Promises Not Kept

45

            "Cyril, sit. Sit...Cyril, sit. Sit, now, sit!" Charlie frowned and gestured wildly at the mastiff who merely stared at him, drooling slightly. "See, he doesn't listen to me. He only listens to dad."

Alfie walked over. "You need to make sure he knows you're serious, mate. Look 'im in the eye and say it with authority. You ain't yelling, you're being firm. Cyril, sit."

Charlie was amazed when the dog's rump instantly dropped to the floor. His tail wagging.

"Dogs are loyal creatures, they like being told what to do. Gotta be the leader. They were bred from wolves, ya know that right?" Alfie scratched Cyril behind the ears to praise him.

"Yeah."

"So, you've gotta be the pack leader. If he were the pack leader nothing would get done, silly boy that he is." Alfie chuckled.

Charlie smiled and looked at his dog. "Are you gonna take him back when we leave, Alfie?" It had been weighing on the young boy the entire week they'd been at Margate. He did his best to show that he was taking good care of the dog.

"Has he got a warm bed in Warwickshire?"

Charlie nodded.

"Two meals a day?"

Another nod.

"You and your sister play with him?"

Nod.

"Then why on Earth would I take him back, aye?" Alfie tousled Charlie's hair and went to sit back down in his armchair. "If you take such good care of him, wouldn't be fair to take him away from you."

"Because he was your dog. That's what dad said." Charlie crouched down beside Cyril to pet him.

"Nah, mate, he's been with you long enough. He's your mutt now." Alfie assured him.

The front door opened and Johanna came running inside. "Hi!" She greeted the maid first, then Cyril, her brother, and finally Alfie.

"Back from the shops?" Alfie smiled at the little girl.

Leah came in after her daughter. The trip to the little town half a mile away had taken up a good chunk of the afternoon. It was Wednesday, a week after they'd arrived at Margate. There wasn't much news from Tommy so they remained in limbo. Purgatory, as he'd so aptly called it earlier. All Leah could do was keep the children occupied and keep her mind off of the mess they were avoiding in Birmingham.

Nights were the hardest. Once the kids were asleep, Leah had a hard time staying up and coping with the what-ifs. She lent a lot of her remaining sanity to Alfie who would stay up all hours of the night even if she didn't ask him to. An outside opinion, the man provided better insight than she could've anticipated. Maybe partially losing his eyesight and spending his days reading the Torah gave him clarity. Or maybe they were all just driven mad.

"Mrs. Shelby, your husband called half an hour earlier. I said you'd return the call when you and Johanna came back." Alfie's maid informed her.

"Oh, yes, thank you. I'll call him back right now." Leah entered the parlor. "Charlie, Johanna, I'm going to call daddy if you'd like to say hello."

The two children followed her to the phone in Alfie's study which was very rarely used. Not like in the days when he used to bring paperwork from the bakery on holiday with him. No, most of those documents had been burned. All that was left were more oddities that he collected. An egg that suspiciously looked like a Fabergé, a collection of shark teeth that he'd found on the beach, and peacock plumes.