The Boy with the Latch Key. Cathy Sharp

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СКАЧАТЬ at it but he wants a better job so he can get married.’

      ‘He’s far too young to think about it yet,’ Paula said and shook her head. ‘I’m sure Mary Ellen will tell him she’s not ready to marry yet anyway.’

      ‘Have you seen her recently?’

      ‘Yes. I met her in the market just this morning. She was on a break from her job at that factory. She’d popped out to do some shopping for her boss. Apparently, he’s a widower and lives alone now that his kids are grown up …’

      Paula broke off as they heard a commotion and then someone burst into the ward. The boy was angry and looked as if he’d been fighting the harassed police sergeant who followed him.

      ‘Get off me,’ the lad said. ‘I ain’t going to let her wash me. I can look after myself.’

      ‘I’m sorry, Staff Nurse,’ Sergeant Sallis said. ‘Your carer was just trying to tell them they needed to be bathed and looked at and he broke away from her … Come on, Archie lad, let the young lady look after you. She’s only doing her job.’

      ‘I’ve told you, we can wash ourselves. We’re not dirty and we’ve not got nits or fleas. Mum kept us proper and I’ve made sure June washes every morning and night. If you’d left us alone, we could’ve looked after ourselves at home …’

      ‘How were you goin’ to do that, lad?’ Sergeant Sallis asked mildly. ‘You’re still at school. You couldn’t earn enough to feed yourselves, let alone pay the rent and the gas. Besides, the landlord wanted you out of the house, because it’s coming down. Sister Beatrice says you can stay here until we sort your mum out …’

      ‘She didn’t do it,’ Archie said, glaring at him and then at the nurses. ‘Mum ain’t a thief. She’d belt me round the ear if I pinched anything. I know she didn’t do what they say she did …’

      ‘I believe you, lad,’ Sergeant Sallis said, ‘but there’s evidence that says she did …’

      ‘It’s false,’ Archie said and looked angry. ‘She told me someone had set her up, made it look as if she was guilty, but I know Mum wouldn’t do anything like that. She just wouldn’t, however hard-up she was …’

      ‘We’ll get to the bottom of it,’ Sergeant Sallis promised, but looking at his face Wendy could tell he was worried. ‘Do you know anyone who has it in for your mother, lad? Give me a hint and I’ll do what I can, I give you my word.’

      ‘She didn’t tell me, but I know she was bothered about something,’ Archie said. ‘She wouldn’t let on, because she wouldn’t want to upset us – and we don’t need to be taken into care. Mum will be home soon and she’ll look after us.’

      ‘Well, until she is, you’re lucky to be brought here,’ Wendy told him. ‘Look, I’ll tell Tilly that you can wash yourselves – but I need to examine you to make sure you don’t have anything infectious, measles or something like that, all right?’

      Archie thought for a moment and then inclined his head reluctantly. ‘As long as you don’t start washing our hair with that horrible stuff like the school nurse does to the kids with nits.’

      ‘I promise,’ Wendy said, smiled at Archie and went out into the hall with him. ‘You don’t need to stop any longer, Sergeant. Archie is going to be sensible now. We have to look after June, don’t we?’ She looked at the truculent lad and saw him nod. ‘At least here you will have decent food and you don’t have to worry about the rent until your mother comes back.’

      ‘What will happen to all our things? The landlord says we have to get out and they’re going to pull our row down – but I don’t know what to do with our things.’

      ‘I’ll talk to Sister Beatrice. She’s the Warden here. I can’t promise anything, but someone ought to be responsible. Perhaps we can find storage for you. Sister knows lots of people and she may be able to arrange it.’

      Wendy was thinking it was a job for Angela Adderbury. If she’d been here she would have known someone who could store the family’s possessions, but all Wendy could do was ask Sister for advice.

      ‘All right …’ Archie said grudgingly. ‘But we shan’t be here long. Mum will be home soon and she’ll find us somewhere to live. I know she didn’t take that money and they can’t keep her in jail if she’s innocent, can they?’

      Wendy murmured something appropriate, but she knew life wasn’t that simple or that fair. It wouldn’t be the first time an innocent woman, or man, come to that, had been jailed for a crime they didn’t commit. If life turned out the way it should, Wendy would have a husband and children, but she hadn’t and wouldn’t, and she’d had to learn to accept that – as Archie would accept this in time.

      She felt for his bewilderment and his hurt, but for the moment there was nothing she could do to help him, except ensure that he was warm, comfortable and safe.

      ‘Are you hungry?’ she asked.

      Archie hesitated and then inclined his head. ‘We had a sandwich at the police station, but that was ages ago.’

      ‘As soon as you’ve bathed, changed into our clothes and I’ve made sure you’re healthy, which won’t take a minute, because I can see you’re fine, you can have your supper. I’ll ask Cook to make you some eggs on toast – how about that?’

      ‘I’d rather have beans,’ Archie said. ‘June likes scrambled eggs though.’

      ‘One beans on toast, one scrambled eggs,’ Wendy said. ‘Tell you what, I’ll make them myself and have my supper with you in the dining room – what do you think?’

      ‘Yeah, all right,’ Archie said and grinned at her.

      Wendy blinked, because the change in him was amazing. This one was a real charmer, she thought and laughed inside, because there was something infectious about that grin. She found herself drawn to the young lad; he’d been like a tiger in defence of his mother’s honesty and she liked that – found it admirable.

      Wendy would talk to Nan and Eddie about the family’s possessions that evening, she decided. Eddie was an old soldier and resourceful. He might know somewhere they could store Mrs Miller’s things so that they wouldn’t be looted or destroyed when the demolition people moved in – and if Eddie could help she would oversee the move herself that weekend …

       CHAPTER 3

      ‘Where are you going?’ Rose O’Hanran asked her younger sister as she saw her putting on her boxy red jacket with the swing pleats at the back. ‘Not to meet that Billy Baggins I hope?’

      ‘Yes, I’m meeting Billy this evening. We’re going to the church social hall. It’s Rock ’n’ Roll night on Fridays. You know we go every week for that …’

      Rose snorted her disapproval. She’d done her best to break the bond that had formed between Billy Baggins and Mary Ellen in the years they’d lived at St Saviour’s together. Sometimes, she wished that she’d never taken her sister there, but at the time she’d seemed to have little option. With their mother dying of consumption, Rose had СКАЧАТЬ