jumping off the Old Bridge in Pontypridd. He almost succeeded.’
‘I thought he was trying to rescue a dog.’
‘That was a story Harry and my father concocted with a police constable, so David wouldn’t be charged with attempted suicide,’ she explained. ‘If he’d been found guilty he could have been sent to gaol.’
‘Did you know that David was in love with you when you married Peter?’
‘I didn’t encourage him, if that’s what you mean. I didn’t even know he liked me until I read the note he left before he jumped off the bridge. For pity’s sake, he’s Mary’s brother, Harry’s brother-in-law. That practically makes him my brother too. We – my sisters and me, that is – thought of him as just that. We used to tease him the way we tease Harry.’ She glanced up and down the street again. ‘I won’t be able to live with myself if David does something stupid again.’
‘Go to Helga’s house with Judy and wait for David there,’ Micah ordered abruptly.
‘Where are you going?’ Edyth shouted after him as he ran down the street.
‘The dock,’ he called back.
‘Pastor Holsten’s right. David will probably go back to his sister’s house.’ Judy took Edyth’s arm.
‘Damn! Damn! Damn! And Vladivostok!’
As ‘damn’ was the strongest swear word Judy had heard Edyth use, and ‘Vladivostok’ Edyth’s substitute for a more conventional curse, Judy realised how upset she was. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll find David. He was so full of himself and sure of finding a berth out of the Bay, I can’t see him hurting himself.’
‘You heard what I said to Micah?’ Edyth looked at her friend.
‘I heard, but I’ll keep it to myself.’
‘I know you will. I only hope you’re right about David not hurting himself.’
Judy linked her arm into Edyth’s. ‘I bet we’ll find him sitting at the table in Helga’s back kitchen, drinking tea and eating pickled herrings, Norwegian cheese, and rye bread with her other lodgers. And listening to their tall stories about life at sea.’
Gertie was generally happy with life and especially happy with the money she was making. Even after she paid Anna three pounds to cover rent, food and household expenses, she still made five times as much as she could have expected to earn if she had gone into service. But being the youngest and newest resident in Anna’s house did have its drawbacks. She was always the one sent on errands, especially on Sunday afternoons, when most of her ‘regulars’ were with their wives, children, extended families, and friends.
Anna and Colleen had regular bachelor clients who visited them at that time, but she and the rest of the girls weren’t so lucky. Unless a ship came in, and not many had berthed on a Sunday even when the docks had been busy, they generally spent the day visiting their families – if they were allowed to step over the threshold of the family home – or reading or playing cards with Anna and Colleen’s children.
Still in her dressing gown at mid-afternoon, Gertie was lying on her bed immersed in a Mills and Boon romance she had borrowed from Boots’ lending library, when one of the children discovered they had run out of sugar. Despite the fact that she didn’t want tea, Gertie found herself unanimously ‘volunteered’ to go to the shop. Annoyed at having to dress, she opened her wardrobe and, remembering that it was Sunday, chose a relatively sober outfit.
Hot, bothered and put out at being picked on by the others, she left Abdul’s corner shop with a pound of sugar and a chocolate bar she had bought on impulse. Abdul’s was one of the few shops open in the Bay on a Sunday because he was a Muslim who ignored both the Christian calendar and the Sunday opening laws. She was heading back to the house when a good-looking young man hurtled around the corner ahead of her. Never one to let an opportunity slip by, she shouted, ‘Want a good time?’
David halted and looked back at her.
‘I thought he was trying to rescue a dog.’
‘That was a story Harry and my father concocted with a police constable, so David wouldn’t be charged with attempted suicide,’ she explained. ‘If he’d been found guilty he could have been sent to gaol.’
‘Did you know that David was in love with you when you married Peter?’
‘I didn’t encourage him, if that’s what you mean. I didn’t even know he liked me until I read the note he left before he jumped off the bridge. For pity’s sake, he’s Mary’s brother, Harry’s brother-in-law. That practically makes him my brother too. We – my sisters and me, that is – thought of him as just that. We used to tease him the way we tease Harry.’ She glanced up and down the street again. ‘I won’t be able to live with myself if David does something stupid again.’
‘Go to Helga’s house with Judy and wait for David there,’ Micah ordered abruptly.
‘Where are you going?’ Edyth shouted after him as he ran down the street.
‘The dock,’ he called back.
‘Pastor Holsten’s right. David will probably go back to his sister’s house.’ Judy took Edyth’s arm.
‘Damn! Damn! Damn! And Vladivostok!’
As ‘damn’ was the strongest swear word Judy had heard Edyth use, and ‘Vladivostok’ Edyth’s substitute for a more conventional curse, Judy realised how upset she was. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll find David. He was so full of himself and sure of finding a berth out of the Bay, I can’t see him hurting himself.’
‘You heard what I said to Micah?’ Edyth looked at her friend.
‘I heard, but I’ll keep it to myself.’
‘I know you will. I only hope you’re right about David not hurting himself.’
Judy linked her arm into Edyth’s. ‘I bet we’ll find him sitting at the table in Helga’s back kitchen, drinking tea and eating pickled herrings, Norwegian cheese, and rye bread with her other lodgers. And listening to their tall stories about life at sea.’
Gertie was generally happy with life and especially happy with the money she was making. Even after she paid Anna three pounds to cover rent, food and household expenses, she still made five times as much as she could have expected to earn if she had gone into service. But being the youngest and newest resident in Anna’s house did have its drawbacks. She was always the one sent on errands, especially on Sunday afternoons, when most of her ‘regulars’ were with their wives, children, extended families, and friends.
Anna and Colleen had regular bachelor clients who visited them at that time, but she and the rest of the girls weren’t so lucky. Unless a ship came in, and not many had berthed on a Sunday even when the docks had been busy, they generally spent the day visiting their families – if they were allowed to step over the threshold of the family home – or reading or playing cards with Anna and Colleen’s children.
Still in her dressing gown at mid-afternoon, Gertie was lying on her bed immersed in a Mills and Boon romance she had borrowed from Boots’ lending library, when one of the children discovered they had run out of sugar. Despite the fact that she didn’t want tea, Gertie found herself unanimously ‘volunteered’ to go to the shop. Annoyed at having to dress, she opened her wardrobe and, remembering that it was Sunday, chose a relatively sober outfit.
Hot, bothered and put out at being picked on by the others, she left Abdul’s corner shop with a pound of sugar and a chocolate bar she had bought on impulse. Abdul’s was one of the few shops open in the Bay on a Sunday because he was a Muslim who ignored both the Christian calendar and the Sunday opening laws. She was heading back to the house when a good-looking young man hurtled around the corner ahead of her. Never one to let an opportunity slip by, she shouted, ‘Want a good time?’
David halted and looked back at her.
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