How can God give me a loaf of bread? I thought to myself. And I started thinking about potatoes and meat and rice pudding and things like that, and remembering the smell of lobscouse coming from Little Owen the Coal’s house. And there I was praying on my own, not listening to what the others were saying.
Our Father, I said, which art in Heaven, give us this day a big plateful of potatoes and roast meat, and a big bowlful of rice pudding, and lots of raisin bread, and all sorts of currant cakes and jam tarts, and lots of cheese, and ham and eggs and mushrooms for breakfast, and a new suit for Whitsun, and lots of money to spend … for Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
By this time, Hughes the Parson was saying the Blessing and everyone was getting themselves ready to go out. The Peace of God which surpasseth all understanding, said Hughes the Parson, be with you now and for evermore. Amen.
Amen, we said.
And out we went.
It was a fine moonlit night just like tonight as we walked up to Gran’s house at Pen Bryn, and there was a light in the kitchen window when we got there, cos Gran hadn’t pulled the blinds down.
Hang on a minute so I can see if she’s asleep, I said, running ahead of Mam so I could peep through the window. And there was Gran sitting in the armchair by the fire with her glasses on the end of her nose, almost falling off, and her Great Bible was open on her knees with her hands on it and her two thumbs going round and round each other. I thought she was asleep but when I saw her thumbs going round and round, I knew she was only dozing.
Hello, Gran, it’s us, I said as I opened the door, and Mam came in right behind me.
Come in and close that door, she said. There’s a frost tonight and I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a bit of snow tomorrow. I was just going to make a bit of supper. You might as well stay and have a bit with me. I won’t be long.
And she put the black tape which was attached to the Great Bible in the place where it had been open then she closed it and put it on the round table. And when Gran had gone into the back to fetch the dishes, I went to the Bible to see what she was reading and this is what I saw when I opened it where the black tape was:
The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.
I knew the whole psalm cos I’d learnt it in Sunday School with Bob Milk Cart. But there’s a strange thing, I said to myself. Gran must have been sitting here reading it at the same time as we were singing it in the Fellowship Meeting in Church.
Margaret Williams Top Row’s boy has been killed, said Mam as Gran was putting the dishes on the table.
Gran didn’t say anything. She just gave a little sigh, as she very often did for no real reason, never mind someone getting killed.
Hughes the Parson didn’t say his name with all the others in the Fellowship Meeting in Church tonight, I said.
It’ll be hard on Margaret, losing him, said Mam.
How old was he? said Gran.
Twenty-two last month, said Mam.
They’ll all have gone, and us with them, before this old war’s over, said Gran. Come to the table. I’ve not got a lot to offer you tonight.
Gran had made lobscouse for our supper. I preferred Gran’s lobscouse to any lobscouse I ever had but I don’t know how she ever made it taste so good cos she only got the odd bone once a week from the Butcher’ Shop and it was me who brought it for her, on Saturdays. But Gran had lobscouse all through the week, no matter what night it was.
Dew, this lobscouse is good, Gran, I said.
You eat your fill, lad, she said. And then she turned to Mam and said: I’m really glad you called tonight, because something very strange happened when I went out to Ann Jones’s Shop this afternoon.
Something strange is always happening in this place, Mam said. Last night, Humphrey Top House came home from the sea again, after telling Lisa that he’d never come back. What happened to you, then?
Well, when I came back from Ann Jones’s Shop with six pennorth of potatoes, what did I see on the doorstep but a great big basket full of all kinds of things, butter and sugar and ham and eggs and cheese and two loaves under a basin.
No.
Yes, honestly.
What did you do with them?
The basket and the things are in the back there.
The Boy in Willy Edwards’ Shop has made a mistake, not taking the message to the right house, surely. He’ll be back for them tomorrow, you’ll see.
That’s what I thought, too. But when I went through the basket to see what was in it, I found this.
And Gran went into her apron pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. Look what it says, she said to Mam.
And Mam took the piece of paper and pulled out her glasses and put them on her nose and read aloud:
To Betsan Parry, as an offering of thanks. From a Well-Wisher.
Where do you think it came from? said Gran.
Good Lord, I don’t know.
It’s not your birthday till next month, Gran, I said. So it’s not a birthday present, anyway.
No, it’s not a birthday present.
Maybe an angel brought the basket from Heaven, I said, remembering how I’d said the Lord’s Prayer in the Fellowship Meeting and asked God for all kinds of things. And come to think of it, most of the things I’d asked for to eat were in the basket.
Perhaps the boy’s right, said Mam.
Well, whoever brought them, I’d call him an angel, said Gran. Were you saying that Humphrey Top House has come home from the sea?
Dew, that’s who the angel was, I’m sure, Gran. He’s a really kind man, Humphrey. He gave Mam ten bob last time he was home, and he gave me a lot of nice presents too.
Humphrey. I wonder? said Mam.
Really fair play to him if it was him. Humphrey always was a nice little lad, said Gran. We’ll find out one day, for sure. And if he didn’t come as an angel from Heaven, he’s sure to go back as one doing things like this.
He must be an angel to be able to live with Lisa, anyway.
Do you remember that bellbox I got off him as a present, Mam? I’m sure it’s bells like those that ring in Heaven, and Humphrey Top House never did tell me where he got the box from. Maybe that came from Heaven, too.
This boy’s talking more nonsense every day, said Gran.
He talks a lot of sense as well though, said Mam, giving me a great big smile. Don’t you, chick?
I try, anyway, I said. Can I help you with the dishes and the washing up, Gran?
No, you leave them to me. I want your Mam to come into the back and see the basket. There’s far too much in it for me. You’d better take a bit of it back with you.
And the two of them went off together into the back and left me to finish the lobscouse on my own. And there I was eating the lobscouse and still saying Our Father who art in Heaven to myself and trying to think who the devil brought the basket for Gran if it wasn’t Humphrey Top House. And if it was Humphrey Top House, I said, Humphrey must be a real angel, and not like everybody else, and somebody must have cut both his wings off when he was a little angel, before he grew up.
You’d better take them in the basket, said Gran in the back.
And the two of them came back, and Mam was carrying the basket full of all kinds of things to eat.
I can only thank you, very much, said Mam.
Oh, don’t mention it. You need them more than me. Close that door behind you. I want to read a little bit more.
And Gran took the Great Bible from the round table and sat down in the armchair. And there she was, with her glasses on her nose and her head in the Bible as we passed the window on our way home.
Dew, it was a fine night too, on the way home, a moonlit night just like tonight, and the moon was laughing at us as he beamed down.
Do you think it was Humphrey? Mam said when I took the basket off her to carry it up the Hill.
No, it was God. I was asking him for everything that’s in this basket when I was praying in the Fellowship Meeting
in Church tonight.
Were you really, chick?
Yes, really. And it’s God that’s answered the prayer.
Yes, God does answer prayers. He’s answered me many times.
And when I went to bed, Mam was singing pleasantly:
God fills every earthly space
Present is he in every place
And I knelt down by the side of the bed to say Our Father before going to sleep. Our Father which art in Heaven, I said. Thank you for Your potatoes and roast meat, and bread and butter and sugar and cheese and ham and eggs and everything else.
There was a real miracle for you, eh?
10
THIS IS ROBIN DAVID’S Field, the one on the right here that runs all the way down to the Riverbank. Dew, it’s a miracle I’m alive, too, after what happened that day when the Wanderers came down from Holyhead to play our Celts in the cup.
That was on a Saturday. In mid-week, we used to go over the wall and across the field to play on the Riverbank after school. Little Ivor Top Row nearly drowned one day when we went there, Huw and Little Ivor and me, to play horses with the reins that Elwyn, Little Ivor’s big brother, had made for us out of all different colours of wool.
Little Ivor was the horse and Huw was the driver holding the reins, and he had a stick to beat Little Ivor with, instead of a proper whip. And I was running behind them as fast as my legs could carry me across Robin David’s Field right here. There were stepping stones to cross the River at the bottom of the field and that’s where Huw was driving the horse to, and Little Ivor was galloping like mad across the field.
And Huw was shouting: Gee up, Poll. Fast as you can now over the stones and across the River.
Poll was the name of Little Owen the Coal’s mare. That’s where Huw got the name from.
The River had been flooded by the rain, and you could only see the tops of the stepping stones. But Huw kept driving Little Ivor onwards, whipping him like hell.
Over the River now, Poll, said Huw, with me behind him. And Little Ivor leapt onto the first stone and from there onto the second stone and from there onto the third. And when he was jumping onto the fourth, right in the middle of the River, he went flying on his backside and slid straight into the water. The reins were long and Huw was only on the first stone behind Little Ivor and I was still in the field by the Riverbank when Little Ivor fell in. But the reins were weak, too, and they broke as soon as Little Ivor slipped.
Jesus, what will we do? said Huw, and he jumped back off the stone onto the Riverbank. Ivor was being carried downstream by the flood, and I was running along the Riverbank to keep up with him.
Huw started shouting Help as loud as he could.
Help, I shouted at the top of my voice. And who did we see jumping across the wall from Post Lane and running like lightning across the field but Elwyn, Little Ivor’s big brother.
Ivor’s in the River, said Huw at the top of his voice, still running for all he was worth.
Ivor’s in the River, I said, just like he did.
By now, Elwyn had caught us up and was running with us. And without taking off his coat or his shoes or anything he dived straight into the River and swam out into the middle and caught hold of Ivor’s hair. And in a flash, he’d brought Ivor back to the Riverbank to where we were standing.
Jesus, it was lucky you came, Elwyn, said Huw.
And there was Little Ivor, lying flat on his back, saying nothing, with his eyes wide open staring up in the air, and Elwyn was wiping his face. And Little Ivor looked as though he was in shock.
Are you alright, lad? Elwyn said to him.
Yes, said Ivor, very quietly.
You two go and get some sticks, Elwyn said to us. Then we’ll make a fire and dry our clothes. We can’t go home like this with our clothes soaking wet.
Damn, said Elwyn, when we’d gathered the sticks and laid them ready. My matches won’t light. They’re soaking.
I’ve got a match, I said.
And within two minutes, we had a real bonfire by the side of the River. And there was Elwyn and Little Ivor jumping about stark naked to keep warm, and Huw and me holding their clothes in front of the fire to dry.
Don’t tell anyone, lads, remember now, said Elwyn.
Dew, you should get a medal for saving Ivor like that, I said.
Jesus, you should, definitely, said Huw.
And remember specially not to tell Mam or I’ll get a hell of a hiding, said Little Ivor.
Maybe I should give you a hiding for being such a stupid little devil and falling into the River, said Elwyn. But we’d better not tell anyone, lads. The old woman will only worry if she finds out. And I’ll only get a row, as well, if one of you opens his mouth.
Dew, you should get a medal, said Huw. That’s what I say, anyway.
And me, I said.
*
Elwyn Top Row did get a medal too, before he was killed by the Germans. But he didn’t get it for saving Little Ivor, his brother, when he fell into the River.
He got the DCM.
That day when we ran to meet him coming home from France along Lôn Newydd, nobody knew that Elwyn Top Row had won the DCM. It was the next day when Elwyn was still tired out and asleep in bed that the telegram about the DCM came. It was me that took the telegram to Elwyn’s house in Top Row. I was on my way home from School at dinnertime and I always called at the Post Office at dinnertime to see if there was a telegram to take to somebody, cos Mr Roberts the Post gave you sixpence for taking a telegram.
Take this to Top Row, he said to me when I went into the Post Office.
And the next day in School, Price told us there’d be no school on Friday and that we were were all going to have a tea party in Stables Bridge School field because Elwyn Top Row had won the DCM.
Dew, that Friday was a great day. There was a procession along the Street from the end of Lôn Newydd right up to the Church Gate, and then up to Stables Bridge School. And we were all in our Sunday best standing on the pavement watching it, and everyone had been given a flag to wave as the procession went by.
The Llanbabo Band were at the front. The band had come all the way from Llanbabo because Elwyn’s cousin played trombone for them. Behind the band was Robin David’s coach and horse, and Robin David was sitting up front in the high seat, driving, with a long whip just like a fishing rod.
The top of the coach was pulled down so that everyone could see inside, and there was Elwyn Top Row sitting in the coach just like a Lord, waving and bowing to us, and smiling from ear to ear. And Mrs Williams Top Row, his mother, was sitting beside him in her best clothes, and looking like a Queen at Coronation time. And Little Ivor and his dad were sitting opposite, looking very important and not smiling at all.
Watch you don’t fall, Little Ivor, said Huw at the top of his voice as everyone clapped as the coach went by. And everyone was waving their flags. But Little Ivor didn’t hear him. And he didn’t see us either, because there were too many people on each side of the Street looking at them. And Little Will Policeman’s Dad and Jones the New Policeman were marching with the coach, one on each side of it.
Behind the coach were the Oddfellows, marching two by two, and every one of them had a long blue sash across his shoulders and around his stomach. Will Starch Collar was there, and David Evans Snowdon View, and Ellis Evans Next Door, and Humphrey Top House, and Bleddyn Evans Garth, and lots and lots of important people, because nobody was working in the Quarry that day.
Come on, said Huw when the Llanbabo Band started playing by the Sixpenny Ha’penny Shop.
And instead of staying where we were, waving our flags, we ran up past the coach and started marching alongside the band. And we marched with it all the way to Stables Bridge School, where the coach stopped and everyone went into the meeting where they gave the medal to Elwyn.
Come on, Huw said after the meeting, or we’ll miss the tea party.
And in we went to Stables Bridge School field and started scoffing all sorts of cakes a
nd sandwiches with the others. And afterwards, there was a procession back from Stables Bridge School, with Elwyn and his mam and dad and Little Ivor in the coach just like before, except that Elwyn was wearing his medal on his chest. And the Llanbabo Band were still playing. And we went along with them and marched all the way down to the end of Lôn Newydd.
Dew, that was a great day.
*
The circus came to Robin David’s Field as well, and the Lion Show. Hey, it was a miracle that Little Owen the Coal was still alive, too, after that time with the elephant. Little Owen the Coal always was a cruel old devil, even when he hadn’t had a drink. We saw him beating Poll the Mare once on Allt Bryn until she nearly collapsed between the shafts. And we were so mad at him that we wanted to stone him to death. But we were too scared of him.
We were standing watching the elephant behind the railings in the Lion Show at the time. A whole row of us laughing at the elephant putting his trunk out through the railings to get nuts and pieces of apple and that sort of thing from us and stuffing them into his mouth.
Watch this, lads, said Little Owen the Coal, and went into his pocket and pulled out a box of matches. And when the elephant put his trunk out through the railings near Little Owen the Coal, he gave him the box of matches. And the elephant put them into his mouth as though they were a nut or an apple, and when he put them into his mouth with his trunk, we saw lots of smoke coming from his mouth. It mustn’t have burnt, because he didn’t go mad or anything, he just looked with his little eyes at Owen the Coal. And we were all hoping that he’d grab Owen round the waist with his trunk and drag him over the railings and sling him into oblivion.
In fairness to Moi, it wasn’t like that with him and the monkeys. Huw and Moi and me had been let in for nothing for carrying the lions’ water for the Show man in the morning. That was a year before Moi died.
How can we get into the Show tonight? said Huw.
Over the wall when nobody’s looking, of course, said Moi.
There’s no need to go over the wall, I said. The Show man said we can bring the water from the River for him and go in for nothing.
One Moonlit Night Page 11