Memories Are Made of This

by June Francis

  Hello, Hester,

  Sorry I haven’t been in touch sooner but life’s been hectic with too much to do, but you’ve been in my mind constantly, with me wishing I was with you instead of here finishing things up. By the time you receive this letter I should be on my way back to England. I’ve my fingers crossed I’ll be able to see you before Christmas. I’m hoping Wendy and Charley will be able to put me up in their flat for a couple of nights. Will be in touch when I get to Liverpool.

  Love Ally.

  She had thought she had finished with weeping for that evening, but now the tears trickled down her cheeks. She was damaged goods and she could not pretend differently. If she agreed to meet Ally, how could she smile into his face and behave as if everything was hunky-dory? What if she was already pregnant? The thought terrified her. At the moment she could not imagine herself ever being able to bring herself to tell him about what had happened. He knew that she had dated Cedric several times and it was possible he might, just might, believe that she had not finished with him after all. A deep sigh passed through her body and she sank onto the bed. At that moment she could not imagine herself ever being happy again.

  It was gone midnight when Sam and George returned. Jeanette had not gone to bed but was curled up in a chair in front of the fire. As soon as she heard the key in the door, she stood up and hurried out into the lobby. ‘Well?’ she asked.

  Neither answered her, but removed their coats and hung them up. She backed into the living room and went and put the kettle on before returning to the sitting room. They both stood in front of the fire, holding their hands out to the glowing embers.

  ‘He’s done a runner,’ said Sam, without turning round.

  ‘The bloody swine! He knew he’d gone too far,’ muttered George. ‘We’ll get him, though. Sooner or later, he’ll be found. It’s not only us that want to speak to him. He’s suspected of taking bribes, fraud and arson. We’ll get the bugger.’ He stared at Jeanette. ‘Did you get the doctor?’

  ‘No. Hester said that she’d seen a doctor while she was staying with Myra in Whalley. She told me that she just feels bruised and battered and that she hadn’t been going to tell us about what had happened because she didn’t want to upset us.’

  ‘I’m glad she came to her senses and did tell us,’ said George. ‘He has to be caught and punished.’

  Jeanette agreed, and having told them Hester was tucked up in bed, she went and made tea, hoping the police would catch Cedric soon, yet fully aware that so far they had failed to find Billy.

  Twenty-Four

  ‘Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat. Please put a penny in the old man’s hat,’ sang Jeanette, applying glue to

  a paper chain.

  ‘Do you always have to be singing?’ grumbled Ethel. ‘I don’t know why you’re putting up decorations. There’s no children in this house to make it worth the bother.’

  ‘Don’t be a misery, Aunt Ethel. Christmas isn’t just for children, you know,’ said Jeanette, determined to put a bright face on things. The rest of her family seemed to be able to think of nothing else but getting Cedric behind bars. Not that she blamed them. Although Hester had said no more about what form his assault had taken at the conference, she looked tense and wan. It was obvious the swine had hurt her in a way that had deeply shocked her sister. She sighed, hoping that Hester would recover soon. At least Ally should be able to help her do so – if she allowed him to.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by Ethel snapping, ‘Have you done anything more about finding Grace?’

  Jeanette reached for a strip of red paper and wielded the paste brush. ‘I don’t know if I should tell you what I’ve found out, seeing as how you’re keeping quiet about supposedly having been married.’

  ‘So you have found out something then,’ said Ethel, smiling.

  Jeanette hesitated and then gave in. ‘We know that someone looking like Mam was dug out of a bombed building. She could have been taken to Fazakerley hospital because the Southern hospital was taken over by the Royal Navy at the beginning of the war.’

  Ethel made a sound in her throat, but Jeanette did not get to hear what she was about to say because there was the sound of a key in the lock and a draught of freezing air puffed round her ankles. The door opened and her father appeared. The shoulders of his navy-blue overcoat were dusted with snow, which started to melt as he stood there. ‘Before you start thinking we’re going to have a white Christmas, it’s only a sprinkling, but it’s gone cold. It wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a frost in the morning.’ He placed his helmet on the sideboard.

  ‘Don’t put your helmet there,’ said Ethel, shuffling over and removing it.

  Jeanette smiled at him, thinking he seemed to have aged in the last few days. ‘Come over to the fire, Dad, and get a warm. You look done in.’

  He removed his overcoat and placed it over the back of a chair. ‘I’ve had news about that swine Cedric. Our Sam got in touch with me and he and Hester have been given permission to go and speak to Cedric’s inspector in Bootle.’

  ‘What did Sam tell you?’ Jeanette hastened to put the paste brush away.

  George stood in front of the fire, warming his hands. ‘A couple of timber yards were set alight within a short distance of each other. One was completely destroyed and the other one would have been, too, if a passer-by hadn’t seen the flames and alerted the fire bobbies. They rescued a youth but also found a dead body. It’s been identified as Cedric’s.’

  ‘Bloody hell!’ Jeanette was shocked and sank into a chair. ‘I wonder how Hester’s feeling right now?’

  At that moment Sam and Hester were gazing down at the charred timbers that still smouldered beneath a starry sky. ‘What a bloody fool!’ she whispered. ‘He could have had such a good, worthwhile life if he hadn’t given in to temptation.’

  ‘You’re too forgiving,’ said Sam. ‘He was bloody wicked!’

  ‘Oh, I haven’t forgiven him for what he did to me,’ said Hester, her expression hardening. ‘Don’t ever think that. I bet Billy’s mother will never forgive him either.’

  ‘He was calling Cedric everything evil under the sun,’ said Sam grimly. ‘He’s been carted off to hospital; his hands and face are in a bad way. Anyway, that priest our Jeanette knows has been sent for to accompany his mother to Stanley hospital. It’ll be prison for Billy when he recovers. He’s still wanted for the attack on that doorman. Cedric would have known that because his photograph has been up in every station on Merseyside. Just like him, he deserves what he got. Others could have been killed in those fires and they weren’t the only cases of arson, as we know.’ Sam tilted back his trilby, gazed up at the sky and changed the subject, not wanting to upset his sister further by going on about it. ‘I hope the weather stays dry. Dorothy was planning on doing some filming tomorrow.’

  Hester was glad to talk of something else. She rubbed her eyes, which were watering due to the acrid smoke, and said, ‘So you’ve seen her recently?’

  ‘On Saturday. I’ve asked her to marry me.’

  ‘Oh!’ Hester could not have been more surprised. ‘So you’ve made up your quarrel then?’

  ‘Sort of. She said she’ll think about it and if she says yes, there’ll be certain conditions, including a year’s engagement.’ He said gloomily, ‘At one time a woman would have been thrilled to have a proposal and couldn’t wait to get married.’

  Hester managed a laugh. ‘Times they are a-changing, brother. Although I’m sure there are still plenty of women around who would jump at the opportunity to accept a proposal from you. But Dorothy obviously enjoys what she does and has no intention of you putting a stop to it. You’ve already tried by speaking against it when you should have encouraged her.’

  ‘I wouldn’t have been honest if I’d done that,’ said Sam. ‘I want children and a home of my own and someone to look after me and them.’

  All men want to be put first, thought Hester, but she understood his dilemma. ‘Did you think of
mentioning the word “love” to her? Not that a man always means it when he says it,’ she muttered. Was Ally any different? She hoped so, even if there was no future for them together.

  Suddenly she heard the click of fingers in front of her face.

  ‘You seem to have gone off in a trance,’ said Sam. ‘Of course I mentioned the word “love”. I wouldn’t have asked her to marry me if I didn’t love her. I’d have found someone else who was more willing to fall in with my wishes.’

  Hester shrugged. ‘OK, I believe you.’

  Sam squeezed her shoulder affectionately. ‘Buck up, our kid! This time next year hopefully everything will have worked itself out.’

  But she could not bring herself to smile. ‘I think I’ll go along to the hospital and have a word with the priest. Our Jeanette will be interested in what he has to say about Billy and his mother.’

  Sam nodded and went off to talk to the inspector.

  ‘Constable Walker?’

  Hester rose from the chair outside the room where Billy was lying moaning in pain. His burns were swathed in ointment and gauze and he had just received an injection of morphine.

  ‘Father Callaghan?’

  ‘That’s right! You’re Jeanette’s sister?’

  ‘Yes, I’m Hester.’ They shook hands.

  ‘This is a bad do,’ he said. ‘I had hoped that Borstal might have taught him a lesson, but then he attacked Jeanette, who was lucky to get away relatively unharmed, unlike the doorman. Billy’s fortunate that he did not die. Now this latest evil . . .’

  ‘He’s paying heavily for it,’ said Hester.

  ‘Yes, he’ll have weeks of dreadful pain and then court and prison.’ Father Callaghan sighed heavily.

  ‘I feel sorry for his mother. If only she had informed us where he was hiding this wouldn’t have happened.’

  ‘He would never have forgiven her,’ said Father Callaghan sadly. ‘It’s not easy being a mother.’ He paused. ‘Talking of mothers, if Jeanette would like to speak to a nurse who thinks she saw her mother the day she was dragged from the ruins, then it’s possible she’ll be at a Christmas concert we’re giving at the church hall.’

  ‘What?’ Hester could scarcely believe it.

  ‘A woman came to see me. Her brother was in the auxiliary fire service. She would say no more than that she would try to be at the concert if Jeanette wished to speak to her.’

  ‘What day is the concert?’ asked Hester, thinking this news should delight Jeanette.

  Jeanette heard the front door open, yawned and turned over in bed. She stared at the alarm clock. It was seven in the morning and her eighteenth birthday. She could hear voices below and hoped that meant someone was going to bring her breakfast in bed. She still didn’t know for sure if David would be able to meet her today. She waited for ten minutes and when there was still no sound of footsteps on the stairs, decided she had better get up if she was going to be in work on time.

  The lino was cold beneath her feet and she dressed in haste and scuttled to the bathroom. Ten minutes later, she went downstairs and entered the kitchen where she found Hester and Sam eating bacon and eggs in silence.

  ‘I’d have enjoyed a cooked breakfast,’ said Jeanette, taking a packet of cornflakes from the kitchen cabinet.

  ‘Well cook it yourself,’ said Sam. ‘We’ve been out most of the night.’

  ‘Of course, I’m sorry,’ murmured Jeanette. ‘So Cedric’s dead?’

  Hester and Sam looked at each other. ‘Yes, he’s dead,’ said the latter, and carried on eating.

  ‘Did Dad tell you about Billy?’ said Hester.

  Jeanette’s hand stilled. ‘He told me a youth had been injured.’

  ‘Billy’s face and hands were badly burnt.’

  Jeanette gasped.

  Hester continued, ‘I spoke to your priest at Stanley hospital. I was to tell you that a nurse who thinks she saw your mother in hospital could possibly be at a concert given in the church hall tomorrow night.’

  Jeanette sank onto a chair. ‘That’s the last thing I expected you to say,’ she croaked.

  ‘I was surprised, too.’ Hester carried her empty plate over to the sink and then without another word left the kitchen.

  Jeanette looked at Sam. ‘Is she OK?’

  ‘Cedric’s death was a shock but she’ll get over it.’ Sam spread butter on his toast. ‘Interesting message from the priest for you.’

  Jeanette nodded, thinking not only of her mother but of Billy burnt and in hospital. No need to keep looking over her shoulder now, worrying that he wasn’t in Ireland and might discover where she lived. She put him out of her mind and thought instead of the news from Father Callaghan. Perhaps Peggy would be going to the concert and she could go with her.

  Jeanette was still eating her breakfast when the post arrived. Only two birthday cards for her: she recognized Peggy’s writing, and David’s from the note he had sent to her. He had sent his love and said that he would be able to make the cinema that evening. She hugged the thought to her, wrote a note to Ethel and her father saying she would be out, and propped it up against the clock and left for work, slightly miffed that no one in her family had remembered she was eighteen that day.

  ‘Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you,’ sang Peggy, entering the office with a small, neatly tied parcel. ‘This is for you.’ She handed it over to Jeanette. ‘It’s a—’

  ‘Don’t tell me,’ interrupted Jeanette. ‘It takes away the fun of opening it.’

  ‘Sorry,’ said Peggy, perching on her desk. ‘I hope you like the colour.’

  Jeanette rolled her eyes. ‘Thanks.’ She opened the parcel and took out a Max Factor lipstick and a bar of Fry’s chocolate cream. She removed the lipstick from its box and saw that it was coral. ‘Perfect. I’d have hated bright red.’

  ‘My pleasure,’ said Peggy, beaming at her. ‘So what are you doing tonight? Meeting lover boy?’

  ‘Yes. We’re going to see Glynis Johns in the mermaid film.’ Jeanette paused. ‘I was going to ask you whether you were going to the concert at Father Callaghan’s church hall tomorrow night. If so, can I come with you?’

  ‘Sure! Is there a reason?’

  Jeanette told her. Peggy gave a whistle. ‘Let’s hope you’re in luck. Bad about Billy, though. Bloody fool!’

  Jeanette agreed. She shared the Fry’s Cream with Peggy and Elsie, then Peggy left the room and Jeanette got on with her work, looking forward to that evening and the concert tomorrow, as well.

  She was pleased to find David waiting for her outside the Cunard Building later that day. ‘Happy birthday,’ he said, handing her a small parcel. ‘I hope you like it.’ He brushed his lips against hers.

  She removed the wrappings to reveal a square-shaped box. Opening it she found inside a gold heart-shaped locket with a jewel inside on a chain set on a bed of cotton wool. ‘Oh, this is lovely,’ she said, fingering it. ‘I’d ask you to put it on for me now, but perhaps it’s best if we wait until we get to the cinema where there’s more light.’ She managed to stop herself from saying, You shouldn’t have spent so much money on me. But the fact that he had done so must mean he really was serious about her.

  ‘Good idea,’ said David, kissing her again.

  She clung to him and returned his kiss. Slowly they drew apart and smiled at each other. ‘Thank you so much for my present.’ She placed it in her handbag.

  ‘My pleasure,’ he said, drawing her hand through his arm.

  They began to walk up Water Street, discussing whether to have something to eat before going to the cinema or afterwards. That decision made, she wondered if she should put off telling him about Billy or whether to get it over with. Then she could tell him the news that she had been thinking about for most of the day.

  David did not react to the news about Billy as she thought he might. He did not crow over his enemy’s downfall but said nothing for a minute or so, then said calmly, ‘Nasty. He’s going to suffer much more than I did. I remember
reading about pilots coming down in flames during the war. Some survived and had to go through the ordeal of having their faces partially rebuilt with plastic surgery.’

  ‘I wanted him punished for what he did to you, as well as for attacking me and stabbing that doorman, but . . .’ Jeanette sighed.

  They walked on in silence for a few minutes and then she said, ‘I do have some other news. Good this time.’

  David looked at her questioningly. ‘Your brother’s changed his mind about me?’

  She smiled. ‘I think he was in a mood because he’d fallen out with his girlfriend. I’d like the pair of you to be the best of friends. No, my news is about my mother. Apparently the nurse who looked after her after she was rescued could be at the concert tomorrow. I still don’t know, though, if she’s alive or dead.’

  ‘And if she’s alive?’

  ‘I have to see her. I need to know why she deserted me and Dad,’ said Jeanette tremulously.

  Twenty-Five

  ‘Can you see the person you spoke to about my mother, Father Callaghan?’ shouted Jeanette above the din in the church hall the following evening.

  The concert had finished and had been received extremely well by a full-capacity audience. She had been surprised to see Tonio Gianelli, Jimmy and Irene, as well as Maggie and Betty amongst the performers. So far she hadn’t had a chance to talk to them, although they must be somewhere in the crowd now, enjoying tea and mince pies and bun loaf.

  ‘I can’t say I can, Jeanette,’ he replied. ‘I have been looking out for her. Maybe as it’s a foul evening she and her brother changed their mind about coming.’

  She could scarcely conceal her disappointment and would have gone home there and then if Peggy had not signalled to her. A few moments later she found herself sitting at a trestle table with the twins, Emma and Jared, Betty and Maggie, as well as Jimmy and Irene. They were chattering ten to the dozen, obviously pleased with their performance. Apparently they all went along to musical evenings at Tonio Gianelli’s parents’ house, and that was how they had got roped in to perform at the charity concert. They were now talking about their plans for Christmas.