The Weston Girls Read online

  The Weston Girls

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Read More

  Copyright

  The Weston Girls

  Grace Thompson

  Chapter One

  Walking from the Court a free man was such a relief that Arfon Weston wanted to cry. That would really make him look an old fool after his masterly performance these past months. He coughed, spoke irritably to his wife to “hurry up, Gladys,” and “stop fussing” and marched to where their taxi waited. After months of waiting, of delays and postponements, of sleepless nights and stressful days, he was free.

  Not without a hefty fine and costs that would cripple him, but the air in the South Wales town had never smelled so good.

  “The first thing I want to do when I get home is to walk along the sands and get some deep breaths into my lungs,” he said when the taxi was on its way through the streets of Cardiff.

  “Walk on the sands? When did you ever?” Gladys said disparagingly. She was feeling hurt. He hadn’t hugged her and thanked her for her support. The tender scene she had envisaged hadn’t happened and even though they were well into their sixties, they still showed affection without embarrassment. She wondered with concern, if Arfon was going to return to being the inattentive husband he had been when they were first married, concentrating all his energies on building a business and making money. They needed that sort of dedication, she knew that, with most of their money gone and debts to pay, but she didn’t think she would cope with it all again. Not now.

  Then there had been the babies to enjoy, their twin girls, Sally and Sian, now married, Sian with a son Jack, and Sally with twin daughters of her own, her dear Weston Girls, Joan and Megan.

  She tuned in to Arfon’s voice beside her in the leather seat; he was chuntering on about the unfortunate choices their twin daughters had made, when they married the lazy Ryan and the thieving Islwyn.

  “What did we do to deserve those two, Gladys?” he boomed as the car stopped outside their house. Then, “Well, this is it, the new beginning. Tomorrow I start all over again building the family fortune. The Westons aren’t finished yet, my dear, and this town of Pendragon Island will soon find that out.”

  “How exciting, dear,” Gladys smiled, while wondering where they were going to find the money for anything other than survival. The family were all there to greet them, their twin daughters, Sian and Sally with their husbands, although Islwyn couldn’t look them in the face. Even their grandson Jack had turned up, and their lovely twin granddaughters, Joan and Megan, who, although not bearing their grandparents’ name were always referred to as ‘the Weston Girls’. She hugged them all, even Islwyn, who had brought them to this sorry state, then hurried to make sure Mair had tea ready and hadn’t forgotten anything.

  She checked the tray the maid had prepared and frowned over the lack of polish on a teaspoon. Really the girl was nowhere near as good as Victoria Jones had been. Such a pity she’d had to leave. She adjusted the display of small cakes in her finicky way then nodded approval. “Very well, Mair, you can take it in now and please try not to overfill the cups or dribble tea into the saucer.”

  “Thank you Ma’am.” Mair wondered what she was thanking her for. The rules on what she must say on every occasion were so ridiculous.

  “Well, Grandfather, what now?” Jack asked when the maid had left them.

  “First of all I want to know what you two are going to do.” Arfon looked at his sons-in-law. “Ryan?” he asked. “Isn’t it time you got back to work or are you going to retire permanently at the age of forty-five?”

  “I can’t be expected to go back and accept Viv Lewis as manager, Father-in-law, you can’t expect that of me.”

  “Why not? He’s a better manager than you were!”

  “But it was he who got us in this mess. If he hadn’t gone to the police with evidence of you burning down your own shop for the insurance money—” he faltered as Arfon’s eyes bulged as if about to explode.

  “Well, it doesn’t seem right, Daddy, Viv Lewis being given a share of a business he all but ruined,” Sally added in support of her husband.

  “The business was in the hands of a lazy man who did as little as he could get away with,” Arfon glared at Ryan. “And,” he turned his fierce gaze on Islwyn, his other son-in-law, “a man who thought he was justified in stealing from his own family.”

  Islwyn stood up as if his seat were on fire and almost ran from the room. His wife Sian followed, calling back abuse at her father.

  “I don’t think you can count on my father to help rebuild Weston’s Wallpaper and Paint, Grandfather,” their son Jack said casually, staring at the door swinging shut after his parents. “I’m afraid he isn’t up to it. Best if you leave it to Viv if you ask me, he knows what he’s doing and is utterly trustworthy.”

  “Trustworthy and – loyal?” his Auntie Sally demanded. “They go together don’t they? Honesty and loyalty? If he finds something a bit irregular, what makes you think he won’t go to the police again?”

  “If Viv is running things there won’t be anything – irregular – will there?” Jack replied.

  “Vivian Lewis stays in charge and if you decide to start earning your keep again, Ryan, you do as he says, right?” Arfon glared again at Ryan and at his daughter, Sally. “He had his chance, Sally, love, and he failed me, you, all of us. I’m keeping a tight hold of the reins from now on and Viv Lewis runs the business. What he says goes. Right?”

  Ryan shuffled his feet but didn’t reply.

  “Will our allowance have to be reduced?” Arfon’s granddaughter Joan asked. She and her twin sister, Megan, tilted their heads on one side and looked at their grandfather appealingly.

  “Heavens above, Joan. You don’t think I’d survive your grandmother’s wrath if I suggested that, do you?” Arfon laughed. “Cutting back on expenditure, yes, but touching your allowance? It’s more than I dare do.”

  “More tea anyone?” Gladys enquired after a conspiratorial smile at her granddaughters. “I’ll ring for Mair, shall I?”

  * * *

  Arfon felt the elation of seeing the end of the court case sliding from him as he thought about his sons-in-law. Ever since their twin daughters had married, he and Gladys had given them an allowance. It would have to stop, at least until the firm was on its feet again and he wondered whether Ryan and Islwyn were men enough to compensate for the loss of both allowance and wages and keep their families without his support. Sadly he thought not.

  “Until now, your grandmother has refused to discuss it,” he told Jack confidentially. “She’s convinced that everything will be all right, that the finances will magically revert to how they were before the revelations that have beggared us.”

  “Grandmother will cope, once you explain exactly what the situation is,” Jack said. “Don’t try to cover up the severity of it, she’d hate that.”

  “I’ll have to talk to her – and soon, Jack. I keep hoping it won’t be as bad as I first thought. But I’ve done my sums over and over again and I can’t kid myself anymore and you’re right, it isn’t fair to kid her.”

  He watched his wife as she criticised the maid for stacking the china with less than perfect orderliness, and sighed. Gladys would find it harder than the others to deal with poverty. At s
ixty-six she had the right to live comfortably as she had always done. Perhaps he’d wait a while and see exactly how they were fixed before discussing the economies he needed to enforce. He knew nothing would magically change, that he was being cowardly, but seeing Gladys in her drawing room, enjoying being a generous hostess to her family made him weak. Damn it all, he’d let her down.

  * * *

  Islwyn took his wife home then went to Glebe Lane to see Ryan.

  “What are we going to do?” he demanded when he and Ryan were alone.

  “Nothing,” Ryan smiled. “The damned Westons have made us into lackeys, insisting on running our lives for us; so let them get on with it. Let’s see how Old Man Arfon deals with this situation with only Viv Lewis to help him.”

  “You’re right. He’s led us by the nose since we married his precious daughters, so he can dig us out of this mess. After all it’s his fault.”

  “And yours, you damned fool! Fancy helping yourself from the till.”

  “Righting the balance, that’s all,” Islwyn retaliated. “Gladys spends hundreds on your daughters, her ‘Weston Girls’, and my Jack hardly sees a penny piece.”

  “Well, anyway…” Ryan sat and allowed his thoughts to drift.

  “Bloody Viv Lewis and his righteousness,” Islwyn muttered. “He’s got the fault and now he’s a partner in the firm. Well, we’ll see how long he lasts. Little upstart.”

  * * *

  Viv Lewis, the subject of Ryan and Islwyn’s displeasure was in the office of Weston’s Wallpaper and Paint at that moment. There was a lull in the shop and he had run up to his desk to make a few phone calls while he had a chance. He did as much office work as possible before and after the shop closed, as he believed in making the customers aware that although he was the manager, he found time to take a real interest in their purchases. And at the moment he was carrying out an experiment, timing his various tasks to see how much more of his time he could spend on the shop floor.

  He saw Victoria Jones, the Westons’ ex-maid, come in and he went down to see what she wanted. She didn’t look like a customer. The way she looked around her wondering which of the assistants to approach made him think she wanted to see him. He rapped on the office window, waved, then ran down to meet her.

  “Hello Victoria, looking for me?” he asked.

  Her cheeks reddened and she whispered, “Yes, well, if you aren’t busy. Would you rather I came back?” She stepped away from him towards the door.

  “Come up to the office, we can talk there,” he said, taking her arm. Such a thin arm that the sleeve of her worn coat lacked substance. He glanced at her and saw how pinched and pale her face had become. Whatever sort of employer Gladys Weston had been, she had fed the girl. Victoria didn’t look as if she had eaten a good meal since she left. He called to one of the assistants to make them a cup of tea. “No sugar, mind,” he said. “Mam can’t spare any more of her rations.”

  “I was wondering if you had a job going? Cleaning perhaps?” Victoria began as they waited for the tea to arrive. “Evenings or early mornings would do.”

  “I thought you had a job?”

  “I have, but I could do a few hours besides the shop. A shoe shop isn’t hard work and I’ve plenty of energy.”

  “Saving up for something nice, are you?” Viv asked.

  “Well…”

  “All right, I don’t want to know your business. Let me think about it, shall I? I’ll let you know after the weekend, when I’ve talked to Mr Weston.”

  “I’ll pop in on Monday then, save you coming to the house.”

  Glad to be gone, she ran down the stairs and out of the shop without waiting for the tea. Viv wrote a note to remind him to speak to Arfon and wondered idly if Victoria was saving to get married. She was only sixteen but she’d probably be glad to get away from that awful family of hers.

  He heard that the trial was over and Arfon had been fined and awarded costs, from Jack, who had called in after leaving his grandfather’s house and the family gathering.

  “I’m glad he wasn’t sent to prison, Jack,” Viv said, avoiding his friend’s eye. “Are you?”

  “Yes I am. I’ve grown to respect the old man and although I can’t honestly say I regret reporting what Basil Griffiths found out, I am glad he didn’t have to face prison. At his age it would have been hard.”

  “You don’t think it’s hard losing all his money and having to start again at his age?”

  “Not if it makes your thieving father and your Uncle Ryan do something useful instead of scrounging off him, no I don’t!” Unable to keep his temper any longer, Viv reminded his friend that, “Justice is for all and that includes the precious Westons!”

  “You’ve done well enough out of it, Viv Lewis! A partnership isn’t it? A partner of the man you snitched on?”

  “Come off it, Jack! ‘Snitched on’ indeed! It wasn’t a game. He burned his property down!” Anger rising due partly to his uncomfortable guilt, he went on, “Don’t look down your nose at me, boy! Old Man Arfon trusted your father, Jack. And all the time he was stealing from him. And Ryan was hardly honest, was he? Taking wages and doing sod all! What right have you to come in here and sneer at the likes of me? I’ll help him and do all I can to put this shop on its feet again. What are you going to do? Any of you?”

  A moment passed and they were aware of the three assistants silent and listening. Lowering his voice, Viv asked, “For a start off, what will your father do to earn his keep? Arfon won’t have him back here, for sure.”

  Jack’s shoulders drooped as he submitted to the truth of Viv’s tirade. “He won’t even go out in the daylight. I can’t see him finding a job anywhere.”

  “And your Uncle Ryan?”

  “He says he won’t work for you.”

  “Good on ’im. I don’t want him wandering round here telling me what I’m doing wrong and idling his hours away. The fact is, Jack, the business won’t stand it.” He pointed down into the shop where the assistants were serving a small trickle of customers and said, “One of those will have to go. Maybe two. I’m trying to decide which. I thought I’d take on a cleaner and let the highest paid assistants go. Pity for them but they’ll soon find something else. There’s no other way if I’m to make a profit for your grandfather, Old Man Arfon.”

  “Mr Weston to you!” Jack swung on his heel and hurried out.

  Viv doubted whether he and Jack would ever return to the close friendship they had once enjoyed. Although they spoke now, there was always an undercurrent of anger in Jack to which Viv’s temper was quick to respond. Impulsively he ran after Jack and saw him standing at the corner of the road. Cooling his temper, he is, Viv thought, recognising in his friend a feeling he knew very well.

  “Fishing? Sunday morning?” he asked.

  “All right, seven o’clock start.”

  “OK.”

  They parted with a little less anger, a continuation of the slow thaw.

  When work finished for the day, Viv sometimes called in for a drink on the way home, but today he was earlier than usual, having managed most of the book-keeping before the shop closed. Home first, he decided, and have a bite of tea to fortify myself for the visit to Arfon and Gladys Weston.

  He looked in on his sister in the sweet shop, Temptations, on the corner near their home. “Any off-ration sweets, miss?” he teased.

  Rhiannon smiled and threw him a toffee from one of the jars on the shelf behind her. Then he ran to their home just three doors away, number seven, Sophie Street.

  * * *

  At six-thirty, Mair opened the door to Viv and, as usual, requested he wait in the hall until she found Mr Weston. As usual Viv ignored her instruction and walked past her to sit down in the library-cum-study leading off the hall, where Arfon found him a few moments later.

  “Congratulations, I’m pleased you don’t have to face prison,” Viv said at once.

  “My instinct is to thank you for your good wishes, but I don’t think it’s apt
, really, d’you?” Arfon growled.

  “I’m pleased it’s over,” Viv said. “Now the real reason I wanted to talk to you is about the staff. One must go for definite and I really want to get rid of two, at least for the time being, and take on a part-time cleaner.”

  “Sack two? But that leaves you with only one assistant? How will you manage?”

  “I’ll do what I’ve been doing for weeks, get in early and leave late, then I’ll be available to help in the shop. If your granddaughter, Joan, would demean herself to working, she might like to come in on Saturdays for a while to help out.”

  Arfon ignored the rudeness and said, “Joan? Well she did work there for a while but, a Saturday…” He pursed his lips and shook his head. “Girls seem to be frantically busy on Saturdays.”

  “This is an emergency, Mr Weston. You’ve looked after the family really well for years, now they must start giving something back.”

  “I’ll have a word with Ryan and—”

  “No bloody fear! I don’t want them two hanging around looking superior and doing sod all, thank you very much!”

  “Viv, you’re damned rude.”

  “Yes, and you think the same and don’t deny it.” Viv grinned unrepentantly. “It wouldn’t work. They’d undo all I’ve done and you must admit things are looking up.”

  “A cleaner you say?”

  “You know Victoria Jones, who used to work for Mrs Weston? She called to ask for a few hours cleaning before or after her day at the shoe shop. I think she needs to earn a few pounds more.”

  “All right, boy, do what you must and I’ll support you. Now will you have a drink to celebrate the fact that you didn’t ruin me completely?”

  “Smashing.”

  * * *

  Half an hour later, Viv poked his head into The Railwayman’s Arms and saw that Basil Griffiths was there with his brother Frank and their cousin Ernie.

  “Eleri all right?” he called.