by Cathy Sharp
‘You would be my apprentice,’ Ted said and smiled. ‘A carpenter often needs an apprentice and it would suit us both, I reckon.’
‘Yes,’ Ron agreed and realised he’d been holding his breath. It seemed too good to be true and yet he knew he couldn’t go on as he had been. He would either have to go to the police and let them put him in an orphanage or trust this man – and he thought he would rather do that than go back to the place he’d run away from. ‘Thanks again, Ted. I’d do the best I could, I promise.’
‘I know you would,’ Ted said. ‘You’re a nice lad, Ron, and you deserve better from life than you’ve been given. We both do – and perhaps this will be the turning point for us both.’
‘I hope so,’ Ron said and grinned. ‘I’ll watch the fire while you fetch the water.’
He saw the quick smile in Ted’s eyes and his heart sang. Something about this man reminded him of Danny. It was a look, particularly when he smiled, and it made him think he was all right now. He’d found someone to rely on and he would stick close by his new friend. Perhaps together they could find Danny …
CHAPTER 19
Danny woke in the soft bed and stretched luxuriously. Even the hospital beds were not as good as this – but then, he’d never been anywhere he felt so comfortable before. His home had been all right while his mum lived but after that it had become a cheerless place – but this, this was wonderful. The smell of baking as he’d entered Beattie’s kitchen was so delicious it made his mouth water. Beattie had hugged him and kissed him and told him how glad she was he’d come to live with her and Sister Rose and then she’d given him a plate of the most delicious casserole he’d ever tasted. Mum’s cooking had been good but nothing like Beattie’s.
‘This is smashing,’ he’d told her as he tasted the first mouthful. ‘The meat is so tender it melts in your mouth.’
‘Bless you, Danny,’ Beattie had replied and her face broke into smiles that made her beautiful to his eyes. ‘I made it specially for you and Sister Rose – it’s one of my favourites: chicken cooked in a little wine with baby onions and carrots. My mother taught me how to make it but I don’t make it often, just now and then for a treat.’
‘I’ve never tasted anything like it,’ Danny had said truthfully. ‘I should like to learn next time you cook it.’
‘I’ll teach you to cook lots of things.’ Beattie had looked pleased. ‘You’ll be home from school before Sister Rose gets back from work and we can get our supper together and on the weekends I’ll teach you to bake cakes.’
‘I’d love to do that,’ Danny had said, smiling at her. ‘Best of all in the world I love cakes – everyone likes them.’
‘Then me and you will get on fine,’ Beattie had told him. ‘If making cakes gives people happiness, I reckon that’s the best thing we can do with our lives, don’t you?’
Danny had nodded, too busy eating his food to answer. He’d eaten every scrap of the chicken casserole on his plate and then cleared the raspberry jam sponge pudding and custard, following it with a cup of tea. He’d rubbed his stomach to show his content and grinned at her.
‘That’s the best meal I’ve eaten since me mum’s brother came to tea.’
Beattie had looked at him and then at Sister Rose. ‘Do you have an uncle, Danny?’
‘Yes – at least I think I do.’ Danny had frowned, trying to recall. ‘I remember he came once when I was small – about five or six I think, but he fell out wiv me dad and Mum cried over it. She said later that she was fond of her brother but me dad didn’t like him and had told him not to come again.’
‘You don’t know where he lives?’
‘No.’ Danny had shaken his head. ‘I don’t remember much of him – but he brought me a set of lead soldiers. They weren’t new or anything, but they were good. Me dad took them and sold them – said they were sissy things and I didn’t need them.’
‘That was a shame.’ Beattie had looked sad. ‘Did you never see your uncle again?’
‘I think he came to the house after Mum died. I heard Dad shouting at him in the kitchen when I was in bed, but I didn’t dare go down.’
‘And he never wrote to you or came to your school?’ Sister Rose had asked, turning around from the sink where she’d been washing up.
‘No, I never saw him again.’
‘Well, I don’t think he will come looking for you then,’ Sister Rose had said and Danny had seen relief in her eyes. He knew then that she and Beattie really wanted him to stay with them and it warmed him inside.
‘I shan’t go with him if he does.’ Danny had smiled at her. ‘I want to be with you and Beattie.’
‘That’s all right then,’ Beattie had said, looking pleased again.
Danny brought his mind back to the present as he smelled something delicious coming from the kitchen. He jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom he’d been shown the previous evening, giving his hands and face a quick wash, because it was what Beattie had told him to do. Then he went back to the bedroom and took off his new pyjamas and put on the lovely long trousers, shirt, pullover and socks and shoes he’d been given. He’d never felt clothes this good against his skin and it was lovely, all clean and fresh and nice. His light brown hair – which was like his mum’s – was standing up on the crown and he pressed it down with his hands, though it would stand up again, because it always did, and then pulled the brush Beattie had given him through it. Satisfied, he looked proper, as he ought, he went clattering down the stairs, announcing his arrival.
Sister Rose was sitting at the kitchen table eating something that looked like pancakes with something runny and golden on them. Danny had never seen anything like that eaten for breakfast but it made him hungry and he looked hopefully at Beattie. Her wonderful smile lit up her face as she nodded.
‘Yes, there’s some for you, Danny. We like a pancake sometimes for breakfast. It makes a change and they’re delicious with a little syrup.’
Danny watched as Beattie put two perfectly cooked pancakes on his plate and poured a spoonful of the golden stuff from a green and gold tin on his.
‘Try it and see,’ Beattie invited so he did and beamed at her in surprise.
‘It’s delicious – and the pancakes,’ Danny said with his mouth full. ‘Will you teach me how to make them?’
‘When you’ve finished those, we’ll all have another and you can watch how I do it,’ Beattie offered. ‘It’s Sister Rose’s day off so we don’t have to get her off to work.’
‘I wanted to have your first day at home with you,’ Sister Rose said. ‘I’ll show you where the school is and the corner shop so you will be able to find your way home then, but Beattie will meet you until you’re quite sure.’
Danny nodded, swallowing the last of the delicious food. He was so excited he hardly knew how to contain himself. This was the answer to his dreams! He had two mothers; he was eating and was going to learn to cook the most delicious food – what more could anyone want?
He thought fleetingly of Ron and Marjorie. He would have liked to know if they were managing all right and could only hope that somehow their lives were as good as his was now …
Marjorie sat looking out of the window, watching her mother hang out the washing in their garden. She had a headache and her throat hurt so she hadn’t been allowed to go out even though it was almost May and quite warm now.
‘Sit there and don’t move,’ her mother had told her before she went out. Marjorie was no longer allowed into the front street and so seldom saw any other children unless she was at school and she hadn’t been allowed to return there yet, because Mummy was frightened someone would snatch her again.
As her mother came back into the room, she looked at Marjorie and frowned. ‘That’s a long face – what’s wrong?’
‘I was thinking about Danny,’ Marjorie said. ‘Did Daddy ask where they took him?’
Her mother hesitated and then sighed. ‘He was taken to the Rosie Infirmary until he could be found a foster home
,’ she said. ‘Daddy didn’t think it would be a good idea to see him again, in case it brought back bad memories and upset you.’
‘But I want to see him,’ Marjorie said and tears filled her eyes. ‘He is my friend, Mummy. I want to know he is well and safe …’
Marjorie’s mother came to sit next to her on the settee in front of the window. ‘Is Danny very important to you, darling?’ She put out a hand and stroked her head.
‘He looked after me – and he fought those men when they tried to grab me, Mummy. I was afraid until he came but he helped me to be brave, he protected me. When I was shaking with fright, he held my hand and stood in front of me when they came!’
‘And then you weren’t afraid?’ Her mother looked at her sadly. ‘You’re not very well at the moment but when you’re better I’ll ask the nurses at the Rosie Infirmary if you can visit Danny – would that be enough?’
‘Yes, please,’ Marjorie said and then, mournfully, ‘I don’t play with anyone, Mummy – why can’t I play?’
‘Because it isn’t safe in the lane,’ her mother said. ‘I’ll ask some of the other children to tea when you feel better – how is that?’
‘Thank you.’ Marjorie smiled at her. She preferred the old days when she could go out to play when she liked but she didn’t want to be snatched again so she obeyed her mother and stayed in the house. ‘I’ll be better tomorrow.’
‘We’ll see,’ her mother said. ‘Would you like me to read you a story before I get our tea ready?’
‘Yes please,’ Marjorie said and placed her hand in her mother’s trustingly. ‘I like it when you read stories.’
Sucking her thumb, Marjorie settled against her mother and closed her eyes. She was content for the moment with the promises she’d been given but she did wish she had some friends to play with and she did want to see Danny and maybe Ron. He was all right, too, though he hadn’t been as nice to her as Danny.
Ron paused in the task of fetching wood for Ted and looked up at the sky. Ted said it was warm for this time of year and they were lucky because the nights weren’t as cold now.
‘We’ll need to find a room of some sort before the winter,’ he’d told Ron as they sat in the canteen and tucked into a meal of shepherd’s pie and greens followed by tapioca pudding with jam. It was good, filling food and they’d both eaten every scrap before going back to work in the woodyard on the docks. Ted’s boss had given him a trial and, if he found their work satisfactory, he was going to take Ted on permanently this weekend when he got paid.
Ron hurried to Ted’s side with the wood he’d chosen. Ted inspected it, looked pleased, and selected the piece he wanted next. He was making a door frame and then he would fit the door and the lock to the shed Ron had been helping him build. The sheds came in all sizes and were made to customers’ orders and the one they were making now was just for show, to help the customers decide what they wanted. This one was a garden shed about ten feet by twelve feet, but they’d made a larger one for industrial use earlier in the week. It was interesting watching Ted work and Ron knew that he would like to do the same when he was older and more experienced; he was already learning bits and pieces and Ted was a good teacher.
Their boss summoned Ted and he left Ron to hold on to the half-built frame while he went to speak to him. He returned in a few minutes and they finished the job together.
‘There, that should do it,’ Ted told him standing back to nod with satisfaction. ‘Catch hold of that, lad – and we’ll put it in place.’
‘This is a decent job, isn’t it?’ Ron said as he obliged. ‘I love the smell of the fresh-cut wood.’
‘Yes, I like that, too,’ Ted told him with a smile. ‘And the boss has just told me – he’s taking us both on. The wage is small – five and sixpence a week for you and thirty shillings for me, but it’s enough for us to get a place to sleep safe. We can afford to use a hostel every night and we’ll start looking for lodgings. We can’t afford two rooms yet but one with two single beds would do – if you can trust me to sleep in the same room, Ron?’ His grey eyes were steady as they looked into Ron’s brown ones. Ted wasn’t a bad-looking man, in his late thirties, so he’d told him, never married, and a bit of a loner since his married sister had died after childbirth from a fever. Ron knew that fever killed a lot of folk in the lanes and streets of the East End, such as his mother and grandparents; he’d told Ted about that and being put in an orphanage where the other boys had been mistreated. They’d talked a lot when they weren’t working and Ted had told him stories of his life in the Army – a life he had loved, which had taken him all over the world.
Ron looked at him and nodded as he watched Ted screw the frame in place. ‘You’re like the dad I never had,’ he told him. ‘I know I didn’t trust yer at first but now I do – and I like yer, Ted. I’d never have found work without you, or these clothes …’
The Sally Army had given Ron a pair of long trousers in hard-wearing cord, two shirts, a pullover and a jacket and cap, also a pair of stout boots. Without Ted’s help and guidance, he would never have found them nor would he have had the courage to go in the building if he had – and the job that gave him a little money of his own was like a dream come true. Ron knew he owed it all to his new friend and he felt a respect and liking he’d never felt for any other human, other than his mother and Danny. His grandparents had always treated him as if he was a nuisance and his mother’s shame, and though he’d loved her, Ron had felt she should have stood up for herself and him more.
Ron still thought of Danny a lot, even though many weeks had passed since they’d been imprisoned together. Ted had spoken to a police constable he knew, asking for news of Danny, but so far they hadn’t heard anything of him.
He probably wouldn’t see his friend again, Ron thought regretfully, but he’d found another and he had to be grateful for that. Had he not met Ted, he might have been dead or in an orphanage once more instead of enjoying a job he knew he was going to love and the companionship of others.
The men on the docks were, in the main, a friendly lot and they often gave Ron boiled sweets from packets they kept in their pockets. There was no menace or bribery associated with the act, just a friendly gesture that he’d learned to accept, able now to trust a little because of the man he just knew as Ted.
Whistling, he helped Ted to fix the door in place and then stood back to admire their work. It was a fine-looking shed, the first of many they would make together, and the boss was smiling as he came up to them.
‘Good job, Ted. I’ve got a big order here for you and the lad – a manufacturing company on the East India Docks need a large store shed for their goods. I’m sending you and Ron to look at the site and I’m relying on you to give me an accurate estimate of how long it will take to build it on site – think you can do that?’
‘Yes, Mr Reynolds,’ Ted said. ‘Shall we go now?’
‘Yes – you can drive, can’t you?’
‘Learned in the Army.’
His boss nodded in satisfaction. ‘You’ll need to renew your licence if it is out of date – because you’ll be driving to various sites when I can’t get away and to do the work if we get the contract.’
‘Thank you, sir,’ Ted replied looking pleased. ‘My licence is still in date. I’ve kept it up just in case.’
‘Good man.’ The boss took some keys from his pocket and handed them to him. ‘That truck is yours to look after in future, put fuel and repairs on my account at the Eagle Garage in Shilling Street. I’m trusting you, Ted. Don’t let me down.’
‘We shan’t do that, sir,’ Ted said and smiled at Ron. ‘We’ll do a good job won’t we?’
‘Yes, Ted,’ Ron replied and grinned. ‘You can trust us, sir.’
‘I believe I can,’ the boss replied, handed Ted some papers and walked off.
Ted looked at Ron and winked. ‘Well, that’s a turn up for the books,’ he said. ‘I never expected that – and it makes things easier for us in future. We’ll be abl
e to look further afield for a room if we’ve got transport.’
Ron looked at him as his excitement mounted. The truck was old and had seen better days, but as Ted gave him a helping hand up into the passenger seat he felt a thrill of pleasure. Things were so much better since he’d met Ted!
CHAPTER 20
‘It’s lovely to see you,’ Nurse Jenny said to Sarah when she visited the children’s ward that sunny morning in mid-May. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Clumsy and my back aches,’ Sarah said with a grimace. ‘Steve says I’ve never looked more beautiful, but I feel fat and ugly.’
‘Steve is right, you’re glowing,’ Jenny told her with a little laugh. ‘It can’t be long now, Sarah – and then it will be all worthwhile. Just think of having your own baby to love and care for.’
‘The doctor says the next couple of weeks or so should see it all over with,’ Sarah said and sighed, pressing her hands to her back. ‘I thought I would come out for a walk and a breath of air. Mum and Steve fuss over me all the time and I sometimes feel I want to run away and hide.’
‘Oh, Sarah!’ Jenny went into a peal of laughter, causing Sister Rose to look at her sharply. ‘Oops, now, I’ve done it …’
‘Sister Rose won’t mind you having a word or me visiting,’ Sarah said as she saw the anxious look in the other nurse’s eyes. ‘She’s always been lovely to everyone.’
‘Well, something has changed,’ Jenny said in a low voice. ‘I can’t seem to do anything right for her just lately and I don’t know why.’
Sister Rose came up to them. She smiled at Sarah and then turned a distinctly cool gaze on Nurse Jenny. ‘Please continue with your work, nurse. Sarah, come and have a cup of tea and tell me how you are …’
Sarah looked at Jenny’s face as she walked away. It was clear she was in Sister Rose’s bad books but she couldn’t imagine why. Sarah had worked with Jenny in the past and knew her to be both hard working and conscientious. What could she have done to upset the sister?