The Songbird

by Val Wood

  ‘Of course she’s a good sort,’ he repeated, giving a knowing grin. ‘She’s everybody’s friend.’

  Joshua Mazzini walked swiftly towards Scale Lane. He’d locked up the shop. Lena and Albert had gone home, Poppy had gone to bed and Tommy was out, but he had his own key to get in. Now Joshua was hurrying towards the shoemaker’s shop before it too was locked up for the night, though he knew John Chandler to be a night owl, working until the early hours. A light was on in the workshop window and as he peered in he saw Charlie’s father working on his bench by the light of an oil lamp.

  He tapped on the window and the shoemaker looked up, then put down the shoe he was repairing and came to the door.

  ‘Sorry to disturb you, John,’ Joshua apologized. ‘It seems as if there are not enough hours in ’day to do all I need to do.’

  ‘Come on in.’ John Chandler locked the door behind Joshua and sat down again at his bench. ‘I’m trying to get this order ready for ’morning. Like you say, there’s not enough hours in ’day. Sit down.’ He indicated a chair covered in shoes and boots.

  ‘Charlie not in?’ Joshua gingerly lowered himself, trying not to sit on the footwear.

  ‘Nah! He’s out with your lad. Tommy called round about half hour ago.’

  ‘Ah! That’s where he is,’ Joshua remarked. ‘He’ll be wanting to know how Charlie persuaded you to let him leave and go to London.’

  The shoemaker looked at him from over his round wire-rimmed spectacles. ‘He didn’t persuade me. I decided to let him go.’ He put down the shoe and folded his arms. ‘He’d have gone anyway. I decided that if he was intent on leaving, then he’d be as well to finish his trade here and have some experience and goodwill behind him. I’ll not give him an allowance, mind. If he wants to go, then he’s to stand on his own two feet.’ He picked up the shoe again. ‘I’ll start another apprentice on. One who needs to work.’

  Joshua nodded. ‘Then Charlie’ll come back when he’s had enough of gallivanting in London?’

  ‘No. He’ll not come back. He’ll imagine that I think he will; he’s even suggested that he might. I suppose he reckons that’ll pacify me.’ John Chandler gave a cynical grunt. ‘They think we know nowt, these young fellers. They don’t know that we remember how it was with our own fathers. How we rebelled against doing what they wanted.’

  ‘True.’ Joshua sighed. ‘I felt ’same with my father. But we did it. We knew how hard it would be if we went our own way.’

  ‘Aye,’ John agreed. ‘But we’ve made some brass and our kith and kin think that life is easy. Well, Charlie for one will find out it isn’t.’ He paused. ‘But he’s not like me. He’ll fight his way to ’top, and he’ll not mind who he shoves out of ’road.’

  Joshua frowned. ‘Tommy’s not like that.’

  ‘No, I don’t think he is. He’s not made like Charlie.’ John wagged a finger at his visitor. ‘And if I were in your place, I’d let him go to sea the way he wants to do.’ He pursed his lips and nodded. ‘I reckon once he’s done it and seen what it’s like, he’ll come home, marry a steady young woman and take over ’business from you. That’s what I think, for what it’s worth.’ He sighed. ‘But what would I know about owt!’

  ‘Well, that’s why I came,’ Joshua said gloomily. ‘I wanted your opinion. I don’t want Tommy to feel resentful after Charlie’s gone, so maybe I’ll let him go.’

  ‘Is business good? Can you afford to get some help if he leaves?’

  ‘I’ve got staff already. They came a while after Mary died. Lena Rogers and her son. She used to be at Conner’s bakery. That’s why I took her on. She can do baking when – if – Tommy leaves.’ He looked thoughtful. ‘We seem to be busy, but I’m not making a deal of money. Paying out wages takes its toll on profit.’

  ‘That’s why we need our families working with us,’ John Chandler said sagely. ‘Well, at least you’ve got your daughter. She’ll stop with you until she marries, I expect.’ He grinned. ‘Try to marry her off to a baker and keep it in ’family.’

  Joshua got up to go. ‘Poppy’s set on going on ’stage. But I’ll not have that. Not for my girl.’

  Charlie came in as he was about to leave and Joshua wished him luck in his new venture. Charlie thanked him and told him that he’d just left Tommy, who was on his way home.

  ‘Good night, then,’ Joshua said. ‘I’ll catch him up. And thanks for that, John. I might do as you suggest.’

  He hurried down Scale Lane, across the junction of Lowgate and down Silver Street and Whitefriargate, the fashionable shopping streets of Hull, and caught up with Tommy who was leaning on Monument Bridge, gazing into the waters of Prince’s Dock. Above him on its towering monument the statue of Wilberforce, the most famous of Hull’s sons, surveyed the town.

  ‘By, you don’t half walk at a pace,’ Joshua puffed. ‘I can’t have been more’n a minute or two behind you.’

  ‘Where’ve you been?’ Tommy turned to look at his father. ‘I thought you’d gone to bed.’

  ‘I’ve been to chat with John Chandler. We don’t often get ’opportunity to talk, so I went round. I knew he’d be up.’

  ‘Charlie says he works all ’hours God sends.’ Tommy turned back to look down into the water which ran between Prince’s Dock and Queen’s Dock and into the Humber Dock. ‘He never takes any time off. What sort of life is that, eh?’

  ‘I agree,’ his father murmured. ‘But sometimes we get so bowed down with trying to earn a living that we forget how to do anything else. I had your ma to remind me when she was here, but now that she’s not—’ He stopped for a second and cleared his throat. ‘She enjoyed life,’ he continued. ‘She liked ’theatre and music halls, singing and dancing. Poppy’s like her in that respect.’

  Tommy silently nodded. He missed his mother more than he had ever admitted to anyone.

  ‘She was restricted by her parents, you know,’ his father went on. ‘They were joyless people. Never laughed. Always looked on ’black side. Walked on ’straight and narrow all their lives.’

  He took a deep breath and sighed it out. ‘We, your ma and me, when we first married, we always said we’d do ’best we could for our children if we had any. We’d set ’em on ’right path, make them feel secure, and we hoped that they’d follow in our footsteps. But if they didn’t, well—’ He too looked out across the dock as he searched for the right words.

  ‘What I’m trying to say, Tommy, is – well, if you really want to go to sea, then you can. And if it doesn’t work out, then you can come back any time you want and there’ll be no recriminations – no I told you so.’

  Tommy looked at him. He didn’t speak for a moment, and then he said huskily, ‘You mean it, Pa? But – what about ’bakery? What about ’coffee house?’

  ‘Lena can do ’baking. She says she’s good, and what she can’t do I’ll have brought in; there’s plenty of small bakers who’d be glad of ’extra custom. And Poppy will be leaving school soon. She can look after ’coffee house. She’s good with people, knows how to chat to them. She’ll maybe even help with ’baking.’

  ‘And what about Albert? Will you keep him on?’

  Joshua nodded thoughtfully. ‘I’ll have to if Lena is tied up in ’kitchen. We’ll need an extra pair of hands.’

  ‘Are you sure you’ll be able to manage?’ Tommy was having doubts now, even though there was an exultant excitement growing inside him.

  Joshua glanced at him. ‘I’ll worry about that,’ he said. ‘Do you want to go or don’t you?’

  Tommy put his arm round his father’s shoulder and hugged him. ‘Oh, I do,’ he said. ‘I really do!’

  CHAPTER NINE

  Poppy wept when Tommy told her his news the next day, after she returned from school. ‘I know it’s what you want to do,’ she cried. ‘But I shall be left with those two horrible, horrible people!’

  ‘Pa will be here,’ Tommy said. ‘He won’t let them bully you.’ He knew very well that Poppy wouldn’t be bullied. She was quite capa
ble of standing up for herself, and he wasn’t going to be put off. When his father had caught up with him on Monument Bridge he had already decided that he was going to sea and had even considered leaving home without discussing it with his pa. He had made enquiries at the docks and had heard of a cargo ship that was departing shortly and needed deckhands.

  ‘And anyway,’ she sniffled, ‘who’ll take you? You’ve no experience of sailing on ships. You only know baking.’

  ‘I don’t need to know about sailing.’ Tommy pulled woollen jumpers and thick cord trousers out of a cupboard. ‘The owners don’t have to take on proper seamen any more. Engines are so reliable they hardly ever use sails.’

  ‘You’ll come back smelling of fish,’ she groused.

  ‘No, I won’t. I’m not going fishing.’ He sat next to her on his bed. ‘Poppy! I’m going! I’m applying to one of Wilson’s cargo ships that’s in ’dock now. It was built here, Earle’s I think, so it’ll be a reliable one. It’s got massive boilers and engines and carries about six hundred tons of cargo. It carries sail but doesn’t need it, only if ’boiler or ’engine breaks down.’

  ‘Who told you about it?’ She was sulky.

  ‘I’m always down there, talking to ’seamen. One of them told me about this one. She’s doing ’Rotterdam run as soon as she’s finished repairs.’

  ‘So you’ll soon be home again?’ she said hopefully. ‘If it’s only going to Rotterdam?’

  He fished a canvas bag from under the bed. ‘No. It’ll be going on somewhere else, I expect. I don’t know, do I? I haven’t been taken on yet.’

  ‘You might not like it,’ she said finally. ‘I bet you’ll be sick!’

  ‘Probably.’ He grinned. ‘And as for not liking it, how will I know if I don’t try it?’ He put his hand on her shoulder. ‘Your time will come one day, Pops. Be sure that it will.’

  She shook her head. She was so miserable that she didn’t even admonish him for calling her Pops. ‘Only if I run away,’ she said. ‘Pa won’t ever tell me that I can go on the stage.’

  She hadn’t told anyone about the letter from Dan Damone, nor had she answered it. She had tucked it away amongst her petticoats where no-one would find it. She couldn’t tell her father or Tommy. She had toyed with the idea of telling Miss Davina or Miss Eloise, but they would be duty bound to advise her to discuss it with her father. She’d considered telling Nan, but Nan was loyal to her father and besides, she was like a mother hen. She would worry about her, for sure.

  She gave a deep sigh and put her chin in her hands. Mattie! The thought suddenly struck her. Mattie. She’s sensible and she’s not that much older than me. She would understand. I could ask her what she thinks I should do.

  She got up from Tommy’s bed and gave him what she considered to be a brave smile. ‘I wish you luck, Tommy. I hope you enjoy your life. Just think of me sometimes, washing the dishes and fighting off Albert’s advances.’

  ‘What! What do you mean?’ Tommy stared. ‘He doesn’t try anything, does he? You must tell Pa if he does!’ He recalled what Charlie had said about Poppy’s being attractive. He hadn’t seen it himself. She had red hair for a start, redder than his, which was sandy-coloured and he hated it. He preferred girls with dark hair, although Mattie was fair and he’d always found her attractive, in a comely kind of way.

  Poppy shrugged. ‘I’m sharpening my nails,’ she said nonchalantly. ‘Just in case.’

  ‘Poppy!’ Tommy turned to her. ‘You mustn’t talk like that. If you’re at all worried about Albert, I’ll tell Pa if you daren’t, or are embarrassed about it.’

  ‘It’s not that I daren’t,’ she asserted. ‘But if Albert leaves, then Lena will go as well, and Pa says he needs her; though I’m sure there are plenty of other women could do the baking just as well as her.’ She scowled. ‘She’s wheedling herself into his life. Or trying to.’ And if she does, she thought, then I shall run away. I shan’t stay, whether Pa wants me to or not.

  Tommy was only seventeen and had little experience of young women. He thought of Poppy only as his little sister, and as she had always been merry and adventurous, singing songs and telling tales, he didn’t attach too much credence to what she was saying about Albert. They both disliked him, it was true, but surely he would never take advantage of her, not here under their father’s roof? He didn’t want to think about it. The idea made his skin creep, but also he wanted to go away with a clear conscience. He didn’t want to be worrying whether or not Poppy would be all right.

  ‘Pa wouldn’t look at another woman,’ he said, pushing clothes into his bag. ‘Not after Ma. You’re exaggerating, as usual.’

  ‘Why are you packing now?’ Poppy ignored what he was saying. ‘You said you haven’t been taken on yet.’

  ‘Just in case,’ Tommy said. ‘I need to be prepared to say I can leave immediately. There.’ He fastened up the bag. ‘I shan’t need to take as much as Charlie will when he goes on Saturday.’

  ‘On Saturday?’ Poppy took a breath. ‘Which Saturday?’

  ‘Day after tomorrow,’ he replied casually, disturbed by her stricken face. ‘Thought you knew.’

  ‘I didn’t know it was to be so soon,’ she said huskily and swallowed hard. ‘Will he – will he come to say goodbye, do you think?’

  Tommy glanced at her. She had gone quite pale. ‘I don’t know. Maybe. I’ll drop round later to tell him my news. I’ll ask him to call, shall I? Tell him you’d like to see him before he leaves?’

  ‘Yes,’ she gulped. ‘I mean, no. It doesn’t matter. He’ll be busy, I expect, getting packed and everything.’

  They heard a banging on the stairs. It was Lena. ‘Is anybody there?’ she shouted. ‘I could do with some help down here!’

  Poppy opened the door and stared down at Lena. ‘I’m coming,’ she muttered.

  ‘About time,’ Lena grumbled. ‘I’m rushed off my feet in here.’

  ‘Where’s Pa?’ Poppy asked as she went downstairs. ‘I thought he was here.’

  ‘Had to go out,’ Lena said abruptly.

  Poppy greeted a woman who was waiting to be served, and asked Lena, ‘Where’s Albert?’

  ‘Gone.’ Lena put her hand out for money from a woman buying two ounces of tea and dropped it in the cash box. ‘He’s a bit off colour, so I sent him home.’

  ‘Thank you, Mrs Jackson.’ Poppy smiled at the woman she had served with flour and oats, as she left the shop. ‘See you again.’

  ‘You will, honey,’ Mrs Jackson said. ‘It’s good to see your pretty face.’ She looked pointedly at Lena’s severe expression. ‘Not everybody’s able to raise a smile.’

  Lena grunted as the customer went out. ‘It’s all very well smiling when you’ve nothing else to do. You’ll have to do more, young woman, when that brother of yours clears off on his ship.’

  ‘I didn’t know that you knew.’ Poppy was peeved to think that Lena had heard the news before her.

  ‘Your pa had to tell me, hadn’t he? I shall be the one doing most of the work.’ She looked at Poppy. ‘I’m to take on the baking, so that skivvy Nan will have to look to her laurels with the cleaning. I’ll not have a dirty kitchen.’

  ‘It’s not dirty!’ Poppy objected. ‘It’s cleaned every day.’

  ‘It might be clean enough for your brother and that Nan.’ Lena looked scathingly at Poppy. ‘But not for me. I said to your father, if I’m to be in charge of the baking, then I’ll have things done the way I like it.’ Then she gave her a thin smile. ‘We’ll get on well enough, I don’t doubt, Poppy, as long as we understand each other. Especially when I move in; it’ll be a lot easier then, won’t it? I shall be on hand to organize everything.’

  ‘Move in? Move in where?’ Poppy was flabbergasted.

  ‘Why, here, of course! I can’t be expected to start so early if I’m not living in. I’ll be using Tommy’s room as he won’t be needing it.’

  Poppy stared open-mouthed. ‘Has Pa agreed to it? Did he say that you could?’

&
nbsp; ‘Well, I suggested it. It would make it easier all round, now wouldn’t it? Course,’ she sighed, ‘I realize there won’t be room for Albert – not at the moment, anyway. But he can eat here with us and just go home to sleep.’

  I can’t believe what she’s saying. Poppy licked her dry lips. How could Pa agree to it without discussing it with me?

  More customers came in so there was no chance of further talk, but in any case she felt so sick and miserable that she couldn’t have spoken of it. Tommy came through and said he was going out. He addressed himself to Poppy not Lena, and she guessed that he was going to see Charlie.

  Her father came back and asked where Albert was. ‘I’ve sent him home, Josh,’ Lena said, an anxious frown on her forehead. ‘He must have eaten something that’s upset him.’

  ‘Huh,’ Joshua said grumpily. ‘He never said anything to me. You wouldn’t think to look at him that he’d a delicate constitution.’ Poppy realized that Albert must have left after her father had gone out.

  ‘Oh, he hasn’t,’ Lena was quick to reply. ‘Constitution of an ox usually, but maybe he ate some bad meat or drank out of a dirty glass. He’ll be back in the morning.’

  That evening after they had locked up for the night, Poppy, Tommy and her father sat by the range in the kitchen. They rarely lit the fire in the parlour during the week for they hadn’t time to sit in there, but the kitchen was cosy since the fire was always kept in to heat the ovens and for boiling the kettle or cooking meat and vegetables.

  ‘I’ve got ’job, Pa,’ Tommy said quietly, although he couldn’t keep the exultation out of his voice. ‘They said I can sail with them on Monday.’ He glanced at Poppy for her reaction but she simply nodded her head.

  ‘Well, we’ll see how you get on,’ his father said. ‘I told you that if you don’t like it, then you can come home again. There’s always a place here for you.’

  ‘Except that Lena’s having his room,’ Poppy said bitterly. ‘Will she be willing to move out?’