Feeling the blush rise to her cheeks, Kath looked at her hands folded in her lap. Emotions were running high in the small kitchen and she floundered looking for something to say.
‘If you don’t feel the same way, Kath, just tell me…’
Again Kath found herself at a loss for words, and she found the feeling most uncomfortable. ‘Joshua, that’s not the case…’
‘I bloody knew it!’ Slapping his hands on the table made her flinch, ‘I bloody knew you felt the same all along!’
Holding her hands up as if in surrender, Kath said, ‘Joshua, listen to me… I am very fond of you and enjoy your company…’ Taking a breath to speak, her raised finger stayed his tongue. ‘But I do not wish to put myself in the position – again – of being beholden to any man.’
‘You don’t have to be beholden to me, Kath, just be my wife!’
‘As the law stands, Joshua, I would be beholden to you. All my “goods and chattels”, as it were, would revert to you on our wedding day. I cannot – I will not – put myself in that position again!’
‘Kath, you don’t have to give me none of that, besides I have enough, I just want you to marry me.’
‘It’s not a matter of my giving you my money, Joshua, it’s not even a matter of you not wanting it – it’s the law!’
‘Bloody stupid law if you ask me!’
His dejected look tore at her heart. If it had not been for this law, Kath knew she might well have agreed to his proposal after all, she did love him.
‘There is no way round this is there?’ His voice was low and ready to break.
‘It would seem not,’ Kath said simply, trying to hide her sadness.
*
Bread and cheese was served followed by tea and cake in Kath’s small kitchen and chatter abounded.
Watching Annie bouncing Harry on her knee, Mary suddenly spoke, ‘Annie, what have you done to your hair?’
Sitting in Kath’s small kitchen, everyone’s eyes turned to look at Annie’s hair shining in the sunlight streaming through the kitchen window.
‘I just washed it,’ she said.
‘Ar, I know that, but washed it with what?’ Mary’s indignation was evident.
‘Some herbs I found on the heath,’ Annie replied. ‘The ones I collect on my walks.’ She rolled her eyes, ‘You know, the ones I put in my creams and lotions.’
‘Well it doesn’t half look nice.’ Mary smiled.
Kath felt Violet’s eyes on her and when she returned the look, the girl winked.
All eyes now on Mary, she groaned, ‘I’ve bloody well done it again haven’t I?’
Laughter rang out as they all nodded.
Violet said, ‘Yes Mary, you have. I vote we try making Annie’s hair wash mixture and see if we can’t sell it… maybe get a market stall. If we sell enough we could take on some workers!’
It looked as if Mary may well have come up with an idea for getting some unemployed women of Wednesbury into work after all.
Forty
Melting Castile soap over a low heat, Annie added water and a few drops of sweet basil oil which would make the hair shine. She had collected herbs and flowers from the heath over the different seasons, extracting the oil before drying the plants and storing them away. She had then accumulated pots of chamomile, rosemary, marigold, wild rose, and primrose… all giving the desired effect, but each with a different fragrance. Stirring the ingredients until they were well mixed, Annie then spooned it into pots to cool to a smooth, creamy consistency. A small amount used in the washing of hair gave a lustrous look and soft texture to even the driest hair.
When the women all met again, everyone had a head of shiny, soft hair, and so pleased were they with the results, it seemed they were about to go into business making and selling this wondrous ‘new’ creation!
With Harry in his perambulator and the weather so fine, Annie pushed him over the heath, a basket over her arm for the collection of the herbs and flowers she was gathering.
Violet had taken herself off to the glassworks in Lloyd Street in an effort to strike a bargain for the making of tiny pots to contain the hair wash. Kath would write out the name on pieces of paper which would be stuck on the pots with flour and water paste.
It had been decided to make up a few pots and see how well they sold. If they sold it may be that they could employ some women to make up the mixture. Hopefully if the hair wash sold really well, it would cover a small wage for the workers as well as pay for the jars and having the labels printed professionally by Thomas Southern and Son, the printing firm based in Russell Street.
This, of course, was long-term thinking; they had to wait and see whether the initial batch sold first.
Annie reflected on the past years and how much had been achieved in the town by the Wednesbury Wives and how much had changed in their lives. Her husband Charlie and Geordie Slater were both out of the pit, working for Spencer Gittins out in the fresh air. Violet was settled and happy; Mary and Jim appeared to be doing well… and Kath? Kath Clancy seemed to have something on her mind, she was not ready to share yet, but she would – in her own time.
Annie was excited about what the future would bring.
Settling the little boy in his perambulator with a baby rattle, he shook it happily while Annie began her preparations of the herbs from the basket.
While she worked, Harry continued to shake the rattle – not sure how much longer she could take the noise, she removed the offending toy and began to sing softly. Rocking the pram she saw Harry drift into sleep fairly quickly.
Her thoughts turned again to the ‘Wives’ and their families. Annie wished there was a way of Mary’s husband, Jim Forbes, finding work outside of the colliery. She knew Mary also wished this and there was not a scintilla of doubt that Jim would want it too. Annie determined to have a quiet word with Spencer the next time she saw him.
On her return home and after putting a very tired Harry Gittins down for his second nap of the day, Annie continued her work and her thinking. What was it Kath had on her mind? Was it something she or they could help with? Annie had, now she thought of it, seen a change in Kath’s demeanour when Joshua Gittins was mentioned. Was it something to do with him? Kath’s jocularity wavered at times when she thought no one was watching, but Annie had eyes in the back of her head – she missed nothing. With a heavy sigh, she turned her attention back to the hair wash mixture. All would be revealed sooner or later she felt sure.
*
Later in the afternoon, whistling heralded the return of Spencer from his factory.
Annie’s door standing open did not deter Spencer from knocking before walking in.
‘Hello Annie, how’s my little man today?’
‘He’s just waking up by the sounds of it, why don’t you go and lift him while I brew the tea.’ Annie watched as Spencer went to get his son; hearing the child’s quiet complaint gave her a warm feeling.
‘Spencer lad,’ she said, pouring tea, ‘I have a favour to ask of you – but just between the two of us mind.’
‘Anything, Annie.’
‘Ar well, we’ll see about that in a minute…’ Passing him the cake, she felt his eyes on her. ‘I want to find a way of getting Jim Forbes out of the pit. I don’t want him coming down with the lung disease from the coal dust. But then there’s the matter of their house; it is still tied to the colliery as was ours.’
‘Ah,’ said Spencer, eyeing her over his cup, ‘I see. Well, I’m not sure I have anything to offer him workwise and I know Father hasn’t, but… let me think on it a while.’
Both laughing at the phrase she knew so well, Annie didn’t see Violet walk in.
‘Oh yes,’ she said, ‘I find my husband in another woman’s kitchen and both laughing fit to burst! How are you, Annie?’
Watching her kiss Spencer, Annie said, ‘I was just about to tell Spencer here how that little lad of yours nearly deafened me with that pea rattle of his.’
Smiling widely, Violet hugg
ed Harry planting little kisses all over him making him snuffle.
‘How did you get on at the glassworks?’ Annie asked.
‘Well,’ Violet sat down at the table, ‘at first, the manager wouldn’t deal with me, didn’t want to deal with a woman it seems. However, after I told him who my husband was…’ she cast a glance at Spencer, ‘he acquiesced. They can make what we’re after but…’
Annie felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.
‘…they will only make a batch of one hundred… keeps their costs down and, in turn I suppose, would keep ours down too. Otherwise we’d have to pay a fortune for, say… a dozen, and without knowing how well they would sell…’
‘A hundred! We’ll never sell that many, wench, people don’t have enough money to be buying hair wash, it’s a luxury not many can afford.’
‘You don’t know until you try,’ Spencer put in.
‘That’s true enough,’ Annie said still feeling sceptical, ‘so what should we do about the jars then?’
‘I ordered a hundred!’ Violet said. ‘We’ll pay for them from the “Wives” fund, the money to be replaced when we sell them all! Mother was in agreement – I called in on the way home – and she thought you’d all feel the same.’
‘Right then,’ Annie said, wiping her hands down her apron, ‘I’ll be needing some help with this mixture if we have to fill a hundred jars.’
*
In the following weeks, Annie’s small kitchen became a flurry of activity with the Wives preparing the mixture and spooning it into the tiny jars delivered from the glassworks. With a stopper in the top and a beautifully hand-written label, ‘Annie’s Hair Wash’, the little pots were lined up on her kitchen table.
Standing with her hands on hips, Annie said, ‘All we have to do now is sell them!’
Primrose had been happy for them to sell their little pots from her stall in the marketplace in the first instance, the manager of the market having no argument with the idea as an extra few coins were pushed into his hand by way of stall rent.
Kath had carried two baskets of pots to the market the following day. She had given her hair a thorough wash with the mixture and it shone brilliantly. She returned at the end of the day with empty baskets – forty pots sold in one day!
Martha stood the market the following day and again another thirty pots were sold, leaving thirty for Mary to sell on the third day at the market.
Annie said to Mary as they packed the last of the jars into the baskets, ‘What if we can’t sell any more?’
‘Of course we will,’ Mary replied, ‘you just get busy making more of that mixture!’
The end of the day saw Mary’s words come true. In fact, there had been a disappointed queue of women turned away as the last pot sold.
Violet, on seeing the success of the sales, had ordered more jars from the glassworks and they all set once more to making the mixture to fill them, under Annie’s keen eye.
And so it was that the business of ‘Annie’s Hair Wash’ was founded.
Forty-One
Joshua was also aware of the little business the women had set up selling hair wash. He had arranged a visit to Gittins Manor to see young Harry and decided to have a little chat with the women who were probably up to their eyeballs in hair wash mixture.
Peeping into the perambulator Joshua tickled his belly, enjoying the baby murmurings. The women rushed out to ensure the baby was all right as they’d heard him wake, before tea was offered and Joshua was led into Annie’s kitchen. The room was crowded and pots, labels and mixtures lay on every surface.
‘How the bloody hell do you wenches work in here?’ Joshua asked, looking around at the mess.
‘It is hard an’ no mistake,’ answered Mary.
Annie ushered them into her living room with their tea.
Joshua said, ‘Why don’t you move your business?’
‘To where, Joshua?’ Kath put in. ‘We couldn’t find anywhere we could afford.’
‘Move it to my house!’ He watched the glances exchange. ‘Look, Gittins Lodge is a big house and there’s only me in it! The kitchen is all yours to use if you’ve a mind to.’
‘What about rent?’ Martha asked, always the sensible one, never to be carried away with the excitement of a prospect.
‘I don’t want rent!’ Joshua shot back, ‘All I ask is that somebody cooks me a decent bloody meal now and then!’
Peals of laughter rang out and Kath said, ‘We could do that, couldn’t we ladies?’
In the next few days the hair wash business was moved over to Joshua’s house and work began in earnest. He returned home from his work at the factory to the laughter of women filling the air, and the smell of home cooking filling his nose. He revelled in having time with his grandson while the women worked, and he loved the idea that he got to see Kath every day.
Joshua often walked the heath with Kath, picking plants and herbs to be dried and stored. His life was improved by her very presence and he couldn’t imagine ever being without her. Each night she returned to her own house, his home and his heart felt empty. There had to be some way he could get her to marry him. Joshua thought long and hard on the matter but the answer eluded him. He wanted her – no, he needed her in his life!
*
One evening when the others had left Gittins Lodge after another busy day of working, Kath remained behind and shared dinner with Joshua.
‘Kath,’ he said, ‘I have something I want to discuss with you.’ Watching her take this in, Joshua continued, ‘Why don’t you be my housekeeper…?’ Seeing the surprise register, he plunged on, ‘You could have rooms at the other end of the house, like Annie and Charlie do at Gittins Manor; you could rent out your own house, which would provide a bit of extra income for you, then you wouldn’t have to traipse home down the lanes every night.’
‘Well,’ she said, drawing the word out on a light sigh, ‘this is a surprise! I’m not sure I want to take on another job though Joshua, and I certainly don’t need the money were you to offer a salary. However, I have Joyce to think about too.’
‘Bring her with you if you want Kath – just say yes.’ Joshua was almost begging.
‘I suppose it would make sense to move in here at Gittins Lodge, as I’m here most of the time with work anyway. I would insist on having the rooms you offer too but you do realise there would be talk in the town.’
‘Ar well, there will always be talk no matter what, but if people are told you are running your business from here … gossip shouldn’t be too bad.’
‘Oh, the business side of things has already travelled the grapevine,’ Kath gave a small tinkling laugh.
‘Oh God Kath! I bloody love you wench, you have no idea!’
‘Oh I think I do, Joshua.’
‘Then marry me!’ he pushed.
Tentatively Kath said, ‘If I were to consider marriage to you, Joshua… there would have to be conditions.’
‘Anything, anything…!’ His excitement getting the better of him, he realised he was practically begging. Joshua watched as Kath composed herself.
‘Firstly, I would not be giving my money over to you, because as you so rightly pointed out, you have enough of your own.’
‘Fair enough,’ Joshua replied as he fidgeted in his seat.
‘Secondly, if we were to marry, it would have to be in total secrecy, and thirdly I would continue to use Clancy as my name for appearance’s sake.’
‘I agree!’ he said, moving to her.
Throwing up her hands, she added, ‘Promise me, Joshua, the only ones to know about this would be our children and my friends, the Wednesbury Wives.’ He knew the collective name for her friends but he had no notion of their activities, and Kath wanted to keep it that way.
‘I promise with all my heart, may the Lord strike me dead!’
‘Then, Joshua Gittins, I accept your proposal,’ Kath said with a beaming smile.
Forty-Two
Kath had told the little group of her pl
an to marry Joshua Gittins in secrecy, and although Violet worried for her in that she didn’t want the marriage to turn out badly like the one to Sligo, she was also delighted that her mother had found happiness again. It seemed strange to her that her mother was to marry her husband’s father… but love, like illness, didn’t care where it struck.
Violet watched as her mother packed her belongings at Hobbins Street and stacked them on a handcart. A handful of men from the ‘bread line’ had been paid to transport Kath’s things to Joshua’s house where the other women were waiting to store them ready for unpacking. The men were to carry the belongings into the other end of the house via the servants’ entrance at the back which would ensure the grapevine had the facts correct about Kath using Joshua’s house for her work.
A melange of feelings swamped Violet as she helped with the packing. She felt sad to see her mother leave the house, Violet, herself, had grown up in, but glad that Kath was moving into a whole new life. It was also a way for Kath to leave behind the negative associations with the house and put the memory of John Sligo far behind her.
With everything packed, they followed the last cartload of Kath’s life along the cobbled streets to Joshua’s house.
Passing tea to Kath when she came into the kitchen of Gittins Lodge, Mary said, ‘Blimey Kath, you look fair worn out.’
Violet watched her mother give a wan smile as she sipped her hot tea.
‘I have just the thing for that,’ said Annie as she plunged into a shopping basket. Pulling out one of the pots used for the hair wash, she removed the stopper. ‘Rub a bit of that on your face, wench.’
Holding the pot beneath her nose, Kath looked at Annie with a smile. ‘It smells lovely, Annie, what is it?’
‘Evening primrose,’ said Annie.
‘Where?’ asked Mary, looking round for Primrose.
Annie rolled her eyes as she pointed to the pot in Kath’s hand, ‘In the jar…! Evening primrose cream!’
‘Oh,’ Mary said as everyone laughed.
Kath smoothed the cream over her face, saying it felt cool and refreshing.
The Wives’ Revenge Page 21