Page 67 of The Winter Bride

‘Would you mind if I were to take Adam back to Nuneaton for the weekend?’ Annie asked Ruth one cold and drizzly morning. ‘I’m hoping to bring Peggy and Levi back with me so that Peggy can try on some of the dresses I’ve put by for the wedding. They’re getting married just before Christmas and I don’t want to leave it too late. Marie has agreed that Adam and Nancy can stay with them while Peggy and Levi are here so they can sleep in their bedroom.’

‘Of course I wouldn’t mind,’ Ruth assured her good-naturedly. ‘Go ahead, I’m more than happy to manage the shop.’

And so, on Friday morning Annie set off with Adam. Nancy had decided to stay in the flat. They arrived in Nuneaton just before lunchtime and went straight to Peggy and Levi’s.

‘You’re coming back with me to London on Monday,’ she told them bossily. ‘And I don’t want any arguments. As I told you, you’re going to be brand new from top to bottom on your wedding day and I’ve already selected lots of gowns for you to try on. While we’re there, we’ll get you measured for a new suit as well, Levi. My treat. You have got the church booked, haven’t you?’

‘I certainly have,’ Levi said. ‘It’s one o’clock on Saturday the twentieth of December at Chilvers Coton Church. But regardin’ a suit . . .’ He scowled. ‘What’s up wi’ the one I’ve got? Seems daft to waste a lot o’ money on somethin’ I’ll probably never wear again.’

Annie chuckled as she shook her head. ‘I can remember your suit from the time I came to live with you. It’s as old as the hills and completely outdated, so I’ll have no arguing, please.’ She turned to Peggy. ‘And who is goin’ to give you away?’

‘Sadly, one o’ me lads, Ricky, don’t think they can make it as he’s still away at sea, but Wilf’s goin’ to do ’is best to get ’ere,’ she told her. ‘But if he can’t, Davey’s offered to do it an’ Charlie is standin’ in as Levi’s best man.’ She sniffed back a tear as she thought of Tom, the son she had lost in the war. How she would have loved for him to be there to see her get wed.

‘There you are then. It sounds like you’ve been busy.’

‘Oh, an’ I knew I had something to tell yer.’ Peggy smiled. It wasn’t the day for feeling sad. ‘The circus is here an’ they’re stayin’ fer the whole o’ the winter now cos Mercy has ’ad the baby – a little girl. I told Barney yer’d be visitin’ soon, an’ they’re both lookin’ forward to seein’ yer. Me an’ Levi ’ave already been to see the baby, an’ she’s a little beaut. Levi is tickled pink wi’ her. He’s got Adam an’ a little gran’daughter now.’

‘How wonderful. I’ll make a point of going on Sunday.’ Annie was delighted to hear their good news and Adam would love another trip to the circus.

On Sunday afternoon they all got ready to visit Barney and Mercy. Annie was wearing a new blue coat over which she wore the beautiful shawl she had been wrapped in when she was left at the workhouse. She often wore it now for special occasions. There seemed no point in leaving it lying in a drawer, and somehow wearing it made her feel closer to her birth mother. The colour of the shawl complemented the dark-blue coat and when she came down the stairs of the cottage Peggy noticed it instantly.

‘Oh, so you wear it now, then?’ she said quietly.

Annie nodded, wondering why Peggy wasn’t smiling. ‘Yes, I decided I might as well.’ She gently stroked the soft silk. ‘It’s probably the closest I’ll ever come to my birth mother, after all.’

‘But what if it rains?’ Peggy frowned. ‘It might ruin it.’ It always made her feel sad when she saw Annie in the shawl because she knew how much she longed to find her birth family.

‘It doesn’t look like rain,’ Annie answered as she peered through the window. ‘And anyway, if it does, I can take it off and put it in my bag.’

As always, Barney made sure they had the finest ringside seats, and they all enjoyed the performance. Since Mercy had had to stop performing, Charity had taken her daughter’s place on the flying trapeze, and although she was now approaching middle age, she was still slim and lithe, and a very attractive woman.

Once her performance was over, she took a bow and as her eyes settled on Annie and the shawl about her shoulders, the colour suddenly left her cheeks. She staggered slightly as she turned to leave the ring, where she stood out of sight of the audience studying Annie closely.

She didn’t move until the performance was over and then she positioned herself at the entrance to the big top waiting for Annie to appear.

‘I-it’s Annie, isn’t it?’ She gave Annie a wavering smile. ‘I wonder would you mind comin’ with me to my trailer? I’d like to have a word.’

Annie’s eyes stretched wide. So this was Mercy’s mother. It was the woman she had seen some time ago as she was leaving Mercy’s trailer.

Luca was standing at the other side of the entrance saying his goodbyes to the audience and he too paled as he glimpsed the shawl about Annie’s shoulders.

Peggy stepped in and took Adam’s hand, saying, ‘Go on, pet. I’ll take the little ’un on the carousel, an’ yer can come an’ find us when yer done.’

With a nod, Annie followed Charity, who was still dressed in her glittering trapeze costume, to her trailer, closely followed by Luca.

Charity and Annie had only just stepped inside when Luca joined them, and Charity turned on him in a fury.

‘Right!’ Her eyes flashed. ‘I think it’s time we set the record straight, don’t you?’

Annie blushed and hung her head, embarrassed to be witnessing the two arguing.

Charity turned to her and her voice softened. ‘Do yer mind me askin’ where yer got that shawl? It’s very distinctive.’

‘I was wrapped in it when I was abandoned on the steps of the workhouse as a newborn,’ Annie told her solemnly.

Tears started to rain down Charity’s face. ‘Oh, my dear Lord,’ she gasped. She knew then that the suspicions she had been harbouring for some time must be true. She knew from what Barney had told her that Annie was the right age and her birthday was on the same day as the baby she had given birth to. Luca had told her she had been born dead, yet here was living proof that she was very much alive.

She rounded on Luca, and pointed a shaking finger at him. ‘You told me our baby was dead. That you had buried her in that shawl! I was semi-conscious by the time I gave birth and so I believed you. How could you be so cruel? And all because you believed the child wasn’t yours.’ She viciously stabbed her finger in his chest, causing him to stagger, as all the pain and hurt he had caused her over the years flooded back.