by Joan Jonker
Nellie was pulled to her feet just as the laughter came, and her whole body shook. The two friends clung to each other as tears rolled down their cheeks. Neighbours for nineteen years, they’d grown so close they were like sisters. Nellie had had three children one after the other, just a year apart. And Molly had followed suit, each of hers a year younger than Nellie’s. But Molly had broken the mould when seven years after Tommy, her youngest, was born, she became pregnant with Ruthie.
‘D’yer know, that’s the best laugh I’ve had for months.’ Molly ran the back of her hand across her eyes. ‘Thinkin’ of you sittin’ outside the new people’s house, takin’ a note of what went in, well, can yer imagine it?’
Nellie’s chins were doing a quickstep as she tried to control her mirth. ‘What I could do, if yer like,’ she spluttered, ‘I could knock on their door an’ ask to borrow a cup of sugar. With a bit of luck they might ask me in.’
‘I’d better come with yer, then, so I can pick yer up after they’ve belted yer one.’ Molly sniffed. ‘D’yer know, that laugh’s done me a power of good. Better than six bottles of stout.’
Nellie was wiping her nose on the corner of her wraparound floral pinny. ‘Cheaper, too! Anyway, the day wasn’t wasted, I did see the man an’ his wife. About our age, I should think. And I saw two teenagers, but whether they’re the only kids they’ve got, I wouldn’t know. An’ from what I saw of the furniture, well, it was just so-so, nothin’ to write home about.’
Molly’s eyes were wide. ‘How the ’ell did yer see all that from down this end?’
Nellie tapped her nose. ‘Ah, well, I mightn’t gossip with the rent man, but I do spend some time in the corner shop talkin’ to Maisie an’ Alec. And as luck would ’ave it, I was there when the cart rolled up. An’ from the shop window yer can see right over to that house.’
‘You nosy beggar!’ Molly pressed her hands to her waist. ‘Don’t yer dare make me laugh again, Nellie McDonough, ’cos I’ve got a stitch in me side now. But tell me, did yer just stand lookin’ out of the shop window, watchin’ everythin’ that was goin’ on?’
‘Yeah!’ Nellie rolled her eyes. ‘Look, if yer goin’ to get a cob on ’cos I make yer laugh, I’m not goin’ to tell yer any more.’
Now she had Molly filled with curiosity. ‘Nellie McDonough, if yer think yer gettin’ out of this ’ouse without tellin’ me everythin’, then yer’ve got another think comin’. So come on, spit it out.’
Nellie took a deep breath, wondering how she could possibly stop herself from laughing. ‘I was in the shop when the cart came past loaded with furniture. Naturally me and Maisie, and Alec, were interested to see where it was goin’ so we went to the window. Then a customer came in, you know Mrs Barrow from the next street, and she told Alec she wasn’t in a hurry, so she stood watching with us. Pretty soon the shop was full, and we all had our noses pressed against the three windows.’ It was no good, Nellie couldn’t keep her face straight. Her chubby cheeks moved upwards to cover her eyes as she bent double. ‘Honest, girl, there must have been about twenty people in that little shop, an’ every one of them swore they weren’t in a hurry.’
‘An’ how long did that go on for?’
Nellie’s loud guffaw filled the room. ‘Until the cart was empty and the peep show was over. I told Maisie afterwards she should ’ave sold tickets, her an’ Alec would ’ave made a fortune.’
Once again the two women clung to each other. Molly could feel her shoulder damp from the tears that rolled unchecked from Nellie’s eyes. ‘I’ll tell yer somethin’ for nothin’, Nellie, I don’t like the new people, they’re not a bit considerate,’ Molly wheezed. ‘Why the ’ell didn’t they leave it until tomorrow to move in? I could ’ave had a seat right in the front of Maisie’s window.’
‘It was better than goin’ to the pictures, girl,’ Nellie said. ‘Funniest thing I’ve seen in years.’
Molly’s eyes lighted on the clock on the mantelpiece and she broke away. ‘Holy sufferin’ ducks, look at the time! I’ll be laughin’ the other side of me face if the dinner’s not ready when Jack an’ the kids get in.’ She turned Nellie to face the door. ‘On yer way, kiddo! I might slip up later when I’ve got Ruthie to bed. Ta-ra for now.’
‘No, none of yez can go to see Grandad.’ Molly let her eyes stay for a second on each of the faces around the table. Only Ruthie was missing. She’d been tired so Molly had given her her dinner early and put her to bed. Jill, her eldest, was sixteen. A lovely-looking girl with a slim figure, long blonde hair, vivid blue eyes and a peaches-and-cream complexion. Next to Jill sat Doreen, who was a year younger. Doreen was very like her sister in looks, but their natures were completely different. Jill was shy and gentle, while Doreen was a livewire, outgoing and outspoken.
‘Just for five minutes, Mam, please?’ Tommy pleaded. ‘I’m dyin’ to see me grandad.’
Molly’s gaze landed on her fourteen-year-old son. He’d left school at Christmas and now worked in the same factory as his dad. Like the rest of the family, he idolised his grandad, and after ten weeks it was only natural he wanted to see him. ‘Perhaps tomorrow night, son.’ Molly had a soft spot for her only son, who was the spitting image of his dad, tall, dark and good-looking. ‘When I see him in the mornin’, if he looks well enough, we’ll all nip around for half an hour.’
‘Five minutes wouldn’t hurt,’ Tommy growled.
‘Yer heard what me mam said, so stop yer moaning.’ Doreen aimed a kick at him under the table, but it was her father’s shin her foot came into contact with.
‘We’ll have less of that, young lady.’ Jack pointed a fork at his daughter. ‘We sit around the table to eat, so mind yer manners.’
‘Oh, here we go again, not in the ’ouse five minutes an’ fightin’ already.’ Molly leaned towards Jill. ‘It’s a good job you an’ me haven’t got bad tempers, isn’t it, sunshine? Life wouldn’t be worth livin’.’
Jill smiled. She never got involved in family squabbles, but they didn’t upset her because they were soon over and nobody sulked or held grudges. ‘I have my moments.’
Jill was the clever one of the family. She could have gone on to high school when she was fourteen, but Molly needed her working and bringing in a wage. With six mouths to feed, clothes to buy and all the bills to pay, she was hard pressed to make ends meet on Jack’s meagre earnings. For years she’d had to scrimp and save, robbing Peter to pay Paul, and although it broke her heart, she had to deny her daughter the chance of a better education for the sake of all the family. Jill never complained. Instead she got herself a job behind the counter in Allerton’s cake shop, and did a two-year course at night school learning shorthand and typing. Now she was working in Castle Street, in the offices of Pearson, Sedgewick and Brown, a firm of solicitors.
‘D’yer want to hear somethin’ funny?’ Molly now asked her. ‘These lot needn’t listen if they don’t want to.’ With a smile already on her face, she began to relate Nellie’s story, mimicking her friend down to the last detail. She was looking at Jill, but out of the corner of her eye she could see smiles appearing on the faces of the others. By the time she was halfway through the story, the room was ringing with loud laughter.
‘Ay, Mam, that’s not ’alf funny,’ Tommy chuckled. ‘I can just imagine Auntie Nellie, she looks like Norman Evans, doin’ his “Over the garden wall” thing.’
‘Don’t yer dare tell her that, she’ll ’ave yer life.’
‘I think the funniest part is all the customers crowded round the windows in that little shop,’ Doreen giggled, her face flushed. ‘I’d love to ’ave seen it.’
‘What’s tickled my fancy,’ Jack said, ‘was you pulling Nellie off the chair in case she broke it. The size of her, yer could have broken yer back, never mind the chair!’
‘I laughed that much, I nearly wet me knickers,’ Molly said. ‘She’s a real case when she gets goin’, is Nellie.’
‘You know, Mam, I bet if you’d dared her to go up to the new people and
ask to borrow a cup of sugar, she’d have gone.’ Jill was courting Nellie’s son, Steve, and she knew the tricks her boyfriend’s mother could get up to. ‘I wouldn’t put anything past her.’
‘No, yer can always expect the unexpected with Nellie.’ There was a twinkle in Molly’s eyes as she gazed around the table. ‘Yer all in such a happy frame of mind, it seems a shame to wipe the smiles off yer faces. But yez can all get stuck in an’ get the dishes washed, ’cos I ain’t doin’ them, I’m worn out.’
‘Ah, ray, Mam! I’m goin’ out!’ Doreen and Tommy cried in unison, dismay on their faces.
‘When the dishes are done yez can go to Timbuctoo for all I care, but not before,’ Molly told them. ‘I’ve been on the go the whole flamin’ day, an’ I’ve had it up to here.’ She patted the top of her head. ‘So, no moans, just get crackin’. The sooner yer start, the sooner yer finished.’
‘I’ll do the dishes,’ Jill said. ‘Steve’s not coming until half seven.’
‘I’ll give a hand,’ Tommy grunted, pushing his chair back. ‘It won’t take long.’
‘We’ll all get stuck in.’ Doreen started to stack the dirty plates on top of each other. ‘Many hands make light work.’
Molly smiled at Jack across the table. ‘Not bad kids, are they?’
Jack smiled back. ‘If they’re all going out, we’ll have the house to ourselves. Just think, a couple of hours’ peace an’ quiet.’
‘Yer’ll have it all to yerself, sunshine, ’cos I promised to go up to Nellie’s for half an hour.’
Jack moved his head from side to side. ‘Haven’t you seen enough of each other for one day? Beats me what yez find to talk about.’
‘I won’t be out long, just half an hour. I’ll be back before yer’ve finished readin’ the Echo.’ Molly stood up and pushed her chair back under the table before going into the kitchen. She put her fingers to her lips, and winked, her eyes telling the children to make less noise and listen. Then she went back to Jack. ‘Besides, we won’t be doin’ much talkin’. We’re goin’ for a little walk, just up the street. We want to see what kind of curtains the new people have got up.’ The look of bewilderment on Jack’s face egged her on. ‘Yer can always tell what kind of folk they are by their curtains. Dead giveaway, they are.’
‘Molly, have yer lost the run of yer senses? Yer can’t just walk up to a person’s house and stand gawping at their curtains! They’ll wonder what sort of a neighbourhood they’ve moved into.’
‘Well, it’s like this, yer see, Jack. Me an’ Nellie agree that because we’ve lived ’ere for nearly twenty years, it’s our territory, like, isn’t it? We reckon we’re entitled to vet any new people that move in.’ The startled look on her husband’s face was too much for Molly. She leaned her elbows on the sideboard and gave way to the laughter that had been building up inside her.
When Jack saw the three grinning faces appear round the kitchen door, he cursed himself for being taken in so easily. He should know, after all these years, to take everything his wife said with a pinch of salt. ‘Okay, I give in.’ He held his hands up in surrender. ‘You caught me out again, Molly Bennett.’
‘That’s why I love yer, Jack Bennett, yer so easy to manage.’ Molly plonked herself on his knee and put her arms around his neck. ‘I wouldn’t ’ave yer any different for all the money in the world.’ She was about to kiss him when she remembered they had an audience. ‘Back to work, you lot. There’s some things not meant for your eyes.’
Holding Molly’s body close, and listening to the happy giggling in the kitchen, Jack thought how lucky he was to have a wife who could turn tears to laughter. And when her soft lips covered his, he told himself there wasn’t another bloke alive who had what he had.
Chapter Two
‘Good news, Jill!’ Miles Sedgewick’s smile as he waltzed into the office was as wide as his face. Without taking his eyes off Jill he put his briefcase on the floor and sat on the corner of his desk. ‘A letter came in this morning’s post from the Ministry of Defence to say I’d been accepted for the post.’
Jill’s fingers hovered over the typewriter keys as she gazed across the office she shared with Miles, the son of one of the partners in the firm of solicitors. She tried to feel some enthusiasm but it wasn’t easy. She really didn’t care one way or the other about Miles leaving, it was his reason for getting another job that galled her. Mr. Sedgewick senior thought a war with Germany was on the cards, and because he knew people in the right places, he’d wangled a job for his son in a reserved occupation. Which meant, if there was a war, while all the eligible men were being called up, Miles would be sitting pretty. And Jill didn’t think that was fair. As her mam said, it just showed what money could do.
‘That’s nice for you.’ Jill flicked the arm at the end of the typewriter to start a new line. ‘I bet your father’s pleased.’
‘He and Mother are delighted,’ Miles told her, smugly. He was twenty-one, tall, and quite good-looking, with a thick mop of dark hair and hazel eyes. ‘Father said I can leave on Friday, so I’ll be starting my new job next Monday.’ He rounded his desk and sat down. ‘I feel very pleased with myself.’
‘Will you still be studying, the same as you are here?’ Jill asked.
‘Oh, yes! It’ll be a few years before I’m a fully fledged solicitor. If there is a war, and Father seems to think it’s inevitable, it won’t last long, probably only a year or so, then I’ll be back here to join the firm as a junior partner.’ Miles took a fountain pen from the top pocket of his suit and tapped it on the desk. ‘This calls for a celebration, don’t you think? A leaving party to send me on my way.’
‘I’m sure your father will arrange something.’
‘Oh, I don’t want to celebrate with Father! I was thinking you and I could go out together for a meal and a drink. How are you fixed for Friday night?’
He’s got a nerve, Jill thought. Doesn’t even bother asking if I’d like to go, just takes it for granted. ‘No thanks, Miles, I’ll be going out with Steve on Friday.’
‘Surely he can take your chains off for one night? After all, it’s only to bid me a fond farewell.’
Jill shook her head. Miles had talked her into going with him and his parents to a Christmas function in the Adelphi, and it had been the cause of a split between her and Steve. Her boyfriend had begged her not to go, couldn’t understand why she wanted to go out with another bloke. But Jill had already promised Miles, and because she thought it would sound childish if she said her boyfriend objected, she’d gone. In her mind she’d felt sure Steve would come round when he’d got over his fit of the sulks, but he hadn’t. For three weeks he’d stayed away from her and although Jill had kept her sadness to herself, it had been the longest three weeks of her life. Miles had persuaded her to go out with him a few times during those weeks when she was at a loose end, and he’d gone out of his way to win her affection, but it hadn’t worked. Jill’s heart belonged to Steve, and all she could feel for Miles was friendship. Now she was back with the boy she loved, she had no intention of doing anything else to jeopardise their relationship. ‘No, Miles! I bet you wouldn’t like it if you had a girlfriend and she went out with somebody else.’
‘If I had a girlfriend, I wouldn’t be so possessive.’ The expression on Miles’ face reminded Jill of a petulant child who couldn’t get his own way. ‘Steve must be very unsure of himself if he’s afraid to let you out of his sight.’ The tapping of his pen became louder. ‘I think he’s very immature, and you are very silly to give in to him. Surely you’re capable of thinking for yourself, having a mind of your own?’
‘Oh, I do have a mind of my own, Miles.’ Jill tried to cool her temper by reminding herself that this was her boss’s son. But her pride wouldn’t let him get away with what he’d said. ‘Nobody twists my arm, makes me do anything I don’t want to do. Steve is my boyfriend because I want him to be my boyfriend. He always has been, always will be, and that’s the way I want it.’
‘Then le
t me wish you all the luck in the world,’ Miles said, his voice thick with sarcasm, ‘because, believe me, you’ll need it.’ Throwing his pen down, he swivelled in his chair and pulled at the handle of the top drawer in his desk. In his temper he forgot it opened at a mere touch, and before he could stop it the drawer slid completely out of the desk, scattering its contents all over the floor. ‘Damn and blast!’
Under normal circumstances Jill would have rushed across the office to help pick up the papers and sort them back into the appropriate files. But not today. Miles was behaving like a spoilt child, so she let him get on with it. She watched him get down on his hands and knees to retrieve the scattered papers and knew it would take him ages to file them away in the correct order, whereas she would have had it done in half the time.
But when guilt started to niggle at Jill’s conscience she quickly banished it. Miles was a grown man, but he’d been so molly-coddled all his life he thought he could have everything he wanted, including her. He’d never known what it was like to be poor, never known hunger. His clothes were the best money could buy and he owned a big posh car. Jill had never begrudged him these things, she wasn’t jealous or envious because she was satisfied with her own life. But it rankled that he’d been wangled into a nice cushy job where he’d be safe if a war started. There’d be no exemption for other blokes his age, like Steve, or their Tommy when he was old enough, and it seemed so unfair.
