The Silent War by Victor Pemberton Read Free Book Online

dramatic capture by British and Polish soldiers of the First German Parachute Division’s bastion in the monastery at Cassino in Italy.
    ‘Things would be very different round here if your father was still alive.’
    Aunt Louie’s voice behind the newspaper took Sunday by surprise.
    ‘If he’d had
his
way, you’d have been in bed by ten o’clock every night.’ Louie suddenly peered at Sunday over the top of her newspaper. ‘And I do mean
every
night,’ she said, emphatically. ‘Including Saturdays.’
    Sunday ignored her aunt, and carried on eating her bacon sandwich.
    ‘Your father was a pig of a man,’ Louie said, refusing to be ignored. ‘Did you know that?’
    Sunday’s eyes flicked up momentarily. ‘I wish you wouldn’t talk about Dad like that,’ she said, trying hard not to be intimidated.
    ‘Why not?’ Louie was determined to have her say. ‘What do
you
care? You never knew him.’
    ‘Even more reason,’ Sunday said, lowering her eyes, and eating her sandwich again.
    Aunt Louie put down her newspaper. ‘There are things I could tell you about your father that would make your hair curl.’
    It was a typically stupid remark for Louie to make, knowing full well that even without her home-made perm, Sunday had a head of naturally curly blonde hair.
    ‘He never wanted to keep you, you know. Oh no.’ Louie was determined to maintain the aggravation. ‘When your mother brought you home after finding you on that doorstep up the Salvation Army, he blew his top.’ She took hold of her fag roller, and started packing it as tight as she could with tobacco which she kept in a small, flat tin. ‘He told her that if he couldn’t have kids of his own, then he didn’t want other people’s.’ She flicked her eyes up for a brief moment, and fixed Sunday with a tiger-like glare. ‘That wasn’t the real reason, of course. Oh no.’
    Although she had no sugar in her cup, Sunday was unconsciously stirring her tea, whilst trying hard not to show that she was listening to anything Aunt Louie was saying.
    ‘He was jealous of her,’ rasped Louie, inserting the fag paper into her roller. ‘Oh it wasn’t just you. It wasn’t just a small baby no bigger than a puppy. No. He was jealous of anyone who came near her.’ She carefully lifted the ready-made fag out of the roller, licked the edges of the paper, and sealed it. ‘You know something?’ she continued, relentlessly. ‘When your mother and I were kids together back home in Edmonton, we were the best of friends. Couldn’t keep us apart.’ Having finished the completed fag, she placed it between her lips. ‘Soon as
he
came along, it all changed.’
    Clasping the cup of tea firmly in both hands, Sunday leaned back in her chair in an attempt to keep clear of the tobacco smoke that Aunt Louie was deliberately puffing out across the table from her newly lit fag.
    ‘And I’ll tell you something else.’
    ‘Aunt Louie, I’m not interested.’ Sunday was getting irritated.
    ‘He used to beat her.’ Louie was leaning across the table again. ‘Oh yes. He thought I didn’t know. But I did. During all the time he was alive, I never once came to this place. Oh no. But Madge came over to me. She came lots of times. And when she did, there was always a bruise on her cheek, or a cut from his wedding ring where he’d whacked her across the face with the back of his hand. She never told me – but I knew.’
    Sunday suddenly saw red. ‘I don’t know why you’re telling me all this, Aunt Louie. It’s all in the past. It’s got nothing to do with me.’
    Louie stood up from the table. ‘That’s where you’re wrong. It concerns you all right. Oh yes. It concerns you a great deal, young madam. And d’you know why?’
    This time, Sunday just had to look up at her aunt, who was standing with her two hands leaning on the table, and a fag stuck firmly between her lips.
    ‘Because if you think
I’m
so bad to live with, I’d like to know how you think