The Teashop Girls

by Elaine Everest

  ‘You must miss it most terribly,’ Rose said, knowing she was pushing for an answer.

  Anya pulled the curtains together and turned to give Rose a bright smile. ‘No, I no longer miss Poland. Now, tell me about your singing and dancing. I do like your pretty dress,’ she said, stopping Rose from adding any further questions.

  ‘This old thing? Why, I’ve had this for two years now. Miss Tibbs added a little lace trim and altered the neckline for me, so it looks as good as new.’

  ‘Miss Tibbs?’

  ‘She’s one of our boarders and has lived here for years. You’ll simply adore her – we all do. She used to be a dressmaker until she retired and closed her workshop. Now she does bits and bobs for neighbours and friends, which is very handy now rationing is starting to grip us all. From what we hear, it won’t be too long before even new clothing will be thin on the ground.’

  ‘Bits and bobs . . .?’ Anya frowned. ‘I think I have a lot to learn.’

  Rose chuckled. She did like the polite Polish woman and hoped they’d become friends, even though it seemed strange her turning up as she had. She thought of the many foreign servicemen who came to the Lyons teashop while she was working. It would be lovely to share a few words with them, to make them feel welcome. ‘Perhaps you could teach me something to say in Polish?’

  Anya hesitated. ‘Perhaps it is best we speak in English. Not everyone welcomes a foreign tongue. Now, again, I ask you to tell me about your singing?’

  Rose shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t like to talk about her dreams, especially to someone she’d just met. ‘It’s nothing much. Where we go dancing, they sometimes ask if anyone can carry a tune, and my friends pushed me up onto the stage. Carry a tune means to be able to sing a song,’ she added, seeing a questioning expression cross Anya’s face. ‘I’ll try to be more careful in what I say, as I can see it is a problem for you to understand me,’ she said.

  ‘No, please never do that,’ Anya implored her. ‘I must learn. I want to learn. It is important I learn.’

  Rose thought Anya seemed surprisingly keen to learn the language, but she resolved again not to ask why. If the woman had secrets, who was she to poke her nose in and interfere? All the same, she must remember to tell her mum about the conversation. ‘Shall we go downstairs and have that bite to eat? I don’t have long before I need to be somewhere else.’

  Anya smiled. ‘Yes, a bite to eat would be very nice indeed and I understand you need to be . . . what you say . . . somewhere else,’ she laughed. Rose took her arm and they headed down the two flights of stairs towards the sound of plates being put out on a table as Flora dished up their meal.

  ‘It’s only bubble ’n’ squeak,’ Flora said as she pushed the plate in front of Anya. ‘But the hens have come up trumps, so we have a fried egg each. Miss Tibbs isn’t back from her church meeting, so I’ll feed her later.’

  ‘Oh, Mum. Not fried food again. My dress and hair are going to smell like a chip shop. No one will dance with me,’ Rose said, poking at the food with a fork.

  ‘You can take it or leave it,’ Flora huffed. ‘I’ve got too much on my hands to pander to you, young woman. You don’t find our guests complaining, and they pay for the privilege of living here.’

  Anya, who had been tucking into her meal with relish, laid down her knife and fork and reached into her pocket, pulling out a small leather purse. ‘Here, I must give you money for my food,’ she said. ‘What will it be?’

  ‘It can wait,’ Flora scolded. ‘Get on with your meal before it goes cold.’

  ‘If you are very sure,’ the young woman said with a shy smile. ‘I do not wish to . . . how you say . . . be beholden. I was very lucky that you came to rescue me.’

  Rose, who had pushed her plate aside and was peering into her powder compact to top up her lipstick, gave Anya a questioning look. ‘Where was you off to when those horrid little boys attacked you?’

  ‘I was looking for a place called Margate. Do you know it?’

  ‘Know it? It’s where I’m off to this evening, dancing to the Silvano Caprice band.’

  Anya’s eyes lit up. ‘Is this place – Margate – very far away? The bus driver was not helpful and would not tell me. I could not see any signs, and he told me to get off when the bus went no further.’

  ‘P’raps he thought you was a German?’ Rose said, running the red lipstick over her top lip and smiling into the small mirror.

  Anya looked dismayed. ‘But I am Polish. Anyone can tell that. I hate the Germans,’ she added vehemently. ‘They ruined my life.’

  Flora had been thoughtful as the two girls spoke. ‘What I don’t understand is how you got here? Thanet is not such an attractive area to visit these days, since the war started; and January is no month for a holiday by the sea.’

  ‘I met a man in London. He told me that for the right money, he could get me to Margate. He was a strange person and tapped his nose a lot when he spoke to me.’ She demonstrated the action, adding a wink at the same time. ‘He also wanted much money from me, but I gladly gave it, as I so much need to be here.’

  ‘Hmm, he sounds like a bit of a spiv,’ Flora said. ‘How did he get you here?’

  ‘I know not what is a speev, but I travelled in a lorry until we approach Thaneet, where the driver told me to hide under old sacking until he drop me off and told me to find a bus. Then I am lost, and you rescue me – for which I thank you once again.’

  ‘Mum, do you think Anya has broken the law?’ Rose asked, looking worried.

  Flora was thoughtful. ‘I don’t know, but as movement is prohibited in and out of Thanet, I do believe there will be some explaining to do. I’ll take you to the police station tomorrow and we can find out. I take it you do have identity papers?’

  ‘I am legal. You wish to see?’ Anya asked, reaching for her handbag.

  ‘There’s no need. Perhaps if we say you are a friend who has come to visit, they will be happy for you to stay here. That’s unless you really do want to go to Margate?’

  ‘I will stay here if I may. If the policeman says I can.’

  ‘What’s this about the police?’ A large red-faced woman in a boiler suit entered the kitchen and went to the stove, rubbing her hands together to warm them. ‘Has someone broken the law? Been caught smuggling Germans in on a fishing boat, have you?’ she guffawed.

  ‘Nothing so serious, Mildred,’ Flora said as she rose to her feet to pour a cup of tea for the woman. ‘Anya, this is another of my lodgers. Mildred, meet Anya.’

  Anya held out her hand, which the older woman took and pumped up and down enthusiastically. ‘I am not German,’ she said warily.

  ‘If you were you’d not be welcomed here, I can tell you, but any friend of Flora’s and all that . . .’ Mildred said, picking at the food Rose had left on her plate. ‘Is there any more of this going begging?’ she asked, taking the seat Rose had just vacated.

  ‘I’ve got some keeping warm in the oven. It’ll only take a few ticks to fry an egg. Have you had a busy shift?’

  ‘You could say that. Some lads on a boat out of Margate had a mine caught up in their nets. By the time the navy mine disposal team arrived we’d helped to tow it out to sea and cut it loose. They’ll no doubt blow it up soon, so prepare yourself for a bit of a bang.’

  Flora put her hands on her hips and scowled at the rotund woman. ‘You’ll get yourself killed one of these days, and no mistake. Why you can’t get yourself a nice job that any female would be pleased to do, instead of messing about with them fishing boats, I just don’t know. Now go and wash your hands, or I’ll not be putting any food in front of you. You’re worse than any man.’

  Anya gave a small smile. This household was not what she had expected at all. ‘You go fishing, Mildred?’ she asked, thinking how big the sea had looked when she arrived in the town just this afternoon.

  ‘And a lot more,’ Rose giggled as she took her coat from a hook on the kitchen door. ‘I won’t be late, Mum,’ she told Flora, gi
ving her a kiss.

  ‘Make sure you’re not, and be careful in the blackout on that bicycle. Your knee has just cleared up after the last time you come a cropper. Where are you meeting Lily and Katie?’

  ‘Aw, Mum, I’m not a little kid anymore. Don’t fuss so.’

  ‘I’ll fuss and worry about you until I draw my dying breath,’ Flora said. ‘It’s what mothers do.’ She gave her daughter an indulgent smile and glanced at Anya, who had placed a hand on her stomach as she gazed into space, lost in her thoughts.

  I know that look, Flora thought to herself as she placed Mildred’s fried egg on top of the plate of hot bubble and squeak. It looked as if the next few months were going to be interesting . . . very interesting indeed.

  2

  Rose pushed into the crowded ladies’ toilets and headed to a large cracked mirror over a washbasin. ‘Just look at the state of my hair! I don’t know why I bother, I really don’t. I must look an absolute fright.’

  ‘Here, use my hairbrush. You’re lucky – your curls will soon bounce back into shape,’ Lily Douglas said as she passed a small tortoiseshell hairbrush from her clutch bag before delving back inside for a lipstick. ‘I don’t know why we had to cycle here. I swear I swallowed a fly,’ she added, checking her teeth in the cracked mirror and wiping off a speck of red lipstick. ‘As for cycling in falling snow . . .’ she moaned to no one in particular. ‘Here, Doris, I thought they was supposed to be changing this mirror. A girl can’t see herself for cracks; especially in this crowd.’ She gave a rotund woman next to her a sharp poke in the ribs. ‘Here, watch it, won’t you?’

  The cleaner carried on scrubbing round the washbasins with a grubby cloth. ‘The boss says it isn’t worth it, as it’s bound to crack again. Besides, all this talk of bombs and what have you – what’s the point?’ she added darkly.

  ‘Aren’t you a bundle of joy,’ Lily said as she slipped the lipstick back into her bag. ‘Are you done with that, Rose?’

  Rose handed back the hairbrush and grimaced as she looked at her hair in the offending mirror. ‘It doesn’t look any better. I should have pinned it up but I couldn’t find any kirby grips, and wearing a woolly hat did it no favours. There’s me about to go up on the stage to sing, and I look as though I’ve been dragged through a hedge backwards. Perhaps I should say I’ve got a sore throat and will have to give it a miss?’ she added sadly. ‘I bet Helen Forrest never has problems like this before a performance.’

  Lily sighed. ‘Helen Forrest is a star, not a Nippy from Kent. For goodness’ sake, come here and turn round,’ she commanded, opening her bag and pulling out a couple of hairpins. ‘I’ve always got a few spare.’ She deftly brushed Rose’s hair before folding it into a neat pleat at the back of her head and fastening it with the pins. ‘Now, turn round to face me.’ She looked at her friend with a frown before fluffing up the loose blonde curls on top of her head. ‘Give me your lipstick and powder,’ she added as she threw the brush into her bag. ‘Hurry up, or the band will start without you.’ She swiped the red lipstick over Rose’s lips before putting a little onto her finger and dabbing each cheek. Swapping the lipstick for the powder compact, Lily rubbed in the colour and added a liberal amount of powder over Rose’s cheeks. Stepping back as much as possible in the crowded room, she cocked her head to one side. ‘Here, Doris, do you think she’ll do?’

  Doris stopped her scrubbing and looked carefully at Rose’s face before giving a long sigh. ‘As pretty as a picture. You’d give that Betty Grable a run for her money, take my word for it.’

  Rose shook her head and gave a laugh. ‘Oh, I don’t know. The pair of you could give me a big head if I didn’t know you were joking. Come on, Lily. Katie has saved us a table, but by now she could be hanging onto it for grim death. I spotted the girls from Woolies coming in just behind us and they’ll be after a table. I don’t want them shoving Katie out, even if she has put our coats on the seats.’

  Rose led the way across the busy ballroom. All around her were men in uniform, and even a few women. She couldn’t tell which service was best represented, but it looked like a close thing between the RAF and the navy. Talk at the Lyons tearooms was that they’d see more of the army any day soon, and anyone with a room to spare would have billeting officers banging on their front doors with the intention of foisting a soldier or two onto the unsuspecting family. Perhaps that was why her mum had been so quick to offer the box room to Anya, she thought as she waved to the leader of the band. He indicated he wanted her up on the stage, and she gave him a thumbs up.

  ‘He’s a bit keen,’ Katie said as Rose sat beside her.

  ‘I was only invited to sing a couple of songs during the whole of the dance,’ Rose huffed. ‘If he wants me up there for the evening he’s going to have to pay me. I bet his regular singer hasn’t arrived.’

  ‘Stick to your guns,’ Lily said as she joined them, putting a tray of drinks on the table. ‘These are from the sailors over by the bar,’ she added, watching Katie to see if she picked up on her friend’s words.

  Usually the quietest of the three chums, Katie jumped to her feet and gave a shriek that had people around them looking to see what the problem was. ‘It’s Jack,’ she cried, hurrying over towards where a sandy-haired sailor was pushing through the dancers to reach his fiancée. Katie fell into his arms and, oblivious to anyone watching, allowed him to sweep her off the floor and swing her round before they stopped to kiss.

  ‘There goes love’s young dream,’ Lily said with a touch of sarcasm as she reached for a half-pint glass of light ale and took a deep draught.

  ‘Oh, don’t be so cynical. Katie loves Jack, and it’s obvious he adores her too. I just hope they name the day soon, so that she gets to walk down the aisle before he’s dragged off somewhere overseas and they don’t see each other again for ages.’

  ‘And if he don’t come back she’s going to end up with a baby and be stuck in a small room somewhere, hardly able to support herself, let alone a nipper. It’s not as if she has any family to care for her, is it?’

  Rose looked at her. The three friends had been close since they started school together, and it was Lily who’d always seemed the most worldly wise even though she’d hardly set foot outside of Thanet, let alone Kent. She had ambitions – not like Rose and Katie, who were happy to live in Ramsgate and work at the tearoom. Even with her friends Rose wasn’t prepared to share her dream of being a professional singer, as it was just that – a dream.

  Katie had been brought up in the local children’s home. If it hadn’t been for her two friends sticking by her and Rose’s mum, Flora, kitting her out in hand-me-downs, the child would have had nothing to call her own. The three girls had even started work as Lyons Nippies on the same day, and travelled together to London for their formal training.

  ‘Don’t deny her a bit of happiness,’ Rose said to Lily. ‘She deserves some, and if worse comes to worst, we will be there to help her out. None of us know how this war’s going to pan out, so let Katie have a bit of fun while she can, eh?’

  ‘Blimey, you sound like your mum,’ Lily laughed as she opened a packet of Player’s cigarettes and offered one to Rose. ‘Here, have one of these. I got them off a soldier who came into the teashop. He said it was by way of a tip.’

  Rose refused the cigarette, making it clear she wasn’t amused her friend was accepting gifts from customers, as it was against the rules laid down by their employer.

  Lily ignored Rose and continued with her opinion. ‘Blimey, your mum will be clucking round Katie before we know it if she does get herself married and up the duff.’

  ‘Mum’s not that bad. She just likes looking after people, and they do appreciate it. Look how many have stayed on at Sea View since the war started.’

  Lily snorted with laughter. ‘Her lame ducks, do you mean? They know what side their bread’s buttered. She’ll not be rid of them that easily.’

  Rose felt uncomfortable. She didn’t like to hear Lily speak about her mum’s l
odgers in such a way. When she thought of Miss Tibbs, who’d lived with them as long as Rose could remember, and Mildred, who could fix anything from a dripping tap to the engine on a fishing boat, it was as if they were part of her family. Joyce Hannigan, with her young daughter, Pearl, rented two rooms at the back of the house and they had fitted perfectly into the group of residents from the day they arrived. Rose thought they were a delightful family. Then there was Mr Cardew, who kept himself to himself and even took his meals in his room these days; Mum only ever saw him to collect a dirty plate and hand over his washing. Tell a lie, Rose smiled to herself – he does pop in to the kitchen on a Friday evening to hand over his rent money. She wondered what he would think of the new lodger.

  ‘What’s tickled you?’ Lily frowned.

  Rose shrugged. ‘Nothing much,’ she replied, but knew that Lily would wheedle it out of her. She could never keep a secret from her friend. ‘I was just thinking about our new lodger. Mum’s given her the box room. She’s not from around here,’ she added thoughtfully.

  Lily’s eyes lit up. ‘Really? Is she a foreigner? You know they picked up some chap the other week, charged him as being a spy then carted him off to the Tower of London?’

  ‘Oh really, Lily, I despair! You should know better by now than to listen to our customers’ gossip. Much of it has no basis in truth. Besides, Anya is Polish – and don’t look like that,’ Rose added, noticing the way Lily was starting to sneer. ‘I don’t know what’s come into you lately. You’re either biting people’s heads off, or you’re picking holes in everything. You used to be a barrel of laughs, but not these days.’

  It was Lily’s turn to shrug her shoulders. ‘If truth be known, I’m fed up with my life. There’s nothing to do apart from go to work and come home again. This war is becoming boring. I thought we’d be able to have some fun with so many servicemen in the area, but so far I’ve not seen any fun at all. If that Polish person was a spy, at least it would add some excitement to our lives.’