‘You’re never boring.’ Millie smiled at him. ‘I’m sure Dan would like to chat about old times again.’ It always gave her a pang of regret to hear old comrades reminiscing together, knowing her brother would never be one of them. But the major was such a kind man that she never resented his harping on old times.
Dan nodded as he moved swiftly to Millie’s side. ‘Be pleased to. Good night, Major.’ He took Millie’s hand possessively and pulled her after him.
Millie waved to Bob and followed, thrilled at Dan’s open show of affection. He slipped her arm through his and squeezed it as the dimly lit street swallowed them up. He chattered away as if he knew her well, his breath warming the frozen air around them in billowing clouds. Millie realised after a few minutes that they were walking back to the hotel in a very roundabout way, but she did not protest. She wanted the walk to go on for ever as she listened, captivated, to his tales of London life and football. He could have recited times tables and she still would have hung on his every word, thrilled by his lively voice and animated face. In return, she recounted fanciful tales about her life in Morpeth, not wanting him to think her dull. As they passed the end of Fern Street, she gave a half-glance towards the Egyptian Ballroom. Even the lure of that forbidden world seemed to lessen in Dan’s company. But he noticed her look.
‘I found out from Mam that you worked Saturdays at the fleapit for dancing money. You’re desperate to go in there, aren’t you?’
Millie nodded. ‘One day I will.’
‘We’ll go in now,’ Dan announced, and abruptly steered her into Fern Street.
‘We can’t!’ Millie said in panic. ‘I’m not dressed for it – and the money – and Mam! I’m supposed to be home.’
‘They’ll let us in the buffet,’ Dan said, undaunted. ‘We’ll just go in for a few minutes. Your mam’ll not miss you. Haway, it’s time you had a bit of fun.’
Millie’s heart began to pound. This could not be happening to her. Two hours ago she was selling sweets in a drab picture house, and now she was about to enter the Egyptian Ballroom on the arm of handsome Dan Nixon! Any moment she would pinch herself and wake up in bed beside Ava. But she pushed away thoughts of a jealous Ava or an angry mother and allowed Dan to hurry her up the street.
At the steps Dan squeezed her arm and led her up, immediately engaging the doorman in conversation about the afternoon’s game. The man appeared to know him and congratulated him on his winning goal. They were ushered in with a pat on the back. Millie smiled broadly, feeling a warm glow spreading inside at the reception they got. It happened again as they mounted the stairs to the buffet, people stopping to chat to Dan, welcoming him home, shaking his hand, talking about the match. She had never experienced such admiration, and it made her feel light-headed to be basking in the glow of Dan’s popularity. She noticed too the looks that the women gave her, puzzled and intrigued to know who she was. Millie wished she was wearing something more attractive than a brown jacket and black skirt and the felt hat she had worn since she was fourteen. But Dan did not seem to mind as he ushered her into the buffet and claimed a table by the railings so that Millie could peer over at the dancers below.
She gazed around at the exotically painted walls depicting sphinxes and pharaohs, palm trees and fruit. The elaborate stucco ceiling was picked out in gold and green, and everywhere there were potted plants throwing shadows on the black and white tiled floor from bright electric lamps. Music pulsated from the well-dressed dance band below as Millie leaned over to catch a glimpse of the dancers. The ballroom was a blaze of colour and noise, every bit as exciting as she had imagined.
Dan came back with two ice-cream sodas in long glasses with spoons, and watched Millie’s face light up at the sight.
‘It’s like a fairytale!’ she grinned.
He was struck again at how unselfconsciously pretty she was, her slim face flushed and her eyes shining with excitement, black curls snaking from under her unfashionable hat. He liked the way her mouth turned up at the edges, smiling easily, and the candid look in her blue eyes under the dark lashes. There was nothing jaded or world-weary about Millie; she seemed to get pleasure out of so little and it made him feel good bringing her here. She was sweet and undemanding and listened to everything he said. He was captivated by her.
‘I’ve never had one of these before!’ she cried, eagerly dipping her spoon into the melting mountain in the glass.
‘Tuck in then,’ Dan grinned. She finished first, and he pushed his half-eaten one away and leaned closer. ‘You never came to see me play at Burt Park, did you?’
‘Mam wouldn’t let me,’ Millie replied. ‘There was too much to do at the hotel.’
‘So you did try?’ Dan asked, regarding her intently.
Millie blushed. ‘Aye, I did.’
‘Ava was there with our Walter. She seems to do as she pleases.’
‘Her dad doesn’t take much interest in what she does,’ Millie explained. ‘He leaves it to my mam to tell her what she can and can’t do.’
‘And your mam’s soft on Ava and hard on you?’ Dan guessed.
‘She’s always been protective of me,’ Millie answered, not wanting to be critical.
‘Protective from the likes of me, eh?’ Dan grinned.
‘Especially from the likes of you!’ Millie laughed.
Unexpectedly Dan reached for her hand, leaning close. ‘You’re a canny lass, Millie. I want to see you again.’
‘Me?’ Millie gasped, her whole body beginning to tremble. She could not believe that the popular Dan wanted to court her.
‘Aye, you,’ he laughed, squeezing her hand. ‘So what do you say? Will you gan out with me?’
Millie felt her face burning. ‘Aye, I’d like that,’ she whispered.
‘Grand,’ said Dan. ‘Now I better get you home before your mam has me guts for garters.’
Millie gave the dance hall a reluctant backward glance as they stepped out into the chilly night once more. Dan enclosed her in his arm as they hurried along, but as they neared the hotel, Millie pulled away from him.
‘She might be looking out for me,’ she said nervously, her euphoria at the past hour evaporating as she thought of her mother. Suddenly Dan stopped and swung her round to face him. He leaned very close so that she could feel his warm breath on her cold cheeks. Her heart thudded.
‘I’ll meet you at the fleapit on Wednesday, and on Saturday I’m taking you to the Egyptian Ballroom. Properly this time – dancing and supper.’
Millie was shaking with cold and nerves. ‘She’d never let me. Not just with you.’
Dan was undaunted. ‘She’ll not stop me seeing you. When I want something, Millie, I’ve got to have it.’ He gave her a dangerous, glinting look that made her insides leap.
Millie returned his look. ‘Then you’ll have to come and ask her properly,’ she answered.
Dan smiled, relishing the challenge. ‘I will, bonny lass, I will.’
***
To Millie’s amazement, Dan came seeking her at the Palace on Wednesday and treated her to fish and chips afterwards. The following evening she called on Effie with some baking and Dan escorted her home, taking a long deviation by the river. In the twilight he stole a kiss on Millie’s lips and set her heart thumping like a bass drum. He laughed at her flaming cheeks and told her she was the bonniest lass he had ever kissed. Millie hurried home but hardly slept. Friday seemed to last an eternity, but then it was Saturday morning, and Dan had promised to call and see her mother before the team left for their away match to Bedlington. She was a bundle of nerves and kept dropping things.
‘What is the matter with you, lass?’ Teresa snapped. ‘Stop staring out the window and get on with that polishing.’
All at once, Millie caught sight of Dan striding through the back gates, whistling, clutching a bunch of flowers. Her stomach lurched. ‘Mam,’ she began in panic, wanting to warn her. But there was a sudden shriek from Ava, who had gone to see what it was that had distracted Mi
llie.
‘There’s Dan Nixon! And he’s coming across our yard.’ She turned excitedly. ‘He must be coming to see me!’
Millie’s pulse raced as she looked away. Ava did not notice her nervousness as she rushed to open the back door, but her mother gave her a sharp look. A moment later, Dan was sauntering into the large kitchen, dressed in his best suit, his fair hair combed with brilliantine, exchanging greetings with his cousin Ava.
He strode straight over to Teresa and thrust the bunch of flowers into her arms.
‘It’s Mrs Mercer I’ve come to see,’ he smiled. ‘Thought it was time I introduced myself properly.’
Teresa was quite taken aback. She stared at the flowers and then back at Dan. Millie hardly dared look at him; she was suddenly overawed by his appearance, although she had longed for it since their last meeting and that first kiss.
‘Well, that’s very good of you,’ Teresa blustered, ‘but I really don’t see why . . .’
‘Cos you deserve them,’ Dan replied with the dimpled smile that set Millie’s heart hammering faster.
Ava, hardly able to mask her disappointment, pouted. ‘Well some people have all the luck. You’ll stop for a cup of tea with us, won’t you?’ She fussed around him, but Millie could not move.
Teresa recovered. ‘Of course you must. Sit yourself down. Millie, get the lad a cup. I’d like to hear all about your time in London. Your mother must be pleased to see you back.’
‘I’ll get the tea,’ Ava said quickly, rushing for a cup and saucer.
‘That’s very kind of you,’ Dan said, sitting astride a stool. ‘But I can’t stop long. I’ve got to meet the lads shortly.’
Millie tried to appear busy, vying with Ava to prepare a pot of tea. She suddenly realised she had not really expected Dan to turn up, and was now terrified of what he was going to ask. But he seemed quite at ease talking to her mother, regaling her with anecdotes about London life. Ava relaxed and, to Millie’s embarrassment, became flirtatious.
Teresa silenced her. ‘You still haven’t explained why you’ve brought me flowers. Is there something you’re wanting to ask me?’
Dan nodded. ‘I came to ask your permission, Mrs Mercer.’
Millie saw Ava flush in anticipation and felt her palms go moist. She did not dare look at her mother.
‘Well, ask away then, lad,’ Teresa encouraged. He stood up and went round the table to stand beside Millie, giving Teresa a challenging look. ‘It’s your daughter I’ve come to see, Mrs Mercer.’ Turning to Millie, he grinned. ‘I’d like to take her out to the Egyptian Ballroom tonight.’
Ava gasped. Teresa reddened.
‘Millie?’ she said sharply. ‘Surely not! You don’t even know her.’
‘I know her enough to want to take her out dancing,’ Dan replied, undaunted by the shocked looks. ‘I met her at the pictures and I think she’s canny. And I can see now where she gets her looks from, Mrs Mercer.’
Teresa’s protest died on her lips, dumbfounded by his mixture of flattery and boldness. She looked at the burning cheeks of her daughter. ‘Millie, you never mentioned this to me,’ she accused.
Dan quickly intervened. ‘I asked her not to,’ he smiled. ‘I wanted to do this properly and come here and ask for myself. Do things the respectable way.’
Teresa was disarmed by this. ‘Well, I don’t know. I suppose there’s no harm in it. You seem like a good lad to me.’
Ava interrupted frostily. ‘She’s only seventeen! She’s far too young to be going to the Egyptian Ballroom on her own,’ she complained petulantly. ‘You’ve never let me go!’
Dan turned and smiled at his cousin. ‘You could come too. We’ll make up a foursome with Walter. We’ll have a really grand night out.’
Ava coloured, seeing it was impossible to refuse such a suggestion without losing out completely.
‘That seems all right to me,’ Teresa declared. ‘You can both go, as long as you’re safely home at a reasonable hour. And I hold you responsible for that, Dan.’ She shot him a warning look.
‘You can rely on me,’ he smiled. Turning to Millie, he gave her a triumphant look. ‘Walter and me’ll come by at seven then.’
Millie’s heart leapt. ‘Good luck for this afternoon,’ she managed to say, before Dan disappeared out the back door with a wave.
As she turned back, she caught sight of Ava’s thunderous face. It was a look of pure loathing. But Teresa did not allow Ava to pick an argument. ‘Back to work,’ she said briskly. ‘I’ll not have you falling out over lads, do you hear?’
Ava pulled a petulant, mutinous face. ‘Why should I take orders from you?’ she said rudely. ‘You’re just my father’s housekeeper.’
Teresa flashed her an angry look. ‘Don’t cross me, Ava, or you’ll not go dancing tonight. Your father won’t stand for any nonsense either, so don’t think you can go telling tales to him. Dan has chosen to court Millie and that’s his choice. You should be happy with Walter. He’s a fine lad and a credit to his mother. What more do you want?’
Millie was thankful for her mother’s support, but she was unnerved by the spiteful look on Ava’s face. The girl did not argue further, but flounced out of the kitchen and banged the door in ill-temper. Later, making ready in their room for the dance, Millie was relieved that Ava said little, apart from a few barbed comments about keeping secrets from her. Ava wore a new dress that she had gone out and bought that afternoon, made of beige satin with black lace cuffs and collar. Millie made do with a plain purple dress that she had borrowed from Elsie. It was too short in the arms and it came to just below her knees. She kept yanking it down in case her mother thought it too short and revealing. Elsie came rushing in with a necklace of paste jewellery and a matching headband.
‘Here, I’ve borrowed these from our Mary,’ she panted. ‘They’ll go canny with the dress and it’ll stop you wearing that awful hat.’
‘Ta very much, Elsie.’ Millie tried them on with delight, dashing over to the stained oval mirror that hung above the washstand. She could not believe how the cheap jewels transformed the dull dress, the headband making her look much older.
‘You look like Clara Bow!’ Elsie teased. ‘Doesn’t she, Ava?’
Ava gave them both a sullen look as she made for the door. ‘Hurry up; we don’t want to keep them waiting.’
As she disappeared, Elsie pulled a face behind her back. ‘Old misery-guts,’ she muttered. ‘You look just grand.’ She pinched Millie’s cheeks to bring colour to her pale face and told her to bite her lips, then the girls clattered down the stairs together, laughing. Elsie had agreed to take Millie’s place at the Palace that evening so she did not lose her job.
When they burst into the smoky kitchen, Dan and Walter were already there. Dan broke off his conversation with Teresa and stared. Gone was the bashful girl with the untidy curls. Millie’s dark hair gleamed in snaking waves from under a silver headband like a film star’s, accentuating her lively eyes. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips looked reddened. A simple string of silver and green jewels hung about her slim neck, bringing glamour to a plain purple dress that was too tight for her. Dan’s pulse began to race at the glimpse of knee he caught as she hurried into the room and gave him a broad smile.
He stood up. ‘You look beautiful, Millie,’ he smiled, and stepped towards her.
Millie flushed with pleasure, glancing at her mother nervously. But Teresa was staring at her too as if she did not quite recognise her, her mouth quivering.
‘Yes, you do,’ she murmured, her eyes glistening in the lamplight.
‘Let’s be off then,’ Ava snapped, breaking the intense atmosphere. ‘We don’t want to be late.’
Walter obediently followed her to the door, and Millie fumbled for her jacket, gabbling to her mother that they would not be late. Out in the dark, Dan grabbed her hand and linked arms possessively.
‘I’m the proudest man in Ashborough tonight,’ he whispered into her ear, and Millie felt the excitement leap i
nside her. The dark hid the daily squalor of ash lanes turned to quagmires in the rain, the billowing smoke from coal trains and the skyline of pit wheels and chimney stacks. Instead, the shops glowed with phosphorescent light like Aladdin’s caves, while laughter and expectant voices rang out through the dank stillness above the soft neigh of horses from the Co-operative stables.
‘So how did you get on at Bedlington?’ Millie asked, trying to sound calm.
‘Won three-nil,’ Dan replied. ‘I scored twice. And there was a scout from Gateshead watching.’
Millie glanced at his animated face. ‘Did he come to watch you?’
‘Well, put it this way, I reckon I’ll not be staying with the Comrades long. It’s just a matter of time before I’m picked for a professional team.’
Millie nudged him. ‘You’re very sure of yourself, Dan Nixon.’
He grinned at her. ‘Aye, I am. When it comes to football, anyway.’
‘And lasses, so I hear,’ Millie teased.
Dan shot her a look. ‘You shouldn’t listen to idle gossip. There’s only one lass that interests me and she’s right here beside me.’
Millie laughed, delighted. ‘So why didn’t you stay down in London?’
Dan’s face hardened. ‘I was playing semi-professional, but some people had it in for me, didn’t want me to get on; said I didn’t have the right temperament.’ He turned to her, his expression passionate. ‘I play hard, Millie, and I don’t mind taking a bit of punishment on the pitch. But I don’t play dirty. You should see some of the kickings I’ve taken, but I don’t complain. Maybe I have lost me temper once or twice, but I score goals. You’ve got to feel fire in your belly to keep doing that week after week.’
Millie looked on in awe as he continued to speak about the game, the words tumbling out of him like coals from a tub. Up till now she had only seen the light-hearted side of Dan, his teasing and jokes and flattery. But now he spoke of football with a seriousness and intensity of which she had not thought him capable.
THE TYNESIDE SAGAS: Box set of three dramatic and emotional stories: A Handful of Stars, Chasing the Dream and For Love & Glory Page 51
