Jenny's War

by Dickinson, Margaret

  ‘I don’t hold with it, Jenny,’ he told her.

  Jenny said a silent prayer of thanks that her new employer was not like the last. She shuddered as she realized just how close she and her mother had come to being questioned by the police, if not worse. Perhaps they might have ended up being arrested as accomplices.

  Donald was like Jim in other ways, though; he was kind to her mother and to her. He bought them little treats and when Dot said that she would have to look for work for Jenny’s pay wouldn’t pay the rent and all the other household bills, he at once reduced the rent to a mere pittance so that they could manage.

  ‘I’m surprised you haven’t been commandeered for war work, my dear,’ he said to Dot, but she merely smiled and said, ‘I don’t expect they want someone like me. I’m not much good at anything.’

  ‘I’m sure you are. The very sight of you raises a man’s spirits,’ Donald said gallantly. But it still puzzled him why she was not gainfully employed in helping the war effort in some way. Whilst he deplored the way that his wife had rushed so enthusiastically into it, he nevertheless agreed that all able-bodied women who no longer had young children to care for should do something. But every time he broached the subject, Dot was evasive.

  For several weeks, Jenny was happy in her work. The shop, though cool to help preserve the foodstuffs, was not freezing like the butcher’s shop had been. And on cooler days, Donald let her work in the storeroom or in the office, checking the coupons and filling out the official forms. And there was the added bonus of seeing Bobby every day. The friendship the two had shared as youngsters was still as strong as ever.

  In August, the day after Jenny’s fifteenth birthday, the Allies marched into Paris and four long years of Nazi occupation for them was over. By September Belgium was free but, at the same time, London was faced with another, even more sophisticated weapon than the doodlebugs. These were Hitler’s V-2s, long-range rockets that gave no warning sound. At first the Londoners thought the massive explosions were gasworks, but before long they realized they were yet again under bombardment.

  In the view of many, the end of the war was in sight as German troops were pushed back, but the fighting was not over.

  ‘’Itler’ll not give in,’ Elsie said, still fretting over her boys. ‘He’ll fight to the death.’ And in the January of 1945, Sammy, at just eighteen, was called up too.

  ‘You won’t have to go, Bobby, will you?’

  ‘If it lasts another eighteen months, I will,’ he said cheerfully, loading the boxes of groceries on to the back of the cart in the yard behind Donald’s shop. ‘In the meantime, I’d better get these deliveries taken out else I’ll have all the customers gunning for me, ne’er mind ’Itler.’

  ‘Watch out for the rockets,’ she warned.

  Bobby pulled a face. ‘Least I won’t know a lot about it, Jen.’

  Jenny watched him manoeuvre the cart out of the yard and sent up a silent prayer for his safety.

  Jenny turned to go back into the office with a sigh. There was a lot of paperwork awaiting her and she hoped that Donald would be kept busy in the shop. She enjoyed the work and being close to Bobby, but there was one thing that bothered her; sometimes Donald would come and stand close to her chair as she worked at the desk in the office. Then he would put his hand on her shoulder as he leaned over to explain something to her. It seemed innocent enough, but his closeness made Jenny’s skin crawl. She settled herself in the room at the back of the shop and began to sort out the ration books. About mid-afternoon, she paused to rub her eyes and make a pot of tea, carrying a cup through to Donald in the shop.

  ‘Ta, darlin’. Most welcome. How’s the paperwork going?’

  Jenny pulled a face. ‘All right. Seems such a lot of it this month. I’d better get back to it.’

  She was still working, checking the invoices against the deliveries, when closing time came and Donald came through to the back where Jenny was standing on a stepladder, piling boxes on to a high shelf. She could feel him watching her and she was about to step down, when she felt him touch her ankle and then slide his hand up the calf of her leg. She spun round, almost toppling off the stepladder. She regained her balance, climbed down quickly and turned to face him, her eyes blazing.

  ‘How dare you?’ she began, but he backed away, holding out his hands as if to ward off her attack.

  ‘I’m sorry, Jenny. I didn’t mean any harm. I thought you might fall, I—’

  ‘You nearly made me fall,’ she hissed.

  ‘I’m so sorry,’ he said again. ‘It’s just—’

  ‘You’re nothing but a dirty old man.’

  ‘Jenny, please don’t tell your mother. I beg you. It’ll never happen again, I swear.’

  ‘You’re right there. It won’t.’

  Jenny moved towards the back door, snatching her jacket from the peg. She turned towards him briefly. ‘You know what you can do with your job. And if you take my advice, you won’t come round our house again.’

  With that parting shot, she dragged open the door and hurried out, slamming it behind her with a finality that left Donald in no doubt as to what she intended to do.

  Forty-Eight

  ‘You stupid little bitch! What on earth have you done?’

  Jenny gasped in the face of her mother’s anger. ‘What have I done? It’s what he’s done. Don’t you understand?’

  ‘Oh, I understand all right. You just might have scuppered the best thing we’ve ever had.’

  ‘But – but he touched me. He stroked my leg. He—’

  ‘For goodness’ sake, girl. He’s a man! It’s what they do. And I told you to be nice to him.’

  Jenny stared at her, wide-eyed with horror. ‘You – you mean me to put up with – with that sort of thing?’

  ‘Don’t be such a stuck-up little prude, Jen. How d’yer think we’re going to survive the war if we don’t have help from the likes of Donald Jenkins? He’s reduced our rent and he nearly keeps us in groceries. And—’

  Jenny put her hands over her ears. ‘I don’t want to hear any more. I won’t listen.’

  ‘You bloody well will listen to me.’ Dot grasped Jenny’s wrists and pulled her hands down. She thrust her face close to her daughter’s, her spittle raining on Jenny’s face as she spat, ‘You will go back this minute to the shop and you’ll apologize. You’ll say you didn’t understand and—’

  ‘I won’t! I won’t go back there. I don’t want to see him again.’

  ‘Well, I do.’ Dot’s grip tightened. ‘So you’ll do as I say, or else—’

  Jenny wrenched herself free and headed for the front door. As she pulled it open she turned back and pointed a finger at her mother. ‘Go yerself, ’cos I’m not going anywhere near that – that – ’ She was stuck for a word to describe what she felt about Donald Jenkins, so she just ended her sentence with a low, menacing growl and slammed the door with such a force that it shuddered on its hinges.

  By the time she arrived at Elsie’s, Jenny was weeping tears of anger, frustration and fear.

  ‘Aw, darlin’, whatever’s the matter? Come in, come in.’

  Elsie’s arm was comfortingly around her shoulders and she was leading her to the warmth of the fire. ‘You’re trembling, love. And you’ve come out without yer coat. What’s happened?’

  ‘Is Bobby in?’

  ‘No. He’s out with his mates. Is it him you want to see?’

  Jenny shook her head. ‘No – no, I’d rather he didn’t know. At least, not yet. Oh Aunty Elsie, whatever am I to do?’

  ‘Tell me what’s the matter first, then we’ll see, eh?’ She stroked Jenny’s hair back from her tear-stained face. ‘Sit down and tell me all about it.’

  ‘I can’t stand it any longer. Today was the last straw . . .’ She was tempted to tell Elsie everything, right from the time they’d left London sneaking away in the middle of the night in Arthur’s van. All about their time in Derbyshire and how he’d involved her in his criminal activities. But s
he couldn’t. Something was still holding her back from confiding in anyone about that. Instead, she concentrated on the recent months working for Donald Jenkins.

  ‘He comes into the back office and leans over me. And sometimes, in the shop, in front of other people, he’ll put his arm round me and squeeze me. It looks innocent enough. He’s like an affectionate uncle.’ She pulled a wry expression. ‘Another “uncle”.’

  Elsie smiled weakly but said nothing.

  ‘But it isn’t innocent, Aunty Elsie.’ She gave a dramatic shudder. ‘He’s sort of – creepy. D’you know what I mean?’

  Elsie nodded. ‘Go on, darlin’,’ she said, encouraging the girl to tell her what had happened today to upset her so.

  ‘Well, I never,’ she said at last. ‘I’d never have thought it of Mr Jenkins. He’s always seemed such an upstanding man in the community. He’s always refused to have any dealings with these spivs and their black market stuff.’

  ‘You – you do believe me, don’t you, Aunty Elsie?’

  ‘’Course I believe you. I know you wouldn’t make up something like that and – ’ her tone hardened – ‘and you couldn’t have mistaken what his intentions were, ne’er mind what yer mam ses. She’s just trying to keep in with him. She’ll be round there now, if I know Dot Mercer, trying to patch things up.’

  ‘He’ll have gone home by now. What if she goes round there? What if his wife’s at home?’

  ‘Then your mother, darlin’, will get whatever’s coming to her.’ Elsie was immediately contrite. ‘I’m sorry to speak of her like that to you.’

  ‘It’s all right, Aunty Elsie,’ Jenny said, calmer now and wiping her eyes. ‘I know exactly what she is. I’ve known for a long time, but she is my mother. I should’ve run away. I nearly did when we were in – when we were up north. I’d got my case all packed but then Arthur came home and said we were moving again and I didn’t get the chance. Oh, if only I’d come back here then.’

  ‘I wish you had.’ Elsie didn’t press the girl, but she was shrewd enough to guess that there’d been more to their life ‘up north’ than Jenny was telling her. There was silence in the kitchen as they sat, still close together, in the firelight. A sudden loud banging on the front door made them both jump.

  ‘Come out here, you little devil. I know you’re in there.’

  They heard the door open and the next moment, Dot was in the kitchen shaking her fist at them both. Elsie stood up and turned to face her. ‘Yer can stop that racket right now, Dot. Calm yerself and let’s talk this through.’

  ‘What’s she been telling you, the little liar?’

  ‘Jen’s no liar,’ Elsie said calmly, though she was having difficulty in suppressing her own anger. ‘Sit down, I tell you, and we’ll talk about it all.’

  ‘She might’ve lost me the best thing that’s ever happened to me in years.’

  ‘Oh, so you don’t mind an old feller like him making advances to yer fifteen-year-old daughter, then?’

  Dot’s lip curled. ‘What’d he want with her when he’s got me?’

  Elsie leaned forward and said slowly and deliberately, ‘Young, fresh meat, that’s what.’

  ‘Please – stop it,’ Jenny begged.

  Dot glared at them both and then sneered, ‘Well, it might surprise you to know that I’ve been round his house just now and he’s going to leave his wife and move in with me.’ She turned to Jenny. ‘So you, me girl, can sling yer hook. Yer stuff’s all outside Elsie’s front door right now and I don’t want to see hide nor hair of you ever again.’ She stood up. ‘I’ve always told you I never wanted you in the first place, so now you’re old enough, you can look after yerself.’

  With that parting shot, she flounced from Elsie’s kitchen and out of the front door, leaving them staring after her.

  ‘She’s not normal, that woman. Sorry to say it, Jen, but she ain’t got a maternal bone in her body. Ah well . . .’ Elsie heaved herself up and went to the front door. ‘Best get your things back upstairs into Ronnie’s room. Looks like you’ll be staying with us again.’

  ‘Oh, Aunty Elsie,’ Jenny jumped up. ‘I never thought. Oh dear, what have I done?’

  Elsie paused and turned to look at her. ‘What are you on about?’

  ‘Bobby. I never thought. What about Bobby’s job? Will Mr Jenkins sack him?’

  For a moment Elsie stared at her and then she burst out laughing. ‘Don’t you worry about our Bobby, dar-lin’. He’ll likely not want to work there any more when he hears what’s been going on.’

  ‘I’ll bloody well thump him.’ Bobby punched his fist into the palm of his other hand, wishing it was Donald Jenkins’s nose he was bloodying. ‘Just wait till I get me hands on him. I’ll teach him to lay a finger on you.’

  ‘Now, now, calm down, Bobby. Jenny’s going to stay with us and she’s not going back there.’

  ‘I should think not, indeed. And neither am I.’

  ‘Don’t say that, Bobby. I don’t want you to lose your job because of me.’

  But Bobby was shaking his head. ‘I’ve got another job. On the railway. I heard this morning. I’d’ve been leaving Jenkins anyway. It’s better pay and it might mean it’ll be a reserved occupation and I won’t get called up.’

  ‘Oh Bobby,’ Elsie threw her arms around the embarrassed young man and hugged him, ‘that’s wonderful.’

  Grinning with embarrassment, Bobby extricated himself. ‘I didn’t tell you before, Mam, because I didn’t know if I’d get it and I didn’t want to get your hopes up. I knew you’d be pleased.’

  ‘Pleased! You can’t even begin to guess how much, darlin’.’

  Jenny, too, was smiling. ‘Any jobs going for girls on the railway?’ She was half joking, but Bobby took her question seriously. ‘I don’t know, but I can ask, if you like.’

  ‘Well, I need a job. I want to pay my way here—’

  Mother and son both spoke at once: ‘There’s no need.’

  ‘You can help me about the house and—’ Elsie began.

  Jenny put her hands up, protesting laughingly. ‘It’s very good of you, but I must look for work. I’ll go back to the authorities and see what they want me to do. I would like to stay here – really I would, but I shall get work.’

  Forty-Nine

  Jenny had been staying at the Huttons’ house for almost a month. Rumours about her mother were flying around the neighbourhood.

  ‘You do want me to tell you what I’ve heard, Jen, don’t you?’ Elsie asked worriedly. She didn’t want to upset the girl any more and yet Jenny had settled in well with them and didn’t seem unduly worried about her mother. Not that Dot Mercer deserved her daughter’s concern, Elsie thought wryly.

  Jenny sighed in answer to Elsie’s question. ‘What’s she up to now? Not in trouble with the law, is she?’

  ‘No – no. At least, not that I’ve heard. No, it’s Mr Jenkins.’

  Jenny’s tone hardened. ‘What about him?’

  ‘It’s true what she told us. He has left his wife and moved in with her.’

  Jenny stared at Elsie open-mouthed. ‘Never.’

  ‘S’true. Gladys heard it from the folks next door to where yer mam’s living, so it must be true.’

  ‘Did – did she say anything about me?’

  ‘No, darlin’. Sorry.’

  Jenny was silent, wiping the same plate with the tea towel over and over until Elsie forced a laugh and said, ‘If you dry that much more, Jen, you’ll wear the pattern off.’

  ‘Oh – sorry.’ She put the dry plate down on the pile and picked up another wet one from the draining board.

  ‘What’s his wife had to say about it?’

  ‘Plenty, by the sound of it. Went round there one night – to yer mam’s – and caused a right old to-do. Wonder we didn’t hear it. Tried to drag him home by his ear, so Gladys heard, but she was no match for yer mam.’

  Jenny smiled thinly. ‘Mum must think he’s worth hanging on to, then? I wonder how long this one’ll last.�
��

  ‘Aye, well, we’ll see. But don’t you worry your head about it, Jen. You’re all right with us. Though it won’t be easy for you living in the same street with folks’ tongues wagging. You know, darlin’, I don’t understand why you’ve never gone back to those nice people you were evacuated to. Don’t get me wrong, Jen,’ Elsie added swiftly, ‘you’re more than welcome here. Me an’ Bobby love having yer.’

  ‘What about Sammy when he comes home on leave? Will he mind?’

  ‘Oh, you know our Sammy. Nothing bothers him. Besides – ’ her face fell as she added, ‘he won’t be here very long, will he?’ She paused a moment, sparing yet another thought for her loved ones away fighting the war. Then she took a deep breath and returned to the previous topic. ‘No, I just wondered, that’s all. They seemed such lovely people. You couldn’t stop talking about them when you came home. And when you all disappeared sudden-like, I thought that’s where you’d gone, but when they came looking for you, I knew you hadn’t.’

  Elsie’s last few words made Jenny catch her breath. ‘What – what did you say?’

  ‘I was surprised when they came looking for you, ’cos I thought that’d be where Dot’d’ve taken you.’

  ‘What d’you mean – they came looking for me?’

  ‘Those people you were with in – where was it?’

  ‘Lincolnshire,’ Jenny whispered, hope beginning to burst in her breast.

  ‘That’s it. Came all the way down on the train, they did.’

  ‘When?’ Jenny’s tone was sharper than she meant it to be, but Elsie didn’t seem to notice or to mind. Perhaps she caught some of the girl’s eagerness. She wrinkled her forehead. ‘It wasn’t long after you’d gone and both our houses had got bombed. I remember that ’cos I was scrambling around on top of the heap of rubble trying to find me bits and pieces. Anything, really, but there was nothing left that was any good. They’re nice people, Jen. Lovely. They even offered for me an’ the boys to go to them if we wanted, but I told ’em I wanted to stay ’ere for when my hubby comes home on leave. Now let me think – when was it?’