by Cathy Sharp
‘Oh, good! I did wonder if they’d think I was presumptuous.’
‘Not at all. The Bishop told me it was time we had someone of your calibre on board. I’ll see you soon.’
Angela was smiling as she replaced the receiver. She looked down at her list and wrote a few words and then picked up the receiver again. It was best to get the church hall booked, and then she must have a word with Muriel about Christmas supplies for the kitchen …
A knock at the door made her look up. Michelle stood in the doorway, beaming with delight.
‘I take it you got the letter?’ Angela asked. ‘I hope your father was pleased.’
‘My parents are both over the moon,’ Michelle said. ‘We can’t thank you enough, Angela.’
‘I didn’t do much, apart from give my recommendation. I thought he was by far the best candidate of all the applicants we had, and it seems the Board agreed with me.’
‘Well, he wouldn’t have dared to apply if you hadn’t given your blessing first, so we’re grateful to you,’ Michelle said. ‘I’m on duty in a few minutes, so I’d best be off. I don’t want to keep Wendy waiting …’
‘No, that wouldn’t be fair,’ Angela said. ‘She told me she’s going to pop in and see Matty today. You haven’t heard the verdict yet, I suppose. ’
‘Not yet. Last night the nurse said they should have the results today, so maybe Wendy will have some news for us later and I’ll be visiting myself again soon, to see how he is. We’re trying to make sure he has at least one visitor every day.’
‘Yes, you must,’ Angela agreed. ‘And let me know how he is getting on please … oh, are you still coming on the British Museum outing this weekend?’
‘Yes, I wouldn’t let you down,’ Michelle said. ‘We’re still a bit short-staffed here, though, aren’t we?’
‘Yes, we are, which is why I have to drag anyone I can in on these trips,’ Angela said, her eyes twinkling naughtily. ‘I’m afraid Dr Kent got caught in my net this time, but he was very good about it – and I think a visit to the museum is more in his line than the zoo, don’t you?’
‘Yes, I suppose it is,’ Michelle said. ‘Well, you can count on me to be there on Saturday – and thanks again for helping my dad.’
As the door closed behind her, Angela’s telephone shrilled. She reached to answer it, the smile leaving her face as she heard the voice of Miss Ruth Sampson.
‘Ah, Mrs Morton, I’m glad I caught you.’
‘What can I do for you?’
‘Well, it’s a bit awkward, actually … you see, we’ve had an inquiry about the May twins.’
‘What sort of inquiry? I thought the matter was settled and you’d agreed that they should both stay here?’
‘Yes – for the time being, at least. Miss Jane May is still convalescing and will not be able to have them, – but it appears there is another aunt—’
‘The girls only mentioned one aunt.’
‘Their father had only the one sister – but this inquiry came from France. I wasn’t aware that their mother was French, were you?’ Angela asked.
‘No, I had no idea …’
‘Sarah sings her own version of what I think is a French lullaby, but when I asked their aunt she refused to be drawn on the subject. I don’t think the children know of any French relatives.’
‘Nor did we, but Mr Yarwood made some inquiries and followed up the information on Mrs May’s marriage lines. He got in touch with a lawyer in her own town and they were able to trace her family – or her sister, because the parents are dead. Apparently, he learnt to speak and write excellent French during the war. I thought he might have been in touch with you?’
‘Good gracious, no he hasn’t. I knew Mr Yarwood said he liked puzzles, but I didn’t realise he’d gone to all that trouble.’ Angela felt a bit annoyed, because the last thing she’d expected was for a French aunt to start claiming the twins. ‘So is the aunt interested in the twins – and who is she?’
‘Apparently, she is the mother’s sister, a Madame Bernard. Her letter says that she has been searching for her sister since the war ended. The children’s mother left France some years ago after an argument with her father, who is now dead; she sent a letter home to say she was married, and then another letter to say she was expecting a child, but then nothing more …’
Angela took a deep breath. ‘What does their aunt want? Is she asking to take the children?’
‘For the moment she simply wants to meet them. She will be in England at the end of the month. Perhaps one of your nurses could tell the children about their French aunt – get them used to the idea? I don’t know what Madame Bernard intends, but she may have the right to take them from the home – if she proves a proper sort of person, of course, and she is actually their aunt.’
‘Yes, I see.’ Angela thanked her for letting them know and replaced the receiver, her heart sinking. She’d thought the matter of the May twins was settled, but now it looked as though the girls’ ordeal was far from over …
THIRTY-ONE
‘It was wonderful,’ Billy told Mary Ellen when he saw her that evening after the group of children who had joined the athletics club returned to the home. ‘We did running on the new cinder track, and the long jump – and there were men doing the pole vault – like they did at the Olympics!’
‘What’s the pole vault?’ she asked, listening in fascination as he described the event where the men ran up and pushed themselves high in the air with the aid of a pole, to seemingly fly over a high bar.
‘It was so exciting. An American called Guinn Smith won it at the Olympics; I told you then, but you’ve forgotten. I’m going to practise all the time, Mary Ellen, and one day I’ll be in the Olympics.’
‘You’ll be a great runner – you’re always running.’
‘Yeah, I could run faster than any of them at the track tonight.’
‘Did our runners win anything in the Olympics?’
‘Nah. We came second and third in some things,’ Billy said excitedly. ‘I’m goin’ to win a gold medal runnin’ for England one day. I think I shall go for the sprints – the one hundred or two hundred yards.’
‘It’s a pity you couldn’t have run this year, Billy,’ Mary Ellen said and offered him half her sherbet dip. ‘We might have got a medal then, ’cos you’re better than any of them.’
‘Yeah, I’m the best in all the school championships!’ Billy grinned cockily. ‘You wait until I get going, Mary Ellen. I’ll show them all. Now Miss Angela has arranged for me to join that athletics club, I’ll be able to train proper.’
‘I wish I could run fast like you, Billy.’
‘Father Joe is goin’ to take some of us to the swimming baths,’ Billy said. ‘He says we ought to learn while we’re young. I’ve got me name down and I reckon you could come too if you wanted – Tilly and Jean will be there. Jean’s good at swimming.’
‘I think I should like it, but I haven’t got a costume to wear.’
‘Father Joe says we can borrow some at the pool until we get our own. I think it would be fun.’
She smiled at him. ‘I’ll ask if I can come too. I’d like to learn to swim – it would be like going to the seaside. I’ve never been, but I should like to, shouldn’t you?’
‘I’ve never been either,’ Billy said, ‘but one day I’ll take you, Mary Ellen. We’ll go on holiday together when we get married.’
‘Yes, let’s!’ Mary Ellen said. ‘We’d better go; it’s almost time for supper and Jean is on duty. She doesn’t like it if we’re late. Besides, Father Joe is comin’ later and he’s going to tell us about the Christmas play. I want to see who he chooses to be Mary.’
‘If you’re Mary, I’ll be Joseph,’ Billy said. ‘I reckon we’d be good as them.’
‘I think Samantha would be better as Mary,’ Mary Ellen said. ‘But I want to be there and see who gets chosen, so I don’t want to be late …’
‘No, we mustn’t be late or we’ll lose stars, and
we’re saving up for another trip to the zoo so that Timmy can come with us. I’m getting good at pushing his chair now and I bet Miss Angela will let him come next time.’
‘I’m glad I’m not going to the museum tomorrow,’ Mary Ellen said. ‘Michelle is going, and so is Dr Kent, but I reckon all that old stuff must be boring, don’t you?’
‘I’d rather go to the zoo or the waxworks – but the sea would be better than anywhere. We’ll definitely go there when we’re older, Mary Ellen – you wait and see if I don’t take you as soon as I start work!’
‘I warned you that you would be on drinks duty,’ Michelle said and laughed as Richard handed round the glasses of squash and mugs of cocoa. They had spent the morning looking round the museum and were now in a café. The party of children from St Saviour’s had filled most of the tables and Richard had taken on the duty of fetching the drinks while they waited for the meal to be prepared. ‘How does it feel to be a stand-in father for this lot?’
‘Not quite up my street,’ Richard grimaced as he made his way back for another load of drinks. ‘Can I bring some tea for you, Michelle?’
‘Yes, please,’ she said. ‘What are you eating, Richard? I’m having sausages and chips like most of the children.’
He pulled a face. ‘I think I’ll stick to a cup of tea and a biscuit. I’m not too keen on these places for food, though it looks clean enough.’
‘You’re too fussy,’ Michelle said, and saw him wince with distaste as a waitress passed him carrying a tray loaded with plates of sausage, chips and beans.
Richard might turn his nose up at the simple fare, but so far as Michelle was concerned it was a treat to be able to order sausage and chips again. She sat down with the children, keeping order as they grabbed for the brown and tomato sauces on offer. For years sausages had been in short supply, and if you could get them they were mostly breadcrumbs, but as soon as she bit into hers Michelle knew it was a proper banger with a lot of meat, and very tasty.
‘You don’t know what you’re missing,’ she told Richard as she smeared HP sauce on her chips and ate them. ‘It is ages since I had a sausage as good as this.’
‘I dare say,’ he said, an odd smile playing on his lips as she continued to eat her meal with as much enjoyment as the children. ‘You would be an example to your children, Michelle. I think you will make a good mother.’
‘Doesn’t every woman who gives birth?’
‘You know that isn’t true,’ Richard said. ‘Surely you’ve seen enough neglect to know that too many children are ill-treated?’
‘It isn’t always the mother’s fault,’ Michelle said. ‘Most women love their kids and the neglect comes from poverty and illness.’
‘As I said, I think you would be a good mother from what I’ve seen this morning.’
‘Would you be a good father, Richard?’
‘I’m not sure I would. Oh, I’d provide for them properly, and I suppose that’s most of it, isn’t it? A mother loves and a father provides.’
Michelle wasn’t sure that she agreed. ‘Some men are wonderful with kids. Eric is like that – he loves them. He met me from work one night and I took him along to the hospital. Matty took to him instantly because he’s a soldier, and Eric has promised to keep in touch, even when he’s back at his base. We’ve been visiting regularly since …’
‘This Eric is a friend of yours? You must trust him if you took him to the hospital.’
‘Yes, he’s a good friend, and I do trust him. He was brilliant with Matty the other evening. We’ve been visiting regularly and we were both there when they told Matty he would be in a wheelchair for a while. They’d waited to tell him until we visited, naturally …’ Thankfully, tests had revealed that the growth was not malignant, but Matty’s spine had suffered some trauma during surgery and the doctors were not sure whether he would walk properly again. The child’s eyes had brimmed with tears until Eric took his hand and told him they could still do lots of things together, even if the worst happened.
‘Doctor says your nerves may right themselves, lad – so there’s no sense in cryin’, is there? We’ll sort you out whatever happens, don’t you worry,’ he’d promised, giving Matty’s hand a squeeze. And remarkably Matty had grinned and said he bet he could still beat Eric in a game of table tennis in a wheelchair. Even though his bottom lip wobbled a bit, he was being brave because he wanted Eric to be proud of him.
‘He stopped crying when Eric talked to him and they started teasing each other.’
‘I see …’ Richard looked thoughtful. ‘You know this Eric well?’
‘He’s Alice’s cousin – she’s my best friend – and he’ll make a wonderful father one day. I think Matty has already adopted him. He told Eric that his father was supposed to get a medal from the war but it never came to him. Eric is going to make sure he gets it.’
‘You sound as if you approve of Eric. What did you say he was – a soldier?’
Was Richard criticising her choice of friends? Michelle looked at him as he sipped his tea and pushed it away. While it wasn’t the best tea she’d ever drunk, it certainly wasn’t the worst and she drained her own cup. Looking round at the other carers and Angela, she saw they were all joining in the fun, ordering ice cream or jelly and looking at the souvenirs they’d bought from the museum that morning.
Nan’s friend Eddie was explaining something to one of the boys about the dinosaur remains they’d seen earlier. Michelle found herself comparing his easy manner with Richard’s aloofness. Nan’s friend was a lovely man, kind and generous, though he was forever dropping things and seemed very absentminded at times. He was certainly doing his share when it came to looking after the children though. It was clear he was taking a genuine interest in them, enjoying their company. Richard merely looked uncomfortable, as if he wished he were elsewhere.
If only it had been Eric who’d come on this trip rather than Richard. Dr Kent was an attractive man and a good doctor, but she had begun to see quite clearly that he wasn’t for her. Michelle was an East End girl through and through; she’d done her training and she had a good education, but she belonged here, among her own class – and Richard didn’t. She felt far more comfortable with Eric.
That discovery made, Michelle suddenly felt as if a weight had been lifted. She enthusiastically joined in a game of I-Spy that had started at the table, and was soon laughing with the rest of them. When she noticed that Richard had left the table and was at the counter paying for a packet of cigarettes, it didn’t bother her. He took the cigarettes outside and lit one, clearly bored with the whole affair.
Michelle put him out of her mind. Richard might be a snob and above enjoying himself with the kids, but Michelle wasn’t and neither was Nan’s Eddie, who was fetching more drinks. Remembering that Eric had told her he would meet her at the hospital that evening, Michelle smiled. For a while she hadn’t been sure which of the two men she liked best, but now she knew.
‘You look lovely,’ Eric said when she met him outside Great Ormond Street Hospital later that evening. ‘I’ve only got a couple of nights of my leave left – why don’t I take you for a meal somewhere after we’ve been in to see Matty?’
‘Yes, I’d like that,’ Michelle said and smiled at him. ‘I don’t want much to eat – we had bangers and chips with the kids after the museum visit – but I’d like to have a drink somewhere and then perhaps go for a nice walk, if you’re not in hurry?’
‘Suits me. I’ll buy a packet of fish and chips, and you can pick at them if you like … then we’ll see where our fancy takes us.’
‘Lovely,’ Michelle said and followed him into the hospital. She couldn’t help wanting to smile at him, and felt happier than she could remember for ages. Suddenly life seemed so much better. ‘Has anyone ever told you that you’re a nice feller, Eric?’
He grinned at her and Michelle’s heart skipped a beat as she saw the warmth in his eyes. ‘Might ’ave done, one or two,’ he said. ‘But I told yer – I’m savin
’ meself for me best girl.’
‘Am I your best girl, Eric?’ Michelle asked, lifting her eyebrows at him.
‘You know you are,’ he said. ‘Come on, we’d better see how the lad is – he’ll be waitin’ for us to keep our promise. I’ve got him that football book I told him I’d bring.’
‘You’ll spoil him,’ Michelle said, but she hugged his arm.
‘Nah, the boy needs a bit of love,’ Eric said. ‘I like to see him smile. Kids and family is what it’s all about – isn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ Michelle agreed. ‘I reckon it is.’
‘I really liked your Eric,’ Michelle’s mother said to her over breakfast on Monday morning. ‘He’ll have gone back to his base today, I suppose?’
‘Yes, last night was the end of his long leave, but he often gets a half-day. Sometimes he comes home and sometimes he stops on the base instead.’
‘You want to let him know if you like him, Michelle. He won’t wait around for ever – but he seems to like you and you could do a lot worse, my girl.’
Michelle stopped in the middle of washing one of her mother’s best china cups. ‘Don’t push me, Mum. I’m almost sure, but I haven’t told him yet.’
‘Well, you should,’ her mother. ‘If you’re thinking of your dad and me, don’t. We’ll be all right now he’s got this steady job. Once the boys have left school I could take a few hours’ work, if I felt like it.’
‘I can’t see Dad agreeing to that,’ Michelle told her. ‘He’s old-fashioned and doesn’t think wives should go out to work. Eric is different. He knows I’d want to work if we married, at least until I had children, and even then I’d like to do a few hours if I could.’
‘You’d be surprised about your dad,’ her mother said. ‘He wouldn’t stop me doing a few hours, as long as it wasn’t hard manual work and I was happy, but I’d only do something like cooking for the kids at the preparatory school. I know some of the dinner ladies there and they used to be friends of mine before I met your dad.’
