by Joan Jonker
‘And what about poor me?’ Joan put on a woeful face. ‘If I’ve been blessed with anything, it’s not half hiding itself.’
‘That’s where ye’re wrong, kid, ’cos I’ve always known what your talent is. Like yer mam, yer have the ability to make people laugh. Ye’re very quick-witted when it comes to humour, and yer do very good impressions. And that really is a talent. I mean, I’ve got as good a sense of humour as most people, but I’ll never be in the same league as you or yer mam.’
When they stopped outside Joan’s house, she slung her satchel over her shoulder with one hand, and placed the other on Ginny’s arm. ‘Yer haven’t half cheered me up. I might even ask the Metropole if they’d give me a job as a comedienne.’ She chuckled. ‘It would beat working in a rubber factory any day.’
‘Yer never know yer luck in a big city,’ Ginny told her with a smile on her face. ‘Now I’m going ’cos I want to see if Mrs Bailey is still staying with us.’
‘Ay, that was terrible about her son, wasn’t it? She must be feeling very sad about it.’
‘I know, I feel really sorry for her. She’s got no family here, she’s all on her own. That’s why I want her to stay with us, so she’s got company.’ Ginny walked to the next front door and rapped on the knocker. Then she called to her friend, ‘I think I’ll have a night in, it’s too cold to be out. And your mam must be sick to her back teeth of me sitting there every night.’
‘Don’t be daft, of course she’s not! She doesn’t mind, honest!’
‘No, I’ll have a night in. I’ll call for yer at half-eight in the morning.’ When Beth answered the door, the first words out of Ginny’s mouth were, ‘Is Mrs Bailey still here, Mam?’
‘Yes, sunshine, she is. I’ve persuaded her to stay for a few nights.’
‘Oh, goody-goody!’ Ginny entered the room with a broad grin on her face. ‘I’m glad ye’re going to stay for a while, Mrs Bailey, it’s nice to have a visitor.’
‘A visitor that turfs yer out of yer bed, sweetheart, is a visitor yer can do without.’
‘I don’t mind sleeping on the couch, really I don’t.’ Ginny tilted her head. ‘Yer hair looks nice, have yer had dinky curlers in?’
Hannah patted her snow white hair. ‘Yer mam was kind enough to use the curling tongs on it, and now I’ve got as many curls as Shirley Temple. And she took me home to get a change of clothes so I feel much more presentable now.’
Beth watched as her daughter put her satchel down at the side of the couch before hanging up her coat. ‘How was school today, sunshine?’
‘It was great! Miss Jackson interviewed us in groups of three, and she wanted to know if any of us had thought about what sort of work we’d like to do. The two girls I was with, Sally and Wendy, they’re expecting to be interviewed for jobs – Sally in the British Enka and Wendy at Lune Laundry. I told Miss Jackson I’d like shop work, and she said she’d have a word with me tomorrow about it. Then she set us a composition to do and I really enjoyed that. At first I didn’t know what to write about, then I remembered going to a grotto when I was very young so I told a story about that. I think it’s good, but I’m bound to, seeing as I wrote it. There’s a small prize for the essay judged to be the best.’
‘Well, I hope yer win it, sweetheart.’ Hannah patted the girl’s knee. ‘And I hope the teacher will let yer bring whatever yer wrote home with yer so we can all read it.’
‘I’ll bring it home tomorrow and yer can tell me what yer think. If I come in with a long face yer’ll know the teacher gave me two out of ten for it. But if I’m smiling from ear to ear, that means I got an eight or a nine.’
‘If she doesn’t give yer a ten, sweetheart, I’ll go down and see her meself.’
‘Ginny always gets good marks, Hannah, she’s pretty clever. A damn sight more clever than I was at school.’ Beth rose from her chair. ‘I’ve got the dinner on the go so I’ll make us a cuppa and I can rest me legs for ten minutes. I may as well enjoy the peace while I can. Once Joey comes in, there’ll be none for anyone until he’s in bed.’
As Beth left the room, Ginny linked her arm through Hannah’s. ‘I’m glad ye’re still here, Mrs Bailey, I hope yer stay for a long time.’
‘Only till Friday, sweetheart, then I’m going home to light a fire to warm the house through. The men are coming to see to the partition in the back bedroom for me on Saturday, and I don’t want them freezing to death. I’ve got a paraffin stove which I can put up there while they’re working, that should take the chill off the place.’
‘I’ll come and give yer a hand, if yer like? I can make cups of tea for them, or run any messages yer want.’
‘Yer’ll be welcome, sweetheart, as long as I’m not taking yer away from yer mam. She might want yer to get messages for her.’
Beth came in carrying a wooden tray with three cups and a plate of biscuits on. ‘Muck in before our Joey comes. If he sees the biscuits he’ll scoff the lot.’ She placed the tray on the table before handing the cups out. ‘I’m going to sit back and enjoy this. And if yer feel like a laugh, sunshine, I’ll tell yer what yer Auntie Flo got up to at the shops today.’
Hannah put a hand to her mouth as she chuckled. ‘Oh, dear, she’s so funny. Not that I thought it funny at the time, like, but afterwards we all had a good laugh.’
Knowing what tricks her Auntie Flo could play, there was laughter in Ginny’s eyes when she asked, ‘What’s she been doing now, Mam?’
Beth had her hands around the cup for warmth. ‘We all went out together this morning, all five of us. After posting the letter off to Claire, we called into the butcher’s. I wanted some liver to have with the bacon I’ve got over from yesterday, and mashed potatoes. Bill the butcher asked me first what I wanted, and I said three-quarters of liver. While he was weighing it, Flo told me that she’d like to get a pound of liver because her feller was partial to it.’
Beth could feel the laughter bubbling inside of her and she played safe by putting her cup down. ‘Anyway, Bill handed me liver over and asked me for one and tuppence. After I’d paid him, he weighed some more then wrapped it up and held it out to Flo with a request for one and sixpence. What happened then was priceless. Yer know how dramatic me mate can be? Well, suffice it to say she excelled herself this morning. With her folded arms pushing up that great big bosom of hers, her chin jutting out and her eyes narrowed, she said, “One and six! What’s the matter with yer, d’yer think I was born yesterday or something? Yer’ve just charged me mate one and tuppence and now yer’ve got the nerve to try and diddle me! Well, ye’re not on, see, ’cos ye’re only getting the same as me mate gave yer.”
‘The butcher was flabbergasted as he stood there holding out the parcel with a look of bewilderment on his face. And the rest of us didn’t know where to put ourselves. I mean, yer never know what she’s going to get up to next, and I wasn’t going to get involved. I was surprised at Bill, though, ’cos she’s pulled his leg dozens of times over the years. Anyway, he said, “Yer asked for a pound of liver, Flo, and that’s one and six. Beth here only got three-quarters, that’s why she was charged less. Now can yer pay me, please, so I can serve the other ladies?” But it wasn’t that easy ’cos Flo was in good form. “I didn’t ask yer for no pound of bleedin’ liver! I want the same as me mate, one and tuppence worth!” Then Bill appealed to her to be reasonable. “Yer said yer’d like a pound of liver ’cos yer husband’s partial to it. I heard yer with me own ears, Flo, so don’t be coming it.” And didn’t the bold one start rolling her coat sleeves up as though she was ready for a fight! “I never said I wanted a pound of liver! I told me mate I’d like a pound, same as I’d like a leg of lamb, if I had the money to pay for it! Which, for your information, I haven’t got. So it serves yer bleedin’ well right for listening in to private conversations. Let that be a lesson to yer in the future, Mr Bill Symonds, ’cos some people might not be as understanding as me. But in the meantime, take a bit of liver out of that parcel and I’ll give yer the one and t
uppence I owe yer.” ’
Ginny gasped. ‘She didn’t say that, did she? Ooh, I bet Mr Symonds was mad having to do that for her.’
‘Well, he didn’t have to, sunshine, ’cos Lizzie said she’d take the pound of liver ’cos that’s what she came in for. And that would have solved the problem if Flo hadn’t been acting daft. She glared at Lizzie and said, “Do yer mind, Mrs O’Leary? This is a transaction between me and our family butcher, who I have been dealing with for years, and who I’m on very hintimate terms with.” ’ But Beth thought she’d better not go any further down that road, not to a fourteen-year-old girl. What Flo had gone on to say had set the other four women blushing, and the poor butcher wishing it was closing time. ‘Anyway, sunshine, after causing all that trouble, our next-door neighbour only managed to put an angelic look on her clock and ask if none of us had any bleedin’ sense of humour! “God, but ye’re a miserable lot! Yer wouldn’t know a joke if it jumped up and hit yer in the face! Bill knew I was joking, didn’t yer, lad? Yeah, of course he did! So give us that ruddy liver and put the one and six on the slate until pay day.” Now everyone knows Bill won’t give anything on tick, and he kept tight hold of that parcel with a look of determination on his face. “No money, no liver, Flo, so please yerself.” ’
Ginny was all ears. ‘And what happened then?’
‘Tilly Mint had had the right money in her hand all along, and she passed it over, saying, “The butcher in Stanley Road gives tick, I’ll go there in future ’cos he’ll welcome me custom.” And Bill said, “I hope that’s not an idle threat, Flo. I know I should feel sorry for the bloke in Stanley Road, but every man for himself. At least my wife wouldn’t have to put up with me having nightmares every night.” ’
Beth was startled when there was a hammering on the front door then. ‘My God, anyone would think there’s a fire!’ She hastened to the door, saying, ‘If it’s our Joey, I’ll kill him.’
His cheeky face grinned up at her. ‘I heard that, Mam! I hope yer don’t kill me before I have me tea ’cos I’m starving.’ As he passed her, he winked. ‘After all they don’t send anyone to the gallows on an empty tummy.’
Joey greeted Hannah warmly. ‘Hi-ya, Mrs Bailey! Has me mam been looking after yer today?’
‘I’ve been more than well looked after, sweetheart! I’ve had four very kind ladies watching over me. With yer mam, there was Mrs Flynn, Mrs Henderson and Mrs O’Leary.’
‘Blimey! The terrible four! I bet yer’ve got earache! One on their own is bad enough, but four of them . . . yer deserve a medal.’
‘Watch it, sunshine,’ Beth told him, ‘ye’re not too old for a smack.’
He spied the almost empty plate. ‘There’s two biscuits there, are they for me?’
Beth told a little fib. ‘Yeah, we saved them ’specially for yer.’
Joey eyed the contents of the plate, then his sister. ‘How many have you had, Ginny? And this is scout’s honour, so no telling lies.’
‘Seeing as I’m not in the scouts, that rule doesn’t apply to me. Anyway, if yer must know, we’ve all had ten each.’
His face split into a grin. ‘Ah, I’ve caught yer out there! Yer see, when I looked in the biscuit tin this morning there was only twelve. That’s wiped yer eye for yer, hasn’t it?’
Beth gasped, ‘You cheeky article! I hope yer didn’t touch the biscuits with yer dirty hands?’
‘No, I just shook the tin a bit.’ His eyes bright with stifled laughter, he said, ‘I’ve had me suspicions for a long time that I’ve been missing out on things by not coming straight home from school, and I’ve proved meself right now. So, in future, I’ll race yer home, Ginny, and beat yer to the biscuit tin.’ He picked up the plate and held it out to Hannah. ‘Seeing as yer’ve had ten, Mrs Bailey, yer may as well make it the even dozen.’
Hannah could see he was joking, and went along with it. ‘No, thanks, sweetheart, I’ll have no room for me dinner if I eat any more. Yer see, besides the ten biscuits, we also had a cream slice each and a jam doughnut.’
‘Yer greedy beggars! In that case I might as well eat these biscuits, save them from being thrown in the bin.’
Beth chuckled. ‘What bin is that, sunshine? We don’t need a bin with you here.’ She happened to glance at the clock then and a cry of surprise left her lips as she jumped to her feet. ‘Holy suffering ducks! Yer dad will be in soon and I haven’t got the liver on! He’ll think I’ve been sitting on me backside all day.’
As she was passing her son on the way to the kitchen, he put his arms around her waist. ‘I won’t snitch on yer, Mam. If he finds out yer’ve been eating biscuits while yer were sitting on yer backside, it won’t be me what’s told him.’
She dropped a kiss on his head. ‘Only thirteen and a blackmailer already! Well, two can play at that game, me laddo. You snitch, and yer’ll only get a scrap of liver.’
The smell of liver and bacon wafted towards the living room, and when Andy came in, rubbing his hands from the cold, he let out a sigh of pleasure. ‘That smell was worth working all day for. Don’t bother putting it on a plate, love, I’ll eat it out of the frying pan.’
Beth came through, wiping her hands on a tea towel. She lifted her face for a kiss and shivered. ‘Yer nose is like ice, sunshine, it’s a wonder it hasn’t dropped off.’
‘I’m frozen through to the marrow, love, it’s not just me nose. The wind is bitter and it gets everywhere. But five minutes in front of the fire and I’ll be fine.’ He held out his hands to the flames and looked sideways at Hannah. ‘I walked up the street with Dennis, and he said to tell yer his mate will be dropping the wood off tomorrow at your house between two and three. He got the lot for five bob, which is very cheap. Particularly as it’s being delivered.’
‘I’ll go down and sit with yer until it comes, sunshine,’ Beth said. ‘They can leave it in the hall and our husbands will take it upstairs on Saturday.’
‘Everyone has been so kind to me. I’m lucky to have such wonderful friends.’ Hannah hugged herself. ‘I can’t wait to hear when Claire and the children are coming, I’m dying to see them.’ Her eyes clouded over briefly as she remembered the reason for the family’s return home. Then she pulled herself together, not wanting to sadden these people who had been so good to her. ‘Five years is so long.’
‘Yer’ll have plenty of time to make it up, sunshine, and it’s something to look forward to.’ Beth made for the kitchen. ‘That ruddy liver will be calling me for everything for letting it burn. It’s a wonder it hasn’t jumped out of the frying pan and on to the plates by now. I bet it’ll spit fat at me for spite.’
‘Don’t let it get the better of yer, Mam,’ Ginny called. ‘Just send for Auntie Flo, she’ll sort it out.’
Chapter Six
When Miss Bond, the headmistress, came into the classroom, the whispering and chattering stopped immediately and there was complete silence. She seldom had to raise her voice to naughty children; the lifting of a single eyebrow was enough to frighten the living daylights out of the cheekiest pupil. ‘Carry on with what you’re doing while I have a few words with Miss Jackson,’ she told them.
All heads were immediately lowered, but not before they’d glimpsed the exercise books held in her hands. She must have read the compositions they’d written, and curiosity had the most daring girls sneaking a look while hoping they were the one to win the prize. The odds on being the winner were thirty-four to one, but there was hope in each heart that they would be the lucky one. They weren’t to find out just yet, though, because the headmistress left the room with the exercise books still in her hand.
Miss Jackson rapped on her desk for attention. ‘Miss Bond wishes to speak to the four girls who said they would like shop work. That’s Virginia, Alice, Doreen and Marie. Please go along to her office now. The rest of you, carry on with what you were doing.’
The four girls slipped from behind their desks and walked quietly into the corridor. Once out of earshot of the teacher, they all bega
n to talk at once. ‘I wonder what she wants us for?’ Doreen asked, while the others shrugged their shoulders. ‘There’s only one way to find out,’ Ginny said, ‘let’s go.’
Miss Bond nodded her head in greeting. ‘There aren’t any chairs, I’m afraid, so you’ll have to stand.’ She tutted when she saw two of the girls slouch. ‘Alice and Doreen, straighten your shoulders, please, and hold your head high. When you go for an interview you will be judged on your knowledge, politeness and deportment. If you are considered lacking in these qualities, it will be very difficult for you to find rewarding employment.’
The headmistress searched through some papers on her desk before finding what she wanted. ‘When being interviewed by Miss Jackson, each of you said you would like to work in a shop. Now it so happens that I have information regarding Woolworth’s in the city centre. They intend to take on two school-leavers after the Christmas period is over, and they will be interviewing applicants for the job over the next two days. To be eligible for an interview, you need cards from the Labour Exchange. I’ve been in touch with the local office and you are to present yourselves there at eight-thirty in the morning. After filling in the questions on these cards, you will take them to Woolworth’s in Church Street where the interviews will take place. You shouldn’t have any problem answering the questions, but if you do a clerk at the Exchange will assist you. Of course, you won’t be the only ones being interviewed for the two positions, there will be girls from other schools, so you’ll have to give a good account of yourselves as competition will be fierce. Oh, you will need to ask your parents for the tram fare into the city and back again. You can return to school when the interviews are over.’
Miss Bond studied the four girls standing before her. ‘I must stress that appearances are important, so please make an extra effort. And now, are there any questions you would like to ask? Don’t be afraid, I won’t bite your head off.’
‘Will we be getting a reference from the school to take with us?’ Ginny asked. ‘Whoever interviews us might ask for one.’
