‘Oh, he has plenty of good friends and neighbours and plenty of time. He could manage. It’s you I’m worried about. You work all day and then have to go back there. Its a bad show. I’d feel much better if you were in Botanic Crescent. Mother could have a good meal ready for you every night and you could relax and take things easy in civilised surroundings!’
She jerked up.
‘There you are! You’re as bad! I come from uncivilised surroundings, do I? Well, let me tell you I’m as civilised as your mother any day!’
‘Darling!’ He soothed and pulled her back down into his arms. ‘Idiot! I was talking about the lack of hot water in the houses, and cavity beds, and lavatories outside on the stairs and the cold draughty tunnels of closes. I know these things aren’t your fault.’
Her ruffled feathers gradually settled.
‘Well … all right then.’
‘How about calling there tomorrow afternoon?’
She screwed up her face.
‘Oh, Reggie …’
‘I promise you, Mother won’t slam the door on you if that’s what you’re worried about.’
Julie sighed.
‘You’re fond of her, aren’t you?’
‘She’s my mother.’
There was a little pause before she said, ‘I remember how I felt about Mammy right enough.’
‘Does that mean you’ll come?’
‘If it’s what you want, Reggie.’
‘Oh, I love you, Julie!’ His young voice trembled with gratitude and excitement. ‘And I know Mother will love you too. It’s simply a matter of getting to know each other.’
She suddenly became perky.
‘I’ll come on one condition. You come with me to the shop first.’
‘The shop?’
‘Morton’s, where I work. I want to show you off.’
He laughed.
‘Darling, you’ve got the day off. They’ll think you’re mad if you turn up.’
‘No, they won’t. They’d love to meet you. Go on, Reggie, be a sport. There’s just the manageress and the two alteration hands. You’ve met Catriona already.’
‘But why?’
‘I told you. I’m proud of you and I want to show you off. I think you’re the most handsome, the most wonderful, the cleverest man in the whole world!’
‘Hold on, old girl. Handsome, maybe, but clever never!’
‘You fly these big planes. I’ve seen pictures of the instrument panels on some of them. I can’t imagine how anybody could begin to understand them. You’re an absolute genius as far as I’m concerned.’ She hugged him and showered him with kisses. ‘And I’ll love you for ever and ever. Will we call into the shop tomorrow? Just for a couple of minutes on the way to your mother’s.’
‘Righteo.’
She immediately detected the note of false cheerfulness.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Oh, mentioning planes reminded me of the war and of having to go back to it tomorrow night.’
‘Reggie, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.’
‘It’s not your fault, darling.’
‘Can we come back here for a little while tomorrow night before you leave?’
‘Yes, we’ll just call on Mother for half an hour or so in the afternoon.’
She snuggled closer to him and opened her mouth in eager invitation against his, and they made love again, and again, and again, until Reggie rolled over on to his back, his arms flopping helplessly at his sides.
Her mouth still slid over his body, warm and full and eager.
‘Reggie,’ she urged.
‘I don’t think I could again, darling.’
She kept forcing her face against him like a cat rubbing itself.
‘Reggie,’ she whispered. ‘Reggie!’
Chapter 9
‘Snap - snap - snap - snap! Grandpa, I said it first. I said it before you did. I did! I did!’
Rab Munro roared with laughter as his broad baker’s hands fought to snatch the cards from Fergus’s eager grasp.
‘No, you didn’t. I won. Snap!’
‘Grandpa! Give them to me! They’re mine. I said it before you! Grandpa!’
Catriona could not stand it any longer. There was nothing wrong with a game of snap but this one had been going on too long. It was nearly eleven o’clock and Fergus was getting far too excited. He would never be able to sleep.
‘Daddy, that’s enough. It’s time Fergus was in bed.’
‘Och, Grandpa, don’t listen to her. Come on!’
‘Now, now!’ Rab’s lantern-jawed face lengthened in sternness. ‘None of your cheek, young Mr Skinamalink.’
Fergus erupted into high-pitched giggles.
‘You’re an old Mr Skinamalink.’
Catriona rose.
‘Fergus, put the cards away now and no more nonsense. You’ve school in the morning.’
‘An old Skinamalinky long-legs with four eyes and frizzy hair.’
Rab grimaced in mock rage and gave a giant-sized roar.
‘What? Let me get my hands on that rascal. Fee-fi-fo-fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman!’
Fergus began to squeal with excitement and brought Andrew skipping into the room in striped pyjamas. His grandmother had been bathing him and his curly hair was matted and showed patches of white scalp. Freckles peppered the bridge of his nose and his cheeks were scarlet beacons. Gleefully he joined in the shouting.
‘Fee—fo—fi—fum!’
‘Now don’t you start. This is ridiculous, Mummy. He should have been in bed hours ago. I’m getting worried about their health.’
‘Oh, be quiet!’ Hannah Munro pushed her daughter aside in disgust. ‘You’re a bit late with your worrying. If you had worried when you’d reason to worry, my wee Robert would have been alive today. That lovely wee pet who did nothing but smile at everyone.’
Rab tugged off his reading glasses and tossed them aside.
‘Now can you see what I’ve had to suffer all these years, Catriona? She never gives up. She goes on and on.’
‘Oh, yes, you’d like me to keep quiet, wouldn’t you? It would be much easier for you if you were just allowed to drink all your wages away every week and play around with any woman you fancied.’
‘Too bad if a man can’t have an odd pint of beer to wash the flour dust away.’
‘Grandpa, play with me!’ Fergus yelled. ‘Play with me! Play with me!’
Catriona determinedly began scooping up the cards.
‘Fergus, you’re giving me a headache. It’s eleven o’clock at night and time you boys were in bed. Now off you go. I won’t tell you again.’
Andrew glowered and for the first time Catriona saw a look of Melvin about him.
‘Granny said I could stay up until I got a cup of cocoa and a piece on jam.’
Hannah patted his head.
‘That’s right, Andy. You tell her.’
Rab groaned.
‘There’s no need to encourage the child to be cheeky. She is his mother, you know. Or have you conveniently forgotten that important fact?’
‘There’s a few things you’ve conveniently forgotten, Robert.’
‘Oh, no, no, you’d never allow me to do that.’ His big boned frame sunk back into his clothes and he added bitterly more to himself than to her: ‘On my deathbed you’ll be standing over me casting up every fault I’ve ever had.’
‘Grandpa! Grandpa! I’ve got the cards!’
‘Fergus, give those to me at once!’ Catriona’s voice sharpened with irritation.
She had been on her feet all day at the shop and since she had arrived home there had not been one minute’s peace and quiet.
‘There you are!’ With gales of laughter Fergus tossed the pack of cards high in the air scattering them around every corner of the room. Almost at the same time Catriona’s hand shot out and smacked him across the face.
His laughter collapsed into an offended whine then jerked into broken-hearted sobbing.
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Immediately Andrew burst into tears of sympathy and apprehension.
Catriona put her hands to her ears.
‘Oh, shut up! Shut up! Get to bed, both of you!’
Miserably they trailed off, wiping their wet cheeks with their sleeves.
Hannah at last found her voice.
‘That’s terrible! I’ll talk to you in a minute, my girl. Come on, boys, Granny’ll give you a nice cup of cocoa and piece’n’jam in bed.’
After they’d left the room Catriona said to her father:
‘Jam in bed! They’ll get into a sticky mess and their teeth will be ruined!’
‘You shouldn’t have hit the boy.’
‘I didn’t mean to. It happened before I could stop myself.’ Abruptly she changed the subject. ‘Daddy, I’ve been looking for a place of my own.’
His dark eyes filled with alarm and she got a glimpse of how fond he really was of the children and how much their company meant to him. He did not say anything and she lowered her gaze to her hands and went on.
‘I’ve got this room and kitchen in Byres Road - I just heard this morning. I didn’t want to say anything until it was safely settled.’
His balloon of tension puttered down with a sigh.
‘Oh, well, it’s your life, hen.’
‘You’ll still be able to see the boys, Daddy. You know you’ll be welcome to come over any time.’
He nodded as if not trusting himself to speak. Then after a minute’s silence he got up and at the living-room door he muttered without turning round:
‘Time I was in bed, too.’
Catriona ran towards him, and hugged him before he left the room. If only her mother would take the news with equally quiet resignation.
The temptation to postpone telling Hannah was strong. Catriona would have liked to whisk the boys and old Duncan away to Byres Road and avoid the ordeal of breaking the news to her mother. But, for one thing, the old man was fuddled with drink most of the day and it was difficult enough to prise him out of the bedroom at mealtimes. It was going to be a sizeable operation to transfer him from Farmbank to Byres Road. He would complain loudly and long about leaving his chair in front of the gas fire and having his radio-listening and his routine shuffle to the local off-licence interrupted.
The boys would not take kindly to leaving their grandparents’ house either, but desperation kept pushing Catriona on.
As soon as her mother came through she burst out:
‘Mummy, I’ve something to tell you.’
‘I’ve something to tell you, you wicked girl. Don’t you dare raise your hand to an innocent child. The Bible gives a warning about what can happen to anyone who does such a thing.’
Her voice raised and filled out with the strong dignified tones she used when addressing the Band of Jesus. ‘“It would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea. And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.”’
‘I’ve found another place to live. There isn’t enough room for us here. It’s not right that Da has your bedroom and …’
‘Don’t talk nonsense,’ her mother interrupted. ‘Mr MacNair is no bother at all. He’s perfectly happy and comfortable in the bedroom.’
‘But you and Daddy …’
‘Daddy and I are fine.’
‘The boys …’
‘I know what’s best for the boys. I’m older than you, Catriona. I’ve lived longer and learned more. I’ll worry about the boys. Just you get to your bed. You’re always complaining about being tired in the morning. Well, I’m not keeping you up.’ She made a grand sweeping gesture and it occurred to Catriona what a fine-looking woman she was with her thick burgundy-hair and strong tipped-up chin and rigid back. ‘There’s the sofa and don’t forget to say your prayers and remember to ask God’s forgiveness for all your sins, especially for causing so much hurt to people.’
‘I mean it, Mummy. I’m grateful to you for having taken us all in after the air-raid. I don’t know what we would have done without your help.’
‘That’s something you’ve still to learn. Families are supposed to help one another. Now get to bed.’
In a gesture of dismissal, Hannah began making preparations for the morning, striding backwards and forwards, crashing dishes and cutlery about in the sideboard and clattering them on to the table.
‘Mummy, I’m sorry, but whether you listen to me or not - whether you face it or not - I’m moving to Byres Road with Da and the children. It’s all settled. I’ve paid the deposit and everything.’
Her mother stopped.
‘But you can’t go.’
‘I must.’
‘You selfish, wicked girl. What about the children? What about their schooling? You’re always whining on about that. This just shows the lies and the hyprocisy that’s been coming out of your mouth. A lot you care about those poor boys.’
‘It’s because I care …’
‘May the good Lord forgive you, Catriona. You’re talking about uprooting these children just when they’ve begun to get over the dreadful shock of what you done to them before.’
Like a time bomb, Catriona exploded in hysteria.
‘You keep blaming me for the air-raid! The quicker I’m out of here the better before you start blaming me for the whole bloody war!’
Hannah was shocked speechless for a minute. Her ruddy cheeks faded to reveal fragile threads of purple capillaries criss-crossing. But she remained bolt upright. She lost none of her dignity.
‘How dare you!’ The words were savoured slowly and with a very correct accent. ‘How dare you use bad language to your own mother. Little did I think I’d ever live to see the day my own daughter would sink so low. Get to your bed at once. I don’t want to hear another word from you. You’re not fit to be in charge of young children.’
Catriona wept with frustration and distress.
‘It’s all settled,’ she repeated helplessly.
‘Well, you can just unsettle it.’
‘I can’t stay here for ever. There’s Melvin.’
‘What about Melvin?’
‘There isn’t enough room for us. What happens when Melvin comes home? Where could he sleep?’
‘There’s no question of that man coming back here for years and years yet.’
‘No, you’re wrong! The war could finish quite soon. They say there’s going to be a big invasion any day now. The Allies are ready to pour across the Channel and sweep the Germans off the map.’
‘Who says?’
‘Everyone says.’
‘Everyone’s been saying things like that for the past two years.’
‘Maybe they don’t know when or where or how, but something’s bound to happen soon. We keep getting customers in the shop who’ve travelled around, especially down south, or have had word from there because you can’t get into some of the places now - they’re so packed with soldiers and sailors and equipment.’
‘Glasgow’s been packed for years.’
‘Yes, but nothing like what they say. They say every inch of sea for miles around Britain and every river and every port is chock-a-block with warships and all sorts of queer landing-craft and artificial harbours and things. And there’s so many more ships being built they’re even putting them together in streets and children can stand on their own doorsteps and watch the welders and riveters.’
‘What nonsense!’ Hannah scoffed. ‘And don’t try and evade the issue, my girl. These children through in that room are perfectly happy and content where they are and you have absolutely no excuse for uprooting and upsetting them just now.’
‘It isn’t nonsense, Mummy. The streets are full of army trucks and tanks and guns as well, lines and lines of them, half up on pavements in front of houses and folks having to squeeze past or walk out on the road to get round them.’
‘Well, if it’s God’s plan t
o have an invasion - there will be an invasion. So stop whining on about it and get to your bed.’
‘I was just explaining how Melvin might get home sooner than we expect and I’ve got to be ready. I’ve got to have a place for him to come to.’
‘You don’t care about that man. Why you married that man I’ll never know.’
‘So that’s why I’ve got this wee room and kitchen in Byres Road.’
‘You’ve not even any idea about how to manage with rations. You were lucky before. You got extras from the old man’s shop. Now the only way to manage is to pool all our books and coupons the way we’ve been doing. And I’m well known and respected at the shops along the road and if there’s anything special comes in they let me know or keep a share aside for me. You don’t know a soul in Byres Road. Now I’m tired, if you’re not, and I’m going to my bed. I don’t want to hear another word from you. I’ve had enough of your stupid selfish talk for one night.’
‘But, Mummy …’ Catriona began again and stopped in mid-air.
There was no use talking.
Chapter 10
Restrained by roll upon roll of barbed wire, Britain was shrinking fast. Overcrowding had become claustrophobic. There was no longer any escape from the uniformed multitude jostling shoulder to shoulder with the civilian population.
Noisy activity whirled to a climax. Ports seethed with an astonishing variety of shipping. More and more vessels kept crowding in. Ships sprang up everywhere, not only in shipyards. In narrow streets and alleyways, in workshops round every corner, steel skeletons clanged and reverberated.
Into the small island crushed more and more assembly points, ammunition dumps, vehicle parks, camps, training-grounds, embarkation ‘hards’, barbed wire, airfields, anti-aircraft and searchlight sights. Day and night fast convoys roared at breakneck speeds in endless streams along narrow streets making houses shudder and echo to the thundering of wheels.
On 6th April 1944 all military leave was stopped. Troops and armoured vehicles crammed the coast ten miles deep. Plans for each day and enormous feeding and other necessary arrangements had to be made. In trucks lining seaside streets, typewriters clicked busily. Orders were triplicated in mobile offices complete down to waste-paper baskets.
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