‘I know, I know.’ Emily patted her shoulder and then said briskly, ‘Right, let’s get on with clearing this lot up.’
The rest of the morning was spent cleaning and tidying up as best they could. At Emily’s request, Rosa Jacklin made tea for them all, though Emily thought she was a little reluctant.
‘I hardly dare let my kids play in the yard in case he’s about,’ she muttered, when Emily visited her.
‘I think they’re safe enough now, Rosa. Mick’s gone and I don’t think anyone will bother Mrs Dugdale and Lizzie any more.’
Rosa was a young mother of two girls and had been widowed by the Great War. Life was enough of a struggle without the added anxiety of trouble in the court. Now, she sniffed in disbelief at Emily’s words but said no more as she readied a tray with three cups of tea on it.
As Emily took it from her, Rosa said hesitantly, ‘Tell them if they need owt, they can come across. I’ll not see them in trouble. Times were when the Dugdales were good to me and mine. Even Mick. And despite what’s happened recently, I never forget a kindness.’
‘I’ll tell them, Rosa, and thanks.’
Later that morning, Bess appeared downstairs. Emily was shocked by the change in the woman. When they’d first arrived in the court, Bess Dugdale had been a rotund, bustling woman with a beaming smile who’d always been ready to help her neighbours. She had been the first to greet the Ryan family and she and Lizzie had cleaned the house through in preparation for the newcomers’ arrival. Now, though still plump, her eyes were red-rimmed from lack of sleep and, no doubt, from copious tears too.
‘Here, sit down, Mrs Dugdale. This chair’s all right to sit on. Lizzie’s got the fire going and I’ve fetched some meat from the butcher’s and vegetables from the greengrocer’s. We’ve put a new pan of stew on and potatoes are baking in the oven. You’ll soon have a nice hot meal. You’ll feel better then.’
Bess sank into the chair near the range. ‘I don’t reckon I’ll ever feel better, Emily luv. This has broken me.’
‘Now look,’ Emily bent towards her, ‘you just listen to me. It’s time we put all this behind us. I can sympathize with you about your son. It must be devastating for both of you, but let’s be honest about this. Mick’s brought this on himself. None of this recent trouble would have happened if he’d stayed away and built a life for himself somewhere else, but now . . .’
‘We’ll never see him again. My boy – he’s a wanted man now. He’ll never come back home, will he?’
‘Never’s a long time, Mrs Dugdale, and perhaps he’ll write to you and let you know he’s all right.’
Bess shook her head and said bitterly, ‘I doubt it. In the last two years he’s been gone, never a word.’
‘Then I’m sorry – truly I am – but you and Lizzie must try to pick up the pieces of your own lives. We’ll help Lizzie.’
Bess looked up at Emily. ‘You mean – you mean – you’ll still keep Lizzie on? I thought – we thought – you’d want her to leave.’
‘No, we believe Lizzie when she says she’s had nothing to do with Mick taking Lucy.’
‘Even Nell?’ Bess whispered.
‘Yes, even Nell. So . . .’ Emily straightened up. ‘You come back to work whenever you’re ready, Lizzie. But please don’t leave it too long. We’ve a lot of work on and more coming in every day. In fact, I’d better be on my way now. I’ve one or two more calls to make.’
As she left the house, the two young women hugged each other. ‘I’ll be back tomorrow,’ Lizzie promised. ‘But will you check with Nell? If she doesn’t want me back then . . .’
‘I’ll talk to her, I promise.’
Fourteen
Emily was late getting back to the workshop and Nell was on the point of leaving. The other two girls had gone already.
‘I know you want to get home, but can you spare me five minutes?’
Nell laughed. ‘Just so long as you don’t expect me to start on that lot tonight.’ She nodded towards the heavy basket of unfinished cutlery, which Emily was carrying and took it from her. ‘My, this is heavy. However have you managed to carry all this?’
‘I’m developing muscles I didn’t know I had!’
‘The sooner you learn to drive that nice little car your lovely husband has bought you, the better. And talking of that, have you thought any more about taking Trip up on his offer for you to rent another workshop in his factory?’
‘Yes, I have. I think we have enough work coming in from regular customers now to warrant it.’
‘Are you sure it will continue to come in, though, Emily? And does Trip want a long lease?’ Despite Nell’s lack of a formal education she was streetwise.
Emily shook her head. ‘No. We’ve already talked about it and he’s said he’ll charge us rent month by month.’
‘You’re very lucky. Most folks would want at least a year or two, if not more.’
‘What do you think I married him for?’ Emily said flippantly, but Nell was deadly serious as she said, ‘Don’t give me that, Emily Trippet. You married him because you’re besotted with him.’
Emily laughed. ‘You’re right, of course.’
‘Anyway, I’d best be getting home.’ Nell moved towards the door, the discussion over as far as she was concerned. ‘I’m still a bit worried about Lucy.’
‘Is she still having trouble with those girls at school?’
Nell laughed wryly. ‘No chance. I saw their mothers. They won’t be bothering her again. No, she’s still a bit fearful when she walks home from school. That’s when Mick picked her up, you know. Mind you, it’s made the little tyke come home at the proper time. No more wandering about the streets.’
‘Just one more thing . . .’ Emily said hastily and went on to tell Nell about her visit to the Dugdales’ home and all that had happened, ending, ‘You are all right about Lizzie still working for us, aren’t you?’
Nell’s mouth tightened as she considered for a moment, whilst Emily held her breath.
‘As long as you’re sure – we’re sure – that she’s telling us the truth.’
‘If we find out she’s not, Nell, she’s out. I promise you that.’
Nell nodded. ‘All right, then. Let’s see how it goes, shall we?’
Lizzie returned to the workshop the following morning, quiet and subdued. She was nothing like the bubbly, outgoing girl she’d been when Emily had first met her, but she was pleased to see that the other girls, taking their lead from Nell, greeted her in a friendly manner. Emily sighed. She hoped that time would heal all the hurt but she feared it would take a long while.
That same night, it seemed that Emily’s tentative hopes for an end to all the animosity were even further away than she’d thought.
Street fighting broke out and for the next five weeks, mayhem reigned in the city. Steve Henderson’s mob had been established the longest, but younger youths now formed their own gangs and rampaged through the streets, threatening the citizens. There were even a couple of fights up on Sky Edge over the betting, and threats towards men leaving their work on pay day escalated. In a time of hardship, this extra fear brought many citizens to the edge of despair.
But no one could find Mick Dugdale.
Bess was relieved and prayed each night that her son had gone and would have the sense now to stay away. She mourned his loss and when Emily visited one evening, she was in a nostalgic mood.
‘He was a lovely little lad, you know, Emily. You wouldn’t have ever thought he’d’ve turned out the way he has. I don’t know where I’ve gone wrong, really I don’t. Of course, maybe not having a father might have been one reason, but my dad – when he was alive, bless him – was like a father to both of them.’
‘I remember Granddad,’ Lizzie put in, handing round cups of tea and sitting down to join in the reminiscing. ‘He was a lovely old boy. Mr Hawke always reminds me a bit of him.’
‘He was very good to us when I was left a widow. Him and me mam both were. I wish now I’d
never named Mick after his granddad. He’d be devastated to see what his grandson has become. He’d be so ashamed.’
‘But I thought Granddad’s name was Lionel? Not Michael.’
‘No, no, not his Christian name. I didn’t like the name Lionel, so I used the surname – Hartley – as Mick’s second name.’
‘And I’m called after Grannie, am I?’
‘Yes, Elizabeth. You and me are both named after her.’
‘I have to say that Mick was good to us when we first came to the city,’ Emily said. ‘You all were, but I didn’t realize at the time that he was threatening poor Mr Hawke into helping us to set up in business. If I had known . . .’
Bess gave a deep sigh. ‘Aye well, I’m not so sure that folks believe me an’ Lizzie when we say we were in complete ignorance about his carryings on. People just saw all the goodies he brought us and thought we were all in on it. Eee, I was that naive.’
‘Me too,’ Lizzie murmured. ‘I thought he was just sticking up for his sister.’
The mention of Nathan Hawke had reminded Emily that she had not visited him recently and, silently, she resolved to call to see him on her way home.
‘I should be going,’ she said, standing up. ‘Are you sure you’re both all right?’
When the two women nodded, Emily added, ‘Be sure to let me know if there’s anything you need. Anything at all. I’ll see you at work tomorrow, Lizzie.’
Emily walked swiftly through the dusk, being careful to keep to the main streets. When she knocked on Nathan’s door, she was not surprised to see him peer out of the window first to see who was standing there.
‘Emily, my dear girl, come in, come in,’ he said, throwing the door wide open. ‘What are you doing out in the dark?’ He peered behind her. ‘Isn’t Trip with you?’
‘No, I’m fine, Mr Hawke.’ She chuckled as he led her through to his kitchen and saw her seated in his own chair by the range. ‘I happen to be on good terms with the most notorious gang leader in the city. Strangely, I’m not afraid to be out on my own at night, though I have to admit, Trip doesn’t like it.’
‘Quite right too.’
‘I’m sorry it’s been a while since I called to see you. How are you?’
He waved aside her apology. ‘You’ve had a lot on your mind, my dear. And I’m fine, except for this wretched arthritis that’s getting worse by the day. I can still get about, you know, but I’m so slow these days, it’s frustrating.’
Emily repeated what she had said to Bess and Lizzie. ‘You must let me know if there’s anything you need. Promise me?’
Nathan smiled and nodded. ‘I will. Thank you. Now, tell me how are things with the business? Are you still managing to find enough work to keep all your employees busy?’
They chatted for a while longer, but after she had been there about half an hour, he said, ‘Much as I love your visits, Emily, I really think you should be getting home. Trip will be worried. But before you go, I have some news. The workshop in Broad Lane has been rebuilt since the fire and is ready for rental again. I don’t know if you’d want to work there again after what happened to you and Nell. It must have terrifying memories for both of you. But if you wanted to rent it again, it’s yours.’
Emily’s eyes gleamed and her mind worked quickly. ‘I’d love to rent it. May I have a few days to talk it over with Trip? We had been talking about me taking a workshop in his factory, but to have the one in Broad Lane again would be ideal.’
‘Of course. No hurry. It’s been long enough getting rebuilt,’ he added wryly.
‘Thank you for offering it to me.’
Nathan smiled at her. ‘There’s no one else I’d rather have as my tenant.’
Not wanting to cause him anxiety, she got up to leave. ‘I’ll come again soon – in daylight,’ she teased. ‘Or bring my own bodyguard.’
He laughed. ‘You do that. I’d like to see Trip too.’
Fifteen
‘So, what do you think?’ Emily put the same question to Nell and Lizzie that she’d asked Trip the evening before.
‘Have we enough work to run two workshops again?’ Nell asked, whilst Lizzie remained silent.
‘I think so. If I tell Mr Hawke that we’ll take it on a month’s trial and tell any girls we hire the same, that’ll give us time to see if we can drum up enough business.’
‘You mean if you can,’ Nell laughed, but, after a moment, she asked more seriously, ‘What did Trip say?’
‘It was he who suggested taking it for a month to start with.’
‘Mm, clever chap, your Trip.’ She paused for a moment, ‘If we’ve got that safeguard of being able to give it up after a month if it doesn’t work, then I say yes.’ She turned to look at Lizzie. There was still a bit of resentment on Nell’s side towards Lizzie, but she was trying hard to overcome it. ‘What d’you think, Lizzie?’
For a moment Lizzie looked startled that her opinion should be sought, but then she smiled weakly and said, ‘I think it’s a great idea.’
‘Mr Hawke wondered if we’d not want to work there,’ Emily murmured.
Nell gave an explosive snort. ‘We’ve got a bit more about us than that, Emily Trippet. It certainly won’t bother me.’
Emily chuckled. ‘That’s what I thought you’d say. Right, we’ll give it a try. Do you know any good buffer girls who might want to come and work for us?’
‘We’ll ask around and let you know.’
The following morning, Nell had three names for Emily. ‘They’re three sisters. Surname’s Frith. Their mam was a buffer girl and they’ve followed the family tradition. Dorothy – she’s twenty-three, Hilda, twenty-one, and Winifred. She’s just turned sixteen and has no experience. I thought she’d do as an errand girl. Flo ought not to be doing that now. She’s experienced enough to become a full-time buffer girl and be put on piece work.’
The life of an errand lass was not easy. She fetched and carried for all the buffer girls so that all their time could be spent at their wheels. The girls were paid piece rates for the work they did and so time was money to them. It was still the way Emily operated her business. A young girl, usually straight from school, was employed as an errand lass. She would arrive in the workshop before the buffer girls, light the fire, boil the kettle, dish out the oily sand to each place and when the workers arrived she would give out the work under the buffer missus’s direction. Throughout the day, she mashed tea and made sure that their food was ready on time. She even went shopping for them so that they could spend longer hours at their work. She cut out a supply of brown paper aprons and in spare moments – though there weren’t many in the life of an errand lass – the young girl would watch the experienced buffer girls and learn the trade. When she was old enough and had learned enough to ‘go on the side’, she would perhaps start with ‘heeling and pipping’, buffing the ends of the handles and then progress to being a ‘rougher’, taking the dents and marks out of spoons and forks. As she improved, her place would be taken by another school leaver and so the process of training a new buffer girl would begin again.
‘Would this girl – Winifred – be able to handle the two workshops as errand girl like Flo used to do when we had both?’
‘They don’t live too far away from Broad Lane. Not as near as Flo, admittedly, but we can ask them. Anyway, Emily, they’re all coming in to see you this morning. I hope that’s all right.’
‘Of course it is.’
‘By the way, I saw Jane Arnold, who used to work for us, and I asked her if she was interested, but she’s happy where she’s working now.’
The three girls presented themselves later that morning and were happy with the offer that Emily made them, even though there was the fear of being unemployed after a month. Dorothy, the eldest, seemed to be the spokeswoman for all of them.
‘We hate it where we are, missus. The workshop’s badly run. The missus there likes a drop of the hard stuff and half the time the work’s not given out. We lose money because we h
ave to stop and collect our own. If you take us on, missus, we’ll work hard for you. Me an’ Hilda are good buffer girls, though not,’ she added with a smile, ‘as good as Nell Geddis. Her name’s legendary in Sheffield. And young Winifred’s eager to learn. She’ll do what you’re asking. Look after both workshops. They’re only just round the corner from each other and me an’ Hilda will come in early and help her out if she needs it. And we wouldn’t expect extra pay for doing that, missus. It’d be just to help our sister out.’
Emily smiled; she liked these girls. ‘I would hope to give Winifred a little more than the normal errand lass’s pay as she’d be looking after two workshops. And, if all goes well, I’d still like her to train to be a buffer girl.’
‘That’s very good of you, missus.’
‘Then we’ll give you all a month’s trial, if you’re willing. And if I can get the work in and you all prove satisfactory, we’ll make your positions permanent.’
‘You can’t say fairer than that, missus. Thank you. When can we start?’
‘I presume you’d better give a week’s notice and, besides, I need to get the refurbished workshop fitted with machinery.’
Nell, who’d made no secret of the fact that she was eavesdropping, asked, ‘Are we to have both floors now, Emily, or is Mr Hawke coming back to work?’
‘He’s retired, Nell, so, yes, if we want them, we can have both floors but he’s also agreed that I can sublet one of the floors if I want to. We might be able to use both. The area there is not as big as this one and we can’t expand here with Phil Latham still the tenant on the ground floor with his grinders’ workshop.’
Nell nodded. ‘We’ll see how it goes, then. See you next week, girls.’
‘There was a chorus of “Thank you, Nell”.’
On the following Monday, Emily arrived early at the workshop in Broad Lane to greet her new employees and set them to work. Nathan Hawke was standing in front of the double doors, a huge grin on his face.
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