Christmas at the Foyles Bookshop (The Foyles Girls)

by Elaine Roberts

  Everyone nodded to each other and Molly’s ashen pallor began to recover.

  Daisy continued with her introductions. ‘These ladies are dear family friends. In fact, I would say they are more like sisters; Alice is Lily’s sister and Sergeant Leybourne’s wife.’

  Alice pulled back her shoulders and lifted her chin. ‘It’s nice to meet you, Constable Albright.’

  Daisy beamed at the girls. ‘It’s lovely to see you both; it’s been ages. Come in. I’m sorry I worried you for a moment.’ She stepped aside to allow them entry into the small hallway. ‘I know I see Lily every day, but it’s good to see you both looking so well.’ She paused for a moment. ‘Especially you, Molly; from what I hear, you’ve been through it lately, but you look well.’

  Molly smiled. ‘Thank you; it was a tough time, and not one I could have got through without Alice and your sister.’

  Alice removed her gloves, thrusting them into her coat pocket. ‘I know it’s early, but we’re here to see Victoria.’

  Daisy nodded. ‘Of course, let me take your coats and then you can go into the sitting room. I’ll let her know you’re here.’

  Alice and Molly undid the buttons of their heavy coats.

  ‘Thank you, Daisy.’ Molly removed her coat. ‘I hope you are keeping well; have you heard from Stephen?’

  Daisy took the coat, wrapping the coarse material over her arm while she waited for Alice’s. ‘He writes often; I’m not sure he always tells us what’s going on, but he’s still alive and we are grateful for that.’

  Peter ran his hand up and down Daisy’s back. Her cheeks suddenly had a rosy glow about them. She cleared her throat and took Alice’s coat from her, before hanging them both on the coat stand. ‘Go in and take a seat while I find Victoria. I think she’s in the kitchen, so I’ll put the kettle on while I’m there.’

  Peter followed the girls into the sitting room.

  Alice eyed the man sitting in the armchair opposite her. She wondered how old he was, twenty, maybe twenty-one. She sighed. He only looked about twelve; maybe that’s why he hadn’t enlisted, along with every other young man. ‘Have you been a policeman long, Constable Albright?’

  ‘No, ma’am, and please call me Peter.’ He smiled, showing even white teeth. ‘It must be coming up to a year.’ He paused for a moment. ‘I expect you are wondering why I haven’t enlisted; everyone does.’

  Alice fidgeted in her seat. ‘Not at all, sir, it’s none of my business.’

  ‘Well, I like to get ahead and set the record straight, to stop further discussion after I’ve left the room—’

  ‘I can assure you, Constable Albright, we are not prone to discussing other people’s business; I was just making polite conversation with you.’

  Peter held up his hand. ‘I’m sorry, Mrs Leybourne. I didn’t mean to offend, but I’m used to people thinking I’m a coward, because I’m here, rather than in France or somewhere.’

  Molly looked across at him. ‘The problem is, Peter, we are not “people”. As you’ve heard, we are very good friends of Victoria and Daisy, and have been through a lot together.’

  Peter lowered his eyes for a moment, anxiety tripping across his young features. ‘I’m sorry, we seem to have got off on the wrong foot. Can we start again please?’

  The girls nodded as one.

  ‘I have chosen to enter the police force, because the army rejected me, due to me having flat feet. I’m hoping it won’t affect my job, because I love it.’ Peter stood up and paced around the small room, gazing out of the window onto the busy street. Cars, chugging past the house, drowned people’s voices out. ‘I’m used to people calling me names, because they think I’m a coward. My ma’s pleased that I couldn’t go, but that’s where it ends.’

  Sympathy surged through Molly’s veins, as she remembered Andrew keeping the white feather he had been given. ‘Unfortunately, Peter, people make assumptions.’

  He turned and looked at her. ‘I know, and I understand that. Everyone is losing loved ones, so they look at me, but don’t stop to ask. I feel I should wear a board, explaining why I’m still here.’

  Alice nodded. ‘But instead, you get in first.’

  Peter walked over to the chair he had vacated earlier. ‘I should have thought, instead of automatically thinking the usual; I know Sergeant Leybourne suffered terrible injuries.’

  Alice sighed, before choosing her words carefully. ‘This war is a terrible thing, tearing the country apart, as well as friends and neighbours.’

  Heels could be heard clattering on the floor tiles in the hallway, drowning out the mumbled voices that followed. The sitting room door was pushed open.

  ‘Good morning.’ Victoria entered, carrying a silver tray of crockery.

  Daisy shrugged her arms into a heavy black coat. ‘I’m sorry I can’t stay, but Peter and I have got to get to work.’ She chuckled almost to herself. ‘We don’t want Sergeant Leybourne telling us off.’

  Peter jumped out of his seat. ‘It was lovely to meet you.’ He bowed his head slightly.

  ‘Likewise, Peter,’ Molly and Alice chorused.

  Victoria smiled at him, before glancing over at Daisy. ‘Take care, the pair of you.’

  ‘We will,’ they both answered as one, laughing as they left the room.

  Victoria shook her head at the thud of the front door closing, but her face was bright, her smile lighting it up.

  Molly raised an eyebrow. ‘Is this a romance in the making?’

  Victoria picked up the heavy, white teapot. ‘I don’t know about that.’

  Alice glanced at her friend. ‘Then you must be the only one who doesn’t. Daisy’s cheeks went quite pink when he stroked her back.’

  Teaspoons clattered against the china cups, as Victoria stirred the tea. ‘I hope she does find love; let’s face it, there aren’t going to be many young men around, by the time this war is finished.’

  The girls sat in silence for a few minutes, each clutching their cup of tea, while lost in thoughts about the future.

  Molly sipped the hot brown liquid. The heat seared her top lip; she gasped and put the cup back on the matching floral saucer. ‘This is very nice, but we’re not here to drink tea and gossip all day, so why don’t we take our drinks upstairs and get on with the job we’re here to do?’

  Alice nodded. ‘That sounds like a good idea, if Victoria agrees.’

  Victoria paled. ‘Job, what job?’

  Molly gazed at her friend’s ashen face. ‘We’ve come to help you sort out your parents’ bedroom.’

  The silence that followed was filled with tension.

  Victoria stared down into her cup. ‘I… er… I was going out.’

  Molly stood up, placing her cup and saucer on the small side table. ‘Is it urgent; do you have to go out?’ She paused. ‘We all know this isn’t a job you want to do, but it has to be done; you can’t go on like this. We’re your friends and we’re here to help; nothing else.’

  Victoria slowly nodded her head.

  Alice stood up and placed her arm around Victoria’s shoulders. ‘We know this is hard for you; that’s why we’re here.’ She paused, watching the fear trample over her friend. ‘We’re like sisters, remember? Actually, we’re better than sisters, if that’s possible.’

  Victoria lifted her watery eyes, to meet her friends’ gaze. ‘All right, let’s get on with it.’

  *

  Victoria stood outside her parents’ bedroom, with her hands clenched down by her side. She bit her bottom lip as she stared at the dark wooden door. It had been a while since she had closed it on the room, vowing never to open it again. Alice and Molly stood either side of her, waiting to see what was ahead of them.

  Molly glanced at Alice, raising her eyebrows at her, urging her to move things along.

  Alice shrugged.

  Molly waited for a moment, before giving Alice another sideways look, but she was looking straight ahead. She sipped at her lukewarm tea. ‘Are we going to do this, Victoria?�
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  Victoria’s eyes were wide with fear.

  Molly wrapped her arm around Victoria’s shoulders. ‘You can do this. We’re here for you.’

  Victoria looked from one of her friends to the other; she wanted to run, but her feet wouldn’t move. She slowly put her hand into her black skirt pocket. Her fingers touched the bedroom door key, but they snatched away from the ice-cold metal. The door had been locked for a long time. As they got older, Daisy and Stephen had wanted to investigate what was behind the locked door, but Victoria had guarded the key with her life. It was never away from her.

  Molly squeezed the top of Victoria’s arm. ‘Come on girl, you can do this.’

  Victoria glanced over at Alice, who nodded at her. Her fingers slowly wrapped around the cold metal key; it burnt into her skin, but she could no longer hide from it. Pulling it free from the soft material that had held it tight away from prying eyes, she gazed down at it. Was she really going to do this?

  Molly leant in and whispered, ‘You can do this, Victoria, I know you can.’

  Frightened eyes stared back at Molly. ‘I don’t know if I can.’

  ‘Do you want me to unlock the door?’

  Victoria shook her head and looked back down at the key. Without another word, she thrust it into the lock and tried to turn it. A grating noise filled the air. Victoria pressed harder, her face contorted, as she twisted the key inside the lock. Without warning, it suddenly moved. A loud grinding noise followed the movement and the door was suddenly unlocked.

  Alice whispered, ‘Well done, Victoria. I know this is hard for you, but it’s the right thing to do.’

  Without a word, Victoria twisted the door handle and pushed hard. The hinges screamed their objection, causing the girls to wince.

  The three girls stood in silence, staring into the bedroom. The dust was visible from the landing. Layer upon layer covered everything in the room. There were no footprints on the wooden floorboards, or finger marks to show the dust had been disturbed on the chest of drawers. There was no evidence that anyone had entered this room for years.

  Fear gripped Molly as she noticed the lacy cobwebs, visible around the ceiling and walls. There was clearly more than one spider in here. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for the spiders that had taken up residence, fleetingly wondering how many there could be.

  Victoria spoke in a whisper. ‘This is more than a little embarrassing.’ She sighed, as colour gradually filled her ashen face. ‘I should have come up and cleaned the room before today, but…’

  Alice rubbed Victoria’s back. ‘None of that matters; we’ll clean as we go, won’t we, Molly?’

  Molly eyed the cobwebs again. ‘Of course.’ She lowered her voice. ‘It won’t take us long.’

  Victoria’s gaze followed Molly’s. ‘Do you think there’s spiders in there?’

  ‘No, of course not,’ Molly and Alice chorused unconvincingly.

  Victoria frowned, before a nervous giggle escaped, as she looked at her friends. ‘You know I hate spiders.’

  Molly nudged her. ‘Everyone hates spiders; they move so quickly, so we’ll all be squealing together.’

  ‘I now have a picture of us all screaming, as we run for the doorway.’

  ‘Now that’s quite possible.’ Alice chuckled. ‘But first, we have to go into the room, so we can run out again.’

  ‘I can do this.’ Victoria took the couple of steps into her parents’ bedroom.

  Alice and Molly followed her.

  Molly looked around the room. ‘I think we need my mother here; she’d have this room clean in no time.’

  Victoria’s mouth dropped open for moment. ‘Are you serious?’

  Molly smiled. ‘No, of course not, but we need a broom, some rags and something to put the bedding in, so we can shake it outside. We can’t start until the room has been cleaned; there’s nowhere to sit, for a start.’

  Alice looked around the once lovely room. The black coals were grey, with the layers of dust in the open fireplace. The ornate blue tiles that surrounded it had lost their sheen. The air was musty and stale perfume hung in the air. Alice walked over to the sash window, leaving her footprints in the dust. Turning the catch to unlock the wooden frame, she then pushed the stiff, unyielding window upwards. Nothing happened. She took a deep breath and tried again; slowly it began to give way and lift a little. Alice brushed off the dust that had fallen on her hands, expecting the early morning chill to immediately whoosh in and fill every corner of the room. She was pleased there was now warmth in the air. ‘I don’t very often say these words, but Molly’s right, we do need to clean first and sort through everything afterwards.’

  ‘I should have come in here before today.’ Victoria’s watery eyes moved to each of them in turn. ‘I’m sorry, I just couldn’t bring—’

  ‘It’s all right, we’ll soon have it clean.’ Molly placed her arm around Victoria’s hunched shoulders.

  Victoria sniffed, coughing as the dust hit her nose. ‘My mother would be so ashamed of me, right now.’

  ‘No.’ Alice shook her head. ‘I’m not having this; you have been through a lot and it’s a wonder you are still here at all. Your parents loved you and they would understand how difficult it has been for you.’

  Molly nodded. ‘I think we need to busy ourselves; at least it will stop us thinking too much.’ She looked up at the ceiling again. ‘Particularly about death by spider.’

  7

  Daisy Appleton and Lily Taylor walked side by side along Charing Cross Road. The road was one of their favourites to walk along. The cars and trams trundled along, with grey smoke spluttering from the bottom of the vehicles. They had long since got used to the attention that their navy police uniforms attracted. Stallholders shouted their good mornings, as they strolled past. It was a warm, humid day, but grey clouds lurked in the distance, threatening to spoil it. People stopped to chat, as they made their way from shop to shop, only stopping to give the girls a smile or a curious look.

  ‘Want some soup, luvvie?’

  ‘No, thank you; maybe later.’ Daisy smiled at the weatherworn old man, standing next to his barrow.

  The man lifted his gnarled hand, saluting his acknowledgement.

  ‘Alice seemed in a bit of a stew this morning.’ Lily waved at a woman selling flowers. ‘I don’t know what’s going on, but I suspect Molly and Victoria will be involved.’

  Daisy straightened the belt of her jacket, the coarse material rough against her fingers. ‘That’s usually the case.’

  ‘It’s a good job we know they’re law-abiding citizens. Imagine the embarrassment of them being placed in a cell at the station.’ Lily paused for a moment. ‘Oh my goodness, I’m turning into my father.’ She pulled a face, as the realisation hit home. ‘He went berserk when I was brought home by a policeman, after the suffragette demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament. He said I was an embarrassment to him.’

  ‘I expect he’s proud of you now.’ Daisy lowered her eyelashes and studied the cracks in the pavement for a moment. ‘As far as the girls are concerned, I think you’ll find it’s Victoria, this time.’

  Lily stopped short and looked at her friend’s slender back as she stepped ahead. ‘Is everything all right?’

  Daisy stopped and looked back at Lily. ‘I’ll find out, when I get home.’

  ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry; I’m just concerned.’ Lily hesitated for a second, before stepping forward. ‘I know you and I haven’t been friends for years, like our sisters have, but I like to think we’ve got closer since this damned war started.’

  ‘We spend an awful lot of time together and I like to think we are friends. This war confuses me a little, because it’s taken the country’s men away, and yet saved me from working in domestic service, which I hated.’

  ‘I know what you mean. It’s given me the freedom that my father would never have allowed, if it hadn’t been for the good of the country.’

  Daisy gave a humourless la
ugh. ‘I don’t think we appreciate our parents until they are no longer with us. You know, it’s been seven years since mine died in that train derailment, and I’m frightened I’m going to forget who they really were.’

  Lily rested her hand on Daisy’s arm. ‘You won’t forget them; they are too important to you. Has something happened to make you worry about it?’

  ‘I’ve caught Victoria staring at our parents’ locked bedroom door a few times lately. She looks quite anxious but tries to push her fear away when she sees me. I can’t help wondering if she’s finally thinking of unlocking it. She hasn’t said anything but I can’t bring myself to offer to help. I think Victoria is going to be in bits, so it’s better that Alice and Molly are there, instead of me.’

  Lily nodded. ‘They are true friends and I’m sure they’ll help her through it, and I am here for you, as indeed we all are, should you need us.’

  Daisy’s sombre expression told Lily she should change the subject.

  The girls parted as a little boy and girl rushed at them, both clutching a book.

  Lily glanced across at her companion. ‘So what’s going on with you and Constable Peter Albright?’

  Daisy giggled, colour creeping into her cheeks. ‘Nothing is going on; we are just work colleagues, that’s all.’

  Lily gave a mischievous grin. ‘Oh, so you have all your work colleagues pop in for a cup of tea, do you?’

  ‘My goodness, gossip soon gets around. I’d ask who told you, but I suspect you wouldn’t tell me. I know it wasn’t Alice, because she and Molly only met him this morning, and you haven’t seen her since then.’

  ‘Was it a secret then?’

  ‘No, it was just a cup of tea.’ Daisy shook her head.

  ‘I’m sorry, I’m just having fun with you. He told me at the station. I think he’s sweet on you.’

  Daisy kept looking ahead, but her blushing cheeks gave her away.

  A young boy clutching a red apple came running towards them, swerving to miss the girls. Daisy stepped to the side and thrust her arm out. ‘What’s your hurry, young man?’