by Joan Jonker
‘An’ I don’t think!’ Tommy’s lip curled in disgust. ‘I’m not gettin’ hitched until I’m old . . . twenty-five at least! I’m goin’ to enjoy meself first. If there’s a war, I’m goin’ to join the army an’ see the world.’
Molly banged her fist down on the table, sending the plates and cutlery flying in all directions. ‘If anyone mentions that word again, I’ll throttle them, so help me. D’yer hear? There’s not goin’ to be a flamin’ war!’
‘Molly,’ Jack said, calmly, ‘the noise you’re makin’, next door will think the war’s already started . . . in here!’
Chapter Twenty-Five
‘This’ll be for you, Jill,’ Molly shouted up the stairs as she went to answer the knock on the door. ‘Put a move on!’
‘Won’t be long, Mam!’ she shouted back. ‘Five minutes.’
Molly hesitated for a second with her hand on the latch. It wasn’t like her to take a dislike to someone she’d only seen the once. And if push came to shove, and she was honest with herself, she couldn’t really say why she disliked the poor bloke. He was probably very nice in his own way, but she couldn’t help wishing it was another face she was going to see when she opened the door.
‘Jill won’t be long.’ The smile stayed fixed on her face, hiding the surprise she felt inside. Miles was done up like a dog’s dinner. His hair was sleeked back with just enough brilliantine to keep it in place, and underneath the heavy overcoat she could see he was wearing evening dress and bow tie.
Good grief, Molly thought, that’s put the cat amongst the pigeons. Our Jill’s planning to wear a skirt and blouse, hardly the thing to walk out with someone dressed up as fancy as a tailor’s dummy in Lewis’s window. She held the door wide. ‘Are yer comin’ in?’
‘I won’t if you don’t mind,’ Miles said, his eyes on the gleaming car standing by the kerb. ‘I’ll wait for her in the car.’
‘I’ll tell her to put a move on. You won’t mind if I close the door, keep the draught out?’
‘Of course not.’ Miles knew he wasn’t making a good impression, but he wasn’t having every scruffy kid in the neighbourhood climbing all over his car again.
Molly closed the door and her eyes at the same time. ‘God forgive me, but I’m never goin’ to take to him,’ she muttered before making for the stairs and climbing them quicker than she ever had. She threw the bedroom door open and gasped, ‘Yer’d better get changed, sunshine, His Nibs ’as got his best bib an’ tucker on.’ She saw the questioning look in Jill’s eyes. ‘Evening suit, bow tie, the lot! You name it, he’s got it on.’
Jill sat on the edge of the bed. ‘Oh, no! I never thought to ask Joan what to wear, I just assumed it would be like going to the pictures.’
‘Think again, sunshine, and get changed on the double. He’s waitin’ in the car, wouldn’t come in.’
‘I’ve got nothing to wear!’ she wailed. ‘I can’t wear that blue dress again, he’ll think I’ve got nothing else!’
‘Just calm down,’ Molly said, her chin in her hand. ‘What about that nice lilac dress? It’s plain, an’ yer could wear yer necklace and bracelet to set it off. An’ the ear-rings.’ She pulled her daughter from the bed. ‘Come on, just do the best yer can.’
While Jill was slipping her dress over her head, Molly opened a drawer of the tall-boy. ‘Here yer are, yer nan’s shawl is still here. Wrap that over yer shoulders an’ yer’ll look a treat.’
Leaving Jill rushing round the bedroom, Molly plodded heavy-footed down the stairs. She closed the living room door behind her and leaned against it. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever take to that feller. He wouldn’t come in, preferred to wait in ’is car. An’ God knows what the neighbours will think, ’cos he’s done up like a flamin’ penguin!’
‘Molly, for heaven’s sake, don’t start! It’s not often I go against yer, but this time I’ve got to ’ave me say.’ Jack ran his hands through his hair, a worried look on his face. ‘If our Jill hears yer, it’ll only upset her, so not a word, d’yer hear? It’s her life, an’ if she likes ’im then that’s the main thing. Just don’t interfere, that’s all.’
‘Okay, okay!’ Molly moved from the door. ‘I’ll keep me trap shut an’ not say a word to her. But I’m tellin’ yer now, an’ time will prove me right, he’s not the one for our Jill.’
Doreen was standing in front of the mirror combing her hair. She had parted it down the side to see if it suited her, but after turning her head and viewing it from all angles, decided it looked better parted down the middle. Tapping the comb on the palm of her hand, she asked, ‘What did happen between our Jill and Steve? I never heard nothin’ about them havin’ a row.’
‘Your guess is as good as mine,’ Molly answered. ‘The whole thing is a flamin’ mystery. An’ if yer ask me, although she ’asn’t said anythin’, our Jill’s as flummoxed as we are.’
‘I saw Steve tonight, gettin’ off the tram.’ Doreen went back to combing her long blonde hair, her pride and joy. ‘Next time I see ’im, I’ll ask him what happened.’
‘Yer will not!’ Molly said indignantly. ‘If yer mention it to him, he’ll think Jill put yer up to it, tryin’ to get round him. An’ although I’d love to see them back together, I don’t want ’im to think she’s pining for him. Let him come back of ’is own accord.’
‘Hush!’ Jack lifted a warning hand just as Jill burst through the door.
‘Do I look all right?’ She did a twirl for their inspection. ‘It’s the best I could do.’
‘Fit for a King, yer look, sunshine.’ Molly smiled encouragement. ‘The jewellery doesn’t half set the dress off.’
‘You look lovely, lass,’ Jack said. ‘But you’d better hurry. The young man will be frozen, sittin’ out there all this time.’
Serves him right if he is frozen. Molly’s thoughts were dark. If he wasn’t so stuck up, he could have been sitting in front of a nice warm fire.
Jill blew a kiss. ‘See you later.’
Doreen hurried to the window and moved the curtain aside. She hadn’t seen this Miles yet, and she was curious. ‘Blimey! The state of ’im an’ the price of fish!’
‘All right, nose fever, that’s enough!’ Molly raised her eyes upwards. ‘Come away from there before he sees yer.’
‘Ay, he’s some toff, isn’t he? Yer should ’ave seen the way he opened the car door for our Jill an’ fussed over ’er. He looks like George Raft, only he’s taller an’ nicer lookin’.’
‘Huh!’ Molly snorted. ‘Fine clothes don’t mean a thing, it’s what’s inside that counts.’
‘Well, he looks a bit of all right to me,’ said Doreen, going to collect her coat. ‘An’ plenty of money from the looks of things.’
‘Anythin’ in trousers looks all right to you,’ Molly called after her, ‘particularly if the trouser pockets ’ave got money in.’ She undid the knot in the ties of her apron. ‘I think I’ll slip round to me ma’s for an hour. Listen for Ruthie, will yer, love? An’ when Tommy comes in, tell him to be quiet when he goes upstairs.’
Jack made a grab for Molly’s arm and pulled her down on his knee. ‘Yer can go out on two conditions. First, give us a kiss. Second, bring a bag of chips in with yer.’
Laughing, Molly planted a noisy kiss on his mouth. ‘Yer a proper seven bellies, you are! How can yer be hungry after the dinner yer’ve just eaten?’
‘I’m not hungry, love, it’s just that I fancy eatin’ some chips straight from the paper. They never taste the same from a plate.’
Molly gave him another kiss before standing up. ‘As long as that’s all yer fancy.’
Jack listened to make sure Doreen had gone out, then grinned. ‘Yer never know yer luck, love! I might just fancy something else later.’
‘Oh, aye!’ Molly said, struggling into the arms of her coat. ‘I come second to a bag of chips now, do I? Yer certainly know how to flatter a woman.’
Jack chuckled. ‘If I’m on a promise, yer needn’t bother with the chips.’
; Molly turned at the door and studied his smiling face. ‘For the life of me I don’t know why, but I love the bones of yer, Jack Bennett.’
‘Skip the chips, Molly,’ he called after her retreating back. ‘We’ll start with the dessert.’
‘Well, now, this is a surprise, so it is!’ Bridie turned down the wireless. ‘I wasn’t expectin’ visitors tonight.’
Molly bent to kiss her. ‘Listening to Bandwagon, are yer, Ma?’
Bridie nodded. ‘It’s very funny. Me an’ Da have been laughin’ our heads off, haven’t we, Bob?’
He pulled a chair forward for his daughter. ‘Arthur Askey and Richard Murdoch are a scream. The things they come out with would make a cat laugh.’
‘Put it up higher, Ma,’ said Molly, slipping her coat off and hanging it over the back of the chair. ‘I could do with a good laugh.’
For the next quarter of an hour Molly laughed so much the tears were running down her cheeks. She had seen Arthur Askey on the pictures and in her mind could imagine the changing expressions on his face. A little man wearing horn-rimmed glasses, he was nothing to look at but, oh, he was dead funny.
When the show finished Molly’s arms were wrapped around herself. ‘I’ve laughed that much I’ve got stitches in me side.’
‘I don’t know where they get the ideas from, week after week,’ Bob said, wiping his eyes on a spotlessly clean white hankie. ‘I can never remember one joke, never mind reeling them off like they do.’
Bridie switched the wireless off. ‘There’s nothing much on now until the news, so we’ll have a nice cup of tea. An’ I did some baking today, so yer can have a piece of that jam sandwich cake yer like so much.’
Molly heard the tap running as she turned to her father. ‘One of these days I’ll get me ma to show me how to bake. My cakes either turn out as hard as rocks or they drop in the middle. There’s a knack . . .’ She leaned forward suddenly, her eyes narrowed into slits. Her father was sitting back with his eyes closed, his face drained of colour. ‘What’s wrong, Da?’
‘I feel a bit breathless.’ Bob rubbed a hand over his chest. ‘I’ll be all right in a minute, just a bit of wind.’
‘That’s what yer get for laughin’ so much,’ Molly said, trying not to panic. She didn’t like the look of her father at all. His face was a terrible colour and he was having a lot of trouble breathing.
Bob suddenly fell forward in the chair, both hands clutching his chest, his face screwed up in pain. Molly ran to kneel in front of him. ‘What is it, Da?’
‘Terrible pains, lass.’
‘That’s never wind, is it, Da?’
Bob didn’t answer as the pains grew in intensity and had him gripping the wooden arms of the chair. When he looked at Molly she could see fear in his eyes. ‘We’ll get the doctor, Da, just in case. Better be on the safe side.’ She patted his knee before scrambling to her feet. ‘Don’t worry, yer’ll soon be all right.’
Molly told herself to be calm, not to let her mother see how worried she was. But she couldn’t put the colour back in her cheeks or the smile on her face. And Bridie only had to take one look at her to know all was not well. Her voice anxious, she asked, ‘What is it?’
‘Da’s not feeling well.’ There was no way Molly could soften the blow, there wasn’t time. ‘I think we should get the doctor.’
Bridie pushed her daughter aside and rushed into the living room. Bob was sitting with his head back and his eyes closed. ‘Oh, dear sweet Jesus.’ Bridie made the sign of the cross before kneeling in front of the man she loved more than life itself. She took one of his hands between hers and stroked it gently with her thumbs. In all the years they’d been married Bob had never been ill. Now she tried to be strong even though she wanted to hold him close and shed the tears that were building up behind her eyes. ‘Molly’s going for the doctor, me darlin’, and we’ll have yer as right as rain in no time, so we will.’
Molly grabbed her coat. ‘I’ll run round to Maisie’s and use her phone, it’ll be quicker.’
‘Don’t be long, love.’ There was pleading in Bridie’s eyes. Don’t leave me on my own, they were saying, I’m frightened.
‘I’ll be there an’ back before yer know I’ve gone,’ Molly promised. And she ran as though her life depended on it, praying with every step.
Maisie and Alec were alone in the shop when Molly burst in, tears streaming down her face. Leaning on the counter, she panted, ‘Me da’s ill. Ring for the doctor, Maisie, please. Yer know the address. Tell ’im it’s urgent.’ She straightened up. ‘I’ll ’ave to get back to me ma, I can’t leave her on her own. Anythin’ happens to Da, it’ll be the death of her.’
Maisie was already on her way to the stock room where the phone hung on the wall. ‘I’ll make sure the doctor gets the message, Molly. An’ if there’s anythin’ else I can do, let me know.’
‘Thanks, Maisie, an’ Alec. I’ll see yez. Ta-ra.’
Molly was turning the corner of her mother’s street when she remembered Jack. She stopped briefly to mutter, ‘Oh, aren’t I stupid? I should ’ave asked Maisie to give ’im a message. Still, it’s too late now to turn back.’ She set off again, half running, half skipping. ‘I’ll ask Ma’s neighbour Katy to go for me. She’s a good soul, she won’t mind. An’ if Tommy’s in, please God, Jack will come round like a shot. The Lord knows I could do with him here right now.’
‘I’ve never been so glad to see anyone in me life, Doctor!’ Molly closed the front door quietly. ‘Da’s in a bad way. He’s doubled up with pains in ’is chest, can hardly get his breath.’
John Whiteside had been the family doctor for as long as Molly could remember. He was a pleasant man, tall and well-built with a shock of white hair, ruddy complexion, twinkling blue eyes and a strong, square jawline. He was sixty-five but looked a good ten years younger. He put his hand on Molly’s arm. ‘Now get a grip of yourself. It might just be a bad attack of indigestion your father’s got, or he’s eaten his food too quickly. We’ll soon find out. Take Bridie into the kitchen while I examine him.’
Bridie tried to shrug her daughter’s hand off, but Molly wasn’t going to stand any nonsense. She had enough sense to know that the sight of her mother crying wasn’t going to do her father much good. She couldn’t do anything about it before because she couldn’t leave him on his own, but now the doctor was here it was a different matter. Putting a hand under each of her mother’s arms, she lifted her bodily and carried her through to the kitchen. ‘Now just cut that cryin’ out, Ma, d’yer hear?’
‘I can’t help it, lass! I love him so much it grieves me to see him like that.’ Bridie reached for the tea towel to dry her eyes. ‘I wouldn’t want to live if anythin’ happened to him.’
There was a light knock on the door. ‘Molly!’
She exchanged glances with her mother. The doctor had been very quick, was that a good sign or a bad? She poked her head around the door. ‘Yes, Doctor?’
‘I’d like your father in hospital. I’m nipping back to the surgery to ring for an ambulance.’
Bridie tried to push past, but Molly was too quick for her. ‘Stay there, Ma, yer only goin’ to make things worse.’
‘He’s my husband, an’ I want to know what’s wrong with him! Why are yer sending him to hospital, Doctor?’
John Whiteside raised a hand to silence her. ‘Because I think that is the best place for him. He’ll be in better hands than mine. I’m only a general practitioner, not a specialist. It may be nothing to worry about, but I can’t take that chance.’ He stepped into the kitchen and partly closed the door behind him. In a low voice he said, ‘There’s nothing you can do for him until the ambulance comes, except give him a drink if he asks for one. And keep calm, Bridie, do you understand? He is not to be excited or upset under any circumstances.’
She squared her shoulders and sniffed up before nodding. ‘Can I sit with him now?’
‘Yes, and Molly can see me out.’ On his way through the living room, the doctor bent to
look into Bob’s face. ‘It’ll do you good to get away from these women for a while, have a few pretty nurses running around after you.’
Bob gave a faint smile. ‘I’ve already got a pretty woman.’
The doctor smiled back. ‘So you have, you lucky man! Anyway, I’ll slip in and see you in hospital tomorrow. When I ring for an ambulance, they’ll tell me which hospital you’ll be going to.’
Molly stood on the top step. ‘Not good, is it, Doctor?’
‘Heart attack, Molly, I’m afraid. And before you ask me, I don’t know how bad it is. It all rests in the hands of God.’ The doctor pulled his coat collar up against the wind. ‘I’ll tell them it’s an urgent case and the ambulance should be here within the half hour.’
Molly watched until the car turned the corner and was about to close the door when she heard her name called. She saw Jack bounding up the street and ran to meet him. Throwing her arms around him, she cried, ‘Oh, thank God yer’ve come.’
Jack hugged her before holding her at arm’s length. ‘Maisie came and told me. Then when I was halfway here, I met Katy from next door. She’s on her way back now, I ran on ahead of her.’
‘It’s a heart attack, Jack, the doctor’s just left to ring for an ambulance. Me ma doesn’t know, an’ I think it’s best if we don’t tell her.’
‘Well, you’d better get a hold of yerself, Molly, ’cos yer shakin’ like a leaf.’ Jack put his arm around her. ‘If Da thinks we’re worried, it’ll rub off on him an’ make him worse. So try and act normal.’
Jack being there had a calming effect on everyone. He talked about everyday things, like the weather and what had happened at work that day. Even when Bob was caught in the grip of pain and clutching his chest, it was Jack’s soothing voice which helped him through. ‘They’ll give yer something in the hospital to take the pain away, Da. Have yer as right as rain in no time.’