had tried so hard not to pick up the East-End accent. It had been difficult — everyone she worked and mixed with spoke the local dialect — but she prided herself that she spoke well.
‘Remember me when I am gone away, Gone far into the silent land, When you can no more hold me by the hand …’ Evelyne knew the poem by heart.
Alex sighed, slowly his eyelids drooped, and he slept curled up beside his beloved mother. Evelyne lay, unable to sleep, staring at the ceiling. Her eyes filled with tears as she wondered where Freedom was …
From then on, Alex often came to her bed after Edward was asleep. Evelyne found herself waiting for him, and over the weeks she read through her small library until he slept in her arms.
Months had passed with no word from Freedom. Freda seemed more concerned about it than the Stubbs family, she was worried that something had happened to him. ‘He’s with that Jesse, Freda, so the least said the better. How’s Ed doing? All right, is he?’
Freda nodded. Now that he was working for Evelyne it made the world of difference to Ed, bringing in that bit extra every week.
‘Darlink, we owe you so much. Poor Ed was getting so upset about the money troubles. It is easier now, thanks to you.’
Evelyne shrugged it off, and said she never wanted to hear a word about it. ‘We’re a family, Freda, and we should help each other out, that’s all that has to be said … now, how are your legs?’
Freedom still had not returned when the street began to prepare for the coronation of Edward, hanging memorabilia in their windows for the big occasion.
On 1 December 1936, the Crystal Palace burnt down. It was the most spectacular conflagration ever seen in London in peacetime. The flames lit the sky, and many gloomy speculations buzzed round the streets and in the newspapers that the fire was a disaster, a portent that boded ill for the monarchy. The new king, Edward, was not long in proving them right. Sitting around the radio, Evelyne, the boys, Freda and Ed listened to the abdication speech at one fifty-two on the afternoon of 10 December. Edward VIII, forced to choose between the woman he loved and his country, opted for his lady.
That night Ed sat in the local pub with Freda and Evelyne. It was a hive of gossip. He downed his pint, shook his head. ‘Hard to believe, ain’t it, I mean, fancy givin’ up the throne fer a woman what’s been married twice, I mean, it’s not on, is it? She don’t even ‘ave no ‘igh society connections, beats me.’
Someone shouted across the bar, asking if Freda knew the American woman.
‘When I was in Florida I passed this close, within inches, and I didn’t think much of her looks. Small, piggy eyes, and a very large nose, and so thin! Oh, she is so thin!’
Evelyne couldn’t help but smile, and the more port and lemons that came Freda’s way, the more intimate details of the royal couple she remembered. ‘Mind you, what worries me, darlinks, and I am sure it will worry everyone — his brother, George … Well, he’s always been in his shadow, always the quieter one. I hear he has a stammer, too. Well, darlinks, a younger brother always suffers if he has such a charming and handsome elder brother, it is always the way.’
Royalty forgotten, Evelyne went home. She wasn’t thinking of King Edward but of her own Edward, and Alex. She considered what Freda had said. In a way Alex did suffer from Edward’s dominance — he was quiet, easily led.
Alex was still pining for Freedom. Every afternoon he would sit on the front doorstep, looking up and down the road, and his litde face would be crestfallen when eventually he came indoors to do his homework. She continued to allow him into her bed, enjoying the closeness and looking forward to reading to him. For the first time in years, she had begun to take odd spare moments to read for herself.
One night she read Alex one of her own stories, and his astonishment when she told him that she had written it herself filled her with pleasure.
Evelyne had begun to feel angry with Freedom, angry at the way he had disappeared without even a letter. Then she would sigh to herself — she knew Freedom’s writing ability was confined to little more than his own name.
Coming home from the bakeries one day, she opened the door and knew he was home, without even seeing him. She rushed into the kitchen, and had to put her hand over her mouth to stop herself screaming. She thought he was an intruder and it wasn’t until he turned to face her that she knew it was Freedom. His hair had been cut short, shaved round his ears, and he was thin, almost gaunt. ‘Dear God, man, what happened?’
The two boys were sitting watching their parents, wide-eyed, and Evelyne told them to go up to their room. She closed the door behind them, then opened it again to give. Edward his marching orders, as he was listening at the door.
‘They tell me the rabbit’s gone. I’ll get ‘em another.’
Evelyne was trying to control her anger. ‘Bugger the rabbit, where have you been all these months?’
The haircut told her all, of course, but she wanted him to say it, and she stood with arms folded, looking at him as if he were a child.
Freedom had served six months in Durham gaol for handling stolen property. Evelyne threw up her hands in despair. How could he do something like that, how could he be so stupid? ‘Jesse got you into this, didn’t he? You might as well tell me, did he get you involved in this?’
Freedom gazed into the fire and shrugged. He wore that mask-like expression, and he didn’t even have to tell her, she knew.
‘Jesse go to prison with you, did he? Don’t even tell me, I can see by the look of you. He left you to take the rap just like he did all those years ago! My God, Freedom, sometimes you behave like a child. Had you no thought for us, for the boys? What do you think they’ll say at their school if they find out about this?’
Freedom wanted her to hold him, give him comfort, he felt so ashamed, but he could do nothing because she was so strong, so far out of his reach. He felt helpless, and he sat with his head in his hands. She put her arms around him as if he were just as she’d said, a child. She told him everything would be all right, at least he was home for Christmas.
‘We’ll make it the best Christmas since that time you came back with your Championship belt — remember all those years ago, Freedom, the way you came home with a cartful of furniture? Well, it’ll be just like that again.’
He held her and kissed her neck, and the smell of soap and her clean, scrubbed hands moved him so that he couldn’t speak. They went up the stairs together, arm in arm, to their bedroom, to the big bed they had bought all those years ago.
Edward sat up in bed, listening, wondering what Freedom was doing to his Ma, she moaned so. He wanted to hit his father. It was better when he was away. Edward put his head under the covers to block out the sound of his mother’s moaning.
Alex slept like an angel, a wooden carving Freedom had made for him clasped in his hand. He was happy now, his Dad was back. Christmas fever was all around, and in number twelve they looked forward to it with as much happiness as the two Meadows’ households. They were all out of debt because of velyne, and they were closer and more like a family than ever before.
Evelyne had told them all that they were never to let on to Freedom about how she had covered their rent, or that they were working for her. It was bad enough for him to lose his job at the docks and serve a prison sentence, let alone to have his manhood taken away from him in his own home. But Evelyne underestimated Freedom’s intelligence. He knew she was the provider and at first he was distraught, then deeply ashamed. He could still get no legitimate work, but he bought and sold odd pieces of furniture, among them the cradle he had bought all those Christmases ago. Evelyne wasn’t sad to see it go, she was glad of the space. She prepared the food for Christmas Day and went shopping in the markets with Freedom to choose the boys’ presents.
On Christmas Eve Freedom was very cheerful. He had a fistful of pound notes, and told Evelyne that he had done well on a couple of pieces of furniture. He was going out to buy Evelyne’s gift and a surprise for the boys. Evelyne was thrilled that he had accomplished something, but when she went to her wardrobe she saw that her hatbox had been disturbed. Something was missing. She searched the chest of drawers, but she knew what Freedom had done. He had taken her pearl and gold necklace — that was where his new-found wealth had come from. She sat on the bed, wondering what to do, and decided to say nothing, at least until Christmas was over.
When the boys were asleep, she filled their stockings with oranges, apples, sweets — and a volume of
