A Mother's Duty Read Free

in search of Jimmy, hoping perhaps that she could persuade him to change his mind about leaving. Kitty put on the kettle before going through the door under the stairs which led to the family living quarters in the basement. She found Mick and Teddy sitting in front of the fire.
    ‘Find Jimmy,’ she ordered Mick. ‘He said he was going to your aunt’s house. Ask him can he move himself fast? That trunk has to be shifted. Mr Potter’s complaining. Besides someone might hurt themselves falling over it and I can’t afford to be sued for damages. If Annie’s there, tell her to get back right away. I need her.’
    Mick departed and she turned to Teddy. ‘What about you? Can you walk?’
    ‘If I have to,’ he said, gazing at her with his father’s dark eyes and struggling to his feet.
    ‘Perhaps not,’ she said, and pushed him back down into the chair with a sigh. ‘I hope you cleansed that wound properly.’
    ‘It stung, Ma. Dad would have said it was a waste of good whiskey but Gran used to say they cleaned wounds in the Bible with alcohol.’
    She smiled faintly. ‘Your gran was right but just in case – if that wound does start going bad you must tell me right away. Embarrassment or not, son. I don’t want you dying on me.’ Even though he was forever getting into mischief she loved the bones of him. He had what her mother had called spunk and she admired that in him.
    He nodded and she left him and went upstairs to see to the Potters’ tea herself before finishing the steak and kidney pies and popping them in the oven of the grey-enamelled range.
    Mick and Annie arrived a few minutes later but her cousin promptly disappeared into the dining room to set the tables. ‘Jimmy wasn’t there,’ said Mick. ‘Aunt Jane said he came and went in half an hour.’
    Kitty’s brows knitted. What did Jimmy think she was paying him for? It certainly wasn’t for him to come and go when he pleased or to sit staring into space the way he had done since her mother had died. He was not the only one having to work harder whilst grieving. She remembered the days when he had been dependable and they could have a good laugh about the difficult guests. ‘Did he say where he was going?’
    ‘No. Only that he wanted to leave our Ben with her but he wouldn’t stay and went after him. Will I see to the fires now, Ma?’ She nodded and left him to it, determinedly putting thoughts of Jimmy aside whilst she went on with her preparations for the evening meal.
    The guests had been fed and the dishes washed and stacked away. There was nothing to do until hot water bottles needed filling, and tea and biscuits were served at ten. Kitty was toasting her toes on the fender, trying to relax but giving only part of her mind to reading the
Liverpool Echo.
Jimmy and Ben were still not home and Annie had left half an hour ago. Even as Kitty’s eyes scanned an article about an Austrian called Hitler being made Chancellor of Germany, she was worrying about the two missing males in her life. She glanced at Mick who was reading a couple of pages of her newspaper and wondered whether to send him in search of them.
    As if aware of her scrutiny, her son looked up. ‘You’re not worrying about those two, are you, Ma? I’m sure there’s no need.’
    ‘You’re probably right.’ She forced a smile, considering what a comfort he was, which reminded her in a peculiar way of Teddy’s torn and bloodied underpants and trousers. She should have put them in to soak, she thought wearily, but hopefully the blood would still come out. She might as well mend them first, though. She reached for her work basket.
    ‘Edward G Robinson’s on the pictures next week,’ said Mick.
    Teddy glanced up. ‘In that new gangster film?’
    Mick nodded.
    ‘Could we go, Ma?’ said Teddy, looking at her eagerly. ‘It seems ages since we’ve been to the pictures.’
    ‘I don’t think you deserve a treat after getting stuck on those railings,’ she said, squinting