Her thoughts were tugged sharply back to the present when Adina now told her, ‘I assure you, Mrs Wainwright, age has nothing to do with it.’ There was a determined note in her voice. ‘I love working with the children here, and you’ve seen firsthand that I have a good rapport with them. I really feel that this is something I could do successfully.’
Mrs Wainwright steepled her fingers and stared at her for a time. ‘In that case let me have a word with the Home Finder at the Welfare Department,’ she said eventually. ‘I know the orphanages are full to overflowing, so let’s take it from there, eh?’
When Adina smiled weakly, Mrs Wainwright thought how attractive she was. It seemed strange that a girl as young as Adina should be suggesting such a thing. But then most girls Adina’s age had not given birth and lost a baby. Most young women were more interested in dressing up and going out to enjoy themselves. Furthermore, Adina could have had a string of admirers with her looks and temperament, but then nothing was straightforward any more. The war had seen to that.
She smiled at Adina kindly and dimissed her with a nod of the head and Adina floated away to her classroom with her head full of Beryl’s brilliant idea.
The following weekend Beryl was due to catch the train to Nuneaton to visit her family after taking another small loan from Adina – on the strict understanding that it was only a loan.
‘Are you quite sure you don’t want to come with us?’ she asked. ‘You could go and see Ariel, Brian and Freda.’
But Adina shook her head. She was impatient now for the Home Finder from the Camden Welfare Department to come and see her as Mrs Wainwright had arranged, and she wanted to have the house looking as nice as it possibly could for her visit.
‘No, you get off,’ she encouraged with a smile. ‘I shall be fine. I bet your parents are going to love meeting Cathy. In fact, I think you’ll have a hard time of it, getting her away from them.’
‘Oh, I’ll be back, never you fear,’ Beryl told her. ‘I’ve had a taste of independence now, and even though it didn’t work out with Tye as I’d hoped it would, I could never go back to livin’ with Mum an’ Dad again.’ Her eyes settled affectionately on her little daughter. She was looking so much better already and was beginning to gain a little weight. Now Beryl was keen to start a job so she could feel that she was supporting them both without having to rely on Dina for handouts.
Adina helped them down to Euston with their case, young Cathy sitting in the secondhand pushchair she had bought as a gift for the child, then she stood on the platform and waved them off until the train disappeared from sight. And then the loneliness closed in again and she walked back up Eversholt Street on feet that felt like lead.
Chapter Forty-One
November 1946
Adina stared at the two pinched faces sympathetically as she ushered the little girls into the drawing room ahead of Miss Higgins, the Home Finder from the Welfare Department. She never failed to be amused by the woman because she was so busy, and her hands were not still for a second. A small, stockily-built person, her piercingly bright blue eyes seemed to flit from one place to another constantly. Her hats were another source of amusement, and up to now Adina had never seen her in the same one twice. Today she was wearing a small straw affair heavily trimmed with feathers that floated off in all directions every time she turned her head. She tended to talk very fast too, as if she couldn’t get her words out quickly enough, and sometimes Adina felt dizzy trying to keep up with her. But for all that she did seem to have a genuine concern about the children in her care and that endeared her to Adina.
The last few weeks had passed in a blur of assessments, but now at last Rebekah and Esther, the two little girls she had worked with at the school, were here to stay. Miss Higgins had just fetched them from the orphanage they had been staying in and they were staring around in awe, much as Adina once had when she had first arrived to stay with the Montgomerys.
It seemed such a long time ago, and so much had happened since then – but she wouldn’t think about that for now. She wanted to make today a happy one for the girls. After all, this would be their home from now on.
They were each clutching a bag that contained all their worldly possessions; these were so pitifully small Adina’s kind heart ached for them.
‘Come along, girls,’ Miss Higgins chanted in a singsong voice as she shooed them onto the settee. ‘Aren’t you lucky to be coming to live in such a beautiful house?’
The two little girls nodded in unison, keeping their eyes firmly fixed on Adina the whole time. They could hardly believe that they were really going to be staying here with her, and were terrified that Miss Higgins might change her mind at any minute and whisk them back to the cold, impersonal orphanage.
It was then that Beryl entered the room bearing a tray full of fairy cakes that she had baked that morning, and a large pot of tea. Cathy was toddling at her side, clinging shyly to her skirts.
‘Hello, girls.’ She smiled at them and they timidly smiled back. ‘I’m Beryl an’ this here is Cathy. We’ve been so lookin’ forward to you comin’. I’m sure we’re all goin’ to get along just fine. Now, who wants to try one o’ me cakes, eh? I ain’t the best cook in the world, I have to admit, but I reckon they’ll be edible. An’ young Cathy here helped me stir the mixture.’
The two girls each dutifully took a cake and soon found that they were actually quite nice, if a little over-cooked.
Beryl then proceeded to pour the adults a cup of tea and beakers of milk for the children as Adina tackled the paperwork with Miss Higgins.
‘That should just about do it,’ the woman said a few minutes later as she tucked the forms safely into her bag and briskly drained the rest of her tea. ‘And now I really ought to be getting along and leaving you two to settle in. Things to do, you know, but I’m sure you’re both going to be fine here with Adina and Beryl. Goodbye for now, dears.’ Straightening her hat, she stood up and trotted towards the door as the two girls watched her mutely. Neither of them knew quite what to make of her, although she seemed to be nice enough.
Adina saw her to the front door and shook her hand warmly. She knew that today, Miss Higgins was arranging for Cana, another little boy she had become very fond of at the school, to return to his family. Thankfully, he was one of her success stories, and after a lot of help from the Salvation Army she had discovered that his parents were still alive and desperate to have him home with them.
‘Do give Cana my love and wish him good luck for me,’ Adina told the woman, and then after watching her descend the outside steps, she returned to the drawing room. The two girls were still sitting as still as statues in exactly the same position as she had left them in, and sensing that they were feeling out of their depth she suggested kindly, ‘Right, how about we go and show you both your rooms then, eh?’
‘Rooms?’ Rebekah squeaked nervously. ‘W . . . won’t we be sharing?’
‘Of course not,’ Beryl told her. ‘You ain’t in the orphanage now, love. You’ll have your very own room here. An’ it’s a nice room an’ all. You can see right over London from up there.’
The two girls lifted their bags and followed the young women upstairs, oohing and ahhing with delight at the first sight of the rooms Adina and Beryl had prepared for them. They were a world away from the cramped dormitories at the orphanage, and neither of them could quite believe their luck.
Rebekah’s eyes filled with tears as she took in the polished wardrobe and the pretty patchwork eiderdown on the brass bed. It reminded her of the one she had once had on her own bed when she had lived at home in Berlin with her parents. But of course, she would never see her mother and father again now. Miss Wainwright had told her gently some time ago that they had both been sent to a concentration camp during the war, and had died there, along with her older brother Shimon.
Seeing her distress, Adina cuddled the thin body to her. ‘Everything’s going to be all right now,’ she consoled her. ‘We’re all going to live
here happily – just you wait and see.’
Beryl swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat as she hastily led Esther away to see her room. Poor little buggers, she thought. But they’ll be fine now. Me an’ Dina will see to that.
Both of the girls were now nine years old, although no one would ever have believed it as they were both remarkably scrawny and small for their age. Never mind, I’ll soon put some fat on their bones, Beryl promised herself, and in that moment she just knew that the idea she had put to Adina some weeks ago was going to work. The Welfare was prepared to pay for the girls’ keep, with a little left over which would enable both Dina and Beryl to earn a small wage each. She would no longer be dependent on her friend for everything, and it was a pleasing thought. The two young women had decided that for now, Dina would also continue to work at the school during the day, which would further help their income and more than pay for the household bills, and she would also continue with her sewing, which was fast turning into a very lucrative little sideline. As Beryl had quite rightly pointed out, she was more than capable of seeing to the running of the house, and she would be there to care for Cathy, so things should run smoothly, once the girls had settled in and they had got into some sort of a routine.
As it happened, the girls settled in surprisingly quickly and very soon they began to feel like a family. Little Cathy absolutely adored both Esther and Rebekah and constantly toddled about after them as if they were big sisters. Both Beryl and Adina were so busy that their own heartaches began to fade slightly, although they would never entirely go away. During the day when there were things to do, they had little time to think, but it was a different matter entirely when they went to bed each night. That was the time when Adina’s longing for both her baby and Karl were strongest. She would lie in her lonely bed fingering the steel band on her finger as tears streamed down her cheeks and wonder where he was and what her baby was doing. Were they both happy? Did they ever think of her? She had no way of knowing so she just went on with her life as best she could. Both Rebekah and Esther had gone a long way to filling the gaping hole inside her heart, and now the house regularly rang with the sound of children’s laughter. Adina had been busily sewing clothes for them almost since the day they had arrived, and now they looked well-dressed and far happier than she had dared to hope they might be.
Miss Higgins visited regularly during the first weeks of the girls arriving there. Secretly she had had reservations about two such young women taking orphans in, but from what she could see of it they were doing a remarkably good job, so soon she was happy to leave them to it – on the understanding that they would contact her, should she be needed.
Ariel and Brian brought little Freda to see them all shortly before Christmas, loaded down with gaily wrapped presents, and they were very impressed with the house and with what Beryl and Adina were attempting to do with the orphans. Adina had told them that the old lady with whom she had lodged when she first came to London had left it to her, and they assumed that Adina meant she had passed away and accepted what she said without question. Adina hated lying to them, but thought that the less they knew the better, and it was only a little white lie, after all.
When they arrived there was a fire roaring in the grate and a large Christmas tree standing in a bucket in the corner of the sitting room. It was Beryl who had insisted on having a traditional English Christmas and a tree, and Adina, Rebekah and Esther, who had now grown used to the English traditions, had been happy to go along with her wishes. They had all spent a very enjoyable afternoon decorating the tree with tinsel and baubles and homemade decorations. Now everywhere looked warm and cosy. When they had first arrived at the house Adina had offered to take the girls to the Belsize Square Synagogue, founded in 1939 by a group of refugees from Central Europe, so they could practise their faith if they so wished, but both girls had declined. They had been in England for almost four years now, since being evacuated from their own countries, and showed little interest in religion of any sort any more, which Adina supposed was understandable. Their faith was just a distant memory now like their parents, and her own beliefs seemed to have died with her father.
‘Why, I can’t believe that you really own all this! The old woman you worked for must have thought very highly of you,’ Ariel had gasped when she had first arrived at the house, thinking how lucky her sister was. If she could only have known what the house had cost her, she might not have viewed it so kindly. She was now heavy with her second child and Adina was relieved to see that she looked happy and content.
‘I think what you’re doing with those two little girls is wonderful,’ Ariel told her and Beryl one evening as they sat enjoying a last drink once the children were all tucked up warm and cosy in their beds. ‘But when do you ever get any time to yourselves? Surely you should be out having fun. We’ll never get you married off at this rate, Adina.’
‘I have no intention of ever getting married,’ Adina said tartly – and instantly felt guilty. ‘I’m quite happy as I am,’ she ended on a softer note.
‘Me too,’ Beryl said quietly.
Brian and Ariel exchanged a glance but decided that enough had been said on that subject so wisely turned the conversation to other things.
‘The shop is doing really well,’ Brian informed his sister-in-law as he rolled his brandy around in his glass. It was obvious that he was enjoying being his own boss and Adina knew how hard he was working from the snippets Ariel had told her.
‘Have you closed it for now?’
He shook his head. ‘Oh no, Paul is keeping it running whilst we visited you lot.’ His eyes suddenly twinkled mischievously as he added, ‘He was quite put out that he couldn’t come with us. I think you’ve got an admirer there.’
Adina shrugged. ‘Paul is a lovely chap but as we said, Beryl and I are quite happy as we are for now. I’m sure someone else will catch his eye before too long. He’s far too nice to stay on his own.’
Ariel sighed contentedly as she stretched her feet out to the warmth of the fire. She was sorry that they could only stay for two days but knew that Brian wouldn’t be happy to be away from the store for too long.
‘So what would you like to do tomorrow?’ Adina asked now, and before Brian could answer, her sister piped up, ‘I’d like to go and see Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey too, if we have time.’
‘That should be easy enough’, Beryl said. ‘The kids love sightseeing, though Cathy’s getting to be a bit of a handful now. Still, I suppose that’s to be expected, since she’s coming up to the terrible twos!’
‘It’s all right for you. I shall have two little monsters rampaging about the place soon.’ Ariel sighed dramatically though her eyes were smiling as she glanced at her husband and it gave Adina a warm glow inside. At least she didn’t have to worry about her sister. Minutes later, Ariel gave a loud yawn and said, ‘Ooh, sorry, I think the train journey must have caught up with me. Would you mind very much if I went to bed? I want to be raring to go tomorrow if we’re going to see the sights.’
‘Not at all,’ they all assured her.
‘I might come up with you.’ Beryl stifled a yawn of her own. ‘I’ve put hot-water bottles in all the beds so you should be comfy.’ She dragged herself out of the chair and stretched before saying, ‘’Night all.’
When the others had gone, Adina stood up and began to tidy the room. She had been on the go nonstop since first thing that morning and quite fancied the thought of an early night herself, especially as Beryl had put a hot-water bottle in her bed. One thing she had soon discovered was that the bedrooms were freezing cold in the winter. Admittedly there were grates in each room, but it was hard enough to get coal to keep the kitchen stove and the drawing-room fire lit.
As she plumped up the cushions on the settee she could feel Brian’s eyes on her. She turned to say something light-hearted, but the smile died on her face as he began to speak.
‘So, now that we’re finally on our own, how about we ha
ve a little chat,’ he suggested.
‘What about?’ Adina lifted the empty glasses onto a tray, keeping her eyes averted from his.
‘About all this.’ He spread his hands, watching her steadily.
‘I don’t know what you mean.’ Adina was feeling more uncomfortable by the second and longed for a chance to escape but wasn’t quite sure how she could do that without appearing to be rude. ‘I explained that the old lady I lived with left the house to me.’
‘Yes, you did, and Ariel accepted your explanation – but it doesn’t ring true to me.’
‘Why not?’ Adina said defensively.
Brian carefully placed his glass down and leaned forward in his chair. ‘Because the way I understood it, you came here to stay with the old lady and her son and his wife. If anything happened to her, why would she leave the house to you instead of her family?’
For a moment Adina was dumbstruck as she tried to come up with another lie. Beryl was the only person in the world who knew why she had really inherited the house, and she was reluctant to tell Brian in case he told her sister. She knew how upset Ariel would be if she were to discover that she had a niece that she had never even known about.
‘Well, she er . . .’ Adina faltered and then suddenly she lowered her head.
‘Come on, you can tell me.’ Brian’s voice was gentle as he saw the tears shimmering on her lashes.
‘If I tell you, would you be prepared to keep it from Ariel?’ she asked huskily.
‘Yes, I would if I thought the truth would hurt her.’
A Band of Steel Page 34
