Strolling With The One I Love

by Joan Jonker

  Kate was ready for her, while the customers waiting to be served were all ears. ‘Don’t you bother with no duster, sunshine, ’cos I cleaned me windows yesterday. That’s why I said to sit on me step, ’cos I haven’t done that yet, and two bottoms moving around on it should rub the dirt off.’

  Margaret was giggling as she walked away, and she called over her shoulder, ‘I’ll bring the little cork mat with us ’cos this is me best coat.’

  After being served in the butcher’s, the three friends made good time getting the rest of their shopping in. ‘I don’t want Betty and Margaret hanging around outside the house. They’d think we were fine ones to invite them round and then leave them standing.’

  ‘We’ll be home well before they come,’ Monica said. ‘Margaret had shopping to do, and she wouldn’t get around as quick as us ’cos she’s really starting to show now and she’ll find she can’t walk as fast.’

  Kate linked Winnie’s arm. ‘Now there’s no one to hear what we’re saying, I think yer did a brilliant job on Fanny Bishop, sunshine. Yer did far better than me or Monica could have done.’

  ‘Yeah, it was a great piece of work, girl, I didn’t half enjoy watching her squirm. I was going to have a go at her meself, but yer not only beat me to it, yer made a far better job of it than I could have done. Her face was a picture no artist could paint, she didn’t know what to do with herself. But how did yer know about her sister’s daughter being pregnant?’

  ‘Well, queen, Fanny is the worst gossip in this neighbourhood. I’ll swear she listens at windows when the nights are dark and no one can see her. But gossips have one failing: they forget who they’ve told tales to. She wouldn’t remember telling me about her sister’s girl, and how she called her fit to burn. She has no sympathy or understanding for the girl, or for her own sister who must be worried to death. All Fanny wants is a bit of juicy gossip and her day is made. Yer see, she hasn’t got any real friends, and I’m not surprised the way she carries on. She has to rely on the suffering and misfortune of other people to give her something to tell anyone willing to listen to her. She’s so thick-skinned, she can’t see that most of the women can’t stand her and cross the street or make a detour when they see her coming.’

  ‘It tickled me when Iris made a hasty exit,’ Monica said. ‘She’ll run like hell when she sees Fanny coming towards her in future.’

  When they neared Monica’s house, Kate said, ‘Nip in and get two decent cups and saucers, sunshine. I’m afraid my cafe can only cater for four people.’

  ‘Yeah, okay, girl, and I’ll put the shank in water to steep and get some of the salt out of it. I’ll be ten minutes, that’s all.’

  Half an hour later the three women were sitting around the table, their minds on the cream cakes on a plate in the pantry. Finally Monica could stand it no more. ‘I’ll give Betty another fifteen minutes, and if her and Margaret aren’t here by then, I’m having me cake whether yer like it or not.’

  ‘My mouth’s watering too, queen, but I can hold out until the other two come,’ Winnie said. ‘It wouldn’t look very nice if they were the only two eating cakes, they’d feel like monkeys in a zoo with everyone staring at them.’

  ‘We’ll wait until they come,’ Kate said with determination. ‘Even if yer tongue is hanging out, Monica Parry, yer’ll not get near my pantry.’ She thought a little conversation might take her mate’s mind off the fresh cream slice. ‘Did I tell yer that my feller went to work this morning looking like a toff, Winnie? Best shirt and collar, and tie. He didn’t half look handsome, I fell for him all over again.’

  ‘What’s the occasion, queen, is he going somewhere important?’

  ‘Only to the pub with a couple of the men he works with. One of their wives gave birth to a baby and the proud father wants to wet the baby’s head. It’ll only be a pint in their dinner break, but John wanted to look respectable.’

  Monica fixed her eyes on the window to avoid looking at her friend. She was dying to blurt out the truth of why John had gone out looking respectable this morning, but she’d been warned if she didn’t keep it to herself, Tom would think twice about the rise in housekeeping he’d promised. And he was right, of course, because there could be disappointment ahead. She could fill Kate with hope, and then feel like a heel when it didn’t come off. And it was only right that John should be the one to tell his wife. Good news or bad.

  The knock on the door had Monica’s chair being pushed back so quickly, it banged against the sideboard. ‘Oh, I’m sorry, girl, I don’t know me own strength.’

  ‘I’ll have no home left, the way ye’re going on,’ Kate called after her. ‘Yer’ve put more scratches on me furniture than me kids have.’

  Betty came in first, followed by Margaret, and they both looked happy to be there because they knew that this was one place they were amongst friends. ‘What’s she been doing now, love?’ Betty asked. ‘Knocking yer furniture about, is she?’

  ‘Blimey! Anyone would think I’d put a bleeding hole in the sideboard!’ Monica waved a hand. ‘Look, there’s no mark or scratch, nothing!’

  ‘Well, I’m not letting yer loose on me sofa with yer cream cake, we’ll share one of the dining chairs between us.’

  ‘Two of us won’t fit on one of those fiddling chairs!’

  ‘Yes, we will! One cheek each! But before that, let’s get Betty and Margaret comfortable, then yer can help me with the tea.’

  ‘I’ll see to that, queen.’ Winnie made her way to the kitchen. ‘You sit and talk to yer guests, it’ll not take me long.’

  Betty pulled out a chair. ‘I was lucky, the rent man called just as we were leaving. I’ve only ever missed him once, and I swore I’d never do it again. I’d put the money away, yer see, full of good intentions to pay him two weeks next time he came. But it’s very tempting to have money in the rent book and none in yer purse. So I was dipping into it each day with no thought to how I was going to make it up. I couldn’t tell Jack, he’d have gone mad. So I had to pay a week and a half when the man came, and paid the rest the week after. It taught me a lesson, though, I’ve never done it since.’

  ‘I couldn’t have money in the house without dipping into it,’ Kate said. ‘The temptation would be too great to ignore. I have a struggle to manage every week, but at least me conscience is clear. And next year I’ll be on Easy Street when Nancy starts work.’

  Winnie was carrying the tray in from the kitchen when she happened to glance through the window facing her. ‘Ay, queen, there’s Maggie Duffy standing on her step. She seems a bit agitated. Keeps looking over here.’

  Kate and Monica went to the window. ‘Yeah, she does seem a bit anxious, as though there’s something wrong,’ Kate said as she hurried to the front door. ‘I’d better make sure she’s all right, ’cos she’d be the first to help one of us if we needed it.’

  As soon as Maggie saw Kate, she waved her over. And she was more than agitated, she was angry and worried. ‘I don’t know what to do, girl, I’m at me wit’s end. I did some washing early this morning, before I went to the shops, and put two sheets on the line. There was no room for any more, ’cos they were double sheets.’ She wiped the back of a hand across her forehead and took a deep breath. ‘I’ve just got back from the shops and the sheets are gone – vanished into thin air.’

  Kate frowned. ‘How d’yer mean, gone? Two ruddy big sheets can’t disappear. Are yer sure yer didn’t bring them in before yer went to the shops?’

  Maggie shook her head. ‘Kate, love, I put the sheets through the mangle and took them out one at a time to peg on the line. I’ve never been more sure of anything in me life.’

  ‘Pull yer door to, Maggie, and come across to mine. Winnie and Monica are there, and the more heads the better.’

  Maggie looked uncertain. Keeping her voice low, she said, ‘I think next door have pinched them. One of the kids could easy have got over me wall when they saw me going out. I don’t want no trouble with them ’cos they’re really tough. A
nd if they see me going over to yours, they might take it out on me for spite.’

  ‘Don’t be so daft! If they’ve pinched yer sheets, yer can’t let them get away with it because ye’re frightened of them. Come over with me, and we’ll see what the gang say.’

  Maggie was surprised to see Betty and Margaret there. She knew them by sight, but had never had a conversation with them. ‘Why didn’t yer tell me yer had company, Kate? I don’t want to spoil things for yer.’

  ‘Listen, sunshine, if I was in trouble, I’d come to you for help. I wouldn’t worry whether yer had visitors or not. Now don’t be daft, tell Monica and Winnie what yer’ve just told me.’

  It was all too much for Maggie. As she told her tale of woe, the tears trickled down her bonny cheeks. ‘I’m sorry, but I’m real upset about it. I can’t afford to lose two good sheets, it’s not as though I’m well off for bedding. And I can’t see anyone else climbing over me wall and stealing them, only the new family. It’s bad enough living next door to them, but if I’m going to have to stop putting washing out in case they pinch it, well, life won’t be worth living. Yer’ve no idea what they’re like. There’s noise coming from that house twenty-four hours a day, banging and shouting, with language so foul I feel ashamed for them. And if we knock on the wall, and ask them politely to be quiet, we get the height of abuse from them. Ben’s wanted to go and have it out with the husband a few times, but I wouldn’t let him. My husband isn’t a fighter and I don’t want him going up against the likes of them.’ She lifted her hands in despair. ‘But what can I do? Just put up with it, I suppose.’

  ‘Just put up with it?’ Winnie’s voice was shrill. ‘I’m buggered if I’d put up with it! And if yer don’t do nothing about yer sheets going missing, they’ll think ye’re an easy touch and steal anything they can get their hands on.’

  ‘Winnie’s right,’ Monica said. ‘Yer can’t let people like that get the better of yer. Stand up to them! We’ve never had anything stolen from lines in this street before so the chances are it was them what took yer sheets. Although why they’d want sheets when they’ve got no bleeding beds is beyond me.’

  While this was going on, Kate was explaining to Betty and Margaret about their new neighbours. And she agreed with Winnie and Monica. ‘They sound a right shower. But yer must never let bullies think ye’re frightened of them. That’s the worst thing yer can do. Stick up for yerself, and always remember you have done nothing wrong, they have.’

  ‘Come on, Maggie, if you think they’ve taken yer bedding, then I’ll come with yer to ask for it back.’ Winnie was on her feet and raring to go. How dare these people steal from ordinary folk who were pushed each week to make ends meet?

  ‘Hang on, I’ll come with yer too.’ Monica was in a fighting mood and her sleeves were being rolled up ready for action when there came a knock on the door. ‘Ah, this will be the rent man! Just the feller we want to see.’

  ‘I’ll open the door, seeing as it’s my house,’ Kate said. ‘And I’ll invite Bill in so yer can tell him what’s going on, Maggie.’

  The rent collector was mildly surprised to be asked in, and very much surprised to see so many of his clients there. And being a friendly bloke, he asked, ‘If ye’re having a party, can I come?’

  ‘I think yer’d better wipe that smile off yer face, Bill,’ Kate told him. ‘We’re all here to do battle. We hope yer’ll listen and be on our side.’

  ‘I can hardly refuse so many of my best tenants, can I? What is it yer want to tell me?’

  When four of the women began to speak at once, each trying to outdo the other in volume, the poor man screwed his eyes up tight. ‘Ladies, please! I can’t make sense of what you’re saying with four of you shouting at me. Can I ask if one of you would explain, quietly and calmly, what all the fuss is about?’

  The women looked shamefaced. ‘I’m sorry, Bill, but we’ve got ourselves in a right state over something that’s happened.’ Kate nodded to Maggie. ‘You tell him, sunshine.’

  With all eyes on her, Maggie was embarrassed, and her first words were stammered. Then, as the injustice of the whole sorry tale sank in, it gave her the strength not only to tell the collector about the sheets going missing, but how she was certain she knew who the culprits were.

  He sighed. ‘How can you be certain if you didn’t see them in the act? You can’t accuse anyone unless you have proof or you could end up in trouble.’

  ‘Oh, it was them all right!’ Maggie was red in the face with anger. ‘And I’ll tell yer something else, what I haven’t told a living soul ’cos I was afraid. But I’m not afraid any more, I’m bloody mad! I don’t care whether yer believe me or not, but I think that if yer went in the house next door, yer’d find they’ve chopped all the inside doors up, and the banister rail. Every night we can hear them chopping, then we get the smell of burning wood.’

  ‘No, they wouldn’t do that!’ But even while the rent collector was dismissing Maggie’s accusation, he knew in his heart she was telling the truth. For he’d had a lot of complaints about the new family, and all from women like these who had enough intelligence to be sure of what they were saying before they said it. In fact, out of curiosity, he’d mentioned the Hunt family to some of his colleagues who collected in different parts of the city. Several of them not only knew of the family, but had had personal experience of their behaviour. From what they’d told him, the alarm bell was now ringing in Bill’s head. But it was more than he dare do to pass on that information to these very irate ladies.

  ‘There’s only one way to find out, Bill,’ Kate said. ‘And that’s to see for yerself when yer go to collect their rent.’

  He had a sinking feeling in his stomach. ‘I don’t have to collect the rent, they paid it into the office on Saturday morning.’

  ‘Now I wonder why they’d do that?’ Maggie asked, her voice thick with sarcasm. ‘And I wonder how anyone can believe them before us?’

  ‘I didn’t say I didn’t believe you, Mrs Duffy, but you must admit it would be difficult for me to act without discussing it with Mr Coburn first. But I promise I will see that something is done today, without fail. And once Mr Coburn has evidence of them mistreating his property, I can assure you they’ll be out on their ear in no time.’

  ‘So ye’re not going over now to see if they’ve got Maggie’s sheets?’ Monica asked. ‘If yer don’t, they’ll probably have flogged them by the time someone gets around to it.’

  ‘If you ladies will pay me your rent, I will just finish this street off and then go back to the office to have a word with Mr Coburn. He is a good landlord, you must admit, and looks after his tenants. I’ve got a feeling he’ll be here with me within the hour. You see, I don’t have a key to any of the properties, and if I knocked at the Hunts’, even if they open the door they can refuse to let me in. But when I come back, it will be with my boss and a set of keys.’

  Winnie had her rent in her handbag, so while Monica and Maggie nipped home for theirs, Bill marked Winnie’s and Kate’s books. Throughout the commotion, Betty and her daughter had sat mesmerized by all that was happening. They wouldn’t have missed the excitement for the world. Kate heard Betty whispering to her daughter, ‘I’m going to slip home to make sure the stew isn’t boiling dry, but I’m coming back. I wouldn’t miss the next instalment for a big clock. You stay here, I won’t be long.’

  Margaret was thinking of the husband she adored. ‘I won’t half have a lot to tell Greg when he comes in from work. I bet he’ll be really surprised.’

  Kate grinned and ran a hand over the girl’s long hair. ‘It adds a bit of spice to life, doesn’t it, sunshine? Mind you, I wouldn’t want too much of it, me heart wouldn’t stand it.’

  ‘Yer don’t mind if I run home and come back again, do yer?’ Betty asked. ‘I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t know how it ends.’

  ‘Of course I don’t mind! I think I’ll make a charge, though. Tuppence for a window seat and a penny for standing at the back.’r />
  The rent man heard and chuckled. It was nice to have a bit of light relief. ‘In that case, I think I should charge. If you’re going to be the audience, then I should be treated as an actor and paid accordingly.’

  ‘Oh, aye,’ Kate said, head tilted. ‘And what d’yer think ye’re worth?’

  ‘How about sixpence an hour?’

  Winnie huffed. ‘Sod off, lad! I’d expect James Cagney in person for that.’

  Betty chuckled. Ooh, she had to be back in time for the show to begin! The last hour had really bucked her up. ‘Excuse me, I know I’m an outsider, but could I ask yer not to raise the curtain for the start of the big picture until I’m seated in me tuppenny window seat?’

  ‘I’ll keep a seat for yer, Mam,’ Margaret said. ‘You go and see to the dinner, but don’t take too long because I think this film is going to be a thriller, and if yer miss the beginning it’ll take yer ages to figure out what’s what and who’s who.’

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  When a car pulled up outside the house opposite, Kate glanced at the clock. ‘Bill kept his promise, it’s exactly one hour.’

  The sofa had been pushed away from the window to give all six women a decent view of what was going to happen. Now, as they watched, the drama began to unfold. The car door opened and Bill got out on the passenger side, by the pavement, while his boss, Charles Coburn, stepped out on to the cobbles. And what an unusual sight he was in this narrow street. With his fine three-piece beige and brown check suit, heavy gold fob watch stretching across his chest from the pocket of his waistcoat, and his hard brown hat set at a rather jaunty angle, he was what you would call a dapper man, very sure of himself and always in control.

  ‘My God,’ Winnie said, ‘that outfit he’s got on must have cost more than it would take to keep every house in this street in coal for the winter.’