The Lido Girls

by Allie Burns

‘Leave it with me, Miss Flacker. I’ll get this fixed,’ George said.

  She smiled. To solve this mess was going to take more than a spanner and a bit of elbow grease.

  *

  When Yvonne marched towards her at closing up, she nearly ran away. She’d had enough of confrontation for one day.

  ‘I’m glad I’ve seen you,’ she said instead, resolving to take the chance to come clean. ‘I wanted to tell you that George and I…’

  ‘I know about you and George,’ Yvonne said, ‘I have friends here and they have seen you with him. I have been waiting for you to tell me yourself, but I need to intervene now.’ Natalie bit her lip. ‘Why are you filling his head with silly ideas?’ Yvonne slapped a piece of paper covered in a child’s loopy scrawl. Natalie checked about for George.

  ‘The letter was his idea. He seems to think if he can swim then his father will come home. He’s really coming along so…’

  ‘Do not talk to him about his father. Stop sneaking around and giving him lessons when I am not here. You are a bad influence. You will make him unhappy.’

  ‘But Yvonne, he… You’d be so proud of him,’ she called after her, ‘his doggy paddle is marvellous,’ but Yvonne was already on her way back to the cafeteria.

  *

  Jack’s tired face lit up when he opened the door to his eighth-floor Marine Court flat.

  ‘I never thought I’d get you up here,’ he said.

  ‘You didn’t come back to work. I suppose you’ve been hiding from Arthur. He’s after your blood, you know?’ His smile evaporated as she spoke.

  ‘So he knows, does he?’

  He gestured for her to come in. She hesitated, not trusting what might happen if she crossed the threshold, so she only stepped on to the doormat, not wanting to go any further.

  ‘I don’t want you to get involved with Sid and Arthur. I’ll take care of it.’

  ‘But the idea was to reason with Delphi and let her see what she has got herself involved in.’ Her back straightened as he stroked her cheek.

  Over his shoulders, she saw the lounge wallpapered a cool ivory. A matching soft, silky-looking rug in the centre of the room and a boxy, off-white, deep-cushioned corner settee faced the window and the sea. The wireless set on a sideboard hummed gently.

  ‘Now you’re here, let me show you around.’ He led her by the hand.

  In the kitchen area, cupboards ran along one wall. The bathroom opened straight on to the lounge, as did the bedroom.

  He caught her looking at the crumpled sheets on top of the bed.

  ‘Do you want to stay?’ he asked, rubbing the tops of her shoulders.

  She thought of her hand on his bare chest at Sun Ray House, admired the impression of his shoulders beneath his shirt. She reached out to touch him, placed her palm on his shirt, feeling the warmth of his chest again, his heart beating beneath the cotton.

  ‘I’ve called the Borough Engineer,’ she said. ‘He’s coming over in the morning to fix the pump.’

  As his hands fell from her shoulders he pushed her gently away. His forehead creased.

  ‘I told you I didn’t want to do that,’ he said.

  ‘Arthur knows what’s happened now and if the bathing pool has to close for the bank holiday then we will all carry the blame.’

  He had walked away from her and now adjusted the knob on the wireless, the voices and music on the stations zipping in and out of focus, until he ran out of options and in frustration clicked it off. Then he went alone into the bedroom.

  ‘I should go,’ she said to the closed door. They were both angry with one another. None of this had gone as planned. There was no reply.

  *

  Delphi’s waistline had thickened, she noticed the next morning. Her friend stood by the dresser of her hotel room, wearing her beach pyjamas, and poured a glass of water into a crystal cut tumbler meant for whisky. It regularly happened with her illness. She’d have a sudden plumping out and it was hard to hide on such a petite figure. Her jawline had started to fill out too. She snatched her gaze away as soon as Delphi caught her eyes on her middle.

  ‘This weather is too much for me.’ Delphi parked on the end of the spongy bed, right beneath the fan that spun around, clicking with each full rotation and pushing aside her hair.

  Natalie was surprised at Delphi’s act. It wasn’t like her friend to pretend that everything was all right, to not acknowledge that she’d avoided her, deserted the classes with the girls, or more importantly that Jack had sacked Sid.

  Instead, while she packed her suitcase, she chattered about the paddle steamer cruise to Margate that she and Sid were leaving on that day. Speculating about the food, their cabin, whether she’d get seasick.

  While she spoke, Natalie noted the signs of Sid about the room: a pair of his socks on the floor in the corner, both pillows dented. But the hotel would know that they weren’t married and wouldn’t have let him stay there officially, which was perhaps why there was no sign of his holdall or suitcase. They’d no doubt be sharing a cabin as Mr and Mrs Smith on the steamer too.

  Finally Delphi gave up the pretence, abandoned her case and flung her arms to her sides.

  ‘Why did Jack do it?’ she asked. ‘Can my own brother not bear to see me happy.’

  ‘It’s not that.’ She held her tongue before she said any more. She wasn’t ready to tell Delphi about her suspicions yet.

  ‘Sid loves me just as I am, and I don’t see why you and my family can’t do the same.’

  Natalie sipped her water and rested the glass on her lap.

  ‘Of course I’d love you any old how. I just wish you had better health, that’s all. Wouldn’t you think of coming back to Frills and Drills?’

  ‘No one cares about that. It was important to us, but it is inconsequential in the scheme of things.’

  ‘But, Delphi, how can you say that? Our classes have touched Edith, Betsy, Barnie, and if we could persuade her out of her sulk, then we might help Yvonne too. But not if we give up now.’

  ‘It’s you that’s making the difference.’

  ‘But it’s you and your wafting that attracted them in the first place. You’ve lost interest now, but if you came back they’d drop my drills in a heartbeat to flounce about with you. I wish you would join us again. Nobody can let loose quite like you.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Natty, I really am. But I can’t go back there now after what Jack has done to Sid. I have to choose.’

  ‘I don’t believe that Sid would ask that of you. He’s a good man. And so I have to wonder why? What about our careers? We made an agreement, to support one another.’

  ‘I mean to say, Natty, things were different when we made that pact. Before we came here we never thought we’d be anything more than invisible surplus women.’

  ‘Don’t call us that. I don’t like it,’ Natalie interrupted.

  ‘Spinsters, then.’ Delphi folded her arms. ‘Because I want to see you happy I can accept that you’re in love with my brother. Why can’t you…’

  ‘Love is a big thing to claim,’ Natalie interrupted. ‘I’m still getting to know Jack.’

  ‘Oh, what are you afraid of?’ Delphi shook her head. ‘Isn’t this what you wanted – a husband?’

  She noticed Delphi was trembling with anger.

  ‘It’s a big step. I don’t know yet, I don’t know…’

  ‘Oh it’s always a big step with you, isn’t it?’

  ‘Delphi. This doesn’t sound like you. Please stop. You are talking as if we have to choose between friendship and marriage.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’ Delphi fought to regain her composure.

  Natalie adjusted her tone too.

  ‘It’s no secret,’ she said, sensing it was time to address Delphi’s anger head on. ‘I have always felt I’d be more at ease with a…’ she looked about the room for the right choice of words ‘…with a conventional set-up.’

  ‘A husband.’ Delphi presented it in more simple terms.

  ‘Yes,
a husband, however unlikely, was always my preferred companion. If you and I had lived together, acquaintances would have speculated about us at dinner parties. Other tenants would have nudged one another when passing us in the corridor. I… I don’t believe I have the nerve for that.’

  ‘I know.’ Delphi spoke softly. ‘And I don’t hate you for it. But I disagree with what you said before; there is a choice to be made. Our friendship has changed course. We both have male companions now. I don’t believe that we can be great friends and great wives.’

  Natalie’s shoulders sagged. Her whole body in fact crumpled and her head dipped to her chest. Is this the freedom Delphi had talked of with Jack? By turning to Sid, had Delphi left her free to chase conventional safety.

  Now was the time to tell her about Sid. How the takings had been down all season. She thought of the times she saw him feeling his inside pocket and patting it. How he’d shifted about under the lightest interrogation. Smashed the place up in the face of an outright accusation from Jack.

  She paused for a moment, sticking on Delphi’s words as they replayed in her mind.

  ‘Did you say great wives?’

  She checked Delphi’s ring finger. It was still bare; it must have simply been a turn of phrase.

  ‘You’re right,’ Delphi said. ‘Sid and I…we’re engaged.’

  ‘But…’ She stopped short. ‘Is that what you really want?’

  ‘Of course it is.’ Delphi closed that line of enquiry with her folded arms.

  ‘Well then what about Sid? He is a kind, sweet man but do you really know him?’

  ‘What is that supposed to mean?’

  Natalie hesitated. Looked out of the hotel window to see the paddle steamer coming alongside the pier. She couldn’t say it now. It would look like sour grapes.

  ‘That he has had a difficult past, the likes of which we can only begin to understand, and he carries it with him.’

  ‘And don’t forget that he is unemployed now, thanks to my brother,’ Delphi clipped together her suitcase and lifted it to the floor.

  Natalie covered her eyes. ‘Your parents entrusted you to us both, so they could travel, and you could have your freedom. Had you thought that Jack might be trying to protect you?’

  ‘He could protect me by giving Sid his job back, or there might be more damage.’

  Both women sat in silence for a moment until Delphi slipped a waist-length white fur coat flecked with grey over her beach pyjamas, sat back on the bed and cleared her throat.

  ‘So you’re threatening your own brother now?’ Natalie asked.

  ‘Sid needs his job, otherwise we don’t have a hope.’

  ‘Have you considered that Jack’s actions are justified, that you might be making a mistake?’

  ‘I’m being brave at last. I’m striking out, and Sid has pledged to stand by me.’ She fastened the buttons of her coat. Natalie followed Delphi’s fingers as she ran them through her hair. The curls sprang out in response and settled on the outside of her collar. Delphi flipped her wrist to look at her marcasite watch.

  ‘I need to meet Sid. The steamer leaves from the pier in a quarter of an hour. Natty.’ She took her hand. ‘You know how much I care for you. And I’m sorry I’ve thrown over our little pact, but you have Jack now, and I can’t let my life go back to how it was.’ Delphi paused. ‘Sometimes the rule makers need to be challenged. They aren’t always right. And for the first time in my life I am going to truly take a stand and make sure that Mother and Father hear what I have to say. Then I’m going to be free of them once and for all. And if you won’t stand by my side, then I’d at least like you to be cheering me on.’

  Downstairs, Sid was waiting for her, his unshaven face pale against the dark hair growth. He chilled Natalie with the look he fired in her direction and then took Delphi’s suitcase and shepherded her towards the entrance. It was as if Natalie were no longer there as they spun through the revolving door together and were gone.

  *

  Natalie stepped on to the high board and turned to wait for the others.

  ‘It’s moving,’ Barnie cried, clasping on to the side rails. ‘It’s bloody well moving.’

  Edith and Betsy urged her to slide along the rails so they could get off the rickety stepladder that connected the high board to the lower level.

  Natalie perched on the scratchy coconut matting and dangled her legs over the edge. The bathing pool beneath them had shrunk with the distance. The sounds of the bathers reduced by the air separating them.

  ‘How does Jack do it?’ Betsy, still holding the railings, sneaked a look over her shoulder.

  ‘It takes good training and a strong mind.’

  ‘It is moving,’ Barnie said. ‘Thanks all the same, Natalie, but I’m going to climb back down now.’

  Natalie let her go. Barnie wasn’t the main reason she’d brought the girls up the tower after their class. Barnie had benefited the most from the classes, the terrible bags from under her eyes had gone. She smiled more and she didn’t complain when her shift was over and it was time to go home to her children.

  ‘I can feel my heart at work in my ears,’ Betsy said as she crawled closer to Natalie on all fours. She stopped short of the edge, her legs curled up beneath her.

  ‘It’s much more stable than I imagined.’ Edith lowered herself down and then cast her legs over. ‘You can see all the way around the coast from here.’

  ‘Can you help us with something?’ Betsy asked after a few moments’ silence as they all enjoyed sitting high above St Darlstone.

  ‘If I can.’ Her class with the girls today had gone well. She’d cut instinctively back on some of the frills to concentrate on strengthening their muscle groups and no one had complained.

  ‘The summer will be over soon, and we’re all going to miss our classes. And I was wondering if there was any way we could keep this going, after you’ve gone.’

  ‘You mean you want me to train you?’ Perhaps Betsy would have better luck encouraging Yvonne along. She might even be able to keep up George’s instruction.

  ‘Maybe, if Arthur will let me.’

  That’s going to be your biggest hurdle.

  ‘You’ve been a wonderful student and I’m sure you can transfer that to giving instruction,’ Natalie said, delighted to think that the girls would carry on without them. Edith murmured in agreement. ‘Perhaps in return you could consider something for me,’ Natalie began. ‘I thought we might add something new to Frills and Drills.’

  ‘You can’t mean us lot diving?’ Betsy gripped the coconut matting.

  ‘Drills, Frills and Thrills. I thought we could name it. What a surprise for Arthur, for everyone you know in St Darlstone. They’ll see you in a different light altogether when we close the gala,’ Natalie said.

  ‘You’ve lost your mind,’ Betsy said. ‘I’ll cause such a huge splash there’ll be no water left.’

  ‘That’s not true. I’ve never seen you look so trim,’ Edith said.

  ‘You’re not seriously thinking we should try this?’ Under Betsy’s questioning gaze, Edith turned her attention back to the view. ‘At your age, Edith. You passed out on the stage just last week, or have you forgotten?’

  ‘I’ve only left this town a handful of times in my whole life,’ said Edith, ‘and Albert’s health means that won’t change in a hurry. I need to make my own adventures while I still can.’

  ‘But at your age, Edie, go on the switchback railway or paddle in the sea or something. If you dive from this height you’re going to need syrup of figs for a week to get things moving again after the fright.’

  ‘We’d learn from a lower board first of all,’ Natalie said, ignoring Betsy’s melodrama. ‘There’s much less chance of injury. You could burst a lung from this height if you got it wrong. From the lower boards you could still get some nasty bruises, but the risks will be lower.’

  ‘Oh, well that’s sold me then,’ Betsy snapped. ‘Where can I sign up?’

  ‘Betsy. I�
��m just trying to egg you on to better things.’

  ‘Oh, Natalie, you just don’t understand us, do you, love? Finding the courage to wear a bathing costume in front of my husband and everyone who knows me will be really quite something. If I can do that, it will be enough.’

  Betsy’s head disappeared beneath the board as she climbed back down the stepladder in pursuit of Barnie. Natalie and Edith sat in silence as they waited, hearing the metal steps on the next level clank before Edith spoke.

  ‘I’d never been on a stage until the bathing belles display,’ Edith said. ‘It was a forgettable experience, but I did it. Next stop the diving board.’

  Natalie patted her hand and said, ‘I just knew you would say yes.’

  *

  It was early evening and they had the Lido to themselves, and cooler, fresher air was silently invading from the sea. The sky was so clear that she could make out the hazy white wall of French cliffs rising up on the hem of the horizon.

  The air was still, the sea flat, managing nothing more than a lazy flip on to the beach.

  Natalie held the letter in her hand as she watched the paddle steamer dock at the end of the pier from her viewing point on the high board. Delphi had only been gone for three days, but it had felt more like a month.

  Her view of the passengers disembarking was obscured and she followed heads down the pier, tiny dots from this distance. None had looked to be Delphi, but she couldn’t be sure. How would it be between them? They had clashed terribly before she went away.

  She read the letter again, while in the pool beneath the whistle blew up at the water polo match. Voices were raised. It had come that morning, the timing so perfect that she had no doubt that she had to persuade Delphi to think again about her career.

  Dear Sirs,

  We at the Women’s League of Health and Beauty are gathering momentum. To that end we are touring around the coast of England, demonstrating our popular classes and recruiting new members to the League.

  The League will open a new fitness centre in St Darlstone later this year and to that end we would be most grateful if you could provide a space for our demonstrations at your bathing pool on the August Bank Holiday Monday at 2:30 p.m. for around one hour.