His expression was terrifying. ‘No, you thought if you told me, I wouldn’t marry you.’
Her heart was thumping. He’d never looked at her with such anger in his eyes. ‘Oh, Freddie . . . darling.’
His move was very quick. She didn’t see his hand go back but she felt the full force of the slap he gave her. She fell to the ground with a thump. ‘Bitch!’ he cried. ‘You bloody sodding bitch.’
Chapter 22
Easter 1938
The letter from the courts arrived just before Easter. As soon as she opened it, the judgement dominated Milly’s every waking moment. Her first thought was to contact Lena who was back in Worthing, helping Seebold with the children’s play park.
The Worthing Wonderland had finally opened on 2 April, but Milly had yet to see it. Just after her father had died, when she, Lena and Seebold had been together in the cottage, the girls had been convinced that Seebold wanted to rent the piece of land Lena had acquired near Bridge Halt, so it came as a surprise to realise that he had somewhere else in mind.
The plot was on the fringe of the Worthing and Lancing border. The beach was just across the road, and further up there was an area of wasteland. There was talk of a council development by the Teville Stream, but thus far it hadn’t materialised.
Worthing Wonderland stretched from Onslow Court, the new block of flats adjacent to the seafront, towards the Lancing border, and it was already so popular it seemed that Seebold had pulled a master stroke. Everyone was talking about it. Easter Monday was on 18 April, and fortunately the weather was mild and spring-like, which meant the day-trippers would soon be pouring through the gates.
At its beginning, 1938 had promised to be a brighter year after the turbulent days of the two previous ones. Edward VIII had abdicated just before Christmas 1936 to marry the woman he loved, and now he was to be known as the Duke of Windsor. In May 1937, the new king, George VI, had been crowned, and everyone had settled down with the feeling that some order and contentment had returned, but now all of that was being challenged again. The country was still reeling from the news that Adolf Hitler had annexed the Federal State of Austria. People were glued to their radios or reading their newspapers, and the daily conversation was of little else. What did this mean for Britain? How far would he go? Was it true that he already had his eye on Poland? But while the public trembled, the British establishment pretended it wasn’t happening. It was obvious that there was little they could do, short of waging war, and – given that it was less than twenty years since the end of the Great War – the appetite for another full-blown conflict just wasn’t there.
Milly paid her one and six at the entrance. The children’s playground stretched over a couple of acres, and she was amazed by what she saw. Seebold had worked hard to achieve a magical atmosphere. A castle dominated the centre space. Children could climb a winding staircase to drop ‘bombs’ – soft balls – from the battlements, and for an extra thruppence could try on some child-size armour. There were swings, roundabouts, slides and a climbing frame. For older children and adults, there was a shooting range, darts, hoopla, and a game where you rolled tennis balls uphill and into a hole. Milly saw a queue of small children waiting to have a ride in a Cinderella coach, which was pulled by a goat in harness, and little ones were leaning over low fences, fascinated by the white rabbits and guinea pigs running around in an enclosure which looked like a village from a fairy story. Their hutches were made to look like tiny houses and there was a small village green in the middle. All the staff wore smart blue shirts and blue trousers or skirts, and it struck her that none of them had pockets. That meant that none of his staff could craftily pocket the takings instead of putting the money into the tills. She smiled to herself. Seebold had thought of everything.
At the back of the complex was a small tea van which also sold ice creams. People sat around on the benches provided to eat and drink their refreshments.
Milly headed for the office which, to her surprise, turned out to be nothing more than a wooden shed on the edge of the site. Clearly he was more keen to create an unforgettable experience for his punters than catering for his own creature comforts.
‘Knock, knock,’ she said as she approached the door.
Seebold sat behind a small desk. As soon as he saw her, he leapt to his feet. ‘Milly! You came!’
‘Of course I did,’ she said with a laugh, ‘but I had to fight my way in. It’s manic out there.’
‘It’s great, isn’t it,’ he beamed. ‘You know I can hear the sound of the children’s laughter in my dreams.’
He offered her a chair and turned towards a small primus stove. ‘Tea?’
Milly nodded. ‘I can’t believe what you’ve done. It’s magnificent.’
‘I didn’t manage to get everything I wanted,’ he said, handing her a mug of dark brown tea. ‘There’s still more to come. I’ve only half-done the enclosure for the story of Little Red Riding Hood.’
‘I think I saw that!’ cried Milly. ‘Was that where a child-size dummy wearing a bright red cloak was standing behind a fenced-off area?’
Seebold nodded. He was pouring himself some tea. ‘I’ve arranged for a wolf to come. It should arrive this afternoon, along with some more sheep and a snake to go in my Adam and Eve booth.’
Milly’s eyes widened. ‘A wolf? I thought they were hunted to extinction in this country. Are you allowed to bring a wolf over here?’
Seebold came closer and tapped his nose. ‘Probably not, but don’t tell anyone.’
‘You naughty boy,’ Milly said teasingly and Seebold grinned.
As they sipped their tea, someone knocked on the door and a swarthy-looking man with greasy hair and a sweaty face stepped into the office.
‘Road train has arrived, boss,’ he said, snatching off his flat cap.
‘Good man,’ Seebold said, rising to his feet. ‘Milly, this is Alf.’
Milly and Alf exchanged a nod.
‘Have the press turned up, Alf?’
‘There’s one chap from the Gazette, but nobody else.’
‘Damn,’ said Seebold. ‘This was supposed to bring me some publicity.’
Lena suddenly burst through the door. ‘Seebold, you’d better come quickly. There’s a problem.’
Milly stood up and Lena gave her a quick wave. ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘I’ll chat to you later.’
‘What’s happened?’ asked Milly, as she tagged along behind them.
‘The road train just came in,’ Lena said over her shoulder, ‘but one of the cages is damaged.’
Everybody hurried to the far corner of the field, where a collection of vehicles was parked up by the fence. Some boys no more than twelve years old were hanging around, trying to see what was going on. There was a lot of shouting, and people were gesticulating with their hands. She spotted a couple of men removing animals from their cages to put them into their new accommodation, but the boys weren’t interested in that. As she came closer, Milly could see a couple of sheep, and a man who was heading towards the Adam and Eve enclosure, carrying a large box which she guessed must be the snake.
‘Lena, what is it? What’s wrong?’
Her sister swung around. ‘Seebold ordered a wolf but it isn’t there,’ she whispered.
Milly frowned. ‘Perhaps they forgot to put it in the cage,’ she suggested. It was a little disconcerting, but there had to be a logical explanation – didn’t there?
