East End Jubilee Read Online Free Page A

them to hear any more unpleasantness. ‘Go inside and wait for me.’ She gave their shoulders a gentle push, then turned to Olga.
‘What did you just say?’
    ‘That television was stolen. The police have taken it away and I don’t suppose we shall see it again.’
    ‘Who told you that?’
    ‘The policemen of course.’
    ‘Well, there must have been some mistake—’ Rose began but Olga shouted over her.
    ‘Yes, the mistake was in trusting your husband.’
    ‘Leave it out, Olga. Eddie is an honest man. He wouldn’t do anything dodgy.’
    ‘Oh no? I was questioned like a common criminal. As if they thought I had something to do with stealing it.’
    ‘Well, I’m sorry for all that,’ Rose apologized, wishing hard that she hadn’t lost that argument with Eddie over the telly and wishing even harder she could turn back the
clock.
    ‘We’ve been swindled and all you can do is stand there and say you’re sorry!’ Olga screamed as they stood in the middle of the road.
    ‘Eddie wouldn’t touch anything that was stolen.’ Rose knew she wasting her breath.
    ‘They might have thought we were involved if we hadn’t got a receipt!’
    ‘Well, if you’ve got a receipt, doesn’t that prove Eddie wasn’t out to cheat you?’ Rose felt as though she was sinking in quicksand.
    ‘It proves your husband sold us a stolen television!’
    Rose lifted her chin. ‘I’m sorry for the trouble of course, but you’re judging Eddie before you know all the facts.’
    Olga laughed coldly. ‘There is only one fact. We have just lost fifty honestly earned pounds. We might as well have thrown it down the drain.’
    Rose nearly choked as she heard the price the Parkers had paid for the television. Fifty pounds was a small fortune in Rose’s book.
    Just then Len Silverman appeared. ‘Leave the child alone,’ he said quietly to Olga. ‘She is upset.’
    Olga turned on him fiercely. ‘And so am I, old man!’
    ‘It’s all right, Len. I can fight me own battles,’ Rose said shakily, taking his arm.
    ‘You haven’t heard the last of this.’ Olga lifted her shoulders and marched off. Rose could almost see the steam coming out of her ears.
    ‘I’m truly sorry, Rose,’ the widower apologized as he pushed his fingers through his thin grey hair. ‘It is me who is the cause of your trouble. One of the policemen
asked if I knew of anyone owning a new television. He said they were prepared to search in every house so I had better speak up.’ His thick grey eyebrows knitted together. ‘I did so,
unfortunately. I hope you are not angry with me.’
    Rose was aware that the retired jeweller kept his home as a shrine to his dead wife, Lena. He hated any intrusion into his life. Since her death ten years ago, the word was he hadn’t moved
a stick of furniture. All her clothes and belongings were still in the wardrobe. ‘Forget it, Len. Olga would have told them if you hadn’t,’ Rose said kindly.
    ‘Is there anything I can do to help?’
    ‘No, thanks all the same.’ Only a miracle could help now, Rose thought as she hurried back home. Upstairs the girls were sitting on Donnie’s bed looking lost and alone. Rose
hugged them hard. ‘Don’t worry, Daddy will be all right.’
    ‘What’s he done wrong?’
    ‘Nothing. The police have made a mistake.’
    Donnie shuddered. ‘Everyone was looking at us funny, like we’d done something wrong.’
    ‘Well, you haven’t and neither has Daddy.’ They had no reason to be ashamed. Whatever the police thought, Rose knew her husband wasn’t guilty of any crime. He worked hard
for his living, even though she didn’t like the idea of him dealing in pubs and cafés, anywhere, in fact, he could turn a profit. He never cheated anyone and was always the first to
offer help if someone was in trouble. There was no way Eddie would deliberately take something that didn’t belong to him.
    ‘Those policemen were horrible.’ Donnie’s brown eyes filled with tears. ‘They hurt