A Wartime Christmas

by Carol Rivers

  ‘The kids never go out of sight when they play in the street,’ insisted Babs as they walked wearily to school to collect Gill and Tim. ‘And if the boys ever tried to, Gill would keep them in line.’

  ‘I’ll ask again at the school gates,’ said Kay, although after Babs’s enquiries this morning, she knew it would be fruitless.

  But it was news from Mr Barnet that finally put an end to speculation. He sent Gill out to ask Kay to join him in his room, whilst Babs waited outside with the children.

  ‘This may not be of much comfort, Mrs Lewis, but when I called assembly this morning, I made mention of Sean and his “absenteeism”.’ The head teacher coughed. ‘I had to choose my words carefully, not wanting to alarm the children.’ He pleated his fingers as he sat behind his desk and paused, frowning over his spectacles. ‘A child in Sean’s class has offered information.’

  ‘Who?’ Kay asked anxiously.

  ‘A girl called Ellen Kirby. She sits next to Sean in class. It was after the lunch break yesterday when the children were leaving the playground. A woman came to the fence. Ellen saw her call to Sean and he went to her.’

  ‘What did she look like? Did Ellen say?’

  Again Mr Barnet hesitated. ‘A child of six or seven can’t be specific, you understand.’

  ‘No, course not but—’

  ‘What was noted was the “yellow hair and red lipstick”, Ellen’s words exactly.’

  ‘It’s Dolly!’ Kay expelled a sharp gasp. ‘It has to be.’

  ‘His mother? Mrs Dolores Lewis?’ Mr Barnet nodded. ‘Miss Pearson did explain the situation of course.’

  ‘Did Sean go off with her?’

  ‘Ellen didn’t see any more. She was called inside.’

  ‘And Sean was still at the fence?’

  ‘We must conclude he was.’

  Kay sat silently, her thoughts in turmoil. She had known in her heart it was Dolly who had taken him. Sean would have had no choice but to go with her. She was his mother after all. Dolly was afraid to come to the house because of Miss Pearson’s letter. She had decided to take Sean from school instead.

  ‘Are you all right, Mrs Lewis?’ Mr Barnet was looking at Kay in concern. ‘Is there anything I can do? Have you spoken to the police?’

  Kay nodded. ‘Yes, this morning.’

  ‘And Miss Pearson?’

  ‘Not yet.’

  ‘Then perhaps . . .’ He opened his arms in a gesture of defeat.

  Kay stood up. ‘Thank you.’

  Mr Barnet stood too. ‘Sean was a very good pupil. He showed promise and wanted to learn. In the short while he was with us, he made a remarkable journey.’

  Kay didn’t like Mr Barnet talking in the past tense, as if Sean was gone for ever. She said goodbye after the head teacher promised to let her know of any new developments. But Kay knew there wouldn’t be. Dolly must have other plans for Sean.

  Babs, Gill, Tim and Alfie were waiting at the gate. ‘Well?’ Babs asked, hope in her eyes.

  ‘It was Dolly,’ said Kay. ‘A child called Ellen Kirby saw her at the fence and she called to Sean. But that was all she saw.’

  ‘So we really don’t know for certain what happened?’

  ‘I’m certain it was Dolly. Ellen said she saw a woman with yellow hair and red lipstick.’

  ‘But why did she take Sean,’ puzzled Babs, ‘after all this time?’

  Kay couldn’t answer that. She felt bereft. Against everyone’s advice, she had grown to care so much for this little boy.

  ‘That settles it,’ Kay decided as they walked home. ‘I’m giving in my notice to Mr Marsh tomorrow after I’ve spoken with Jean Pearson and told her about Sean.’

  ‘Are you sure about leaving the factory?’ Babs asked. ‘Perhaps I could help out with Alfie a bit more?’

  ‘Thanks, but you’re a working woman with a family to look after. And I can’t hope to see an improvement in Vi if she doesn’t look after herself and get her rest.’

  She and Babs fell silent as they made their way home. Kay was thinking about what she would say to Mr Marsh tomorrow. She knew he wouldn’t want to let her go; the war effort needed all hands on deck. But her responsibilities at home were more important to her, by far.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  ‘Try not to worry,’ Jean Pearson advised the next day as they sat in her small office with the desk piled high with correspondence and shelves overflowing with papers. ‘At least we know Sean isn’t roaming the streets.’

  ‘He wouldn’t have left the school grounds,’ insisted Kay. ‘That was why I was sure he was with Dolly.’

  ‘And this girl, Ellen Kirby, didn’t say more?’

  ‘No, but it was Dolly by the description.’

  Jean Pearson sighed, shaking her head slowly. ‘Then we’re still no closer to finding out where she lives.’

  ‘What if she’s with that big bruiser she was with before?’ Kay felt in despair every time she thought of it. ‘Or someone else just as violent?’

  ‘We mustn’t let our imaginations run away with us,’ warned Jean carefully.

  Kay smiled. ‘You sound just like my Alan. He was always telling me that.’

  ‘Good advice.’ Jean nodded. ‘Now, what can we do?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Kay said with a shrug. ‘But there must something.’

  ‘The facts are that Dolly has rights as his mother. It’s very costly to pursue a legal challenge against parental care, even if we had more information. So how can we locate Dolly? She evades us every time.’

  ‘That’s why she went to the school. She was afraid to come to the house.’

  ‘Yes,’ agreed Jean, ‘it seems that way.’

  Kay and the young woman sat for a while discussing the situation, but soon there was a knock on the door and a clerk interrupted. Kay knew that Jean was a busy woman. There were others needing her attention and after a few parting words, Kay left.

  When Kay arrived at the factory, she hurriedly changed into her overalls and turban. She was relieved to see Mr Marsh before he entered the entrance to the assembly line, and pulled him aside. As she expected, he received her news with clear disapproval.

  ‘I’m sorry to hear you can’t find your way to continuing with Drovers,’ he said with a frown. ‘Our troops abroad count on well-made armaments. What with Mrs Fellows having left us recently and Mrs Rigler being in the family way, we’ll be three down on our most conscientious workers.’

  ‘I’m sorry about that, Mr Marsh,’ said Kay staunchly. ‘But I’ve done all I can for the country. It’s my family who need me now.’

  ‘Is this to be a permanent state of affairs?’

  ‘It is until I get meself sorted.’

  ‘Well, it’s a sad loss to the firm.’ He managed a smile. ‘When do you want to leave us?’

  ‘Will a week’s notice be all right?’

  ‘So soon?’ Once again Kay saw the disappointment written in his eyes, but there was nothing she could do about that.

  Later that day as Kay was walking home, she knew she had come to the right decision. She wouldn’t really miss the factory work now. Iris had left and her thoughts at work lately were always about what was going on in her absence from home. It would mean that she would have to be very thrifty, make the pennies stretch a lot further than she already made them stretch. But the peace of mind she would have was of greater value. Then her thoughts drifted to Dolly and all that had happened since Dolly’s first appearance. She remembered how Dolly had kept demanding what this Alan of hers had stolen. How Dolly hadn’t cared when Sean fell ill. Dolly had heartlessly ordered the man to attack Kay. She hadn’t wanted Sean then or she would have taken him. Why had she taken Sean now? None of this made sense. Jean Pearson had proved by the letter that Dolly was afraid of the authorities. But the letter had also caused Dolly to snatch Sean from school rather than confront Kay. Again Kay wondered why it was that Dolly had taken a son she didn’t want. A question to which there seemed to be no answer.

>   Kay couldn’t go upstairs to the boys’ bedroom without seeing Sean and Alfie playing there. Outside in the yard, where the Anderson stood with winter weeds clinging to its rusting sides, she remembered how they had made it into their den.

  ‘No news from that Jean Pearson?’ asked Babs as they made their way to school one chilly morning. Kay regularly walked with Babs and the children to Quarry Street, hoping that somewhere along the route, which Sean knew well, she might see him.

  ‘No, nothing.’

  ‘Thought about going to the police again?’ Babs asked cautiously.

  ‘Mr Barnet told me he notified them.’

  ‘And they’ve done sod all. Don’t seem right, does it?’

  Kay gazed at the three children walking ahead. She pictured Sean with them, wearing his school uniform and jumping the cracks in the pavement. What clothes did Dolly have for him? Did she give him enough food? These worries kept going round in her head. She missed Alan so much. If only he was here now. He would know what to do.

  ‘Can you stop for a cuppa?’ Babs asked as, after seeing Gill and Tim into school, they made their way home.

  ‘I’ll tell Vi first, or she’ll wonder where we’ve got to,’ Kay said without much enthusiasm. After school she often walked down to the park or the river with Alfie in the hope that she might catch a glimpse of Dolly and Sean. But in her heart she knew this was a waste of time.

  ‘I left Alfie to keep Vi company for a few minutes,’ Kay said as she walked into Babs’s kitchen. ‘They’re both down in the dumps. Vi got out the train set in the hope that Alfie would play with it. But since Sean’s gone, he’s lost interest in his favourite toy.’

  ‘How is Vi’s health now?’

  ‘She still gets tired and I have to make her rest. At least being at home, I can put me foot down.’

  Babs poured an almost colourless liquid from the teapot. ‘Sorry, it’s dishwater again, but I’m low on tea.’

  ‘You should have said. I’d have brought some with me.’

  ‘As a matter of fact, Paul said he might be able to get tea from the canteen.’

  Kay blinked and stared at her friend. ‘Paul?’

  Babs blushed as she joined her at the kitchen table.

  ‘Are you seeing him again?’ Kay asked.

  Babs looked out of the window and heaved a sigh. ‘We met by accident the other day. He was driving his car and pulled in to the kerb. I was carrying my bags from the market. He jumped out and took them from me. Said he’d drive me home. The next thing I knew I was sitting in the car beside him.’ She turned slowly and looked at Kay. ‘But you don’t want to hear all this. We’re supposed to be talking about Sean.’

  ‘Talking won’t bring him back, Babs.’

  ‘No, but it helps to share.’

  Kay sipped the weak tea. ‘I don’t know what to do, Babs. Each day I go out looking. Wondering if Dolly might be in one of the houses I pass and Sean could be only a few yards away.’ Tears filled Kay’s eyes. ‘I’ve got no rights at all where Sean is concerned. Everyone has made that clear from the start. From Jean Pearson to the police; even Mr Barnet and Vi told me not to get attached. But I can’t stop caring about what happens to him.’ Suddenly the floodgates opened. All the tears she’d kept at bay now slipped through her lashes.

  ‘Oh, Kay, I know what you’re going through. Love can be such a heartbreaker.’

  Kay peered at her friend through her tears. ‘This shouldn’t happen to such a nice kid. Oh, if only Alan was here, he’d have put Dolly in her place straight away.’

  Babs had a strange look on her face. ‘You trust Alan, don’t you?’

  ‘Course.’ Kay was shocked at her friend’s question. ‘Just like you trust Eddie.’

  ‘I did once.’ Babs looked down at her lap. ‘But I don’t think we ever truly know a person. Not really.’

  ‘Babs, what do you mean?’ Kay’s tears dried quickly as she heard the doubt in Babs’s voice.

  Raising her eyes slowly, Babs said softly, ‘Eddie had an affair after Gill was born.’

  Kay gasped. ‘Babs, why ain’t you ever said?’

  ‘We all have our secrets, Kay.’

  ‘Who was it?’

  ‘I was really low after Gill’s birth. Dunno why. The doctor said I should buck up as the baby needed a healthy mother. I tried to, but I just got more and more depressed. Eddie didn’t understand – though he did his best. When he touched me I just seemed to freeze. It was awful for him. And I couldn’t explain what was making me like it as I didn’t know meself.’ Babs pushed back her fair hair and looked into Kay’s gaze. ‘He found someone else. A woman who worked in the dock office.’

  ‘Babs, that’s awful.’

  ‘I didn’t blame him – couldn’t, could I?’

  ‘How did you find out?’

  ‘Madge Sutton, God rest her soul, saw Eddie and this girl one night. They was arm-in-arm walking along the Commercial Road. Eddie had told me he was working late to bring in the overtime. He worked late a lot at the time although we never seemed to have much extra money. I realized why when Madge spilled the beans. When I confronted him about what Madge said, he admitted it straight off.’

  ‘What did you do?’ asked Kay, her tears forgotten.

  ‘What could I do? I felt it was my fault that he’d strayed. I begged him not to leave me and Gill. That I’d change and we’d be just like we once were.’

  ‘And he agreed?’

  ‘Yes, but it wasn’t easy for him or me. Eddie had fallen for this girl in a big way. It wasn’t just a fling. I could see in his eyes I’d almost lost him. But we tried because of Gill and eventually things sorted themselves. We was lucky, there wasn’t no gossip. Madge kept what she knew to herself like the good pal she was. And then I fell with Tim. But . . .’ Babs hesitated, a frown clouding her pretty face. ‘Our marriage wasn’t the same again.’

  ‘You never said or even hinted, Babs.’

  ‘It was before you came to the island. Madge was the only one who knew. And when she and her family died in the bomb blast, I missed her. We’d known each other a long time.’

  ‘Babs, do you think that’s why you fell for Paul?’

  Babs gave a humourless smile. ‘What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, you mean?’

  ‘Well, it would have been understandable.’

  Babs leaned her elbows on the table and turned the mug between her fingers. ‘I don’t really know why me and Paul hit it off. Why it even got started. There was just something between us, we were on the same wavelength. But we should have been older and wiser and not got involved. Now, it’s almost as if neither of us care. We know it will end – has to. Like I said, Kay, love is a heartbreaker.’

  ‘What are you going to do?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Babs, sighing. ‘I really don’t know.’

  It was with a deep affection for her friend that Kay reached out to slip her fingers over Babs’s, tightening them until she could feel Babs’s wedding ring digging into her own skin. A ring that was a symbol of the vows Babs had made with Eddie when they had once been young with the world at their feet.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  It was 2 March and nearly four weeks since Sean had disappeared. Occasionally, Kay considered the possibility that she may have been wrong about Dolly. What if Sean really had, for some reason, run away from school? Had he been unhappy? Had he wandered outside of the school gate? But Kay knew he wouldn’t have done that, especially not when she reminded herself of Ellen Kirby’s sighting.

  ‘Come on, flower,’ Vi said one morning when Kay returned from school, ‘we’ll go to market and cheer ourselves up.’

  ‘Are you feeling up to it?’

  ‘Course. I’m on the mend now.’ Vi frowned at her thoughtfully. ‘I don’t need fussing over no more. Has Babs heard of a cleaning job going? I know she was looking out for you.’

  ‘Not yet. But I’m sure something will come up.’ Kay didn’t like to admit that all of Alan’s money
was gone, but she knew that Vi was smart enough to guess, and she didn’t want Vi to feel a burden. However, the time had arrived when there was only Alan’s pay coming in addition to Vi’s few pennies. Pennies that were growing shorter by the day. ‘Best we make a plan though,’ Kay added.

  ‘You know I’ll mind Alfie for you.’

  ‘I’ll ask Mr Barnet about a place for him in school in September. I don’t want no extra work for you.’

  ‘I told you he’s no trouble, love.’

  In the middle of their conversation, the letter box rattled. Kay hurried to look on the mat. Each day she hoped it would be a letter from Alan. But as usual, a forces envelope was not in evidence. This morning a grubby white envelope lay there.

  Kay picked it up to frown at the large, untidy writing on the front. Like a child’s, almost. She took it into the kitchen and opened it. After a few seconds, she gasped aloud.

  ‘Vi, this is from Dolly.’

  ‘Never! What does she say?’

  ‘You’d better read it.’

  The shopping forgotten, Vi squinted at the haphazard, badly spelled words. ‘Your Alan that’s also my Alan,’ she read out, ‘turned a blind eye to what I did, because he liked the money. He even married me, the bastard, to get hold of it. I told you, I was a good-looker once and successfully worked the West End. The rich punters had no complaints and paid well. It was easy enough to put a bit by. Or so I thought. Alan was a greedy sod and stole my Post Office book, one hundred pounds to the penny. Bring the book with you on Wednesday, or else you won’t see Sean again. The Salmon and Ball pub, Bethnal Green, half seven Wednesday night.’ Vi read the words again silently. Looking up at Kay, she blurted, ‘The cow is blackmailing you.’