A Rare Ruby

by Dee Williams

  When the pub door opened and a pram was pushed in Ruby thought she would burst with happiness. ‘Is he all right?’ she asked, rushing over to them.

  ‘He’s fine. He’s fast asleep.’ Len Thompson looked lovingly in the pram. ‘Ruby, I’m gonner let Mrs Anderson here . . .’ He stood to one side and Mrs Anderson walked in.

  ‘You can’t let her have him,’ she cried out, interrupting him. ‘I won’t let you. Where’s he been?’ Tears filled her eyes.

  ‘No, listen. She’s not going to take him away. She’s coming here to help.’

  ‘I don’t want her to. I’m gonner look after him.’

  ‘Don’t worry, love, he’ll be all right with me.’

  ‘We’ve had a long talk. I’ve been to the house and seen the rest of the family and they love him.’

  ‘So do I.’

  ‘Ruby, I think you’d better go through to the back.’ Her father’s voice was strong and stern.

  Reluctantly she pushed the pram behind the bar and, leaving it in the passage, went along to the parlour.

  ‘Now sit down, both of you.’

  Ruby and Mrs Anderson did as they were told.

  ‘What I’m going to say affects us all.’

  Mrs Anderson’s worried eyes said it all as she looked from one to the other. She looked frightened and confused.

  ‘Where’s that bullying son of yours then? Why ain’t he here throwing his weight about?’ asked Ruby.

  ‘Ruby, this attitude isn’t gonner help,’ said Mr Thompson.

  ‘I don’t care. I love Danny and I’m gonner get married and look after him.’

  Both Mrs Anderson and Len Thompson looked at her with amazement.

  ‘Does your father know you’re getting married?’

  Ruby shook her head.

  ‘And may I ask who you’re marrying?’

  Again she shook her head.

  ‘Ruby, I know you’ve been upset, but you mustn’t be so childish,’ said Len Thompson.

  Ruby hung her head. She felt silly as well as angry.

  ‘Ruby, I ain’t gonner take him away from you. It’s just that I think he should know who his grandmother is, and that he’s got some sort of family. He ain’t all alone.’

  ‘He won’t ever be alone.’

  ‘Now, Ruby, listen to what I’ve got to say. I’ve had a long hard think about all this. I don’t want to lose the boy, you know that, but we’ve got to start to be practical. As you know your dad brings him up here through the day when we bottle up and at lunchtime when the pub’s open. I know Mrs Moss sometimes keeps an eye on him, but she can’t be in two places at once, and I don’t expect her to, she’s here to clean my place and do me bit of washing. Now that Tom is at school it’s getting harder for us to keep an eye on the lad. He wants to toddle about and I’m worried that he might get into some sort of trouble. There’s a lot of things that are dangerous round here.’

  ‘But she took him away without telling us. What if she takes him away again?’

  ‘She won’t. You have my word on that.’

  Although Ruby could see there would be problems as he got older and into mischief she still wouldn’t admit to it.

  ‘I think you’ve done a lovely job looking after the boy. He’s a lovely little lad and a credit to you. My sister loved him. She always liked Lizzie, she ain’t ever had a lot of time for the others.’

  ‘How could you afford to take him to Brighton?’

  ‘Me sister’s husband works for the railway and a long while ago she sent me a pass to go and see her. I never had cause to use it. Didn’t want to go on me own and I wouldn’t take any of my lot, so I thought this was a good time to use it. I’m sorry my Alfie never told you. He said he did. But then he can be a lying little bleeder.’

  ‘See? That’s why I don’t want her to look after him. I don’t want him learning to swear. We never swear in front of him. How could you let Beth down? She ran away from them, remember.’

  ‘Now calm down, Ruby.’

  Ruby could see the pain in his eyes and felt sorry for what she’d said.

  ‘I’m not letting Beth down. I would never do anything to hurt her or Danny, you know that.’

  ‘She did give me money sometimes, to help me out,’ said Mrs Anderson.

  ‘You mean your son used to waylay her and ask for money.’

  ‘No. No. It wasn’t like that. She didn’t want to see her father.’

  ‘And what if he harms Danny?’

  ‘He won’t. He’s full of remorse over our Lizzie, and if that bloke hadn’t dropped dead, then my old man was gonner see to him. So you’ve no worries there, ducks.’

  ‘Ruby, Mrs Anderson is coming here to cook me and your father a bit of dinner and she can make enough so you don’t have to worry about it when you get home from work, and she can look after Danny at the same time.’

  Ruby sat and looked at them. Although she knew it made sense she didn’t want to admit it and agree with the arrangements.

  ‘I told you a while ago I was going to get help, and this is a good way for all of us. Mrs Anderson can work for me and you’ll have Danny when you get home from work. I think it’ll work out just fine.’

  ‘I suppose so. But I didn’t think you’d let her do it.’

  ‘We had a long talk and it seems the right thing to do.’

  ‘I’ll look after him proper. I promise.’

  ‘You’d better.’ Ruby couldn’t believe how nasty she was being to this woman. ‘You won’t let her take him out, will you?’

  ‘You can trust me.’

  ‘Ruby, you mustn’t be so suspicious. You have to trust people sometimes. Now, while I go and tell your father what the arrangements are, perhaps you could make us all a nice cup of tea?’

  Although Ruby wasn’t happy, there wasn’t a lot she could do about it. Why was Mr Thompson letting this woman into their lives? And what about Alfie? He wasn’t nice and he might cause trouble.

  ‘You’ll have to show me where the things are and, Ruby, I promise no one will hurt that little lad,’ she said, as if reading Ruby’s thoughts.

  ‘What about Alfie?’

  ‘He won’t get near him.’

  If only Ernie were around. She could talk to him. With a heavy heart, Ruby filled the kettle.

  As the weeks went on Ruby had to admit that the new arrangement was working. She would come home to a meal that Mrs Anderson had prepared warming in the oven, and with Len Thompson paying for the food, no rent to find and her father working, their lives were transformed.

  Ruby had written to Ernie telling him all that had happened; she had also asked him what was Scotland like, and had he met a girl yet? But she hadn’t had a reply. Was she wasting her time?

  Tom had brought a letter home from his teacher saying how clever he was and his talent shouldn’t be wasted. They sat and had a long talk about letting him go to high school if he passed the exam.

  ‘I think we should try,’ said her father. ‘Your mum would be that proud of you, son.’

  Ruby wished with all her heart that her mum were here. She touched the locket she always wore under her frock. She would have liked something of her mother to be near her: if only she had a photo, or a lock of her hair to put inside. But nothing like that existed.

  Tom worked hard and every night he would pore over books Miss Tinsley gave him. On the day of the exam Ruby was more nervous than he was. All day at work she worried and wondered how he was getting on.

  It was well into the summer when his results came through and the excitement when they discovered he had passed was shared by all. All that studying and worry was over. Milly had made a cake for him and Mr Thompson had given him five pounds. It was a fortune and Tom insisted they use some of it to help with his uniform.

  It was with great pride that with their dad and Danny they went shopping for his uniform. It was a lot of money, but they were determined he would look the same as all the other boys. They had come a long way from when he wore his father�
��s cut-downs. He looked so smart.

  ‘Don’t you dare get that in a mess,’ said Ruby, trying to hide her true feelings.

  Tom put his arms round his sister and held her tight. ‘I promise I won’t ever let you down again.’

  A few days later Ben asked Ruby to go out with him again. Although she’d heard from her father that Mrs Anderson was making a good job of looking after Danny, she still worried about it. She thought of what Milly had said about marriage. Ruby gave a little giggle. She saw very little of Elsie these days, she was so busy with her own life, but Elsie would have told her how to use her womanly wiles to trap a man.

  Ruby found herself laughing as she left the laundry with Ben. They were going to the picture house again. ‘I wonder if we’ll ever see Mrs Bell in a film?’ Her father had told her about Mrs Bell going to America and hoping to be in pictures, and Ruby had passed it on to Ben.

  ‘I don’t reckon she’ll be in films. I bet the old boy was just using it as an excuse to get her in bed.’

  ‘He didn’t need an excuse, just money.’

  ‘Well, I expect she wanted to make sure she was married to him before she took that big step. After all, America’s a long way away.’

  ‘Would you use an excuse to get married?’ asked Ruby tentatively.

  ‘No. I’d come right out with it. Mind you, I’ve got to find the right girl first.’

  Ruby held her breath. ‘So you’ve not got anyone in mind then?’

  ‘No, and don’t worry, as my friend and companion you’d be the first to know. Here’s our tram, come on, hop on.’

  Well, that made it clear he wasn’t interested in her in a romantic way. Ruby was actually rather relieved.

  The Sunday after she had been out with Ben she took Danny for a walk round the park in his pram. She sat on her usual seat deep in thought. When someone sat next to her she turned, intending to do no more than smile at this person who was dirty and looked like a bundle of old clothes. She did a quick double take. Was it Ernie? She held her breath and closed her eyes. Was it just her imagination? When she opened them he was still sitting next to her. He looked desperately scruffy and needed a shave.

  ‘Hello, Ruby. You look very nice. You seem to have done all right for yourself.’

  ‘Ernie! What you doing here?’

  ‘Got fed up with Scotland. It’s always cold and wet up there, or it is where me family is.’

  ‘Where’re you staying?’

  ‘Here. This is me bed.’

  ‘What? You’re sleeping in the park?’

  ‘Ain’t got anywhere else, have I?’

  ‘I don’t know. How long you been here?’

  ‘All week.’

  ‘Why didn’t you come to see me?’

  ‘I did. I went to the laundry and I saw you getting on a tram with Ben Stone. You both looked very cosy, talking and laughing. I didn’t want to interrupt.’

  ‘I didn’t see you.’

  ‘No, I was hiding behind that new van they’ve got. Didn’t know they was gonner get rid of the horses. They must be doing all right.’

  ‘They managed to get work from a big West End hotel and the van’s a lot quicker than the horse.’

  ‘So, where was you off to?’

  ‘We was going to the picture house.’

  ‘You didn’t say nothing about you and him in your letters.’

  ‘There was nothing to say. Besides, you didn’t answer them.’

  ‘Didn’t want to.’

  ‘What’s the matter with you? You used to be so full of bravado, now you sit there looking all filthy and acting like a spoilt kid.’

  Ernie looked at her. Was this the little girl he’d left behind? Ruby was talking to him almost like his mother. ‘You’ve changed.’

  ‘I’ve had to. A lot’s happened since you went away.’

  ‘Yes, I guess it has. So are you and Ben going out together?’

  ‘No. I told you, it’s not like that.’

  ‘So what is it like then?’

  ‘We’re just friends.’

  He laughed. ‘I’ve heard that one before.’

  ‘Why should it bother you anyway?’

  ‘Nothing. Is this that Beth’s kid?’

  ‘Yes. I think the world of him.’ Ruby knew she shouldn’t be saying this. What if Ernie had come back for her? He wouldn’t want a young boy to be hanging onto her apron strings. ‘Ernie, what have you come back for?’

  He didn’t answer her. Instead he took a tobacco tin from his pocket and set about rolling a cigarette.

  ‘I asked you a question.’

  ‘I heard.’

  ‘Well?’

  He lit the cigarette and blew the smoke high in the air. ‘Me uncle’s a nice enough bloke and now the girls have settled down Mum’s happy about that. Daisy’s got herself a good job in one of the big houses up there, so she’s away all week. She’s also seeing a boy from the village, so she won’t be back. The other two are getting on well at school, and Mum - well, somehow she’s just fitted in. But I was, well, homesick, I suppose.’

  Ruby laughed. ‘What kind of homes we got that you can’t wait to get back to?’

  ‘That’s me. The fly in the ointment.’

  ‘What are you gonner do down here?’

  He shrugged. ‘Don’t know.’

  ‘Look, come back home with me. You can have a wash and smarten yourself up.’

  ‘What will your dad say?’

  ‘We’ve had that many ups and downs that we can take most things in our stride now. Come on.’ She stood up.

  ‘Ruby, you’ve certainly changed.’

  ‘I’ve had to grow up, fast.’

  ‘And you’ve grown up into a lovely girl.’

  Ruby stopped. Had he come down all this way just to see her? She wanted to hold him, make a fuss of him. Her heart went out to him; she knew she loved him and him alone, but what future did they have together?

  As they wandered home Ruby told him all the news. She pushed the pram into the passage and took Danny out. ‘Go and see Tom.’

  ‘Tom. Tom,’ he yelled, rushing down the passage on his chubby legs.

  ‘That’s one of the words he can say clearly,’ said Ruby, smiling.

  Tom was standing in the kitchen. He looked up when he realised Ruby wasn’t alone.

  ‘What’s he doing here? I thought he was in Scotland.’

  ‘So did I. I found him on a park bench.’

  ‘He looks ever so scruffy.’

  ‘I’ve been living rough for a couple of weeks.’

  ‘We can see that,’ said Ruby. ‘Here, take this kettle and go and have a wash and shave. Have you got a razor?’

  ‘In me bag.’

  ‘How did you get down here?’ asked Tom.

  ‘I was so keen to get back I used all sorts of ways, like jumping on trains after they started and jumping off before a ticket inspector came round.’

  ‘Don’t go telling him things like that. He’s got enough imagination as it is.’

  ‘I did find work in some of the fields, helping farmers and picking taters, that’s hard work. But I’ll tell you something: there’s a lot of lovely things away from Rotherhithe. Green fields, tall buildings. A lot to see.’

  ‘So why did you come back?’

  He shrugged. ‘Dunno, really.’

  Ruby handed him the kettle.

  Ernie smiled. ‘I’d better go and do as I’m told.’ He went into the washhouse and closed the door.

  ‘Where’s he gonner stay?’ asked Tom.

  ‘I don’t know. He could stay here upstairs, I suppose.’

  ‘What about a job?’

  ‘I don’t know, that’s up to him.’

  ‘Can’t see him staying around here for long, not without a job.’

  That thought had gone through Ruby’s mind as well.

  Chapter 38

  The first thing Ruby did the following morning when she got to work was to tell Mrs Watson that Ernie was back.

  ‘
Where’s he staying?’ she asked.

  ‘He’s at our house for the time being.’

  ‘What plans has he got?’

  ‘He don’t know. He’d been sleeping on a park bench.’

  ‘No! The poor boy. Tell him to drop by one day. I would like to see him again.’

  ‘I will do.’ More evidence of the soft spot she’d always had for Ernie.

  ‘Now back to work. And, Ruby, thanks for letting me know.’

  ‘That’s all right.’ Ruby thought of the first time she’d come to the laundry and how she hadn’t got a job because of him. How she had hated him for that. She shuddered when she remembered the horrible washroom and the wet feet and chilblains. She looked down at her boots. They didn’t have flappy soles or let in water now. She was smiling to herself when she sat at her table.

  ‘You look pleased with yourself, young Ruby,’ said Mrs Turner.

  ‘Yes, I am a bit.’

  ‘How’s that little lad?’

  ‘He’s fine.’ Everybody in the room knew about Beth and Danny. They were a nice bunch of women who took great pride in their work, and they were always ready with any advice, from putting poultices on his chest when he caught cold, to making sure he had the right things to eat, and most of all, potty training. At the moment Ruby couldn’t see that he would ever be clean, but Mrs Anderson had told her father she mustn’t worry about it, she would try during the day.

  In fact, to Ruby life at this moment was almost perfect. If only Ernie would stay . . .

  She hurried home that night eager to see if Ernie was still around.

  She pushed open the kitchen door and to her relief he was sitting laughing with her father.

  Danny came running up to her calling out, ‘Buby! Buby!’ He couldn’t say Ruby. He held out his hands for her to pick him up.

  She took hold of him and swung him round. She was so happy at this domestic scene she thought she would burst.

  ‘So what sort of day have you had?’ she asked Ernie, putting Danny on the floor.

  ‘Not too good. Been out looking for work, but ain’t found much.’

  Her heart skipped a beat. He’s been looking for work, that must mean he’s thinking of staying.