Freda wanted to blurt out that, along with Lemuel, she’d been trying to help Alan – and that meant she was helping Sarah, Georgina and Buster as well. Instead she stood up and faced Betty and Sarah. ‘I’m sorry. I need to get back downstairs, but please believe me: I’ve never stolen another woman’s husband. I’m sad you’d think I was capable of such a thing,’ she said before leaving the room.
Outside in the passage, she leant against the wall and took a deep gulp of air. It would be oh, so easy to walk out of the building and never return, but she was made of sterner stuff. She would see this through to the bitter end, even if it meant losing her friends along the way. If only Alan would explain everything to his wife, but his stupid pride and stubbornness meant he ignored both her pleas and Lemuel’s words of advice. Alan’s answer was always that once he’d settled his debts and he was back running his business, then life would be as it was before.
‘Blimey, what have you got there, girl?’ Bob said as he let Freda in the door and took the heavy parcel from her so she could take off her cardigan and hang it up.
‘It’s something for Ruby. Can you give it to her?’ Freda asked as she followed him up the hall and into the living room, where Ruby was listening to the radio. ‘I’m not interrupting you, am I?’ she asked as Ruby leant over to turn down the volume.
‘It’s only the news. They’re saying Princess Elizabeth’s wedding will be in November. I reckon that’ll be a sight for sore eyes, don’t you? All those toffs wearing their diamond tiaras and ballgowns,’ Ruby sighed.
‘I’d love to watch it, but I doubt they’ll be sending me an invitation,’ Freda said as she felt the teapot. ‘I think I can squeeze one out of there.’
‘I’ll make a fresh pot,’ Bob said as he placed Freda’s parcel on the table. ‘This is for you, love,’ he added.
‘What are you doing buying me presents and wasting your money?’ Ruby asked as she stared at the parcel wrapped in brown paper and tied neatly with a new piece of white string. ‘This looks like Maisie’s handiwork.’
‘It’s the unmentionables for Lemuel,’ Freda explained. ‘I went to see Maisie to ask her advice about men’s sizes, and she had these items. She reckons they will fit him. They’re second-hand, but all very clean.’
Ruby picked at the knot until the string fell away and the brown paper unfolded. ‘These look as good as new,’ she exclaimed as she held up a pair of men’s long johns. ‘They may be a bit much for this weather, but come the winter he’ll be glad of a bit of protection under his trousers.’
Freda nodded, but didn’t say anything.
‘And what’s the matter with you? You would normally be falling about at something like this.’ Ruby waved the underwear in front of her.
‘I’m fine. Just a bit tired,’ Freda answered, knowing she would never tell Ruby what had happened in Betty’s office that afternoon. If her old friend sided with her granddaughter, which was likely to happen as blood was thicker than water, then Freda would be in danger of losing all her friends in one afternoon. Granted, Maisie was yet to hear, but Freda felt sure she’d side with Sarah too.
What had happened for her life to unravel like this? She had been loyal to Alan, thinking she would be helping his family, and now she was being cast as a scarlet woman. ‘I wanted to pick your brain about something,’ she said, thinking it best to change the subject before Ruby wheedled her secret from her like someone working a winkle out of its shell with a pin.
Ruby frowned. There was something upsetting the girl, but she’d not push for an explanation yet. Best to keep an eye on her, and have a shoulder ready for her to cry on if necessary. She just hoped it had nothing to do with what Maureen had mentioned a while back in Maisie’s shop. Thank goodness Freda lived just across the road and could be watched. ‘Fire away – my brain’s not up to much these days but I’ll help if I can.’ She winced as she moved to make herself more comfortable in the wooden upright chair by the table.
‘Are you in pain? Perhaps you should see the doctor.’ Freda knew Ruby wasn’t one for doctors.
Ruby shrugged off the advice. ‘I’ll be fine. It’s only my back, and it is much better when I get into bed. It’s just my old bones protesting. Nothing for you to worry your young head about.’
‘If you’re sure,’ Freda said, but sounded unconvinced. She must find a moment to have a word with Bob and George about Ruby’s aches and pains. That’s if they hadn’t turned their backs on her once Sarah told them she was an adulteress, she thought glumly. Shaking the uncomfortable thought from her head, she said, ‘It’s about a house in Wheatley Terrace – the one at the end of the row with dirty windows and no garden. I was told it’s a . . .’ She couldn’t bring herself to say the words in front of Ruby.
‘A knocking shop?’ Bob said, bringing in the tea tray.
‘Bob Jackson, mind your mouth in front of a young lady,’ Ruby admonished him.
‘It’s what I meant, though. I’d seen people come and go from the house and had my suspicions,’ she said, trying not to notice Bob’s grin in case she encouraged him to laugh and joined in. Despite her worries about Alan and Sarah, she usually couldn’t ignore Bob when he joked about and made them laugh.
‘I know the house you mean,’ Ruby said as she gave Bob a glare. ‘I’d call it a house of ill repute. The old girl who owns the place also offers another service for young women. I’d have it shut down if I could. In fact, I’m going to have a word with my George when he’s home from his honeymoon to see if he can influence the council to do something.’ Ruby paused, deep in thought. ‘Perhaps she sees what she does as a service to those women, but it isn’t right, killing those poor little babies.’
‘Now, now, Ruby, you know that what goes on there is all hearsay. I hope you’re not getting all this from Vera.’
Freda watched as Bob and Ruby discussed the goings-on in the house which she’d seen Effie leave only a few weeks before. ‘You mean it’s not just a knock . . . a house of ill-repute?’ she asked.
‘If it was just that I’d turn a blind eye, but word is she offers a service to women who want to get rid of their unborn babies.’
Freda felt sick and her head started to spin just enough for her to grab the edge of the table. After the day she’d had, to hear that abortions were being carried out only a couple of streets away made her feel ill.
‘Why did you ask, Freda?’ Ruby said. ‘You look worried. You’re not asking about that house for a reason, are you?’
Freda laughed shakily, and took a drink of hot tea. ‘No; it’s just that I saw a new staff member come out of there a few weeks back, and I wondered what was going on.’
Ruby shook her head in disgust. ‘You’d best steer well clear of that one. Either way it doesn’t bode well.’
Bob agreed. ‘Ruby’s right, love. Keep away from her. Best to stick with your own kind who won’t drag you into anything nasty.’
Freda sighed. Now wasn’t the time to say that Effie was visiting later for a chat about her vacant room. After her run-in with Sarah, she’d decided to tell Effie to come to her house rather than have their chat at work. All she’d wanted to do was escape once the closing bell rang in the store. As for ‘her own kind’ . . . well, not many of her friends seemed very supportive at the moment. However she felt about Effie she would have to offer her the room or Betty would be upset. She’d taken the girl on at Woolworths, and was a good judge of character. The way things were going, Betty might be the only friend she would have left in the weeks to come.
‘This is it,’ Freda said as she steered Effie into the bedroom at the top of the stairs. ‘It’s not much of a view from the window out over the back gardens, but you do get the sun in the morning, which is nice. As I said before, you can use the kitchen whenever you want, and the living room. The front room’s out of use for now while Anthony is here. He injured his leg, so he has to have a room downstairs. I’ll introduce you to him later, along with Sadie and Arthur, my other lodgers.’
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p; ‘You seem to have a full house,’ Effie said as she peered out of the tall window. ‘Are you sure you have room for me as well? Won’t Anthony want his room back when he’s better?’
Freda laughed. She liked the young girl more by the minute – that’s if she ignored seeing her in Wheatley Terrace. Effie was polite and seemed interested in the house and the way Freda organized her lodgers. ‘He’s only here until he’s back on his feet. I felt a little responsible, because in a way I was the one to blame for his injury.’
‘Blimey – how did you do that?’ the girl said, before putting a hand over her mouth. ‘Sorry. So much for me being on my best behaviour. I don’t swear that often, honest I don’t.’
‘It doesn’t bother me, but don’t go doing it at work, or you could be in trouble with Betty.’
‘Mrs Billington, do you mean? Do you know her that well, to call her Betty? Does she come here?’ Effie said in awe.
‘I’ve known Mrs Billington since she was Miss Billington. I know it does sound strange – but it’s a lovely story, and she’s a lovely lady when you get to know her,’ Freda smiled. ‘I’ll tell you all about it one day. And yes, I caused Anthony’s injury when I knocked him off his bike while I was riding my friend’s motorbike. There’s no need to look at me like that. I rode a bike during the war for the Fire Service. I’ll tell you all about that as well.’
Effie’s eye shone. ‘Does that mean you’ll let me rent the room?’
‘Well, we have a few things to sort out. Let’s go downstairs and have a cup of cocoa while we chat. Sadie’s making a bite to eat for us all for our dinner. If you want to stay for a while, I’m sure we can stretch it a bit further.’
‘I’d love to, if it’s not putting anyone out? I was going to pick up a bag of chips on the way back to my digs. Some proper food would be nice for once.’
‘Doesn’t your current landlady feed you?’
Effie looked embarrassed. ‘I only pay for my room, as she charges a lot and I’d had a debt to pay off – but I make sure I eat at work in the lunch break. Well, I did until the cook went off on her holidays. The new cook can’t even boil a spud.’
Freda roared with laughter. ‘Maureen will be back in a few days. She’s on her honeymoon. I’ve missed her cooking as well.’
‘What? The old girl’s only just got herself married? There’s hope for me then,’ Effie said, without any spite in her voice.
‘It’s her second marriage. She lost her husband a long time ago. She is now married to Councillor George Caselton. He’s Sarah Gilbert’s father. You’ve probably seen Sarah, she works in the office at Woolworths. Her nan lives over the road at number thirteen. I used to lodge there when I first came to live in Erith.’
‘Blimey, everyone seems to know each other at Woolworths,’ Effie said, forgetting to apologize for her language. ‘You’re like one big happy family.’
Not so happy at the moment, Freda thought to herself as she followed the girl downstairs.
‘Hello – who are you?’ Effie said as she bent down to chat with Sadie’s son Arthur, who was sitting on the floor lining up a row of wooden motor cars.
Arthur looked up and gave her a toothy grin before returning to his toys.
‘He’s not one for talking much,’ Sadie called from the kitchen. ‘I put it down to living with my nan for far too long. He could never get a word in edgeways.’
‘Sadie, this is Effie. She may be taking the room next to yours.’
Sadie wiped her hand on the cotton pinafore she was wearing, and came into the room to shake hands. ‘Pleased to meet you. It’ll be nice to have another waif and stray living here.’
‘Waif and stray?’ Effie asked, after saying hello.
‘Our Freda is one of those kindly souls who lets people come into her house to live when they’ve nowhere else to go. If it wasn’t for her, me and the nipper would be sleeping in one of those dosshouses down West Street way. She’s a good one, is Freda.’
Freda dismissed Sadie’s words with a flap of her hand. ‘Now you’re being silly. My friend Molly was very good to me; she gave me this house after she married. I’m just passing my good luck on to others. Besides, I couldn’t run this house on my wages, so it makes sense to have a few lodgers.’
‘Someone gave you this house?’ Effie asked in wonderment.
‘Yes, as I say, my friend Molly got married and moved away. She was also left her late parents’ house, so, being a generous soul, she gave this house to me.’
‘Molly also got married to the film star Johnny Johnson,’ Sadie said, making Effie’s jaws almost hit the ground.
‘Blimey, I’ve seen him at the pictures,’ Effie said in amazement. ‘Whatever are you going to tell me next? I can’t keep up with all this excitement,’ she grinned.
‘Blimey,’ echoed a young voice from the floor.
Effie covered her mouth again in horror, but Sadie burst into laughter.
‘What’s all the laughter about?’ Anthony asked as he limped gingerly into the room, leaning heavily on one crutch.
‘Young Arthur’s learnt a new word,’ Freda said, thinking that if the little boy were hers, she wouldn’t be amused by such language. ‘Perhaps we should all be a little more circumspect with what we say around the child?’ she suggested, knowing this sounded like something Betty would say.
‘I’m sorry, it’s my fault. I’ll be more careful next time. That’s if there is a next time,’ Effie said, looking to where Freda had started to take cups and saucers from a cupboard for their cocoa.
‘We will have to have a little chat after our dinner,’ Freda said, giving her a warm smile. She knew that Effie would fit in very well with the other residents, but she was still worried about the young girl’s connection with the house on Wheatley Terrace.
‘So we might have a newcomer,’ Anthony said as he sat in the chair that Effie had quickly pulled out for him. ‘Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?’
Effie shrugged her shoulders and went over to help Freda. ‘Probably around the town,’ she said, dismissing his question.
Anthony frowned. ‘No, it’s more specific than that. It’ll come to me, given time,’ he said as he leant over to take a motor car that Arthur was holding out to him. ‘You didn’t happen to live round Wheatley Terrace, did you?’ he asked.
Freda saw Effie freeze for a moment before she laughed off the comment by saying, ‘Never heard of it. Shall I hand the drinks out, Freda?’
‘Yes, please. We may as well sit down at the table. Dinner will be ready soon. I’ve asked Effie to stay for a bite to eat, Sadie. I take it you’ve cooked enough for an army again?’ Freda said, wondering why Effie had lied to Anthony. Was she right to give the girl a room in her house, however pleasant she was? She decided to give her the benefit of the doubt for now . . .
‘There’s plenty here. I cooked up some extra potato and cabbage so we can have bubble and squeak tomorrow.’
‘I don’t want to put you out,’ Effie said, looking worried.
‘It’s fine,’ Sadie said, reaching behind her to where a trug had been left on a side table. ‘Lemuel was round earlier. He’s left us a couple of cabbages and some carrots. He’s been paying his way by digging over Bob’s allotments. Ruby told him to give us a share of the latest crop. He didn’t stop,’ she added, quickly knowing that Freda would not approve.
‘Lemuel? That’s a funny name,’ Effie said as she sipped her cocoa. ‘Is it foreign?’
‘It’s from the Bible,’ Sadie explained softly. ‘Lemuel is my friend. We are walking out together,’ she added, raising her chin a little in case anyone was going to question why she would do such a thing.
‘That’s nice, but it’s still a very unusual name for a mother to give her son. I’ve never heard it before,’ Effie said as she cocked her head to one side to think about it.
‘Lemuel comes from the West Indies,’ Sadie explained.
‘What, you mean he’s a black man?’ Effie asked in amazement. ‘You’re wal
king out with a black man . . .?’
‘We love each other,’ Sadie said. ‘Do you find something wrong in that?’
‘No, not me. The few I’ve met have been lovely blokes.’
Freda watched the exchange between the two young women and started to wonder where young Effie had met these foreign men. Lemuel was unusual in having lived in England since the war. Most others were working on the ships that came up the Thames to the docks. Some lodged in the roads around Wheatley Terrace, renting a bed by the night until joining another ship setting out to foreign lands. Again, Wheatley Terrace had cropped up. What did it mean?
‘Hello, Mike – are you here on official business, or to take my husband for a pint?’ Sarah asked, as Mike Jackson removed his helmet and stepped over the threshold of the little house in Crayford Road.
Mike looked serious as he followed her into the living room that led straight from the front door. ‘I’m afraid it’s official business this time, Sarah, but I do have time for a cuppa if you’re asking.’
‘Consider the kettle already on.’ She smiled at the family friend. ‘How’s Gwyneth? I’ve not seen her since the wedding. Even then we didn’t have time to swap more than a few words. I thought she wasn’t looking her usual glowing self.’
Mike sat down in one of the two armchairs set each side of the unlit fireplace. It was another warm day, and he pulled out a handkerchief to mop his brow. ‘We’ve both been waiting patiently for Gwyneth to fall for our first child. Each month she seems to get more upset when it doesn’t happen. As much as we both love Myfi, and as you know we have formally adopted her, it’s not quite the same as having a child of our own. Gwyneth blames herself, but I do wonder if it has something to do with my age. I did mention it to our doctor when I was there seeing him about my bad chest, but he dismissed me as if I was an idiot. I just know I would give my right arm to make Gwyneth happy,’ he said sadly.
Sarah thought a lot of Mike. Being the son of Bob Jackson, who was now married to her nan, Mike was like an uncle to her, although having a younger wife he didn’t act his age. ‘I’m sure it will happen,’ she said, not knowing what else to say. ‘It’s early days. Let me put the water in the teapot and then I’ll give Alan a shout. He’s out the back tinkering with Bessie. The wedding photographs are on the sideboard, if you’d like to look at them?’
Wedding Bells for Woolworths Page 17