Читать книгу Lost & Found - Kitty Neale - Страница 9

Edith Pugh was struggling to wash up the dinner things when her son walked into the room.

‘Leave it, Mum. I’ll do it,’ Alec insisted.

‘I can manage.’

‘No, you can’t, and it’s about time you listened to me. You need a bit of help, someone to take on the housework and cooking.’

‘I have listened. In fact, I’ve taken someone on to do just that.’

He raised his eyebrows. ‘Have you now? Well, that’s good.’

‘She’ll only be working for an hour a day until she leaves school, but even that will be a help.’

‘Mum, you need a mature woman with a bit of experience, not a schoolgirl. If you’re taken bad again, a kid would be useless.’

‘I haven’t employed her as a nurse, Alec. It hasn’t come to that yet.’

‘All right, but when does this girl start?’

‘Tomorrow, but I’m expecting her to call round soon so you’ll meet her before then.’

‘Good, now go and sit down. I’ll finish this lot.’

Edith didn’t argue this time. Her feet felt so painful, as though she was standing on broken glass, and she moved slowly across the room to sit on a fireside chair. She had done too much today, walked too far to see Mrs Jackson, but surely it had been worth it?

With a sigh, Edith closed her eyes, unaware that she had dozed off until the doorbell rang. She saw that Alec had finished washing up, that the dishes were put away, and said tiredly, ‘That’s probably Mavis. Let her in, Alec.’

He nodded and as he left the room, Edith managed to sit up straighter in her chair. She heard voices and soon Alec returned with Mavis behind him. ‘Hello, Mavis.’

‘Hello, Mrs Pugh. My mum told me to come to see you. She said I’m to work for you after school tomorrow.’

‘Yes, that’s right, but do sit down. You look frozen.’

‘Thanks,’ Mavis said, taking the chair at the other side of the hearth.

‘Now then, I expect you want to know what your duties will be. I’m afraid I have rather high standards, and with only an hour each afternoon, I think we’ll concentrate on giving one room a day a thorough clean. How does that sound?’

‘Er … it sounds fine.’

‘Good, and if you have any time left, I’d like you to prepare our dinner. Peel vegetables and such, ready for me to cook. Do you think you could manage that?’

‘I think so.’

Edith was so tired that she was finding it difficult to concentrate. There was something else to discuss, but what was it? Oh, yes. ‘I was going to show you the house, but I’m afraid it will have to wait until tomorrow.’

‘Mother, are you all right?’

When Edith turned to Alec, she saw that his expression showed conflicting emotions. He looked annoyed, probably because she had overtired herself, but also worried. Edith adored her son. As a child she had spoiled him, but he was everything to her and they shared the same tastes in most things. They preferred classical music to modern, loved art and reading. In fact, Alec was the perfect son, so loving and caring, so, with a smile of reassurance, she said, ‘Yes, I’m fine, but would you show Mavis out?’

He nodded, and as Mavis stood up, she said, ‘Thanks, Mrs Pugh. I … l’ll see you tomorrow.’

Edith nodded. ‘Goodbye for now, Mavis.’

As the girl followed Alec out of the room, Edith sagged. She heard the front door close and was about to close her eyes again, when Alec stormed back into the room.

‘Mother, are you out of your mind? It’s bad enough that you’re employing a schoolgirl, but Mavis Jackson! You know how people gossip around here and from what I’ve heard she’s backward.’

‘Don’t be cruel, Alec. Just because Mavis can’t read and write, it doesn’t mean she’s stupid. In fact, I’m sure she’s bright, and perfectly capable of doing domestic work.’

‘If she can’t read at the age of fifteen, there must be something wrong—and from the look of her she isn’t even capable of keeping herself clean.’

Edith’s mind was foggy as she struggled for a persuasive argument. ‘Oh, for goodness sake, not everyone has our standards, and it would be hard to find someone willing to do things my way. Mavis is a nice, amiable girl who I’ll show how to do things correctly from the start.’

‘But …’

‘Please, Alec,’ Edith interrupted, ‘I’m too tired to argue. If Mavis doesn’t work out, I’ll replace her, so please, be satisfied with that.’

‘Oh, very well.’

Edith closed her eyes, hiding her relief. She couldn’t tell Alec the truth—that she was doing this not only for herself, but for him too. At this moment in time, if Alec knew her plans, he’d bolt. Yet one day, when everything she intended to do was in place, her son would thank her. And on this thought, Edith finally drifted off to sleep.

Alec saw that his mother had fallen asleep and, though still annoyed, he looked at her worriedly. Without his father in his life, she was everything to him, but she was getting worse, he was sure of it. Alec looked around the room to see that as usual, everything was immaculate. The rest of the house would be the same. Obsessive, that was the word to describe his mother. She wouldn’t put up with a fleck of dust, an ornament out of place and woe betide him if he left a mess in the bathroom—not that he would of course. Maybe his mother was right, Alec thought as he shifted in his chair. Maybe it would be impossible to find a woman who could work to her standards. But for goodness sake, surely she could do better than Mavis Jackson!

Yet now, as Alec recalled her face, he realised that there was indeed a spark of intelligence in the girl’s eyes. Not only that, underneath the grime, he’d seen that Mavis was quite pretty too, but her dirt-encrusted fingernails had made him shudder with distaste. Like his mother, Alec knew he was fastidious, but as far as he was concerned there was nothing wrong with that. He’d been brought up to appreciate that cleanliness was close to godliness, and though he wasn’t particularly religious, he liked the pleasure of a clean home, clean body, and immaculately laundered clothes. Oh well, Alec thought as he stood up, deciding to take a look at his stamp collection. As his mother said, if Mavis didn’t work out, she’d soon be given her marching orders.

Mavis hurried home, her thoughts on Alec Pugh. She’d seen him around, but knew little about him, and now, after meeting him face to face, she was frowning. Alec Pugh wasn’t very tall and not much to look at, with mousy brown hair and a moustache to match. His manner had made her feel uncomfortable—the way he’d taken her in to see his mother with obvious reluctance. It had been the same when she was shown out. He’d opened the street door, and had almost slammed it behind her without saying a word. He was rude, stuck up, but at least she wouldn’t see much of him, Mavis decided, consoled by the thought. If she was only working for an hour after school, she’d be long gone before Alec Pugh came home from work.

Mavis turned into her street, almost bumping into Tommy and Larry. Her stomach lurched and she immediately lowered her head. If she crossed to the other side, maybe they’d leave her alone, but before Mavis got the chance, Larry stood in front of her.

‘Well, look here, it’s Dumbo.’

‘Leave me alone.’

‘Now there’s no need to be unfriendly. In fact, how about a walk on the common?’

‘No, no,’ Mavis gasped as she tried to step around them.

‘There’s no need to run away. Come on, come with us and we’ll have a bit of fun.’

Mavis frantically shook her head. In her last encounter with the two boys, they had tried to do dirty things to her. She’d been too ashamed and scared to tell her parents, and though she remembered how they threatened her to keep it a secret, Mavis still grasped at the only thing she could think of to scare them off. ‘If you don’t go away, I’ll tell my dad what you did to me.’

Larry’s eyes narrowed into threatening slits. ‘I wouldn’t if I was you, Dumbo, ’cos if you do we’ll only make it worse for you. Ain’t that right, Tommy?’ he added, throwing a quick glance at the boy by his side.

‘Yeah,’ Tommy agreed, but there was a flicker of fear in his eyes. ‘Come on, Larry, let’s go. I don’t fancy the smelly cow anyway.’

‘You’re right, she ain’t much,’ he agreed, leaning forward until he was almost eye to eye with Mavis. ‘Now listen. If you open your mouth, not only will we make it worse for you, we’ll tell your dad that you asked for it, that you led us on. I bet he’d love to hear that his precious daughter’s a tart.’

With that they walked off, but Larry’s voice was loud enough for Mavis to hear his next comment.

‘Don’t worry, Tommy. It’s like I said before, even if she opens her mouth, nobody would believe that thicko over us.’

Mavis hurried off, and on reaching her front door she took a gulp of air before walking into the kitchen, unaware of how pale she looked.

Her father’s gaze was sharp. ‘Mavis, you look like death. What’s the matter?’

She was saved from answering when her mother spoke. ‘What happened? Don’t tell me you blew it and didn’t get the job.’

‘No, no, I got it. I start tomorrow.’

She saw her father frown, then he said, ‘Well, my girl, something’s upset you. Come on, spit it out.’

Mavis hung her head, searching for an answer and, unable to tell the truth, she said, ‘It’s Mrs Pugh’s son. I … I didn’t like him.’

‘Why? What’s wrong with him?’ Lily asked.

‘He … he was funny with me. Stuck up.’

‘Well, that doesn’t surprise me. Like his mother, from what I’ve heard—just ’cos he works in an office, Alec Pugh thinks he’s a cut above the rest of us.’

Once again her father spoke. ‘Are you sure that’s all it is, Mavis? He was just off with you. Is that right?’

With her mind churning, Mavis knew she couldn’t tell her father the truth. He’d go mad, and Larry was right, what if he didn’t believe her side of the story? Had she led them on? Mavis didn’t know. She’d bumped into them on the common, had been pleased that, instead of making fun of her as usual, they’d been friendly. They’d sat on a bench, both boys telling her silly jokes that made her laugh. But then the atmosphere changed, became tense and as though on cue, they fumbled with their trousers. She’d never seen willies before and was horrified when they pulled them out. Larry flaunted his, giggling, and unsure of how to react she had giggled too. Larry had told her to hold his, but suddenly frightened by the intense look in his eyes, she had said no. Larry had pounced then, pulling her from the bench and onto the grass. Tommy at first hesitated, but then joined in, both pushing her back and trying to lift up her skirt. She had screamed, kicked, and it was then the boys saw someone coming. They released her from their grip and she had scrambled away, picking herself up to run home, too sick with shame to tell her mother what had happened. Since that day, four weeks earlier, she had avoided them, went in the other direction if she saw them coming, but she had seen them too late this time.

‘Mavis, I just asked you a question.’

‘Sorry, Dad. Yes, Alec Pugh was just off with me. Like I said, sort of stuck up.’

‘I ain’t having some jumped-up office clerk looking down on my daughter. You can get back round there and tell the woman she can stick her bloody job.’

‘Leave it out, Ron,’ said Lily. ‘She’ll do no such thing. Anyway, I don’t know what all the fuss is about. It’s Edith Pugh she’ll be working for, not her son.’

‘She’s just as bad, ain’t she?’

‘Maybe, but she can teach Mavis a lot and it’s daft to blow the girl’s chances.’

‘Chances! Doing flaming cleaning!’

‘What else is she fit for? If Edith Pugh can teach her to clean without breaking every thing she touches, it could lead to something.’

‘Huh! Like what?’

‘I dunno, but it’s better than learning nothing.’

‘Well, I think it’s up to Mavis. Now, my girl, do you want to take the job or not?’

Once again Mavis hung her head. If her father kept his word and sent five pounds every week, maybe her dream of going to art college was within reach. She daren’t raise the subject yet—not until her mother had seen the painting. In the meantime she was happy to earn a few bob working for Mrs Pugh. ‘I don’t mind, Dad. It’s only for an hour after school.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘You heard the girl, Ron, and, as I said, it could lead to something. Now then, Mavis, get the rest of the stuff out of the pram so I can give it a good look over.’

Mavis went into the yard, still dreaming, still hoping her dad would keep his word. With the money he sent, and if she carried on cleaning for Mrs Pugh when she left school, perhaps every evening and weekend, surely then her mother would be able to afford to let her go to college.