Strolling With The One I Love

by Joan Jonker

  ‘She’ll be well watched, don’t worry. There’s four of us going to take turns sitting with her until we think she’s over the shock. But as it’s my turn tonight, can we please get on with our dinner? It’s cold now, and if it’s left any longer, it won’t be fit to eat at all. And yer know I can’t abide wasting food.’

  ‘How did yer find Miss Parkinson?’ Kate asked Monica the next morning. ‘I thought she was coping well last night, but John said the shock wouldn’t really hit home for a few days. He put the fear of God into me, saying it could bring on a stroke or a heart attack.’

  ‘He’s right, girl, it has been known to happen. Delayed shock, that’s what they call it. But Miss Parkinson seems to have a very strong constitution, let’s hope she gets over it without any ill effects.’ Monica was standing on Kate’s step, thinking of the work she’d have to face when she got home. ‘I’ll have to go, girl, I haven’t done a hand’s turn yet. The dust will be meeting me at the door, and there’s a stack of dishes in the sink. Give me an hour to sort meself out, then yer can make a pot of tea for us to drink while we make a list of the extra shopping we’ll need because of the party tomorrow. I got a three bob sub off my feller, we can get some of the food in.’

  An hour later Kate had just opened the door to Monica when the knocker sounded again. ‘Oh, I wonder who the heck this can be? I hope it’s not trouble.’

  ‘If it is, girl, chase it. We’ve got enough to be going on with,’ Monica called as she pulled out a chair. ‘And if it’s the rag and bone man, tell him we’ve got plenty of those as well.’

  Winnie smiled up at Kate. ‘I heard that, queen, and though I might look like a rag and bone man, I’m just the opposite this morning. I come bearing gifts.’ She lifted her arms to show Kate there were two dresses draped over each. ‘Am I welcome?’

  ‘Oh, sunshine, they look brand new! Of course ye’re welcome, come on in. Yer must have smelt the tea ’cos it’s just been made.’

  When Monica saw the dresses she jumped to her feet. On impulse she threw her arms around the older woman. ‘Ye’re as welcome as the flowers in May, girl!’

  ‘Ay, watch it! I’ve been an hour ironing these, and I don’t want them full of bleeding creases, thank you.’

  Kate took two dresses from her and passed one over to her mate. ‘That’s Dolly’s, so treat it gently.’ Then she held up her own daughter’s dress. ‘I’m not kidding, they could pass for brand new! Yer’ve worked wonders with them, sunshine! No one in a million years would think they’d come out of a pile of second-hand clothes.’ Kate really was amazed at the transformation. ‘The girls will be over the moon. I bet they spend most of Saturday parading up and down the street, swanking, so everyone will see them.’

  ‘If I didn’t know better, I’d swear they’d just come off a hanger in TJ’s.’ Monica was equally delighted. ‘There’ll be no holding our Dolly back, she’ll be showing off like no one’s business. I don’t mind telling yer they wouldn’t have looked like this if I’d washed them. Me and the iron don’t get on very well together.’

  Winnie was well pleased with the praise, and the fact she’d been able to repay a little of the kindness shown to her by these two. ‘I put bit of starch in the water when I rinsed them, and as I told yer, Kate, it makes all the difference. Puts a bit of life back into the material.’

  ‘I’ll remember that in future,’ Kate told her. ‘Now I’m going to put this on a hanger in the wardrobe in our bedroom, ’cos I’m dying to see what the one I got for meself turned out like.’

  ‘Have yer got a spare hanger to put this on?’ Monica held out Dolly’s dress. ‘So it doesn’t get creased and Winnie tells me off.’

  ‘I haven’t got a spare hanger! What d’yer think this is, sunshine, a ladies’ fashion shop? I think there’s three hangers in the wardrobe, or it could be four, and all the clothes we possess are on those hangers, all on top of each other.’

  ‘Okay, girl, keep yer hair on! Blimey, anyone would think I’d asked yer for the loan of ten bob, the way ye’re carrying on.’

  ‘Oh, no, if yer’d asked me for the loan of ten bob, I’d have burst out laughing. That really would have been funny.’

  Monica grinned. ‘Yeah, it was a bit far-fetched, wasn’t it? Anyway, I’ll take Dolly’s dress home now, while ye’re pouring the tea out, and I’ll hang it over my clothes on one of the three hangers we possess.’ She winked at Winnie who was taking it all in. ‘What it’s like to be hard-up, eh, girl? I don’t suppose Sarah Jane will have any second-hand hangers, will she?’

  ‘I didn’t see none, queen, but then I wasn’t looking for them. I will ask, though, next time I go down.’

  When Monica had left with the dress draped carefully over her arm, Kate sat down facing Winnie. ‘Listen, I wish yer’d take things easy for a few days. Yer didn’t give yerself long enough to get better, to get some strength back. Don’t go overdoing things, for heaven’s sake, or I’ll blame meself if yer go down sick again.’

  ‘It wouldn’t be your fault, queen, I’m old and ugly enough to look after meself.’ Winnie pursed her lips. ‘No, yer can rest assured I won’t wear meself out. But it wasn’t overwork what made me sick, it was that bleedin’ fish. Next time, I’ll make sure I smell before buying.’

  ‘Just make sure yer put yer feet up for an hour twice a day, instead of running around like a twenty year old. Look after yerself, sunshine, and yer’ll live to a ripe old age.’

  ‘I’m not daft enough to let meself get sick again, not when I’ve got things to look forward to. And I’ve got you to thank for that, sunshine, ’cos without you I wouldn’t have the party tomorrow. Then there’s the wedding next Thursday, I’m really excited about that. And as soon as me legs feel strong enough, I’ll be going to give Sarah Jane a hand at Paddy’s Market.’ Her top teeth dropped and she quickly adjusted them with her tongue before saying, ‘The way things are going, I’ll have to buy meself a bleeding diary. I’ll have as many engagements as the Queen herself.’

  ‘Somehow I don’t think hers will be as enjoyable as yours, sunshine. She’ll be with a load of stiff, la-di-da toffs, who speak frightfully far back and don’t know no jokes.’

  ‘Ye’re right there, queen, ’cos I used to work in a shop before I got married, and the wife of the man what owned it, she spoke so far back I had to go to the bottom of the street to hear her. And the best of it was, she was only born in a two-up-two-down like meself. But to hear her talk, yer’d think she wasn’t only born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but a whole bleeding canteen of cutlery!’

  Kate’s chuckle was hearty. ‘I bet yer were a real live wire when yer were young, ’cos yer’ve still got that mischievous glint in yer eye. And I bet yer led the lads a merry dance.’

  ‘Ye’re not far wrong there, queen, I had a marvellous time from when I was fifteen and me ma let me go to the local dances. I had plenty of partners and could dance the feet off any of them.’ Winnie’s smile faded a little, and there was a catch in her voice. ‘That is until the night I met a boy with hair the colour of midnight, eyes that yer felt yer could swim in, and a smile to charm the birds off the trees. I fell for him hook, line and sinker. Never looked at another boy after that. Never danced with one either, ’cos Stan was very jealous and stuck to me like glue. And I lapped it up, queen, ’cos he was the only boy I’d ever wanted.’

  ‘Then yer must have some wonderful memories,’ Kate said. ‘Not everyone in life finds someone to love the way you and Stan did, so yer must treasure those memories.’

  ‘I keep them close to me heart, queen, that I do. Never a night goes by that I don’t lie in bed and go over the good times we had. When Stan first died, I used to cry me eyes out and sit rocking in me chair every night, too afraid to go to bed because I knew I’d only make meself worse, missing his arm around me waist and us cuddling up together. I saw his face everywhere . . . on the ceiling, walls and mirrors. I’d have given anything to die so I could be with him. But they say time is a great healer, and
they’re right. I didn’t think so for the first two years, but then I made meself put the sadness behind me. Instead of being unhappy whenever I thought of him, I started to remember the way he used to laugh at me jokes, and how he’d lean forward to knock his pipe against the fireplace. So many good things to remember, queen, and I take them to bed with me every night, so I never feel lonely now.’

  ‘Ye’re going to have me bawling me eyes out in a minute, sunshine. But I’ve got to say I think yer’ve been a little brick, the way yer’ve kept yerself busy, making sure yer house is like a new pin and offering a helping hand when needed. And yer don’t do things by half, either, it’s always the whole hog. Proper little live wire, yer are. I’m a lot younger than you, but yer can leave me standing.’

  ‘If I didn’t keep meself on the go, queen, I’d just fade away. And I’ve no intention of doing that, not while me diary is so full of engagements.’ Winnie nodded to the dresses. ‘Go and hang Nancy’s up, then yer can have a look at yer own. I think you and Monica will be pleased with the way they’ve turned out.’

  ‘Well, talk of the devil and he’s bound to appear!’ Kate said when her mate came back in. ‘Winnie was just saying she thinks we’ll be pleased with the dresses.’

  Monica clicked her tongue. ‘D’yer mean yer haven’t hung that dress up yet or poured the tea out? I dunno, you two can’t half talk. I thought I was bad enough, and my feller thinks I’m the world’s worst, but you beat me by a mile.’ She held out her hand. ‘Here, give me my dress and I’ll try it on in the kitchen.’

  ‘I’ll hang Nancy’s up then I’ll join yer,’ Kate said, as she took the stairs two at a time. ‘And if we don’t come out of that kitchen looking like Jean Harlow and Maureen O’Sullivan, then someone’s in for it. I won’t say who, but they’ll be the only one in the room besides you and me, sunshine.’

  Her arms free now, Winnie folded them and sat back in the chair. She wouldn’t admit it but she was feeling a bit tired. She’d been using two flat irons on the dresses, and they were heavy to take on and off the gas rings. Perhaps when she’d finished here she’d go home and put her feet up on the couch for an hour. Then she heard peals of laughter coming from the kitchen and a smile crossed her face. What were they up to now? She was soon to find out.

  Kate came through the kitchen door, and the sight of her sent the little woman into pleats of laughter. She had her right hand on her hip and her left at the back of her head, and walked slowly, her body swaying from side to side, like she’d seen them do in the pictures. Her brown eyes looking through half-closed lids made her look sultry and passionate. Glancing at Winnie over her shoulder, she pursed her lips and blew a kiss in the air before walking over to stand by the window and await the entrance of her friend.

  And what a grand entrance it was. Monica had surpassed herself. When Winnie saw the spectacle she nearly chocked. A mop head covered Monica’s hair and fell around her face, and half a wooden peg had become a cigarette holder and was held shoulder-high between two fingers. Her movements were slinky and exaggerated, the expression on her face that of a hard-boiled gold digger. Taking a puff from an imaginary cigarette in the pretend holder, she bent down and blew invisible smoke towards Winnie before swaying her way to stand next to Kate.

  ‘Oh, my God!’ Winnie rocked back and forth with laughter. ‘I don’t know whether yer look like two women of ill-repute plying yer trade down on Lime Street, or two of them mannikins.’

  The two friends joined in her laughter. ‘Oh, dear,’ Kate said. ‘We might not have any money, but we certainly do see life.’

  ‘Yer don’t need money to enjoy yerself, girl, as long as yer can see the funny side.’ Monica grinned over to where Winnie was drying her eyes. ‘I didn’t quite catch what yer said. Who did yer say we looked like? And I don’t mean the trollops on Lime Street.’

  ‘Them mannikins, queen, yer know who I mean. They show off clothes for the rich people to buy.’

  ‘D’yer mean fashion models, sunshine?’ Kate asked. ‘Like in George Henry Lee’s and the posh shop at the bottom of Bold Street?’

  ‘She means no such thing,’ Monica said. ‘She said mannikins and she meant mannikins. Don’t be trying to confuse her.’ She suddenly noticed Winnie’s attention was no longer on her or Kate, but on something she could see happening outside the window. ‘What have yer seen, girl, a ghost?’

  ‘No, it’s the police officer knocking on Miss Parkinson’s door. Oh, now the door’s been opened and he’s stepping inside.’

  ‘Oh, flipping heck, look at the state of us!’ Kate tutted. ‘I really want to see him to find out what’s going on. I hate to miss anything.’

  ‘If we put a move on, girl, we won’t miss anything. Two minutes and we could be back in our old working clothes.’ Monica pulled the mop head off and grinned down at it. ‘Yer probably look better on me than me own hair does, but I’m afraid we must part even though parting is such sweet sorrow.’ She pretended to kiss the mop while wiping a tear away. ‘I would give yer a hug, only I can see in me head Kate washing the floor down with yer. And that’s not a very romantic thought.’

  Kate clicked her tongue. ‘There are times when I seriously question your sanity, Monica Parry. But right now we don’t have time to mess around, so let’s take these dresses off and get ourselves over the road, on the double.’ On her way to the kitchen, she asked Winnie, ‘Are yer coming with us, sunshine, or will yer wait here until we come back?’

  ‘Neither, queen, I’m going home. Yer told me to put me feet up for an hour every day, and that’s what I intend doing. I’m sitting with Miss Parkinson this afternoon, so I’ll find out from her then what’s happening to that swine of a man.’

  Kate soon came out of the kitchen wearing her old dress and patting her hair into place, and was quickly followed by Monica. ‘Yer might as well come out with us, then, so I can lock the door behind us. But don’t forget it’s the girls’ party tomorrow afternoon, and ye’re an invited guest. About three o’clock, eh, Monica?’

  ‘Yeah, that’s about right. It’s not a posh do, yer know, Winnie, so yer won’t need to wear that tiara ye’re always talking about. Yer’ll be getting a dripping sandwich and a fairy cake, and if yer luck’s in we might run to a cream slice.’

  ‘I’ll not be worrying about the food, queen,’ Winnie said, following the two friends out of the front door. ‘It’s the company I’m looking forward to.’ She turned right to walk down to her own house while the two other women crossed the cobbles to the house opposite. She grinned when she heard Monica shout after her, ‘And yer can keep yer eye off my feller as well, ’cos he’s spoken for.’

  ‘Ye’re a spoil-sport, Monica, that’s what yer are. I’ve a good mind to wear me tiara after all, and it would serve yer right if your feller took a liking to me. Especially if I’m wearing me new dress as well, which will knock spots off yours.’

  Kate had already disappeared into Miss Parkinson’s, but Monica stayed long enough to call, ‘My dress hasn’t got no spots on, girl, so yer’d have a job.’

  Winnie saw a hand come out of the front door and grab Monica’s arm. And she heard Kate hiss, ‘Will yer grow up and behave yerself, sunshine, and stop showing me up? Honest, I can’t take yer anywhere.’

  Chapter Seventeen

  ‘We won’t stay long, Miss Parkinson.’ Kate was concerned for the elderly lady who was looking very tired. ‘We’ll just hear what the officer has to say, then we’ll leave yer in peace.’

  ‘She never slept a wink last night, so she tells me,’ said Maggie Duffy from next door. ‘If she’d knocked, I would have come and stayed with her. But she’s too ruddy stubborn and independent.’

  ‘You need your sleep, Miss Parkinson,’ Sergeant Bridgewater said kindly. ‘If I were you, I’d accept all offers of help. For the time being anyway, until you’re back to your old self.’

  Miss Audrey Parkinson knew they all meant well, and their offers of help were given genuinely and generously. But this was the f
irst time since her childhood that she hadn’t been able to attend to herself and her affairs and she suddenly felt very old, frail, and afraid of the future. ‘I’ll have a few hours’ sleep on the couch this afternoon,’ she murmured.

  ‘Yer’ll have a full night’s sleep in bed as well,’ Maggie said, determination written all over her face. ‘Whether yer like it or not, I’m staying. I’ll bring the alarm clock to make sure I’m awake in time to get my feller up for work. So we’ll have no excuses or arguments, if yer don’t mind. Now I think we should all be quiet and hear what the officer has to say.’

  But old habits die hard, and the old lady couldn’t change the way she’d been brought up. She had guests, and they must be treated as such. ‘First, perhaps the officer would like a cup of tea?’

  That sounded good to the sergeant. Tea out of a decent cup, instead of the stewed brew they served up at the station in chipped mugs, sounded very tempting. ‘If it’s not too much trouble, I would be delighted. It would wet my whistle before I proceed to tell you of developments since I was last here.’

  Maggie jumped to her feet. ‘I’ll see to it.’

  ‘I’ll give yer a hand,’ Kate said. She was about to follow Maggie into the kitchen when she had a thought. ‘Excuse me, officer. Mrs Parry there is my neighbour and best friend, but although I hate to say it she’s also very nosy. So if she starts asking yer questions, will yer tell her to wait until we’re all sitting together?’

  Monica’s tongue clicked in protest. ‘Why did yer bother saying yer were me mate when yer knew yer were going to tell him I’m a nosy cow? Some mate you turned out to be, I must say! Yer’ve really hurt me now, I’m cut to the quick.’ Putting on a sad, badly-done-by expression, and shaking her head, she said, ‘I am, Miss Parkinson, I’m cut to the quick.’

  A faint smile crossed the lined face. ‘For years I’ve watched you and Kate, been a spectator to your comings and goings. In fact you have entertained and amused me almost from the time you both moved into the houses opposite me. I’ve often thought you were having a serious argument, only to watch in amazement as you’ve fallen into each other’s arms, laughing your heads off. Neither of you would ever really do anything to hurt the other. So don’t be trying to fool Sergeant Bridgewater.’