Shadow Over Edmund Street Suzanne Frankham (great book club books txt) đ
- Author: Suzanne Frankham
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âThe story poured out of Mrs OâBrien. Confusing.â She opened her notebook, spent a few moments checking over the details. âMrs OâBrien is seventy-three. She was a friend of Edwinaâs mother first. I donât know if this is important, but until recently Edwina lived at number one Edmund Street. Big house on the corner of the main road, next door to Mrs OâBrien. Sold it last year and moved into number eleven.â
âMust have made a pile of money,â Alex said.
âIâll come to that later.â Marion cleared her throat. âEdwina was an only child, brought up by her mother, Alice, with a lot of help from Mrs OâBrien. The two of them were like sisters. Father ran off before Edwina was born. When the mother was about six months pregnant. Should have heard Mrs OâBrien go on about the father. If he ever showed his face again, I think sheâd kill him herself. Her story was very confused at this point. The two women brought Edwina up and then when she was a teenager Edwinaâs mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the same time Edwina got pregnant. Mrs OâBrien didnât say it outright, about the pregnancy, but Edwina was married at sixteen.â
âWhat?â Alex said. âThis was when ⊠1981? Is that legal? Does the law allow you to get married at sixteen?â
Marion shrugged. Jerry swung around to the computer. The others waited while he checked it out. âSeems so, with parental consent. Jesus George, thatâs young though.â
âYes. Well the mother had cancer and Iâm surmising Edwina was already pregnant. Theyâre Catholics, like something out of the Victorian era. They must have panicked. No family, and a life ahead of shame, hell and damnation.â
â1981 Mar!â
âTo you Jerry, but in a little part of Edmund Street Iâm pretty sure it was more like 1881.â Marion fiddled with her notebook. âHis name was Jonathon Biggs. He was from number twenty Edmund St. He was eighteen. According to Mrs OâBrien his family was quite happy about it. His father was a carpenter and Jonathon an apprentice. She reckoned they had big plans. The renovation revolution was well underway by then and he and Edwina were going to turn the house into four flats. One for the mother, one for them and two to rent out.
Going to set them up for life. She said Edwina didnât realise her motherâs cancer was so advanced. Two months after the wedding, she died.â
Alex let out a sigh. Tried to imagine what it must have been like. He was about to ask if the young couple had moved in with the dying mother, but he couldnât. He didnât want to know.
âThen two children were born within two years and one day he was gone.â
âWhat do you mean, gone?â asked Jerry.
âGone. Left a note. Said he had been railroaded into marriage, was too young, couldnât cope.â
âWait!â said Jerry. âAre you saying both Edwinaâs father and her husband disappeared into thin air?â
âWell, yes. I hadnât thought about it that way.â
âDid Edwina ever hear from her father or her husband again?â Jerry demanded.
âI didnât ask about the father, but I think not. Certainly not from her husband.â
Jerry grinned, ran his hand through his hair. âWhat do you think, Alex? Do we need to check it out?â
âLetâs hear Marion out first. Go on, Mar.â
âI donât know anything more about the husband. As far as Mrs OâBrien is concerned the husband is not worth wasting breath on. Besides, it happened about thirty-five years ago. After he left, she and Edwina became very close. She took on the role of Edwinaâs mother and best friend. She helped with the children. According to her the children did well at school. They should both be here tomorrow or the next day.â
âHold on,â said Jerry. âGetting back to the men in this family who have a habit of vanishing, donât you think it needs to be checked out? Make sure they arenât under the floorboards somewhere?â
The others ignored him. âKeep going, Mar. Tell us about the recent stuff.â
âNow it starts to get interesting. Until recently, the only job Edwina ever had was working in the vegetable shop up the road. Friends from St Josephâs apparently. The primary school she went to.â
Jerry snorted.
âThree times a week she went in around five in the morning when the supplies came back from the market, and helped unpack everything. Year after year. She struggled, the kids grew up, started working, moved away and she and Mrs OâBrien saw each other every day. Ate together most nights. Went out together. Church stuff mainly. Inseparable.â
Jerry sat forward in his chair, tapping the floor with one foot. âIâm thinking husband and father under the floorboards. Wouldnât be the first time. Could even be Mrs OâBrienâs floorboards.â
Marion ignored him. âAbout three years ago, something happened. Edwina won a raffle at the church feteâfree lessons at the local gym for the year. She started going to a 9.30 am dance class and everything changed.â
âAha. I like this, Mar,â said Jerry. âJuicy stuff now.â
âApparently, first off she started to lose weight. Sheâd developed a âgenerous buildâ, according to Mrs OâBrien, but she was going to classes every day except Sunday and she lost a lot of weight. Then she did something miraculous with her hair and made a friend, Rose. No surname unfortunately.â
Jerry rubbed his hands together. âMaybe I had it wrong. Maybe she was a latent lesbian.â
âOh, shut up, Jerry,â Marion snapped. âHear me out. There was a lot of subtext in what Mrs OâBrien was saying at this point. It was clear she resented this new life Edwina had stumbled into. She was meeting and socialising with the smart new people who were moving into the area. Before that her circle of friends had been restricted to the old timers. Am I making sense?â
Alex nodded. âGo on.â
âThen Edwina started doing a âback-to-workâ course at the local community centre. Learned how to use a computer, which
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