by Joan Jonker
‘I haven’t got much time, Alec, I only came for a reel of navy-blue cotton. Our Ruthie’s gymslip needs sewing for school tomorrow.’
Alec glanced towards the stockroom. ‘Maisie’s been waiting for yer to come in, she’s got something to tell yer.’
‘If it’s good news, Alec, I’m all for it. If it’s bad news, I don’t want to know.’
‘We don’t know about that, Molly, but I think yer should hear what the wife has to say.’ He lifted the hinged part of the counter to let her through. ‘We found it strange, but you might think we’re reading too much into it.’
‘Yer’ve got me curious now.’ Molly made her way through to the back room where Maisie was reading the Echo. ‘My God, just look at the state of you! Ye’re a lazy so-and-so, Maisie Porter, moaning ’cos yer’ve got to work fifteen hours a day! It should be a doddle to a young slip of a girl like you.’
Maisie folded the paper and put it on top of a wooden crate. ‘Park yer backside on there, Molly, and take the weight off yer feet.’
‘No, I’ll stand, sunshine, ’cos I haven’t got long. What’s the big mystery?’
‘There might not be anything in it, but I thought I’d tell you to see if yer think I should mention it to Nellie.’ Maisie went on to tell her about the young girl and the conversation they’d had. ‘I know Lily’s boyfriend is called Len, but with a name like Lofthouse he’s bound to get Lofty off his workmates. And like I said, there was something in the attitude of this young girl. She certainly wasn’t backward in coming forward, I can tell yer.’
‘And she said he lived in Walton?’
‘Yeah, in Tetlow Street. And if I was to give an opinion, Molly, I’d say the girl was trouble with a capital T. When I asked her why she didn’t ask this Lofty where his girlfriend lived, she stared me out as bold as brass and said she couldn’t ’cos he was working away from home this week.’
Molly looked puzzled. ‘And she told yer her name was Joan?’
‘That’s right. According to her, the girl she was looking for wouldn’t know who she was, but she could ask Lofty, ’cos he knew her.’
Molly rubbed her fingers in a circle on her forehead, as though to clear her mind. ‘I’d say to leave things and see if anything further comes of it, except for one thing. Well, I suppose yer could say two things, really. One is that it would be stretching the imagination a bit too far to say it was just a coincidence she happened to pick on this street out of the dozens of streets around here. And the other is that I can’t stand the feller. I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him.’
‘D’yer think one of us should mention it to Nellie?’
‘Will yer let me think about it tonight, Maisie? Yer know what Nellie’s like for flying off the handle. It could cause murder between her and Lily, and I wouldn’t want that. Especially as it might turn out to be a storm in a teacup.’
‘I think ye’re right, Molly, and I hope it does turn out to be a storm in a teacup. I had to tell yer, though, to get it off me chest. I didn’t like the girl, I had a bad feeling about her. But I could have misjudged her.’
‘I’m glad yer told me, sunshine, so I can keep my eyes and ears open. I feel sorry for Lily, ’cos she must think a lot of Len to put up with his sulks, and knowing none of the family have any time for him. But if there’s something in his life she knows nothing about, it would be better for it to come out now before she marries him.’ Molly picked up the evening paper and handed it to Maisie. ‘Here yer are, sunshine, you keep yer feet up and have a read. I can’t hear much noise coming from the shop so Alec can’t be busy. I’ll get me reel of cotton and go home and sew our Ruthie’s gymslip. I’ll see yer tomorrow. Ta-ra.’
As soon as Molly put the key in the door and heard the excited chatter, her heart jumped for joy. ‘Yer like it, then?’
Her two daughters ran towards her and put their arms around her. ‘Mam, it’s ideal,’ Doreen said, laughter in her voice. ‘Much better than we expected.’
Jill couldn’t wait to have her say. ‘Mrs Hanley was very nice and explained how the room would look on the day. And her husband is going to make a wedding cake for us.’
Molly’s legs were weak and she groped for a chair. ‘Go ’way! Yer mean yer’ve ordered a cake, too?’
The girls nodded. ‘We’re only having one between us, ’cos it would be daft to have two. So he’s making a three-tier one.’ Doreen was so excited she couldn’t keep still. ‘He’s going to ice it and decorate it, the whole works.’
Jill gently pushed her sister aside so she could get a word in. ‘Mr Hanley said it was hard to get hold of dried fruit, Mam, so we’re having a sponge one. I don’t mind because I don’t like fruit cake anyway.’
Molly looked across at the two boys sitting at the table. They looked so happy anyone would think they’d just heard they’d been left a fortune by an unknown rich relative. ‘Are you both happy with the arrangements?’
‘Never been so happy, Mrs B.,’ Phil said. ‘Yer couldn’t have found anywhere better.’
‘Over the moon, Mrs B.’ Steve’s dimples told of his delight. ‘Over the moon.’
Molly turned to Jack, who was overjoyed at the way things had turned out. ‘Not a bad day’s work, eh, love?’
‘Not bad? I think yer’ve achieved more in one day than yer expected to in a week. Just think! Between yer, yer’ve booked the hall, sorted the catering out and the wedding cake’s been ordered!’ Jack was feeling very proud of his wife, and his two lovely daughters. ‘They were the most important things, so now yer can slow down and take things in yer stride.’
‘There’s another thing we’ve decided tonight, Mam,’ Jill said. ‘Steve is having Paul as his best man.’
‘Oh, that’s nice, sunshine. I bet Paul’s cock-a-hoop!’ Molly raised her brows at Phil. ‘Have you decided who you’re having, son?’
‘The person I would really like, because he’s always been so good to me, is Mr Corker. But I don’t know whether he’ll be home for the wedding.’
‘Yer can ask him in a couple of days ’cos he’s due home near the end of the week. I saw Ellen in the shop today and she told me.’
Phil’s face lit up. Corker was his hero, the person for whom he had so much respect and admiration. ‘Oh, that’s the gear! Will yer all say a little prayer tonight that he’ll definitely be home for the wedding and agrees to be me best man?’
‘He’ll be home for the wedding, son, yer can be sure of that,’ Molly said, nodding her head for emphasis. ‘His actual words were, “Nothing on earth could keep me away. Seeing the girls walk down the aisle on Jack’s arm is a sight I’ll not miss, even if I have to jump ship”.’
Steve pushed his chair back and stood up. He patted Phil on the shoulder and said, ‘It looks as though ye’re going to get yer wish, and I’m glad for yer. Now me and Jill had better go and bring me mam up-to-date or she’ll give us the rounds of the kitchen because she had to wait ten minutes after Mrs B. to find out what’s going on.’
Molly grinned. ‘I bet she’s had her nose to the window. And she’ll have counted the seconds, never mind the minutes. So go and put her out of her misery and tell her I’ll see her in the morning.’
Steve was holding Jill’s hand and they were in the hall when Jill remembered something. ‘Eh, Dad, did yer think on where yer’d put that last letter from Uncle Bill in Wales?’
‘Yeah, I’ll root it out in a minute and yer can write to him tomorrow.’
Jill looked pleased. ‘I hope he can come – I’d like to meet him.’
‘Don’t build yer hopes up, sunshine,’ Molly said. ‘It’s a good way from here and would cost them a few bob in fares. They might not be able to afford it.’
‘We’ll never know if we don’t ask, Mam.’ Jill allowed herself to be pulled through the front door, shouting over her shoulder, ‘I’ll drop them a line tomorrow.’
‘We’d better make tracks as well.’ Phil set his chair neatly under the table. ‘It’s getting near Aunt Vi
ckie’s bedtime.’
Doreen gave her mother a hug as she passed. ‘Yer’ve done well, Mam, and me and Phil are grateful.’
‘And proud,’ Phil reminded her.
‘Oh yeah, we’re dead proud of yer.’
‘It was pure luck that I mentioned to Mrs Hanley that we were looking for a hall. Or, as me mate said, “Ye’re a jammy bugger, you are”.’
The two sweethearts were giggling as they walked out, their joined hands swinging between them. ‘You’re a jammy bugger getting me for a wife, Phil Bradley.’
‘Uh uh! It’s you that’s the jammy bugger ’cos I picked yer for me wife.’
Molly and Jack grinned at each other. ‘This makes up for all those lean years, when we didn’t have two ha’pennies to rub together.’ Molly was feeling emotional. ‘I’d go through them all again just to see the children as happy as they are now.’
‘Those years weren’t so bad, love,’ Jack said. ‘We might not have had any money, but we had things all the money in the world can’t buy. Things more precious than pounds, shillings and pence. And that’s health, happiness, friends and laughter.’
Molly’s face creased into a grin. ‘Ye’re getting very sentimental all of a sudden, aren’t yer, sunshine? The next thing, yer’ll be writing me romantic poems.’
Jack uncrossed his legs and stood up. He cupped his wife’s face and gazed into her eyes, remembering her as she was when she was young and as pretty as a picture. And how lucky their three daughters were to have inherited her good looks. ‘The day I stop feeling romantic about you, Molly Bennett, will be the day I give up on life.’
‘That won’t be for another forty years, I hope, love, ’cos we’ve got too much to look forward to. I want to be holding your hand while we watch our grandchildren growing up, and then their children.’ She puckered her lips. ‘Give us a kiss and then get that letter for our Jill. Where did yer put it, by the way?’
‘I think it’s with some other papers in a box I put in the loft. I’m hoping so, anyway.’
The word loft brought to mind the name Lofty, and the incident with the girl in the corner shop. ‘Sit down a minute, Jack, while I tell yer something. I’ll make it quick before our Ruthie comes in.’ Molly repeated word for word what Maisie had told her. ‘I don’t know what to think. I mean, if it had come from anyone else I might pooh-pooh the idea. But Maisie isn’t a jangler, nor is she stupid. What do you make of it?’
‘Without being there and seeing the girl for meself, it’s hard to say. But I agree with yer that Maisie isn’t one to talk just to hear the sound of her own voice. And after all these years working in the shop, dealing with all types of people, she should be a good judge of character by now. As for telling Nellie though – well, that’s something yer’ll have to make up yer own mind about. And if I were you, I’d give it some careful thought because yer might just put yer foot in it.’
‘Yeah, I’ll mull it over for a few days. I’ve got enough on me mind to be going on with. I’m made up that the hall and reception have been booked, but I haven’t a clue what it’s all going to cost. I’ll find out tomorrow, though, when I see Edna Hanley. I’ll ask her to write everything down so we’re not caught on the hop when the time comes to pay. The cost of the hall, the catering, wedding cake and flowers for the tables.’ Molly pulled a face. ‘And when I’ve got a list of the damages, you and me can sit and worry about where the money’s coming from.’
‘We’ll make it, love, so don’t worry. By hook or by crook, we’ll make it. But won’t the Hanleys want a deposit?’
‘I can manage that ’cos I’ve got enough saved up. When the war in Europe was over, I knew it wouldn’t be long before we had two weddings on our hands. So every week since then, I’ve been putting some money by. Some weeks it was only five bob but others I managed ten bob or even a pound. So I should have enough for the deposit.’
Jack looked surprised. ‘Woman, you never cease to amaze me.’
Molly winked and clicked her tongue. ‘That’s the way to keep a man on his toes. Never tell him everything, always hold something back that yer can amaze and mystify him with. Some women say the way to a man’s heart is through his tummy, but that’s an old wives’ tale. I bet any man would rather see a female performing The Dance of the Seven Veils than sitting down to a good roast dinner.’
Jack leaned against the door jamb, his smile wide. ‘I’m one of those men, so where d’yer keep yer seven veils?’
‘Ah well, yer see, love, I’m keeping them as a last resort. As soon as I think yer interest is on the wane, I’ll bring the veils out. But as that isn’t likely to happen right now, I suggest you go and find the letter while I sew our Ruthie’s skirt.’
‘So, everything in the garden’s rosy, eh, girl?’ Nellie’s swaying hip knocked Molly a few inches nearer the gutter. ‘Our Steve never stops smiling and I’m surprised his face didn’t stick like that.’
‘It’s better than having a face on him like a wet week, so don’t be moaning.’
‘Oh, I’m not moaning, girl, far from it! As I said to him last night, the mother of the girl he’s marrying is a jammy bugger, and a bit of good luck might rub off on him.’
By this time Molly was walking along the edge of the kerb and she came to a halt. ‘Nellie, ye’re pushing me into the road!’
‘Oh, for crying out loud, don’t start that again! If yer end up under a tram this time, I’m going to tell your Jack straight, he’s not to take any grapes into the hossie ’cos I’ll only get accused of eating them.’
‘Look, sunshine,’ Molly said, with infinite patience. ‘Let’s start all over again. I’ll walk on the inside, and you walk on the outside.’
‘Suit yerself, girl, it doesn’t make no difference to me.’
And indeed it didn’t. They’d only gone twenty yards before the sleeve of Molly’s coat was brushing against the windowsills of the houses they passed. ‘I give up!’ She bent her elbow and showed her friend the dirty marks. ‘See that!’ Then she turned and pointed in turn to the nearest six houses. ‘I’ve just cleaned every one of those windowsills with me coat.’
Nellie put on her angelic expression. ‘Well, I’m sure the women will be very grateful to yer, girl. But yer hadn’t ought to have done it, ’cos look at the mess yer’ve made of yer sleeve.’
Molly didn’t know whether to laugh at her friend’s comical expression, or cry at the mess she’d made of her one and only decent coat. In the end the happy events of the day before made her decide that laughter was on the menu today. ‘Listen, sunshine, yer can drop that Little Girl Lost look ’cos it doesn’t cut no ice with me. And when we get home, you’re the one who’s going to sponge me sleeve and get the dirt off.’
‘If you say so, girl,’ Nellie said meekly. But her thoughts were anything but meek. Inside she was laughing her socks off. ‘If it’ll make it easier for yer, why don’t we just walk without linking arms, eh?’
‘The best idea yer’ve had all day.’ Molly put her basket on her left arm. ‘We’ll get along a lot quicker.’
Nellie took note and put her basket on her right arm. ‘Come on, girl, or the day will be over before we do anything.’ Now the two baskets were bumping against each other, and with Nellie having the added benefit of her wide hip to use as a ledge for her basket, which added to her pushing power, she had Molly up against the wall in no time. ‘If I didn’t know yer better, girl, I’d swear yer were drunk.’
Molly dropped her head, pinched the bridge of her nose and counted to ten. Then she looked up and saw Nellie shaking with laughter. For once, the little woman’s cheeks, chins, bosom and tummy were in harmony and moving in an upward direction. ‘Sod it,’ Molly said under her breath. ‘If yer can’t lick ’em, join ’em.’ So she let the laughter rip until tears were rolling down her cheeks. ‘Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.’ She felt in her pocket for a hankie, found she didn’t have one, so wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘They reckon if yer laugh too much yer’ll cry before the day is out
. So I’m warning yer, Nellie McDonough, if anything crops up to spoil my feeling of well-being, I’ll hold you responsible.’
‘That’s all right, girl, me shoulders are wide enough to take it.’
‘So are yer ruddy hips! If it wasn’t for them we’d have been at Hanley’s by now and I’d know how much money I’ve got to find in the next nine weeks.’
Nellie shook her head sadly. ‘You don’t appreciate me, do yer, girl? I spend all me life thinking of ways to put a smile on yer face and I get no thanks for it. Me hip will be black and blue by now, and it’s sore into the bargain. But I don’t mind the pain, not when it’s for me best mate. I just wanted yer to feel happy, and strong enough to stand the shock when Edna Hanley hands yer the estimate. If yer don’t faint, or start bawling yer eyes out, then my suffering will not be in vain.’
‘Nellie, me heart bleeds for yer.’ Molly’s mind was racing to find something that would match what her friend had said. Then it came, like a flash of lightning, causing her to feel very pleased with herself. ‘Never in the field of battle, has anyone had a more true and loyal comrade, ready to lay down their life if necessary.’
‘Ah, ay, girl, don’t be getting carried away now. A laugh is one thing, but laying down yer life is getting serious. I’d have to have words with my feller before agreeing to that.’
Molly stood aloof now, her nose in the air and her two hands holding the basket in front of her. ‘That is the difference between us, you see.’ Speaking as posh as she knew how, she looked down on Nellie. ‘While I am prepared to laugh at your jokes, you are not prepared to lay down your life for me. Now we know who the true friend is.’
Just at that moment a woman from the top of the street came by, and it was obvious from the sly glance she gave that she’d heard Molly’s words. She would have walked on, but Nellie was in one of her mischievous moods and this was a chance too good to miss. ‘Hello, there, Milly! In case ye’re wondering why we’re standing here like two lemons, I’ll tell yer. Yer see, my mate has joined an amateur dramatic society, and she asked me to listen to her saying her lines. Just to get a bit of practice in, you understand.’
