by Jonker, Joan
‘Not happy! I’d be over the bloody moon if I could help some of the families hereabouts afford a proper dinner over Christmas, and get shoes for the kids. They needn’t be new shoes, they could be good secondhand ones from the market. I could easy do it without them knowing it was charity. I could always say the shoes came from the Wells boys, and they’d grown out of them. And Kenny Gordon, he’s always growing out of shoes according to Aggie. Her and Rita could take the shoes up and the women wouldn’t think anything about it, they’d be that glad to see their kids shod. It breaks a woman’s heart if she can’t afford to feed and clothe her children, but there’s nothing they can do if their husbands are out of work.’
Evelyn bent down to pick up her handbag from the floor at the side of her chair. ‘I have the money in an envelope. I would like to buy presents for Mrs Wells and Mrs Gordon, and also for their children so they can open them on Christmas morning. And it would be nice if you could buy books and games for Amelia, you will know what she likes better than I do.’ She handed over the large envelope. ‘I will be buying her a nice dress and a new coat, so she will have a lot to make her happy over Christmas. And if you won’t be insulted, I would like to buy you something for your kindness, if you would give me an idea of what you would like?’
Bessie looked down at the envelope which was sealed. ‘Don’t worry about me, Evelyn, I’ll be all right for the holidays, I’ve got clubs in most of the shops. I put a few coppers in each week and it soon mounts up. I’m lucky I can do that, with me working and only meself to worry about.’ She waved the envelope. ‘Would yer mind if I opened this in front of yer? I’d feel better if yer would watch me and we agree what’s inside.’
‘By all means, go ahead, Bessie. But it isn’t necessary, I would trust you with anything. You are the only one I have spoken to about the last eight years of my life. I wouldn’t have done so if I didn’t trust you implicitly. However, I understand why you would want me to see you open the envelope. So please do.’
Bessie ran her thumb along the inside of the flap and took out the contents. Her mouth gaped and she looked as though she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She thought the white paper was wrapped around the money Evelyn had mentioned, but it was a five-pound note! She’d never had one in her hand before. And when she opened it up, she found it had been wrapped around a further three. ‘Oh, my God, Evelyn, there’s twenty pounds here! I’ve never had so much money in me hand at one time in me whole life! I can’t keep this, it’s a fortune!’
‘It’s not my money, Bessie, it was Philip who gave it to me. And believe me, he can well afford it. He is so happy knowing he is helping children who are not as privileged as he has been. He didn’t do it to look good, he will never meet those he’s helped and is not a snob. He would treat anyone the same, be it a king or a tramp.’
Bessie couldn’t keep her eyes off the notes in her hand. She’d never thought the day would come when she’d have one of those white ones, never mind four! She was shaking her head in disbelief when she gazed across at Evelyn. ‘Are you sure about this? Do yer not want to keep some to buy Amelia’s coat and dress? And something for yerself to wear over Christmas?’
Her neighbour shook her head. ‘I have enough for Amelia’s clothes, and I’ll only be wanting an inexpensive dress myself. Please help as many of the poorer people as you can, Bessie, and you mustn’t say where the money came from. Not a word, please, even to Mrs Wells and Mrs Gordon. Oh, you can tell them I paid for their children’s presents as a thank you for lighting my fire every night and leaving the house neat and tidy, but nothing else.’
‘I feel as though it’s Christmas Eve, and Father Christmas has just come down the chimney.’ Bessie grinned. ‘I’ll really get a kick out of buying shoes for those children at the top end, because when I was going to school I remember a lad in our school coming barefoot, and the other kids didn’t half make fun of him. I can still remember the look of shame on his face. But he had someone come along like your Philip has, only his benefactor was one of the teachers. And she didn’t make a show of him by giving them to him in front of the class, she took them to his home. I can still see that lad’s face when he came to school the next day, he didn’t half swank. He walked across that playground as though he was ten foot tall.’
‘You’re a good woman, Bessie, and it’s a pity I didn’t have the sense to see that years ago. We could have been friends. I’m sorry I won’t be able to help you with buying the presents, but I will help you wrap them up when Amelia’s not around. And tomorrow I will tell Philip how his money is to be spent. He will be really pleased, he’s quite tender-hearted.’
Bessie was beginning to grow excited. ‘He has been very good, and yer can thank him from me. With this money, I can help so many people in the street who are on their uppers. I’ll make a list of names and presents. He has a right to know where his much-appreciated money has gone. There’s not many people give this much away, I’ll bet. He must be a very special man.’
‘Oh, he is, Bessie, a very special man indeed.’ Evelyn pushed herself to her feet. She didn’t want to talk about Philip for she was in danger of crying. ‘I’ll knock for Amelia, and then go home and sit on the couch with my feet up in front of the nice warm fire. I’ll see you tomorrow night and you can tell me what thoughts you’ve had on how to make best use of the money. Perhaps you could write a list of those most in need? But of course you don’t need me to tell you what to do, you are a very sensible lady.’ She shivered as she opened the front door. ‘Tell Mrs Wells I bless her every night when I open the door and see the flames flickering in the hearth. It makes that house feel like home, which it never has before.’
As soon as she’d closed the door on her neighbour, Bessie was so eager to start making a list she moved too fast and banged her shin on the sharp corner of the sideboard. ‘You bloody nuisance,’ she said, rubbing her shin, ‘why don’t yer get out of the way!’ Then as she opened one of the drawers she burst out laughing. ‘I’m talking to the ruddy sideboard now. It’s the sight of so much money what’s gone to me head.’ She took a notebook from the drawer, then rummaged through the bits and bobs in there until she found a pencil. ‘One of these days I’ll get down to cleaning the drawers out, I should be ashamed of meself.’
The fireside chair was pulled closer to the hearth and Betty sank back, telling herself she felt like the Man Who Broke The Bank At Monte Carlo. Then she hugged herself before licking the pencil, hand poised ready to start writing. ‘Now, let me see,’ she said aloud, ‘I can think of four families at the top who badly need help. Mrs Roseby … her husband’s been out of work for ages, and the whole family look half-starved. So it’ll be shoes for the two boys, and if I can wangle it somehow and she won’t wonder where it’s coming from, I’ll make them a box of food up for Christmas. And the same goes for the Summerhill family, father out of work and a boy and a girl needing shoes. Then the Andersons and the McCarthys, all in the same boat. Shoes for the kids, and a box of food for Christmas. I’ll think of some way to give it to them without it looking suspicious.’
Bessie licked the end of the pencil again and began to write. The names of the families went in a column at one side of the page, and she jotted down all that they needed beside these entries. That was the worst off accounted for. There were others who could do with help, but she wanted to do the job properly, and take her time. She looked up at the ceiling, hoping for help from above. ‘I could sit here all night staring at this ruddy book, but that wouldn’t get me anywhere. So here goes, I’ll try and price them. Secondhand shoes from the market, in good nick, would cost between a shilling and two bob a pair, and there are eight kids so that could come to sixteen shillings at the most. I could make up a good food hamper for seven and six which would see them a few days over Christmas. So for those four families, it would come to, let me get me thinking cap on, two pounds, two shillings. That’s not bad, and the families would be made up. It would make all the difference to them. I’d stil
l have nearly eighteen pounds left … that’s a lot of money.’
The notebook open on her lap, Bessie stared into the fire. She’d promised Evelyn not to tell anyone where the money came from, but couldn’t get away with buying things for everyone without them wondering what she’d been up to. What was she supposed to say to her best mates? Rita and Aggie weren’t soft, they wouldn’t fall for any cock and bull story she came up with. Anyway, how could she carry boxes of food to the women at the top of the street without being seen? No, she couldn’t do it on her own, she’d have to tell too many lies, and Him up there wouldn’t take kindly to her telling fibs on His birthday. He’d know it was in a good cause because He knew everything, but still she wouldn’t feel right about it. ‘No, I’m going to have to let me mates in on it,’ she told the poker in the companion set. ‘I’ll tell Evelyn tomorrow night, then have Rita and Aggie over on Saturday afternoon and explain everything to them.’ She nodded to the hearth. ‘They’ll get the shock of their flaming lives. I can’t wait to see the look on their faces. I bet Aggie will say they’re fake notes, but seeing as she’s never seen a five-pound note in her life, like meself, she wouldn’t know the difference.’
Bessie put a hand in the pocket of her pinny and brought out the envelope. She fingered the notes. To look at, you wouldn’t think just one of them was more than five men earned for a week of hard work. And the rent would have to come out of that, plus food and clothing, coal and gas. There wouldn’t be any luxuries, not even enough to go to the pictures one night or a bag of sweets for the kids. But that was the way of the world. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer. But even though Evelyn’s man friend was one of the rich ones, Bessie still thought he was a good man to want to help others. She wouldn’t let him down. She’d use the money wisely, and make it stretch to help as many poor folk as she could. With Evelyn’s blessing, she’d have her two mates to help her.
She was getting a headache now with the excitement and the calculations, so Bessie left her chair to put the money away. ‘I’ll have to find a safe place to hide it,’ she told the sideboard, ‘where can I put it?’ As though she’d been given an answer, she nodded. ‘Yeah, I’ll do that, it’s a good idea.’ So she pulled a drawer out of the sideboard, pushed the envelope to the very back, then fitted the drawer back in. Then she rubbed her hands together as though dusting them, and went back to her chair with a smile of satisfaction on her face. All in all it had been, as Evelyn would say, a remarkably good day.
On the Friday evening, Milly walked over with Rita when she went to light the fire. This was their routine now, as she had the front-door key. She would sit on the couch and watch as the fire was lit, then wait with her Auntie Rita until the fire was burning brightly. But Milly was fidgety that Friday night, and her eyes kept going to the stairs. She’d always known about the trunk in her mother’s bedroom, but had never been close to it for she was afraid her mother would catch her and give her a telling off. But she had always been curious about what would be inside, and had made up her mind that tonight she would try and sneak a peep in it.
‘I’m just going upstairs to my bedroom for a few minutes, Auntie Rita, is that all right?’
‘Of course it is, sunshine!’ Rita was kneeling in front of the hearth placing the sticks of wood carefully in a criss-cross pattern on top of the screwed-up pieces of newspaper. ‘It’s your home, yer can do as yer like.’
‘I won’t be long, call me if you need anything.’ Milly took the stairs two at a time, but hesitated outside her mother’s room. It had always been out of bounds to her although she could never understand why. There was nothing in there she could break; besides she was always very careful and never broke anything. And she was only going to look anyway!
She tip-toed across the room and stood in front of the trunk. It looks very old, she thought, I bet it’s a hundred years old. It looked as though it was locked, for there was a big rusty bar coming down from the lid, and it had a slit in it which fitted over a rusty ring in the front of the trunk. Milly wasn’t expecting to be able to open it, but when she played with the bar, it came out of the ring and dangled between her fingers. Afraid she’d done something wrong, and her mother would know she’d been in her bedroom, she let the bar fall. But it didn’t fall back into the ring, it rested on top. And this was too much of a temptation for the young girl. She gently lifted the lid.
There wasn’t much light in the bedroom for it started to get dark early these nights, and Milly couldn’t hold the heavy lid up and at the same time have a proper look at what was inside. With her free hand, she touched something, and after feeling it carefully, knew it was a big hat. Then her hand fumbled around and she could feel feathers. Not just one or two feathers, but a long string of them. They felt lovely. She wanted to pull it out and see what it was, but was afraid her mother would know if anything had moved. And then the matter was decided for her.
‘Are yer coming down now, Milly?’ Rita shouted from the bottom of the staircase. ‘The fire is lit and the guard in front. Let’s go to mine and have a hot cup of tea.’
Milly closed the lid very softly, put the bar back in the ring, then tip-toed on to the landing. ‘Coming, Auntie Rita! I’ll bring Daisy over with me.’
‘On yer own head be it, sunshine, ’cos yer know what our Billy’s like for pulling yer leg.’
‘I’m not coming to play with him, I’m coming to play with Jack. So your Billy can take a running jump. Anyway, I haven’t got dirty knees like him, and I’ll tell him so.’
Rita grinned. She was becoming very fond of this girl, and was surprised at her spirit. She always appeared to be shy, and quiet, but she could certainly hold her own if anyone rubbed her up the wrong way. And that someone was usually Billy, who thought girls were nothing but a ruddy nuisance. There was a young girl lived a few doors away, Polly, who dogged his footsteps everywhere he went. No matter how much he shouted at her, and told her to vamoose, she was never far behind him. When Rita pulled his leg about it, he swore he’d never have a girl friend, and he’d never get married. He was going to stay at home with his mam, ’cos she was the only one who didn’t talk the ear off you. Poor Polly. According to Billy she was as thick as two short planks. When she told him, truthfully, that she’d come second in class, he’d snorted and told her not to tell so many lies.
Rita let Milly pull the front door behind her, for she knew it made the girl feel important. Also because she guessed Evelyn had given strict instructions that she must never let anyone be alone in the house, but must stay with them.
Sure enough, there was Billy kneeling in the gutter with his mate Tommo. The concentration on both faces was enough to bring a smile to Rita’s face. Anyone would think there was a lot of money riding on who won this game of marbles for neither boy lifted his head, afraid the other would cheat.
‘I’m making a pot of tea, son,’ Rita said, ‘are yer coming in for one?’
His eyes fixed on a blue and white glass marble, Billy said, ‘I’ll come in when this games’s over, Mam, I’m winning right now.’
‘You flippin’ fibber!’ Tommo actually took his eyes off the prized marble, he was so angry. His mate was showing off because he didn’t like Milly, but Tommo had a mind of his own and thought she was nice. ‘I’m a game ahead of him, Mrs Wells, he’s only saying that to show off. If I win this shot, that marble will be going in my pocket and coming home with me.’
‘Take no notice of him, Mam, it’s him what’s showing off ’cos yer’ve got a girl with yer. The daft beggar always does the same thing.’
‘I’ll thump yer if yer say that again,’ said a very vexed Tommo. ‘The trouble with you is ye’re not a good sport. Yer can’t stand losing, and ye’re like a big soft baby.’
Milly thought that was a very good description, she couldn’t have done better herself. Her infectious laughter filled the air. It also fuelled Billy’s embarrassment. ‘Take her in the house, Mam,’ he growled, ‘she’s spoiling our game. And I won’t bother
with a cup of tea, I’ll wait until the nuisance has gone over to Auntie Bessie’s. If I lose this game, it’ll be her fault for putting me off.’
Milly tugged on Rita’s arm. ‘Come on, Auntie Rita, let’s leave the baby alone before he starts crying. He’ll blame us if he loses. Not like your Jack, he’s a good sport. I bet we won’t hear him moaning when I win the game of Snakes and Ladders we’re going to have.’
Rita chuckled as she followed Milly up the steps. This was one little lady who wouldn’t be pushed around. Perhaps her mother’s strictness with her would pay dividends in the end. Or was the change due to someone else? The girl had certainly come out of her shell since she’d been coming to Bessie’s. That’s what a little warmth and love did for you, it gave you confidence.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Bessie came home from work on the Saturday at one o’clock, and spent the next hour and a half drumming it in to herself that she had to put her foot down and be firm. Never mind what reasons Evelyn came up with, they had to be brushed aside. But being firm in your head, and full of good intentions was a different kettle of fish to being as firm when the time came to face your problem. When a knock heralded the arrival of her neighbour and her daughter, Bessie’s heart did a double somersault as she went to open the door.