Rainy Days for the Harpers Girls

by Rosie Clarke

  ‘I love you so much, sweet Maggie,’ Tim said and smoothed his thumb over her sensitised mouth, tracing her lips. ‘I think I knew it right from the start, but we were both with other people – and then you quarrelled with him and she left me, and that was my lucky day.’ He grinned happily. ‘You said you would go out with me for company and I’ve never been as content.’

  ‘What will your father say? Will he think we’re too young to be engaged?’ Maggie looked at him anxiously.

  ‘He told me to get the ring,’ Tim said confidently. ‘He said I should speak to you, tell you how I feel and not regret it afterwards.’

  ‘I’m so glad you did,’ Maggie said and leaned her head against his shoulder. ‘I wish you didn’t have to go away so soon, but…’

  ‘It’s war,’ Tim said. ‘We both know what that means, Maggie. Yes, it may be over in a few months – but it only takes a bit of bad luck and if your kite goes down, it’s probably the end. I knew you weren’t ready for marriage yet, but I didn’t want to leave without telling you how I felt.’

  ‘It would have broken my heart if you hadn’t spoken now,’ Maggie said.

  Tim drew her closer, his lips against her hair. ‘My dearest love. I shall think of you all the time, imagine what it will be like when we’re wed.’

  ‘I do love you, Tim.’ Maggie looked into his eyes. ‘Put your ring on my finger, Tim. I can’t wear it for work, but I’ll tie it on a ribbon underneath my uniform so I keep you with me all the time.’ She looked up at him. ‘I shall give my notice in to Harpers next week. I have an appointment this weekend to see if I’m suitable to train for nursing and, if I’m accepted, I’ll have to leave Harpers.’

  ‘Won’t you be sad to leave?’ he asked, because she’d always said how much she loved her job.

  ‘Yes, in a way, but Mr Harper said any of us could leave and get our job back after the war. I’m not giving up forever and I’ll tell Mrs Harper that – I’m sure she will understand. If I tell Mrs Craven… Oh, she’s Mrs Bailey now – if I tell Rachel, she will try to talk me out of it, but Sally will understand.’

  ‘From what I’ve heard, Mrs Harper is a woman who knows what she wants and goes out and gets it,’ Tim said. ‘Not all women can do that, Maggie, but I’m proud of you for wanting to do it, my love. I’ve seen some of what Germany has lined up against us from the air and I know it won’t be as easy as a lot of folk believe.’

  Maggie nodded thoughtfully. ‘My father wanted me to be a teacher. I know that now there is going to be a war he would tell me I should use my talents and my mind to do something worthwhile and I’m rather good at first aid. I know I have an awful lot to learn, but I know more than many women who will be volunteering, so perhaps I can really help.’

  ‘You know that a lot of the volunteers will end up scrubbing floors and be given all the dirty jobs?’

  ‘Yes, I know. I’ve spoken to a nurse and she told me it is always like that at first, but she says if the war goes badly, they will need all the volunteers they can get – especially those that have some extra languages…’

  ‘You can speak other languages?’ Tim stared in surprise, because this was the first time, she’d mentioned it.

  ‘I’m reasonable in French and I did a smattering of German,’ Maggie said. ‘My father thought English literature and languages would be a good career for me as a teacher, so I spent as much time as I could learning them and I still study my French books when I have nothing to do.’

  Tim sat back and looked at her in wonder. ‘I had no idea, clever girl.’

  ‘No, I’m not clever. I never took my exams, because Dad had that terrible accident, and I didn’t get to the next grade, but even a few words can be useful,’ Maggie said and smiled at him. ‘You must have got a few grades at school to be a pilot?’ Her eyes met his. How little they really knew of each other – but they had the rest of their lives to learn.

  ‘Oh, English, Mathematics and French…’ He shrugged. ‘Jack and I both had a good education, because of Dad being a teacher and making us keep our noses to the grindstone. He wanted me to be an accountant – a good safe career – but I fancied the Royal Flying Corps and it is a great life, Maggie. I think flying is the big thing of the future. One day you’ll probably be able to fly to France commercially rather than go over in a ship…’

  ‘I’m not sure I’d dare,’ she said and then smiled at him as she held up her hand to admire the ring, he’d given her. ‘This looks much too expensive…’

  ‘It was my grandmother’s,’ Tim said. ‘Dad gave it to me because I didn’t get a chance to go shopping. It belonged to my mother’s mother. Jack had my paternal grandmother’s ring…’ He looked anxious. ‘If you don’t like it, I’ll buy you a new one as soon as I get the chance…’

  ‘It is lovely,’ she said. ‘I love it, Tim. Tell Fred thank you from me and I’m very happy to wear it.’

  ‘You’re wonderful,’ he said. ‘Keep the ring and I’ll bring you something special home from…’ He shook his head and leaned in to kiss her. ‘We both know where, but I can’t say.’

  Alone in bed that evening, Maggie thought about the romance of Tim’s proposal and the sweetness of his kiss. It was because he’d spoken out at last that she’d told him what she was planning to do. Until that moment, Maggie hadn’t even been sure she was going to enrol in the volunteers. She’d made the appointment to see the enrolment officer, but she’d still been wondering what to do. Feeling Tim’s tension, knowing that he’d proposed to her because he was going overseas and understanding that he might not return, had crystallised her thoughts and purpose. In that moment, she’d realised that her future was in nursing, at least for the duration of the war.

  Men would be wounded – perhaps the men that belonged to her friends or Tim himself – and Maggie wanted to help in whatever way they let her. The feeling had grown on her slowly since before the announcement of war and seeing those newspaper reports of injured men. Yet she’d hesitated, waiting for Rachel’s wedding, because she didn’t want to spoil anything. Minnie was getting married too, but although she was a dear and Maggie liked her, it wouldn’t matter if she couldn’t be there for it, because Rachel was Minnie’s special friend and Becky was like a daughter to her.

  Maggie would still move into Beth’s spare room and leave her things there; it would be her home, a place to return to when she was given leave. Maggie hoped that Sally would understand why she wanted to leave once she’d spoken to her but knew that she would do it anyway. Maggie felt she was called no less than all the brave men who were signing on to fight all over the country. She could almost see her father smiling at her, encouraging her to do it and she knew he would be proud. Her mother would tell her she was a fool – and she wasn’t sure that Beth and Rachel would be pleased when they’d trained her to their high standards and given her a pay rise, but it was what she had to do.

  ‘You want to enrol as a nurse?’ Sally looked at her in surprise and then smiled her encouragement. ‘Yes, I think that is an excellent idea, Maggie. I always did think you were too clever to be a sales assistant – and they will need intelligent girls like you now. Harpers will miss you, of course, as will your friends, but you’re doing the right thing and I’m so proud of you.’ She moved forward to embrace her. ‘If it weren’t for Harpers and my little Jenny, I’d do the same.’

  ‘Thank you so much, Mrs Harper,’ Maggie said. ‘I’m sorry if it causes you inconvenience – and I do hope I can come back after it is all over.’

  ‘We’ll welcome you back with open arms and a medal,’ Sally said. She smiled and flicked her hair out of her eyes. ‘I think you’re so brave, Maggie. I know you understand it won’t be all wiping soldiers’ brows. It’s going to be much harder than selling silk scarves and you’ll see some terrible things…’

  ‘Yes, I know,’ Maggie said and met her gaze steadily. ‘I believe it’s what my father would expect and I understand that I’ll start out doing all the filthy jobs – but if it helps the
trained nurses then it’s worthwhile…’

  ‘Yes, of course it is,’ Sally agreed. ‘Good luck, Maggie Gibbs, and send me news of what you’re doing. We’re still friends and always will be.’

  ‘Thank you – and thank you for understanding. I did feel awkward about letting you down after you’d been so good to me.’

  ‘Oh no, Maggie. You’re not letting me down – you’re doing something wonderful and I applaud you for it.’

  ‘But it will be a nuisance for you to train my replacement…’

  ‘Not at all. We’re recruiting both juniors and older women to replace the men – two thirds of our male staff are leaving,’ Sally told her with a sigh. ‘Now that is a bit of a problem, but we shall get through. Mr Stockbridge has allowed his daughter Becky to join us while she works for her secretarial exams and that will help. Did you know that?’

  ‘No…’ Maggie was surprised. ‘Becky said he was completely against it – but perhaps Minnie has persuaded him to let his daughter work while she studies for her exams.’

  ‘Yes, quite possibly,’ Sally said. ‘Fortunately, Minnie isn’t giving up work immediately. She told me yesterday that she will still come in three times a week to collect her work and take it home with her once she is married. She says she can work quicker and more efficiently at home and we’ve taken on another woman who is a seamstress but can also work in the dress department. One of our senior girls from the dress department is going upstairs to the men’s floor and we’ve taken on another four women to work on the ground floor; more are being interviewed this week.’

  Maggie nodded. ‘Do you think they will mind giving up their jobs when the men return?’

  ‘I imagine any woman asked to give up her place might resent it, but nevertheless in many businesses it will happen. Here, we hope that our expansion will take up any excess without having to make the women redundant.’

  Maggie smiled and nodded as Sally held out her hand. ‘I have to report first thing in the morning.’

  ‘Well, good luck,’ Sally said. ‘I hope you don’t find it too awful.’

  ‘I’m prepared for hard work,’ Maggie said. ‘Thank you again, Mrs Harper.’

  ‘Oh, sometimes I think it’s so silly all this formality,’ Sally said. ‘I’m Sally and you’re Maggie and we’re friends.’ She moved forward and hugged Maggie impulsively. ‘You take care, do you hear? I don’t want you getting ill or shot at, so you just come back when it’s all over.’

  ‘Yes, I will, I promise,’ Maggie said and sniffed hard, because Sally had made her feel emotional and sad to be leaving. ‘As soon as this horrid war is over, I’ll be back asking for my job.’

  Maggie left then because otherwise she might have burst into tears. She realised as she left Sally’s office that she hadn’t told her about her engagement, but for the moment it was something to keep to herself. After all, she wasn’t going to be married for a year or two and there would be plenty of time to tell her friends in the future.

  She went back down to the department to finish her day. Beth’s husband had fetched all her stuff to his father’s house the previous evening and she would be sleeping in the spare room that night. Minnie was sharing with her until her marriage, because she said it wouldn’t look right if she moved into Mr Stockbridge’s house before her wedding, but after that it would be Maggie’s room – somewhere to come back to when she needed it.

  Thinking about what Sally had told her concerning Becky Stockbridge, Maggie smiled to herself. Both she and Becky had argued that Becky should be allowed to work in Harpers while she was honing her skills as a secretary, but Mr Stockbridge had steadfastly refused – until Minnie asked him and then it was suddenly all right.

  Becky must be over the moon.

  31

  ‘I couldn’t believe it when Dad said I could work here while I continued my studies. I have to attend my college once a week on a Friday, but Mrs Burrows says she doesn’t mind that at all,’ Becky confided when she met Maggie at closing time that evening. They were attending first-aid classes together but were going for a sandwich and coffee at a café first.

  ‘So, you will be taking my place in the department then,’ Maggie said, looking at her with affection. ‘I’m so glad for you, Becky. You will like Mrs Burrows. She is very fair and Marion is lovely. I suppose you will be a junior – we were supposed to have a new junior anyway…’

  ‘Mrs Burrows says that she thinks we shall manage and we are going to borrow a junior from other departments at Christmas.’

  ‘Oh, don’t think about that already,’ Maggie said, though she knew that plans for it were already under way in the store. Christmas was such a big event, it had to be planned for months in advance.

  Becky looked at her curiously. ‘What made you think of joining the volunteers as a nurse?’

  ‘I’m not sure, but it’s been at the back of my mind for a long time,’ Maggie said. ‘I think it was because of how ill Dad was – and my mother dying in the infirmary. It made me aware of how helpless I was, couldn’t do much for either of them, and that’s why I took up the first aid – and then, of course, I knew I wanted to help nurse the wounded.’

  Becky looked at her seriously. ‘I wish I was brave like you, Maggie, but I’m not. I’m all right at classes, but I don’t like blood. I think I should faint if I had to nurse someone with his arm cut to pieces.’

  ‘It’s a shame, because you’re so good at it,’ Maggie replied, slipping an arm about her waist, ‘but someone has to stay here and keep things going, Becky. People need shopping and I shan’t feel as bad about leaving when I think of you standing behind my counter.’

  ‘It would have been fun learning to be a nurse with you.’ Becky was a little regretful.

  ‘But Mr Stockbridge would never agree,’ Maggie said. ‘I don’t think even Miss Minnie could make him agree to let you be a nurse.’

  ‘I’m not so sure about that,’ Becky said and giggled. ‘I think she could twist him round her little finger if she tried – but instead she is always looking after him and he does like it so much.’

  ‘I expect he was lonely after your mother died. I know he had you and he adores you, but he needed someone his own age to talk to when you were in bed and asleep.’

  ‘Poor Poppa.’ Becky said. ‘Sometimes I can’t believe how much he’s changed since Minnie walked in. I saw his face that first Sunday she came to tea and he looked as if he’d been struck by a thunderbolt.’

  ‘I never noticed a thing then,’ Maggie said. ‘I sort of noticed she blushed a bit when he looked at her or passed her a cup, but I didn’t realise…’

  ‘I knew he was smitten immediately,’ Becky said, ‘and I was so pleased. He was lonely and she has made things easier for me, too. I think he was terrified I might die, but Minnie made him see that though I was ill last year, I’m completely better now. She is like the mother I never knew, Maggie. I feel so lucky to have her.’

  Maggie nodded, feeling pleased for her friend. She knew that once she started her training, she wouldn’t be able to meet Becky as often and the girl would miss going out with her. She didn’t have many other friends, though working at Harpers, she would have the chance to meet lots of people.

  ‘You should try making friends with Marion,’ she said. ‘She comes to the first-aid classes sometimes and you could walk home with her…’

  ‘She doesn’t always come, though, does she?’ Becky said and pulled a face. ‘I am going to miss you, though Minnie says she will take me to the church social and to a meeting of the Women’s Movement, if I wish.’

  ‘Did you know that Mrs Pankhurst has promised that the militants will stop causing trouble for the government during the war – she says it would be unpatriotic to continue it while we are caught up in conflict.’

  ‘My father thinks the suffragettes are terrible – at least the ones that go around blowing things up are,’ Becky said and then gave a cry of pain as someone barged into her. ‘Oh, how rude,’ she said as the ma
n walked off without apologising. It was a moment or two before she realised that she had been robbed. ‘Maggie! That man took my purse…’

  ‘No! Did he really?’ Maggie said, staring after the man who had barged into Becky, but he had disappeared into the evening crowds. ‘I’m so sorry, love. Did you have much in it?’

  ‘Only my shilling for the classes and my bus fare home,’ Becky replied. ‘What a nuisance.’

  ‘Never mind,’ Maggie said. ‘I’ve got enough to pay your entrance tonight and the bus fares. He would have got far more if he’d taken mine, because I was paid for my holiday this evening and the money is still in my purse.’

  ‘Thank goodness he only took mine,’ Becky said. ‘I didn’t even think when he knocked into me, but I suppose that is how they do it.’

  ‘Yes, I expect so,’ Maggie agreed. ‘He deserves to have his hand chopped off…’

  ‘Oh no,’ Becky said and smiled as her little fright faded. ‘I don’t want such drastic retribution; it was only two shillings in my old purse.’

  ‘It’s what they do with thieves in some places,’ Maggie said. ‘Come on, I’ll pay for our tea this evening. Try and forget about it now, Becky, and enjoy the evening. It could have been much worse…’

  That evening they were addressed by a young doctor in military uniform. He had been booked to give them a lecture before the declaration of war and had kept his promise, even though he’d joined up in the meantime.

  ‘Good evening, ladies,’ he said. ‘I am pleased to see so many of you here. I think you understand the importance of what you’re doing now that we are at war. Once the casualties begin to come home, we’re going to need a lot more volunteers at our hospitals…’ He paused to look round at their eager faces. ‘Tell me, have any of you joined the volunteers?’