15

‘You will look after my baby, won’t you miss?’ Babs croaked from the sofa in Georgina’s old house.

‘Yes, Babs, I promise you. Steven will have the best life.’

‘I wish I could have spent his first Christmas wiv him.’

Georgina crouched beside Babs and took her limp and scrawny hand in her own. ‘I know you do, but he won’t remember it. He’ll have a lifetime of wonderful Christmases and I’ll make sure he knows all about you and how much you loved him.’

‘Thank you, Miss Garrett. I can die in peace knowing my Steven will be cared for,’ Babs said softly then cried out in pain. ‘Oh, miss, it hurts me so much.’

‘I know, love. Here, take these,’ Georgina said and slipped four tablets into her hand.

Babs looked as though she was using all her strength just to put the pills on her tongue. Georgina put a glass of water to her mouth and told her to sip slowly.

‘I’m scared, miss, really scared.’

‘There’s nothing to fear, Babs. The pills will make you fall asleep. You won’t feel a thing.’

‘You’ll stay wiv me ’til I fall asleep, won’t you?’

‘Of course I will. Shush now, close your eyes.’

A tear slipped from Babs’s eye. ‘Tell him every day that I love him.’

‘I will. Try and relax now. You’ll be with your mum soon and if you see my Lash up there, let him know I miss him.’

‘Oh, miss, me head feels funny,’ Babs said, her words beginning to slur.

Georgina softly stroked the woman’s fair hair from her brow, her heart breaking at the sight of what was left of poor Babs. The cancer had ravished her once curvaceous body and left her nothing more than a skeleton. She kissed her clammy cheek and gently squeezed her hand.

‘I’m here, Babs. I’m here with you,’ she said reassuringly.

Babs quietly groaned as the pills took effect and she began to fall asleep.

‘That’s it, Babs. You can go now. Steven will be safe.’

She sat with her for a few moments longer until she was sure that Babs was in a deep sleep. When Johnny had helped her bring Babs to the house, he’d assured her that two pills would be sufficient to make her sleep heavily. But Georgina had wanted to be doubly sure and didn’t want Babs to suffer or feel any pain.

It was sad. So tragic. Such a young life about to be taken. And leaving a baby behind too. And though Georgina felt a stab of guilt, she knew this was the best for both of them. After all, Babs would have been lucky to have survived until Christmas. And at least by Babs offering herself as a sacrifice, she’d ensured her child would be taken care of and spared an upbringing in a brutal orphanage.

She turned away from Babs and glanced around at the familiar front room. The boarded windows shut out any light but even in the darkness, it felt like home. She pictured her gran, Dulcie, sitting in the chair. Her dad, Jack, whirling her round the room in high spirits. Her children, Alfie, with his stuffed horse, and Selina sleeping in a cot by the hearth. Lash, looking at her lustfully and taking her up to bed. So many memories she’d hold dear forever, close to her heart. This would be the last time she’d ever see this room again.

Georgina sighed heavily and gathered her thoughts. ‘Back to work,’ she said and carefully scooped Babs into her arms. The woman was as light as a feather and Georgina easily carried her up the stairs and laid her on the double bed.

She checked the time. Her heart pounded. Ten minutes. ‘You’d better be on time, Charlotte,’ she whispered as she went back downstairs. She reached into her pocket for a box of matches. ‘Here we go,’ she said, her hands shaking as she struck the match and held it to the bottom corner of the curtains in the front room. The material scorched but didn’t burn and the flame from the match stung her fingertip. She struck another and held the flame in the same place. This time, the material sizzled into life as the fire ate its way upwards and across the curtain.

As the fire grew, smoke twitched her nostrils and she dashed from the front room and into the hallway. Here, she placed a newspaper on the floor under the heavy curtain that hung over the street door. She’d never understood why her gran had hung it there. Dulcie had said it was to keep out the draughts. But the curtain had never been drawn, except to clean it.

Within minutes, that curtain too was burning and the house soon began to fill with foul-smelling smoke. Covering her mouth with a damp cloth, Georgina was surprised at how quickly the flames had taken hold and as she ran back up the stairs, she saw the fire roaring across the front room ceiling.

Desperate for fresh air now and hoping that Charlotte and Tim were nearby, she opened the sash window in the bedroom and kicked down one of the boards. She stuck her head out the small gap and sucked in great lungfuls of clean air.

Stretching her neck out further, she was pleased to see Charlotte and Tim rounding the corner and approaching the house.

Black smoke billowed up the stairs and Georgina could feel the heat rising. She was no stranger to fire. Billy Wilcox had once tried to burn her to death. She’d escaped but poor Hilda had lost her life.

She looked round at Babs sleeping on the bed. The woman didn’t stir. Thankfully, the pills had worked. The fire was raging now. She could hear it roaring, almost growling like a rabid beast. Turning back to the window, she took a deep breath and screamed.

‘Help me… Fire…’ she shouted.

Charlotte and Tim ran towards the house and she saw Tim was removing his coat. Please don’t try to be a hero and rescue me, she thought, hoping that the fire downstairs would beat him back.

‘GEORGINA!’ Charlotte yelled, looking frantic.

‘I’m trapped,’ she called back.

Tim was now running at the front door. The heat must have been intense. He pulled back and then tried again.

Georgina glanced over her shoulder and out the bedroom door. Through the thick, black smoke, she could see the fire was coming up the stairs, licking the wooden bannisters.

She heard Charlotte call her name again over the howl of the fire.

‘GEORGINA… JUMP… KICK THE BOARDS OFF AND JUMP OUT THE WINDOW.’

She took a final long gasp of air and ran through the bedroom door. The smoke was blinding and stung her eyes. The searing heat of the fire made her skin feel hot. Although she couldn’t see what she was doing, she knew exactly where she’d placed the chair under the loft hatch and clambered up into the attic, quickly closing the cover behind her.

Wiping sooty sweat from her face, she inched her way over to where Mary’s husband had skilfully made an escape route for her. This wasn’t what the opening to Mary’s house had been intended to be used for. But none the less, Mary had agreed that Georgina’s plan to set the house alight had been a good one, even if it did risk damage to her own. But of course, Georgina had promised that Mary would be generously compensated.

She slid the makeshift brick-painted board to one side, kicked through the bricks and crawled through the small space into Mary’s loft. As she reached through the opening to move the board back into place, she saw smoke creeping in through the loft hatch. She’d made it, and just in the nick of time.

Making her way across Mary’s loft, Georgina paused for a moment and smiled to herself. She’d emerge from Mary’s house as near enough a free woman. PC Timothy Batten had witnessed her last breaths at the bedroom window. The police would assume the charred and burned body of a woman on the bed was her own. The search for her would be over. She smiled with relief, though felt sad for Babs. But Babs had begged her to take care of Steven and when Georgina had explained her terms, Babs could see the sense and through her tears had readily agreed.

Georgina looked through Mary’s hatch. The house was quiet but she could hear a racket from the street. Mary would be out there, with Steven in her arms. She’d be crying, saying poor Georgina and the neighbours would be shaking their heads. Mary’s husband, the fire warden, would be holding everyone back. Charlotte would be beside herself and be furious with her when she’d later discover that Georgina was still alive. A wicked grin touched her lips. Gawd, she was going to get a mouthful from the girl! But she couldn’t have divulged her plan to Charlotte. She needed Charlotte to be genuinely terrified. The girl had to be believable in front of Tim. There was no room for error.

Georgina crept down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she quickly changed into fresh work clothes that Mary had prepared. Her husband’s trousers were a little short on Georgina but the shirt and jacket fitted a treat. She washed her blackened face and hands and slipped out the back door. As she hurried through Mary’s yard, she looked back over her shoulder to see orange flames spewing from Alfie’s bedroom window. Fire engine bells rang out along the street but it was too late to save the house or the life of Georgina Garrett. The world would think her dead. Some would grieve, others would cheer. But as Babs died in the flames, George died along with her and Georgina walked into the alley behind the houses and to her freedom.