by Joan Jonker
‘Take no notice of her, Vera, she makes out she’s a real tough guy. The trouble is, she watches too many gangster films. My heart-throbs are Cary Grant and Robert Taylor, but me mate’s hero is Edward G. Robinson. Haven’t yer ever noticed that she even walks like him? All she’s short of is a shoulder-holster with a gun in.’
Nellie saw the funny side and tapped the woman in front of her on the shoulder. ‘See this, Missus?’ She pressed a finger into her mountainous bosom. ‘Well, this isn’t what it seems, yer know. Oh no, I’ve got a pistol stashed in there in case an Indian comes to try and kidnap me.’
The woman laughed. ‘He’d have to bring the whole tribe with him, queen, ’cos it would take more than one brave to carry you off.’
The queue had moved forward again and Vera was now inside the shop. ‘I’ll let yer know when there’s any news, Molly.’
‘OK, sunshine, and don’t forget – if yer get stuck, give us a knock.’
When they reached the counter, the woman in front of them pointed to Nellie and told Edna Hanley, ‘Watch this one, she’s got a gun down the front of her dress.’
Edna studied Nellie for a few seconds before the laughter burst. ‘No, she hasn’t got no gun down there. Two cannonballs, yes, but never a gun.’
‘Oh, very funny, I must say!’ Nellie put on her hard-done-by expression. ‘Ye’re only jealous ’cos yer’ve got no bust. Flat as a ruddy pancake, yer are. And because yer’ve insulted me, I don’t want yer two meat pies, yer can keep them. Stick them where Paddy stuck his flaming nuts.’
‘What meat pies are they, Nellie?’
‘The two I was going to buy off yer. But I’ll hang on to me money instead.’
‘I haven’t got two meat pies, Nellie.’
‘Of course yer have! I’ve just seen your Emily put two in a bag for that woman.’
Edna was made-up with the lively exchange. It brightened the day for her and was in contrast to the constant moans of women who wanted more than the Hanleys could give. ‘Yes, I saw that, Nellie, but I can’t take the pies back off the woman, she wouldn’t like that.’
‘Look, there’s another woman getting two!’ Nellie’s voice was shrill. ‘So yer have got pies, yer see. Yer can’t pull the wool over my eyes.’
‘I’m not trying to, love. But I don’t know what all the fuss is about when yer’ve said yer don’t want any pies. She did say that, didn’t she, ladies?’ Everyone in the shop was in agreement, and Edna also noticed that every face had a smile on it. That very seldom happened in these days of rationing. And all because of one little fat woman who had been blessed with the ability to bring laughter and smiles wherever she went.
Nellie spotted Molly being served by the shopkeeper’s daughter, Emily, and a bag with the juice already seeping through, was being handed over. ‘Well, I’ll be buggered! How come me mate can have pies, but me, who should have been served before her, doesn’t get a look in?’
‘I can’t make yer take two pies when yer’ve told me yer don’t want any. I mean, I can’t force anything on me customers.’
Nellie drew herself up to her full four feet ten inches, and gave a sharp shake of her head. ‘Yer could coax me. I’m not unreasonable and always open to offers.’
Edna chuckled. ‘Two pies and a loaf, is it, Nellie?’
‘That’s it, girl! And could yer put the pies in two bags so I don’t get the juice running up me sleeve?’
Molly had been served and was watching the procedure with more than a little pride. How lucky she was to have Nellie for a mate.
Edna came down the counter and picked up a tin from the rack. ‘She’s a corker, is Nellie. I wish there were a few more like her.’
‘I wish there were a lot more like her! The world would be a much happier place.’ Then Molly had a thought. ‘Ay, Edna, yer know me two daughters are getting married soon, and I’ve got to book somewhere for the reception. Can yer recommend anywhere?’
‘Well, I know they say self-praise is no recommendation, but what’s wrong with our room upstairs.? We haven’t done much for years because of the war, but before that it was used nearly every week.’
Molly’s eyes were wide with interest. ‘I didn’t even know yer had a room here. I thought the upstairs rooms were yer living quarters.’
‘The ones over the shop are, but above the bakery is just one big room. It’s not large enough to cater for a hundred guests, but it’ll seat fifty in comfort.’
‘That would suit us fine.’ Molly could feel her tummy stir with excitement. But it seemed too good to be true, there had to be a catch in it. ‘Do yer have to come through the shop to get to it?’
Edna shook her head. ‘There’s a door at the side of the shop that leads up to it. Yer probably haven’t noticed ’cos it doesn’t get used much, except by courting couples. I haven’t got time to take yer up there now, but why don’t yer come down about three o’clock and have a look around. If it’s not suitable then yer haven’t lost anything.’
‘Thanks, Edna, I’ll do that.’
Nellie sidled up. ‘Yer mean we’ll do that. You ain’t going anywhere without me, girl, ’cos don’t forget that as mother of one of the grooms, I have certain rights.’
Molly could see the shopkeeper was itching to get back to the customers who were muttering about being kept waiting. ‘Me and my shadow will be back at three, Edna, so we’ll see yer then.’
Nellie waddled out of the shop after her friend. ‘Ay, it looks as though yer’ve hopped in lucky there. Ye’re a jammy bugger, you are.’
‘I’m keeping me fingers crossed that it’s suitable, sunshine. It would be a load off me mind if it is. So close to home, too!’
‘I might as well have a bite to eat in yours, eh, girl? Seems daft to go home and then have to come out again at three o’clock.’
Molly stopped in her tracks. ‘Yer don’t miss a trick, do yer? What would yer say if I told yer I wanted to put me feet up on the couch for half-an-hour?’
‘I’d think that was a good idea, girl! I know we can’t both get on your couch, but I wouldn’t mind putting me feet up on your Jack’s chair. And I’d be as quiet as a mouse, so if yer wanted to close yer eyes for the half-an-hour, I wouldn’t stop yer.’
‘D’yer know what me biggest nightmare is, Nellie? That when all me children are married and left home, you’ll move into me spare room.’
‘What! Yer’d expect me to sleep at the back of the house? No fear! If you want me to come and live with yer, girl, then I’d expect no less than the front bedroom.’ Their shoulders shaking with laughter, the two friends linked arms and made their way to the butcher’s. If their luck hung out, they might be able to coax Tony into giving them something they could make a pan of stew with for the dinner.
Edna slipped the key out of the lock and flung the door open. ‘I keep the place dusted and the windows clean, but it needs a thorough good going-over. So yer won’t be seeing it as it will look if yer decide it’s what yer want. I’ll lead the way upstairs.’
Molly’s first impression was of a room flooded with light. It ran from the front of the building to the back, so had windows at both ends. There were trestle tables stacked against one wall and chairs against the other. ‘It’s nice and bright, Edna, and seems plenty big enough.’
‘It would look a lot different on the day, with the trestle tables placed as yer wanted them, with nice white cloths and vases of flowers in the centre of each. Usually they are set out like three sides of a square, with the bride and groom’s family seated at the top table, and guests on tables that run down the sides. That way, everybody can see each other and they don’t have to keep turning around.’
Nellie, whose eyes were everywhere, pointed to a corner. ‘What’s under those sheets, girl?’
‘Come and I’ll show you.’ Edna led the way across the room to where Nellie had pointed, and whipped off two sheets to reveal a piano and a gramophone. ‘Most people like a bit of music at a wedding.’
‘Oh, I thin
k it’s just the job.’ Molly had a good feeling about this room. With the sunlight streaming through the windows, it looked light and welcoming. ‘Don’t yer think so, Nellie?’
‘I think it’s the gear! We’ll not do any better than this, girl.’
‘No, I don’t think we will.’ Molly was hugging herself. ‘How would I go on about the catering, Edna – any ideas?’
‘We could do the catering, Molly, but yer know how tight things are, so we’d need help. It’s a summer wedding, so a nice boiled ham salad wouldn’t go amiss. The salad itself we could manage, but not the boiled ham. That is something yer’d have to come up with yerself. We could make the tables look really attractive, with plates of small meat pies, sausage rolls and a selection of iced fancy cakes. And of course there’d be wine glasses and serviettes.’
‘It sounds so marvellous, I feel like pinching meself to make sure I’m not dreaming. I can’t wait to tell the girls.’
‘Molly, I think yer should ask the girls, not tell them. Their ideas might be a lot different to yours and mine. Let them see the room and leave it up to them. If they like it, then we can go ahead and sort out the catering. If it’s not what they had in mind, then there’s nothing lost and yer can look elsewhere. I certainly won’t be offended.’
‘Would it be all right if they come tonight, the brides and the grooms? Yer see, I’d like to get it settled and off me mind.’
‘Yeah, that’s fine. But don’t come with them, Molly, let them come on their own. Tell them to ring the shop bell and I’ll be waiting for them. I’ll bring them up here and then leave them to have a good look around without being embarrassed.’
‘If they don’t like this, then it’s just a pity about them,’ Nellie mumbled. ‘They’d be hard pressed to find anything better.’
‘Don’t you dare have a go at your Steve as soon as he comes in from work, Nellie, or I’ll clock yer one,’ Molly warned. ‘Like Edna said, they should have some say in where they have their reception. So not a word until they’ve been and seen for themselves. D’yer think yer can manage to hold yer tongue for that long?’
‘That’s asking a lot, that is, girl! If I don’t exercise me tongue every few minutes, me brain starts to worry.’
‘What brain, Nellie? You never told me yer had a brain.’
‘There’s a lot of things I haven’t told yer, Molly Bennett! I mean, after all, we’ve all got our little secrets.’
Edna was smiling as she covered the piano and gramophone. It would be a luxury to stand and listen to these two, but she felt guilty because she’d left her husband cleaning the bakery and preparing everything for his five o’clock start the next morning. Emily would be helping him in her own way, but she was only a young girl and didn’t know the meaning of elbow grease. ‘Come on, ladies, your families will be in from work before yer know it. I’ll see yer tomorrow and yer can tell me what the brides have decided. Because it will be the brides who have the say, the grooms won’t get a look-in.’
‘They’ll be too busy thinking about the wedding night. They’ll get a look-in then, all right.’ Nellie had that mischievous twinkle in her eye which Molly recognised only too well. It was time to make their exit while she still knew where to put her face.
‘Come on, Tilly Mint, out we go.’ Molly led her friend to the top of the stairs. ‘You go first, sunshine, so I’ll have something soft to land on if I fall.’ She stood for a while to make sure Nellie was using the banister, then looked back over her shoulder. ‘Thanks, Edna, we’ll see yer tomorrow. Ta-ra for now.’
Chapter Thirteen
Molly watched the four young ones as they walked down the street laughing and joking. Then before closing the door she crossed her fingers and said softly under her breath, ‘Please, please, come back full of praise.’
‘What it is to be young, eh, love?’ Jack lifted his eyes from the Echo. ‘Seeing them takes me back a bit.’
‘Yeah, it doesn’t seem like more than twenty-five years since we were talking about getting married. Time certainly flies over.’
‘Mam, the hem of me gymslip is hanging down.’ Ruthie lifted her leg to show the uneven hem. ‘If I change into me old skirt, d’yer think yer could stitch it for me tonight, ready for school tomorrow?’
‘I haven’t got any navy-blue cotton, sunshine, so yer’ll have to run up to the corner shop for a reel.’
‘Ah, ay, Mam!’ Ruthie pulled a face. ‘I promised to go over to Bella’s for a game of Ludo, and if I don’t go now I might as well not bother ’cos yer’ll be knocking on her door and telling me it’s time for bed.’
‘I’ll slip up for yer, Mam,’ Tommy said. ‘I can be there and back in five minutes.’
‘No, I’ll go meself.’ Molly had visions of Maisie telling her son she didn’t have navy-blue cotton, only white. And Tommy would take it, not knowing any different. One reel of cotton was the same as any other to him. ‘If ye’re going round to see Rosie, I’ll walk to the corner with yer.’
Ruthie looked relieved. ‘I’ll change me skirt before I go over to Bella’s, Mam.’
‘OK, I’ll have yer gymslip ready for yer to wear tomorrow. But you be back in the house by nine at the latest. D’yer hear?’
The young girl’s eyes rolled to the ceiling. Anyone would think she was a baby, instead of a twelve-year-old going on thirteen. ‘I hear yer, Mam, I hear yer.’
Tommy was grinning as he stepped on to the pavement. With a wide sweep of his hand, he bowed from the waist. ‘It is my pleasure to escort you, Madam.’
‘Go on, yer daft ha’porth,’ Molly said, loving it. He was really handsome, was her son. And he had a nice nature to go with it. Being the only boy, she’d probably miss him more than anyone when the time came for him to leave the nest.
Just then their neighbour’s door opened and Phoebe joined them on the pavement. ‘Ye’re looking very nice, Phoebe,’ Molly said. ‘Have yer got a date?’
‘Only with one of the girls I work with.’ Phoebe’s smile was shy. ‘I don’t know where we’re going yet, probably to the flicks.’
‘No boyfriend on the scene, then?’ Tommy asked.
‘No.’ Phoebe blushed. ‘I don’t go anywhere to meet boys, and anyway I’m too young to be really interested.’
‘Yer want to try going to dances,’ Tommy said. ‘Yer’ll meet plenty of lads then, and with your looks they’d be queuing up to dance with yer.’
‘Come on!’ Molly wanted to get the skirt done and out of the way before the gang came back from the Hanleys’. ‘We’re going your way, so we’ll walk up together.’
But they only got as far as the McDonoughs’ house before being joined by Paul. With a smile on his face, his hair slicked back and his dance shoes tucked under his arm, he was all ready for a night out. ‘Well, fancy bumping into you lot!’
‘I only came out to go to the corner shop for a reel of cotton,’ Molly told him. ‘But it looks as though I’ll have a procession behind me by the time I get there.’
Tommy chuckled at his mother’s exaggeration. ‘Three people hardly constitute a procession, Mam.’
‘Well, yer know what I mean.’ Molly eyed Nellie’s youngest son. ‘And where are you gadding off to, Romeo?’
Paul’s grin was full of devilment. ‘I haven’t made up me mind yet, Mrs B. I don’t know whether to honour Blair Hall with me presence, or Barlow’s Lane.’ He fell into step beside them. ‘It’s like this, yer see. There’s a couple of crackin’ girls go to Blair Hall, but Barlow’s Lane has got a sprung floor and it’s smashing to dance on.’
‘My God, if that was all I had to worry about in the world, I’d be laughing sacks.’ Molly came to a halt outside the corner shop. ‘Anyway, this is where me and our Tommy bid yer farewell. I’m going in the shop and Tommy’s going round to me ma’s. So you can play the gentleman, Paul, and escort Phoebe up to the tram stop.’
‘No, there’s no need!’ Phoebe stepped back, her face the colour of beetroot. ‘I’m in no hurry, I’ve got plenty of t
ime. You go on, Paul, and I’ll walk at me leisure.’
‘I wouldn’t dream of leaving a young lady to walk on her own.’ Paul changed the dance shoes to his other arm before cupping her elbow. ‘We’ll walk to the tram stop together.’ Before they were out of earshot, Molly heard him say, ‘Yer look very nice, Phoebe, where are yer off to?’
The girl’s answer was lost to mother and son standing on the corner. But the look on Molly’s face wasn’t lost on Tommy. ‘Mam, forget about it, ’cos they’re as different as chalk and cheese.’
Molly blinked rapidly with surprise. ‘What are yer on about, sunshine?’
‘I can read yer like a book, Mam! Yer had that soppy look on yer face and I know that in yer mind yer were matchmaking.’
‘Was I heckerslike! It’s coming to something when I can’t watch two of me neighbours’ children without being accused of marrying them off!’ Then Molly grinned. ‘It would be nice, though, wouldn’t it?’
‘I know yer like everything to be neat and tidy, Mam, but yer’d be wasting yer time with Paul and Phoebe. They are definitely not cut out for each other. He’s very outgoing and loves a good time, and she’s just the opposite, quiet and shy.’
‘Stranger things have happened, son.’ Molly tilted her face. ‘Give us a kiss in case I’m in bed when yer get home.’
‘I hope yer have good news about the room over Hanley’s. Once the hall and catering are booked, yer’ll feel easier.’
‘Yer said a mouthful there, son.’ Molly lifted the latch on the shop door. ‘Tell me ma I’ll be round to see her and me da tomorrow, and I’ll give her all the news then.’
There were no customers in the shop and Alec was alone behind the counter. ‘An empty shop, Alec? My God, you and Maisie will never get rich at this rate.’
‘We’re glad of the breather, Molly. Honest, we’ve both been on the go all day. That doesn’t mean we’re rich, though, Mrs Bennett – I’d hate yer to get the wrong idea.’ Alec grinned. ‘Maisie said there was sparks coming from her feet with running all day. She’s in the stockroom with her feet on a sack of spuds. Go through and have a word with her.’
