by June Francis
‘Not if he’s got any sense he won’t. I hope my not issuing any punishment at the moment doesn’t make him think he can do what he wants, and not worry about hurting others in the process.’ She would have said more if at that moment a customer had not entered the shop. William lingered, inspecting the stock, but when several more people turned up he left.
Margaret told Rita her decision concerning Jimmy, and the girl felt dubious about it. She could sympathise with the anxiety he must have felt due to lack of money and his mother’s illness, but at the same time she could not forget he had hit her over the head and also put the stolen items in Mr McGinty’s pocket. Rita felt uncomfortable thinking about his doing the latter. Yet what could she do? It was out of her hands.
Within days she put the whole episode aside when the travelling theatre, of which Ellen’s brother was a member, came to town. Rita was given a complimentary ticket to one of the plays and looked forward to it with excitement.
The play was to be performed at the Royal Court Theatre in Great Charlotte Street, not far from St George’s Hall. Rita had not visited the theatre since her mother had been part of a variety act. Once inside, despite feeling initially uncomfortable seeing Jimmy for the first time since he had apologised, she was determined to enjoy herself. Besides, Alice and Ellen were there, too, so it was not as if she had to talk to him.
Rita gazed about her with a rapt expression on her face, admiring the fancy decorations on the walls and ceilings. The plush seats were comfortable and the audience chattering nine to the dozen only served to increase her pleasure. She held her breath as the curtains parted and the play began.
Afterwards Ellen took them backstage to meet her brother, Sandy. As soon as Rita set eyes on him she decided that if she wasn’t off the whole idea of being in love she could have fallen for him. He was beautiful, with delicate features and hair as black as coal and wavy as the Oxo bull’s forelock. He had strong shoulders and flat hips and moved like a dancer.
‘I really enjoyed the play,’ she told him. ‘You were marvellous and the dialogue was so clever.’
‘Thanks! I’m really glad you liked it.’ He dazzled her with a smile before turning to Jimmy. ‘What about you?’
‘Not really my kind of thing!’ He wriggled his shoulders as if he had an itch. ‘It’s not real, is it? People don’t talk to each other the way you lot did on the stage. I couldn’t understand half of it. By the end it seemed to me you lot had gone through the whole thing without saying what you meant but something completely different.’
‘But people often don’t say what they mean,’ said Rita, annoyed by his rudeness. ‘Lots of people are scared of being hurt, so they put on an act.’
‘But the main characters were nasty to each other and yet ended up in each other’s arms. It was unbelievable and they could have saved each other a lot of trouble by being honest,’ said Jimmy.
Rita was about to say that he was a right one to talk about honesty when Sandy spoke again, obviously keen to help Jimmy understand why it had been that way. ‘It’s necessary in a play to have conflict. A crisis near the end is also essential. It causes the characters to show that honesty you’re talking about. The chimney pot that fell and hit Marcus could have killed him. Pauline just had to tell him how she really felt, knowing she couldn’t let him go to the grave believing she hated him. See?’
‘Yeah! But it still seems unnecessary to me.’
‘But there’d be no story without misunderstandings,’ said Sandy lamely. He exchanged a look with his sister before moving away to talk to someone else.
Jimmy stretched his arms and smiled. ‘That’s got rid of him. We can go home now. Come on, Alice! Ellen! I’ve got to be up early in the morning.’ He glanced at Rita. ‘You might as well come with us. We’re going your way.’
‘Yes, do walk with us,’ said the girls.
Rita would have liked to stay longer enjoying the atmosphere, but with Ellen leaving she knew she had no choice but to go.
The metal caps on Jimmy’s boots made a ringing sound on the pavement as he strode along. Alice and Ellen were talking about the music for the dance that the padre was organising and fell behind. Jimmy told Rita to keep up. That annoyed her because his legs were so much longer and to keep up she had to do a little run every now and then. She wanted to discuss the play but knew that he wouldn’t want to. Perhaps she should ask how things were up at the yard. That had always been a good ploy to get him talking — but did she want to listen? No! She’d had enough of hearing him talk about the things that only interested him. She thought of Billy and felt warm inside.
‘I bet Ellen wishes Billy was home,’ she said.
‘So do I,’ he said, surprisingly. ‘You’ve no idea how different the atmosphere is with her in the house. She takes up so much of Alice’s time. They’re always giggling, and even Pops is behaving differently with her around.’
‘In what way?’
‘I can’t explain.’
‘Is he still drinking?’
Jimmy shook his head and looked moody. ‘He doesn’t touch the stuff.’
‘Isn’t that a good thing?’
‘You’d think so, wouldn’t you?’
She was amazed. ‘You don’t?’
‘I don’t know what to think,’ he said gloomily, brushing against her. ‘He and Ellen talk about ships and places they’ve been. Apparently she’s been to Hong Kong, just like Pops and the padre.’
Is he jealous? Ellen was the kind of person who was friendly with everybody. ‘If they enjoy talking together, then I think that must be good for your stepfather. He hasn’t had things easy for a long time, has he?’
‘I think you’re wrong,’ muttered Jimmy, kicking a pebble. ‘Pops can be really good company when he puts his mind to it. He could turn her head.’
Rita laughed. ‘You’re letting your imagination run away with you. She’s Billy’s girl and he knows it. Anyway, she’s much too young for him.’
‘Young women have married older men before for what they can get. Imagine if she married Pops? They could have kids and they’d end up getting the yard.’
Rita halted beneath a lamp post. ‘You’re obsessed with that yard. What has Mr Brodie got but a load of debt at the moment? No girl’s going to marry him for that. Ellen likes him because they can talk about the same things, just like she and Alice discuss music. He probably enjoys there being some laughter in the house after months of gloom.’
Jimmy did not look convinced. ‘He’s had two wives, and there was something between him and your aunt. He’s the kind of man that needs a woman, so who’s to say that he doesn’t have something like that in mind?’
‘If you think that, then write to Billy,’ said Rita exasperated. ‘If there’s anything going on between Ellen and your stepfather then he should know. Otherwise, drop the subject. I’m fed up with it.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘I can see what’s going on. You like him, too. That’s why you’re getting all worked up about him and Ellen.’
Rita could not believe her ears. ‘You’re an idiot and you can get lost!’ She walked away, wondering how she could ever have fancied herself in love with him.
Chapter Twelve
A week later Ellen called round. ‘I’ve come to get my clothes out of hock and to pay anything else I owe,’ she said, resting her elbows on the counter.
The dance hasn’t been and gone already, has it?’ said Margaret.
‘No!’ Ellen chuckled and placed her pawn ticket and several banknotes on the counter. ‘You’re not going to believe this but Mr Brodie knew this horse and persuaded me to put the money I’d borrowed from Sandy on it. It won!’
Margaret swore.
A startled Rita stared at her. ‘I’ve never heard you swear before.’
‘Well, you have now,’ said her aunt fiercely. ‘That man! I could strangle him. He said he’d learnt his lesson but he’s leading this girl astray.’
‘No, he’s not! I like a flutter. He also gave
me this for you.’ Ellen produced an envelope from her pocket.
Margaret had very mixed feelings about taking the envelope, guessing what was inside. Maybe he’d borrowed money elsewhere and there were hundreds of pounds in the envelope. Perhaps it would pay off all he owed her and that would be that, and she would never see him again. Unable to bear the suspense she slit open the envelope. A handful of banknotes fell out and she sighed with relief.
That evening Margaret placed three pounds, ten shillings on Rita’s bread plate. ‘What’s that for?’ asked the girl.
‘I think it’s only fair that your money is returned to you.’ Margaret sat down, pulling her chair in with some force. ‘Again Will’s been saved in the nick of time. If you hadn’t given all your savings, though, I’d have had them out…sold the place and got my dream house. You’re too soft-hearted for your own good! I only have to think of the price you gave for that squeeze box to know that.’
‘Sam needed the money. I wonder what’s happened to him?’ She sighed.
‘Never mind him. You buy yourself a new frock for the dance.’
‘You don’t mind if I go?’
‘No! I’m thinking of going myself.’
Rita almost dropped the money. She didn’t want her aunt there watching her every move. ‘Why? Who asked you? I didn’t know you danced.’
Margaret smirked as she buttered a slice of bread. ‘There’s lots of things about me you don’t know. As it happens, the padre invited me along. He thought I might enjoy it.’
Rita could not think what to say. It seemed there was no end to the surprises some days.
The room where the dance was being held was nothing to write home about, but balloons and garlands festooned the walls and a twisting sparkling ball hung from the ceiling. Despite the fact that only soft drinks were being served, there were plenty of sailors present. They outnumbered women and girls by at least eight to one. A lot of the girls were from local churches doing their bit to keep the seamen away from such dens of vice that would fleece them of every penny.
Jimmy stood behind Rita’s chair, which annoyed her no end. She had hinted him away but he refused to move, saying he had a good view of the stage from where she was. Ellen and Alice, after a couple of nervous introductory pieces, had begun to relax and were playing ‘I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate!’ The dance floor was awash with shimmying couples. Rita was desperate to dance, tapping her foot in time to the music, but Jimmy’s presence was acting as a deterrent to any sailors who might ask her to dance and he wasn’t doing any asking.
Margaret was also waiting, having hopes that the padre would come and ask her to waltz or foxtrot. Her hair was newly washed and set and she was wearing the cream and peach outfit she had bought at Bacon’s in Bold Street.
‘I hope there’s not going to be trouble,’ said Jimmy, in Rita’s ear.
‘Why should there be? There’s no alcohol being served.’
‘You’re a right innocent. I bet some of these sailors have smuggled in spirits and are mixing it with the lemonade. I must say, Rita, you look lovely in that frock.’
‘Thanks!’ The dress was lemon crepe de Chine with a scooped neckline and several layers of frills falling from a dropped waist. It fitted her perfectly.
‘I’d forgotten how much of you there was.’
‘I beg your pardon!’ That didn’t sound very complimentary and Rita was annoyed. ‘Are you saying I’m fat?’
‘No! I mean you’ve got curves. You’re growing up just like my sister.’ He gazed at the stage and must have seen something he did not like because he squeezed Rita’s shoulder and said, ‘You’ll be OK a minute, won’t you? There’s an American sailor talking to Alice. I can’t allow that.’ He disappeared onto the crowded floor.
Thank God for that! Rita was gratified when a few minutes later a royal naval rating came up and asked her to dance. She accepted like a shot and without even a glance in her aunt’s direction was soon shimmying with the best of them, grateful to Ellen for those lessons when she had stayed at the pawnshop.
Margaret’s mind drifted to another era when she was young and had danced the evening away, either at a church social or in a friend’s kitchen, laughing and giggling like the carefree girl she had been then. When an off-white tropical-suited figure stopped in front of her and bowed, he was obviously part of that world.
‘May I have the pleasure of this dance?’
She stared at William and without speaking offered him her hand. He drew her onto the dance floor and it made no difference that other couples were dancing a few feet apart. He placed his arm about her waist and they did a sort of very fast foxtrot. It was exhilarating and soon her cheeks were glowing.
When the music stopped they stood there, gazing at each other. ‘I’d forgotten what it was like to have fun,’ she said breathlessly, her breasts rising and falling.
‘Me too!’ The expression in his eyes caused the flush in her cheeks to deepen.
‘What are you doing here, Will?’
‘I’m an old sailor. Jerry asked me along. He thought I might like to make sure that Alice was OK, but Jimmy is doing that.’ He sighed.
Very aware of his arm about her waist Margaret glanced towards the stage. ‘She seems to be enjoying herself; really knows how to vamp it up, just like you did once.’
‘We did have some good times, didn’t we?’ he said softly.
She nodded, suddenly unable to speak because emotion had her by the throat. Maybe if things hadn’t gone so wrong at home…if Donald hadn’t died…if his death hadn’t disturbed the balance of her mother’s mind…if Eve hadn’t gone off the rails and left her alone to cope. Then maybe she wouldn’t have felt so insecure and minded so much when Will paid attention to other people. Yet it was that caring about folk which had drawn her to him in the first place.
Alice launched into the ‘Blue Danube’ and William led her into a waltz. Margaret’s footsteps followed his without any hesitation; she was aware he was taking care to keep a space between them.
‘I took a gamble when I asked you to dance.’ His eyes were on her face.
‘Please don’t talk about gambling.’
‘Sorry. I took a risk then. When you said yes, it was as if my ship had come in loaded with goodies.’
She was touched. ‘Christmas goodies?’
‘Yes.’
They were the best, she thought. His lips brushed her temple and his arm tightened about her waist and they danced cheek to cheek with no need for words. When he escorted her back to her chair and said that he wanted to have a word with Jimmy and Alice, Margaret watched his tall figure shouldering its way through those still crowding the dance floor. For the first time in a long time she felt as if a spark had been lit inside her and experienced a cautious optimism.
‘Who was that you were dancing with?’ A rosy-cheeked Rita sat next to her.
Margaret clasped her hands in her lap and said demurely, ‘That would be telling. Are you enjoying yourself?’
Rita’s brown eyes glowed. ‘Yes. But I’m not sticking to one fella. I told Reg there are plenty of other sailors sailing the seven seas and he had to take his turn.’
Margaret was about to ask which one was Reg, when Jimmy stopped in front of them with his jaw set rigid. Without even asking her did she want to dance he seized Rita’s arm and pulled her onto the dance floor.
‘Don’t be so rough!’ she hissed. ‘You’re hurting my arm.’
‘Sorry!’ He frowned down at her. ‘But all the things I worried about this evening are coming true.’
‘What d’you mean?’
‘Pops has turned up. He seems to think it’s OK for Alice and Ellen to flirt with all and sundry.’ Jimmy steered Rita round the dance floor with only a perfunctory attempt at the dance steps.
‘He’s showing sense…and will you stop holding me like I was a bag of flour? You need to learn how to treat a girl. Ouch! That was my toe.’ She realised they were heading for the stage where an Ameri
can sailor, who she presumed was the same one that had got Jimmy’s goat, was leaning on the piano, singing to Alice.
‘He’s got a nerve,’ growled Jimmy. ‘Pops should put a stop to it.’
‘He’s got more sense. It’s just a bit of harmless fun and Alice could do with having more of that, just like me.’ Her words were no sooner out than they bumped into Father Jerome and Sarah Turner.
‘Hello, Rita! Enjoying yourself?’ Her former teacher positively bloomed.
‘Yes thanks, miss,’ she said politely.
Sarah laughed. ‘You don’t have to call me that anymore. I see your aunt found herself a partner.’
‘Your stepfather, Jimmy,’ said the padre with a twinkle. ‘I’m all in favour of quarrels being made up.’
They danced away.
Rita looked at Jimmy and his expression made her feel uneasy. She was glad when he left her to visit the Gents and immediately accepted an offer to dance from a merchant seaman, who informed her that he had recently returned from Australia. They had an interesting conversation. Then she noticed Margaret talking to the padre and Sarah Turner. The next time Rita saw her aunt she was dancing with a captain of a similar age to herself. Pleased that Margaret seemed to be entering into the spirit of things Rita did her best to avoid Jimmy.
By the end of the evening she was footsore but happy. There was no dancing partner that she particularly wanted to see again, so she was glad to have her aunt as an excuse to turn down those who asked to see her home, including Reg, the naval rating from Portsmouth. She wasn’t ready yet to give her heart to a sailor.
She expected Margaret to mention William being at the dance but her aunt was mute on the subject. Even so, it seemed to Rita that the older woman was happy for once because she sang as she got ready for bed.
*
That mood was soon to change as two weeks went by without seeing anyone from the yard. Margaret’s cautious optimism evaporated and she dismissed the emotions she had felt at the dance as so much moonshine. Just for a short while she and William had allowed their past youth to live again, but there was too much in between, and that boat he had talked about had sailed away on the river of time.