Читать книгу A Daughter’s Courage: A powerful, gritty new saga from the Sunday Times bestseller - Kitty Neale - Страница 9

Dorothy gave her mother a quick peck on the cheek before she dashed out of the door to meet Robbie. He was taking her to the cinema and she was really hoping that tonight would be the night when he would present her with the engagement ring she was so eagerly anticipating. After all, it had been over a week since he’d asked her to marry him.

As she walked along the street of small terraced houses, she caught sight of her reflection in the window of the newsagent shop on the corner. Her dress was homemade, as were most of her clothes, but she was pleased with her creations and was always up to date with the latest trends. Her long jacket was finished with a velvet collar, and though she would have preferred to be wearing a pair of high heels, she couldn’t afford to buy any. Still, she’d made an extra special effort with her hair so was relieved that it was a dry evening, meaning her curls wouldn’t be washed out. It was important that she looked her very best as she was sure that at some point during the evening Robbie would get down on one knee and formally propose.

As Dorothy quickened her pace and got closer to the bus stop, she could see that Robbie was already there, but her heart sank as she saw he was talking to a group of three young women. He looked a little too close to them, particularly one of them. Dorothy could see the woman placing a cigarette in her mouth, looking up into Robbie’s eyes as he lit it for her.

‘Hello, Robbie,’ Dorothy called. She was trying her best to sound unfazed and cheerful, but in reality she was feeling very insecure and self-conscious in her homemade clothes, which couldn’t compare with the sophisticated appearance of the women. They cast their eyes over her as though they were looking down their noses, making Dorothy squirm inside. She saw Robbie wink at the woman with the cigarette before he sauntered towards Dorothy and kissed her on the cheek.

‘Hello, darling. These ladies are heading for the Junction too, but their car has broken down so I’ve told them to join us on the bus.’

Dorothy feigned a smile. She was irritated and a little jealous of the woman with the cigarette. Along with the elegant outfit, she was wearing high heels and appeared to have grabbed Robbie’s attention, but before Dorothy had time to dwell on it the bus arrived and all five of them clambered on board.

Robbie, being the gentleman he always was, paid for all their fares and entertained the three ladies for the length of the journey. Dorothy did try to join in their conversation, but the topic was politics, which she knew nothing about, and though Robbie’s knowledge normally impressed her, this time she felt left out and sat pouting in silence.

Once they arrived at the Junction, Robbie said farewell to his new-found friends but Dorothy was vexed when the cigarette lady gave Robbie a flirty smile and said, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow then, Robert.’

Dorothy quickly alighted from the bus and stomped along the pavement, but Robbie soon caught up with her and marched in time at her side.

‘Hey, slow down, Dottie. What’s got into you?’

‘What was all that about, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Robert”? Since when has anyone called you Robert?’ she said, seething.

‘Calm down. I’m a mechanic, her car’s broken down and I’m going round tomorrow to fix it. You want a nice ring, don’t you, so I need the extra cash. And she called me Robert because I told her my given name as it sounds more professional.’

Dorothy suddenly felt very embarrassed about her little sulk. Robbie had only been thinking about her and, even though she obviously wouldn’t be getting her ring tonight, it warmed her inside to think that Robbie was willing to work on a Sunday to buy her one. That proved how much he must really love her.

‘I’m sorry, Robbie,’ she said. ‘I don’t mean to act like a spoilt brat. It’s just that I love you so much and can’t stand the thought of losing you to another woman.’

‘That’s never going to happen. I’ve told you before, you’re the only girl for me. Now put a smile on those sexy red lips, and don’t be expecting to see much of this film tonight as we’re going to be busy in the back row.’

Dorothy knew that this meant lots of kissing and that was fine with her. She would much prefer smooching with Robbie to watching a film. Of course they could only kiss and cuddle. There could be no funny business, not in public, but the thought of his touch made her shiver with delight.

Robbie was glad to see there wasn’t much of a queue for tickets. He’d been paid and so far he still had a full wage packet, which meant that, once inside the cinema, he could go to the kiosk and buy Dottie some chocolates to soften her up.

Pleased to see her smile at his gift, Robbie then avoided the usherette and gently pulled Dorothy to a back row in the far corner of the cinema. He had sat in these seats before with Martha Jones and knew it was a dark spot. He could get away with being frisky without worrying about being caught.

The auditorium only half filled and the film began to flicker on the big screen. Robbie wasted no time and as Dorothy stared wide-eyed at the glamorous film stars, he began to run his hand up her leg.

‘Robbie, no,’ Dorothy protested.

‘Come on, Dottie. I’m not really here to watch The Green Man.’

‘We can’t do anything, someone will see us.’

Her naïvety annoyed him sometimes, but he put up with it because she was such a stunner. ‘Look around you, there’s loads of couples having a snog, so stop worrying,’ he urged and kissed her in the way he knew she liked.

Dorothy responded, but when he took her hand and placed it on his unzipped trousers where his manhood was bulging through his pants, she just left it where it rested. It added to his annoyance. He’d been hoping that she would at least give him a rub, so he tried again to get his hand up her skirt, and though she didn’t brush him away this time, she kept her legs clamped tightly together. ‘Come on, Dottie, relax, will you,’ he urged.

‘It doesn’t feel right, doing this in here,’ she whispered. ‘I don’t like it with all these people around. It’ll be different when we’re married and living together.’

Robbie’s frustration was bursting. He jumped up, zipped up his trousers and pulled Dorothy to her feet. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here,’ he barked, ignoring the hurt look on her face.

Once outside, his mind raced as he tried to think of an excuse to get rid of her. She was a beautiful woman, there was no question about that, but he had a big job to do in the early hours and before he set out to do it he had to relieve some of his tension. It was obvious that Dottie wasn’t going to be the woman to do that for him tonight.

‘I’m not feeling all that clever,’ he lied. ‘My stomach is churning something rotten. I think it would be best if I drop you back home and then get myself off to bed. I’m sorry, sweetheart, I’ll make it up to you next week.’

‘Is that why you suddenly dragged me out? It wasn’t because I didn’t want to do it in there?’

‘Yes, it just suddenly came over me and I felt all hot and sweaty. I bet it was that ham I had earlier. I thought it smelt a bit iffy.’ Robbie couldn’t believe how easy this girl was to manipulate. She didn’t seem too upset, which made his life much easier.

They sat in silence holding hands on the bus ride home, but Robbie could feel his jaw clenching as he mulled over his plans for later. He was like a wound-up coil and decided that, once Dottie was safely deposited back at home, he would call in to see Cynthia. She was quite a bit older than Robbie, but always made him very welcome. Cynthia wasn’t much to look at, but she was good with her hands and he knew he would get a tantalising all-over massage. Just the ticket, Robbie thought, and afterwards he’d make his way over to Knightsbridge. He’d decided that if he waited until well after midnight there’d be fewer people about. He’d never attempted a burglary before and had to admit to himself that he was more than a little nervous about the whole thing. From what he’d heard, though, it was going be straightforward enough, and boy, did he need the money.

Of course he could have put off paying Adrian back, but the loan sharks were after him for what he owed and it wouldn’t be long before his excuses wore thin with them. He didn’t want to end up taking a pasting, so stealing what he hoped would be at least two hundred pounds would easily sort out all his debts. If there was more in the safe he might even be able to buy a decent second-hand car. A nice motor would impress the birds too, and Dottie would more than likely be up for a bit of fun on the back seat.

Robbie’s jaw relaxed as he thought about what else he would spend his stolen money on. Any fears he had about the prospect of getting caught and ending up behind bars in a stinking prison were quickly pushed to the back of his mind.

Alice sat quietly in the dim living room listening to The Archers on the radio. It was the omnibus edition and Alice was looking forward to the rare hour of relaxation. With Bill being the way he was and sitting in silence, the characters on the radio were all she really had for company on a Saturday night.

She heard a key turn in the front door and was surprised to see Dorothy walk into the front room. She hadn’t been expecting her home for a while yet.

‘Hello, love, you’re early. Did you have a nice time with Robbie?’

‘Not really. He wasn’t feeling too well. No official proposal tonight but he did talk about doing some extra work to buy me a nice ring.’

‘Oh, well, that’ll be something nice to look forward to then. There’s some warm milk on the stove if you fancy a hot mug of cocoa. You can come and sit with me and listen to my programme if you like?’

Dorothy smiled. ‘Thanks, Mum, but I think I’ll pass on that and finish off hemming the dress I’m making.’

With that, Dorothy left the room like a whirlwind. Alice wished she had the same energy as her daughter, but years of toiling over the kitchen sink had left her spine bent and the constant pain had been really wearing her down lately. Oh, well, she thought, trying to be positive, it wouldn’t be much longer until Bill recovered and then things would be back to where they were before the war. Alice reached across to pat the back of Bill’s hand. She just hoped he would be well enough to see his daughter get married.