Part 8 (1/2)

'You ought to be ashamed of yourself ...'

David swooped on his helmet and put it on, adjusting the chin strap. Turning his head, he saw one of his cousins frowning at him. Samuel Goldstein was the son of his father's only brother. David sighed; it wasn't the first time he'd been accused of being a traitor by family members who hated Mosley and all he stood for. Sometimes the messages came via his parents, and that annoyed him. If any of his extended family had an axe to grind over his chosen career he'd sooner they found the guts to tell him face to face, as Samuel just had.

'I'm not taking sides, Sam. I'm simply doing a job,' David said.

'Yeah, that's what they all say in the midst of raping and pillaging,' Samuel mocked.

A police cordon had enclosed the band of Blacks.h.i.+rts and was escorting them to the top of the road to disperse. The protestors were drifting away.

'Don't be so b.l.o.o.d.y melodramatic,' David said wearily, starting off in the direction of the station, the backs of his hands brus.h.i.+ng down his uniform. Most of his colleagues had got a lift back in the Black Marias but he preferred not to be wedged in with that lot.

His cousin fell into step beside him. They weren't close friends not any more. They had been in their youth, but then Samuel had gone on to marry the girl that David had been stepping out with. There'd been no actual falling out; a faint hostility had set in and they'd grown apart as David distanced himself and Samuel settled into married life with Rachel.

'You wait and see,' Samuel warned with a finger wag. 'These Fascists are going to end up causing big trouble, you mark my words.'

'You and your friends aren't stirring the pot organising counterdemonstrations?' David mildly pointed out.

'We have to make a stand against such hatred or we'll be crushed underfoot. Anyway, I wasn't involved.' Samuel adopted an innocent expression. 'I was just pa.s.sing when it all kicked off.'

David stared explicitly at the dishevelled state of his cousin's overcoat, where two b.u.t.tons had been ripped off in the fracas. 'Of course you were, Sam. That's exactly what I thought ...'

Samuel clapped his cousin on the back in appreciation of his tacit support. 'As Mosley likes the n.a.z.is so much, he should p.i.s.s off to Germany and set up camp over there.' He thrust his hands into his pockets.

'How's Uncle Reuben?' David could sense his cousin's anger reigniting so changed the subject, asking after Sam's father.

'Doctor's told him to stop drinking so much, other than that he's much the same.' Sam shrugged.

'And Aunt Nora?'

'Driving me and Rachel mad. She keeps going on about wanting her grandkids before she gets any older ...' His smiled faded. He'd spoken spontaneously, forgetting the subject was a bit awkward with this fellow.

David patted his cousin's shoulder to ease his embarra.s.sment. 'Yeah ... come on, mate, it's about time. You've been married long enough,' he said, letting Sam know it was time for all to be forgiven and forgotten. He suddenly spotted Kathy across the road, walking ahead of him, and his face split into a grin.

'There's my girl ...' David was about to speed across the road to speak to Kathy but he didn't want it getting back to his parents that he'd lied about their having split up.

'Very nice.' Sam c.o.c.ked his head to a.s.sess Kathy's rear view and her wavy blond hair glinting in the suns.h.i.+ne. 'Not a regular in the synagogue, I'd say,' he teased.

'You'd be right; so if Mum or Dad grills you on the subject, you don't know anything. Just like I don't know anything about your politics.'

'Understood.' Sam tapped the side of his nose, winking conspiratorially. 'Don't even tell me her name. The less I know about yon fair maiden, the less I've got to forget.'

The men parted with a handshake, then David loped across the road to catch up with Kathy. She spun round, surprised and happy to see him.

'You timed that just right.' David settled in to stroll beside her. 'Where have you been?' He'd noticed she was out of uniform. 'Thought Thursday was your afternoon off this week.'

'So did I, but Eunice changed it as she's got a hairdresser's appointment on Thursday. I've been to see Jenny. It's as well I did call in; she's quite poorly.' Kathy noticed David's expression registering faint disapproval.

Years ago, it had got around the neighbourhood in Islington that Jennifer Finch had turned out no good and her parents had disowned her. Kathy had wondered if David's folk had taken against her because of her twin's bad reputation. She imagined most people had jumped to the conclusion Jennifer Finch was rearing a b.a.s.t.a.r.d on her own because the father had done a runner. Heaven only knew what they'd think about her sister being drawn into a life of shoplifting and prost.i.tution.

When her sister's name cropped up in conversation David seemed satisfied with vague explanations that Jennifer had a few problems in her life. Her boyfriend, Bill Black, was a villain, and there was a possibility David might have come across him in his line of work. Kathy was optimistic they'd not met, as Bill hailed from south London; nevertheless she took care never to mention Bill's name.

'What's up with Jenny?' David suddenly asked after they'd been strolling in silence for a few minutes.

'Bad stomach ...' Kathy blurted, jogged from her uneasy reflection on the stumbling blocks d.o.g.g.i.ng their relations.h.i.+p.

David lifted his eyebrows in a way that nettled Kathy.

'I've felt queasy recently. Perhaps there's something going round,' she said obstinately.

'You've probably caught something off her.' David came to a halt at a crossroads, about to head off in a different direction from Kathy, towards Leman Street station. 'See you Sat.u.r.day? I'll pick you up at seven.'

'I'm not sure ...' Kathy said. 'I might get Sunday off instead. Best leave it this week.'

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

'A fellow came round to see you this afternoon.'

Kathy had just arrived home and had been about to unlock her front door when her boss's wife had called out to her, halting her in her tracks.

'A man came to see me? Who was it? A patient's husband?' Kathy retraced her steps, noticing Eunice Worth was giving her a rather strange look.

'Don't know any woman on your rounds lucky enough to have a husband like him.' Eunice crossed her arms over her plump bosom. 'He brought you a new bike over.' She c.o.c.ked her head, still eagle-eyed. 'I told him to put it in the shed.'

Kathy moistened her lips. There was only one fellow she could think of who might get her a bike other than Dr Worth. And obviously, he had not; neither did Kathy believe he'd made much of an attempt to do so. David hadn't been of much help either when she'd told him about the theft. He'd shrugged and said the most he could do was log it at the station and hope that it might turn up.

'Tall blond man, well dressed, said his name was Nick Raven ...' Eunice said slyly.

'Oh ... right ...' There was no reason for guilty colour to stain her cheeks yet Kathy sensed it was.

'New boyfriend?' Eunice was unable to control her inquisitiveness any longer. Her plucked eyebrows winged over her sharp gaze, demanding a reply.

'Just an acquaintance.' Kathy sounded commendably casual. 'He knew my bike got stolen and promised to keep an eye out for one for me. I'm glad he's been luckier turning something up than Dr Worth has.'

The barbed remark wiped the smile off Eunice's face. She knew very well that her husband had put minimum effort into searching out a replacement vehicle for his district nurse. Eunice's opinion was that Kathy Finch should take more care with other people's property or suffer the consequences, and she'd nagged her husband into sharing it.

'Did Mr Raven leave a note?' Kathy enquired, her mind turning at once to how she was to thank Nick and ask how much she owed him for the bike. She'd no idea where to contact him.

Eunice glanced in irritation over a shoulder as her husband summoned her. The appointments weren't quite finished for the day and two patients remained seated in the waiting room. She would have liked to linger and probe for a bit more information about Nurse Finch's relations.h.i.+p with the handsome fellow, dressed in an expensive suit, who'd turned up in a workman's van to make the delivery.

'He didn't leave anything but the bike,' Eunice said. 'Don't reckon he would have said his name only I made a point of asking for it. Yes ... I heard you ...' she hissed at her husband as he again called her because the telephone had started to ring.

Once Eunice had gone back to work, Kathy unlocked the shed and went inside. Her worst fears were proven. The bicycle was exactly what she wanted in size and shape, brand new and gleaming. She sighed, tightening her fingers on cold chrome handlebars. She feared Nick Raven's generosity had a lot to do with the gleam in his eye when he looked at her. So she'd have to give the b.l.o.o.d.y thing back because she hadn't got the cash to pay for it ...