The Buffer Girls (41 page)

‘Mother insisted you are to come too,’ he told her.

When they entered Arthur’s bedroom, the man in the bed bore no resemblance to the one who had brought them so much unhappiness. He was a shadow of the man
he had been and Emily was moved
to pity; Arthur Trippet looked in a much worse condition than did her own father now, for Walter was improving daily. He was talking, albeit slowly, the terrible shaking had all but stopped and
there was a constant smile on his face whenever his grandson was around.

Though Arthur could not speak, father and son had settled their differences and, by holding
out his good hand to her, Arthur had welcomed Emily too.

‘But you look as if you don’t quite agree,’ Trip said to her now. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘I just wish – oh I’m being silly, I know, but I don’t like the neighbours not speaking to us.’

‘Then we’ll move. We’ll look for somewhere else.’

‘Can we afford to?’

‘We can’t afford
not
to, if you’re unhappy.’

‘It’s just that they were
once all so friendly. It’s such a difference. Lizzie tosses her head in the air and walks away, Mrs Dugdale just glares at me and the rest of the
neighbours do their best to avoid me. Even Billy, and he was always so friendly.’

‘Well, he’s pining for Lizzie, isn’t he? Always has been. He’s going to take her side, although, I’d’ve thought he’d have been pleased to see the back
of Josh.
It gives him more of a chance now.’

‘And Mick gives me the creeps.’ Emily shuddered. ‘Every time he sees me, he’s got this sort of smirk on his face as if he knows something I don’t or as if
he’s planning something.’

‘Then the sooner we move, the better. I’ll start looking tomorrow.’

But they’d left it a day too late. When Emily arrived home the following evening, she found the door
into their home had been forced open, the lock broken. For, despite Bess
Dugdale’s pronouncement when they’d first arrived, Emily had always locked their door. She glanced around the courtyard behind her. There was no one about, though she had the unpleasant
feeling that she was being watched. The tapping still came from the workshop across the yard and no doubt Lizzie was out seeking employment,
but it was Mick or one of his mates she was most afraid
of finding inside. She hadn’t forgotten the fear she’d felt the night some of his cronies had waylaid her in an alley. He wouldn’t help her now, she thought. But she
couldn’t stand out here until Trip came home; she had no idea how late he would be. Tentatively, she pushed the door wider and then took in a sharp breath. Everything
in the kitchen had been
smashed. Broken crockery littered the floor, drawers had been wrenched open and their contents scattered. Curtains had been torn from the window and furniture upturned. The stew that she had left
simmering gently on the hob for their evening meal had been tipped into the sink. The range – her pride and joy – had been daubed with white distemper and the fire doused. The
peg rug
on the hearth lay in shreds.

She was still wary that there could be someone in the house, so before stepping inside, she listened, but all was eerily quiet. Even the tapping from the workshop had paused. It was as if
everyone was listening – and waiting. At last, taking a deep breath, she stepped inside and crossed the room to the staircase.

In the bedroom she now shared with
Trip – the one that had been her parents’ room – it was the same. Their clothes and all the bedding had been torn or cut to pieces, even
Trip’s best suit, and the mattress looked as if it had been hacked at with a knife. She was gazing round at the devastation when she heard a noise below. Not caring who it was, anger giving
her courage, she hurried downstairs, flinging open the door to see
Trip standing amidst the shambles. ‘Oh Em, who’s done this?’

‘I don’t know, but I’ve got a good idea, haven’t you?’

Trip nodded and his face hardened. ‘Then I’d better have a word with Master Dugdale.’

‘No,’ she said sharply. ‘Leave it. He’s got his so-called friends to back him up. We’re no match for them. We’ll leave. We’ll just go. Now –
tonight. I don’t care where, we’ll just
go.’

‘We should report this to the police, you know . . .’

‘No. It’ll just escalate, if we do that. Besides, it’s probably over now. Lizzie will have had her revenge.’

‘You think Lizzie did this?’

‘Not personally, no, but I think her brother did, or he organized it.’

They salvaged what they could of their belongings, wrapped them in a blanket and then they left the court. It
was dark by now.

‘Where are we going?’ Trip said.

‘We’ll go to one of the workshops just for tonight. The one in Broad Lane above Mr Hawke’s would be the best.’

As they neared the building, Trip said, ‘There’s still a light on, on the ground floor. I’d better see if Mr Hawke is all right.’

He tried the door, but it was locked. ‘That’s strange,’ he murmured. ‘He never locks his
door.’

‘Maybe he does at night-time, if he’s working late,’ Emily said, trying to peer through the grimy window. ‘He’s there. I can see him sitting at his
bench.’

Trip rattled the door and then knocked, calling out, ‘Mr Hawke, it’s Trip. Are you all right?’

‘He’s getting up and coming to the door,’ Emily said, leaving the window and waiting beside Trip.

The door opened, but Nathan
turned away and went back to his workbench. They stepped inside. ‘Are you all right?’ Trip repeated. ‘You’re working late.’

‘Aye, I’ve a job I wanted to finish for Nell to start on tomorrow.’ He sat down at his bench again. ‘Nearly done. I’ll be off home in a minute.’ Then he
became aware of the bundles they were carrying. ‘What are you doing back here?’

Emily frowned. Something wasn’t
right. Nathan wasn’t his usual cheery self. He seemed on edge and she was sure his hands were shaking. Was he ill? She moved closer and then she saw
the bruise around his eye. ‘What happened, Mr Hawke? Has someone—?’

‘No, no,’ he said a little too quickly as he waved aside her question. ‘I fell. I’d – misplaced my glasses and tripped over when I was looking for them.’

Trip and Emily
glanced at each other and then around the workshop. Everything seemed in place. There was no sign that Nathan had had a visit from the vandals who’d wrecked their home.

‘Well, if you’re sure, we’ll go and try to make ourselves as comfortable as we can upstairs for the night.’

Nathan’s head shot up. ‘What? What d’you mean, “upstairs”? Why? Have you been turned out?’

‘Not exactly. Our
home has been smashed up. Emily got home first, but thank God they’d gone before she got there.’

Nathan was silent for a moment and then he sighed. ‘Sit down, the pair of you. I’d better tell you. Maybe I should have done before, but . . . sit down, sit down. It’s time you
knew.’

With a mystified glance at each other, Trip and Emily sat down on two upturned boxes and waited whilst the
older man polished his glasses and turned on his chair to face them.

‘Where shall I start, because I don’t know how much you know?’

‘I’ve no idea,’ Trip said, ‘because I don’t understand what it is you want to tell us.’

‘You know about the gangs in this city, don’t you?’

Trip shook his head and Emily frowned. ‘No,’ they said together.

‘Ah, well, I rather thought Emily didn’t,
but I thought you might have, Trip. After all, you’ve been living and working in the city for a little longer than Emily. But
then,’ he smiled a little, ‘you don’t move in that sort of company. I’m surprised you hadn’t guessed though, Emily, living next door to one of the leaders of a
gang.’

Emily gasped and her eyes widened. ‘Next door? Oh, you don’t mean . . . ?’ She stopped and then
went on, flatly, ‘You do, don’t you? Mick Dugdale.’

Solemnly, Nathan nodded.

‘You remember when you first came to see me about starting a little missus business?’

Emily nodded, silent now and quaking inside. She didn’t think she was going to like hearing what Nathan had to say.

‘I would have been pleased to help you girls, anyway – I think I said so at the time.’

‘You did.’
Emily’s voice was a croak, her mouth dry.

‘But Mick had to be the heavy-handed big brother and threaten that if I didn’t let you have my premises free of rent for at least the first few months, I’d soon find I
hadn’t any premises left to let out.’

‘Isn’t that what they call an “extortion racket”?’ Trip said.

‘Very similar, Trip, yes,’ Nathan said drily. ‘He also went to “talk nicely”
to some colleagues of mine to persuade them to put their business your way.’

‘Oh no!’ Emily was horrified. ‘Mr Hawke – please believe me, I knew nothing of this, I promise you. None of us did.’

‘I believe you, lass, but can you be sure about his sister?’

‘I . . .’ Emily began and then she stopped, so many memories coming back to her. Lizzie’s veiled threats over Josh. ‘I really don’t
know,’ she ended lamely
because, now, she didn’t.

As if reading her mind, Nathan said, ‘And I reckon it’s a good job your brother has gone back to Derbyshire. He was getting reeled in good and proper by Mick and his gang. George
Bayes was telling me that he’d heard it on good authority – that authority being Eddie Crossland, whose nephew’s a copper – that Josh’d been seen up on Sky Edge
with
Mick. The police had thought there’d been a pitch and toss game going on, but by the time Eddie’s nephew and his colleague got there, they’d all scarpered. They post lookouts, you
know.’

Emily was shaking her head. ‘I knew Josh had been playing this pitch and toss and that they’d been gambling, which I understand is illegal, but I didn’t know that police were
after them for it.
I had no idea it was so serious.’

‘Let me explain, my dear. Since the war, there have been these gangs springing up in the big cities and, sadly, Sheffield’s no exception. And with the unemployment situation getting
worse, they are becoming more powerful. The police force is taking steps, I know, but it’s a formidable task.’

‘But what do they do?’

‘Run illegal betting . . .’ He went
on to tell her all he knew about the activities of the gangs in the city.

Emily was appalled and tears filled her eyes. ‘Oh, how naïve and foolish I’ve been. I had no idea.’

‘You mustn’t blame yourself. You came from a peaceful little village where such things are unheard of. And you, too, Trip. You were protected because of who your father is.
They’re all cowards – they don’t tackle
anyone with a big enough name to put them in the courts. They target the little people, who can’t stand up for themselves.’

‘It’s awful, and to think Josh . . .’ Now it explained so much. Why he had lost his money one minute and then been flush the next, how he’d been preoccupied and how, too,
he’d seemed so relieved to be going back to Amy. But he had, Emily thought, shown himself to be
courageous. He’d come back and told Lizzie of his decision face to face. He hadn’t
just slunk away and stayed there. She shuddered to think what might have happened, what Mick might have done if he’d caught up with him, and now she sent up a silent prayer of thankfulness
that Josh and the rest of her family were safely back in Ashford.

‘You don’t think,’ she said in a small voice, ‘that
they’ll follow Josh?’

Nathan shook his head. ‘No, I don’t. You can get lost in a big city – you can go to ground quickly and easily, but there’s nowhere to hide in a small community who look
out for each other. And, Emily, please don’t blame my lovely city. Most Sheffielders are wonderful people. It’s just a few crooks who’ve got the upper hand for the moment, but it
will end. One day,
someone will come along and sort them out.’

‘In the meantime, though,’ Trip said soberly, ‘we’ve got to keep each other safe. Emily, you’re not to walk home from work alone. I’ll come and meet
you.’

‘What about Nell? She’s no one to look after her.’

Nathan gave a low chuckle. ‘Nell will be all right. No one will dare to touch Nell Geddis.’

Knowing Nell as she did, a big, strong
lass, who could lash anyone with her tongue and use her fists if she needed to, Emily didn’t question Nathan’s words.

‘And I’m sorry I wasn’t truthful with you earlier. I had a visit from Mick Dugdale this evening.’ Gingerly, he touched the bruise over his eye. ‘And it was anything
but friendly.’

‘Oh no!’ Emily put her hand over her mouth and tears filled her eyes. Trip’s face was thunderous
as he muttered, ‘He’s got to be stopped.’

‘Anyway,’ Nathan said, ‘it’s high time we were finding you two young people somewhere to sleep. And you’re not going to stay upstairs,’ he declared in a tone
that brooked no argument. ‘You’re coming home with me.’

Lizzie had heard about Arthur’s serious illness and she’d heard, too, that he’d made peace with his son and even with Thomas’s new wife, Emily. The
rumours were rife about his two sons now running Trippets’ together.

So, she thought, Arthur would no longer be seeking any kind of revenge against his daughter-in-law, but Lizzie was not prepared to be so forgiving and, daily,
she pondered what she might do to
bring about her former friend’s downfall.

‘You leave it with me,’ Mick told her. ‘I’ll pay her a visit and her benefactor, Mr Nathan Hawke. I’ve a score to settle with him, an’ all.’

‘I don’t want anyone getting hurt, Mick,’ Lizzie said, suddenly afraid that involving her brother could lead to real trouble.

‘I thought that’s exactly what you wanted.
I know Mr Hawke helped you at first, but then he did the dirty on you, removing his buffing work from you so that you had to close down.
And I’m sure it was him influenced your other customers to do the same. He ruined you, Lizzie.’

‘Probably, but . . .’

‘But what? You’re not going soft on me, Lizzie, are you?’

‘No, but . . . it’s just – if I’m honest—’

Mick guffawed. ‘Honest?
The Dugdales? Don’t make me laugh. Just leave it with me, eh? I know what needs to be done.’

‘What are you going to do?’

‘Best you don’t know. That way you’re not involved, are you?’ He tweaked her nose playfully. ‘You trust your little brother, don’t you?’