McQueen's Agency (26 page)

‘What’re your plans now, Edna?’ he asked, as she was taking off her overall.

‘I’ve got a week’s work at an office in Dura Street on Monday. I start at nine o’clock.’ She dug the memo out of her handbag. ‘Steven’s Scrap Metal Company. It’s probably a small company. It usually is. Molly gets work from people who can’t employ a lot of staff and if one or two go off ill, or for whatever reason, then they ask us to help and we then ride to the rescue.’

‘I wish you would consider coming here to work all the time, Edna. I dread the thought of Nancy coming back.’

‘Surely she can’t be that bad.’

‘She is. She can’t count and she gets the customers’ change all wrong. Then she won’t admit it and gets cheeky with the poor customers. We’ve had people who say they won’t be back but, thanks to Albert, they always are.’

‘Well, maybe I’ll be back soon if Nancy goes off ill again.’

‘If she’s ill then I’m a monkey’s uncle,’ said Eddie and they both laughed.

Molly was also dreading going in to work. She was normally off on a Friday but because there had been so much work with the house sale items, she had said she would help out. That had been a couple of weeks ago, before all this domestic tension had built up. The house had an oppressive feel about it, which wasn’t helped by the heat. The past week had seen record temperatures and yesterday’s thunderstorm had done little to freshen the air.

There had been no sign of Lena and while Joe, Mike and Christie were still working hard in the sheds, the house was quiet. At dinnertime, she went upstairs to the bathroom to wash her face in cool water. She tried to be as quiet as possible in order not to waken Lena. As she left the bathroom, she thought she heard quiet sobbing. Then she heard Kenneth’s voice. It was quiet and subdued and she couldn’t make out what was said so she hurried downstairs.

An hour later, Kenneth appeared and she couldn’t get over the change in him. Gone were the dapper good looks and he looked gaunt and ashen-faced. Molly couldn’t help wondering if the letter had been the cause of this. That and the engagement to Nelly.

All this tension had started the night the engagement had been announced. Still, after next week she wouldn’t have to think about Lamont Antiques any more.

When he came into the office, she said, ‘Kenneth, can I have a word with you?’

He gave her a blank eyed stare before focusing on her. ‘Yes, of course, Molly.’

Molly hesitated. She didn’t know how he would take it. After all, they were very busy and Lena was no help at the moment. She hoped he wouldn’t be very disappointed at her decision.

‘I would like to finish here next week if that’s all right with you and Lena.’

A muscle twitched in his jaw but he was calm. ‘Yes, I think that’s for the best, Molly. Shall we say next Thursday?’

Molly was dumbstruck. She knew she wasn’t indispensable but she had thought he would at least have made a show of regret at her leaving. She hadn’t expected this blank-eyed comment.

Well it all goes to show how wrong you can be with people. She had liked him a lot and she thought he felt the same. They had become friends.

When she got home, Marigold was waiting for her. She had taken a pot of tea and a jug of orange squash out to the garden.

‘Molly, would you like a drink?’ she called over.

Molly opened the gate and sank down on the wicker chair with the squashy cushion. She was annoyed at herself because all the way home, she had been on the verge of tears. How professional is that she thought as she wiped her eyes with her hand.

Marigold sat down beside her. ‘I was talking to Peggy again today and she’s been making enquiries about old Mr Abbott. She was speaking to Bunty who’s ninety-one and who used to be a sort of a housekeeper to him. She didn’t live in or anything like that but she went in every day and did his cleaning, cooking and shopping. Now she says that he did have a daughter called Elizabeth who ran away and got married when she was seventeen. She had a son but the husband died. When the lad was about ten they came to visit Mr Abbott and she told her father she was going abroad to marry a widower who had two children.’

‘Do you know where she went, Marigold?’

‘Bunty thought it was Belgium. She wasn’t sure but Mr Abbott told her it was in Europe.’

‘When he died, who would have inherited the house and farm?’

Marigold took a sip of her orange squash. ‘I suppose it must have been his daughter or the grandson. Bunty said she never set eyes on the two of them again and neither did Mr Abbott.’

Molly told Marigold about leaving Cliff Top Farm. ‘I think there’s been some sort of family crisis or maybe a bereavement. Kenneth was quite cold when I told him. Maybe they’ve been trying to get rid of me for a while and didn’t want to tell me.’

Later, back home, she made plans to go to the office tomorrow and see what was on the books. Edna would also be finishing today so Molly hoped some work had come in.

There was a letter from her parents and Molly read it without taking it in. Nell was keeping well and her parents were enjoying the new scenery and the weather. Her father had signed off with: ‘Hope you’ve got lots of work in the agency.’

Edna and Irene took Billy to Broughty Ferry beach on the Sunday. It was still warm and sunny and she thought the outing would do them all a world of good.

She had enjoyed her two weeks at the Albert’s Store but now she had to get used to going where she was sent. The scrap metal business in Dura Street would be a challenge. What kind of office would they have there she wondered?

The large family sitting a few yards away were squabbling. Someone had bought ice cream cones and they were melting in the heat. Then two of children lost theirs as the ice cream fell onto the sand. They let out a wail of disappointment and their mum had to intervene.

‘Will you stop howling. Look you can have mine and your auntie will give you hers.’

This satisfied the two youngsters but it annoyed the auntie.

Although she wouldn’t admit it, Edna was nervous about this new appointment because of the two hoaxes, but Mary had assured her that a woman had made the call so everything was all right. Wasn’t it?

It was still hot the following morning and Edna decided to wear a dress instead of her suit. She reckoned a scrap metal yard was hardly Buckingham Palace so she set off. She was really nervous and, when she got to Dura Street, she had to look for the address. She had the piece of paper in her hand but had to go quite a bit along the street before she found it.

There was a double wooden door with ‘Steven’s Scrap Metal and Rags’ written on it. The door looked weatherbeaten and could have done with a new coat of paint. She tried to open this door but it was firmly closed. Her heart sank. Not another wild goose job.

She surveyed the property and found a smaller door a few yards away and when she pushed it, the door opened. The yard was quite small but filled with piles of old metal objects and long lengths of piping laid out on the concrete surface.

I really do get the best of jobs, she thought. There was a small building at the rear of the yard and although its window was covered with old cobwebs and grime, the door was open. She walked towards it and called out, ‘I’ve come from McQueen’s Agency.’

There was silence and she suddenly wanted to turn and run back through the gate. But Mary had said it was a woman who had ordered some temporary help so she forced herself through the door.

The tiny office was dingy. A desk and a chair lay against the back wall and the desk was littered with piles of paper. Edna glanced at them and saw they were bills and invoices. ‘They certainly need some help here,’ she said out loud.

‘That’s why I sent for you,’ said a voice from the past and Edna nearly fainted with fright. ‘Hello, Reg. I thought we would meet up again.’

Reg emerged from a door at the rear of the office. ‘I’ve had a bit of bother getting to see you, Edna. You’ve been gallivanting around with different men, and I don’t like it.’

Reg was tall and heavily built. He was wearing a white shirt and dark-coloured trousers but the last time she had seen him he had been dressed in an army uniform.

Edna decided she wasn’t going to be cowed by him. ‘If you mean gallivanting with men during my working day then you’re right. And it’s got nothing to do with you.’

His face filled with fury and he pushed her down onto the dusty chair. ‘What do you mean, it’s got nothing to do with me?’

Edna was frightened. She knew what he was like when he got angry. She had to placate him … for Billy’s sake.

‘You’ve been gone a long time. What have you been doing?’

He lit a cigarette and blew smoke into the already airless room. It hung like a blue curtain between the two of them.

He pushed his face close to hers. ‘I’ll tell you what I’ve been doing, shall I. I’ve been fighting for King … no, for Queen and country in Korea. Three years of hell with thousands of Communists rushing at me. I was one of the lucky ones who survived. I was wounded but twenty of my comrades died right beside me. Oh yes, it was hell on earth I can tell you, Edna. But do you know what kept me going? The thought of seeing you again.’

‘Oh, I see.’ She knew she sounded banal but what else could she say?

‘And what do I find when I get home? My girlfriend seeing other men.’

‘Reg, I was never your girlfriend and you know it. I’m sorry you were wounded in Korea but you chose this life, just as Will did. Boy’s own adventurers, the pair of you. You both loved the army and all the danger and excitement of being in strange lands and in the thick of battles. As a result, I lost Will and Billy has grown up without a father.’

‘I always looked on Billy as my son,’ said Reg.

Edna was infuriated. ‘But Billy isn’t yours … and neither am I.’

Reg’s face became red with anger. ‘When I pulled your husband out of that shattered hotel in Jaffa, I tried to save his life. We were having a quiet drink when those murderous terrorists, The Stern Gang, blew it up. We had a terrible time in Palestine. Soldiers were being murdered by the Jews and the Arabs. Do you know what they did? They kidnapped two soldiers and hanged them from eucalyptus trees. What kind of people do that?’

Edna’s face softened. ‘I know you both had a hard time in the army and I’m sorry, Reg. I’m grateful you tried to save Will’s life and I always will be. And, thankfully, I have Billy who’ll always be a part of my husband.’

‘I’ve tried to look after you, Edna, and you know I asked you to marry me after I came home. But you said no, that you didn’t love me. But a lot of time has passed since Will died and I hoped you had changed your mind.’

‘I haven’t. As I said, I’m grateful for all the kindness and help you gave me after Will’s death but I don’t love you.’

‘I suppose you’ve fallen in love with one of your men friends from your work?’

‘No, I haven’t. Like you, they are just friends.’

Reg lit another cigarette and Edna felt sick. The room was quickly filling up with smoke.

‘Well I’m going to be honest with you, Edna. I don’t care if you love me or not. I want to get married before I leave this country again.’ He saw her astonished face. ‘Oh no, I’m not in the army any more but I’ve got a good job with a security agency that goes overseas. I’ll be leaving in a week’s time and I want you and Billy to come with me. Just think, Billy will love being in another country and a different culture.’

‘Why all this cloak and dagger stuff, Reg? Why didn’t you just come to see us at the house?’

He laughed but it was without humour and it frightened her. ‘And meet up with that dragon of a mother of yours again? No, I don’t think so.’

‘My mum objected to you because you hit me, not to mention your remark about using discipline on Billy when he was a toddler. You’re right, my mum doesn’t like you and she’s right.’

‘I said I was sorry for hitting you, didn’t I? In fact, I got fed up always having to apologise when you annoyed me and Billy was screaming the house down at night. A bit of discipline wouldn’t have hurt him.’

Edna stood up to leave. ‘Goodbye, Reg. Don’t contact me again and don’t approach Billy or I’ll go to the police.’

She was almost at the door when he pulled her back and shoved her onto the chair.

‘Are you not listening to me, you stupid woman? I said we are getting married before I leave. And you’ll give up that job at that agency.’

Edna’s head hurt. She had banged it against the wall when he pushed her and she put her hand up to see if it was bleeding.

‘I should have finished you off at the park gate that morning,’ he said, his face an inch away from hers.

So it had been him, she thought.

‘Well, Reg, are you going to beat me up and then hope I’ll agree to what you want? If that’s what you want then go ahead because I’m not going to change my mind.’

Although her voice sounded quite calm, she was frantic with worry. How was she going to escape from him?

He sounded peeved. ‘I don’t know what you’ve got against me. Loads of women have fancied me but I always wanted you.’

‘I’ll tell you why I don’t want to marry you, Reg. As I said I was grateful at the time, but you always had to be in control. I would never have had a life of my own. You’re ruthless, vindictive and cruel. You sent me out on hoax calls two weeks ago because you like to be in charge. I would always be worried about Billy as well.’

‘It was just a joke, those hoax calls. Can’t you take a bit of a laugh?’

Edna couldn’t believe her ears. ‘A bit of a laugh? Are you mad? This is my job and I need it to look after my son. It’s a blessing that I have an understanding boss otherwise I would now be unemployed.’

She knew she had to get away. The room was small and apart from the door at the rear, the only other means of escape was the main door and he was blocking it. She wondered where the other door led to. If she could reach it, maybe she could get out and run.

She jumped up but he was too quick for her. He gave her a slap across the face and this time she screamed. Edna could feel blood seeping down her cheeks. Or maybe it was tears, she wasn’t sure.

She thought, he’s going to kill me and there’s nothing I can do.