by Joan Jonker
‘Aren’t yer going to tell us what it was?’ Bobby looked from one to the other. ‘Take no notice of Seamus, ’cos us lads are only jealous that girls have far more to talk about than us. Work and football, that’s as far as we go.’
‘And the pictures,’ Mick reminded him. ‘We talk plenty when we’ve seen a good murder mystery or a Tarzan film.’
David and Joan came out to join the group. ‘Our Joan said yer’ve had some good news today, Marie, but she wouldn’t tell me what it was. So out with it.’
For all her wide smile and dancing eyes, Marie blushed. David had that effect on her. If any of the other boys had asked she wouldn’t have turned a hair, but where David was concerned she thought he was that little bit special. ‘I’ve been promoted to junior counter assistant, I don’t work in the stock room after today.’
‘That’s what yer’ve been after, isn’t it?’ Mick asked. ‘Well, I’m very pleased for yer, and I think it calls for a celebration. What d’yer say?’
‘Blimey, anyone would think she’d got a supervisor’s job or something!’ The second the words left her mouth, Joan regretted them, and she could tell by the faces around her that they thought her remark was uncalled for. ‘I didn’t mean it to sound the way it came out. I’m made up for Marie, really.’
Mick rubbed his hands together. Although there was a smile on his face, his words were serious. ‘Then I think yer’d be doing yerself a favour, Joan, if yer got yer brain in motion before yer mouth. Then yer wouldn’t upset people.’
‘That’s my sister for yer,’ David said. ‘If ever there was a big mouth, it’s her.’
Ginny thought her friend had been out of order, but Joan looked so miserable she had to help her out. ‘Ay, don’t all be picking on me best mate, I won’t have it.’
‘Me neither,’ Marie said, also feeling sorry for the girl who she knew was jealous of her friendship with Ginny. ‘We girls have all got to stick together in times like this. So instead of wasting time pulling our mate to pieces, what was this yer said about a celebration?’
Mick grinned. ‘Well, I wasn’t thinking about a party. And we can’t go to a pub ’cos we’re too young, and haven’t got that sort of money anyway. But me and the lads are going for a walk to the park, seeing as it’s such a grand night. And on the way we intend calling into that shop on Stanley Road, the herbal shop, for a drink of dandelion and burdock. Ye’re all more than welcome to come with us.’
‘I haven’t got no money,’ Joan said. ‘And me mam won’t lend me any ’cos I already owe her tuppence.’
Mick bit on his bottom lip before saying, ‘I’ll pay for your drink, it’ll be worth it to stop yer from talking.’
‘Ay, you!’ Joan clenched her fist and was about to shake it in his face when she saw the gleam in his eyes. ‘Right, I’ll let yer pay for me drink for being so cheeky.’
‘I haven’t brought me purse with me.’ Marie was red-faced with embarrassment. ‘But that doesn’t mean the others can’t go.’
‘I’ll pay for yours,’ David offered, even though he’d have to borrow the tram fare to work the next morning off his dad. ‘It’s only a penny a glass.’
‘I’ll pay yer back tomorrow night, then.’
David shook his head. ‘Yer will heckerslike.’
Amelia felt in her pocket to make sure the two pennies were still there. ‘I’m all right, I’ve got coppers on me.’
Seamus was a quiet lad, not as outgoing as his brother. But then Mick had had a year’s start on him. Like David’s, his voice was in the process of breaking, and when he spoke now it was deep and gruff. ‘I’ll pay for yours. Me mam would go mad if she knew we’d let a girl pay for herself.’
Bobby smiled at Ginny. ‘That just leaves you and me, babe. Would yer do me the honour of allowing me to buy yer a glass of dandelion and burdock? Or, if you wish, you can have a glass of cream soda instead.’
‘That would be nice.’ Ginny returned his smile. ‘But I’ll have to tell me mam in case she wonders what’s happened to me.’
‘I’ll tell me mam as well,’ Joan said. ‘I won’t be a minute.’
And so it happened that when the four couples began to walk up the street, Beth and Dot were there to wave them off, and they were quickly joined by Lizzie, who had been watching the scene through her window. ‘Well, will yer look at that now!’ The Irish lilt was ever present. ‘Sure, it’s a sight for sore eyes, so it is.’
‘That’s the first time any one of them has been out on a date,’ Beth said. ‘I know they’re only kids, and it’s not a proper date, but I bet they feel all grown-up.’
‘I wonder if any of them will pair off when they get a bit older?’ Dot mused. ‘It should be very interesting.’
Beth wagged her head from side to side. ‘Oh, they’ll probably be in and out of love dozens of times before they settle down with anyone. Especially when they start going to dances. But I hope they’ll always be friends, and I think they will.’
‘Sure, I’d be happy enough to have your Ginny for a daughter-in-law, so I would.’ Lizzie quickly realised Dot wouldn’t be very happy with that remark, so she added, ‘Or Joan for that matter. And I’m sure Marie or Amelia would meet with our approval ’cos they’re both nice girls.’
‘Anyone who takes our Joan on will need nerves of steel. He’d have to be really tough with her ’cos she’s a determined little faggot. She’ll have her own way if it kills her.’ Dot was grinning as she spoke. ‘I was exactly the same at her age, always thought I was right. But I grew out of that when I started courting Bill. I know he doesn’t look the strong masterful type, but he tamed me all right.’
Beth thought of Andy’s handsome face and those gorgeous brown eyes, and said, ‘That’s what love does to yer.’
The herbalist’s shop on Stanley Road didn’t have chairs for sitting down. You could buy a glass of whatever concoction you fancied, and drink it standing up or leaning against the wall outside. There was a wonderful smell when you walked in, coming from the huge glass containers that stood on the counter and on the strong shelves that went halfway around the room. All the drinks were made from herbs and wild flowers by the dapper little man who owned the shop, and they tasted much better than the bottles of pop you could buy from the sweetshops. If you brought your own empty jug or bottle, you could have them filled with any flavour you liked, all for threepence.
The girls had never been in the shop before, but rather than show their ignorance they opted for dandelion and burdock, the same as the boys. On the walk to the park they all agreed that it was a very tasty drink, nice and cool, and they’d be going there again without a shadow of doubt.
Walking through the park gates, they could hear and see children playing on the grass while their parents sat on blankets, keeping a watchful eye on them.
‘Ooh, doesn’t it smell lovely?’ Ginny said, sniffing the scent of early-summer flowers which were coming into full bloom, and the newly cut grass. She gazed with appreciation at the trees and bushes which were neatly trimmed. ‘They keep the park looking nice, don’t they? It’s a shame we don’t come more often.’
‘Let’s walk through to where the swings and see-saw are,’ Mick said. ‘Then we can walk around the lake.’
‘When we’re on our holidays at the end of July, we’ll take yer in a rowing boat on the lake,’ Bobby said to no girl in particular. In his head he meant Ginny, but he’d get his leg pulled soft if he said so. After all, she was only fourteen. No, she was fourteen and a half now. When Christmas came, she’d be fifteen, and perhaps by then she would have noticed him.
‘Me and Marie don’t get any holidays this year,’ Ginny told him. ‘Because we haven’t been there long enough. So while you’re all out enjoying yerselves, just think of us sweating away at work.’
‘I get holidays ’cos the factory closes down for two weeks, but I won’t get paid for them.’ Joan clicked her tongue in disgust. ‘Fancy giving yer two weeks off without pay! I’ll be on holiday without a
bean to me name.’
‘Same here,’ Amelia said. ‘All the factories close down for those two weeks, otherwise I’d offer to go into work.’
‘Me and the lads are going over to New Brighton one day.’ David spoke to the group, but his eyes lingered longer on Marie. ‘We won’t forget yer, though, we’ll bring yer a stick of rock back.’
‘Ooh, yer kindness is killing me!’ Joan wagged her head. ‘Seeing as yer’ll all be getting two weeks’ wages, it wouldn’t hurt yer to pay for us girls to go with yer.’
‘Don’t be so hard-faced, Joan!’ Ginny was fuming. ‘We can pay for ourselves if we want to go.’
‘It’s a good way off yet,’ Marie said, ‘we’ve got time to save up a few coppers each week if we want to go, and we don’t want to tack ourselves on to the lads, we’d spoil their chances. They’d never get a click if we were with them.’
But Mick was chuckling as he led the group over to where the big swings were. Joan’s tongue would get her into trouble one of these days. But at least you knew where you stood with her, she wasn’t two-faced. ‘Come on, girls, who wants a push on the swings?’
‘Not me,’ Amelia said, ‘I don’t trust yer and I don’t fancy going over those top bars.’
‘Yer can trust me,’ Seamus told her. ‘I won’t push yer high.’
Amelia went first, and Ginny followed, to be pushed by Bobby. There were only three swings, and David took hold of the chains of the end one and held it steady for Marie. ‘Come on, girl, ye’re safe with me.’
There was a lot of laughing, Joan being the noisiest as she waited for her turn. ‘Blimey, Ginny, can’t yer go higher than that?’ And, ‘Marie, use yer legs and push! Honest, kids of five could do better than you.’
The three girls on the swings all had the same idea in mind, had they but known it. Just wait until it was Joan’s turn and they’d rib her soft!
But they didn’t get the chance because Joan was a real daredevil. Using her legs to push herself higher, she was coaxing Mick to push harder. With her long hair dancing in the breeze, she was loving every minute of it. When the swing came up to the level of the bar on top, those watching had their hearts in their mouth. Even Mick was beginning to worry that she’d go over the top. But the girl herself was laughing with exhilaration, feeling as free as a bird. And when Mick decided enough was enough, and the swing slowed down, she was still laughing, and her eyes were shining with pleasure. ‘Ooh, that was great! I felt like a bird flying through the air. Ooh, I could stay on all night.’
‘Not with me pushing yer couldn’t,’ Mick told her. ‘I had visions of yer really flying through the air, and I was thinking up excuses to tell yer mam and dad how we’d come to lose yer.’
‘Let’s go down to the lake now,’ Bobby said. ‘But will someone keep a tight hold on Joan in case she feels like being a fish and dives in?’
‘Nah, yer don’t have to worry on that score,’ she assured them. ‘I’m not partial to fish, unless it’s battered and lying on a bed of chips. Anyway, I wouldn’t want to get me next to best dress all wet.’
‘Tell them the truth, Joan,’ Ginny said, laughter gurgling in her throat. ‘Yer look a sight when yer hair’s wet, and there’s no curling tongs down here.’
Joan pressed her nose close. ‘Ay, ye’re supposed to be me best mate. And best mates don’t tell tales.’
Chapter Twenty-Three
It had been an idyllic summer for Ginny and her friends. On many a fine sunny evening they’d gone to the park with the boys or taken a tram to the Pier Head to watch the ferries coming and going. They’d been to the sea shore at Hall Road on a couple of Sundays, and it had been so much fun. None of the girls wore bathing costumes, they were too shy, but the boys all had swimming trunks and spent hours in the water showing off and playing tricks on each other. And when one of the lads was being pulled under, to come up spluttering, the girls would nod their heads at each other, as if to say they were glad they didn’t have bathing costumes on ’cos sure as eggs Mick and the others would put them through the same torture. It was fun to laugh at another’s misfortune, but they’d scream blue murder if it happened to them.
As summer had passed into autumn the gang still met together once a week, even if it was only to stand on the street corner talking about work and having a laugh. Then the boys had plucked up the courage to go to a dance in a local church hall, and they were full of it. Many a tale they had to tell of their prowess on the dance floor. They did invite the girls to go with them, but the four mothers decided they were too young. Perhaps they’d think about it again after Christmas when they’d be fifteen. Joan kicked up a stink about this, saying if she was old enough to go to work, she was old enough to go dancing. But Dot put her foot down in no uncertain terms. So when the boys went jazzing, the girls went swimming or to the pictures.
Then, as winter approached and the nights started to draw in, the gang went back to their once-a-week card nights. Not that they were so keen on cards, they spent more time laughing and pulling each other’s legs. They were all good mates and good company. They took turns as to whose house to use, and the parents looked forward to the card nights and the laughs that went with them. Having youngsters in the house made them feel young again.
And now it was winter, with Ginny’s birthday just a few weeks away, followed closely by Christmas. She’d worked at Woolworth’s for eleven months now, and apart from the first few weeks, she’d loved every minute of it. Happy with her home life, her friends and her work, she was well content with life.
Dorothy Sutherland made Ginny start when she touched her arm. ‘I don’t know where your thoughts were, pet, but wherever it was it must have been nice because you had a smile on your face.’
‘I was thinking I’d been here eleven months now, and the time has flown over. It’s getting exciting with all the Christmas decorations going up. The shop looks really bright and cheerful. I missed all this last year because it was over by the time I started.’
‘You’ll be more tired than excited when we start to get really busy. I think next week should see the rush begin, with paper chains, tinsel and silver balls the main buys.’ Dorothy let her eyes slide sideways, and there was a smile of affection on her face. She really was very fond of her junior assistant. ‘You’ll be too tired even to celebrate your birthday.’
‘Oh, no, I will not!’ Ginny sounded very definite. ‘Yer see, we’re going to celebrate three birthdays in one. Me, Marie and Joan, we’re all fifteen within days of each other, so we’re having one big party. Me mam said I can have it in ours, and the other mothers are going to chip in with food and things. ’Course, the trouble with having a birthday so near Christmas is yer lose out on a decent present.’
Two customers approached the counter and both assistants moved forward with a smile. Dorothy’s customer wanted a man’s comb in a leather case while Ginny’s wanted a purse that had two compartments in. Both were for Christmas presents, the customers said, so the assistants patiently displayed the different coloured combs and purses they had in stock. Ginny was a good saleswoman. Handing the woman a black purse that had a pattern in cross stitching on the front, she said, ‘I’m buying me mam one of these for her Christmas present. She likes to have two compartments, as well, and of course black goes with any coloured handbag.’
A woman came up behind the two others and poked her head between them. ‘Only sixpence? That’s dirt cheap, that is. I’ve just been over the road and purses exactly the same as that are four times the price.’ She squashed herself nearer the counter. ‘I’ll have one of those, girl, for me mother. That’ll be one present sorted out.’
‘Would you hang on a moment, please, while I see if this lady is going to take the purse or not?’
‘Of course I want it, I didn’t need her to tell me how cheap they are.’ The customer handed the purse back while her eyes threw daggers at the stranger. ‘Wrap it up for me please, while I get the money out.’
Dorothy’s customer had
been listening with interest. ‘I’ll take the black comb set, dear, it’s the best colour for men. And I think I’ll take one of those purses, too, it’ll make a good present for a lady friend. Would you please take the price tag off? There’s no point in giving the game away. My friend is a bit of a snob so I’ll tell her I bought it over the road.’
Ginny couldn’t help but giggle. ‘That’s a fib.’
The woman actually smiled. ‘I’m only doing the same as she does. Every time I go to the house she tells me how she always buys expensive things. Won’t entertain cheap muck at any price. According to her, everything in her house has come from over the road, so the purse should feel quite at home.’
Left alone, Dorothy rubbed her hands. ‘Three purses and one comb set, that’s not bad going.’ Then she whispered, ‘Here come Miss Halliday and Mr Sanderson doing their usual weekly rounds. It’s a pity they didn’t come a few minutes earlier.’
‘That’s all right,’ Ginny whispered back, ‘we’ve got another two customers.’
‘D’you think you can work a miracle and sell them three purses?’
Ginny was smiling broadly when the two bosses approached the side of their counter. She used to be afraid of them, but over the months she’d lost her fear and actually enjoyed talking to them. ‘Good morning, Mr Sanderson, Miss Halliday. Would you mind if I help Miss Sutherland with one of the customers?’
Dorothy smiled in acknowledgement. ‘I can manage, Miss Porter, you are free to talk.’
Over the last few months, Clive Sanderson’s life had changed completely. He now spent a lot of time with Mary Halliday, which brightened his days, and he enjoyed coming into the shop and talking to the assistants. When he got home each night he was still alone, but now he had something and someone to think about. He could put names to nearly all the counter assistants, and knew the names of the people in the stock room.
‘Miss Halliday and I have been watching you from a distance, Miss Porter.’ Clive often thought that if it hadn’t been for the honesty of this young girl, he would still be stuck in his office each day, with hardly any human contact. ‘You did very well selling three purses when originally only one was asked for.’