Blitz by Claire Rayner Read Free Book Online

and she didn’t want to know more. Whatever it was it had upset her mother badly and however cross Poppy sometimes madeher, Robin loved her mother dearly and would not willingly hurt her. And she hurried across the room and kissed Poppy and said quietly, ‘We must go, darling. We’ll be on duty soon and I’ve got to sort out my uniform and do some studying. I promise to call you as soon as I get off duty tomorrow – bye.’ And she went then and hugged Jessie and kissed her, realizing as she did so that for once her aunt was unaware of her. Her attention was completely fixed on the man who was now leaning against one of the preparation tables, picking at a tray of strudel and watching, with clear amusement, all that was going on. And looking at Jessie’s face Robin thought – she’s getting awfully old, for her face was drawn and pinched and sagged miserably.
    ‘Take care of yourself, Auntie Jessie,’ she said gently and then with a jerk of her head at Chick made for the door and Chick, unusually subdued, followed her.
    There was a little silence when they’d gone and then Poppy said tightly, ‘How long have you been back?’
    Jessie looked almost despairing at that, and made a move towards her and then pulled back and turned to the man and then almost tottered as she moved away from both of them and went and sat on the tall stool Robin had just vacated, and leaned her head on her hand. Neither of the others seemed to notice; they were staring at each other.
    ‘Well, now, let me see,’ he said lazily and picked up another piece of strudel. ‘It was June, as I recall – ’
    ‘Then how the hell did you get here?’ she flared. ‘They stopped ordinary passenger crossings from America well before then!’
    He lifted his eyebrows and then with great delicacy cleaned his sticky fingers on a silk handkerchief.
    ‘Did I say it was this year?’ he murmured. ‘It was June ’38. Wasn’t it, Ma?’
    ‘I told you not to come here unless I made an arrangement!’ Jessie said and her voice was thick. ‘All I want is peace and quiet, the chance to live the way I want with the people I want and no trouble! All you had to do is keep out of the way. Why make a
tummel
?’
    ‘A
tummel
?’ he said, looking at her with his brows raised.
    ‘You know what I mean – don’t try and make a fool of me, Bernie! I didn’t want any rows or arguments. All I asked of youwas you should keep out of Poppy’s way. And here you are – you know we usually get together this time of the day!’
    ‘I got tired of it,’ Bernie said offhandedly. ‘Why should I hide from my own cousin, hmm? A man can visit his mother with a bit of a business proposition without having to hide away as though it were some sort of crime!’ He snickered then. ‘Not that it’s entirely kosher, I can’t deny, but you know how it is. Hard times mean hard deals.’
    Poppy had moved away to stand leaning against the table near Jessie. Her face was still pinched and white and her eyes glittered a little as she looked at Jessie.
    ‘He’s been here two years?’
    ‘Yes,’ Jessie said after a moment. ‘Yes. I did my best, Poppy! But what could I do? He turned up on my doorstep looking like such a nebbish – terrible clothes, thin as a rake, what would you expect me to do? Send him away?’
    ‘After what he did to you, I rather think I would have expected it,’ Poppy said.
    ‘What I did to her? You mean to your precious Chloe, don’t you? Not that I remember her as being all that hard to deal with. She wanted what she got as much as I did, if you see what I mean. She wasn’t exactly a shrinking blossom when I met her, you know. Hanging around nightclubs at her age – ’
    ‘I’m not interested in anything you have to say!’ Poppy flared. ‘Not now or ever! You treated Chloe abominably and you gave your mother hell! She broke her heart while you were in that prison, do you know that? I was glad to see you there – it was where you belonged. I