by June Francis
‘So tell me, when is Mrs Tanner’s baby due?’ asked Joy.
‘October. That’s if she doesn’t do something else stupid.’
‘What do you mean?’
Patsy was happy to be able to tell Joy all about the incident on the stairs. ‘She gave me all kinds of abuse, so I was going to hand in my notice because she as good as called me a thief. Fortunately Mr Tanner arrived and sorted everything out. He asked me to stay. I told him that I’d think about it and that’s why I’ve got the day off.’
‘So what are you going to do?’ asked Joy. ‘If you were thinking, Patsy, I could give you a job here, it’s out of the question, love. I just couldn’t afford to pay your wages.’
‘Gosh, Mrs Bennett, it never occurred to me to ask you for a job,’ said Patsy hastily. ‘I’ll be staying on at the Tanners. I don’t want to let Mr Tanner down. He appreciates me.’
‘Well, I’m glad to hear it,’ said Joy, getting up and putting on the kettle. ‘But what’s the woman thinking about accusing you of being a thief?’
‘Maybe she’s not thinking straight because of what happened to Mr O’Hara and her face being a real mess. I got a glimpse of it yesterday for the first time. At the moment she won’t go out because she doesn’t want people looking at her.’
‘Understandable, I suppose,’ said Joy. ‘She’s fortunate to have you to run errands for her and a husband who can afford to have groceries and other food stuffs delivered. I confess after the terrible shock of Robbie’s death, I often didn’t feel like going out but I had no choice. I also decided to start work on the vegetable patch to save money.’
‘You must miss having a gardener. I see Miss Parker is still living next door. I remember how she would gaze over the fence while we played.’ Patsy paused. ‘Has Mr Parker ever been in touch with her?’
‘She’s never said. I don’t know how things work out so she can stay on there but I presume some kind of arrangement was made with his solicitor before Leonard Parker disappeared.’
‘I wonder what will happen when she dies,’ mused Patsy.
‘I really don’t know,’ said Joy.
Before Joy could say anymore there was the sound of footsteps outside and then Wendy and Grant made an appearance.
‘Hello, you two,’ said Joy, her brown eyes lighting up. ‘When did you get back, Grant? Did you have any luck?’
‘Some,’ he said. ‘But to make use of the information I’d need to go to America and I can’t see either of us being able to afford the cost of the journey.’
‘So what have you to tell me?’ asked Joy.
‘First of all,’ said Grant. ‘Did you know that there are mines in Ireland?’
‘Mines?’ Joy looked puzzled. ‘Are you saying that Robbie invested in a coal mine in Ireland?’
Grant shook his head. ‘I used to think that Ireland was just a country of peat bogs, churches, cattle, mushrooms, leprechauns and would-be republicans, but I’ve discovered not only do they have coal mines but silver-lead, zinc and copper ones as well.’
‘So what has this to do with Brendan O’Hara?’ asked Joy.
‘I met O’Hara’s cousin who told me that two of his uncles were miners who went over to America in the 1890s in the hope of making their fortunes. They staked a claim in a silver mine over there.’
‘And?’
‘They kept in touch with the family over here for a while but then their letters petered off until they stopped altogether.’
Joy frowned. ‘Are you saying that Brendan O’Hara knew about this mine and saw it as a way of making money by selling shares in it?’
‘It’s a possibility.’
‘Where is it exactly?’
‘That’s the rub! The cousin didn’t know. His father’s dead and he was only a boy when his uncles went to America. He still lives in the same shack as his grandfather did, so-o-o… may be the letters are there somewhere collecting dust amongst years of clutter. He did say he would try and find them but it’s possible he forgot about doing that as soon as I left.’
‘Presumably Brendan O’Hara didn’t ask his cousin to buy shares in this silver mine,’ said Joy.
‘He doesn’t have money to invest.’
‘So what next?’ asked Joy. ‘So far all this is guesswork and not getting me any money. As you say, we can’t afford for any of us to go to America even if we knew where this silver mine was.’
‘I could ask Mam did Uncle Robbie ever mention a silver mine to her,’ suggested Wendy.
‘No, love,’ said Joy firmly. ‘Most likely she’ll only go on about my only caring about Robbie’s money. I can’t rely on anything to do with his investments. I have to think up another scheme to bring in some money.’
There was a long silence.
‘I’ve an idea,’ said Grant. ‘What about taking in paying guests, Joy?’ Grant reached out a hand to Wendy. ‘We could be your first ones.’
Joy felt a lifting of her heart. Wendy was looking at Grant as if he had offered her the moon. ‘We’re going to get married as soon as you’re twenty-one,’ he said.
Wendy took a deep breath. ‘Of course, the perfect solution.’
Joy smiled. ‘I know it’s not long since Robbie died but I’m sure he’d be in favour of the idea.’
‘Mam won’t like it,’ said Wendy, ‘but I’ll be twenty-one in August and she won’t be able to stop me then.’
‘My sister can come, too, and she’ll pay her whack,’ said Grant.
Joy’s eyes glistened. ‘I don’t know why I didn’t think of it myself! After all, I used to help my mother run a lodging house. And if you and your sister would like to move in sooner, then you can, Grant. All the rooms are furnished and the bedrooms have washstands. I need to consider what you’d do about cooking if you wanted to cook for yourselves in your rooms.’
‘A couple of gas rings would be good enough to start with,’ said Wendy.
‘But you can use the kitchen if necessary,’ said Joy.
Grant looked pleased with himself. ‘I’m glad you two women know a brilliant notion when you hear it and appreciate me. I’ll speak to Elspeth.’
‘Then we’ll go and see the vicar this week and book the church,’ said Wendy.
‘And if you want you can have your wedding breakfast here,’ suggested Joy.
Wendy hesitated. ‘You wouldn’t find that painful?’
‘If I do I’ll just have to cope with it and so will you,’ said Joy firmly. ‘Although I suppose your mother will be against the idea.’
‘Yes, but she doesn’t want me to get married and leave home, anyway,’ said Wendy.
‘Then it’s settled,’ said Grant. ‘We’ll be married in August.’ He kissed Wendy and then leant forward and kissed Joy’s cheek. Then, realising Patsy was still there, he kissed her too. ‘You’ll have some news to tell Mr Tanner when you go back to the house. How are they getting on now Mrs Tanner is home?’
‘Pretty much the same as they used to do except she doesn’t go gallivanting anymore,’ said Patsy, smiling. ‘Perhaps that’s just as well now we know for definite she’s having a baby.’
‘They’ve had a long wait for this baby,’ said Wendy. ‘It does make me wonder whether—’
‘We know,’ said Grant.
It was on the tip of Joy’s tongue to say that she thought she was having a baby, too, but she decided to wait a while longer until she was absolutely sure. Besides, she would want to break the news to Hanny before anyone else. After all, it was possible that her missed period could be due to all the upset she had endured since Robbie died. She thought how pleased he would have been to see his niece married to Grant.
Suddenly Joy remembered the ivory and silver material Alice had suggested would suit Wendy for a wedding gown. She had paid for a suitable length of the fabric at the time and Alice had it stored away over in Chester. She mentioned it now to Wendy. The price Joy had paid for the material was worth every penny when she saw the pleasure in her niece’s face.
; ‘Alice is so clever at designing clothes that I can’t wait to get in touch with her about the kind of wedding gown I want,’ said Wendy, wriggling with excitement.
‘You’ll look like a fairy princess,’ said Patsy.
Wendy looked at Grant. ‘Do you think you can manage being Prince Charming?’
‘Of course he can,’ said Joy. ‘So, what if we take a visit to Chester as soon as these strikes are over?’ She glanced at Patsy. ‘Perhaps I could also have a word with your Kathy at the same time and tell her to drop you a line.’
‘I’d appreciate that,’ said Patsy, looking pleased.
All the talk about Brendan O’Hara and silver mines had given Patsy an idea but she was not going to say anything about that right now. So she kept quiet and soon after collected her sisters and brother and they took their leave.
Once her visitors had gone, Joy attached Rex’s lead to his collar and took him for a walk in the park. She thought how much good it would have done Robbie, if he had still been alive, to walk the dog every day. Too late now. She thought instead of Wendy and the coming trip to Chester. She wanted her to be happy, and although Joy knew that the girl still mourned the loss of her uncle, she also knew that the young were resilient and Wendy had much to look forward to that would ease her grief.
Chapter Nineteen
Kathleen stood in the doorway of Alice’s shop on Foregate Street, enjoying the fresh air whilst she crocheted a lace collar in a two-ply beige cotton and wool mix thread. If she saw any prospective customers looking in the window she planned on encouraging them in. Trade had been terrible since the beginning of the general strike. No women or girls tootling round the shops in search of that special outfit for the Whit bank holiday coming up but hopefully things were about to improve.
The strike had officially ended on the twelfth of May but here it was, Tuesday the eighteenth, and some of the men were still refusing to return to work. Fortunately the railway unions and owners had at last come to an agreement, so hopefully the trains would now return to normal and bring in the day trippers.
Suddenly Kathleen noticed two women walking along the pavement on the other side of the street. They looked familiar and every now and again they paused to gaze in a shop window. It was only as they drew level that Kathleen realised who they were and immediately she waved and called, ‘Mrs Bennett, over here!’
Joy glanced across the road. Kathleen could see that she was frowning and it occurred to her that she and Wendy might not have recognised her and that made Kathleen feel good about herself.
‘It’s Kathy Doyle!’ she shouted.
Joy and Wendy both stared at her in astonishment and then, waiting only for a horse and cart and a cyclist to pass, they hurried towards her.
‘Kathy, it is you,’ said Joy, eyeing her up and down. ‘I wouldn’t have believed someone could change so much in such a short time.’
Kathleen chuckled. ‘I’m really something, aren’t I?’
‘Give us a twirl,’ said Wendy, smiling.
Kathleen twirled and the scalloped hem of the shapeless shift dress in a cream and navy soft jersey fabric fluttered about shapely knees encased in flesh-coloured rayon stockings.
‘That is the shortest dress I have ever seen,’ said Joy, a hint of disapproval in her voice. ‘And where has your chest gone?’
‘I’m wearing a Symington Side Lacer,’ said Kathleen in a confidential whisper. ‘Mrs Alice Bennett says my wearing the latest fashion is a good advertisement for the shop. You pull on the laces at the sides and it flattens your breasts.’
‘So having a flat chest and showing your knees is fashionable now, is it?’ asked Joy, shaking her head in disbelief.
‘Yeah. In Paris they call it the garçonne look and the best-known designer is Coco Chanel.’
‘Well, you are knowledgeable,’ said Wendy, her eyes dancing.
‘The word means boyish according to Mr Bennett. He was in France, yer know, during the war.’ Kathleen touched the crown of her head. ‘And what d’you think of me hair?’
‘Definitely boyish,’ said Wendy, surveying the girl’s blonde crop. ‘I’m pretty sure that Grant wouldn’t approve of me having mine that short.’
‘I suppose you don’t have to,’ said Kathleen. ‘You only need it this short if you want to wear the latest tight-fitting cloche hat.’
‘Hmm!’ Joy looked doubtful. ‘I’ve never been one for taking much notice of what’s fashionable. Anyway, what are you doing out here?’
‘Enjoying the fresh air and looking for customers. Trade is slow and rather than just stand behind the counter waiting for one to appear, I thought I’d be a better advertisement for business outside. Mrs Bennett has taken Georgie to the dentist and told me to mind the shop. Normally I’m in the workroom at the back if there’s any dressmaking or alterations to be done.’ Kathleen smiled. ‘She shouldn’t be much longer. She’s been gone for nearly two hours.’
‘We’ll wait for her inside,’ said Joy. ‘It’s ages since I’ve been here.’
‘She’s got plenty of new stock in,’ said Kathleen, leading the way.
Joy and Wendy gazed around the interior. There were dresses, skirts and blouses, as well as a couple of bathing costumes, hanging on racks. Behind the polished oak counter was a cabinet with drawers upon drawers with glass fronts containing underwear and stockings.
‘Do you have a changing room?’ asked Wendy.
‘We have to make do with two curtained-off alcoves at the back of the shop right close to the workroom. We have a couple of workbenches, the sewing machine, store cupboards and shelves for materials in there,’ explained Kathleen. ‘You reach it by going up these two steps,’ she added, leading the way beneath an arched opening to where there were coats, jackets and mackintoshes, as well as the odd hat on a stand.
‘I never thought it would be this big,’ said Wendy, following Kathleen through a door into the workroom. Here it was a lot lighter than the interior of the shop because an uncurtained sash window reached from ceiling to floor.
‘I like working in here,’ said Kathleen. ‘But we’ve only orders in for a couple of dresses and a costume for a wedding at the moment.’
Wendy leant over the table and picked up a couple of samples of material on a cord ring. ‘I’ve come about Mrs Bennett making my wedding gown. I believe she already has the material for it.’
Kathleen’s face lit up. ‘If it’s the ivory and silver material I can get it out for you.’
‘I’d appreciate that,’ said Wendy, smiling.
Kathleen put down her crochet on a sheet of tissue paper and went in search of the material. Joy went back into the shop and was just in time to see a girl lifting a blouse from a hanger.
‘Hey, what are you doing with that?’
The girl jumped and turned round. Joy saw that it was Alice’s daughter. ‘Hello, Flora! Shouldn’t you be in school?’
‘Hello, Aunt Joy. Mum didn’t say you were coming.’
‘No. I’m here with Wendy Wright. She had a few spare hours so we came on the spur of the moment. That’s a pretty blouse.’
‘Yes, isn’t it. I’m hoping Mummy will let me have it. I’m seldom allowed factory-made clothes. Is she in the back?’
‘No. Apparently she’s taken Georgie to the dentist.’
‘Oh, I’d forgotten about that,’ said Flora casually. She held the blouse against her in front of a mirror. ‘I could have been a shoplifter. Kathy should have been keeping an eye on the place. You’ve no idea, Aunt Joy, how thoughtless she is.’
‘You’re misjudging her. She was looking out for customers when we arrived. She and Wendy are in the back looking at material for a wedding gown.’
‘Oh!’ Flora’s pretty face flushed. ‘But she is thoughtless and she’s a flirt. Mummy doesn’t seem to notice but I do. She flirts with James and teases Georgie, as well as buttering up to Daddy, making out that he’s the handsomest and cleverest man in the whole world. When you’d have to be blind not to see his s
car. She asks him this and that. I don’t know why Mummy has to have her living in the house. I’m prepared to help with the housework. We don’t need extra help.’
Joy felt uneasy listening to what Flora had to say about Kathy’s flirtatious ways, but was she telling the truth? It was obvious Flora resented there being another pretty girl in the house. Having two brothers and a father who had spoilt her because she was the only daughter could have that effect. It was possible, too, that Seb might be flattered by Kathy’s attention but she felt certain that he loved Alice too much to behave foolishly with an adolescent girl.
‘I think you have to remember that Kathy has no father, and even when he was alive, she seldom saw him,’ said Joy. ‘It’s not surprising that she should admire yours. She does have an older brother but he’s at sea. She must miss him.’
‘Well, she’s not having my brother or any of my friends,’ said Flora, with a toss of her gold-red hair.
‘Who’s not having your brother?’ said a voice behind her.
Flora’s cheeks flushed a bright pink and she turned and said, ‘Hello, Mummy.’
Joy smiled at Alice. ‘Is Georgie OK?’
Alice shuddered. ‘He’s been a brave little soldier but he needs the rest of the day off, so I’ve left him with Clara. I was wondering when I would see you. What brings you over here?’
But before Joy could answer, Alice had switched her attention to her daughter. ‘What are you doing here and with that blouse?’
‘We finish at twelve for lunch at school and you don’t close until one,’ answered Flora. ‘As for the blouse, I’d like it. I mean you have Kathy dressed out in the height of fashion. Why shouldn’t I have this?’ She flourished the blouse.
Alice said mildly, ‘The style is too old for you. Now, put it back. As for Kathy, she is an advertisement for the shop.’
‘You’re not going to let me forget that I didn’t want to work in this pokey shop, are you?’ snapped Flora, colour flaring afresh in her cheeks.
‘No, I’m not,’ retorted Alice, her green eyes glinting. ‘And I don’t want any more impudence from you.’