‘Yes, but Lettie likes her called Mrs Gilligan.’
‘Lettie’s the boss, isn’t she?’ Nellie said laughing.
‘Oh aye, but she’s a real good daughter, Nell. Her mam’d be lost without her.’
‘I’m dying to have mine told,’ Nellie sighed.
Gertie said, ‘I think she’s got to be in the mood, like, as well as waiting for Lettie to go out and that’s only every Preston Guild. I’ll keep reminding her about you though, Nell, honest.’
Bobby seemed to have settled back quite happily at the Liverpool works and one day when Nellie and Tommy visited him at Fountains Road they found him very excited.
‘I think I’ve got the chance of a house, Nell. The boss might swing it for me, being in the trade, like.’
‘Where is it?’ asked Nellie.
‘Lovelace Street. Two up and two down, good solid little houses. I’ll have to find twenty-five pounds key money but I’ve got me savings and the boss said I can lend off him and pay it back outa me wages if it’s more. I’m bursting to tell Meg but I won’t say nothing yet in case it falls through.’
‘Would you just live on your own there, like, until youse could get married?’ Nellie asked.
‘Yes, we can’t get married until she’s twenty-one in May, but if I get the house it’ll give me a chance to get some furniture and that.’ He bit his lip then with sudden violent anger he banged his hand on the table. ‘I wish to God I could bring her here tomorrow away from that bloody old soak. She says he wouldn’t hurt her but I seen the way he wrecked the house.’
‘Never mind, lad. May’ll soon be here and even if the house fell through this is good enough to bring her to.’
‘Yes, but I’m banking on the house, Nell. I’ll go mad if I miss it. Lovely clean little houses they are.’
‘Like this,’ Nellie said looking round the room. ‘Our place has got me heart broke trying to get shut of the fleas and bugs, yet I do keep it clean, Bob.’
‘Of course you do, our kid. It’s them houses. Remember when I first started at Meldrum’s and we done all the walls and beds with stuff from work? One of the older fellows told me we was wasting our time. He said them walls are filled with horsehair.’
‘Horsehair!’ Nellie exclaimed.
‘Yes. He seen it when he was knocking down houses in Buttercup Street from the same builder. He said the bugs and fleas had a happy home there.’
‘Fancy that,’ Nellie said. ‘And me and Tommy seem to come off the worst for bites. Must be because we’re clean. They never trouble Janey.’
‘They’d probably drop dead if they bit her,’ Bobby said with a grin.
Bobby walked home with them and they took a roundabout route to look at the houses in Lovelace Street. It was only a short street with the front doors opening directly from the street but each step was scrubbed and a patch of pavement under each window.
‘You’d have respectable neighbours anyhow, lad,’ Nellie remarked.
‘Yes, but listen, Nell. Don’t say nothing to no one about this, will you? The boss’ll have to pull strings and if it gets out first—’
‘Don’t worry, lad, I won’t say nothing and you won’t either will you, Tom?’ Nellie said and Tommy promised.
Although Nellie was thankful that she had her own rent book she was growing more and more dissatisfied with the house in Johnson Street. The endless battle with the vermin, the stink of fish which brought cats yowling round the house every night, the dampness of the walls and most of all the presence of old Janey made her long to escape. Bobby’s news hardened her determination to find another house but there was still the problem of old Janey.
It was still very hard to find a decent house and ‘key money’ was always demanded from a new tenant but Nellie remembered the words of Mrs Hignett the cook.
‘There’s no such word as can’t,’ she had told Nellie. ‘If you want a thing enough you can do it,’ and Nellie made up her mind that she would accumulate the key money as soon as possible. She already had her savings and Mr Thomson’s money and she tried to add a little every time she drew Sam’s money, buying only necessities, but any emergency like Tom outgrowing his boots set her back.
She made up her mind that she would leave no stone unturned to find some work, no matter what it was, but she was growing disheartened until a few weeks later she met Mrs Taggart and through her got two mornings cleaning in a house in Merton Road.
Nellie carefully concealed her reasons for saving from Janey and her small hoard of money. She knew in her heart that no matter how much she saved the biggest obstacle to moving was the old woman.
She might tell herself that Janey was not a relation and she had no duty to her but she knew she could not abandon the old woman. If I took her with me I’d make sure she cleaned herself up and kept her room clean too, she thought, but lying awake at night making these plans she faced the real reason why she was afraid to tell Janey.
No matter how she might defy Janey to tell Sam, she knew that while the secret of her hasty marriage lay between Sam and herself she was in the old woman’s power. And there were the hints she dropped about details of Sam’s family which could hurt him if told.
Nellie hoped vaguely that ‘something would happen’ to solve the problem of old Janey, unable to admit even to herself that she wished the old woman dead. Until this problem was solved she would say nothing to anyone about her plans, not even Sam, but continue to save as much as she could, she decided.
When Bobby went to see Meg at the weekend he always brought back a bag of vegetables and eggs for Nellie from Mrs Handley and these bags and Nellie’s new job had not gone unnoticed by some of her neighbours.
Maud Jenkins never joined the group round Bella’s step now but she was always at the door of a woman who lived at the other end of the street. Ada Ginley was a member of the Orange Lodge and a great admirer of Pastor Longbottom of the Protestant Reformed Church but her husband was a Catholic.
Neither of them attended their respective churches but they had titanic fights on the seventeenth of March and on the twelfth of July and they were despised by the people in the ‘respectable’ end of the street where Nellie and her friends lived.
Nellie knew that they gossiped about her and tried to avoid the group, but one day returning from the corner shop she was about to cross the street before she reached the group when she saw Charlie West strutting along on the opposite pavement. She chose to pass the group as the lesser of two evils but she was halted by Ada Ginley.
‘I can’t stand grabbers,’ she announced, standing before Nellie, arms akimbo. ‘Yer must ’ave ’ouses in the bank. Your fella’s money, old Janey’s rent, them bags of stuff from yer brother and now the cleaning job. Taking the bread outa people’s mouth what need that job more than what you do.’
‘Aye, much wants more,’ Maud Jenkins said. ‘And only one kid.’
‘An’ you never let on ’ow you managed that neither,’ Ada Ginley said. ‘We all know your fella’s not one to be denied ’is rights, so ’ow did you do it? Some of us’d like to know.’
Nellie tried to turn away but her way was blocked by other women and she turned back.
‘Mind your own business,’ she shouted. ‘What I do hasn’t got nothing to do with any of youse.’
But Ada Ginley went on, ‘We know where some of the money goes. On yer back. Dolling yerself up an’ gettin’ yerself talked about with other fellers.’ She surveyed Nellie’s clean white blouse and black skirt showing under her shawl and her neat strap shoes.
‘Think yer too posh for the likes of us, don’t yer, but we’re respectable married women, don’t forget.’
Before Nellie could answer she saw the women draw back and the smell of fish alerted her to the fact that Janey stood beside her.
The old woman put up her hand to her fish basket and looked round the group with glittering eyes. ‘Wot was that? Respectable married women! Don’t make me laugh. Youse have all got big mouths, but don’t forget. I�
��ve got a bigger one an’ I might decide to open it. I know something about every one of youse and well you know it.’
Nobody spoke and Janey went on, ‘Yiz pick your mark. A girl you think hasn’t got no one behind her but you thought wrong. Maybe I won’t open me mouth this time. Maybe I’ll tell Nellie what I know about youse instead so she can open hers if yiz start again.’
She looked round the silent women with contempt and turned to Nellie. ‘Come on home, girl, and keep away from these. The scum o’ the bloody earth.’
They walked away, Nellie thinking that she would never have expected to be so thankful to see Janey. The old woman said she had come home early because of a pain in her back and Nellie was eager to show her gratitude but Janey refused help.
‘I don’t want nothing, only a cup of cocoa and a bit of bread and cheese,’ she said.
Nellie was anxious about her and lay awake listening for sounds from the parlour and regretting her feeling that her problem about the house would be solved if something happened to Janey. She was not really surprised that Janey’s remedies seemed to have worked and she appeared as usual the next morning and went out with her fish. She had said nothing more about the revelations she had promised.
Ironically it was Bobby who had his problems solved by a death, that of Meg’s father.
‘He dropped dead with a heart attack,’ he told Nellie. ‘He’d been drinking all day and then he went down to the pub carrying on because they wouldn’t serve him. I reckon he died of bad temper as much as anything.’
‘Meg’ll be upset,’ Nellie said, although her own first thought had been, thank goodness, now they can get married.
‘She is,’ Bobby admitted, ‘for all she’s had such an awful life with him. I didn’t tell you but we fell out two weeks ago. I was that worried about her and talking about when we get married in May and she turned round and said she couldn’t leave him. He was her father and it was her duty to look after him. I got real narked but we made it up before I come home.’
‘I suppose you was both on edge,’ Nellie consoled him.
‘I want to get married right away but I don’t know how she’ll take the idea,’ Bobby said. ‘She seems to have funny ideas where he’s concerned.’
‘Why don’t you get Mrs Handley to talk to her?’ Nellie suggested and Bobby looked relieved.
‘That’s a good idea, our kid,’ he exclaimed.
A month later Meg and Bobby were married and Meg moved into the room in Fountains Road. She looked pale and wan with a persistent cough and Nellie hugged her impulsively.
‘I don’t feel a bit like a bride,’ Meg said. ‘I never thought it’d be like this. Married in black and me poor father hardly cold. I don’t know what he would think.’
‘He’d be glad to see you married with someone to look after you,’ Nellie said. ‘He always looked after you until the drink got a hold on him, didn’t he? Don’t let Bob think you’re sorry you married him.’
‘Oh I’m not, Nell, honest I’m not,’ Meg exclaimed. ‘It’s just—’
‘I know. You’ve had a bad time, but you want to put all that behind you now and think of Bobby.’
Meg promised that she would, and Bobby received the key to the house in Lovelace Street a few days later. The excitement of moving into the new house soon restored Meg’s spirits and Nellie enjoyed helping her. At first they only had the basic items of furniture and household goods but as Bobby was now receiving tradesman’s wages they were gradually able to buy what they needed.
Nellie was happy to have her brother so near and she grew very fond of Meg, who was once again the lively girl who had captivated Bobby. When Meg announced that she was pregnant just after Christmas Nellie quickly stifled a pang of envy and rejoiced wholeheartedly with the young couple.
Chapter Seventeen
Nellie missed Sam and longed for his return but her life was full and happy at this time. Although Janey seemed to have decided against telling Nellie the secrets of her neighbours, Ada Ginley and her cronies kept their distance from Nellie and Charlie West seemed to have disappeared again.
Nellie had still not had her fortune told and she was even more anxious to have it done now because Gertie said that Mrs Gilligan’s prediction had come true for her.
‘Remember when she told me that first time I would have a disappointment then all would come right?’ she said. ‘I’d wrote to the doll factory for a job and they said there wasn’t no vacancies but I’d be kept on the list. I was real disappointed but this morning I got a letter to start on Monday.’
Gertie enjoyed her job in the doll factory. ‘It’s nice light work,’ she said. ‘I’m putting in the dolls’ eyes and sitting down to do it. We have a break morning and afternoon too, yet I get five shillings more than me old job.’
She and Nellie went to the pictures twice a week now, as Maggie or Katy would always look after Tommy. They usually chose romantic films and Nellie thoroughly enjoyed them although she was sometimes embarrassed by the way Gertie was carried away by the action. She sobbed loudly at the sad episodes and uttered cries of delight when all went well for the lovers.
After each film Gertie declared that she had fallen for the hero, although Rudolph Valentino was still her dream man and she had a large photograph of him in her bedroom. She often said to Nellie, ‘Imagine lying in his arms,’ and Nellie always said she would rather imagine lying in Sam’s.
Sometimes Nellie wondered uneasily what Sam would say about her going out twice a week with a single girl but she continued her visits to the cinema. Sometimes Katy came with them but her baby was nearly due now and she found it uncomfortable to sit still for long.
Tommy was still doing well at school. His teacher Miss Helsby was a dedicated woman anxious to improve the prospects of the boys she taught. She tried with little success to teach the boys better habits and to improve their speech but Tom was one of the few who responded.
He loved words and he had a keen ear for sounds so he found it fairly easy to speak as Miss Helsby instructed. Nellie was amazed one night when he said carefully, ‘Please may I have a slice of bread and jam?’
‘A jam butty, you mean?’ Nellie said, startled, and Janey cackled loudly.
‘Got a plum in your mouth, lad?’
Nellie quickly cut a slice of bread and spread it with jam. ‘Did the teacher learn you to say that, lad?’ she asked.
‘Yes,’ Tommy muttered, hanging his head, but Nellie said encouragingly, ‘It sounds real nice that, Tom.’
He took the bread and a moment later he was in the street with the other boys yelling loudly in his usual speech as they played a noisy game.
‘I wonder what Sam’ll think about that,’ Janey said. ‘He’ll be thinking he had a lord for a father.’
Nellie made no reply but when Tom tried out other phrases taught by Miss Helsby she began to worry. Would Sam mind the boy talking posh and think he was growing away from them or learning to despise them? She mentioned her doubts to Maggie Nolan but she dismissed them.
‘I wouldn’t worry, Nell,’ she said. ‘Sam’ll be proud of him – if it lasts that long. You know what kids are. Full of a thing one minute and then the novelty wears off or the teacher gets fed up,’ and Nellie was reassured.
Maggie was worried about her husband at this time. The weather had been raw and foggy for weeks and now it had turned bitterly cold with a threat of snow. Johnny had been off work several times, racked by coughing during the foggy weather, and now Maggie worried about him being out in the cold and wet.
‘It’s too cold to snow,’ she said to Nellie and Nellie agreed.
She too was suffering in the bad weather. The new cleaning job was proving to be very hard and she often thought wistfully of her early days at the Duncan house before things went wrong for the family.
A housekeeper, Mrs Grogan, was in charge and Nellie described her to Katy as a real slave driver. Her hours were eight to noon but often she was kept until one or even two o’clock without a
ny extra pay. The amount of cleaning she was expected to do meant that she came home exhausted. For the first time in her life she suffered badly with chilblains.
‘I feel as if this winter’ll never end,’ Maggie said and Nellie agreed. Three young children in the street had died since Christmas and many more were ill. In spite of Nellie’s care of him, Tommy began to cough during the night and to look pale and tired during the day.
Nellie begged goose grease from the cook at Merton Road to rub his chest and dosed him with cod liver oil and malt in spite of his protests.
She gave some of the goose grease to Maggie who was now desperately worried about Johnny. He was kept awake most nights with his racking cough although Maggie had put a bed in the kitchen for him.
‘The damp in that bedroom’d get on anybody’s chest,’ she said to Nellie. ‘I build up the fire so the kitchen’s warm most of the night.’
Johnny had been off work several times during the winter and his fear of losing his job made him force himself to go to work no matter how ill he felt but the morning came when he was unable to rise from the bed.
Maggie had rubbed him with goose grease and made infusions of friar’s balsam for him and Nellie had brought a bottle of Owbridge’s cough mixture but nothing seemed to ease him. Maggie had even brought in a doctor but he could do nothing to help the sick man and Johnny said the bottle of cough mixture he prescribed was not as good as the Owbridge’s.
Maggie’s two daughters, Susan now eighteen and Josie sixteen, were a great help to Maggie at this time, sharing the nursing and comforting both their parents.
Nellie also shared the nursing at night as she worked only two mornings a week and the girls worked full time in Tate and Lyle’s sugar works. They were sure that their father would recover but Nellie and Maggie could see how he slipped back a little every day.
Finally as the two women watched over him one night Johnny opened his eyes.
‘Maggie’ he gasped.
She bent over him. ‘Yes, lad, I’m here,’ she murmured.
‘Maggie,’ he wheezed again. ‘Will you get a priest, girl?’
A Wise Child Page 24