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Brylcreem and Fairy Cake
At precisely 1900 hours on the 26th of September 1948 Jack(aka‘Ace’)Bradbury’s face broke into the widest grin that 19 year old Alison Thistle had ever seen. She paused, the fairy cake she was about to stuff into her loose mouth held in mid-air as she watched Jack’s grin turn into an excited gasp of nervous laughter.
It was the thin wail of a newborn that had done it.
“Yes! Yes!” he yelled, slapping his thigh then laughing out loud as he raised his glass of whisky and swallowed the contents straight down. Alison grinned too. His laughter was infectious and she adored him so much.
“Crikey! That didn’t take long, did it? You’re sister’s a good ‘un, right enough, Alison. I thought these things took forever!”
Alison pushed the cake in her mouth; her trusting blue eyes alight with childish glee.
“We’re from strong stock, us Thistles, you know.. Ellen always says so,” Alison said, spraying cake crumbs from her overfull mouth. “And.. And it’s as quick as it should be,” she said, swallowing hurriedly and fiddling with the hairgrip that scraped her blunt hair back from her pudding-basin face.
In truth Alison had no idea how long it usually took to have a baby but she had heard the saying from Ellen so she hoped it would impress her attractive brother-in-law.
She watched as he put his empty glass on the polished surface of their Ferguson wireless set and frowned. Oh my, Ellen won’t like that.
Before she knew what was happening Jack had grabbed her arms. He pulled her to her feet and shook her as he whooped and laughed and whirled her around. Alison was taken aback and stumbled uncertainly but then she laughed and relished the experience of being touched by a man. Although that had never happened to her before it hadn’t stopped her imagination from dancing into dark corners and wondering..
She sighed as she gazed up at Jack. She had never seen him this excited, not even when he had married her sister. His dark moustache twitched and bristled as his lips stretched across his perfect white teeth in the kind of grin that Alison knew made your cheeks ache.
He was so handsome in his blue uniform, even with the jacket undone and the collar pulled open.. His black hair glistened in the lamp light and he looked so like the pictures in the newspapers of the brave ‘Brylcreem boys’. It was they who had taken the fight to the enemy, her sister said so...
“Good Lord, we did it. We really did it!” Jack exclaimed as he put his hands to his forehead in disbelief. He turned away as if he had already forgotten she was there and prowled the room.
Did what exactly? At her level of ability she had some knowledge of the facts of life but as no one had actually told her, she wasn’t entirely sure... Most of her information was gleaned from eavesdropping - or the wireless when she was allowed to listen to it.
Confused, she slumped back down onto the settee and picked absently at the lace antimacassar on the arm as she watched him stalk around the room.
Suddenly she remembered what she had been doing before all this started.
“Do you want some cake, now?” she said, lifting the plate and smiling hopefully at him.
“What?”
“I – I mean...” her smile vanished as she lowered the plate. He shook his head, a puzzled expression on his face and then carried on pacing. Alison didn’t understand. Had she said something wrong?
She set the plate down on the side table and caressed her arm where his warm hand had left an aching imprint. Something was happening inside her.
She saw the dark stubble on his neck, heard the sound of a single intake of his breath and her mind filled with the male scent of him. Like a slumbering giant who has been rudely aroused, her senses heightened to alarming levels. His excited exclamations bought her out of her reverie.
“You know I can hardly believe it. I’m a father! Isn’t that the best thing ever?” He said, and did a jig on the spot.
Alison glanced away from him, saying nothing.
The stair door opened and Jack looked over Alison’s shoulder at the stern-looking midwife who had stepped into the room.
“You have a beautiful baby daughter, Mr Bradbury.”
“How is she? Ellen, I mean... And the baby, of course?”
“Everything is fine,” The midwife said. “You can go up and see them, but not for long, mind. It was a difficult birth and Mrs Bradbury must rest. She doesn’t need you fussing around her.”
“I won’t tire her... Promise...” he said, as he took the stairs two at a time.
Alison let the midwife out of the house and trudged up to Ellen’s room.
“Alison, come and say hello to baby Anna.” Ellen whispered as she cradled the tiny infant in her arms. But Alison could only stare in dismay at the ugly bundle tucked into Ellen’s side. The wrinkled face reminding her of an ancient crone she had once seen in a picture book about goblins. She shuddered as she gawked at the dark hair covering the child’s ears and the white matter clogging up the creases of its pug-like nose. Ugh!
She glanced at her sister and was amazed to see a rapturous look on Ellen’s face as she gazed first at her new daughter then at Jack’s smiling face. Quick hot jealousy flared in Alison as she watched him tenderly stroke the infant’s face. Jack, her Jack, the man who had swept her up in his arms and danced around the room with her.. How could he forget so soon?
She narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips together as a smouldering anger consumed her thoughts and blotted out all else. She swallowed hard and slid silently out of the room unnoticed by either Ellen or Jack.
Could he not see what he was to her?
The only decent thing in her life was Jack... She had always adored him and lived for the times when he came home on leave. But now.. Now she wanted him in a different way.
Alison had gotten used to people laughing at her years ago, though she could never quite understand it. She was different she knew, but she didn’t know exactly why she was different... Her mother said she was special and that’s what she told herself as she learned to ignore the name calling.
Still, she was all grown up now; same as everybody else and she could do what she wanted...
If only that stupid baby hadn’t come along to spoil everything...
***
By the time Alison Thistle reached her 22nd birthday she had been arrested and charged with the murder of her 3 year old niece. She was advised to plead mitigation in view of diminished responsibility. But, although she was deemed to have low intelligence, the psychiatrist who examined her said he could find no evidence of insanity or mental illness.
Jack gave a statement to police saying that Alison was responsible for the child’s demise. He said that Ellen had gone on a shopping trip, leaving him with the child but he had to go out unexpectedly and left Anna with Alison. He stated that when he returned he found his sister-in-law alone with the lifeless child.
The post mortem report said that Anna had been asphyxiated - probably with a cushion.
Alison had said nothing at all.
At the trial her legal team had a difficult time mounting a decent defence and her barrister was tearing his hair out at her lack of communication. Not one single word would Alison say, apart from her name and address. She had simply stared longingly at Jack.
***
Jack had told Alison to say nothing. She wouldn’t get into trouble, he said, - she was ill. The police and the courts would understand. He promised he would wait for her...
Alison was ecstatic. This was to be their secret and it bound them together for ever, didn’t it?
***
On 14th April 1952 Alison Thistle was found guilty of the murder of Anna Bradbury.
The following day, it was reported in the Daily Express that the defendant had said absolutely nothing, not even when the death sentence was passed.
***
Post script:
After a last minute appeal to the home secretary failed, Alison Thistle was hanged at precisely 1900 hours on August 26th 1952 at London’s Holloway Prison.
A warder said afterwards that
“She either seemed not to know what was going on or she was extremely brave. She met her end with dignity but her last words had been to ask for Jack Bradbury.”
Alison Thistle was just 23 years old.
The only person who knew the truth was Jack ‘Ace’ Bradbury. After all, the baby had Downs Syndrome and besides he really wanted a boy...
The End
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