by Joan Jonker
‘I’m seeking retribution, Laura, and if I get that I might be able to get on with me life. I don’t like being miserable, but what happened that night is in me mind all the time, like a nightmare repeating itself over and over again. The only way to rid meself of it, is by paying them back in some way.’
‘I wish I could help yer, Cyn, but I’m not as brave as you. I’m a coward and would run a mile if I set eyes on them.’
‘This is my fight, Laura, and one way or another, I’ll win it.’ Cynthia was well aware that getting even with Larry and Jeff had become an obsession with her, but she couldn’t help it. For what they put her through that night, down a dark entry with no one to call to for help, they deserved to be punished. She gave a deep sigh. ‘Anyway, kid, how are yer getting on with this Gary feller?’
Laura pretended to have a coughing fit, giving herself time to think of an answer. When her friend was feeling better, she’d want to come to the dance with her, and that was out of the question. But she couldn’t tell her that. ‘We get on fine together. He’s a nice bloke, Cynthia, and not half handsome. He’s taught me all the dances, even the tango.’
‘Has he asked yer for a date, yet?’
‘He’s hinted that we should go to the pictures one Thursday, instead of meeting at the dance hall, but I’ve been too keen to learn how to dance. Perhaps after Christmas we’ll go out together.’
‘Is there romance in the air, kid?’
Laura laughed it off. ‘Ask me again when I’ve had me first kiss off him.’
‘My God, you’re slow, aren’t yer? All these weeks and he’s never even kissed yer?’
‘He’s not like the boys we used to knock around with, they were only kids. Gary’s not the type to kiss a girl when he’s only just met her, he’s more of a gentleman. And I won’t let him bring me home because I have to leave the dance at half ten to be home by eleven, and it wouldn’t be fair on him. But it’ll be different when we go out on a date and we’re on our own.’ Laura tittered. ‘I only hope he’s not a sloppy kisser or I’ll go right off him.’
‘Ay, don’t be so big-headed,’ Cynthia said. ‘He might go off you!’
‘No, he really likes me, Cyn, honest. He dances every dance with me, holds me hand and calls me “babe”.’
‘I’ll have to meet this he-man, and see if I approve.’
‘Oh, yer will meet him sometime, Cyn, that’s for sure.’ Laura crossed her fingers. ‘In a couple of weeks, eh?’
‘I’m glad we’ve got the pleasure of yer company again, sweetheart, ’cos we’ve missed yer.’ Martha Porter waited until Jenny had slipped her coat off, then took it from her to hang up. ‘But why aren’t yer going to sit with the old lady? I asked our Janet, but she didn’t seem to know. Did the old girl get fed up with yer?’
Jenny laughed as she took a seat at the table, opposite Bill. ‘No, it was me mam that said it was too much for her, four of us there every night. So me and Janet are going one night, and the lads the next.’
No one was more pleased to see Jenny than Bill. ‘About time, too! The six matches yer owe me from the last game of cards has gone up to ten. I’m charging yer interest ’cos yer’ve owed it for so long.’
‘Some hope you’ve got, Bill Porter!’ Jenny winked at her friend. ‘I didn’t know yer brother was a moneylender, Jan.’
‘He’s tight enough to be one,’ Janet said. ‘He wouldn’t give yer the skin off his rice pudding unless yer paid him for it.’
‘Now, now, that’s enough.’ Her father laid his newspaper down. ‘I’m not having two women ganging up on me own son without coming to his aid. What about the time you had the measles, Janet, and yer wouldn’t even give him a spot? He cried his eyes out, but yer wouldn’t budge. Not one spot would yer part with, even though yer were covered in them.’
‘She was generous enough with her colds, though, wasn’t she, Dad?’ Bill was feeling happier than he’d felt for weeks. It was so good to see Jenny’s pretty smiling face sitting opposite to him. ‘Remember that time she sneezed all over me, and I had a runny nose for weeks after?’
Martha joined in now. ‘That was because yer were bending over her, trying to pinch one of her jelly babies. It served yer right, that did.’
Jenny wagged her head from side to side, her eyes sparkling. ‘We never have no rows like this when we’re sitting with Auntie Lizzie, do we, Jan? All we do is act daft and laugh and joke the whole time.’
Janet giggled. ‘Mick and John act daft, we just sit and laugh at them.’
‘Yeah,’ Jenny agreed, ‘I wonder how they’re getting on?’
‘Never mind about them.’ The last thing Bill wanted to do was talk about the two lads he saw as rivals for Jenny’s affection. ‘All ye’re doing is changing the subject, hoping I’ll forget about the matchsticks yer owe me. And the number has gone up to eleven, by the way.’
‘I’ve only got ten with me. I couldn’t take any more because the box was nearly empty, and I couldn’t leave me mam short or we’d have got no breakfast.’
‘Then yer’d better have a winning streak tonight, or yer’ll be in debt to me for the rest of yer life.’ What a lovely thought, Bill told himself. A whole lifetime of Jenny being in his debt. ‘Get the cards out, Janet, there’s a good sister, and we’ll start.’
‘Mr Porter, before we start, can I ask yer to forget ye’re a man, and be on my side for a change? I need all the help I can get to make sure yer son doesn’t cheat. If we’ve all got our eyes on him he’d have a job to hide cards on his knee, covered by the tablecloth. He thinks I haven’t seen him, but I have, loads of times.’
Vincent roared with laughter. ‘Okay, I’ll join the girls. In fact, so I look the part, I’ll borrow Martha’s pinny.’
Bill wagged a finger at Jenny. ‘You are one big fibber, Jenny Nightingale. I never hide cards on me knee.’ A smile lit up his face. ‘I slip them down the side of me shoe.’
By the end of the night, when it was time for her to leave, Jenny had paid the matchsticks back that she owed, and was three in hand. She was over the moon, and holding the matchsticks in an open palm, she held them under Bill’s nose. ‘How about that, then, old clever clogs?’
‘Sheer fluke, that’s what it was.’ Bill gathered the cards in and slid them back in the packet. ‘And the help yer got from me dad did yer no harm. I saw him pass yer the six of diamonds in that last game.’ He put the cards in the drawer of the sideboard. ‘I’ll walk yer home, even though yer cheated and cleared me out.’
‘There’s no need, Bill, I can be home in five minutes if I run all the way.’
Bill wasn’t about to let that happen. ‘I’ll run all the way with yer, so I should be back home in ten minutes.’
‘It’s no good arguing with him, Jenny, he’ll have his own way if it kills him,’ Janet said. ‘I’ll see yer out and go straight up to bed. I’m up earlier than you, ’cos I don’t have a cushy job sitting on me backside all day.’
When the youngsters had left, Martha and Vincent exchanged amused smiles. ‘Isn’t it funny that our Bill goes out every single night when Jenny’s not here?’ Martha took the poker from the brass companion set and lifted the coals in the fire, hoping the draught would inject a bit of life back into it. ‘Anyone would think he fancied her.’
‘I don’t only think it, love, I know it! It’s sticking out a mile, the way he looks at her.’ Vincent chuckled. ‘The only one who can’t see the cow eyes he makes when he looks at her, is Jenny herself. But yer can understand the lad, ’cos she’s a right bonny lass.’
‘She’ll be bonnier still, in another year or so. Our Bill will have a run for his money, believe me.’ Martha hung the poker back in the companion set. For all the good she’d done she might as well not have bothered. The fire was on its last legs and wouldn’t be coaxed. ‘Our Janet’s a pretty girl, too, but we don’t notice because we see her every day. She hasn’t got Jenny’s humour, but there’s plenty of time for her to come out of her shell, she’s still only a ki
d.’
Vincent reached for his cigarette packet with one hand, and smacked his wife’s bottom with the other. ‘The next year or so could be very interesting, love. I’m looking forward to it.’
Mick put the dominoes back in the box and grinned at John. ‘That’s a tanner yer owe me, pal. But I’ll wait until yer get yer wages on Saturday.’
‘Yer can wait until the cows come home, mate, ’cos we weren’t playing for money, it was only pretend.’
‘We’ll have no fighting, now, lads,’ Lizzie said. ‘John’s right, it was only pretend. Playing for money is gambling, and I don’t hold with it.’
‘Don’t take anything we say seriously, Auntie Lizzie, we’re always having each other on.’ Mick swivelled in his chair and placed the domino box on the sideboard. When he turned back, he asked the question he’d been dying to ask for weeks. ‘Did yer never think of getting married, Auntie Lizzie? I bet yer had plenty of chances, ’cos I can see yer must have been very pretty when yer were younger.’
John glared at his friend. ‘What d’yer mean, when she was younger? That’s a back-handed compliment if ever I heard one. Auntie Lizzie is still pretty.’
‘Of course she is! Just like Janet is very pretty, but yer don’t seem to see that! She hasn’t half got her eye on you, pal, so yer’d better watch out.’
‘Say that once more, mate, and yer’ll be missing two of yer front teeth. If yer’d wear yer glasses, yer’d see it’s you she’s got her eye on, not me.’
‘I didn’t know yer wore glasses, Mick,’ Lizzie said. ‘I’ve never seen yer in them.’
The two boys looked at each other and burst out laughing. ‘I don’t wear glasses, Auntie Lizzie, that’s John’s idea of a joke. The same as when he says he’s going to separate me from me two front teeth. It’s just wishful thinking on his part.’ Mick’s eyes were tender as he looked at the old lady. ‘Now to me question. Did yer never think of getting married?’
‘Oh, yes! I had quite a few boyfriends when I was a girl, but there was only one lad I ever loved enough to marry. He joined the Army in 1914, and before he went away we got engaged. We wrote to each other every day, and he got a week’s leave before he was sent overseas. We were going to get married when he came home, and I started buying things for me bottom drawer. But I never saw him again; he was killed in action in 1916.’
When Mick saw a tear glistening in the faded blue eyes, he cursed himself. ‘I’m sorry, Auntie Lizzie, I shouldn’t have been so nosy. Now I’ve gone and upset yer.’
‘No, yer haven’t, son, I’m glad yer asked. I often think about him – his name was Bill Furlong – but I never talk about him because there’s no one to talk to. So it’s good for me to be able to say his name. I’ve still got me engagement ring, and every letter he sent me is in me drawer upstairs, tied with blue ribbon.’
John swallowed hard to remove the lump in his throat. ‘That’s a real love story, Auntie Lizzie. Yer must have loved him very much to have remained true to him.’
‘I never looked at another man after he was killed,’ Lizzie told them. ‘I’ve lived with me memories all these years.’
‘I hope I find a love like that.’ Mick rounded the table and hugged her. ‘You are one lovely lady. I can see why your Bill fell for yer.’
‘I’m a lucky lady, to have young people around me at my age. Yer’ve brightened my life for me and I do appreciate it.’ There was a glint in her eyes as she smiled at him. ‘But we’ve all missed the girls tonight, haven’t we?’
‘Yeah.’ Mick returned her smile. ‘I’ll have to have words with Mrs Nightingale, see if I can work me charm on her.’
‘Yer’d better let me do that,’ John said. ‘I mean, it’s a well-known thing that I’ve got heaps more charm than you.’
‘In yer dreams, pal, in yer dreams. Yer might stand a chance charming a snake, but when it comes to Mrs Nightingale it’s a different kettle of fish. A real expert is called for, and that’s yours truly.’
‘If you two don’t stop messing around, yer’ll miss Jenny,’ Lizzie said. ‘She’ll be on her way back from Janet’s about now.’
John gave his friend a dig in the back. ‘Yer talk too much, mate. Move yerself before it’s too late.’
‘Right, it’s all hands to the pump, then.’ Mick pointed to the fire. ‘You bank that down while I fill Auntie Lizzie’s hot-water bottle.’
Five minutes later the boys were standing in the street listening for Auntie Lizzie to shoot the bolt on the door. When they were satisfied she was safe, they turned just in time to see Jenny passing on the opposite side, with Bill by her side. ‘Oh,’ John groaned, ‘she’s got that long streak of misery with her.’
‘Let’s spoil it for him, eh?’ Thinking all was fair in love and war, Mick called, ‘Hang on a minute, Jenny.’
Jenny was grinning as she watched them cross the cobbles. ‘How did it go?’
John got in first. ‘We’ve had a very interesting night, especially the last half-hour.’
Oh, he’s not stealing my thunder, Mick thought. I was the one who asked Auntie Lizzie about her life and now he’s trying to cash in on it. ‘She told us all about herself, when she was young, and it wasn’t half sad.’
Jenny looked up at Bill. ‘Thanks for walking me home, Bill, but yer may as well go now, it’s no good standing here freezing.’
Bill wasn’t very happy about that. ‘I said I’d see yer home, and that means seeing yer get safely inside yer house. I don’t mind waiting.’
‘That’s daft, that.’ Mick couldn’t help himself. If this bloke was going to walk Jenny home every other night, they’d be courting in no time. ‘This is John’s house, Jenny’s is next door and I live in that house opposite. We’ll see she gets inside safely, so it’s no good you getting yer death of cold.’
Bill was now becoming irritated. ‘Aren’t you frightened that you might catch yer death of cold? It strikes me that yer stand as much chance as I do.’
‘Yes, but you’ve got that walk ahead of yer, Bill.’ Jenny hadn’t a clue that there was a fight for supremacy going on under her nose. ‘Anyway, I’m freezing meself so I won’t be hanging around for long. I’m certainly not standing listening to a long drawn-out tale from these two. So you make tracks, Bill, and tell Janet I’ll see her tomorrow night.’
Unless he wanted to make a fool of himself, there was little Bill could do. He knew what he’d like to do, and that was punch these two blokes on the nose for cramping his style. But that wouldn’t go down well with Jenny. So with as much sincerity as he could muster, he bade them good night, and with his shoulders hunched, walked away. They’d pulled a fast one on him tonight, but if they tricked him like that again, he’d marmalise them.
Thinking they’d put paid to the enemy, Mick and John were standing with grins on their faces. ‘D’yer think yer mam would like to hear about what Auntie Lizzie told us?’ John asked, hopefully. ‘It’s not half sad.’
‘Would she heckerslike!’ Jenny was thinking her mother would have a fit if these two walked in and she was sitting with dinkie curlers in her hair and a nightdress on. ‘It’s half-past ten, yer daft nit, yer don’t go visiting at this time of night. Anyway, I’m too cold to stand here any longer, I’m going in. Auntie Lizzie can tell me the story herself, tomorrow night.’
Left on their own, the pals looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. ‘The only good thing about that, pal,’ Mick said, ‘was we put a halt to the queer feller’s gallop. I only hope he hasn’t put a death wish on us.’
‘If he does, the one I’m putting on him will cancel it out.’ John felt in his pocket for the front-door key. ‘Don’t worry, mate, there’s always tomorrow. We’ve got an excuse to call and see Auntie Lizzie, I’ve made sure of that. I dropped me comb on the floor under her table, accidentally on purpose, like. So who’s a genius, eh?’
‘I only hope the genius hasn’t dropped his comb on top of my handkerchief.’
Inside the Nightingales’ house, Mary sho
ok her head when she heard roars of laughter outside. ‘Just listen to them! I’m laughing with them, but I haven’t a clue what I’m laughing at. I don’t know which one of them is the funniest.’
‘They’re both cracked, Mam,’ Jenny said. ‘But in a nice way.’
Chapter Sixteen
Cynthia huddled in the shop doorway, stamping her feet to try and get some feeling back in them. They were like blocks of ice and she’d probably get chilblains after this. And for what? If Larry and Jeff didn’t put in an appearance she’d have wasted her time and frozen to the death in the process. She folded her arms and stuck her hands under her armpits for warmth. This was the coldest night she’d known, and if the people hurrying by knew why she was there they’d think she had a screw loose. The best place on a night like this was home, in front of a fire roaring up the chimney.
Thinking of home, Cynthia’s mind took her to her parents. Her dad never questioned where she was going or who with. All he’d said when he’d seen her going out in the old coat and shoes was, ‘What are yer wearing that old coat for? Surely yer’ve got better than that?’ But when she’d told him she was saving her best coat for Christmas, he seemed satisfied. Her mam, though, never said a word, but Cynthia knew she was thinking plenty. She could always tell when her mam knew she was lying, you could see it in her eyes. What a shock they’d both get if they knew what she was up to, and why. Her dad would go stark raving mad and want to find the blokes who had harmed his beloved daughter. He would want to kill them with his bare hands. But her mother would stay silent. Only her eyes would speak, and they would say she wasn’t surprised because her daughter was a wayward girl who had probably contributed to what had happened.
Cynthia bent down to press on her toes, which were giving her gyp. And she would have missed the two men passing by on the opposite side of the road if it hadn’t been for Jeff’s burst of loud laughter. Instantly she was alert, the cold and her pains forgotten as her heart thumped in her breast like a drum. She let them walk a safe distance before crossing the road and following them. And as she pulled her scarf low over her forehead, she vowed she’d stay with them until they made their way home. She was determined that tonight she would find out where they lived, and put a stop to this twice-weekly vigil. Once she had their addresses she would work out how to make the best use of the information. It was only two days to Christmas so there was little she could do before then. What she had in mind had to be planned right down to the last detail if it were to be successful.
