The Corner House by Ruth Hamilton Read Free Book Online Page B

shop, trying to prick his conscience on a day when principles were determinedly dormant.
    ‘Well?’ Eva tapped an impatient foot.
    The shopkeeper sighed inwardly. Roy Chorlton, motherless son and heir to Maurice, had kept bad company since leaving school. The minister at Maurice’s chapel was of the opinion that the sudden death of Roy’s female parent was the cause of the temporary delinquency, but Maurice knew better. The boy was a weak character, one who, when drunk, would follow his companions wherever they led. Not to put too fine a point on the issue, Roy was a failure.Driven off track by his peers and by drink, Roy had raped a slut called Theresa Nolan. Who else but a slut walked the streets after dark? The terror of scandal drove Maurice to provide compensation for a chit of a girl who had been left bruised, bloodied and pregnant. ‘Any one of them might be the father,’ he said now.
    ‘Exactly.’ Eva nodded her head jerkily. ‘So it’s up to you to get money out of Betteridge and Hardman.’
    The jeweller shook his head wearily. Getting cash out of Hardman was one thing, because the tanner had a reputation to consider. But Betteridge, comedian and purveyor of furniture, didn’t manage to care too deeply about his son’s escapades. ‘I’ll do what I can.’ He pushed back another string of greasy hair that had loosened itself.
    Eva smiled. ‘See, we know you’re an honourable man, Mr Chorlton. You’re a decent, churchgoing soul.’ She had no time for Methodists; a sober-sided, miserable lot of grey folk, they were. But at least this fellow went to some sort of church.
    The jeweller was not taken in by Eva’s unheralded flattery. The woman wanted extra money. She always wanted something for Theresa Nolan. ‘There’s been a fair few bob paid out up to now,’ he grumbled.
    ‘Children is expensive,’ replied Eva quickly. ‘And a scandal could shut your shop good and proper. His brother’ – she jerked a thumb in Danny’s direction – ‘is a highly respected man, so if he tells the world what happened, he’ll get listened to and believed. And he knows for himself about the cost of babies, because Bernard’s wife gave birth within hours of Theresa Nolan. Remember, if Bernard opens his gob too wide, you, the tanner and that good-for-nothing chair-sellerwon’t hold your heads up again. As for your sons …’ She pulled a face, as if an acid taste had entered her mouth. ‘Least said about them three, soonest mended,’ she concluded.
    Inwardly, Maurice Chorlton agreed with the midwife. His son Roy was what locals might call nowt a pound, while George Hardman’s lad, too, was a waste of space. As for the furniture-seller’s son – well, that boy wasn’t worth the paper his birth certificate was written on. ‘I don’t know why it has to be down to me all the time,’ said Maurice.
    ‘Because you can be trusted.’ Eva’s tone was saccharine sweet.
    Danny felt like a bit of a spare part in all this, as he had not been involved before. He watched Eva, the expert in negotiation, manipulating, hooking her fish, reeling it in. He guessed that Eva might have done very well with the Fleetwood fishermen, because she wasn’t one for letting go.
    Chorlton opened the door and ushered the unwelcome guests into the street. While Eva muttered a few final words of wisdom into the jeweller’s ear, Danny leaned against the window.
    ‘Have you finished?’
    Danny turned his face to the right, saw Chorlton’s assistant hovering near the wall. ‘Just about,’ he replied.
    Pauline smiled nervously. She hadn’t done any shopping, because the money had run out yesterday.
    The fishmonger was at a loss for words. He wasn’t one for small talk, especially when in the company of a young woman. ‘Cold,’ he managed finally.
    ‘Aye.’ She fastened the top button of her serviceable grey coat. ‘More snow, I reckon,’ she offered belatedly.
    Danny noticed the pinched cheeks and that special pallor born