A Winter Baby for Gin Barrel Lane

by Lindsey Hutchinson

  ‘What I want to know is whether you would take up your posts again once I can get up and running.’

  Each man gave her an emphatic, ‘Yes!’

  ‘We’ve been out of work for months,’ one said wearily.

  ‘Since the roof went,’ another put in.

  ‘I’m sorry to hear it, and I can’t say how long it will be before I can fix it either.’

  ‘So why bother calling us here today?’ the man she took to be foreman asked sharply.

  ‘I know nothing about brewing beer, so your expertise would be needed. I’m sorry if you think I’m giving you false hope, but it is my intention to see that place working again.’

  ‘But you don’t know when.’

  ‘No, I’m afraid not.’ Dolly should have realised the men would be cross and frustrated with her for raising their hopes, and she felt wretched for them.

  ‘Just send a runner when you need us,’ the foreman said off-handedly before they all trooped out to go home, grumbling about it being a waste of time their coming in the first place.

  ‘I’m thinking that was a mistake,’ Sadie mumbled.

  ‘It’s all so maddening!’ Dolly said.

  ‘There’s no point in getting upset. You feared you couldn’t afford it when you went into it first off,’ Sadie reprimanded.

  ‘I know,’ Dolly said feeling deflated.

  ‘Something will turn up, you’ll see,’ Sadie said, trying to comfort Dolly.

  The fates had interfered again and Dolly was left wanting.

  53

  A couple of days later, a man arrived asking for Mrs Dolly Larkin. Shown to the kitchen, he removed his hat, saying, ‘Good day to you, Mrs Larkin. My name is George Grindle and I am a solicitor.’

  ‘Take a seat, Mr Grindle. Will you have tea?’

  ‘Thank you, yes.’ Putting his hat on the table, the man opened his briefcase balanced on his knee.

  Dolly exchanged a brief glance with her staff who shrugged their shoulders.

  ‘I am acting on behalf of the late Miss Agnes Dewey.’

  ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know who that is,’ Dolly interrupted.

  ‘Ah, my apologies. You would probably know her better as Aggie.’

  ‘Did you say the late…?’

  ‘Yes. Again, I must apologise. I take it you did not know that my client had passed away?’

  ‘No,’ Dolly said quietly, her eyes instantly brimming with tears.

  ‘Oh, my dear lady, I thought you would have heard.’

  ‘No, I thought, as we hadn’t seen her for a while, she must have been dancing in the Emporium.’

  ‘Alas, that was not the case. A runner informed me of her demise this very morning. She passed away peacefully in her sleep. Would that we could all be so fortunate.’

  Dolly’s mind recalled her conversation with Aggie not so very long ago about that very same thing. Her tears still fell as she muttered, ‘Poor Aggie. I will organise her funeral. I’m supposing that’s the reason you are here?’

  ‘Not at all. Aggie’s funeral is organised and paid for, she made sure of it some time ago.’

  ‘Then why…?’

  ‘Aggie left her will with me.’

  ‘She made a will? How? I mean, Aggie had nothing to leave but her house and clothes.’

  ‘On the contrary, Aggie was an extremely wealthy woman and she’s bequeathed it all to you.’

  ‘To me?’

  Grindle nodded and pushed the will over to Dolly to see.

  ‘Good grief! Is this amount right?’ Dolly gasped.

  ‘It is and every last penny will be transferred to your account, which is held by Mr Blessep, I’m reliably informed.’

  Dolly nodded, too much in a daze to ask how he knew. She had inherited a fortune from a little old woman she thought to be penniless.

  ‘Where did she get all this from?’ Dolly asked at last.

  ‘Saved it, inherited it herself? Who knows?’ Grindle said, shrugging his shoulders.

  ‘The sly old bugger!’ Sadie said.

  ‘She was that,’ Grindle said with a chuckle, then added, ‘I’m sorry for your loss and I’ll be in touch with your bank as soon as possible.’ Picking up his hat, he took his leave.

  Dolly, Sadie and Alice sat in silence for a long time once the man had left, their thoughts centring on Aggie and her antics.

  Their quiet time was interrupted by Nellie and Nancy bustling in.

  ‘I’ve just had a runner pop in, old Aggie has passed on!’ Nellie said, feeling out of breath through rushing.

  ‘We know,’ Dolly said sadly.

  ‘Oh, you had a runner an’ all?’

  ‘No, a lawyer.’ Dolly explained about the inheritance and pushed the copy of the will to Nellie to see.

  ‘Bloody hellfire!’ Nancy gasped as she peeped over Nellie’s shoulder.

  ‘Not quite my words, Nancy, but perfect under the circumstances,’ Dolly said.

  After much discussion about Aggie and her will, Nancy returned to the Crown and Nellie and Dolly took a cab to the Emporium. Nellie carried Joseph in her arms, knowing that Bess and Gwen would enjoy seeing him again.

  While Nellie was busy showing off her grandson, Dolly pulled Jack into the empty dining room and told him the news whilst showing him the will.

  ‘Well, damn my eyes! Old Aggie had money all this time and still sponged drinks off us for years?’ Then Jack burst out laughing. ‘You know what this means? You can get the brewery sorted out now!’

  ‘Do you think she knew it would come to this?’

  ‘How could she? But Dolly, you know she thought the world of you and this was her way of ensuring her money wasn’t wasted,’ Jack said. He wrapped her in his arms as Dolly’s tears fell again. ‘I tell you what, once we’re up and running you can name a beer after her.’

  ‘That’s a nice idea, but I think a gin would be more appropriate.’

  ‘Right then, one cask will always be called after Aggie, both in the Palace and the Emporium, how’s that?’

  ‘Wonderful, thank you, Jack,’ Dolly said before they returned to their son, who was being fawned over by everyone.

  Over the next couple of days, the runners were out in force. The message was sent that Aggie’s funeral was at ten in the morning on Friday at St Peter’s Church, Dale End.

  Black clothes were aired out and brushed down and Nellie, Nancy, Jack and Dolly each bought flowers for the grave. Sadie and Alice were happy to take care of Joseph while they went to the funeral.

  When they arrived, they stood by the church door waiting for the coffin to appear and were amazed to see the runners lining both sides of the street. They seemed to stretch for miles and Dolly heard their sobs as the horse-drawn hearse passed them by. Then they fell in behind to walk in an orderly fashion into the graveyard. She saw the backs of dirty hands slide beneath runny noses and heard the sniffs as they followed the casket, now carried by four coffin bearers, to the graveside.

  Dolly, Jack, Nellie and Nancy joined them, as did many people from the town. The cemetery filled to capacity and folk stood on the roadway to pay their respects. Men lifted their caps and laid them on their chests and women dabbed at watery eyes. Aggie was clearly loved by a great many people.

  The service began with the vicar standing at one end of Aggie’s final resting place. Then the casket was lowered into the ground.

  The emotion was too much for them now and the children began to cry out loud. Dolly’s heart went out to them. These boys and girls had so little in their lives, and the person they loved most in the world had left them. Dolly had no idea where or how they lived but she knew their lives would be harder now Aggie had gone.

  She watched as the older children tried, even though their own distress and grief was heart-breaking, to comfort the younger ones. Dolly’s own tears fell as she silently said her last goodbye to Aggie. The Palace would not be the same without her.

  Mopping away her tears on the handkerchief Jack had passed to her, she turned t
o him, saying quietly, ‘I know what I want to do with some of the money Aggie left to me.’ She tilted her head towards the sobbing children.

  ‘What?’ he asked in a whisper.

  ‘A home for those children. Somewhere they can go back to after a day’s running, for I don’t think for a minute they would give it up.’

  ‘Aggie would definitely approve,’ he said as he held her hand, ‘and so do I.’

  54

  The following day, when Jack had gone off to his work at the Emporium, Dolly asked Danny Whitehouse to whistle for a runner. It took a few moments before he came into the kitchen with a lad of about twelve years old.

  ‘I need you to find the foreman of the brewery and ask him to call on me at his earliest convenience please. Then can you get the same message to Eli Hodges, please.’

  ‘Righto, Dolly.’ The boy nodded and thanked Dolly for the tanner, which he shoved in his boot. A slice of cake from Sadie and he was gone.

  A couple of hours later, the foreman arrived with a knock to the back door. He was allowed entry by Alice, then Dolly welcomed him and indicated he should take a seat.

  ‘Nice to see you again, Mr…?’

  ‘John Jeffries.’

  ‘If you remember, John, I said I would call on you when I was in a position to get the brewery roof repaired. Well, I am now in that position.’

  ‘That’s good news.’

  ‘However, I need your help,’ Dolly said.

  ‘Anything I can do, I will.’

  ‘Firstly, I need you to round up the workers and see if they will help with the work. If they agree, you can have them report to Eli Hodges at the site. He will instruct them as to what can be done about aiding him – shifting rubble, maybe.’

  ‘I’m sure they’d be glad of something to do, especially if it means getting the brewery going again,’ John said.

  ‘Good, because that’s where you come in. I need you to write down some things for me.’

  ‘What things?’ John asked with a puzzled frown.

  ‘I’ve made a little list.’ Dolly pushed the paper across the table to him and, while he read it, she asked Sadie if they might have some tea.

  ‘I can do this, well, most of it, anyway.’

  ‘Excellent.’

  Sadie made the tea while John filled in answers by the questions Dolly had written down. How much did the men earn whilst working for Ezra? Who and where were the suppliers? What goods were damaged in the cave-in? Was there anything else which would need replacing? Who did Ezra supply to? Who was taking care of the dray horses now? Would the men entertain having a woman for their boss?

  John smiled at the last and wrote, ‘Yes, ma’am!’

  Dolly read John’s answers as he was given tea and cake by Alice.

  ‘Thanks, chick,’ he said.

  ‘This is very helpful, John.’

  ‘I’m sorry I don’t know what Ezra paid for the hops and things, though,’ he said.

  ‘That’s all right, I do. Now I’m willing to pay the men the same amount as Ezra did whilst they work for Eli.’

  ‘Thank you Dolly, they’ll be so glad of that.’

  Dolly held up a hand and went on. ‘When the roof is repaired and all the mess is cleared away I’ll need the men back in their original jobs, for which I will increase their wages.’

  Dolly saw John swallow the lump in his throat as he nodded.

  ‘Now we come to you. How did you find it being a foreman?’

  ‘Well enough. I was accepted as such by the other blokes; we made a good team.’

  ‘Well, I’m offering you the job of manager of the works with a salary to reflect the status of the position.’

  John bowed his head and covered his eyes with a hand, his shoulders heaving quietly.

  Dolly looked at Sadie, who wiped away a tear of her own. She heard the man’s sniffs and eventually the heels of John’s hands rubbed his eyes. ‘I’m sorry about that. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you.’

  Dolly glanced at the freshly baked cake and Sadie held up a tea cloth in question. Dolly nodded and Sadie wrapped the cake in the cloth.

  ‘Go and tell your family you’ll be working for Dolly Larkin as from today, then get those men to the brewery site to wait for Eli.’

  John stood and looked at the cook, who passed over the wrapped cake.

  Unable to speak, lest his emotions overwhelm him again, John gave the three women a casual salute and left the kitchen briskly.

  ‘Oh, I hate to see a grown man cry,’ Sadie said.

  ‘Me too, it reminds me of Wilton that day,’ Dolly replied.

  ‘We ain’t seen much of him lately,’ Alice said.

  ‘I expect he’s extremely busy now that he’s taken over from his late father,’ Dolly answered. ‘I do miss his little jokes, though.’

  ‘I suppose he has to stay in the office more now he’s the boss,’ Sadie added. ‘Right, I’ll get on and make some more cake as you keep giving them away!’

  Dolly smiled and it was then she heard Eli’s voice as he called out before walking through the back door. ‘It’s only me, Dolly.’

  ‘Come in, Eli.’

  ‘Tea?’ Sadie asked.

  ‘Ooh, ar! That would be lovely.’

  ‘I’d offer you cake but Dolly’s just given it away to somebody else,’ Sadie said with a big grin on her face.

  Dolly rolled her eyes then said, ‘I hope you are well, Eli. And I’d like, if you can, for you and your team to repair the brewery roof, please.’

  Eli clapped his hands together. ‘Wonderful! All I have in the way of work at the moment is to replace a broken window in the chapel.’

  Dolly explained how she had requested the brewery workers to lend a hand, under his supervision of course, and that she would pay them a small wage for their efforts. ‘They are being asked to meet you at the site.’

  ‘I’d best get over there, then,’ Eli said before slurping the last of his tea. ‘Thanks, Dolly.’

  Joseph niggled in his carriage and Dolly smiled. He would be waking for a feed shortly.

  ‘Shall I carry him upstairs for you, Dolly?’ Alice asked.

  ‘Yes please, Alice. It’s at times like these that I wish I didn’t have to use my stick.’

  ‘I’m a little glad you do,’ Alice said quietly as she lifted the baby.

  Sadie sucked in a breath and flashed a look at Dolly.

  Alice rushed on, ‘Oh, I mean only because I get to cuddle Joseph!’

  Dolly laughed and Alice breathed with relief that her friend and employer had not taken offence at her remark.

  ‘Go on before he starts wailing,’ Dolly said.

  Sadie tittered as she set about her baking. Dolly hitched up her long skirt with one hand and held her cane in the other as she made her way precariously up the stairs behind Alice.

  Once Joseph was fed and changed, Dolly called Alice to fetch him down to his carriage once more.

  ‘I’m going out for a while, so I’ll ask Nellie to mind this one,’ Dolly said, tilting her head to the perambulator, ‘that will give you ladies a bit of peace.’

  Laying her stick across the carriage, Dolly manoeuvred it through the back door. Watching for traffic coming her way, she strode across the road to the Crown.

  ‘Oh here he is, my sunshine!’ Nellie said as Dolly arrived.

  ‘Would you have him while I run some errands?’ Dolly asked.

  ‘Of course, we’d be delighted wouldn’t we, Nance?’

  Nancy nodded as she peeped at the sleeping babe. ‘He’s growing so fast!’

  ‘Where you off to?’ Nellie asked.

  ‘I’ll explain when I get back,’ Dolly answered with a grin.

  ‘All right, lovey, take your time, there’s no rush,’ Nellie said as she placed the baby carriage next to the table.

  Outside, Dolly took a cab to the bank first to see Mr Blessep. On the journey, she glanced out of the windows at the soot-blackened buildings and people ambling about. Many
of the pedestrians didn’t appear to have a destination in mind and Dolly presumed a lot were out of work.

  Arriving at the bank, the cabbie nodded when asked to wait.

  ‘Come in, Dolly, please have a seat,’ Jonah Blessep said as she entered his office.

  ‘Thank you. I’ve come to see how my account stands.’

  ‘In the pink, my dear,’ Jonah said. He pulled her file from the cabinet and set it in front of her.

  Dolly nodded happily. Aggie’s money had been transferred as Mr Grindle promised it would be.

  ‘You are a very fortunate young woman,’ Jonah said. ‘Do you have any plans for that?’ He nodded towards the open file.

  Dolly explained about the brewery roof being fixed with the help of the brewers and what she would do with it once that was done.

  ‘Another string to your bow,’ Jonah said.

  ‘Yes, but there’s something else I want to do also,’ Dolly said and told him her ideas about providing a home for the urchin runners.

  ‘It’s a noble sentiment. You will of course need women to care for them once you find a building large enough to house them all.’

  ‘I know, and I thought maybe a teacher too.’

  ‘They would certainly benefit from an education.’

  ‘I’m going to visit the estate agent now to seek his help in finding a suitable place.’

  ‘Good luck, Dolly, if anyone deserves it, you do.’

  Giving her thanks shyly, Dolly set off for the property seller’s office.

  Squashed between two shops, the building had one window with notices stuck on and a door over which a bell tinkled. A desk and chair took prominence in the room with two chairs opposite. Gas lamps on the walls shed a yellow pool of light, giving the whole a dingy look and feel. A coat stand stood by the door with only one garment hanging from a hook.

  Having taken the seat offered, she began, ‘I need somewhere large enough to house the runners.’

  The man behind the desk could not prevent his mouth from falling open at her request.