The children loved listening to the Bible stories that Father Mick and his female helpers would read to them. It was an excuse for Beryl to get out of the house too, so all in all Adina had decided it was no bad thing and encouraged it. She had had grave reservations at first about the two older girls going along. After all, they were Jewish: was it right that they attend a Christian church? But after their long stay in England and due to their circumstances, neither of the girls embraced their Jewish faith any more, so she bowed to their wishes and allowed them to go. She also discovered that it was quite nice to have the house to herself for a couple of hours each Sunday afternoon.
It was now early February and as usual Adina was enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon with nothing but the wireless and newspaper for company when the phone in the hall rang. She sighed with exasperation. Beryl and the four children would be home soon and she had been making the most of the peace and quiet before getting their tea ready. Laying her paper aside she hurried into the hall to answer it. It was Brian on the end of the line and he sounded very excited.
‘Ariel had another little girl in the early hours of this morning,’ he whooped. ‘She’s a little beauty, Aunty Dina. Just wait until you see her! She was quite big too – eight pounds and nine ounces. We’re going to call her Margaret.’
‘Why, that’s wonderful,’ Adina told him with genuine pleasure. ‘And are they both all right?’
‘Mother and baby are doing well but Ariel is already saying she wants you to come and see her.’
‘And I want to come,’ Adina told him, ‘though I doubt I’ll manage it for a while with the weather as it is. Beryl was hoping to get back to Nuneaton to see her folks this weekend too, but she’s had to cancel the trip for now. Half the train tracks are blocked with snow if the radio reports are anything to go by.’
‘You’re right there,’ he agreed. ‘But shall I tell her you’ll come as soon as you can?’
‘Definitely,’ Adina assured him as a glow spread through her. She was looking forward to meeting her new niece already. ‘In the meantime give them both a kiss from me and tell them I’ll be there as soon as I can.’
She had no sooner put the phone down than the door opened and Beryl appeared with all the children in tow. They were covered in snow and Adina chuckled as she ran to close the door behind them to prevent the warm air from escaping.
‘My goodness, you look like snowmen,’ she laughed as she began to peel off damp little hats, scarves and mittens.
‘We had a snowball fight on the way home,’ Christopher informed her gleefully. ‘I hit Esther in the face with one an’ she chased me all the way down the street.’
They stamped the snow from their Wellington boots onto the newspaper that Adina had put down, and once they’d pulled them off, Adina told them, ‘There’s a nice big pan of vegetable soup simmering on the stove downstairs to warm you all up.’
Once the children were seated and served, she quickly told Beryl of Brian’s phone call.
‘That’s wonderful.’ Beryl smiled. ‘So you’re an aunty again. You must be tickled pink.’
As Adina smiled back she noticed that Beryl’s cheeks were glowing. Getting out into the fresh air must be suiting her, she thought. It was as they were all having a slice of homemade fruitcake that the doorbell rang and Adina went upstairs to answer it. Mrs Leadbetter was standing on the doorstep.
‘Beattie!’ Adina cried joyously. ‘How lovely to see you! Come on in.’
Cursing and muttering, the large woman almost fell into the hall.
‘Bloody weather,’ she grumbled. ‘I pick me time to pay a visit, don’t I? I don’t even know what made me venture out in this but I was sick of sitting at home with me basket of mending, and so snow or no snow I decided to brave the weather.’ It was then that a peal of laughter floated up from the kitchen, and Beattie’s eyebrows rose into her hairline. ‘So where’s all that noise comin’ from then?’ she asked in her usual forthright way as she unwound a thick scarf from her neck.
Adina chuckled. ‘It’s the children,’ she told her. ‘Oh Beattie, I have so much to tell you. Come into the drawing room and I’ll explain what’s been happening and then I’ll take you down to meet them all.’
A very bemused Beattie followed her down the hallway, and after Adina had explained what had gone on since she had last seen her, Beattie looked even more bemused – although it was lovely to see Adina looking so much happier.
‘Well, you could blow me down with a feather,’ she admitted eventually. ‘You certainly don’t let the grass grow under your feet, do you, love, and good on you, that’s what I say. But now tell me . . .’ she became more serious now. ‘Has there been any news of the Montgomerys?’
Adina slowly shook her head. ‘Not a word, and truthfully I don’t think there ever will be now. I’ve had to accept what’s done is done, but I still miss my darling Dottie every single day.’
There was so much pain in her voice that Beattie’s heart ached for her. The poor girl had gone through a lot, but at least it appeared that she was doing something useful with her life.
‘Anyway, that’s enough sad talk,’ she said firmly now. ‘Come on, take me downstairs an’ let me meet your brood.’
And so Adina did, and Beattie’s visit proved to be a huge success.
Later that evening, when the children were all tucked up snugly into bed, Beryl commented, ‘I liked your friend, Beattie.’
‘Yes, she’s lovely, isn’t she?’ Adina agreed with a smile. ‘Beattie took me under her wing right from the very first second I arrived here. To be honest, I didn’t realise how much I had missed her until I saw her again today. She’s promised to visit regularly now. I’m sure the children will like that.’
‘That will be nice.’ Looking vaguely uncomfortable, Beryl then coughed and said, ‘I thought I might start going out on a Tuesday night, if you think you can manage the children. Would you mind very much?’
‘Of course I wouldn’t mind. It would do you good to get out a bit more.’ Adina eyed her curiously. ‘Were you thinking of going somewhere special?’
‘Not special, exactly. But Father Mick needs someone to help out with the choir practice each week, so I volunteered.’
‘Oh, I see.’ Adina stifled a chuckle as colour seeped into Beryl’s cheeks.
‘Well, it’s the least I can do, ain’t it?’ Beryl gabbled on. ‘He’s such a decent chap an’ he does so much for the community. It don’t hurt to lend a hand when you can, does it?’
Suddenly alarm bells began to ring in Adina’s head. She’d had suspicions for some time that Beryl fancied Father Mick, but she was afraid for her. Beryl had already had one disastrous relationship and she could see no future for her as a vicar’s wife even if Father Mick returned her feelings. Her friend was in the process of trying to get a divorce from Tyrone and Adina knew only too well that the Church would frown on him marrying a divorcée.
As if she had been able to read her thoughts Beryl told her, ‘There ain’t nothin’ goin’ on between us, if that’s what you’re thinkin’. Nothin’ improper, anyway. I just think he’s a genuinely nice bloke an’ I want to help if I can.’
‘I didn’t say I thought anything was going on, did I?’ Adina objected as Beryl rose from the easy chair and began to load their cocoa mugs onto a small tray.
‘You didn’t have to. I could see what you was thinkin’,’ Beryl retorted, and she then left the room in a huff leaving Adina to chew thoughtfully on her lip.
The big freeze finally ended in mid-March, but then the whole country suffered from floods as the thaw set in. Farming casualties included two million sheep and over half a million acres of ruined wheat, which added to the food shortages, but thankfully Adina continued to be able to feed the children adequately and life for them went on much as before.
Over the next two months both Beryl and Adina made separate trips back to Nuneaton to visit their families, although neither of them stayed away for more than two nights. T
hey were totally committed to the children in their care now and delighted with the progress their charges were making, as was Miss Higgins, who descended on them early one morning as Beryl was getting the children ready for school.
‘I know that what I’m about to request of you is an enormous lot to ask,’ she twittered as she passed her capacious bag nervously from hand to hand. ‘But do you think you could possibly help me out again? Just for four weeks this time,’ she added hastily. ‘You see, the thing is, I have a little boy who is going to be adopted by a wonderful couple in Cornwall, but he can’t join them until the necessary paperwork is completed. So I wondered . . .’
‘Of course we’ll take him,’ Adina butted in with a smile. And so it was that that very same evening, Jonathan landed on their doorstep. He was six years old and a real little chatterbox, and both women knew instantly that he would fit in.
It was early June by then and Beryl and Adina were tackling the overgrown garden at the back of the house so that the children could play out there.
‘Trouble is, I don’t know what’s weeds an’ what’s flowers,’ Beryl groaned as she pulled a clump of Michelmas daisies out by the roots.
Father Mick, who had very kindly dropped by to help, chuckled. ‘I think you’ll find they’re flowers. Or they were flowers,’ he said teasingly. ‘Perhaps you should concentrate on cutting the grass down, Beryl.’
Beryl smiled at him and Adina’s stomach dropped into her shoes as she saw the look that passed between them. As well as helping out with the choir each week and taking the children to Sunday school, Beryl was now also assisting the vicar with the youth club he had started. It had proved to be an enormous success with the local youngsters and Beryl seemed to be enjoying every minute of it. As yet, her solicitor had heard nothing from Tyrone, and Adina was becoming concerned that he might ignore Beryl’s request for a divorce. He obviously didn’t care about his daughter, or he would have been in touch.
The children were all running about in the long grass without a care in the world and as she watched them, Cathy suddenly ran to Father Mick and flung herself into his arms. He laughed as he tossed her into the air and as Beryl strolled over to join them Adina’s heart sank even further. They looked so like a little family unit, but of course that could never be, so what was to become of them? Beryl had put a little weight back on. She had also gone and had her hair trimmed into a very becoming bob that week, and now with her eyes shining she resembled the pretty girl that Adina had once known back in Nuneaton.
Beattie had rejoined the fold too now, since Beryl was finding the children’s endless washing and ironing and the constant cleaning a little too much to handle on her own whilst Adina was at work or doing her sewing. Beattie had offered to come and help out and had swept back into the house like a ray of sunshine; the children had her wrapped around their little fingers in no time.
Twice since she had started working for them again, she had even babysat, and Adina and Beryl had been able to go to the West End to watch James Mason and Margaret Lockwood starring in The Wicked Lady and The Man in Grey.
‘Don’t you think James Mason looks a little like Father Mick?’ Beryl whispered to Adina one evening as they each sat eating popcorn during the interval. They had gone to watch The Odd Man Out, and Beryl was almost drooling over the film star, much to Adina’s amusement. Both the actor and the their favourite actress, Margaret Lockwood, had been voted the best film stars of that year and Adina had a sneaking suspicion that Beryl would have watched James Mason all day, if she could have done. When the lights dimmed they watched the second movie in silence and once it was done they set off for home.
‘I wonder what the kids will think of their trip tomorrow,’ Beryl said musingly.
‘I’ve no doubt they’ll love it.’ They were all going on a bus trip organised by Father Mick to Southend, and since none of the children had ever been to the seaside before, as far as Adina knew, she had no doubt they were all in for a very enjoyable day. It was guaranteed that Beryl would be happy, if Father Mick was there. With every week that passed now, Beryl was reverting more and more to her former cheerful self – but what would happen if she grew too fond of the kindly vicar? Adina hated the thought of her friend having her heart broken again, but was powerless to do anything about it. Her thoughts turned to Karl once more as they strolled along in the balmy evening and she unconsciously fingered the band on her finger. She knew that she should really take it off and put it away, but somehow she couldn’t bring herself to do so. It was all she had left of him now, and although he had hurt her deeply, she knew that she would never love anyone else. But then she did have the children now, and they were becoming her life.
The next day dawned bright and clear, much to Adina’s relief, and it was all she could do to contain the children’s excitement as she helped them all to dress. Even Esther, with her plain little face and mousy hair, looked pretty this morning as she chattered on about what she was planning to do once they got to Southend.
‘I’ve saved up my pocket for three whole weeks so that I can get a bucket and spade when we get there,’ she told Adina solemnly as the latter expertly plaited her hair.
‘Well, it makes a change from you spending it all on books,’ Adina chuckled. Esther was a bookworm, much as Adina had been when she was a child, and she would read anything and everything she could get her hands on. The children’s personalities were beginning to develop now that they were in a stable environment, and sometimes Adina wondered at the difference between Esther and Rebekah. Esther was the quiet, studious one whilst Rebekah was turning into a very attractive girl who found fun in everything she tackled. Rebekah would never be a scholar and tended to wriggle out of going to school whenever she could, whereas Esther could not get enough of learning. Even so, Adina loved them both equally and only wanted what was best for them.
Jonathan and Christopher were hopping from foot to foot now in their excitement to be off, so it was a relief when Beryl appeared from the kitchen with an enormous picnic basket that she had prepared for them all. There were cheese and chutney, egg and cress, and meat-paste sandwiches, along with eight bags of Smith’s crisps, a box of jam tarts that she had cooked the day before, a paper bag full of scones, and two large bottles of lemonade.
‘This should keep the hungry little beggars goin’,’ she told Adina with a smile, and holding Cathy by her other arm, she asked, ‘Are we all set then?’
‘Yes!’ the children chorused as they rampaged towards the front door, and so they set off.
On the coach home that evening, the children all dozed off, worn out after a most enjoyable day. They had paddled in the sea, run about on the beach, been on the donkeys, made sandcastles, and each had been treated to an ice-cream cone. As Adina looked at their sleepy faces a ripple of satisfaction slid through her. It was nice to see them all so happy, although she knew it was going to be a wrench when Jonathan left them. Not that she was going to have time to miss him for long. Miss Higgins had already approached her about taking another short-term placement when he left, and Adina had agreed to it immediately. She had discovered some time ago that the busier she was, the less time she had to fret about Dottie and Karl, and she was happy to be run off her feet.
Glancing ahead she saw Beryl and Father Mick chatting animatedly. They had barely left each other’s sides all day and had been kept very busy organising games of rounders and cricket for the children on the beach. It couldn’t have been a more perfect day if they had ordered it, and now Adina sat back in her seat, quietly content as she watched over her little family.
Chapter Forty-Four
On 20 November 1947 on a grey cold morning, an air of excitement hung in the air as Adina and Beryl got their young charges ready for a very special day out. Princess Elizabeth was due to marry her handsome fiancé today in Westminster Abbey, and they were all going to see as much of the proceedings as they could. The Princess’s beau had been born into the Greek royal family and was known as Lieute
nant Philip Mountbatten – the surname he had adopted from his maternal grandparents. But as from today, following his marriage to Elizabeth, he would be known as His Royal Highness, The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, a title that had been bestowed on him by his future father-in-law, King George VI. The whole country was excited about the forthcoming marriage, and for now the grim realities of postwar rationing were forgotten.
Rebekah was more excited than the others as, at ten years old, she thought it was wonderfully romantic and could hardly wait to see a real live Princess. Esther was happy to go along too, but in truth would much have preferred to stay at home with her head stuck in a book. Christopher was more interested in a day out than the wedding, and when Beryl teasingly asked him who he wanted to marry when he grew up, he wrinkled his nose in disgust.
‘I’m not ever getting married,’ he declared emphatically. ‘Girls are disgusting!’
Beryl and Adina exchanged an amused glance and wondered if he would still be saying the same in a few years’ time. Jonathan had long since left them to join his new adoptive family, but since then the two friends had cared for a further three children for a time, although at present they were back to their three longterm placements and little Cathy, with another little girl due to join them the following week.
A Band of Steel Page 36
