Chapter 9

‘Nancy, what on earth is wrong with you?’ Mary looked at Nancy, who had been quiet in her work all day and now she had found her crying in the yard behind the kitchen, where she had been sent to check how many barrels of bitter were left.

‘I’m sorry, please don’t say anything to Mr Whitelock! I’ll stop my blubbing and come back into work,’ Nancy sobbed and wiped her nose on her sleeve.

‘Here, use my hanky, else you’ll leave snail trails on your sleeves and customers will see it.’ Mary pulled her handkerchief from out of her sleeve and passed it to the distraught Nancy. ‘Now, what’s wrong?’

‘I-I can’t say because it’s family business. It’s best you don’t know – and anyway, you’ll only tell the others.’ Nancy breathed in hard and tried to control the sobs.

‘I promise I’ll not say a word to anyone. Now, come on, Nancy, you know you can trust me. What’s to do?’ Mary put her arm around the shaking girl and tried to comfort her.

‘It’s my father. He only just got let out from Armley Gaol yesterday, but already the coppers have come back for him and they’ll not let him out now, not after what he’s done. What he’s done – it’s fearful, fearful,’ Nancy gasped. ‘As soon as he was released he went out on the pop and came home stinking drunk. My ma asked him where he got the money from to go and get drunk and said he should have spent it on his family, not on drink.’ Nancy halted for a minute and blew her nose. ‘Oh, I hate him, Mary, I hate him! And I hope he hangs this time.’

‘Oh, Nancy, don’t say that, surely it can’t be that bad?’ Mary felt so much sympathy for poor Nancy and waited to hear more about what her father had done. She looked at her closely and noticed a fresh bruise on her arm. Nancy’s father was a brute, of that there was no doubt.

‘It is! It’s worse than bad, it’s evil, Mary. He got so mad with Ma for lecturing him, he just lashed out and baby Len was howling because he didn’t like the noise and that just made my father worse and he picked Len up by one leg and threw him against the wall. He just threw Len like a rag doll through the air and the poor baby came crashing down near the fireplace. I can still hear the screams of my mother and my sister and the tears we all sobbed when we saw his body crumpled and broken on the stone flags. My father killed him, the poor little soul, and he’s been taken away to the mortuary and my mother’s beside herself with grief. I hope my father rots in hell!’ Nancy sobbed. ‘I loved baby Len, how could he do that to him? He was only crying because he was scared. How could he kill his own son?’

‘Oh Lord, Nancy, I’m so sorry. The uncaring brute!’ Mary felt her heart beating fast, visualising the violence seen in Nancy’s home. ‘You must have been terrified. But how did the police catch your father and what are you all going to do?’ Mary put her arms around the quaking Nancy.

‘The neighbours held him down in the street after hearing all the commotion and my brother went and got the peelers. He swore, when they carted him away, that he would kill every one of us if he ever gets out of Armley. My mother’s that frightened she’s packing up the home and she says we are all to move to Lincolnshire where her family is from once baby Len has been buried. But I don’t want to leave Leeds; it’s always been my home, and besides, I’ve just got my job with you and I’m making my way in the world.’ Nancy’s tears streamed down her cheeks again and her sobs grew louder. Mary, desperately sorry for her, didn’t know what to say to the poor young woman whose life was in turmoil.

‘Len was the baby of the family; my mother cursed when she found out that she was having him, but when he came we all loved him. I hope my father rots in hell, I really do. He’s done nothing for any of us, ever. And now this …’ Nancy sobbed.

‘Oh, my Lord, I’m shaking myself,’ Mary said quietly. ‘Aye, but Nancy, it would be the drink; he’d not know what he was doing. He’ll be regretting his actions now that he’s rotting in Armley.’ Mary put her arm around her and squeezed her tight. ‘Now, do you want to go home? I know what it’s like when you’ve lost someone, but never under such bad circumstances. I’ll get somebody to stand in for you from the kitchen and everybody will understand and be there for you. Or I can always give the excuse of you not feeling well if you don’t want anyone to know the truth. However, I’ve no doubt that your father’s misdemeanours will be made public once the newspapers get hold of the story.’

Nancy shook her head.

‘No, I’m not going home, he’s ruined the rest of my family’s life, but he’s not going to ruin mine. I’m not going to let John Whitelock or you down, so just give me a few minutes and I’ll pull myself together. Oh, thank you for being so kind to me, you are a true friend.’ Nancy breathed in shakily and tried to smile at Mary.

‘Are you sure? Because I’ll make it right with Mr Whitelock, whatever you want to do. Just tell me when you’ve composed yourself and made your decision. I’ll hold the fort until then. At least we now have a new waiter and service maid; they can help for a while. Take your time; dry your eyes and steady yourself for you can’t undo what your father has done but you can make a life for yourself to spite him. I know your heart will be breaking but hold your head up and think positively.’

Mary gently touched Nancy’s arm and turned her back to return through the kitchen to her place behind the bar. Terrible pictures of baby Len being thrown against the wall ran through her head as she smiled at the customer entering the restaurant. How could a father do that to his son, no matter how much drink he had supped? Poor Nancy, she would do all that she could do for her. She knew exactly what it was like to come from a poor home, for in her darkest moments she remembered her mother dying in the hovel that they had lived in. It was a memory she tried hard to forget and she knew that the death of baby Len would always be with Nancy, no matter how she tried to escape her past, of that she was certain as she smiled at her first customer of the day and poured a gill while the restaurant filled with customers; she could never show her true feelings to the world, she had learned that a long time ago.

The news of the terrible crime that Nancy’s father had committed was soon public knowledge. The Leeds Intelligencer reported the infant’s murder on the front page with a graphic ink-drawn illustration of what they believed Nancy’s father to look like as he committed the dreadful act. The staff at Whitelock’s read about it and whispered and looked at Nancy with an air of disbelief or pity. Some of them gave her sympathy and others just ignored her and didn’t broach the subject. Baby Len’s funeral was highlighted in the newspaper and the streets where Nancy and her family lived were lined with mourners respecting the poor child who had committed no crime other than crying when frightened.

Mary decided that the funeral was more important than serving her customers and made arrangements with John Whitelock for him to serve behind his own bar while she paid her respects as Nancy’s closest friend. She walked behind the small coffin, her arms linked with Nancy’s, as his brothers carried the baby from out of the dilapidated terrace house to his resting place in the churchyard. The tears and sobs from the crowd and family filled the air as the small body passed through the onlookers. A photographer stood at the entrance to the church and the flash of smoke from his picture-taking made Mary feel angry at the ghoulish pleasure that some people took in other people’s grief. No doubt the photograph would be appearing in tomorrow’s newspapers for all to read, with no thought of the family’s grief. The family stood heartbroken at the front of the church as the vicar said what words of comfort he could before offering up the young soul for deliverance before they all walked out into the graveyard for the burial under the sweeping branches of an ancient yew tree that would stand guardian to the small body.

Mary stood with her head down after throwing some soil onto the small coffin and stepped to one side as the family wept. Even though she knew them to have little or no money, they were all dressed immaculately in respect to their lost brother and son, all in black, with Nancy’s mother’s face covered in a veil. She felt her stomach churn, not knowing what to say to her as Nancy bade her mother say hello to her closest friend.

‘I thank you for attending with us today, Miss Reynolds, it has meant a lot to Nancy to have a friend to talk to these last few days.’ Alice Hudson looked at Mary, her eyes swollen from crying and she looking old for her years.

‘I’m sorry for your loss, Mrs Hudson. I don’t know what I can say to make things any better,’ Mary said quietly.

‘Nay, there’s nowt you can say. My man’s a bad ’en. He liked to have his way but never faced up to the consequences. Well, he’ll have a lot to answer for when he faces his maker and he’ll be stalking the fires of hell when that rope around his neck finally takes his life.’ Nancy’s oldest brother put his arm around his mother and whispered comfort to her. ‘We’ll be long gone on that day, though. Has Nancy told you that we are to move to Lincolnshire this coming weekend? I can no longer live in this town, it holds too much heartache.’

‘I knew you were thinking of leaving, but not that soon.’ Mary looked across at Nancy, who bowed her head and couldn’t look at her.

‘Aye, well, we are, but I thank you once again for what you have done for my lass. She owes you a lot and I’m sorry she’s going to leave you needing a new bar lass, for you’ve become friends, I can see that.’ Alice Hudson took her son’s arm and stopped for a second by the grave’s edge to say her final farewell to her baby son and then walked out of the churchyard with all her family bar Nancy.

‘I’m sorry, Mary, I was going to tell you, but I was hoping that she would change her mind once we’d buried Len. But my uncle’s sending a horse and cart for our stuff and we’re to join him in a tied farmhouse in Lincolnshire. He’s got us all jobs potato and turnip planting and picking. My mother thinks it will be better for all of us – but I don’t want to go.’ Nancy was nearly in tears as she looked into Mary’s eyes.

‘I know that you said you were probably going to go but you hadn’t said anything more about it. I’ll miss you working with me – and I’ll miss you as a friend. But Nancy, potato picking isn’t for you! You’ll be out in all weathers, in the mud and cold; all of you would be much better staying in Leeds because things will get better and folk will soon forget about your father’s mistakes.’ Mary took Nancy’s hands. ‘These hands are not for potato picking. Now, I’ve been toying with the idea for a while but I will understand if you feel obliged to your family …’ Mary hesitated and then asked the question that she had been thinking about for some days. ‘Why don’t you come and live with me? I’d expect you to pay your way, but I could do with the company and it would help me with the rent; besides, we get on well together.’ Mary smiled and looked at the frowning Nancy, noticing the frown turn into a beaming smile as she listened to her proposal.

‘Do you mean it? You’re not just asking out of pity, are you?’ Nancy looked at Mary with tears in her eyes.

‘I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t mean it. Since my brother died I’ve been on my own and money has been tight. I’ve managed to pay my way but I have little left for any enjoyment in life so you would be a welcome lodger – and besides, you can cook, which is more than my brother could, and clean. It would be lovely to have someone share the chores of running the house with.’ Mary linked her arm through Nancy’s as they looked at the tiny grave that was about to be filled in.

‘Then you have yourself a lodger! I’ll tell my mother when I get home. She’ll not be suited, but our Meg is getting up and Tommy and Adam will be making money down in Lincolnshire, so they’ll all manage without me. It looks like I’ve got you to thank again, Mary. Oh, I’ll always be beholden to you and I can’t thank you enough.’

‘You’re welcome; I know what it’s like to be the centre of gossip and alone – and you’ll be all right with me. We’ll look after one another, like sisters. Now, you break the news gently to your mother in the morning – she’s had enough heartache for today – and I, in the meantime, will go back and relieve Mr Whitelock from running his own bar. I don’t think he was so suited at me for coming today, but I couldn’t let you down.’ Mary kissed Nancy on her cheek then watched as she ran to catch the rest of her family up as they walked solemnly down the street.

Mary sighed and turned away; she would go back into work, just to show willing, and then she would go home and start to get Toby’s old room ready for her paying guest. It would help her financially, that was a fact, but despite what she’d said to the girl, whether she and Nancy could live comfortably together was another matter. They were like chalk and cheese, and even though both had been born into poverty, from an early age Mary’s needs and wants had been seen to by Nell and Robert Jones, in a comfortable home where she was fed and clothed, while poor Nancy had been dragged up by her bootstraps. Only time would tell if they were compatible or not, but perhaps she should not have been as hasty as to offer her board and lodgings – after all, her father was an accused murderer and Nancy was known for her moods. Doubts crossed Mary’s mind as she made her way back to Whitelock’s through the busy streets and she only hoped that she had done right.

‘Are those all the possessions that you have?’ Mary looked at the few small boxes that had been hastily unloaded from the back of the cart that had all the Hudson family’s possessions on it, as well as the family itself.

‘Aye, I don’t need much in my life and besides, I never have the money to buy anything; my money, up to now, has gone into looking after my lot.’ Nancy smiled at her family as she stood in the doorway of her new home in Riley’s Court. ‘They’re wanting to be off for they’ve got a long haul before they get to my uncle’s and he wants to make good speed while the day is young.’

Mary looked at the cart, which was loaded with household belongings and children and adults, and noticed that the bodies outnumbered the furniture and belongings that were going to make their way down into Lincolnshire.

‘You’ll take care of my lass, she’s depending on you!’ Nancy’s mother shouted down from the front seat of the wagon, where she sat next to her brother, whose face was weather-beaten from the days spent out in his fields.

‘I’ll take care of her, Mrs Hudson, she’ll come to no harm while she is under my roof. We’ll look after one another.’ Mary stood with Nancy and looked up at the heartbroken woman as Nancy kissed her on the cheek and then did the same to the rest of the family.

‘Take care, Mam!’ Nancy yelled as her uncle slapped the reins over the two horses’ withers and the cart joggled out of the yard. The girls stood and watched and each had a feeling of loss: Nancy of her family and Mary of her privacy as Nancy turned to her and said, ‘Right, a pot of tea and then I’ll sort my room out. Am I at the front or the back of the house? I hope it’s not the back – I’ll not sleep for the rumbling of the trains going past and besides, it’s not long since your brother died in that room. I don’t fancy lying in the same bed as he’s been in. Imagine if I caught something from him!’

Like it or not, Nancy had been given the bedroom at the back of the house and Mary knew that if she was to keep her own privacy and a full say in how her own home ran, she had to stand her ground. ‘It’s at the back, Nancy, take it or leave it. And no, you won’t catch anything – all’s clean and waiting for you.’

‘Right you are then, you’re the boss – in more ways than one. I’m just the lodger and I should know my place,’ Nancy said sarcastically as she gathered her few possessions in her arm before climbing the stairs to her room, leaving Mary to make the brew that she had offered.

Mary shook her head; they might be friends, but perhaps living together would be a step too far for both of them. Time, no doubt, would tell, but just for now they could share a cup of tea together and discuss a few house rules if Mary was to have her way, else chaos would prove the master.

Weeks went by and living with Nancy proved to be difficult sometimes because she was set in her ways and, although the girl was very helpful around the house, Mary sometimes wished that she had never invited her to stay. But what was making a positive difference to Mary’s life was the amount of money Nancy contributed to running the home and if it hadn’t been for that, she might have been tempted to tell her to look for different accommodation. What made things truly difficult was the fact that they worked together and lived under the same roof, so they were never free of the sight of one another, unless one made an attempt to go out and get away from under the other. This Saturday morning, three months after Nancy had come to stay at Riley’s Court, it was different; Mary knew she had to be there for Nancy. Yesterday, they had executed her father and there was a vivid description of his hanging in the Leeds Mercury for everyone to read. There was no escaping it – her father was back in the limelight, with people actually watching the hanging and taking great delight in doing so. Nobody had the time of day for a child murderer, whether he had been drunk or sober.

Nancy came and sat down at the breakfast table across from Mary and looked sharply at her. ‘You needn’t try and hide the newspaper from my eyes before we go to work – I know a report on my father’s hanging will be in it.’

‘I didn’t think that you would want to see it, let alone read it.’ Mary picked up the newspaper and stared across at Nancy, concerned.

‘If I don’t hear it from you now, I’ll only hear it being whispered about at work. It’s best I get it over and done with before I walk out of these doors. Please, Mary, read it to me; reassure me that I am now free of the man whose name I carry, even though he was no father to me or my brothers and sisters.’

Mary looked at Nancy assessingly and then nodded before her eyes travelled to the report that she knew Nancy would be upset over, no matter that she claimed otherwise. The man, after all, had been her father and he couldn’t have been evil all the time. Her voice wavered as she read the extract.

The Hanging of a Child Murderer

Yesterday, at five to nine precisely, the chapel bell at Armley Gaol was rung to prepare the crowds that had gathered outside the walls there to hear of the execution of Harry Hudson. Hudson, who had earlier in the year killed without mercy his six-month-old son while under the influence of drink, had a much-stained record of various assaults, theft, and wife-beating, but the vicious attack on an innocent child was deemed unforgivable. The bell could be heard above the noise of the crowd as Hudson was escorted to the gallows by his executioner, William Billington. In his footsteps walked the prison chaplain and the governor of the prison. A white hood was placed over his head and Hudson could be heard to curse his executioner as he placed the rope around his neck before pulling the lever for him to drop to his death. The body took at least ten minutes to be still and was left hanging for over an hour before being committed for burial in the prison graveyard. Cheers rang out from the crowd as his death was pronounced.

Mary placed the newspaper on the table and looked across at Nancy: there was not one sign of regret on Nancy’s face, no tears or sobs, only a sigh, and then she sipped her tea.

‘The bastard’s gone, then; let’s hope that he rots in hell,’ Nancy said quietly and then smiled at Mary. ‘We’re free at last from the man who made all our lives hell!’