Читать книгу An Orphan’s Courage - Cathy Sharp, Cathy Sharp - Страница 11

Ruby’s head ached as she looked at herself with dislike in the mirror on the wall of the cloakroom. By no stretch of the imagination did she look herself that morning – she felt like a dead rat the cat had dragged in off the streets – and it was her own fault.

She had no idea what had made her call in at an off-licence and pick up that bottle of white wine on her way home the previous night. It had been a bad day, of course, with two of her girls caught trying to steal sweets from the shop on the corner of Commercial Road, and Sergeant Sallis warning her that if this kind of thing continued, he would be forced to charge the thieves.

‘I’m sorry, Miss Saunders,’ he’d told her sternly. ‘I know you have a difficult job with these kids, but unless you can keep control of them I’ll be making a formal complaint to my chief constable and that could result in serious trouble for them – and you.’

‘I’m sorry you’ve had this bother,’ Ruby replied stiffly. ‘I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen again – but I think some of these girls do not deserve a second chance. They would have been better placed in a house of correction in the first place.’

He’d given her an odd look and then left her to it. Ruby had had the girls into her office – a sullen girl of fourteen named Doris and a younger girl with a frightened air who was nicknamed Mouse but whose real name was Emmeline.

‘Well, I hope you’re properly ashamed of yourselves?’ she asked and saw a flicker of fear in Emmeline’s eyes but sheer defiance in the older girl’s face. ‘You’re here because you’re being punished for making nuisances of yourselves at the home you were placed in, and because the court decided to be lenient with you – but there are other places you could go, unpleasant places that I should be loath to send you to – either of you. Now what have you to say to me?’

‘I’m sorry, miss,’ Emmeline whispered. ‘I didn’t mean to do it – but I’m partial to sweets and me dad alus bought me sixpence worth on a Saturday till the day he died …’

Ruby felt a flicker of sympathy. It was rotten having no parents and both these girls had come to her from council-run orphanages. They’d been classed as rebellious and ungovernable, and had caused several pounds’ worth of damage to their school. Because of that the courts had removed them from the home and placed them here in her care.

‘It ain’t fair,’ Doris muttered. ‘Why can’t we ’ave a few pence for sweets once a week? Anybody would think we was bloody murderers … even the orphans next door ’ave that much …’

Looking from one to the other, Ruby knew instantly that Doris was the ringleader and had no doubt led the younger Emmeline into trouble, both at their previous orphanage and here. If the courts had taken the trouble to examine the case more thoroughly, they would have been split up – and it was clearly what needed to happen.

‘You’re here to learn discipline and no sweets is one of our rules,’ Ruby told them severely. She knew that most of the girls broke that rule whenever they could manage to get hold of a few pennies to buy them, and probably quite a few of them stole when they got the chance, but these two had been found out. Since the rules were already tight, she wasn’t sure what she could do to punish them, short of sending them – or one of them – to the remand home. ‘Well, this time I’m merely going to send you both to your dorms with no tea or supper – but if it happens again, you will both be sent away somewhere you do not have the freedom to roam the streets and steal from people …’

Something in the eyes of both girls made Ruby think of Betty Goodge and what had happened to her. She’d vowed after she was told of the girl’s unhappy fate that she would never threaten another girl as she had Betty.

‘I’ll be good, miss,’ Emmeline promised. ‘Please don’t send me to prison …’

Doris stared at her with huge miserable eyes, her whole body rigid with defiance and suppressed anger.

‘Do you not realise how fortunate you were to be sent here?’ Ruby asked them. ‘You could have been sent to a place of correction – and I assure you their rules are much harsher than mine …’

‘What ’ave we got ter look forward to?’ Doris demanded. ‘In the last place it was all bloody rules, nuthin’ decent to eat, only watery stew and bread and people naggin’ at yer all the time …’

Ruby stared at her for several seconds and then inclined her head. ‘As it happens I agree with you,’ she said, ‘so I’ll tell you what I’m going to do – in future every girl who behaves herself and gets no black marks during the week will have sixpence to spend as she pleases on a Saturday – any transgression of the rules and that privilege will be suspended, not only for the girl who broke the rule, but for everyone …’

She dismissed them both, wrote out a notice to that effect and put it on the notice board where all the girls could see it. Her decision was rather clever, Ruby thought, pleased, because the majority of the girls would soon put any defiant girls in their place who were careless enough to break the new code, if they too were made to suffer for the misdemeanour. Still in a mood of good will, she telephoned Miss Sampson’s office and asked to speak to her. There was a pregnant pause and then the secretary said in a rather flustered tone, ‘I’m sorry, Miss Saunders. Miss Sampson is too busy to speak to you at the moment. Please send her a memo if it’s important …’

Anger had roared through Ruby as she jammed the receiver back on its stand. Ruth Sampson had always come straight on whenever she’d telephoned before and her rejection was like a slap in the face. She brooded over her wrongs for an hour or more and then, after some soul-searching, went next door to visit Sister Beatrice.

Ruby hated having to ask a favour of the nun. They had never really got on, and after the mistake she’d made over June Miller’s foster parents, she always felt uncomfortable when talking to her – but if Miss Sampson wouldn’t speak to her, she had no alternative.

Sister Beatrice looked at her impatiently as she entered. She hesitated, and then asked if she could spare a few minutes and reluctantly the nun agreed and Ruby moved nearer to the desk.

‘I wondered if you would consider a suggestion I have,’ she said tentatively. ‘One of my girls … I want to move her from the influence of one of the older girls. She came to me because she caused trouble at her previous school and has recently been caught stealing sweets …’

‘She doesn’t sound as if she can be trusted …’

‘I think if she was moved somewhere she would receive a different kind of care …’ Ruby floundered, feeling about two inches high. ‘Oh, forget it. I shouldn’t have asked …’ She would have left immediately but Sister’s voice stopped her.

‘Please sit down and tell me how I can help?’

Ruby sat, feeling as if she were back at school instead of the confident young woman well able to hold down a responsible job she actually was. ‘Her name is Emmeline but the others call her Mouse – and I think that’s the trouble, she’s nervous and easily corrupted, but given a proper chance I believe she could do better. The home she came from doesn’t have much of a reputation and I thought perhaps if you could take her at that place in Essex … away from Doris and the temptations of too many shops …’

‘Do you have the authority to place her in our care?’

‘Yes – well, I normally clear any transfers with Ruth Sampson,’ Ruby admitted, ‘but I’m sending her a memo and I don’t think she will object … I just think Emmeline would have a chance if she gets right away, but if she stays here I may have to send Doris to a remand home instead and I’m reluctant to do it …’

‘So you do have a heart after all …’ Ruby stared at the nun, shocked and annoyed but managing to control her temper. ‘Forgive me, Miss Saunders, that was rude – but I must admit I had not thought you capable of acting with compassion.’ Sister stared at her and Ruby felt uncomfortable under that intent gaze, as if the other woman could see right into her soul. ‘Yes, I believe we could arrange that for you. I will telephone Angela Adderbury and see if they will accept her but I feel sure that, like you, Angela will believe the girl deserves a chance of a better life, and she can usually sway the Board to her way of thinking. When she was here she had all the market traders and businessmen falling over themselves to offer us help.’

‘Thank you …’

‘Before you go … I was wondering if we might allow some of your more reliable girls to mingle with ours. They could help with the little ones at mealtimes, and perhaps reading stories to them at bedtime – if you thought it might help some of your girls prepare for the future …’

‘Well, yes, I had wondered if you would allow me to bring my girls here for tea sometimes. I think it might be a little treat for them – and really help to encourage good behaviour …’

‘An excellent idea, Miss Saunders. Helping vulnerable children may perhaps make them realise that their lot is not so very terrible.’ Sister Beatrice was actually smiling. Ruby swallowed her annoyance, because she felt peeved even though she was getting what she wanted. She thanked the nun, made her excuses and left, her pulses racing as she struggled to control her aggrieved feelings. She almost wished she hadn’t bothered to approach the nun, but her conscience told her she owed it to the girls. Emmeline, because she’d have a chance of a good life in Halfpenny House, and Doris, because she needn’t go to a remand home – and somehow Ruby was wary of sending any of her girls on there.

If Miss Sampson got her way it was the direction the home was going in the future. Ruby had wondered if Sister Beatrice knew anything about what was going on behind her back, but she’d given no sign of it. For some reason that made Ruby feel a bit guilty; although she’d rubbed up against Sister Beatrice a few times, she was beginning to see that she was actually a caring woman.

In a spirit of defiance, she sent a memo to Ruth Sampson to the effect that she’d arranged for Emmeline to be transferred to the Essex home and didn’t bother with asking permission. If Ruth Sampson was going to ignore her, two could play at the same game!

So, maybe that was the reason she’d stopped off to buy the wine to eat with the pie and mash she’d bought from the corner chippie. Ruby rarely bothered to cook for herself, because there was always some kind of hot food she could take home from one of London’s many shops selling everything from fish and chips to eel pie and curry hot enough to burn your tongue off.

Ruby had been smarting from the humiliation of the day, miserable because a woman she admired – and let’s face it, loved in a way that wasn’t returned – had snubbed her. Sister Beatrice’s kindness had made her squirm inside, because she felt guilty over being part of a plot to oust her from a job she loved and did so well.

Ruby had thought about going upstairs to Carla’s flat and inviting herself for that cup of coffee the girl had offered when she moved in, but something – an inner unease – held her back. Supposing she’d misread the look in Carla’s eyes … and even if she hadn’t, the world frowned on the kind of relationship that Carla seemed to invite. Ruby knew that if she began such an affair its discovery could quite easily lead to the loss of her job. She would probably be considered unfit to have charge of the girls in her care, just because she wanted to be held and kissed by a woman rather than a man. The thought made her frustrated and angry, because for Ruby the love of another woman was as natural as breathing … In fact, Ruby felt at odds with the world and fed up with her life – and so she’d drunk the whole bottle of wine. And this morning she felt like death warmed up!

Never again, she groaned as she swallowed two Aspro and drank a glass of water. She was never going to touch wine again as long as she lived …

‘Well, that is rather splendid of you, to come up and take her down yourself,’ Beatrice said to Angela on the telephone. ‘And thank you for responding so quickly to my request.’

‘You know we all trust your judgement,’ Angela said. ‘Besides, I think we’ve had similar cases in the past. It sounds to me as if Emmeline needs some loving care, which is what we always try to give our children – and Mark agrees with me.’

‘Yes, well, we all have him to thank for a great deal,’ Beatrice said. ‘It was his drive and concern for the children that got St Saviour’s up and running.’

‘So are you getting on better with Miss Saunders?’

‘Well, I wouldn’t quite say that,’ Beatrice replied. ‘At least it shows she has a heart … I’m afraid I offended her by saying that to her face, but it surprised me and the words were out without my realising …’

‘That isn’t like you.’

‘No, but I had been used to thinking her rather a monster, and I suppose it shocked me that she came to me for help. I thought she was just one of those smart modern young women who care for nothing but getting on, but now … I think she is very unhappy. She normally doesn’t let anyone see it, but it surfaced as she spoke of Emmeline. Her guard went up immediately, of course – but I think perhaps we can begin to understand one another better, and work together for the good of the children. I know her children are difficult … but we’ve had some difficult ones ourselves and with love and trust …’ Beatrice sighed. ‘I can only hope …’

‘Yes, well, I’ll see you next week then. I do need to talk to you face to face because we have important decisions to make,’ Angela said. ‘Give Miss Saunders the good news and I’ll look forward to seeing you and bringing Emmeline back with me.’

Beatrice smiled as she replaced the receiver carefully. It was good that she had some happy news to pass on, she thought as she went down the stairs and out into the street. Children were just starting to come home for their tea, and she saw that some of the girls from the probationary centre were talking to her children. Some of them had actually entered the hall of St Saviour’s and she could hear the sound of laughter, though one or two looked at her apprehensively, as if they feared she would be angry because they’d dared to step inside her domain. She nodded as she passed them and entered what had once been her new wing, feeling a pang at its loss – but perhaps it was being put to good use. If her influence could help Miss Saunders to make the right decisions for these girls, perhaps a lot of unhappiness could be saved in the future, especially if Angela’s fears came to pass – and that was surely worth the loss of a few beds for her …