Sunlight on the Mersey

by Lyn Andrews

  Tom laughed too. ‘You’ve got to admit he wasn’t much good. At least no one started throwing things. I’ve seen that happen in the past.’

  ‘That’s why Florence isn’t allowed to come to the music hall. Her mam says it’s too rowdy,’ Iris said. She’d often mentioned her friend to him.

  ‘It can be but it’s good fun. Sounds a bit too straight-laced, her mam,’ Tom remarked, helping himself to the nuts Iris had brought along.

  There wasn’t time for further conversation as the next act was announced and they settled back to enjoy ‘Arthur Delaney, King of Comedy’.

  Tom took her hand as they walked to the tram stop at the end of the evening. ‘Have you enjoyed yourself, Iris?’ he asked.

  She nodded enthusiastically. ‘I have and thank you but I’m glad I can have a lie-in in the morning.’

  He smiled at her. ‘So am I, although I don’t really mind getting up early. Will we go out again next Saturday?’

  ‘I’d like that, Tom,’ she replied, feeling quite elated and also relieved that he’d asked.

  ‘You know I liked you the very first time I met you at the market, Iris, and since then … well, we get on, don’t we?’ He felt a little embarrassed at revealing his feelings on a crowded street.

  ‘We do get on well together, Tom,’ Iris replied, thinking of what Rose had said. ‘Our Rose said I suppose now I’ll say we’re “walking out”,’ she added a little hesitantly, wondering if she was being a bit forward.

  ‘Well, we are, aren’t we?’ he asked questioningly.

  ‘Oh, yes, Tom!’ Iris replied happily. ‘I just hope Rose isn’t going to feel a bit left out what with Charlie and Florence and now … us. She’s only ever been out with one boy and that ended in disaster.’

  He nodded. ‘She’ll find someone, Iris. One day her “Mr Right” will come along.’

  ‘Just like you did.’

  He squeezed her hand, wanting to take her in his arms and kiss her but not in front of all these people waiting for the tram. ‘Have Charlie and Florence been courting long?’

  ‘Months now and I have the feeling that he’s going to ask her to marry him soon,’ Iris replied with a sharp edge to her voice. She still didn’t approve.

  ‘Do I get the feeling that you won’t be too happy to have her as your sister-in-law? I thought she was your friend – isn’t that how they met?’

  ‘She is my friend and I’d love her as a sister-in-law but I just don’t think it will work. You should see the house she lives in. Her father is really well off. He’s even replaced his three delivery carts and the teams of horses with motor lorries – Florence said he finds them quicker and more economical and hopes they will increase his business. If she marries our Charlie she can’t expect anything like the comfort and luxuries she has now. Her mam doesn’t even expect her to contribute anything, she can spend all her wages on herself. That’s what she used to do, but lately she’s been telling me she’s saving, so I think she’s actually hoping they’ll get engaged.’

  ‘Well, if they love each other I don’t suppose she’ll mind having to do without things. I wouldn’t – in her shoes,’ Tom said.

  Iris wanted to say that she thought Charlie had an ulterior motive for marrying Florence but she didn’t. She still couldn’t get the thought that he was just using Florence to get his hands on her father’s business out of her mind.

  Charlie had been saving hard but it wasn’t easy and the rings he’d been looking at cost a small fortune. He wanted to get Florence something good – a decent-sized diamond – but realised that his savings wouldn’t stretch to that, not in the jewellers’ windows he’d looked in so far. At the end of the month he had determined to ask her father formally for his consent and he’d hoped to be able to provide an acceptably sized ring.

  He pushed his hands deeper into his pockets as he walked along Scotland Road towards home on the Monday evening, having got off the tram three stops early. He was pondering asking his mother for her advice when a thought occurred to him. Did the ring really have to be a new one? What if he were to buy an unredeemed pledged ring? He’d get more for his money but would Florence or, more importantly, her parents frown on that? There was a big pawnbroking establishment a bit further down the road, Cookson’s; they’d been there for years and years. He’d have a look in the window and maybe ask for some advice.

  He studied the rings they had in the window but saw nothing that impressed him so decided to go in.

  Mr Cookson looked up irritably as Charlie entered, he was just ready to close up. ‘Yes? Can I help you?’ he asked curtly.

  ‘I’m sorry it’s late, I’m on my way home from work, but I wanted to ask your advice. I know you have a great reputation in the trade and my father was a pawnbroker, sir,’ he added to mollify the man, who was obviously impatient for his supper.

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Bill Mundy,’ Charlie supplied.

  The older man’s expression immediately changed. ‘Ah, yes. Terrible tragedy, that was. So, you’re his son. What can I help you with, lad?’

  ‘I’m hoping to get engaged at Christmas and I’d like to get Florence a really good ring; she comes from a far … better … background than me, you see,’ he began.

  Mr Cookson smiled and nodded. ‘Don’t want the young lady to be disappointed or the future in-laws to look down their noses.’

  Charlie nodded enthusiastically. ‘You’ve hit the nail right on the head, but I can’t afford what they’re charging in T. Brown’s or Boodles or the like. I was thinking of something secondhand.’

  ‘So you’ve decided on an unredeemed pledge? It’s a wise decision, er …’

  ‘Charlie. Charlie Mundy, sir. I think I’ll get more for my money that way. I’ve been saving hard and that’s not easy to do on a mere clerk’s wages.’

  ‘You will get a better deal, Charlie. How much can you afford to spend?’

  Charlie knew to the penny. ‘I think I can stretch to six guineas but that’s my very top limit.’

  The older man nodded slowly. ‘That’s not a bad amount. I don’t have anything suitable in at the moment but trust me, I’ll find you something before Christmas. Times are hard and getting harder, you’d be surprised at the type of people who are having to pawn or sell things these days and I have contacts amongst the big jewellers.’

  ‘I’d be so very grateful to you. I knew asking your advice was the right thing to do.’

  ‘And of course I’ll give you a bit of a discount, your father having been in the trade. How is your mother getting on? I don’t know her personally of course but it must be hard for her.’

  ‘She’s slowly coming to terms with it. She’s taken over his shop but …’ He shrugged not wanting to say that if he was running it he was certain they’d make more of a profit. ‘Well, I’ll let you close up. Thanks again, sir. I’m really grateful.’

  ‘Call in again in about a week or ten days, Charlie,’ Mr Cookson advised as Charlie left.

  He walked the rest of the way home in a far happier frame of mind. If he could provide a really nice ring then what did it matter if it wasn’t new? And he’d been promised a discount. Why hand his hard-earned money over to one of the fancy jewellers in town and get something far smaller and less ostentatious in return? That wouldn’t be a very wise thing to do. Not good business sense at all.

  ‘You’re late, was there a hold-up?’ Kate asked when he finally arrived home.

  Iris came in from the shop where she’d just finished serving Mrs Duncan, who had again run out of potatoes.

  ‘That woman would drive you mad! What does she do all day? Doesn’t she realise that people have got other things to do?’

  Kate managed a wry smile. ‘No, I don’t think she does. Sit down and get this while it’s hot. Charlie has only just got in,’ she informed her daughter.

  ‘Get held up?’ Iris asked without much interest.

  ‘No, not really. I just walked halfway home,’ he replied offhandedly.


  Kate pursued her lips. He certainly was saving hard, she thought. Any day now she expected him to tell her that he’d proposed to Florence.

  ‘You going out with Tom Morrissey again on Saturday?’ Charlie asked, helping himself to a slice of bread to accompany the thick meat stew his mam had served.

  ‘I am. Any objections to that?’ Iris asked. She was tired; it had been a long day and Rose hadn’t been much help. She was aware that her sister didn’t like working in the shop, finding the hours long, the conditions at this time of year cold and the customers irksome. Often at quiet moments Rose resorted to reading, which irritated Iris for she could always find something that needed attending to.

  ‘No, seems like a decent enough bloke to me. Can’t say it’s much of a job he’s got though.’

  ‘He’s very thankful he’s got a steady job. Not everyone can work in an office!’ Iris snapped back.

  ‘Oh, don’t start, you two! I’ve enough on my mind,’ Kate said crossly.

  ‘What’s the matter, Mam? Has someone been upsetting you – in the shop, I mean?’ Charlie asked.

  Kate shook her head. ‘No, nothing like that. Oh, I suppose I’m just tired,’ she replied. In fact she was worried about Rose, who lately seemed very down and uninterested in everything, except the novels she read, and she wondered if it was because she was missing Bill. Well, they all were of course, there was a huge gap in her own life, but maybe Rose wasn’t coping as well as Iris and Charlie seemed to be. Or was it something to do with Iris now courting? Did Rose feel left out? Perhaps she should have a talk to her youngest daughter. Then there was the pain in her back which had gone from being a twinge to a constant dull ache. She was tired and she was getting older, too old for all this bickering between Charlie and Iris.

  Her opportunity to talk to Rose didn’t arise until the following Saturday evening when Iris had gone to meet Tom Morrissey and Charlie had gone to Florence’s for supper. Rose had helped her to clear away after their supper and had then gone upstairs to fetch her book.

  ‘Rose, luv, before you get engrossed in that I want to talk to you,’ Kate started.

  Rose looked at her apprehensively. ‘What have I done wrong now, Mam? Has Iris been complaining that I’m not chatty enough with the customers?’

  ‘Of course not! You haven’t done anything “wrong”, Rose,’ Kate replied, stoking up the fire in the range for the evenings were getting much colder now.

  Rose sat down in the chair near the range and looked expectantly at her mother.

  ‘I’d be a very poor sort of a mother if I didn’t know that you’re not happy, Rose. What’s wrong, luv? You know you can tell me. Is it … losing your da?’

  Rose bit her lip; it was impossible to hide much from Mam. ‘It is and it isn’t, Mam. I still can’t get used to the fact that he … he’s … gone. I still look for him when I come into the kitchen and it’s still a shock that he isn’t here.’

  Kate nodded, struggling to keep her composure for Rose’s words were probing the deep wound of her own grief. ‘I know, luv. I find that too. Sometimes I turn to speak to him, to tell him something, and then it … it’s awful to realise he’s not there,’ she confided. ‘Or is it something to do with both Charlie and Iris courting? Are you feeling left out?’ she pressed.

  Rose shook her head. ‘No, Mam, I don’t feel like that. I’m happy for them both and I know that someone will come along for me one day and then …’

  ‘Then what is it, luv? What’s making you so … down and dispirited? You were never like this before you went down with rheumatic fever. You don’t feel ill, do you?’ Kate fervently hoped Rose wasn’t sickening for something else.

  ‘No, I feel fine in myself, Mam, honestly, but …’

  ‘But what? You have to tell me, Rose, or I’ll worry myself sick,’ Kate urged.

  Rose felt utterly miserable. How could she tell Mam that she hated working in the shop? It was so cold now and she had little interest in the conversations of their customers, which usually centred on how hard their lives were, how little money they had, their children’s ailments and a hundred other insignificant details of their lives. The time dragged and so whenever she could she would read, immersing herself in the life and loves of the heroine, although she knew Iris strongly disapproved. ‘It … it’s working in the shop, Mam. Oh, it’s much better than working at Black’s but …’ She twisted her hands together, not wanting to continue.

  Kate looked at her closely. ‘It’s more than that isn’t it, Rose?’

  Miserably she nodded. ‘Mam, I … I … wish I could go back to Tregarron. I miss it so much, especially now that Da isn’t here. Of course I love you and Iris and Charlie but …’ Rose struggled to put her feelings into words. ‘Having lived there I find I can’t bear the way everyone lives on top of each other here, all the noise from the street, the traffic, the crowds, the dirt and litter, people coming into the shop full of moans and complaints …’

  Kate sighed deeply. ‘You worked in the post office at Tregarron too, Rose.’ She hadn’t realised that Rose had become so disenchanted with city life.

  ‘But it was different, Mam! It … it wasn’t all the time and the people there were different too.’

  ‘It was summer then, Rose. It wouldn’t be the same place in the winter,’ Kate mused.

  Rose summoned up as much courage as she could. ‘Mam, can I … can I go back, please?’

  Kate stared into the flames. She didn’t want Rose to go away but she didn’t want her to stay here pining either. Tregarron offered a very different kind of life to the one Rose now lived but she obviously wanted that. What could she say? There were all kinds of problems to be overcome. Rose would have to find work to support herself – Gwen couldn’t possibly be expected to keep her. But what could she do? As far as she knew, apart from maybe working in a shop, there were few opportunities. She might be fortunate enough to get a job in a shop in Denbigh but transport would be a problem. ‘I’ll have to think about it, Rose. It’s a huge decision to make. It would be a very big … change for you and for me. I’d miss you so much and I know Iris would too.’

  ‘But you will think about it at least, Mam?’ Rose pleaded, thankful that her mother hadn’t dismissed the possibility of her return out of hand. If only she could make her mother understand just how much she missed the tranquillity, the open spaces, and the slower pace of life that had afforded her time … time to herself.

  ‘I’ll think about it, Rose, I promise,’ Kate reiterated, thinking she would have to discuss it with Iris too, for if Rose were to go back Iris would have to run the shop by herself. Could she cope with that?

  Chapter Thirteen

  KATE HAD GIVEN THE matter a great deal of thought over the following days and she had watched Rose closely, noticing for the first time that the girl didn’t eat very much and seemed very listless and disspirited at the end of each day. She had been so wrapped up in her own grief and the worry of everyday life that she hadn’t realised how unhappy her youngest daughter was, which disturbed her. She felt guilty and upset at the same time. Guilty that she hadn’t noticed and upset that Rose wanted to leave both home and family.

  ‘Mam, you’ve not been listening to a word I’ve been saying,’ Iris said sharply. She’d been outlining what extras she intended to stock in the shop for Christmas and had been seeking Kate’s approval. Charlie was out with Florence and Rose had gone up, saying she would have an early night but would read for a while.

  ‘I’m sorry, luv. I was thinking about Rose,’ Kate replied.

  ‘Has she said anything to you, Mam? I know there’s something bothering her but I don’t know what it is. I can hardly get a word out of her these days.’

  ‘She wants to go back to Tregarron. I asked her myself what was wrong. She’s not been herself since—’

  ‘None of us has,’ Iris interrupted.

  ‘I know but, but lately she’s been so quiet and … down and she eats like a bird. I just didn’t realise that she was miss
ing the place so much until she told me and the last thing I need is for her to be pining.’

  Iris frowned. That was true: Mam had enough to worry about without Rose moping. ‘I know she’s not happy working in the shop, Mam. She won’t make an effort to hold a conversation with anyone and you know how much the customers love a good gossip. What did you say to her about Tregarron?’

  ‘That I’d think about it and I have been, Iris. I hate to see her so miserable but if she goes she’ll have to find a job to support herself and that’s not going to be easy. And, as I reminded her, she was there in the summer; it might be a very different place in winter. Too quiet, too isolated.’

  ‘And she wasn’t grieving for Da then either,’ Iris added.

  Kate nodded. ‘If she went, Iris, how would you feel about it? You’d be in the shop on your own. Would you be able to manage at busy times?’

  ‘Oh, that wouldn’t bother me, Mam, of course I’ll manage. You ran it on your own and really there are times when Rose is a bit … superfluous, but coming up to Christmas I might need her help.’

  Again Kate nodded. ‘It does get busy.’ She sighed heavily. She wasn’t looking forward to Christmas this year. She would miss Bill even more.

  Iris smiled. ‘I just hope there won’t be too many like Mary Duncan or we’ll be open until midnight.’

  Kate had come to a decision of sorts. ‘I’ll write to Gwen and see what she has to say about it. She might not want Rose there permanently; just visiting for a few months was a very different thing. Now, don’t mention anything to Rose.’

  ‘I won’t, I promise.’

  ‘If Gwen doesn’t mind and we can sort something out job-wise and I decide to let her go it won’t be until early next year. I won’t leave you to struggle through Christmas on your own and besides … this will be the first Christmas without your da and I’d like you all around me as I know it’s going to be difficult.’

  Iris reached over and took her hand. ‘We’ll get through it, Mam – together.’