Untitled Josephine Cox 4 Page 19

  Ronnie went on to explain how Cathy had been hurt. ‘It’s been a real shock, but Cathy was hurt badly.’ He paused, clearly trying to pull himself together to describe the moment the horse’s hooves had come crashing down on Cathy. ‘She was knocked down and taken into surgery, she’s through the worst of it now and talking to us, albeit for a few minutes at a time. It was some accident, I’ll never get it out of my mind, I was right there, so desperate to get her. But thankfully she’s going to be all right. Cathy is a strong-minded woman, you know, a real fighter. She takes after her nan. The limbs will heal and the other injuries, it will all take time. She’s in the best hands now. The doctors are now saying that Cathy will be good as new in time. Beth knows about her being hurt, but I wanted to pass on this latest news straight away, and it’s just so unlike her to be out.’

  Eileen now gently collected the receiver from Tony, asking Ronnie more questions.

  ‘Oh, thank God she’s going to be okay! She sounds like she’ll come through all right, she’s in good care with you all by her side. So don’t you go worrying about your sister and home. All we can do is say a little prayer and trust in the Good Lord you get your Cathy back strong and well.’

  Nervous and tearful, Tony slumped on the stairs, while waiting for Eileen to say goodnight to Ronnie. Suddenly the crippling weight of guilt felt too heavy to carry. He sat there like a frightened mouse, too nervous to make a bolt for it. It was as though he’d locked the subject away in the deep recesses of his mind where he had hoped it wouldn’t have to see the light of day.

  When Eileen eventually came to him for reassurance, he gave it as generously as he could, while deep down trembling, with dark thoughts of how easily Cathy could have been taken from him before he really knew her. In that devastating moment, he could hardly think straight.

  Seeing her husband in much distress, Eileen was understandably tearful, and she said a silent prayer of thanks, because it sounded as if it could so easily have been a whole different story.

  Tony pulled himself together and took back the receiver. The two men talked for a little longer, and then Ronnie confided why he was especially anxious about Beth. ‘Honestly, Tony – regarding that man of hers – I would not trust him as far as I could throw him. He’s a devious, nasty devil at the best of times. I never have liked him, but Beth seems to need him, so what can I do?’

  ‘Not an awful lot, son. Except what you appear to be doing; mainly keeping a wary eye on her. And don’t forget, we’re here … and you know we will always look out for Beth. I saw Beth earlier today and she seemed all right, but, as I say, I can pop round and check on her.’

  He added in a softer voice, ‘The thing is, Ronnie, like you, I don’t care for that bloke. Oh, it’s not that Beth’s ever complained about him to me, but now and then he’s often butted in on me and Beth in conversation and he seems a bit of an ignorant sort, if you ask me. But I’ve never seen him ill-treating her, and if I ever did I promise I would be in there like a shot.’

  Ronnie was grateful. ‘I’m glad you’re looking out for her. Mike’s a bit too sneaky and full of himself for my liking … but Beth won’t have it.’

  ‘Aye well, you know what women are like. They won’t ever listen will they? But don’t worry, son, I’ll go round there now, and if Beth is there then I can bring her back here to speak with you in privacy. How’s that, eh?’

  ‘No, better not, in case Mike insists on coming round as well and then takes it out on her when he gets her home. No, it’s best if I just keep trying to contact her myself.’

  ‘Please give our love to, um, Cathy, and if you can, will you try your best to keep us informed?’

  ‘Of course, and thank you. I’ll give your love to Cathy.’ He reminded Tony, ‘Be careful when you go round to see Beth. I can’t trust that bloke as far as I could throw him. I know from dealing with him in the past. You can’t believe a word that comes out of his lying mouth. I just need to know that Beth is safe and I can’t thank you enough for helping me.’ He gave Tony the telephone number at the pub, to be used in emergencies only, and then he was quickly gone, while Tony reluctantly replaced the receiver.

  ‘I don’t blame Ronnie for being worried about Beth. If she isn’t at home, where the devil could she be at this time of night?’

  Eileen had been thinking about that. ‘It is odd that she’s not answering the telephone.’

  ‘Well yes, unless of course she’s gone out with a friend – maybe to the pictures in town.’

  ‘I shouldn’t think so. I mean, I suspect she doesn’t have many close friends, I suspect that bloke of hers won’t allow it. In fact, Beth actually told me one time that he gets crazy jealous even when she goes shopping with her quiet little friend, Molly, from Peter Street.’

  While she talked, she made them each another cup of hot cocoa. ‘It will help us sleep,’ she explained wearily. ‘There is so much running round my mind, I don’t think I could sleep anyway.’

  Tony agreed.

  The two of them talked well into the early hours, about Beth, and her spiteful partner, but also about the message Ronnie had brought about Cathy’s terrible accident. ‘Oh, Tony! Cathy will be all right won’t she?’ Like Tony, Eileen had been deeply shaken by the news of Cathy’s accident. Though neither could tell the other why.

  ‘We have to believe that Cathy is in safe hands,’ Tony assured her. ‘Heaven only knows what Cathy’s family are thinking right now, and on top of that Ronnie’s worried about his sister, Beth.’

  He was determined to keep his promise to that caring young man. ‘I’ll go round there first thing in the morning, and if there is neither sight nor sound of her, I’ll do my best to find out where she is. When Ronnie calls again, I might have some good news for him, I’m hoping, he might have some good news about Cathy, too?’

  ‘Oh, I do hope so, Tony!’

  When her tears threatened again, Tony grasped hold of her hand. ‘Trust me, sweetheart, we have to believe that everything will turn out all right for Ronnie’s Cathy, and for Beth also!’

  He whispered a little prayer, before his thoughts again trickled back over the years, to when he and Marie had slept together.

  Then he thought of Cathy, his own precious daughter, how she had been so assured and friendly at the greengrocer’s so that she caught his eye, and then he discovered the extraordinary connection to himself. He felt somewhat privileged, but he was also deeply ashamed and he prayed that he might be forgiven for his badness all those years ago.

  He also murmured a little prayer for the two young women who needed help, to regain strength and comfort in their hour of need.

  Then he thought of the family and Ronnie also, a fine young man with a huge weight of worry on his mind – maybe too much to carry alone. With that in mind, Tony asked the Good Lord to help Ronnie.

  Now … with all these uncomfortable thoughts crowding his mind, he glanced at his wife of these many years, the wife he had shamefully wronged.

  Eileen had seldom raised the issue of his cheating. She had certainly never mentioned a child. Tony wondered how much she knew and whether for the sake of their marriage and their love for each other she would prefer to pretend she knew nothing. He suspected so and in that case he kept his silence, even though it weighed heavy.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  EVENTUALLY, TONY AND Eileen went upstairs to their bedroom, at the front of the house.

  When they reached the bedroom, Tony, with his old-fashioned courtesy, went ahead to open the bedroom door for Eileen to go in first.

  ‘I don’t know if I could sleep just yet,’ she said, wearily undressing and climbing into bed, ‘not after what Ronnie told us.’

  Tony felt exactly the same. ‘Well, if you want to chat, we can do that, sweetheart,’ he said. ‘But if we start discussing all the things that are playing on our minds, we won’t get a wink of sleep, and what good will that do us?’

  ‘I know. But I can’t help feeling for Cathy. She’s such a dainty littl
e thing, and from what Ronnie told us it’s a wonder she wasn’t killed! Oh, dear me, Tony, it doesn’t even bear thinking about.’

  ‘I’ve been thinking exactly the same. But, from what Ronnie told us, the doctors have done a brilliant job and she’s getting truly expert care.’

  Tony felt lost in emotion, nearly losing a daughter he hadn’t had the chance to love. He pushed that thought away, feeling lost and alone. He looked across to Eileen, while she tucked herself deeper under the covers. Tony thought he’d best change the subject, recalling another of Ronnie’s worries. ‘I’ve been trying to think about where I might locate Beth. I’ll set the clock and get up extra early. First stop is the house, it’s likely she’ll be there in the morning.’

  ‘And if she’s not there, what will you do then?’ Eileen asked.

  ‘Well, I’ll try and talk to that man of hers, see if I can get any sense out of him.’ Tony made a face. ‘Hmm! I am not looking forward to that, I can tell you. He’s a surly, aggravating sort, not at all helpful.’

  ‘Yes, we all know that, but if he starts getting nasty with you, just come away and enquire as to Beth’s whereabouts from the neighbours on either side. You never know, they just might have spoken to her, or seen something.’

  ‘Yes, I’ll do that.’ Tony undressed and clambered into bed, thinking about Cathy.

  He surreptitiously wiped a tear away from his eyes with the back of his hand.

  Tony looked into Eileen’s tired face. ‘I do love you so,’ he told her softly. ‘I can never imagine my life without you in it.’

  Eileen smiled her gratitude and each silently said a little prayer for Cathy’s recovery. A short time later they were sleeping deeply. Suddenly Eileen sat up straight and shook Tony by the shoulder.

  ‘Tony,’ she whispered urgently in his ear, ‘Tony, wake up. I think there’s someone outside, Tony!’ She shook him again, and this time he sat up straight, eyes sleepy and flailing his arms about.

  ‘What’s wrong? What’s going on?’ Switching on the bedside lamp, he turned to her grumbling, ‘For pity’s sake, Eileen! You gave me the fright of my life, whatever are you doing? What’s wrong?’ He rubbed his knuckles into his eye sockets. ‘I was fast asleep. What’s happening? Why did you wake me?’

  Then Tony heard the same high-pitched wailing that had woken Eileen a minute or so earlier. ‘What the devil was that? There! I knew it … damned things! Marauding, bloody cats,’ he growled through his teeth. ‘Clattering and banging round the bins at this time o’ night. It is! It’s them damned cats again!’

  Groaning and complaining, he scrambled out of bed. ‘You stay there! And turn the lamp off so I can see what the devil is going on out there.’

  He continued to grumble, as he edged himself towards the window. ‘I bet all you like that’s what it is: them damned cats, chasing each other round the rubbish bins. It’s the mating season. That’s what they’re up to, and no mistake.’

  He looked out but could see nothing. He listened, but the night was now silent and so he crept back to bed.

  ‘All quiet now. Maybe we can get a little sleep before morning. I’ve promised Ronnie that I will track Beth down and I’ll need to be up early.’

  Eileen nodded. ‘Well, I was thinking about Beth. Do you reckon she might be at home now, possibly making up with her fellow after a row maybe?’

  ‘I have no idea, but yes, it’s possible. We’ll know tomorrow, because I shall be round there early.’ Turning over on his side, Tony gave a little mumble. ‘Hmm! That’s if I ever get any sleep!’

  ‘Sorry, love.’ Eileen bade him a gentle goodnight.

  But he was already snoring loud enough to keep Eileen from falling asleep just yet.

  ‘Well, goodnight then, husband!’ she stifled a chuckle. ‘Out like a light, eh?’

  Thinking she ought to close the curtains which Tony had left apart, she made her way to the window, and grasping a curtain in each hand, she prepared to shut out the night.

  My, it’s like a ghost town out there, she thought. She looked up the street and down, and she was amazed. What, no legless boozers singing their way home in full voice? No drunks being sick in the gutter? No sweethearts hand in hand as they wend their way home? In fact, she had never seen the street so deserted.

  She glanced up and down the quiet street, but there was no sign of life anywhere – certainly no meandering cats looking for a mate.

  Clutching a curtain in each hand, she prepared to pull them together and go to catch up on her sleep when something caught her eye. There was something out there in the street after all.

  Nervously, she carefully drew the curtains together, leaving open the tiniest chink through which she peered.

  Through the gap, she saw a flurry of movement in the bus shelter across the street.

  Somewhat worried, she carefully slid the two curtains together again. Best be careful, she thought nervously. I bet it’s the bad lads who pinched the flowers from the pub window box and threw them all over the place the other week. When Tony went out and gave them a piece of his mind they greeted him with shocking language, which truly riled him.

  Knowing she could not easily be seen from up here, however, Eileen was overcome with curiosity and once more she peered through the chink in the curtain. Hmm! Sometimes, it’s as if the parents don’t seem to give a thought to where the kids are these days or nights, she thought, warily closing the curtains to the smallest chink. If it’s kids playing about I had best not let them see me or they’ll more than likely start throwing stones up here.

  With that in mind, she decided to draw the curtains, but she remained listening.

  She heard the boys laughing and play-fighting, and then she heard a man’s angry voice, which startled her, and them, as he yelled: ‘Clear off, you lot, or I’ll set my two bulldogs on yer. Go on! Bugger off. If I let them loose now they’ll run you down and rip the arse right off you. Right! I’m counting … and once I let them go it will be too late to call them back!!’

  To Eileen’s horror, as she again peeped out, he screeched ‘One!’ Holding his dogs back, he carried on, ‘Two!’

  Before he could continue, the boys were off at the run, and they kept running until they were out of the street and out of sight altogether. The roar of vulgar laughter from the man, as he saw them off, curdled Eileen’s blood.

  Thankful that everything had fallen quiet in the wake of the many retreating footsteps, Eileen again dared to open a chink in the curtain, but when she peeped out she got the shock of her life.

  In the flickering light from the street lamp, she recognised Beth, who seemed to be desperately trying to flee from the bus shelter where she’d been hiding since being turned out on the street by Mike, and waiting for morning so she could rouse Eileen. A big man used his excited dogs to keep her trapped.

  At that point, heedless of her own safety, Eileen yelled out as loud as she could, ‘Hey, you in the bus shelter!’

  When the startled man looked towards where Eileen was hiding behind the curtain, she called out again while staying hidden. ‘The police will be here any minute! Leave her alone! Clear off, or you’ll find yourself in a prison cell!’

  She almost leaped out of her skin when Tony’s big hand fell on her shoulder and drew her away from the window. ‘It’s all right, he can’t easily see you from there.’ He gently eased her aside. ‘But what the devil are you playing at, putting yourself in danger like that?’ He shook his head in disbelief. ‘Go on, sweetheart, you get away from the window. I’ll see to this.’

  ‘Look there, Tony!’ Eileen called his attention to the shocking sight she had seen. ‘Look who he’s got with him!’ She gestured across to the bus shelter. ‘It’s Beth … and he won’t let her go. He’s drunk and a bit crazy, and he’s got bulldogs – at least two of them – big savage things. He was going to set them after some boys who were aggravating him.’

  After easing Eileen away from the window, Tony glanced across the street. He could see Beth, who wa
s being held under the lamplight, while the man appeared to be threatening her, and now he was yelling up at anyone who might be listening, ‘This is my woman, and I’ll fight to the death for her, so, if you know what’s good for you, you had best stay away!’

  His dogs were pulling at their leads, seemingly eager to rip somebody apart.

  Tony knew he had no choice but to get down there, and do whatever he could to get Beth away safely.

  He explained to Eileen, ‘He’s drunk out of his skull! There’s no telling what he’s capable of. Look, Eileen, I’m going down there.’ He glanced to where Beth had been pushed further along the bench in the bus shelter, ‘Look at her! She must be frightened out of her mind!’

  Eileen begged him to call the police.

  ‘That won’t help Beth now. There isn’t time. Any moment, he’ll be away with her. Like I said, he must be drunk out of his skull.’

  Tony was enraged to see the drunkard manhandling young Beth, and he was now itching to deal with the coward.

  ‘I want you to lock the door behind me … do you hear?’ he told Eileen.

  Eileen, however, feared Tony might get hurt. ‘No, please … if you go out there, he might hurt you and Beth, just to show you he can. He’s a maniac. Be careful, Tony! He’s bound to set the dogs on you. I don’t want you to go out there. Please, Tony. Let me call the police!’ Tony was adamant. ‘By the time the police get here he will have vanished, with Beth as his trophy! He has to be stopped. He needs to be taught a lesson. Give me a few minutes, and do not call the police unless you really need to. Do you understand, Eileen? Only if you think it’s necessary.’

  Eileen gave a half-hearted nod. ‘Be careful, Tony. He’s drunk and he’s got them dogs at the ready. Please, Tony, let me call the police.’

  ‘Not yet,’ Tony insisted, putting on his clothes as fast as he could. ‘If you think it’s getting seriously out of hand, then go ahead and call the police. Trust me, people like this fella are basically cowardly when it comes to a serious confrontation and often it’s far better to deal with the situation yourself, if you think you can,’ he assured her.