The Liberty Girls

by Fiona Ford

  But Mr Button merely shook his head as he handed her a slip of paper. ‘I’m sorry Alice, but the decision has been made. Mr Wilmington is expecting you. That chit of paper I’ve just given you is for your overalls. I’m sure they’ll have one in your size.’

  Chapter Forty-Three

  The warm summer days and lazy summer nights continued as July progressed. It had been almost a fortnight since Alice had told Luke to leave the house and she was finally beginning to relax both at home and work. Her new job in the stores wasn’t anywhere near as bad as she had feared and Mr Wilmington had welcomed her with open arms, handing her some overalls and encouraging her to drink as much tea as she wanted.

  It made a welcome change, Alice had to confess, and instead of fretting about the future she did her best to simply embrace and appreciate each day at work and with her son. It was Arthur who was really helping her get through. Watching him change and grow, seemingly every hour, gave her a renewed purpose. She couldn’t help feeling it didn’t much matter what happened to her – everything she did, everything she would do was for her son.

  But of course it was her very own Liberty girls who ensured she didn’t slip away. She didn’t have the strength to tell them everything, only that Luke had left. Thankfully none of the girls had pressed her and Joy hadn’t uttered a word about what had happened. Alice wanted to repay the favour, which was why tonight, as she helped Mary, Flo, Jean and Rose get ready for the next community stitch night, she had insisted Joy come along.

  ‘Over here,’ she called, waving to her sister, who was still dressed in her Mayfair House uniform.

  ‘How are you, Alice love?’

  ‘Fine. Did you bring your hat like I asked?’

  ‘’Course. Not sure how much difference it’ll make to this dress though. I’ve never got on with navy.’

  ‘It’ll make the world of difference.’ Flo smiled. ‘I want to show the women tonight that dressing cleverly is all about accessories.’

  ‘And that’s what will win them the fashion parade title?’ Joy nodded in understanding.

  ‘Precisely,’ Alice replied as she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ears, only for Joy to peer closely at her neck.

  ‘What’s that black mark?’

  ‘What black mark?’ Alice asked, doing her best to wipe it off.

  ‘The one that you’re frantically rubbing at,’ Joy said sarcastically. ‘What’s going on?’

  Alice exchanged a guilty look with Flo, who gave her an encouraging nudge. ‘Go on, tell her.’

  ‘Tell me what?’ Joy hissed impatiently.

  Alice sighed. ‘I don’t work on the shop floor no more.’

  Confusion crossed Joy’s face. ‘What do you mean? Have you got a promotion into the offices then?’ she asked, turning back to look at Rose, who was busy answering some of the women’s questions about sewing. ‘Only you never said anything when I saw you last week and Rose hasn’t said nothing neither.’

  Alice looked at the floor. ‘No, well, I’m embarrassed, you see. Thing is …’

  ‘Will you spit it out?’ Joy snapped.

  ‘The thing is she works in the stores now,’ Flo said helpfully. ‘Mr Button said that as she had a mouth like a delivery driver combined with no respect for her superiors, she could work in the loading bay until she learned some manners.’

  Joy’s hands flew to her chest in shock. ‘Oh my days! Alice! You’re never humping and lugging boxes about like the fellas, are you?’

  Miserably Alice nodded. ‘It’s my own fault. I shouldn’t have spoken to Mrs Claremont the way I did.’

  ‘She had it coming,’ Flo said loyally over a pile of material. ‘It’s just a shame she’s succeeded in getting you moved because frankly, Alice, fabrics isn’t the same without you. Now, with Mary still in carpets, I’m the only one there that knows anything about the stock, or even pattern-cutting.’

  Alice frowned. ‘But Jean’s coming on leaps and bounds.’

  ‘She is,’ Flo agreed. ‘But Mrs Claremont doesn’t want me training her up. Says I make mistakes that cost the company money so she doesn’t trust me to do it. Only problem is Mrs Claremont is doing it herself and as she knows next to nothing about fabrics Jean’s making a mess. This whole situation’s a bugger’s muddle.’

  ‘So what do we do?’ Alice wailed.

  Joy shrugged. ‘Talk to Mr Button. He’s not unreasonable. I’m sure, Flo, you could tell him the problems the department is having and say that it would be better for you, Alice and Mary to work together again for the good of the store.’

  Alice smiled at her sister affectionately. ‘When did you get so wise?’

  Joy flushed at the compliment. ‘It had to happen sometime,’ she replied just as Mary clapped her hands together.

  ‘All right, everyone, I think we’re ready to start,’ she called over the din of chatter. ‘Today we’re going to do something a bit different. Each of us is going to come around and examine your work tonight. We’ll make suggestions on your stitching technique along with things you can include like accessories to help make your outfit a success for our fashion parade.’

  ‘And the winner of the show still gets a leather bag,’ Mrs Hillingdon, one of Alice’s customers, piped up. ‘That is the prize, isn’t it? That’s what is says on all the posters.’

  Mary grinned. ‘Yes, that’s still the prize. The fashion parade is in just a fortnight now, right here in our lovely store, so, ladies, we need to get our fingers stitching.’

  The women needed no more encouragement than that, and immediately got to work. Together with Flo, Mary and Jean, Alice walked amongst them, chatting and offering advice. She paused beside one young woman dressed in a bus conductor’s uniform whom she recognised as a regular.

  ‘I’m Alice, one of the staff here. I just wanted to say that’s a beautiful print. I’ve always had a soft spot for this ivory with the tiny flowers.’

  ‘Hilda.’ The woman smiled back, her cat-like green eyes bursting with friendliness. ‘Me too – it was my old wedding dress.’

  Confusion passed across Alice’s face. ‘Don’t you want to keep hold of it?’

  Hilda shook her head. ‘After leading me a dog’s life for years he finally left last month, and good riddance, I say.’

  ‘But you must be devastated!’ Alice exclaimed. ‘Do you have children?’

  ‘Two sons,’ Hilda replied, a warm smile flashing across her face. ‘John who’s eight and Barry who will be seven next month. They were evacuated down to Devon when war broke out but I went and got them back. It was selfish perhaps but being without them was too much of a cross to bear, I missed them that much.’

  Alice nodded her head, understanding only too well. ‘I’d have probably done the same. My lad’s only a few months old but even the thought of having him evacuated sends shivers down my spine.’

  ‘It was the same for me,’ Hilda replied. ‘John and Barry are the light of my life in a way my husband never was and never will be.’

  ‘But aren’t you worried about your sons growing up without a father?’

  Hilda snorted with laughter. ‘You must be joking. My boys are better off with no father than a father like that.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Alice said hesitantly, unsure what to say in the face of such bluntness. She was all for calling a spade a spade but she wasn’t one to air her dirty laundry in public either.

  Hilda shrugged, her bright red hair falling past her shoulders. ‘Don’t be. He took up with a fancy piece three doors down. Thought it’d humiliate me, but in fact I couldn’t be more delighted. He’s someone else’s problem now and it means all the money I earn can go on me and my boys, and anything left over can go on transforming pretty fabric like this.’

  Alice smiled at Hilda’s confidence. She did seem genuinely happy with the way things had worked out. ‘Do you miss him?’ she asked suddenly. ‘I mean do you wish things were different?’

  Hilda put down her sewing then and looked wistful for a second be
fore she replied. ‘No I don’t. I mean when we got married it was wonderful, and when my boys came along I thought we would be the perfect family. But then he changed. Got a job as a rag-and-bone man and slowly he started to become someone I didn’t recognise. He was carrying on with Ida May for years behind my back so it was a flipping great big relief when he finally left me for her.’

  ‘And you really don’t feel humiliated?’ Alice asked bluntly.

  Hilda threw her head back and roared with laughter, revealing a row of pearly white teeth. ‘If anyone’s humiliated it’s Ida May. She’s got to deal with him forever more now.’

  Alice smiled. ‘It’s good you feel that way.’

  ‘It is. And my boys do too. You see, it’s always been their happiness I’ve put first. It’s why I never threw him out beforehand: I thought the boys needed him in their lives. I mean every child needs a father, don’t they?’

  ‘Unless it’s a bad one,’ Alice replied in understanding.

  ‘Exactly,’ Hilda said knowingly, and returned to her sewing.

  As Alice continued to walk amongst the women she began to think about her own situation with Luke. The truth was that since he had gone she hadn’t missed him at all; if anything she felt somewhat relieved she no longer had to deal with his erratic behaviour. But of course she knew that he couldn’t go on living in a hotel forever and eventually they would have to talk about the future and how they would repair their marriage. Unless he chose to leave her for Hélène of course, and at this particular moment in time Alice couldn’t decide whether that would be a blessing or a burden.

  Glancing up at the clock she saw it had gone eight, and time to end their stitching evening. The women had done well, she thought as she surveyed them all, heads bent over their work. Some of them had never held a needle before in their lives, much less cut a pattern, yet all of them had taken to the challenge with enthusiasm. This war, Alice realised, in many ways had been a blessing. It had given some women a freedom that they had never experienced before. Yes of course they still had the responsibilities of running a home, caring for children and looking after a husband, but with men on the front line jobs previously only ever done by men had opened up for them, showing them a new way of life. Maybe, Alice thought with a start, the problem wasn’t all Luke, perhaps it was her too? Perhaps she had become different since war had broken out? She had always been good at fending for herself – she’d had to be when her father left – but she had always been grateful for Luke’s protection and care. Perhaps since Luke had joined the war effort she had become too good at taking care of herself.

  Now as the women gathered their belongings together, Alice saw Mrs Claremont walk briskly across the floor towards her.

  ‘Mrs Milwood,’ she began crisply, and summoned the remaining Liberty girls. ‘I’m afraid I have some bad news.’

  ‘Oh?’ Flo asked.

  ‘Yes. I’m afraid it won’t be possible to hold the fashion parade at Liberty’s after all. The board feels that it will be too dangerous to have that many people in store after hours.’

  ‘How ridiculous!’ Mary exclaimed.

  Rose gasped. ‘So what do we do?’

  ‘We can’t let these women down,’ Alice said determinedly. ‘Some have made real progress, not just with their stitching but with their confidence at learning a new skill.’

  ‘I agree,’ Mrs Claremont said, surprising everyone. ‘I’m appalled, to be honest with you ladies. The evenings have done a lot to restore the store’s coffers, and of course having Betty Fawcett as judge has brought us a lot of publicity, not to mention the fact that donations to charity will be lost. In my opinion the board has been very short-sighted, but I’m afraid we will have to cancel.’

  The girls looked at one another helplessly. After all their hard work, it had come to this?

  ‘There must be something we can do?’ Alice wailed.

  ‘What’s happening?’ Joy asked, suddenly appearing from behind with her hands full of needles, threads and buttons.

  ‘Liberty’s say we can’t hold the fashion parade here after all,’ Rose groaned. ‘We’re going to have to cancel it.’

  ‘Can’t you hold it somewhere else?’ Joy asked, dropping a spool of thread to the floor in the process.

  ‘At such short notice?’ Alice grimaced. ‘The parade is due to be held in two weeks’ time. Nowhere can accommodate us that soon.’

  ‘Plus we don’t have the money,’ Flo said curtly. ‘I may not work in the offices any more but I knew the budgets inside and out, and there won’t be any money set aside to hire anywhere.’

  ‘What about Mayfair House?’ Joy said suddenly. ‘You could hold the event there.’

  The girls looked at Joy in surprise.

  ‘They’d never let us go in their fancy hotel, would they? Surely they wouldn’t have room?’ Jean asked cautiously.

  ‘There are two ballrooms.’ Joy shrugged. ‘They’re never both in use at the same time, especially now with the war. My boss Mr Henderson is very understanding. I’m sure if I explained it was for charity he would let you have it for free.’

  Alice looked at her sister as if she could kiss her. ‘You would really do that for us?’

  ‘Obviously.’ Joy smiled. ‘We’re family.’

  As everyone hugged and patted Joy, Alice stared at her sister in open-mouthed wonder. She had never seen her sister behave so selflessly before and it was a side she was enjoying seeing. Who would have thought it – her sister to the rescue yet again.

  Chapter Forty-Four

  There was no doubt about it, Alice thought as she stared up at the red brickwork, the evening sun beginning to dip behind the clouds, Mayfair House really was the perfect setting for Liberty’s fashion parade. It had been almost a fortnight since Joy had suggested that the hotel hosted the show and in that time her sister had worked wonders, organising, liaising and generally providing support when Mr Button fretted about holding a Liberty event off Liberty’s premises.

  In short she had been wonderful, and Alice wondered what she would have done without her. Stepping inside the hotel reception, which no longer seemed as grand and imposing as it had the first day she had arrived for tea all that time ago, she marched on into the ballroom. The scene took her breath away. Joy had taken the task seriously enough to try and recreate the feel of the shop floor. Aside from the rows of stiff-backed wooden chairs, which lined a makeshift stage area, Joy had somehow managed to get hold of a roll of red carpet which she had laid down the middle. At the front a small table with three chairs was set up – clearly the judging table – behind which stood rolls and rolls of fabric from the stockroom, the likes of which Alice couldn’t remember selling since before the war.

  ‘Blimey!’ she whistled, taking stock of the bright, delicate silks. ‘How many do you think we’re expecting?’

  Joy smiled as she hauled another chair to the front of the room. ‘We’ve only got a couple of days to make sure everything’s perfect, Alice. Besides, if you prepare for success you can expect success.’

  Alice looked at her in surprise. ‘Wherever did you hear that?’

  Joy laughed. ‘Cook told me the other day when she was trying a new recipe with powdered egg.’ Standing up straight she held her hands aloft as if to show off what she had been doing. ‘So what do you really think? The hotel’s as excited as Liberty’s about the parade.’

  Alice looked around her, taking it all in. ‘It’s incredible,’ she whispered. ‘It all looks so stunning and I can’t believe you’ve done all this for me.’

  Joy smiled stiffly. ‘I wanted to help you. You’ve helped me out often enough.’

  ‘I’m your sister,’ Alice replied uncomfortably, ‘of course I would help you out. Throwing you out was helping you out, though I know you won’t see it that way.’

  ‘I don’t,’ Joy said evenly. ‘But I do know that you weren’t being malicious. It’s not your fault everything in life has always fallen into your lap.’

  Alice blink
ed at her sister in surprise. ‘You keep saying that, is that really what you think?’

  ‘Yes and no. I mean you found the love of your life in a cinema queue; it was an old mate of Dot’s that got you the job in Liberty’s. I’m just saying you don’t know what it’s like to really struggle.’

  ‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this,’ Alice snapped impatiently. ‘You seriously think I don’t know what it’s like to struggle? Don’t you remember me working my fingers to the bone to keep you out of the care homes when Dad buggered off? Don’t you remember me encouraging you to concentrate on school and to leave the likes of Shirley Allbright alone? It was as though she was pulling you one way and me the other when Dad left.’

  ‘I know you mean well, but you don’t understand.’ Joy shrugged as if Alice were speaking a different language. ‘You’ve got to respect the old ways. Shirley is as much a part of South London’s past as Dad was. You may not like it but you have got to respect it.’

  Letting out a deep sigh, Alice sank into one of the stiff-backed chairs beautifully decorated with a ribbon made from a utility fabric remnant. There were times it felt as though it was three steps forward and two steps back with her sister.

  ‘I only ever wanted the best for you, Joy,’ she said eventually. ‘I didn’t want you having the childhood I endured.’

  ‘There’s only four years between us!’ Joy scoffed.

  ‘And it felt like a lifetime.’ Alice smiled sadly up at her sister. ‘It was me that was bailing Dad out the nick, me that was dealing with his corrupt mates wanting their share of the spoils, and me that had to deal with the scores of women that worked for Dad, who he cheated out of their profits.’

  ‘I am sorry you had all that to cope with, truly I am. But you and Dad were worlds apart. He did a lot of good as well, you know.’

  ‘Like when?’

  ‘Like the time he gave all that money to the children’s home, and the time he took Christmas dinner up Bedlam hospital.’

  ‘All with money and food he’d nicked one way or another!’ Alice protested hotly.