Page 25

Chapter 25

July 1911

Two Saturdays after the jewellery-box incident, Finlay took Ann for ice cream in Portobello, as he had promised.

They went on the tram and Ann counted the steps as they climbed up to the top deck because she couldn’t help herself.

‘Italian ice cream is the absolute best,’ said Finlay after finding them a seat in the café and ordering from the waiter.

‘One day I want to go to Italy and try it in the place it really comes from.’

‘ This Italian ice cream comes from here,’ she replied.

It was eventually brought to their table in tall glasses.

Finlay took a scoop of it with the long spoon and savoured the white deliciousness.

‘And pizza,’ Ann said.

‘I want to taste real pizza, not just the kind Isobel has started to make.’

‘And pizza,’ he agreed.

‘Are you going to tell me about the Air Race?’ She was not in the mood for conversation and getting Finlay to talk about one of his enthusiasms was the easiest way to avoid having to make an effort.

‘It was magnificent.’ He drew the word out into individual syllables.

‘The aircraft were going to land at Redford Barracks so everyone went there to watch them arrive. You had to pay a shilling to get close, and I wasn’t expecting there would be a charge, but I had money with me.

’

‘Where did you get the money from?’

He blushed.

‘I had the cab money from when we went to The Great Lafayette. No one asked for it back, so I kept it, like an emergency fund in case we’re ever caught out again and need to get home quickly.

’

Ann was not convinced.

‘I don’t think you should have kept it.

’

‘I’ve never spent a penny of it, until the Air Race.

And the rest is there if we need it.

Like today, if you felt unwell again like you did a couple of weeks ago—’

‘Right,’ said Ann, quickly changing the subject and going back to her ice cream.

‘So, you paid the shilling and then what?’

‘Nothing happened for quite a while and I was worried that I’d need to leave to get back home before they appeared.

But then some men came out with big white sheets and they made a cross on the grass, and they got some Boy Scouts to help with putting bricks on the sheets so they didn’t blow away.

’

‘Perhaps if you hadn’t left the Scouts you wouldn’t have had to pay the shilling.

’

‘Maybe.’ He licked his spoon.

‘We saw the planes approaching in the sky and we heard the engines. It was such a thrill. I’ve never seen anything so marvellous.

When they landed, everyone cheered.

Only four pilots finished the course.

And that was it. I couldn’t stay any longer because I had to come home.

’

‘It does sound exciting.’

‘I’m sorry I haven’t told you about it before but I couldn’t risk anyone overhearing.

’ Finlay looked at her.

‘You’ve been very quiet lately.

’

‘I know.’

‘Is there anything the matter?’

Ann thought about the fact that she would have a visitor every month for the rest of her life, which was how Ursula had described it.

‘No, nothing’s wrong,’ she lied.

‘Ann Black, I don’t believe you.

You are keeping a secret.

’ He put the final spoonful of ice cream into his mouth and licked his lips.

‘Me?’

‘There is no one else called Ann Black in the vicinity, so yes, you.’

She scraped the last drop of melted ice cream from the tall glass and managed not to let it dribble on her dress.

‘Well, yes. But you can’t tell.

’

‘I can’t promise you that.

If you are in danger, I have to say something.

’

‘It’s nothing like that.

’

‘Go on then, spill the beans.’ He leaned back in his chair and looked around the café, waiting for her to divulge her important secret.

‘What is it?’

Ann whispered, ‘I think Isobel might be stealing things.’

He leaned forward.

‘What?’

‘Something is missing.’ She looked down into the empty glass, unwilling to meet his eyes.

‘It was when I was feeling poorly a couple of weeks ago. There was no one in the house and I thought she must be up in her room. I wasn’t feeling well so I went straight upstairs to my bedroom, and there she was.

’

‘Doing what?’

‘She had my jewellery box open on the bed and she was going through all the necklaces and rings.’

‘Mother’s things?

’

‘Yes. I’m never going to wear them, though, because she was a horrible person.

I only keep the box to make Father happy.

I don’t even really know what’s in it.

’

‘You’ve never done an inventory?

’

She frowned. ‘A what?’

‘It’s a fancy name for a list.’

‘No, I’ve never done one of those.

’

‘So you don’t know for sure if there is anything missing?

’

‘Not from that box.’ She hesitated.

‘But my little steel necklace, the one Grandma gave me when I was born? Well, that’s gone.

’

‘You are quite, quite sure? This is a serious thing, Ann, saying someone is a thief.’

‘The tin is not in the drawer where I keep it.’

‘We need to go home,’ he said.

‘We must tell Father immediately.’

‘It’s Isobel’s afternoon off.

She told me she was going to sit in Princes Street Gardens and listen to the band that plays there.

She was looking forward to it.

’ Her voice had an air of desperation.

‘Do we have to say? I don’t want to get her into trouble.

’

‘Neither do I, but we have to speak to them before she comes back. It’s not the sort of thing you keep a secret.

It really isn’t.’

Ann could feel a mood descending on her.

‘If you are absolutely sure,’ she said eventually.

‘I am. And there’s no time to waste.

It’s after two o’clock and she will be back at six.

’ He pulled his new wallet out of his pocket.

‘This is why you should always have an emergency fund. Remember that, Annie Bee, it’s very important. ’