It was almost eight o’clock by the time they arrived in London though it hadn’t seemed to take that long with the cheerful company they’d had on the journey. There were plenty of willing hands to help them off the train with their luggage, but once on the platform, they were alone.
‘Well, we’re not going to lug that thing on the underground, Mum. We can manage our cases, but not the trunk.’
Dot glanced around her. ‘We’ll leave it in the left-luggage office and I’ll get someone to fetch it tomorrow.’
Jenny was about to say ‘Who? There’s no Uncle Arthur around now.’ But she bit back the words. Dot, she was sure, would soon find someone to take his place and run her little errands.
At last, they were turning into the street where they’d once lived.
Dot stopped and stared. ‘Well, bugger me! It’s gone.’
Jenny, struggling with her heavy suitcase, dumped it on to the ground and looked down the street.
Where their house had once stood was a gaping hole and a mound of rubble. Jenny didn’t know how to feel. She was sad that their home had gone. Whilst she’d not expected any of the few belongings they’d left behind still to be there, there was no chance they’d find anything now. And yet her disappointment was mingled with relief; relief that they had not been here when the bomb had struck. She gasped as a sudden thought struck her. ‘Mum – Aunty Elsie and the others? Their house has gone an’ all. D’you reckon they’re all right?’
‘’Ow should I know?’ Dot snapped. ‘Where are we goin’ ter go? That’s what I’d like to know.’
‘Let’s ask,’ Jenny said, ignoring her mother’s concerns. She was far more anxious about her friends than where they would sleep that night. There was always a shelter somewhere. ‘There’s still folks living here.’ She picked up her suitcase and set off down the street towards a woman sweeping the pavement in front of her house. It seemed like a thankless task to Jenny, but she admired the woman’s spirit; she wasn’t going to let a few of Hitler’s bombs stop her housewifely pride. She was still trying to keep up her standards even this late in the evening.
Grumbling, Dot teetered after her.
‘Mrs Smart,’ Jenny called and the woman glanced up and the puzzled look on her face told Jenny that their former neighbour didn’t recognize her. She’d grown and filled out in the time they’d been away.
‘It’s me, Mrs Smart. Jenny.’
The woman’s face broke into a beam. ‘’Ello, Jen. ’Ow are yer? My, you’ve grown into a pretty mare.’
Jenny giggled. It was good to hear Gladys Smart’s raucous voice again. That was the only thing she’d really missed; the sound of Londoners’ voices.
As Gladys glanced beyond Jenny to see Dot struggling down the street with her case, her voice hardened. ‘I see you’ve brought her back, then.’
Jenny bit her lip. Her mother’s ‘carryings on’ hadn’t endeared her to their neighbours. Only Elsie had overlooked Dot’s faults. As Dot neared them, Gladys sighed, giving in to her better nature. She leaned her broom against the wall. ‘You’d best come in and have a cuppa whilst we put our thinking caps on.’
‘Eh?’
‘Where you’re gonna go.’ Gladys nodded her head towards the ruins of Jenny’s former home.
‘Oh, I see what you mean.’ Jenny turned and called to her mother. ‘Come on, Mum. Mrs Smart’s goin’ to make us a cuppa.’
Dot stopped in her tracks and it was her turn to let out a surprised ‘Eh?’ Gladys Smart had never had time for Dot, but it seemed that a shared adversity brought out the best in folk. At least, in some people. In others, it gave the darker side of their character the chance to emerge. Jenny shuddered when she thought just how close they’d both come to being in trouble with the police, first with Arthur and then with Jim.
Dot put on the smile she used to charm women; it was somewhat different to the flirtatious one she adopted around men.
‘Come on in.’ Gladys beckoned them both. ‘We ain’t got much, but what we’ve got, you’re welcome to share. I’ll get you something to eat. I bet you’re both hungry, aren’t you?’
Jenny smiled. It was good to be back amongst the warm-hearted East Enders. Resolutely, she pushed aside thoughts of Ravensfleet and everyone there.
Forty-Five
‘Where’ve yer been then, all this time?’ Gladys asked as she poured the tea and pushed the cups across the table towards Dot and Jenny.
Dot cast a warning glance at her daughter. Already she’d instructed her, ‘Don’t you go tellin’ folks where we’ve been. Least said, an’ all that, and what they don’t know they can’t go tittle-tattling about.’
‘Up north,’ Dot said blithely. ‘All over the place.’
‘And what about that spiv you was with? Where’s ’ee then?’
Dot sniffed. ‘Gawd knows, Glad. We split up a while back.’
‘You’re well shot of ’im, Dot. None of us liked what he was up to. Get us all a bad name, the likes of ’im would.’
Jenny kept her eyes down, biting her lip to stop herself saying anything. Dot obviously wasn’t going to divulge details about her latest amour and his goings-on. She hoped, when she met up with Bobby again, he wouldn’t ask too many questions. She wasn’t good at telling lies, even though she’d had good training! Thinking of her own friends allowed her to open up a safer topic of conversation. ‘Is Bobby all right? And all his family? D’you know?’
‘Living in the next street,’ Gladys said promptly, gesturing towards the street that ran parallel to theirs beyond the back of her house. ‘In fact, their yard backs on to mine. We often ’ave a chin wag, me an’ Elsie.’
‘Can I go round and see’f Bobby’s there, Mum?’
‘Not yet. We’ve got to find somewhere to go. Do yer know of anywhere, Glad?’
Gladys Smart frowned. ‘There’s a lot of places empty, Dot. ’Specially them what’s been bombed, but I don’t know of anywhere round here that’s habitable.’
‘Maybe Aunty Elsie will know,’ Jenny put in eagerly. ‘Do let me go and see her.’
‘Go on, then. I can see I’m not going to get a minute’s peace till you do.’ Dot glanced at Gladys and muttered, ‘Kids!’
But Dot Mercer wasn’t going to get any sympathy from Gladys Smart. She’d brought up seven children, all grown up and flown now. Two of her sons were in the army and a daughter was in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, working as a driver, and Gladys would have really given her eye teeth to have them all safely at home with her again. Even her old man was still working on the docks, which were in ever-present danger from bombing.
Jenny jumped up and headed for the front door. ‘Thanks for the tea, Mrs Smart.’
‘Yer can go through the back. Their back gate’s opposite ours.’
Jenny retraced her steps through the kitchen and then through the scullery and out into the backyard.
Gladys watched her go. ‘Now, Dot,’ she began firmly, ‘let me give you a piece of advice. You may not want it, but you’re goin’ ter get it anyway. Watch that little lass of yours. She’s growing into a real little beauty. You’ll have the lads round her like bees round a honeypot before you know it.’
Dot sniffed derisively. ‘I don’t reckon she’s interested in lads, Gladys. Not normal, if you ask me. At her age, I had a steady boyfriend.’
Gladys gestured again with her head after the disappearing girl. ‘’Er dad?’
Dot laughed. ‘Nah. Don’t be daft, Gladys. Me first was a spotty-faced lad who trembled when he so much as kissed me.’
‘Who was ’er dad, Dot? You’ve never said.’
‘No,’ Dot said shortly. ‘And I’m not going to now.’ She felt like giving Gladys Smart a piece of her mind. Nosy old busybody! But Dot was sharp enough to realize that she needed the goodwill of all her former neighbours if she was going to get back on her feet and find a place for herself and her daughter to live. She hoped Jenny would have better luck at the Huttons.
But Gladys wasn’t
done with Dot Mercer yet. She’d waited years to get the young woman, who gave the impression she thought herself better than all her neighbours, in a metaphorical headlock.
Dot sighed. ‘Jenny was a mistake, Gladys. I admit that.’
Gladys laughed wryly and there was sympathy in her tone when she said, ‘Aye, an’ you’ve never hidden the fact, have you, Dot? Not even from Jen.’ The woman’s sympathy was not for Dot, but for the young girl who’d grown up with the knowledge that she’d never been wanted. The mere thought saddened and angered Gladys.
‘’Ello, darlin’. It’s good to see you,’ Elsie Hutton said on opening her back door to Jenny’s knock. The woman swept Jenny into her arms and gave her a bear hug. ‘We ’aven’t half missed yer. Come in, come in. Our Bobby’ll be back soon. He’s working now, of course. ’Spect you are too. Come in, do. Like a cuppa?’
‘No, thank you, Aunty Elsie. We’ve just had one at Mrs Smart’s. Mum’s still there.’
Elsie’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Yer mam’s at Gladys’s? Well, wonders never cease.’
‘I asked Mrs Smart if she knew where you were and she sent me through the back way.’
‘It was all we could find. Not up to much. Not as nice as the houses we both had. But they’re gone now and that’s that. Got ter make the best of it, ain’t we?’
‘Do you know of anywhere that might be vacant to rent? We need somewhere to live.’
Elsie grimaced. ‘I don’t, love. Any building round here that’s habitable is crowded out already. We were lucky to get somewhere close to where we used to live.’ Elsie’s face sagged. ‘We lost ev’rything, Jen. Every blessed thing. You was lucky you got out when you did.’ She laughed wryly. ‘At least that Arfer were good for something. If it hadn’t been for him having to scarper from the coppers, you might still have been here when we was bombed.’
‘Did – did anyone get hurt?’
Elsie shook her head. ‘No, thank God. We were all down the underground.’ Now she stared at Jenny as if really seeing her for the first time and a slow smile spread across her kindly face. ‘My, but you’ve grown up since we last saw yer. Our Bobby won’t know yer.’
Jenny blushed and murmured, ‘’Spect he’s grown too.’
And now Elsie asked the same question Gladys had. ‘Where’ve yer been, then?’
‘Up north,’ Jenny muttered, following her mother’s lead.
‘Where you were before? When you was evacuated?’
Jenny shook her head as the familiar lump formed in her throat. Back home with Aunty Elsie, she was tempted to spill it all out. The hurt of being sent back home by the Thorntons, of not being wanted by anyone, of being dragged into thieving and deceit. And worst of all, not knowing – not really knowing – about Georgie. Perhaps she’d never know, since they didn’t want to see her again. She felt the overwhelming urge to throw her arms around Elsie’s waist and bury her head against her. The woman’s voice pulled her back to the present. ‘Tell you what, you and yer mam can stop here for a night or two till you find a place. No longer than that, mind.’ Elsie wagged her finger. ‘You could stay here as long as you liked, Jen, but I can’t be putting up with yer mam’s goings on. Not under my roof.’
Jenny beamed as she jumped up. ‘Thanks, Aunty Elsie. I’ll go and tell her.’
Only moments later, Dot was tottering through the back door on her high heels. ‘I knew you wouldn’t let me down, Elsie. How’ve yer been?’
‘Lucky, that’s what we’ve been, Dot,’ Elsie said grimly.
‘Eh?’ Dot blinked and glanced around her at the damp, peeling wallpaper, the old furniture – what little of it there was – and turned her nose up. ‘You call this “luck”?’
Elsie laughed. ‘Lucky not to have been killed, yer daft mare. And Sid’s all right, far as I know. And all the boys. Yes, Dot, right now I count myself lucky.’ Her glance ran up and down Dot, spotting the short skirt, the smart jacket and the new shoes. ‘But you look as if you can’t complain. Fallen on yer feet by lying on yer back, ’ave yer?’
‘Elsie Hutton – mind what you’re saying in front of my daughter.’
Elsie laughed even louder. ‘I don’t reckon there’s much that little lass doesn’t know.’ She paused and then nodded towards Jenny. ‘An’ she’s not so little now, is she?’
Dot turned her head and looked at her daughter as if really seeing her for the first time. ‘You’re right,’ she murmured. ‘Gladys – nosy old cow – was just saying the same thing.’
‘Oh, so I’m a nosy old cow, an’ all, am I?’
‘No, no, Elsie, I didn’t mean you. You’re my friend – friend of the family. You can say what yer like, but ’er! She’s always turned her nose up at us.’
Elsie chuckled to herself. She knew exactly what Dot was like and was still her friend, though, now they were back, she was determined to see that Jenny was treated a little better. ‘Come on in, Dot. Make yourself at home. This all yer luggage?’
‘There’s a trunk at the station, Aunty Elsie. We’ll have to get someone to fetch it.’
‘Bobby might be able to help you there. He’s working for a grocer who’s bought a horse and cart ’cos of the petrol shortages. Bobby seems to get on all right with him so he might let Bobby fetch your trunk. Now, let’s get you upstairs. You can ’ave Ronnie’s room. He won’t be home for a while. You don’t mind sharing, do yer?’
For a moment, Dot looked as if she minded very much but a sharp nudge from her daughter reminded her that they had nowhere else to go.
‘Why? Where is he?’ Jenny asked.
Elsie turned slowly to look at her, her eyes suddenly full of the anxiety she carried every day. ‘In the army, love.’
Jenny gasped. ‘I hadn’t realized he’d be old enough,’ she murmured, realizing that it was not only she who’d grown up in the time she’d been away.
And Bobby had grown and filled out too. When he came home just before nine after working late, his face split into a broad grin when he saw who was sitting at the table.
‘My, you’ve grown,’ he said, looking her up and down.
‘So’ve you,’ Jenny laughed.
‘Yeah, but I ain’t made as good a job of it as you, Jen.’
‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Dot sidled up to him and put her arm round his shoulders, pulling him close to her, ‘you’re getting to be quite a handsome young feller.’
‘Now, now, Dot, put him down, he’s too young for you,’ Elsie teased and laughed inwardly when she saw Dot’s sulky pout. The woman never liked to be reminded how old she was getting. Deliberately, Elsie changed the subject. ‘Dot and Jen are staying for a night or two until they can find somewhere to live. Can you ask around, Bobby?’
‘No need,’ Bobby said promptly. ‘There’s a place at the end of this street just come vacant. Folks have done a moonlight. I know, cos I’ve been knocking on their door for a week or more for the rent money they owe Mr Jenkins.’
‘Who’s Mr Jenkins when he’s at home?’ Dot asked.
‘The bloke I work for. He owns quite a bit of property round here.’ He pointed to the ground beneath his feet. ‘He owns this one.’
Dot smiled and put her head on one side, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Bobby. ‘Sounds like I should meet this nice Mr Jenkins. Where’s he live? Above his shop?’
Bobby laughed. ‘Nah. He’s got a big house a few streets away.’
‘Has he now?’ Dot murmured and Elsie cast her eyes heavenwards. Dot Mercer would never change. She just hoped Jenny wasn’t going to follow in her mother’s footsteps.
Forty-Six
‘Right, Bobby, are you going to take me to see this nice boss of yours?’ Dot asked Bobby the following day when the boy came home at midday for his dinner. ‘Jen, you help Elsie with the washing-up.’
Bobby glanced at his mother, who gave a little nod. ‘Come on then, Aunty Dot.’
‘Eh, none of this “Aunty” lark now. Not from a big lad like you.’ Dot fluffed her hair. ‘Let me just put a bi
t more lipstick on. I want to look my best.’
When they’d left the house and Elsie and Jenny had carried the dirty pots through to the scullery to begin the washing-up, Elsie asked quietly, ‘How’ve you been, Jen? Really?’
It was tempting – very tempting – to tell the woman who’d always watched out for her, whose youngest son had always been her best friend, just what had been going on. But she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t let her mother down. For all she knew it might get them both into serious trouble with the police if it leaked out just what they had been up to in Derbyshire and Sheffield.
So Jenny shrugged and tried to act nonchalantly. ‘It was all right. We moved around a bit.’
‘And what about Arthur? What went wrong there?’
Jenny licked her lips nervously. She’d have to tell Elsie some of what had happened or she would begin to realize the girl was holding back. So Jenny smiled brightly and told as much of the truth as she dared. When you’re telling lies, Arthur had always said, tell as much of the truth as you can. It’s easier to remember. ‘There was this bloke who was friendly with Uncle Arthur.’
‘Oh aye.’ Elsie’s tone was sceptical. ‘One of his spiv mates, I suppose.’
‘No, no.’ Jenny hesitated. Elsie was sharp. If she said too much the woman would guess exactly what sort of a ‘friend’ Jim had been.
‘Anyway,’ she ploughed on, ‘to cut a long story short, Mum ended up moving in with Jim.’
‘And what about you? Where were you when all this was going on?’ Elsie was tight-lipped. Whatever had this poor girl been subjected to?
‘Jim was very good to both of us. He even tried to get Mum to let me stay on at school and try for the art school in the city.’
‘What city was that, then?’
Jenny bit her lip. She was such a truthful girl, she was finding it hard to tell a convincing story without telling deliberate lies. She took a deep breath. Surely there could be no harm in talking about Sheffield? It was such a big city, it would be safer than divulging exactly where they’d been in Derbyshire in much smaller communities.
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