by Tania Crosse
Jimmy pursed his lips but a second later his face brightened. ‘You need cheering up, my girl. Why don’t we go up the West End? See if there are any tickets left for one of the big shows?’
‘You can’t afford that, and I certainly can’t.’
‘Oh, yes, I can.’ Jimmy puffed up his chest. ‘Well, I haven’t got the money on me. But I could draw out some of me savings and we could go next week.’
‘That’s so sweet of you, Jimmy. But save your money for the future.’
‘Our future, you mean?’ Jimmy looked pleasantly surprised.
‘Maybe. As long as you can buy me a grand house with lots of servants and a roaring fire in winter—’
Jimmy interrupted her with a proud smirk and offered her his elbow in a gentlemanly fashion. ‘I can do better than that, milady. Come with me,’ he instructed.
Hillie obediently threaded her arm through his so that when he broke into a run, she was obliged to match his pace. They sped along, chortling with mirth as they pulled each other this way and that. Jimmy was directing her towards Albert Gate and she tagged along, swathed in mystery as he led her out through the park gates and then turned right to cross over Albert Bridge.
‘Just look at that sunset!’ he crowed, dragging her across the road between the traffic.
They stopped, side by side, gazing over the side of the bridge. The sun was a sphere of molten gold casting coral veils across the dying brightness of the sky and reflecting like sparkling jewels on the myriad ripples of the Thames. Battersea Bridge just upriver wasn’t as pretty as Albert Bridge, which always made Hillie think of a wedding cake, but the view was overall quite stunning. Just beyond Battersea Bridge, the towers of the Lots Road Power Station were silhouetted against the peach and apricot streaks in the translucent sky, lending an industrial beauty to the scene. A barge with a red sail was drifting upriver on the incoming tide, and a couple of leisure craft were enjoying the Saturday evening sunset.
Hillie felt herself relax and the truculent mood emptied out of her. ‘Oh, Jimmy, of course. It really is beautiful. I was just being silly.’
The next thing she knew, Jimmy had turned her round to face him, hands gently on her shoulders and his mahogany eyes for once serious. ‘My girl silly? Not a bit of it. I understand how you feel. And I promise that one day I’ll take you away from all this.’
She was about to say that he didn’t understand how she felt because she didn’t want to be taken away, at least not without taking her family with her – minus her father, of course. And anyway, she couldn’t see that Jimmy could ever afford to keep such a generous promise. But she didn’t get a chance to voice her misgivings. Jimmy bent his head tentatively and the next moment, his handsome mouth came down slowly and brushed against hers.
His kiss was like a gentle balm soothing her sorely tried spirit and her heart danced an unexpected waltz in her chest. It wasn’t as if a deep passion had exploded somewhere inside her, or that her pulse had suddenly started racing with excitement. It was more like a tender dream, merely the next sweet thread of a growing understanding between them.
Jimmy pulled back, his smiling eyes searching her face. She blinked at him, trying to untangle her emotions. She’d never been kissed before, and she didn’t feel quite as she’d imagined she would. But this wasn’t some fictitious romance she was watching at the cinema or reading about in a book. This was for real, and though she didn’t feel swept up in a whirlwind of delight, she had to admit that she liked it!
‘Come on.’ Before she had time to catch her breath, Jimmy had laced his arm about her waist and was walking her to the far end of the bridge. ‘There ain’t many evenings like this, so we should make the most of it. Come along, milady. I want to show you your new abode.’
His eyes were teasing now and Hillie was grateful he hadn’t pushed her any further. ‘And where might that be, my good man?’ she answered with mock haughtiness. ‘And who d’you think you are to choose a new home for me?’
‘Well, I’m Lord Rumpelstiltskin and I’m going to lock you in my ivory tower, Lady Rapunzel, and keep you all to myself!’
Jimmy let go of her, bending double and drawing up his arms with hands retracted into claws. Hillie laughed aloud, putting the unexpected kiss with its confusing effects behind her. Once again, Jimmy was lifting her out of the chasm of despair she’d fallen into because of her suspicions over her father.
‘Now then, madam.’ Jimmy’s brow puckered into a frown as, with a sweeping gesture, he indicated the long row of opulent mansions along the Chelsea Embankment. ‘Which one takes your fancy?’
‘Hmm.’ Hillie paused to consider, her eyes roving over the majestic buildings on the opposite side of the road. ‘They’re all rather nice. And they’ve got the lovely view across the river with the park on the other side.’
‘Naturally. That’s why I chose it for you. I know how you love the park. But does any particular one of them stand out for you?’
‘Well, it’s difficult to say without seeing inside. And do they have proper gardens? I simply must have a proper garden,’ Hillie proclaimed imperiously, falling into the game, ‘rather than the yard we have at present. It’s scarcely big enough to hang out all the washing, and then it gets covered in smoke and smuts from everybody’s coal fire and all the factory chimneys.’
‘Oh, yes, madam, they all have gardens,’ Jimmy assured her. ‘But the laundry rooms are so big that you dry the washing inside. Sadly we can’t guarantee there won’t be any smuts around, especially with all the chimneys going in the winter.’
‘Well then, I shall purchase the house with the biggest garden. Of course, it all depends on which ones are up for sale.’
‘No need to worry about that. Just choose the one you want and I’ll put a spell on them to make them move out. Or make them an offer they can’t refuse.’
‘In that case, I think it’d better be the spell.’
Try as he might to keep a straight face, Jimmy couldn’t help grinning from ear to ear. Hillie, too, tried to contain her mirth, but when she started giggling and Jimmy responded with a theatrical bow more suited to a pantomime than the embankment, she burst out in a guffaw of laughter. No matter that they drew bemused glances from passers-by, they fell about in uncontrolled gaiety, holding onto each other with sides ready to split.
‘Oh, come on, Jimmy,’ Hillie spluttered at last, wiping the tears from her eyes. ‘We can’t keep this up all evening. People will think we’re crackers.’
‘Let ’em think what they like. I really don’t care so long as me girl’s happy.’
‘Yes, I am.’ Hillie finally brought her laughter under control. ‘Thanks, Jimmy. You’ve really cheered me up.’
‘Good. And it don’t hurt to dream once in a while. And on a beautiful evening like this, who can blame us, eh?’
He offered Hillie his arm once again and she took it, resting her head on his shoulder as they proceeded to stroll along under the trees of the wide embankment. They eventually sat down on one of the raised benches so that they could gaze back upriver, watching until the daylight had faded and the ornate Victorian lamps were casting a diffused glow into the night.
‘I bet it’s no nicer than this out in Los Angeles,’ Hillie said dreamily, breaking the easy silence.
‘What made you think of that? Oh, I suppose it’s them Olympics.’
‘Yes, that’s right,’ Hillie mused. ‘Start on the thirtieth, don’t they? Stan, you know, Gert’s dad, he’s really keen on sport. He says we’ve got a really good chance of some medals in the rowing. He’ll be glued to the radio for the first two weeks in August!’ she chuckled.
‘And what about this thing they’re calling television or something? They say it’ll be like the flicks only you’ll get them in your own home like a radio. Don’t understand it meself.’ Jimmy shook his head with a frown. ‘They say they’re gonna start experimenting with it soon. But I can’t see it taking off meself. And who’s gonna be able to afford something like
that? But I guess they’ll make some Pathe News films of the Olympics, so Gert’s dad can go to the cinema to watch ’em. Don’t interest me much. I’d rather be sitting here with me lovely girl. Ten o’clock and still warm enough to sit outside,’ Jimmy sighed contentedly, glancing at his watch.
Hillie’s back stiffened. ‘Is that the time? Oh, Jimmy, we’d better start walking back. I must be in before my dad gets on the warpath. And we’d best part company in case he’s out and about. All hell’d break loose if he saw us together.’
‘Blooming bastard,’ Jimmy muttered as they got to their feet and began walking back the way they’d come. ‘If only I was the sort of person he’d approve of rather than a foundling what was brought up in a children’s home and had to fend for meself from when I was fourteen.’
‘Well, I think you’ve done very well for yourself. At least as good as my dad ever did. And his parents were still alive when he was that age to give him support. And he was an only child, so it wasn’t as if they had to divide their attention between a horde of kids. But I don’t think it’d make any difference if you were a rich businessman or a teacher or whatever. My dad just seems to have it in for me, no matter what.’
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell Jimmy what she suspected her father had done, but she bit her lip just in time. Better to keep it to herself. She knew Gert would never let on – heaven knew they’d had to share enough secrets about Harold over the years. But Jimmy, well… Much as she’d grown very fond of him in the month or so they’d been walking out, Hillie could imagine that his impulsive nature might make matters worse as far as her father was concerned.
They crossed back over the bridge, the river now swirling dark and menacing below them. Hillie tried not to let fear of bumping into her dad spoil the last minutes of the precious hours she’d spent with Jimmy, but as they passed down the side of Battersea Park, which was in total darkness now, she couldn’t stop the churning that gripped her stomach. It was as they reached halfway along Cambridge Road that Hillie slowed her step and turned to Jimmy.
‘We’d better split up now,’ she told him nervously. ‘We’re already too close for comfort. He could be drinking in the Duke of Cambridge. I should’ve arranged to meet up with Gert and walk back with her.’
They’d stopped between the pools of light from two street lamps, but even so, Hillie saw Jimmy’s eyes flash towards the pub on the opposite side of Battersea Bridge Road which crossed the far end of the street.
‘Don’t like all this skulduggery, I don’t,’ he grumbled. ‘Wish you’d let us have it out with the old devil.’
Horrified at the very idea, Hillie grasped Jimmy’s arm tightly. ‘No! Trust me, that’s not a good plan. Besides, we don’t know each other that well yet. Let’s wait and see… well, how things go. And if we get really serious, that’ll be the time to approach him.’
She heard Jimmy draw a deep, reluctant breath through his teeth. ‘All right. If you insist. But it makes me feel like a coward.’
‘A sensible coward, mind,’ Hillie grinned back, relieved. ‘Anyway, it’d probably be me or Mum he’d take it out on, not you so much. There are times when discretion really is the better part of valour, you know. So I’d better go, and you give it five minutes before you follow on, and don’t come down my street. Or better still, go back to the park and make a detour round that way.’
Without giving him a chance to protest, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and then hurried away. It was a good excuse not to have another proper kiss. It wasn’t that she hadn’t liked the first one, but it was a new experience for her and she wanted time to ponder on her own feelings. She liked Jimmy very, much, but she wasn’t sure she was in love with him. But then, did she really know what love was?
She was so engrossed in her thoughts – as well as keeping her eyes peeled for the threatening figure of her father – that she didn’t see the body sprawled on the pavement of Banbury Street until she all but tripped over it. She nearly landed on the ground herself, and nervously spun back round, not knowing what to expect.
‘Here, you, look where you’re going,’ a slurred voice reproved as its owner staggered to its feet.
Hillie took a step backwards, hand over her mouth as the stench of gin and vomit stung into her nostrils. ‘Oh, not drunk again, are we?’ she admonished, recognising Dolly Maguire from a couple of houses down. It was common knowledge that Dolly had lodgers in her upstairs rooms to help pay her own rent, but the slovenly woman’s house was in such a state that they never stayed long. The rats attracted by the rubbish piled up in her backyard stayed longer!
‘What’s it to you?’ the woman spat, swigging on a near-empty bottle. ‘Stuck-up little bitch.’
‘At least I’m sober and don’t smell like a distillery,’ Hillie retorted in disgust.
‘Like a what?’ Dolly lurched forward so that Hillie was obliged to leap out of her way. ‘Bah, get yourself back to that sparkling clean palace of yours and your upright bloody family. But don’t – think – your – mother’s – as – white – as – she – makes – out!’
She prodded Hillie hard in the chest with each sneering word. Hillie was too stunned by the drunkard’s vicious insinuations to back away, and it was several seconds before she was able to retaliate.
‘You nasty, dirty liar!’ she hissed back. ‘And we all know where you get your gin money from. If it’s not lodgers in your bedrooms, it’s visitors to your bed!’
Hillie backed away, appalled by her own attack. The times Dolly had been seen stumbling, blind drunk, into her house with an equally as inebriated man in tow were too numerous to count. There was no proof, of course, of what went on once they were inside, but it left little to the imagination. All Hillie wanted was to escape the woman’s filthy tongue. Finding her feet at last, she ran along to her own home, fumbled through the letter box for the string with the key tied on the end, and let herself inside, in her outrage forgetting all about her father.
Dolly’s wavering gaze struggled to follow her. She was about to yell out that she knew what the strumpet had been up to as well! Before Dolly had collapsed in a drunken stupor, she’d spied the girl wandering down Cambridge Road from the park, arm in arm with a man. The park gates were locked, but it wasn’t so difficult to climb over. Dolly had done so herself enough times in her younger days to earn a few extra shillings among the shrubbery. That self-righteous prig was little better. But it might be more worth Dolly’s while to keep her mouth shut about what she’d seen.
For now, at least.
Chapter Six
‘Have a nice weekend, you two.’
Belinda turned to Hillie and Gert as they left Price’s at one o’clock one Saturday afternoon in September. Although the sun was shining, there was a definite autumnal tang in the air, and the girls were determined to make the most of the good weather while it lasted.
‘You, too, Belinda. Pity we won’t be seeing you.’
‘Oh, I’m sure you’ll manage without me,’ Belinda grinned. ‘But didn’t you say you’re not going out with Jimmy tonight, Hillie?’
‘Sh! Keep your voice down!’ Hillie’s eyes flashed Belinda a warning. ‘You know if it gets back to my dad—’
‘Oops, sorry.’ Belinda bit her lip in remorse, dropping her voice to a whisper. ‘It’s not the sort of thing I’m used to.’
‘I know, but she’s coming out on her own with me instead!’ Gert crowed as quietly as she could. ‘Be like old times, it will. I won’t have to play bleeding gooseberry all night!’
‘You know we never mind you tagging along,’ Hillie told her. ‘But anyway, Jimmy was asked to run an errand this afternoon for some chap who comes into the pub a lot, and he’s going to pay him loads for it. And then he was asked to do an extra shift in the bar tonight as well. He didn’t want to turn it down. If there’s ever going to be a future for us, we’ll need every penny we can get hold of.’
‘You really think there will be? A future for you and Jimmy, I mean?’ G
ert quizzed her.
Hillie ignored the niggle of uncertainty at the back of her mind. ‘Possibly,’ she answered vaguely. ‘We all rather misjudged Jimmy, you know.’
‘Well, much as I’d love to, I can’t stand around here discussing Jimmy Baxter’s attributes or otherwise,’ Belinda told them, ‘especially when I hardly know the fellow. I must be off, I’m afraid.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry, Belinda. Wish your dad a happy birthday from us.’
‘Yeah! Hope he has a lovely party.’
‘It’ll be great, I’m sure. See you Monday, then!’
‘Will do!’ the other two girls chorused as Belinda turned with a wave and then was lost in the crowd of those factory workers who were making their way in the same direction as her. Hillie and Gert exchanged a smile before setting off up York Road in the company of the hundreds of Price’s employees going the opposite way.
‘Belinda’s fitted in with us so well, hasn’t she? But I do envy her,’ Hillie sighed on a wistful breath, grateful to steer the conversation away from Jimmy. She knew the risk she was taking and didn’t like talking about Jimmy anywhere near the factory. ‘Sounds as if she has such a happy home life.’
Gert cocked an eyebrow. ‘I’m sure she does. But I think the words grass and greener spring to mind.’
‘It’s all right for you. Your family are so easy-going. And it sounds like Belinda’s dad and both her brothers have reasonable jobs, too. The older married one as well as the younger one, Rob. Still haven’t met them, have we? But it must be nice having a bit more money and not having to watch every penny.’
‘Money’s not everything, gal.’
Hillie nodded ruefully. ‘I know. But I wish our family had a bit more. It’d be a lot less strain on my mum if Dad wasn’t breathing down her neck over the housekeeping all the time. And if I’d got Belinda’s job, I could’ve given Mum a bit more money each week. Treat her to a little something sometimes.’
‘Your dad has a lot to answer for, don’t he? And you still think it was him what ruined that application of yours?’
