Holidays at Home Omnibus

by Wait Till Summer; Swingboats On the Sand; Waiting for Yesterday; Day Trippers; Unwise Promises; Street Parties (retail) (epub)

  ‘Sorry, but she never invited me home. Ashamed I expect, living in some untidy place with no money, she didn’t want me to know, me being a Castle.’

  Alice looked at her sister-in-law sprawled on a couch, with used plates and cups around her amid opened and abandoned magazines. How dare she criticize someone for untidiness and put herself above others? ‘And you weren’t curious?’ she asked.

  ‘We met in the park or in cafés, then she worked for Mam and Dad and we saw each other there. Then,’ she added, rolling her eyes in the hope of sympathy, ‘then my dear Sam died and once she realized I had no money she dropped me. Some friend, eh?’

  All that day Alice wandered around the shops and the park in the centre of town. She was determined to find the elusive Netta and face her with her lies. Darkness was gripping the town in the chill of a frosty night when she saw her. She was walking through the shops, stopping for the children to look at the gifts on display.

  She heard the little girl’s high-pitched voice, the mother’s laughter, watched her finger pointing and answering questions. It looked just like many other family groups, so innocent, so ordinary that she wondered momentarily if Netta’s story could be true.

  Why would Netta invent such a thing? She must know Dolly’s real father. If that wasn’t Eynon, why would she lie? In the hope of money? The Castles were not rich but they weren’t exactly poor either. Did she choose Eynon for that reason? Wanting a father for her children she could have selected Eynon because of his position. But the dates fitted and – she gave up trying to sort it out. Her head ached and she was very cold.

  She stamped her feet, walked around a bit but didn’t approach the three people. She waited and followed their erratic progress, crossing and recrossing the road as one of the children saw a shop window they wanted to investigate. Alice couldn’t help thinking that Netta seemed a very patient and caring mother.

  She saw Netta straighten Dolly’s scarf and fasten her coat around her, and watched as they left the lighted windows and set off down one of the back streets. Protected by the darkness, Alice followed.

  It was easy to see through the window of the house into which Netta shepherded the children, as the light shone within and the windows were devoid of curtains. Alice looked around but there was no one about and she knew she wouldn’t be seen from inside. There was a broken gate leaning drunkenly against an abandoned pram and she had to step carefully around it. There were many obstacles blocking the path. She had to look away from the window until her eyes adjusted to the darkness for fear of tripping over the rubbish-strewn garden.

  The tangled remains of bicycles lay amid empty boxes and the innards of a wireless set and unrecognizable chunks of metal – the carcass of a motor car, she guessed, identifying a bumper gleaming dully in the light from the window.

  There were several children inside and she saw Netta go up to a boy aged about five years old and hug him. ‘Mam,’ she heard him call as Netta left him, ‘can we have some chips?’ She replied with a shake of her head and left the room, taking off her coat as she went. Alice’s heart lurched at the realization that Netta had three children, not two. How could she have lived such a life?

  She continued to stare into the room, unable to decide what she should do. Then she heard a sound and turning towards it, saw Netta standing watching her. ‘You’d better go away,’ she said.

  ‘I’ll go, but I’ll be back with the police,’ Alice replied with a confidence she didn’t feel. Two young men came out then, whom Alice presumed to be Netta’s brothers. A husband would surely have stood beside her, protecting her. These two stood together, silent, but threatening. It flashed through Alice’s mind that if Netta had produced three illegitimate children, their care was seriously inadequate.

  ‘Go, and don’t come back,’ one of them said, and, backing off, Alice said, ‘Well, at least we know where you live.’

  She walked with deliberate slowness, her heart racing and her legs like jelly, until she was out of sight, then she bent almost double and ran home.

  Twelve

  Alice went home after her confrontation with Netta in an uneasy frame of mind. She didn’t know how to approach the subject with Eynon. How would he feel about her following the girl and facing her at her home? She would never have acted so boldly before working in the factory. The girls had certainly ‘brought her out of herself’, she thought with some anxiety. She had become so strong-willed and Eynon might not like the change from the shy, hesitant girl he’d left behind.

  Another consideration was that Netta’s family were unlikely to know what the girl was attempting to do and she might have caused Netta serious problems. While accepting that the girl deserved whatever happened to her, having caused the problems herself, Alice couldn’t forget the children. Netta had Walter and little Dolly, plus the little boy called Danny, apparently with no way of supporting them. Despite her initial anger against the girl, she felt a growing need to help.

  When she put her key in her front door she knew that she had to tell Eynon exactly what she had done and also, how she felt. Mentally bracing herself for the story she had to tell, she went in and discovered that Eynon was out. She felt a relief from the tension of explaining all she had learned. Closing the door again, she went to see Hannah.

  ‘I know she was foolish and she shouldn’t have had any children without a proper marriage and a home for them, but I don’t think she’s wicked, just weak. She must have been very young and she hasn’t even got a friend to talk things over with, from what I could gather. Just the two aggressive men whom I presumed to be her brothers.’

  ‘Isn’t Lilly her friend?’

  ‘I doubt whether Lilly would be much help.’

  ‘Three children! Unbelievable.’

  ‘What can we do? We can’t magic up a husband or a home.’

  ‘Right. If her family won’t help her, what can we do?’

  ‘Would Johnny’s parents, or Eynon’s mother give her another chance and offer her some work when the beach opens again? Eynon’s Mam is a sucker when it comes to people in trouble, isn’t she? A job would be a good beginning for her to start building a life.’

  ‘You’ll have to ask her.’ Hannah looked doubtful. ‘Marged wasn’t thrilled at the way Netta tried to ruin my peace of mind when Johnny was coming home. And she deliberately tried to harm your marriage. I doubt that Bleddyn would want her there.’

  ‘We’ll keep it in our minds, shall we? If anything turns up we can let her know.’

  ‘You could have a word with Lilly. She and Netta were friends, perhaps a friend is what she needs right now. Although,’ Hannah whispered with a grin, ‘our Lilly’s the last one to advise her about getting a job!’

  * * *

  The houses in St David’s Well had all their decorations up by the second week of December and as Alice had no traditional store of trimmings, she made her own. She and Eirlys used a sewing machine and some crépe paper they had managed to buy and made streamers to criss-cross their rooms. The children contributed by making chains from the packets of paper strips sold for the purpose.

  Hannah made yards of bunting from oddments of material, some of which she sold in the shop. She and Hetty added colour and sparkle to the rooms and windows of the house in Brook Lane, knowing Shirley would be home and wanting her to feel the excitement of the joyful season.

  ‘Every year since 1939 they’ve told us the war would be over by Christmas. This year, at last, they’re right,’ Audrey said to Keith as they added streamers, and painted branches bought from Chapel’s Flowers, to the café walls.

  ‘Thank goodness all our children are safe,’ Keith added, as Audrey passed up a spray of mistletoe. ‘Because it’s a special Christmas, we mustn’t forget any of the traditions, this year.’ He took her in his arms and kissed her. ‘Christening the mistletoe is a tradition we must keep.’

  ‘I’ve never heard of that one,’ Audrey said, holding him close so he could feel her smile against his own.

/>   ‘This is also a good year to begin new ones.’

  * * *

  In the now empty shop, Cassie fixed the latest bills and reminders that had come by that morning’s post on to the spike she had used for years to hold her unpaid bills. When they came back with a receipt, they were transferred to another spike and that, basically, was her accounts system. Today there were none at all on the paid spike, the one for those awaiting payment was full.

  She had heard very little from Joseph, just a weekly letter asking her to send the totals from the till roll showing the daily totals of the week’s takings, which she ignored. The sales details she had written in her book were completely fictitious. She hadn’t opened the shops for business since the sale had emptied them. There were still a few of the normal items for sale, and the coupons she had taken for what she had sold were in a couple of carrier bags thrown carelessly in the corner of the now empty stock room.

  She went to the shops each day to collect the post, idly walking through the town without haste, knowing that all day, every day was now her own. The second post that day had brought more urgent requests for money and during the afternoon, at home where she was sitting idly thumbing through catalogues of previous suppliers, she saw a man carrying a notepad and a leather briefcase knocking furiously at her door, and peering in through the window. She watched but didn’t open the door as he scribbled furiously in his notebook before hurrying off.

  It was Tuesday, the eighteenth of December, exactly one week before Christmas, when she parcelled up all the bills and sent them to Joseph. In another parcel she sent the remainder of the stolen clothing coupons but these were not addressed to Joseph. They went to the police. She wondered, with little emotion, which of the shocks she had planned would hit him first.

  * * *

  Lilly was surprised to see Hannah when she opened the door to her knock. ‘What d’you want? Mam’s out,’ she said ungraciously.

  ‘Hello, Lilly, it’s you I’ve come to see.’ Hannah, carrying a brown-paper-wrapped parcel, pushed past Lilly and into the house.

  ‘Come to remind me that I need a job?’

  ‘I don’t think you need reminding, do you?’

  ‘It isn’t easy to find something to suit me, you know. Peter said he’d look out for something. I am trying.’

  Hannah declined to give the obvious answer to that one. ‘Trying’ was something Lilly had always been! ‘This is for you, Lilly,’ she said offering the parcel. ‘A little gift from Johnny and me.’

  Lilly took the parcel and placed it on the table. ‘What is it?’ she demanded, unable to smile or show any pleasure. It was sure to be something sensible coming from Hannah. A boring apron or a knitted cardigan — certain to be brown — garments she wouldn’t be seen dead in. Who wants sensible? she asked herself silently. She turned back the folds of paper to reveal a pretty velvet sea-green dress. She had to be mistaken. This couldn’t be for her. ‘Brought it to show me, have you? Clever you are, Hannah, and it’s very nice. One of your favourite customers, I’ll bet, posh material like that.’

  ‘It’s for you, Lilly. I thought you might like it for some of the Christmas parties or a dance.’

  Lilly held it against her and burst into tears.

  ‘Lilly, what is it? Have I chosen the wrong colour, I thought—’

  ‘It’s lovely, I love it. Thanks, Hannah.’

  Hannah stood, wanting to hug her but afraid of offending. Lilly might not accept a hug, she was not a demonstrative person and had never shown any great liking for her cousin Johnny’s choice of a wife. She waited while Lilly dried her tears clumsily, like a child, with great rubbing movements accompanied by a few remaining sobs. ‘I’ll go then. Unless you’d like to try it on, so I can do any adjustments needed?’

  ‘Wait there,’ Lilly said, picking up the dress and walking from the room. Hannah folded the brown paper, too valuable to waste, and sat to wait for Lilly to reappear. When she did so, she had washed her face, put on some lipstick and she had combed her long hair. The dress fitted perfectly and, although Lilly didn’t possess a perfect figure, the tight waist, the fullness around the flaring skirt and the diamanti decoration on the waist and neckline were flattering.

  ‘Turn around, make the skirt swing out so I can see the effect,’ Hannah asked. Then, as a self-conscious Lilly stopped in front of her, head lowered, she said, ‘Lilly, you look lovely. You really do.’ The dress had been bought from a woman who had become tired of seeing it in her wardrobe, knowing she no longer had the figure, or the opportunities to wear it again, and it had needed very little alteration.

  ‘I’m not too fat for it, am I?’

  ‘You’re no bean pole, Lilly, but you’re all woman!’ she said teasingly.

  ‘It’s beautiful,’ Lilly muttered and Hannah was amused to see her blush. Perhaps she wasn’t as indifferent to admiration as she appeared.

  ‘The next thing we must do is persuade you to accept every invitation that comes your way,’ Hannah said softly. ‘Whether or not you really want to go, you must accept every one and maybe there’ll be a few surprises. Places where you don’t expect to enjoy yourself might turn out to be some of the best times of your life.’

  ‘There haven’t been many “best times” in my life, not really.’

  ‘Those days are over. This dress will be filled with good memories before the winter is over. So much so that you’ll smile every time you look at it. That’s a promise.’

  * * *

  Ken came home on the day Lilly was given her beautiful dress. Eirlys didn’t know how to greet him. She was glad he had made up his mind to leave London and come back to her permanently, but her delight was tempered by the realization that for Ken, it was failure. If she were too pleased, he might think she was gloating, proved right when she had advised him not to go.

  ‘Dadda,’ she called and when Morgan poked his head around the door of the sitting room, where she sat making puppets to sell in the shop, she asked, ‘Will you stay in with Anthony and the boys tonight? I want to talk to Ken.’

  ‘I’ll take the boys to the pictures if you like, then there’ll only be you and Anthony and Ken?’

  ‘No, Dadda, I want us to go out.’

  ‘Fine by me. I don’t suppose Stanley will be in though. He spends most evenings sitting in Audrey’s café waiting for her to tell Myrtle she can leave early. Seriously courting, those two if you ask me, for all he’s only sixteen.’

  ‘And Maude and Reggie talking about getting married. Honestly, Dadda, I’m beginning to feel middle-aged!’

  ‘A brother or sister for Anthony would cure you of that!’ He darted back out and closed the door before she could respond. It wasn’t his business, but she and Ken had been acting the fool for long enough. Separating, arguing about whether or not she should work. Both trying to be strong against the other. Daft, it was. Time they settled down and behaved like responsible parents, he thought, as he took out the family’s shoes ready for cleaning.

  When Ken walked through the door later that day, Morgan greeted him and disappeared back into the kitchen. Eirlys silently stood up and hugged him. Apart from a whispered, ‘I love you, I’ve missed you,’ which he echoed, she didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing. Morgan, whistling noisily, banged the back door as he went out.

  She felt surprisingly shy, as though he’d been away for years rather than weeks. She eased away from him and went to make tea and bring in the snack she had prepared on a tray.

  ‘Don’t eat much, Ken, I’ve booked a table at the Ship tonight. Don’t waste a good appetite on sandwiches.’

  ‘For all of us?’ Ken asked. She looked into his eyes, afraid of seeing provocative accusation.

  ‘No, darling, just you and me.’

  Making sure Anthony was ready to be left in her father’s care, they waited for the boys to come home, and again, Eirlys watched anxiously for some irritation with them, but he seemed genuinely pleased to see them and had brought his sweets ration for them
to share.

  The meal was a treat. There was even a generous helping of meat, which was served with roast potatoes that were dry but palatable, and the tinned vegetables were enhanced by a few early sprouts and some fresh carrots that were perhaps a trifle woody and past their best, but welcome just the same.

  Ken told her some of the smart, clever, interesting and downright stupid people he had met, and confessed that the boredom and loneliness outweighed the good times. Eirlys admitted that being home with Anthony and working at making things to sell in the shop was enough, for the moment.

  ‘We need extra money, but perhaps I’ll find a job that’s less demanding, like helping Peter on an official footing once his agency is —’ She stopped. Assuming that Peter’s agency would succeed while Ken’s had failed was the worst possible remark to make. She looked at him anxiously and to her relief, Ken laughed.

  ‘Peter’s agency fills a real need in the town. I could do worse than join him. I tried to find a niche for myself among people who had been doing the job for years, established agencies with good reputations. If I’d been fortunate and found one or two new stars and set them on their way I might have managed it, but new stars with ambition wouldn’t take a chance on me, and why should they?’

  They walked home, ignoring the buses that passed them, relishing the chance to be on their own, a couple, without the ties of Morgan and Stanley, Harold and Percival.

  As they went into the house, they could hear the boys arguing about some game they were playing. Ken held her tightly and kissed her before whispering, ‘I never thought I’d say this, but darling, darling Eirlys, I’m so very glad to be back and I wouldn’t move away from this rowdy rabble again for a fortune.’

  Eirlys met Ralph a few days later. To her fury, he told her he had left the job.