Kitty Neale - Nobody’s Girl

Connie hung her head. ‘I don’t want you hurt.’

‘Gran, I’m a grown man. I like Pearl, and she likes me, but I know she’s only looking for friendship. Now if you don’t mind, I think you should keep your nose out. Come on, Pearl, I’ll take you home.’

‘Oh, please, don’t fall out over me.’

‘It’s all right, dear. Derek’s right and I had no business interfering.’ Connie stood up, going to her grandson’s side and laying a hand on his arm. ‘I’m sorry. Pearl’s a nice girl, and I like her. I was just trying to protect you, that’s all.’

Derek’s face softened as he looked down at the tiny woman. ‘Do I look like I need protection? Now come on, let’s start again, and how about cutting me another slice of cake?’

Pearl heaved a sigh of relief. Seeing the loving look that Connie Lewis was giving her grandson, she felt a twinge of envy. It must be wonderful to have someone to love you like that, unconditionally. Maybe she could think of Derek as more than a friend – maybe she could become part of this small family. She would have a home, Derek would always be there to look out for her, and she would never have to be afraid again. Yet even as she considered it, Kevin Dolby’s face flew into her mind. Stop it, stop dreaming, she berated herself.

Nobby Clark threw open the door of the empty bedsit with a flourish. ‘There you are, and it’s a guinea a week rent.’

The balding, flabby man looked around before testing the bed. ‘Yes, it’s all right. Is there a bathroom?’

‘There’s one further along the landing.’

‘How many tenants will I have to share it with?’

‘Only one. A young woman lives on the floor below, but she’s a nice quiet girl.’

‘What about my car? With the market set up every day, I can’t see anywhere to park outside.’

‘This is one of the few premises with a side entrance. You can drive round the back and park in the yard, but don’t come in through my shop. There’s another door that leads into the downstairs hall. You can use that.’

‘Right, I’ll take it and I’ll pay a month’s rent in advance.’

Nobby grinned, pleased to have a bit of extra money coming in. They were still planning the next job and things were a bit tight. ‘What do you do for a living?’

‘I work in insurance.’

‘And what’s your name?’

‘Trevor – Trevor Bardington.’

There was something about this bloke that gave Nobby the creeps, but with a month’s rent in his pocket he wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. He’d put a bet on, one that was heavily tipped, and maybe the bad luck that dogged him would change. Yeah, perhaps he’d be on to a big winner.

‘Thanks,’ the man said as Nobby handed him a rent book and keys. ‘I’ll pick up my things and be back later.’

As both men left the room to go downstairs, Pearl Button was on her way up. They waited until she reached the landing, Nobby saying, ‘Hello, Pearl, you’re just in time to meet Mr Bardington. He’s moving in to the room above yours.’

‘Hello,’ she said shyly.

The man nodded, saying nothing and, once again thinking he was a strange one, Nobby led him down to the street door, showing him out before going through to his shop.

It wasn’t long before Kevin Dolby and Dick Smedley turned up, looking furtively behind them as they walked in.

‘Are we nearly set to do the job?’ Nobby asked.

Dick answered, ‘I’ve seen a van and have been watching the driver’s movements for several days. He parks it up in the same spot every night, and as he’s got a ladder stashed on the top it solves another problem. I doubt he’ll notice the van’s gone until the following morning, so we’ll have done the job and dumped it before it’s reported missing.’

‘Sounds good,’ Kevin said. ‘And is it the usual buyer, Nobby?’

‘Of course it is. I daren’t offer it to anyone else – you know that. Anything that isn’t small time is always fenced through Vince.’

‘He must be raking it in.’

‘Yeah, but he ain’t one to cross. He’s got the borough sewn up, and if we offered it to anyone else his boys would turn us into mincemeat. I don’t fancy storing the booze overnight, so we’re to take it straight to his club. He’s gonna wait for us, and after unloading we can get rid of the van. Now it’s just a matter of deciding when we hit the warehouse.’

Dick pursed his lips. ‘I reckon tomorrow night. They get a delivery today, and nothing gets sent out again until Monday morning.’

‘That’s fine with me. What about you, Kevin?’

‘Yeah, I’m in.’

The three men went over the plans again. When they were satisfied, Kevin rose to his feet. ‘Right, how do you fancy a drink before we go to see the match?’

‘Good idea.’

Kevin felt a thrill of anticipation as they left the shop. After the job he’d be able to take a trip to Soho, and if the haul was a big one more trips would follow.

Pearl was pleased that another tenant was moving in, but had hoped it would be someone young, ideally a girl she could make friends with.

Mr Bardington looked to be in his forties. He was a big man, overweight, with a grey unhealthy appearance, and cold blue eyes. She had looked forward to having someone else in the house, especially at night, but wasn’t sure she liked the look of the older man.

Her bedsit was like an oven, stuffy, and even with the window open it felt airless. She wiped a hand across her brow as she perched on her bed. It was the third week in August, and with art classes starting soon, she wanted to check her savings.

She’d been frugal, and with any luck there would be enough to buy paint and brushes. She checked her tips, a frown creasing her forehead. With fewer tables to work, her tips had gone down, but surely not this much.

Mentally Pearl assessed the day. She had regulars who sat at her tables, and most tipped her once a week. Frank Hanwell always left her three-pence on a Saturday, along with the other costermongers who sat with him. Derek too was generous and he mostly left her sixpence.

An awful suspicion began to fill her mind, one she wanted to dismiss but couldn’t. It was over three weeks since Alice had started work in the café, and despite her earlier trepidations, they were getting on well together. She’d assured Alice that she could manage, but the woman still thought nothing of clearing Pearl’s tables along with her own, and also took over behind the counter to give Bernie a break.

Alice seemed to have boundless energy, and though the weather was blazing hot, she was rarely still. Yes, Alice cleared her tables for her, but what about the tips she found? Was she putting them in her own pocket?

Pearl stood up and moved across to the window. Oh, surely she was imagining things. It was wrong to be suspicious, yet it had happened so many times at the orphanage. They had little, but still had to guard their tiny treasures from thieving hands. Pearl remembered a ribbon she’d been given by a departing teacher. It had been pink and she’d treasured it, but one day it had gone. She had never found out who took it, but suspected an older girl, a bully whom she’d never had the courage to confront.

Now there was Alice, and if the woman was stealing her tips, what could she do? She daren’t accuse her – Alice would go mad – but was there another way? Derek!

She could ask him to have a word with her, or maybe she could tell Bernard Dolby … Round and round her thoughts went until at last her mind calmed. Take one step at a time. Watch Alice, and if she really was pinching her tips, then maybe their employer would sort it out.

At seven o’clock, Pearl was ready. Derek was boxing tonight and had invited her to the match. She had hesitated, hating the thought of the brutality, but Connie Lewis wanted to go, and had urged Pearl to join her.