Memories of You (47 page)

 

 

‘What is it?' Elise asked and Danny handed her the paper.

‘Who is Matthew Renshaw?' she asked when she had read it.

‘He's the bloke Helen is in love with.'

‘Since when?'

‘Since before we all got together again.'

‘But why have we never seen him?'

‘There are good reasons and I promise you I'll explain it all, but right now don't you think you should go after Helen and see if she's all right?'

 

Elise had had the good sense to take Helen's coat with her and when she found her on the beach she slipped it over her shoulders.

‘Thanks,' Helen said.

‘Now it's your turn to gaze out across the sea,' Elise said. ‘But in your case I'm hoping and praying that he will come home.'

Helen turned to look at her sister in surprise. ‘What do you know about it?' she asked.

‘Very little. But Danny has promised to explain. Now come home, won't you? At times like this you ought to be with your family.'

 

George had been working on what he called the graveyard shift in the sub-basement control room at Broadcasting House. When he got home just before nine in the morning Patricia was clearing up the mess their daughter had made on her high chair. He dropped a kiss on Gillian's head and took Patricia in his arms.

‘What's this?' she said anxiously. ‘Bad news?'

‘No, sweetheart. It's good news. Our people in Paris phoned in to say a British contingent is making its way by train to one of the Channel ports. They couldn't or wouldn't say which one, but it's looking good.'

‘And Matthew is part of this contingent?'

‘He is.'

‘Thank God for that.'

Patricia allowed herself the luxury of weeping in her husband's arms and when she had thoroughly soaked his jacket she looked up and said, ‘I know you must be tired, darling, but I want you to go straight round and tell the old folks.'

George found his handkerchief and wiped Patricia's face. ‘Why don't you and Gillian come with me?' he said. ‘Then we can all have another good cry – together!'

 

The day after Matthew's first report from London appeared in the newspaper Danny and Joe knew it was time to make a decision. During their rest time in the afternoon they retired to the room they shared on the top floor. At first they simply sat on their beds staring at each other across the narrow space that divided them. Danny was the first to speak.

‘I'm sorry, Joe,' he said.

‘It's all right. I would have gone anyway. I've been thinking about it for some time.'

‘If there'd been any other way . . .'

‘Forget it, Danny. You've protected me long enough.'

‘Surely that's the other way round. You protected me.'

‘Oh, yeah, I worked to provide for us both, but I owed you that. It was my fault you got ill.'

‘No, it was my own fault. I shouldn't have been so stupid as to go out in the rain. You wouldn't have done. And another thing. I guessed what you were up to as soon as I realized that you were more flush with money than you ought to be. I should have stopped you doping the dogs but I just went on having an easy life. A good life. At your expense. There's not much to choose between us, Joe.'

‘Except for one thing.'

‘Don't. Don't say anything. Not now.'

‘I have to, because it's another reason for what I'm going to do. I was responsible for Tod Walker's death that day. Oh, yeah, he asked for it. Or that's what I told myself when I shoved him as hard as I could towards the cliff's edge. I wanted him to go over. I wanted to put a stop to the grief and the bullying. I wanted to protect you.'

‘I know that. That's why it's as much my fault as yours.'

‘You didn't do the shoving though, did you?'

‘No, and I'm sorry.'

‘What do you have to be sorry for?'

‘Oh, just sorry that it happened and that you've had to live with it all these years. And sorrier still that you're going away.'

‘I told you. I would have anyway. And I'm going sooner than you think. I want you to be with me when I break it to Helen.'

Danny told Joe that of course he would be with him when he told Helen, but he decided that he would never tell him that there had been no need to push Tod over the cliff. No need because he hadn't bothered him at all. Danny had his own quiet way of dealing with trouble and he'd been pretty sure that like all bullies Tod Walker would have left him alone once he realized that he didn't react. No, it would be pointless and cruel trying to explain that to Joe now. Best to leave it in the past.

 

Matthew had only been back in London for two days when he got a phone call at the office asking him if he would join the caller for lunch at Stefano's.

‘Who are you?' he asked.

‘Someone who knows Helen Norton.' The caller rang off.

Matthew racked his memory and tried to place the voice but couldn't. However, the moment he walked into the restaurant and saw the good-looking young man waiting in the bar area he recognized him as the missing kennel lad.

‘You . . .' he said. ‘Joe Jackson.'

‘Actually, I'm not. I'm not Joe and my name isn't Jackson, but why don't we go to our table and I'll explain.'

Danny had chosen Stefano's because he thought that might convince Matthew that whoever this person was that was calling really did know Helen. He led the way to the restaurant area and on seeing Marina he said, ‘I believe you have a table for Mr Norton?'

Marina showed them the table and left them with the menu. Danny was aware that Matthew was staring at him. ‘Norton?' he said. ‘That's Helen's name.'

‘Yes. Joe and I are her brothers.'

Matthew looked bewildered. ‘I didn't know she had any living family . . .' he began.

‘Ah, that was the trouble. She did have a family. Two brothers—'

‘Twins!'

Danny nodded. ‘And a sister. There are four of us.'

‘Was it you or Joe I saw outside Helen's flat?'

‘Me.'

‘And at the dog track?'

‘That was Joe.'

‘So it was Joe that was involved in the dog doping.'

‘Yes.'

‘Did Helen know?'

‘Helen didn't know where we were or what Joe was doing. She didn't know I had been following her. That I had found her.'

‘Found her?'

‘It's a long story and I'm going to tell you most of it. Then what you do is up to you.'

 

When it was time to go back Elise and Danny met at Charing Cross. They had come up to London together, simply telling Helen that they needed a day out to cheer themselves up. They had been vague about where they were going and left Helen with the impression that they were going along the coast to somewhere like Whitstable where they had found a good fish restaurant. They felt guilty about misleading her but they each had their reasons.

When they arrived in London they had been surprised to see the sandbags protecting the public buildings, wardens wearing tin helmets, and the number of men in uniform in the busy streets. Women, too.

‘This makes the war seem so real,' Elise said.

‘I know. Elise, are you sure you want to do this?'

‘Absolutely.'

‘Good luck then.'

After that they had parted, Danny to go to his meeting with Matthew in Stefano's and Elise to meet up with her old friend Shirley Chapman. When they returned home and were sitting round the table in the family room, Elise told Helen where she had been and why.

‘You want to be a nurse?' Helen said.

‘I do.'

‘You never said anything to me.'

‘That's because I wasn't sure if I'd be accepted. A matter of pride.'

‘When did you first think of it?'

‘I started thinking on the beach that day when you told me I should do something with my life. I thought very hard and couldn't come up with anything at first but when it became clear that war was inevitable and I faced the prospect of being summoned to work in a munitions factory, I thought a little harder. I knew that if we had to go to war, I wanted to do something to put people together again rather than blow them to bits. Nursing it would be.

‘Then by sheer coincidence I got a letter from Shirley Chapman saying pretty much the same thing. You knew I'd been writing to her?'

‘I did.'

‘And you didn't mind?'

‘Of course not.'

‘Shirley is the only one of my old school friends who bothered to keep in touch. I always had the feeling that Annette didn't like me very much, and as for Ernestine, she's so taken up with high society that I don't believe she writes to any of us.'

‘So your friend Shirley also wants to be a nurse?' Helen said.

‘She does. And we both had an interview today with a very fearsome lady. The result being that we've both been accepted for nursing training, although we don't know yet which hospital we'll be going to, or even whether we'll be able to stay together.'

‘So Danny came with you to London?' Helen said.

‘Erm, that's right. It was good having him there.'

‘When will you be going?'

‘I was told to settle my affairs.' Elise smiled. ‘What on earth does that mean?'

‘It means you should get your life in order,' Joe volunteered. ‘Because you might not be coming home for a while.'

Elise's smile faded. ‘Yes,' she sighed. ‘I know that. Anyway, I'll be getting a letter any day now with a list of what I need to take with me and telling me where to go.'

Nobody spoke for a while and, seeing how downcast Helen looked, Elise said, ‘I will be allowed to come home and see you all now and then, you know.'

Helen made an effort to smile. ‘Of course you will. And I'm very pleased you have made the choice you have. Our mother would have been proud of you.'

Elise looked sad. ‘I don't remember her as well as you do, you know. But I remember she worked hard and there was always something to eat and she always managed to be cheerful. Things went wrong for all of us when she died.'

‘But Helen got us together again and things began to go right again,' Danny said. ‘And if we have to part now, at least we'll be able to keep in touch.'

Helen, alerted by something in Danny's tone and by the way he had glanced briefly at Joe, said, ‘What is it? There's something you haven't told me, isn't there?'

The twins looked at each other again and after a nod from Danny Joe reached into his pocket and drew out a brown envelope. He handed it to Helen.

‘Go on – have a look,' he said.

The envelope contained more than one document. Helen spread them on the table and after a stunned moment she looked up.

‘You've joined the army,' she said.

‘Yes. I decided not to wait until I was called up. It was going to happen anyway, so I decided I might as well get it over with.'

‘When are you going?'

‘Tomorrow. To Aldershot. That's my travel warrant,' he said, pointing to one of the documents on the table. ‘And Danny has helped me to get my affairs in order!'

He said that with a grin but again Helen thought there was something passing between the twins that they did not want her to know about. Danny caught her speculative look and smiled.

‘But I suppose you know that you're not going to get rid of me!'

‘I don't want to.'

‘What if I'd wanted to be a hero like Joe? Oh, I went along for the medical just in case, but whereas Joe passed A1 I was deemed completely unfit to be a member of the armed forces. So I'll be staying here to help you run our own little garrison and make life as cheerful and comfortable as possible for anyone who is billeted with us. And talking of them, it's time to get on with the evening meal. Action stations, everyone!'

‘No,' Helen said. ‘Mr and Mrs Fearon are perfectly capable of managing on their own. Elise and I will set this table while you, Joe, go along to the off-licence for a bottle of champagne.'

‘Champagne?' Danny said. ‘We don't have any caviar.'

‘We don't need any,' Helen told him. ‘Because you, Danny, are going along to Bill's Fish Bar for cod and chips for four. And mind you ask for extra batter.'

 

Very early the next morning, before anyone else was up, Joe and Danny had breakfast in the kitchen and then they walked together to the station. Joe had said goodbye to his sisters the night before and had insisted that he didn't want them to see him off.

‘I'll probably blub like a baby if you do,' he'd told them, ‘and that's not the sort of memory I want to leave you with.'

While they were waiting for the train Joe said, ‘Do you think he'll come?'

‘I do.'

‘And will he feel obliged to turn me in?'

‘I think that's unlikely.'

‘Because he's in love with Helen?'

‘Well, there is that, but he's also an intelligent grown-up man who realizes that you would be much more useful serving King and country as a soldier than mouldering in prison for crimes you committed when you were just a kid.'