by Joan Jonker
‘We will, Mam,’ Tess said. ‘And I’ll drink some of my tea now so it won’t spill over.’ To show she meant it, she lifted the cup to her lips and sipped. ‘It’s lovely, thank you.’
‘If you want something to do to pass the time, Madelaine has the notebook on the tallboy, you could start writing down what you’d like to take on holiday with you.’ Ann smiled as she walked through the door. ‘That should keep you going for a while.’
She couldn’t have given them anything better to amuse themselves with. And when she called them down for their breakfast, both girls had made a long list of things they thought they should take. While Ann read the lists and nodded, she was telling herself they couldn’t possibly take half the items listed. They only had one case, and that was one she’d had since before she was married and it was old and battered. It wouldn’t hold very much, so things like socks, singlets and knickers would have to go in the large canvas bag which was in the cupboard under the stairs and only came out once in a blue moon. ‘On Monday we’ll look through your dresses and pick out the three best cotton ones. And we’ll do the same with your socks and knickers. Then I can get them washed and ironed ready to pack in the case. That’ll be a load off my mind.’
‘Mam, I’ve got a hole in the heel of one of my socks,’ Maddy said. ‘So will it be all right if I get the sewing box out when the table’s clear, and darn it?’
Ann was more than happy to nod her head. Her daughter could do as neat a darn as any woman, far better than she herself could. ‘That would be a big help, Madelaine, and if there’s time you could do one of your father’s for me. I don’t think he possesses a sock that doesn’t have a hole in.’
Tess wanted to do her bit, so she said, ‘I’ll help, Maddy, I’ll thread the needle for you.’
Her sister chuckled. ‘Talk about act daft and I’ll buy you a coalyard isn’t in it! You’re not soft, are you, Theresa Richardson? Thread the needle indeed! You’re not getting away with that, you can cut the pieces of wool ready for me as well.’
Tess rested her elbows on the table and cupped her face. ‘I’ll do that, Maddy, as long as you buy me that coalyard you mentioned.’
‘Oh ay! You’re getting cheeky, aren’t you?’ Maddy feigned indignation but was delighted when her sister showed spirit. ‘Proper clever clogs, you are.’
‘I’ll have them as well, please.’
Maddy frowned. ‘You’ll have what?’
‘I’ll have the clogs! I’ll need them to work in the coalyard you’re going to buy me. You never see our coalman without his clogs.’
Ann was smiling when she looked at Maddy. ‘That’s one in the eye for you, Madelaine. Your sister certainly came out best there.’
Her daughter returned the smile, with her eyes saying she was really happy that her sister seemed lots better these days. ‘She’s getting too big for her boots.’
‘Well, it doesn’t matter if my boots don’t fit, seeing as I’m getting a pair of clogs.’ Tess really was in high spirits. ‘At least I won’t be going on holiday barefoot.’
Maddy leaned sideways and glared at her sister. She pushed her face close, so their noses were nearly touching. ‘Will you forget about your footwear and help clear the table? I’ve got work to do.’
Tess glared back. ‘And so have I. Don’t forget, if I don’t cut the wool and thread the needle, you won’t be able to do anything.’ The pink tongue darted out. ‘So there!’
As Ann watched the water running from the tap into a bowl in the sink, she was thinking that Madelaine was just the tonic Theresa needed. She didn’t talk down to her, but treated her as she would any of her friends. And that was what her sister needed. Her sense of humour was coming out as never before, and though her written words weren’t up to her spoken ones, she was coming on in that direction too. Please God the improvement would continue.
Chapter Four
It was young Billy Richardson who opened the door on Sunday afternoon and his eyes widened in surprise. ‘Hello, Uncle George, Auntie Ann. I didn’t know yer were coming, me mam didn’t say.’
‘Your mam doesn’t know, son,’ George said. ‘We’ve come to ask for some advice about our holidays.’
‘Come on in.’ Billy held the door wide while calling, ‘Mam, we’ve got visitors.’ He waited until George and Ann had passed him, then grinned at the girls. ‘Hi, you two, I haven’t seen yer for donkey’s years. Yer’ve both gone and got bigger since then. Ye’re quite the young lady, Maddy, and you, Tess.’
‘What about yourself, Billy Richardson?’ Maddy jokingly asked. ‘I see you’ve gone into long kecks since you started work.’
The boy’s shoulders went back, his chest came out and he seemed to grow six inches in stature. ‘Four months I’ve been in them now.’
‘They suit you, Billy,’ Tess said. ‘You look really nice and I bet all the girls are after you. Have you got a girlfriend yet?’
Blushing to the roots of his hair, Billy closed the door, saying, ‘That’s for me to know and you to find out. Now get in, ’cos this hall’s too small for three people.’
Tess made straight for her father’s brother, a great favourite of hers. She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. ‘Hello, Uncle Ken, it’s nice to see you.’
‘And you, sweetheart.’ He smiled into her face. ‘Yer get prettier every time I see yer. If I wasn’t married to yer Auntie Milly, I’d wait for yer to grow up and marry you instead.’
‘Ye’re well out of it, Tess,’ Milly said, keeping a straight face. ‘He’s a very fickle man is my husband, and he’s got a roving eye.’
‘Which one is that, Auntie Milly? His eyes both look the same to me.’
Billy’s voice was at the stage where it was starting to break and he found it very embarrassing. One minute he was speaking like a man, the next like a girl. But he couldn’t sit with his mouth closed or people would think he was dumb. So he took a chance and was made up when it came out really deep without a single crack in it. ‘Nice one, Tess! Yer were quick off the mark there!’
Ken’s shoulders slumped and he put on a woebegone expression. ‘I don’t know, me own family ganging up on me. I wouldn’t care, but I’m the easiest-going bloke imaginable. And I’ve never let me eyes stray to another woman since, er, since, er, since yesterday.’
‘And I bet that was the brazen hussy in number fifteen,’ Milly said knowingly. ‘We never see sight nor light of her during the day, but come six o’clock, when most of the men are on their way home from work, she stands on her step as bold as brass and gives the eye to anyone wearing a pair of trousers.’
‘Ooh, ay, Billy, you’d better watch out.’ There was devilment in Maddy’s eyes. ‘I’d go back to the short kecks if I were you.’
‘That’s enough, now,’ George said, aware that the conversation would not be to his wife’s liking. ‘Take your arms from around Uncle Ken’s neck and let him come up for air, so I can ask about the travel arrangements for our holidays.’
‘So yer’ve had an answer then, Ann?’ Milly looked pleased. ‘I told yer she’d let yer know right away.’
Ann nodded. ‘She sounds very nice from the letter and we’re all delighted. The girls would start packing now if I’d let them, and we’d need a removal van to carry all the stuff they’ve got down on their lists. By the time a week tomorrow comes, they’ll have me motheaten.’
‘Yer’ll like it there, it’s a lovely place.’ Ken was older than his brother by two years, but they could be taken for identical twins if it weren’t for the moustache sported by George. ‘And yer certainly won’t go hungry, ’cos the table groans with the weight of the stuff Gwen puts on it. She doesn’t half feed yer well. And all the meat and vegetables come from local farms, so everything is fresh.’
‘It sounds like heaven,’ George said. ‘Just give me the details on how to get there. I know Milly told Ann it was one train and then a pony-and-trap, but a train from where, to where?’
Ken tutted. ‘Milly told me
what she’d said, and I couldn’t believe her! Honest to God, she’s as thick as two short planks! It’s no wonder I’ve got a roving eye.’
‘All right, clever bugger, we’ve been through this half a dozen times.’ Milly’s head was shaking from side to side and her eyes were turned to the ceiling. ‘Can’t yer just tell them how to get there without pulling me to pieces in the process?’
‘That’s because I like to see yer getting all het up, see, love. When yer face gets red and yer eyes let off sparks I can feel me heart pounding. It reminds me of when we were courting and I’d be late for a date.’ He glanced at his brother and winked. ‘She used to have a right paddy on her and she’d give me the rounds of the kitchen. Her mam and dad didn’t interfere but I think they felt sorry for me on the quiet ’cos she wouldn’t shut up long enough for me to explain I’d put in an hour’s overtime. And she’d keep it up until we got to the picture house and the big picture started.’ His chuckle was deep and rich. ‘When I was flushed with money I’d splash out on the back stalls, and if we were lucky enough to get on the back row I had another way of shutting her up.’
His wife was grinning as memories came flooding back. They had a rock-solid marriage and she loved the bones of him. ‘Ken, I’m sure everyone is very interested in our courtship, but can yer change the subject and answer George’s question? The way you’re going on, their holiday will be over before he even knows how to get there.’
Just then the back kitchen door burst open and the daughter of the house came in, puffing and panting. Joyce was thirteen and had her father’s colouring. In fact she and her cousin Maddy were very alike, with only six months’ difference in their ages. ‘Yer didn’t tell me we were having visitors, Mam! I bet yer did that on purpose.’
‘Excuse me, young lady, but where are yer manners? Aren’t yer going to say hello to yer cousins?’
The girl’s eyes swept over each of the faces and her greeting came with a big smile. ‘Hello, everyone, it’s nice to see yer. I hope I haven’t missed a cup of tea and a cake?’
‘Yer’d have a job to miss a cake, sweetheart, ’cos we haven’t got any. I told yer I was cutting everything down to the bone so I could save up for our holidays. Mind you, I would have bought some if I’d known we were going to have guests.’
‘Don’t worry, Milly, I understand,’ Ann said. ‘If you came to our house you wouldn’t get offered a cake because I’m saving every penny too!’
‘We’re going to Wales for our holidays, Joyce,’ Tess said proudly. ‘Where are you going?’
‘Blackpool.’ Joyce grinned at her before looking Maddy’s way. ‘My mate’s waiting in the entry for me, we’re going for a walk. Do you and Tess want to come?’
Tess was off her chair like a shot. ‘Ooh, yes, I want to.’
Maddy could see the doubt on her mother’s face. ‘We wouldn’t go far, Mam, and I’d make sure Tess was all right. We don’t see Joyce very often and it would be nice to have a natter.’
‘They’ll be fine, Ann,’ George said as his wife hesitated. ‘But no longer than half an hour, Maddy, we don’t want to have to come looking for you.’
With whoops of delight the three girls made a hasty exit, and their laughter could be heard long after they’d closed the entry door behind them. It was this sound that caused Billy to think he may as well be out in the sunshine instead of sitting there listening to older people. ‘I think I’ll go down to me mate’s, Mam, it’s too nice to stay in. I’ll be back in time for tea.’
When the four adults found themselves alone, Ken spread his hands and shrugged his shoulders. ‘D’yer think they find us dull?’
‘Of course they do, yer soft nit,’ Milly said, getting to her feet. ‘The same as we thought our parents were dull. Now, while I put the kettle on, you can give George whatever help you can regarding the travel arrangements.’
‘I’ll give you a hand, Milly.’ Ann followed her through to the kitchen. ‘I can get the cups ready.’
Ken chuckled. ‘I don’t know whether we smell, George, but something has emptied this room very quickly.’
George raised his brows and said with mock severity, ‘I’m beginning to think I’m going to have to drag the information out of you. Don’t you want us to have this holiday?’
‘Ay, a bit of respect for yer elder brother, if yer don’t mind.’ Again the hearty chuckle. ‘George, yer’ll go on this holiday if I have to give yer a piggyback. In fact, if we weren’t going away at the same time, I’d ruddy well take yer meself! But yer won’t have any trouble, it’s easy enough to get there. Yer take the underground from James Street to Birkenhead, and they run every few minutes. Then when yer get off, ask any porter to direct yer to the right platform for the Wrexham train. When yer get off at Wrexham, yer can either take one of the small local trains to Hope, or go by bus. Neither of them run very often, so yer might have a long wait. And when yer get to Hope, just ask anyone the way to Rose Cottage. With a bit of luck yer might get a pony-and-trap to take yer for a few coppers, save yer lugging yer case.’
‘I don’t suppose you know the times of the trains, do you?’
‘I’m sorry, George, but I can’t remember the exact times. Yer best bet is for Ann to go down to the station and ask for a timetable. She could even buy the tickets while she’s there, save yer rushing on the day and getting all hot and bothered if ye’re running late.’
Ann was looking happy when she came into the room carrying a tray. ‘I’ll go down to the station in the morning.’ She put the tray down and surprised both brothers by planting a kiss on George’s cheek. ‘I wouldn’t want you getting all hot and bothered, would I, love?’
This open show of affection surprised Ken so much he was still talking about it as he smoked his last cigarette before going to bed. ‘Yer could have knocked me over with a feather! I’ve never seen anything like it! She’s always been so ruddy straitlaced I used to wonder how she came to have two children! And she used to be so strict with the girls, too!’
Milly, her fingers curled around the cup she was holding, nodded. ‘I noticed the change in her when she came last week. And I think young Tess has a lot to do with it. That girl would melt a heart of stone.’
The girls were counting the days at first, then as the time drew nearer, they ticked off the hours. And finally the time had come and they were on their way to the first holiday they’d ever had. The travelling wasn’t as exciting as they’d thought, the trains were jam-packed and they were tired and hungry when they stepped off the train in the little village of Hope.
Ann cast an anxious eye on Theresa and put an arm across her shoulders and held her back so the other passengers alighting from the carriages could go before them. ‘Are you sure you feel able to carry on, love? We can find somewhere to sit for a while if you like.’
The young girl’s face was ashen and her breathing laboured. They seemed to have been travelling for ages and ages and she didn’t think her legs would hold her up much longer. But it was the first day of their holidays, she didn’t want to spoil it for her family. ‘I’ll be fine, Mam, I’m just a bit tired, that’s all.’
George waited his turn to hand in their tickets to the collector, then he glanced back to his daughter. Tess had been fine when they left the house in the morning, full of excitement and expectation. But it must have been too much for her because she didn’t look at all well now. ‘We’re on our way to Rose Cottage, I wonder if you can tell me if it’s very far to walk?’
‘Going to Gwen Owen’s are you, then?’ The man who acted as ticket collector, porter and station master at the tiny station spoke with a soft Welsh lilt and sounded very friendly. George had noticed the man had a smile and a joke for everyone who had passed through the gate. ‘Then it’s a fine holiday you’ll have, for Gwen is noted for her hospitality. Feed you up, she will, until you’re so full you won’t be able to move away from the table.’ He turned to smile at the two girls and was quick to notice the pallor of the younger one. ‘Are you f
eeling a bit sick after all the travelling, love?’
‘It’s more likely the excitement,’ Ann said, drawing her daughter closer. ‘We’ve all been looking forward to this holiday but Theresa has got herself in a right state over it.’
The man bent to look into Tess’s face. ‘If it’s sick you’re going to be, then you couldn’t go to a better house than Gwen Owen’s to be made better. As good as any doctor she is, and she’ll have you right as rain in no time.’
‘We’d like to get there as quickly as possible,’ George said, thinking it was nice of the man to take an interest, but Tess did look poorly and the sooner they were able to let her rest, the better. ‘Is there any means of transport?’
‘There is a bus service, and it would take you right to the gate of Rose Cottage. However, they only run every two hours and you’ve just missed one. I could get you a pony-and-trap if that’s any help? All I need to do is blow on my whistle and there’ll be one here before you can blink an eye.’
‘Thank you, I would be very grateful.’ George transferred the heavy case to his other hand. ‘I’m sure my daughter will be fine once we’re settled. It’s been a bit hectic for all of us, climbing on and off one tram and three trains with all the luggage. It would wear anyone out, and put a strain on their nerves.’
The porter was as good as his word. He walked ahead of them through the small wooden gate, stood in the middle of what appeared to be a country lane, and blew hard on his silver whistle. It was about five minutes before they heard the clip-clop of a horse coming towards them. And what a fine-looking horse it was. Light brown with several patches of white on its back and legs, and a white mane. It was pulling a trap with a man sitting on a seat in the front holding the reins, and there were long seats down either side with a low door and step at the back. The sight of it brought a smile to Tess’s face. ‘It’s just like the one in my book, Mam.’
Maddy, whose concern for her sister had kept her quiet for the latter part of the journey, now clapped her hands in delight. ‘Oh, isn’t it beautiful, Dad? And look at the way it’s holding its head, it looks so proud.’