The Locksmith by Linda Calvey (reading in the dark .TXT) 📕

It didn’t bother her what Freddie thought, but if everyone thought that, then the Murphys were in for a tough time. Her family would be shunned by the community and goodness knows what would happen as a result. The unwritten code of the East End was known by all: no one grassed to the coppers. Breaching the code meant there’d be consequences, and the thought chilled Ruby to the bone.

Suddenly, she lost interest in buying the clothes she’d set out to find today. Her excitement at being able to buy things to wear to her new job in an office up the West End had disappeared. She was due to start in a couple of weeks, but with a sinking heart, she decided to head home. She felt tired and had a desperate urge to get back home to the people she loved.

When she got home Ruby couldn’t hide her feelings from her mum. Cathy took one look at her daughter, dragging her feet on the floor, and without a word, pulled her aside. ‘Sit with me, love. Now, I know somethin’s botherin’ ya. Tell me what it is, perhaps I can help.’ Ruby looked at her mum’s still-pretty face, her fair hair still worn long, her blue eyes full of concern.

‘What’s wrong, darlin’? You’ve been so sad about Sarah. Is that what’s botherin’ you?’ Cathy leaned forward, putting her arm around her daughter.

‘Mum, I bumped into Bobby’s mate Freddie Harris at the market . . .’

‘Oh yes,’ frowned Cathy. She disliked the weasel even more than Ruby did, if that was possible.

Ruby came straight out with it.

‘Everyone’s sayin’ we grassed up Sarah’s dad, and that’s why he’s gone to prison.’ Ruby started to cry. Her mum held her tighter, rocking her gently in her arms. ‘What’s goin’ to happen to us, Mum? What will people do? Are we in danger?’

Cathy took a moment to reply and when she spoke, she was careful with her words. ‘That isn’t good, Rube. We might ’ave to be a bit careful, but we’ll keep tellin’ people it weren’t us. It weren’t us, was it, Ruby?’

‘Course it wasn’t! I’d never grass on my best friend!’ Ruby was stung into defending herself.

‘That’s all right, then. Listen, I’ll speak to your dad. He’ll know what to do. If there’s any comeback it’ll be him and Bobby who’ll get it, so they need to be prepared,’ Cathy said.

‘Comeback?’ Ruby asked, wiping away her tears.

‘You’re not a child any more so I won’t lie to you. Perhaps it’s best if all of us keep a low profile for a while, for a week or two. I’ll tell your dad and Bobby they can’t go down the pub on a Friday for a while. People round ’ere don’t take kindly to grasses. I’m not sayin’ we’re not safe, but we need to be careful.’

Ruby shuddered.

Just then, Ruby caught sight of the old black-and-white photo sitting on the kitchen mantelpiece. It showed a beautiful woman, long dead, to whom Ruby bore a striking resemblance. The picture was of her granny, a Traveller who fell in love with her beloved Grandad Jim.

Cathy turned to look at the photograph. ‘D’you remember the day that Grandad Jim told you about your Granny Ruby? You never met her, of course, as she died givin’ birth to your dad, but by all accounts you’re so like her.’

Ruby nodded, tears filling her eyes again. This time she wouldn’t cry, though. She was done shedding tears over anything Freddie Harris said.

Ruby spoke in a whisper, smiling sadly at the image. ‘She wasn’t meant to marry Grandad but her brothers worked with him, so when they fell in love, the Travellers let them get married. Grandad told me about her when he was ill himself. He still spoke so lovingly about her. He told me that my eyes were the exact same shade of emerald green as Granny Ruby’s and that’s why I was his favourite.’ Cathy squeezed her daughter’s hand as if to say, ‘Go on’.

‘When I held Grandad’s hand it was so frail and papery. He was dyin’ then and I was too young to really understand. He told me that I reminded him of Granny, and that every time he looked into my eyes he saw hers starin’ back.’

It was Cathy’s turn to look sad. She nodded silently.

‘He told me to always be proud of my roots, to be proud of comin’ from Gypsy blood.’ Ruby managed a smile as she recalled the conversation. Jim had died only a few short weeks afterwards, and it was the last real conversation they’d had together.

‘Yes,’ Cathy said, after a moment’s silence as they both remembered the man who’d given them so much love and happiness, ‘he loved Granny Ruby fiercely. He took Louie to Appleby Fair every year to show him what bein’ a Traveller meant. He wanted him to know his heritage – your heritage.’

Ruby smiled again as she recalled his obvious pride, his love for the woman who refused to go to hospital and died in childbirth as a result. His love for her had been undimmed by time.

When Cathy finally left, Ruby sat down heavily in front of the small mirror in her bedroom. A beautiful young woman with jet-black hair, creamy skin and those brilliant green eyes that had come down to her through the generations stared back. A thought was forming in her mind, a decision she was in the process of making. Eventually she spoke out loud, not taking her eyes off her face. ‘From now on, it’s family and only family,’ she vowed.

CHAPTER 5

‘You ready to go, love?’ Cathy smiled at her daughter. She almost couldn’t believe Ruby was starting her first job, and as a trainee admin girl in a large, busy office in the West End. No newsagents for Ruby.

‘Ready. How do I look?’ Ruby said as she descended the stairs. She was dressed in the best she could afford, a pencil skirt from Rathbone Market, a