Let it Shine

by Let it Shine (retail) (epub)

  Larry chuckled. ‘Oh, aye. She’s not a silly young lass. She’s a young woman, with a woman’s feelings. I saw it tonight. Our Ellie’s as daft about you as you are about her.’

  Just then, Ellie herself called out, ‘Here, you two! It’s getting right parky out here!’ Her footsteps could be heard coming down the passage.

  Larry nodded. ‘Go on, lad. Don’t keep my favourite sister waiting.’

  ‘I’m on my way!’ Mick called back, and the footsteps paused.

  As Mick went out the door, Larry asked, ‘Why don’t you make it up with your dad? By! He’d welcome you with open arms.’

  Mick remained with his back to him, his head bowed, and his voice bitter as he confessed, ‘I don’t know if I can ever forgive him.’

  ‘Try, man!’ Larry urged. ‘I know how precious a family is, and when yer parents are gone, they’re gone for good! There’s no bringing ’em back. You know that as well as I do. Look, if your dad were to get run over tomorrow, God forbid, think how you’d feel.’

  Unbeknown to anyone, Mick had already been thinking along the same lines. Yet, he still couldn’t find it in his heart to forgive the father who ran out when he was sorely needed. That was a cowardly thing, and Mick still had not come to terms with it. ‘I’d best go,’ he murmured. ‘’Bye, mate,’ and hurried away to be with Ellie.

  The tram was already half-filled with passengers and waiting at the terminal. ‘We’ve got a minute or two,’ Mick observed. ‘The driver isn’t ready for off yet.’

  Ellie, too, had noticed how the driver seemed not to be in the slightest hurry. Lazily smoking his pipe, he leaned on the back end of the bus, laughing and chatting with a group of conductors. ‘Are you sure it’s him?’

  Mick took another look. ‘That’s him all right,’ he grinned. ‘He’s been on this run for three weeks now. He’s not been known to leave a minute early nor arrive a minute later. You could set your watch by him.’

  Ellie took his word for it. Unlike Mick, she was not all that familiar with the regular drivers. This one though, seemed to be a jovial fella. ‘It’s not often I’m waiting for the driver,’ she chuckled. ‘It’s usually the other way round, with me running after the tram.’

  Seeming not to have heard, he drew her into a shady corner, his voice trembling as he told her, ‘Just now, Larry said something that made me wonder…’

  When he hesitated, Ellie got the feeling that he was about to take her in his arms. Instead, he thrust his arms into his coat pocket and kicked at the ground with the toe of his boot.

  Intrigued, she urged him to go on. ‘Mick? What did my brother say?’

  Mick looked up. ‘He said that he saw how I was looking at you tonight.’

  Ellie smiled. ‘Did he now?’ She, too, had seen the way he had looked at her, and it turned her heart over.

  Mick nodded. ‘He said… he knew how I felt about you.’

  ‘And what did you say?’

  There was a long moment before Mick drew the courage to admit, ‘I told him I loved you… and that I would never do anything to harm you.’

  ‘What did he say to that?’ She was so close to him, it took her breath away.

  Unsure, Mick gazed at her for a while, his heart leaping inside him. The shadows had fallen across her face, bathing the curve of her cheekbones, and outlining the fullness of her mouth. ‘He said…’ Pausing, he didn’t know how to go on, and then the words came in a rush, ‘… that you loved me too.’

  ‘I do.’ In the softest whisper she confided, ‘I think I’ve loved you for ever.’

  Like magic to his ears, her words lingered in the night air, and he could hardly believe it. ‘You do?’ His voice was incredulous. ‘You really mean it?’

  When she nodded, he grabbed her to him. ‘Oh, Ellie!’

  For as long as she lived, Ellie would remember that first real kiss; it would carry her through her youth and into old age, and when she was in her last days on this earth, the memory of it would still live on.

  Afterwards, he held her for an age and she clung to him, not wanting to let him go. She half-expected him to say how he should not have done that, because she was too young and he should have known better. But he didn’t say it, and she was glad.

  Now, when she drew away, he opened his mouth to tell her something, and she laid a finger across his lips. ‘No,’ she murmured. ‘Don’t say anything.’ In the background they heard the tram start up. ‘I have to get back now,’ she told him. ‘Go home, Mick. We can talk later.’

  He looked at her, his brown eyes melting into hers, and he knew that somehow, everything would be all right. ‘Will I see you tomorrow?’

  She shook her head. There was so much to think about. ‘Monday,’ she told him. ‘I’ll meet you after work.’

  Realising how events had overtaken them, Mick knew they had to talk it through. ‘Where?’

  ‘By the lighthouse in Blackpool. Seven o’clock.’ She pushed him away. ‘Please, Mick. Go home now.’

  Without further ado, she broke away and ran across to the tram, where she quickly climbed aboard. She saw him for a moment through the window. He waved, and then he was gone, out of sight, but not out of her life.

  Too excited to think straight, Ellie deliberately concentrated on events going on around her. Two women were having a bawdy conversation, intermittently laughing out loud, an old man was having a nasty coughing fit, and another, younger fella was drinking a sneaky drop of whisky out of his flask, which he then slyly shoved back into his bag. Up ahead and standing on the running-board of his cab, the tram-driver was changing his destination roll. Over and over it went, until it showed the heading LYTHAM ST ANNES.

  In a minute they were almost ready for off; the conductor was strapping his ticket-machine on, and now, his hand was poised ready to press the button that would let the driver know they were ready to leave.

  Ellie looked out of the window, searching for Mick, but he was long gone. Suddenly, she saw a man coming out of a nearby alley. Following behind him was a girl. The man stopped, blocking Ellie’s view, and made a gesture that seemed to suggest he was giving the girl money. Now he was moving away. My God! The girl wasn’t much older than… Shocked to the core, Ellie gave a great gasp. Betsy! It was her sister Betsy!

  Leaping out of her seat she ran down the aisle. ‘’Ere, miss! You can’t get off now.’ The conductor barred her way. ‘We’re on the move!’

  ‘No! I have to get off!’ Frantic, Ellie pushed her way through, and there was nothing he could do but press the stop button and hope it would bring the tram to a halt.

  No matter, Ellie had jumped off the tram and was running across the boulevard. ‘Betsy!’ Soaring above the noise of engines and people, her voice went before her. ‘Betsy, wait!’

  Startled to see Ellie rushing towards her, Betsy did her best to tidy herself. Running her hands through her hair and pulling her jacket straight, she faced her twin head on. ‘Where have you sprung from?’

  Having run full pelt, dodging in and out of trams and queues, Ellie took a moment to catch her breath. Betsy, however, had a great deal to say. ‘Have you been spying on me? Did Peggy send you out after me? Well, you can go back and tell her I’ll do what I like and she can’t stop me! I hate you all, so just go away and leave me alone.’

  Indignant, Ellie drew herself up. ‘Nobody sent me,’ she replied breathlessly. ‘I’ve been to Buncer Lane to see Larry, remember? I thought you were following on, and so did he. What have you been up to, Betsy? Who was that man?’

  The girl stared at her wide-eyed and innocent. ‘What man?’

  Ellie drew her aside. ‘Look, it’s no good you denying it. I saw you from the tram. You came out of that alley with a man, and he gave you some money. I saw it with my own eyes!’

  Knowing the game was up, Betsy made no further attempt to deny it. ‘Look – I don’t care what you think you saw,’ she retorted, ‘and I don’t care what you say. I’m fed up with being told what to do and what not to do. I’ve h
ad enough of working in that bloody factory, with people watching every move I make, and pulling me apart when I try to do my job. Miss Turnbull said it was only a matter of time before I get the sack anyway.’ With that she folded her arms in that same, sullen manner Ellie had gotten used to. ‘So you can bugger off, and leave me alone.’

  But Ellie had no intention of going anywhere.

  ‘Is that what all this is about?’ she demanded incredulously. ‘You, being abusive to that driver, blaming him for something that wasn’t his fault, and now, because you didn’t do your job properly, you go up some stinking alley with a stranger and sell yourself!’ She spat the words out, as though they tasted bad on her tongue.

  Betsy continued to glare at her. ‘Stop going on at me! It’s got nothing to do with you!’

  In a spasm of rage, Ellie took hold of Betsy and drove her against the wall. ‘Aren’t you ashamed of yourself? Is that all you think you’re worth – a few measly shillings! How long has it been going on, eh – tell me that! Because we’re neither of us going anywhere until you’ve told me everything.’

  Suddenly, Betsy was crying. ‘I’m not going home.’ Looking at Ellie with tearful eyes, she pleaded, ‘Don’t make me go back to Peggy, not yet. I can’t face her. That man… I’ve never done it before. It was awful, Ellie! You won’t tell Peggy, will you? Or Ted. Please promise you won’t? I don’t want them to throw me out.’

  ‘They won’t do that,’ Ellie told her comfortingly. She looked at her sister and felt she hardly knew her. ‘Be honest with me. That man… whatever made you do such a thing?’

  ‘I was angry.’

  ‘Who with?’

  ‘You; them. Everybody!’

  ‘Not yourself then?’

  ‘Why should I be angry with myself?’

  Betsy’s answer was so typical, it made Ellie smile. Now, she needed to know only one thing. ‘Do you mean to do it again?’ she asked.

  ‘Do what?’

  ‘Do you mean to go down some dark alley and sell yourself to a stranger – and all because you’re angry?’

  It took a moment for Betsy to reply, as though she had to make it right in her own mind first. ‘No,’ she answered presently. ‘I won’t ever do it again.’ And Ellie could tell by the tone of her voice that she was telling the truth.

  In that moment, through her own sorry tears, Ellie looked at Betsy long and hard. She saw the dirt on her clothes and the way her hair was messed up; she saw how the lipstick on her mouth was all smudged and the mascara had run down her face with the tears, and her heart bled for this awkward girl who was her sister.

  ‘Come on, our kid.’ Reaching up, she put a comforting arm round her shoulder.

  ‘Where are we going?’

  Ellie looked about her. She knew from old that the lavvies on the boulevard were small and cramped and anyway, there was always a queue. ‘We’re going across there,’ she answered, her gaze directed to the railway station adjacent.

  ‘What for?’

  ‘First we’re going through into the lavvies so you can get washed and tidied up. While you’re doing that, I’ll ask the stationmaster if he can telephone Peggy and tell her we’ll be late, ’cause we’re going to see Grandad Bertie and Tilly before going home. It’ll do us both a power of good to go and sit with them for a while, and have a bit of Tilly’s home-made cake. You must be starving, Betsy. I’ve had fish and chips with Mick and Larry. We all wondered where on earth you’d got to.’

  Betsy looked contrite. What a fool she’d made of herself. And yes, it would be very soothing to go and see the old ’uns. ‘It’s no good phoning Peggy,’ she reminded Ellie. ‘You know very well the phone’s broken again. Ted says it’s a useless contraption and he wishes he’d never had it put in, ’cause it’s been nothing but trouble. “Neither use nor ornament”, that’s what he called it.’

  ‘All the same, it’s worth a try. He might have got the workmen out to it today.’

  ‘All right, but I’ll need to borrow a comb, and some lipstick.’

  ‘Here, and don’t flatten the end of it like you did before.’ Taking the tube of lipstick from her work-bag, Ellie handed it to her. ‘Put it on gently, then it won’t look like you’ve been run over with a tin of red paint.’

  In the lamplight, Betsy checked the colour and made a face. ‘Why do you always use this shade?’

  ‘Because I like it.’

  ‘Well, I don’t.’

  ‘Hard luck – because it’s all I’ve got.’

  ‘I suppose it’ll be all right… just for once. So, where’s the comb?’

  Fishing it out of her bag, Ellie handed it to her, together with a hankie and two pieces of rice paper to powder her flushed cheeks. ‘Go on then. Time’s running away. I’ll go and make the call, and meet you in the lavvies after.’

  The station office was warm and cosy. There was no one there, except for the bearded stationmaster behind the desk, and some old female tramp warming her hands round the cheery fire in the grate in the waiting-room next door.

  The stationmaster was very friendly. ‘How can I help you, young lady?’ he asked with a smile.

  ‘I need to let someone know that my sister and I will be late home.’ Ellie recalled the telephone number and wrote it down for him. ‘Could you please contact her on this number, and tell me how much I owe you.’

  Donning his tiny rimless spectacles, the man scrutinised the number. ‘What’s the person’s name?’

  ‘If a man answers, it’s Ted – Mr Walters,’ Ellie informed him. ‘If it’s a woman, her name is Mrs Peggy Walters.’

  Taking the long black receiver off its hook, he dialled the given number and waited. ‘Damned thing!’ Apologising to Ellie for his language, he hung the receiver back on its hook and started again. This time he gave a broad grin as the telephone rang on the other end.

  ‘Hello, is that Mrs Walters?’ he asked. When Peggy affirmed it, he quickly handed the receiver to Ellie, though its stiffened cord required that Ellie should lean right over the counter to speak.

  Peggy said that, although she knew the twins had gone to visit Larry, it was now past nine o’clock and she had been worried half out of her mind, wondering where the two of them were. And who was that man on the telephone? And why weren’t they home, and where had they been? The nervous little woman sounded distraught.

  After that, the line went all crackly and the stationmaster told Ellie to, ‘Tap the voice end, it sometimes works.’

  That was what she did, and though she realised Peggy could hear her voice, she could not hear her reply. ‘It’s all right, Peggy,’ she said frantically. ‘We’re on the boulevard and we’ll be home in no time.’ Then she rehung the receiver with a grateful sigh. ‘How much do I owe you?’ she asked the stationmaster, taking out her purse, and handing him a few coins.

  ‘It’s all right, miss,’ he said, ‘you don’t owe me nothing. You might owe it to the railways,’ he gave a cheeky wink, ‘but I won’t tell them if you don’t.’

  So Ellie thanked him, dropped the coins into her pocket, and went out of the office.

  Meantime, Betsy had made her way into the waiting-room where, keeping a discreet distance from the old woman tramp, she warmed herself by the fire. ‘Hello, dearie.’ Lonely and unloved, the old woman tried to draw her into conversation. All she got for her trouble was a hesitant smile and a few more inches between them.

  Ellie was delighted with Betsy’s appearance. ‘You look altogether different now,’ she said.

  Betsy had plainly taken much trouble. Her face was clean and shining; the lipstick was carefully applied and her hair was combed through. Her clothes were straightened and neatly fastened, until there was little or no trace of the night’s episode, save for a scratch down her ankle, which had bled and dried and was now hardly noticeable. Knowing that her sister truly regretted what she had done, Ellie decided to leave the subject alone.

  Betsy did not receive the news that they were off home well. ‘Why didn’t you tell he
r we were going on to Grandad’s!’ she moaned. ‘You know I didn’t want to go home yet.’

  ‘I had to tell her we were on our way back,’ Ellie argued. ‘She was going crazy. She cried down the telephone and everything. Then I couldn’t hear what she was saying, and so I told her we’d be home in no time, and we will. Besides, what if she sends Ted out looking for us? It wouldn’t be right, Betsy. Anyway, you look fine. We’ve been to see Larry, that’s what I let her think. May God forgive me for lying, although it was really only half a lie.’ She hadn’t even had a chance yet to tell Betsy about their brother’s amazing walk across the room. Nor had she had any time to mull over the equally amazing developments in her own love life!

  When Betsy began to sulk, Ellie promised it would be all right. ‘Look,’ she told her, ‘we can go and see Grandad another day.’ Although she suspected Betsy wasn’t too concerned about Bertie. She was more worried about Peggy seeing some change in her.

  ‘You look absolutely fine,’ Ellie told her again. ‘No different than always.’

  ‘That’s right, dearie.’ The old woman’s voice cut through their conversation. Looking first at Betsy, then Ellie, she said softly, ‘This your sister, is it?’

  Surprised, Ellie told her yes, it was. Although the girls were twins, they were not identical, and each had a different build and colouring.

  ‘She’s an ’ansom gal, ain’t she? And you… such a pretty little thing an’ all.’ Taking a deep, withering sigh, she confided, ‘I had four grandchildren – three lads and a lass, but I don’t know where they are now. Me son took ’em away with his new wife, and I haven’t seen ’em for months.’

  Tears glistened in her old eyes. ‘Yer mustn’t forget to go and see yer grandad, like you said.’ She wagged a finger at Betsy. ‘And yer to go straight home, like yer sister wants yer. ’Cause yer mam will be that worried, an’ yer don’t want yer dad traipsing the streets of a night, looking everywhere for yer. Not like me. I ain’t never found ’em, see. Not yet I ain’t.’ She smiled, the saddest smile Ellie had ever seen. ‘But I will!’ Her voice and her concentration faded. ‘One o’ these fine days, I’ll be walking down the street and there they’ll be.’