The Girl From Number 22

by Joan Jonker

  Ada shook her head slowly. ‘D’yer know what, Hetty Watson, you should be sitting in one of those booths they have at fairgrounds. Yer know what I’m talking about: they have a gypsy sitting there with a glass ball on a table in front of her, and she entices people in by saying she’ll tell them their fortune if they cross her palm with silver.’

  ‘Yeah, I’d like that,’ Hetty said. ‘I’ve never told yer this before, but I am a bit of a fortune-teller. For instance, I’ll tell yer what your fortune is now. I haven’t got no glass ball, but I’m getting a sensation running through me whole body. And it’s saying that if yer don’t get back in the house and do what yer’ve got to do, then we’ll be late getting to the shops. So get yer skates on, girl.’

  It was eleven o’clock and the friends were leaving Hetty’s house, having finished off a pot of tea and a plate of biscuits. She was closing the door behind them when one of the neighbours opposite waved to them. Her name was Jean Bowers, and she lived next to Eliza Porter. ‘Have yer got a minute to spare, ladies?’

  ‘Yeah, of course we have,’ Ada said. ‘As long as yer don’t want us to help yer hang yer washing out. A bit of a sore subject, that is.’ She linked her arm through Hetty’s and together they crossed the cobbles. ‘D’yer want something from the shops, sunshine?’

  Jean shook her head. She was a pretty woman, with fair hair, blue eyes, and a round happy face with rosy cheeks and dimples. ‘No, I’ll be going to the shops meself soon, Ada. And I’m probably worrying for nothing, but I haven’t heard a sound from Eliza’s house all morning. Usually I hear her raking out the grate, or the water running in the kitchen, but I haven’t heard a thing this morning. I thought she might be having a lie-in, as she sometimes does, but never until this time.’

  ‘Have yer had a word with Edith?’ Hetty asked. ‘She usually gives Eliza a knock before she goes to the shops.’

  ‘That’s just it,’ Jean said, clasping her hands. ‘Edith went out early this morning, to visit her mam, and she asked me if I’d see to any shopping Eliza wanted. And I’ve knocked a few times but got no answer, and I’m starting to get worried. I don’t know what to do for the best.’

  ‘Have yer looked through the window?’ Ada asked, walking towards the house next door. ‘She may be asleep on the couch.’ With a hand shading her eyes, she tried to see through the net curtains, but they were heavily patterned and it was impossible to see anything. She was frowning when she joined her two neighbours. ‘I can’t see anything. But if my memory serves me right, doesn’t she leave a key on a piece of string in the lavatory, in case of an emergency? I’m sure she told me once, oh, years ago, that she was afraid of locking herself out, so she kept a spare key in the lavvy.’

  Jean was very flustered. ‘Trust this to happen when it was my day to keep an eye on her. Even if there is a key, I couldn’t just walk in on her, she’d get a fright.’

  ‘If ye’re so concerned about her, that’s the only solution if she’s not answering the door to yer. For all we know she might not be feeling well, and it’s better to be safe than sorry. If yer nip through yours and get the key from her lavvy, I’ll go in, sunshine,’ Ada said. ‘And I’ll shout out when I open the door, so she won’t get a fright.’

  Hetty nodded her head in agreement. ‘Ada’s right, queen, we can’t just do nothing. And if Eliza’s not feeling well, she’ll be glad to see us.’

  ‘Okay, you stay here while I slip through my yard to hers. If the key is where yer say it is, Ada, I’ll bring it back to yer.’ Jean pulled a face. ‘I’m hopeless in an emergency, I go to pieces. So, coward that I am, I’ll let you go in first.’

  While Jean was running through her house to get into next door’s yard, Ada said, ‘If I ever have an accident, sunshine, don’t send for Jean, will yer? Get someone who’ll tell me a few jokes so I can laugh. Then I’ll know I’m not on me death bed.’

  ‘Jean’s got a good sense of humour,’ Hetty said. ‘She’s always got a smile on her face.’

  ‘Not today she hasn’t, sunshine, or haven’t yer noticed?’

  ‘That’s because she feels responsible for the old lady. I’d be the same if I was in her shoes.’ Hetty wagged a finger in her friend’s face. ‘Besides, you’re a fine one to talk. Yer had a face on yer like a wet week until I put a cup of tea in front of yer. A real ray of sunshine yer would have been to someone on their deathbed, I don’t think!’

  Ada chuckled. ‘Yer don’t have to tell me that, ’cos when I looked in the mirror to comb me hair, I didn’t want to think the miserable face staring back at me was me own.’ Again she chuckled. ‘I pretended it was you, on one of yer bad days.’

  ‘You cheeky article!’ But Hetty couldn’t help smiling. ‘Even on one of me bad days, I’m a damn sight better-looking than you, queen.’

  ‘That’s a matter of opinion, sunshine,’ Ada said. ‘And there’s one way to settle the matter once and for all. When we get back from the shops, we’ll stand in front of the mirror in my house and ask, “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” ’

  ‘How soft you are, Ada Fenwick. That mirror over the mantelpiece in your house is cracked to blazes! I went home from your house one day thinking I looked seventy years old, with me face full of wrinkles. It was only when I happened to glance in me own mirror that I realised I didn’t have any wrinkles, it was that ruddy mirror of yours.’

  Ada put a hand across her mouth, and her eyes bulged. ‘D’yer mean I’ve gone through life thinking me face was lined and wrinkled, when really I’ve got a complexion as smooth as a baby’s bottom? Well, fancy that now! As soon as I get home, that mirror is going in the ruddy midden, and me wrinkles with it.’

  Jean Bowers came rushing out of her house dangling a key on a piece of string. ‘Yer were right, Ada, it was hanging on a nail in the wall.’ She handed it over. ‘I’ve changed me mind, and I’m coming in with yer. I can’t go through life being a coward.’

  ‘That’s not being a coward, girl,’ Hetty told her. ‘Ye’re worried about the old lady, that’s all. Same as me. I’m concerned about her, too, and that doesn’t make us cowards.’

  ‘There’s only one way to find out why Eliza hasn’t opened the door to yer, Jean, and that’s to go in and see if she’s all right.’ Ada slipped the key in the lock, and said softly, ‘I’ll go in first and call her name, so she won’t get a fright.’ She jerked her head. ‘You two follow me in.’

  There wasn’t a sound as the three women huddled together in the tiny hall. Then Ada called, ‘Eliza, it’s Ada. You know, the nosy parker from over the road. Where are yer?’

  A faint voice came back to them. ‘I’m in me bedroom, Ada. Will yer come up, please? I’ve had a bit of an accident.’

  Ada pushed her two neighbours aside and made for the stairs, fearful something serious had happened to the old lady. ‘I’m on me way, Eliza. Hetty and Jean are with me.’

  When the three women crowded into the room, it was to see the old lady sitting on the side of the bed, still in her nightdress. ‘Oh, I am so glad to see you.’ Her lips quivered as she tried to smile. ‘I thought I was going to be here all day.’

  Jean rushed to sit beside her on the bed, and she took a frail hand in hers. ‘Eliza, yer’ve had me worried to death. I’ve knocked at least six times in the last hour, and when I didn’t get an answer, I didn’t know what to do. I mentioned it to Ada and Hetty, and fortunately Ada remembered about yer leaving a spare key in the lavatory.’

  ‘I heard yer knocking, sweetheart, and I shouted as loud as I could. But me voice isn’t very strong now, and yer couldn’t have heard me.’

  ‘Well we’re all here now, Eliza,’ Ada said, ‘so tell us what’s happened, and why ye’re sitting up here?’

  ‘I’ve been very silly,’ Eliza said. ‘I know that when yer get to my age yer shouldn’t be in a hurry to do things ’cos yer can go dizzy and lose yer balance. So as a rule, whether it’s getting out of a chair, or out of bed, I give meself a minute for me brain
to get organised. However, I forgot the golden rule this morning, got out of bed too quickly, went dizzy, stumbled, and twisted me ankle. I was afraid I’d broken it at first, but now I think I’ve just sprained it. Thank God it happened by the side of the bed, and I was able to sit down.’

  ‘What time did it happen, sunshine?’ Ada asked. ‘Have yer been sitting there long?’

  Eliza nodded. ‘I woke at the usual time of seven o’clock. When yer get to my age, yer don’t need much sleep. I have tried a few times to stand up, but it’s too painful.’

  ‘Yer must be hungry, queen,’ Hetty said. ‘I’ll go and make yer a cup of tea and a piece of toast.’

  ‘While Hetty’s doing that, sunshine, we’ve got to try and get yer down the stairs.’ Ada put a hand on her chin as she weighed up the situation. ‘I might be able to carry yer, ’cos I’m strong, and there’s not much of you. Or me and Jean could carry yer between us. I could lift you under yer arms, while Jean took yer feet. One way or another, we’ll get yer down those stairs in time for the promised tea and toast. Which way would yer like to be carried down, Eliza? Which would be the least painful for yer?’

  Jean thought she had a brainwave. ‘Why don’t you and me join hands, Ada, and make a chair to carry her down?’

  ‘I don’t think so, sunshine, the stairs are not wide enough. But what I could do is give yer a piggyback, Eliza, what d’yer think to that? I’d be very careful not to let your foot touch the wall or the stairs.’

  ‘I couldn’t let yer do that, Ada, yer might end up straining yerself.’

  ‘Yer haven’t got much choice, sunshine, ’cos the banister isn’t wide enough for yer to slide down, and there’s no men to help out. So it’s either a piggyback off yours truly, or you spending the rest of the day up here. My Jimmy would carry yer down in no time, but the trouble is, he ain’t here. So it’s Hobson’s choice, I’m afraid.’

  ‘You’ll be all right, Eliza,’ Jean said. ‘Ada’s very strong, and I’ll walk down in front, just to make sure ye’re safe.’

  ‘I’ll be walking down backwards, Jean,’ Ada told her. ‘I’d feel safer doing it that way. Eliza can put her arms round me neck and I’ll hang on to the banister rail to let meself down each stair.’ She bent and grinned into the old lady’s face. ‘If all else fails, sunshine, we’ll slide down, with you sitting on me knees. My backside is well padded, I wouldn’t feel a thing. But I do think a piggyback is the best way.’

  Eliza managed a smile. ‘It must be seventy years since I had a piggyback. Me father used to give me one every Saturday when I went to meet him coming home from work. It won’t be as easy for you as it was for him, though.’

  ‘Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Have some faith in me, sunshine, I’ll not let yer down. Now I’m going to turn me back on yer, so yer can put yer arms round me neck. And when yer’ve got tight hold, Jean will help yer off the bed as I stand up straight.’ Ada glanced over her shoulder and winked. ‘And this is no time for shimmy-shaking, either, so behave yerself.’

  ‘I’m more worried about you than I am about meself,’ Eliza said as she put her arms round Ada’s neck. ‘All this trouble I’m putting yer to, just because I’m a stupid old woman who can’t remember how to get out of bed.’

  ‘Ay, doing stupid things isn’t reserved for the elderly, sunshine,’ Ada said, standing upright and taking Eliza’s weight. ‘Not a day goes by when I don’t call meself for all the stupid nits going.’

  ‘Me too!’ Jean said, her hands round the old lady’s thin waist, trying to lighten the load for Ada. ‘Ask my Gordon, he’ll tell yer how forgetful I am. I can have something in me hand one minute, then the next I can’t remember what I’ve done with it.’

  ‘Right, I’m ready for the off,’ Ada told them. ‘You walk down the stairs in front of me, Jean, and yer can guide me feet. In five minutes we’ll have yer lying on the couch, Eliza, and we can have a look at this ankle of yours.’

  When she’d been sitting on her bed, all alone and worried in case nobody missed her until the next day, Eliza thought she’d never laugh again. But the performance of getting down the stairs was so hilarious, all three woman ended up giggling and laughing. Jean was supposed to be walking in front of Ada and telling her when to step down to the next stair. But to do that, Jean had to walk down backwards herself, and with Eliza’s backside practically in her face, it was no easy task. ‘Don’t take this as personal, Jean,’ Ada croaked, ‘but I wouldn’t like to climb a mountain with you as a guide. Yer might get us up there, but God help us when it came to finding our way down.’

  ‘If we were climbing a mountain, I wouldn’t have a backside in me face, and a pair of dangling legs.’ Jean patted Eliza’s bottom. ‘Not that yer haven’t got a nice little bottom, girl, or a pair of legs many a person half your age would be proud of. It’s just that I have to keep me eye on the step below me, or I’d end up falling down the lot. And while I don’t mind ending up at the bottom of the stairs with you on top of me, I draw the line at Ada falling on me as well.’

  Having made a pot of tea, and a plate of toast, Hetty came from the kitchen to find out what the commotion was about. Standing at the bottom of the stairs, she said, ‘What in the name of goodness is taking yer so long? And for the life of me I can’t see what yer all find so amusing. Eliza is in agony, and it’s nothing to laugh about.’

  ‘I’m all right, sweetheart,’ Eliza told her. ‘In fact I’m enjoying meself. I have to say, though, that it’s a different kettle of fish for Ada. I’m nearly choking the poor woman to death.’

  ‘Yes, I have noticed me mate is croaking a bit. But it’s nothing for you to worry about, queen.’ Hetty winked before realising they all had their backs to her. ‘There’s a few people will be pleased if she loses her voice for a while.’

  ‘If yer haven’t come to help, then bugger off, Hetty.’ Ada’s voice was rough. ‘To make yerself useful, yer could take over from Jean, give her a break.’

  ‘Okay, Jean, yer heard what me boss said. You go and pour four cups of tea out, and we’ll have Eliza on the couch in no time.’

  When Jean had made her escape to the safety of the kitchen, Hetty climbed the few stairs to reach the old lady. ‘Now let’s get down to business, and we’ll have no more laughing out of the pair of yer. Not until we’ve got the patient in the living room in one piece. There’s only four stairs now, Ada, so if yer come down another two, then I’ll relieve yer of Eliza. I could lift her down the other two, she’s not heavy. Are yer fit, Ada?’

  ‘Fit as a fiddle, sunshine.’ Ada wouldn’t complain for the world, but her neck was sore. Eliza was small and thin, but it was still a heavy weight for Ada’s neck to support. It would have been easier if she could have carried the old lady, but she needed the use of the banister for safety. ‘Let’s get it over as quickly as possible.’

  Hetty’s presence gave Ada more confidence, and she managed to get down the two steps without fear of tripping with her frail neighbour. And from the next to bottom stair, Hetty put her arms round Eliza’s waist and carried her through to the living room, and the couch. ‘There yer are, that wasn’t too bad, was it?’

  The old lady was shaking a bit, but that was from shock, not cold. Heaven knows what would have happened if Ada hadn’t remembered the spare key. But she was soon tucked up with a cover over her knees, a cup of tea in her hand, and a plate of toast on her lap. ‘I don’t know how to thank you. You’ve all been marvellous.’

  ‘No thanks needed, sunshine, we’re getting a nice cup of tea in return.’ Ada felt she hadn’t really been fair on Jean, so she gave her a big smile. ‘It’s all down to Jean, anyway. She was the one who was worried enough to find out why yer weren’t opening the door.’

  The laughter was back in Jean’s eyes now Eliza was safe and well. ‘I’ll put the key back in the lavatory, sweetheart, but I hope yer never have the need for it again.’

  ‘Drink your tea, sunshine, and eat some of the toast,’ Ada said. ‘Then we’ll have a look at yer ankle
. If it’s broken, I’m afraid we’ll have to send for the doctor, ’cos none of us would know what to do. If it’s only a sprain, though, a couple of days resting on the couch should do the trick. We’ll all be keeping an eye on yer to make sure yer do as ye’re told, and we’ll take turns making yer cups of tea and bringing meals in to yer.’

  Hetty nodded in agreement. ‘We’ll make sure yer don’t starve, queen, yer can depend on that.’

  Tears came to the faded blue eyes. ‘I am so lucky to have such kind neighbours. What would I do without you?’

  ‘Oh, I know what yer’d do if we didn’t keep our eyes on yer,’ Ada said, chuckling. ‘Yer’d have a different fancy man in here every night and get the street a bad name.’

  Hetty agreed. ‘None of our husbands would be safe. We’d have to lock them in every night, or tie them to a chair.’

  Eliza finished her tea and passed the cup and saucer over. ‘You are all lucky with the men you married. They’re good husbands and fathers.’

  Ada put her cup on the table with Eliza’s. ‘Now let’s have a look at this ankle of yours. That’s unless yer’ve been having us on, and were playing the wounded soldier ’cos yer wanted some company.’

  The old lady smiled. ‘Yes, I’m fond of doing tricks like that, Ada. I put yer through all this just so I could see yer happy faces.’

  ‘We’ll be a lot happier when we’ve seen that ankle, sunshine, so I’m taking this cover off yer.’ Ada dropped down on to her knees. She didn’t need to touch the thin leg, for she only had to look at the ankle to see it was swollen to twice its normal size. ‘Hetty, come and have a look at this, will yer? I’d say it was a sprain, meself. If it was broken, Eliza would be in agony and the foot would be out of shape. What do you think?’

  ‘I think ye’re probably right, queen.’ Hetty knelt at the side of her mate, and smiled into the old lady’s face. ‘I’m going to touch yer ankle, queen, and if it really hurts, then shout out.’ She gently touched the area around the ankle, then when there was no cry of pain, she ran her hand over it. ‘Did that hurt very much, queen?’