Stormy Days On Mulberry Lane

by Rosie Clarke

  ‘That’s terrible,’ Shirley said. ‘So, it wasn’t just me that lost things then?’

  ‘No, dear, she didn’t mind who she hurt.’ She shook her head. ‘She may have done this last year as well – another girl lost her wages then, but they couldn’t prove anything.’

  ‘I see.’ Shirley shivered. ‘It’s horrible.’

  ‘Yes, it is – but it isn’t your fault, so you can just forget about it, love. You get ready for when your nice young man calls.’

  Shirley nodded and went upstairs to change.

  Maureen looked up as the kitchen door opened just as she was about to make a cup of cocoa for her and Gordon. They’d been home from their short break in Southend a few hours now and her husband had gone upstairs to have a shave before bedtime and she’d neglected to lock the door, which was something he always did last thing.

  ‘Shirley!’ Maureen looked at her in surprise, put down the saucepan and then rushed to give her a hug. ‘We didn’t expect you home for another week… We went to the sea for a couple of days, any earlier and you’d have found the door locked.’

  ‘I should’ve let you know, Mum,’ Shirley said and a little sob escaped her. She dropped her bag on the floor and buried her face in Maureen’s chest. ‘I’ve had a dreadful row with Richard – he says I’m a nasty, suspicious girl and he doesn’t know if he wants to be with someone like me—’ She gulped for breath. ‘It wasn’t my fault, Mum – but Tosy, one of his female friends from college, was arrested for theft and Richard blames me.’

  ‘Why should he blame you if she is a thief?’

  ‘I reported the theft of money and clothes from my room – and my landlady said she saw someone entering her house and then running away.’ Shirley took another faltering breath. ‘Then my wages were stolen from my coat pocket and I told my landlady. The police came to the restaurant where we were working the next day and took my statement and – it turned out there had been thefts from the office there as well. Tosy will be facing serious charges and she will lose her place at medical school – and Richard blamed me for causing it—’

  ‘You were not involved in the thefts,’ Maureen said, ‘so why does he think it is your fault?’

  ‘Because my landlady went to the manager after my wages were taken from my coat pocket.’ She drew a deep breath. ‘He called the police and they took her away…’

  ‘Surely you were entitled to report the thefts,’ Maureen said and frowned. ‘None of this is your fault, Shirley, and I think it was very wrong of Richard to blame you.’

  ‘He says I should have told him or his other college friend. Apparently, they know Tosy steals sometimes, but they cover up for her, because she’s been through a bad time and they feel sorry for her.’

  ‘In that case, I think they are the ones in the wrong,’ Maureen said firmly. ‘It isn’t helping her to cover it up and let her go on stealing.’

  ‘I told Richard that and he said I was heartless, Mum…’

  ‘Then he needs a good smack round his ear and I’m just the one to give it to him,’ Maureen declared. She hugged Shirley once more. ‘I’ll soon tell him if he comes round here. You did the right thing going to the police, love, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.’

  Shirley gave a little sob as Maureen enfolded her in a loving embrace. ‘I’ve been feeling so mean and awful, Mum. How could Richard say such a thing to me – when he knew she was a thief? I thought it was another girl called Rita who had been stealing from me, because she didn’t like me, but when my landlady identified Tosy, it all came out.’

  ‘Come and sit down and tell me all about it,’ Maureen said gently. She led Shirley to the sofa, sat down with her and held her hand. ‘Now tell me all from the beginning – about the girl that didn’t like you and the thefts – all of it.’

  Shirley told her story, haltingly at first and then with growing certainty. ‘I thought Rita might be behind the theft from my room, because she didn’t like some of her customers preferring me to serve them. Tosy was friendly to my face, but when the police arrested her, she screamed at me, said it was all my fault and that Richard would hate me for what I’d done…’ She gulped and brushed away her tears. ‘She dropped her notebook as they took her away, Mum, and I picked it up – and I saw how she wrote. I think it was her handwriting on the envelope of that poison pen letter I got before last Christmas. I think she was jealous of Richard’s friendship with that other girl and so she tried to cause trouble with me too.’ Shirley looked up. ‘If she is a habitual thief, she may have taken some of my letters to Richard and that’s how she knew where I lived. I always knew whoever it was must have read my letters… and perhaps she wanted him herself. Maybe that’s why she tried to make trouble over Katie, because she was jealous of her too.’

  ‘She sounds a thoroughly nasty girl,’ Maureen said, frowning and shaking her head as Gordon entered and raised his eyebrows in enquiry. ‘I don’t understand why Richard would want to take her side, love.’

  ‘He says that they all feel sorry for her because she’s had an unhappy life – her parents split up when she was young and her mother started drinking. Tosy had to work in a factory all hours to save enough to attend medical school and they thought she stole because she needed more money.’

  ‘Well, I can see why they might feel sorry for her,’ Maureen said. ‘She obviously had a hard life – but stealing from you and writing you nasty letters isn’t going to endear her to me. I think it’s time she was sorted out and if Richard says anything to me, I shall tell him so.’

  Shirley’s eyes were drenched in tears as she looked at her. ‘I thought he loved me, Mum, but he can’t or he wouldn’t say those things to me.’

  ‘Perhaps he didn’t understand what she’d done to you, Shirley…’

  ‘Yes, he did, Mum. He said he would buy me a new bracelet and blouse if it meant so much to me and that one wage packet didn’t matter because I was lucky enough to have money left to me for my education and Tosy had nothing.’ Shirley looked wretched. ‘He said he was disappointed in me and thought I had more compassion and he wasn’t sure that he wanted to be with me any more…’

  ‘The wretch!’ Gordon burst out as he caught the tail end of her words. ‘I’ll give him a good hiding when I see him for talking to you like that.’

  Shirley hung her head, covering her face with her hands. ‘I love him and it hurts that he thinks so ill of me…’

  Maureen tipped her head up, moving away her hands so that Shirley looked at her. ‘You are a sweet, lovely and kind girl, my dearest one. If Richard thinks otherwise then he is a fool and you will be well rid of him. I know this hurts you very much, Shirley. Richard was your first love and you believed he felt the same for you. I thought he did too – but if he can think or say such things of you, I don’t think much of him. You were right to tell someone and that girl needed to be stopped. She was clearly jealous of you and a thief. She needs help before she gets in too deep. Her friends are only doing her harm by shielding her.’

  ‘Yes, I think so too,’ Shirley told her. ‘It turns out that I wasn’t the only girl to lose things from their coat pockets and, where she’d kept keys to various rooms, she stole from them too.’

  ‘She kept the keys to the rooms of boarding houses?’ Maureen looked stunned. ‘That means she planned what she did, Shirley, and that is far more serious!’

  ‘It was that accusation from my landlady that made the police arrest her,’ Shirley told her. ‘She recalled the name of the girl who had taken the missing key with her. She’s changed all the locks in her house now, because she says she wants to be certain it cannot happen again.’

  ‘I’m so sorry you had a miserable time, love,’ Gordon said and touched her head.

  Shirley looked up at him. ‘I liked it, Dad. Most of it was good fun and I got on with several of the others – but after Richard said those things to me, I wanted to come home. I don’t mind about what Tosy took so much – but I couldn’t stay there knowing he hat
ed me.’ She gulped back her tears. ‘I still want to be a doctor and I’m looking forward to college.’

  ‘That’s my good girl,’ her father said and nodded approvingly. ‘If Richard Kent doesn’t have the wit to appreciate you, plenty of others will.’

  Shirley nodded and used the hanky Maureen gave her to wipe her tears, but Maureen could see the sadness in her eyes. Her daughter was a loving girl and generous, but once she made up her mind, she didn’t waver much. She wasn’t sure whether the romance with Richard was completely dead and she wouldn’t interfere. It would be for Shirley to decide when she was ready. Yet Maureen could see something different in her daughter, a new maturity that hadn’t been there before Shirley went on that working holiday. She’d taken a step towards becoming a woman and, even if that was painful right now, she would continue to grow.

  19

  ‘How did you manage without Able and Freddie at night?’ Maureen said when she met Peggy in the kitchen of the Pig & Whistle the next morning. ‘It must have seemed strange?’ She frowned. ‘If I’d known, I wouldn’t have gone away, Peggy.’

  ‘Yes, I didn’t enjoy it much,’ Peggy said. ‘I had Fay, Maggie, Chris, Alice, and the guests, though, so I wasn’t alone. I stayed up later and got ahead with my baking for the guests and us last night and then made a batch of gooseberry jam this morning.’

  ‘You didn’t get a lot of sleep then…’ Maureen said wryly. She glanced round the kitchen. ‘Did the kids get off to school all right?’ she asked because Able normally took them.

  ‘Maggie walked with them and then came back. She’s upstairs doing the work her father set her.’

  ‘How do you feel coping alone, Peggy?’

  ‘I’m all right. I have to manage, so I shall.’

  ‘I know – but it isn’t easy for you, Peggy.’ She frowned, then, because she couldn’t hold it back, ‘Shirley came home early. She had a quarrel with Richard…’

  Maureen explained about the uncomfortable time her daughter had had while working in the hotel’s restaurant. How one of the girls had resented her getting customers at the table she considered should be hers, and how Tosy had pretended to be her friend but was all the time stealing from Shirley and others.

  ‘She thinks it was Tosy that sent her that nasty letter last year – I told you about it last Christmas.’ Maureen wrinkled her brow. ‘It turns out she was jealous of Shirley and maybe a girl called Katie. The other medical students knew she stole things, but they protected her because she’d had an unhappy life – and all the time she was trying to cause trouble for them…’

  Peggy nodded and looked thoughtful. ‘It is a similar pattern to the way Gillian behaved when I took her in. I think she did those things from jealousy. She wanted to turn me against Pearl because she thought I’d blame her for salt in my sugar pot and when that didn’t work, she stole from us and ran away.’

  ‘Yes, perhaps,’ Maureen agreed. ‘If this Tosy has a crush on Richard, it would explain why she targeted Shirley. But what I can’t forgive is that he took her side and told my daughter she had no compassion and other unpleasant things.’

  ‘No!’ Peggy looked shocked. ‘You couldn’t get a kinder girl than your Shirley. That really is too bad of him, Maureen. I bet Gordon is furious over it!’

  ‘If he could have got to him last night, he would’ve half killed him,’ Maureen confirmed. She sniffed the air appreciatively as the smell of warm apples and hot brown sugar filled her nostrils. ‘That apple pie smells good, Peggy.’

  ‘I’d almost forgotten it,’ Peggy exclaimed and rushed to take it from the oven. ‘It’s a little bit browner than I like to sell – shall we have some ourselves with a cup of coffee, Maureen? I’ve got plenty more apples, so I’ll make another one or two for the shop.’

  ‘My mouth is already watering,’ Maureen said and smiled. ‘I’ll whip up a bit of custard and we’ll treat ourselves to a break.’

  ‘Yes, let’s,’ Peggy agreed and put the cake she’d just prepared into the oven. ‘So that leaves Shirley a bit at a loose end for the next two weeks before she goes off to college?’

  ‘She said she’ll do some revision and see if she can find a part-time job.’ Maureen picked up the previous night’s paper and glanced at an article. ‘I’m glad that our navy has gone to help the Americans in Korea at last; they’ve launched a huge attack out there apparently.’

  ‘Yes, I do hope it doesn’t become more than a conflict in Korea. We’ve hardly got over the last one.’ Peggy shook her head. ‘Able says they had to do it.’

  ‘Well, the Americans helped us beat the Nazis, so it’s only fair,’ Maureen said. ‘Anyway, I’m more concerned with what Shirley is going to do with herself now.’

  ‘Tell her to come to me,’ Peggy said smiling. ‘She can help me with the breakfasts, Maureen, and do a couple of hours in the cake shop if she likes.’

  ‘I know she would love that,’ Maureen confirmed, feeling pleased. ‘She doesn’t really need to earn a lot, because she saved part of her earnings and Gordon will make up whatever she needs.’

  ‘Well, I could do with an extra pair of hands,’ Peggy said. ‘Able rang just before you came. Sheila and Janet want to stay down there at least another night. They think Pip showed some response to them yesterday and Sheila says she’s definitely staying for a while longer.’

  ‘So that means you’re on your own.’ Maureen frowned. ‘Would you like Shirley to stay over at night, Peggy? I know she wouldn’t mind – and I’d feel better if you weren’t alone…’

  ‘I’m not alone,’ Peggy smiled and shook her head. ‘Honestly, I’m fine, Maureen. I haven’t seen anything amiss. I know Tom saw Gillian in the market, but I don’t think she will come here. Why should she?’

  20

  ‘I’m sorry to let you down, Peggy,’ Sheila’s new barman telephoned later that afternoon just as Peggy had finished serving dinner to her guests. Shirley had done much of it for her and it was nice to see how well she’d learned over the past month or so. ‘My mother had a fall and I’m stuck at the hospital with her. I can’t desert her, because she has no one else.’

  ‘It’s not very convenient, Reg,’ Peggy said, feeling a little cross, because if he’d rung earlier, she might have arranged cover for the bar. It was Friday night and it would leave Pam and Dot running around if she didn’t help out herself. With Able still away, she would be stretched to the limit. ‘Please let us know earlier tomorrow if you can’t come in.’

  ‘I’ll be there tomorrow – but she’s eighty-five and frightened. I can’t just abandon her, can I?’

  ‘No, you can’t,’ Peggy agreed. ‘I’ll go in myself and help out – but we shall need you tomorrow.’

  Shirley looked at her as she returned to the kitchen. ‘Something wrong, Aunty Peggy?’

  ‘I have to help in the bar this evening,’ Peggy sighed. ‘I don’t like leaving the children on their own. I know Alice is here, but…’

  ‘I’ll stay and look after them,’ Shirley offered. ‘I don’t mind what I do, and I could do with the distraction, if I’m honest. I can listen to the wireless or revise if I feel like it. I’ll pop home and tell Mum – and I’ll stay here this evening. Dad won’t want me to walk home late at night.’

  ‘Yes, if that suits you,’ Peggy replied and smiled at her. ‘You’re a lovely girl, Shirley. Thank you for offering. I can see you’re going to be very useful to me until you’re off to college.’

  ‘Mum,’ Fay came bouncing in then with Chris and Maggie just behind her. ‘Chris wants a bit of cake and I’d like pancakes.’

  ‘I can make those,’ Shirley said. ‘Able showed me how when I was here a few weeks ago. What sort do you want?’

  Fay launched into a list of her wants, which seemed to include pancakes, fruit, sugar and cream, and Shirley nodded.

  ‘That sounds delicious – why don’t we all have some? What about you, Aunty Peggy?’

  ‘I’ll go up and get ready,’ Peggy said, looking at her with approva
l. She smiled as she remembered the unhappy little girl Maureen had fetched from the farm and taken in because her father was in the army. The child had turned into a lovely woman and if Richard Kent couldn’t see that, he must be blind, deaf and mad!

  Peggy left her little family enjoying pancakes and fun in the kitchen. Alice had joined in the feast and the sound of the children’s laughter told her that they wouldn’t miss her too badly if she didn’t get back before they were sound asleep in bed. Shirley would see they went up at a reasonable time.

  She helped Pam and Dot in the bar for the first hour and then went into the kitchen to make some sandwiches at the request of four hungry young soldiers, who were on furlough together and enjoying a night out. Carla was there doing some washing up and she looked at Peggy hopefully.

  ‘Is there anything more I can do to help, Peggy? I’d really like to work here…’ She looked so wistful that Peggy smiled.

  ‘Yes, you can help me make this order.’

  The young girl set to the task with enthusiasm and Peggy let her do most of it, thinking she was efficient and helpful. She thanked her and told her she could come through to the bar and help to serve food. Carla’s face lit up and Peggy decided that she would ask Sheila if they could take her on as a permanent helper.

  Peggy then returned to the bar and spent the next hour pulling pints for the regulars and serving the quiches she and Maureen had prepared earlier, which were popular with a packet of crisps.

  ‘Are you the one they call Peggy of the Lanes?’ one of the young men asked her as she brought another tray of drinks to their table. ‘My Uncle Steve stayed at your pub before the war and he came back when he got home on leave – he’d been injured, lost a hand – and he said you gave him a free meal and two pints of beer. He told us to be sure to visit you if we were on leave in London.’