by Joan Jonker
‘The way we’re going on, no one will be getting any dinner. Let’s put a move on.’ Kate’s legs picked up speed. ‘We’ll keep our news until the morning, if yer don’t mind. John was moaning last night that he seldom sees me so to keep him happy I won’t go out after I’ve seen Greg. But we’ll do the usual tomorrow. Me at Winnie’s for half-seven, and you at nine o’clock. Then you and me can meet at my house around ten o’clock for a cuppa and a long chat. Is that all right with you, sunshine?’
‘Yeah, that’s fine. I hope yer get on all right with Greg and he’s nice about it.’
‘Of course he will be, I’m expecting him to be as nice as he was last time. If not I’ll call for reinforcements to help. That means you, Monica Parry. But if all goes well, I’ll expect yer at my house at ten in the morning, bursting with news.’
‘And I’ll expect a biscuit with me cup of tea. Let’s act like the toffs, even if it’s only for an hour or so.’
Kate was waiting at the door when John came home from work. ‘I’ve got to go out for a few minutes, sunshine, but I’ve left the dinners on plates, and Nancy will see to yer. I’ll tell yer about it when I get back.’ She stepped down on to the pavement and grinned up at him. ‘Don’t time me, love, ’cos I’ll be more than a few minutes. More like twenty, I think.’
She was already walking away when John said, ‘I don’t know, this is a fine welcome after working all day. No kiss, nothing!’
‘I’ll make up for it later, I promise.’ Kate was afraid of missing the tram Greg should be travelling on, and walked quickly down the street and turned the corner on to the main road. When she reached the tram stop, she felt conspicuous and moved to stand in the shelter of a shop doorway. She didn’t have long to wait until a tram came trundling along towards her. When she saw the young man step down from the platform, she came out of the doorway. ‘Hello, Greg, I’ve been waiting for yer.’
The lad smiled in recognition at first, as though he was really pleased to see her. Then the smile disappeared as he wondered what she had in store for him. Things had settled down now with Margaret’s family and his own, and were running smoothly. He hoped nothing was going to change that. ‘I didn’t expect to see yer again.’
‘It’s all right, sunshine, I haven’t come to cause trouble. It’s just that Mrs Blackmore has invited me and me mate in for a drink after yer wedding, and I didn’t want yer to get a shock when yer saw me. But nobody knows I’ve ever spoken to yer, and what I told yer is a secret between you and me. So all yer have to do is pretend we’re meeting for the first time. I promise no one will ever know it’s not the truth.’ Kate smiled. ‘I’m delighted you and Margaret are getting married, and I wish yer all the luck in the world. So now yer can take that worried look off yer face, ’cos I’d like us to be friends.’
Greg’s face cleared and the smile came back. ‘Thank you, I’d like us to be friends too, because I think me and Margaret will need friends pretty soon.’
‘Oh, yer won’t be short of friends, sunshine, I can promise yer that!’ Kate held out her hand. ‘Let’s shake on it, then, before I have to run home to see to my family. But we’ll meet again when yer get married, and I hope it’s a lovely day with clear blue skies.’ She moved away from him and half turned. ‘Ta-ra, sunshine.’
Kate was a block away before Greg realized he was still watching her. Then he turned into the entry that would take him to his home, though it wouldn’t remain so for long. Although he’d miss his mam and dad, he was looking forward to marrying Margaret and living with her and her family. He went around there every night, and got on really well with Mr and Mrs Blackmore. They were a lot nicer to him than he deserved, the way he’d behaved at the start.
As he lifted the latch on the yard door, he tried to remember the name of the woman who’d met him at the tram stop. She had told him her name the first time they met, but he couldn’t for the life of him remember. He hoped she meant it about being friends because there’d be a lot of tongues wagging in the next few weeks, and he and Margaret would need friends. Maybe not him so much because he’d be at work all day. Mr Blackmore said to take no notice of anyone because it would only be a nine-day wonder, but his wife didn’t agree. She said the gossips would have a field day. They liked nothing better than a juicy bit of scandal to get their teeth into. They’d keep it up until something else came along to claim their attention, and their tongues.
Monica, with Winnie’s jug in hand, had to skip to keep up with her husband’s long strides. ‘It’s bleeding ridiculous, me having to come with yer. What’s the harm in yer going in the pub that yer go in every night, without fail, and asking them to fill the jug for a friend?’
‘In the first place, how daft I’d look walking down the street with a ruddy jug in me hand! I’d get me leg pulled soft. Especially asking them to fill it with milk stout!’
‘Ah, poor you, me heart bleeds for yer. I’ll come in the pub with yer, but don’t yer dare try and pretend I’m not with yer, ’cos I’ll make a holy show of yer.’
Tom chortled. ‘Yer would, too!’
‘You bet I would!’ They came to the front door of the pub and without giving her husband time to think, she linked his arm and pulled him through. Straight to the counter she marched him, and put the jug on the bar. ‘My feller was too embarrassed so I had to come with him.’ She gave the barman a sly wink. ‘Will yer put a pint of milk stout in there, please?’
‘What’s the matter with Winnie, isn’t she well?’
Monica was taken aback. ‘How did yer know it was for Winnie?’
The barman lifted the jug and said, ‘I’ve been filling this every night for about five years. I wondered what had happened to Winnie the last few nights, I’ve missed her.’
‘She’s been a bit off colour,’ Monica told him, giving her husband daggers. ‘And me and me mate have been helping her out.’
Tom was beginning to feel a bit of a heel. ‘I’m here every night, how come I’ve never seen her?’
‘She comes to the back door. She’s a smashing little woman. If I’d known she wasn’t well, I’d have taken the jug up for her. She loves her milk stout.’
Monica put sixpence on the counter but the barman waved it aside. ‘Tell her this is on me. And if she wants it delivering tomorrow night, I’ll be only too happy to oblige.’
‘Now that’s real kind of yer,’ Monica said, picking up the coin. ‘It’s a pity others are not as thoughtful and kind as you are.’
Tom screwed up his face. ‘Okay, yer’ve made yer point, don’t go on at it like a ruddy dog with a bone. I’ll get Winnie’s milk stout tomorrow night.’
‘Oh, ye’re a little love.’ Monica gave him a kiss on the cheek and grinned when there was a rousing cheer from his mates. ‘See, yer’d have been less embarrassed if yer’d walked in with the jug.’ And the smile was still on her face when she let herself into Winnie’s house.
John waited until the children were in bed before asking, ‘Are yer going to tell me the truth about where yer dashed off to? I know Nancy fell for the tale about yer going to see Mrs Cartwright, but I didn’t.’
So Kate explained where she’d been, and why. ‘Now are yer satisfied, sunshine, or do yer need evidence?’
His brown eyes twinkled. ‘I’ll tell yer what, love, it’s only because this Greg is nineteen that I haven’t slapped him across the face with me leather gauntlet and challenged him to a duel. Pistols at dawn, in Walton Park.’
Kate was chuckling inside. ‘But yer haven’t got any leather gauntlets.’
‘That wouldn’t stop me, I could borrow our Nancy’s woollen ones.’
‘Yer haven’t got no pistol either.’
‘Are you trying to put me off fighting for me honour?’
Kate raised her brows. ‘And yer’d have to take a day off work and they’d dock it out of yer wages.’
‘Ah, now that is something I would have to take into consideration. So instead of a duel with pistols, in Walton Park, you ask him to c
ome down our entry one night and I’ll clock him one. That way me honour will be preserved.’
‘Wait until yer meet the lad, yer’ll like him, he’s nice.’ She saw the look on his face and nodded. ‘I know, he got a girl into trouble. But he’s not the first and he won’t be the last. Yer can’t hold that against him for the rest of his life. When yer meet him, yer’ll know what I mean.’ Kate suddenly remembered something and her hand went to her throat. ‘Oh, my God, I bought our Nancy’s birthday presents and cards today and shoved them in the sideboard cupboard, intending to take them up to our bedroom when I got the dinner on. Then I went and forget all about them. Did yer see her go near the sideboard, or did she say anything to yer?’
‘She didn’t say anything, love, and I didn’t see her near the sideboard. She helped with the washing up, then went next door to play with Dolly.’
‘I’d better get them out now before I forget to take them upstairs with me again.’ Kate opened the sideboard cupboard and took out two small paper bags and three loose cards. ‘They’re not much but they’re all I could afford. I’m sure she’ll like them.’
When John leaned forward, his eyes were bright. ‘Well, it’s not often I have the money to buy anything for the kids, love, but I risked a tanner on one of Bill’s tips yesterday, and the horse romped in at four to one. So I got me tanner back, plus two bob winnings.’
Kate tutted. ‘Yer know I don’t like yer gambling! What would yer have done if the horse had lost? I can’t help yer with tram fare ’cos I’m skint.’
‘I wouldn’t have told yer if the horse hadn’t won, love, I’d have cut down on the tram fare by walking half the way to work.’ He laced his fingers together, and those big brown eyes of his were asking for her understanding. ‘Yer can’t blame me for wanting to buy me daughter a birthday present, can yer? I never have any money to buy either of the kids anything, and I feel I’m not a good father to them in that respect.’
Tears came quickly to sting the back of Kate’s eyes. She left her chair to sit on her husband’s knee. ‘What are yer talking like that for, John Spencer, when ye’re the best father any child could ask for? Yer give Nancy and Billy much more than money can buy. Yer give them love, yer protect them when they need it, and yer make them feel happy and contented. They love the bones of yer, idolize yer. And ye’re not only the best father in the world, ye’re the best husband. I wouldn’t swap yer for a big clock or all the tea in China.’ She gave him a noisy kiss on his lips. ‘Now, if that isn’t enough to make yer realize what yer mean to all of us, then I’d say yer were fishing for compliments.’
His two hands went around her slim waist. ‘What sort of a kiss was that? I want a proper wife to loving husband kiss, so how about it?’
Kate prised his hands from her waist. ‘The place for a wife to loving husband kiss is in the bedroom. So I’ll make us a cuppa and we’ll have an early night. What d’yer say?’
John left his chair with alacrity. ‘I’ll put the kettle on and see to the tea, you take those presents upstairs before yer forget them in yer haste to get to me body.’
Kate chuckled. ‘With yer black hair, yer do look like Robin Hood now as I come to think of it. Funny, I hadn’t noticed it before.’
‘What’s Robin Hood got to do with anything?’
‘Nothing, sunshine! It was just something Monica said. I can’t remember how it came about, but I bet as soon as I get in bed and close me eyes, it’ll come to me.’ Kate picked up the paper bags and cards and hurried to the stairs before her husband asked her what she was laughing at. And the two shillings he’d won on the horses, well they’d discuss what he wanted to do with it when they were holding each other close between the sheets.
‘Next Thursday! Ooh, that’s quick, isn’t it?’ Kate’s eyes widened. ‘I was hoping to be able to buy them something – nothing expensive, perhaps a towel or pillowcase. But Thursday is me hard-up day.’ She pondered for a while. ‘Mind you, I could use a couple of coppers out of the two shillings John gave me to buy a present for Nancy.’ She tapped a finger on her chin. ‘How much would a decent-sized towel cost? We could buy one and give it from both of us.’
‘The market is the cheapest place, girl. They sell pillowcases and towels, and yer’ll not get them cheaper anywhere else.’
‘That’s a good idea! I might see another decent second-hand dress for Nancy. She could do with one, heaven knows.’
‘We’ll go tomorrow if yer like,’ Monica said. ‘And Winnie seems a lot better today, d’yer think going to the market would be too much for her? Yer know what it’s like when it’s crowded and people are pushing and shoving. And there’s getting on and off the tram.’
‘We can go down after and ask her. It would do her the world of good to get some of this sunshine on her face, and fresh air in her lungs. But like yer say, I don’t know whether it would be too much for her. She’s the only one who can tell us that.’
‘By the way, girl, I was telling Betty about Winnie being off colour and asked if they’d mind if she came to the register office with us, as a break for her, like. Betty was all for it. I had no idea they were so friendly, but she said she’s known Winnie for years and has a lot of respect for her.’
‘Monica, yer wouldn’t ever tell anyone what Winnie told me, would yer? Yer see, I’ve told lies to her and Greg. I told both of them that, apart from meself, there’s not a soul knows about the entry business.’
‘I haven’t repeated one word of it to anyone, not even Tom. And I’m surprised yer felt yer had to ask me that, girl, after us being mates all these years.’
‘I’m just frightened of being found out.’ Kate sighed. ‘My mam, God rest her soul, always used to say: “Never tell a lie, sweetheart, because one always leads to another. And no one likes or trusts a liar.” It wouldn’t be so bad if Greg found out, ’cos he’s told plenty of lies himself. But Winnie would be so upset, I’d never be able to look her in the face again.’
‘Don’t be getting yerself all het up, girl, it’s not good for yer indigestion or yer complexion. And when yer get to our age, we’ve got to start taking care of ourselves.’
Kate was thinking of the conversation yesterday, and said, ‘Yer don’t have to worry about Robin Hood, ’cos he only ever sees yer in the dark.’
Monica narrowed her eyes. ‘Yer didn’t tell your feller about me fantasies, did yer?’
‘No, I didn’t. I just told him, as we were going to bed, that I’d never noticed before how alike him and Robin Hood were.’
Monica feigned great curiosity. ‘And did it do yer any good, girl? Was that your bed banging against our wall I could hear?’
Kate’s face went crimson. ‘I should have known better than to mention the words bed or bedroom to you.’
‘I don’t know what ye’re blushing for, girl! Ye’re married to the ruddy man, aren’t yer? He’s not yer little bit on the side! And from what I could hear, yer were enjoying yerself last night.’ Monica, of course, hadn’t heard a thing, but she loved to see how easy it was to embarrass her mate. ‘What’s yer problem? A good night was had by all, so, as my old mam used to say when everything was rosy, “Bob’s yer uncle and Fanny’s yer aunt.” ’
The friends knocked on Winnie’s door to let her know they were coming before they let themselves in with the spare key they had. They found her in the kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil.
‘Things are looking up, eh, sunshine?’ Kate kissed her cheek. ‘Yer must be feeling better today.’
‘Well, if I don’t exercise me legs, queen, they’ll give up on me altogether. I need to keep them moving to remind them what they’re there for.’
Monica squeezed behind Kate to get to the stove. ‘I’ll see to the tea, girl, you go and sit down and have a chat to Kate.’
But the older woman was determined to be up and about as soon as possible. She’d never get her strength back if she lay on the couch day and night. ‘No, queen, I’ll make the tea. No offence, like, not after yer’ve both be
en so good to me. God knows where I’d have been without yer. But I want to start moving around, building meself up, so I can go out under me own steam. Another day or two and I’ll be running around like a two year old.’
‘Oh, we were hoping yer’d be able to come out with us tomorrow!’ Kate kept her face expressionless as she waited for Winnie’s reaction. ‘That’s what we’ve come down for, sunshine. Me and Monica are going to the market tomorrow, and we were wondering if yer felt able to come with us? We’d give yer an arm each, but yer know how crowded the market can get. Then there’s getting on and off trams . . .’
Nothing would have put Winnie off that. The thought of getting out of the house was tempting enough, but to be going somewhere with friends, well, it was many years since she’d had such a treat. ‘Oh, I’ll be fine, queen! It’s just the sort of tonic I need. But yer’ve got yerselves to think of. I might be a burden and spoil yer day out.’
‘Listen, girl, when I take our Dolly out and she becomes a burden, I buy her a lollipop and sit her on a wall somewhere until I’ve done me shopping.’ Monica looked into Winnie’s eyes. ‘Me and Kate between us could manage to lift yer on to a wall. All I need to know now is what colour lollipop would yer like?’
Winnie closed her eyes and frowned, for all the world in deep thought. ‘Mmm, I think I’d settle for a pink one.’
‘Take no notice of me mate, sunshine,’ Kate told her. ‘If yer do get tired we could ask one of the stallholders for the loan of a chair so yer could rest yer legs for a while. I’ve seen them do that a few times, they’re very obliging.’
The kettle began to whistle, and Monica lifted it from the stove and poured some of the boiling water into the brown earthenware teapot. ‘Will you go and sit down out of me way? I’ll bring the cups through when the tea’s had time to stand for a while. One thing I can’t abide is weak tea.’ She shuddered at the thought. ‘Might as well be drinking water.’
