Tiger Ragtime by Catrin Collier

a dim view of organised gambling, Mr James,’ Geoff Arnold warned. ‘They’ll never grant you a licence to open a casino. Not in Tiger Bay.’
    ‘We’ll see.’ Aled slapped him across the back. ‘Telephone me at the Windsor tomorrow to let me know about those contracts.’
    ‘I will, Mr James.’
    ‘I’ll expect your call before midday.’ Aled angled his panama to the side of his head and stepped out into the warm sunshine that flooded Bute Street. His first day back in his home country had gone well. Very well indeed.
    Judy stood on the platform of Cardiff station, clutching her platform ticket and anxiously watching the passengers stream off the incoming train from Swansea. She was terrified she’d miss David and he’d head down to the docks, book into one of the rougher doss houses and get into trouble. If that happened she felt that not only would Harry Evans have every right to be angry with her, but also Edyth for taking on too much responsibility rather than disturb her and Micah.
    All the beds in Micah’s sister’s house were occupied by seamen who had been forced to stay longer than they’d intended in Cardiff because they couldn’t get a berth out. But she’d persuaded Helga to borrow the old army surplus cot she’d slept on when she’d stayed with her Uncle Jed before she’d moved in with Edyth, and put it in Moody’s room.
    Helga hadn’t been difficult to win over, but Moody had. He hadn’t wanted to share his room with anyone, much less a farm boy who thought he could get a job on board ship without any seafaring experience. It was obvious to Moody that David wasn’t likely to get a berth soon, if at all. It had taken all of Judy’s wiles, and a promise that she would clean the kitchen in the baker’s for Moody three times a week while David remained in his room, to win him over.
    David saw Judy before she saw him. He dropped his suitcase at his feet and stood in front of her. ‘What are you doing here?’ he demanded suspiciously.
    ‘I came to meet the train. Mr Evans telephoned the bakery to say that you were coming down to the Bay.’
    ‘I might have known Harry would interfere,’ he said angrily.
    ‘He was concerned that you might not find anywhere to stay tonight.’
    ‘That’s stupid. With all those doss houses on the docks –’
    ‘All those full doss houses,’ she interrupted, her temper rising at the thought of the trouble she’d taken to find him decent lodgings. ‘Haven’t you heard that trade’s slumped and hardly any ships are sailing? Berths out of the Bay, even for experienced sailors, are like gold.’
    ‘Did Edyth send you to meet me?’ He looked over her shoulder as though he expected to see Edyth standing behind her.
    ‘No, she doesn’t know you’re here. She’s out for the day, visiting friends. I managed to find you a bed in a lodging house run by Micah Holsten’s sister. She didn’t have any to spare, but I borrowed my Uncle Jed’s camp bed and persuaded Moody to let you share his room.’
    ‘I’d really have trouble booking in somewhere?’ he asked, slightly mollified, when he realised that Judy must have gone to some trouble on his account.
    ‘There are scores of seamen trapped here who’d be only too happy to sail out on any voyage that will provide them with meals and get them to another port where they might find a job that will pay wages.’
    ‘In that case, I suppose I’d better thank you.’ He picked up his suitcase.
    ‘Don’t put yourself out,’ she retorted caustically.
    ‘Sorry.’ He lifted his cap and wiped his forehead with his handkerchief. ‘The train was unbearably hot and a woman in my carriage wouldn’t let me open the window because she didn’t want to sit in a draught.’
    Judy glanced at his case. ‘That looks heavy. Do you want me to find a taxi?’
    David thought of the ten pounds that Harry had pressed on him and insisted he take as well as his bank book. As Harry and Mary saw to the finances on the