Episode 12.
Pete was saving for Alice’s ring and in the evenings they often stood close together looking into jewellers’ shops. They went to dances and a couple of parties and started to make friends with other mods in the town. They began to be accepted and to settle into the new life they had made for themselves.
On a Sunday evening at about seven o’clock, after another sun-drenched day on the beach which had been all the more special as it had poured all day on Saturday and everything was fresh and clean, they were returning back to the flat. They were barefooted and brown, talking about the motor boat they had been taken out in that afternoon which belonged to one of their new friends. They had skimmed like a swallow over the froth of the waves, the sun and wind beating into them, the spray falling in rainbows around them. It had been a wonderful experience. They reached the flat and hurried happily up the stairs. Pete tried the door and found it was open.
"Funny – I could have sworn I’d locked it," he said as he went in. Alice was behind him and could not see why he suddenly gasped and stopped. She stepped from behind to see a policeman and a man in plain clothes sitting in their chairs. Blankly she stared at them and then the full impact of what this meant hit her. They would take her away from Pete.
"No!" she gasped. "No! No! Pete, don’t let them – run. Oh Pete!" She turned to run and then everything went black and the sound of roaring filled her ears.
"Pete," she called, falling down into a deep, black abyss. "Oh Pete….." The blackness engulfed her and drowned her senses and she fell in a limp heap on the floor.
Pete started towards her, his face pale and his hands trembling.
"Alice," he said kneeling by her and holding her in his arms. "Alice, it’s no good – no good." His shoulders sagged and his head was bent onto his chest.
The two men came over and made as if to carry her over to the bed, but Pete straightened and said fiercely
"Leave her alone, don’t touch her. She’s mine. Just leave us, we don’t need anyone else." He lifted her up himself with difficulty and laid her gently on the bed. The policeman brought her a cup of water and slowly she began to come round. The darkness lifted and hazy shapes appeared. The roaring ceased and she saw the two men and her Pete looking down at her. He reached for her hand and held it tightly, her eyes filled with hopeless tears. She turned to the policeman.
"Please" she whispered. "Don’t take us away from each other, please don’t do that." She stared at them in a frightened beseeching silence.
The Inspector looked at them both, the girl’s choked words imploring into his brain. She lay there quite still, looking at him, holding tightly onto her boyfriend’s hand. From what the girl’s mother had said he had expected the boy to be a scruffy good-for – nothing and just with the girl for what he could get from her. Instead he was neat and tidy even if his clothes were a little unusual, he was obviously one of these new-fangled ‘mods’ but that was nothing against him. He was still with the girl and obviously cared about her a great deal. He cleared his throat and began to speak.
"I’m afraid I must take you back home," he told them "you have caused your parents a great deal of worry by your childish actions in running away. I hope you are sorry for it. When you are feeling better we will leave for Stroud at once.
Pete looked at the men tersely and then down at Alice lying on the bed, her face deathly white, her eyes tear-filled.
"We’re not sorry," he burst out. "For a few weeks we’ve been happier than ever before. Her mother would have separated us, and we love each other. What would you have done? Just sat there and let her do it? Okay then, take us back to stop our parents worrying, and see what good that will do US. They are just worried. Now they know we are okay they needn’t be. If you make us go back we will have heartbreak." He stopped and stared at them, his eyes full of hopeless defiance. The Inspector’s heart softened towards them a little.
"Look son," he said gently. "maybe it was wrong of Alice’s mother to take so harsh an action, but it was wrong of you to run away. You should have talked sensibly to her about it and sorted everything out, instead of just running off like you did. I’m sorry but I have to do this, I have to return Alice to her parents. You must both get ready and return home."
Alice’s shoulders shook convulsively. "She wouldn’t believe I love him," she sobbed. "She laughed at us, said Pete was no good – but I love him, I truly love him. Please let us stay here – we’ve got jobs, we’ve got a flat, we’ve proved we can make a life together. I’ll just die if she separates us again, I’ll die, I know I will ….." She broke off as her voice had become too choked to carry on.
"Look dear, I’ll have a talk with your mother," said the Inspector kindly. "I’ll see what I can do. I can’t promise anything but I’ll do my best."
"Thanks!" replied Pete, a trace of gratefulness in his bitter voice. "It’s not you personally we’ve got anything against, you just have a job to do." He turned to Alice.
"Alice, we’ll have to go back love. There’s nothing else we can do. Maybe your mum will change her mind, and if – if she doesn’t she can’t stop me loving you. I’ll wait until you are old enough to leave home, I’ll think of you all the time. We won’t let them beat us, we won’t Alice." His last words were uttered with a fiery determination, which seemed to give Alice courage. She stood up slowly.
"I’ll wait too," she said looking possessively at him. "She won’t win. She won’t split us up. I won’t let her."
***
They were allowed to ride the scooter back, the police car always right behind them, their belongings stowed in the boot of the car. Pete entertained thoughts of trying to give the car the slip but let them go reluctantly. Even if they managed it, which was highly improbable, they would have nothing, no clothes, no money. The police would soon find them again and not be so lenient next time. At the moment they almost seemed to be on their side so it seemed best to play along with them.Alice sat behind him, leaning against the back-rest, her hands deep in the pocket of her leather. She was an expert at the art of staying on a scooter and did not need to hang on to Pete or the seat, but moved her body with the scooter as it bent and curved around corners. She felt bitter and resentful against her parents.
She
wondered what they would say to her – what they would say to Pete. Perhaps the Inspector would be able to change her mother’s mind, it was the only thing she had to hope for. As they neared Gloucester the weather began to change. The sky filled with dull, grey clouds, which hung heavily over the earth, threatening and foreboding. She turned to look behind her; the police car was right there. There was nothing they could do but go home; go home where she would cry and need and long for Pete.
In quarter of an hour they pulled up outside Pete’s house and, holding Alice by the hand, they approached the door. The Inspector followed them. Pete felt a little apprehensive at what his parents would say to him. He didn’t much care but he hoped that he wouldn’t get a slap from his dad or thrown out of the house, which had happened before, before he had met Alice. This was almost the first time for a year that he had been in trouble with the police. The realisation surprised him, it must be Alice’s influence. He used to regularly get into trouble with the police about once a fortnight and even more regularly with shop owners and irate café proprietors. He, and about four or five other mods had a real reputation in the town
for causing trouble but now he was almost always with Alice and hardly ever saw his old friends alone. One of them was only fifteen and had recently been sent to Borstal for stealing money. That was where he would probably be by now, thought Pete. He had really been the ringleader but now, those who were left followed Miff as he was Pete’s best friend. Thank God Alice’s parents don’t know how I used to be, he thought, or they would never have allowed Alice to go out with me at all.
Alice knew though. Many times she had been thrown out of shops, cafes, bus stations and cinemas for being with Pete and the ‘gang’. It had been exciting to be with them but deep inside Alice always felt uncomfortable and prayed that none of her parent’s friends would ever witness what went on. That had been right at the beginning when she and Pete went round with the whole group. Then they had gradually begun to meet up more and more, alone with each other, preferring one another’s company. Now they were able to go into shops, drink Pepsi in cafes, catch buses and go to the cinema without being shouted at and asked to leave. They were both, especially Pete, quite reformed!
Pete opened the door just as his mother reached it from inside.
"Oh! You’ve decided to come home at last?" She was not really angry with him, more with Alice’s parents. Her son was old enough to do as he liked as long as he didn’t cause trouble. If he did he was thrown out for a few weeks until he said sorry, but that hadn’t happened for quite a long time now.
"We found them in Torquay," the Inspector told her. "We would rather like you to come to meet Alice’s parents and talk the whole matter through, that is if you don’t mind?"
This was news to Pete and Alice.
"Do you think that will help?" asked the girl hopefully.
"I think it may," he replied. "It can’t do any harm anyway."
But he was wrong.
***
Mrs Parker heard a car draw up at the bottom of the hill. She ran, as quickly as her heavy body would allow, upstairs to her bedroom window where she could see everything.Peering out from behind the half-drawn curtain she drew in her breath with surprise. It was the Inspector and with him was Alice and her boyfriend. Another woman and a man got out of the large black car. Opening the window slightly she listened to their conversation. To her disappointment they hardly spoke except that the Inspector called the woman ‘Mrs. Wheeler’ so she realised that the couple must be Pete’s parents. Alice looked very white and ill and she clung tightly to Pete’s hand as they walked slowly up the steep pitch.
"Don’t be scared," the boy said to her as they passed Mrs Parker’s house. "I’m here and I won’t let anyone hurt you."
The little procession passed out of sight up the hill. Mrs Parker rushed gleefully downstairs. So Alice had been found and she was the first to know about it. Some people thought her a vicious old gossip. She laughed to herself, she knew how eager everyone would be to hear her news. How she had surprised them that day when Alice had run away. She had seen the girl go up the hill in her school uniform and go back down shortly afterwards in her ordinary clothes but had not realised what was happening at the time until she saw the police arrive. Then she had put two and two together. The past few weeks had been bliss for her; police constantly up and down the hill, and she had learned quite enough to keep the village agog with her reports. She had even had to make a statement herself about what she had seen on that day. She struggled into her large, blue coat. She was off to visit her friend Jean and tell her the latest news.
The front door flew open and Mrs. Greenway came tumbling out of it. She enfolded her daughter with her arms, hugging and kissing her.
"Oh, my little girl!" she sobbed. "My poor, poor little girl. Don’t worry anymore. I’m here my darling." She had convinced herself that Alice had been longing to get home again and that Pete had kept away by force whilst her daughter had made desperate attempts to get away.
Alice stood immobile in her mother’s arms.
"I wasn’t worried," she said coldly. "I was very, very happy."
"Dear Alice, it’s all right, he can’t hurt you any more. You’re home now, you’re safe with me. You can tell me the truth now, you don’t have to pretend anymore."
She looked venomously at Pete.
"How dare you take my daughter away from me, keep her against her will – and God knows what you’ve done to her, you animal."
Alice broke away from her mother.
"Stop it! Stop it!" she screamed. "I love him. I love him. Can’t you see? Are you blind you stupid woman?" She ran to Pete and they held each other tightly. The Inspector broke in.
"I think we should all go inside," he suggested "and talk everything over calmly."
"I’m not having him in my house" snarled Mrs Greenway. "Just look what he’s done to my daughter."
"Now, hold on a minute," broke in Pete’s mum loudly. "My son loves your Alice and she loves him. She’s the one who took our son away. She came running to our house and off they went together while I was still at work. Don’t you start blaming everything on Pete just because you live in a big house in the country. I’m not blaming your Alice for causing all this to-do. They are both home now, safe and sound, no harm done."
"No harm done!" shrieked Mrs. Greenway. "My innocent daughter kept away for weeks by your son. I know something of his reputation. She’s probably been raped – God knows what - taken drugs, involved in stealing – more than likely pregnant – and you have the audacity to say ‘no harm done’. Why you – you …….." For a moment it seemed the woman would physically attack Pete’s mother but the Inspector restrained her. In vain he tried to get everyone inside the house and to calm Mrs Greenway down but this proved impossible. She refused to listen or to believe him when he said Pete was a decent boy and had been looking after her daughter, that he had found them in a pleasant little flat, both with jobs, both seeming very happy.
At last Mr. Wheeler had had enough. He shouted angrily at the two women.
"That’s enough! If my son isn’t good enough, then your daughter isn’t good enough either. I forbid Pete to ever see Alice again and that’s final. Let him find someone who appreciates him. Now come on both of you – we’re going home." He caught hold of his wife’s hand and set of down the hill shouting to Pete to follow them.
Pete and Alice stood close together listening to all that was being said, and now this terrible, final blow. They both realised it was no good shouting and reasoning with their parents so they shut their ears to everything and engrossed themselves in each other.
"I love you," he said. "We’ll find a way. Oh – I hate them all. I hate them."
"Just think of me all the time, please please don’t forget about me because you don’t see me," begged Alice trying to see into the very depths of his soul through his two blue eyes. "As long as I know you are thinking of me – but, Pete, oh Pete I want you so, I don’t just want to be thinking of you, I want to have you beside me at night, every single night."
She started to cry amongst the chaos around them.
"Pete, Pete! Come here at once, we’re off."
"Alice, my poor Alice, he’s bewitched you – come away."
Shout upon shout. Louder – louder – drumming into her ears, into her brain. Feverishly she caught hold of Pete’s hand and kissed him desperately, expecting at any moment to be pulled away. He held her as tight as he could, biting deeply into her mouth until they both bled, warm hot blood.
Then his father was upon them, dragging him away. Alice’s mother pulled the girl fiercely away from his arms and they were parted, their hands grasping frantically for one another. Pete was being pushed, hit, anything that got him down that hill. The last thing he heard before he was shoved into the car was Alice screaming his name. The car door slammed, cutting off the heartbreaking sound, and they drove away.
The Inspector felt he had failed. True, he had found the runaway couple and returned them to their respective homes, which was what the job had been. Now he almost wished he had not found them, had not received that anonymous tip-off late yesterday and had left them to live happily together in Torquay. He had not realised quite how much the girl’s mother hated the boy, this boy who sat on the seat beside him, staring woodenly out of the window; his face blank and drawn, his hands clenched tight so that the knuckles stood out white against the brown of his skin. If only the two women had been breaking the law by stopping them from seeing each other, then he could have done something. If Alice had been older….. but he could not interfere in family arguments, he could do nothing about it, nothing at all.
"I’m sorry son," he said quietly to the boy. "Very sorry."
Pete showed no sign of hearing him but went on staring blankly out of the window.
