‘You’re obviously very upset. Somebody’s hurting you, and I for one want to know who. Come on, Annie. We’re all friends together here; nobody else need know, if that’s what you’re worried about.’

She was adamant. ‘I’m just a bit touchy at the minute, that’s all,’ she said. ‘It’s the wedding, I expect. My nerves are all on edge.’ She laughed. ‘Anyone would think it were me getting wed!’ And oh, how she wished it was.

She refused the hot drink Judy offered, and she refused Lenny’s offer to take her home in the car. She then made her apologies, and only a few minutes after arriving, she was gone.

Judy saw her away at the door. ‘I know you’re in trouble,’ she told Annie, ‘but there’s nothing me or Lenny can do, if you won’t confide in us.’

‘Nothing to tell.’ Annie gave her a hug and went away up the street at a fast pace. At the corner, she turned round and waved, and then she was gone from sight.

Upstairs, Lenny was pacing the floor. ‘D’you think she’ll really be all right?’ he asked. Like Judy, he was very concerned.

‘She seemed all right,’ Judy sighed, ‘but you never know with Annie. She can be very deep when she wants.’

‘Do you think we should have a word with her mother?’ he went on.

Judy shook her head. ‘Annie wouldn’t thank you for that.’

‘So, what can we do?’

‘We can’t do anything.’ Judy knew her friend only too well. ‘We have to wait until she decides she can trust us. Until then, all we can do is keep a close eye on her.’

The mood in the flat was changed, and a short time later, Lenny ran Judy home.

For what seemed an age she lay there as the afternoon turned to evening, making her plans, hoping she was doing the right thing; knowing she should not do it, but seeing no alternative.

Scrambling to her feet, she brushed herself down and combed her hair with her fingers. Fumbling in her pockets, she found a hankie to wipe the tears and dirt from her face. That done, she walked on, more composed, still afraid – but determined to go through with it.

When at last she came off into Montague Street , she started the long walk down to number sixteen. ‘I can do it,’ she told herself. ‘
I have to!
’

She made it as far as number sixteen. Outside, she paused and waited. ‘Go on, Annie,’ she told herself, taking a long, shuddering breath. ‘You’ve got this far. Don’t back out now.’

She was gathering all the courage she had when the voice spoke in her ear, making her jump. ‘Are you all right, dear?’ A wizened, goblin-like creature of advanced years was looking at Annie through tiny, quizzical eyes. ‘Only you’ve been standing there ever since I turned the corner at the top. Are you lost, dearie? Tell me who you’re looking for, and I might be able to point you in the right direction?’

Already nervous, Annie began to panic. ‘It’s all right,’ she stuttered. ‘It’s … mmm … it’s the wrong street.’ She backed away. ‘It’s not Montague Street I want. No, not Montague Street at all.’

The little goblin watched as Annie went away down the street at a quickening pace. ‘Strange lass!’ She shook her head and trotted along to the corner shop, where she had a snippet of juicy gossip for her old friend, Enid. Girls and young women were always coming to number 16. Nurse Pomfret lived here with all her cats – nasty, smelly things they were. No one along here liked the woman, or her blessed animals. But no one dared to say any more than that.

‘I wasn’t really thinking about that, Mam.’

‘No? What were you thinking about then?’

‘I was thinking about Annie.’

‘What about her?’

The girl took a moment to consider her words. ‘I think she’s in some kind of trouble,’ she said eventually.

Beth grew anxious. ‘What kind of trouble?’

Judy shrugged. ‘I’m not really sure, only these past few weeks, she’s been like a cat on hot bricks. She hardly ever laughs any more, and when you talk to her, she seems miles away. And tonight she came round to Lenny’s flat and she was crying, and when we asked her what was wrong, she said it was nothing, but I know she’s lying. And I’m really worried about her.’

‘Hey.’ Beth came and sat on the sofa beside her. ‘You’re her best friend, sweetheart. If Annie ever had a problem, she all us came to you. If there was anything wrong now, she’d tell you, I know she would.’

The girl shook her head. ‘There have been a few times lately, when she’s started to tell me something, and then she clams up.’ She looked to her mother for an answer. ‘Has Mrs Needham said anything to you? Is there any trouble at home that you know of?’

Beth gave it some thought. ‘No, not that I can think of.’ She pursed her lips in that peculiar fashion she had when concentrating. ‘I reckon I can tell you what Annie’s problem is,’ she went on sagely. ‘It’s the wedding. She’s afraid she might let you down somehow. She’s probably convincing herself that something’s bound to go wrong and that it will be her fault.’ She tutted. ‘You know how she is – all us looking to blame her self for everything.’

Judy saw the sense in what her mother was saying. ‘Oh Mam, do you really think that’s all it is?’

‘I do, yes.’

‘But she’s got nothing to worry about, and besides, if anything was to go wrong, that doesn’t make it Annie’s fault.’ A shiver of fear went through her. ‘Nothing will go wrong, will it?’

‘ ’Course it won’t, lass! Now drink your cocoa afore it gets cold.’