‘He vanished on his bicycle moments before they arrived. I’m not sure if that was deliberate or he’d had an emergency call.’
‘More like running away, if you ask me. You’ve got everything here I need to sew, mend or refurbish things. Your sewing box is bursting with reels of thread in every colour. It doesn’t look as if it’s ever been touched.’
Mrs Stanton laughed. ‘That’s because it hasn’t. I hate sewing and always got somebody else to do it for me. There’s an excellent dressmaker and seamstress in the village who’s got more work than she can manage. I’m hoping you can make anything I want in future.’
‘I certainly can. When my material’s dry, could I lend your posh iron? Then I’ll cut out a pattern and make meself – make myself a dress and a skirt and then you can see what you think.’
10
Nancy could hear the racket coming from the doctor’s house when she was a hundred yards away. The noise was attracting attention from neighbours and passers-by who’d stop to gawp and gossip. The sooner she put a stop to the carrying-on the better. She reckoned David wouldn’t return until things were calm again.
She headed straight for the back door and Sally’s two boys waylaid her. ‘Blimey, Mrs Smith, what’s wrong with them kids? You’d think they were being murdered,’ the older of the two said to her.
‘I don’t think you would be very happy if you’d been bombed out and then dragged halfway across the country, would you?’
The younger one joined in the conversation. ‘Their mum should put a stop to it. If any of us made that sort of racket we’d get the slipper and really have something to cry about.’
‘Go back to your game, lads; it’s nothing to do with you anyway.’
She’d expected Sally to be trying to sort things out but instead she was busy in the kitchen as if there wasn’t the most horrendous noise coming from upstairs.
‘I was hoping you’d come, Nancy. I did my best but I can’t understand a word they say.’ This seemed like a feeble excuse and Sally wouldn’t meet her eye.
‘I’ll take a tray of tea, some orange squash and whatever cake or biscuits you’ve got handy.’
Armed with this she hurried up the stairs, balanced the tray on her arm whilst she knocked. She doubted Mrs O’Brien would hear her over the screaming children so she opened the door and walked in.
There was no sign of the mother. There was a toddler, a girl she thought but it was hard to tell underneath the matted hair and filthy face. The other one was definitely a boy about four years old. She could see crawlers in his hair from where she stood.
‘Now then, Sonny Jim, that’s quite enough of that noise. I’ve got biscuits and orange squash but not until you’re quiet.’
The screaming subsided to an occasional sob. ‘Where’s me ma? I want me ma.’
‘I’m sure you do. What’s your name?’
‘Billy and that’s me sister Betty. She don’t half stink, missus. Give us me drink then.’
She handed him the tin mug and a biscuit. There were nappies in a drawer so she’d clean the baby’s bum before she did anything else.
Fortunately, there was a sink in the bedroom as from the smell she was going to need a lot of water. She found some rags and wet one under the tap. ‘Here, Billy, let me wipe your face and hands.’
She thought he might object but he sat still and allowed her to take off the worst of the dirt. She would need to have him in the bath with a nit comb before he was allowed into his nice clean bed.
Betty was just grizzling. Both children were painfully thin and she hated to think what sort of home they’d been living in. There were no families like this in Cottage Street because the women would rally round and help out before things got so bad.
From the look of it the baby hadn’t been changed for a long time. She could hear Billy munching through the entire plate of biscuits but at least it was keeping him quiet and occupied. The baby’s bum was red raw in places and she reckoned David would have to do something about that, but a nice dry nappy would make her more comfortable.
If there was one thing she hated, it was nits. She was bound to be infested herself after this and she was certain that’s why Sally hadn’t done anything to help. But you didn’t leave children in distress and the housekeeper went down in her estimation.
‘Billy, I hope you left a biscuit for your sister.’
‘I ain’t left any.’
‘Never mind, I’ll make you both some lunch in a little while.’ There was a second tin mug on the tray and she held it for the baby who gulped it down eagerly. Nancy wasn’t sure if babies should drink squash or if they just had milk in a bottle but the poor little mite was obviously thirsty.
‘Come with me, Billy. We’re going to look for your ma.’
This was enough to get his cooperation. She snatched up half a dozen towels and pushed a bar of soap into her pocket and then picked up the baby.
Searching for Mrs O’Brien could come later – now she was going to give them both a bath. She just prayed there was a nit comb in the bathroom cabinet as she was going to need it. There was a slight sound behind her and the doctor joined her.
‘Good God, they don’t look in good shape. I’ll give you a hand.’ David had guessed where she was heading. ‘I’ll fetch what we need from the surgery.’
‘I’ll wait as it might be tricky for you to come in as the door will need to be locked. I’m going to help Billy and Betty look for their mum.’
He understood exactly that the little boy could well object violently to being put into a bath and the door would have to be locked as soon as she stepped into the bathroom with them.
‘I won’t be long. Check in the box room first.’
He didn’t want the children anywhere near the bedrooms in use until they were vermin-free and she didn’t blame him.
The box room wasn’t full of junk piled in heaps all over the place. It was neat as a pin. There were shelves on both sides and everything was tidily stacked.
‘What’s in them boxes, missus?’
‘Call me Mrs Smith, Billy. I’ve no idea and we mustn’t touch them without asking Doctor Denny’s permission. Why don’t you go to the window and see if you can see your ma?’
He rushed past her and she almost gagged at the stench coming from his trousers. She remained by the door trying to keep her head away from the baby. She’d put it up today so maybe she’d be lucky and the little blighters would stay on the children’s heads and not hop across to hers.
*
David threw the things he needed into an empty in-tray and hurtled back up the stairs just as Nancy emerged from the box room, the baby in her arms and the small boy hanging on to her skirt with one grubby hand. She might not know much about children but was doing an excellent job with these two – far better than Sally. He was disappointed in his housekeeper’s reluctance to get involved after she’d promised she’d do everything she could to help.
‘Right, in we go, young man.’ He opened the bathroom door and stood ready to slam it shut and push across the bolt before the child could escape. From the look of them they’d never had a bath in their lives.
‘Betty has a really sore backside. Do you have something I can put on it after she’s had a bath?’
‘Thought that would be the case. I’ll do Billy and you do Betty. Let’s stand them in the bath. I’ll put an inch of water in the bottom and hopefully the lice won’t be able to hop off anywhere and then we can send them down the plug.’
‘Have you ever seen one of these before, Billy?’ Nancy asked.
‘I seen one with coal in it. Why ain’t there coal in this one?’
‘We keep it outside in a special box. This is for us to use. Look, Doctor Denny is putting in the plug and he’s going to turn the taps on and get some lovely warm water in the bottom.’
Betty pulled herself upright and was hanging on to the edge of the bath watching with interest. She gurgled and pointed and almost tipped head first over the
edge and Nancy grabbed her.
‘Wait a minute, baby. I’ll take your clothes off. Billy, do you need to have a wee before you get in?’
‘I bin in a bush a while back, Mrs Smith. I ain’t taking my clothes off – not for no one.’
Nancy ignored the boy’s comment and left him to work out a way of persuading Billy that he would feel more comfortable if he was clean and his head was no longer alive with lice.
David hesitated for a moment and then decided firm action would probably work better than prevarication and persuasion. The clothes the child had on would go straight into the boiler to be burnt. He grabbed the back of Billy’s collar in two hands and ripped. The cloth was rotten and tore easily. The boy started to howl in protest but he ignored him and did the same with the malodorous trousers.
He then picked the screaming boy up and dropped him into the bath. ‘Be quiet. I’ll not have that noise in my house. Do I make myself clear?’
Nancy looked at him in shock and he winked. His fierce expression and stern words were enough to stop the noise.
‘Right, young man, I’m going to comb your hair with this special comb and remove your livestock. I can promise you that you’ll feel much better without them. Put your head forward, there’s a good boy. Mrs Smith is going to do the same with your sister.’
After that it was surprisingly easy. It took half an hour to remove the lice but he was pretty sure the children were vermin-free – at least they had nothing alive in their heads now.
‘If you pick up the baby, I’ll hold Billy whilst the bath empties. I’ve got the worst of the excrement from his bottom so when we fill the bath again it won’t be so smelly.’
Both children sat patiently whilst they had their hair washed and then a solution of water and methylated spirits was rubbed in. As long as their heads were combed with the metal nit comb every couple of days this should get rid of any that hatched from eggs left on the hair.
‘Stand up, Billy. Mrs Smith is going to let out the dirty water and clean around the bath and then will put in some more clean so you can splash about for a bit.’
Eventually both children were persuaded to come out. This time Nancy dealt with Billy and he made no objections to the change.
‘Hopefully there’s something they can wear in one of the drawers, Doctor Denny. There’s a clean nappy on the stool with the pin.’
He smoothed on a liberal quantity of healing ointment and then expertly folded the square of terry towelling into the necessary triangle, pinned it neatly and added the rubber pants which hopefully would stop the urine and faeces leaking out.
‘There you are, sweetheart, hopefully you’ll be more comfortable now.’
Billy was smartly dressed when he walked into the bedroom and even had on footwear – a pair of almost new plimsolls that had been donated from somewhere.
‘I’ve put out some clothes for Betty. People have been very generous. Have you any idea where Mrs O’Brien might be hiding? I’m sure she could do with a bath and a change of clothes too.’
‘Let’s get these two fed and watered first and then I’ll go in search of her. She can’t be far away. I should have been here when they arrived but old Mrs Tolley had a fall and I had to check if she’d broken anything.’
‘I hope Mrs Arbuckle has got something ready for their lunch even if she wasn’t prepared to do anything else.’
‘I hope so too.’ Nancy left with Billy who seemed happy to go with her and was no longer asking where his mother was.
The baby started to grizzle and was sucking her fist. ‘I think you’re hungry, my girl, so let’s get you dressed and downstairs and then you can go into this lovely clean cot for an afternoon nap.’
*
Both children ate more than they should but he hadn’t the heart to stop them. Sally still seemed reluctant to approach the children. This was going to be a problem as without her assistance this evacuation wasn’t going to be successful for anyone.
Betty fell asleep on his lap and he carried her upstairs and put her gently into her cot. He pulled a blanket over her sleeping form and was about to tiptoe out when Nancy appeared at the door carrying Billy.
He was surprised that she pulled back the covers and didn’t just lay him on top.
‘He might wet the bed,’ she whispered as she removed his trousers and plimsolls. ‘There’s a rubber sheet under him so only the bottom one will need to be changed if he does.’
They left the door open so they could hear the children if they woke and crept back downstairs. Sally had gone – an hour earlier than was usual for her – and this added to his concern about the future.
‘We know Mrs O’Brien isn’t in the house. I think one of us must remain in earshot of the little ones and the other search the garden and outbuildings.’
‘I’ll stop here; you go and look.’ She hesitated before continuing. ‘I reckon she’s long gone. She wouldn’t put her kiddies in a home, but leaving them here? She wasn’t coping and now she can go with a clear conscience, knowing her children are in a better place than they would be with her.’
‘Good God! You think she’s abandoned them? What the hell am I going to do with two small children?’
‘I don’t like to speak behind her back, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that Sally don’t come back either.’
‘I fear you’re correct, Nancy.’ He’d noticed she was no longer using his name so maybe he’d better address her more formally. ‘I apologise. Should I have called you Mrs Smith?’
‘No, Nancy’s all right with me. I didn’t like to call you David in front of anyone else but when we’re together, like, we’ll stick to the arrangement.’
‘Would you be kind enough to answer the telephone if it rings? If it’s an emergency yell out of the back door. I won’t be so far away I can’t hear you shouting.’
She smiled. ‘The vicar’s a one for yelling and Mrs Stanton isn’t too keen on that. I like that he does it – makes him seem a bit more like a normal person.’
‘I won’t be long.’
*
There were no phone calls and when she checked on the children they were still fast asleep. David returned and by then the washing-up was done, everything neat and tidy and the kettle hissing on the range ready to make another cuppa.
‘No luck – she’s definitely not in my garden. There were a couple of people walking along the path outside and I asked if they’d seen her. They hadn’t, but promised to spread the word.’
‘The bus would’ve come whilst we was busy in the bathroom. She’ll have got on that.’
‘I’m going to ring Mrs Arkwright, the WVS lady who arranged this. We need to know more about Mrs O’Brien’s home circumstances.’
‘I’m going to nip back to the vicarage and tell them what’s what. I won’t be a tick.’
He nodded and headed for the telephone in the hall. She had to go past the bus stop in order to get back and noticed an old bloke sitting in his garden watching who passed by.
‘Excuse me, sir, did you see a young woman, a stranger, catch the bus earlier?’
‘Three got on, no one got off, and I knew all of them. You lost that girl from London with the screaming kiddies?’
‘We have. So, you’re certain she hasn’t gone past here?’
‘I’ve not seen no one I don’t know this morning.’
‘Ta. Could you keep an eye out for her and let Doctor Denny know if you see her?’
The old man nodded but didn’t answer. She rushed across the road and up the path to the vicarage. The front door was, for some reason, standing open.
‘There you are. I was waiting for you. Giles found Mrs O’Brien in the church and brought her here.’ The vicar’s wife had met her in the porch.
‘Thank God for that – we thought she’d done a runner. We’ve sorted out her kiddies but I reckon she’ll need the same.’
‘Don’t worry, everything has been taken care of. She’s got a pretty frock on, everything clean and fresh a
nd no unwanted livestock anywhere.’
‘What’s she like? Billy and Betty were half starved and not had a wash for weeks. She can’t be much of a ma to them. You’d think her family or her in-laws would step in.’
‘That’s the problem, Nancy. Mrs O’Brien has no in-laws and her own family wanted nothing to do with her. The children have different fathers. Need I say more about her occupation?’
‘Blimey! That’ll give the gossips something to talk about, if ever they know. I’ve got to get back as I’ve left the doctor in charge and he’s got surgery in half an hour. Is Mrs O’Brien coming with me?’
‘I think the poor girl is at the end of her tether. Being bombed out was the last straw and she must have gone to the church to pray for help. Whatever her occupation in the past, this can be a fresh start for her and the children, and there’s no need for anybody to know the truth.’
‘Won’t hear it from me, that’s for sure. As far as everyone’s concerned Mrs O’Brien’s a war widow who lost her man at Dunkirk.’
‘That’s what we thought we’d tell everyone. Come and meet her. I’m hoping Doctor Denny will be able to help because I think she’s having a nervous breakdown.’
‘Not surprised with what she’s been through. I think Mrs Arbuckle’s going to leave. I was shocked at how she reacted to the children. It ain’t – it isn’t their fault they had nits and such. The doctor was really good with them but he won’t be able to manage if Mrs O’Brien is poorly and his housekeeper’s gone.’
‘I think you must step in, Nancy my dear, and become his paid housekeeper. You will continue to live here and go there every day as Mrs Arbuckle has been doing. If you make the arrangement professional that will be easier for both of you and I’m sure being gainfully employed is exactly what you’d like.’
‘If he asks then I’ll do it but I’m not going to suggest it myself. Then I can pay for me board and lodgings and won’t feel beholden.’
‘Mrs O’Brien’s given name is Violet. I warn you that she’s very unresponsive.’
‘If she’s not talking then how do you know so much about her?’
The East End Girl in Blue Page 10