Widows

Dolly’s eyes narrowed. ‘Don’t you worry about me. I won’t let you down.’ She turned to see Shirley and Linda looking at her, apparently waiting for... something. Dolly cleared her throat. ‘This is it,’ she said to all of them. ‘Everything’s ready — you’re ready. I know it’ll be hard, but try and rest up before the big day.’ She kept back her parting words until she was almost out of the door, in case she might begin to cry. ‘I’m proud of you,’ she said.

Then, without looking back, Dolly called for Wolf and left.

As they watched Dolly leave, the three women knew it would be the last time they saw her until the robbery. Once alone, they had a group hug. No one said a word.

They just held on.

Chapter 29

On the morning of the robbery, Linda arrived at the lock-up to find Shirley heaving and retching into a small bin.

‘You OK?’ Linda asked.

‘No! Me stomach’s churning with nerves,’ Shirley replied, appearing at the office door. She was as white as a sheet and her eyes seemed three times their normal size. She hugged the sloshing bin to her chest.

‘Bloody hell, Shirl! You eat something funny?’

‘I think it’s more to do with the armed robbery we’re about to commit!’ Shirley barked back. She knew Linda must be sick with nerves too.

There was a bit of sick down the front of Shirley’s overalls. She’d bandaged her ample chest flat, which gave her a muscular look to the top half of her body, her arms were padded out into bulging biceps, and her thighs looked pretty impressive too. In fact, from the neck down, Shirley looked like a fit bloke...

Linda sniffed the air. ‘You been smoking?’ she asked.

‘I had a couple to settle me nerves.’

‘You don’t smoke! You’re always wafting Dolly’s smoke away cos the smell sets your stomach churning. No wonder you’re being sick, you dozy cow!’ Linda pushed past Shirley, grabbed a towel, wet the corner in the office sink and then returned to scrub the sick from Shirley’s overalls. She could see how incredibly nervous Shirley was. ‘Once your head’s in that balaclava,’ she said with a wink, ‘I might fancy you summat rotten.’

Shirley snatched the cloth off Linda and they both giggled. ‘Your turn,’ she said.

Linda stripped off, pulled her overall on up to her waist line and tied the sleeves together while Shirley wrapped a bandage round her chest and the upper half of her arms.

‘Is this the weirdest thing you’ve ever done?’ Linda asked, and, once again, the women giggled. Neither knew exactly what they were laughing at, but it felt good.

Just then, Bella strode in. She sniffed. It had to be Shirley. ‘Morning.’ Bella grinned. ‘You’re both eager beavers, ain’t you? Can’t wait to get out there, eh?’ Shirley was sick into the bin again.

‘You OK, Shirl?’ Bella asked. Shirley managed a feeble moan.

Linda wanted to distract Shirley. She picked up two pairs of gloves and handed one pair each to Bella and Shirley, then she put her own gloves on. ‘OK, from this moment on — gloves. Nobody touches anything without gloves. I wiped everything down so there’s no trace of us in the place once we leave.’

‘What time is it?’ Shirley asked, lifting her head out of the bin.

‘Nearly seven,’ Bella replied. ‘You lost your watch?’

‘It’s being temperamental. Shouldn’t we synchronize them or something?’

Bella smiled a gentle smile. ‘We’re all in the same van, darlin’. Don’t worry about the time. You just stick with me.’

At 7 a.m., Dolly made her way down the side street to the market traders’ car park. The overalls with their heavy padding made her waddle as she walked. Her hair was greased back and flattened to her head and she wore a ski-mask on top of her head. Rolled up, it looked just like a woolly hat, but it was ready to be pulled over her face in an instant.

Two men unloading crates of fruit didn’t pay any attention to her, and another man she passed said, ‘Morning, mate.’ So, he thought she was a fella. Perfect.

Taking the tarpaulin off the laundry van, Dolly chucked it into the back. She then felt for the key beneath the right wheel arch, but couldn’t immediately find it. Had Linda forgotten to leave it there? She got down on her knees and looked under the arch, but still couldn’t find it. The two men looked over. Dolly tried to control her panic as she felt all round the wheel. Then a glint of metal on the ground under the wheel axle caught her eye. She breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the key.

Dolly got into the laundry van and, taking deep breaths to calm herself, checked the hockey bag containing the shotgun and sledgehammer was still there. She opened the bag, placed the sledgehammer on top a pile of laundry near the rear doors and placed the shotgun under the driver’s seat. Next, she climbed into the seat and pulled the harness over her shoulders, buckling it up and pulling the straps as tight as she could. She rocked back and forth to make certain she was secure.