Faith - Lesley Pearse [69]
‘That’s right, run out on us again!’ June retorted.
Laura was exasperated. ‘What do you want of me?’ she asked. ‘To be your slave like I used to be, I suppose. Maybe you want me to nip down the shops and steal a few groceries too? Well, I’m not coming round here to clean up alter you, or to be insulted. If you can’t talk to me properly, I won’t come again. I’ve got a good life now, no thanks to you, and I’m not going to let you destroy it.’
‘You don’t know what I went through when you left,’ June said, tears coming into her eyes. ‘I couldn’t sleep for worry, the little ones kept asking for you. And all Vince kept saying was that you thieved money off him.’
‘He was right about that, I did,’ Laura admitted. ‘He owed it to me after what he’d put me through. Didn’t you even suspect what he was doing to me?’
‘She don’t care about anything but herself,’ Meggie piped up. ‘Soon as I’ve got a few bob behind me I’ll be off too.’
Laura felt helpless. She could see everything that she’d once felt in Meggie’s face. If she hung around until Ivy and Freddy came back no doubt she’d see and hear more that would distress her. She was a little touched by June’s claim she was very upset when she left, but that was probably yet another ruse to play on her sympathy.
‘What happened to Mark and Paul?’ Laura asked.
‘Back inside,’ Meggie said. ‘They was out for a couple of years, kept coming round tapping Mum up for money, and like a mug she gave it to them. Then they got caught burgling some house in Hampstead and they got a couple of years apiece.’
Just the way Meggie spoke made Laura shudder. It was clear she was hanging around now with a rough crowd and had picked up their way of speaking and acting. She had been such a sweet little kid, so eager to please, and loving too. How could all that have gone?
‘How are you managing for money?’ she asked June.
‘I’ve got a widow’s pension.’ She shrugged. “Course that don’t go very far, and until the probate gets sorted I can’t touch nothing in Vince’s bank account.’
Laura took £10 out of her purse. It was all she had apart from a few coins. ‘That’s all I can spare right now,’ she said. ‘Go back to the solicitor and tell him that you’ve got nothing. The more information you give him, the more likely he is to see you right. I’ll phone again on Thursday, and if by then you want me to go with you to see him, I will.’
‘You’d better leave us your address and telephone number,’ June said, without even looking up or thanking her for the money.
A stab of fear struck Laura. She knew full well that once the address was handed over, the first time June, or even Meggie, had a problem they’d be round.
‘I’ll phone you,’ she replied. ‘I work away from London a lot so I’m rarely at home. I must go now because I’ve got some work to prepare for tomorrow. Will you walk down to the bus stop with me, Meggie?’
She expected a rebuff, but Meggie nodded, then went to get her coat.
‘Bye, Mum.’ Laura bent to kiss June and the smell of smoke lingering around her took her right back to her childhood and made her eyes prickle. ‘I always cared about you,’ she blurted out. ‘I only left because of Vince. But pull yourself together and clear up, eh? This is a lovely house and if you get Vince’s money you’ll be on easy street. You’re luckier than most.’
June’s arm went around Laura’s waist, and for a second she leaned into her chest. ‘I’ll try,’ she murmured. ‘And I’m glad to know you’re safe and grown into a beauty.’
6
Stuart paid off the taxi outside the Alexandra nursing home in Muswell Hill and walked up to the front door carrying a bouquet of flowers. The elegant Victorian terrace was very similar to Duke’s Avenue where Lena Thompson used to live, but three houses had been converted into the home, and the original front gardens were now paved over.
In the middle bay window he could see two white-haired old