Читать книгу Hunter’s Moon - Alexandra Connor - Страница 19

‘Sssh, keep your voice down,’ Victor said, leaning towards the gate which separated the boys’ quarters from the girls’ at Netherlands. His fingers reached through the railings timidly and touched the back of Alice’s hand. The feel of her skin warmed him, touched him to the heart.

‘Victor, can’t you sneak out?’ she asked, her eyes searching his shadowed face.

‘It’s not safe, tomorrow maybe.’

She nodded, disappointed but resigned. A sound behind her made Alice turn, but it was only a night bird in the bushes. To her right she could see the light burning in Clare Lees’ office.

‘We have to be careful.’

‘We’re always careful,’ Alice replied, not a little impatiently. How could he be so patient? She knew he cared for her.

Memory came in a tidal wave.

It had been a hot August day last summer, sun beating down the yard, dusty outside. Drowsy children had hung about listlessly in their dormitories, the staff idling in the corridors. Clare Lees had had visitors, the governors, the murmur of their voices coming low and lulling on the warm air. Alice, walking in the yard outside the main doors, had glanced over to the boys’ quarters – to see a tall, blond youth watching her.

Startled, she had looked away. Then turned back. He’d stared at her and then smiled slowly, as though it was something he was unused to doing. Nervous, Alice had looked away again, and when she had finally glanced back he had gone.

Yet later, still on that drowsy day which had hung its head to evening, when she walked back out into the yard he was there again, watching her.

‘Who are you?’ Alice had asked, walking over.

She had seen him on and off for years, but had never dared speak to him before. Well aware of the trouble she would be in if she was caught talking to one of the boys, Alice had glanced round to check that no one was watching her. She’d felt excited, her old spirit flaring.

He’d pressed his cheek to the bars. ‘I’m Victor, Victor Coates.’

‘How old are you?’

‘Eighteen. And you?’

‘Sixteen.’ She’d moved closer to him.

His eyes were steel grey, the lashes brown. It was a strong, open face, not at all alarming. After all that she had heard about boys and how they were not to be trusted, Alice had been disinclined to believe Clare Lees. What did she know, a spinster, a woman who had never had a man of her own?

‘We shouldn’t be talking …’

‘I know,’ Alice had agreed, her voice dropping further. ‘How long have you been here?’

‘Since I was seven.’

‘What happened?’

He’d frowned. ‘Huh?’

‘Why did you come here?’

‘My parents died.’ He had paused. ‘How about you?’

Alice had stared down at her feet. ‘My parents are dead too. I came here when I was only a year old.’ She’d looked back to him, fascinated. ‘Don’t you go out to work?’

He’d nodded. ‘I’m an apprentice at the cabinet-maker’s, Mr Dedlington’s.’

Alice had digested the information. An apprentice. That meant that Victor got out of Netherlands every day, went into Salford. A free man, almost.

‘Do you have to stay here?’

‘Until I’m qualified, yes,’ he’d replied, glancing over his shoulder. ‘I give my wages over every week to Miss Lees – I just get to keep enough for tobacco and a few bits and pieces.’

‘Why do you have to give up your money?’ she’d asked indignantly. ‘You earned it.’

‘It’s just the way things are here. When you start working, you’ll have to do the same.’

He had looked round again, knowing what he risked by being discovered. No more pocket money then, and in all likelihood they would take away his apprenticeship and give it to another boy. But he couldn’t tear himself away from Alice.

‘I’m not giving my money to them!’ she had replied hotly.

He had seen the flicker in her dark eyes and had been awed by her. ‘Are you working already?’

‘I’m learning how to be a teacher –’

He had whistled under his breath. A teacher, now that was really something.

‘You must be smart.’

‘Smart enough to want to get out of here,’ Alice had replied, leaning against the railings.

She had realised in that moment that this was the first conversation she had ever had as an equal. Ethel and Gilbert loved her, but she was a surrogate daughter to them. As for Hilly, she was grateful and looked up to Alice as her role model. But Victor was different; they had talked easily, from the heart.

‘You’ll get out in time.’

‘Not if Miss Lees has her way,’ Alice had replied quietly.

His curiosity had been stirred. ‘How d’you mean?’

‘She wants to train me up to be her assistant.’ Alice had replied. ‘I think she wants me to stay and eventually take over from her.’

Victor had been goggle-eyed with amazement.

‘God …’ Then he suddenly turned and moved away, leaving Alice standing alone by the gate.

But not for long; she too had heard the footsteps and had already been making her way back to the entrance when Evan Thomas moved in front of her.

‘Hello, Alice,’ he’d said pleasantly, his Welsh accent strong.

‘Hello, sir,’ she’d replied, moving past him.

Immediately he had stepped into her way.

‘You look pretty this afternoon, Alice.’ She had said nothing. ‘Pretty as a picture. Almost flushed about the cheeks. What’s that with, then?’

‘The heat, sir,’ she had replied coolly.

He couldn’t have seen her talking to Victor or he would have reported her to Miss Lees already. No, Alice had realised, he was just fishing, scenting something in the air.

‘You want to watch overheating yourself, Alice. You should stay indoors and not excite yourself.’

She had looked him square in the eyes. I know you don’t like me, Alice had thought. But I’m not going to be stupid enough to let you catch me out.

‘You’re right, sir,’ she’d said at last, walking past him. ‘Thank you for your concern.’

That day was almost a year ago, and since that time Alice and Victor had become more than friends. As Clare Lees relied more and more on her protégée, she little realised that Alice was sneaking off to meet Victor Coates whenever she could. Although she had bored of her evening wanderings, Alice now found a new reason to escape Netherlands. Victor might protest, insist that they were heading for trouble, but he always gave in.

They would usually meet under the viaduct, Alice waiting impatiently, or running to Victor if he arrived first. What began as an innocent prank soon altered, though; their friendship was immediate – and so was their attraction. Aware of her age and wary of her exuberance, Victor tried to resist. But they were children who had had little affection in their lives and now took it, greedily, from one another.

It was dangerous in more ways than one. If Clare Lees found out, Alice’s rise would be over and the hated Welshman would become the favourite again. And with him would go Dolly Blake, clinging to his coat-tails like an angry beggar. Then what would there be left for Alice? Going into service, or a factory. But there was something else to consider. If they were caught Victor would be sent away. Alice shivered. If Victor was sent away, her life would be empty. And she couldn’t follow him, because she would never know where he had gone. They would never tell her.

She couldn’t bear that; couldn’t stomach the thought of losing him. They had tried to resist each other, only touching hands at first and whispering to each other, but after a year passed every touch of the hand became more powerful than the last. Her voice he heard above everyone else’s; his face she saw amongst the scores of children at the home. They had found love in each other and were holding on to it against all the odds. And the very danger of their situation made their feelings stronger daily.

So the months passed. With Clare Lees, Alice was dutiful and patient. She would made a fine teacher, Clare said, it was good to know that the future would be in a steady pair of hands. Ethel was proud of her too. As was Gilbert. But at night Alice forgot every duty heaped on her head and crept out to the town. Or, as this evening, to the partition railings where she rested her cheek against the bars, only an inch away from Victor’s.

‘Do you love me?’ she asked, looking up at the huge summer moon.

‘You know I do,’ he whispered.

She moved towards him, her hands pressed against the bars. ‘Then why don’t we run away?’

‘They’d catch us!’

‘They wouldn’t!’ Alice replied firmly. ‘Don’t you want us to be together?’

‘More than anything,’ Victor replied, ‘but it would be wrong. We have to wait, Alice. I’m nineteen now; when I reach twenty-one I’ll have finished my apprenticeship and we can get married –’

‘That’s two years from now!’ Alice replied, her face half lit by the yellow moon. ‘How can you ask me to wait two years? You don’t have to work with Clare Lees. You don’t want to get away from here as much as I do.’

He caught hold of her hand. She could get so excited, he thought, so fired up.

‘Ssssh!’ he warned her. ‘Two years isn’t long, Alice. I love you, you know that. If we wait we can do it right –’

She pulled her hand away from his. ‘I don’t want to do it right! I want to live now, not in two years’ time. Anything could happen in two years!’ Her voice rose suddenly and she got to her feet to move away.

Hurriedly Victor caught at the hem of her summer dress.

‘Hey! Don’t run away, let’s talk, Alice, please.’

But she was past talking that night. Angrily she pulled away her skirt and moved off, Victor watching her as she turned and walked through the heavy double doors of the entrance hall.

He waited for her at the viaduct the following night, and the night afterwards. But she didn’t come. On the third night he waited in the rain and then, after midnight, turned to leave. Only then did he hear her footsteps and moved back to the railings, just as Alice – wet hair sticking to her head – ran to him and brushed her lips hotly against his neck.

Victor’s hand grasped hers. ‘Oh, thank God, thank God. I thought you’d never come again.’

‘I had to,’ Alice replied. She had tried to keep away, but couldn’t resist any longer. ‘I missed you, I missed you so much.’

‘Then you agree that we’ll wait?’ Victor asked her, holding her face in his hands.

‘Yes, yes!’ she said, tossing her wet hair away from her face. ‘If I can … I’ll try, Victor. But I hate it at Netherlands. I hate it more and more every day. I’m lying to everyone, even Ethel. As for Clare Lees, I’m betraying her and it makes me feel so guilty.’

‘But she was never kind to you.’

‘I know,’ Alice agreed, ‘I know! But all this creeping about’s not funny any more. I care about you, Victor. It was a joke at first, but now, if anyone found out and they sent you away …’ She took in a quick breath and he clung on to her.

‘No one will, we just have to be careful, that’s all.’ He could sense her panic, her alarm. ‘Calm down, Alice, please. We have to be very careful and wait.’

She nodded, the rain falling down from the dark sky.

‘We have to meet less often –’

‘No!’ she shouted, her arms wrapping around him, her body pressing against his. He was aware of her scent and passion, aware that he wanted her more than anything.

‘Sweetheart, you know as well as I do that we can’t hide our feelings,’ he said quietly, his hands moving into her hair and turning her face up to his.

Slowly he kissed her cheeks, her closed eyelids, her mouth, his excitement rising, their bodies moulded into each other. He thought, for a drowsy instant, that he was drowning.

Suddenly he drew away. ‘Alice, we have to be more careful. We’ll give ourselves away. Someone will see us if we don’t hold back a bit.’

‘I can’t live without you.’

‘We’ll meet up every Sunday night. Every Sunday, here at the viaduct. If one of us can’t get away, we’ll meet at the railings at Netherlands after lights out.’ He kissed the tips of her fingers. ‘Alice, we have to be clever and get through this. We have to be cunning for another two years. Then we’re free. You understand, don’t you? You can do what I ask, can’t you, sweetheart? Can’t you?’

Her heart was pumping fast, her head spinning. How many Sundays were there in two years? Could she live through them? But what was the choice? If she was careless she lost Victor. And if she lost Victor, she lost everything.

Her hand went up to his face and cupped his cheek.

‘I love you,’ she said earnestly. ‘The time will pass quickly, Victor, won’t it? It will, won’t it?’

In the courtyard of Netherland Evan Thomas lit a cigarette and then carefully blew out the match. He sniffed the air and then brushed some nonexistent fluff off his shoulder. Summer nights – he usually hated them. Too hot to sleep, too hot to work. But not too hot to walk … His full lips curled into a satisfied smile and he inhaled deeply.

Women were all the same. They could never keep their heads. He slipped back into the shadows and watched as Alice ran noiselessly back into the home. Now where had she been? he wondered. She had obviously sneaked out, but to where? And why?

The Welshman smiled again, truly happy. Alice Rimmer had caused him some grief, but perhaps he would soon be able to repay the compliment. All he had to do was to watch her and find out what she was up to, then he could expose her … She had been so smug, so certain of her standing with Clare Lees. She had usurped him good and proper. But that was all about to change. When their beloved principal learned that her protégée was not quite as perfect as she seemed … Oh yes, Evan could imagine the fracas which would follow. Clare would feel betrayed and would be sure to punish Alice. Off the pedestal the girl would go, and back on would go Evan.

How sad. But there you were, Evan told himself, he had a duty to do. Alice Rimmer had defied the home’s rules of conduct; shown her true colours. She was deceitful; certainly not the kind of woman to look after children.

He whistled between his teeth. He was tempted to tell Clare immediately, but thought it better to bide his time. After all, what had he to tell her? Only that Alice Rimmer sneaked out at night. If he went now, it was simply his word against the girl’s. And Clare liked Alice Rimmer. God forbid, Clare might even take her side. But if he waited and could find out why Alice went out – and if he could give Clare Lees proof …

Yes, that was what was needed. Proof … Evan sighed. The rain had stopped and the night was placid again. Like himself. Slowly he unlocked the wrought-iron gates and passed through them onto the street outside. It looked commonplace to him.

He was thankful that it looked so tempting to Alice Rimmer.