Page 59 of The Winter Bride

Tim stood up. ‘I’ll walk you back. It’s nearly dusk.’

Annie shook her head as she manoeuvred the pushchair towards the door. ‘There’s no need, really. I shall be perfectly all right.’

‘Well, just make sure you get back to Peggy’s before dark,’ Tim told her. ‘It ain’t safe to be walking about after that. They still ain’t caught the one that’s been attackin’ the women.’

Annie assured him she would be fine, but all the same she found herself glancing from side to side as she hurried back to Abbey Street. She’d just passed through the deserted marketplace when she saw a figure striding towards her and her heart flipped. It was Reggie and he’d seen her so there was no avoiding him now. She wished she’d taken Tim up on his offer of walking her home, but it was too late.

Gripping the handle of the pushchair she quickened her pace with her head held high.

He stopped dead in his tracks and as she neared him, he leered. ‘Brought the little bastard back for a holiday, have you?’

Her lip curled with disdain as she stared back at him. ‘Step out of my way or else I’ll scream so loudly the whole town will hear me,’ she warned. ‘And don’t you ever call my son a bastard again!’

He stepped aside but as she hurried on, she could feel his eyes burning into her back and the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. When she turned into the ginnel that led to Peggy’s cottage, she gulped with relief and almost tumbled through the door pushing the pushchair ahead of her.

‘Good grief, where’s the fire?’ Startled, Peggy looked up from her knitting. ‘Is everythin’ all right, pet?’

‘Where’s Nancy?’

‘She’s upstairs readin’ on her bed. Why?’

Annie sighed with relief. ‘Oh, I just saw Reggie that’s all and he was being horrible as usual.’

‘No change there then,’ Peggy said wryly. ‘When is ’e ever anythin’ else? Now come an’ sit down. Adam ’as nodded off, look, so yer can ’ave a cup o’ cocoa afore yer put him to bed.’

‘Do yer want me to go an’ have a word wi’ ’im?’ Levi asked.

Annie shook her head. ‘No, he didn’t actually touch me, he just said something horrible about Adam. But it’s nothing I can’t handle, really.’

Levi gritted his teeth. ‘One o’ these days that chap will get what’s comin’ to ’im,’ he growled. ‘An’ I for one won’t ’ave an ounce o’ sympathy. He badly beat up one o’ the girls from the whorehouse last week an’ she pressed charges against ’im, but o’ course his mother stepped in an’ made her an offer to drop ’em, so he’s got away wi’ it again!’

Annie carried Adam up to bed soon after and as she got him ready, she sighed. It seemed she couldn’t even come home to visit the people she loved without having a confrontation with Reggie and she wondered where it was all going to end.

The mood lightened the next morning when Nancy came back from the corner shop to tell them, ‘I just heard that the circus should be arrivin’ at the Pingles tomorrow.’

Peggy smiled. ‘Then I reckon we should all go for a family day out on Sunday.’

Everyone agreed it was a good idea and began to look forward to it. It would be nice to see Barney and Mercy again.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny and as they set off for the afternoon matinee performance they were all excited.

Barney was in the ticket office and immediately ushered them to ringside seats, promising to catch up with them when the performance was over. During the interval Levi fetched them all ice creams and candyfloss and Annie felt relaxed and happy. Adam was enchanted with every act and seeing his shining face, she couldn’t help but feel a little sad. He was such a lovely little boy, but he would never know his real father. She wondered what Alex might have thought of him. But it was no good wishing for what could never be. Alex already had another family and he was far too honourable to ever leave them, although she had no doubt he would have insisted on being financially responsible for Adam had he known about him. But she was determined that would never happen. She was more than capable of coping on her own.

When the show finished, Mercy came to find them and insisted they come to her trailer for a cup of tea, much to Adam’s disgust – he was intent on getting on the rides.

‘I was hoping to introduce you to my mother,’ Mercy told them as she led them along – she was quite heavily pregnant now. ‘But unfortunately, she’s down with a bad case of this horrible summer flu that’s goin’ around so she’s gone to ground. Poor thing, it’s really knocked her about. She’s there, look. In the trailer window wavin’ to you.’

As they looked towards the trailer, they saw an attractive woman with long black hair in the window and Annie thought she looked vaguely familiar. She smiled and waved to them for a moment before disappearing from view.

It was nearly dusk by the time they made their way back to Peggy’s cottage and Adam fell asleep in his pushchair, tired and content.

‘Eeh, I wish yer didn’t ’ave to go back to London,’ Peggy said regretfully as they turned into the ginnel.

‘All good things must come to an end, and I have to earn a living,’ Annie pointed out, although it would be a wrench to leave again. It always was, and as successful as the shop in London was proving to be, she did miss her hometown and the quieter way of life. She suspected that Nancy did too, although she’d seemed much happier since she started walking out with Jamie.

And so, when the week was up, Annie once again kissed them all goodbye and ushered Nancy and Adam to the station.

The shop was busy when they got back on Monday, and she sent Nancy and Adam upstairs while she took off her coat and set to helping Ruth serve the customers.