Kathleen looked concerned. ‘Well, isn’t that just grand? Plenty of heat now in Peggy’s and they will have your house warmed through and sheets aired in no time, Maura, different altogether to next door. At Peggy’s the lights are on and the kids have full bellies but they have bare feet, God love them.’
Alice walked over to her mother-in-law. ‘Why are you looking so worried, Kathleen?’
‘Because, Alice, I think we have a much bigger problem. Every bingo in Liverpool ended almost an hour ago so I think something awful is wrong; Peggy should have been long back by now. That feeling I had, Alice, all day, it must have been this.’
Alice was already lifting coats down from the back of the door. ‘Maura, would you let Harry go back, so that little Paddy isn’t alone if he needs help? Girls, will you stay here and look after Joseph and the others? We must all go and look for Peggy because, Kathleen, I’ll put money on Paddy being in the pub, otherwise, he would have been back at his house or called into ours to let us know what was happening. He’s been waylaid by the taste of the Guinness.’
‘He will have seen Tommy and stayed with him, for it will be a right old lock-in with Tommy and Conor both home,’ said Kathleen. ‘I have a better idea, though: let’s knock on with the mop, see who we can get around to help. That way we can decide who is looking where. It’ll need more than two of us, Alice – I think we need a search party.’
‘Shall we call the police?’ said Alice.
Kathleen shook her head. ‘No, not yet. Maura, are you up to it after the journey?’
‘Of course I am! There’s no way I’m sitting here while you are all out looking for Peggy. Where do we start?’
Alice picked up the mop. ‘Kathleen, do you think you should read our tea leaves first, for a bit of a clue?’ She banged on the wall, three long thuds in rapid succession, which meant: urgent.
Kathleen lifted the simmering kettle off the range, poured it over the tea leaves and threw in an extra scoop. ‘Alice, that’s the best idea you’ve had all day.’
Alice raised her eyebrows. ‘Is it now, along with looking for Peggy and everything else I do around here? Welcome back, Maura!’
‘We will be a woman down. Maggie Trott won’t be answering the knock,’ said Maura. ‘We just saw her heading into the Anchor as we passed.’
Kathleen frowned and shook her head. ‘Maggie Trott? No, you must be mistaken. Maggie hasn’t been on a night out, ever. She’s a martyr, is Maggie, she prefers to sit at home missing her husband, who has been dead for over twenty years. Maggie of Arc, I call her. She never misses mass, though, and for a woman who never goes out, she spends far too much time in confession.’ Kathleen plumped up the cushions on the chairs beside the fire; despite the urgency of the situation, she could not allow anyone to come into her house unless it was tidy. ‘The problem with Maggie is she is scared of her own shadow. She wouldn’t admit it, but she is. The thing is, Maura, they think life lasts forever – and the thing about Maggie especially is, she should know better! No, she will be running up this path along with the rest of them any moment now.’ Alice banged on the kitchen wall with the end of the mop, three ominous thuds. The three women held each other’s gaze knowing all too well the sounds that would follow. They waited, they heard the echoing thuds on walls followed by the distant click of back yard gates. The women of the four streets were coming to the rescue as they always had, so many times before.
Chapter Twenty-four
Cindy gave Maggie’s arm a reassuring squeeze as they approached the doors of the Anchor. She could sense her nervousness and, as they drew nearer, the quieter Maggie became.
‘Come on, love, cheer up, you’re just coming for a drink in the pub, it’s Babs and Bill waiting inside, not Pierrepoint the old hangman! And you never know, you might just meet someone nice, a fella, I mean; there are a few around here worth a second look.’
Maggie pulled a disbelieving face and Cindy smiled. ‘Oh, all right, I’m exaggerating.’
Reg snorted with derision. ‘Cindy, you haven’t even had a drink yet.’ He leant forward to address Maggie. ‘Not much chance of finding a decent fella in here, Maggie. You have to let us take you into town one night. You’d enjoy yourself because we know how to have a good night out.’
Maggie liked Reg. He had made a good show of not minding in the least that Maggie had joined them. ‘Let me try the local, first, eh, Reg? But I do appreciate the thought. It can’t be much fun for you, having me playing gooseberry when you thought it was just the two of you for the night – I’m very lucky to have been asked.’
Reg gasped in mock surprise. ‘Maggie, I’m the lucky one. They’ll all be asking me in the pub what aftershave I use.’ He bent his head down to Maggie and whispered, ‘On our second date, Maggie, I’m going to insist you take my other arm so that I have one of you on each side – and I’ll tell you this for nothing, I’ll be the proudest man
