The Factory Girls of Lark Lane: A heartbreaking World War 2 historical novel of loss and love

by Howes, Pam

  Sadie nodded. ‘I’ll say; a lot of water’s gone under the bridge since that final year at school. I see you’re married, Alice? Don’t tell me. Terry Lomax, by any chance? You and he were always together.’

  Alice laughed. ‘Yep, I’m Mrs Lomax now but Terry’s away in God knows where and I’m left holding the baby.’

  ‘Aren’t we all?’ Sadie rolled her eyes. ‘Better let Millie get on with her turn and we’ll catch up later. We’re sitting right by the back wall over there.’

  Sadie picked up the two glasses of gin and orange she’d ordered and she and Jenny made their way back to their table.

  Millie’s ‘White Cliffs of Dover’ received a standing ovation. She beckoned to Alice to come on the stage with her and whispered, ‘“Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company C” for an encore – with you.’

  Alice nodded and took her place next to Millie. She couldn’t sing for toffee compared to her friend, but she could harmonise and let Millie carry the song. The audience joined in and the floor filled with dancers. Alice felt a rush of adrenaline as they neared the end of the song and wished her Terry could see her now. He’d be proud that she was making an effort to get on with her life and bringing up Cathy the best she could.

  The clapping and cheering that heralded the end of their performance had Millie in tears and Alice gave her a hug before they jumped off the stage and hurried back behind the bar. Jack got up on stage and announced that, according to his observations, and the amount of cheering and clapping and shouting for more, Millie was the out and out winner of tonight’s talent contest. He beckoned Millie back on stage and asked her if she’d do another song. She whispered in his ear and he nodded and spoke to the band leader.

  Alice felt a little shiver go down her spine as Millie sang their favourite song of the moment. You could have heard a pin drop as her beautiful rendition of ‘Over the Rainbow’ silenced the room. In that moment Alice felt certain that her best friend was destined for a future on the stage. With a voice like that, Millie could go far. Again the applause and cheering rocked the room and Millie curtsied and came off stage, only to be beckoned back again by Jack and the band leader.

  By the time the evening came to an end and most of the empties had been collected and washed, the band wound down the festivities with a final waltz. Brad claimed Millie, and Jack asked Alice if she’d like to dance.

  Alice hesitated for a moment, thoughts of Maisie and her nasty comments rearing their head, but Arnold’s whispered, ‘Go on, queen. Make his night. He’s in a bit of pain, I can see it in his face; he’s worked hard tonight, but I reckon he could manage a waltz with you,’ made her feel she couldn’t refuse.

  Jack took her hand and slowly waltzed her around the floor. There were loads of wives and girlfriends dancing with servicemen tonight; she wasn’t alone – and they weren’t doing anything wrong. Life had to go on. Maisie could say what she liked on Monday.

  As they got ready to go home Millie made an announcement to Alice. ‘The band leader wants to know if I’ll sing with them permanently. I said I’d have a think about it. They travel around the country entertaining the troops at the base camps, so it would mean leaving home and my job again. I feel all of a dither. I’m not sure what to do. But isn’t it exciting that they feel I’m good enough to perform with them?’

  Alice swallowed the lump in her throat that threatened to choke her. ‘You have to do what’s best for you, Millie. It’s a wonderful opportunity and you don’t know where it may lead for the future.’

  Millie nodded. ‘It’s a lot to take in. I’ll have to see what my mam and dad say.’

  As they left the building with Jack someone yoo-hooed them. Alice whipped around and saw it was Sadie and her friend Jenny.

  ‘Just wanted to say well done to Millie,’ Sadie began. ‘Also we didn’t get a chance to catch up. Me and Jenny are going into town tomorrow afternoon and wondered if you two fancied meeting us for a cuppa in Lyons Corner Café, say about three-ish?’

  Millie nodded. ‘I’m sure the afternoon will be okay. Need to give my mam a hand in the salon in the morning. What about you, Alice?’

  ‘If Terry’s mam can look after Cathy for a couple of hours, it’ll be fine by me. I’m not working tomorrow night with tonight being a late one. The boss said it will be quiet as they’ll all have spent up tonight.’

  ‘Well I’m in, just in case,’ Jack said, ‘so hopefully you’ll both get a bit of time to catch up with your mates.’

  ‘See you tomorrow, then,’ Sadie called as she and Jenny hurried away into the pitch black night.

  ‘Right, you two; let’s get you home,’ Jack said, slinging his gas mask box over his shoulder and offering them an arm each.

  ‘I need to tell you something,’ Alice began as they walked away arm-in-arm from the Legion towards Linnet Lane. ‘It’s about something Maisie said earlier.’

  She told Jack what had been said. His jaw tightened and Alice saw an angry glint in his eyes.

  ‘Right, leave it with me,’ he muttered. ‘I’ll pay her a quick visit on my way into work tomorrow night. Don’t you worry; she won’t dare say anything else out of turn.’

  18

  On Saturday afternoon, Alice and Millie sat open-mouthed as Sadie told them the tale of her whirlwind romance and subsequent hasty marriage to Luca Romano, her dark and handsome Italian lover. Their young son Gianni was three years old; exactly two years older than Cathy. The four girls were enjoying catching up with the tales of each other’s lives since their schooldays.

  ‘Oh my goodness, and don’t you miss him?’ Alice asked. ‘You must have been really in love to run away with him like that.’

  ‘I was,’ Sadie admitted wistfully. ‘I loved him to bits. He was a good-looking charmer and I couldn’t resist him. I ended up pregnant and threw everything away to be with him. But I soon discovered the fairground was a dangerous place to bring up a child. Well in my opinion it was, anyway. The rides, wild dogs that roamed around, loud noises and smells that got into everything. I never felt clean. Luca knew I was unhappy, but there was no way he would leave and get a normal job; he’d been born into that lifestyle, it was in his blood and he loved it. The final straw came when he and his brother Marco started a Wall of Death ride with the motorbikes. I’d had enough by then. It terrified me that he could risk his neck in such a way, knowing he’d got a wife and baby to support. Then the war got underway, and with him being Italian, there was always the risk he’d be taken away as a prisoner of war – all of his family too, not just him.

  ‘We were headed back to Italy via Dover, and then one day when we were parked up not too far from the Bristol area, near to Temple Meads station, I snuck away in the early hours of the morning while everyone else was sleeping, with Gianni and a small bag of belongings. I had hardly any money; just enough to get us back to Liverpool. I was worried to death about coming back to my mam’s place, but she just opened the door at my knock, said, “Well, well, look who’s here,” and took us both in immediately. She adores Gianni, he’s her first grandchild, and she’s never given me a hard time over what went wrong. Just lets me get on with making amends in the best way I can.’

  ‘And does Luca have no idea where you are now?’ Alice asked. She couldn’t possibly imagine roaming the country with Cathy, trying to get home; it must have been scary, especially with the war in full swing and no one to turn to.

  ‘He wrote to me at my mam’s address a few days after I left him – he’d have known I had nowhere else to go – but I haven’t replied. The fair was still in England then, making its way down south, but I have no idea where he is now. It’s best he gets on with his own life and I’ll just get on with mine. I can’t go back to that lifestyle, and like I say, he would never leave the fair and it would be wrong of me to nag him to do that. Once the war is over he may come and look for us, but until then I want our son to have a normal upbringing: live in a house, not a caravan, and go to a proper school. The travelling was very tiring. We nev
er stopped anywhere for more than a few days at a time. And there’s some shady characters work on fairgrounds. I just didn’t feel safe, for myself or for Gianni.’

  ‘It doesn’t sound ideal for family life. Motorbikes scare the life out of me,’ Alice admitted with a shudder. ‘Never mind anything else. Terry has a Harley-Davidson and I wouldn’t get on the back for a hundred pounds and a gold clock. I’m hoping he’ll get rid of it when, and if, he comes home safely. A little car would be nicer, and then he could take me and Cathy out at the weekends.’

  ‘We’ll have to meet up with the little ones when you have a spare afternoon,’ Sadie suggested. ‘Mam said I should send Gianni to be evacuated, but I couldn’t bear it. Be really nice for him to have a friend close by.’

  ‘It’s getting a bit too cold for Sefton Park at the minute,’ Alice said. ‘But come over to Terry’s mam’s place one afternoon and they can have a play together.’

  ‘I’d love to. Thank you. Do you just work the weekends at the Legion?’

  ‘Yes, but I also do a morning shift at Rootes during the week. I’m trying to save up for when Terry gets home. So I’m free in the afternoons. Where do you two work?’

  ‘Well, we were working at Blacklers,’ Sadie’s friend Jenny replied. ‘But it’s closed for repairs following the Blitz. We’ve been taken on part-time at the Utility clothing company for now. Bit boring, the clothes, I mean; not much style, needless to say. But at least people know where to come to get the best deals for their clothing coupons. We’re hoping to get jobs in the new Lewis’s if and when they rebuild it.’

  Millie smiled. ‘I loved Lewis’s. Wouldn’t have minded a job on the cosmetics counter for myself when the new store is ready, but I might be off to pastures new. I’m still trying to decide.’ She told Sadie and Jenny what had happened after last night’s dance.

  Now it was their turn to stare open-mouthed.

  ‘What’s there to decide?’ Sadie said. ‘A chance like that only comes once in a lifetime.’

  Millie laughed. ‘I’m not as impulsive as you are, Sadie. I’m going to talk it over with my mam and dad this weekend, see what they think. Thing is, I do like my job at Rootes, doing my bit for the war effort. Alice and I do the riveting on the wings for the Halifax bombers.’

  ‘It will be so much nicer for you doing the base camps and singing for the troops,’ Sadie said. ‘It’s still helping the war effort. Keeping up their morale. You might meet a handsome American and get swept off your feet.’

  Millie laughed again. ‘Not sure about that. Although that bloke who sang like Frank Sinatra last night was lovely.’

  ‘You could do some duets with him,’ Alice suggested.

  ‘Now you’re just getting carried away,’ Millie said, grinning. ‘I’ll probably never see him again.’

  ‘More’s the pity. But who knows? What will be, will be, and all that!’ Alice said, looking up as the middle-aged waitress, smartly attired in the black and white uniform worn by all Lyons’ Nippy waitresses, came to the table clutching a pad and pencil. ‘Now then, are we all having tea and a slice of whatever cake they have?’

  ‘That’ll do nicely for me, cake is such a treat,’ Sadie said and Jenny and Millie nodded.

  ‘So, four teas and four slices of cake?’ the Nippy said. ‘We have a lovely fatless Victoria sponge or a marble cake, which has a small swirl of chocolate running through it. Quite a luxury in these times.’

  Four heads nodded at the marble cake and the Nippy went away to see to their order.

  ‘Hope you find your mam a bit better tomorrow,’ Sadie said to Alice. ‘It’s been an awful time for you, with losing your brother. No wonder she’s ill. I remember your Rodney from school. He was a nice-looking boy; popular with the girls and a good footballer too. Such a waste of a young life.’

  ‘It is,’ Alice said, blinking a sudden rush of tears away. ‘I really can’t believe that he’ll never walk through the door again, shouting, “What’s for tea, Mam?”’

  ‘Him and thousands of others,’ Jenny said sadly. ‘Our next-doors have lost two of their four sons. Half the family just wiped out like that. Their mam is in a bit of a state as well. She tries to put on a brave face and told my mam that she thinks they’re still alive as they can’t show her proof they’re dead without a body. She’s sure they’ll come home with all the others when the war is over and they’ll all be able to laugh at the telegrams and the stupid mistakes that were made. God help her, I hope she’s right, but I doubt it.’

  ‘If only.’ Alice sighed and looked up as the Nippy wheeled a trolley across to their table and proceeded to place their orders in front of them.

  ‘What about you, Jenny?’ Alice asked as they tucked in. ‘Are you courting anyone?’

  Jenny shook her head. ‘I split up with my boyfriend last year after he told me he didn’t think we were working out. He’s away with his regiment somewhere in the Middle East, according to his sister who I’m still friends with. I worry about him, obviously, and he sent me a card at Christmas, but it wasn’t a special card or anything. That man you work with at the Legion, Jack who did the raffle and the talent show; he seems nice. Is he married or anything?’

  Alice felt her face heating. Another one that fancied Jack. ‘Er, he’s single. He was going out with a girl from Rootes but not for long. Just a word of warning though, he likes being footloose and fancy-free. Doesn’t stay with anyone for too long.’

  Jenny blushed. ‘Oh, I’m not looking for anything serious. Just company really. It would be nice to have someone take me out now and again. To the pictures or a dance and what-have-you.’

  Alice nodded. ‘Well, he works all weekend and part of the week. But I suppose if you come in on one of the nights he’s there you can smile sweetly at him and see what happens.’

  ‘We’ll go in next weekend,’ Sadie suggested. ‘Do they have any music if they don’t have a band playing? We like to have a dance.’

  ‘There’s a regular chap plays the piano, and we have a sing-song,’ Alice said. ‘It’s always a good night in there, even in the event of an air raid warning!’

  ‘It’s time we made tracks,’ Millie said, looking at her wristwatch. ‘Finish your tea, Alice, I need to get home. I promised my mam I’d be back for six so we can have the “should I, shouldn’t I go with the band” talk.’

  ‘Yes, we’d better be making tracks too,’ Sadie said. ‘Don’t like to put on my mam too much with Gianni. She baby-sat last night until late. Maybe we’ll see you next Saturday.’

  ‘You will,’ Alice said. ‘But do come over one afternoon with your little boy. What about Wednesday?’

  ‘Smashing,’ Sadie replied. ‘We’ll see you then.’

  Millie and Alice linked arms as they made their way back to the tram stop.

  ‘Can I ask you something?’ Millie asked. ‘And don’t bite my head off.’

  ‘Course you can,’ Alice said, wondering what Millie had on her mind that was causing her to frown.

  ‘Are you a bit sweet on Jack Dawson?’

  ‘Am I heck! What makes you say that?’

  ‘Just something, oh, I don’t know. When Jenny asked about him you had a “look” on your face, like she was asking after your fella, like. And it seemed to me like you were trying to put her off.’

  ‘Not at all. Anyway, I’m a married woman. I don’t need to be sweet on anyone other than my Terry. I suppose I feel a bit sorry for Jack, a bit protective of him, like I would a brother. Because of his accident and the fact it’s left him lame and he doesn’t have much to call his own; just lodgings in someone else’s house. He’s been so nice to me at work and it would be good for him to find a woman who would look after him. But he doesn’t seem to want commitment and, like Marlene told me, he definitely does like his booze. He always smells of whisky or something when he comes to work and that’s before he has anything to drink there. I don’t think he’s the settling-down type and I remember when we first went to that dance and I told him I had a te
ething baby at home, he was quite scathing and said, “Rather you than me.” I doubt he’s the husband and family-man type.’

  ‘Hmm, best avoided then if Jenny’s looking for more than she says she is.’

  ‘Maybe,’ Alice said as the crowded tram trundled into view, its brakes squealing as it jerked to a stop. They jumped onto the platform and found seats upstairs. ‘Good luck talking things over with your mam and dad later. I’ll really miss you if you go away, but I’ve got to admit it’s a wonderful opportunity for you and we don’t get many of those these days.’

  ‘True.’ Millie nodded. ‘I’ll miss you too if I go, and my little god-daughter. But you’ll have Sadie to knock about with, and Cathy will have a new little friend to play with.’

  Alice sighed. ‘It won’t be the same without you though.’

  They got off at the stop on Aigburth Road and linked arms as they turned onto Lark Lane.

  ‘Shall we see if there’s any chocolate in the newsagent’s for you to take to your mam tomorrow?’ Millie suggested. ‘Hopefully she’s showing signs of improvement this week and will soon be home.’

  ‘Good idea. I’ll get her a Woman’s Weekly as well. She’ll be missing it.’

  Mam looked smart in a white cardigan over a navy blue soft wool dress. Her hair had been trimmed and set and she greeted Alice, Brian and Cathy with a wave as they walked into the lounge at the convalescent home. She held her arms out for Cathy, who pulled back shyly, plugging her thumb firmly into her mouth and hiding behind Alice’s skirt. She peered shyly out from beneath her fringe.

  ‘I think she’s forgotten me,’ Mam said. ‘It’s been a long time and they soon forget at that age.’

  ‘She’s just being clingy, Mam,’ Alice said reassuringly. ‘Give her a bit of time and she’ll soon come round.’

  ‘Well, our Brian will give me a hug, won’t you, my love.’