by Howes, Pam
Sadie removed the greaseproof wrappings and handed out side plates. Alice poured tea into Mam’s treasured china cups that were still in service, and everyone tucked in.
‘Them sarnies are smashing,’ Freddie said.
‘Eggs from my chickens,’ Brian said. ‘I’ve been saving them for today and Alice has mashed them with a bit of milk and butter and salt and pepper. Very tasty.’
‘And nice and fresh. None of your powdered rubbish. Good work, Brian.’ Freddie patted the young boy’s shoulder and he flushed with pride.
Alice smiled. Brian was growing up to be a lovely young lad. He was so thoughtful and helped her a lot with Cathy, always teaching her things, and Cathy was his willing pupil. Since going to grammar school his manners were impeccable and he spoke well. Their mam would have been so very proud of her youngest son.
As the last crumb was eaten, bar the cake, Alice brewed more tea and quickly washed the side plates. She also brought in some sherry glasses and handed them to Marlene.
‘You do the honours and we’ll drink a toast,’ she said. ‘Then I’ll light the candles on the cake before Cathy and Gianni burst with impatience.’
Marlene divided the sherry between the glasses. She picked one up and nodded at the other adults to do the same. Freddie cleared his throat and began to speak.
‘Raise your glasses to Brian on his birthday, Alice’s mam Edith, Rodney and all who’ve suffered as a consequence of this war. And let’s hope our lads are soon home safe and sound. And also to Alice, Brian and Cathy for their hospitality today. Wishing you all the very best for the future and I can see you’re well settled in your lovely new home. I’m sure you all enjoy living here. It feels a really happy place to me. Cheers.’
‘Happy birthday, Brian, and cheers,’ everyone said and raised their glasses. Millie poured more tea and the candles were lit. A rousing ‘Happy Birthday to You’ was sung and Brian blew out his candles to loud cheers.
‘I hope you made a wish, Brian,’ Alice said as she sliced the cake and offered it round.
‘Oh I did.’ Brian smiled secretively as the cake was demolished. It disappeared within seconds.
‘Well, that made short work of that.’ Alice laughed.
Marlene nodded. ‘I’ll stay ’ere when the others go, Alice, if that’s all right.’ She was looking after Cathy and Brian tonight while Alice went to the Legion.
‘Of course. No point in you going home to have to come all the way back again.’
Millie smiled. ‘I’m going to nip home and put my new frock on and then I’ll come back here and go to the club with you, Alice. Might as well, with having the weekend off.’
‘Jack will have you up singing,’ Alice said.
‘Oh I don’t mind that. Coals to Newcastle, as they say.’
‘We’ll get off now then,’ Freddie announced. ‘We’ll see you in the Legion later. Thanks for a lovely afternoon, chuck.’
‘You’re all very welcome,’ Alice said, giving everyone a hug.
‘If my mam will look after Gianni, I’ll pop down to the club later as well,’ Sadie said. ‘Carry the party on there.’
‘Sounds like a good plan to me.’ Alice laughed as she showed everyone but Marlene out. ‘See you all later.’
Cathy pushed through her legs and grabbed Gianni from behind. She gave him a hug and a sloppy kiss on his cheek, which he promptly wiped away and blushed.
‘Won’t be wiping her kisses away in a few years,’ Freddie teased. ‘The lads’ll be fighting over her.’ He laughed and waved goodbye, his wife linking his arm as they strolled up the street towards Lark Lane.
Alice closed the door and leant against it. She had the nicest bunch of friends anyone could wish for. They were more like family and treated Brian and Cathy as their own. She went into the front room, where Brian was opening his presents with Cathy and Marlene. He held up The Boy’s Own Annual, a gift from Marlene, a smart sleeveless pullover from Millie in a nice shade of light blue and a boxed game called Monopoly from Freddie and his wife.
‘Oh, that looks interesting,’ Alice said. ‘Bet Granny would enjoy playing that with you.’
Brian nodded. ‘Wonder why she didn’t come today?’
Alice shrugged. ‘Who knows, eh?’
Alice felt disappointed that she hadn’t accepted their invite and shown her face. Maybe it would take a bit of time for her mother-in-law to step back from being in charge and let them get on with their own lives.
As they strolled to the Legion, Millie told Alice that Jimmy had confessed in his last letter that he thought he was falling in love with her.
‘I don’t know what to think. I mean, we’ve only met each other the one time, but we’ve grown very close in our letter-writing and I get butterflies in my tummy when I know I’ve got another letter from him. He says the nicest things, like he’s going to marry me when he gets home. But he hasn’t actually asked me yet.’
‘And do you love him?’
Millie chewed her lip. ‘Maybe I do, and I don’t realise it. It all feels a bit unreal. Once I see him again, I’m sure I’ll know.’
Alice laughed. ‘I’m sure you will. Hopefully it won’t be too long now before it’s all over and they come home. I can’t wait. I’m fed up now. Another Christmas in a few weeks’ time and still no husband to share it with. Surely the end is close now.’
‘Well, at least you’ve got a nice home for him to come back to,’ Millie said.
‘Yes, he said he can’t wait to see what we’ve done to the place. I wish his mother would come round a bit more often though. We do ask her over several times a week, but she hardly ever takes us up on it and the kids miss her – and I’m sure she misses them. But this year I want Christmas on Lucerne Street, so I’m hoping she will join us. Are you in Liverpool this year?’
‘Not for Christmas Eve but we are at New Year,’ Millie said. ‘We’re doing the Legion.’
‘Oh, that’s something to really look forward to,’ Alice said.
‘I’ll be back up here on Christmas Day. The band will drop me off at home, so I can pop over in the evening if you like.’
‘I would like,’ Alice said. ‘We’ll have another little party at mine.’
27
December 1944
Alice looked up from the oven where she was basting the lovely plump chicken that Granny’s kindly neighbour had given them for dinner. Thankfully her mother-in-law had recently admitted to missing the children and said that she wanted to see more of them. She had accepted the invitation to join them today, offering the chicken, which Alice had been more than glad to receive. She turned over the roast potatoes surrounding it, and blew her hair off her face as her little daughter held out a dolly for her inspection.
‘Oh, she looks beautiful. Very pretty.’ Alice admired the pink knitted outfit the dolly was dressed in. ‘Isn’t Granny clever to make such lovely things?’
Cathy nodded and ran back to the front room, where Brian was chatting to Granny Lomax, the wireless set playing carols quietly in the background. Alice popped her head inside and looked around with pride. The room felt so cosy, with a small decorated Christmas tree in the window and the fire blazing up the chimney. She’d treated herself to a nice red half-moon hearth rug and some red velvet cushion covers on a recent trip over to Paddy’s Market. They were almost new too; you wouldn’t know the difference. They brightened the room up no end and they’d been such a bargain. She was so glad Terry’s mother had joined them today. Alice wanted to show her that she too was capable of producing a nice roast dinner in exchange for all the lovely dinners her mother-in-law had cooked for them.
‘Would you like a cuppa to be going on with? Dinner will be ready in half an hour. Just waiting for the potatoes to finish roasting.’
‘No thank you, Alice. I’m fine. I’ll wait until we’re at the table.’
Alice nodded and went back into the kitchen, pausing to tweak the cutlery into place on the table that Brian had set earlier. He and Cathy had
made a little table decoration from some pine cones and bits of holly and fir tree off-cuts they’d picked up from the floor in the greengrocers. A candle sat in the middle of it all. The pair had also made four crackers from red crepe paper and the inside cardboard tubes of toilet rolls. Cathy’s red hair ribbons had been borrowed to make bows around the middle. It had kept the two of them busy for a couple of evenings this week while Alice had hidden herself away in her bedroom and wrapped up their presents in secret.
There’d been great excitement as the two had rushed down the stairs at seven this morning to see if Father Christmas had really been. Brian had excelled himself at keeping the secret for his little niece, and had told her he’d definitely heard sleigh bells in the middle of the night and reindeer hooves on the roof, exclaiming to a giddy Cathy that the carrot she’d left out for Rudolph was gone. Alice smiled now as she checked the sliced carrots in the pan on the stove, Rudolph’s among them. They’d had scrambled eggs for breakfast from Brian’s chickens and then she’d hurried them along to church for the early service. Alice had felt sad that Mam wasn’t with them; she’d loved the Christmas morning service and the tea and biscuits in the church hall afterwards, greeting friends and neighbours and catching up on all the gossip. Before the war it was always warm mince pies that were served with the tea, donated by members of the congregation.
Tonight they were hosting a little buffet party for Freddie and his wife. Marlene was popping along once she’d sorted her ageing parents out, and Sadie, Gianni and Millie were also coming. Alice had worked last night at the Legion while Marlene baby-sat for the first couple of hours and then Bessie had popped in until Alice arrived home with Jack. It had been a cold night so they’d hurried along, Jack limping badly after being on his feet for hours. Alice had felt sorry for him as Arnold and his wife were going to her sister’s for dinner this Christmas. She’d paused on the path as he’d said goodnight to her and turned to walk away.
‘Jack,’ she’d called after him. ‘Would you like to come for tea tomorrow night? Millie and everyone will be here. I’m sorry I can’t ask you for dinner but Terry’s mam’s coming. But she’s going after the King’s speech to visit her friend.’
Jack’s face had lit up and he’d smiled. ‘I’d love that, Alice. Thank you very much. What time about?’
‘Five-ish.’
‘I’ll be here.’ He’d limped away and she was glad she’d made the offer as he’d been a bit quiet all night and looked miserable on the walk home. It was no fun spending Christmas alone. She wished she could have asked him for dinner but it didn’t seem right with her husband away and his mother here.
Alice lifted the chicken and roast potatoes from the oven and drained the vegetables in a colander over the sink, saving some water for the gravy, which she made in the roasting tin with the chicken juices.
She dished up the food on plates that had been warming in the bottom of the oven and called for everyone to take a seat.
They all tucked in, wearing newspaper crowns from inside the crackers. Brian had cut the crowns out and Cathy had crayoned patterns along the brims. She smiled proudly as her crown slipped down over one eye and they all laughed.
‘Better than no paper hats at all,’ Brian said, adjusting Cathy’s back into place. ‘Maybe next year we’ll actually be able to buy proper crackers in the shops.’
‘Let’s hope so, eh, Brian,’ Granny Lomax said. ‘And maybe there’ll be one more of us around the table for dinner.’
‘Brian, go and ask Bessie if she and Bert would like to pop in for a sherry while we listen to the King’s speech,’ Alice called from the kitchen, where she was finishing the washing up.
‘Okay,’ Brian called back and dashed outside. He was back in minutes with Bessie on his heels. ‘Bert’s asleep with the cats but Bessie said she’d love a sherry,’ he announced.
‘Thanks for the invite, chuck,’ Bessie said. ‘It’ll be a pleasure to listen to this year’s speech without Bert’s snoring drowning the King out.’
‘Sit yourself down in the front room and I’ll bring you a sherry through,’ Alice said, drying her hands on a tea towel. She reached a small glass down from the cupboard and filled it with sherry.
Granny Lomax greeted Bessie and moved up the sofa to make room, indicating the space beside her with her hand.
‘Thank you,’ Bessie said, patting her hair in place.
Alice handed Bessie the glass and topped up her mother-in-law’s. She smiled at Bessie, who looked smart in a nice red dress. It wasn’t often Alice had seen her neighbour without curlers in, covered by a turban, and her old worn-down slippers on her feet. She was surprised by how much younger Bessie looked dressed up a bit.
‘Cheers, ladies,’ Alice said, clinking her own glass to theirs. ‘Here’s to the end of the war next year and getting our lives back to normal.’
‘Hear, hear,’ Bessie and Granny Lomax said.
‘Hear, hear,’ said Cathy with a giggle.
‘Right, here we go,’ Granny Lomax announced as the King began his speech; his sixth since the beginning of the war. Alice’s thoughts went back to the first Christmas dinner she and Mam had shared with Terry’s mother back in 1940, when Brian was evacuated and she didn’t even know that Cathy was on the way. Both mams had fallen asleep shortly after the speech began, stuffed full of good food, in the warm and cosy sitting room at the bungalow. She felt her eyes fill as she thought about her mam and how much she missed her. The speech was a long one, as always, and Cathy fell asleep on the rug in front of the fire. Brian listened intently as the speech neared its end, and sat forward as the ladies struggled to stay awake.
The successes of my armed forces would not have been achieved but for the devoted labours of those throughout the Commonwealth and Empire who have striven ceaselessly to arm and equip them. It is over five years now since my peoples first took up the struggle to free the world from aggression and the contribution of the civil population is beyond all praise. The United Nations await with sober confidence the unrolling of future events. Joined in an unbreakable alliance and fortified by constant collaboration between the governments concerned and by frequent personal meetings between their leaders, they look forward to that day on which the aggressor is finally defeated and the whole world can turn to the rebuilding of prosperity and the maintenance of an unassailable peace.
Brian smiled. ‘I don’t think it will be too long now before “the aggressor is finally defeated”,’ he said. ‘The King sounds quite confident to me.’
‘Do you think so?’ Alice chewed her lip worriedly.
‘I do,’ Brian replied. ‘This time next year we’ll be rejoicing and getting back to normal.’
‘Well, you understand all them long words better than I do,’ Bessie said. ‘Let’s hope you’re right, chuck.’
Brian accompanied Bessie back next door and walked Granny Lomax home while Alice prepared the buffet tea party. Cathy was still sleeping on the rug in front of the fire – not something Alice would normally allow in the afternoon, but she would be in a good mood for their visitors instead of complaining that she was tired. A late night once in a while wouldn’t hurt and they’d all have a lie-in tomorrow. They were having tea at the bungalow with Granny, so it would be a nice relaxing day.
Alice had wrapped a few little gifts for her visitors and she went to put them under the tree. They weren’t much as she’d struggled this year with the cost of entertaining as well, but her tips from the Legion had all been saved in an old jam jar in her wardrobe since they’d moved in. She’d done quite well at Paddy’s Market and managed to buy everything she’d planned to and titivated things up so they looked as nice as she could make them.
She buttered some thinly sliced bread and finely pared the left-over chicken from the bone, like she’d seen Winnie do at the Legion, mixing it with left-over stuffing to make it spreadable and go a bit further. The sarnies would be nice and tasty and she had a few sausage rolls that she’d managed to make with a tiny p
ortion of sausage meat and hard-boiled egg that she’d mixed with it. Everyone had said they would bring a bit of something for the buffet to help out. They’d have already eaten a big enough dinner, but it was nice to enjoy a few sarnies with a glass of sherry.
Brian arrived back after popping in to see his old school friend on the way home and Alice woke Cathy up just before five and took her upstairs to wash her hands and face to perk her up a bit.
‘Now don’t touch those things under the tree,’ Alice warned. ‘You’ve had your presents off Father Christmas. Those are for our guests. They’ve already given us ours. Go downstairs now while I have a quick freshen-up. Sit in the front room with Brian and be good. I won’t be long.’
Alice heard the doorknocker and Brian letting people in as she was getting changed into a clean navy floral-patterned dress that buttoned up the front. She looked at herself in the full-length mirror and smiled. Her cheeks were flushed, giving her a bit of colour. She slicked her lips with her Tangee lippy and smacked them together, then ran her hands through her wavy hair, which had grown longer and now fell into soft waves on her shoulders. She took a deep breath and went downstairs, prepared for another houseful.
Winnie had lent Jack her gramophone and several records to bring round and as Alice walked into the front room he was setting it up on the coffee table,which he’d moved to the side of the room. He turned as she came in and gave a low wolf-whistle and winked at her.
‘Looking very nice.’
Alice laughed. ‘Thank you and Merry Christmas to you, Jack.’