Abruptly, she got to her feet, turning to Caroline. ‘I think I might go and check up on her. Would you like to come, too?’
To Caroline, this was a curious question. ‘There’s still another hour until the end of the workday.’ But then she saw the urgency in Miranda’s eyes. ‘I suppose I could, with the queen still in Balmoral.’
Hastily, they made their way outside, Betty fast behind them – how like her to know it was an emergency.
By the time they were at the tube station, Miranda had shared her fears.
‘There she is, bleeding and in bed, just after receiving her pay and having borrowed more from me just yesterday – it all adds up. The other week, she left some very revealing lingerie in the launderette, and then the woman told me about Lucy being “in trouble”.’
Horrified, Betty cried, ‘Why didn’t you say something?’ and they raced down to the platform.
Thankfully, a train came quickly, and soon they were rushing through the Camden streets wondering what they would find.
From the outside, the house appeared empty, the curtains to Lucy’s bedroom drawn. Yet as they entered the hallway, the place felt stuffy with a vague smell of bodily fluids. But most alarmingly, there was a sound emanating from Lucy’s bedroom, the whimpering of a creature in pain.
Without looking at the others, Miranda took to the stairs two at a time, racing up to the top landing. As soon as she pushed the door open, the yelping stopped. The figure on the bed, a curled shape shuddering in the dark, didn’t even turn to see who it was.
‘Get out!’ Lucy cried, her voice thick with tears.
Caroline had come up behind Miranda, propelling both of them into the room as Miranda raced up to Lucy, putting a hand on her forehead. ‘Are you all right?’ She knelt down beside the bed, Caroline beside her, pulling Lucy into her arms. ‘What happened?’
‘Nothing,’ Lucy whimpered, trying to pull away, suddenly gripping her stomach and groaning in agony.
‘Listen, Lucy,’ Miranda said. ‘We’re here to help you. It’s important that you tell us the truth. Did you have an abortion?’
‘N-no,’ the girl tried to say, but she convulsed with tears, hiding her face in her hands.
Caroline gently shushed her. ‘It’s all right. We won’t tell anyone.’
The smell was strong in the small, hot room, and Miranda saw the blankets stained with a thick, dark mess of blood.
Caroline’s eyes met Miranda’s, an urgency in them as she looked from the blood to the state of Lucy, her tangled hair pressed to her face with sweat and blood. ‘She needs to go to hospital.’
‘I can’t,’ Lucy cried. ‘It’s illegal.’ Her voice wavered, as if delirious. ‘I’d rather be dead than go to prison – it would only give my mother one more reason to hate me.’ She began to sob. ‘Leave me to die on my own.’
But then Betty barged into the room, pushing the others aside. ‘Let’s take her now, before it’s too late,’ she said, ignoring Lucy’s pleas. ‘It’s our duty to look after her. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if anything happened.’ She sat down beside Lucy. ‘We’re your family now, dear, and whether you like it or not, we’re not about to leave you here.’
Amid Lucy’s fruitless protests, the women got her to her feet, put a coat around her, and helped her down the stairs. Betty knew a neighbour who had a car, and the women helped Lucy into the back and got in beside her.
‘If anyone’s going to arrest you, dear,’ Betty said, ‘they’ll have to speak to me about it first.’
Even though the hospital was busy, a nurse took one look at Lucy and told them to take her to a side ward.
‘Tell me what happened to her,’ she asked, helping her onto the bed, drawing a curtain around her so that she could deal with the blood.
Miranda looked at the others.
Would the hospital report Lucy to the police?
‘She’s having a miscarriage,’ Betty said. ‘And she’s been bleeding a lot, so we thought she should come in.’
The nurse lowered her voice. ‘Was it an abortion?’
The women looked at each other, and Miranda decided to play it safe. ‘We don’t know.’
But the nurse took a deep, exasperated breath and said, ‘We keep a whole ward empty every Friday night for abortions. Friday’s payday, you see.’ She shook her head, making a note on her clipboard.
‘Will she be all right?’ Caroline asked.
