by Joan Jonker
‘That was quick.’ Eileen squinted at him. ‘Where did yer manage to get the paper and paint from?’
‘Would you worry where I got it from?’ Harry grinned. ‘Considering nearly everything you’ve bought through the war has either been black market or fallen off the back of a lorry.’
‘Harry, I don’t care where yer got it from as long as yer got it!’ Eileen’s eyes shifted from Harry to the moving conveyor then back again. ‘Saturday suits me fine.’
‘I’ve only got six rolls, enough for one room, so you’ll have to scout around yourself if you want the whole house doing.’ Harry straightened up. Twice every shift he did a check on the conveyors to make sure there were no problems, but today it seemed a pointless exercise. ‘Daft to go on making shells when the war’s over, isn’t it?’
‘I’ve been thinkin’ that meself,’ Eileen said. ‘But I hope they go on makin’ them for a while yet, ’cos I need the money.’
‘Don’t we all?’ Harry sighed. ‘But there’s bound to be a lot of changes in the near future and I’m wondering where we’ll all end up!’
Through lowered lids, Eileen surveyed the faces of the women round the canteen table. For over five years six of them had shared the same table, but it looked as though they’d soon be going their separate ways, never to see each other again. Jean Simpson would be getting married and making her home in the States. No chance of ever seeing her again! Eileen’s eyes moved to Maisie Phillips. Maisie was small and thin with bleached hair. The lines of age were hidden under the thick make-up she wore, and nobody knew how old she really was. She’d been thirty-nine when she’d started work at the factory and according to her she was still thirty-nine. Eileen thought she’d lost ten years somewhere along the line because Maisie was fifty if she was a day. But Eileen would never find out because Maisie lived in Huyton and there was no chance of them bumping into each other at the shops.
‘We’re all very quiet,’ Ethel Hignet’s ill-fitting false teeth clicked into place. ‘I bet we’re all thinking the same thing … how long it’s going to be before this place closes.’ Ethel was a foot taller than her friend Maisie, and as thin as a rake. Eileen was always telling her that when she turned sideways you couldn’t see her. She followed Maisie everywhere like a pet dog, and agreed with everything she said. Patting her black frizzy hair, she asked, ‘Well, am I right?’
‘We’d ’ave to be bloody thick not to know things aren’t goin’ to stay as they are for much longer,’ Eileen growled, picking a long chip off her plate and dipping it in the baked beans. ‘An’ d’yer know what? I’ve been sick of the sight of yez for the last five years, but I won’t ’alf miss yez.’ She took a bite of the chip, ignored the red sauce that trickled down her chin and went on speaking with her mouth half full. ‘It won’t seem the same not seein’ yer ugly faces every day.’
The women exchanged glances. They all felt the same, but never thought they’d hear such an admission coming from the lips of Eileen Gillmoss. She usually turned everything into a joke. Maisie studied her face thoughtfully. If it carried on like this they’d all be in tears. Better to take a leaf out of Eileen’s book and make a joke of it. ‘There’s one thing I will miss,’ Maisie said, ‘and that’s your table manners! Honest to God, I’d be ashamed to take you anywhere!’
Eileen made a fist of her hand and rested her layer of chins on it. This was more like it, she thought. I was beginning to feel morbid. Fluttering her eyelashes she put on what she called her posh voice. ‘Har you by hany chance hinsinuating that I don’t have hany manners, Mrs Phillips?’ A grin creased Eileen’s face. ‘’Cos if yer are, I’ll give yer a slap in the gob that’ll knock yer into the middle of next week.’
There were smiles round the table now as Maisie asked, ‘You an’ whose army?’ She leaned forward and grinned into Eileen’s face. ‘Do us a favour and wipe your chin! You’re worse than a flippin’ baby!’
Eileen rubbed a hand across her chin then wiped it on her overall. ‘I’d buy a bib, but they don’t make them in my size.’
Maisie stood up, followed quickly by Ethel. ‘It’s time to get back.’ She walked a few paces then turned. ‘A tablecloth would do the trick.’
‘Ha-ha, very funny.’ Eileen was stumped for a second, then she shouted after Maisie, ‘We don’t ’ave tablecloths in our ’ouse! Would yer settle for a sheet?’
The house was quiet when Eileen let herself in, and she sighed with relief as she walked down the hall. She wasn’t in the mood for the kids chattering and arguing … not tonight. She was tired, and after she’d had a cuppa she’d hit the hay.
It was dark in the living room, but the light in the kitchen was on and Eileen could see her mother pottering around. ‘I thought yer’d be in bed by now, Mam!’
‘I thought I’d wait up for you.’ Maggie’s face was flushed and Eileen sensed her mother was on pins over something. But it couldn’t be anything bad because Eileen knew her mother well enough to know that if there was anything wrong she’d have been on the front step waiting.
‘Go and sit down and I’ll bring you a drink in,’ Maggie fussed. ‘I’ve got the kettle on, it won’t be long.’
Eileen waited till they were both seated with a cup of tea in their hands, before saying, ‘Whatever it is, Mam, spit it out!’
‘Alan called in on his way home from work. He’s been trying to get some news about the camp where Bill is, but he said things are chaotic at the moment because there’s hundreds of camps and it’s impossible to find out anything.’ Maggie paused for breath. ‘He said to tell you that the army are working flat out to get the prisoners home as soon as possible and he’d keep on trying to get some information for you. The minute he hears anything definite, he’ll come down right away and let you know.’
Eileen felt a shiver run down her spine. It had been such a long time, but now the waiting was nearly over. ‘Does Alan think he’ll come straight home?’
Maggie shook her head. ‘He didn’t say, love! But with the hundreds of thousands of prisoners, it’s going to be a big job.’
‘I’ve waited five years, Mam, I can wait a few more weeks. As long as I know he’s safe, that’s the main thing.’
‘It’ll give you a chance to get the house ship-shape.’ Maggie wasn’t going to tell her daughter that Alan had said some prisoners might be in a bad state. News filtering through to the War Office was that the British troops who had reached the camps were horrified by the conditions the prisoners had been kept in. But it would serve no purpose putting that sort of worry on Eileen’s shoulders until they knew for sure how Bill was. ‘You’ll need a few weeks to get this place ready.’
‘Well, I’ve made a start, Mam!’ Eileen reached over and put her cup on the table that had one leg shorter than the others and wobbled at the slightest touch. ‘I called in to Cookson’s on me way to work, and Mr Cookson will ’ave me dining room suite in by a week on Monday. He showed me one he ’ad in the back of the shop, an’ it’s in a dark shiny wood. It’s got a sideboard, table and four chairs, an’ it’s lovely, Mam! We won’t know ourselves, we’ll be that posh!’
Maggie raised her brows. ‘How much?’
‘Just over twenty pounds for the suite, and a couple of pounds for some lino.’ The tiredness had left Eileen now and she felt on top of the world. ‘It’ll cost me a few quid for wallpaper and paint, then we need a new rug for ’ere to finish the room off. I reckon there’ll be enough over to buy a new bed and some sheets and things. The old wardrobe and dressing table will ’ave to do for the time bein’, but if I give them a good polish they should be all right.’
‘I can’t wait to see it all done.’ Maggie lowered her head to hide a smile. ‘You’ll have to watch the kids, though, or they’ll wreck the place in no time.’
‘Mam, if they so much as lay a finger on anything, I’ll kill ’em!’ Eileen’s body shook as her imagination took over. ‘How about lockin’ them in the box room until the minute Bill walks in the door? Or tyin’ their hands an
d feet together an’ puttin’ a sock in their mouths?’
‘You’ll need to do something.’ Maggie’s lips formed a straight line. ‘You’ve been far too soft with them, and now they think they can do anything and get away with it.’
‘Not any more,’ Eileen vowed. ‘They’d better start learnin’ how to behave or they’ll have their dad to answer to! He won’t put up with any of their shennanigans!’
‘I just hope you haven’t left it too late! They’ve run rings round you and me for the last five years, so you’re not going to tame them that easy.’
‘Stop yer worryin’, missus, an’ let’s get to bed.’ Eileen lumbered to her feet. ‘I want to be up early tomorrow so I can go out scrounging for paper and paint.’ She grinned cheekily. ‘Who d’yer think I should honour with me presence first?’
Maggie fiddled with the ties at the back of her pinny. ‘Just don’t ask me to come with you, that’s all!’
‘Oh, yer poor little frightened thing!’ Eileen switched the light off and looked back at the windows. ‘It seems funny without the black-out curtains, doesn’t it, Mam? I’d got quite attached to them.’ She smacked her mother’s backside. ‘Up to bed with yer, it’s way past yer bedtime.’
Chapter Five
The following two weeks were so hectic, Eileen didn’t know whether she was coming or going. She would roll out of bed after a few hours sleep and after a quick bite to eat would have a scraper in her hand, or be holding the ladder steady while Harry painted the ceilings, or measured the walls for size before cutting out the strips of wallpaper. She and Harry were only able to do a few hours before setting off to work together, leaving Rene and Mary to carry on with the task of transforming Eileen’s house.
Rene and Mary had found willing neighbours to mind the children, and every day they turned up and worked like Trojans. Rene was used to decorating because with Alan the way he was, she was the one who had to do all those sort of jobs at home. As quick as Mary pasted a piece of paper, Rene would run up the ladder and have the paper on the wall like a flash. And while they beavered away, Maggie kept the floors swept and had tea on the go all the time.
Eileen worried that the children were being neglected, but consoled herself with the thought that it wouldn’t be for long and she’d make it up to them. She could be heard muttering as she scraped the walls, and her remarks brought smiles to the faces of those near her. ‘There must be six bloody layers of paper on these walls! Either that, or I’ll soon be able to see what next door’s ’avin’ for their tea.’ A bit later, they’d hear, ‘I want me bumps feelin’, goin’ through this!’
Eileen was allowed a respite on the Monday to have her hair permed. And when she came back, the straight straggly hair had been turned into a frizzy mop. She took one look in the mirror and groaned. ‘I look like a bloody hedgehog that’s had a fright!’
One day she had a letter from Bill. It had been sent from the camp in Germany and was very brief. In it, Bill told her that the German guards had fled the camp the day before the British troops arrived and that he would be home soon. If Eileen hadn’t been so tired in mind and body, she might have asked herself why Bill didn’t sound happier, or why he didn’t say he was as eager to see her as she was to see him. But with so much going on, Eileen didn’t take heed of the lack of emotion in the one-page letter. Her husband was alive and that was enough to send her spirits soaring.
On the Saturday afternoon, exactly two weeks from the time they’d started, five very relieved people stood back to admire their handiwork. Every room in the house, and the landing, hall and stairs, had been papered and painted. Light, flower sprigged paper matched up with white paintwork, and the house had never looked so bright. Even the kitchen had been given a coat of pale yellow paint, giving the effect of permanent sunshine.
‘I don’t know what to say.’ Eileen could feel a lump forming in her throat. ‘It doesn’t look like the same house!’ A tear trickled down her cheek and she hastily brushed it away. ‘It looks lovely, an’ I don’t know ’ow to thank yez enough.’
‘You’re welcome, our kid!’ Rene felt like crying herself. ‘And I’ve got to say it’s been well worth the effort.’
‘Mary, if you’ll run a mop over the floor in the living room, I’ll put the lino down.’ Harry was eager to see the job finished before they packed in for the day. ‘Once the lino’s laid, we can bring the furniture down.’
The new furniture had been delivered earlier in the week and Eileen had asked the men to carry it up to her bedroom. She wasn’t taking any chances on it getting knocked around while so much work was going on. The old dining room suite had been put in the yard waiting for a scrap cart to come round, and the only thing left in the room was the well-worn couch. ‘It’s a pity about that.’ Eileen nodded to the offending couch which stuck out like a sore thumb against the light wallpaper and white paint. ‘It’s goin’ to spoil …’ She turned to see Rene and Harry whispering together. ‘What are you two whisperin’ about?’
Rene blushed while Harry grinned. ‘We were just making a date, d’you mind?’
‘Eh, watch it!’ Eileen laughed. ‘He’s married to my best mate!’
‘Give us a hand to get the couch into the yard,’ Harry said. ‘I can’t lay lino with that big thing in the way.’
‘I wonder if Milly Knight in the corner shop would mind if I used her phone.’ Rene avoided Eileen’s eyes. ‘I said I’d let Alan know what time I’d be home.’
‘Milly’s all right.’ Eileen lifted one end of the couch. ‘She won’t mind a bit.’
‘I’ll make meself useful by putting the kettle on for hot water for the floor.’ Mary said. ‘It’ll need going over a few times, it’s so dirty.’
Harry was just cutting the lino round the fireplace when Rene came back. ‘Bloody ’ell, our kid!’ Eileen roared. ‘Where the ’ell ’ave you been? I was beginnin’ to think yer’d run off with the coal man!’
Rene turned her head to wink at Harry. ‘One hour,’ she mouthed silently before answering Eileen. ‘I’ve been having a chat to Milly.’
‘It’s all right for some people, isn’t it!’ Eileen’s nerves were taut. Her house had been like a bomb site for the last two weeks, and there’d been times when she was sorry she’d started. But now she couldn’t wait to see the curtains up and her new furniture in place. ‘Does anyone know where the wire for the curtains is? I could be gettin’ them ready to put up.’
‘I’ll see to the curtains!’ Harry was on all fours pressing the lino neatly under the skirting board. ‘You make yourself useful and brew up.’
‘Bloody tea tanks, the lot of yez.’ Eileen lumbered towards the kitchen. ‘I suppose yez know yer’ve used all me tea ration up, an’ I’ll ’ave to go on the scrounge to Milly Knight.’
She came back into the room a minute later to find Rene, Mary and Harry in a huddle by the window, their heads together, whispering. ‘What the ’ell is goin’ on?’ she demanded. ‘Youse are up to somethin’, an’ I want to know what it is!’
‘There’s nothing going on, it’s just your bad mind.’ Harry took her arm and pulled her towards the door. ‘Give us a hand to get the sideboard down. I can manage the rest on me own.’
‘Hang on a minute, till I get me wind back.’ Eileen let the end of the sideboard rest on the stairs, while Harry, on the bottom stair, supported the full weight of it. ‘If I haven’t lost any weight after all this, then all I can say is there ain’t no justice.’ Eileen was breathing heavily. ‘Me heart’s goin’ fifteen to the dozen.’
‘Only a few more stairs to go,’ Harry coaxed. ‘Just one last effort.’
‘If this is what yer ’ave to go through to be posh, then me ’ouse can be like a muck midden for all I care.’ Eileen heaved the end of the sideboard. ‘Okay, Tarzan, let’s go! But if yer rip me new wallpaper, I’ll ’ave yer guts for garters.’
‘They wouldn’t go round your legs,’ Harry gasped, walking backwards a few steps until Eileen was off the stairs. ‘A clo
thes line would be more like it.’
‘Yer cheeky bugger!’ Eileen dropped on to the bottom stair, her face flushed with the exertion. ‘Don’t think because yer’ve done me ’ouse for me that it entitles yer to insult me.’
Rene and Mary, grinning like Cheshire cats, moved in to take over. ‘We can manage it between us now.’ Rene bent down and ruffled Eileen’s hair. ‘You should have let your Billy stay in to help lift the furniture! It’s no job for a woman.’
‘I can manage the table and chairs on me own,’ Harry said. ‘Why don’t you take a breather? Walk up to the corner shop and have a natter with Milly. When you come back we’ll have everything in place.’
‘I wouldn’t mind a breath of fresh air,’ Eileen admitted. ‘The sweat’s pourin’ off me.’
‘Then poppy off,’ Mary told her. ‘It’ll be a nice surprise for you when you get back.’
Eileen leaned her dimpled elbows on the counter of the corner shop. In the last half hour she’d been brought up-to-date with all the local gossip and her eyes were shining with amusement. ‘Isn’t it amazin’ what can happen in two weeks?’ Eileen watched as Milly served a customer with two ounces of tea before tearing a coupon out of the woman’s ration book. ‘I haven’t ’alf missed our little jangles.’
Milly waited till the woman left the shop. ‘I’ve kept the juiciest bit of gossip till the last.’ She hitched her well-corseted bust up. ‘Yer know Sadie Thompson, don’t yer? Well, she had a baby daughter last week.’
Eileen’s hazel eyes narrowed into slits. ‘I thought her ’usband was away in Germany?’
‘Precisely!’ Milly nodded knowingly. ‘He’s been away for eighteen months.’
‘D’yer mean … oh, my God!’ The news brought Eileen upright. ‘She’s one I never expected to hear that about!’
‘Well, it’s true!’ Milly leaned closer. ‘There’ll be ructions when her husband gets home.’
