Unspoken: A story of secrets, love and revenge by T. Belshaw (best reads of all time .TXT) 📗

time you’re away. Especially with a newcomer like me in tow. Anything could happen to you.’

I resisted the temptation to mention his drunken antics of the night before. ‘He’s a good man, Barney. I think a lot about him too. He’s never once let my family down.’

‘Nor will he,’ said Frank. ‘He’s the best foreman you could ever get… apart from me of course, but that goes without saying.’

I twisted my neck to look up at his face. He was grinning.

‘But you did say it,’ I replied, ‘so it doesn’t count for anything.’

He laughed half-heartedly. ‘I’ll make foreman one day. Barney is in his late fifties now. He can’t go on forever.’

I was about to tell him not to count on that, when we heard the tooting of the train as it made its approach.

The journey back was uneventful. As it was early Sunday afternoon, there were few passengers. The London based workers would get a later train, their truncated weekend at an end.

We arrived back at our local station to find Barney already parked up and waiting. He checked me over with his eyes before speaking.

‘Welcome back, Missis, I hope you had a good holiday.’

‘It was very nice, if brief,’ I replied.

‘The weather was decent enough too,’ Frank added. ‘Could you drop me at my mother’s house please, Barney? She’ll be expecting me to report in.’

Barney’s eyes dropped to my left hand as I passed him my suitcase. He had seen the ring, I was sure of that, but he said nothing as he helped me onto the front seat of the truck. Frank pulled himself over the tailboard and found himself a seat on the oily tarp. He banged on the back of the cab, and Barney started the engine on the third attempt.

When we reached his mother’s house, Frank climbed off the back of the truck and walked around to the side of the cab. I wound down my window.

‘I’ll be back later tonight, Alice. I just want to give my mother the good news.’ He winked and turned away, walking briskly up the unevenly paved path, towards the gate where his mother was already waiting. I raised a hand to wave, but she turned away without acknowledging me.

Miriam, on the other hand, welcomed me like I’d been away for a month.

‘Oh, it is good to see you got home safely, my dear. Your father’s been his usual self… erm, there’s nothing else to report. It’s been very quiet here.’

She put the kettle onto the stove and tipped three spoons of loose tea into the tea pot.

I carted my case up to my room and unpacked it, leaving my used clothes on the chair in the corner.

When I returned to the kitchen, Miriam was making a sandwich.

‘Have you eaten yet?’ I asked.

‘Not yet. I’ll get something at home,’ she said.

‘Have half of that with me,’ I replied. Miriam cut bread the thickness of railway sleepers, and as I was home again, that nauseous feeling was creeping back.

We sat and chatted about my day away while we ate and sipped tea. Miriam had already noticed the ring, but like Barney, she had said nothing. Her eyes kept looking across at it as I raised the cup to and from my lips.

‘All right, Miriam,’ I said, deciding to put her out of her misery. ‘Frank and I were married at the registry office in Sheerness yesterday.’ I held up my hand so she could get a good look. I hated having to lie to her but there was no real option.

She burst into a flood of tears.

‘Oh, my darling girl, I’m so pleased for you. Frank did the decent thing in the end then? I wasn’t sure he would and I wasn’t sure you’d let him do it, if I’m honest. Shall I take his things up to your bedroom before he gets back?’

I was stumped. I hadn’t thought about that. People would expect him to sleep with me if he was now my husband. I decided to think about it a bit more before I made up my mind.

‘No, it’s all right, Miriam, Frank can do it later. Maybe in a day or two, a week maybe. I’ve got to get used to the idea of being married first.’

Miriam looked at me with her head cocked to the side. I was certain she was going to ask about my wedding night, so I got to my feet, carried the dishes to the sink and changed the subject to something I’d been considering for ages.

‘Do the kids visit you, Miriam?’

She seemed surprised by my question.

‘They come when they can. They live miles away. They’re all married with their own families, so they don’t get much time.’

I knew she was making excuses for them. I’d caught her sniffling away to herself when she was in the kitchen, more than once. She always tried to put it down to her time of life, but I knew there was more to it than that.

‘When was the last time you saw one of them?’ I asked.

She was silent.

‘Christmas? Last summer? Last New Year?’

Miriam held her hands, palms up. ‘It’s not easy for them, the buses are infrequent and they’re not on the train routes.’

‘How long, Miriam?’

Her face creased up and she began to sob. ‘The… last time was… at my… my father’s funeral.’

‘Good God,’ I said. ‘That was ages ago, Miriam. You’ve been alone all that time, rattling about in that empty house?’

‘It’s not so bad,’ she replied. ‘I’m here a lot of the time.’

‘Well, I think it’s time you were here a lot more of the time,’ I said. I got hold of both her hands and pulled her a little closer to me. ‘Move in here, Miriam, we’ve got tons of room. You can have my father’s old room. You’ll never be alone here.’

Miriam burst into tears again. ‘I couldn’t, I mean, could I afford to, what sort of board and lodgings would I pay? I get the house rent free