A dutiful daughter, p.31
A Dutiful Daughter, page 31
‘But Ella Caldwell, of all folk,’ Ruby persisted, her eyes gleaming. ‘Her that’d never even let a lad see her home after the dancin’!’
‘It might just be the curse comin’ hard on her this month. And if it is anythin’ else, Mrs Drysdale and the nurses’ll know how tae help her through what’s to come. That’s one thing ye can say about the mills in this town: they look after their own,’ Libby said, then as the girl posted outside the door broke into a warning fit of coughing, the cigarette was stubbed out and secreted, the cistern flushed and Libby was on her way into the corridor, innocent of expression and sucking a peppermint sweetie.
25
Ella didn’t put in an appearance at the shop that night and there was no message from her or her aunts. Mirren’s explanation about the colic did nothing to improve Maria’s temper, which seemed to permeate the entire shop, even affecting the customers. Those who came through the door in high spirits after an enjoyable night out were instantly silenced by the atmosphere and slunk out as soon as they had received their orders and paid for them. One brave soul who dared to say, when Mirren asked if he wanted vinegar on his fish supper, that there was enough around the place without adding more from a bottle, was subjected to one of Maria’s tongue-lashings and left vowing never to set foot in the shop again.
The next morning Ella was back in the twisting department, pale-faced, unusually subdued and refusing to rise to Ruby’s continuous baiting. Mirren had to wait until the midday break to find out that, under Mrs Drysdale’s supervision, Ella had been examined in the mill’s first-aid room, which was run by a doctor and a nursing sister with the assistance of two nursing aides drawn from a rota of trained volunteer millworkers. After that Ella, the nursing sister and the mistress had had a long consultation.
‘I never knew Mrs Drysdale could be so kind, Mirren. I didn’t tell her about Vanni and she never asked for his name. She said that her job was tae deal with what had happened, not tae preach about what’s done and can’t be undone. And she says she’ll not dismiss me as long as I go on doin’ my work properly. Then the nurse told me about eatin’ well and how I should look after myself, then they sent me home.’
‘Some of the women are saying that you’re expecting.’
Ella bit her lip. ‘Ye cannae keep anythin’ from them. I’ll be glad tae get away from their tattlin’, just me and Vanni, together. I cannae wait!’
‘Neither can the bairn. When are you telling him?’
‘Next Saturday afternoon. Maria visits her family on a Saturday.’ Ella’s eyes misted over with memories and a smile curved her mouth. ‘That’s how we first met by accident. I’d gone tae Barshaw Park one Saturday afternoon tae get away from my aunties and he was there on his lone, watchin’ folk sailin’ their boats on the pond and we just got talkin’…’
‘Ella!’
‘I know, I know. I’ll definitely tell him next Saturday afternoon,’ Ella promised, crossing her heart. ‘And he’ll make everythin’ work out right for us.’
Mirren, who had learned the hard way not to expect too much out of life, could only hope that the other girl’s confidence was not misplaced.
‘If this heat goes on we’ll have tae think of layin’ folk off,’ Maria told Vanni on Friday night, her voice deliberately pitched so that Mirren and Ella could hear her. ‘We’re not gettin’ as many customers as usual and I’m not payin’ staff good money just tae stand around doin’ nothin’.’
‘The weather will break soon,’ he tried to placate her. ‘We’ll be as busy as ever next week – you’ll see.’
‘We’d better be,’ his wife said sourly. ‘Because if we’re not, there’s goin’ tae be changes here.’
‘Mebbe changes she doesnae expect,’ Ella muttered to Mirren from the corner of her mouth as the two of them industriously cleaned the counter. Spots of excited colour glowed in her cheeks tonight and her eyes were bright with happy anticipation of the following afternoon, when she would meet Vanni and tell him her news.
The evening dragged by so slowly that it seemed as if time had stopped completely; when the door opened they all looked up, relieved to have some diversion. Ruby trailed in, her heavily made-up face set in discontented lines and little tendrils of red hair sticking to her perspiring brow.
‘You look as if ye’d lost a sixpence and found a ha’penny,’ Ella greeted her.
‘Mind yer own business.’ Ruby surveyed the empty shop. ‘God, I’ve seen graveyards wi’ more life in them than this place.’
‘If we want your opinion we’ll ask for it,’ Maria snapped. ‘Either buy or get out.’
Vanni shot a reproving glance at her over his shoulder while Ruby raised pencilled eyebrows and drawled to Mirren, ‘Now that I’m through the door ye might as well give me two pennyworth o’ chips and a bottle o’ juice.’
‘Don’t do us any favours, will ye?’ Maria sneered.
‘Maria…’
‘You be quiet, Vanni. I’m not puttin’ up with impertinence from the likes of her.’
‘I’m a customer, in here tae pay good money,’ Ruby squawked. ‘I can say what I like.’
‘Not in my shop. Not for two penn’orth of chips.’
Ruby satisfied herself with a contemptuous snort, while Mirren scooped the chips hurriedly onto a square of greased paper, shook the salt cellar and the vinegar bottle over them, then wrapped them up in newspaper. The heat was causing tempers to rise and she’d had to listen to the same petty sniping among the women at work over the past few days. She prayed that Ruby would take her chips and go, but that night Ella, perky now that she knew she would be alone with Vanni in less than twenty-four hours, was just as bad as the other two women.
‘What’s happened tae the dancin’ tonight?’ she asked as she took Ruby’s money. ‘Don’t tell me Gregor’s stood ye up already?’
Ruby’s face, already flushed from the still heat outside, took on a deeper hue. During the past week she had been eager to make it clear to everyone at work, especially when Mirren was within earshot, that she and Gregor Lewis were walking out together.
‘Nob’dy stands me up!’ she said belligerently. ‘If ye must know, Gregor’s gran’s poorly and he’s gone with his ma tae visit her.’
‘So he’s told ye,’ Ella needled.
‘That’s rich, comin’ from you! Did she tell ye that tale about havin’ the colic earlier in the week?’ Ruby asked Maria. ‘Fainted over her machine, she did – if she wasnae one of the mistress’s pets, she’d’ve been out on her ear.’
Vanni’s back stiffened, while Ella said sharply, ‘Get out of here, Ruby.’
‘Oh, I’m goin’, before the smell of the grease in here makes me sick. Mebbe that’s what was wrong with ye?’ Ruby tucked the bottle under her arm and sauntered towards the door, turning at the last minute to deliver her final broadside. ‘Since Gregor’s so busy tonight, mebbe I’ll just go home and knit a nice wee shawl for yer colic… eh, Ella? It should be ready tae wear it in about five months’ time.’
Maria scarcely waited until the door closed before confronting Ella. ‘Is it true what she’s sayin’? Are you expectin’?’ Behind her, Vanni had whirled round, eyes huge in a handsome face that had gone grey with shock, not even noticing that he still held the scoop used to lift the chips from the boiling fat, and that it was dripping grease over Maria’s clean floor.
‘Of course not!’
‘Ye’re lyin’,’ Maria said flatly. ‘I can see it in yer eyes. I should’ve known.’ Before Ella could resist, the older woman had grabbed her and ripped her apron off. ‘Look!’ One bony finger stabbed into Ella’s stomach. ‘I thought ye’d put on weight… and I was right, ye dirty wee whore!’
‘Maria, stop it!’
‘You get back tae yer fish-fryin’ and leave her tae me! Look at this!’ Maria caught hold of Ella’s left wrist and shook the ringless hand under Vanni’s nose. ‘A lassie that falls pregnant when she’s no’ wearin’ a ring’s nothin’ but a harlot, and I’ll not have folk like that workin’ in my shop.’ She released Ella’s wrist, giving the girl a push towards the back shop. ‘I’ve been wantin’ tae get shot of you for a good while, ye cheeky wee midden. Go on, out ye go. Let the man who put ye in the family way support ye, for ye’re no’ takin’ any more of my hard-earned money!’
‘Maria, that’s enough!’ Vanni stepped in front of his wife. ‘Ye’ve got no right tae say such things tae Ella.’
‘I have if they’re true, and they are. Ask her yersel’ if I’m no’ right in what I say,’ Maria ordered. ‘Go on, ask her!’
Vanni turned his back on his wife and looked down at Ella. ‘Are ye…?’
Mirren caught her breath at the expression that swept across his face when Ella nodded. It could only be described as radiant. She knew now that Ella had not been fantasising when she said that Vanni loved her, and would want their child.
‘Oh, Ella…’ Oblivious now to his surroundings, he would have taken her hands, but Ella stepped round the shelter of his body to confront his wife.
‘There’s nothin’ wrong wi’ lovin’ a good man and bein’ proud tae carry his bairn,’ she told the woman, putting her hands protectively over her belly. ‘At least the world’ll know that I’m a real woman, and not a dried-up stick of bitterness that can’t keep the edge of her tongue off everyone in sight.’
Maria gave a witchlike screech and lashed out, just as Ella herself had once struck at Mirren in the sand dunes at Barassie. Unprepared for the vicious blow, the girl staggered to one side and would have fallen heavily against the counter if Vanni hadn’t caught her.
‘Leave her alone!’ Instead of releasing her at once, as he should have, he kept his arm about her. ‘Are you all right?’ He put a hand to her reddening cheek, touching it so carefully, so gently, that Mirren, unnoticed in a corner, caught her breath. The caress – for it was undeniably a caress – was a declaration that Maria could scarcely miss. Nor could she miss the adoration on her husband’s face as he looked down at the girl within his embrace.
‘Oh God,’ she said low-voiced. ‘Oh, dear God! You?’
‘Aye, me.’
Maria looked as though she was going to be sick.
‘You and that… that slut?’
‘Keep your tongue off her, Maria.’ Vanni’s eyes were blazing but his voice was quiet. ‘Send the lassies home and we’ll close the shop and talk about what’s tae be done.’
‘Get away from my man!’ Maria screamed at Ella, her voice so shrill that it hurt Mirren’s eardrums. Then, to Vanni: ‘Take yer hands off her!’ She launched herself at the two of them; at first it looked as though her clawed hands were reaching for Vanni’s face, then she swerved suddenly, a bony elbow catching her husband in the ribs and throwing him off balance. As he reeled away, releasing Ella, Maria reached for the girl, snatching and scratching at her face. ‘Bitch!’ she screamed as she drove her prey back along the counter. ‘Whore! Jezebel!’
It all happened in a matter of seconds, yet to Mirren it was as though everything suddenly slowed down. As Ella retreated, one hand going up to protect her eyes from the older woman’s reaching fingernails, Vanni, quickly recovering his balance, tried to grab Maria’s shoulders. She swung round on him, the talons changing to small knobbly fists that rained punches on him, while all the time curses and obscenities poured from her gaping mouth.
Unable to catch hold of her wrists, he was forced to swing away so that the blows landed on his broad back and shoulders. As he did so one foot skidded on the solidifying fat that had dripped from the scoop and went from under him. He tried to catch his balance, but failed and fell heavily against one of the vats. Its rim caught him across the midriff and the momentum of his fall sent him toppling head first into the seething, boiling fat below.
When the ambulance van had gone careering off to the Royal Alexandra Infirmary and the gaping crowds had dispersed, Mirren lifted Ella from the corner where she had collapsed, and half carried, half dragged her to Maxwellton Street, arriving at the closemouth just as Robbie and Joe came along the street from the opposite direction.
Robbie took one look at Ella’s bleeding, dazed face and scooped her up into his arms. ‘Go ahead and open the door, Mirren.’
In the flat he fetched everything that was needed, then without wasting time on questions he retreated to the front room with Joe, leaving Mirren to tend to the wounds that Maria’s nails had inflicted on Ella’s face. The other girl submitted to the treatment without a word, not even flinching when iodine was dabbed onto the long scratches. She was like a life-sized doll, mute and dazed, not responding to anything that was said to her. When Mirren had done all she could, she undressed Ella then helped her into the kitchen bed, where she turned her face to the wall and plunged into restless unconsciousness.
‘You’re shakin’,’ Robbie said when Mirren went into the front room. He drew her to a chair and sat her down, crouching in front of her. ‘What’s happened?’
‘D’ye have any brandy, or whisky in the house?’ Joe wanted to know.
‘I don’t want anything. It’s… Vanni got hurt tonight, hurt awful bad.’ At the memory of it her voice began to break up. Robbie would have stopped her there and then but Joe interceded, pushing Robbie out of the way and kneeling before Mirren to take her hands in his.
‘Get it all out now,’ he said, his voice low and intense. ‘Just look at me and tell me every bit of it and clear it out of your head, else it’ll fester in there.’
She did as she was told, finding strength from the unwavering gaze of his blue eyes, darker than her own, and the warmth of his grip. She told them the whole story, for the time for secrets was over, and she kept no detail back, even reliving the way Vanni had managed to pull himself out of the vat almost at once and had dropped to the floor where he writhed, his hands locked over his eyes, his entire body twisting, and curling, then straightening and arching, heels drumming against the floor, only to curl up again into a ball of pure undiluted agony.
She told how Maria, screaming, had wrestled her husband across the floor, trying without success to drag him to the cold-water tap in the back room. And how Ella, after one look at her lover’s blistering, bursting features, doubled over on herself in a violent paroxysm of vomiting. Meanwhile Mirren, not knowing what else to do, had embarked on the long journey round the counter and across to the door. It had been a hazardous trip, for it meant having to pass Vanni’s writhing figure and flailing legs without falling over him or, worse still, falling on top of him. She had finally managed to reach the door, throw it open and run out onto the pavement, screaming to gaping passers-by to fetch the ambulance.
Some of them had come into the shop and helped to drag Vanni, fighting every inch of the way, into the back shop, where water could be trickled onto his ruined face in a futile attempt to ease his pain. More had gathered outside to stare through the windows and by the time the ambulance van arrived there was a good crowd watching as Vanni, still screaming and struggling against his pain, so that he had to be held down on the stretcher by volunteers, was carried out of the shop. Maria, of course, went with him; once they had gone the crowd melted away, leaving Mirren to lead her friend, shaking and weeping, out of the place.
‘Sh… she’d not go home, and it’s just as well for she was in such a s-state that those poor old ladies would have been alarmed. Sh-she wanted to go to the infirmary to see Vanni, but I couldn’t let her do that, not with M-Maria there.’ Shock was tying Mirren’s tongue up in knots and now she understood why Joe had come out of the war with a stammer. ‘I managed to persuade her that visitors wouldn’t be allowed at this time of n-night and… and…’
‘And now we’re here tae help ye.’ Joe gave a brief nod, part approval for finding the courage to tell her story, part reassurance, and got to his feet. ‘First of all, Ella’s aunts’ll have tae know that she’s safe and that she’s goin’ tae spend the night here.’
‘I’ll go,’ Robbie said at once.
‘They’re maiden ladies… It’ll probably be bad enough for them to see a stranger at their door at this time of night, without it being a man into the bargain. I’ll do it,’ Mirren insisted.
‘You’re not fit!’
‘I’m more fit than poor Vanni.’ An involuntary shudder shook Mirren.
‘I’ll go too,’ Joe said. ‘Ye should have someone with ye.’
‘Could you keep watch over Ella, Robbie? I’m worried she might try to go to the infirmary.’
‘I’ll see tae her,’ he said gruffly. ‘And Joe, you mind and look after my sister.’
When the other two had gone Robbie went into the kitchen, where Ella twitched and thrashed and muttered feverishly in a sleep that was not really a sleep. As he stood looking down on her, she cried out and her eyes flew open. She stared wildly round then began to struggle upright, and he dropped to the edge of the bed, speaking to her quietly, easing her back down with a hand on her shoulder. She calmed and fell back to the pillow, her eyes closing, and in a moment she was asleep again.
Warm though the night was, her shoulder had felt cold beneath the nightgown Mirren had put on her. Robbie drew the blanket up over her, then pulled an upright chair from the table to the bed so that he could keep an eye on her. Although he liked Ella well enough he had always been wary of her, finding her quick tongue and her confidence daunting at times. Strangely, the revelation about her secret love for another woman’s husband and her pregnancy, instead of shocking him, made her more human in his eyes.
She moaned and her eyelashes fluttered then stilled again. Robbie lifted a strand of dark hair back from the curve of her cheek and resumed his vigil, marvelling over her vulnerability, remembering how she had felt in his arms when he carried her upstairs.
‘D’you think Vanni’ll be all right?’ Mirren asked Joe fearfully as they walked to Well Street.
