Far From Home

by Anne Bennett

‘Oh yes,’ Sally said. ‘I’m looking for a job and I’d love to work in the cinema.’

  ‘Well, you have a good chance of being able to,’ the man said. ‘The boss has a soft spot for Irish girls and that’s a lovely brogue you have. I’d go and see him if I were you. Name of Winters and he won’t bite.’

  And Sally found that he didn’t bite and she was able to face Kate across the room a little later and tell her in a breathless voice that she had a full-time job as an usherette in the Plaza cinema. Kate couldn’t have been more pleased because she knew it would be a job that Sally would enjoy and therefore would stick at. And however little the pay was, it was better than nothing at all. ‘When do you start?’ Kate asked her sister.

  ‘Oh,’ Sally said. ‘That’s the even better bit. See, the girl I’m replacing left them in a bit of a fix, because her mother was knocked down and was in a bad way, the commissionaire said, and so she didn’t work her notice or anything, and so the manager wants me to work as soon as possible – tonight if I can.’

  ‘Oh,’ Kate said. ‘That is short notice. Still, I suppose you weren’t doing anything else pressing and I assume they supply the uniform.’

  ‘Yes, except for the white blouse,’ Sally said. ‘I’m supposed to buy that.’

  ‘You’ll need more than one white blouse if you are to be working there full time,’ Kate said. ‘And that will cost a pretty penny.’

  ‘I’ve got some money, Kate,’ Sally said. ‘It was left over after I paid the fare to come here, but I never spent it because I was going to give it to you so you wouldn’t have to pay the whole cost of me going back home. The only thing is, I haven’t really got time to look for blouses now because he wants me to start at two o’clock and it’s after eleven now.’

  ‘I can loan you one for now,’ Kate said. ‘When are you working next?’

  ‘Monday, and I start again at two o’clock. Every day I will start then and finish at eleven o’clock. I will get another two days off in the week, but that’s worked out on a rota.’

  ‘Oh, well that’s all right,’ Kate said. ‘First thing Monday morning you go and get yourself a couple of white blouses, but if you have to start at two and won’t get home until after eleven, then you’d better have something to eat now. I’ll make up some sandwiches to take with you. Can’t have you fainting through hunger on your first day.’

  Sally took to the work at the cinema like a duck to water. She loved everything about being an usherette. She loved the smart uniform and spent ages in front of the mirror in the cloakroom where they changed getting it just so, and she especially liked the jaunty little cap that she set to the side of her head and secured with kirby grips. She didn’t even mind serving out the ice creams and drinks where her good humour and ready smile endeared her to many, and sometimes she collected a good few tips. Each week the tips were counted out and spread out amongst them all, and that did mean that there were usually a couple of shillings extra to add to the twelve and six she got as a trainee to take home to Kate, but Kate allowed her to keep the extra and gave her another two shillings to add to it, and Sally was pleased enough with that.

  As Sally was working most evenings, Susie and Kate started back on their old routine of going to the pictures at least once a week, sometimes to the Plaza where they would see Sally, and sometimes further afield, and also going back to the dances because Sally was usually working on a Friday anyway.

  Kate was soon aware that things had changed while she’d been out of the scene for a bit. Nick and Susie were being seen as a couple, and she was soon aware of Nick’s resentment towards her. Susie had told him that Kate’s sister had moved in and was staying with her, and he had thought that might lessen Kate’s dependence on Susie. Susie said it wasn’t like that, but to appease him she did promise that something would be decided by the New Year.

  Christmas was only around the corner, and one day as the girls settled themselves in the tram on their way to work, Susie asked Kate if Sally still liked her job. ‘Loves it,’ Kate said. ‘I imagine she thinks she has died and gone to heaven.’

  ‘She certainly has a smile that near splits her face in two whenever we go there to see a film,’ Susie said. ‘But doesn’t she mind seeing the same film over and over? I think that would really get on my wick after a while.’

  ‘Are you kidding?’ Kate said. ‘She can’t seem to get enough of the silver screen. I know what you mean – I would get bored too after a while – but it suits Sally well enough. She gets on well with the other usherettes too. She says a fair few of them are young like she is and they have great fun together sometimes. This is what she missed in Ireland, you see: friends her own age. She’s told me she used to get very lonely.’

  ‘Yeah, I see that,’ Susie said. ‘That would get anyone down after a while, I would imagine. And talking of Ireland, has there still been no movement from your mother?’

  Kate shook her head. ‘Every week she writes to me and never even asks about Sally and if I tell her anything she ignores it. She never even acknowledges the postal orders I send her.’

  ‘Postal orders?’

  ‘Yes,’ Kate said. ‘Every week I send her a two-shilling postal order. It’s not my money, it’s Sally’s. She’s paying back the money she took, but she is afraid to send it direct to Mammy in case she burns her letters or something without opening them.’

  ‘Would she do that?’

  ‘Oh, easily, I would say, if she was mad enough,’ Kate said. ‘She never replies to anything Sally sends anyway. When she started her job she wrote and told Mammy all about it, but she never got as much as a line back. She wrote again the next week and the next, but she has given up now.’

  ‘Well, I should imagine that it’s hard to keep writing and getting no reply.’

  ‘Yeah, I’d say so.’

  ‘Maybe when she pays back all the money, your mother will relent?’

  Kate sighed. ‘Maybe,’ she said, but she said it doubtfully, and Susie asked, ‘Does Sally still get upset about it?’

  ‘Not now so much,’ Kate said. ‘But she used to, as you know, and that’s possibly leading to another problem.’

  ‘How’s that?’

  ‘Well, she was crying one day at work and the trainee projectionist, a young man she said is called Phil Reynard heard her, and in her words was “very kind” to her. Next thing they are walking out together.’

  ‘Gosh, she’s a quick worker.’

  ‘I’ll say.’

  ‘Well, what’s wrong with that?’ Susie said, laughing at the look on Kate’s face.

  ‘Well, it’s just that she’s only … she’s just …’

  ‘She’s nearly seventeen,’ Susie said. ‘And a very pretty girl. Oh, come on, Kate,’ she burst out. ‘You might think there is only one man on the planet, but you can’t expect Sally to feel the same. I should imagine she was taught right from wrong, as we all were, so what are you worried about?’

  ‘I don’t want to have to police my sister,’ Kate said. ‘That should be my mother’s job.’

  ‘Well, she’s not going to do that, is she? She’s made that clear.’

  ‘I know,’ Kate agreed with a sigh. ‘And the point is, if she did relent now, I think Sally would refuse to go home anyway. Even before this Phil Reynard, she was enjoying Birmingham a great deal. He is just another thing to keep her here, and so after Christmas we really must look for a larger place.’

  ‘I can see that,’ Susie said. ‘I’ll help you look, if you like.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Kate said, getting to her feet as the bus pulled into their stop. ‘I just might hold you to it.’

  FIVE

  Kate knew that if this antagonism her mother had for Sally was to abate, even slightly, then surely Christmas was the time to build bridges and heal wounds. Though she doubted that Sally would want to return to Ireland to live, she knew she hated being on such bad terms with their parents. And so Kate wrote her mother a long letter and mentioned Sally a lot and said how helpful she
was and how mature she was becoming and told her that she was enjoying her work as an usherette at the cinema and hoped it would help thaw her mother’s anger a little.

  Sally thought the same way as Kate did, and was more than glad of the tips she was getting, which had increased slightly as Christmas drew nearer, because the extra money meant she was able to buy her mother the softest cardigan in pale blue and a rugged navy blue jumper for her father and a spinning top for James. She packed them up with a card in plenty of time, but she never had any acknowledgement that they had even been received.

  Philomena did write to Kate, though, and thanked her for the presents she had sent: a pair of warm slippers for both parents and a small toy horse and cart for her brother. Other news in the letter sent consternation running through Kate, though, and she couldn’t wait to get to the tram stop that morning and discuss it with Susie.

  It was the day before Christmas Eve and the first thing Susie said as they got on the tram was, ‘Has Sally heard anything from your mother?’

  Kate shook her head. ‘I did hope that Mammy would relent with Christmas approaching,’ she said. ‘After all, Sally has paid back nearly all the money she took and she has said how truly sorry she was, still is, and she also sent them lovely presents.’

  ‘There’s always tomorrow,’ Susie reminded her friend.

  Kate shook her head. ‘I think that she would have heard before this. Mammy sent me a long letter inside the Christmas card telling me all the news and when I had read that for a moment or two I wished I hadn’t.’

  ‘Why?’ Susie cried. ‘What on earth did she say to you?’

  ‘She told me that Tim is walking out with a girl called Maggie Mulligan,’ Kate said miserably, and added, ‘Maybe you might remember Maggie? She was about our age.’

  Susie thought for a minute and said, ‘Wasn’t she the girl whose plaits were always coming unravelled?’

  ‘That’s the one,’ Kate said with a rueful smile. ‘The schoolmaster used to say that by the time the bell rang at the end of the day she looked as if she’d been pulled through a hedge backwards. Anyway, I would imagine she has full control of her hair now.’

  ‘And you say her and Tim are walking out together?’ Susie asked, but she spoke gently because she knew how Kate still felt about her cousin.

  Kate nodded dumbly and then said, ‘I could almost feel Mammy’s relief because that’s it, really, isn’t it? When you walk out with someone in Ireland you are almost committed. Maybe you remember that?’

  ‘A little bit, I do,’ Susie said, with a brief nod. ‘But really—’

  ‘And added to that,’ Kate said a little bitterly, ‘Maggie is a farmer’s daughter, like me, but her father has no sons and Maggie is the eldest and so, once married, Tim will eventually have control of the Mulligan farm as well as his own. That will be the reason he has behaved like this.’

  ‘Like what?’ Susie said. ‘In all fairness, he has done nothing wrong.’ And then as Kate made no response, she went on, ‘Ah, come on, Kate, you accepted that you had no future together when you came to join me in Birmingham. And I can quite understand your mother’s relief, can’t you?’

  Kate sighed and nodded. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Course I can, because it is so final now. Mammy said that Aunt Bridget is very relieved too, because he had shown no interest in any of the girls around until now. But he did say to me once that he wanted to get married one day and have children, ideally a son to take over the farm after his day.’

  ‘Oh, farmers set great store by that,’ Susie said. ‘You wrote and told me how cock-a-hoop your father was when James was born, and I saw that for myself when I went on holiday that year. He was only a few months old and you would think him the greatest child that had ever been born.’

  ‘Oh, yes, our parents were very like that at first,’ Kate agreed. ‘And I understand that Tim might have designs that way too, but do you think he has forgotten already the passion I know we shared.’

  Susie had never really known Tim well, and she only had Kate’s version of the forbidden love that they had never even spoken of. So she didn’t really know whether with Tim it was ‘out of sight out of mind’, or that he still had a lingering love for her best friend, but she knew what she wanted to hear. So she said, ‘I doubt either of you will ever forget that, because for both of you it was a heady first love, but you could do nothing about it. Tim has accepted that and moved on.’

  ‘As I must do,’ Kate said. ‘That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it?’

  ‘What I am saying, Kate,’ Susie said firmly, ‘is I want you to take life in both hands and learn to live it to the full, or else you will exist in some sort of half-life, wishing things had been different.’

  Kate had no time to answer because the tram had pulled up at their stop and they were soon surrounded by workmates. It was as they made their way home that she had any free time alone with Susie again and, as if there was some sort of tacit agreement between them, Susie kept off the subject of Tim Munroe and asked Kate instead about her sister and Phil, the trainee projectionist.

  ‘Did you mention this “Great Romance” to your mother?’

  ‘I did not,’ Kate retorted. ‘I said not a word about it because that would have blotted Sally’s copybook right and proper. I’m sure Mammy thinks that she is about seven years old, certainly not old enough to have an eye for the boys.’

  ‘Be fair,’ Susie said. ‘It is only the one boy she has the eye for.’

  ‘I know,’ Kate said. ‘And maybe I am worrying unnecessarily, but it is very intense at the moment, I think.’

  ‘But they are working nearly every night.’ Susie protested.

  ‘Ah, but you see they have two days off in the week, don’t forget, and they do their level best to try and wangle to have the same days off,’ Kate said. ‘And another thing, one of the girls upstairs said she was sent home from work bad last week, and as she was going up the stairs a young man passed her. I mean, we know everyone in the flats, and knowing that Sally was probably on her own, she watched where he was going. And he knocked on our door and she said Sally was obviously expecting him because the door opened very quickly and she said Sally greeted him very affectionately.’

  Susie smiled. ‘I suppose you asked her about it?’

  ‘I surely did,’ Kate said. ‘And she freely admitted that Phil called for her most mornings. She had not a whit of shame or embarrassment about it at all, and said that she hadn’t bothered to mention it to me because she didn’t think it was important, and then went on to say that in case I had any other spies in the streets that this Phil walks her home at night too. In fact, she said he will not allow her to walk home alone.’

  ‘He has a point,’ Susie said. ‘It could be dangerous for her because it’s late when she finishes and you get all types on the streets these days.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Kate said. ‘I agree that could be dangerous, but being alone with a young man in the dark of the night is just as worrying, in my opinion.’

  ‘She is a young woman with needs of her own,’ Susie said. ‘And it isn’t bad to want someone special in your life. It’s what everyone wants deep down, isn’t it?’

  Kate didn’t answer and Susie went on: ‘Don’t you want a home of your own, a family of your own one day?’

  ‘I suppose.’

  ‘Well, why don’t you get to know other men? Give them a bit of encouragement. You might be pleasantly surprised.’

  ‘You’re talking about David Burton, aren’t you?’

  ‘Not particularly,’ Susie said. ‘But at least you like him a bit, don’t you?’

  ‘Course I like him, but liking isn’t loving, is it?’

  ‘Maybe not, but it’s a good starting point,’ Susie said. ‘And I dare say with a bit of effort on your part you could grow to love David Burton.’

  ‘I thought we were discussing Sally,’ Kate said.

  ‘Well, if you ask me, Sally is doing all right,’ Susie said. ‘She has certainly grow
n up a lot in the short time she has been here and she is having fun and enjoying herself and where’s the harm in that?’

  ‘I know but—’

  ‘But nothing, Kate,’ Susie said. ‘Look, we are only young the once and you are letting your life float past.’

  ‘I’m not,’ Kate protested. ‘We’re out tonight, aren’t we? And it’s a Christmas dance, with spot prizes and everything. So how can you say I am letting my life float past? And I never seem to be short of partners at the dances – you have to agree with that.’

  She was right too, but Susie said, ‘I know, Kate, but sometimes it is nice to have someone special.’

  ‘I don’t feel the need for anyone special just now,’ Kate said dogmatically. ‘But if David Burton asks me up, then I will dance with him.’

  ‘He’ll ask you all right,’ Susie said assuredly. ‘But you won’t dance with him exclusively, will you?’

  ‘I doubt it,’ Kate said.

  ‘If he asked you to just dance with him, or to dance with him most of the time, then would you?’

  ‘Give over, Susie.’

  ‘What’s the matter with you anyway?’ Susie demanded. ‘The way you are going on you’ll end up a crabbed old maid.’

  That made Kate smile, and, as the tram pulled up at their stop, she said, ‘All right then, I’ll think about it, now stop nagging me. Anyway, how about going down the Bull Ring tomorrow?’

  Susie knew that Kate was trying to change the subject. She was a dab hand at doing that, and she could be aggravatingly stubborn at times. ‘Well, do you or not?’ Kate demanded. ‘Surely you’re not sulking because I can’t be filled with lustful passion at the mere mention of David Burton’s name?’

  Even Susie had to smile at that, and Christmas Eve in the Bull Ring was not to be missed, especially if it fell on a Saturday as this did, and so she said, ‘All right then.’

  ‘You can help me choose some little thing for Sally for Christmas,’ Kate said. ‘Whatever she says, she is bound to feel it, the first Christmas away from home. I know we have been invited to your house for dinner again this year, but I’d like her to have something to open when she comes home from Mass.’