welfare department. They’ll need to find her a place in some sort of institution.’
‘No, Derek. I promised Bessie I’d take her on.’
‘You did what!’ he gasped, appalled.
‘All right, I know it was hasty, but when I made that promise I had no idea that Bessie was going to … to die. I thought she’d live to be a hundred.’
Derek was annoyed that Pearl had made such a promise without thinking of the ramifications. ‘You don’t seem to realise that looking after Nora isn’t going to be easy. It’ll be like having another child, but one who will never grow up. We’d be responsible for her financially too, but with less income because you’d have to pack in your part-time job to look after her. Not only that, you can’t expect your mother to give up her conservatory indefinitely. We’ll have to find somewhere else to live.’
‘I’m sorry, Derek, you’re right. I didn’t think it through. But Bessie did say something about making sure I wouldn’t lose out financially.’
‘She never seemed to have two pennies to rub together so I don’t see how,’ Derek said, but then, seeing that Pearl’s eyes were welling with tears again, he shut up. There was no way he’d agree to take Nora on permanently but Pearl’s feelings were too raw to sort this out now.
‘Derek, there’s something else. What about Bessie’s funeral? We’ll have to arrange that too.’
‘Blimey, do you know if she’s got a life insurance policy to pay for it?’
‘I’m not sure, but she told me that if anything happened to her, I’d find papers in a box under her bed.’
‘Right, I’ll go and get it while you sort Nora out.’
Pearl dabbed at the tears on her cheeks before going to wake Nora, while Derek went to Bessie’s room. For a moment he stood on the threshold, looking at the empty, unmade bed. Bessie had been a bit strange, odd at times, but he’d liked her. Though she was no longer there, no longer alive, it felt like an intrusion as he ferreted around under her bed, and at any moment he expected to hear Bessie’s strident voice asking him what the hell he was doing. Blimey, Derek thought, he was getting as fanciful as Pearl in believing that both Bessie and Nora had some sort of strange powers. Nevertheless, once his hand touched a wooden box, he pulled it out and beat a hasty retreat.
As he passed Nora’s room, Derek could hear her crying, but deciding that he’d be of no use he went to the living room. He felt a little cowardly in leaving Nora to Pearl, but consoled himself with the thought that women were always better at handling such things.
The box wasn’t very big but it was handsome, made of mahogany and beautifully carved; however, Derek was more interested in the contents. If Bessie had life insurance it would help with the cost of the funeral, yet as he sat down and opened the lid, the first thing Derek saw was an envelope addressed to Pearl.
He turned it over, finding the flap sealed, but had he opened it, Derek would have been shocked at the contents – as shocked as Pearl was going to be.
Chapter Six
Lucy Sanderson sat in her tiny flat. Though deeply saddened by Bessie’s death, she couldn’t help but start to really worry about her wages. She’d been helping out in the shop on a part-time basis for three days a week. However, since Bessie went down with bronchitis, she’d been working every day, along with doing little extras, like cooking their hot meals. On the strength of extra money coming in she had splashed out on a new pair of trousers and shoes for Clive. Now though, she hadn’t been paid and the rent was due.
I’m daft, she mused, I should’ve had a word with Pearl. But it hadn’t seemed right to bring up the subject of money when they were all so upset about Bessie. Not only that, Lucy had no idea who was responsible for her wages now.
Though it was sad, at least Bessie had lived to a ripe old age, Lucy thought, unlike her husband, Paul, who had died before setting eyes on his son. She bit her bottom lip, fighting back tears. Clive had seen enough upset for one day without her crying too.
‘I’m hungry, Mum.’
His voice roused Lucy. Clive had soon recovered from the upset at the shop, and though it was a bit early for lunch, she took a tin out of the cupboard. ‘How about beans on toast?’
‘Cor, smashing,’ he said eagerly.
As Lucy prepared the meal, she couldn’t help wondering what was going to happen to the shop now. She had no idea if Bessie owned or rented it, but one thing was certain, Nora wasn’t up to running it.
Would it remain closed? Lucy suspected it would and she sighed, her financial future even more uncertain now.
Pearl was trying to persuade Nora to come home with them, but so far nothing was working.
‘Bessie said I stay here.’
‘Darling, we can’t leave you on your own.’
Stubbornly, Nora repeated, ‘Bessie said I stay here.’
With no other choice, Pearl had to use guile. ‘But you haven’t been to see us for a while and I know John would love to see you.’
‘Johnny. Like Johnny.’
‘Yes, I know,’ she said. Nora was the only one who still called him Johnny, ‘and he likes you.’
‘Nice, Johnny nice … But I stay here.’
Pearl sighed and deciding that it was doubtful Nora had eaten, she tried another tack. ‘If you come home with us, we could buy fish and chips on the way.’
‘Yes, I like fish and chips.’
‘Right then, why don’t you go and have a nice wash and I’ll sort you out something pretty to wear?’
The ruse worked and while Nora was in the bathroom, Pearl hurriedly stuffed a few of her things into a bag. She then went to find Derek, puzzled when he handed her a bulky envelope. ‘It was in this box,’ he said.
Pearl saw that her name was written on it in Bessie’s spidery hand and for a moment she just clutched it to her chest, still unable to believe that she would never see her again.
‘Aren’t you going to open it?’
‘Yes,’ she said and found that along with a letter, it contained Bessie’s last will and testament. She sat down, read both and cried, ‘Oh, no! How could Bessie do this to me?’
‘What is it? What has she done?’ Derek asked.
‘Bessie has left me these entire premises, shop and flat.’
‘But that’s good, isn’t it?’ he said, looking confused.
‘No it isn’t. It’s awful.’
‘Pearl, you aren’t making any sense. You’ve just been left this place and you should be over the moon.’
‘Read the conditions and then you’ll know why I’m not,’ Pearl said, passing the document to Derek.
