When Harry returned to Marsh Avenue the next morning, it was Bella who opened the door to him, and he felt a stirring in his loins as he saw her again, her beautiful face and her luscious figure only partially concealed by the pink and orange wrap she was wearing.
‘Hallo, Harry,’ she said, her husky voice seemingly an invitation to some sort of intimacy. ‘You’re an early bird.’ She indicated her informal attire and then smiled. ‘We wasn’t expecting you so soon. You’d better come in. Ma’ll be down in a minute.’ She looked at him with innocent eyes and said, ‘Can I offer you anything?’ adding after a pause, ‘A cup of tea? Some breakfast?’
Harry grinned at her. ‘Nothing... at the moment.’
She led him into the sitting room and said, ‘Make yourself at home, Harry. I’ll just go and get dressed.’
Harry sat down and waited. Moments later Dora appeared. She looked a little flustered. ‘You’re very early, Harry. What’s up?’
‘I seen the bloke about your papers and I’ve persuaded him to get on with the job right away. Thing is, he needs photos for the passports an’ that. So I got to take you to his studio down the Isle of Dogs so’s he can take them. We’re going tonight, after the pubs shut.’
Dora shook her head. ‘No, we ain’t,’ she said firmly. ‘Me and Bella ain’t going anywhere near the Isle of Dogs at night. You get the bloke up here.’
Harry scratched his head. ‘Not sure he can do the necessary up here.’
‘He did it for Denny, he can do it for us.’
‘Did it for Denny?’ Harry sounded puzzled. ‘You mean he came to the house?’
‘No, not this house, Den couldn’t come back here once he was out, could he? No, he went to the safe house and done the pictures there.’
‘What safe house? The one we was in before we went to Australia?’
Dora shrugged. ‘Don’t know where it was, do I? Just know the bloke went to Denny and took his picture.’
‘An’ you want him to come here, do you? To this house?’
‘Safer all round,’ Dora insisted. ‘We’re safe enough in our own place.’
‘You being threatened?’ asked Harry.
‘Not directly, no. But we ain’t going to take no risks either. You just go and fetch him here, Harry boy.’
Harry thought for a moment; he had been trying to work out the best way to take Denny’s wife and daughter safely to Freddie’s studio and so far had not come up with anything. Now, he thought about what she’d said. If Freddie came to them under cover of darkness, he could do the job with no one the wiser.
‘OK,’ he said. ‘I’ll go down tonight as arranged and pick him up. Bring him back here. But it won’t be till late. We got a cabby on the firm?’
‘No, but Den’s car’s in the garage. You can take that.’
‘You’ve still got his car?’ Harry was incredulous.
‘Course we have,’ replied Dora. ‘How d’you think we get about?’
‘Drive yourself, do you?’
‘No, I can’t drive, but Mick takes us to where we want to go.’
‘Ah! Mick!’ said Harry thoughtfully. ‘You haven’t said anything to him, have you? About going to Sydney, an’ that?’
‘I wasn’t born yesterday, Harry! Course I haven’t. He come in yesterday, fishing about you and what you was doing here—’
‘An’ what did you tell him?’ interrupted Harry.
‘Nothing, Harry. I told him nothing. Just said you’d brought messages from Denny. He asked what messages and I said they was private ones, just for me and Bella.’
‘Who’s talking about me?’ demanded Bella as she came into the room. She was dressed now, her hair smooth and shining, her make-up perfect. She gave Harry a coy smile as she dropped into the chair next to his.
‘No one,’ said her mother. ‘I was just telling Harry that he could borrow your dad’s car.’
‘Ooh! Where’s he going?’ Bella beamed across at him. ‘Can I come with you?’
‘No,’ said Dora before Harry could answer, ‘he’s on an errand for me.’
Bella looked mutinous. ‘Where? Where’s he going?’
‘Never you mind,’ snapped her mother. ‘But he’ll be back later this evening to have a drink with us. Then he’ll tell you where he’s been.’
Harry’s mind had been whirring ever since Dora had mentioned the car. Use of a car was just what he needed; not just on Denny’s business, though it would be useful for that, but giving him the freedom to follow his own plans. He could drive to Feneton in Suffolk and try to find the Federmans; maybe find Lisa there, or at least ask them where she lived now. If they gave him her address he could go and see her.
‘Let’s have a look at the car then,’ he said, getting to his feet. ‘Got petrol in it, has it?’
‘Yes, Mick took the coupons and filled it up last time. We got more if you need them.’
‘What’ll Mick say when he sees the car is missing?’ he said as they went through the inner door to the garage.
‘You leave Mick to me,’ Dora said. ‘We’ll open the garage after it gets dark, so you can drive straight in when you get back tonight. Come in through the kitchen. That way no one won’t see who’s here.’
Harry left Marsh Avenue at the wheel of the smart black Rover that had been in the garage since before Denny had been sent down the last time. It had been used only when Dora needed to be driven somewhere, but it was polished and cared for and started first touch of the self-starter; the engine purring gently as he backed it out into the street. He watched as Bella closed the doors behind him, and then drove away, delighted to have his own set of wheels. He had business of his own to pursue.
Mrs Burton at Livingston House had indeed been right. Harry wasn’t going to give up any chance of finding Lisa, and now he had the time and the means, thanks to Shirley Newman and Dora Duncan, to follow the trail to Feneton.
He stopped outside a newsagent in the nearby parade of shops and bought himself a motoring map.
‘Ooh! Lucky you to have some petrol!’ said the girl who served him. ‘Wish I could go for a spin!’
Harry grinned at her and said, ‘Been saving them for a special occasion, haven’t I? Going to see my girl.’
‘Lucky girl,’ replied the assistant wistfully as she watched him go back out to the car.
He sat in the driver’s seat and studied the map. There it was, Feneton, just over the Suffolk border. It didn’t look very far; he should have plenty of time to get there and back.
*
It was well over an hour later that he drove into the village. He pulled up outside the Feneton Arms and went inside. The pub had just opened and the bar was empty. At the sound of the door a buxom woman came out of the kitchen and greeted him with a smile.
‘Hallo,’ she said. ‘What can I get you?’
Harry ordered a half of bitter and perched himself on a bar stool.
‘Just passing through, are you?’ asked the barmaid.
‘Sort of,’ Harry said with a smile. ‘Trying to catch up with a relative of my mother’s.’ He’d decided to stick to the story he’d told Shirley Newman; it sounded sincere and it couldn’t be disproved, at least, not until he found the Federmans. ‘I heard she used to work here and I was hoping she might still be around.’
‘Work here? At the pub, you mean?’
‘Yes. A Mrs Shirley Newman said she moved here in the war.’ He retold the story he’d spun to Shirley. ‘Naomi Federman’s her name. Do you know her? I think her husband’s called Dan.’
The barmaid’s face broke into a smile. ‘Of course I know them. They’ve just moved into a cottage on the edge of the village. Ivy Cottage, it’s called. You’ll find it out on the Ipswich road. First house after the church, you can’t miss it. How exciting to get a visit from someone all the way from Australia!’
Harry finished his beer, stood up and said with a smile, ‘Thank you very much, Mrs...?’
‘Dow, Jenny Dow. I hope you find her, she’ll be so pleased to see you.’
When Harry reached Ivy Cottage he parked the car and walked through a neatly kept garden to the front door. Through an open window he could hear music, a wireless playing and the sound of somebody singing. Harry raised the knocker and gave a couple of sharp taps. The singing stopped and moments later Naomi Federman appeared at the door, her hands covered in flour. She looked at Harry without recognition, but Harry knew her at once.
‘Mrs Federman?’ he asked with a smile.
‘Yes? Who are you?’
‘You won’t remember me, but my name’s Harry Black and I’m a friend of Lisa’s.’ He saw recognition of his name flash across her face and he held out his hand. ‘You and your husband were kind enough to offer me a bed one night during the war when I had nowhere else to go.’
‘Yes,’ agreed Naomi, instinctively wiping her floury hands on her apron before shaking the proffered hand. ‘Yes, I remember.’
‘The thing is,’ went on Harry, ‘I’ve been away, in Australia since the war, and I’ve lost track of Lisa. I wondered if you could tell me where she is.’
Naomi gave him a hard look and then stood aside. ‘You’d better come in,’ she said.
Harry followed her into the house and she led the way into the kitchen where there was a mouth-watering smell of baking. ‘I’m sorry to bring you in here,’ she said as she returned to rolling out pastry on the kitchen table, ‘but as you can see, I’m baking. I make pies for the pub and cakes for the café in the village. So sit down while I finish these and get them into the oven and then I’ll make a cup of tea and we can have a chat.’
Harry sat down in the chair she indicated and watched as she lined and filled four pie dishes before sealing them with the another layer of pastry. It wasn’t long before they were safely in the oven and she’d put the kettle on.
If Naomi were honest with herself, she hoped to keep him there until Dan got home. She didn’t know whether she ought to tell this Harry where Lisa was living; that she was married, that she had children. She remembered the look on Billy’s face when Dan had asked Lisa if she’d heard from Harry. She didn’t want to make things difficult for Lisa, which, she decided, they would be if Harry turned up in Wynsdown unexpectedly.
‘So, you’ve been in Australia,’ she said as she sat down opposite him and poured the tea. ‘How very exciting! Is it as big as they say, just miles and miles of empty country?’
‘It’s certainly a big country, but I haven’t been far outside Sydney. That’s a beautiful city, for sure. The harbour’s huge and you can go to lots of places by boat. There’s ferries going every which way.’
‘Bit different from London, I expect,’ Naomi said, ‘still recovering from the Blitz. You should see Kemble Street.’
‘I have,’ replied Harry. ‘I went there to find you.’
‘They’ve pulled down our house,’ Naomi said sadly. ‘Building a block of flats, they are. We went to have a look, but it weren’t the same; we haven’t been back since. Our life is up here now. Our son’s at the village school and Dan works at the RAF base.’
‘I met a woman there, Shirley Newman,’ Harry said. ‘It was her told me where to find you.’
‘Oh, Shirley,’ was all Naomi said.
‘She told me where you worked and then the woman at the pub told me where you live.’ Harry smiled at her and added, ‘Afraid I told a few porkies. Said you was my ma’s cousin.’
‘You what?’ Naomi stared at him.
‘Thing is, Mrs Federman, I’m trying to find Lisa. I hoped she might still be living with you. I went to that children’s home where she worked, but they wouldn’t tell me where she’d gone. The woman what’s running the place now said she’d never heard of her.’
‘I see,’ said Naomi.
‘So after that I told people I was looking for you, cos I knew you’d know where Lisa was. Is she here?’
‘No,’ replied Naomi. ‘She don’t live with us.’
‘So, can you tell me where she is?’ Harry was losing patience. ‘I just want to see her before I go back to Australia.’
‘You’re going back?’ Naomi tried not to sound hopeful. ‘Soon?’
‘Yes, very soon,’ Harry said. ‘Got some business to finish in London and then I’m going back down under.’
At that moment the back door flew open and a boy of about eight burst into the kitchen.
‘Mum...’ he began and then stopped as he saw there was a stranger sitting at the table with his mother.
‘Nicky, say how d’you do to Mr Black,’ Naomi said, and turning to Harry said, ‘This is our son, Nicholas.’
Nicky looked at the man with interest, saying, ‘How d’you do, Mr Black.’
‘He’s an old friend of Lisa’s come to say hallo.’
‘I knew her during the war,’ Harry told him.
‘Lisa isn’t here,’ Nicky said. ‘She lives miles away in Wynsdown. We went to Edie’s christening and it was ever such a long way. We went on the train and it took ages.’
‘That’s enough, Nicky,’ said Naomi firmly. ‘Wash your hands for dinner, it won’t be long.’ She stood up and said to Harry, ‘I’ll have to give Nicky his dinner, he has to be back in school in an hour.’
Harry also got to his feet and said, ‘I won’t hold you up any more, Mrs Federman. I can see you’re busy. Just tell Lisa I was asking for her and that I send my love.’
Naomi heaved a sigh of relief as she saw him get into his car and drive away. He was going back to Australia very soon. Nicky had let on where Lisa was now, but Harry hadn’t said he would visit her, he’d simply sent her his love, and that could get lost along the way.