Josephine Cox - Lonely Girl

‘You needn’t worry about that because I am not getting involved. Please, sweetheart, you’re much better at this kind of thing than I am.’

‘But I’m so tired, Roger.’ She tried a change of tack. ‘I don’t know where Molly is any more than you do. So please, help me out here, will you?’

He turned away, saying, ‘Get down there and see him off! You can have a lie-in, and I’ll get up and oversee the brewery’s delivery.’

‘No. What if I work the late shift again tonight instead?’ She much preferred that.

‘Nope.’

‘Hmm. Call yourself a man?’ Slinking out of bed, she gave him a parting slap across the shoulders. ‘And don’t think you can have your wicked way with me when I get back.’

‘Spoilsport!’ He turned over and gave her a cheeky little wink. ‘I really hoped I might be on a promise.’

‘Well, you were wrong.’ She threw her dressing gown over her nakedness. ‘You get back to sleep. I won’t wake you because I’ll be sleeping in the spare room tonight.’ She thrust on her slippers and strode angrily across the room, banging the door behind her. ‘Lazy git.’ Her sharp cursing echoed back to him.

‘Yeah, you too!’ Making a face, he turned over again and went back to sleep.

John Tanner was relieved when he saw the lights going on. A moment or so later, the door was opened by the landlady, who looked harassed and dishevelled in her hastily thrown-on dressing gown. ‘What the devil d’you think you’re doing, banging and shouting through the letter box? We were fast asleep in bed. Don’t you know what time it is?’

‘I’m sorry,’ John said. ‘I’m looking for my wife, Molly. She hasn’t come home from work yet.’

‘Well, I’m sorry, I have no idea where she might be. She ended her shift as usual, and then she had a last drink or so with her friend. As I recall, it was past closing hour when I turned them out.’

‘Who was it, this friend?’ John asked.

‘I have no idea.’ Peggy recalled that Molly and her friend had had a relationship before Molly married John Tanner, but she decided it would be best to keep her mouth shut.

‘Did they go off together?’

‘Well, I suppose they parted company once they were out of here … I don’t know.’ She was wishing she had not even mentioned Molly Tanner’s ‘friend’.

‘What did this friend look like?’

‘Sorry, I was run off my feet … too busy to take notice.’

‘When they left, though, did you see which way they went?’

‘Nope.’ The landlady hunched her shoulders. ‘Like I said, I was run off my feet. But I’m sure she’ll be home when you get back. Now, I need to go to my bed. I’m up at five in the morning.’

John was feeling desperate. ‘So you really can’t describe this friend to me?’

Increasingly uncomfortable at being put in this position, the landlady replied with a slow shake of her head.

‘Was it a man or a woman?’

Peggy cautioned herself against getting drawn into any business of Molly’s. Although she had never actually met John Tanner before she was well aware of his reputation as a decent, hard-working man and a fine husband. However, jealousy could change the situation in a minute.

‘I really must get back to bed,’ she pleaded. ‘Like I say, she’s bound to be home by the time you get there.’

Peggy was not the only one who had been surprised at John Tanner’s marrying Molly. It was local belief that he had settled for the wrong woman, although he appeared happy and contented.

For her part, Peggy Benson tried to distance herself from the gossip. It wasn’t good for business to be known for spreading tittle-tattle, especially about her own staff. She saw Molly as a good barmaid, but possessed of a sense of her own importance.

Peggy found herself feeling for John, who was obviously not aware of his wife’s devious nature.

‘Please …’ John pressed her for an answer. ‘What did her friend look like?’

‘Oh, he was nothing special. I didn’t take too much notice. Like I said, I was run off my feet.’

‘But she was with a man – that’s what you said.’

‘Did I?’ She could have kicked herself.

‘Yes. Just now, you said, “He was nothing special.”’

‘That’s right, but I didn’t get a good look at him.’

John needed more information. ‘This man – can you recall anything else? For instance, what he was wearing?’ He had an idea, though if he were less desperate he’d have realised he was clinging on to a very faint hope. ‘Did he have a mop of fair, wavy hair, because it might well have been her sister’s husband, Patrick. She may have gone with him to see her sister, although they surely would have rung us at home first.’ He was babbling now.

‘I can’t describe the friend,’ Peggy informed him. ‘I saw him only from the back. I was busy all night, so I didn’t get a proper look at him.’

John gently insisted, ‘Try and think back. Did the man have a thick mop of fair, wavy hair?’

‘I can’t recall. Sorry.’

John had by now convinced himself that Molly must have bumped into the amiable Paddy, her brother-in-law. ‘Thank you, and I’m truly sorry to have bothered you.’ He bade Peggy good night.

‘I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful …’ She began closing the door, regretting being so impatient with him. ‘Only I’ve had one hell of a day. I really need to get some sleep before I’m on my feet again.’ She was also wishing she had been more careful with the little information she had offered.

‘So you really have no idea where they were headed?’ John was not altogether content with the outcome of their little chat.

‘No, I have no idea whatsoever,’ she assured him. ‘I’m really sorry.’ She truly sympathised with his dilemma, but was most reluctant to add anything to what she had already said. Fearing he might ask more questions, she continued closing the door. ‘Good night then.’ Feeling mean, she quickly shut and secured the door behind him.

She then hurried up the stairs and went straight to the bedroom window, ignoring her husband’s sleeping form. She peeped through the curtains to see John Tanner hurrying away down the shadowy street.

She considered him to be a well-built figure of a man, in his long dark coat and black-and-white checked flat cap. She also believed him to be a good and kindly soul although if the occasion demanded it, she sensed, he could be a man to be reckoned with.

For a few minutes more, she kept him in sight but then he turned the corner and was gone.

She now called to mind how his feckless wife had flirted shamelessly with her male companion. ‘You’re a downright fool, Molly!’ she murmured under her breath. ‘You don’t deserve a fine man like John Tanner.’

Eager to get home, John quickened his steps. He felt somewhat relieved by the landlady’s assurance that he might find Molly waiting at the farmhouse.

Hurrying from the intrusive lights of streetlamps and passing vehicles, he turned into the long lane towards home. Maybe she’s right, he thought. Perhaps Molly really will be home by now, and no doubt wondering where I am.

He wondered if Rosie might tell Molly he was out searching the streets for her. He hoped not, because Molly would be angry about that and he was in no mood for an argument.

Taking a moment to think about it, he convinced himself that Rosie wouldn’t say anything. Regrettably, Rosie and Molly were never going to be best friends. He thought it understandable, especially when one of them was gentle and giving, while the other was hard-hearted and capable of wickedness.