.

way they possibly could – they too had been rewarded over the years, with such joy as they had never known before.

      While what had transpired back then had given her the lifeline she so desperately needed, it had by its very nature also created a ticking time bomb. Marie’s greatest fear was that the innocent party in all this would never forgive her if she was to learn the truth. And surely the time was drawing near when she would have to be made aware of her shameful beginnings.

      And so, in the years gone by, it was agreed by family, that for now at least, it might be wiser to let sleeping dragons lie, for all their sakes. Marie feared she would keep the secret until the day she died.

      Living with the lies and pretence created over the years, Marie had never found peace. She always carried the deep nagging worry, and at times she felt such despair and bitter regret.

      Through every waking moment, she dreaded the day when the truth might be discovered … when the lies and shocking deception would surely catch up with her. Mostly, she feared for the innocent, who had no idea of the sordid but well-meant decision that was taken all those years ago.

      While the innocent was kept unaware, Marie, along with her caring conspirators, could only hope and pray that they had done the right thing. Sometimes she prayed that the secret would never out so everyone was kept protected, other times it was her deepest, sweetest wish that she could shout the truth from the top of Blackpool Tower.

      Thankfully, the secret had remained safe within the family for so long, that it was almost as though there had been no conspiracy at all. No lies. No deception. And so far, no punishment. Life just went on, for both Marie, and also her family. But what if difficult questions were asked and answers demanded?

      Each of the conspirators was increasingly dreading the inevitable day the secret must come out, bringing with it a river of heartache to all concerned.

       CHAPTER SIX

      DAVE GAVE ANNE and Cathy a lift to the station to meet Marie. Anne assured him they would get a taxi home; the train might be running late or Marie might have missed her connection at Manchester so there could be a long wait. They were far too early for the train, but he knew Anne was anxious about her mother and whether she’d at last plucked up the resolve to tell her former friends Tony and Eileen about Cathy. He hoped so. Anne was patient and encouraging in the face of Marie’s wavering sense of purpose and he would have liked Marie not to have to bear the burden of her secret – of their shared secret – for much longer. Dave was a simple man and believed that now Cathy was a young woman it was only fair to tell her the truth, no matter how hurtful.

      It was a beautiful day and having done a few quick jobs, Dave was between trips for the haulage company so he decided to have a little stroll to the newsagent’s to get his newspaper, then maybe sit out with a nice cup of tea while he read it.

      He was just turning back into the street where he lived when he heard raised voices, and saw a flat-bed truck was parked before the house next door, the semi-detached property with which his own shared a wall. A very heated altercation was starting up right there on the pavement. As he drew nearer, slowing his step to make sure he missed nothing, while making himself as inconspicuous as possible in case he should become subject to the fall-out, Dave was amazed to see that the argument was about a ‘To Let’ board. Several of these were in the back of the truck, and the driver had evidently managed to hammer one into the ground beside the pavement in front of the house before Dave’s neighbour, Bob, confronted him.

      ‘What the hell are you doing putting that thing up here?’ he shouted. ‘You can just take it down again right now because there is no way this house is to let.’

      ‘I’ve instructions from the landlord,’ said the sign man.

      ‘What instructions?’ spat Bob. ‘I’ve not heard anything about this house being to let. I’m the tenant here and the landlord hasn’t said anything to me. So you can take that ruddy sign down now.’

      ‘I have my instructions …’ the man started, but Bob, who had a short temper, a loud voice and plenty of practice with a noisy family over whom he had to assert himself, just raised his voice and yelled over him.

      ‘I told you, this house is not to let. It’s got tenants already – I’m the tenant – and you can get that there sign down now. And I mean now! No, don’t you turn your back on me! I’m the tenant here and I’m not leaving this house until the landlord tells me I am. And this isn’t telling. This is sneaky! This is dishonest! I’ve got a wife and children to keep and obligations to other folk – how are we going to manage without a roof over our heads? Answer me that! Eh? Eh?’

      The sign man had started to edge away, but as Bob grew angrier, and his language grew more colourful and his shouting grew ever louder, the poor man gave up trying to reason with him, turned tail and legged it back to his truck.

      ‘No you don’t!’ bawled Bob. ‘Don’t you dare go off and leave that sign there. Don’t you dare, do you hear me?’

      As he proceeded to tell the man exactly where he’d like to put the sign, the terrified sign man started the engine and the truck pulled away. It quickly picked up speed but Bob was not one to give up and he gave chase, thundering down the street and threatening hell and damnation if the man didn’t clear the sign off his property immediately.

      The truck soon disappeared round the corner, and Bob was left cursing and swearing in the middle of the road, with other neighbours beside Dave taking an interest by now.

      Dave wisely decided the matter was not his business – that is, he wanted no active part in it, though he was blessed if he wasn’t going to find out what he could – and he slipped indoors while Bob was shaking his fist in the direction the truck had gone, and took up a good position to hear and see what happened when Bob returned to his side of the property.

      First of all Bob gave the sign a good kicking, but when it didn’t budge he strode indoors with a very dark expression. Soon Dave heard a row erupting, and he decided to follow his original plan and take a cup of tea and his newspaper outside at the back, where he could hear without being seen. Cathy’s boyfriend, Ronnie, lodged with Bob and Peggy’s boisterous family as their tenant, so Dave felt it was his duty to find out as much as he could. Ronnie was a nice lad, hard-working and polite, and Dave didn’t like to think he’d be made homeless along with his feckless landlord.

      Soon the accusations were flying and Bob and Peggy did not hold back.

      ‘What do you mean, you didn’t pay the rent? How could you not pay it? Answer me that.’

      ‘How could I pay it when you stole the money I’d put by and spent it in the pub?’

      ‘Stole? You accuse me of stealing and it was my money all along!’

      ‘It was for the rent, Bob.’ Peggy’s tone grew sarcastic, as if she was explaining to an idiot. ‘You know, the rent, the money we have to pay the landlord in order to keep a roof over our heads.’

      ‘So what? You’ve always managed to pay it before … haven’t you?’

      ‘You stupid man, how do you think I pay it when you keep stealing it and drinking it away? I haven’t paid the rent for weeks.’

      For a moment there was silence, but Dave guessed that the argument was just getting going after that revelation. Sure enough Bob’s temper erupted once again in a frenzy of swearing, and Peggy was giving as good as she got.

      ‘… And if it’s not bad enough there’ve been complaints,’ Peggy shouted. ‘Folks round here have been snitching on us to the landlord about the kids.’

      ‘Who?’

      ‘I don’t know, Bob. He’d hardly tell me, would he? Just sent a letter saying the kids were making too much noise too late at night. A warning, he said.’

      ‘Well, that’s your fault, that is. It’s your job