Free Tiger Bay Blues by Catrin Collier Page B

grandmother questioned suspiciously.
    Judy hung her head. She hated telling lies but this was one that had to be told. ‘The housekeeper bumped into me and spilled red wine over my frock. It was ruined. Mr Evans insisted on paying me five pounds to replace it. And his daughter gave me a dress to wear home. She said I could keep it, but I’ll wash it and send it back.’
    ‘Good girl. They might be crache but it’s as well to show them that we don’t take charity. But five pounds is a lot of money for a frock. It didn’t cost you that much, did it?’
    Judy shook her head. ‘You know me. I’ve never paid more than a pound for a dress in my life. I gave Anna Hughes ten shillings for that one. She said she was too fat to get into it.’
    ‘You stay away from that woman,’ Pearl warned severely.
    ‘She’s not so bad, Gran.’
    ‘The way she makes her money is. You don’t want to get tarred with her brush. A young girl like you just starting out in life can’t be too careful about the company she keeps.’
    ‘All I did was buy a frock from her. I wouldn’t have got it cheaper anywhere else.’ She spooned the last of her porridge into her mouth.
    ‘No wonder you never put on any weight the way you rush around. I’ll have dinner on the table at two. Mind you’re home to eat it.’
    ‘I will be, Gran.’ Judy carried her cup, saucer and bowl into the washhouse and stacked them on the wooden board next to the Belfast sink. She sprinkled a few drops of water from a glass on to a saucer of salt, worked it into a mixture with her toothbrush and cleaned her teeth. She combed her hair, checked her reflection perfunctorily in the mirror and left the house.
    ‘Back at two if not before,’ her grandmother shouted after her. ‘I’m cooking a beef heart.’
    ‘I’ll be home to eat it, Gran.’
    The street was full of children dressed in their Sunday best. They were standing around kicking their heels because they’d been warned on pain of dire punishment to stay clean until it was time to walk to church.
    Judy greeted them, stopped to admire one small girl’s new sandals and ran. If there was one thing Mrs Protheroe hated, it was her maid starting late in the morning, and it was a good mile from Tiger Bay to the quiet suburban street where her employer lived.
    Peter Slater uttered the final ‘Amen’ of the service, faced the altar, bowed and led the procession of servers, candle-bearers, choirmaster and choir into the vestry. The moment the last and smallest boy in the choir closed the door that connected the vestry to the main body of the church, Peter opened the outside door and ran around the building so he could greet the congregation as they filed out of the porch.
    More than a hundred worshippers had arrived to hear the first sermon he had preached in Pontypridd, and he had been surprised and gratified to see Edyth Evans among them.
    He spoke to everyone in turn, introducing himself to the parishioners he hadn’t met and exchanging small talk with the ones he already knew. Three-quarters of an hour passed before he reached the end of the queue and he was acutely aware of Edyth’s presence in the church the whole time.
    ‘Reverend Price has told me a great deal about you, Mr Chubb, Mrs Chubb. I look forward to becoming better acquainted with both of you.’ He shook the hands of the frail, elderly couple, who had remained in their pew until the crowd had dissipated. ‘Hello again,’ his smile widened when Edyth finally reached him, ‘You were the last person I expected to see here this morning. I assumed that all your family would be catching up on their sleep after the excitement of yesterday.’
    Edyth hoped he hadn’t noticed she’d deliberately hung back and talked to the Chubbs so she would be the last in the queue. ‘None of us were in bed that late, Peter. After Bella and Toby left for Cardiff station, most of the wedding guests went home.’
    ‘But the rest of your family didn’t come with