by Joan Jonker
‘Thanks, girl, that’s the gear!’ Elsie was delighted. ‘And yer can rest assured that no harm will come to it.’
Monica waited until they were several houses away before asking, ‘What did yer do that for? What if they bend it and spoil the bleeding thing? Anyway, I thought yer wanted to show it to Betty and the family.’
‘No, they won’t! If the boot was on the other foot, I expect Elsie would do the same. I’ll show it to the Blackmores another day, so stop yer fussing.’
They turned into the main road, spent a few minutes gazing into the windows of a block of shops, then set off up the next street for the Blackmores’ house. ‘I hope Betty doesn’t mind us dropping in unannounced, they might be busy doing something. We should really have let them know we were coming.’
‘Don’t be daft, Betty’s not like that! She’ll be pleased to see us.’
And Monica was right for Betty’s face lit up and she welcomed them with open arms. ‘I was beginning to think yer’d fallen out with us. Come on in and tell us what yer’ve been up to since I last saw yer.’
In the living room, Margaret and Greg were sitting next to each other on the couch, humming along to Ray Noble and his orchestra, while Jack’s head could be seen over the Echo as he relaxed in his favourite fireside chair. ‘Put that wireless off now, Greg,’ Betty said, ‘we’ve got company.’
‘Don’t put it off, lad.’ Monica’s shoulders were swaying to the strains of a waltz. ‘It takes me back to the Grafton on a Saturday night, that does. When I was single and as free as a bird. I had half a dozen partners to choose from, but I was a love ’em and leave ’em, good-time girl until I met my feller.’
Jack folded his newspaper and stuffed it down the side of his chair. ‘Lower it a bit, son, and we’ll all be happy. Monica can dream away to her heart’s content and we’ll be able to hear ourselves talk.’
When Greg moved, Margaret got to her feet and waved the visitors to the couch. ‘Sit here and me and Greg will sit at the table.’
‘Oh, this is dead romantic, this is.’ Monica grabbed Kate around the waist and lifted her arm to dance her around the room singing along with Al Bowlly, ‘The Very Thought Of You’.
Much to the amusement of the audience, Kate tried to pull away. ‘Let go of me, yer daft nit, people will think we’re crazy.’
‘Listen to me, girl,’ Monica said, not flinching when she banged one hip against the table and the other against the sideboard. ‘I’ve known the Blackmores long enough for them to know I am crazy. But if they don’t mind, why should I worry?’
‘Now, you listen to me, sunshine! I don’t care that the Blackmores know ye’re crazy, I don’t want them to think it’s rubbed off on me.’
The music came to an end, and Kate fell on to the couch. ‘Do us all a favour, Greg, and put the wireless off altogether. She’ll never sit still while she can hear dance music.’
Monica sat down beside her. ‘Will yer tell me something, girl, honestly?’
‘I don’t tell lies, sunshine, unless it’s to stop someone from getting hurt, so of course I’ll be honest.’
‘Right! Well, I was just wondering whether yer were always this miserable? Yer know, did yer cry a lot as a baby?’
Kate joined in with the laughter. ‘Me ma used to say the only time I stopped crying was when she stuck a dummy in me mouth.’
Monica nodded her head. ‘That explains why yer’ve got a thick bottom lip then. It happens to babies that always have a dummy in their mouth.’
‘I’m going to agree with everything yer say, sunshine, otherwise Betty is never going to hear what we’ve been doing with ourselves.’
‘Yeah, what have yer been doing? Anything exciting?’
‘Well, yer know Miss Parkinson moved, don’t yer? I think the whole neighbourhood was upset over that, ’cos she was well liked.’
‘I was more than upset,’ Jack said. ‘I was bloody mad! If I could have got me hands on the bloke that broke into her house, I’d have flayed him alive.’
‘I’d have helped yer, ’cos I believe she was really old.’ Greg looked as though he meant it. ‘My grandma is eighty and I’d go mad if that happened to her.’
‘Yer’ll all be happy to know, then, that the blighter got his comeuppance. The police officer came to tell us today that the thief was sentenced to six years in Walton Jail.’ There was complete silence in the room while Kate’s words sank in. Then it was as though everyone was rubbing their hands with glee that the burglar had got his just deserts. ‘I’m writing to Miss Parkinson tomorrow to tell her.’
Kate looked sideways to where Monica was sitting. ‘That’s my bit of news, now you can tell them about the photographs. But don’t make a meal of it, ’cos yer know I don’t want to be out too long with John being off colour.’
While Kate was listening, she told herself her friend had lost her vocation. She should have been an actress. She didn’t just tell them about Will, she acted it all out with her hands and dramatic pauses in her speech, eyes wide and rolling. She had them all sitting forward hanging on her every word. Not many people could do that when all they were talking about was a bloke taking a few pictures.
‘Why didn’t yer bring them with yer?’ Betty asked. ‘We’d love to see them.’
Before Monica put the blame on her, Kate said, ‘I’ll bring them down tomorrow. It’s been such a hectic day, I don’t know if I’m coming or going.’
‘If it had been six months later, me and Margaret might have gone after that house,’ Greg told them. ‘I’ll be out of me time then, and could afford it.’
‘Ye’re all right here for the next year.’ Betty sounded adamant. ‘We’re managing nicely, and I can give Margaret a hand with the baby.’
Betty wasn’t telling the whole truth. The reason she wanted her daughter near her was to protect her from the gossips. There was already talk in the street and it would get worse as the girl began to show. Several near neighbours, women she regarded as friends, had been asking questions, and there were sly looks in their eyes when they said, ‘Fancy Margaret getting married in such a hurry.’ Or, ‘I’m surprised Margaret didn’t get married in church.’ She had answered all of their questions with the same words. The young couple wanted to get married but couldn’t afford a big white wedding. And if the gossip-mongers who thrived on other people’s misfortunes didn’t like or believe what she told them, then it was just their bad luck. She didn’t care what they said behind her back, but she did care about her daughter being hurt. That’s why she wanted her and Greg to stay where they were until the child was a few months old and Margaret could manage the baby without worrying about unkind taunts.
‘Yeah, you stay with yer mam, sunshine,’ Kate said. ‘Make the most of it and let her spoil yer. Once yer get yer own place yer’ll have to manage on yer own, and believe me, it’s no picnic with a young baby to look after.’
‘I’ll help her as much as I can.’ Greg smiled across at his young wife. ‘I know I’ll be at work all day, but I’ll be the one getting up in the night if the baby cries so she can have a good night’s sleep.’
‘Ah, now, there speaks a man in a million.’ Monica slapped him on the back and nearly knocked him off the chair. ‘I’ll be telling my feller about you, and asking where he was when our Dolly used to be screaming for a feed every couple of hours through the night.’
‘Talking about husbands, mine didn’t look too good tonight.’ Kate pushed her chair back, knowing if she didn’t make an effort her mate would keep them here for another hour. ‘So I’ll be making tracks.’
‘I think I’ll slip me coat on and walk to the bottom with yer,’ Betty said. ‘Just for a breath of fresh air.’
And as the three women walked down the street, Betty poured her heart out. She couldn’t do it at home because it would upset her daughter, Jack and Greg. But with a sympathetic friend either side of her, she got it all off her chest and felt so much better for it.
‘Betty, they’re not worth botherin
g about, sunshine, they’re really not.’ Kate felt heartily sorry for the woman. ‘They have so little happening in their own lives, they have to pick on someone else.’
‘Kate’s right,’ Monica said. ‘If they say anything, tell them to sod off and attend to their own business. They should have more to do than stand around being nosy. If I hear anyone say a dickie bird about Margaret, they’ll be sorry they opened their mouths. Yer’ve got enough friends around yer, girl, so don’t worry yer head about the no-marks.’
‘Yeah, ye’re right, both of yer.’ Betty took a deep breath, and when she blew out slowly, she felt as though she was blowing all her fears away. ‘I feel better after talking to you two. I’m glad yer came. But how’s Winnie? I haven’t seen her for a while, either.’
‘She’s fine. She’s been with us all day, but me and Monica didn’t think about coming to see you until she’d gone home. Otherwise she’d have been with us now.’
‘Bring her with yer next time yer come, she’s such a good laugh. Margaret and the two men thought she was so funny, they talked about nothing else but her the day after the wedding.’
‘She is funny,’ Kate agreed. ‘But she’s more than that, she’s a little love.’
Monica nodded. ‘I’ll second that, girl, she is definitely one little love.’
Chapter Twenty-Six
‘This time next week yer’ll be sitting in yer classroom.’ Kate eyed her children as she put the tea cosy over the pot. ‘I suppose yer’ll be glad to get back to school after nearly seven weeks with nothing to do. I think the holiday is far too long, they should make it a couple of weeks shorter in the summer, and extra at Christmas.’
‘I won’t be glad to go back,’ said Billy, thinking any kid that liked going to school wanted his brains testing. ‘I’ll be going in the seniors, and the teachers there are very strict.’
‘They’d have to be if all the boys are like you,’ Nancy told him. ‘I wouldn’t have their job for a big clock.’
‘Yes, yer’ll have to work harder, son.’ Kate smiled as she gazed into the face that was so like his father’s. He was John all over, only a miniature version. ‘Yer need good end of term reports from now on, to help when yer leave school and are looking for a job. Employers are more likely to take yer on if yer have decent reports and a good end of school reference.’
‘Blimey, Mam! I’ve got a couple of years to go yet. I’ll be well good by then.’
‘Only if yer knuckle down to it and work hard. An hour’s homework every night would help. It would do yer more good than kneeling in the gutter playing ollies with yer backside stuck up in the air, yer knees filthy and yer face as black as the hobs of hell.’
Billy gave his mother a sly glance. ‘It’s not that long ago that you and me dad were telling me to enjoy me childhood ’cos it wouldn’t last forever. And now yer’ve got me going out looking for a job!’
‘I’ll help yer, Billy,’ Nancy said. ‘I’ll give yer a hand with yer homework every night for about half an hour.’
Her brother grinned and rubbed his hands together. ‘Thanks, our kid! You can do me homework for me, and no one will be any the wiser.’
‘Only yer brain, soft lad! It’s no good me knowing the answers when it’s you the teacher will be firing questions at. I said I’ll help, I didn’t say I’d do the work for yer. What good would it do if yer knew the answer to a sum, but didn’t know how yer got it? The teacher would soon twig, and then yer’d be for it.’
‘Yeah, I never thought of that.’ His face doing contortions, Billy nodded. ‘I couldn’t very well tell the teacher to run along to your class to ask how I’d done it.’
Then Kate had an inspiration. Appeal to his pride, that was the way to give her son an incentive to try harder at school. It might just do the trick. ‘If I were you, sunshine, I’d be ashamed to ask me sister to do me homework for me. My pride wouldn’t let me, even if it meant getting me head down every night and slogging away instead of going out to play. Think how good yer’d feel if yer’d done it all by yerself?’
Billy’s brow furrowed as he thought about what his mother had said. And she was right! If Pete or anyone in the class knew his sister was the brainy one and did his homework for him, he’d be tagged a cissy for the rest of his life. Of course Nancy was the brainy one, but that was only because she was two years older than him. He could catch up with her if he put his mind to it. ‘I’ll do me own homework, without any help.’
‘Oh, I didn’t mean yer shouldn’t ask for any help, ’cos we all need help at some time, even Nancy. It would be only natural, if yer got stuck on some subject, to ask her to explain something yer didn’t understand. There’d be no harm in that, it wouldn’t be as if she was doing the homework for yer. Or yer could always ask me or yer dad.’ Kate chuckled. ‘Not that I’m very clever, I was nowhere near top of the class like Nancy is. In fact, if yer asked me a question, yer’d have to check the answer with someone else to make sure I was right. But I’ve got by, sunshine, and so will you if yer put yer mind to it.’
‘It won’t be long before the dark nights are here and yer won’t be able to play out,’ Nancy said, having a lot of sympathy for her brother, ‘so if yer get homework every day, it’ll give yer something to do.’
‘I’ve made up me mind that I’m going to get stuck in so one of these days I’ll be better than you are.’ He gave her a playful push. ‘And when I pass yer, I’ll wave to show I’m not too bigheaded to say ye’re me sister.’
‘Don’t get carried away, sunshine, because yer might find it harder than yer think,’ Kate warned. ‘Get some knowledge into that head of yours before yer start bragging. And I’m talking as one who knows. Yer see, the only thing I can remember from all those years of history lessons is that the Battle of Hastings was in 1066. Not much for nine years of schooling, is it?’
‘Oh, go ’way, Mam, to hear yer talk, anyone would think yer were as thick as two short planks.’ Nancy didn’t like her mother to run herself down. ‘And yer know as well as I do that ye’re not thick.’
‘No, I’m not thick, sunshine, but I’m not clever, either. And if I had me chance over again, I’d listen to the teachers more than I did, and take in what they were teaching me. But I’ve done three very clever things in me life, for which I give meself a pat on the back.’
Billy’s eyes widened. ‘What were they, Mam?’
‘Was this while yer were at school, Mam?’ Nancy asked.
‘No, the first happened when I was nineteen. I met yer dad and fell in love with him. We got married when I was twenty-one and he was twenty-three, and we feel just the same about each other now as we did then. So it was clever of me to find yer dad, don’t yer think?’
‘Yeah, he’s lovely, me dad.’ Nancy gave a sigh of pleasure. ‘I’m not half proud of him ’cos he’s very handsome. And he’s nice with it.’
‘It was lucky for us that yer met me dad,’ Billy agreed. ‘Otherwise yer might have married someone who was miserable, and beat his children. A lot of the men in the street hit their kids, yer know, Mam, some with a leather strap. I wouldn’t like yer to have married someone like that.’
‘I wouldn’t have done that, sunshine, ’cos I can’t abide a violent man. And the next time I was clever, and very lucky, was when you were born, Nancy. Me and yer dad were so happy that day, we thought our hearts were going to burst.’
Billy sat quietly, listening and waiting. He had to come somewhere in this. Surely when he was born his mam and dad would have been just as happy, thinking their hearts were going to burst? They loved him very much, he knew that because they were always telling him. And Nancy of course, they didn’t leave her out.
Kate could see how her son’s mind was working, and wouldn’t leave him in suspense. ‘The last time I was clever was when you were born, Billy. You were what we were hoping for to make our family complete. They say a father always wants a son, and a woman wants a daughter, but that wasn’t true in this house. We never made fish of one and f
lesh of the other. We love yer both equally, and always have. And while I said before I wasn’t very clever at school, I think I’ve been very clever in the most important part of my life. That’s making a lovely little family who I am very proud of.’
Nancy was moved to tears, Billy was moved to sniffing up. Well, boys didn’t cry, did they? But he made a promise to himself that, when he was older, he would give his mother good reason to be proud of him.
‘Right, that’s it for now, let’s clear the table, wash up and tidy the room. Mrs Cartwright and Auntie Monica will be here soon to go to the shops.’ Kate began to stack the plates. ‘There’s two ha’pennies on the sideboard, one each. It’s all I can spare, but if yer want to go to the park it’s enough to buy lemonade powder with.’
Nancy gave her brother a dig. ‘Come on, our Billy, help tidy up so the place looks all right for our mam’s friends. Yer’ve got all day to go out and play, it won’t hurt yer to move yerself and give a hand.’
Billy gave her a dig back. ‘I was going to help without you asking, so mind yer own business.’
Kate popped her head around the kitchen door. ‘Oh, ay, what’s happened to my two children? Yer know, the ones I love the bones of? Have they gone out to play and left two strangers in their place?’
Billy looked sheepish. ‘I was only acting the goat, Mam, honest! So was our Nancy, we didn’t mean nothing, did we, Sis?’
‘Not if you say so, our kid. Now take the cloth out to the yard and shake it. And shake yer leg while ye’re about it. The sooner we’re finished, the sooner me and Dolly can go to the park.’
‘I’m surprised we haven’t had an answer from Miss Parkinson by now to say she’s received the photies.’ Winnie shifted the weight of her basket to the crook of her other arm. ‘It’s not like Audrey, she’s usually spot on with everything. She was very efficient, punctual to a minute always.’