by Pam Howes
Mrs Harrison got to her feet and held out her hand, which Mam took and shook gently. ‘My dear Mrs Rogers, Bobby has some flowers for you all. From the ladies of the WI, along with our most sincere condolences.’
‘Oh, er, well thank you very much,’ Mam said, her eyes filling. ‘That’s very kind of you. Will you thank the others for me? Please come into the parlour. There’s a nice fire in there and it’s more comfortable than in here. That sofa’s seen better days with the springs coming through.’ The visitors were clearly making Mam anxious as she was talking ten to the dozen. She led the way and gestured to her decent suite of furniture that was only used for special occasions like Christmas. ‘Please take a seat. Bella, you go and help Molly with the tea and slice the rest of that Victoria sponge cake up.’
Bella hurried to help Molly. Fancy Bobby and his mother turning up like that out of the blue! It was nice of them to bring flowers as well. Molly set the tray nicely with matching cups and saucers and Bella rooted out some side plates for the cake, which she finished slicing on the big plate it stood on. ‘You carry the cake and plates and I’ll do the tray. It’s a bit heavy. When you’ve put the cake down bring the dirty pots through from the vicar’s visit, okay?’
Molly nodded and made her way to the front parlour. She pushed open the door with her hip. Bobby jumped up to assist her and took the plates and cake. Molly picked up the used stuff as instructed by Bella and dashed back out of the room to the sanctuary of the old sofa and her book.
‘Aren’t you joining us?’ Bella asked as she carried the tray through the back room.
Molly shook her head. ‘Mam will start crying again and I can’t stand it. Makes me cry too and then she gets even worse. You can do it for both of us. See what they want.’
‘Okay, love.’ Bella went back in and set the tray down on the small coffee table and proceeded to pour the tea, catching Bobby’s eye as she looked up to enquire how many sugars they took.
‘None for Mother, two for me,’ he replied. ‘Your mum just said you are going to sing at Betty’s funeral.’
Bella nodded and chewed her lip. ‘I’m going to try and do my best,’ she said quietly.
‘Well in that case, would you like me to sing with you? The choir will be at the service, so we two can sing “Over the Rainbow” for Molly. I’d like to, if it might make it easier for you.’
Bella smiled. ‘Would you really do that? Oh, it would be lovely and I’d feel so much better. Thank you.’
‘It’ll be my pleasure,’ Bobby said. ‘She loved it when we sang it here for your birthday.’
‘Now, please don’t be offended by what I’m about to suggest,’ Mrs Harrison said and took a sip of tea as Mam and Dad glanced enquiringly at her. ‘The ladies of Wavertree WI would like to know if they can provide you with a small wake after the funeral in the church hall. They will supply a rather splendid buffet. We have some excellent cake and pastry-makers among our members who have offered their services free of charge.’
Mam’s mouth fell open and she clutched Dad’s hand. ‘We’re not in the least offended, are we Harry?’ she said, speaking for them both. ‘In fact, that’s a huge weight lifted from our shoulders. Thank you, so much.’
‘You have no idea how much this means to us,’ Dad said, emotion catching his voice. ‘This, er, unexpected tragedy happening to us is something we were totally unprepared for.’
‘Indeed. I doubt anyone is prepared for the sad loss of so young a child,’ Mrs Harrison said. ‘I can’t imagine how you are coping.’
Mam nodded. ‘People say it will hit us harder at the funeral. We’ve been so busy since the day she, well she passed away, and they say keeping busy helps, but that it’s after when it catches you.’
‘Well if there’s anything we can do to help, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We’ll leave you in peace for now; we don’t want to intrude any further. I’ll be in contact for numbers of mourners, or Bobby will, and then I can let the ladies of the WI know for their catering purposes.’ She got to her feet and Mam got up and gave her a hug.
‘Thank you for your concern and support,’ Mam said. ‘I’ll see you soon.’
Bella showed them out and Bobby squeezed her hand and whispered that he’d see her in a day or two.
‘Bobby must bring you to tea, Bella, when things get a little more settled for you here,’ Mrs Harrison said and gave a little wave as she walked away. Bobby smiled and hurried after her. Bella stared up the street as they got into a car parked several doors down and she realised that Bobby’s dad was sitting in the driving seat.
She wondered why he hadn’t come in, but maybe he’d dropped them off and been somewhere else meantime before coming back to pick them up. She watched the car move away and turn the corner at the bottom. Back inside she cleared the pots from the front parlour and took them into the kitchen to wash, her mind buzzing with the fact Bobby was going to help her sing Betty’s favourite song. It felt comforting to know that.
‘Well I wasn’t expecting all that,’ Mary said, shaking the cushions on the parlour sofa. ‘But how nice of the WI ladies to offer to help us out with the wake. She’s turned out quite nice, has Elsie Carter, in spite of her upbringing.’
Harry nodded and lit a cigarette. ‘Funny how she never batted an eyelid though, you know, let on that she knew you from years ago. But still, maybe she doesn’t like to think about her Old Swan days. She’s done a grand job bringing up her lad. He’s smashing is young Bobby. And he seems quite sweet on our Bella. Nice that they’re going to sing for our little ’un as well.’
‘It is. It’ll help her because I know she’ll struggle. But with regards to Elsie – or I should say, Fenella – I’m very grateful to her for her kindness today.’
8
After the beautiful service, attended by her family, neighbours and some of her young classmates, Betty was laid to rest in the same grave as her paternal grandparents in St Mary’s churchyard. Bella stood beside Bobby, who had helped her get through the emotional ordeal of singing her sister’s favourite song, while the vicar said a prayer. Her parents led the way into the church hall, asking the mourners to follow them. Bobby’s mother was waiting with two other members of the WI to welcome everyone inside.
The buffet was laid out on two trestle tables and was plentiful. When word had been passed around the close-knit community that the WI were providing the wake for Betty, many neighbours had made contributions to help as well as collecting door to door and providing beautiful floral tributes that would be laid on top of the grave. Bella could see that her parents were overwhelmed by the kindness being shown to them on the saddest day of their lives.
People stopped her and Bobby as they walked into the hall, and praised their singing. Her mam’s workmate Ethel Hardy put her arms around Bella and hugged her.
‘There’s not much makes me cry, gel, but you and him sang like angels back there. It was beautiful. Thank you.’
Bella smiled and Bobby shook Ethel’s hand. ‘It wasn’t easy,’ Bella said, ‘but we got there.’
As Bobby turned to talk to someone else who had tapped his arm, Ethel whispered to Bella, ‘He’s sweet on you, gel and he’s a good one. Don’t let him go.’
Bella felt her cheeks heating as Ethel moved away to talk to one of their neighbours. People did seem to think she and Bobby were courting. She didn’t mind, but would he? He’d not even kissed her yet, apart from a peck on the cheek. She went to stand by her mam and dad, who were with Molly near the buffet table.
‘Would you like something to eat and a cuppa, love?’ her dad asked. ‘This all looks very nice, doesn’t it? There’s enough food to feed an army. They’re spoiling us.’
‘I’ll have a cuppa, Dad. I’ll get something to eat later on. I just feel a bit sort of churned up inside at the moment.’
‘That’s understandable, chuck.’ He handed her a cup and saucer. ‘Milk and sugar are over there.’ He pointed to the end of the table, where Bobby’s mother was stan
ding talking to another WI lady. ‘Just help yourself.
Mrs Harrison turned and smiled at Bella as she approached. ‘Well done, dear. You did your sister proud. The singing was beautiful.’
‘Oh, thank you. Bobby did most of it. I struggled.’
‘The emotion in your voice made the song very meaningful. Me, and the rest of my ladies here, were standing at the back of the church sharing that special moment.’
Bella blinked away a tear. She felt too choked to speak. But Mrs Harrison seemed to understand and handed her a clean white handkerchief from her pocket. She patted Bella’s arm and picked up the teapot to refill it.
Two weeks before Christmas Molly celebrated her thirteenth birthday on the Saturday and as a treat, Bella took her to the Abbey picture house to see The Wizard of Oz. The newsreel shown before the film started was all about the conflict in Europe, which looked awful, and which Britain was now calling the Phoney War.
Nothing much seemed to be happening here apart from the underlying threat. There were regular air raid drills, all the windows of local houses and shops were covered in criss-cross tape and Mam had sewn blackout linings to all the curtains in the house. Any planes flying overhead were viewed with suspicion, but were usually test runs for the new Halifax Bombers being built nearby.
Bella and her friends were still singing regularly at work to keep morale up and it was getting harder to find new songs. The same ones were suggested over and over again. One man had brought his squeezebox in and another had a mouth organ, so they at least had a bit of a band on the go at break times. Everyone said how good the threesome was getting and they should try to do a few nights’ work in the social clubs around Liverpool.
Dad had put his foot down when Bella had brought up the subject at home. ‘No daughter of mine is going singing in a licensed establishment until she’s older,’ he’d replied, refusing to discuss it further. And that had been the end of it, for now. Bella turned her attention to something Molly was saying. The newsreel had finished and an usherette was making her way to the front of the circle where the girls were seated.
‘Mam said we could have an ice-cream tub, remember,’ Molly said.
Bella rooted in her purse for the shilling Mam had given her for the ice creams. ‘Do you want to get them?’ she suggested.
Molly nodded gleefully and joined the queue that was forming down the aisle. The lights had gone up slightly and Bella took a look around to see if there was anyone she recognised. But the picture house was half empty. That was unusual for a Saturday matinee, but times were hard and money tight. People were hanging on to what bit they’d got, just in case.
Molly was soon back with the tubs of ice cream and they settled down to watch the film. Bella didn’t even bother to try to stop the tears that ran freely down her cheeks as Judy Garland sang ‘Over the Rainbow’. She’d tried to be strong for everyone else over the last few weeks, blocking her own grief, but today it just overwhelmed her. She looked at Molly, who was also sobbing quietly, and, reaching for her hand, she gave it a squeeze. Molly squeezed back. ‘We’ve still got each other,’ she whispered. Bella nodded.
Later, as they left the Abbey and strolled silently down the street, Molly sighed. ‘Do you think our Betty is flying high with the bluebirds now, in that lovely place over the rainbow?’
‘I’m sure she is, Mol. That’s how we’ll think of her, flying high with the bluebirds, and it will make us smile and remember her funny little ways.’
The head foreman, George Barratt, beckoned Bella across the factory floor and into a small office. He closed the door and offered her a seat. ‘Don’t look so worried,’ he began. ‘You’re not in any bother. We’re having the usual Christmas party in the canteen next week. But we thought instead of just doing a bit of dancing to the gramophone it might be nice if you three girls could give us a turn. Harry will do a bit on his squeezebox and Bert can tell a few jokes. Now what about asking that boyfriend of yours if he’ll come and do a song or two with you? I’ve heard people say how good you are together.’
Bella chewed her lip. ‘Well he’s not actually my boyfriend, we’re just good pals, but I’ll ask Bobby if he’d like to come.’
‘That’ll be smashing. My mate’s got an old piano his missus wants to get rid of and he said we could have it and keep it here. He’s also got a horse and cart that he does his rag and bone round with, so him and his lad are going to fasten it to that and bring it over here and then we can see if it needs a bit of tuning and have it ready in time. We’ll keep it here then, instead of him selling it on, and we can use it for singsongs at break times as well as the party. The workforce have all said how it keeps their spirits up and if things take a turn for the worse next year then we’ll need it more than ever.’
‘Oh that sounds great,’ Bella said. ‘I’ll be seeing Bobby tomorrow night for our singing class and I’ll ask him then.’
‘Smashing. Now off you go and get some work done and have a think about what you can sing. Have a word with the other girls at break. Perhaps a few Christmas carols would be nice as well.’
‘What can we wear?’ Fran said as the three friends sat in the canteen. Bella had broken the news about the party and them performing for the rest of the workforce and that she’d been asked to invite Bobby along as well. She’d been worried that Fran would pull a face at that, but both she and Edie had eagerly agreed to the plan. ‘We should all try and wear similar clothes, matching colours at least. What have we all got that’s red? It’s a nice Christmassy colour.’
‘Nothing at all,’ Bella said with a sigh. ‘I’ve got a nice deep blue silky dress that Mam made me from some material she was given at work. It’s for singing at Christmas with the choir in the church hall. They’re doing a bit of a show as well. There are some soldiers in the area and they’ve been invited to come along.’
‘Not Germans I hope,’ Fran said and shuddered.
‘Of course not.’ Bella laughed. ‘I don’t know where they’re from but it’s somewhere in England and they are billeted locally, that’s all I know. Anyway, back to the dress situation.’
‘I’ve got a kingfisher blue dress with a full skirt and a sweetheart neckline,’ Edie said. ‘I’ve only worn it once and it’s really nice.’
Fran nodded. ‘Well in that case I’ll go and see if I can find myself a blue dress at Paddy’s on Saturday morning and in the afternoon you can both come to my place and we’ll try them on and see what we think. It’ll do me for Christmas Day for Frankie’s mam’s party as well. I was going to buy a new dress for that occasion anyway so that’s just perfect. I want to look nice for him because he’s talking about definitely signing up next year, so it could be the only Christmas we get to spend together for quite some time.’
Edie picked up her mug of tea and took a sip. ‘Oh Fran, I hope this won’t be your last Christmas together. Quite a few of the lads from the factory floor have said they’re signing up too as soon as Christmas is out of the way. There’s only going to be women left at this rate to run this factory.’
Fran sighed. ‘My two older brothers have mentioned it but Mam clipped them both around the ears and said she was putting her foot down and they can’t go. She needs the money they earn at the docks, she said. But to be honest she can’t really stop them.’
‘Has your mam signed your Alfie up to the evacuation programme yet?’ Bella asked Fran. ‘Mam won’t let Molly go; not now she’s lost Betty. It would crack her up if anything happened to Molly too.’
‘She might not have a choice,’ Fran said. ‘We’ll have to see what happens. They’ve already sent a lot of kids to the country with the first evacuation and that was a waste of time because nothing much has happened here yet. Our neighbour’s two young daughters have gone to Shropshire, wherever that is. Anyway,’ she finished as the end-of-break bell rang out. ‘That’s us with our outfits planned. Now we just need to choose the songs and some for you and Bobby, if he’ll come. We three can get some practice in at my place a
nd work out the harmonies between us.’
‘So what do you think?’ Bella asked Bobby as they strolled up Grosvenor Road towards the church hall.
‘I think it’s a wonderful idea and I’ll be happy to join you girls. Especially if I’m to sing a duet or two with you.’
‘Really? Oh, Bobby, that’s great. We’ll give the workers a really good night. They deserve it. They all work so hard and there’s not a lot to smile about right now, is there?’
‘No, indeed. It’s been a harrowing year all round. Especially for your own family, Bella.’
She nodded, feeling her eyes filling up. She blinked rapidly and half-smiled.
He stopped walking and looked at her. ‘Now don’t feel offended by this, but my mother said it won’t be an easy time for you all this Christmas and being in a house where your little sister should be will be hard to cope with. She wants me to ask if you would all like to come to us on Christmas Day for dinner and a light supper later.’
Bella stared at him, wide-eyed. She still hadn’t been to his house yet as time had flown and they had all been so busy. But the big houses on Prince Alfred Road always looked lovely around Christmas time, with twinkling candles on the trees that stood in the tall Georgian windows. She’d often wondered what it would be like to live in one of the houses. Spending Christmas Day in Bobby’s home would be lovely. It would save Mam worrying about them affording enough to eat as well. She’d been counting the pennies the other day and shaking her head. She and Dad were still trying to pay off the debt of Betty’s funeral and were struggling, even with the undertaker knocking the price down to half of what it would have normally cost.
‘Bobby, that sounds lovely. I most certainly would love to say yes, but will you come home with me later and then you can give the invitation to them yourself?’