Chapter 21
Bobby found Tony in the George pub, just as Lilian had said. He was sitting glumly in the public bar, head resting on his palms. In front of him was an almost-finished pint, a newspaper and an overflowing ashtray that suggested he had been there some time.
Bobby approached and nodded to the paper. ‘Is that the Telegraph? You’ll never get back on the Courier if Clarky hears you’ve been seen around town with the competition.’
‘More jobs in here. Not that I can do any of the buggers.’ Tony finished his cigarette, added it to the pile of butts in the ashtray and glanced up at her listlessly. ‘What’re you doing here? Have you really come to thump me this time?’
‘I’m sorry I threatened to thump you,’ Bobby said. ‘Well, no I’m not, you deserved it. But right now, I’ve come to buy you a pint.’
Tony blinked. ‘Have you? What for?’
‘Call it a wedding present. Bitter?’
‘Mild. Ta.’
Bobby went to the bar. The pub was a disreputable-looking place in spite of its kingly name, and the landlord eyed her with silent suspicion as he poured the drinks.
This evidently wasn’t the sort of place women frequented, and Bobby attracted further looks of disapproval from the old men standing around smoking as she took a seat opposite Tony.
Probably they thought she was a lady of dubious morals looking for a pick-up.
But none of that mattered. She only needed half an hour.
‘Here you are.’ She slid Tony’s pint to him.
‘Why’re you being nice to me?’ he asked, taking a mouthful. ‘Did you see the missus?’
‘I did. She told me you’d be in here.’
‘She tell you to be nice to me?’
‘She asked me to check up on you.’ Bobby gestured to his paper. ‘No joy?’
‘No.’ He lit another cigarette. ‘It’s going to have to be Liverpool. Sorry, Bob, but it’s time I faced facts. Clarky won’t have me back, even with the reference I got off Don, and there’s nowt else for me round here.’
‘I was afraid you were going to say that,’ she said with a sigh.
‘The bombing’s eased up, at any rate. Maybe it won’t be so bad.’
‘It only takes one big shock for a woman to miscarry, Tony. You’d be putting Lil and the baby in danger. Is that what you want?’
‘Course it’s not. But I can’t feed the pair of them on air, can I?’ He tapped the ash from his cigarette rather violently.
Bobby watched him. He didn’t look like the Tony Scott she remembered: perpetually grinning, always ready with a quip or an off-colour joke. He looked tired, and angry, and frustrated.
‘Tony, can I ask you something?’ she asked quietly.
He shrugged, which she took to be a yes.
‘Why did you marry my sister?’
‘What do you mean, why? There’s a baby coming.’
‘So? Plenty of men walk away from that.’
‘Aye, I know what you’re thinking,’ he said, glaring at the newspaper. ‘Plenty of men like me. That’s what everyone thinks, isn’t it? Tony Scott, who never worked a day in his life, who can’t be trusted with other lads’ girls, who doesn’t give a damn about anyone but himself.’
‘Are you saying that’s not fair?’
His hand shook as he took a sip of his pint. ‘Maybe it was, but not any more. Your sister was in a spot thanks to me and I wasn’t going to leave her high and dry. Hard as it is to believe, Bobby, I’m not a complete bastard.’
Bobby regarded him with one eye narrowed.
‘All right,’ she said at last.
‘Believe me, do you?’
‘You’ve successfully exorcised any lingering desire to thump you, at least. But do you have to move your family down to Liverpool? It’s so far away.’
‘A few hours on the train isn’t too bad. I mean, if you wanted to come help out when the baby gets here.’
All right. Now was the time for Operation Damsel-in-Distress. Bobby lowered her gaze.
‘I will if I can get the leave,’ she said solemnly.
Tony blinked. ‘Leave? From that magazine?’
‘No, from the WAAF. Didn’t Lil say? I’m to be drafted in a few months. I don’t mind telling you, Tony, I’m worried sick about it.’
Bobby sighed again, making sure it sounded good and heartfelt.
In his own way, Tony was a bit of a romantic.
At least, he had a soft spot for a woman in need, despite his roving ways.
If he thought he was doing Bobby a favour rather than the other way around, she could avoid wounding his oh-so-fragile male pride.
‘What’re you worried about?’ Tony asked. ‘They’re not going to send you up in a Spit, you know.’
‘Can I have one of your cigarettes?’
‘If you want.’ He tapped one out of the packet and struck a match to light it for her. ‘Didn’t know you smoked.’
Bobby took a drag and coughed.
‘I don’t,’ she gasped. ‘Bloody Nora, Tony. Are they those Egyptian ones?’
‘Yes, why?’
‘Your throat must be like sandpaper.’ She coughed again, then for appearance’s sake took another drag, trying not to inhale. ‘I thought it might help settle my nerves. I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do.’
She wondered if now would be a good time to turn on the waterworks, but decided that would be a bit much. Tony had known her too long to fall for fake hysterics. Instead, she worked on making her eyes wide and helpless. Men liked that.
‘About what?’ Tony asked.
‘My dad. The cottage we live in is a sort of grace-and-favour arrangement courtesy of my job. Once I go, he’ll be homeless.
’ She swallowed hard to suggest tears might be just around the corner.
‘He earns forty shillings a week as a gamekeeper, which isn’t too bad considering he’s new to the work, but it wouldn’t be enough to rent a decent cottage and hire a housekeeper to look after it. ’
‘Hmm. Guess it wouldn’t.’
‘And Lord knows how Reg is going to find someone for the magazine,’ Bobby went on.
‘He needs someone who can write and who’s nimble enough to get around the Dales, and there are so few young people left now the War Office seems intent on conscripting the world and his wife.
Me leaving is putting everyone in a proper pickle.
I feel ever so guilty about it – and that’s on top of worrying about Lilian. ’
‘Lilian’s all right. I’m looking after her,’ Tony said, putting out his cigarette and immediately lighting another. Deciding that the one he’d given her had served its purpose as a prop, Bobby stubbed it out and tried to wash away the acrid taste with a mouthful of beer.
‘You’re not though, are you?’ she said. ‘You’re in the pub, Tony.’
‘Aye, looking for a job.’
‘And failing to find one,’ Bobby pointed out, tapping his newspaper. ‘What with worrying about Lil, my dad, the magazine and the damn war, I’m finding it hard to sleep.’ She let out another deep sigh. ‘It’s all such a mess.’
Tony didn’t say anything. He just drew thoughtfully on his cigarette. Bobby drank her beer in silence, waiting for his brain to make the connection she’d pointed it so firmly towards.
‘Not much money on that mag, I suppose,’ he said at last.
‘No. Only twenty bob a week.’
He snorted. ‘You manage on that?’
Bobby shrugged. ‘I know it doesn’t sound much, but it comes with the cottage, and some of our meals are shared with the folk at the farmhouse, which cuts costs. It’s better than a private in the Army gets.’
‘Small, is it, your cottage?’
‘It’s not really a cottage at all. It’s a converted barn – very snug.
Still, there are two bedrooms, and a kitchen,’ Bobby said, trying not to give away that she knew what he was getting at.
‘No indoor plumbing but there’s a flush privy in the outhouse and a pump outside for water.
Electric too. It’s perfect for just me and my dad. ’
‘Hmm.’
‘The cold is probably the worst thing, but when the fire’s blazing it’s a cosy little home,’ Bobby continued.
‘I felt like I’d really fallen on my feet when we moved in, with my work at The Tyke, the cottage, good fresh air and all that splendid countryside.
Plus I was able to make a home for my dad away from this smoky, disease-ridden town, and help him find a healthy job he loves.
’ This time, a tear arose naturally at the thought of all she would be saying goodbye to.
‘Now I’m going to lose it all, thanks to the bloody war,’ she said in a choked voice.
Tony gave her hand a clumsy pat.
‘There, there,’ he said, looking rather out of his depth. Still, Bobby could tell he was sympathetic. And what was better: there was a certain calculating sparkle in his eye that meant he was well on the way to where she wanted him to be.
She dabbed at her eyes with a hanky and summoned a grateful smile.
‘Thanks for listening, Tony,’ she said. ‘I don’t know why I’m telling you all this.
I needed to unburden, I suppose, and I didn’t want to give our Lilian anything else to think about.
She’d worry herself sick about Dad if she knew he was about to become homeless, and that wouldn’t be good for the baby. ’
‘No.’
‘Can I get you another?’ she asked, nodding to his nearly empty pint. She needed to be getting back to Silverdale, as she had promised Reg, but she wasn’t prepared to leave until her work here was done.
‘Best not,’ he said, rather to her surprise – she’d never known Tony to refuse a beer when someone else was paying. ‘Your Lil’ll have my guts for garters if I go home reeking.’
Bobby laughed. ‘Spoken like a true married man.’
Tony looked pensive while he finished his cigarette.
‘Is your boss wanting a young lad for this job then?’ he said after a bit.
‘I suppose he’d prefer someone older with a bit of experience, but a quid a week isn’t likely to tempt anyone when there are well-paid jobs going begging for men not in the forces. He’ll have to take what he can get.’
‘Would he consider me, do you reckon?’
Bobby had never been so grateful for the acting experience she had gained when Topsy had recruited her for the village pantomime. She made her eyes wide with feigned surprise.
‘You?’ she said, blinking.
Tony shrugged. ‘Why not? I’ve got experience.’
‘You wouldn’t want a job at that wage, would you?’
‘The wage isn’t so bad if it comes with a house.
Like you said, I’d be no better off in the Army, and I’d rather be at a nice warm desk than getting my brains shot out in Africa or lugging sacks around in Liverpool.
’ He stubbed out his cigarette. ‘Anyhow, owt’s better than being crammed in at my mam’s listening to our Oliver snoring.
It’s hard to enjoy your conjugal rights when you and your wife can’t even have your own room. ’
‘I hadn’t thought of it like that,’ Bobby said. ‘I suppose there are a lot of advantages, when you look at it that way.’
‘Your sister would like it too, I reckon. Being with her old man, away from the bombs.’ He met her eyes. ‘Don’t you think she would? You know her better than me.’
Bobby couldn’t help reflecting on the irony of this: that a man should know so little of the woman he had married.
‘She’d appreciate being near Dad,’ she said. ‘I’m sure Mary would help with the baby too – Reg’s wife. She loves children. Do you think you’ll apply?’
Tony still looked hesitant. ‘Your dad might not be keen. He knows now, does he?’
‘He knows.’
‘Everything? The baby too?’
‘Everything. Including how you held back that story to get Lil to go on dates with you.’
‘It wasn’t like that. Pulling the story was a favour – to you as well as Lil.’
‘Mmm. But it wasn’t me you wanted a date from, was it? Anyhow, I can tell you now that my dad doesn’t see it that way.’ Bobby met his gaze. ‘But you’re right – if he can be talked round, it could be the best arrangement for everyone.’
‘Reckon he can be? Talked round, that is?’
‘I think so. Just leave it to me and Lil, and be as charming as possible when you visit on Wednesday, all right? I can arrange for you to talk to Reg too.’ Bobby stood up. ‘I need to get back. If I were you, I’d go home and start drafting a letter of application.’
‘Right. I’ll do it in the morning when I’m sober.’
She started to leave, then turned back. ‘Tony?’
‘Mm?’
‘Did you mean it?’
‘Mean what?’
‘When you said you were determined to do right by Lil. That this time you really were going to change.’
He shrugged. ‘If a wife and bairn don’t straighten me out, nowt’s going to.’
Bobby watched him for a moment.
‘Here,’ she said at last, fishing out a few coins from her purse. ‘There’s half a crown there. You can use it to take our Lil out tonight. See if Rebecca’s showing anywhere, that’s her favourite.’
Tony blinked at the money. ‘You’re giving me cash?’
‘Yes, and you can tell your mam that’s where you got it if she gives you grief. Have a night out with your wife, eh? Lil looks exhausted, and you don’t look much better. Some time alone together is just what you need.’
For the first time, Tony managed to summon his old schoolboy grin. ‘Cheers, Bobby, you’re a gent.’
‘And mind, I’ll be telling Lil you’ve got it,’ Bobby told him sternly. ‘If I hear it went straight behind the bar, then that’s the last time I’ll do you a favour.’ She nodded to him. ‘Look after my sister. I’ll see you both soon.’