Pure as the Lily

by Catherine Cookson

  “I’m afraid you’re out of luck. Jimmy.” Mary had left the sink where she had been washing up and was piling a plate with cold meat, cheese and pickled onions. David’s down in the Flake Street shop . as usual’ —she dipped her chin—’and across there’—she pointed out of the kitchen and towards a far door—’the other one’s in bed;

  she’s got a cold on her, and I’m afraid she’ll be stuck with it over the holidays. “

  “Aw, that’s too bad.” He went out of the kitchen, pushed the bedroom door open and, thrusting his head around it, said, “Who’s got sniffles and sneezes, coughs and wheezes?”

  “Oh! Uncle Jimmy.”

  He now stood over the bed with his hands on his knees and looked down on the flushed face of Annie, ‘you feeling bad, love? “

  “Awful, Uncle.”

  “Aw, rotten luck. I was going to take you to the Market.”

  “Were you. Uncle Jimmy?” She smiled wanly, sniffed, then said slyly, “I’m all stuffed up but I can still smell you’ve been drinkin’.”

  “What!” In mock indignation he stretched his six foot three high above her.

  “That’s libel, that is. Me drinking! I’ve never touched a drop in me life.” He turned now to Mary who was standing in the doorway. Do you hear what your daughter is accusing me of? She says she can smell I’ve been drinking. What are you going to do with her? “

  “Give her a prize for telling the truth.”

  Tell us a story, Uncle Jimmy. “ Annie moved restlessly in the bed, and Mary put in quickly, “ He’s going to have a bite of dinner, and. you get to sleep, miss. “

  “Aw, Uncle Jimmy, give us a rhyme then. Go on.”

  A rhyme. Jimmy walked round the foot of the bed clapping his hands gently together, saying, “A rhyme, a rhyme, give her a rhyme. Ah yes.”

  He now stood with one arm outstretched.

  “I know one about your favourite subject... and mine... drink. It goes like this:

  “Annie stood outside the Ellison Arms And watched the men go in. They all walked straight and spoke to her They asked her where she’d bin.

  “She waited behind Haggerty’s wall And she watched them all come out.

  They all wanted to talk at once

  And began to lark about And their legs began to wobble And some went in-and-out.

  “Then Annie began to wave her arms, Kick up her legs and shout:

  I take after me Uncle Jimmy And I’ve had a bottle of stout. “

  Annie was lying now, her hands covering her mouth, shaking with laughter while Mary, smiling primly, pushed Jimmy from the room saying, “Go on with you!”

  When he was seated at the table she looked at him and said.

  “She was right, you stink of it.”

  “I don’t.” He flapped his hands at her.

  “I’ve only had one. No’—his head went back on his shoulders “ I’m not going to be like most drunks and lie about it, I’ve had a couple of straights and two pints. “

  Mary’s eyebrows moved up just the slightest.

  “Is that all?”

  ^That’s all. “

  “Well, it doesn’t take much to knock you over, that’s all I can say.

  And I’ve said it before. “

  “I know that, Mary, dear, but just let me get this down and it’ll soak up the liquor and I’ll be ready for more.” He only just prevented himself from pointing to his coat lying over the chair, and in the inside pocket of which was a quarter bottle of whisky that he was going to keep for Christmas . < if he could.

  Mary poured herself out a cup of tea and sat down opposite him and said quietly, “I’m worried. Jimmy.”

  “Ah now! Now!” He wagged the fork at her.

  “Don’t, don’t. I don’t want you on me conscience an’ all. Well, what I mean is, I don’t want to have it on my mind I’m adding to your lot, your ... your plate’s full enough as it is.”

  “Well then, keep that in mind and go steady. By the way, we’ve got Cousin Annie coming across to stay; she’s been bombed out.”

  No! “

  “fes, it happened yesterday in that early morning raid.”

  “I heard they got it across the water but that there wasn’t much.”

  “No, only one bomb. It didn’t hit her place, of course, but it’s taken the roof off.”

  “Do you mind her coming?” , “No, not really; she’s a fusspot but she’s good at heart.”

  “Where are you going to put her?”

  “Oh, we’ll find some place. A shakey-down in the front room until Ben gets that cubby-hole of his cleared out. He’s going to take all the stuff down to the Rington Road shop, and then I’ll fix it up for her, that’s if she’s still here. They’ll likely get round to doing her place afore long.”

  ‘you going to have your work cut out? “

  “Oh no. No, she shouldn’t be any trouble; in fact, she’ll be a help.”

  She smiled wryly but more to herself than at him. She could do without Cousin Annie’s help because a little of her went a long way.

  After a silence between them he said, “What’s the news, did you hear it?”

  “Oh yes, nothing much. Talking about the Pacific; it seems to be full of aircraft carriers.”

  “Well, I wish they’d do something soon and get those Japs out of the way.”

  “They took Tarawa.”

  “That all? Nothing else?”

  “I didn’t hear, but then I was going back and forward.”

  Jimmy got up and walked to the window and stood looking through the border of black-out paper that surrounded it and started to sing quietly, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas’.

  “And that’s what we don’t want, thank you very much.”

  He turned to her abruptly.

  “It would have been different if they had taken me.”

  “Well, they didn’t. And don’t start and go through all that again.”

  Well, I still can’t understand it. Flat feet! “

  “Well, you are flat-footed, and that’s that. Anyway, some body has to stay behind and see to the children; your job is just as important as if you were over there.”

  “Aw.” He turned his head slowly to one side and his voice held utter scorn.

  “Who you kiddin’ Mary? You’re talking to me, Jimmy. I’ll tell you something’ he was pointing at her “ I feel like crawling when I’m standing at the bar next to any of them in uniform. Half my size and years younger, and in uniform, and they look at you and say “Deferred, mate?” And how they say it! “

  Don’t be so bloomin’ soft. “ Her voice held real anger now.

  “And use your head. If it wasn’t for you and the men in the docks and the women in the factories they wouldn’t be in uniform. What your trouble is, you’re too thin-skinned. Go on, get yourself out. Take a walk into Shields, to the Market as you intended. The air will do you good, get rid of the fumes and clear that stupid mind of yours. And, by the way, if you see anything fresh going, in the Market I mean, get it for me, no matter what it is.”

  He turned to her now, saying, “You’re kiddin’, aren’t you, with your own private black market running here?”

  “Oh our Jimmy! it isn’t a black market.” She was indignant but she was smiling.

  “If we exchange a little butter and sugar for a little meat, or some such, what harm’s in that? We have our coupons like everybody else.”

  “Aw, Mary!” He pushed her in the shoulder, and she pushed him back the same way and they both laughed. Then she said, “Well, you be thankful anyway, you get your share of it.”

  “I am, and thank you very much, Mrs. Tollett.”

  “Go on.” She pressed him towards the door; then pulling him to a stop, said, “Go steady, Jimmy, please.”

  “I will, Mrs. Tollett. God bless you, Mrs. Tollett. God bless you.” He kept touching his hat, and she lifted her foot but missed in her

  aim and nearly fell over. He ran down the stairs and, at the bottom,
stopped and looked back up at her. They were both laughing.

  In the street he hummed again the Bing Crosby song, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas’. There was snow in the air;

  the air itself was like a knife on the throat. The sky was low and the atmosphere a pale grey haze and all the way into Shields, in one way or another, everyone seemed to be endorsing the title of the song.

  “By! it’s enough to cut you in two.”

  “It won’t be long now, you can smell it.”

  “Bet the place is thick by the morrow ... as if we hadn’t enough to put up with.”

  “One blessing, it’ll stop the bloody raids.”

  He got off the bus at Laygate and made his way down the Mill Dam bank towards the Market; at St. Hilda’s Church a bedraggled figure was shaking a box in front of the passersby while he cried, “Help to get bits for the poor baims.” He thrust the box in front of Jimmy.

  “It’s for the baims, sir.” As Jimmy, a wry smile on his face, went to put his hand in his pocket a passer-by laughed and said, You must be barmy, man; it’s more like beer for his belly. “ Whereupon the benevolent old man came out with a mouthful of abuse that both startled and amused Jimmy. He put his hand back in his pocket and walked on.

  Would you believe it! They got up to all kinds of tricks, and a war on. What a pity, what a pity that people cheated, especially at Christmas. It was a time of good-will, Christmas, even with a war on.

  That’s what they said they were fighting for, wasn’t it, good-win to all men. Mind your eyes, not that he believed in the religious reason for all the Christmas waffle, the whole thing was a collossal fable, but nevertheless it was a nice fable. It was the kind of fable that you could do with more of, and if people weren’t nice to each other at Christmas then they’d never be nice to each other. Would Betty be nice to him? Would his ma be nice to him? Would he be nice to her and say “Come on, Ma, it’s

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  Christmas, come and live with us? “ He should practise what he preached, shouldn’t he?

  There were very few stalls in the Market but the place seemed thronged with people coming from King Street and from the direction of the ferry, or making their way back and forth across the square. And there was a deal of traffic about, military stuff most of it. Yet it added to that feeling of excitement that was in the air. Yes, it was a good fable, Christmas.

  He stopped. The Salvation Army had started to play. Good old Salvation Army. You couldn’t beat the Salvation Army. No going to church for them in their best clothes; and no hiding their talents in the ground either. They did good, did the Salvation Army.

  “Away in a manger.” He started to hum to himself:

  Away in a manger, No crib for a bed. “

  Suddenly he felt cold and shivery, and very much alone. He wished the baims could have come with him; they would have kept him laughing.

  He went down East Street, looked about him to see if the coast was clear, whipped the bottle out of his pocket and, putting it to his mouth, drank half of it.

  He shuddered as he felt it burning down his long length. That was better. Oh yes, that was better. He’d walk round the Market and over towards the Salvation Army; then he’d make his way home. He’d walk back to Jarrow. As Mary said it would clear his head. He laughed to himself; it would need more clearing now than ever.

  When he drew near the Salvation Army he found a crowd gathered in front of them. It was a mixture, two or three soldiers, a few airmen, some sailors tight as drums they were lucky, they got a navy radon as well some young lads and lasses, a few A. T. S. “ and families with children..

  He came to a stop near two girls in khaki uniforms. They were singing and they glanced at him as much to say, “Well, it’s Christmas.” He smiled back at them, and as he inclined his head down to them he picked up the words: “The little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head.” His voice caused the girls to stop singing for a moment and laugh, and their laughter turned into giggles when, high above the rest, his voice soared.

  “The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay.” They were still laughing when they joined their voices to his, and when he put his arm through that of the girl nearer to him and interrupted his singing to nod towards the other, at the same time putting in quickly, “Link up,” the girl, choking with her laughter, did as he bade her, and linked her arm with that of her companion.

  The band hardly paused before going into “The First Noel’. The crowd had now grown to almost twice its size by people stopping in their walk across the Market, and most of them had joined in the singing.

  From the advantage of his height Jimmy looked over the crowd and for a moment he felt a power running through him. It was as if he had created this scene; he felt that he had brought all these people together . goodwill to men. In this moment he experienced a feeling of joy. He was so warm and happy inside, he wanted to express it in some gesture, such as waving his arms about.

  The winter twilight was deepening. Although it was a heavy grey twilight the faces all about him seemed to be illuminated from within. And then there came the first flakes of snow.

  To the cries of “Oh!” and “Aw!” and “Here it comes!” the faces were upturned towards the falling flakes.

  The band played louder; they knew that they had the crowd with them.

  Two of their members were smilingly pushing themselves through the throng, shaking tambourines while waiting for hands to be withdrawn from bags and pockets. The response was better than they’d had all day; they put it down to the love of God.

  Now the band was playing “I wish you a Merry Christmas,

  I wish you a Merry Christinas, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. “ The girl in khaki turned her face up to Jimmy and sang it to him, and Jimmy, bending his head down to her, still with his arm in hers, sang it back to her; and then everyone around seemed to be singing it to his neighbour. It was one of these moments that can happen in war time and at no other.

  Whether it was the girl who started it, or he, he never remembered, but he did remember that when they pushed him forward as their leader, he was gratified that this was so. The girl grabbed his waist from behind, then her friend did the same with her, and from then on a chain formed as fast as a piece of petrol-soaked rope burns.

  Everyone was singing. What matter if, at the head of the crocodile, it was “I wish you a Merry Christmas’, while further along it was, “ Away in a Manger’, and further still “Knees up Mother Brown’ with the tail end, “ We’ll meet again’?

  When Jimmy led the way behind the band in a sort of rumba step dictated by the pressure of the girl’s hands on his hips, one of the Salvation Army men laughed at him and cried, “Are you happy, brother?”

  And he shouted back, AYes, indeed; I’m happy, brother. “ And the girls behind took it up and yelled, “ Are you happy, brother? We’ve got them on the run. Are you happy, brother? We’ve got them on the run. Germany here we come! Are you happy, brother? “

  He came to the road leading down to the ferry, and his reaction was to stop at the kerb, but the girls behind pushed him on, yelling now, “Stop for nothing, brother! Stop for nothing, brother! Look out, Adolf, we’re on the way!”

  As he went to cross the road there was a shrieking of brakes when a lorry pulled up sharply, and two soldiers, sitting in the cab, grinned down on them and shook their heads.

  When he led them across the end of the road leading down from the Mill Dam bank into the Market there was another shrieking of brakes, t’T’s time from a line of vehicles

  making their way out of the market and towards the bank. But this time there were no smiling faces grinning at them from the cabs; instead curses rained on them.

  The crocodile was vast now, pushing them forward; the noise was deafening, the tooting of motor horns and angry cries competing with the confused singing. The whole market place was not only crowded with people but with a jumble of cars.

  A policeman appeared from the d
irection of Kepple Street, where the main police station was, then another and another; but even the sight of their uniform had no power to break up the crocodile or stop the crowd having ‘a bit carryon’. It was a long time since anybody had had a bit carryon in the open air like this; everybody was making the best of it while the light lasted.

  The policemen were reinforced. They snapped the crocodile in several places; and then they came to the head of it.

  “Come on! Come on! Break it up you! Break it up!” They were yelling at the tall, scarlet-faced, laughing young man.

  What? Oh aye! Yes, yes of course. “

  As if coming out of a dream Jimmy looked from one to the other of the policemen. And that would have been that. He would have broken away from the crocodile, he would have wished them a happy Christmas and walked quietly off up the bank and towards home. But the chain behind him suddenly disintegrated into a crowd which surrounded him and the policemen, and the two A. T. S. girls shouted, for no reason that he could see, “Leave him alone! Leave him alone! What harm is he doing?

  We were only having a bit of fun. Little enough we get. It’s Christmas Eve. Perhaps you’ve forgotten, it’s Christmas Eve. “

  “Break it up! Break it up! Get going!” The policeman began pushing.

  One of them pushed at Jimmy with the flat of his hand so hard that he staggered and would have fallen but for the support from behind, and this angered him.

  He became brave with the warmth of the whisky inside

  I wish you a Merry Christmas, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. “ The girl in khaki turned her face up to Jimmy and sang it to him, and Jimmy, bending his head down to her, still with his arm in hers, sang it back to her; and then everyone around seemed to be singing it to his neighbour. It was one of these moments that can happen in war time and at no other.

  Whether it was the girl who started it, or he, he never remembered, but he did remember that when they pushed him forward as their leader, he was gratified that this was so. The girl grabbed his waist from behind, then her friend did the same with her, and from then on a chain formed as fast as a piece of petrol-soaked rope burns.