On Thursday Reuben had gone out to buy an evening newspaper to find out what the verdict had been in court. One glance at his ashen face told her all she needed to know.
‘He’s been found guilty,’ he told her croakily.
She wasn’t surprised. She had prepared herself as Andre had advised.
‘He’s to be hanged in two weeks’ time,’ he said, dropping heavily onto a kitchen chair. ‘Our own dad … a bloody murderer,’ he rasped, his hands balled into fists. ‘And to know he killed our mam …’ his voice trailed away and Nessie laid a gentle arm on his shoulder. Strangely she felt calm, numb almost.
‘At least no more women will suffer the same fate at his hands,’ she murmured.
As he looked up at her she saw the anger in his eyes. ‘Lord only knows what Maria’s family will think o’ this. Our family must have the worst reputation of any in the town what wi’ one thing an’ another! I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t make her call the weddin’ off!’
‘They won’t do that,’ she soothed. ‘They’ll understand you’re nothing like him.’
He narrowed his eyes. ‘You’re surely not goin’ to see him tomorrow, are yer, now that yer know what he’s done?’
She sighed. ‘Yes I am. It will be the last time any of us ever see him so I suppose we owe him that at least.’
‘We owe him nothin’!’ Reuben spat furiously. ‘Now I know what he’s done, I hate him!’
‘We’ve each got to handle this the best way we can,’ she pointed out. ‘I need to see him one last time to ask him why.’ She glanced at the newspaper headlines and the words on the front page jumped out at her:
Nuneaton Man Found Guilty of Multiple Murders.
‘I wouldn’t be surprised if Andre didn’t sack the lot of us after this,’ Reuben rambled on. ‘First Marcie turns up wi’ her belly full an’ now this!’
‘He won’t do that,’ Nessie assured him. ‘You, for a start, are much too valuable to him.’ This was true as, despite his earlier reservations, Reuben was quickly learning the art of embalming as well as all the other jobs he did.
She lifted Joseph and carried him to the table for his meal, although she felt so sick inside that she had completely lost her appetite.
When Marcie returned from a visit to Molly, she was as enraged as Reuben at what their father had done. ‘I’m glad he’s going to get what’s coming to him,’ she ground out after reading the report in the newspaper.
Nessie was getting ready to go out. It was her night for working in the soup kitchen and although she really didn’t feel up to going she didn’t want to let anyone down. She knew how much certain locals relied on the place and she didn’t want them to go hungry. It was also the night when Oliver would be holding his surgery and although she longed to see him, she wondered how she was going to face him. He must have heard the news by now.
As it was they were so busy that evening that she didn’t even get a chance to speak to him until the last hungry customer had left.
‘I’m so sorry to hear what’s happened to your father, Nessie,’ he said softly.
‘Why?’ She stuck her chin in the air as she blinked back tears. ‘He’s only going to get what he deserves.’
‘Even so, it must be hard for you to know that he killed your own …’ He stopped abruptly, realising that he might be talking out of turn. It must surely be hard enough for her to cope with, he thought, without him unintentionally rubbing salt into the wounds.
‘Killing my own mother, were you going to say?’ She tossed her head. ‘Yes, it is hard but nothing will bring her back now, will it? And once he’s … Well, once it’s all over I have to try and get on with things as best I can. I just hope the fact that Andre has a murderer’s daughter living with him doesn’t affect his business. He’s had enough gossip to deal with since we moved into his premises. I suppose you’ve heard the latest? Seth Grimshaw has spread it about that Joseph is my child but I can assure you he isn’t, although I couldn’t love him any more if he was.’ Her voice faltered then and she took a deep breath, biting her lip.
It was all Oliver could do to stop himself from putting his arms about her to give her comfort but instead he said, ‘I never believed he was for an instant and even if he had been I wouldn’t have held it against you. Accidents happen, your sister and my brother are a prime example of that.’
‘I suppose they are,’ she answered with a catch in her voice. ‘And look how that’s turned out. Your mother and father turned Marcie away as if it was all her fault. In fact, they won’t even accept that the baby is George’s but I’ll tell you something, I believe her. Marcie may be many things but I happen to know that she genuinely cared about him and why would he have killed Eliza and then run away as he did if there was nothing in what she said?’
‘I know.’ He felt guilty as he watched her. She had so much to deal with at the moment and he wished there was something he could do to help her but it was as if she had built a wall between them. Perhaps she was afraid of what his parents would say if they discovered he had feelings for her after what had happened with Marcie and George. ‘But if it’s any consolation I think my mother believes that the child is his.’
‘Really?’ Nessie was surprised, not that it made much difference what his mother thought. Hadn’t she turned her back on Marcie already? As far as Nessie was concerned it was hardly the action of a doting grandmother-to-be. Now she shrugged and realising that the conversation was at an end Oliver sighed and lifted his black bag. ‘If there’s nothing I can do for you, I’ll be off. Or perhaps I could offer you a lift home?’
Ignoring the hopeful note in his voice she shook her head. ‘No, thank you, I shall be a while yet. You get off.’
‘You were a bit hard on him then, weren’t you, gel?’ Molly scolded Nessie after the doctor had left. ‘It ain’t his fault his folks acted the way they did, yer know, an’ I reckon he’s got a soft spot for you.’
‘I suppose I was … but why pretend we could ever be more than friends, Molly? We come from different worlds.’
Molly pursed her lips as she looked at this young woman who she had come to regard as a close friend. Deep down she supposed that Nessie was right, but eeh, the way she saw it, it was a cryin’ shame. The two clearly cared about each other but then, as she had learned to her cost, life could be bloody cruel sometimes.
‘Are you quite sure you want to do this?’ Andre peered at Nessie with concern as they stood on the station platform waiting for the train that would take them to Birmingham. There were dark circles beneath her eyes and her hands were constantly fidgeting but even so she nodded.
‘Yes … I have to. Whatever he’s done he’s still my father, isn’t he? And anyway, I need to know why he did what he did, especially to our mam. But thank you, Andre … for coming with me, I mean. I don’t think I would have been brave enough to go on my own when it came down to it.’
He patted her hand, feeling completely at a loss as to what he should say. Words seemed so inadequate when he thought of what she must be going through. She had hardly ventured out of the house since the news of what her father had done had hit the papers and when she had people had called her names and ignored her. It had been the same for Reuben and Marcie too, although they seemed to be handling it far better than Nessie was. They were just angry with him and glad that he was going to get what they considered to be his just deserts, whereas she seemed torn and reluctant to admit that he was really the murderer. Hopefully, after today she would come to terms with it and try to put it all behind her. He heard the train in the distance and took her elbow. ‘Here’s the train. Are you ready?’
She blinked and nodded as her stomach churned. Riding in a train would be a new experience for her and she wasn’t looking forward to that either. As it roared into the station in a hiss of steam and smoke that wafted up to the sky like a fog, she gulped, and when he finally helped her aboard he noted that she was trembling. Ushering her into a carriage he found them seats and then gently taking her hand, he squeezed it. ‘It will be all right.’ His accent was more pronounced than usual because of his concern and she squeezed his hand back and forced a weak smile, very aware that a plump well-dressed elderly lady sitting opposite was watching them closely. What would she think if she knew where I was going? Nessie wondered, trying to remain calm. She had chosen to dress in a smart navy-blue two-piece costume trimmed with white braid and a matching hat that Andre had bought for her and she looked neat and tidy and every inch a young lady.
Eventually the train set off. Realising how she must be feeling, Andre remained silent and left Nessie to stare unseeingly from the window. She supposed that under other circumstances she might have enjoyed the new experience, but now she was so preoccupied thinking about what she would say to her father that she barely noticed they were moving.
In what seemed like no time at all the train was slowing again as it pulled into Birmingham’s New Street station and as Andre courteously handed her down Nessie was shocked at the number of people milling about the station. This place was like another world compared to the sleepy market town they had left behind, but she had no time to do more than glance about her before Andre was ushering her through the crowds to the exit. There were enormous dray horses pulling huge carts laden with barrels which she assumed contained beer, numerous cabs and everywhere she looked there were street vendors standing behind stalls selling everything from faggots and peas to jacket potatoes and flowers.
Andre lifted his hand and within seconds a cab pulled into the kerb and the driver jumped down to open the door for them while his horse stood patiently waiting, seemingly unperturbed at all the noise around him.
‘Where to, guv?’ The man, who had the most enormous nose that Nessie had ever seen, smiled at her as he doffed his cap.
‘Winson Green prison if you please, my man.’
The driver looked momentarily surprised. This pair didn’t look at all like the sorts to be prison visiting but then he supposed it was none of his business. A fare was a fare at the end of the day. In no time at all they were seated and the horse pulled out into the busy road and began to clip-clop along. Nessie held her handkerchief to her nose to mask the unpleasant smell in the cab. There was dirty straw across the floor and she dreaded to think what might be lurking in it. The leather swabs they were leaning against were none too clean either but at that moment that was the least of her troubles.
They seemed to travel for a long time but at last the cab left the busier streets behind and they passed rows and rows of identical, soot-clad terraced houses. Smoke belched from many of the chimneys and bare-foot, dirty children played in the gutters. Most of them were terribly underweight and looked as if they hadn’t had a good square meal in ages and Nessie wished they lived closer to the soup kitchen. And then suddenly a dark forbidding building surrounded by a high brick wall loomed ahead of them and she knew they had arrived at the prison. A straggle of people, who were also there to visit the inmates, was queuing outside two enormous metal gates and on either side of these were grimy windows covered in metal bars. Just the sight of the place struck terror into Nessie’s heart.
When the cab pulled up, Andre helped Nessie down and paid the cabbie, adding a handsome tip before asking, ‘Can you wait for us?’
‘Hmm, well I could, sir, but it’ll cost you.’ The man hastily shoved the money into his pocket as if he was afraid that Andre might snatch it back. ‘I’m riskin’ life an’ limb hangin’ about these parts as you’ve probably gathered.’
‘Don’t worry, I shall make it well worth your while,’ Andre assured him, then taking Nessie’s elbow he steered her to the back of the queue, aware that they were attracting more than a few curious glances. Many of the people waiting were poorly clad and pitifully thin and as Nessie saw the wooden clogs on the women’s feet and the thin, threadbare shawls they clutched about their shoulders she suddenly felt extremely overdressed. More people joined the back of the queue and Andre made sure that he kept his hand over the wallet in his pocket. He was very aware of the pickpockets that roamed the streets for easy pickings in the city and he didn’t intend to be one of their victims.
After what seemed an eternity the huge gates swung open and the queue surged forward. Two large policemen in helmets stood either side of the gates letting in only a handful of people at a time. Nessie peered past them and saw that the people who had entered were in yet another yard with another set of gates where more policemen were checking the visitors’ bags.
‘You’ll go in among the next lot,’ Andre whispered, his eyes soft with sympathy. ‘And when you come out I shall be here waiting for you. Good luck, ma cherie.’
The words had no sooner left his lips than the gates opened once more and Nessie was swept forward with the crowd. She experienced a moment of blind panic as the gates clanged shut behind her and she glanced back to make sure that Andre was still there. She had never felt so terrified in her life and doubted that she ever would again. Andre raised his hand and flashed her a reassuring smile, then, squaring her shoulders, she stuck her chin in the air and opened her bag for inspection.
‘Who are you here to see, miss?’ the large policeman asked her and after she had answered him, he barked to the man by the second set of gates, ‘Let this young lady through, Smith. She’s here to see William Carson.’
She stumbled through them on legs that seemed to have developed a life of their own only to find herself in yet another, much larger, courtyard. There were a number of doors leading off it, all of them heavily locked and barred and each one guarded by a policeman. Following the rest of the crowd who seemed to know where they were going, Nessie found herself in yet another queue where people were handing their visitors’ passes to a tall policeman. After glancing at hers, the man waved his hand and she found herself in a room where the visitors were waiting for their loved ones to appear.
‘Sit anywhere you like, miss.’ An older officer seemed to sense how nervous she was and offered a kindly smile as Nessie hastily made for the nearest vacant chair she could find. And then all she could do was wait for her father to appear.