MAGGIE EXTRACTED THE poker from the fire. The heat had turned it orange-red and, after blowing off ash, she tilted Sally’s head. Tongue peeking from the side of her mouth, she wrapped a length of hair around. When she unwound it, it bounced around Sally’s face in a perfect curl.
Sporting new hats and matching smiles, Rose and Grace looked on, shiny-eyed with love and pride. Anna, too, wore a new hat in periwinkle blue and she lifted its short veil to wipe a happy tear.
‘Hold still,’ Maggie instructed when Sally shifted to glance at the clock, ‘else you’ll be walking down the aisle stinking of the goose fat we’d have to put on your burns. That would be too much even for Tommy, daft for thee as he is.’ The women laughed and Maggie smiled. ‘Not long now, lass. A few more and we’re done.’
When at last she stood before them, there wasn’t a dry eye. Her mother had dressed her hair and beneath the lace veil, delicate as a spider’s web and studded with imitation pearls, she’d left several curls to flow. They framed a face alight with anticipation, midnight-blue eyes sparkling and cheeks, which had needed no pinching, delicate pink.
Around her throat lay a string of tiny pearls, a wedding gift from Maggie and Con, which set off the stunning, cream-coloured taffeta gown to perfection. This too had imitation pearls along the seams; she’d fallen in love with it on sight. Though initially she’d baulked at the dressmaker’s quote, her mother, aunt and friends had insisted this was the one.
Sally was glad they had. It felt glorious, like a second skin – a far cry from the tattered, earth-coloured one the first time around.
Rose took her hand. ‘Oh, lass. I’m so very proud of thee.’
‘And me,’ choked Grace. ‘Eeh, tha look as pretty as a picture.’
Maggie and Anna nodded agreement.
‘He’s a lucky fella, he is.’
‘I’m the lucky one, Aunt Grace.’ She squeezed her hand, then turned to Maggie. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Aye, all right.’ Glancing at the bump beneath her new dress, her friend smiled ruefully. ‘Little divil’s been jigging all morning. Must be all the excitement.’
Falling pregnant barely a month after Brendan’s birth had pleasantly surprised Maggie but was proving a trial. Aches and lethargy had replaced the sickness she’d suffered from dreadfully in the early months, and Sally had promised Con she’d ensure she didn’t tire herself today.
‘Well, remember, take it easy or Con will have my guts for garters.’
Maggie clicked her tongue but the twinkle in her eye for the husband she adored belied her exasperation. ‘Con frets too much. I intend to enjoy myself today. Anyroad, never mind about me; how are you feeling? Tha must be sick with nerves. I know I were – both times.’
The softest smile lifted the corners of Sally’s mouth. ‘I feel nothing but peace. Tommy’s my everything. He completes me.’ Four pairs of arms enveloped her. Tears threatened and, laughing, she pulled back. ‘Please, you’ll have me weeping.’
Her mother caressed her cheek. ‘Right, lass, you ready?’
She nodded. She’d never been more so for anything in her life.
That balmy August afternoon held no resemblance to the day of Sally’s marriage to Joseph Goden. This day, she glowed with an inner light apparent to all.
Outside, a sea of loved ones hugged and kissed the new Mr and Mrs Morgan. They had filled the church to bursting; their smiles, as Sally glided down the aisle on Ed’s arm, brought tears to her eyes.
On one side were seated her mother, Jonathan, Stan, Grace and Winnie; Anna, Maggie, Con and the children; Ellen, Teddy and his father, Mr Lynch. Numerous neighbours also attended. In the opposite pews she saw more dear faces, none more so than Ivy, Arthur, Shaun and little Jenny.
Tommy’s elder siblings, their spouses and children, were a happy sight; Sally had met them the previous month and couldn’t have been more delighted with her new in-laws. Several pit lads were present, and Martha Smith. George Turner was also there, suspiciously bleary-eyed but smiling.
They couldn’t have hoped for a better turnout; even Shield had been in attendance, albeit on the church steps.
After thanking Father Collins for conducting the beautiful service, the party returned to the lodging house, where a lavish wedding tea awaited.
They didn’t have to spare a thought for paying lodgers as, for the first time, there were none. Sally had freed the rooms for her Bolton guests, who would travel home the following morning.
When all were assembled in the kitchen with drinks, Tommy called for attention.
‘On behalf of myself and my wife, thank you for coming today.’ He and Sally raised their glasses. ‘A toast, to you all.’
‘To the bride and groom!’ trilled the grinning guests.
He turned and raised his glass again. ‘To my wife. You’ve made me the happiest man to ever walk the earth. Thank you.’
‘And to you, my husband,’ she murmured then smiled shyly at the guests’ collective ‘Aww’. She raised her glass once more. ‘Last but by no means least, please join us in raising our glasses to absent friends.’
Two people instantly sprang to mind but she dashed them away. Absent they were, but friends they certainly were not. As far as she was concerned, despite the good that had come from the money, Agnes harmed too much in life to be remembered in death. As for Joseph … all she’d ever wish for him was to burn in hell for eternity.
‘To Jonathan Swann who, despite everything, was a good father to me. To my dear cousin, Peggy. To my friends, Dicksy and Miss Sharp. And to Dolly,’ she added, squeezing Tommy’s hand.
‘To absent friends,’ they chorused, more than one wiping away a tear.
‘Now, let’s celebrate!’ Tommy ordered, then kissed his wife soundly, much to their guests’ delight.
And so they enjoyed themselves for all they were worth. Everyone got along brilliantly, mutual love for the bride and groom binding them in friendship. They ate, drank, laughed and sang and, thanks to the carter’s accordion skills, danced for hours.
At one point, Ivy took Sally and Tommy aside and held them close. ‘I’m so very happy for youse,’ she said huskily. ‘Me and Arthur guessed of your feelings years ago.’ She smiled wryly at their sheepish expressions. ‘Aye, we’re not bloody blind. It’s been a long time coming, has this. Now you’ve got each other, you hold on tight and don’t let go, d’you hear?’
When they nodded, she stroked Tommy’s cheek tenderly. ‘Don’t hold no self-reproach over Dolly. Tha were a good husband to that lass. You put her happiness first and for that, I’m proud of thee. It’s time, now, to think of your happiness. You have Nat Jenkins’s blessing. Make the most of what you’ve allus wanted, lad.’
He caught her in a hug. ‘I love you, Mam.’
‘And I you, son.’ She turned to Sally and took her hand. ‘You’ve been part of my family from the start; I can’t tell thee how glad I am it’s official. You’ve made my young lads happy, changed both their lives. You’ve an angel’s heart. Don’t let bad memories of that divil have any part in your new life. You’re free of what’s gone afore, lass.’
Tears spilling, Sally embraced her. Then George started up a new tune, Tommy took their hands and they laughed and danced, bringing smiles from everyone.
Later, they thanked Anna yet again for intervening, then sought out Con. When he’d shaken Tommy’s hand, Sally hugged him tightly.
‘Thank you,’ she told him for the dozenth time. ‘If you hadn’t gone to Spring Row and told Tommy how I felt …’
‘You’d have found each other eventually, regardless. True love will out, so it will. Be happy, acushla,’ he added softly.
The twins’ giggles rang above the noise and, turning, they saw Maggie and Ellen, helpless with laughter, dancing a lively number while Teddy, holding little Brendan, looked on with a smile.
‘Mind you’re not for tiring yourself, so, Maggie,’ Con called and when she rolled her eyes and beckoned him to join her, grinned. ‘Sure, let’s show them how it’s done.’
Despite her aching feet, Sally allowed the men to lead her. Others vied for a dance with the new bride until, finally escaping the floor, she flopped beside her aunt at the table.
‘Look at them two, lass,’ Grace murmured, nodding to her son and sister dancing together. ‘Things turned out well in t’ end, for us all. I can’t believe I’ve got my Rosie back. And to see her with Stan … It’s more than I deserve but by God, I’m happy.’
Since reuniting, the sisters had cried an ocean between them. They had righted wrongs and at long last buried the past. Rose’s years in the workhouse put the precious gift that was life into perspective; she understood more than most that it was far too short to hold grudges.
Sally sighed contentedly then turned with a groan, feeling a hand on her shoulder. ‘Oh, Anna, please don’t ask me to dance,’ she begged, laughing. ‘My feet are throbbing.’
‘There’s no fear of that, lass. I’ve two left feet; you’d not get me up dancing for owt! Nay, someone’s asking for you at the door. I invited her in but she refused, said she needed to talk with thee in private, like.’
‘Did she give her name?’
‘Nay, lass.’
Frowning, Sally slipped from the kitchen. Everyone she knew and loved were beneath this roof; who could be asking for her, and at this hour? When she reached the door, her mouth fell open.
‘If you want me to leave, I’ll understand.’
‘What do you want?’
‘To explain. To say sorry. To say thank you.’
After a long moment’s deliberation, Sally stepped outside, shutting the door behind her. ‘I haven’t got long. I have guests to attend to.’
‘Congratulations to youse both.’
Sally nodded and folded her arms. Under her steady gaze, Nancy flushed.
‘Knowing you were wedding today, that you’d found happiness at last as you deserve … I had to come. I’ve put this off long enough. I’m so very sorry, Sally. I were weak with infatuation. He were evil and I couldn’t see it. I couldn’t see it.’ She glanced left and right then leaned in. ‘It were me. I killed him.’
‘I know.’
Nancy’s mouth stretched into an O.
‘Joseph was too selfish to end his life. If he’d had his way, he’d have lived to a ripe age – to spite me, if nothing else.’
‘Then why didn’t you …?’
‘Shout what you did from the rooftops? That you lured me back to a man who had caused me more pain than you could imagine? That you were a murderess? That you slipped that lethal dose into his ale?’ Sally shuddered, recalling how close her mother had come to drinking the deadly brew. ‘I had my reasons.
‘I didn’t mention your name to anyone and my mother was in too poor a state to remember. I told my loved ones Joseph came here, threatened to hurt my mother if I refused to go with him, but that we escaped. They wanted to hunt him down but I said I couldn’t recall the address.’
‘Why, Sally?’
‘I’d left him in a state of illness but never thought … or perhaps I did. Perhaps, in the back of my mind, I knew Satan was soon to collect his favourite son.’
‘And if you’d told, they might’ve found him afore he died?’
‘Precisely. I believe I wanted to avoid that.’
‘But weren’t they suspicious upon hearing he’d died?’
‘They were simply glad he was gone. If they suspected foul play, they didn’t voice it.’
Nancy nodded. Tone soft, she asked, ‘Why keep silent about me? Mercifully, the housekeeper at that lodging house made no mention to the police of me or your mam having been there. Whether it slipped his ale-sodden mind or he didn’t want the greater scandal of murder tarnishing his place, I don’t know. And I told Alice I returned to Bolton the night afore Joseph died, pretended to be as shocked as her.
‘I said he’d sometimes spoken of ending it all, never thinking he’d act on it. She didn’t suspect a thing. I knew you were the only one with the power to see me swing; it were torture. Yet you kept your silence. Why?’
‘You gave me back my freedom,’ answered Sally thickly. ‘In return, I ensured you kept yours.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Thank you. I hold no ill feeling towards you, Nancy. You were under his control as much as I. Difference is, I didn’t have the courage to end his life.’
Nancy’s hardness surfaced. She lifted her chin. ‘I can’t believe I were so blind for so long. I convinced myself he loved me. I let him strike me time and again, telling myself he didn’t mean it. I neglected my children to be with him, stole from my father to please him. Everything were for him.
‘The thought of losing him filled me with such terror, I were prepared to do owt. Even at the cost of your safety.’ She cringed at the admission. ‘I’ve done some terrible things and for the remainder of my days must live with the guilt. But I don’t regret removing him from this earth. I don’t regret that forra second.’
‘What made you see him for what he was?’
‘That poison were intended for my father.’ Nancy nodded when Sally shook her head in horror. ‘Joseph wanted him gone and his hands on his brass. His words were like a pail of icy water in my face. He didn’t love me at all. I knew that, then. He never had.’
Sally frowned at the question that had niggled at her for years. ‘There’s one thing I don’t understand. How did he find me? Manchester is vast; just happening to see me at the workhouse is too incredible a coincidence. I’m right, aren’t I?’ she asked when Nancy looked away.
Her eyes burned with humiliation. ‘He ordered me to ask around. I sniffed about the row like a stray mongrel, desperate for scraps, desperate to please him. Dishing out Father’s dinner one day, I heard him enquire about your health to Martha Smith. She told of the hard time you’d had, said you’d worked for that mother and daughter what were in the newspapers.
‘Father never throws nowt out; I searched his owd papers for the article. It said where it occurred, so we had an idea of the area you lived. We trawled Ancoats for days and one afternoon saw two little ’uns playing with yon dog.
‘We waited forra sighting of thee but the dog must’ve remembered Joseph’s scent. It began barking, forcing us to scarper, but we knew then we had the right street. Then Joseph said we were collecting your mam. I were flummoxed but he said not to ask questions. You see, he … he …’
‘He what?’
‘He said he’d get shot of thee so we could be together. I didn’t know his plan but God forgive me, I went along with it. I’m so sorry … that I’d stoop to such wickedness … Leaving the workhouse, we spotted you. We couldn’t believe it. He had me follow to see where you dwelled, while he …’ Sighing, she closed her eyes.
‘Dragged my mother to that stinking lodging house?’
‘Oh, Sally. You’ll likely not believe that your mam’s state and how he treated her hurt me, but it’s true. How’s she … faring?’
‘She’s as happy as a body could wish.’
‘Lord, tha must loathe me. I loathe me. All I were focused on were us skipping off into the sunset, foolish bitch that I am. I realise now he collected your mam to bribe you back. If we’d not seen you at the workhouse, he’d have lain in wait in this here street till he spotted you. He’d have let me murder Father then used the money to scarper with thee.’
Sally released a long sigh. ‘Put it behind you, Nancy, as I have. Forget him, live your life. Concentrate on your children, your father. Don’t let his ghost consume you. Don’t let him win.’
‘By, you’re a fine woman. I wish I had an ounce of your goodness.’ Nancy shook her head in wonder then drew up her shawl. ‘Goodbye, lass.’
‘Goodbye, Nancy.’
Having laid to rest another demon from her past, Sally walked into Tommy’s arms with a lighter heart. She could now put to him the secret wish she’d carried for so long. Only thoughts of seeing Nancy had deterred her; now, nothing stood in her way.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, saying ‘I love you.’
‘And I love you.’ She glanced about, then took a deep breath. ‘Tommy, there’s something I’ve been meaning to speak with you about. How would you feel—’ There was tugging at her skirt. Glancing down, she saw Jonathan and Jenny smiling up.
‘How would I feel about what, my love?’
‘Oh, it will keep.’
She took the children’s hands and Tommy did likewise. And as they danced, Shield bounding between, they heard more than one guest remark that they made the most handsome family they had ever seen.
Evening turned to night and the exhausted children were put to bed. The adults continued the jollifications and it wasn’t until much later that Sally and Tommy snatched a moment alone. He found her by the window, pink-cheeked but still smiling.
‘Finally, I’ve got thee to myself,’ he whispered, nuzzling her neck.
‘Tommy, people are looking!’
‘Let them.’
She giggled then stared at him earnestly. ‘What I said earlier … that I wanted to speak with you …’
‘Aye. What is it?’
‘I want to return to Spring Row.’
He pulled back to gaze at her.
‘Years ago, I promised myself if I had the chance, I’d leave the smoke of Manchester behind and raise Jonathan amongst Breightmet’s green hills. I miss it, Tommy. I miss the freshness, the meadows, the tranquillity. I miss the people, the cottages; the row itself. Manchester holds a place in my heart and always will, but it’s not home. Spring Row … It’s like a yearning inside. Can you understand?’
‘I can, but Sally …’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘The memories, everything you’ve been through—’
‘Cannot hurt me any more. Not now I have you.’
‘But your family, friends, this place. You’d leave all this behind?’
‘I’d still see them. Bolton is but a train journey away; one I’m sure I could brave with you beside me. As for this place … I’ll explain later.’ She caressed his cheek. ‘You were willing to leave behind all you hold dear for me. But I know that, in your heart, you share the same love for Breightmet as I. And there’s Jenny. Dolly’s parents deserve to see their grandchild grow. She’s all they have of their daughter. I couldn’t take that from them.’
Tommy’s eyes could have shone with no purer love. He kissed her tenderly. ‘Dear God, I love you. More than you’ll ever know.’
‘I simply pray …’
He followed her gaze to Rose, who was chatting with Grace. ‘Will she agree?’
‘I do hope so. I cannot be without her, not again. Yet the thought of taking her from Aunt Grace pains me, Tommy.’
‘As you said yourself, Bolton’s but a train away.’
‘Still …’
‘You’ll not know until you ask, love.’
Sally’s heart was thumping as she took her mother aside, but she needn’t have worried. Rose shared her sentiments entirely: where her daughter went, she went. Grace shed a tear upon hearing, but once Sally reassured her they would visit often, agreed she must do what made her happy.
‘It’s what youse both want?’ asked Ivy excitedly.
Tommy nodded. ‘Mind, we might have to live on here a good while,’ he told Sally. ‘Cottages don’t come empty often.’
Ivy bit her lip. ‘Nay, they don’t, but …’
‘But what, Mrs Morgan?’
‘There’s a young Irish couple moved in last year. The lass were telling me only yesterday they’ll soon be moving on.’
Sally laughed delightedly. ‘Oh, what marvellous good fortune!’ Bewilderment replaced her joy, when she saw Tommy’s expression. ‘My love?’
He stared helplessly at Ivy, and it was she who mumbled, ‘The cottage they dwell in … It’s your owd ’un, lass.’
Sally was silent. When finally she turned to her husband, her voice was calm. ‘How would you feel living there? If you’re fine with it, I am.’
‘But … the hell. The horrors you went through … I don’t want you reliving that past every day. Surely you’d never know peace beneath that roof? I vowed today, besides the rest, to protect you. That means all of you, body and mind. I’ll not have memories of that divil clinging to our marriage, our family, our home like a cancer.’
‘That could only happen if we allowed it to.’ She rested her palm against his chest. ‘Would living there be so very difficult for you, my love?’
Tommy answered without hesitation: ‘Truthfully? Nay. Nay, it wouldn’t. My past doesn’t dwell within those walls. I hold no nightmares of the place. It’s not myself I’m thinking about, but you. And it’s forgetting all that’s been that I want to help you to do.’
‘But I don’t want to forget, Tommy.’
‘You … don’t—?’
‘Hear the lass out, lad,’ murmured Ivy, nodding slowly, and Sally knew the older woman understood.
‘To forget is to pretend it didn’t happen. It did. And in a way, I’m almost glad. I don’t expect you to understand,’ Sally told him when he frowned. ‘I realise it must sound madness to you. But you see, I view life as I never would had I not encountered Joseph. I’m grateful for each day, every breath. Enduring what I did makes what I have now all the sweeter. I cherish this, with you, more than you’ll ever know, because of him. No, I don’t ever want to forget, I know that now. What I want is to accept. Accept that it happened, put it behind me, finally, and live happily. Whether in that cottage or the other side of the world makes no difference to me. None whatsoever. It truly wouldn’t to you, too?’
‘What you went through there, it pains me, imagining … I’ll not deny it. But if you can face it, I can, if it’s really what you want …?’
‘It is.’
‘You’re certain?’
‘As long as I’m there with you then yes, I’m certain. It will be different this time. We’ll make it a happy home, we six, together.’ She held out a hand and smiled. ‘And now, Mr Morgan, would you care to dance?’
As had Nancy, he shook his head in awe. ‘Mrs Morgan, you incredible woman, I’d be honoured.’