by Howes, Pam
Alice stared open-mouthed as her friend dropped the case on the pavement.
‘I couldn’t do it, Alice,’ she gasped, red-faced and out of breath. ‘I got off the train at the next station, which was miles away, and made my way back here. I don’t even know what I was thinking of, for goodness sake. The Land Army! Me and cows, I mean. Who was I kidding?’
Alice flung her arms around Millie and gave her a hug. ‘Thank goodness for that. I didn’t think you’d last long, I have to admit, but I thought it’d be longer than this.’
They both laughed hysterically, close to tears with relief and happiness. ‘Let’s go to Granny’s and have a brew,’ Alice suggested. ‘She made a nice cake earlier. Come on, you daft thing. Then you can go home and shock your mam and dad, although I bet they won’t be that surprised either.’
Alice brushed a speck of fluff from her new black skirt and tucked her white blouse into the waistband. She felt quite smart in her waitressing uniform, C&A’s best, and although she didn’t have a single unladdered stocking left she’d compromised like so many other women had to and managed to draw a fine line up the backs of her legs with an eyebrow pencil. Satisfied that they looked equal and like seamed stockings, as she twisted this way and that in front of the mirror, Alice picked up her jacket and handbag from the bed. Cathy was sound asleep, thank God. She closed the door quietly behind her and went into the sitting room to say goodnight to her mother-in-law.
‘See you later,’ she said. ‘She’s flat out.’
Granny Lomax looked up from her Woman’s Weekly magazine and smiled. ‘I’ll no doubt be in bed when you get back, so I”ll see you in the morning. Be careful walking home in the dark.’
‘I will.’ Alice hurried out into the hall before her flushed cheeks aroused any suspicions. She hadn’t told her mother-in-law that she was escorted home to the gate by Terry’s pal. Not that there was anything wrong in a colleague seeing another home safely, but she just had a feeling it would be frowned upon. In fact, she hadn’t said anything to anyone. She didn’t know why. It just didn’t seem right. Jack was nothing if not a gentleman, but something made her keep it to herself. She’d written to Terry only this week, telling him about her new job and that she was going back to Rootes part-time soon, but she didn’t tell him that his old friend also worked at the Legion. Next time she would, just in case anyone saw her walking down the road with Jack and told her mother-in-law.
The Legion was filling up as Alice took her place behind the bar. She looped her hair back behind her ears and smiled at the girl waiting to be served.
‘Two large gin and oranges, chuck,’ the girl said, flashing a gap-toothed smile at Alice.
‘Small is all you can have, I’m afraid, Maisie,’ Jack said, coming up behind Alice. ‘We’re nearly out of gin and we’ve not much sherry left either. Not had a delivery this week. That budget last week was a killer. Putting the taxes up on our fags and booze, the only pleasures some of us men have left.’
‘Oh, poor Jack,’ Maisie teased. ‘But tell me about it. Woodbines are up to nine-pence for ten. And income tax is now ten bob in the pound. Hardly worth working. Still, I suppose somebody has to pay for this bloody war. But it’s always the ones with the least who have to suffer.’ She handed Alice half a crown and waited for her change. ‘Are we having a sing-song tonight? Will old Frankie be playing the piano?’
‘He is. About nine,’ Jack replied. ‘And we’ve got a game of lotto coming up just before that.’
‘Look forward to it, but we call it bingo now, Jack.’ She winked at him and clip-clopped away on her regulation two-inch high heels, wiggling her backside in a skirt that skimmed her shapely hips.
Alice observed Jack staring longingly after Maisie. She shook her head as she began to wash the glasses that he’d collected earlier; it seemed Millie was right, she thought, Jack was a ladies’ man all right. She sighed and wished her Terry was here, looking at her with that same longing in his eyes that made her stomach flip. She missed him so much. Her thoughts turned back to their lovely wedding day. It seemed so long ago now. She longed to feel his arms around her, holding her tight, and to taste his kisses once more.
Alice dried the glasses and had no time to wallow further in her memories as the club filled and Jack left the bar to call the bingo numbers, with Maisie’s delighted pal winning a five-bob full-house prize.
At the end of the evening, as everyone joined in with ‘White Cliffs of Dover’, and Alice was tidying away the last of the glasses collected by Jack and wondering how Millie had got on once she arrived back at her own house, the wailing of the air raid siren rent the air. She shook her head, wiped her hands and hung up the tea towel. Just as she was wondering whether she’d have time to run home and make sure Granny Lomax and Cathy were safely in a shelter, Jack grabbed her elbow and thrust her handbag and jacket at her.
‘Out the back, now,’ he ordered and ushered the customers along with her. Maisie and her pal had old Frankie by the arms and helped him inside the Anderson shelter in the grounds at the back of the club. Jack joined them after switching off all the lights, plunging everywhere into darkness.
‘You okay?’ he said to Alice, who blew out her cheeks and nodded. The smell of the mix of alcohol, cigarette smoke and cheap perfume in a confined space was so overpowering, it made her eyes water.
‘Yes, apart from being dead on my legs. Those bloody Germans don’t half pick their moments.’
‘Never mind, gel,’ Maisie shouted across from the bench where she was sandwiched in between old Frankie and her friend. ‘Worse things happen at sea.’
And they did. Alice thought about all the little evacuee children who had died after the SS City of Benares was torpedoed in 1940 on its way to Canada from Liverpool, causing Winston Churchill to cancel the Children’s Overseas Reception Board plan to relocate British children abroad. Thank God her mam had put her foot down about Brian going with them. As dangerous a place as Liverpool was for her precious little brother, and though she half-wished he’d stayed in Wales, at least they still had him.
By the time the all-clear sounded, Alice was almost asleep. She prayed that Cathy wouldn’t still be awake when she got home, but no doubt she would be after being woken up by the racket of the sirens. She got up to leave the shelter as Jack pulled on her arm to slow her down. He limped along beside her, said goodnight to their customers and checked to make sure all the club doors were locked.
‘Ready?’ he said to Alice.
‘Er, yes, but just leave me at the corner,’ she said. ‘My mother-in-law will be up no doubt and she might be a bit funny if I’m seen walking home with a strange man. Oh, I’m sorry, that sounds awful.’ She blushed and chewed her lip.
Jack laughed. ‘Don’t worry. I won’t get you into bother from Terry’s mam. Come on. It’s been a long night.’
14
On Monday morning Alice gave Mam feeding and changing instructions with regards to looking after Cathy, and dashed off to catch the works’ bus, leaving her daughter waving her little arms after her at the gate in her mam’s arms.
Her eyes filled as she hurried around the corner and she blinked her tears away. Leaving Cathy for almost six hours was a wrench. She was looking forward to catching up with Marlene and her other workmates again, but she’d give her right arm to be able to stay at home and be a full-time mum to her baby. But the need to earn enough money to help her mam out with Brian and get her and Terry a place of their own was driving her on. It was for all of them and was something she had to do. Everyone had to make sacrifices these days. At least her child was still here with family, unlike thousands of others. But going to Rootes today without Millie felt strange. Hopefully she would be able to get her old job back when she applied again.
The bus trundled into view and she climbed on board.
Marlene shouted out to her. ‘Alice! I’ve saved you a seat. Good to ’ave you back, gel.’
Alice sat down and gave Marlene a hug. ‘Nice to be back. How�
�s things at the factory?’
‘As ’ectic as always,’ Marlene said, rolling her eyes. ‘’Ey up, ’ere’s Freddie,’ she added as they pulled up further along Aigburth Road and their foreman jumped on, waving to them as he stayed up front to stand beside the driver and chat to him. ‘They’ve taken some of our girls off wings an’ put them upstairs on munitions. We’ve a lot of new ones joined us since you finished. We’ll miss Millie though.’
‘Ah well,’ Alice said, smiling. ‘She, er, she hasn’t gone away. Well she did, on Saturday morning, but she came back in the afternoon. She decided the Land Army wasn’t really for her.’
Marlene burst out laughing. ‘What’s she like? I knew she wouldn’t stick it out for long, but ’alf a day, she’s a one is our Millie. Oh well, let’s hope she comes back then. And ’ow’s your Terry doing, chuck?’
‘I wish I knew.’ Alice sighed. It was over three weeks since Terry’s last letter. She’d sent him two photos of Cathy and one of her and Cathy sitting on the back lawn at the bungalow. She hoped he’d got them. ‘Letters are taking ages to come through.’
‘I know. It’s the same for me. Not ’eard from my Stan for over two weeks now. Any news on your brother that went missing?’
‘Sadly, not a word, but my younger brother is still home with Mam. He won’t go back to Wales, even though we’ve told him it’s safer if he does.’
Marlene nodded. ‘I expect your mam is out of ’er mind with worry about Rodney an’ glad to have the young one back.’
Alice shrugged. ‘She doesn’t say much, other than “No news is good news.”’
‘Best she keeps on thinking that way then. Oh, ’ere we go; time for a sing-song,’ Marlene finished as the driver started to whistle ‘I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo’, with everyone joining in.
Alice smiled and felt her spirits lift. She had a lot to be thankful for. A nice roof over her head, two kind grannies to care for Cathy, a husband who loved her, a couple of jobs, and she would soon have a bit more money coming in to save for their future. And her best friend was back where she belonged. She was one of the lucky ones.
Freddie welcomed Alice back with a hug and handed over her new overalls and a turban. She got changed, and put her clothes and handbag in the locker. Freddie led her over to sit beside Marlene. He handed her a riveting gun and she got to work right away, feeling like she’d never been away, the pop, pop, pop of the guns the only noise on the floor as each girl concentrated on her job. By the time the first break bell rang out, Alice’s right wrist was killing her. She flexed her fingers and grimaced.
Marlene smiled and scratched her greasy brown hair under the front of her turban.
‘It’ll take a while to build up your strength again, chuck. Let’s go get a cuppa an’ ’ave a rest. You can meet the new shell ladies. They’re all curious to meet the gel who gave birth in the shelter. You’re famous.’ She laughed.
‘Oh God!’ Alice grinned. ‘That was a day and a half, wasn’t it?’
‘I’ll say, an’ not one to be repeated again in an ’urry.’
As Marlene and Alice carried their tea and toast to a table near the window a voice called out Alice’s name, screeched it, in fact. She whipped around, frowning.
Maisie, the girl who’d been in the Legion on Saturday night, came hurrying over, the tell-tale yellow from cordite coating the hair that had fallen out of the front of her turban.
‘Alice, I didn’t realise you were the Alice that was coming back to work today. They all talk about you up there.’ She raised her eyes to the ceiling, indicating the floor above.
Alice laughed. ‘Nice to see you again, Maisie, I had no idea you worked here now.’
‘For my sins.’ Maisie grinned. ‘I’d rather be back in Lewis’s, but there’s no store left to work in right now until they rebuild it. Hey, can I ask you summat? That fella you work with at the Legion, Jack, is he okay? He’s asked me to go to the pictures with him tomorrow night. They’re showing Babes On Broadway with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney at the Mayfair.’
‘Grab your brew an’ come and sit with us, Maisie,’ Marlene suggested. ‘I didn’t know you worked at the Legion, Alice,’ she continued as Maisie went to grab her mug of tea from a nearby table and joined them.
‘Er, yes, just Saturday and Sunday nights while Terry’s mam looks after Cathy. I started the other week. I needed to earn a bit of money.’
‘An’ will you give it up now you’re back with us?’
‘No, I can fit both jobs in as long as the mams can help me. Might as well work while I’m able. Doing two part-time jobs fits in better for me and Cathy.’
‘Don’t blame you, chuck.’
Alice turned to Maisie. ‘I don’t really know Jack that well, but he seems nice enough. I’m sure you’ll be okay with him.’
Maisie nodded. ‘Ah right. I thought you knew him well with him walking you home after work, like. Why does he limp? I didn’t like to ask him. Was he injured?’
‘He was a soldier and got accidentally shot on a training exercise,’ Alice replied. Marlene’s eyebrows had shot up her forehead at the mention of Jack walking her home. Damn it. ‘He lost half his foot so the army let him go. He helps out with the injured soldiers at the nursing home and does a few nights at the Legion.’
Maisie smiled as Marlene frowned. ‘What’s this Jack fella’s surname?’
‘Dawson,’ Alice replied as Marlene pursed her lips and nodded slowly. ‘Why, do you know him?’
Marlene frowned again. ‘If it’s the same one, I know of ’im. There can’t be that many Jacks in Aigburth who blew ’alf their foot off. This Jack used to go out with a friend of a friend. She broke it off when ’e started knocking ’er about after he’d been drinking. You just be careful, both of you – he’s a boozer, a one for the ladies an’ a bit too handy with ’is fists. They say ’e shot ’imself on purpose to get out of going abroad.’
‘But why would he do that?’ Alice asked. ‘He limps really badly. He might not even have got injured if he’d gone abroad. He always seems very nice to me. Not nasty or anything. He doesn’t drink much either when he’s at work, just the odd pint. Mind you, there’s not much to drink at the moment. The steward said they’d have to close this weekend if they don’t get a delivery mid-week. I’m sure you’ll be fine with him, Maisie. And I’d rather be safe with Jack walking home with me on the way to his own place than get accosted by a German.’
Marlene slurped her tea and rolled her eyes. ‘Well, forewarned is forearmed. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. It might just be rumours, but they ’ave to start somewhere.’
Alice caught a tram home after her shift was over. The works’ bus only ran in the morning and evening, and again for the night shift. She stared out of the window, glad to see signs of spring in the air. A blue sky and green leaves bursting through on the trees made her feel good. It was still a bit nippy but getting warmer by the day. If it didn’t rain she might take Cathy a walk around Sefton Park later.
The pram was on the front garden and her daughter fast asleep as Alice let herself into her mam’s house.
‘Only me, Mam,’ she called out. The back door stood open and she could hear Mam talking to Bessie next door. Alice popped her head out. Both were pegging washing on the line and gossiping at the same time over the wall between the gardens. Bessie’s cats, Blackie and Ginger, were stretched out on top of the wall, enjoying the rays of the sun.
‘Oh, Alice love,’ Mam said, looking puzzled. ‘I wasn’t expecting you home until teatime. How did it go?’
Alice frowned. ‘I was only working until one, Mam, I told you this morning. But it was fine thanks. Feel a bit tired now, but at least I’ve got a few hours to spend with Cathy before bedtime.’
Mam nodded, but still looked puzzled. ‘Oh well, not to worry. That’s me getting mixed up. I thought you were working a full day. I bet you’re hungry. There’s some soup in that pan on the stove. It’s not much, just pea soup left over from last night’s tea. Pu
t a light under it and I’ll butter you a slice of bread.’
As the soup heated and filled the kitchen with a tasty aroma, Alice realised just how hungry she was. All she’d had today was porridge first thing and a slice of toast at ten on her break. She wolfed down the soup and wiped around the bowl with the bread Mam gave her.
‘I was ready for that,’ she said, sitting back with a contented sigh. ‘Thanks, Mam.’
‘You’re welcome, chuck.’ Mam took the empty bowl to the kitchen and brought in a pot of tea and two slices of yellow cake. ‘Not very appetising-looking, is it? But one of the ladies at the sock-knitting club devised the recipe from rations so it’s better than nothing. If you eat it while it’s still warm with a bit of stewed apple and custard it makes a nice enough pudding too. I gave Cathy some mashed potato for her dinner, with a bit of the soup mixed in it to make it mushy. She seemed to enjoy it. The bowl was empty anyway! And she’s had a bottle of National Dried milk, so that’s why she’s flat out. Full tummy. She’s been as good as gold, sat on the rug and played with her bricks for a bit before we went down to the shops, then I fed and changed her and I was going to take her out for another walk. But you can do that now.’
‘You’ve done well, Mam, thanks so much. Hopefully she’ll sleep for a bit longer now while I get the washing out of the way at Granny’s place.’
‘Bet she’s done it for you.’
‘Probably, knowing her.’ Alice laughed and got to her feet. ‘She spoils us. Right, I’ll get off. Thanks again, Mam. See you soon.’
Alice walked home to Linnet Lane pushing the pram, deep in thought. Her mam’s forgetfulness seemed to be getting worse. Maybe it was just her age and it happened to most people as they got older; although Granny Lomax, who was a similar age to Mam, didn’t seem to forget anything. She was always on the ball.
She wasn’t at home when Alice arrived back, and the baby was still sleeping, so Alice parked the pram on the back lawn and went indoors. Two lines of washing were blowing in the slight breeze; a job less to do. There was a letter from Terry on the dining table and Alice hurried to the sofa and sat down to read it. Her hands shook as she ripped open the envelope. She devoured his words and then went back to the beginning to read them again at a more leisurely pace. He loved the photos she’d sent and thought Cathy was the most beautiful baby in the world. He told her little of his whereabouts other than that he was doing his best to keep safe along with Jimmy. He congratulated her on getting her little job at the Legion and told her to make sure she kept a lookout over her shoulder on the short walk home in the dark. He said it worried him, but he knew she was a sensible girl and would hurry along and not dawdle.