‘No, it certainly don’t look like it.’ Bert peered outside before glancing back at Annie with a troubled expression. ‘You know I ’ave a daughter not much older than you, so take care now. If you don’t mind me saying so not everyone is as nice as you think they are. Trust me, I’ve been around a few years longer than most people inside this theatre and there ain’t much I ’aven’t seen or ’eard.’
‘Thank you, Bert. Don’t worry, I’ll take care.’
Bert smiled. ‘Are yer not singing this morning?’
Were her singing lessons with Matthew Harris common knowledge? Was everyone talking about her? ‘Not this morning.’ Annie forced a smile.
Bert frowned. ‘That’s a shame, you have a beautiful voice and it makes me smile when I hear yer singing your heart out every day.’
‘Thank you, Bert, that’s a lovely thing to say. I didn’t realise you could hear me from the stage.’
‘Oh yes, I expect they can hear yer all over the theatre.’ Bert sighed. ‘And I can tell yer I hate it when a delivery or something interrupts my listening.’ He smiled. ‘Go on wiv yer, I don’t want to get yer in to trouble wiv Kitty.’
‘Thank you for your kind words, Bert, they mean a lot to me.’ Annie turned and made her way to Kitty’s dressing room. She was just about to turn the handle to walk in when she heard Kitty’s raised voice.
‘I will not have it. Do you hear me?’
Annie immediately stepped back when a man’s voice answered her in a much lower tone. She turned and sped back along the corridor, fearing the dressing room door would fly open and they would think she was spying on them. She suddenly thought about the last dresser getting the sack; was that how it worked? As she approached the sewing room, Annie noticed the door was ajar, so she decided to hide in there. Hopefully, Miss Hetherington wouldn’t be in there.
Trying not to move the door, in case it creaked and alerted Miss Hetherington, Annie slipped through the opening. She forgot about the drips of water from her umbrella that had left a trail along the corridor and were forming a puddle at her feet. Annie glanced around and saw Rose sat over in the corner; she breathed a sigh of relief when she couldn’t see anyone else. As always, the room was array with materials of many different colours. The odd sequin sparkled on tables. Lace, of different widths and patterns, were sat on a shelf on cardboard rolls alongside colourful ribbons of varying widths. Several sewing machines stood on trestle tables down one side of the room. They had settled in quickly. No wonder Rose was happy being in the theatre. Annie moved her weight from one foot to the other. The floorboard creaked.
Rose’s head shot up and she simultaneously snapped her book shut. ‘Hello, Annie, what brings you in here?’ She quickly shoved the book, burying it under some material.
Annie wondered what Rose was hiding in her book. It was clearly something she didn’t want her to see, and yet their friendship was the sort that didn’t have secrets…
‘Is everything all right?’ Rose interrupted her meanderings. ‘How long have you been standing there?’
‘Of course.’ Annie stepped further into the room. ‘Not long, I just needed somewhere to hide for a moment.’
Rose frowned as she looked at the pool of water by her friend’s feet. ‘From what, or who?’
Annie chuckled. ‘I don’t know exactly, but I think Kitty’s having an argument with someone in her dressing room and I didn’t want to be caught nearby, in case they thought I was listening at the door.’
Rose nodded. ‘Put the umbrella in the sink and I’ll find something to wipe the floor with before someone slips on that water.’
‘Oh sorry, I forgot about my umbrella.’
‘It’s not a problem, there’s a mop somewhere.’ Rose stood up and opened a nearby cupboard. A long wooden handle immediately fell out, caught by surprise; she only just managed to catch it. ‘Here we go, this will clear it without too much bother.’ She walked over to the pool of water.
Annie put her umbrella in the sink and placed her newspaper on the drainer. ‘I’m sorry, I must have left drips all along the corridor.’
Rose laughed. ‘I’m sure the odd drip won’t hurt anyone.’ She left the mop propped up against the cupboard door. ‘Look at you being all grown up and buying a newspaper, and then hiding in corridors like a schoolgirl.’
Annie chuckled. ‘I was never brave though.’
‘No, you were too busy being polite.’ Rose chuckled, almost to herself. ‘Were you not even tempted to eavesdrop a little bit? You might have got some gossip.’
Annie’s eyes widened. ‘No, I was always told you don’t hear anything good by eavesdropping on someone else’s conversation.’
‘I guess that’s true, but I do like a good gossip though.’
Annie unbuttoned her coat. ‘I know, that’s what always gets you into trouble.’
‘It stops life from getting boring though.’ Rose picked up a grey jacket. ‘Come on you can help me find some buttons to match these ones while you’re in hiding.’
Annie walked over to her and pulled a large tin filled with buttons nearer to her; she had never seen so many colours, shapes and sizes before. ‘My goodness, I wonder where some of these have come from? My ma’s tin doesn’t contain buttons like some of these.’ She flopped down onto the nearest wooden chair.
‘No, they’re fabulous, aren’t they?’ The melodic sound of the piano being played filled the sewing room. ‘Your Mr Harris must be back at the piano, he’s probably been looking for you.’
Annie sighed. ‘He’s not my Mr Harris, thank you very much, although he’s very handsome and charming.’
‘Sorry.’ Rose groaned as he started to play another tune. ‘I know he’s good looking, for an older man, and it’s lovely to hear him play but when it’s the same few tunes all day it gets a bit wearing.’ She eyed her friend. ‘You’re not falling for him, are you?’
‘Of course not, I might have done if he’d been fifteen or twenty years younger.’ Annie giggled. ‘But I shall always be thankful for all the lessons he has given me so far, I’ve learnt a lot.’
Rose smiled. ‘At least you’re making the most of the opportunity because he seems to be very popular with the cast, so I expect he’s offered to help a few people.’
‘How generous is that?’ Annie’s fingers moved the buttons forward and backwards, rattling them in the tin, looking for the grey button to be sewn on the jacket. ‘It must be wonderful to be able to do that. I’d like to do it one day, when I have enough experience.’ She was suddenly alerted to footsteps pacing along the hall. Was it safe for her to go back to the dressing room?
The door pushed open; the hinges screamed out breaking the silence that had filled the room. ‘What’s going on here?’ a woman’s voice screeched out.
Annie immediately stood up like a naughty schoolgirl. ‘Nothing, I was just helping Rose to find a grey button.’
The woman’s lip curled. ‘I’m sure Miss Spencer can manage that all by herself. Now get out of here before I get you fired.’
Rose stood up. ‘Miss Hetherington, Annie is Miss Smythe’s dresser and came in to see if we had something that belonged to her and was just helping me while she was here.’
Miss Hetherington frowned as her gaze passed between the two of them. Her face relaxed a little but her voice was still harsh when she spoke. ‘And do we?’
‘No, Miss Hetherington.’
Miss Hetherington stared long and hard at Rose before she turned her formidable gaze to Annie. ‘Then you shouldn’t be wasting time here, you should be out looking for whatever it is that has been mislaid or stolen.’
Annie dreaded being asked what the item was so she almost ran to the door to get away from Miss Hetherington, catching a whiff of carbolic soap as she passed her. She grabbed her umbrella from the sink and her newspaper from the side before peering over her shoulder at Rose. She felt quite sorry for her friend having to work with that dreadful woman. Kitty was wonderful by comparison. A shiver ran down Ann
ie’s spine as she stood still in the hallway listening to Miss Hetherington’s steely voice.
‘I know you’ve wormed your way in here and Stan likes you, Miss Spencer, but trust me when I say I will find you out.’
A chair scraped along the wooden floor. Rose’s calm voice reached Annie. ‘I don’t know what you are hoping to find out about me, Miss Hetherington, but if you need to know anything please feel free to ask.’
Annie fleetingly wondered why people in these positions of power treated everyone so awful.
*
Annie removed her coat, slinging it over her arm, shivering at the chill inside the theatre and wondering if it would have been wiser to leave her coat on for a few more minutes. She peered over her shoulder; there was an eerie feel to the theatre without the rest of the cast milling around. She gave herself a mental shake and strode purposely towards Kitty’s dressing room. The door was still closed. Annie pressed her ear against the door. There were no voices, no noise at all. She stepped back wondering what to do, should she knock or just walk in, or maybe not go in at all? Taking a deep breath, she lifted her hand and rapped her knuckles lightly on the door. There was a long silence. Annie clasped her hand around the door handle when Kitty’s muffled voice came from inside the room.
‘Come in.’
Annie frowned. It didn’t sound like Kitty’s usual forthright, confident tone. She turned the handle and walked into the dressing room. ‘Morning.’ She smiled, glancing up at the plain, functional wall clock. ‘Or perhaps I should say afternoon.’ She instinctively shut the door behind her.
Kitty nodded but said nothing.
Annie hesitated for a moment. ‘Is everything all right?’
Kitty picked up a jar of face cream. ‘Of course, why wouldn’t it be?’
Annie wondered who Kitty had been arguing with but knew she could never ask. She shrugged. ‘I’m early so I wasn’t expecting to see you yet. I’ve been meaning to say I met Miss Hetherington for the first time when we moved theatres.’
‘Who?’
‘Miss Hetherington, she’s in charge of the girls in the sewing room.’ Annie took off her coat. ‘Would you like a coffee?’
‘Yes, please, I could certainly do with one.’
Annie frowned for a split second. Something was definitely wrong; she had never heard Kitty say please or thank you to anyone, unless she was trying to flirt with a man. Deciding it was nothing to do with her, Annie painted on her brightest smile. ‘I’ve bought another newspaper today. I thought it was time to be a grown-up, especially with this war on.’
Kitty gave her a rare smile. ‘I’ve heard talk that Princess Mary’s going to ask everyone to give money so the soldiers can have a Christmas gift each.’
Annie frowned. ‘I shall gladly give some but I don’t understand why she’s going to ask for it. Aren’t they expecting the war to be over by Christmas?’
‘I heard that too, but maybe things have changed.’ Kitty twisted the jar open and put the lid on her dressing table. ‘Maybe it will be over by then and it will turn into a thank you gift instead.’
Annie nodded and, picking up the kettle, turned on the tap. Water gushed out, spraying everything, including her white blouse. She quickly turned the tap down. ‘That’s the second time today, I don’t think I’m meant to stay dry.’ Laughter sounded from behind her. She looked round and couldn’t resist smiling and wondered if it would be a good day to ask about why the photograph of Kitty as a girl was hidden away in the drawer again.
‘Still, the way all these men are signing up to be soldiers we won’t have enough to put on a show of any sort soon.’ Kitty turned to look at Annie. ‘We might have to start using women to play the men’s roles so you might get your chance sooner than you think.’
‘Gosh, I hadn’t thought about that. That means there will be shortages in the factories and everywhere else.’ Annie looked thoughtful for a moment. ‘I hope my brother doesn’t enlist, otherwise my pa will struggle.’
‘What does your father do?’
Annie’s lips lifted a little. ‘He has a farm. He loves working the land. He’s always saying you don’t need anything other than the love of God, your family and what the land produces to keep your body and soul alive.’
‘I assume you don’t agree with him because you wouldn’t be here if you did.’ Kitty turned around to face her mirror and started to liberally apply the white cream to her face.
The kettle coming to the boil made Annie turn her attention back to making the coffee. She poured a generous amount of the dark brown Camp Coffee into the cup, and added the boiling water into it, releasing the strong, bitter smell of coffee. The teaspoon clattered against the side as she stirred it vigorously, causing a whirlpool in the middle of it.
‘Are you ashamed you don’t agree with him?’
Annie didn’t want to talk about this; she wondered how her upbringing and beliefs had become a subject of their conversation. ‘I never said I disagreed with him.’
Kitty turned and studied her for a moment. ‘No, that’s true, but you didn’t say you did either.’
‘I believe in God, the family and living off the land. I just didn’t want to be a farmer’s wife, that’s all.’ Annie walked over with the steaming cup of black coffee. ‘If you don’t mind me asking, did you always want to be on the stage?’
Kitty stared into the cup of black liquid, entranced by the slowing whirlpool. ‘I never thought about it. It just happened.’
‘Did you ever want to get married or have children?’ Annie bit her lip, almost holding her breath, as she doubted whether she would survive an onslaught from Kitty for asking personal questions.
A bitter laugh filled the room. ‘If you want to be on the stage, you’ll soon learn that men don’t want to marry you, or have children with you. You’re not respectable enough. You’re there to have fun with and nothing else.’
Annie thought about the happy little girl in the photograph. Did Kitty hate to be reminded of what she once was? She wanted to ask why it wasn’t out on her dressing table where it had been left, but was too scared to ask. She turned round and picked up a cloth to start cleaning the side down. ‘It sounds awful. You’re a beautiful woman. Have you never found anyone you wanted to love?’ She waved her arms around. ‘Has there been no one you would give all this up for?’
Kitty snorted. ‘You’re so innocent. It’s lovely but you will get eaten alive if you continue to want to work on the stage. Then you’ll either be like Miss Hetherington or me, but either way you won’t be happy.’
A resounding rap on the door interrupted their conversation.
Startled, Annie walked over to the door but before she got there it opened.
Matthew stood tall and handsome; he raised his eyebrows when he saw her. ‘Ah, Annie, just the person I want to see.’
Kitty glared at him through her mirror. ‘What are you doing in my room again today, or didn’t you understand the first time? And what do you want with my dresser?’
Matthew stepped into the room and shut the door. He looked from one to the other before giving Annie a curious look. ‘I came to find out why Annie missed her singing lesson this morning.’
‘I expect she’s probably come to her senses and sees you for what you are.’
Matthew glared at Kitty. ‘Now, now, Kitty, you must learn to control yourself in front of our up-and-coming stars.’ He turned and studied Annie. ‘Do you no longer wish to be a star? I have lots of other young girls that would like me to school them as well as give advice on their futures.’ He paused for a second. ‘The thing is I chose you because I thought you had what it took to be a big star like Kitty here, but if you’ve changed your mind then––’
‘No, I haven’t.’ Panic ran over Annie’s face; she didn’t want to be like Kitty but she wasn’t ready to give up on her dream yet either. ‘I’m sorry, I got caught up this morning.’
Kitty shook her head. ‘It looks like you’ve got her on the end of your hook, Ma
tthew, so all you’ve got to do now is reel her in and she’s yours.’
Matthew scowled at Kitty. ‘Have you been on the brandy again this morning?’
A malicious sound came from Kitty. ‘I wish, but alas no, I’m listening to you stone cold sober.’ Her eyes glinted a warning. ‘You need to watch what you say in front of our up-and-coming stars.’
Matthew picked up her cup and lifted it to his nose.
‘I made that coffee.’ Annie’s loud voice startled her. ‘I can assure you there’s no brandy, or any other alcohol in that coffee.’
Matthew replaced the cup back on the table and glanced back at Annie. ‘It appears you are doing a good job and it also explains why Kitty is in such an awful mood all the time.’
Annie had the urge to argue with Matthew but decided it wasn’t her argument to have.
Kitty frowned at him. ‘Get out, Matthew, and next time you don’t come in this room unless you’re invited to do so.’
He stared at her for a moment before marching out of the room and slamming the door shut behind him.
Kitty groaned and reached out to open the drawer. ‘I could do with a brandy.’
Annie took a deep breath before placing her hand on the drawer. ‘Don’t let him get to you. You are not who he paints you to be.’
Kitty closed her eyes for a moment. ‘We were close at one time, and sometimes we still are, but…’ She peered under her eyelashes and grabbed her coffee cup, forcing a smile the actress in her took over. ‘Do you know The Belle of New York ends in a few days?’
Annie lowered her eyelashes, wondering what Kitty had been about to say. Her throat tightened. ‘Yes, I’ve loved being your dresser but I know I have to start looking for work again. I suppose Rose will as well.’
Kitty studied Annie for a moment. ‘I’ve been offered a role in The Earl and the Girl, which starts here on the 4th November. In fact, I’m already in rehearsals for it, which is one of the reasons I’m here earlier than usual.’
Annie smiled. ‘That’s fabulous news. I’m sure you’ll do incredibly well, not that I know the show.’
a heartwarming WW1 saga about love and friendship (The West End Girls Book 1) Page 14