Читать книгу Josephine Cox Sunday Times Bestsellers Collection - Josephine Cox - Страница 29

‘EXCUSE ME, MISS … I believe this is your stop.’

The bus conductor had noticed how Lucy was not watching the landmarks. Instead, she was sat deep in thought, in the far corner, sometimes looking out of the window, sometimes with her eyes closed. Now, staring ahead, she appeared to have no idea of her surroundings.

Startled by his concerned tap on the shoulder, Lucy thanked him and made her way to the platform. When the bus came to a halt, she quickly clambered off.

It had been comfortingly quiet on the bus, but now as she set off in the direction of the church, the noise and bustle of Liverpool was all around her; the clatter of horse and cart, the smell and sound of petrol-driven vehicles; the sight of rich women in furs, poor women in thin coats and men in suits, all going about their business. This was Friday, a day when people looked forward to their weekend and couldn’t wait for the day to end. But for Lucy, since losing her child, every day seemed the same.

Leaving the mayhem behind, she came up the rise towards the church. The further from the centre she got, the more the wind seemed to swirl and blow. Beginning to shiver, Lucy drew her coat more tightly about her.

Taking the side path, she went along by the hedge and into the churchyard; little Jamie’s resting-place was to the right of the gate under the oak-tree. Lucy had chosen St Saviour’s as she had come to Sunday school here as a child, and had happy memories of it. The church at Comberton now seemed tainted, somehow, with the evil of Edward Trent.

Removing a handkerchief from her coat-pocket she wiped it over the small cross, which was temporarily erected until a marble heart could be set there. After laying down the posy of pretty leaves, together with a small toy, she knelt down to tell Jamie how much she missed and loved him. As always, she imagined him in her mind; toddling in the garden and chuckling as she chased him, and the tears were never far away.

After a while, when the cold seemed to penetrate her bones, she said a heartfelt goodbye. ‘I’ll see you again soon, my darling.’

In the church, she lit a candle to guide her child on his way to Heaven, and when the flame flickered and danced to life, she remained there for some long time, asking questions of the Lord. What had she done that was so wicked He had to take her baby? What would she do now without him? Why had the police not caught Edward Trent and brought him to a harsh punishment? And finally, would He please take care of Barney and the Davidson family on their long journey to a new life?

A short time later, spent of emotion, Lucy made her way back to the bus-stop. As she clambered on the bus, she caught sight of Barney. Emerging from a public-house and somewhat unsteady on his feet, he had a woman clinging to his arm.

Laughing together, they set off down the street and were soon gone.

Falling into her seat, Lucy was riveted with shock. She had recognised the woman as being a close friend and colleague of Bridget’s, and knowing the nature of her business, Lucy found it hard to understand what Barney was doing in her company. She suspected also, if his unsteady gait was anything to go by, that he had been drinking. That in itself was astonishing, because as far as Lucy knew, Barney enjoyed the occasional glass of something only when the occasion demanded.

Convincing herself that there must be an innocent explanation, she vowed to ask him next time they met.

On arriving home, she went into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. ‘Make one for me while you’re at it.’ Bridget almost fell into the room. ‘I’ve been trudging round the shops for hours and I’ve got a throat like sandpaper.’

She threw down a heap of bags and sitting herself at the table, she told Lucy, ‘I’ve left the girls searching for new outfits. They’ve bagged a lucrative job for next week, escorting some London businessmen about town. Lord knows, if we’re to put the business on a more respectable footing, they’ll need to look their best.’

With her mind still on Barney and the woman, Lucy heard not a word. ‘Three sugars, isn’t it?’ she asked, beginning to spoon it out of the bag.

‘Best make it four,’ the woman advised. ‘I’m shattered, so I am!’

When Lucy placed her cup and saucer before her, Bridget noticed how preoccupied she seemed. ‘What’s wrong wit’ you? You’ve got a face like a wet weekend.’

‘Nothing.’ Lucy sat down with her tea and took a sip of it.

‘Aw now, don’t give me that.’ The big Irishwoman wagged a finger. ‘I’ve known you long enough to spot when something is wrong, so out with it! What’s on your mind?’

Hesitating for a second or two, Lucy told her, ‘I’ve just seen Barney Davidson coming out of a pub, and he was drunk … or near as dammit.’

‘I see.’ Bridget raised her cup to her mouth and took a long slurp. ‘And ye are sure it was Barney ye saw?’

‘I’m certain.’

Bridget peered at her over the rim of her cup. ‘Was he alone?’

‘No. He was with a woman.’ She hesitated to say it was one of Bridget’s friends.

‘I see.’

When Bridget next spoke, it was to give Lucy a warning. ‘Don’t get mixed up in what you don’t understand,’ she cautioned. ‘What Barney does or doesn’t do is none of our business.’

From Bridget’s reaction, Lucy suspected she knew more than she was saying. As the realisation dawned, she confronted her. ‘You knew all about it, didn’t you?’ she demanded. ‘You knew Barney was drinking and womanising. Don’t deny it, because I can see it in your face!’

‘All right, yes, I did. In fact, I’m told it’s been going on for some time, and now it seems he doesn’t give a bugger who sees him! But I didn’t think it was my place to tittle-tattle. If Barney Davidson has a problem, he’ll deal with it. Doesn’t he always?’ Not wishing to be drawn onto dangerous ground, Bridget quickly drank up her tea, took her shopping and went upstairs with it. ‘I’ll see youse later,’ she called back.

Unable to get Barney out of her mind, Lucy vowed to visit the Davidsons that evening. ‘I’ve got to go and see him,’ she muttered as she helped Tillie to peel the potatoes for dinner. ‘I need to ask him outright.’ She knew him well enough to do that.

Barney had been preying on her mind a great deal of late; behaving strangely, going away for hours on his own, and now this. In the beginning, she had thought it might be the trauma of what had happened that night, but drinking in a public-house with such a woman; arm-in-arm in the street and laughing as if he didn’t give a damn who saw him … this was not the Barney she knew and loved. In the wake of Jamie’s death, her embarrassingly romantic feelings towards him had vanished; but now they had resurfaced and she couldn’t help it, he was never out of her thoughts. It was getting to the stage where she was afraid to look Vicky in the eye, in case her friend read the truth on her face.

Later that evening, when dinner was over and the kitchen at 23, Viaduct Street was spick and span, Lucy put on her hat and coat and set off for Overhill Farm.

As she went up the path to the front door she heard raised voices and the sound of a door slamming. Suddenly, the front door was flung open and Susie came rushing out, straight into Lucy’s arms. ‘Oh Lucy! Ronnie and Daddy are saying bad things to each other, and they won’t stop …’ She began to sob uncontrollably.

Lucy held her close. ‘Ssh, don’t worry, it’ll be all right,’ but she could still hear the two men inside, and now Thomas’s voice, pleading with them to stop arguing. A moment later, the door opened and Vicky emerged, looking distraught as she searched for Susie. On seeing Lucy she was visibly relieved. ‘Oh, dear God, Lucy, I don’t know what to do. It’s like my whole world’s falling apart.’

Trembling and distressed, she took Susie by the shoulders. ‘Run inside, sweetheart, and fetch our coats.’ Calming herself for the girl’s sake, she suggested with a shaky smile, ‘We’ll go for a little walk, eh, you, me and Lucy? When we come back, happen it’ll all have sorted itself out, eh?’

Relieved to see her mammy smiling and comforted by her words, Susie ran to get their coats. ‘What’s happening?’ Lucy asked worriedly. ‘Is it Barney?’ In her troubled mind she could still see him and the woman.

‘Yes.’ Vicky shook her head. ‘There’s something very wrong,’ she said. ‘Barney’s been so odd of late – wandering off and not coming back till all hours. He’s not been sleeping easy, and sometimes when I wake in the middle of the night, I look out of the window and he’s pacing the yard like a trapped animal. He’s suddenly got the devil of a temper on him, too, snapping and snarling and jumping down our throats at the slightest thing; he even smacked Susie last night because she came downstairs crying after having a bad dream. It’s not like him, Lucy. He’s always been such a loving man.’

She took a long, weary breath. ‘And now, Ronnie swears he saw Barney in Liverpool today … “arm-in-arm with a trollop”, he says, and he swears that the pair of ’em were drunk.’

With raw eyes she looked into Lucy’s face as though searching for some kind of reassurance. ‘I didn’t believe it of him, Lucy. “It couldn’t have been your father” – that’s what I told Ronnie. “He would never do such a thing”.’ Her voice broke. ‘But to be honest, Lucy, somewhere in the back of my mind, God forgive me, because of the way Barney’s been behaving, I’m half-inclined to believe what Ronnie saw.’

When Susie returned and they had on their coats and scarves, the three of them wandered away to the spinney; these days they were reluctant to go near the river, because of the bad memories.

Lucy made no mention of the fact that, like Ronnie, she too had seen Barney on the streets drunk and laughing with a woman. Instead she told Vicky, ‘I’ve an idea Barney might still be suffering the effects of that night. It was a terrible thing for him to witness. Grief and shock can affect us all in different ways,’ she said in a low voice. God knows, she herself was half-demented with it. ‘Maybe Barney is not able to deal with the horror of what happened?’

Vicky had already considered that. ‘Of course he suffers from remembering, as we all do.’ She reached out to squeeze Lucy’s hand. ‘But it’s more than that,’ she went on sombrely. ‘Now I think about it, I’ve seen a few changes happening in Barney, long before that night. He’s been getting more preoccupied and distant, as though he’s always got something on his mind, and none of us are a part of it.’

She shrugged. ‘He’s been working so hard – pushing himself until he hurts. It’s as if he’s trying to prove something. He’s changed, Lucy, and now it’s got so I can hardly recognise him as the man I married.’

In spite of her determination not to let young Susie see her upset, Vicky began to cry, softly at first, and when she could no longer hold it back, the crying became wrenching sobs that tore her apart. ‘I’m sorry,’ she kept saying. ‘I’m so, so sorry.’ For the first time in her married life, she did not know how to deal with Barney.

Running to her, Susie threw her arms round Vicky’s waist; in a choked voice she told her, ‘Don’t cry, Mammy, it’s all right. Please don’t cry.’ The normal roles of mother and child were reversed, and Vicky was ashamed.

After a time they walked on; Lucy lost in her own thoughts, Vicky also quiet now, and Susie with her hand clutched in her mammy’s.

All three were thinking of Barney. Lucy was determined to get him alone and have a heart-to-heart with him; Vicky wondered how she could win back the man she loved; and her frightened daughter silently brooded over the night’s event, her heart alive with all manner of emotion – and shockingly, even the smallest beginnings of hatred towards the father she adored.

When they got back to the house, despite the cold, Ronnie was seated on the garden bench. With his head down and his hands over the back of his neck, he did not hear them approach.

‘Ronnie?’ Going immediately to him, Vicky put her arm around his shoulders. ‘What are you doing out here in the cold?’

Ronnie looked up. In the half-light from the windows she could see that he’d been crying. ‘What is it, love?’ She sat beside him. ‘What’s happened?’

For a long anxious moment, Ronnie gave no answer. Instead he glanced back at the house, then he looked at his mother and the tears ran down his face. ‘That man in there,’ he whispered brokenly. ‘I don’t even know who he is any more.’

Rising to Barney’s defence, Vicky told him firmly, ‘Whatever he says or does, and whatever you may think of him just now, he is still your father!’

Ronnie shook his head. ‘No, he’s not. I know my father like I know myself, and that man in there is a stranger.’

Vicky understood but was horrified all the same. ‘Your father is ill,’ she said lamely. ‘He doesn’t seem to understand how he’s hurting us. Barney is a good man. He’s stood by all of us at one time or another, and now it’s our turn to stand by him.’

Scrambling to his feet, Ronnie looked down on her in amazement. ‘How can you say that?’ he demanded. ‘I saw him with my own eyes! He was drunk in the street, in the company of a woman like that … They went away laughing – laughing at you, Mother! He’s not only cheating on you, but he’s doing it openly. He gets himself drunk and then he comes home arguing and causing trouble in the family.’

His voice shook with rage. ‘You can stand by him if you like, but I won’t! I can’t forgive him.’

Seeing her brother stride off angrily into the night, Susie wailed, ‘Stop him, Mammy. STOP HIM!’

Grabbing her close, Vicky held her tight. ‘I can’t,’ she said, ‘but he’ll be back. You’ll see, sweetheart, Ronnie will be back.’ In her heart though, she could not be certain of that.

‘Do you want me to go?’ Having witnessed the distress in this close-knit family, Lucy was afraid for them all, including Barney. She wanted to stay but sensed that Vicky needed to be alone with her family.

Vicky nodded. ‘I’m sorry, Lucy,’ she apologised. ‘I’ll get Thomas to see you home.’ Because the night was cold and because she had great affection for Lucy, she invited her to come inside first.

She led the way, with Susie at her side and Lucy following.

When she walked into the sitting room, Lucy was shocked at the sight of Barney. Unkempt and unshaven, he sat in the armchair, his shirt undone to the chest and his head lolling sideways. Lucy thought he looked ill and quietly said so to Vicky.

Thomas had been standing before the fire, his eyes alive with anger as he stared at his father. ‘He’s not ill.’ He spat out the words. ‘He’s drunk!’

‘I’ll deal with your father.’ Taking hold of him by the arm, Vicky led him away. ‘I need you to take Lucy home in the trap.’

Thomas nodded. ‘Will you be all right?’

‘I’ll be fine,’ she answered with a smile. ‘Oh, and take Susie with you.’ When the girl protested, she told her gently, ‘Lucy would like that, wouldn’t you, lass?’

Realising Vicky’s intent, Lucy nodded. ‘Yes, I would.’ Addressing Susie she told her, ‘I need to know all about the new clothes you and Mammy have bought for the journey to America.’

At Lucy’s remark, Thomas gave a grunt. ‘That’s if we ever go!’

Susie gave a cry. ‘We are going, aren’t we, Mammy?’

Vicky nodded. ‘That’s the plan, sweetheart.’ Though her heart was breaking, she smiled her brightest. ‘In just over a week’s time we’ll be boarding the ship for America.’ She gave Barney a sideways glance. ‘All of us!’

On the way back to Viaduct Street, Thomas sat hunched on the driving seat, quiet and morose. He had only ever seen his father drunk once, and that was when his friend Adam had brought back some strong homemade cider to mark his birthday. It was a memorable night, which ended in laughter and good humour. This time it was different. And in all his life, Thomas had never felt so helpless.

Over the next few days, Barney’s hitherto good name deteriorated further. ‘Cheating on his good wife,’ people tutted. ‘Carrying on wi’ all kinds, and drinking himself into a stupor every chance he gets.’

‘I hear he stayed out all night a while back.’ Even on the bus they tittle-tattled about him. ‘Lord knows what that family’s going through, and them supposed to be leaving for America any day now.’

Seated behind the two gossiping women, Lucy could not wait to get off at her stop; though as she passed them she commented loudly on ‘folks who can’t help but gossip, even when they don’t have a clue what they’re talking about’!

As she hurried home, she wondered where it would all end.

Bridget was alone. ‘The girls have gone on another one of these “business” appointments,’ she said proudly. ‘Sure, haven’t we gone up in the world, don’t you think?’

‘Mmm.’ Seating herself at the table, Lucy recalled what the women on the bus had said. ‘I hear that Barney stayed out all night a while back. How on earth do folks find out so much so soon?’

Bridget plonked a cup of tea down on the table. ‘What exactly are we talking about?’

Lucy told her about the two women and the conversation they were having. ‘What on earth are we going to do about Barney?’ she asked. ‘I’m at my wit’s end.’ She gave Bridget a wary look. ‘What if Vicky ever finds out he was here the night he went missing?’

‘I won’t tell if you won’t,’ Bridget replied. ‘What was I supposed to do when he turned up, soaking wet and looking to come inside? He only slept the drink off while I dried his clothes, that’s all.’ With big eyes she chided Lucy. ‘Should I have turned him away – is that what you’re saying?’

Lucy shook her head. ‘No, of course it’s not.’ All the same, she felt as though she was betraying Vicky by not telling her, and she told that to Bridget now.

Bridget was angry with her. ‘Now look here, young lady! Sure the man himself pleaded with you not to tell where he was for most of the night. You did right not to say anything, and besides, didn’t they have the holiest of rows and didn’t she get angry and lock the door against him?’

‘So I’m told, yes.’

‘There y’are, then! Even if he’d gone home, he wouldn’t have been able to get in. He’d have had to sleep on the garden bench, so he would!’

Once Bridget was in full sail there was no stopping her. ‘I gave him a bed for the night and there’s nothing to be ashamed of in that. You and I both know how hard I’m trying to get this house respectable. It may well have been a house of pleasure a while back, but things are changing.’

She bristled with pride. ‘You’ll notice I’m more of a businesswoman now, so ye will. What’s more, little Tillie has taken to her new job of bookkeeper like a duck to water.’ She gave a short whistle. ‘I never knew she was so good at keeping proper accounts! And she’s delighted with the shorter hours and the bigger wage-packet.’

Lucy had to smile. ‘You always were ambitious,’ she said fondly. ‘And happen you’re right about giving Barney a bed for the night. If he had upset Vicky so much that she locked the door against him, she might have done worse if he’d gone banging on the door in the middle of the night.’

Bridget beamed. ‘Well, there y’are then. Sure, isn’t that what I’ve been saying all along?’ She had a question. ‘Did ye manage to have a quiet word with him … about the womanising and the drinking?’

Lucy shook her head. ‘I’ve tried time and again to get him on his own, but he always manages to dodge me.’ This time she was determined. ‘I’ve spoken with Adam. He’s worried sick about Barney, but even he hasn’t been able to talk any sense into him. Vicky and the boys will be up at Leonard Maitland’s tonight. Apparently he’s concerned about Barney and unsure about what’s happening. He’s asked the family to come and talk it through, so tonight, Barney will be on his own.’

Bridget was doubtful. ‘Will Barney stay in, d’ye think? Or will he be off out with his floozy?’

Lucy tapped her nose by way of a confidence. ‘It’s all been arranged. Barney’s agreed to see Adam, and being as he’s let Adam down twice before, we’re hoping that this time he’ll keep his word and be at home when his old pal arrives.’

Bridget got the picture. ‘But it won’t be Adam who turns up, will it? It’ll be you, is that right?’

Lucy confirmed that was the idea. ‘Seeing as he keeps avoiding me, this seems to be the only way.’

‘Well, I hope it works, because somebody needs to talk some sense into that foolhardy head of his,’ Bridget declared. ‘Sure, if anybody can do it, you can.’

Just then the girls came in, dressed in their new outfits and looking like a million dollars. ‘I’ve just spent a whole afternoon in one of the best hotels in Manchester.’ Brenda’s tall, willowy figure was wrapped in the most expensive coat with fur collar and deep fur-trimmed pockets.

‘And I’ve been to the races.’ Shorter and perfectly formed, Lynette was better suited to the small-brimmed hat and brown silk two-piece.

‘I hope you both behaved like ladies?’ Raising her eyebrows, Bridget gave them a warning glance.

On hearing how they had been paid handsomely for their escort duties, Bridget congratulated them. ‘Sure if we keep on like this, we’ll have to move to posher premises,’ she joked. ‘Now off upstairs wit’ ye, and out of those expensive clothes. You’ll need them again, I hope, so make sure you hang them up nice and neatly.’

Shortly after the girls had departed, Lucy excused herself. ‘I’d best get ready,’ she told Bridget.

‘Off ye go then, and I wish ye well.’ Her friend was concerned. ‘It’s a crying shame to see how Barney’s hurting that poor family of his. If he doesn’t come to his senses soon, there’ll be no America for him, and no family to speak of neither.’

With all that preying on her mind, Lucy got washed and changed and made herself ready to meet Adam. Having lately acquired a little black Ford, he was to run her up to the end of the lane and wait there until she came out again.

She didn’t have to wait long before the little car drew up outside number 23. ‘What d’you think to it?’ he asked proudly. ‘Cost me an arm and a leg, but it was worth it.’

Lucy told him she thought it was handsome, and smiling from ear to ear he helped her climb on the running board and then get inside, before taking the starting handle and thrusting it into the front of the car. Perspiring from the effort, Adam drove up the street erratically, with the car lurching and bumping. ‘I’m not quite used to it yet,’ he apologised sheepishly. ‘But I’ll get us there – don’t you worry about that.’

When they reached the end of the lane leading to Overhill Farm, they sat awhile. ‘Have the family gone out yet, d’you think?’ Adam was on pins.

‘I’m not sure.’ Lucy, too, was nervous. If she did get to see Barney on his own, what would she say? How could she convince him that what he was doing was tearing the family apart? What about the future? What about America, and the family so looking forward to it now? And why was he doing this? That was the main thing.

While they waited and watched, Lucy spoke her mind to Adam. ‘I don’t understand why Barney’s suddenly started behaving like this,’ she said. ‘He’s an intelligent man, compassionate and caring, and yet here he is, wantonly throwing away everything he cherishes.’

Adam had an idea, but he could not give her the answer. ‘It’s the strangest thing,’ he said thoughtfully. ‘I’ve known him a very long time, but I can never recall him acting the way he is now, hurting the ones he loves and seemingly hell-bent on destroying himself. One minute he’s all fired up at going to America, and now it’s as though he has to destroy every chance they’ve got of starting a new life. I’ve tried to reason with him, but he just walks away. He won’t listen to me.’

Reaching out, he took Lucy’s hand into his. ‘Happen he’ll talk to you,’ he said, patting the back of her hand. ‘Happen you’ll get through to him where I can’t.’ In the half-light he smiled on her, trying not to show the love he felt. She was his good friend, and he was not prepared to spoil that by speaking his heart.

Suspecting nothing of his true feelings, Lucy gave him a nudge. ‘Here they are now,’ she said. The family emerged from the house; Vicky and Susie first, then the two sons. Huddled together, they set off on foot in the other direction, along the lane and on towards Leonard Maitland’s house, The Manse. ‘We’ll give it another minute or so and then you’d best go in,’ Adam said. ‘D’you think he’ll open the door to you?’

Lucy smiled secretly. Reaching into her handbag, she drew out the key to Overhill Farmhouse. ‘I never thought to give this back after I stayed there once,’ she told him. ‘I knew it would be more polite to knock, but like you say, he might see me out of the window and be gone through the back door. So I shall just let myself in.’ She did not like the idea of doing it, but saw no other way.

Climbing out of the car, Lucy softly closed the door and approached the house. She could see Barney through the window; slouched in his chair he was leaning forward, deep in thought and looking lost.

Concentrating on what she was doing, she slipped the key into the lock, opened the door and went inside; and because she did not want to alarm him, she deliberately made a noise as she came towards the sitting room.

‘Who’s there?’ Barney’s voice sailed through the house. ‘Vicky! Is that you?’

When suddenly he was standing before her, his face fell with astonishment. ‘Lucy! What the devil are you doing here? How did you get in?’

‘Sorry if I frightened you.’ When Lucy now took a step forward, Barney took a step back. ‘Please, Barney. We need to talk.’

‘I don’t want to talk. Go away, and leave me be.’ Seeing her there and knowing how, like the rest of his beloved family, she was worried out of her mind, he so much wanted to take her in his arms and open his heart to her. But if he did, then all of this would have been for nothing. ‘How did you get in? Did Vicky let you in, is that it? Did she think you might get me to tell you things I can’t tell her?’ His eyes bright with tears, he lowered his sorry gaze to the floor.

‘Vicky doesn’t know I’m here,’ she told him. ‘Look! I still have my key.’ She laid it on the coat-stand. ‘There. I’ve returned it now.’

As she walked towards him, he barred her path, his shoulders squared tall and his face blank, with no expression. ‘I don’t need you here. I want you to go.’

Now, as Lucy stared him in the eye, he looked away, as though he could not bear to see the pain and anxiety in her face. ‘I said I want you to leave. Now!’

Lucy refused. ‘You’ll have to throw me out, Barney.’

The man was in anguish; he wanted to tell her the truth, but he daren’t. He couldn’t.

‘Talk to me, Barney.’ Laying her hand on his arm, she thrilled at his nearness, but for now all she wanted was to make him at peace, to let him know that he was not on his own. ‘Why are you doing all of this?’ Her voice was like silk to his ears. ‘You were always such a kind and loving man, concerned about other people’s feelings. You’re not a drunk, or a bad man. You’re a worker and a fighter. You risked your own life to save my baby and you were my strength afterwards. Was it that night, Barney? Was it because of what happened to little Jamie?’ Her voice broke. ‘You said it yourself – there was nothing we could have done. It was too late, Barney … all too late.’

When she paused, choking back the pain of remembering, Barney looked up. He was so ashamed. ‘How are you now, Lucy?’ His voice was merely a whisper, but it came from the heart.

Looking up with bright eyes and a sorry smile, she told him, ‘I’m coping, Barney. But I’m so worried about you … we all are. What is it? What’s wrong? You have to let me help. You have to let us all help.’

She could sense that he was weakening, when suddenly the front door was pushed open and in walked a woman, tall and attractive, with wild hair and a ruddy complexion, and the smell of booze about her. ‘You shouldn’t leave your door open of a night-time,’ she quipped. ‘And who might this be, Barney? I know it’s not your wife because you told me she’d be out with the family.’

‘Jesus!’ Thrusting Lucy aside he took hold of the woman by the arm. ‘What the hell are you doing here, and drunk into the bargain!’

She smiled. ‘I remembered you saying your family were going out and that I should come and pay a call on you if ever I was passing. Well, I might not have been passing, but I’m here now, and I’ve brought us some cheer.’ Holding up a bottle of sherry, she taunted him with it. ‘If you don’t want to stay here, we can always go to my place. I’ve got a car outside.’ Staggering sideways, she almost lost her balance. ‘The driver is an old friend of mine …’ she gave a wink ‘… if you know what I mean?’

About to throw her out into the night, Barney stopped himself. No! This might be his best chance. Just now, Lucy had almost got him to confide in her, and if his unwelcome visitor hadn’t turned up, he might well had said things he regretted. And that would have been a disaster.

‘She’s the woman I saw you with in Liverpool.’ Lucy was shocked and angry. ‘Ask her to leave, Barney. She’s tainting Vicky’s lovely home.’

Enraged, the woman made a grab for her. Barney stepped between them. Turning on Lucy he sounded like a stranger. ‘Good night, Lucy. I don’t want to see you again. You can leave now.’

Lucy was taken aback. ‘You don’t mean that?’

He gave a slow, affirmative nod. ‘Thank you for coming here tonight, but I don’t need your help.’

Lucy could have argued with him, but there would have been no point. Instead she reached up and, placing her hands on his shoulders, she kissed him on the cheek. ‘Think what you’re doing, Barney,’ she pleaded quietly. ‘We all love you so much.’

For what seemed an age he looked at her, and just for the briefest moment she really believed he was listening. Then he took her by the arm and led her to the door, where he pushed her unceremoniously onto the outer step. One hard, appealing stare, and then he closed the door.

As she walked down the path, Lucy could hear their laughter. ‘May God forgive you, Barney Davidson,’ she whispered.

Climbing into the car she sat for a moment, unsure what to do.

‘I saw the woman.’ Adam’s voice interrupted her thoughts. ‘I wondered if I should come in, and then I thought it best not to.’

‘If you’d come in, it would only have made matters worse.’

‘What about the woman?’

Lucy shook her head. ‘She’s the one he’s been seeing. He’s got her in there now, and he’s not in the mood for talking.’ She turned to him, a sad little smile on her face. ‘He almost confided in me,’ she revealed. ‘If that woman hadn’t arrived, he would have talked, I know he would.’

They sat a moment longer; Adam feeling as though he should go in there and throw her out, and Lucy thinking how low Barney had sunk.

‘What’s wrong with him, Adam?’ she asked now. ‘Why is he doing this?’

Adam didn’t know any more than she did, although a suspicion lurked at the back of his head. ‘Maybe we didn’t know him as well as we thought we did,’ he answered thoughtfully. ‘Or maybe he’s pushed himself so hard, and then … your awful tragedy …’ He paused, making sure he had not upset her. ‘Who knows what it takes to turn a man like Barney?’

Lucy had to agree. ‘We’ve tried,’ she murmured. ‘We couldn’t have tried any harder. Maybe there’ll be an opportunity later on.’ She gave a deep sigh. ‘I don’t know any more.’

‘Home then?’

When Lucy nodded, he started the engine, turned the car about, and went down the lane at a leisurely pace. They did not talk. For now, there was too much on their minds.