‘Not at all,’ Granddad said, waving his knife in the air. ‘It’ll be 1945 before this lot’s settled, mark my words. No offence, lads, I know you lot are helping to turn things around, and our boys are doing us proud, but look how long it’s taking in Tunisia. Think how long it will be to take a heavily defended place like France.’
‘France is gonna be easier,’ Wes said. ‘Tunisia’s mountainous, troops have to advance beyond the air cover we can give them, but in France, we’d get to give better support.’
‘Come on, Montgomery,’ Jenny said. ‘Stop being so gloomy and hand over your plate, if you want some more meat. We’ll all be shakin’ our heads this time next year an’ wonderin’ why it took us so long to get rid of that little jumped-up bugger.’
When Henry began to argue, Jenny gave his bony ribs a well-aimed nudge with her elbow and filled his plate with a succulent helping of meat.
‘How long is that captain of yours goin’ to keep this thing about passes up?’ she asked. ‘I mean, it wasn’t like you were out drinking round here when this happened. It was because you was stuck in the fog. Did you tell him what they did to that chap and his wife?’
‘Yep,’ Holt said, accepting a dish of sprouts, ‘but it didn’t make no difference. The problem was, there was MPs waiting at the dock. With the fog the night before, most of the guys had taken some time out in town, and they was getting pretty itchy that it might hold everything up. Fog cleared earlier than they thought.’
‘Well that wasn’t your fault, now was it?’
‘Well, quite a few of the guys had come back … Well, let’s say they’d been havin’ a good time.’
‘It’s not surprising, if they’re not giving you any late passes. Wes, love, have you had enough? There’s plenty. Hand me your plate. I mean to say, young men hanging around for no good reason.’
‘It’ll get worse,’ Bo said. ‘There’s more white guys coming in every week. I was up at one of the bases yesterday, and the place was crowded with new guys. White guys fresh from home. Trucks and guys all over the place and nobody knew what was goin’ on. More white guys means more trouble.’
‘Not if they stay out of the town,’ Sadie said. ‘That was the idea. Keep the blacks and the whites apart. If they stay round the base and …’
‘Shouldn’t carry on like that. You’re all in it together,’ Johnny said. ‘Anyway, I understand you gave the bugger a belting.’
Bo grinned. ‘One of them pulled out a knife when they could see their man was getting the worse of it.’
‘If Con hadn’t jumped on him,’ Sadie said, ‘well, I dread to think what could have happened.’
‘Didn’t know it was you that saved the day,’ Henry said.
Con look shyly down at his plate, but he was pleased with his part in the scuffle. He’d been terrified, but now he was glad that he’d played his part and the guys didn’t see him as the baby any more.
Bo laughed. ‘You can hardly blame that MP. When we walked on to the docks, we were covered in blood, both me and young Con. You should have seen that MP’s face.’
‘Did I tell you I saw Jack Johnson fight?’ Johnny asked. ‘Now, he was a fine figure of a man. Very skilled. It was in France. After he beat Tommy Burns, this was. He’d gone to live there. Beat Jim Jeffries as well. You have some fine boxers to look up to, young Bo, if you’re thinking of taking it up.’
The shortage of dried fruit meant that the Christmas pudding contained a large quantity of grated carrot, but once the white sauce, flavoured with the last of the cinnamon, was poured liberally over the helpings, Jenny declared herself satisfied with the result.
The GIs had brought presents for them all. Ruby’s was a scarf with matching gloves. They were made of the softest lambswool and in a very pretty shade of powder blue. But since their kiss, she’d been secretly hoping that she might get a present from Con, and she couldn’t help feeling disappointed. She’d made woollen socks for each of the soldiers, to keep them warm in the trucks. And she’d made Johnny a pair of gloves with the tops of the fingers missing, so that he could work, but keep his hands warm. If Con had given her a present, she had something ready to give him in return; it was wrapped up and hidden under her mattress. She’d found it in town, on a stall selling books to raise funds for bombed-out families.
‘You off colour?’ Jenny asked, when they were washing up after the soldiers had gone. ‘You catching Henry’s cold?’
‘No. I’m just tired after working last night and there’s the Boxing Day dance and then the New Year’s Eve party.’
Ruby took off her dress, curled up on her bed and closed her eyes. She tried to remember the kiss, tasting the cinnamon and feeling the pressure of his lips on hers. After a while, she rolled off the bed and took out the book she’d bought for Con; it was wrapped in a piece of wrapping paper she’d slipped out of the drawer downstairs. She put it on her bookshelf and sighed. She felt tired, but she was restless as well. She opened her mother’s case. She hadn’t tried any of Pearl’s clothes on for some time, and now that her hips and breasts were beginning to fill out, she could see that some of the dresses might fit her. Ruby took out a short, slim-fitting dress she remembered Pearl wearing the first Christmas they’d spent at Everdeane. Her father had been working in one of the big hotels on the front: a beautiful white building that, from the prom, looked like an ocean liner. He’d got her mother some work there, singing in the cocktail lounge over the Christmas holiday. She’d worn the dress the first evening. It was heavy cream silk, fitted at the waist, with swan’s down around the neckline and seed pearls on the bodice.
She took the dress into Sadie’s room and put on the light. It fitted perfectly, and when she clipped Sadie’s pearl hairslides in her hair to hold it off her face, the attractive woman looking back at her made her blush. She walked backwards away from the mirror to get a full-length view, but her black, low-heeled shoes were not delicate enough and spoilt the effect. Ruby opened Sadie’s wardrobe. As she knelt down and pulled out a pair of pale leather sandals from the bottom drawer, her nose filled with the smell of the apples swaddled in tissue and stored inside. She was holding the delicate shoes in her hands, when the familiar metal click of the front gate made her jump and set her heart thumping. She sat on the floor and listened, afraid that it might be Sadie, who was walking Bo part of the way back to the camp, but it was only Johnny leaving. She knew that, when she came back down the lane, Sadie wouldn’t be able to see the light through the blackout curtain, but she switched it off just the same and brought a candle from her room. Feeling guilty and excited, Ruby put on the shoes, pushed the mirrors back and then changed the angles, twisting and turning in front of them to see the swell of her hips and her slender legs. Then she slipped off the shoes, pulled the mirrors back into their place and unfastening her dress let it fall. For a moment, when she took the clips from her hair, Ruby caught the eye of her own image. Holding its attention, she shook out her curls, and slipping off her underslip, gazed at her naked body in the candlelight.
On the afternoon of New Year’s Eve, the cottage was quiet. Granddad’s cold had settled on his chest and he’d been in bed since Boxing Day. Sadie’s arm hadn’t improved either; she’d spent most of the time since Christmas Day moping around, so when Bo had sent a message to say he couldn’t get a pass for New Year’s Eve, she’d decided to stay in bed as well.
Ruby had spent part of the morning steaming the skirt of her black velvet dress to bring up the pile and sponging the collar and cuffs. She would have loved to have worn the cream dress, but in addition to playing, she had to help Alice serve the food and she was afraid the dress might get stained. With her usual dress drying in front of the fire, she dragged out the tin bath and tested the water in the boiler.
‘Don’t forget, no more than five inches,’ Jenny said. ‘Don’t take too long. I might as well get in after you.’
When she arrived, the Greys’ kitchen was busy. Alice was poking the breast of an enormous goose she had j
ust taken from the oven.
‘A present from a grateful patient, she says. Shot it on the marshes. Likely story, if you ask me. More like, that brother of hers got it on the black market. There are regulations. It should be the same for everybody. All these parties, and more guests tonight than ever, but when I asked if I could bring in my sister’s girl, she wouldn’t let me, and me and Dick haven’t had a minute to ourselves over Christmas. Mr Rollo’s been asking for you – something about the music.’
The drawing room was unlit, and she didn’t see Mr Rollo until he sat up and smiled at her over the couch. His hair was rumpled, and she guessed he’d been sleeping. When he stood up a newspaper dropped to the floor.
‘I want to run through the two songs with you, Ruby. I want you to play “Waltz of My Heart” first, and then … After I’d sent you the music, I changed my mind. I couldn’t decide, but now I’m sure. So the second song will be “My Dearest Dear”. I’d almost decided on something patriotic or festive, but no. I do love it, don’t you? Dancing Years is my sister’s favourite musical.’
‘I haven’t played it for ages. It isn’t what you said.’
‘My sister will love it, and I’m rather in the doghouse. Come on. Don’t let me down. You’ll pick it up. Here, I’ll put the lights on.’
‘The curtains. You’ve not—’
‘You’re becoming almost as strict as Alice, aren’t you?’ he said. ‘Do you never break the rules?’
When she’d played the song through, her fingers began to remember the chords, and when he could see that she was ready, he sat down next to her and started to sing. He had quite a good tenor voice; not as rich as Bo’s, but light and expressive.
‘Now, should I sit next to you? I could sit down, as though I’m just going to play as well. Then once everyone has come through …’
‘No one will be sat down,’ she said. ‘Madam said for us to move the chairs and rugs once we’ve served the dessert, and then there’ll be room for dancing to the gramophone.’
‘You’re right. I’d forgotten. Well then, when we break for drinks, you’ll be helping Dick. Then, once everyone’s got a drink, I’ll switch off the gramophone, you put down your tray and I’ll take my place by the piano. Yes. I think I’ll stand. Then I’ll dedicate the songs to my sister. What do you think of my voice, in your professional opinion?’
‘It’s lovely, sir.’
‘Do you think so?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘We make a good team, don’t we? Would you like to play for me more often?’
‘I’d best close the curtains, sir.’
‘You should use your talent,’ he said, following her over to the window.
As she pulled the curtain cord, Ruby could feel him standing right behind her. His closeness in the darkening room made her breathing quicken. He slipped his arm around her waist and tried to kiss her neck, but she wriggled free, and treading heavily on his soft Turkish slipper, she headed for the door.
‘I haven’t dismissed you,’ he said, sitting down unsteadily on the sofa. ‘Put some coal on the fire and switch on the lights. Then you can go.’
No one noticed her return to the busy kitchen. The New Year dinner took everyone’s attention, and when it was time for her to return to the drawing room and play for the newly arrived guests, she was relieved that Rollo was nowhere to be seen. He didn’t reappear until it was almost time for the guests to go into dinner. He would normally have smiled and thanked her when she served his food, but tonight he was busy making the two young ladies seated on either side of him laugh. After the meal was served, she helped Dick to move the couches and chairs and roll up the rugs, and then helped to serve the drinks, and it was Dick who gave her the message that Mr Rollo was ready for her to play. It went well, and at the end of the second song, Mrs Grey was dabbing her eyes.
At twelve, they heard the guests singing ‘Auld Lang Syne’. Dick went out of the back door and came back in through the front, carrying a piece of coal for good luck, and everyone cheered. Then Doctor Grey brought through glasses of whisky for Dick and Alice and she had lemonade.
‘You get off now, dear,’ Alice said. ‘Is your grandpa calling for you?’
‘No, he’s still poorly.’
‘Oh, I’d forgotten, and Dick’s just taken Doctor Grey’s two aunts home in the car. You could have had a lift in the front. They’re very nice old dears and wouldn’t have objected.’
‘I’ve got my torch. He only comes for me because he’s been for a drink, but tonight he’ll be at home.’
‘Well, all the best, then,’ Alice said. ‘I’m off up to put water bottles in for them as is sleepin’ over.’
Ruby went into the pantry to get her coat. When she came back, Mr Rollo was standing in the kitchen. She hesitated.
‘I’ve come to see if you’re cross with me,’ he said. ‘I hope we’re still friends.’
Unsure what she should say, Ruby looked down at the kitchen table and hoped that Alice or Dick would come in.
‘Thank you for playing for me,’ he said, taking a ten-shilling note from his wallet. ‘I know I behaved badly and I would like you to have this. My sister was really delighted with the songs. Please take it. You deserve it. It’s worth it to see my sister so happy. Am I forgiven? Look, I’m such a fool, but you are a pretty girl, you know, and I must confess that I’d had rather too much to drink at lunch. Nervous about singing, you see. Not a real performer, not like you.’
Ruby studied her hands and felt her cheeks turn red.
‘Please,’ he said, bending slightly to see her face. ‘I’ll feel such a lot better if you took the note. You are being so unkind, and it is New Year’s Eve. Please say you’ll forgive me.’
Ruby knew that he had been drinking and that he was really sorry. And Alice was always saying that he was a fool, but there was no real harm in him. But she didn’t know what to say, so instead she nodded her head.
‘Oh, does that mean you’ve forgiven me?’ he said. ‘Really? Then please smile. That’s better. I can see you smiling, so now I know I’m forgiven. We made such a good team, didn’t we? You played really well. Now please, take this note for your professional help.’
‘Thank you, Mr Rollo,’ she said.
‘So, we’ll say no more about it? You haven’t complained to Alice, have you? You know how she frightens me.’
‘No, sir,’ Ruby laughed. ‘I’ve not said anything.’
‘Good girl. Well, good night and happy new year.’
‘And to you, sir,’ she said.
Outside, the garden was damp and silent. There was no moon or stars and the little beam from her torch barely penetrated the solid blackness. Ruby shivered, hitched the basket full of leftovers on to her arm and began to pick her way down the path. When she neared the front of the house, she could hear dance music still playing inside. Around her, raindrops from the sodden trees pattered on to the leaves beneath. She heard something shifting deep inside the shrubbery and imagined small creatures hurrying by, brushing against the damp leaves. Then out of the blackness, someone grabbed at her coat. Ruby tried to pull away, to scream. She dropped her basket, heard the contents thud on the gravel and hit out with her tiny, useless torch. Her hair was caught, trapped. He held her close, so close that she could feel the heat of his breath. He bit her lip. The pain made her eyes water, and she almost lost her footing. Her nails, nibbled and worn, were ineffective claws. He pulled at her dress. They struggled. She felt his fingers hard and cold against the inside of her thigh. Large hands wrenched and tore, making her stagger and fall. When she pushed him away, he punched her. She began to cry. He called her a tease, the jolt of the familiar voice held her for a moment: fear, choking and sharp as a fish bone, stopped her throat. Smothered in his shoulder, Ruby smelt pomade, felt the gravel beneath her legs and started to pray. Then, without warning, the bushes around them were alive with movement. As quickly as he’d appeared and grabbed her, Rollo let her go. She heard branches snap, and deep insid
e the shrubbery something crashed and fell. Ruby crouched on the damp, pebbly ground holding her breath. In the darkness, she thought she heard Rover, the Greys’ dog, growl and wondered if someone, hearing noises in the garden, had let him out of his kennel. When the noise stopped, a beam of weak light moved from side to side across the path in front of her. Then, through the stillness, she heard Johnny Fin whisper her name and she reached up towards his comforting beery smell.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Edged in under a swollen sky, the hens slopped through the muddy garden, and in the cottage the hours moved stiffly. To get the best of the dull unchanging light, Ruby worked on the wooden draining board; pressing close to the window, she used the bread knife to pare tissue-thin slivers of soap into a small glass fruit dish. When she’d scraped enough to fill a teaspoon, she added a spoon of precious white sugar. The mixture, a recipe for a poultice, was to be spread on to a piece of fine gauze and taped to Sadie’s arm. She hoped it would have more effect than the bread poultice that Jenny had sworn by.
Sadie was curled up on the old settee, her unbandaged arm resting on a cushion, waiting for Ruby to make the poultice. The wound looked angry. The edges of the torn flesh were purple and raw; a substance as thin and lumpy as sour milk leaked from between the puckered folds. When Ruby came in and placed the gauze as gently as she could on her throbbing forearm, Sadie bit her lip and stared straight ahead, fixing her eyes on Ruby. In profile, Ruby’s face appeared distorted, her torn lip and bruised cheeks making the outline almost unrecognisable. It was over a week since Johnny had brought her home, and every night she’d heard the poor kid moving around in her room long after she should have been asleep.
After she’d rebandaged her arm, Ruby put the soiled wadding on the fire, pressing it down with the poker until it took hold. As the flames began to leap, Sadie watched their light turn Ruby’s scabbed face into a repellent mask.
‘Come and sit with me for a bit,’ she said. ‘I know, you can tell me the story of that book you’re reading. Or I could tell you about the film we saw; it was ever so good.’
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