by Joan Jonker
‘I was just thinking that meself. So we’ll sneak out and hope he doesn’t spot us.’
‘I’m not sneaking anywhere, Len Lofthouse! And why the hell should I? If he sees us then we’ll have a few words with him and be on our way. But don’t ever ask me to sneak because that’s not how I was brought up.’
‘OK, I’m sorry! I don’t seem to be able to do anything right, do I?’ Len took her arm and rubbed his hand where he’d gripped her. ‘Give me a kiss and tell me yer forgive me for hurting yer.’
After a passionate kiss, they left the shadow of the shop doorway. If Lily hadn’t been in a dreamworld because Len had told her he loved her, she might have wondered why he didn’t seem worried now whether the men opposite saw him or not. She wasn’t to know he had no reason to worry because he’d never seen either of the men in his life before. Or that, as he walked with a jaunty air, her arm tucked into his, he was congratulating himself on a narrow escape.
But if Len had turned his head, he would have seen a figure step from a shop doorway a little higher up on the opposite side of the road, and his complacency would have turned to fear. He would have realised he hadn’t had a lucky escape – he’d only been allowed a reprieve by the person whose eyes were ablaze with anger as they watched the couple walk away.
Chapter Ten
‘Mam, can I sit on yer knee?’ Ruthie was feeling left out because there wasn’t a chair for her and she had to stand. ‘I’ve a right to know what’s going on, ’cos after all I am one of the bridesmaids.’
‘Ye’re too big to sit on me knee, sunshine. And ye’re a ton weight!’
‘Yer can have my chair – I’ll sit on Steve’s knee.’ Jill was doing herself a favour as well as her kid sister. ‘I’m not heavy, am I, love?’
‘As light as a feather, sweetheart.’ Steve saw his mother pulling a face and decided to pile it on and get her going. ‘And me head goes as light as a feather when ye’re near me and I can’t think straight.’
It had the desired effect. Nellie banged a clenched fist on the table and huffed in disgust. ‘Bloody hell! Doesn’t it make yer want to puke? Will somebody split the two of them up, please, otherwise I won’t be responsible if the dinner I had ends up on Molly’s chenille tablecloth.’
‘I know exactly how yer feel, Steve.’ Phil’s eyes were dancing with devilment. ‘Doreen’s only got to look at me and me mind goes blank while me heart races fifteen to the dozen.’
‘That does it! No grooms allowed at any of the meetings!’ Nellie’s chins were wishing she wouldn’t nod and shake her head at the same time. It left them at a disadvantage because they didn’t know which way to sway. ‘All they’ve got to do is turn up at the church on time. The women will see to the rest.’
‘How the heck can we turn up at the church on time if we don’t know the date?’ Steve shook his head. ‘No, Mam, I’m afraid yer won’t get far without the grooms. But me and Phil promise to behave ourselves.’
‘Thank goodness that’s been sorted out,’ Molly said. ‘Now can we get on with the business in hand, please?’
Nellie’s hand shot in the air. ‘Excuse me!’
‘D’yer want to go to the lavvy, sunshine?’
‘No, I do not want to go to the lavvy!’ Nellie looked highly insulted. ‘What makes yer think I want to go to the lavvy? I mean, I’m not jumping up and down or crossing me legs.’
‘Because we used to put our hand up in school when we wanted to go.’
‘Well, ye’re wrong, yer see! I put me hand up because I have a request to make before the meeting starts.’
Molly waved her hand. ‘Go ahead, sunshine, be my guest.’
‘I wanted to ask Doreen if she’d make me a dress for the wedding? Remember, girl, yer made me one when Corker and Ellen got married? A nice dress with a little jacket to match. I can’t buy anything nice, ’cos they don’t make much in my size. And the one you made looked a real treat on me.’
Doreen puckered her lips and blew out. She was going to have her hands full as it was. Her mam had already put a request in, and although the old lady hadn’t asked, she wanted to make a dress for Miss Clegg. Then there were the five bridesmaids. But how could she refuse this woman, for whom she had so much admiration and affection, and who was now waiting for her answer with bated breath. ‘I’ll do me best, Auntie Nellie. I’ve already got seven to make, but it depends on how long I’ve got to make them in.’
‘Yer promised me yer’d pack in work when we got married,’ Phil reminded her. ‘But yer could always leave a week or two before and that would give yer loads of time.’
‘Yer didn’t tell me yer were packing in work, sunshine!’ Molly sounded surprised.
‘Everything has happened so quickly, Mam, I haven’t had time.’ Doreen worked in a factory making parachutes, and now the war was over they were laying people off. ‘But I’d be out of a job soon anyway, ’cos the factory will be closing down.’
‘It’s the same in our place,’ Jill said. She worked in the wages office of the Royal Ordnance factory in Kirkby. ‘When the war in Europe was over, half the girls left because their husbands were coming home. And they weren’t replaced. Now the war in Japan is over, there’ll be no need for the factory and I think they’ll wind it up soon. But I’m staying on as long as I can so me and Steve can save up.’
‘Yer don’t have to work, love, I’ve told yer.’ Steve ran his fingers through her long blonde hair. ‘I’ll be earning enough to keep us and put some aside.’
‘Look, can we get a move on?’ Molly asked. ‘The men will be back from the pub and we won’t have even mentioned the weddings! Let’s say that Nellie will be getting her dress made, Doreen will pack in work before the big day, and Jill will stay while there’s still a job to go to. Now, can I ask the four people involved, when are yer hoping to get married?’
‘We have been talking about it, Mam,’ Jill said. ‘And we thought we’d go together to see Father Kelly and fix a date. We were thinking of asking for a Saturday in two months’ time, if possible. Would that be too soon for you?’
Molly kept the smile on her face but inside she was groaning. Two months wasn’t long to save up the sort of money they’d need to spend. I hope Jack’s enjoying his pints, she thought, because he won’t be getting any more for a while. ‘It’s a bit short notice, sunshine, but I think it could be managed.’
‘Me and Jill will help out with the money, Mam,’ Doreen told her. ‘We don’t expect you to fork out for everything, it would be too much. One daughter getting married is bad enough, but two together – well, no one could afford that.’
‘She’s right, girl,’ Nellie said. ‘It’s far too much in too short a time. I vote we all muck in together.’
‘Nellie, they’re our daughters and me and Jack want the very best for them. Once we have a date, I’ll start looking for somewhere for the reception and a caterer to see to the food.’ And a good moneylender, she added mentally. If I have to put meself in hock for the rest of me life, my daughters are going to have the best send-off me and Jack can give them.
‘I suggest we see the priest first, get a definite date, then we can take it from there. If we all sit down and work out what’s what, it’ll be much easier,’ Phil said. ‘I don’t know much about etiquette, but I believe the groom pays for the cars and drink. And they see the priest right. So me and Steve will take over the responsibility of seeing to them.’ He gave a smile which was tinged with pride and a trace of sadness. ‘Aunt Vickie has asked if you’d let her buy the flowers?’
‘Certainly not!’ Molly said. ‘We couldn’t let her do that.’
‘She wants to, Mrs B., and she’ll be upset if we say no. She said she can’t get to the shops to buy us a present, and even if she could, she would much prefer to buy the flowers. As she said, giving flowers is a sign of love.’
‘Oh Lord!’ Molly screwed up her eyes. ‘I thought this was one night I’d get through without crying.’
‘Knock it off, girl!’ Nelli
e said. ‘Ye’re going to have to stop this crying lark because every time you start to blubber, yer set me off.’
Molly was spared her tears when she heard the key turn in the front door. ‘Here’s Jack, so we’ll bring the meeting to a close. You four go and see Father Kelly tomorrow night and we’ll take it from there.’
Everyone had gone to bed and Molly and Jack were enjoying a last cup of tea before they too climbed the stairs. ‘We’re going to be hard put to find enough money if they’re getting married in eight weeks.’ Jack puffed on his Woodbine, a look of anxiety on his face. ‘I’ll get as much overtime in as I can, but even then we’ll never make it.’
‘Yes, we will, love, so don’t start worrying until yer have to. Something will turn up, it always does.’
‘I wish I shared your optimism, love, but for the life of me I can’t see it. There’s no way we’re going to have enough money in eight weeks, it’s an impossibility.’
‘I thought that meself at first, Jack, but it’s not going to be too bad. The cars, the priest and the drink, they’re nothing to do with us. And Victoria insists on buying the flowers as her wedding present, so that’s a load off our minds.’
‘Molly, what about the clothes? Isn’t the father supposed to buy the brides’ dresses? And I haven’t got a decent suit to me name. There’s no way I’m going to walk down the aisle in the old one I’ve got – it’s falling to pieces.’
‘Let’s wait and see, eh? I bet everything turns out fine, and yer’ll be walking down the aisle looking a real toff.’ Molly thought to take his mind off things or he wouldn’t get a decent night’s sleep. ‘Ay, d’yer know that Fanny Kemp and Theresa Brown?’
Jack raised his brows. ‘I wouldn’t say I know them, only to wish them the time of day. Why d’yer ask?’
When Molly related what Vera Patterson had told her and Nellie, Jack shook his head in disgust. ‘They wouldn’t be so wicked, surely? I haven’t got much time for the one in number sixteen meself, I don’t suppose anybody in the street has. But I can’t imagine anyone stooping so low as to tell her husband what she’s been up to.’
‘They don’t come any lower than Fanny and Theresa. They love causing trouble and wouldn’t think twice about telling the husband.’ Molly knew Jack didn’t like her getting involved in neighbours’ squabbles, so she thought about it carefully before she told him. ‘The poor man’s been a prisoner of war for about three years, and Vera said he’s in hospital in a bad state. I think he’s had enough to put up with, without two meddling women adding to his misery. And the first chance I get I’m going to tell Fanny and Theresa what I think about them and warn them to keep their traps shut.’
‘If it was anything else, I’d tell yer to keep out of it. But I agree with yer on this, I don’t know how anyone can even think of being so cruel. Don’t let it come to a boxing match, though, love, because in my eyes there’s nothing worse than women fighting in the street.’
Molly grinned. ‘I don’t think they’d be soft enough to take Nellie on, do you? If they did I would be referee and make sure me mate didn’t batter the life out of them.’ In her mind’s eye she could see Nellie rolling up her sleeves ready for battle, and it brought forth a chuckle. ‘I’ve just thought of a way of making money. I could sell tickets! There’s not a woman in this street who wouldn’t pay to see those two get their just deserts. Nobody likes them.’
Jack’s imagination took over. ‘I can see Nellie, the hero, with a huge grin on her face as she’s carried shoulder high. She’d love every minute of it.’
‘Yer might come home one night to find the pair of us laughing the other side of our faces, love. Nellie with her leg in plaster and me with two big black eyes.’
‘If that happened, I wouldn’t just sit back and do nothing. I’d give Corker a knock and take him with me to see the two husbands. One look at Corker and they’d die of fright.’
‘D’yer know the husbands, then?’
‘To say hello to, yes, but not to have a conversation with. I see them now and again in the pub, that’s all.’
‘That’s worth bearing in mind. If me and Nellie don’t get any joy out of the women, I’ll ask you and Corker to have a word with their husbands. If that doesn’t do the trick, nothing will!’
‘I thought Nellie was suppose to be the crafty one? Ye’re not exactly behind the door yerself.’
‘How about yer saying I’m crafty in a good cause, eh?’
‘And how about you saying that because it’s your fault I’m wide awake now, yer’ll tell me a bedtime story in bed?’
‘Ah, yer poor little thing! What fairy story would yer like me to read to yer?’
‘A love story. And I don’t want yer to read it to me, I want yer to show me by doing the actions.’
‘Oh, aye! And who’s the crafty one now, eh?’ Molly was smiling as she pushed herself to her feet. ‘Come on, big boy, and I’ll show yer a real love story.’ She reached for his hand and led him towards the door. As she switched off the light, she said softly, ‘If Nellie was here she’d say ye’re not only a crafty bugger, but a sex mad one into the bargain.’
‘Let’s call at Victoria’s first.’ Molly pulled the door closed behind her and led her friend across the cobbles. ‘Doreen said she made some sandwiches for her and Phil last night and there wasn’t much bread left. I’d hate to think the old lady couldn’t make herself something for her lunch.’
Victoria Clegg lifted her net curtain and nodded to say she’d heard the knock and was on her way. She moved very slowly these days and it took her twice as long to get to the door as it used to. ‘Good morning, ladies. Ye’re out early today.’
Molly jerked her head towards Nellie. ‘Me mate’s usually late and I’m hanging around waiting for her. But she thought she’d catch me on the hop today and was knocking before I was ready. Bright and breezy she is, too.’
‘She’s never satisfied, girl. If I’m a few minutes late she gets a cob on, and if I’m early she still finds something to moan about.’ Nellie’s wink creased her chubby face. ‘There’s no pleasing some folk.’
Molly’s jaw dropped. ‘I didn’t moan! I never said a dickie bird!’
‘Yer don’t have to say a word, the gob on yer is enough.’
‘I can’t help me face, sunshine, I was born with it. And it’s funny that ye’re the only one that ever complains about it.’
‘Now yer heard that for yerself, Victoria. And honest to God, if I never move from this spot, I never complain about anything. My George said I must be the most easygoing person in the world.’
Molly huffed. ‘Oh, aye! And when did he say that?’
‘Just last night, clever clogs.’ Nellie bit on the inside of her cheek, but she couldn’t keep the smile back. ‘After I’d burnt the egg which was his week’s ration.’ Her hands held out, she appealed to Victoria. ‘It could happen to anyone, girl! I forgot I’d put the egg on to boil until I could smell burning. Of course it was too late then – the ruddy pan had boiled dry and the egg was as black as the hobs of hell.’
Nellie doubled up with laughter and couldn’t speak. And although Molly and Victoria didn’t know what was coming, they were laughing with her. ‘Come on, sunshine, what happened next? Don’t keep us in suspense.’
‘Wait until I get me breath, girl, ’cos if I laugh much more I’ll wet me knickers.’
‘Not on my carpet yer won’t!’ Victoria’s eyes were weeping with laughter. These two women had brightened her life for years now and she loved both of them dearly. ‘Run down the yard to the lavatory, if yer must.’
Nellie had straightened up and was taking deep breaths. ‘Some friend you are, Victoria Clegg, when yer won’t even let me wet me knickers in your house! I mean, like, it’s not as though I’ve asked to borrow your knickers to wet meself in.’
If she keeps this up, we’ll all want to go down the yard, Molly thought. ‘Will yer finish the tale about George’s burnt egg, sunshine, please?’
Nellie wiped the ba
ck of her hand across her nose, then covered her mouth with it when she coughed. ‘Did yer see that, girl? I covered me mouth when I coughed, like the toffs do. So don’t ever say I’ve got no manners.’
‘Yes, I saw it, Nellie, and I also saw yer using the same hand to wipe yer nose. Now, I don’t know any toffs, but I don’t think I’d be wrong if I said that wasn’t good manners.’
‘Don’t split hairs, Molly Bennett! And for being so sarcastic, I’m not going to tell yer what happened after I’d burnt that ruddy egg.’
‘I’m afraid yer’ve got no choice in the matter! Yer don’t set foot out of this house until me and Victoria have our curiosity satisfied.’
‘Oh, all right, then, seeing as yer twisted me arm!’ Nellie was chuckling again. Wild horses wouldn’t have dragged her out of the house without her finishing the tale she thought was dead funny. She hadn’t thought it funny at the time, like, but she did now. ‘When I smelled the burning, I rushed into the kitchen, saw the state of the pan and the egg, and like a bloody fool I picked the pan off the gas ring. The handle was so hot I dropped the lot, pan and egg! I held me hand under the tap until it stopped stinging, then went to sit in the living room to nurse me wound.’
She glanced at Molly. ‘Yer’d have been proud of me, girl, yer really would. I was only sorry there was no one in the house to appreciate me acting. Talk about drama queen wasn’t in it! Me hand was killing me, but I bore the pain with dignity.’ Nellie’s bosom was hitched before she grinned. ‘Did yer hear that, Molly Bennett? I bore the pain with dignity! That’s as good as any of the lah-de-dah sayings you’re always coming out with. I thought of it in bed last night and I’ve been saying it over and over so I wouldn’t forget. So there!’
Molly felt like giving her a big hug, but instead she said, ‘Nellie, the shops will be closing for dinner in three hours and I don’t want to miss them. So hurry things along a bit, will yer?’
Nellie looked at Victoria and tutted. ‘Yer’d think she’d paid to come in, wouldn’t yer? A free laugh at my expense and she’s still not satisfied. Still, if she doesn’t get her own way she’ll start bawling her eyes out, and we can’t have her crying on yer carpet, can we? So here goes. When I remembered I had nothing in to give George for his dinner, I soon sobered up. I threw the pan and egg in the bin and sat wondering what story I could make up that he’d believe. I did think of lying on the couch and telling the family I wasn’t well, but I couldn’t do that because I was going down to your house for the meeting, wasn’t I? And anyroad, I had the kids’ dinner to see to. They were having eggs, but they’d all asked for them to be fried. It was only George who wanted his boiled. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I decided to tell the truth. And while my husband was watching the kids eating egg on toast, he got this long tale about how I’d burnt me hand trying to save his dinner. He wasn’t a happy man, I can tell yer. He said “I suppose yer were sitting on yer backside instead of keeping an eye on the pan?” I said, yes, I had been taking it easy while I had the house to meself. And that’s when he said, “Nellie, ye’re always taking it easy! Ye’re the easiest going ruddy person I know! If yer backside was on fire, yer wouldn’t turn a hair”.’
