Discovering (Episode 34 - The Further Chronicles of a Young Lady and her Maid)

Continued from Episode 33 - Running

The story so far:  Gwladys and Aefelthrith have started a new life, running a pawn shop, formerly owned by 'Anty Marj',   Gwladys engaged a young urchin, 'Arry, to help clear the back garden of weeds.  Unfortunately, his digging produced a skull, about which  Gwladys swore him to secrecy and quiickly buried the evidence, which gave them a breathing space, until Sergeant Argent of the Watch appeared in the shop.  Fortunately, he was not pursuing his enquiries but was, to her extreme shock and horror, pursuing Aefelthrith, romantically.  Meanwhile, 'Arry revealed that his Mam said the place had always been a shop BUT Anty Marj had originally had a partner, thought to be her sister, whose name was Sarah, who had disappeared.   With this news, Gwladys tried  to persuade Aefelthrith to go out with Sergeant Argent so that they could find out more, to which she eventually agreed but only with the proviso that Gwladys should serve as chaperone.  On their 'date', Sergeant Argent regaled Aefelthrith with tales of t - he town, much to Gwladys's frustration but he knew nothing about the history of the shop, then Constable John confirmed that there had been a 'Sarah' but that she had disappeared.  Eager to show off his skills of detection, Sergeant Argent insisted on mounting an investigation.  The following day, the Sergeant and his Constable began their search of the premises and were only diverted from digging up the garden by some quick thinking on the part of Aefelthrith.  Meanwhile, Gwladys was surprised to find a rather familiar, and flamboyant, 'sea captain' in the shop, just at the same time that Aefelthrith was dealing with a street urchin with a message for the 'sossij', which turned out to be the Sergeant.  The message revealed that the Watch were needed to apprehend ' a fraud, a trickster and a mountebank', so it was perhaps just as well the the 'Captain' had made himself scarce!  Aefelthrith and Gwladys fell out about the 'Captain' and the torch that Aefelthrith obviously still held for him.  Would he come back, that evening?  When a beggar turned up at the back door, it turned out he had. 'John Thomas' explained that things had not gone well for him, since they left.  Dolly had run off with the Squire's son, the pub had shut as it wasn't commercially viable and their son was now being raised by Dolly's parents, leaving 'John Thomas' to try his hand at fraud again, albeit on his own this time.  And then, just as he was telling them all of this, there came a knock at the door.  It turned out to be the Watch, acting on a tip-off that a beggar had been seen going into the building.  As Gwladys tried to stall them, Aefelthrith tried to get 'John Thomas' to leave but, on discovering he had nowhere to go, smuggled him up to the loft just as the Watch made their entrance.  Gwladys managed to restrict their search to downstairs, by sheer force of character, but she was dumbstruck to learn that Aefelthrith had offered to shelter 'John Thomas' in their loft!  Out of the blue, Dolly showed up, trying to pawn a jet necklace.  It soon became apparent that her version of events was somewhat different to that of 'John Thomas', who seemed to have run away from the loft when he heard Dolly's voice.  Gwladys, much to Aefelthrith's annoyance, decides to offer Dolly and her child a room.  Aefelthrith could not believe that 'John Thomas' had abandoned Dolly and his son and was even more annoyed when Sergeant Argent turned up and asked her and Dolly to go out for a walk.  Whilst Gwladys was trying to amuse young Henry, the baby, she was surprised to hear a voice yelling "YER'VE CHEATED ME!", which was Anty Marj, returned (with Constable John in tow) to accuse Gwladys and Aefelthrith of fraud.  Fortunately, Sergeant Argent arrived on the scene and decreed that Gwladys had no case to answer, which didn't satisfy Anty Marj, who vowed revenge.  That night, Gwladys and Aefelthrith were sharing a bed (again) to give Dolly a room, much to Aefelthrith's annoyance, but it did give them a chance to share their thoughts and memories, ending with the surprise admission that Gwladys had a child that she had been forced to give up.  The following day, with Gwlaldys refusing to talk about her nightime admission, Aefelthrith was coerced into scrubbing the shop doorstep.  Noticing a pile of rags on the street, she shouted to Gwladys who told her to go and get them.   When she bent down to check the 'rags', a hand grabbed her and pulled her into the alleyway, which turned out to be a familiar face.  Clarence asked her to run away with him that night and she went away to think about it.  In the dead of night, Gwladys was woken by the sound of Aefelthrith opening drawers and packing her bag.  She tried to talk her out of it, but to no avail.  Aefelthrith sneaked out and hurried toward her assignation, only to be apprehended by the Watch for being abroad after the curfew.  She gave them a cock and bull story about having been to a sewing circle and lost track of time.  Returned safely to her home, Constable John  pointed out that, if she was going home, why had she walked past the shop when they caught her?  The following morning, Dolly complained to Gwladys about the noise in the night, then realised what had been going on.  'Arry turned up and asked Gwladys if she could come and help his mother who was very ill.  Gwladys reluctantly left Dolly and Aefelthrith together and made her way through a series of slums, to the hovel that 'Arry called home.  Back at the shop, Dolly interrogated Aefelthrith about her movements, eliciting a confession, eventually.  Gwladys met 'Arry's mother, who was clearly on her death bed.  She told Gwladys that 'Arry had been adopted and that his father had no time for him.  She begged Gwladys to give him a home and work, to which Gwladys agreed although 'Arry wasn't happy about the arrangment and leaving his mum.  Back at the shop, Dolly and Aefelthrith were having a full and frank debate about Aefelthrith's attempted clandestine meeting with Clarence the previous night, when Sergeant Argent and Constable John turned up to ask Aefelthrith a few more questions about her actions, much to Dolly's amusement:

As they made their way through the maze of streets and alleyways, ‘Arry kept turning back to look in the direction of his old home, sniffing and rubbing a tear-stained face.

“Look,” Gwladys said, on the umpteenth occasion, “I know yer worried abaht yer mam, and I ain’t sayin’ there’s nowt to worry abaht, ‘cause there is” She patted his shoulder, raising a cloud of dust in the process.  “But, I’ve promised yer I’ll go back and sit with ‘er, once I’ve got yer settled in at the shop, alright?”

“I should be with ‘er” ‘Arry said, miserably, “I’m ‘er family”

“Yeah, I know” Gwladys nodded, “but yer full young, yet.  Yer not ready for that sort of responsibility an’ yer mam didn’t want that for ye, did she now?”

More sniffing and nose-wiping on sleeves.

“Look, the shop’s jest over there, let’s get yer cleaned up and sorted out, right?”

‘Arry nodded and shuffled along behind her.

Opening the shop door, Gwladys was surprised to find Dolly behind the counter, polishing a pewter tankard with a bit of rag.

“What yer doin’?  Where’s Ethel?”

“Gone up to her room for a sulk” Dolly smirked.

“Yer’ve not been ‘avin words, the two of yer, ‘ave yer?”  Gwladys sighed.

“I don’t know what you mean” Dolly grinned, “By the way, you had a couple of customers while you were out, so I thought I’d have a go at dealing with them”

Gwladys looked horrified.

“It’s alright” Dolly shook her head, “I didn’t do anything stupid.   The first one was a regular, so I just checked in the ledger to see what you’d given him before, and did the same…”

“Oh, right”

“And the second brought this in” She indicated the tankard, “well, I know how much they cost new, from the inn, so I had a pretty good idea of what they might fetch second-hand and gave him a fraction of that, did I do alright?”

“Was he happy with what yer gave ‘im?” Gwladys frowned.

“Well, he grumbled a bit but he went off with the money”

“That’s when yer know yer’ve got it right” Gwladys grinned, “If they go skippin’ out, yer’ve given ‘em too much an’ if they go fer yer throat, yer’ve not offered enough.  Grumblin’s fine!”

“That’s what I thought” Dolly nodded and carried on polishing.

“’Arry ‘ere’s comin’ to live with us, fer a while” Gwladys nodded toward her companion.

“That’ll please your Ethel” Dolly sniggered, “Where’s he going to stay?”

“’E can go in the loft” Gwladys announced, “after all, if it were good enough fer your bloke…”

A few minutes later, Gwladys and ‘Arry stood amongst the beams and rafters, eyeing the cobwebs and dust.

“I’ll grant yer, it’s not much ter look at, at the moment” Gwladys conceded, “but it’s a roof over yer ‘ead an’ I reckon we could get it fixed up nice, with a bit of effort.  What d’yer say?”

“Ta” ‘Arry nodded, miserably.

“It’s a place of yer own” Gwladys pointed out, “Yer can make summat of it, I’m sure.  Now, get yer sen settled in, if yer want a drink or owt yer can ‘elp yerself from the kitchen.”

“Really?” ‘Arry perked up.

“Yeah, whatever yer want…within reason” Gwladys grinned, “meanwhile, I’ll go back an’ sit with yer mam, alright?”

“Yeah,” ‘Arry nodded, “tell ‘er…tell ‘er I’m thinkin’ of ‘er an’ I’m alight, will yer?”

“Good lad” Gwladys ruffled his hair, and instantly regretted it, “it’ll put ‘er mind at rest knowin’ yer safe an’ sound, ‘ere”

Leaving ‘Arry to settle himself in to his new lodgings, Gwladys made her way back down to the shop, where Dolly was looking at the shelves of pledged items.

“You get some weird stuff brought in here” She grinned.

“People bring what’s valuable to ‘em, when they’re desperate for money, like” Gwladys shrugged, “if it’s valuable to ‘em, don’t really matter if it’s worth owt to me or thee, ‘cause, with a bit of luck they’ll come back for it”

“Yeah, I can see that” Dolly nodded, “I just thought I’d see what this was all about”

“Are yer alright with managing the store?” Gwladys asked, “Only, it’s Ethel’s job really.  I could give ‘er a shout?”

“No, it’s alright” Dolly smiled, “I’m quite enoying it, to be honest, and I can keep an eye on Henry from here, too”

“You said you an’ ‘er ‘adn’t ‘ad words, didn’t yer?”  Gwladys nodded in the direction of the stairs.

“We had a bit of a debate” Dolly grinned.

“I dunner blame yer fer bein’ narked with ‘er, but we’ve all gotta live under the same roof, yer know?”

“It’s fine” Dolly shook her head, “anyway, when she does make an appearance, I’ve got a proposition for her” She winked.

Gwladys made her way out, with a distinct sense of trepidation.

* * * *

Aefelthrith, complete with coat and walking boots, was tiptoeing down the stairs, heading for the door to the street.  She just had to get across the hall without being seen and she would have achieved her aim.  Fortunately, there was no sign of anyone, anywhere.  She had just placed her hand on the door handle, when…

“Off out, are we?” Dolly appeared from behind the kitchen door.

“Dolly!” Aefelthrith jumped and turned in one panic-stricken move.

“Meeting someone?”

“Not especially” Aefelthrith shook her head, adamantly.

“You’d tell me if you were, of course?” Dolly folded her arms and grinned.

“Of course!  I just felt the need for a little erm…fresh air”

“Ah, right” Dolly nodded, “only, if you should happen to meet someone…”

“I am sure that will not be the case” Aefelthrith said, firmly.

“Yes, but if it was…” Dolly smiled and put her head to one side, “you would tell me, wouldn’t you?”

“Absolutely!”

“Only, if you did happen to meet someone like, oh I don’t know, Clarence say, just to pluck a name out of the hat…” Dolly raised an eyebrow.

“I am sure that would not be the case”

“Well, let’s just imagine, for the sake of argument, that you should” Dolly grinned, “I have a proposition for you”

“A…prop…proposition?”  Aefelthrith stammered.

“Yes, a proposition. You see, if you should happen upon my son’s father on your travels, I want you to arrange to meet him again, tonight”

“You…you…want me to meet with him?”  Aefelthrith looked astounded.

“No, not exactly” Dolly shook her head, “you can do the arranging, I’ll do the ‘meeting’ bit”

“I…I am not sure that I am following this at all”

“I want you to arrange to meet with Clarence, just like you did the other night, only, the difference this time will be that you won’t go…”

“I won’t?”

“Nope.  I will”

* * * *

‘Arry had made his way out into the back garden.  After arranging his few miserable possessions in the attic, he had crept down to the kitchen, found a pan of porridge on the stove and had happily helped himself to a bowl.  Well, a bowl and a bit.  Alright, alright, he’d had two bowls!

Hunger satisfied, he now needed to be doing something, anything, so he didn’t have to keep seeing that picture in his mind of his mam lying there, helpless.  He had to keep himself occupied.

He grabbed a spade and set to work, near where he had last been digging.  Looking around, he was quite pleased with how much had had cleared already since he had been working here.

He shoved the spade firmly into the soil, dug it in hard with his boot and that was when he felt the blade of the spade hit something rather hard and unyielding.  He stopped and frowned.  He leant back on the spade handle and levered a divot of earth from the ground.  He looked down into the resulting hole and swallowed hard.

“Oh bugger!” He said, out loud.

You can find the previous adventures of Gwladys and Aefelthrith in both Kindle and paperback formats at The Chronicles of a Young Lady (and her Maid (link is external)

Now read Episode 35