by Joan Jonker
Nellie lumbered to her feet. ‘They probably won’t, ’cos they take the babies out every day for some fresh air. Still, we like to see our grandchildren every day, don’t we, girl?’
As Molly put the front door key in her pocket, her hand touched the piece of paper. Oh dear, she thought, my mate will have a field day. Everyone we meet, even strangers, will be told how I’m not as clever as I make out to be.
Nellie was behind Molly when the front door was opened, and as Molly was about to lower herself on to the top step, she heard a voice asking, ‘If we’re having liver and onions, girl, how many sausages will we get to go with it?’
Molly stepped back so quickly she trod on Nellie’s toes, and the little woman cried out, ‘Bloody hell, girl, yer’ve broken half me toes! And woke me corn up as well.’
‘I’m sorry, sunshine.’ Molly cupped the chubby face and planted a kiss on each cheek. ‘Come back into the living room and I’ll rub yer toes better.’
‘Sod off, yer’ve caused enough trouble as it is.’ Nellie would have been delighted to have her toes rubbed. It would have been a real luxury, if it wasn’t for her big toe sticking out of the ruddy big hole in her stocking. ‘What were yer messing at, stepping back like that? Yer knew I was right behind yer.’
‘I stepped back because I’m thoughtless, big-headed, and full of me own importance, that’s why,’ Molly said. ‘And I wouldn’t blame yer if yer stamped on my foot, for spite.’
‘I wouldn’t do that, girl, even though a couple of me toes are still throbbing. What would I want to spite yer for? Yer didn’t do it on purpose.’
‘I feel ashamed to tell yer, Nellie, but if I told yer a lie it would haunt me all day. So why don’t we go and sit down for a few minutes so I can show yer something and your toes can have a rest.’
‘Me toes would feel better if I could have a cup of tea while I was resting them.’ Nellie kept her eyes averted so her mate couldn’t see the laughter there. She may as well milk the situation for all it was worth. ‘We can make up the time by doing our shopping without dawdling in each shop.’
Molly closed the door and followed Nellie back into the living room. She knew her mate was making the most of the situation, as she walked with a limp. ‘You sit down, sunshine, and I’ll put the kettle on.’ She took the piece of paper from her pocket, waited until Nellie was seated, then handed it to her. ‘While I’m making the tea, you can be reading this.’
‘I didn’t know the postman called this morning, girl. Yer didn’t say.’ Nellie screwed her eyes up and read aloud. ‘“If we’re having liver and onions, girl, how many sausages will we get to go with it?”’
Molly came to stand by the kitchen door waiting for the water to boil. ‘That’s right, sunshine, those are the exact words yer used.’
Her brow furrowed, Nellie said, ‘I know that, girl, I’m not daft, but I can’t remember what yer said about the sausages. Did yer say three? Or didn’t yer answer me at all?’
Molly put a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. And leaning against the doorjamb, she asked herself why she had bothered. Had it been worth it? As far as Nellie was concerned it hadn’t been worth it, for the little woman hadn’t twigged what the words on the paper meant. She was sitting on her favourite chair, with her legs swinging back and forth as though she didn’t have a care in the world. Then she turned her head towards where Molly was standing, and asked, ‘Shall we get four sausages each? One and a half for the men, and one for us women. You’d have a spare one that yer could cut up and share out. That’s us sorted out, then, girl.’
By this time Molly had lost the will to live. With a heartfelt sigh, she said, ‘If yer say so, sunshine. The kettle’s boiling so yer’ll have yer cuppa in a minute.’
What Molly didn’t see was the crafty look in her mate’s eyes. And it wasn’t until they were facing each other across the table, a cup of steaming tea in front of them, that Nellie, her face as innocent as a baby’s, said, ‘It’s a good trick, that, girl, ’cos it’ll save the wear and tear of me tongue.’
‘What’s that, sunshine?’
‘Ah, don’t be acting the goat, yer know very well what I’m talking about. At least yer should do if yer can really read me mind. Or was this,’ Nellie lifted the piece of paper up and waved it over her head, ‘just a fluke, and yer were winding me up?’
Molly wondered whether to let things stay as they were and leave her mate to think what she wanted to. Then a stubborn part of her mind told her to salvage something from the long drawn out situation. She might even get a laugh out of it. ‘If it was a fluke, sunshine, then tell me how I know exactly what’s in your mind and what yer next words will be?’
Nellie wasn’t falling for that! Oh, no, she wasn’t that daft. If she told Molly what she was about to say, her mate would say she knew that already. So the chubby face creased, eyes narrowed and lips clamped. And there was complete silence in the room except when Molly yawned. It lasted five minutes, the longest time in living memory that Nellie had gone without saying one word. But the strain was telling, and her bottom couldn’t keep still on the chair. In the end she could stand it no longer and banged a clenched fist on the table. Then, staring at her mate, she opened her mouth.
Molly anticipated what was coming, and spoke before the first word left Nellie’s lips. ‘Is there any bleeding tea left in the pot?’
Nellie’s facial contortions had to be seen to be believed. Her lips were touching her nose, and her eyebrows nearing her hairline. There were plenty of words she wanted to say, like calling her mate a clever bugger, and other swear words. But her mate wouldn’t like the air turning blue. ‘Well, is there?’
‘Is there what, sunshine?’
‘Any bleeding tea in the pot?’
‘No there isn’t. And even if there was I wouldn’t let yer have it ’cos we’ve wasted so much time acting like a couple of kids, we’ll be lucky to catch the shops before they close for dinner, so get yer bottom off that chair, and we’ll be on our way. At long last. I was beginning to think we wouldn’t be home before the sun goes down.’
‘What sun, girl? There’s no sun in the sky, only big black clouds.’
‘All the more reason to run like hell then, sunshine. So get yer skates on.’ Molly was quick to add, ‘Before yer say it, I know yer haven’t got no skates.’
Nearly tripping over herself to get down the steps quickly, Nellie muttered under her breath. ‘This bleeding mind reading is beginning to get on me nerves. If it carries on like this I won’t need to open me ruddy mouth.’
When Doreen opened the front door, Molly was wearing a smile as she put a foot on the bottom step. ‘We’re late this morning, sunshine, and yer can blame yer Auntie Nellie for holding us back.’
Doreen pulled the front door to and put a hand out to stop her mother from entering the house. ‘Don’t come in, Mam, ’cos Bobby isn’t very well.’
It was then Molly noticed her daughter’s red-rimmed eyes. ‘What’s wrong, sunshine? If the baby isn’t well, I’d like to see him. Yer might be getting yerself all upset for nothing. I know I used to when you and the others were babies. Move back, sunshine, and let me have a look at him.’
‘I was the same with mine, girl,’ Nellie told her. ‘I used to knock for yer mam when one of the kids was sick, and she always knew what to do if they were feverish or sickly.’
‘I can’t let yer in, Mam ’cos Bobby has got the measles or chickenpox. He’s come out in a rash all over. He was restless through the night, and me and Phil didn’t get a wink of sleep. We thought he must be teething, but this morning we found him covered in this rash.’
‘Poor little love, he must be feeling rotten. But there’s no reason to keep me and Nellie out, sunshine, because we both had the measles and chickenpox when we were babies, so we’re not likely to catch it off him.’
‘It’s not you I’m worried about, Mam, ’cos I know you won’t catch it. But yer could pick the germ up on yer clothes and pass it on to little Mol
ly. That’s what I’m afraid of. Mind you, she might have caught it already, ’cos they were playing on the floor together yesterday.’
‘Yer were right not to let us in, love, ’cos it is very contagious and I’d hate little Molly to get it if it can be helped. We’ll go up there now and see how things are. But if yer need any shopping, will yer make a list and we’ll pick it up on the way down?’
‘Can I ask yer a favour, Mam? I’d have done it meself, but with Bobby being so restless I didn’t want to leave him with Aunt Vicky, it wouldn’t be fair. Would yer ask Maisie if yer could use her phone to ring the doctor for us? I’d feel better if the doctor saw him, just to know what it is he’s got, and what he needs to make him better.’
‘I’ll go to Jill’s first, before ringing the doctor. Could be he’ll need to make a call there while he’s in the street.’ Molly put her hand on Nellie’s shoulder and turned her to face the top of the street before telling her daughter, ‘When ye’re making yer list out, sunshine, put camomile lotion on it. It’s the best thing to cool a rash and it eases the pain.’
Doreen nodded, concern for her baby written on her pretty face. ‘Okay, Mam, but don’t forget to ring the doctor for us. I’ll be on pins until I know Bobby’s going to get better, that it isn’t anything really serious. And I’m not the only one. Aunt Vicky is worried to death.’
Molly was already walking away. ‘There’s no need to worry or panic, sunshine. It’s very upsetting for you and the baby, but it’s not life-threatening. All babies, including yerself when you were one, catch it. And in a week or so it’ll be gone and forgotten.’ Over her shoulder she called, ‘Go in, close the door, tell Victoria there’s nothing to worry about, and give Bobby a kiss from his grandma and adopted grandma. Tell him we love the bones of him.’
Nellie pulled them to a halt so she could have her say. ‘And we love every spot he’s got, as well as his bones. You tell him that from me.’
Jill’s face lit up when she saw who her visitors were. ‘I was going to call in and see you, Mam, on me way to the shops. But it’s nice yer’ve come, ’cos Auntie Lizzie likes to have a joke and a natter. Come on in, both of yer.’
Molly got a kiss and a hug, then Nellie demanded the same. ‘How come your mam gets special treatment? She gets a longer kiss and a tighter hug than I do. And don’t forget, girl, when yer married my son yer became a member of the McDonough family. That means I’m yer mam as well.’
Molly, in the living room by now, called, ‘Let her have her way, Jill, agree with everything she says. There’s been enough upset for one day, without starting World War Three.’
Lizzie looked from Molly to Nellie. ‘Don’t tell me you two have fallen out? That’s unheard of, that is, and I’m really surprised.’
‘We haven’t fallen out, Lizzie,’ Molly said. ‘We have our differences, like anyone else, but never fall out. No, I wasn’t referring to me and me mate when I said there’d been enough upset. It’s baby Bobby. He’s not very well, and seeing Doreen upset, well, me and Nellie got upset as well.’
‘What’s wrong with Bobby?’ Jill picked little Molly up from the couch and held her tight. ‘He’s not ill, is he?’
‘I can’t say for certain because Doreen wouldn’t let us in. She thinks he’s got measles or chickenpox, ’cos he’s got all the symptoms. High temperature and rash. The reason Doreen wouldn’t let us in was because she was afraid we might pass it on to Molly. The baby doesn’t have any signs, does she?’
Little Molly was like a porcelain doll, she was so beautiful. And it was easy to see she was going to inherit her mother’s looks and colouring. She was laughing and gurgling now as she tried to catch hold of Jill’s nose. ‘There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with her, Mam, thank goodness, she’s as bright as a button. Slept right through the night without a murmur.’
‘Doreen was concerned because the two babies were playing together yesterday. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that Molly will also get it, so don’t sit watching and waiting for her to break out in spots.’ Molly glanced at the clock. ‘We’re going to have to love yer and leave yer, I’m afraid. I’ve promised Doreen I’ll ring for the doctor from the corner shop. And I’ve told her to have a list of shopping ready, so we can make the shops before they close for dinner. Is there anything we can get for you?’
Jill shook her head, sending her long blonde hair swinging across her face. ‘No, thanks, Mam, I’ll go to the shops meself. I like to take the baby out in the pram every day so she gets some fresh air. And I’ll call to Doreen’s later, to see what the doctor had to say.’
Lizzie Corkhill shot forward in her rocking chair. ‘Oh, I don’t think that would be wise, sweetheart. If Bobby has got the measles, it’s very catching, and I don’t think yer should risk Molly catching it. I know she’ll get it some time, all babies do, but she’s such a little tot, and if it can be avoided until she’s a bit older and stronger, then I’d advise yer to steer clear.’
Nellie’s chins, bosom and tummy were in agreement. ‘Lizzie is right, girl, so heed her advice.’
Molly also agreed. ‘I know you and Doreen are very close and yer want to help her. But just think how bad she’d feel if the baby did catch whatever Bobby’s got. She’d blame herself and be very upset. So leave it until we hear what the doctor has to say. And how d’yer think I feel? Doreen is me daughter, Bobby me grandson, and because I can’t do anything to help I feel useless. If I could take away Bobby’s pain and Doreen’s worry, and go through it for them, I would do so willingly. But as it isn’t possible, I’ll have to sit back and watch while saying a prayer for it to be over soon.’
Nellie, not usually emotional, was trying to swallow the lump in her throat. ‘I’ll be sitting with yer, girl, yer won’t be on yer own.’
‘I won’t call to Doreen’s, I’ll do as yer say, Mam,’ Jill said. ‘I can see it would be unwise. But yer will tell her how sorry I am, won’t yer? And I hope I’ll see them very soon.’
‘I’ll do that, sunshine, even though there’s no need. Doreen knows we all love her and Bobby without being told. Whether we’re Bennett, McDonough or Corkhill, we all know we’re loved without a word being spoken. And that makes us very lucky people. Very special people.’ Molly fastened the buttons on her coat, then her eyes slid sideways to Nellie. ‘I can’t blame you for holding us back now, can I? Since I crossed the threshold I’ve never stopped talking. But I’ll have to put a stopper on it now, if I want to catch the doctor before his surgery closes, and the shops pull their shutters down. I’ll be back later, though, Jill, to let you and Lizzie know what’s going on. I promise to keep yer informed.’
Jill passed the baby over to Lizzie. ‘Mind her for us, please, while I see me mam and Auntie Nellie out. Then I’ll get her ready to go out. We both need some fresh air.’
‘I’ll come with yer today, if yer don’t mind.’ Lizzie looked on Jill, Steve and little Molly as the family she never had. Oh, she had Corker, and she adored him, but he had always been away at sea and Lizzie had known what it was to be lonely. She was never lonely now, though, with a young family bringing her home to life. ‘I could do with some air to blow the cobwebs away.’
Chapter Eleven
Jack was washing his hands in the kitchen sink and had his back to Molly, who was struggling to lift the large cast iron frying pan from the stove. ‘This ruddy thing weighs a ton. It’s enough to break me back.’
Ruthie was standing by the door, quiet for once. ‘Mam, leave it on the stove and I’ll hold the plates for yer to put the dinner on. That would be much easier.’
‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ Molly sighed with relief when the frying pan was back on the stove. ‘Pass me one plate at a time, sunshine, there’s a good girl.’
Turning the tap off, Jack shook the water from his hands before reaching for a towel. ‘It’s only natural for yer to be at sixes and sevens after the day yer’ve had. It’s not only the running around, but the worry on top of it.’
‘Ta
ke those two plates in, sunshine,’ Molly told her daughter. ‘That one’s yer dad’s, the other is yours. I’ll bring me own in.’ She walked into her husband’s open arms and laid her head on his chest. ‘It’s been a day and a half, love, or at least it felt like it. I’ve heard the expression “running around like a headless chicken”, well, I know now what it means.’ She lifted her face for a kiss, then drew away. ‘Come on, don’t let the dinner go cold.’
As Jack followed his wife into the living room, he asked, ‘It’s definitely the measles, is it?’
Molly put her plate down, then dropped on to her chair. ‘Yes. The doctor said it’s in the early stages yet, and it will get worse over the next three days. All Doreen can do is try to ease the pain by dabbing camomile lotion all over the rash. Doreen said he was very good with Bobby and thought he was big and bonny for his age.’
‘The poor little blighter, he must be wondering why his mammy isn’t making the pain go away.’ Jack clamped his lips as he shook his head. ‘It couldn’t have come at a worse time, either, with him teething.’
Ruthie was playing with the food on her plate, for she had lost her appetite. ‘Can’t I go and see Bobby, Mam? He’ll think I’ve forgotten him if I don’t go.’ Then, before her mother had time to respond, she voiced the fear in her heart. ‘He’s not going to die, is he, Mam?’
‘Of course he’s not, sunshine. In a week or two he’ll be as right as rain. You had it when yer were a baby, and you’re alive and kicking. And yer sisters and Tommy had it. In fact, ninety-nine children out of a hundred get measles or chickenpox. Many of them get both.’
Jack stood his knife and fork like sentinels at the side of his plate. ‘I can remember, as though it was only yesterday, the day I came home from work to find Jill had chickenpox.’ His eyes were tender as he gazed at Molly. ‘You were out of yer mind, love, because yer didn’t know what to do for the baby, to stop the pain. And I thanked God for yer ma that day, because she gave yer a good talking to, explaining like, and put our minds at rest. She said the worst would be over in a week, and by golly she was right.’