by Lily Baxter
Colin left early next morning, having promised to pass on a string of messages to Tony. The Christmas truce apparently over, air raids recommenced and Susan, Dave and Maida celebrated Boxing Day eating cold turkey sandwiches in the shelter, washed down with the last of the beer and sherry.
Despite the fact that she had mistaken his attentions for something more serious, Susan missed having Colin around. It had been a relief to talk to someone closer to her own age. When she was alone with Dave she was always mindful of his seniority and Maida was the headmistress figure of her childhood. With Colin gone she felt lonely and unsettled. He had made her think that perhaps her dreams were not as impossible as she had thought. He had given her hope where there had been resignation and he had shown her a glimpse into another world. He might have been amusing himself at her expense, but she realised now that there was more to life than mere drudgery, and it had left her wanting more.
Dave opened the shop on Friday morning, but Maida showed no sign of wanting to move out and find a home of her own. Instead she began dictating what went on in the confines of the flat. She decided that the Christmas tree was shedding too many needles and ought to be disposed of before Twelfth Night. Susan saw to this immediately, as she was tired of pushing the carpet sweeper round the floor twice a day in order to satisfy Maida’s demands. The next day it was the turn of the paper chains and the holly, both of which had to be consigned to a bonfire in the back yard. Dave said nothing. He was obviously used to being ordered about by his elder sister and he would do anything for a quiet life.
Maida was now completely in charge. She chose what programmes they were allowed to listen to on the wireless, and she would have banished Charlie to an outside kennel if she had had things completely her own way. It was only when she suggested this that Dave actually stood up to her, and all her attempts to browbeat him into submission failed. A compromise of sorts was reached and Charlie was banned from the lounge. He was allowed in the air raid shelter, and then only because Dave threatened to remain in the flat if Maida refused to have the dog with them during the bombing raids. Dave’s nightly walks with Charlie were also under question. Maida nagged and bullied, threatened and sulked until on Sunday night Dave agreed to stay at home.
It was the worst night of the Blitz so far. They were forced to remain in the small, dank space until morning, although Dave kept going outside for a cigarette. It was not until they listened to the BBC news that they realised the true extent of the air raids. At least 10,000 parachute fire bombs had been dropped on the city, and the resultant devastation was beyond belief. The raid had been planned to coincide with low tide, making it difficult for the fire brigades to pump enough water from the Thames to put out the fires. It was terrible news, and Maida decided that nothing would tempt her to move back to the East End. She said that she would fill out the necessary forms for compensation from the government, but when the new term began she would commute daily to Hackney. Dave and Susan exchanged meaningful glances and said nothing.
Their life was organised from the moment they got up in the morning until they retired to their rooms at night. Maida even drew up a set of menus for each day of the week, together with a detailed shopping list. The only problem with this was that it was impossible to guess the availability of foodstuffs, especially meat and fish. Susan spent hours standing in long queues at the various shops, often coming away without anything that was on Maida’s list. The system fell apart after the first few days and Susan went back to her former routine of buying what was on offer and making do. She prayed for the term to start and for Maida to return to work.
The news that Amy Johnson had been reported missing after her plane crashed into the Thames estuary came as a terrible blow to Susan. She could hardly believe that her heroine had come to grief whilst on a routine flight delivering an aeroplane from a factory to an RAF base. Dave was sympathetic, but Maida merely shrugged and said something about the fortunes of war, and perhaps it would stop Susan daydreaming about learning to fly. It was high time she grew out of such childish fantasies. Susan retired to her bedroom to cuddle Charlie and have a good cry.
Matters improved slightly when the spring term began and Maida returned to her job at the school, which had so far miraculously escaped the Luftwaffe’s attempts to raze the whole of the East End to the ground. With the flat to herself in the daytime Susan was able to let Charlie out of her room and allow him to roam freely, but one fateful day he managed to get into Maida’s bedroom. Susan was busy doing the washing and she did not notice that he was missing until it was too late. She found him in the lounge playing with what remained of a leather shoe. It was beyond repair but Charlie was unrepentant. He wagged his tail and tossed the damaged article into the air, pouncing on it and then dropping it at Susan’s feet. She would have laughed had it not been such a serious matter. She knew that Maida would go berserk.
*
‘That animal has to go,’ Maida stormed, clutching the ruined shoe to her bosom. ‘Have you any idea how much this pair cost, Susan?’ She turned to Dave, who was nervously lighting a cigarette. ‘I blame you as much as her. You should have put your foot down from the start, David. And go outside if you want to smoke. I can’t bear the smell, and I don’t want to go to school tomorrow reeking of second-hand tobacco smoke.’
Dave cupped the cigarette in his hand, holding it behind his back. ‘With all the smoke from the burning buildings, not to mention the factories in that area, I wouldn’t have thought anyone would notice.’
‘Out!’ Maida pointed a shaking finger to the doorway. ‘Not you,’ she added as Susan made to follow Dave from the room. ‘I haven’t finished with you, young lady.’
Susan hesitated in the doorway. She had apologised most sincerely but her words had fallen on deaf ears. She tried again. ‘I am truly sorry about the shoe, Miss Richards. I’ll buy you a new pair.’
‘They were Italian leather,’ Maida hissed. ‘And we won’t be importing anything from that country while we’re fighting them in North Africa and beyond. It’s only a matter of time before the government rations shoes and clothing as well as food, and you stand there telling me you’re sorry. What was that animal doing roaming the flat anyway? I told you to keep him locked in your room.’
This was too much for Susan. ‘It’s not your flat,’ she cried angrily. ‘It’s Dave’s home and he never made a fuss about Charlie before you came here.’
Maida drew herself up to her full height. Her bosom heaved and a dull flush stained her cheeks. ‘You should remember your place, Susan Banks. You might get round my soft-hearted brother but you’re just a live-in servant.’
‘And you’re a mean bully. You make Dave miserable in his own home. If he wants to smoke it’s up to him, not you. And if he doesn’t mind Charlie being here then that’s none of your business either.’
‘That’s it,’ Maida screamed. ‘You’ve gone too far this time. You’re sacked. I want you out of this flat by the end of the week. That gives you time to find another place to live and a job, although don’t expect to get a reference from me.’
Susan stared at her aghast. ‘You can’t do that. I work for Dave, not you.’
‘And don’t think I haven’t seen what you’re up to, miss. I thought that you were after my nephew in the first instance, and you were quick enough to make up to Colin, but now that didn’t work you’ve set your sights on my poor brother.’
‘That’s just not true. I’m not like that.’
Maida advanced on her like a battleship with all guns primed and ready to fire. ‘I know exactly what you are, and don’t go running to my brother because it won’t work. You’ve been given notice, which in the circumstances is very generous of me. Now go to your room and stay there until I give you permission to come out.’
‘You can’t treat me like a naughty child. I’ve done nothing wrong, and anyway I’m in the middle of preparing supper. Perhaps you’d like to take over the cooking and the washing-up.’
Mai
da raised her hand and slapped Susan across the left cheek. The sound echoed round the room. ‘Now do as you’re told.’ Maida’s voice shook and her eyes narrowed to slits. ‘Get out of my sight.’
‘What’s going on?’ Dave rushed into the room, glancing anxiously from one to the other. He recoiled at the sight of Susan’s reddened cheek. ‘Did you hit her, Maida?’
‘I did, and with good reason too. I’ve told her to pack her bags and leave at the end of the week.’ Maida brandished the shoe in his face. ‘This was the last straw. She has to go and that animal too.’
‘But Maida, love …’ Dave held his hands out to her, ‘be reasonable. You’re upset now but you’ll have a laugh at all this tomorrow.’
‘Italian leather, David.’ Maida slapped the damaged shoe into his hands. ‘Expensive and almost impossible to come by these days, and that hound chewed it to bits. I daresay she gave it to him and pretended that he got into my room. She’s a troublemaker and a scheming hussy to boot. Either she goes or I do.’ She glared at him, folding her arms across her chest. ‘Well?’
‘Don’t do this to me, Maida,’ Dave said, sighing. ‘Can’t we all live in peace and harmony? It’s bad enough having Jerry trying to annihilate us, but we should be able to get on as a family.’
‘That’s just it, though. She’s not part of our family, even though I suspect she’d jump at the chance to change her name to Richards.’
‘That’s a lie.’ Susan plucked at Dave’s sleeve. ‘Don’t listen to her. She’s been saying awful things. I think she’s gone mad.’
He frowned, shaking his head. ‘I wish you ladies could make an effort to get on with each other. You’re making my life a misery.’ He turned away, his voice breaking with barely suppressed emotion.
‘Pull yourself together, David.’ Maida raised her voice to the pitch of a sergeant major on a parade ground. ‘Make a decision for once in your life. It’s her or me. Make your choice. Are you going to turn your only sister out into the cold, or are you going to let that little gold-digger wrap you round her little finger?’
Susan noticed that the tips of Dave’s ears had turned bright red. She could sense the inner turmoil that was tearing him in two, and she could bear it no longer. ‘All right, Miss Richards. You win. I’m going and I won’t stay until the end of the week. I’ll go first thing in the morning.’
Dave spun round to face her. He was now deathly pale and he seemed to have aged suddenly. ‘Don’t go like this, Susan. We’ve been the best of mates, haven’t we?’
She hardened her heart. He could have stood up to his sister but he had allowed himself to be browbeaten by her. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said gently. ‘You’ve been so good to me and I’ll miss you, but it’s for the best.’
‘It certainly is.’ Maida linked her hand through her brother’s arm. ‘We’ll do very well without you.’
‘But where will you go?’ Dave’s eyes reddened and he turned to his sister with a beseeching look. ‘Maida, have a heart. She’s just a kid and there’s a war on. You can’t simply turn her out on the streets.’
‘Shut up, David. You’re too soft by half. Her sort always land on their feet. Look how you were taken in by her.’
‘That’s not fair, Maida,’ he protested, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. ‘Why do you always have the last say?’
Susan knew then that Maida had won. She was suddenly drained of anger and left feeling nothing but a deep sadness. She had wanted Dave to be like a father but he had failed her, just as everyone in the past had failed her. ‘I’ll finish making supper,’ she said dully. ‘I’ll eat in my room and I’ll leave in the morning.’ She left the room without giving either of them a chance to reply.
Supper was an uncomfortable meal. Neither Dave nor Susan had much appetite although Maida ate her toad-in-the-hole and mashed potato with relish. No one spoke, and Susan was glad when the pudding of stewed pears and condensed milk was eaten and she was left alone to do the washing-up. When she had finished clearing everything away and the kitchen was once again spotless, she took Charlie for a long walk, despite the fact that it was raining. She went to her room on her return and spent the rest of the evening packing her things in the old cardboard suitcase. She would have loved to take the fur jacket but she decided against it in case Maida accused her of stealing. She hung it over the back of the bentwood chair and left the brogues on the seat. She would take only what she had come with or had bought with her own money.
She waited until all was quiet in the flat before tiptoeing to the bathroom to get ready for bed. When she returned to her room she took her purse from her handbag and counted out the money that she had managed to save from her wages. Having spent most of what she had earned on Christmas presents, she realised with a pang of anxiety that there was precious little left to keep her going until she found another job. She could not afford London rents and the first person she thought of who might help her was Tony. He had told her to look him up if ever she was in the area, and that was exactly what she intended to do. She might have just enough money to get her to Southampton and on to Hamble if it was not too far away. She would find the pub that Tony had mentioned and ask them to direct her to the aerodrome. It was a wild plan but she was desperate.
Charlie seemed to sense her distress and he pushed his wet nose into her hand, gazing up at her with adoring eyes. She smiled down at him. ‘I suppose you realise that this is all your fault?’
He wagged his tail, grinning at her, and she bent down to rub her cheek against his silky head. ‘You’re the best friend I ever had,’ she murmured. ‘We’ll be okay together, Charlie. We won’t let them beat us.’
She switched off the light and drew back the curtains so that she could see the stars. Per ardua ad astra. That was the motto of the Royal Air Force. If it was good enough for them it must surely be good enough for her. She curled up with Charlie nestling against her back and was drifting off to sleep when she heard the door open. She snapped into a sitting position as Dave approached the bed, putting his finger to his lips. ‘I’m sorry, love. I didn’t mean to startle you.’
‘What is it? I didn’t hear the air raid siren.’
‘It’s not that.’ He perched on the edge of the bed. Even in the dim light she could see that he was tense and uncomfortable. He clasped his hands in his lap, staring down at them as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.
‘What’s the matter then? What can’t wait until morning?’ She hugged Charlie as he wriggled into her arms and licked her face. He too seemed to feel the tension in the room.
Dave twiddled his fingers nervously. He did not look at her. ‘I’m sorry that Maida lost her rag,’ he said slowly. ‘She was upset about her shoes.’
‘I know that, and I apologised over and over again. I even offered to give her my week’s wages to pay for a new pair.’
‘She’s lost everything. You have to make allowances for her. Perhaps if you speak to her in the morning and tell her again how sorry you are, it might make her change her mind.’
‘You know that won’t work,’ Susan said gently. ‘She doesn’t want me here and she hates Charlie. There’s no way I’m getting rid of him, so we’ll have to leave.’
He turned his head to look at her. His eyes were in shadow but she could see his mouth working soundlessly for a few seconds before he spoke. His distress was obvious. ‘I don’t want you to go, Susan. Having you here has made all the difference. I was a sad, lonely old man until you walked into my life. You’ve made me feel young again.’
Alarm bells were beginning to sound in Susan’s head. She was feeling distinctly uncomfortable. ‘Don’t you think you ought to go to bed? We can talk about it in the morning.’
‘But that will be too late, won’t it?’ He glanced at her suitcase which lay open on the floor, waiting for the last of her belongings to be packed. ‘You’ll be off before I can stop you. Anyway, I don’t want Maida to hear what I’ve got to say to you. She’ll only get angry and t
ell me I’m an old fool.’
Susan was now really anxious. She shifted Charlie to the side and brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. ‘Then don’t say it, Dave. Let’s part like friends. I’ll always be grateful to you for what you’ve done for me.’
‘I don’t want gratitude, Susan.’ He slid off the bed and went down on one knee. She heard his joints creak, and she smelled the telltale whiff of brandy on his breath.
‘Please, Dave. Don’t say something you’ll regret in the morning.’
‘No. I must say what’s in my heart. I’m a lot older than you, but I’ve got plenty of good years left in me. You’ll never want for anything again and you’ll be secure for the rest of your life. I’m not a rich man, but I’ve got a nice little nest egg stashed away in the bank. I make a good living from the cycle shop, but if you don’t want to live in the flat I could sell up and buy a little place in the country. We could start a tearoom or something like that. I’d treat you like a queen, Susan.’
She shook her head vehemently. ‘Please don’t say any more.’
‘I can’t stop now. I’ve been rehearsing this in my head all evening. Susan, I’m asking you to marry me.’
Chapter Nine
The train rumbled through the English countryside, the iron wheels beating out a monotonous clickety-clack rhythm as they passed over the points. It was bitterly cold in the guard’s van, which was the only place where Susan had been able to find a space for herself and Charlie. The train was packed with servicemen and civilians, and the corridors were crammed with people standing or perching on their suitcases. Sitting on a wooden crate with Charlie at her feet Susan stared out of the window at the wintry landscape of ploughed fields and bare hedgerows. Skeleton trees wedge-shaped by the prevailing winds stood out against a gunmetal sky. Heavy cumulus clouds promised rain. Small stations flashed past and were immediately lost in clouds of steam as the train travelled on at speed. She was tired and hungry and her thoughts inevitably turned to the events that had led her to leave London.
