by Joan Jonker
The next minute Winnie was fighting for breath as she was hugged by two excited and thankful girls who were each trying to pull her their way. ‘Oh, thank you, Mrs Cartwright, ye’re very kind.’
‘Okay, kids, just settle down and I’ll make the tea.’ Monica got as far as the kitchen door, stopped for a second, then turned around. ‘I’ll make the tea in a minute, I’ve just had a thought that tickled me fancy. In me mind I could see my feller walking down the street.’ She moved to the centre of the room, her face creased in laughter lines. ‘Pretend I’m him, and I’m talking to meself.’ Her head down, which was a habit of her husband’s, she slowly walked the length of the room. ‘Now, this is where yer have to use yer imagination. “It’s a lovely day in the middle of summer, and the sun is cracking the flags. And what are those stupid women arguing about . . . who’s having the ruddy Christmas party! I’ll never understand the female sex if I live to be a hundred.” ’
Kate chuckled. ‘D’yer know, I could see Tom in me head then. But I’ll tell yer what, he was right, we are stupid. And you are wrong, sunshine, ’cos I am definitely not having a party at Christmas. So I hope your feller doesn’t tell John as soon as he claps eyes on him that we are.’
Dolly heaved a sigh. ‘Ay, Mam, do yer think we can have our birthday party, please, ’cos me and Nancy are hungry? Yer can talk about Christmas later. Say in four months’ time.’
‘Yer can’t be that hungry or yer tongue would be hanging out and yer tummy rumbling. But I can see Winnie eyeing the cakes up, so I suppose I’d better put a move on.’
‘The table looks a treat, queen, and I can see everything is home-made.’ Winnie nodded in approval. ‘Yer must have worked hard this morning.’
Monica carried on the conversation from the kitchen. ‘Don’t take any notice of my feller saying I never stop talking, girl, ’cos I can shift when I want to. I started just after he left for work and finished just before he got back. And when he saw the table all set out, he just said, “That looks nice, love.” I could have hit him, ’cos he probably thought I’d knocked it all together in half an hour.’
‘I think yer’ve done very well, sunshine, the food is a credit to yer. And yer never told me yer were making a birthday cake, it’s a lovely surprise. Nancy has never had her name on a cake before, have yer, sunshine?’
‘I’ve never had a birthday cake before, have I, Mam? Auntie Monica has been very clever making it herself.’
Monica came through carrying the teapot and stand. ‘It was nothing, no trouble at all.’
‘Oh, you big fibber, Mam!’ Dolly wagged a finger. ‘If it was no trouble, why were yer swearing when yer were trying to ice the names on? Yer should have heard her, Auntie Kate, she called that poor cake all the names under the sun.’ She tossed her head, sending her shoulder-length, mousy hair into waves which fanned her face. ‘If I’d been that cake, I’d have upped sticks and left home.’
‘But ye’re not, and yer didn’t, so let’s start. Help yerself, Winnie, don’t sit there all ladylike or yer’ll be left with the crumbs. We don’t stand on ceremony here, so dig in.’
Kate looked confused. ‘Haven’t yer forgotten something, sunshine?’
‘What’s that, girl?’
‘The birthday presents, yer daft nit!’
It was Nancy’s turn to look confused. ‘I thought the dresses were our presents, Mam.’
‘They are the main ones that yer dads bought yer, but there’s a couple of little ones off me and Auntie Monica that she seems to have forgotten about.’
Monica’s eyes rolled. ‘There’s a good excuse for me, I have been very busy and I’ve got to admit they slipped me mind.’ She made haste to the sideboard cupboard and took out the wrapped parcels containing the toilet water and the hankies. ‘I’m sorry, girls, but better late than never.’
The delight of the girls brought smiles to the faces of the adults. Scent was what grown-up ladies wore, so this was a definite sign they were growing up. Within no time the room was smelling of sweet-peas and the amount they were putting on the lace hankies and dabbing behind their ears meant the bottles would last them no time. But Kate and Monica thought it was a small price to pay to see such happiness on their daughters’ faces.
Winnie proved to have a good appetite, which meant she was back in better health. Doing as she was bid, she tucked in with gusto. In fact, it was a pleasure to see how much she enjoyed the food. After sampling several sandwiches, she reached for a fairy cake. On her first bite, a look of bliss came over her face and she declared, ‘This is the lightest and best bleeding fairy cake I’ve ever tasted.’
Monica stuck out her chest and looked very smug. It was about time someone congratulated her on her skill in the kitchen. Tom and Dolly just took her for granted. ‘I’ve been wondering if Betty would like me to make her a few cakes for after the wedding, ’cos she’ll have enough on her plate then without baking.’
‘Oh, sunshine, I’m sure she’d be really grateful,’ Kate told her, while counting in her head how many cakes there were left on the plate. There was more than enough for another one each, and then there was the sponge birthday cake. ‘It’s good of yer to think about it. And I’ll give yer a hand, even though yer wouldn’t let me help yer today.’
‘I’ll slip down in the morning, it’ll be one worry less off her mind.’ Monica nodded. ‘Yeah, I’ll do that.’ She bit her tongue just in time to stop herself from asking Kate how she was getting on with the matinee coat. Last time she’d asked, a couple of days ago, her mate had said she only had to sew the sleeves in, and it would be ready in plenty of time. The one she herself had been knitting was finished and was now on the bottom of the wardrobe wrapped in tissue paper.
Nancy had been trying to get something off her chest for the last half hour, but couldn’t pluck up the courage. However, seeing how quickly the plate was emptying, it was a case of now or never. ‘Auntie Monica, could I take one of the cakes for our Billy, please? I feel a bit mean for leaving him out.’
‘Yer don’t need to, girl, ’cos I’ve stashed a few in the pantry for him and Pete. I know he acts like a tough gangster but he’s still a kid at heart, I wouldn’t leave him out for the world. They’ll get a piece of birthday cake as well.’
Nancy gave a sigh of relief. ‘Thank you, Auntie Monica, him and Pete will be made up.’
‘Yer thought of everything, sunshine.’ Kate smiled across the table at her best mate. ‘I am beholden to yer.’
‘I’ll remind yer of that near Christmas,’ Monica said, tongue in cheek. ‘I might even offer to make the cakes for yer Christmas party!’ Before Kate could come back with anything, she carried on, ‘When we’ve finished eating and the dishes are washed, we’ll have a game of I Spy.’
‘I’m being spoilt,’ Winnie said, adopting a posh voice. ‘A party today, and a wedding to look forward to on Thursday. My life is one whirl of social engagements and I really could do with a secretary to keep a diary because I would be very upset if I let anyone down.’ Her eyes dropped to her dark blue dress. ‘I could do with a maid to see to me clothes as well, ’cos this is the only dress I’ve got and haven’t I only gone and spilt some red jelly on the bleeding thing.’
The laughter floated through the open window to where Billy was playing ollies in the gutter outside. His finger bent ready to flick at the marble, he looked at Pete with disgust written on his face. ‘Can yer hear that? And I bet it was some daft joke that wasn’t funny at all.’
‘Yeah,’ Pete agreed. ‘My mam’s the same, she’ll laugh at anything whether it’s funny or not. But come on, it’s your turn!’
Chapter Nineteen
‘Do I look all right for a wedding?’ Monica asked, twirling around. ‘It’s because I know where this dress came from that’s giving me doubts.’
‘Don’t act daft, yer look fine!’ Kate clicked her tongue. ‘No one else would ever guess we got them from a second-hand stall. And even if they did, why worry? As long as yer feel good, that’s a
ll that matters. And I think yer look lovely.’
‘It’s all right for you, yer’d look a million dollars if yer wore a sack. Everyone is that busy looking at yer face, they don’t notice what yer’ve got on.’
‘Now ye’re being silly, sunshine, ’cos yer only have to look in the mirror to know yer can hold yer own with anyone. If I thought yer looked a sight in that dress, I’d say so, ’cos ye’re me mate. But yer don’t, yer look great.’
‘Where’s Winnie got to? She should be here by now. I don’t want to be late.’
‘Calm down, sunshine,’ Kate said. ‘She’ll be here any minute. And we’re not going to be late, we’ll be there well before the bride and groom arrive with their families.’
Just then there was a knock on the door and Kate went to answer it, saying, ‘I bet this is Winnie now.’
The little woman passed Kate with a grin on her face. ‘I’m dead excited, aren’t you?’
‘Another minute, girl, and yer would have been dead,’ Monica told her. ‘We should be on our way now!’
‘No, we’ve plenty of time, queen, I went out to get these for us.’ Winnie brought her hand from behind her back clutching three pink carnations. ‘I thought it would be nice if we looked the part.’
‘Oh, I take it all back, girl, ye’re forgiven.’ Monica took one of the flowers, saying, ‘Betty did say she’d get flowers for us, but I told her not to bother, she had enough on her plate. But I’m glad yer got these, though, Winnie, we’ll look more dolled up with them on our dresses.’
‘The man in the shop didn’t have no bleeding pins, though, ’cos he said they were for button-holes and didn’t need pins. Proper cocky about it he was, too! If I’d had time, I would have clocked him one.’
‘I’ve got some safety pins, sunshine, so don’t worry, it’s any port in a storm.’ Kate rooted through the sideboard drawers and came up with two safety pins. ‘I could have sworn I had more than that.’
‘Well, as yer said, queen, it’s any port in a storm so I’ll use the pin I’ve got in me knickers.’
Both the younger women gazed at her in horror. ‘Yer can’t take that out of yer knickers! Suppose they fall down when we’re walking down the street?’
‘Or worse still,’ Kate said, ‘when we’re in the register office? I’d die of humiliation if that happened.’
Monica was beginning to see the funny side. ‘We’ll pretend we’re not with her, girl, and if her knicks do fall down, I’ll say in a loud voice, “Well, I’ve heard of a fur coat and no knickers, but never a second-hand dress and no knickers.” ’
‘They won’t fall down, yer silly buggers, ’cos they’ve got elastic in. I only keep the safety pin as a precaution, like, in case the elastic snaps.’ Without further ado, Winnie turned her back on them, lifted her clothes, then turned around holding a pin shoulder high. ‘There we go, all ready for the off. And don’t worry. If the elastic does snap and me knickers fall to the ground, I won’t make a fuss, I’ll just step out of them as though nothing’s happened, roll them up and stick them in me handbag. No one will notice a thing.’
‘Except we’d know that the woman walking between us is knickerless.’ Monica was thinking that if Tom didn’t laugh when she told him about this little episode, then she’d know for sure he had no sense of humour. ‘What happens if yer fall flat on yer face and yer clothes come over yer head? The whole world would see yer backside then.’
Winnie’s shoulders were shaking. ‘No, they wouldn’t, queen, they’d think it was the sun rising.’
‘I’d run off and leave yer if a crowd gathered,’ Kate said. ‘I’d want the ground to open and swallow me up.’
‘If there was a crowd gathered, queen, and yer ran away, I’d tell them yer’d pushed me over and pinched me knickers. And when they’d all run after yer, calling yer a thief, I’d pick meself up and carry on to the wedding. I wouldn’t let nothing spoil this day for me, knickers or no knickers.’
‘We’ll worry about that if it happens.’ Monica moved a leaf on the carnation to cover the safety pin. ‘I’ve got no worries, I can just enjoy meself with nothing on me mind. I took the cakes down to Betty, and on the way back I got meat and potato pies from the home-made shop for tonight’s tea. I’d already told Tom to see to Dolly if I wasn’t back in time. It won’t hurt him to see to his own meal for once. In fact, it’ll do him a power of good.’
Kate waited until her friends were standing on the pavement, then she pulled the door behind her and gave it a push to make sure it was shut tight. ‘It was a real brainwave of yours to get some pies for me, sunshine, to save me worrying. I’ve left a note for John telling him to see to himself and the kids. And, oh, what a glorious feeling it is, knowing there’s no need to rush back or keep looking at the clock all the time. Freedom, wonderful freedom!’
They walked to the tram stop and were pleased to see a tram trundling towards them. ‘That’s what yer call good timing.’ Monica said. ‘You hop on first, Winnie. Age before beauty and all that.’
But Winnie didn’t hop on board, she put a hand over her mouth instead. ‘Oh, my God, the elastic has snapped.’
‘Oh, no!’ Kate was mortified. ‘We’d better let this tram go and catch the next. Yer’ll have to sort yerself out, but God knows how.’
With a cheerful chuckle, Winnie hopped on board and turned to grin at her friends. ‘Only kidding, queen, everything is safe.’
The conductor came behind her and growled, ‘Make up yer mind whether ye’re coming or going, missus, ’cos we haven’t got all day.’
As her friends climbed on to the platform, Winnie was gazing at the man through narrowed eyes. ‘I’ve seen you somewhere before, but for the life of me I can’t think where!’ Then she snapped her fingers. ‘I’ve got it! Ye’re the spitting image of the feller in the shop where I bought some flowers. He was a miserable bugger, too!’
Monica thought that was hilarious and laughed all the way down the aisle. But Kate didn’t like unpleasantness of any kind, and sat in a seat next to the window so she could look out and avoid meeting the conductor’s eye. She only hoped they could get to the register office without any further mishaps. But Monica and Winnie were both unpredictable, so perhaps that was asking too much.
‘It’s a miserable place, isn’t it?’ Monica said, looking around the entrance hall of the register office. ‘Not the happiest place for a wedding.’
‘It’s also for births and deaths,’ Kate reminded her. ‘Yer can’t expect to hear music playing when a lot of people who come here have had a death in the family. They’ll have a special room for weddings, I’m sure, and it will be nicer than this.’
‘Let’s go and stand outside and wait for them there,’ Winnie said. ‘This place would give yer the willies, it’s so dark. But the sun is shining outside.’
The three of them trooped out and leaned against the wall. ‘They’re late,’ Monica said. ‘They should be here by now.’
‘For heaven’s sake, will yer stop moaning?’ Kate sighed. ‘Ye’re finding fault with everything. Cheer up, or yer’ll put a jinx on the wedding.’
‘They’re here now.’ Winnie was hopping from one foot to the other with excitement. ‘They’re in that taxi that’s just stopped.’ She started to run out of the entrance gates, with Kate and Monica in hot pursuit.
Greg stepped out of the taxi first, and held out a hand to help Margaret who was looking very pretty in a lilac dress and wide-brimmed straw hat, and carrying a small posy of lilac flowers. They could see she was nervous, though, because her lips were quivering and her hands shaking. Kate’s heart went out to her, she looked so timid and afraid. But Greg was very attentive and held her elbow while the two sets of parents stepped out of the black taxi. He kept looking down at Margaret, smiling and talking softly to calm her.
‘Ah, the poor girl looks terrified,’ Winnie said. ‘It takes me back to me own wedding day when I was a bundle of nerves.’
‘She’s a pretty girl, isn’t she?’ Monica sa
id. ‘I didn’t realize before how good-looking she is. And he’s handsome enough to be a film star. They make a fine couple, even if they are doing things back to front.’
‘Keep remarks like that to yerself, sunshine, at least until we get home. The bride and groom will both be embarrassed enough as it is, knowing that we know they’ve had to get married. Don’t spoil the day for them.’
Betty waved when she got out of the taxi, and shouted, ‘We’d better go straight in, we’re cutting it fine. Come on, follow us.’ She urged Greg’s parents forward. ‘I’ll introduce yer to me friends later.’
And they certainly had cut it fine because as they walked through the entrance a voice could be heard calling, ‘Mr Gregory Corbett and Miss Margaret Blackmore, will you come this way, please?’
The room they entered wasn’t as dismal as the entrance hall, but it was definitely lacking in one respect and that was flowers. There wasn’t one in the room apart from those worn by the wedding party. But the man who conducted the ceremony was pleasant in his own way, and did his best to put Margaret and Greg at their ease. It was a very simple ceremony, cold even, but the mothers of the bride and groom were too busy crying to notice. Kate and Winnie shed a few tears, but Monica refused to cry. She preferred to put up with the lump that was forming in her throat.
‘I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.’
That was when Monica’s lump dissolved into tears. The newly married couple looked so young and so shy, you would have needed a heart of stone not to feel for them. But Greg behaved perfectly, bending down to brush his new bride’s lips with his own. Then Betty and Jack Blackmore hurried to kiss their daughter and shake hands with their new son-in-law, followed closely by Maude and Albert Corbett. They weren’t allowed long for congratulations because the registrar wanted the necessary forms signing. After that Betty called her three neighbours over to introduce them to the groom and his parents.
Kate’s heart was thudding, but when Greg shook her hand she smiled and said, ‘I didn’t think I knew you, but I have seen you around.’