A True Love of Mine

by Margaret Thornton

  ‘We don’t need any help, thank you,’ said the little boy seriously. ‘Do we, Tilly? We made some big ones last year, just Tilly and me.’

  ‘You’re a little fibber, Tommy!’ Jessie broke in; for the last few moments she had been very quiet. ‘Don’t you remember me helping you? And Daddy as well.’

  Tommy scowled at her. ‘Daddy’s not here very much. I ’spect you might have helped a bit…’ he added doubtfully.

  ‘Come along now,’ said their mother, laughing. ‘Let’s have no squabbling, especially on such a lovely day. I have told you, Tommy, you will make it rain if you frown like that.’ He looked up wonderingly into the blue, blue sky. ‘All these exciting things can wait for another day. We are here for a whole month, aren’t we, and Maddy is very welcome to join us if she would like to, and if her mother is agreeable.’

  ‘Thank you,’ said Maddy. ‘That would be lovely.’ Already she felt as though she was falling under the spell of this nice little family from York.

  ‘Let’s go and sit down and watch the show,’ said Mrs Barraclough, taking hold of Tommy’s and Tilly’s hands, one on either side of her, and heading off in the direction of the Pierrots’ stage. ‘Now, you two, I shall sit here on a deckchair and you can sit at the front with Jessie and Maddy. Behave yourselves now, won’t you? And I’ll give you some pennies to put in the box when the man comes round.’ She opened a dainty little bag on a silver chain which was hanging over her arm and took out a purse. ‘Here you are.’ She handed the twins and Jessie a couple of copper coins each. ‘Put them in your pockets now, until the interval.’ She glanced at Maddy. ‘And what about you, dear? Do you have…?’

  ‘Oh yes, I’ve got my own money,’ said Maddy. ‘My mother always gives me a penny.’

  Jessie’s mother smiled serenely. ‘That’s all right then. Off you go now and sit down. I think they are just about to begin.’

  The show was very much the mixture as before; singing and tap dancing, the same man and lady singing solos, the performing dogs and the comedian and his stooge with pretty much the same jokes as they had heard the previous day. Maddy remembered that they changed the programme each week, so there might well be different acts to look forward to next week. All the same, it was very enjoyable, and Tommy and Tilly watched intently, captivated by their new experience.

  However, when the Pierrots had disappeared from the stage and they had dropped their pennies into the man’s wooden box, the twins started to grow restless.

  ‘Where’ve they gone?’ asked Tommy. ‘Is that the end?’

  ‘No; they’ve gone to have a little rest,’ said Jessie. ‘It’s what they call the interval now. They’ll be coming back again in a few minutes. Did you like it?’

  ‘Yes, it was good,’ said Tommy. ‘I liked the funny men.’ He had, indeed, done a good deal of laughing, joining in with the rest of the audience, although he could not really have understood the jokes. But laughter was infectious and Tommy was, for most of the time, a happy little boy.

  ‘I liked the doggies best,’ said Tilly in a timid voice. She smiled shyly at Maddy, edging nearer to her on the bench. ‘Did you like them?’

  ‘Yes, I did.’ Maddy nodded enthusiastically, pleased that the little girl, also, was now showing a desire to be friendly. ‘They’re very clever, aren’t they, doing all those tricks? Have you got a dog, Tilly?’

  ‘No,’ she replied, looking rather solemn. ‘We’d like one, Tommy and me, but Daddy says they make too much mess. Have you got a dog, Maddy?’

  ‘No,’ replied Maddy, ‘but we’ve got two horses…’

  ‘Horses? Have you…really?’ It was Tommy who spoke now. ‘Can you ride them, Maddy?’

  ‘No, we don’t actually ride on them,’ she replied. ‘They’re for…well…they pull a carriage.’

  ‘You’ve got a carriage, too?’ Tommy’s eyes were like saucers.

  ‘Well, sort of,’ she replied, realising she was getting herself into deep water. She wasn’t sure whether or not Jessie had explained to her mother about the Moons’ family business. At all events, the twins would not understand about it.

  ‘Can we come and see your horses?’ Tommy asked. ‘Me and Tilly?’ His sister was looking much more animated now.

  ‘Yes, I ’spect you could, one day,’ said Maddy, somewhat unsurely. ‘You will have to see what your mummy says.’

  ‘I’ll go and ask her now,’ said Tommy, jumping up from the bench. ‘Come on, Tilly; let’s go and tell Mummy about Maddy’s horses.’

  ‘Don’t you want to watch the rest of the show?’ asked Jessie. ‘If you go running off you might lose your seat.’

  ‘No,’ said Tommy. ‘I want an ice-cream now. Mummy said we could have one this morning. Come on, Tilly.’

  The two little ones ran off and Maddy and Jessie looked at one another and grinned. ‘That’s what our Tommy’s like,’ said Jessie. ‘Always wanting to do something different. And Tilly just follows him. If I know Tommy he’ll be wanting to watch the Punch and Judy show next. I don’t really mind not seeing the second half of the Pierrot show, do you, Maddy?’

  ‘No, of course not,’ Maddy replied. ‘We saw it yesterday, and there’ll be lots more days.’

  ‘And we won’t always have the twins with us,’ said Jessie.

  Mrs Barraclough agreed that all the children should have an ice-cream, and they made their way across the sand to the ice-cream cart. She bought them each a cornet, but declined to have one herself. Maddy guessed it would not be ladylike for such an elegant person to be seen eating an ice-cream; besides, she might mess up her lovely dress and her white gloves.

  ‘Thank you very much,’ said Maddy. ‘That’s very kind of you… But I could’ve paid for my own cornet.’

  Mrs Barraclough laughed, such a merry melodious sound, and smiled at her. ‘I wouldn’t dream of it, my dear. I am so pleased that Jessica had met such a nice polite little girl. I hope you two will be good friends whilst we are in Scarborough.’

  ‘We are already,’ said Maddy proudly. ‘Oh… I nearly forgot. My…my mother says that Jessie can come for tea at our house on Wednesday, that’s tomorrow. If she’d like to, and if you say that it’s all right.’

  ‘Oh, Mummy, can I, please?’ asked Jessie.

  ‘I don’t see any reason why not,’ replied her mother. ‘Yes, of course you can go.’ She turned to Maddy. ‘Perhaps, on the way back, I could call and see your parents for a few moments? I would like to make their acquaintance, if it is convenient?’

  ‘Yes, I ’spect it will be,’ said Maddy. ‘They’ll probably both be there, but sometimes they have to…to go out.’ She looked at the lady a little anxiously. ‘Did Jessie tell you about my dad, what he does and…all that?’

  ‘Yes, my dear. I understand, and you don’t need to feel embarrassed about it. Why should you?’

  ‘Maddy says they’ve got some horses,’ Tommy chimed in now, having suddenly remembered about them; he had been distracted momentarily by the ice-cream. ‘So we’ll be able to see them, won’t we, if we go to Maddy’s house?’

  ‘Just for a moment or two, maybe,’ said his mother. ‘We don’t want to be a nuisance. People have work to do, but I thought it might be a good idea for us to meet.’

  Maddy understood perfectly. She knew that her parents would react in exactly the same way. They always wanted to know about her friends’ families; what job the father was in, for instance, and if they were nice respectable people.

  ‘There’s Punch and Judy over there,’ said Tommy, pointing to a spot further along the beach where a crowd was gathering. He had dealt with the question of the horses and had finished his ice-cream and was now ready for the next exciting event. ‘Can we go and watch it, Mummy?’

  Mrs Barraclough nodded complacently, then helped the twins to wipe their sticky fingers on the hankies that were in their pockets, and Jessie and Maddy did the same.

  The children and the few grown-ups in the crowd stood, rather than sat, to watch the antics of Punch a
nd Judy on the little stage of the red-and-white striped box. The dog Toby, a real live dog, sat patiently at the side whilst the ugly hook-nosed Mister Punch berated his poor wife, Judy, knocking her about with a big stick and shouting, ‘That’s the way to do it!’ in his funny squeaky voice. Poor Judy, thought Maddy, although she knew they were only wooden puppets and that it was all supposed to be in good fun. Tommy laughed uproariously, although Tilly seemed a little unsure about all the brutality. Anyway, the policeman came eventually to take Mister Punch away to prison, so perhaps he would get the punishment he deserved.

  ‘Shall we go and see Samuel?’ asked Mrs Barraclough when the Punch and Judy show had finished.

  ‘No… I want to make a sandcastle,’ said Tommy. He was jumping up and down excitedly, having found a pile of soft churned-up sand discarded by a couple of children who were engaged in building a castle of their own. ‘You said we could, Mummy; didn’t she, Tilly?’ Tilly nodded a little doubtfully.

  ‘No, I didn’t; not today,’ replied his mother, quietly but firmly. ‘You are not dressed for playing in the sand today. We have already done two – no, three – exciting things, haven’t we? We’ve watched the Pierrot show and the Punch and Judy; and you’ve had an ice-cream…’

  ‘And we’re going to see Maddy’s horses…’ added Tilly, nodding reprovingly at Tommy.

  ‘Yes, so we are, dear,’ said her mother. ‘Just be satisfied, Tommy, and don’t pull your face. It will stay like that!’

  ‘As well as making it rain?’ quipped Tommy.

  His mother laughed, knowing he was not really being cheeky. He was as bright as a button, was Tommy, always ready with an apt comment. He wouldn’t mind too much about the sandcastle and would soon be looking forward to the thrill of seeing the horses.

  ‘Samuel – that’s Jessica’s older brother – has gone fishing off the end of the pier,’ she told Maddy. ‘He doesn’t often catch very much, but he enjoys himself and that’s the important thing. He’s rather a solitary boy, my elder son. Not like his little brother, or Jessica for that matter.’

  ‘Tilly’s a quiet little girl though, isn’t she?’ said Maddy. The two of them, Mrs Barraclough and Maddy, were together now, walking up the steps that led from the beach with the other three children following behind. Maddy had decided that she liked this pretty lady very much. Not just because she was pretty, though; she was friendly, too, and made you feel as though she really wanted to talk to you.

  ‘Yes, so she is,’ she replied. ‘I’m afraid that Tilly had always been overshadowed by her twin brother. But she is starting to think for herself a little bit more now, I hope. It is surprising how different children in a family can be. On the other hand, maybe not… I suppose two of them take after me and the other two after my husband.’ She did not say which two, so Maddy supposed it was Jessie and Tommy, the bright and cheerful ones, who took after their mother.

  ‘Do you have brothers and sisters, Maddy?’ she asked. ‘Jessie did mention that you had a brother…’

  ‘Yes, our Patrick,’ replied Maddy. ‘There’s just him and me; I haven’t got any sisters. Patrick works for me dad, and me grandad lives with us an’ all…as well. It was his business, y’see, the…undertaker’s. Well, it still is really; Isaac Moon and Son, it’s called; that’s me grandad – he’s Isaac – and me dad’s called William. And we have a shop as well. My…mother’s in charge of that.’

  ‘Yes, I am looking forward to meeting your parents…and perhaps your grandad and your brother,’ said Mrs Barraclough.

  They walked along the cliff path leading to the pier entrance.

  ‘Did you ever see such a monstrosity?’ said Mrs Barraclough pointing – but in a refined manner – to the tower which had been erected two years ago on the cliff top near to the castle. It dominated, and to many minds, spoilt the view of Scarborough’s North Bay.

  Maddy was able to answer knowledgeably because her parents, also, had protested against the building of the tower. They, too, had used the word ‘monstrosity’ about the ‘Warwick Revolving Tower’, as it was called. ‘Yes, my mam and dad think it’s ugly too,’ she replied. ‘They said it should never’ve been allowed. I suppose you can see for miles, though, from up there. That’s what it says at the entrance, doesn’t it?’

  ‘Yes, stupendous marine views, so they say. It’s a hundred and fifty feet high, I believe.’ Mrs Barraclough laughed. ‘All I know is that it is ruining the view from our front windows, and I certainly won’t be going up there! Never mind; perhaps they will remove it if too many people complain. But we are not going to let it spoil our holiday…

  ‘Come along now, all of you.’ She gathered the children around her at the pier entrance. ‘Off you go, through the turnstile. One at a time… Tommy, don’t push like that.’

  They went through the pier turnstile, then walked along the wooden boards which stretched out over the sand, and then over the sea. Tilly came up to Maddy and took hold of her hand. ‘It’s a bit scary, isn’t it?’ she said. ‘Look – we can see the sea underneath us.’

  ‘D’you know, I used to feel exactly the same when I was a little girl,’ said Maddy, with all the wisdom of her ten years. She remembered feeling as though the waves, which sometimes could be quite rough on a windy day, were pulling her down into their depths. ‘But there’s nothing to be frightened of. Don’t look down; just look in front of you and tell me when you can see your brother.’

  ‘He’s there!’ the little girl cried in a few moments, when they had almost reached the end of the pier.

  The boy was leaning against the railings, his eyes looking fixedly ahead to the end of his line where it entered the sea.

  ‘Sam… Hello, Sam,’ called Tilly. ‘We’ve come to see you!’ She sounded more excited than she had done all morning.

  The boy turned round and Maddy thought she had never seen a more good-looking lad. He was dark-haired, unlike his mother and his sisters and brother, and his eyes were dark too, an arresting feature in a face that resembled, so she thought, a picture of a knight of old that she had seen in a history book; sombre and serious-looking, but so very handsome. His stern look disappeared, however, at the sight of his little sister.

  ‘Hello there, Tilly,’ he said, smiling broadly at her; then he looked questioningly at Maddy.

  ‘This is Maddy,’ said Tilly. ‘You know – Jessie told us about her new friend. Well, she’s my friend as well now, aren’t you, Maddy?’ She turned her pointed pixie-like face towards Maddy, smiling at her in a proprietary manner.

  ‘Well then, hello Maddy,’ said Samuel. He nodded at her in quite a friendly way, but the bright smile that had lit up his face on seeing his sister had faded a little. ‘Nice to meet you… Excuse me not shaking hands. I don’t want to let go of my rod.’

  ‘Oh yes, so I see,’ said Maddy. ‘Your mum said you were a keen fisherman. Have you caught anything this morning?’

  ‘One or two,’ he answered casually, ‘but I always throw them back again.’

  ‘Yes, so you do,’ said his mother, who had now joined the group with Tommy and Jessie. She laughed. ‘I am still waiting for a nice juicy herring or two to cook for our tea.’

  ‘He never catches any!’ said Tommy. He was jumping up and down enjoying the hollow thud that his shoes made on the wooden planking.

  ‘Yes I do, I catch plenty! And we’ll have less of your cheek, young Thomas,’ said Samuel. ‘Now, Mother, you know that you wouldn’t like the job of gutting and boning the fish, would you? Besides, I’ve told you that the best fish, particularly the herrings, are much further out to sea. And I wouldn’t want to deprive the fishermen of their trade, now would I?’

  His brown eyes twinkled with just a shade of humour and his mother smiled at him fondly. ‘You are right, of course, Samuel. I prefer to buy my fish all cleaned and ready to cook from the stalls near the harbour.

  ‘Well then, we will leave you to your fishing,’ she added as Samuel turned back towards the sea, pulling at his rod as thoug
h there might be a catch at the end of the line. ‘Your lunch will be ready in about…let me see…’ She looked at the dainty fob watch which was pinned to her bodice. ‘In about in an hour’s time; well, perhaps an hour and a half. We are going to call in to see Maddy’s parents on the way back.’

  ‘And her horses,’ added Tommy, who was still jumping up and down.

  ‘Yes, and the horses,’ said his mother. ‘Do try and keep still for a moment, Tommy… You will be coming home for lunch, will you, Samuel? Or did you bring a sandwich with you?’

  ‘No, I’ll be there, Mother.’ He did not turn round. ‘Not for long though. This afternoon I intend to go to the museum, the Rotunda. I’ve heard they have some interesting archaeological specimens there.’ He was still staring out to sea, winding in his line.

  ‘Each to his own, I suppose,’ said Mrs Barraclough musingly, as though to herself. ‘Come along now; let’s leave him in peace. Goodbye for now, Samuel.’

  ‘Bye, everyone,’ he answered vaguely.

  ‘My brother’s real stuffy,’ said Jessie, coming to walk next to Maddy as they strode back along the pier. ‘He’s not much fun at all sometimes.’

  But Maddy thought that Samuel was excitingly different from all the other boys she knew. He was not much like her brother, Patrick, that was for sure.

  Chapter Five

  William and Clara Moon had been out on an assignment that morning, and they were surprised when they arrived back, almost at midday, to find that they had visitors. Isaac was deep in conversation with a lady whom William decided at once was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

  ‘William, Clara…’ called Isaac as soon as they entered the yard. ‘Come over here and meet Mrs Barraclough; she’s our Maddy’s friend’s mother.’