‘Oh, bugger your mam!’ Lily burst out and that made Vera scream with laughter and put her fingers over her lips, but at that moment there was a knock on the door and both girls froze. When Vera ventured to answer it, she was relieved to see it was Elsie Tanner. Elsie stubbed out her cigarette as she accepted Vera’s invitation into the vestry.
‘Hello, girls,’ she said cheerily. ‘Having a bit of fun while your mam’s out?’
Vera smiled coyly. ‘Shall we tell her, Lily?’ she said and when Lily nodded she outlined the gist of their earlier conversation.
‘You won’t tell my mam or Mrs Sharples, will you?’ Lily said.
‘No, of course not, don’t look so worried,’ Elsie said. ‘Your secret’s safe with me. Though I must tell you I was wed at your age, Lily. Not that I’m suggesting you do that, but you can see why Mrs Sharples thinks it might be a good idea.’
‘We want to enjoy ourselves first, don’t we, Vera?’ Lily said, ‘not get tied down with babies. But the thing is, we both want to get away from home. And marriage seems to be the only way out …’
Chapter 5
Lily came out of Earnshaw’s Clothing factory only minutes after the klaxon sounded announcing the changeover from the morning to the evening shift. The noise of the horn blasted around the old factory walls and filled the air between the tightly packed houses in the surrounding streets. Before the war the factory had employed cheap labour from the villages beyond Weatherfield and they had made all types of clothing. Now the workers were mainly local women and girls, the machines had been converted and they manufactured forces’ uniforms only. But Lily wasn’t thinking about the yards of heavy duty fabrics she had to haul about most mornings, or the hours she spent hunched over the large industrial sewing machines she had been trained to operate; tonight, as she set off in the direction of home, her head was filled with thoughts of Johnny Bradwell. She hadn’t seen him since he had run away the night Vera had caught the two of them in the alley. She hoped that the incident hadn’t put him off completely and she kept wondering where she could go and what she might do to bump into him again.
Lily had first met Johnny on a summer’s evening not unlike this one when she had been in the midst of the jostling crowds emerging from the factory. She had been walking, head bowed against the strong wind, and hadn’t seen him in her path until it was too late. Afterwards he admitted that he had spotted her and that he’d deliberately woven his way across the crowded pavement in order to get a closer look. He had nearly knocked her down in his eagerness, but she had grabbed hold of his arm to prevent herself from falling. When she’d looked up, she’d immediately been struck by his good looks, the smoothness of his sleeked-back hair and his cheeky grin. Her legs had felt like jelly when she’d realized that his hand was still clasped around hers.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she said, ‘I wasn’t looking where I was going. I hope I didn’t hurt you.’ She tried to withdraw her hand.
‘Not at all, it was my fault,’ he’d said immediately. ‘Are you all right?’
‘I’m fine,’ she said, not wanting to admit that she was shaken.
‘No, you’re not,’ he contradicted. ‘Look, your hand’s trembling.’ He lifted her fingers gently and held her open hand, palm up. ‘I’m really sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going. My name’s Johnny, by the way.’
‘Lily,’ she said, feeling the blood rushing to her cheeks.
‘Here, let me carry that bag for you, Lily.’
She couldn’t resist his ready smile.
‘Where do you live?’ he’d asked. ‘The least I can do is to walk you home.’
Lily thought of home and the angry, oppressive atmosphere she had left behind that morning, the same tensions she could be walking into this evening if her father was still at home. Long ago she had found to her cost that it was not a good idea to take strangers there, unannounced.
‘No, thank you all the same but there’s no need …’ she began.
But before she could say anything further he had put a protective arm around her and was guiding her in the direction she had originally been heading. Lily had stopped protesting and walked meekly by his side. It felt nice being escorted and she was happy to walk with him for a little way. However, when they reached the Rovers Return in Coronation Street, Lily suddenly woke up to the fact that being so close to home she could easily come across someone she knew and she stopped walking and turned to face him. She was surprised to find him gazing directly at her and she had to avert her eyes.
‘Thanks so much, Johnny,’ she said. ‘I do appreciate you bringing me this far, but I’m very close to home now so it’s fine if you leave me here.’ The Longhursts didn’t live on Coronation Street itself but on Mawdsley Street; the two streets shared a back alley, whereby the houses on each side could be accessed through their back yards.
He put his finger under her chin and tilted her face slightly so that she was forced to look up at him.
‘That’s OK, I understand,’ he said, and there was a knowing look on his face. ‘Maybe we’ll meet up again some time,’ he said. ‘The name’s Johnny Bradwell. Lily …?’ he asked as he stuffed his hands deep into his pockets.
Lily stiffened when she heard the name. ‘Longhurst,’ she said, somewhat reluctantly, though nothing registered on his face.
He’d merely nodded and given her a wink before he began to walk back the way they had come, whistling ‘As Time Goes By’ under his breath, while Lily had stood frozen.
Johnny Bradwell was not a name she dared to mention at home, even though since meeting him he had filled her thoughts, for as she’d told Vera, she’d heard her mother on several occasions speaking ill of his entire family. But now that she had met him she realized that a badly behaved family didn’t make him any less attractive. On the contrary, as far as she was concerned he was far too good-looking to ignore and his family’s reputation made him all the more exciting to pursue.
Chapter 6
‘Well, look at you, all dressed up like a dog’s dinner,’ Ena said, eyeing Vera’s dirndl skirt and Ceylonese blouse that she usually saved for the weekends. ‘And where would you be off to at this hour?’
‘I’m going to the pictures, if you must know,’ Vera said, brightly. ‘The new Will Hay film, It Ain’t Hay, is on at the Rex.’
‘More to the point, who are you going with?’ A slight smile played on Ena’s lips. ‘I trust he’s coming to pick you up?’
Vera had been trying to fix her hair in the mirror, rolling it round her fingers the way she’d seen Lily do, but each time she tried to pin the sausage curls they fell about her face again and hung limply.
‘Here, let me!’ Ena snatched the hairbrush from Vera’s hands and began to line up the curls across her forehead.
‘I’m going with Lily,’ Vera said, handing Ena the clips.
‘Oh, I thought you were going with Eric,’ Ena said, her voice suddenly tight.
‘What made you think that?’ Vera tried to sound matter-of-fact.
‘Didn’t he ask you?’ Ena said.
‘Yes, you know very well that that was why he telephoned, but I told him no,’ Vera said, holding up the next kirby grip.
Ena stopped what she was doing. ‘What do you mean you said no?’ she positively snapped.
‘Don’t worry, I was polite. But I told you I didn’t want anything to do with him when we went there and I meant it.’ Vera’s voice began to quiver and she took a deep breath. She kept her eyes down, staring into her lap. She was determined not to give in even though she could sense that her mother was glaring at her.
At that moment Vera thought she heard a knock at the front door of the vestry flat but she couldn’t be sure as the air-raid siren started whining at the same time.
‘Hm. It doesn’t look like you’ll be going anywhere,’ Ena sneered.
The remainder of the clips dropped from Vera’s lap as she hurried to answer the door, and when she opened it the siren’s wail seemed to fill the entire f
lat. She ushered Lily inside while in the street people were fleeing in all directions as the drone of the enemy aircraft grew louder too. They hadn’t had an air raid for some time but everyone seemed to have remembered the drill as streams of people were heading towards the main entrance of the Mission to seek shelter in the ample basement. Intent on their purpose, they mostly kept their heads down, not even looking to see whether any fire bombs had already landed.
‘Am I relieved to have made it in time!’ Lily said. ‘I’d not long since set off when the sirens sounded but I thought I’d better keep going and get here as fast as possible rather than going back. Besides, my mam and dad always hide in the cupboard under the stairs and there’s never enough room for me. It’s the one place they don’t row.’ She giggled.
‘Well, I’m glad to see you,’ Vera said. ‘But do come in quickly or Mam will start start yelling at us about the light,’ she said, and, opening the door wide, she grabbed Lily’s arm and pulled her across the threshold.
Ena had already gone downstairs and Vera picked up the torch that was lying on the table in the hall and shone it in the direction of the stairs that led down into the basement. She guided Lily through the hall and down the familiar cellar steps into the semi-darkness.
They were greeted by the warm waves that were coming off the crowds as the cellar was already half-full. The blackout blinds, permanently drawn over the basement half-windows, made it difficult to see in the weak lighting coming off the lamps that were spread around the large room, and it took a few moments for Vera’s eyes to adjust, but there was no mistaking her mother already sitting at the piano trying to lead a sing-song of her favourite hymns, while others were trying to drown her out and to raise their spirits with old songs from the Great War like ‘Pack Up Your Troubles’, and ‘Keep the Home Fires Burning’. It was often where she could be found when she wasn’t on her warden duties of an evening.
‘It’s a shame we’re going to miss out going to the pictures,’ Vera said. ‘I was looking forward to it.’
‘Maybe they’ll keep the film on for a few extra days so we can go later in the week,’ Lily said. ‘Although if the all-clear sounds there might still be time for them to show the whole film through tonight.’
It was less than half an hour before the all-clear sounded and, after waiting a few extra minutes in case there was another wave of danger, people began to emerge once more into what was left of the evening sunshine. Vera had to blink hard in order for her eyes to adjust after the murkiness of the basement as they came back up the stairs.
‘Do you think they might show the film tonight now that the danger’s passed?’ Vera said. ‘It’s not that late.’
‘True, we weren’t down there very long,’ Lily said. ‘So maybe no harm done. Perhaps we should take a stroll down to the cinema and see what’s happening. I don’t know about you, but I could do with some fresh air after that musty cellar.’
Vera glanced back into the hall towards the piano where her mother looked almost disappointed as she gathered together her sheets of music. Vera waved at her and indicated she and Lily were going out. Ena glared and gave a brief nod of acknowledgement, the distance too far for her to shout, her arms too full to wave back.
‘I’m ready and Mam knows we’re leaving,’ Vera said.
‘Let’s go then,’ Lily said. ‘The evening might not end up as bad as we thought.’
They walked down to the centre of Weatherfield and found a notice had been pinned up at the box office confirming that there would be one showing of the programme tonight instead of the usual two. It would begin shortly and it would include the B film, the thriller with Jack Palance that had previously been billed, and an extended Pathé newsreel with an update on the progress of the war, as well as the main feature, It Ain’t Hay. Vera was listening as Lily read it out and it took her a few moments to realize that she was standing next to Bob Lomax. No longer in his work overalls, he looked very different in his button-down shirt and snug-fitting home-knit pullover under a shabby tweed jacket, a cowlick of hair managing to escape from under his flat cap.
‘Hello, Bob,’ she said. ‘How are you?’ Her pulse was suddenly racing and she knew her cheeks must have reddened beyond the rouge she had applied quickly before she left the house.
Bob stared at her blankly.
‘It’s Vera Sharples,’ she said. ‘Do you remember? We met in the basement at the factory when I wasn’t feeling very well and you kindly helped me back up the stairs to my bench.’ She cleared her throat in embarrassment.
Bob still looked puzzled and he stared at her for a few moments more before his face cleared and to her relief he said, ‘Oh yes, I remember.’
‘I’ve been looking out for you at the factory,’ she said, with a sudden burst of confidence.
‘Why was that?’ He sounded surprised.
‘So that I could thank you properly for rescuing me,’ Vera said.
‘No need,’ Bob said. He touched the edge of his cap and was about to hurry away but Lily suddenly stepped in.
‘I don’t think we’ve been introduced,’ she said.
Vera could feel the warmth from her cheeks slowly spread down her neck and up into the roots of her hair. ‘Bob, this is Lily Longhurst, my friend. Lily, this is Bob Lomax from work.’
‘Pleased to meet you, Bob, I’m sure,’ Lily said and she nodded her head towards him and smiled. ‘I take it you’ve not seen this film, then?’
‘Er, no, not yet,’ he stammered.
‘Then maybe we could all go together?’ Lily said.
‘Well, yes I suppose we could …’ Bob started to say.
‘That’s wonderful,’ Lily said and she steered them towards the queue for the cheaper tickets that was now forming down the side of the cinema.
Vera was delighted by her friend’s boldness and she hung back to walk alongside Bob. Seconds later she could see that Lily had stopped to talk to a lad already in the queue that she didn’t recognize. As they drew level, Lily grabbed Vera’s arm.
‘Vera, I want you to meet a friend of mine. This is Johnny Bradwell,’ she said, her face flushed with obvious excitement. A tall, good-looking boy stepped away from the queue, and, without speaking, nodded towards Vera and Bob. ‘Johnny wants me to go and sit in the more expensive seats with him,’ Lily said, pointing to the queue for the one and sixes on the opposite side of the box office. ‘You don’t mind, do you? Then you two can sit together,’ she said. She bent close to Vera’s ear. ‘Johnny wants to sit on the back row,’ she whispered and she elbowed Vera playfully in the ribs. She smiled at Bob and before Vera could say more than, ‘Well, I suppose …’ Lily and Johnny had moved away, leaving Vera and Bob, bemused, looking tight-lipped and tense in the middle of the queue.
‘Is your friend courting then?’ Bob said when they had stood in silence for several minutes.
‘She’s not really …’ Vera began, though she realized she didn’t know how to continue. Fortunately there was no time to say anything further as they had reached the box-office window where Bob paid for his ticket and Vera scrabbled through the change in her pocket to pay for her own.
The cinema was filling up quickly and they took two of the few remaining seats on the second row where they were close to where the organ emerged in the interval between performances. Neither spoke, but as the lights dimmed Vera took several sideways glances at Bob and inched over closer to him, willing him to put his arm around her, or to make some friendly gesture instead of keeping his hands firmly tucked away in his jacket pockets.
When the film was over Vera was pleased to see Lily waiting for her by the ticket window in the foyer. She was with Johnny and they were holding hands and staring into each other’s eyes.
‘Johnny’s offered to walk me home,’ Lily said quickly as Vera and Bob approached. ‘But I don’t want to leave you in the lurch, Vera.’ She turned to Bob. ‘The thing is, Vera’s mam sort of expects me to see her safely home and I was wondering whether you might like to
do that tonight, Bob?’
Bob looked surprised and opened his mouth to speak but Lily didn’t give him a chance to refuse. Instead, she put her hand out and patted his arm. ‘Thanks so much, that’s a real weight off my mind. I appreciate it,’ she said, as she glanced at Vera, ‘and I know Vera will too. Be seeing you then, Vera. Enjoy the walk home,’ she added and, with a little wave of her hand, Lily looped her arm through Johnny’s as they walked away from the cinema and in the direction of Mawdsley Street.
Vera stood and watched her go, her mind in turmoil. She knew she should have been pleased that Bob would be seeing her home but she wished that he’d offered or that she’d had the courage to ask him herself. More importantly, what would her mother say to her coming home with a lad? And Bob didn’t look pleased either. As he kicked loose stones into the road he had a sullen look on his face.
‘I suppose we’d best be off then,’ he said eventually. ‘Which way?’
Vera pointed, and he set off in the direction of the Mission at such a pace that Vera had to practically run to keep up with him.
When they arrived, the Mission Hall and the vestry were in darkness like all the surrounding houses in the neighbourhood and Bob flashed the diffused light of his torch quickly in an effort to seek out the front door. The brief illumination of the familiar porch gave Vera a false kind of courage; the evening was almost ending, Bob would be leaving her alone, so without giving herself time to think she pulled him into the doorway and kissed him on the lips as she had seen the film stars do. She wasn’t sure who was the more astonished, but she knew she had done the right thing when Bob responded immediately, shocking her into silence as he pushed her lips apart with his tongue. She didn’t object, she barely moved, letting him press up against her while laying his hand tentatively on her coat across her chest. But then they both sprang apart when there was the sudden noise of loud footsteps coming from inside the flat and by the time Ena opened the front door they were standing on opposite sides of the door mat.
Wartime on Coronation Street Page 5
