Some Sunny Day (34 page)

Mary was as good as her word, and later on that evening the warden sent for Rosie and told her that she wanted to hear what she had to say about the day’s events.

As calmly as she could Rosie explained what had happened.

‘I hope this is the truth you’re telling me, Price,’ the warden told her sternly. ‘I do know that you have your own personal reasons for not wanting to see a certain POW getting into trouble.’

Rosie’s face burned. ‘I wouldn’t lie about something as important as this,’ she told the warden truthfully.

The warden’s face softened. ‘No, I don’t think you would, Rosie. Now let’s go through it all again, shall we, just to make sure I’ve got everything down correctly?’

‘It wasn’t Ricardo’s fault, really it wasn’t,’ Rosie insisted desperately when she had finished retelling the story. ‘You will make sure they know that, won’t you, Mrs Johnson?’

The warden sighed as she put down her pen. ‘I understand how you feel, Rosie, but you must understand what a serious matter it is for an internee to attack a foreman in charge of him.’

‘But Ricardo was only—’

‘I appreciate that he had come to your defence,’ the warden continued firmly. ‘But none the less he did attack the foreman. Like I said, this is a very serious matter.’

Rosie’s fears for Ricardo grew even stronger
when, after she had left the warden’s office, Mary came to her to tell her that Sheila was beginning to panic about the foreman taking it out on her later if she got him into trouble.

‘If you ask me the silly fool probably started it all by leading him on, even though she swears she didn’t, and now she’s afraid of what’s going to be said.’

‘She’s probably afraid of George Duncan as well,’ Rosie shivered. ‘And who can blame her?’

Mary looked at Rosie’s white face. ‘You did tell the warden about how he hit you and threatened you, didn’t you, Rosie?’

‘Yes. But I’m not sure she believed me. She knows about me and Ricardo, and she probably thinks I’m just trying to protect him. But George Duncan did try to hit me, Mary, and when I saw him about to throw that fork at Ricardo…’

‘He’s a thoroughly bad lot and I know that Ian agrees with me about that,’ Mary said forthrightly. ‘Didn’t take to him one little bit, my Ian didn’t, even though he tried to smarm his way round him.’

On another occasion it would have made Rosie smile to see how partisan Mary was on her fiancé’s behalf. But now she felt too worried about Ricardo to even think about smiling.

‘It’s all my fault,’ she told Mary wretchedly. ‘If Ricardo hadn’t seen me leaving the field he would never have come after me and then—’

‘If I was you I’d thank my lucky stars that he did. That daft cousin of mine had no right to run
off, leaving you on your own with George Duncan, especially not after what he’d just bin trying to do to her.’

‘She only did it because she was trying to get help,’ Rosie reminded Mary.

‘Did you tell Ricardo about your dad?’ Mary asked, changing the subject.

‘No, there’s no point. It won’t change anything. I’ve made up my mind, Mary; I can’t let my dad down. Not after everything he’s been through, what with my mother, then being torpedoed and losing his leg, and thinking that I didn’t care. I’m all he’s got now, Mary, and I just can’t.’

‘Oh? And what about letting poor Ricardo down? He really loves you, Rosie. Anyone can see that. And if you ask me, he has a right to know why you’re giving him up,’ Mary told her roundly, ‘especially now, after what he’s gone and done to save you. He could have got himself in a lot of trouble on account of you, Rosie.’

‘It doesn’t matter what you say,’ Rosie told Mary desperately. ‘I can’t change my mind. And besides, Ricardo will find someone else. An Italian girl. His family probably wouldn’t want him marrying me any more than my dad would want me marrying him.’

She could see from the tight-lipped look Mary was giving her that her friend didn’t agree with her. Still, what Mary had said to her had been almost too much for her to bear. She loved Ricardo so very much. So much that she wanted him to
find happiness with someone else. Rosie felt as though someone had taken hold of her heart and was squeezing it so painfully that she just couldn’t bear the agony. It wouldn’t always be like this, Rosie tried to comfort herself. The pain would lessen, and Ricardo would find someone else to marry. A girl from his own country whom his family would welcome.

There was no sign of George Duncan when the girls arrived for work the next day, but any relief Rosie might have felt about his absence was cancelled out by the fact that there was no sign of Ricardo or the other POWs either.

She couldn’t help worrying about the warnings both the warden and Mary had given her about the trouble Ricardo could be in for having saved her from the foreman.

‘What do you think’s happened?’ she fretted to Mary at dinner time, unable to eat her sandwiches.

‘I don’t know, Rosie. I’m seeing Ian tonight so I’ll ask him then what he thinks. Are you going to eat them sandwiches?’

‘No, I’m not hungry.’

‘Well, I am,’ Mary told her. ‘So pass them over here, will you? Our Sheila was saying this morning that she wants to go home. She says she’s had enough of being a land girl and she doesn’t want to do it no more. I reckon what’s happened has given her a real nasty shock. She said she was going
to see the warden tonight and tell her that she wanted to hand in her cards.’

‘But what about Ricardo?’ Rosie protested. ‘What if he’s in trouble? If Sheila goes then there won’t be anyone to say what George Duncan was doing.’

‘Well, the warden won’t let her go unless she’s satisfied that Sheila’s told her the whole story,’ Mary tried to reassure her.

But Rosie wasn’t convinced and she suspected that in her heart of hearts Mary wasn’t either. Sheila had such a pinched, nervous air about her now, and had changed so much from the cheery girl she had been, that it was obvious how terrified she was of the foreman seeking revenge.

All the girls were talking about what had happened and offering their own opinions on the outcome.

‘My chap’s in the Military Police,’ one of the girls from another gang informed them all when they were chatting after their evening meal at the hostel, ‘and he says there’s bound to be a disciplinary proceedings brought, and that the foreman’s bound to be favoured and let off on account of him being British and the Italian foreign and an internee. He reckons that the Italian could end up spending the rest of the war in prison.’

Rosie stood up, her whole body trembling with the intensity of her feelings. ‘But it wasn’t Ricardo’s fault. It was George Duncan’s.’

‘You can say that as much as you like, Rosie, but
it stands to reason that no court is going to favour a foreigner above one of our own,’ the other girl insisted. ‘You can bet that George Duncan has already warned them as works with him what they can expect if they don’t keep their mouths shut about what he’s like, and that wife of his isn’t going to tell on him, is she?’

‘But that’s unfair,’ Rosie protested.

‘It might be, Rosie, but that’s the way things are. There are plenty of folk around who think that it’s unfair that the POWs get a better food ration than we do, and plenty too who don’t like seeing them being allowed to walk free and go to dances and the like. They won’t lose any sleep at night worrying about an Italian internee spending the rest of the war locked up in prison.’

In the uncomfortable silence that followed, Mary gave the other girl a dark look and then said firmly, ‘It’s just daft folk who think like that. How do they think we’d get the ruddy farm work done without them lads to help us?’

‘It’s all right for Mary to say that,’ Rosie heard one of the other girls mutter, ‘but Mabel’s got it right: without someone proper to stand up and speak for him, that Italian hasn’t got a chance.’

‘I’m going to have a word with the warden about Ricardo,’ Rosie told Mary, adding passionately, ‘He can’t go to prison, Mary. It isn’t fair.’

‘Well, you and me might know that, Rosie, but it isn’t us that has the say so, is it?’

Mrs Johnson said much the same thing when Rosie asked to see her.

‘I do understand your feelings, my dear,’ she tried to comfort Rosie, ‘but this is a military affair now and will have to be dealt with accordingly. It seems that the foreman – George Duncan, wasn’t it? – has alleged that he was the one who was attacked by your friend and not the other way around. He claims that Ricardo held a grudge against him because of an accident to another Italian, who had blamed him for his own clumsiness.’

‘He must mean Paolo, but that was his fault too. Oh, Mrs Johnson, surely people won’t believe a man like him?’ Rosie was practically wringing her hands together in her despair. ‘He is horrible, cruel and unkind, and his wife—’

‘That’s enough, Rosie. I do understand how you must feel, my dear, but it is up to the authorities now. If your friend has a good record as an internee then I am sure that this will be something in his favour.’

But not as much in Ricardo’s favour as having someone like His Grace speak up for him, Rosie realised.

Mary was horrified when Rosie confided her plan to her.

‘You can’t just go up to the manor and ask to see the duke, Rosie. You’d never be allowed anywhere near, even if you could sneak away from
working without being found out. And then what help to Ricardo would it be if you was to get in trouble as well?’

‘But I’ve got to see him, Mary. I’ve got to see him and make sure that he knows what really happened.’

‘Oh, yes, and he’d believe you, of course, you being madly in love with Ricardo and him with you. Look, I’m seeing Ian tonight ’cos we’ve got some stuff to sort out, what with the wedding coming up soon. I’ll ask him if he can find out what’s happening, and perhaps have a word with His Grace himself if he can, but you’ve got to promise me that you won’t go doing nothing daft.’

Rosie hesitated and then gave in and promised.

Rosie was waiting for Mary that night when she came in, pouncing on her the moment she walked through the door.

‘Did you speak to Ian about Ricardo?’ she asked her anxiously.

‘Give us a chance to get in the door, Rosie,’ Mary complained. When she saw Rosie’s stricken expression Mary relented. ‘I said I would, didn’t I? Ian’s said he’ll see what he can find out, discreetly, like. He knows a chap who knows someone based at the camp with the internees and POWs so he’s going to try and find out what’s happening. Do you want him to try and send a message to Ricardo from you?’

Rosie ached with longing to say yes and to send
Ricardo her love, but how could she? She had made up her mind and told Ricardo that it was over between them, and she couldn’t go back on that.

‘There’s nothing for me to say that hasn’t been said. But what about the duke, Mary? Did Ian…?’

‘The duke’s not there at the minute. But he should be back next week, so you see, it’s just as well you didn’t go rushing off to see him like you was planning. I’m going to have to give our Sheila a bit of a talking-to, I don’t want her going rushing off before me and Ian get married. I’ve got me mum and dad and as many of the family as can make it coming up to see us wed, and Ian’s lot as well. The vicar’s said we can have the village hall for the wedding breakfast and a bit of a dance afterwards. There, Rosie, don’t go looking like that,’ Mary urged when she saw the sadness in Rosie’s eyes. ‘I still reckon that you’re daft not telling your dad how you feel about Ricardo. It’s not Ricardo’s fault, when all’s said and done, that your mum got herself involved with an Italian.’

Rosie knew there was no point trying to explain her position to her friend all over again, and she was grateful to her for what she had done. She just hoped that if Ian could get some news of Ricardo it would be good news.

The week ended with wet weather and the unwanted news via another girl that George
Duncan had been swaggering around the village boasting that ‘that bloody Eyetie who had a go at me has got hisself in big trouble’.

‘He’d got his wife with him,’ she added. ‘Half scared out of her wits, she looked too.’

‘Talking of folk being half scared out of their wits, how’s your Sheila feeling now, Mary?’ Mabel asked. ‘Only my chap was saying that she’s bound to be called to give evidence at the inquiry. He said he’d heard talk of how there’d bin a lot of gossip about her and the way she flirts wi’ lads, and he reckons that George Duncan will say that she led him on, and wasn’t making any fuss until Rosie interfered.’

‘But that’s not true,’ Rosie fired up indignantly.

‘Well, it might not be true that she was willing, but it is true that she’s allus encouraging the lads to flirt with her, isn’t it?’ a plain sour-faced girl demanded sharply.

Rosie’s heart sank as she remembered that the girl had already complained bitterly about Sheila’s behaviour, claiming that she was giving them all a bad name.

‘Sheila’s pinched her chap off her is more like it,’ Mary had said pithily at the time, and Rosie had thought that her friend was probably right.

‘Anyone fancy going down the village to the pub Saturday night?’ Audrey asked.

‘Me and Ian are going to the pictures,’ Mary answered her, whilst Rosie shook her head. She didn’t want to do anything any more, only hear
that Ricardo wasn’t going to be unfairly punished for what he had done for her.

It was quiet in the hostel with it being Saturday evening, and those girls who had not gone home for the weekend having either hitched a lift or cycled into the town or gone down to the village pub.

Audrey had urged Rosie to go into Crewe with them to the dance hall, but Rosie had refused. It frightened her to think of how bleak and empty her life now felt. It would be different when her father came home. She would be busy taking care of him and making it up to him for all that he had gone through with her mother. She wondered if he’d received her letter yet and, if so, how long it would be before she heard back from him. It would be a terrible shock for him to read about his sister’s death, but at least she had been able to tell him that she had been there with her, and she would make sure that she never let it slip that her aunt had tried to keep them apart and had let her go on thinking that he was dead.