East End Angel Part 27

He peered into the dusk, watching the tart glancing to and fro, cigarette clamped in her mean mouth. A short fat fellow stumbled drunkenly off the pavement and Beverly strolled up to him. He pushed her back, then weaved on his way, oblivious to the two fingers she'd stuck up close to his head. Resting her rear against the wall, Beverly looked resigned to waiting for another likely punter. Charlie wanted it to be him and was ready to reveal himself.

The fat fellow looked like he'd had a change of heart. He turned around and barked something indistinct, but Beverly seemed to understand him and eagerly trotted over.

Fired up with frustration, Charlie reckoned he'd have to take it out on somebody or drive himself nuts. He swore beneath his breath, ambling off towards his mother's house. He didn't want anybody to spot him and know his whereabouts, but he'd trust Vi with his life ... Charlie's brooding was interrupted by the sight of a motorcar purring around the corner. He turned his face to the wall and, almost level with a shop doorway dived into it, out of sight.

The last person he wanted to see was Nick Raven. Charlie knew he'd drag him to the police station, and laugh while he was doing it. Charlie hovered in his shelter, gazing from beneath his brows but the car didn't disappear; it slowed down then parked up on the opposite side of the road by a house sporting an estate agent's board. From his hidy-hole, Charlie watched Nick get out of the car, then heard a set of keys jangling. A moment later, he watched a weak light come on in the hallway before Raven closed the door. Charlie pursed his lips, a foxy twist to his mouth. Glancing to and fro, he rea.s.sured himself n.o.body was about ... n.o.body had seen him ... not even Beverly, and there might never be a better opportunity to take the flash git by surprise.

It had started to drizzle and Charlie turned up his coat collar, gazing left and right. He'd had enough of lurking in the shop doorway and wondered if Nick was in there for the night. He lit a cigarette and shuffled impatiently. He'd give it a few more minutes then get on his way. He stroked the blade in his pocket. He'd been carrying it with him ever since he'd gone on the run. A noise alerted him to his quarry's reappearance and Charlie felt sweat soaking his forehead and his heart pumping with excitement.

After he'd seen to Raven, he'd go and give Beverly another try. Her room in Poplar was a s.h.i.+thole but Charlie didn't care; he'd bunk there with her willingly until things had died down and he could go home.

Charlie crept forward, knife in hand. If he were to swing for a murder it might as well be this one, was his philosophy. Aware he was within striking distance of Raven's spine, he tilted back his head to take one celebratory drag on his cigarette, blowing smoke skywards, barely aware of a shadow closing in behind. He hardly felt the blade slip across his throat either, or the hand diving into his pocket, and crumpled quite gracefully to the ground.

Nick swung about at the thud, preparing to defend himself because he'd glimpsed a moving figure. A slim dark-haired man politely inclined his head in a way that seemed to Nick distinctly oriental. The next moment, the fellow had melted away into darkness.

Crouching down, Nick tilted his face to see the dead man's features although he'd already guessed his ident.i.ty, and that he'd been Potter's intended victim. He'd noticed the knife gripped in Charlie's fingers but suddenly withdrew his hand without touching it.

'f.u.c.king h.e.l.l, Charlie, bet you never saw that coming ...' Nick muttered, straightening slowly. 'Well ... don't know his name, although I reckon Ruby does ... but I do know I owe him a drink. What do you reckon, mate?' He shook his head at Charlie's corpse, allowing himself a grim smile, then quickly got into his car and drove away.

'You speak good English.'

'I know, sir.'

Wes studied the fellow, thinking for a Chinaman he was good-looking, all cheekbones and s.h.i.+ny black hair. He was polite too. Wes had liked that about him last time they'd spoken. Not that much had been said apart from essentials. He'd no more desire for a social conversation now.

'It's done.'

'Proof?'

The Chinese man held out a wallet.

Wes took it, fingered the worn brown leather before dropping it in a pocket. He didn't need to look inside for Charlie's union card to recognise it as his.

'Put him out of action for a while, have you?'

'He won't be bothering anybody.'

Wes thought there was something quite sinister in the young man's Mona Lisa smile. He pulled cash from his inside pocket and held it out.

In an instant, the money was gone and so was the Chinaman.

Wes hesitated beneath the gas lamp instead of turning directly for home. He snapped himself out of his odd mood. Charlie had deserved to be put in his place. It might teach him not to blackmail him even slyly. n.o.body went against Wes Silver and got away with it ...

Wes plunged his hands into his pockets and turned to walk back towards the spot where he'd parked his car. Idly, he wondered if Charlie had caught a glimpse of his a.s.sailant's slitted eyes before he hit the deck. He knew Charlie hated the Chinese, and with good reason.

'Now that's a joke, Charlie ...' Wes said softly. 'And I do hope you saw the funny side of it ...'

EPILOGUE.

Two Weeks Later

'Somebody outside wants to see you.'

Jennifer glanced up from her magazine, open on the starched coverlet. 'Not brought Dot in to see me, have you, Kath?' she enquired in a sarky tone that gladdened her sister's heart. Despite her pallor, the old Jennifer was fast reappearing, making Kathy certain her twin was well on the road to recovery.

Kathy had only moments ago arrived on the ward and now perched on the chair by her sister's bed. 'It's not Dot; but that woman has been a diamond and she sends you her best, as always.'

'Probably just being nice so she can have all the gory details when I get home,' Jenny grumbled.

'Mum's outside.' Kathy's eyes glistened as a poignant mixture of hope and disbelief lit Jenny's expression. Her twin's gaze had jumped to the entrance, antic.i.p.ating Winnie's arrival.

'Mum's come to see me?' Jenny whispered in awe.

Kathy nodded. 'She's waiting outside; she wanted me to ask you if she could come in. I said you wouldn't mind but she insisted on having it from you. It's been such a long time ... I expect she's composing herself.'

Jennifer smoothed her hair, as a child might in readiness for maternal inspection. 'Does she know ... about everything?' Jenny's apprehensive eyes darted to her sister.

'She knows as much as me.' Kathy paused. 'Mum asked who the baby's father was ... I didn't know what to say, Jen. She'll ask you the same question. She probably wants to hear he was a decent sort of boyfriend ...'

'Well, he wasn't and he's not important, he never was.' Jenny agitatedly flicked closed the magazine, rubbed together her palms.

'Just thought I'd warn you that she'll ask about him,' Kathy soothed.

'He was a no-good two-timing b.a.s.t.a.r.d, that's all he was.'

Kathy smiled wryly. 'We'll all be glad to forget about him then,' she said cheerfully. 'Mum'll want to wring his neck, same as I do.' She patted her sister's hand. 'Ready?' At Jennifer's quick nod, Kathy stood up. 'I'll fetch her in.'

'Kath?'

Kathy turned back to her sister to see a peculiar expression on Jenny's face.

'I do love you, y'know, even though I don't show it. I know I'm a horrible cow. I want to be better ... honest. So thanks for everything and I'm really sorry for what I've done.' Jenny swallowed, blinking back tears. 'I'm gonna be different now, Kath, swear I am. Ain't asked you to sneak me in a drink, have I? I'm done with it fer good ... done with all of it. I know you've got every right to hate me, Kathy, the way I've behaved ...' Jenny suddenly covered her face with her hands and started to sob.

Kathy stooped to hug her sister, kissing the top of her head. 'Don't be daft. You're my sister and I love you too, no matter what.'

'No matter what?' Jenny gasped, burrowing her head against Kathy and gripping her sister's arms tightly.

'No matter what!' Kathy said vehemently. She showed her sister two crossed fingers. 'Like that, you 'n' me, Jen, even before we were born.' She wiped her sister's tears. 'Always have been, always will be.'

'You're happy with Nick Raven, aren't you?'

Kathy nodded, her smile soft. 'Yeah ... happier than I've ever been.'

Following all the recent commotion, she'd not found the right moment to broach the subject of the lorry hijack with Nick. With sudden clarity, Kathy realised she no longer cared to do so. Nick Raven might have made his luck through thieving but he was a good man now, who'd proved his worth many times over and, even if he weren't, Kathy knew she'd still love him and want to be with him. Dodgy deeds and shameful secrets might lurk in both their pasts but they were unimportant; they had the future to look forward to.

'You deserve him,' Jenny said. 'Can't wait to meet him. Find out if he's got a brother fer me.'

Kathy laughed, affectionately touching her sister's face. 'He's an only child, I'm afraid. Now buck up! I'm fetching Mum.' She waited for Jennifer's smile before setting off.

Kathy walked back past patients in iron beds holding low conversations with their visitors, feeling quietly content. When she'd told her parents the harrowing news that Jenny had nearly haemorrhaged to death following a miscarriage, they'd been devastated. Eddie had burst into tears; Winnie had gone green but, ever practical, had wanted to go straight to the hospital and take charge. She'd started getting into her coat, despite Kathy saying that the doctors wouldn't yet allow Jennifer any visitors. In a matter of minutes, the shock of almost losing a child had healed a rift of over five years' duration.

No mention had been made by anyone of whether the miscarriage had been self-induced. Kathy had tormented herself wondering whether her refusal to help Jennifer end the pregnancy had made her twin sink low enough to risk her life. Jennifer wasn't saying. And now she was on the mend, n.o.body was asking. But when Kathy had cleaned Jennifer's flat following her haemorrhage, she'd noticed the knitting, and the needles, had disappeared.

Kathy pushed open the door to see her mother prowling the corridor. Winnie caught sight of her and delved inside her shopping bag to check the contents, as she always did when nervous.

'Jenny wants to see you, Mum.'

Winnie sniffed, cleared her throat. 'Well, I want to see her too,' she said briskly in a way that peeled back years and reminded Kathy of the scoldings they'd get at home. 'I've got a few things to say to yer sister, I can tell you ...'

Three Weeks Later

'Did you go to the funeral?'

'No ... stayed well away. I let his mother deal with it all.' Ruby s.h.i.+fted her shopping from one hand to the other. 'I went to the cemetery when they'd all gone; had a few things to get off me chest and say to Charlie. All done now so won't be going back there no more.' She gazed into the distance. 'If the kids want to go and see their father's resting place when they're older, I won't stop 'em. Peter's asked after him. Pansy knows he's gone but don't care to find out rather than won't ask.'

Kathy and Ruby were walking back from Smithy's shop in Campbell Road, having bought some milk and a twist of tea so they could sit and have a cuppa with Matilda. Kathy peered ahead to where Pansy was squatting on the kerb outside the Keivers' house. A small fair-haired girl was crouching beside her, holding out a skipping rope.

'I see Pansy's made a friend.'

'Yeah ... met her at school,' Ruby explained.

'Pansy's going to school?' Kathy sounded delighted.

'Matilda thought Pooles Park might suit her, so that's where she's started. She looks forward to it,' Ruby said sheepishly. 'Peter goes there 'n' all, but he likes to play with his pals on the way home. Matilda picks Pansy up for me on afternoons I'm doing me cleaning job, and brings her in.' She paused. 'I always knew you was right; it's important Pansy learns her lessons. Want her to be clever and get a good job, like you.'

'You were worried she'd get bullied, though, weren't you?' Kathy said.

'No chance of that if Matilda's with her.' Ruby snorted in amus.e.m.e.nt. 'Pansy don't wanna talk, she don't have to, so far as Matilda's concerned. I reckon she'd clip the ear of anybody who'd got something different to say, including the teachers.'

'She's a forceful woman.' Kathy chuckled. 'And she's a wise woman ... you did right to listen to her.'

'She's a wonderful woman,' Ruby said simply. 'Been the saving of me ... and so have you ...'

'It's good to hear you laugh, Ruby,' Kathy interrupted the woman's gruff grat.i.tude. 'Will you go back to the East End when you feel up to it?'

Ruby shook her head, her expression determined. 'Nothing there fer me now, Nurse Finch. This is me home, this is where me family is ... me new family. Me kids call Matilda "Auntie"; I like that.' She grimaced. 'I know the Bunk's a dump, but it's my kind of dump. Course, we can't live with Matilda for ever, though she says we're welcome to, and I reckon she means it. Want me own little place so we can spread out a bit. Now I've got me job back I can put a bit by in a kitty for rent on a couple o' rooms.' Her top lip curled in loathing. 'Never took to me mother-in-law and she never liked me, or the kids. Now she blames me for Charlie getting robbed and murdered 'cos he wouldn't have stayed out if he hadn't been upset over ...' Ruby abruptly bit her lip, unable to utter the name of the little boy she'd loved and lost.

'Have the police caught who did it?'

Ruby shrugged. 'Only come to see me the once and the constable reckoned it was unlikely they'd find him. All the people comin' 'n' goin' on the boats and so on, he could be halfway round the world by now, he said.' Ruby's words faded away as a host of hateful memories flooded back. 'Not gonna pretend I didn't wish Charlie dead at times, but he was me husband and I wouldn't have wanted him to go like that.' She blinked back tears. 'But for it happening a few days sooner, I'd still have the little 'un. Me punishment, that is, for being wicked ... and I'll torment meself over it every day of me life ...'

'Hush ...' Kathy put an arm around Ruby's shoulders, turning the woman to face her. 'Did Paul's father come to see you that day, Ruby?' The matter of the loitering Chinese fellow had been puzzling Kathy and it seemed the right time to solve it.

'Charlie wasn't lying ... there was a foreigner outside for an hour or so; it might have been Yan ...' Ruby nibbled her lip. 'Last time we spoke, he told me he'd come back for me and I believed him at the time. That's why I didn't do nuthin' when I found out I was pregnant with his baby. He was nice ... gentle ... spoke good English too.' She gave a bitter laugh. 'Six months later and no sign of him, I was having second thoughts. But it was too late then 'cos the baby was moving about and I couldn't do it. Anyway, I'm glad I didn't ... I'm glad I had Paul ... just for a little while ...' Her voice tailed off into a choked sob.

Kathy embraced her in comfort.

'Anyway, with me eye being so swollen,' Ruby resumed gruffly, 'everything was blurry so I couldn't tell if I recognised the fellow outside. Charlie made me stand at the window so he probably got a good look at me all bashed up. Whoever he was, I never saw him hanging about in Fairclough Street again.'

Ruby raised a hand and waved to her daughter, who'd just spotted her. The child jumped up and tore towards her mother diving straight for her legs, burrowing into her skirt. 'Funny thing is, when I was over the cemetery with a posy for Paul oh, his grave ain't nowhere near Charlie's, made sure o' that there was a few flowers already laid down. Saw a man in the distance with black hair. He looked familiar, but too far away to tell, and there's a lot of Chinese about ... Ooh, mind out, Pansy, you'll trip me up,' Ruby said as her daughter continued to cling to her, getting under her feet.

'You're going to school then, young lady?' Kathy asked, ruffling the child's long dark hair.

Pansy nodded bashfully.

Kathy crouched down, so her face was level with Pansy's. 'I went to that school. My teacher was called Miss Timmings.'

'Miss Milton ...' Pansy whispered.

'Your teacher is Miss Milton?'

Pansy nodded.

'Is she nice?'

Again the child slowly wagged her head before racing away as her friend called her.

'Don't want you to lose yer job over me,' Ruby blurted. 'You're a good midwife.' She sounded distressed again. 'I ain't prying, but Matilda b.u.mped into your mum, and Winnie told her you're giving up nursing. Ain't because of me, and what went on, is it?'

'No ... honestly, it's not,' Kathy rea.s.sured. In truth, she knew keeping Ruby's secret as she would till the day she died was no greater burden on her conscience than the guilt she felt over refusing Jennifer help when she'd begged for it. It was her job to nurture new life, yet recently she'd had her cut-and-dried beliefs tested and the doubts haunting her mind were not yet quietened.

'It's just ... a crossroads in my life and I need to have a breather and decide about the future.' Kathy paused. She'd not yet told anybody that Nick had asked her to marry him, and she'd said yes. She'd wanted to save the wonderful surprise till they'd been shopping for a ring at the weekend. But Ruby needed something to ease her anxieties. 'I'm getting married, Ruby ...'

Ruby laughed, throwing back her head in delight and relief. 'You're getting married! Ain't no better reason to stay at home than that. I'm guessing the copper's off the scene and you've caught that smas.h.i.+ng Mr Raven.'

Kathy nodded, and as Ruby dropped her shopping bag to spin her around, she allowed her inner joy free rein, whooping with abandon as loudly as was Ruby.

'Well, good for you!' Ruby said breathlessly as they broke apart. 'He's the sort of bloke every gel wants but can't have. He'll look after you.'