BooksBarbecue
Back The Return Save as PDF
Chapters (73)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. Also by Anita Frank
  4. Note to Readers
  5. Dedication
  6. Part One
  7. Chapter One
  8. Chapter Two
  9. Chapter Three
  10. Chapter Four
  11. Chapter Five
  12. Chapter Six
  13. Chapter Seven
  14. Chapter Eight
  15. Chapter Nine
  16. Chapter Ten
  17. Chapter Eleven
  18. Chapter Twelve
  19. Chapter Thirteen
  20. Chapter Fourteen
  21. Chapter Fifteen
  22. Chapter Sixteen
  23. Chapter Seventeen
  24. Chapter Eighteen
  25. Chapter Nineteen
  26. Chapter Twenty
  27. Chapter Twenty-One
  28. Chapter Twenty-Two
  29. Chapter Twenty-Three
  30. Chapter Twenty-Four
  31. Chapter Twenty-Five
  32. Chapter Twenty-Six
  33. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  34. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  35. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  36. Chapter Thirty
  37. Chapter Thirty-One
  38. Chapter Thirty-Two
  39. Chapter Thirty-Three
  40. Chapter Thirty-Four
  41. Chapter Thirty-Five
  42. Chapter Thirty-Six
  43. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  44. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  45. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  46. Chapter Forty
  47. Part Two
  48. Chapter Forty-One
  49. Chapter Forty-Two
  50. Chapter Forty-Three
  51. Chapter Forty-Four
  52. Chapter Forty-Five
  53. Chapter Forty-Six
  54. Chapter Forty-Seven
  55. Chapter Forty-Eight
  56. Chapter Forty-Nine
  57. Chapter Fifty
  58. Chapter Fifty-One
  59. Chapter Fifty-Two
  60. Chapter Fifty-Three
  61. Chapter Fifty-Four
  62. Chapter Fifty-Five
  63. Chapter Fifty-Six
  64. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  65. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  66. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  67. Chapter Sixty
  68. Acknowledgements
  69. Extract
  70. Chapter One
  71. Chapter Two
  72. Chapter Three
  73. About the Publisher

And then, what Gwen has been fearing comes to pass. His gaze drops to the boy clutched to her side and even as the car eases away, there it stubbornly remains.

Chapter Thirty

Jack

August 1939

‘I didn’t mean to kill him. Or maybe I did. I don’t know.’ Jack lets out a ragged sigh. He dares to lift his eyes to Gwen; the new wariness in her expression breaks his heart. ‘I didn’t think I was a violent man, Gwen, but maybe it’s there in all of us. I had a rage on me like never before, and I hadn’t got the self-control to stop it.’ He shakes his thoughts loose. ‘I just couldn’t stop myself.’ He pauses for a deep breath. ‘But anyway, the point is this: I’ve killed a man, and I reckon the coppers must have a pretty good idea it was me that did it. I had enough witnesses when I had a go at him in the pub. I’ve tried to cover my tracks, but I’ve not done a decent job. Did you know Iris Jennings’ brother is a detective – in Newcastle? Apparently, he’s coming here. I can’t help but think he’s coming for me.’

‘You don’t know that.’

‘Iris told Ted he was coming down for work.’

‘If he was coming for you, he’d be here by now, wouldn’t he? He’d have got Vic to arrest you. Your own sense of guilt is making you leap to conclusions,’ Gwen adds quietly.

‘Maybe. Oh, Gwen, I don’t know. All I know is … I can’t stay here. This damn war can’t come soon enough. I reckon no one’s going to ask too many questions about a man willing to give up his life for his country, not when his country needs every willing man she can muster. And I reckon I should let fate decide what happens to me next … perhaps I will survive. Perhaps fighting this war will be my redemption. But even if I do live, I can’t see how I can come back here, to England. I’d spend my life looking over my shoulder, waiting for my past to catch up with me. I can’t live my life in the shadow of the hangman’s noose, Gwen.’

‘But what will you do?’

‘If I survive the war, I reckon I’ll hop on a ship somewhere, start afresh. America maybe. Or maybe I’ll stay in Europe and just not come home – there are many ways a man can disappear and start again. But if you let me do this for you, Gwen – marry you, I mean – you’ll be able to keep your bairn, without disgrace, without fear. Your dad’ll look after you. And if I don’t survive, you’ll at least have a widow’s pension, and that’ll help down the line.’