Maisie arrived home with Joanie to hear the news that her mother had been injured and taken to hospital. There seemed to be no point in hiding from the girl the fact that it was, more than likely, Sidney Bragg who had attacked her.
Maisie turned pale. ‘Sid…he’s not up here, is he? And what about…Percy? You don’t think he’s here as well do you?’ She knew, of course, that Percy had joined the army – her mother had told her, feeling that it was right for her to know – but the news she had just heard had awakened her old fears.
‘No, he was on his own, Maisie love,’ said Rebecca, ‘and the police are on to him already. He will be brought to justice, don’t you worry, for what he has done to your mother. Now…Archie is going to take you back home to your Aunty Patience and Luke, aren’t you, Archie? Try not to upset yourself too much. Your mother will be fine, I’m sure…’
Lily was kept in hospital for several days as her injuries were quite severe. As well as the blow to her head which had caused slight concussion, she had a broken arm and bruises all over her body from the assault of her husband’s boot, and abdominal pain from a particularly vicious kick in her stomach.
It was obvious that she would need to recuperate for some time before resuming her duties at Tremaine House, but Rebecca and Archie promised they would care for her as though she were a member of their own family. Because that, in fact, was how they thought of her now.
The good news which Lily, and Maisie, too, were relieved to hear was that Sidney Bragg had been caught and arrested the very same night. He had managed to get as far as Middlebeck station and had boarded a train without being apprehended, but the police from Leeds were awaiting him at the other end.
It turned out to be the break they had been waiting for. He was wanted already for burglary. There had been a spate of burglaries of late, some using violence, in the Armley area; and after the latest one a so-called mate had grassed on him. Sid was not popular, even amongst the criminal fraternity. And a vicious attack he had made on a policeman as he escaped from the scene of a crime would be enough to put him inside for several years, even without the grievous bodily harm he had caused to his wife.
Lily demurred at the thought of giving evidence. She never wanted to set eyes on him again, not even in the dock standing trial for his crimes. But she was assured that she would not need to be called as a witness. There were plenty of others who would be pleased to see that he got his just desserts.
‘How do you think he found out where you were, Mum?’ asked Maisie, on one of her visits to see her mother, after she had returned from hospital.
‘I don’t know,’ replied Lily. ‘But I dare say it was easy enough once he’d made up his mind. He would be able to find out from the school which town we had gone to; anyway, I expect that is common knowledge by now. And a lot of the evacuees went back, you know. Some of ’em would know you were staying at the rectory and that I was here. And once he got to Middlebeck somebody’d tell him the way to Tremaine House.’ She shuddered. ‘Let’s not think about him no more, Maisie. We’ve got rid of him, and let’s hope it’s for good an’ all. What I’ve got to think about now is getting back to work. Rebecca’s got a woman from the village to help with the land girls for the time being, but me job’s still there when I want it… If I want it,’ she added.
‘You can’t go back yet, Mum,’ said Maisie. ‘Your arm’s in a sling an’ you’re still not well enough… What did you mean, if you want it? D’you think you might not want to go back to being in charge of the land girls?’
Lily smiled. ‘Happen it’s time for a change,’ she said. ‘To be honest, love, I want you with me as well as the two little ’uns.’ She reached out a hand and stroked Maisie’s hair. ‘I want us to be a proper family again. Well, we never have been really, because it was always spoiled in Armley by…him, and Percy. I was frightened, love, that you might get too fond of Patience and Luke with living there for so long…but I don’t think that has happened, has it?’
‘No, of course not,’ replied Maisie. ‘They’ve been real good to me, an’ Aunty Patience says I’ll always be special, like. But with them having Audrey and Tim now, and with the new baby coming…I’d really like to be with you, Mum, and our Joanie and Jimmy. D’you think I could come and live here, at Tremaine House?’
‘No…I don’t think so,’ said Lily. ‘I think we need a place of our own… Good heavens! Whatever am I saying?’ She shook her head in bewilderment. ‘I must be stark ravin’ mad. We haven’t got two ha’pennies to rub together, an’ it’s wartime an’ all. What chance have I got of finding somewhere to live?’
‘P’raps Luke might know of somewhere,’ said Maisie. ‘He gets to know all sorts of things. Shall I ask him?’
‘No…’ said Lily. ‘Not just at the moment. Besides, I don’t want Rebecca and Archie to think that I want to leave them; they’ve been ever so good to us. No; summat’ll turn up, I feel sure of it, if it’s meant to be.’
But Lily was happy, knowing that when the time came for her to make a move, her eldest child, Davey’s child, would want to be with her.
Chapter Twenty-Six
At the beginning of September, whilst Lily was still recuperating from her injuries, Maisie and Audrey started at the High School near the village of Lowerbeck. It was too far to walk from Middlebeck and very few of the parents had cars; even if they had, the rationing of petol had curtailed the use of them. A school bus served the town of Middlebeck and the outlying villages, doing a round trip to take the pupils, both boys and girls, to and from the High School. The sexes were taught separately, in different buildings, which was a big change after the co-education of the village school.
They boarded the single-decker bus each morning at eight fifteen, outside the gate of their old school, neatly dressed in their new school uniform. The outstanding feature was the school hat, of navy blue felt with a wide brim encircled with a pale blue ribbon. They both felt very proud of this headgear which singled them out as High School girls.
The scarcity of new clothes to buy, particularly since the introduction of clothing coupons earlier that year, had affected the enforcement of school uniforms. Regulations, therefore, had had to be relaxed a little. Schools could no longer insist on a particular type of coat or skirt, for instance, as they had used to do. But Lowerbeck High School still expected the pupils to conform as much as possible, particularly with regard to the colour of the uniform. As this was navy blue, a colour favoured by many schools, there were very few problems. Maisie and Audrey both already had navy blue garberdine raincoats and gymslips. The rest of the items on the list provided by the school could be obtained from the draper’s shop in the High Street. At least, those items that were available could be bought; shopkeepers of all commodities were continually waiting for allocations of goods to be delivered.
‘Sorry, dearie, they haven’t come in yet,’ said Mrs Jenner, the owner of the draper’s shop, when Patience, together with the two girls, had gone in there just before the start of the autumn term. ‘They keep on promising, but you know what it’s like these days. An’ I suppose ties and girdles are classed as luxury items. I’ll give ’em a tinkle on t’ phone and try to hurry ’em up a bit. There’s other folks waiting as well as you.’ The items they were awaiting were ties of navy and pale blue stripes, and woven girdles which were worn around the waist of gymslips, again in navy and pale blue.
‘Never mind,’ said Patience. ‘Thank you for trying so hard, Mrs Jenner.’ She turned to the girls. ‘Your headmistress won’t have to mind if you haven’t got a proper tie for the first few days, and you can wear your old school girdles just for the time being. Mrs Jenner has been able to let us have everything else we needed, hasn’t she?’
The white blouses, grey knee socks, navy blue cardigans and navy blue knickers – with a small pocket at the side, to Maisie and Audrey’s amusement – had all been purchased a few weeks ago. Mrs Jenner did a brisk trade at this time of the year when school uniforms were being renewe
d; and for the rest of the year she had a pretty steady turnover as well, of the various items she stocked.
Maisie had always been fascinated by the myriad variety of goods that could be bought in Jenner’s Draper’s shop. Underwear for both men and women was possibly the most popular item, although this was of a rather old-fashioned kind. Striped winceyette pyjamas, high-necked vests and long-legged underpants, and an odd garment called combs, which was a combination of both woollen vest and trouser. Ladies voluminous knickers in pink celanese with elastic in the legs, and corsets with bones and hooks and eyes, with suspenders dangling from them, which Maisie thought looked a very uncomfortable sort of garment. Then there were overalls, scarves, gloves, handkerchieves, stockings, mob caps and aprons such as maids wore, and all manner of baby clothes; towelling nappies, bibs, tiny nightgowns and vests, matinee jackets, and minute bootees and shoes. Some of these items Mrs Jenner had had in stock for ages, from the look of them in the window. Everything was in ‘short supply’; that was the axiom of the day.
Patience had already bought a supply of napkins and some little vests and nightgowns, but she was making the rest of the garments for the baby herself. Mrs Jenner’s shop was a haberdashery as well, selling knitting wools, a selection of materials for dresses (a rather limited selection), buttons, braids, lace, needles, thimbles, cotton, safety pins… Everything that was needed, in fact, for both knitting and sewing.
‘I’ll have another two hanks of that pale lemon wool, please Mrs Jenner,’ Patience said now, ‘while you’ve still got it in stock. I want to make another matinee coat. You can’t have too many, or so folk keep telling me,’ she added with a laugh. ‘And lemon’s a safe colour, isn’t it, suitable for both a boy or a girl?’
‘So it is, Mrs Fairchild,’ said the shopkeeper. ‘It won’t be long now, eh? And you’re keeping well, are you, dear?’
‘Yes, thank you; I have surprised myself at how well I have been,’ said Patience, ‘considering my age.’
‘Nonsense, you’re nobbut a young lass,’ laughed Mrs Jenner. ‘You look years younger, if you don’t mind me saying so, since this babby was on its way. You’ve got that bloom of youth about you…’
‘Thank you,’ said Patience. ‘Yes; I must admit that I do feel better than I have for quite some time. But you are quite amazing as well, Mrs Jenner, still keeping this shop going.’
‘At my age, you mean,’ smiled the woman.
‘No…I wasn’t meaning that. But I know it is several years since Mr Jenner retired from the mill, isn’t it?’
‘Oh aye; getting on for five years now. He’s seventy-one next birthday, and I’m the same.’
‘Well, you certainly don’t look it,’ said Patience, and she meant it. The woman was grey-haired, to be sure, and a little plumper than she had used to be, but her face was scarcely lined at all. Her cheeks were smooth and rosy, her eyes were bright, and she was alert and lively with not a sign of the hesitance and stiffness that sometimes affected the elderly.
‘No, I suppose not,’ she replied, ‘but Cyril keeps on at me to give up the shop, or at least to get somebody in to help me.’
‘Yes; you run this shop single-handedly, don’t you?’
‘Aye; I always have done. It was an old aunt who left me this place in her will, God bless her, and it’s been a real thriving little business. I must admit, though, that it’s getting a bit harder for me to manage than it used to be. Cyril’s got his eye on a little house at the other end o’ town. It’s near to t’ railway station; not what you might call posh, just two up and two down, but we could afford to buy it. We’ve got a fair bit stashed away; we’ve always been careful, like, with our brass, and we’ve never had any bairns… More’s the pity, of course. We’d’ve liked kiddies, but the good Lord never saw fit to send us any… You’re a fortunate lass, Mrs Fairchild; but I dare say you know that, don’t you?’
‘I do indeed,’ said Patience.
‘Anyroad, like I was saying…Cyril and me, we’ve been talking things over, and if we could find somebody to run this place for us we could happen rent it to ’em, or even sell it, maybe, the shop and the living quarters. It’s quite roomy upstairs where we live. Then we could move to that little house we fancy; an happen I could still keep an eye on t’ shop. I don’t want to give it up entirely, y’see; it’s been me whole life for so long… Hark at me, rambling on like this! I’m sorry, Mrs Fairchild; I tend to go on a bit, but you’re such a good listener. You’re the first person I’ve mentioned it to, as a matter of fact.’
‘I’ve been glad to listen,’ said Patience. ‘I think you would be well advised to take things a little easier; and then you could spend more time with Cyril, couldn’t you?’
‘Aye, I’d like to do that, but he’s gone and joined this ’ere Home Guard now. What with that, and digging for victory in the little plot we’ve got at the back he’s pretty busy. If you hear of anybody that you think might be suitable to take over here, happen you could let me know? I don’t want to put an advert in t’ paper. You never know who you’re getting, do you?’
‘I’ll listen out for you, Mrs Jenner,’ said Patience. She looked anxiously at the two girls. She hadn’t been bored listening to the woman’s chatter, but she feared that Audrey and Maisie might have been. Maisie, however, appeared to be listening with great interest to the conversation.
When they had said goodbye to Mrs Jenner and were walking back up the High Street Maisie took hold of Patience’s arm. ‘Aunty Patience, you know what Mrs Jenner was saying about wanting somebody to help her in the shop? And that they might be able to go and live there? Well, I was wondering…what about me mum?’
‘Do you mean…that if your mother was to help Mrs Jenner, then you could all go to live there; you and Joanie and Jimmy as well?’
‘I’m not sure about that,’ said Maisie. ‘I was listening to what Mrs Jenner was saying. P’raps I shouldn’t’ve been, but I was. You know what I’m like for earwigging, don’t you, Aunty Patience?’ she giggled. ‘I didn’t really understand all that about renting the shop and everything. I don’t think me mum could afford it. But I thought it might be nice for her to work there. She’s tired, y’know. She’s been working real hard for Mrs Tremaine, an’ then there was that awful attack on her…’
‘Do you know, Maisie, I think that is quite a brilliant idea,’ said Patience. ‘What a clever girl you are! I must admit I hadn’t thought about your mother when Mrs Jenner was talking, but now when I come to consider it, it might just be the answer. Of course it all depends on what your mum says about it, doesn’t it? And she would need to talk it over with Mrs Jenner. Like you, I’m not sure about all the details.’ She hesitated to say that she, too, doubted if Lily could afford the rent of a shop and living accommodation. But the idea was certainly worth considering.
Lily, when Patience told her later that day, also thought that the notion of looking after a nice little shop was very tempting. And if she could have her three children with her, then it would be better than ever. But she knew she must be realistic.
‘I don’t know owt – er, anything – about shop work,’ she said to Patience. ‘And I’ve scarcely got two ha’pennies to rub together, never mind enough to rent a property. I said the same to our Maisie not long ago. She’d full of bright ideas is that one,’ she added fondly. ‘Trust her to think of it. I know she wants what is best for me and the kiddies, bless her.’
‘As far as the work in the shop is concerned,’ said Patience, ‘I can see no problem. You are a very intelligent woman, Lily, and you would soon pick it up. And as for anything else, I’m sure some arrangement could be made. I think – if you are agreeable – that we should go and see Mrs Jenner as soon as possible. She’s a very amiable sort of woman; but I expect you know her, don’t you, with going in the shop?’
‘Yes, just to pass the time of day, like. She’s always very pleasant and friendly. Actually, I’m not entirely skint, you know, Patience. I was exaggerating when I said I hadn’t ev
en got a couple of ha’pennies. I’ve managed to save up a bit while I’ve been working for the Tremaines. They’re a generous couple. All the same, it’s only a few pounds here and there; not a fortune.’
‘The girls start at their new school on Monday, don’t they?’ said Patience. ‘So how about us going to see Mrs Jenner on Monday morning?’
‘Yes, that sounds OK to me,’ said Lily. ‘Then we won’t have our Maisie sticking her two penn’orth in,’ she laughed. ‘And that reminds me, our Jimmy starts school an’ all on Monday. Can you believe it? So I’ll just make sure that he’s all right with his new teacher, and Joanie as well; then we’ll go and see what Mrs Jenner has to say. I’m really grateful to you, Patience, for thinking of it.’
‘Thank your Maisie,’ said Patience. ‘It was her idea.’
Mrs Jenner took to Lily at once. She remembered her from the times she had been in the shop, on her own or with the children.
‘You’re like an answer to a prayer, dearie,’ she said. ‘A bonny young woman like you in t’ shop. That’s just what we need to liven the place up a bit, and the customers’ll be pleased to see a different face behind the counter… And ne’er mind if you don’t know much about running a shop. You’ll soon pick it up. If I can do it, then anybody can. I’ll show you how to do the ordering and bookkeeping and such like. There’s nowt to it when you know how.’
It was agreed that Mrs Jenner – or Eliza, as she soon insisted that Lily should call her – would come into the shop for three or four mornings a week, possibly less as time went on. Patience and Lily both realised that the older lady was loth to let go of the reins and give up her work entirely. As she said, her husband was busy with his own concerns and the shop had been her life for so long. Only recently had she begun to tire a little and to realise that, ‘I’m not as young as I used to be,’ as she put it.
Above the Bright Blue Sky Page 40
