The Price of Love (23 page)

‘Thank you.’ Reluctantly Lucy took the money. From now on, she told herself, she was going to have to get used to taking money from Robert each week since looking after Anna was now going to be her source of income.

‘It will all work out,’ Robert told her, patting her shoulder as she went through the door. ‘Sam will see that what you are doing really is the best for all concerned.’

Lucy pondered Robert’s words all the way home. Was she doing the best for Sam or was she simply thinking of herself? Anna had won her heart and more than anything else she wanted to look after her. The child had had a rough start in life and had been pushed from pillar to post but from now on she would make sure that Anna was surrounded by love and security.

Sam still hadn’t met Anna but Lucy was confident that when he did he would understand why she felt so strongly about looking after the little girl.

Before she’d left Horatio Street that evening to come and see Robert she’d told Sam to start gathering together all the things they would be taking with them.

He’d said nothing, merely nodded, but she couldn’t help noticing how his mouth had tightened into a grim line. Even so, Lucy felt that if she arrived home and found he’d done as she’d asked, then surely it meant that he really was in agreement with her decision and was prepared to accept the situation.

The house in Horatio Street was in darkness when she reached it. She went in as quietly as possible, not wishing to meet either Joe Black or his wife, and quickly made her way upstairs.

She intended to wait until the very last minute to tell them that they were leaving; perhaps as they went out of the house with all their belongings.

As she opened the door of the living room she was surprised to find that it was also in complete darkness and for one stark moment a frisson of fear went through her in case Sam had taken it into his head to clear off somewhere on his own.

As she went in she stumbled over something on the floor. For a moment she thought it must be one of the cases that she’d left out ready so that Sam could pack some of their stuff but then she realised it was too soft for that.

In the dim light coming in through the window from the street light outside she realised it was someone lying there.

‘Sam?’ She bent down and touched him. ‘Sam, what’s happened, why are you lying on the floor?’

With shaking hands she lit the gas light and then gasped in dismay. Sam was not simply lying there, he appeared to be unconscious and, to her horror, she could see that blood from a gash on his head had seeped into the carpet.

‘Sam?’ Lucy knelt down and felt his pulse; it was so faint that she wasn’t sure if there was one or not and his chest was barely moving, his breathing was so shallow.

She hesitated for one moment, wondering whether she should leave him lying there while she went to call an ambulance or whether she should ask the Blacks to do it for her and instinctively she knew that it was better to do it herself.

Lucy sat on a chair in the hospital corridor outside the room where they were administering to Sam for the rest of the night, waiting to hear news of how badly hurt he was. She found it hard to believe that this was happening all over again just as they were about to get back on their feet at last.

It was eight o’clock the next morning before they would let her in to see him. His face was ashen and his head so heavily bandaged that he was barely discernible against the white pillow.

She knew she was trembling as she moved to the side of the bed. She picked up one of his hands and murmured his name, but there was no response.

She sat there for another couple of hours. Whenever a nurse came to check on Sam or on one of the pieces of equipment he was attached to, she asked them if they would tell her what was happening but they told her nothing.

When it was mid-morning, a pleasant youngish nurse in a different-coloured uniform came over to speak to her. ‘I think it might be better if you went home and got some rest and then came back tomorrow. Your husband will have regained consciousness by then.’

‘Sam is my brother, not my husband,’ Lucy told her. ‘Couldn’t I come back this evening?’

‘Of course you can if you wish to do so. Your brother should be conscious by then but he still may not be well enough to talk; he might not even recognise you,’ she warned.

‘Is he really that bad?’ Lucy said worriedly.

‘Head injuries very often give rise to various problems of this sort but in most instances, with careful nursing, the patient recovers completely,’ the nurse explained gently. ‘It does take time, though,’ she added cautiously.

‘I’ll come back this evening; would seven o’clock be all right?’

‘Very well, I’ll tell the night nurse to expect you.’

‘I was rather hoping I would see you; you’re the first person who has explained anything to me.’

‘Well, if you can make it earlier, say half past six, I’ll still be on duty then.’

Lucy returned to Horatio Street in a daze. Although she’d been up all night she knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep; not until she knew that Sam was out of danger.

As she went into their living room, the first thing that met her was the dark stain on the carpet where Sam had fallen and his head had been bleeding. She stood for a moment looking down at it, wondering what had happened.

About a foot away from the stain was a suitcase. The lid was open and some of the contents had spilled out on to the floor. He must have been in the middle of packing it and been attacked, she mused. Else how on earth could he have hit the back of his head when he had fallen? He’d been lying face down when she’d found him. It didn’t make sense.

Bending down she put the clothes back in the case and closed the lid. As she did so she saw the bottle. A heavy, dark-brown glass bottle. She picked it up and noticed that it was a beer bottle and frowned. The mystery deepened. Sam didn’t drink beer, so what was an empty beer bottle doing in their room? she asked herself.

As she picked it up she felt something sticky down one side of it. At first she thought it must be beer that had trickled down there when the beer was being poured out. When she looked at her hand, though, she saw that her fingers were covered with stale blood. The bottle must have been used to hit Sam on the head.

She felt frightened. Who would do such a thing and for what reason? She suspected that it might have been Joe Black, but she couldn’t understand why.

She was still debating whether or not to go and confront Joe Black and ask what had happened when there was a thunderous knocking on her door. Before she could answer it Joe Black’s voice shouted from the other side of it, ‘Come on, open up. I know you are in there because I saw you come in.’

When she opened the door the merest scrap he slammed it back and was inside the room before she could stop him.

‘Planning to do a runner last night, were you, you and that brother of yours? Well, I’ll soon put a stop to that. Nobody cheats me out of any ackers that are due to me.’

‘No one was intending to cheat you out of anything, Mr Black,’ Lucy told him hotly. ‘Yes, we are planning to leave, but we had every intention of letting you know when we were ready to do so and, let me remind you, we are paid up to the end of the week.’

‘Don’t you come that hoity-toity act with me, luv, or I’ll belt you one the same as I did him.’

‘So you were the one that knocked him unconscious with a beer bottle?’ Lucy said scathingly. ‘I’ve been sitting at his bedside in the hospital all night and he hasn’t come round yet. If he dies, then I’ll make sure that you’re hung for murder.’

‘Oh will you, indeed? In that case, I’d better shut you up the same as I did him.’

Lucy retreated back into the room and as she did so her foot caught against the suitcase that was still lying there and before she could save herself she was sprawled on the floor.

With a derisive laugh Joe Black stuck his boot hard into her side, making her cry out with pain.

‘At last I’ve got you right where I want you,’ he leered. ‘You won’t be quite such an uppity little bitch after I’ve finished with you,’ he sniggered as he undid his braces and then began to unbutton his trousers.

Fearful of his intentions as he bent over her, Lucy let out a wild scream.

‘Shut your bloody gob, you silly little cow, or else we’ll have Madge rushing up to see what’s going on,’ Joe hissed, clamping one of his hands roughly over her mouth.

Lucy felt her senses reeling and she was so scared that she was afraid that at any moment she might black out. Making a tremendous effort she bit down on one of his fingers as hard as she could, making him yelp with pain.

‘You soddin’ little bitch,’ he growled. ‘I’ll make you damn well pay for doing that.’

‘Oh no you won’t.’

Lucy almost fainted with relief as the heaviness of Joe Black’s body was pulled off her and she was able to breathe freely. Then a feeling of shame washed over her that Robert should see her lying there in such a dishevelled state.

He was holding Joe Black by the collar of his shirt and pulling it so tight that the man could hardly breathe.

In vain Joe struggled to free himself and pull up his trousers which were now around his ankles, but every movement he made only tightened the restriction round his neck and the edges of his mouth started to turn purple.

He was no match for Robert who was younger and stronger. By the time Lucy had scrambled to her feet, straightened her clothing and smoothed her hair back into place, Robert had thrust Joe Black out on to the landing. In a voice that brooked no argument he threatened to push him down the stairs if he ever came up there again while Lucy was living there.

Robert slammed the door shut then turned and took Lucy in his arms. ‘I was worried when you didn’t turn up,’ he said. He hugged her and tenderly stroked her hair back from her brow while whispering words of comfort.

Lucy shuddered as she nestled against him. The feel of Robert’s arms around her and the soft murmur of his voice brought a feeling of safety and comfort as well as reviving memories of the days when they had been close.

Deep in her heart she knew she still loved him as much as ever and for a moment she hoped that his show of concern and tenderness meant that he felt the same.

‘I don’t know what has been going on here but you can tell me about it later,’ he said as he released her. ‘As soon as we’ve finished packing your things we’re getting out; you’re not staying here another night. Where is Sam?’

‘Sam’s in hospital.’

‘Hospital?’ Robert frowned. ‘Why, what’s happened? Has it something to do with that fellow who was attacking you?’

‘Yes, I’m afraid so. He knocked Sam over the head with a beer bottle. I found Sam lying on the floor when I came home from your place last night. I’ve spent all night at the hospital waiting for him to wake up but he still hadn’t done so when I left there. The nurse said to come back about six o’clock.’

‘Right. The best thing we can do, then, is to take all your belongings to my place, grab a bite to eat and then go back to the hospital. I’ll come with you.’

‘What about little Anna?’

‘We’ll have to leave her where she is, next door with Jenny, until we get back. I’ll pop in and let Jenny know what’s happened; she’ll understand.’

‘It’s a terrible start,’ Lucy said apologetically.

Robert shook his head dismissively. ‘Don’t worry about that; let’s get you settled in and see how Sam is.’

‘His head was bleeding pretty badly when I found him,’ Lucy said worriedly. ‘Look, Robert,’ she pointed to the dark stain on the carpet, ‘that was where he was lying when I came home and I’ve no idea how long he’d been there.’

‘And you think that this was what he was hit with, do you?’ he asked, picking up the heavy glass beer bottle.

‘I’m sure it was, because there was blood on it. Sam doesn’t drink beer, so it couldn’t have been his; Joe Black must have brought it up here with him.’

‘Why on earth would he attack Sam?’

‘I think it was because he found out that we were leaving and they had words about it. Until Sam wakes up and is able to tell us what happened, it’s all guesswork.’

‘Well, it’s a good job I decided to take a couple of hours off this afternoon and come and find out why you were late,’ Robert commented. ‘Come on, we haven’t any time to spare if we are going to be at the hospital for six o’clock. You collect up what has to go and I’ll pack everything into the suitcases.’

An hour later and they were back at Priory Terrace. Despite her concern for Sam, Lucy felt happiness flood through her as she walked in through the door of Robert’s house.

The incident with Joe Black had frightened her a great deal more than she’d realised. Now, knowing that she would never have to see or avoid him and his wife ever again was a tremendous relief. It gave her such a sense of liberation that tears of sheer joy started trickling down her cheeks.

‘Hey, what’s all this?’ Once more Robert’s arms were round her, reassuring her that everything was going to be all right.

‘I know it will be.’ She dabbed at her eyes and struggled to smile through her tears. ‘I feel so safe and happy that I can’t help crying,’ she whispered. ‘You must think me an utter idiot.’

‘No, of course I don’t. You’ve been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours,’ he reminded her. ‘Come and sit down for a minute,’ he said as he led her towards an armchair.

‘I’ll put these suitcases up in your bedroom and you can sort everything out later,’ he told her. ‘We’ll have something to eat and then we’ll go to the hospital. Have you had a meal at all today?’

‘No.’ Lucy shook her head. ‘I’m not hungry so …’

‘So you’ll sit down and eat whatever is put in front of you and no argument,’ Robert told her firmly.

‘Can I freshen up first?’

‘Very well. Go and do that while I get the food ready,’ Robert agreed with mock severity.

To her surprise, when she came back down, Lucy found that the appetising aroma of the plate of hot scouse that Robert put in front of her stimulated her appetite and she tucked in with relish.