‘Con remembered one of their voices,’ Bo said. ‘This guy had this real slow way of talkin’ and he’d recognise his voice again. There’s a lot of trouble in town. Some of our guys ran into this big blonde sergeant called Hal. Our sarge asked around and he reckons he knows who the guy is. Been around here before.’ Sadie, who had been lighting her cigarette, stopped and looked over at Johnny Fin who twitched violently, bumping into Con’s still-tender ribs.
‘Sound … sounds like the same bloke as used to sell black-market stuff round the pubs,’ he said. ‘Went down to the south …’
‘The south … That’s right,’ Bo said. ‘Well, he’s back.’
‘You know him?’ Holt asked.
For a moment there was silence, and Sadie looked out at the passing landscape and shivered.
‘Keep clear of him,’ Johnny said. ‘He can be an awkward sod.’
He directed them out of the village and away from the flat, open country they had driven through in their trucks. The lanes were steep and deserted, with only a scattering of farmhouses and cottages. To the west, they could see the coast. Inland, there were the mill chimneys each with streets cross-hatched around them and near the centre of the town a tall, white spire. When they climbed down from the truck, Johnny led the way along a steep, rutted path between the trees. At the top of the climb they could see the flat, open valley and the river swinging out in a long crescent towards the town. It was clear that their guide knew the wood well and he found them enough fresh greenery to fill the truck. Under Johnny’s direction they worked methodically, cutting down the boughs of holly with the brightest berries, hacking down branches of evergreen and picking the mistletoe hidden in the knobbly oaks, but when they began bundling up the greenery to carry back along the narrow path, Johnny disappeared.
‘I know where the old bugger will have gone,’ Sadie said. ‘Listen.’ In the wood, in the cold air, they could hear the sound of sawing. ‘He’s after fetching some logs.’
Johnny was in a clearing, his jacket on the floor, his back and legs bent and his toes turned in. He was pushing at his saw, straining with the effort as the teeth sank deeper into the trunk. Bo and Holt took off their tunics and took a turn with the saw. Lou and Sadie held the rough hessian sacks, and Con helped Wes to collect the logs.
‘See, I told you he was crafty,’ Sadie laughed. ‘I thought you’d brought these sacks for us to sit on and have our butties. You said you just wanted some holly.’
Johnny smiled, his eyes sapphire blue in the frosty sunlight. ‘We can walk round t’other side, when we’ve done this. There’s some sights the lads might like to see, and there’s some rocks there we can sit on. They’ll be in the sunshine.’
When they’d filled the sacks, they followed Johnny out of the wood and along the top of the rocky escarpment. Out to the west, near the horizon, they caught the shimmer of the sun on the sea. To the south, in the middle of the rolling pasture, there was a single hill, little more than a mound, with a castle poised on top and the river snaking around it. Con laughed and turned to the others. Their faces reflected his surprise at the storybook castle, barely three miles from the clattering mills.
‘It’s real beautiful,’ he said.
‘Aye, it’s a bonny thing.’
They sat down on a muddle of flat grey stones, and Sadie handed out sandwiches and cold tea from a billycan.
‘It’s almost like spring,’ Lou said.
‘It’ll not be, later,’ Johnny said, munching his sandwich. ‘I can smell snow.’
Con sniffed. The air was cold, clear, but there were no clouds.
‘You could bring your girl with you to the play and stay for your tea,’ Sadie said, ignoring Bo’s warning look.
Con pressed his still-swollen lip. ‘I don’t see Rita no more,’ he said.
‘Well come for your tea, anyway. Oh, I almost forgot. I’ve got some whisky to put in the tea, if you’re a bit cold.’
‘I’ll have some, lass,’ Johnny said, holding out his tin mug. ‘You come down to Henry’s, lad, and I’ll show you how to box, and next time …’
‘Boxing wouldn’t have helped none,’ Bo said, getting up to give Sadie a hand collecting the waxed wrapping paper from their sandwiches. ‘There was three of them against him. Come on, let’s get this stuff back.’
When the others began to move away, Con stayed, looking at the castle in the sunshine.
‘You okay love?’ Sadie asked.
‘It’s so pretty here,’ he said, ‘when it stops raining.’
Ruby was looking out through the high classroom windows at the blue, cloudless sky. Miss Conway, who had already reduced most of the choir to tears at least once, crashed to the end of ‘Silent Night’ and began to shout. Pauline rolled her eyes, and Ruby grinned. She already knew her lines, where to stand and how to move, but the more time Miss Conway kept them at it, the more hours she could tell Doctor Grey she’d spent on the rehearsal.
When Miss Conway began to play the next carol, Pauline wandered over and propped her elbows on the windowsill next to Ruby’s.
‘It’s not their fault,’ she said. ‘It’s Miss Conway. She’s playing much too high.’
They heard the jeep on the road before they saw it, and when the driver swung into the playground, they stood on tiptoe to see who would get out.
‘That’s Captain Leary,’ Ruby said. ‘I’ve seen him at Mrs Grey’s.’
‘He’s nice.’
‘The other one, Captain O’Donal, is nicer. He looks like Rhett Butler.’
Just then, Captain Leary looked up at the school windows, and the two girls ducked their heads below the sill. When they looked out again, Mrs Grey, dressed in a pale-blue fitted coat and a blue hat with a peacock feather, was standing next to the American.
‘Do you think they’re in love?’ Pauline asked.
Ruby gazed at the couple in the middle of the playground and thought of the handsome, if rather short, Doctor Grey.
‘They can’t be,’ she said. ‘She’s married to Doctor Grey.’
‘That doesn’t matter,’ Pauline said knowledgably. ‘Scarlett was in love with Ashley Wilkes, and he was married.’
They watched as the couple walked by the window, and Ruby had to admit that Captain Leary did look very smart in his uniform. They didn’t notice that the singing had stopped, until Miss Conway joined them at the window.
‘Ah, good,’ she said. ‘Captain Leary is here. The two of you can go and get our guests a cup of tea. They’ll be in my office.’
The door to the office was only just ajar, but they could hear Mrs Grey laughing. Ruby was about to knock and ask if they would like tea when everything went silent.
‘They might be kissing,’ Pauline whispered. ‘My mum says she’s no better than she should be. Folk say she’s from London, and she leads poor Doctor Grey a right dance.’
As she edged nearer, Ruby was glad to see that Mrs Grey and the captain were standing on either side of the stout oak table.
‘May I be frank?’ the captain was saying. ‘This isn’t the army’s idea. It’s political. Can I offer you a cigarette?’ he asked, walking around to her side of the table.
‘Well, if we’re being frank,’ Mrs Grey said, accepting a cigarette, ‘I would have thought they’d have been more suited to a warmer climate.’
‘The trouble is, you see,’ the captain said, lighting her cigarette, ‘they were sent because there’s a lot of angling for the black vote in the elections.’
Relieved that Pauline had been wrong about Mrs Grey and the captain, Ruby tapped on the door.
‘Please, madam,’ she said. ‘Miss Conway said to ask if you would like tea.’
‘Were they having a cuddle?’ Pauline asked, when Ruby joined her by the chipped sink in the caretaker’s room.
‘No. They were talking,’ Ruby said, watching Pauline trickle cold water into the old enamel kettle.
The small room smelt of paraffin and dust and held broken desks and an assortment o
f tools. Pauline lit a gas ring on the small stove by the door, opened the wooden cupboard standing next to it and bent down.
‘What about? Did you hear? What was he saying? I think it’s funny how they talk, don’t you?’
Ruby bit her lip. She rubbed a finger in the fine powdery dust on the workbench and studied the rows of small wooden boxes hanging from the brick wall above it. She wasn’t sure what she’d heard. It was something about the soldiers, but she hadn’t really understood it.
Pauline reached into the cupboard and dragged out a brown teapot, two pale-green cups with matching saucers and a wooden tray with a picture of two bright-yellow birds painted on it. Then she got out a small milk jug, and taking off the cover – a circular cloth, held down with small red beads spaced evenly around the edge – she sniffed at the contents and swirled the liquid around. Finally, she added a matching sugar bowl to the tray and scraped the tiny amount of sugar sticking to the sides back down into the bowl.
‘What are you doing, girls?’ Miss Conway called from the classroom door. ‘How long does it take to make a cup of tea? In here now, Pauline, please. Ruby, take in the tea and then come over to the hall, and be quick about it!’
‘My mam’s going to be mad if I’m not home soon,’ Pauline said, sprinkling the tea leaves from a black-and-gold tea caddy into the pot.
Ruby couldn’t knock at the partly open door because she had the tray in her hands. As she hesitated, deciding if it would be better to take the tray back to the caretaker’s room and then to knock, or if she should put the tray down on the stone floor, she heard the captain’s voice.
‘… or limited access. One town, one colour. The town nearest each camp limited to blacks or whites. The solution to the problems with the Christmas celebrations … Though, I suppose we can’t ask him to limit attendance at church services. What do you think?’
Mrs Grey, who was sitting at the table, picked up her pen. ‘So to recap,’ she said. ‘Separate entertainment. Advice, unofficially, through church groups and the WRVS, about the risk of disease, and local shopkeepers to be told not to encourage them … Ah, there you are,’ she said, getting up from the table and opening the door wide. ‘Good girl.’
Ruby put the tray down. ‘Shall I pour, madam?’ she asked.
‘No, dear,’ Mrs Grey said, giving Ruby one of her prettiest smiles. ‘Off you go. Ruby is such a clever girl, Captain. Not only can she play and act beautifully, she can also magic cups of tea out of thin air. Thank you, Ruby. The captain and I will help ourselves.’
When Ruby left the school building, the fading light had turned the church into a greying hulk against the pale-gold sky. As she reached the yard the infants used as their playground, a truck pulled in through the gates. She could see Bo behind the wheel. She waved and slipped inside the hall.
‘That was Ruby,’ Sadie said. ‘She could have stopped and given us a hand. Bet that miserable old bat of a teacher has her running errands.’
‘Before you start handing that stuff down,’ Johnny Fin said, as he and Con jumped down from the truck, ‘let’s get organised. Is it all going in the hall, Sadie?’
‘No. Some’s goin’ in the church, for the crib and the altar, but most of it has to go in here. I hope nobody asks how we got it.’
‘I’ll say it was off a well-wisher.’
‘An’ who’s that?’
‘M-m-m-me,’ he laughed. ‘I-I-I cut it down, so it’s from me.’
With Bo and Lou’s help, Sadie dragged the branches of holly and greenery off the back of the truck into two piles.
‘That lot’s for the church,’ she said. ‘You can help yourself to some of it. The rest is for the hall, and we’ll need the stepladders and some nails.’
‘Steps is in the vestry,’ Johnny said. ‘I was using ’em during the week. Nails is there as well. If you lads come with me, we’ll bring the steps and nails and we’ll bring the Christmas tree in off the lorry. If you climb down, I’ll pass some of this stuff, and Lou can help you to start carryin’ it in.’
As Sadie struggled to get the branches of holly through the door, the children came pushing out.
‘You packing up?’ she asked.
‘Yep, she’s sent us home, at last,’ Pauline said. ‘She’s got Ruby putting furniture back.’
When they staggered into the hall, Miss Conway looked up from the piano, where she was sorting through the sheet music.
‘We’ve brought some greenery for trimming up,’ Sadie said.
‘Well, you can’t do it now. I’m about to leave, and there’s nobody to lock up.’
‘That’s all right, I’ll do that,’ she replied. ‘I know how.’
‘But I can’t just leave the key with just anyone … Ah, here’s Mrs Grey. I didn’t realise you were staying to supervise the festive decorations, Diana.’
‘I shan’t be. What lovely greenery. Father O’Flynn is on his way over and he’s agreed to stay and supervise. We’ve just finished our meeting. Here he is now with Captain Leary. I really must be going. Doctor Grey will be home shortly.’
‘Can I offer you a lift, Diana?’ Captain Leary asked. ‘And Miss Conway, of course. I have to get back to camp, but I’d be happy to drop both you ladies off at your homes.’
‘That would be most kind. I must admit, I’m feeling quite exhausted.’
‘That’s very kind of you, Captain,’ Miss Conway said. ‘I’ll go and collect my things from my classroom.’
‘It will be a pleasure, ma’am. We’ll wait for you in the jeep. I’m sorry I have to leave, Father,’ Captain Leary said. ‘I could ask for a detail to be sent over to help with the heavy work.’
‘No. Thank you for the thought, but as you can see, I have plenty of helpers to put the decorations up in the hall.’
‘Indeed, Father. Thank you, again, for your generous invitation to my men. I’m sure your efforts will be appreciated, ladies,’ he said, smiling at Lou and Sadie. ‘My, you have been busy.’
‘Oh, this is only part of it,’ Sadie said. ‘There’s some to go up in the church as well.’
As Captain Leary and Mrs Grey turned to leave, the door opened. Bo and Holt staggered in carrying the stepladder, followed by Con and Johnny Fin with the fir tree Johnny had cut down for them. For a moment, the group hesitated, standing awkwardly with the ladder swaying above their heads. Then Bo nodded to the officer and he and Holt carried the heavy wooden ladder over to the wall. Captain Leary didn’t wait for an explanation, or for a formal recognition of his status, and in the darkening room, they heard the sound of his jeep as he rode back along the road.
‘Where’s he from?’ Bo asked.
‘That’s Captain Leary,’ Father O’Flynn said.
‘White camp,’ Bo said, opening the steps and testing their stability.
‘I told you, Father,’ Sadie said, ‘if we could have our dance, I’d get you all the greenery you wanted. You should see how much there is for the church, and Johnny’s got a lot as well. No doubt, there’ll be holly and mistletoe all over the pubs. Come on, let’s get on with it. I’ve got all sorts of ideas and I’ve got some wire from Henry’s shed. What we really need is some hooks. He claimed he didn’t have any. Will you lads get the rest of the stuff out of the truck? Ruby, love, put them chairs down and help Lou with the blinds, and then we can put the lights on.’
‘Sadie,’ Father O’Flynn said, sitting down heavily on the piano stool. ‘There might be problems … about the dance. There might be difficulties about inviting the black troops …’
‘What?’
‘Mrs Grey tells me there have been concerns. The police and the authorities … There’s been trouble in town, and it’s not their custom … They – Captain Leary and Mrs Grey – they don’t want them to be invited.’
‘Whose church is it? You tell them you’ll not—’
‘Sadie, I’m your priest.’
‘Sorry, Father, but—’
‘I have the interests of all my parishioners to consider. The child
ren are going to his camp, and it was suggested that his men come back here, as an appreciation—’
‘Well they can, but so can the lads from—’
‘No. They don’t mix. It’s how they are in their own country … There are very few contacts between black and white GIs.’
‘It’s not how we are.’
‘They are our guests. The feeling is that we should … fit in.’
‘You’re trying to fit in with the doctor’s stuck-up wife and the Prendergasts. I bet they have something to do with it. There’s some folk think the war’s run for them. Never been so important. In charge of everything. The lads have helped in the village. Ask anybody.’
Ruby put down the stack of infants’ chairs she was carrying and sat down on one of them next to the window. Her knees were trembling. She remembered that Mr Prendergast had said something about dealing with the black troops the day Captains Leary and O’Donal came to tea. She’d been excited about serving, getting everything right. Then later, when she’d tried to hear what they were planning about the dances, Mrs Grey had caught her and sent her away. At the time, she hadn’t understood what she’d heard, although she knew all about what had happened with John Bardley’s tractor and the MPs.
In the dark hall, her nose filled with the smell of the dusty curtains, but in her imagination, Ruby was in the porch at Doctor Grey’s. The meeting had finished, and the two American officers were leaving. Mrs Grey was smiling; her hair had turned to silver in the lamplight. As Captain Leary pulled on his gloves, he’d turned to her and said, ‘Would you go tell my boy we’re ready to go.’ At first she hadn’t understood, but then Mrs Grey had said sharply, ‘Ruby, go and get the captain’s driver.’ And then she’d realised that he’d meant Michael.
She pushed her body against the grubby curtains, hoping that Sadie wouldn’t be angry and want to know why she hadn’t told her what had been said at the tea party. When the door to the church hall banged open again it made her jump, and across the dark hall, she saw Bo and Con staggering in under an unstable pile of greenery.
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