For as long as she lived, Hazel would never forget the ominous swaying of the goods wagons or the repetitive shunt and click of wheels turning on steel rails. The picture of that train rolling towards her would stay with her and wake her from restless sleep for years to come.
The goods wagons rattled on down the track and John helped her to her feet. Earl Ray stood ten yards away, coming to his senses at last and brushing dirt from his jacket.
John led Hazel towards the yard where the fight had subsided and recently arrived police officers were putting an end to the noisy brawl. She limped heavily. ‘Take your time,’ he said. ‘There’s no rush.’
They reached the gate just as Ray shoved the dustbin to one side. ‘That crazy kid,’ he mumbled. ‘The cops should arrest him and throw away the key.’
Hazel confronted the smug cause of Sylvia’s woes. ‘You nasty, heartless so-and-so …!’ Speechless with rage, her words ended in furious sobs.
John felt her tremble and saw the angry tears in her eyes. He held her hand tight.
Ray shrugged his shoulders then gestured for her to go ahead into the yard. ‘Ladies first.’ There was no gallantry in it – it was simply a challenge to John as their gazes locked in mutual hatred and Hazel, overwhelmed, limped through the gate.
Inside the yard, two constables and a sergeant were busy easing the rival gangs apart. Their torch beams raked across faces that were bruised and cut and their boots crunched over broken glass. In the doorway where Norman was slumped against the wall, Dan was trying to explain events to David Bell who had arrived amidst the chaos.
‘Where did he get these cuts?’ David asked as Hazel and John made their way across the yard.
‘Search me. I wasn’t here when it happened,’ Dan said. ‘All I know is there was a fight that got out of hand.’
Reggie squeezed past. ‘That’s right. No one knows who started it,’ he said in slow, deliberate tones.
Dan caught on and spoke loud enough for the nearest policeman to overhear. ‘It was over in a flash. I don’t suppose we’ll ever get to the bottom of it.’
‘Luckily, the cuts are superficial.’ David gave his verdict then noticed Hazel limping towards him with John supporting her. He went quickly to meet them. ‘Norman’s injuries are minor,’ he reassured her. ‘What happened to you?’
‘It’s a sprain. I’m all right. When did you get here?’
Her answer was in tune with Dan and Reggie’s desire to sweep things under the carpet, so for the time being David squashed down his own curiosity. ‘Five minutes ago. I was looking forward to a nice relaxing evening. Then I walked slap-bang into the middle of this.’
‘Nice and easy, lads.’ Two of the police officers herded men in dribs and drabs back into the building. The sergeant asked David if Norman could be moved out of the way.
‘Gently does it,’ David advised as Dan helped Norman to his feet and Earl Ray strutted by.
Ray couldn’t resist jabbing his adversary in the chest and glaring at him. ‘Hey, kid – how does a coupla nights in a police cell sound to you?’
Still dazed, Norman swore then thrust Ray backwards and clenched his fists.
Quick off the mark as ever, John stepped between them. ‘If anyone’s going to spend the night in custody, I wouldn’t bank on it being Norman – not after what I witnessed out there by the track.’
‘You ain’t witnessed nothing except a guy defending himself from a crazy kid and a gal who puts herself in the wrong place at the wrong time,’ Ray drawled, all wide-eyed innocence. ‘That’s how the judge will see it.’
Taken aback, John allowed the smooth-talking band leader to swagger on down the corridor.
David spoke quietly to Hazel. ‘Are you going to tell me what happened out there? How did you hurt your ankle?’
‘I fell over.’
The guarded reply made him suspicious. ‘He pushed you?’
‘Yes.’ The sight of Earl Ray’s retreating figure made her furious, and yet …
David narrowed his eyes. ‘Then John’s right – they should arrest him.’
‘Ray threatened her with a broken bottle,’ John put in. ‘I’ll stand up in court and swear to it.’
‘No, John. I’m not sure that’s the best thing.’ Yes, Hazel longed for Earl Ray to be punished, but not if it involved breaking her word to Sylvia.
‘Did Norman start the whole thing? Is that the problem?’ David wondered.
‘Partly. But there’s more to it than that. It’s to do with me being a midwife.’
Her faltering answer persuaded David to leave John and Dan to look after Norman and guide her to a quiet corner of the yard. ‘Come on, Hazel – spit it out.’
She breathed deeply then spoke. ‘This is between you and me. I attended a birth earlier today. It’s the situation I told you about. The baby’s mother isn’t married to the father, and though I know his name, I’ve made a promise to the mother not to force him to face up to what he’s done. As a matter of fact, she won’t even let me tell him about the baby.’ The bald facts led her towards a clearer view of the muddle surrounding Sylvia’s pregnancy and she was grateful to David for asking the right questions. ‘That puts me in a fix with—’
‘No, don’t bring names into it. Remember, it’s best that I don’t know.’ He pressed his thumb and forefinger to his forehead, thought for a while then said firmly and deliberately, ‘You must keep your promise.’
‘And let the father get away scot-free?’
‘If that’s the outcome, yes. The mother’s wishes are the important thing here.’
Frowning deeply, Hazel stared down the dimly lit corridor to see Earl Ray at the far end straightening his tie while he talked to the departing sergeant. Dan and John were steadying Norman and leading him slowly towards them. She held her breath in case Norman launched another attack.
David followed the direction of her gaze. ‘Remind me – there’s a young husband in the case?’
‘Correct.’ She nodded then relaxed as Dan steered Norman into the empty dressing-room and John rejoined them.
‘The truth is out and now the question is – will the husband forgive his wife?’ David sighed as he tilted his head back and gazed up at the dark sky. ‘There, Hazel – I’m sure they didn’t teach you the answer to that in your otherwise excellent midwifery course.’
‘Come on, Norman, let’s get you home.’ John steered him up the stairs out of the club and onto the street.
Gladys insisted on helping Hazel up the steps. ‘Will someone please tell me what’s going on?’ she demanded.
‘Sylvia has had the baby.’ Hazel hobbled painfully to keep up with John and Norman as they headed for the car. She sank thankfully into a back seat while John settled Norman beside him in the front.
‘You don’t say!’ In a flash, Gladys had joined them in the car. ‘What is it – boy or girl?’
‘Girl.’ Hazel held onto the door strap as John pulled quickly away from the kerb.
‘A little girl! Congratulations, Norman …’ Met by a wall of silence, Gladys’s voice faded and she cast a worried look at Hazel.
‘I’ll explain later,’ Hazel muttered.
For once, Gladys bit her lip and looked out of the window as the car sped along Canal Road. In the front passenger seat, Norman ignored the blood that continued to trickle from the cuts on his face. He waited until John pulled up at the turning onto Ghyll Road then he fumbled to open the door and make his escape.
‘No, you don’t.’ John slammed his foot on the accelerator and took the corner with a squeal of tyres. ‘Sit tight, Norman, we’re nearly there.’
‘At least come in and see them.’ Hazel leaned forward to put a restraining hand on his shoulder.
He flinched but said nothing. As they arrived at Raglan Road, he turned his head with a questioning look.
‘Sylvia will want to know that you’re all right,’ Hazel murmured. ‘You don’t need to stay long – just come in and see her.’
John parked the car by the ginnel. ‘Gladys, why don’t we wait here and give Norman a few minutes alone with Sylvia?’
‘Yes, and I’ll see to the baby,’ Hazel agreed. She got out of the car and opened Norman’s door, afraid that any second he would turn tail and run. ‘My ankle’s swollen up something rotten – do you mind if I lean on you?’
He too got out and together they made their way down the ginnel into the yard, where lights were still on in many of the houses. Rose and Ada were at their window, Cyril stood on his doorstep, cigarette in hand. They watched as Hazel and Norman made their way slowly across the yard.
‘Ready?’ she asked.
The corner of his mouth twitched and he hesitated. Still he said nothing.
Hazel took a handkerchief from her pocket to dab away the blood. ‘Here, let me clean you up a bit. Just see her, talk to her,’ she urged.
He nodded slowly and let her walk up the steps into the front kitchen.
‘Sylvia – Norman’s here,’ Hazel called up the stairs.
After a few anxious moments, Ethel came onto the landing carrying the baby, followed by Jinny.
‘Is she asleep?’ Hazel asked.
Jinny shook her head. ‘No, she’s wide awake. She’d like you to come up with Norman.’
Ethel carried the baby down the stairs with Jinny close behind, then paused just long enough to hand the baby over to Hazel. ‘Take her in with you,’ she whispered as she and Jinny went down into the kitchen.
So Hazel accepted the baby and led Norman up to the bedroom. She felt the warm softness of the sleeping infant and breathed in the sweet, newborn smell of her skin. Behind her on the landing, Norman glanced at the baby’s face just long enough to take in her features then quickly turned his head away.
‘Norman?’ Sylvia’s shaky voice reached them from inside the room.
He breathed in quickly and went ahead of Hazel.
Sylvia sat up in bed, her hands resting on the turned-back sheet, Rose’s cream-coloured shawl around her shoulders, her hair and eyes very dark. She saw Norman and gave a startled cry. ‘Your face!’
‘It’s nothing.’ He stared down at his feet, up at the ceiling – anywhere but at her.
‘This is all my fault. I should never have lied to you. I was a stupid girl trying to make everything all right.’ Words caught in her throat and came out strangled and wrong.
Norman took a step towards the bed. Hazel stayed in the doorway with the baby.
‘I knew the minute I saw her who the father was.’ His voice was fierce, his knuckles white as he formed his hands into fists. ‘We all did.’
Sylvia turned to Hazel in mute, trembling appeal.
‘I kept my word,’ Hazel promised. ‘Earl Ray didn’t hear about it – not from me, anyway.’
Her words brought a shudder of relief and she rested her pleading gaze on Norman. ‘Good. He mustn’t. It was horrible. I can’t bear ever to see him again.’
Another step brought Norman to her bedside. He knelt beside her and spoke gently. ‘I’m sorry I ran away. It was the shock.’
She stared at him with trembling lips then took his hand. ‘You’re not the one who should be sorry. It’s me. I am – I’m so, so sorry.’
‘No, there’s no need.’ Slowly and gently, with his eyes fixed on Sylvia’s face, he raised her hand to his lips.
She gave a sob. ‘Can you … will you …?’ The plea for forgiveness lay half formed on her lips.
‘I do and I will,’ he said as he sat on the bed and drew her to him. ‘Bring me the baby, Hazel. Let’s have a proper look.’
‘By the way, tell Norman and Sylvia not to worry about bumping into Earl Ray,’ he said over a drink in the Red Lion. ‘I doubt that our American friend will be back in our neck of the woods any time soon.’
Hazel bridled at the mention of the name.
‘Reggie made sure of it.’ Deliberately mysterious, John paused to take a sip of beer.
‘How? Don’t keep me in suspense,’ she pleaded.
‘Let’s put it this way. Reggie happens to be a good pal of George Lockwood, the wool merchant who owns half of the buildings in the town centre, including the one where the jazz club is held. Once Reggie learned the facts about Earl Ray and the baby, he went early this morning to drop a word in Mr Lockwood’s ear about the fight last night, making sure to lay the blame for the damage fair and square at Earl Ray’s door and building up his reputation as a troublemaker – without going into details, of course.’
Hazel’s eyes opened wide and she gave a short laugh. ‘Oh dear – Miss Bennett will be disappointed to lose her lodger. So will Gladys. No – I take that back. Gladys is gunning for Ray now, just like the rest of us.’ The Drummonds and the Prices – in fact, all the residents of Raglan Road and Nelson Yard – had joined forces in a chorus of condemnation.
‘That’s how it is if you have friends in high places. Mr Lockwood took Reggie’s word for it. From now on, Earl Ray’s name will be mud.’
‘Quite right and good riddance.’ Hazel was glad that, despite the damage done to Sylvia, the band leader had in part got his comeuppance.
John wasn’t so sure. ‘You and I both know he got off lightly. He didn’t get what he deserved.’
‘He didn’t,’ she agreed. Hazel forced to one side the memory of Sylvia’s haunted, fugitive face when she and Norman finally tracked her down on Bridge Lane. ‘Then again, who does?’
‘Us?’ John queried as they finished their drinks and left the pub hand in hand. ‘We did, didn’t we?’
Light white clouds scudded across a blue sky, driven by a stiff breeze and she leaned in towards him. ‘What did we get?’
‘Each other.’
‘Ah,’ she said, low and soft, slipping her arm around his waist.
They went back to the car and set off for home, driving in sweet silence for most of the way.
‘Sylvia wants to call her baby Joy,’ Hazel reported as they came to Brimstone Rocks. From here they had a long-distance view of their valley – rows of houses lined up on the hillsides ready to topple like dominoes, the canal cutting straight through the middle of town, the snaking railway. ‘Joy Bellamy. It’s a good sign.’
‘Yes. They’ve been through a lot. I hope they can put the past behind them and be happy – Norman, Sylvia and Joy.’
‘I hope so too – now that it’s all out in the open.’ Hazel saw that the very thing that had threatened to pull them apart could after all be the making of them.
‘Bring me the baby,’ Norman had said. ‘Let’s have a proper look.’
Sylvia had covered her mouth with both hands and seemed to stop breathing as she watched him gently take her daughter into the crook of his arm.
‘Well,’ he’d murmured after an age of holding and looking before he’d passed her on to her mother. ‘We’ll have to see what we can do.’
Now John slowed the car and pulled into a lay-by. The wind shook the newly green buds on the hawthorn hedges and laid flat the long grass on the roadside verge.
‘We’ve all been through a lot,’ Hazel said as she took his hand and looked into his eyes.
‘Yes.’ He kissed her and breathed her in, his lips against her cheek.
What she loved about this moment – what she would always remember with joy – was the feel of John’s warm hand in hers and the light in his clear brown eyes, his smile. She rested in its grace, looking neither forward nor back.