Free Black-eyed Devils by Catrin Collier Page B

‘Does Amy know who her parents are?’
    â€˜Yes, she does, Arnold. Mary and Jim Watkins are Amy’s parents. They nursed her when she was a baby. Looked after her when she caught measles, mumps and chicken-pox. They fed her, cared for her and gave her all the love and attention she could ever want.’
    â€˜If you’d given me the chance I would have loved her, Anna.’
    â€˜As your bastard child?’
    â€˜I would have bought you a house, given you money and all the clothes and jewellery you wanted. Paid for Amy to go to private school.’
    â€˜Where she would have been called a bastard and I would have been called your mistress by people who wanted to be kind. The unkind ones would have called me whore. And rightly so.’
    â€˜You were never a whore, Anna.’
    â€˜It’s what the world would have called me if they had found out about Amy. But thanks to Mary and Jim Watkins, and your money, Amy’s and my life turned out differently. And, none of it matters. Not now.’
    â€˜Can’t we at least be friends, Anna?’
    â€˜No, Arnold. We can never be friends. I told you that twenty years ago and it’s truer now than it was then. I asked you about Thomas Kelly. Do you know him?’
    â€˜One of our agents told me he’d signed up Father Kelly’s nephew in Ireland.’
    â€˜Tear up the papers Tom signed, Arnold. Your agents tricked him. He’s no blackleg.
    â€˜What’s Thomas Kelly to you?’ He thought for a moment. ‘Of course, you work in Father Kelly’s kitchen. He sent you here to beg for his nephew, didn’t he?’
    â€˜Father Kelly doesn’t know I’m here. No one does, except you and the clerk who showed me in.’
    Arnold smiled. ‘Alun’s a snob but he’s good at his job.’
    â€˜The colliers see the strike as a war. We’re on different sides, Arnold. And Amy Watkins and Tom Kelly are caught in the middle.’ Anna glanced at the clock above Arnold’s desk. It was already twelve o’clock. She didn’t have much time to find a ride back to Tonypandy and get there before Gwilym left the picket line.
    â€˜Amy knows Tom?’
    â€˜She loves him.’
    â€˜And Jim Watkins approves.’
    â€˜No he doesn’t. And, he’ll disown Amy if he finds out about them. I’ve seen Tom and Amy together, Arnold. It’s hopeless to try and separate them. They’re in love. Just as.’ She fell silent.
    â€˜We once were,’ he finished for her.
    â€˜You’ll tear up Tom Kelly’s contract?’ she pleaded.
    â€˜I won’t make promises I can’t keep, Anna. I did that once before when I told a young girl I’d leave my wife and take care of her. All I succeeded in doing was hurting the only woman I have ever loved.’
    Anna looked at him for a moment, imprinting his face on her memory. ‘I know you’ll try. Arnold. I’ve done what I came here to do. I have to go to the market and look for a cart that’s going back to Tonypandy.’
    â€˜I’ll hire a cab for you.’
    â€˜Can you see the wife of a striking miner, riding back into Tonypandy in style? I’d never live it down. Gwilym wouldn’t understand the waste of money. And I certainly couldn’t tell him where it came from.’
    â€˜At least let me give you the train fare.’
    â€˜No, for the same reason. I’d have to explain to Gwilym where I got it.’
    Arnold took his wallet from his pocket and opened it. He removed two ten pound notes. ‘Give these to Father Kelly for his soup kitchen.’
    â€˜Father Kelly wouldn’t take them from you.’
    â€˜You wouldn’t have to tell him where they came from.’
    â€˜I couldn’t lie. You want to donate, Arnold, do it anonymously through your bank.’
    â€˜I already do.’ He left his desk and went to the door.
    â€˜If you have any feelings for Amy,