As the train pulled away, leaving great plumes of smoke in its wake, Adina took a final glance at the town that had become her home. She was remembering clearly the day she and the rest of the family had arrived there, so excited to be going to the new home that Ezra had found for them. They had all been so full of hope for the future then. Little had they known what life had in store for them.
‘Going to visit family in London are you, dear?’ the old lady sitting opposite suddenly asked and Adina pulled her thoughts sharply back to the present.
‘Oh no. Actually, I’m going to work in London,’ she replied quietly.
‘I see.’ The woman exchanged a disapproving glance with her husband before returning her attention to her book. She wondered sometimes what the world was coming to! A young girl like her, going off to live and work in London all alone. It made you wonder what the parents were thinking about, but then she supposed it was none of her business – just one more undesirable product of the war – and she pointedly ignored Adina for the rest of the journey, which could she have known it, suited the girl just fine.
By the time the train drew into Euston Station, Adina was feeling sick and tired, and she breathed a sigh of relief as the journey ended.
Mrs Downes had assured her that her friends, Mr and Mrs Montgomery, would be there to meet her but now Adina panicked as she wondered how they would ever find her. The concourse was teeming with people everywhere she looked, and she suddenly felt as if she was invisible as they streamed past without giving her so much as a glance. But then she consoled herself, she did have their address tucked safely into her pocket and if they didn’t turn up she could always get a cab to where they lived. Camden Town couldn’t be that far away, surely? One thing was for sure, there was no going back now so she stood and waited as patiently as she could.
Adina had stood in the concourse for almost half an hour when she saw a couple striding purposefully towards her. They appeared to be looking for someone and she held her breath as they approached.
As they drew abreast they hesitated and the man asked tentatively, ‘Miss Schwartz?’
Adina nodded as she stared up at him. He was very tall with a mop of thick fair hair and he reminded her a little of Karl, which she supposed was a good start. She judged him to be at least six foot four and he had piercing blue eyes that crinkled at the corners when he smiled.
‘That’s a relief,’ he chuckled. ‘I’m sure we’ve done at least ten laps of the station.’ As he spoke he took his wife’s elbow and drew her forward. ‘This is my wife, Felicity,’ he introduced her and the woman smiled too now. In actual fact they looked a rather ill-matched couple, for she was very small and petite, not even reaching up to her husband’s shoulders. Her brunette hair was cut into a becoming chin-length bob and she was elegantly dressed in a smart red coat and black patent shoes. She was carrying a matching black patent handbag and she held her hand out and shook Adina’s warmly. ‘Call me Fliss, everybody else does. Well, everyone but Theo’s mother, that is, and she doesn’t believe in shortening people’s names. She lives with us,’ she informed her with a smile. ‘Or should I say we live with her – a fact that she never lets us forget. And this is Theodore, although he’s known to most as Theo. What are we to call you?’
‘My name is Adina, but my friends call me Dina,’ the girl told her as she swallowed her nervousness. The couple seemed friendly enough, which was something to be grateful for, although they were much younger than she had expected them to be – somewhere in their mid-thirties, she judged.
‘Right, well, let’s get you home then, shall we? I hope you’re not expecting too much. I’m afraid London has taken rather a battering during the war, what with all the doodlebugs and what have you. Still, I’m sure you’ll be comfortable. Theo, take Dina’s case, would you?’ As her husband obediently did as he was told, Fliss linked her arm through Adina’s and headed towards the exit.
‘We’ll take a cab, seeing as you have a case,’ she told her. ‘Although normally we would take a bus or walk.’
Adina’s eyes stretched wide as she looked about at all the hustle and bustle. It seemed like a lifetime ago since she had lived in the city and she had forgotten how busy it was. Ruined buildings were everywhere and the streets looked dirty and uninviting. Still, she decided that now she was here she was going to make the most of it. After all, Karl could be in touch with her any day now. Theo loaded her case into the boot of a large black London cab and then as they all clambered inside he gave the driver the address and they shot off through the busy streets. Eventually, after a short ride they entered Camden Town.
The cab turned into Prince Regent Terrace, and drew up in front of number seven, a huge four-storey townhouse that had what appeared to be an enormous tarpaulin thrown across the roof. As she stepped onto the pavement and looked up towards it, Fliss followed her eyes and told her, ‘I’m afraid a bomb took some of the roof off. We were lucky, though; some of the houses further along the street were completely flattened. At least we are still able to live in our home. We’re waiting for the builders to come and repair it, but I fear we may have to wait for a long time. They are run off their feet at present, as you can imagine. So much of our great city was damaged during the bombing.’
Adina waited while Theo paid off the cab driver and took her suitcase from the boot, and turned her attention to the rest of the house. Steps led up to a large front door that looked in desperate need of a lick of paint. At the bottom of the steps, iron railings ran along the whole frontage, and yet more stone steps led down one side to what she assumed was a kitchen area. Somehow she had imagined the couple living in a much more impressive house, but then seeing as she had no intention of being there for very long, she wasn’t overly concerned.
Now Theo took her elbow and led her up the steps where she waited while Fliss extracted a large metal key from her bag and hastily unlocked the door. Seconds later, Adina followed her into an enormous foyer and she stopped dead in her tracks, totally stunned by the interior. A parquet floor that had been polished until all the wonderful hues of the wood shone through stretched the entire length of the hallway, and from the centre arose a magnificent curved staircase that led up to a galleried landing. The walls were covered in a lovely flock wallpaper in a soft shade of gold, and darker gold velvet curtains hung at the windows. A number of doors led off from the foyer, and whilst Theo disappeared upstairs with her case, Fliss held her hand out for Adina’s hat and coat. She hung them on a heavy mahogany coat-stand and after hastily tidying her hair in a large gilt-framed mirror she took Adina down the long hallway, pausing in front of one of the doors. ‘You must come and meet Theo’s mother,’ she said with a little wink. ‘And don’t worry; her bark is far worse than her bite, I assure you.’
They entered a large drawing room. Ornate settees on spindly legs were set out here and there; beside them stood small polished tables housing ornaments of various shapes and sizes that looked like precious antiques. A large fire was roaring within a marble Adam-style fireplace and suddenly Adina felt completely out of her depth. This room alone was surely bigger than the whole ground floor of the shop she had lived in with her family. However, it awakened memories of the Schwartz family residence in Cologne.
As Fliss walked further into the room Adina’s eyes were drawn to a chair at the side of the fire where an elderly lady was sitting, studying her intently.
‘Ah, Mother, this is the young lady I told you about who has come to help Theo and me locate some of the children’s parents,’ Fliss told her. ‘She will be staying with us for quite some time.’
‘Hmph!’ The old woman leaned forward in her chair and peered at Adina more closely as the poor girl shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. She had the feeling that the woman could see right into her soul.
‘You’re a Jewess, aren’t you?’ she demanded, as colour seeped into Adina’s otherwise pale cheeks.
‘I am Jewish, yes,’ Adina replied as she held her head high and
peered back at her attacker.
‘Got a boyfriend, have you?’
Adina pointedly ignored the question. As far as she was concerned, she was here to do a job, and she intended to do that job to the best of her ability. Her private life, however, was nothing to do with anyone, least of all this overbearing old woman.
She was dressed in black from head to foot in an outfit that Adina felt would not have looked out of place in the last century, and her two gnarled hands were resting heavily on an ivory-topped walking stick. Her hair was steel-grey and pulled back into a tight bun on the back of her head. She was painfully thin and plain, her only adornment being the string of perfectly matched pearls that hung about her neck. She continued to stare at Adina, but when the girl continued to steadily hold her gaze, her face softened slightly and she looked entirely different.
‘Girl can stick up for herself,’ she commented to no one in particular. ‘I like that. Can’t abide wishy-washy people.’ She cast a withering glance in her daughter-in-law’s direction as she said it, and Fliss began to fiddle with the fringes of a chenille tablecloth that covered one of the tables.
‘Come and sit down, girl,’ the woman ordered, waving her cane towards the chair on the opposite side of the fire. ‘And tell me your name and all about yourself.’
Adina did as she was told, folding her hands primly into her lap as she perched on the edge of the chair. ‘My name is Adina Schwartz. My friends call me Dina and my family and I came here from Cologne at the beginning of the war.’
‘Hm, and what was your father before he came to England?’
‘My father was a banker,’ Adina told her with a tilt of her chin. ‘When we first arrived in London we lived in the East End for a while but then my father leased a small shop in the Midlands and we have lived there ever since.’
‘And are the rest of your family still living in the Midlands?’ the old woman pursued.
‘S . . . some of them are,’ Adina said reluctantly, not wishing to go too deeply into their personal affairs. ‘My mother died recently, so my father is alone in the shop now.’
Thankfully, the door opened then and Theo came into the room. Sizing up the situation at a glance he waggled a finger at his mother. ‘Now, Mother, you’re not interrogating our guest, are you?’ he scolded, although there was an amused twinkle in his eye. ‘I don’t want her turning tail and running for home before she has even had a chance to settle in.’
His mother glared at him but did not continue with her questioning, for which Adina was grateful.
Satisfied that she was behaving for now, Theo then informed them brightly, ‘Mrs Leadbetter has told me that lunch is almost ready to be served. Shall we go into the dining room?’ He looked pointedly at Adina as he told her, ‘Mrs Leadbetter is our cook-cum-cleaner and she comes in daily. I really don’t know what we would do without her.’
‘She doesn’t keep the house as I used to before these damn legs of mine went on strike,’ his mother cut in scathingly. ‘But then I’ve always said, if you want a job doing well you should do it yourself!’
Ignoring her comment, Theo held the door open and when Adina followed Fliss through it he then went to help his mother up from the chair.
‘I can manage, I am not completely decrepit, you know,’ she grumbled once he had got her into a standing position and she then barged past him as he shook his head with a wry smile.
Fliss opened another door further along the hall and Adina found herself in a beautiful dining room. A large mahogany table stood in the centre of it surrounded by twelve matching chairs, and thick curtains hung at the windows. A heavy matching sideboard took up almost the whole length of one wall and on it stood a number of highly polished silver tureens from which a delicious smell was emanating. Adina suddenly realised how hungry she was and sat down in the chair that Theo pulled out for her. Only one end of the table had been set, covered in a crisp white tablecloth, and Mrs Montgomery sat at the head of it with her son to the right of her whilst Fliss and Adina sat on her left. A portly, harassed-looking woman bustled in then and beamed at Adina before saying, ‘Ah, so you got ’ere safely then, did you, luvvie? Miss Fliss said to be expectin’ you.’
‘Oh, shut up, Beattie, and serve the food,’ the old woman snapped.
‘’Old your ’orses,’ Beattie snapped back, obviously completely unafraid of her employer. ‘I’ve only got the one pair of ’ands, you know, though I sometimes fink that two would come in ’andy, workin’ for you.’
Adina had to purse her lips to stop herself from smiling as the woman began to transfer the steaming dishes to the table. Theo instantly began to lift the lids off to expose a perfectly roasted chicken and a variety of vegetables and roast potatoes.
‘Not chicken again,’ the old woman groaned. ‘I’m sure I shall turn into a damn chicken and grow feathers at this rate.’
‘Well, it was either chicken or nothing,’ Beattie replied ungraciously. ‘We are on rationin’, you know, an’ I was lucky to get that. Some people don’t know when they’re well off, it seems to me.’
‘It looks delicious, Beattie,’ Theo assured her quickly as he started to carve, and tutting indignantly the woman turned on her heel and stamped out of the room.
Adina wasn’t quite sure where to look. She had found the whole episode rather embarrassing, not that it seemed to have bothered the housekeeper much. She was obviously used to these exchanges.
In no time at all her plate was piled high and the old woman said irritably, ‘Well, get on with it then, girl. It won’t bite you!’
Theo winked at her as Adina lifted her knife and fork and thankfully the old woman was silent then for a while as she tucked into her own meal with an appetite that would have done a woman half her age justice.
Soon after, Beattie staggered back into the room with a large homemade apple pie and a steaming jug of custard.
‘I ’ope this will be to your ladyship’s likin’,’ she quipped sarcastically and Adina held her breath. But the old woman simply glared at her as she pushed her empty plate away and wiped her mouth on a linen napkin.
‘Perhaps it will be – if you’ve remembered to put enough sugar in,’ she retorted.
In actual fact the pie was delicious and Adina left the table feeling as if she couldn’t eat again for a month.
‘I’ll show you your room now,’ Fliss offered as Theo helped his mother back into the drawing room.
Adina followed her up the magnificent staircase, admiring the pictures on the walls as she climbed. On the first landing, Fliss led her towards another staircase, telling her, ‘We’ve put you up here out of earshot of Mother. She can be quite noisy at night if she wants something, which is why Theo and I sleep on the first floor with her.’
Adina got the distinct impression that Fliss was rather afraid of her mother-in-law, and she could quite see why.
On the second floor Fliss threw a door open and told her cheerily, ‘This will be your room. There should be everything that you need but if we’ve forgotten anything, please tell us. We do want your stay with us to be comfortable.’
Adina was so taken aback at the room that for a moment she was struck dumb. It was enormous compared to the one she had had back in Nuneaton, and there was a panoramic view across the rooftops of London from the huge sash-cord window. At one time she had no doubt this room must have been the height of luxury, but now although it was spotlessly clean it looked a little shabby. The carpets on the floor were slightly faded, as were the curtains. There was an enormous wardrobe carved from solid oak on one wall and matching tables at either side of a great brass bed. A patchwork quilt that someone must have spent hours sewing was flung across it and two fat cushions rested against the shining brass headboard.
‘It’s really lovely,’ Adina assured her hostess. ‘I’m sure I shall be more than comfortable here. Thank you.’
‘Right, then in that case I’ll leave you to get unpacked,’ Fliss told her with a smile. ‘And I dare say a rest woul
dn’t come amiss either. Why don’t you have a lie-down for a couple of hours? We can take you to see the school and meet the children tomorrow.’
When Fliss had gone, closing the door softly behind her, Adina crossed to the window and gazed out. She could see for miles, although it wasn’t a pretty picture. Many homes were nothing more than piles of rubble now, and the sight made her feel sad. The war might well be over but there was still a long way to go and a lot of work to be done before the people of Britain could put it behind them.
Turning away, she lifted her case onto the bed and began to hang up her clothes, and as she lifted out the wedding dress she had so lovingly sewn, tears clogged her throat. ‘Please come soon, Karl,’ she whispered to the empty room as she tucked it gently into the bottom of the wardrobe.
Eventually everything was unpacked to her satisfaction so she took a pad and pen from the bedside table and, sitting down in the chair in the bay window, she began to write a letter to Beryl, telling her of her new address. Her thoughts were full of the people she had left behind and she was feeling homesick already, but she was painfully aware that she would have to make the best of it. She had come too far to go back now.
Chapter Thirty
The following morning, after being presented with a hearty breakfast that she couldn’t face, Adina accompanied Theo and Fliss to St Thomas’s Primary, the school where they worked. It was just a few streets away and well within walking distance.
Thankfully the old woman had not put in an appearance, and when Adina commented on it, she was told that Mrs Montgomery was always served breakfast in bed. Adina stifled a grin at the thought of it and the banter that was bound to pass between Beattie and her employer.
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