One Week in August

by Margaret Thornton

  ‘So you’ve come away with a friend, have you?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes, two friends. Lads I was at school with; nothing to do with the mill, but we’ve always kept in touch. We were at the grammar school together.’

  ‘Oh … I thought you might have gone away to school?’

  ‘To public school, you mean? No, as I said, my father’s a pretty ordinary sort of chap, and he’s not a great believer in social climbing. I think Mother might have liked it, but Dad put his foot down. Anyway … that’s more than enough about me. I know very little about you. What do you do when you’re not at work?’

  She laughed. ‘What is there to do in Halifax?’

  She realized as she chatted with Sam that her horizons were very limited. She had hardly ever travelled beyond the boundaries of Yorkshire. She had visited Blackpool before but that was the furthest she had been. She didn’t doubt that Sam had travelled far and wide. He had been to Germany with the army, but she was sure he would have visited many parts of the British Isles and even further afield during his twenty-three years. She knew that the Walker family lived in a large house on the outskirts of Halifax, as befitted their status as mill owners. Her home, in one of the streets of terraced houses in the centre of the town, could not be more of a contrast.

  She did not try to pretend that her life was wildly exciting, because it wasn’t, but she was contented enough in her own way. She hoped, though, that she was not giving the impression that she was totally boring and unimaginative. This trip to Blackpool, she told him, was the highlight of the year, as well as Christmas, which was always a happy family time.

  ‘Cissie and I go to the pictures now and again,’ she said, ‘and we sometimes go to a dance and social evening at the church she attends. I don’t go to church very often,’ she added, ‘but Cissie’s parents insist that she goes.’

  Sam laughed. ‘She has to toe the line, does she?’

  ‘Her mother would like her to, but at least she was allowed to come away with me this week. That reminds me … I’m neglecting her, aren’t I?’

  ‘I’m sure she’ll be alright,’ said Sam. ‘She’s big enough to look after herself, isn’t she? Don’t worry, though, I’ll make sure you get back safely to your place, you and Cissie and … Janice, isn’t it, the girl from the hotel? Although she might have other arrangements.’ Janice was still talking animatedly to the RAF lad. ‘We’ll get a taxi back to North Shore.’

  ‘Oh no, you mustn’t,’ said Val. ‘We’ll be OK, honestly …’

  ‘But I insist. Anyway, the night’s still young. Come along, Val. Let’s go and trip the light fantastic again. That is, if you would like to keep me company a little longer?’

  ‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘Of course I would.’

  ‘OK then, let’s go.’ He took hold of her hand as they walked back to the ballroom.

  SIX

  By the end of the evening Janice felt as though she had known Philip Grundy for ages. He wasn’t pushy or flirtatious, just nice and normal and so easy to talk to. He asked if he could see her again – apparently they were allowed a fair amount of time to themselves – and she agreed that she would like that very much.

  They spoke, too, about the time when he would be back at home, near Ilkley, and she would be at university in Leeds. Even after such a short acquaintance it seemed perfectly right for him to suggest that they should meet again in Yorkshire; and Janice did not feel she was being too forward in going along with the idea.

  Sam Walker was as good as his word. At eleven o’clock he hailed a taxi outside the Winter Gardens building. His two friends who had been with him earlier obviously had ‘other fish to fry’, as he put it. Janice’s new friend Phil, was very apologetic about not seeing her home. He would have to catch the bus back to camp or else it would involve a ten-mile or so hike!

  When Val went to find Cissie she could see her friend was rather cross and disgruntled.

  ‘What d’you think you’re playing at?’ she demanded of Val. ‘You know who that is, don’t you? It’s Samuel Walker!’

  ‘Yes, of course I know. Actually, he’s very nice.’

  ‘He won’t want to be bothered with the likes of us. Haven’t you told him where you work?’

  ‘Yes, I’ve told him,’ replied Val, feeling more than a little irritated. ‘He’s a very nice young man, and he’s not snobbish at all. Anyway, I’m glad of a ride back in a taxi even if you’re not.’

  ‘Of course I’m glad, but I wouldn’t trust him if I were you.’

  Val guessed that Cissie was a little peeved because all the partners she had danced with had not asked her a second time. At least, she assumed that this was the problem.

  Sam sat at the front of the taxi and the three girls sat at the back. Janice directed the driver to the ‘Florabunda’ hotel, then he would drive back to the Carlton on the corner where Sam was staying.

  ‘Thank you for a pleasant evening,’ said Sam, as the girls left the taxi, although his remark was really addressed to Val. He gave a slow smile and a suggestion of a wink in her direction, which the other two noticed. ‘See you soon,’ he said quietly.

  ‘Yes … see you,’ repeated Val in a whisper.

  ‘So you’re seeing him again, are you?’ asked Cissie, as Janice opened the door with her key and they all entered the house.

  ‘Yes, why not?’ asked Val, a trifle belligerently.

  ‘You know why not!’ retorted Cissie. ‘You’re asking for trouble and you can’t say I haven’t warned you.’

  Janice looked at the two of them in bewilderment. ‘What’s all this about?’ she asked. ‘He seems very nice …’

  ‘Yes, so he is.’ Val nodded in agreement.

  ‘He’s only one of the big bosses from the mill!’ Cissie’s face was pink with indignation. ‘Samuel Walker. His father’s Joshua Walker, the owner. She’s playing with fire … and she’ll get burnt!’

  ‘Oh, I see,’ said Janice. ‘You’ll just have to wait and see how it goes on, won’t you?’ she said to Val, smiling at her understandingly. She guessed that Cissie was being awkward and argumentative because she hadn’t met anyone ‘special’ as she and Val had done. ‘It’s been a good evening, hasn’t it?’ she added. ‘Thanks for your company, both of you. See you in the morning.’

  ‘It’s alright for some,’ grumbled Cissie, as Janice left them. ‘I felt like little orphan Annie, standing there on my own.’

  ‘Oh, come on, Cissie! You were dancing a lot of the time. I saw you with lots of different partners.’

  ‘How would you know? You were gadding off with Lord Samuel! Nobody asked me to go for a drink with them, did they?’

  ‘Well, don’t blame me. It’s not my fault!’ Val looked at her friend’s crestfallen face and put an arm round her. ‘Oh, Cissie, love, we mustn’t fall out about it! It’s only our first evening. I didn’t know I was going to meet … him, did I? But it won’t make any difference to you and me. You know that, don’t you?’

  ‘S’pose so,’ said Cissie, with a shrug. ‘I was really looking forward to this holiday.’

  ‘And it’ll be great, you’ll see. Come on now, let’s get off to bed. You’ll feel better in the morning.’

  Cissie said very little as they got ready for bed, and Val decided it would be better not to chatter. ‘Goodnight, God bless …’ she said, switching off the bedside light.

  ‘Goodnight, Val,’ Cissie replied. ‘God bless … Sorry if I’ve been grumpy.’

  ‘It’s OK, forget it,’ said Val. She would tell Cissie in the morning about her next meeting with Sam Walker.

  Cissie seemed much more agreeable the next morning, more like her old self. They both tucked into their breakfast of porridge, followed by bacon, egg, sausage and fried bread, as though they hadn’t eaten for a month.

  ‘I couldn’t eat this at home,’ Cissie remarked, ‘not that I get the chance, only once in a blue moon. I’ve hardly time for a piece of toast before I’m dashing off to work.’

  ‘Well, w
e’ve all the time in the world now,’ said Val, ‘so let’s enjoy it.’

  ‘So, when are you seeing lover boy again?’ asked Cissie in a cheerful voice, as though she really couldn’t care less.

  ‘If you mean Sam, then I’m seeing him on Tuesday,’ replied Val.

  ‘Oh, not till Tuesday? What’s wrong with today?’

  ‘He’s playing golf today.’

  ‘Oh … I say!’ mimicked Cissie.

  ‘With his two friends,’ Val continued. ‘There’s a golf course near Stanley Park. That’s one of the reasons they’ve come on this holiday, to play golf.’

  ‘So where are you going on Tuesday – do you know?’

  ‘Sam wants to go to the Tower Ballroom in the evening instead of the Winter Gardens. But I told him that you’d be coming with us. I’ve no intention of leaving you on your own, Cissie. I shall only see him when it’s convenient. It’s our holiday, yours and mine. What would you like to do today?’

  ‘It’s Sunday,’ said Cissie. ‘I ought to go to church, but I think I’ll give it a miss. A nice long walk along the prom, I suppose. I wonder if Janice will be seeing her RAF bloke? Let’s ask her.’

  Janice stopped for a chat when she came to clear the table. ‘Yes!’ she answered with a delighted smile when they asked her about her new friend. She told them he was called Phil. ‘He’s coming here to call for me this afternoon, then we’ll go for a walk on the cliffs, up to Norbreck. I want Mum and Dad to meet him.’

  ‘So soon?’ said Val, rather surprised.

  ‘Yes; why not? I don’t keep secrets from my parents. Not that I’ve had any worth keeping so far!’ she added with a smile. ‘I have the feeling, somehow, that we’ll carry on seeing one another, Phil and me. Especially as he lives in Yorkshire, not too far from where I’ll be at uni, and he’s being demobbed next month. I don’t know, of course – I’ve only just met him – but it seems promising.’

  ‘Lucky you!’ remarked Cissie.

  ‘It’ll be your turn next, you’ll see,’ said Janice brightly, as she piled the pots on to a tray. ‘What are your plans for today?’

  ‘We haven’t really decided,’ said Val. ‘We’ll just walk around and do a recce of the place, I suppose. We were thinking of going to a show one night, if we can get tickets. Would you like to come with us?’ Val and Cissie had already talked about this and decided it would be a good idea to ask Janice to accompany them.

  ‘That’s nice of you,’ said Janice. ‘Thanks very much. I haven’t seen any of them this year. It will have to be the second house, because of the meal time. We have the evening meal early so that visitors have the chance to go to the theatre or the cinema. The show at the Opera House is usually the most spectacular. So count me in, please. Which night are you thinking of?’

  ‘Not Tuesday,’ said Cissie, with a sly grin in Val’s direction. ‘She’s got a date!’

  ‘Oh … that’s nice. Any night’s OK with me, Wednesday, Thursday … I’ll probably be seeing Phil again on Saturday. Oh, you’ll have gone by then, won’t you?’ The two girls would be leaving after breakfast on Saturday. ‘It’s such a short time, isn’t it?’

  ‘Don’t remind us!’ said Cissie. ‘I’m dreading going back already. We’ll have to make the most of it while we’re here.’

  ‘OK. I’ll see you this evening then,’ said Janice. ‘Have a lovely day.’

  ‘Thank you … and you too,’ said Val.

  They walked in a northerly direction, past the large Imperial Hotel, to Gynn Square. Beyond there were the so-called cliffs. They did not have the scenic beauty of the cliffs in their native Yorkshire, near Filey and Flamborough Head; but the sun was shining, a gentle breeze was blowing, and the sea was ebbing, revealing a rippled stretch of golden sand. On the top of the cliffs the tableaux for the Illuminations, due to be switched on at the beginning of September, were already being erected, and strings of coloured light bulbs – unlit of course – were strung along the promenade.

  Below them was the walled-in area known as the Boating Pool, most popular with the children. There you could have an automated ride on the back of an elephant or a giraffe, take to the water in a paddle boat or rowing boat, or buy ice cream and pop from a stall with a striped awning. When they had walked as far as the Norbreck Hotel, a grey and rather forbidding-looking building, turreted like a castle, they decided to take a tram ride back to the town. Boarding the cream and green tram was quite a novelty for them. The driver tooted on the horn as it rattled along the track, swaying from side to side. They alighted at the North Pier, then crossed the tramtrack into the centre of the town.

  All the usual shops were there – Woolworths, Marks and Spencer, Littlewoods, British Home Stores – and jewellers and fancy goods shops, all with tempting window displays, the majority of them closed, of course. The box office was open at the Opera House, however, so they booked seats for the three of them in the back stalls for Wednesday evening.

  After a light lunch at a snack bar they walked back to the promenade, walking south this time to sample the dubious delights of the Golden Mile. There were stalls selling Blackpool rock, ice cream, candyfloss, ‘Kiss me Quick’ hats and cheap souvenirs, and hot dogs, oozing with fried onions, their odour lingering on the air all around. There were games and sideshows where you could win a horse race, throw balls at a pile of cans, play darts to win a teddy bear, or have your fortune told. Cissie was tempted by the amusement arcades where countless pennies were lost when the little silver ball failed to enter the hole, and sixpences, too, when the hand failed to grasp hold of a plastic toy or a useless trinket.

  ‘Never mind, it’s good fun, isn’t it?’ said Cissie, with her bulging purse now a good deal lighter.

  They bought some Blackpool rock – bright pink mint rock, and pineapple flavoured in a lurid shade of yellow – from the most reputable-looking of the stallholders, although they had the whole week ahead in which to do so. Then they made their way back to the hotel to flake out on their beds until it was time for the evening meal.

  Janice was bright and cheerful. She told them that she had enjoyed her afternoon with Phil, and was meeting him again later in the week. He had said he would phone her to arrange the time and place.

  ‘Mum and Dad liked him,’ she told them, ‘so that’s a good start. But it’s too soon to be asking him to come for a meal. We’re very busy here, anyway … Now, it’s roast beef and Yorkshire pudding tonight,’ she said with a smile as she brought their main course, ‘just to make you feel at home!’

  It was another delicious meal, and both girls felt ‘full to bursting’, as Cissie put it.

  ‘Shall we have a stroll down to the prom and walk it off?’ suggested Val. ‘We should do, really, after such a big meal.’

  ‘No, I’m knackered,’ said Cissie, ‘after all that walking we’ve done today. We can sit in the lounge and read, or just talk. There’s nothing else to do, is there, with it being Sunday?’

  The cinemas would be open, but both girls had been brought up to regard Sunday as a special day. Even if you didn’t go to church regularly you had to observe the Sabbath day. After a trip upstairs to get their books – Cissie’s was a film magazine and Val’s the latest Agatha Christie – they took a peep into the lounge, but decided not to stay.

  Two middle-aged couples were avidly watching a variety show on the television set provided for the use of the guests. They looked up, not exactly crossly, but the girls got the impression that they did not want to be disturbed. Television was still quite a luxury for many people. Some, the more go-ahead or affluent ones, had bought a set especially for the Queen’s Coronation two years ago. On that occasion neighbours and friends had gathered together in the homes of the fortunate ones who owned a set to watch the great occasion.

  ‘Oh, come on, we’ll be frowned on if we do so much as whisper,’ said Cissie. ‘Let’s go for a walk, like you said. It’s just like that at Walter’s house,’ she told Val as they strolled along the promenade. ‘Well, worse than th
at. When they’ve finished their tea his mam and dad close the curtains and light the standard lamp, then they sit there glued to the bloomin’ television all night. You daren’t speak or you get told to “Shush!” We go out, Walter and me, and we usually end up at our house. Mam makes a fuss of him and gets us some supper. She’ll do anything for Walter. She thinks the sun shines out of his … you know what! Anyway, let’s not talk about him. I’m trying to forget about him this week. Time enough to decide what to do about Walter when I get back.’

  When they returned to the hotel the TV watchers had disappeared. There was a group of four visitors playing cards and a few more sitting around reading or chatting. Cissie and Val sat in a corner and talked about their plans for the week.

  ‘What about the Pleasure Beach tomorrow?’ said Cissie. ‘I’m dying to have a ride on the Big Dipper.’

  ‘Yes, a good idea,’ agreed Val. ‘We’d better go there while we’ve still got a good bit of money left. Goodness knows what it’ll cost on all those rides.’

  ‘And what about Tuesday and Wednesday? There’s lots to see in the Tower, apart from the ballroom. There’s an aquarium and a zoo, and we said we’d go to the top of the tower, didn’t we?’

  ‘Let’s not plan too far ahead until we see how things go,’ said Val.

  ‘Oh no … You’re seeing His Lordship on Tuesday, aren’t you?’

  ‘Tuesday night, yes. But that’s not what I meant. I don’t suppose I’ll be seeing him again after that …’ Although Val was secretly hoping that she might do so. ‘He’s with his friends, isn’t he, just like I’m with you?’

  ‘OK then, we’ll take a day at a time and make sure we do everything we want to do. We’ve only got a week.’