‘They often do have a few lucid moments. Did it make sense, what she said?’
‘She told me my dad was here. Do you think he came for her?’
Stella looked towards Milly and the smile that showed on her lips. ‘I’ve heard it said that can happen. How long has it been since your dad . . .?’
‘He was in the army and he died overseas a month before I was born. I never knew him, and my sisters don’t talk about him. They must have been between ten and twelve years of age, so they would remember our dad. I’ve always thought they had a secret that they alone shared and chose to keep from me. I’d love to have known more about him.’
Stella shook her head in sympathy. ‘There’s nothing stranger than folk. You know, my Wilf has six brothers and not one of them sees us from one year to the next. It doesn’t worry him one little bit, but I used to stay awake nights worrying about it. I thought family stuck together through thick and thin.’
‘Does it really not bother him?’ Ruby asked as she glanced at her mum lying peacefully in the bed. She half expected her to sit up and ask a few questions too, as she never missed a tasty morsel of gossip.
‘He says it doesn’t, but I know deep down he’s hurt badly.’
Ruby felt she was truly her mother’s daughter as she asked. ‘But what happened for the family to ignore him – that’s if you don’t mind saying?’ It was a shock to hear that the family living over the road from her had such turmoil in their life. The Greens seemed the perfect family, with three bright sons and a doting mother and father. Who would have thought that if you peeled back the layers, their life wasn’t quite so rosy?
‘Oh, it’s a long story, but – being the eldest son, the family business passed to my Wilf. As much as he would have liked to, there was not enough business for him to take on all of his brothers. Also, since he alone had worked with his father on the tugboat, he refused to sell up and divide the money, as several of my sisters-in-law suggested. The whole thing left a bitter taste in my mouth and gradually it split the family. Wilf thought that when our lads were old enough, they’d like to join him in the business. As it is, none of them are interested. Perhaps we should’ve sold up after all,’ she sighed. ‘Family can be so strange.’
Ruby agreed. ‘I’m sorry for your troubles. If there’s anything I can do at any time, please let me know. In the short while I’ve known you, you’ve been a good friend to my family,’ she said, glancing to her mother for a final time before bending down and kissing her cheek. After a moment, she added, ‘I suppose I should get back home. Eddie will be starting to wonder where I am, and George is no doubt refusing to sleep until he hears how his nanny is. This news is going to break his heart.’
Stella kissed Milly’s forehead and followed Ruby from the screened-off area. Walking quietly out of the ward, they stopped to thank the nurses. Ruby told them that she would be contacting the funeral director first thing in the morning.
As they stepped outside, Stella said: ‘Your George is at our house, as it happens. Eddie dropped him over earlier and asked if I would keep an eye on the lad, as he had things to do. That’s how I knew what had happened to Milly and came hurrying round to the cottage hospital to be with you. My boys promised to look after George, and to feed him. Frank said they would make up a bed for him in our front room if he became tired.’
‘That’s very good of them,’ Ruby said gratefully as they linked arms and hurried back to Alexandra Road. It was now the early hours of the morning and there was hardly a soul about, which felt strange when they were so used to seeing Erith bustling with people. ‘Eddie must have gone to tell my sisters. It seems strange they never arrived at the hospital, though. Perhaps with it being so late, they are sitting at my house waiting for news?’
They turned the corner of Alexandra Road and could see number thirteen. The house was in darkness. As they arrived at Ruby’s gate, she stopped to rummage for the house key in her bag and to thank Stella for her support. Stella was just saying that she would accompany Ruby in the morning to give her support while she arranged her mother’s funeral, when Frank came out of her front door and hurried over. Stella quickly explained that Milly had passed away.
‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ Frank said to Ruby. ‘If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know. I came out to tell you that George is sound asleep. To begin with he was fretful; then sleep caught up with him in the end.’
Ruby thanked Frank. ‘But why hasn’t Eddie come over to collect him?’ she wondered, looking at their house. ‘Surely he’s not gone to bed?’
‘We’ll come inside with you to check everything is all right,’ Stella said, taking the keys from Ruby’s hand and opening the front door.
Ruby could see at once that Eddie’s coat was missing from the hooks on the wall. He never got on with her sisters, so it was unlikely that he was still at one of their houses. A sudden thought gripped her. ‘Oh, please God, no,’ she cried as she ran upstairs to her mother’s bedroom. On the bed was the ornate box in which Milly had kept her few cherished possessions, normally stashed under the bed for safety. Ruby picked it up and checked to see if
