Mrs Gold gave a brisk nod. ‘Do you think he’ll stand by you?’
I thought about Harry and the lovely things he’d said. The way he’d held me so tightly and told me all about his family. And slowly I nodded. ‘I think so.’
‘This is all going to be all right,’ Mrs Gold said. ‘Do you trust me?’
What else could I do? ‘I do.’
‘First things first. I’m going to go and wake up Albert. We’re going to need him.’
She told me to sit down and then disappeared off into the bedroom, where I heard them talking in low voices. I sat very still, my mind racing. What was happening? Could I really look Nelly’s mother in the eye and tell her that her daughter had died? But actually, I thought, I could. I could tell her Nelly wasn’t alone, that she went peacefully and that she wasn’t in pain. That was all true. Maybe we could organise a memorial for her. Put up a headstone, even. I wondered if I could ask Mrs Gold to make sure Nelly had a proper funeral. I knew that her family would want to know she’d been properly looked after. And as for me and the baby, well … If I was wrong about Harry then perhaps I could buy a cheap ring like Mrs Marsden who’d been on my ward back when the bombings first started, and tell everyone I was a widow. There was so much to do. I felt sick with the worry of it all.
Eventually, Mrs Gold came back into the lounge. She’d got dressed and looked very smart in a suit with proper stockings.
‘Why don’t you go and have a bath and a sleep?’ she said. ‘Albert and I have some things to organise this morning. Can you pack a bag, make sure you have anything important – documents and whatnot – but don’t take too much. We’ll need to leave this afternoon.’
‘My head’s spinning,’ I said.
‘You’ll feel better after a snooze. Come on, up to bed with you. I’ll strap up that ankle for you later on.’
‘Thank you,’ I said as I struggled to my feet and headed for the door.
‘You’re welcome.’ Mrs Gold adjusted the cuffs of her blouse.
‘Mrs Gold?’ I paused by the front door. ‘You’re not really a secretary, are you?’
She smiled at me. ‘Don’t ask questions,’ she said.
Chapter 40
Stephanie
Present day
I was completely stumped. Totally bamboozled. Nothing made sense.
‘What does this mean?’ I said to Mr Yin, Joyce and Val, who all looked as blank as I felt. ‘Is this Helen Byrne the same person as our Helen? Or is it a coincidence?’
‘No such thing as coincidence,’ Val said. ‘I thought she was a bit young and sprightly to be living here in Tall Trees.’
‘She is eighty, Valerie,’ Joyce pointed out. ‘I saw her date of birth on her library card. She was born in 1941, same as me.’
‘But why would she come and live here?’
‘I can’t see any reason for her to lie about needing care,’ Mr Yin said reasonably. ‘This must be a coincidence. Helen is not an uncommon name.’
‘Nor is Byrne, really,’ Joyce said.
Val scoffed. ‘This is not a coincidence. You’re all deluding yourselves.’ She folded her arms crossly.
‘Right,’ I said, standing up. ‘There’s only one way to find out for sure. I’m going to ask her what’s going on. Just me,’ I added as the others all stood up too – more slowly but with just as much determination.
‘Really?’ Joyce was disappointed.
‘I want her to open up, not make her clam up by going in mob-handed,’ I said. ‘She’s done nothing wrong.’
‘So you think,’ said Val.
‘Stay here and I’ll come back as soon as I’ve spoken to her.’
