‘And I told you, Nanna, if she’d have made me be a pageboy I’d have topped meself, truth I would.’
Katie shook her head. ‘Talking to yer nanna like that. Just as one of yer gets a bit grown up and starts behaving himself, the next one starts acting like a little hooligan.’
Timmy stuck out his bottom lip and contented himself with a crafty kick at Michael’s shin before escaping to the safety of the cluster of stiff-collared men who were standing with his dad smoking and cracking jokes.
Katie craned her neck to see over the massed hats. ‘I can’t see our Molly nowhere, Mum.’
Nora jerked her head towards the church door. ‘The bridesmaids are standing inside. Those little capes might look pretty but they’re no good against this cold. Mind you, it’s just as cold in there, if you ask me. I think Father Hopkins could have got some heaters or something.’
‘D’yer think I should nip home and get Molly a coat?’ Katie’s mind raced through the warm outer wear she possessed that might be suitable for a bridesmaid. ‘I’m sure I could sort out some jackets or something for Lalla and young Theresa as well.’
Nora looked at Katie as though she had gone daft. ‘Can you just imagine? Their big moment, all dressed up in gorgeous blue satin and you want them to wear big old coats over the top. Sure they’d rather freeze.’
Katie hauled her handbag further up her arm and headed for the church door. ‘I’ll just go in and see,’ she said over her shoulder.
‘You can tell ’em to get out here while yer at it,’ Nora called after her, ‘’cos here comes the bride! Come on, let’s have a quick look before we go in,’ she said, herding Michael forward.
All eyes were turned towards the street where Aggie and Joe, dressed in their finest, sat perched on the driver’s bench of a ribbon bedecked governess cart, pulled by Duchess, their little grey pony. Behind them, in a froth of white, sat Liz, shivering with nerves and the cold, next to Bill, resplendent in his bowler and a new suit from the fifty-bob tailors in Chrisp Street.
Bill took off his hat and helped his daughter down from the carriage. There were gasps of admiration as the guests and the sightseers, who had assembled at the church gate, had their first proper look at the bride. Her dress fell in soft folds of lace from a simple satin bodice; her head was covered in a matching long, full veil held in place by a circlet of flowers, and a cascade of dark green ivy and pure white lilies trembled in her hands.
‘Yer’ve gotta hand it to her, Kate,’ said Nora, sniffling into her hankie. ‘That Peggy is a genius with the needle. Sure, I reckon that Mrs Simpson’ll be after her to make her wedding frock when she marries Edward.’
By the time the service was over and the guests were outside again for the photographs, Nora wasn’t the only one who was crying. In fact, there was hardly a dry female eye to be seen, and there were quite a few men who suddenly needed to blow their noses as well.
Katie shuddered back a sob as she kissed Peggy on the cheek. ‘Yer such a clever woman, Peg. They all look so lovely.’
Peggy dabbed at her eyes. ‘How could I go wrong with beauties like them to work with?’ Her tears started flowing again. ‘Aw, I’m so happy for ’em, Kate,’ she wailed, falling into her neighbour’s arms.
But when they got back to the Queen’s and the reception got under way, it wasn’t long before most of the weeping was forgotten.
Everything had been prepared beforehand so it was just a matter of getting stuck in. The food was all laid out on big trestles in the snug, and most of the tables and chairs had been lifted through into the public bar, leaving plenty of space in the main saloon bar for dancing. Soon the little floor was filled with smiling couples swaying in rhythm to the unlikely trio of Sooky, bashing the life out of the pub’s piano, Jimmo, strutting about with his squeeze box, and Paul, Harold and Mags’s son-in-law, plucking away on his banjo.
As Molly watched the dancers glide by, she found it hard to stop her tears from flowing again, but these were bitter tears of regret that she couldn’t be like Danny and Liz as they twirled around the floor in one another’s arms, showing the world how much they loved one another.
Nutty Lil, who had been spinning around by herself, came to a halt next to Molly. ‘Hello,’ she said. ‘Have you seen me blue and silver shawl?’
Molly nodded.
‘It’s mine. Irene give it to me to keep.’
‘It’s lovely, Lil,’ Molly said, doing her best to smile through her tears.
‘Yer can borrow it if yer like. Just for a minute, I mean, ’cos yer look cold standing over here by the door.’
‘Ta, Lil, but I’m all right. Why don’t yer go back to yer dancing? Yer like dancing, don’t yer?’
She considered for a moment, then nodded. ‘Yeah, I do. All right.’ All thoughts of Molly being cold were forgotten, as Lil swooped away again, her shawl flying out behind her like a victor’s banner.
Molly couldn’t bear to look at the dancers any longer. Her tears stinging her eyes, she moved back into the doorway, right away from them, and watched Joe Palmer instead, as he led Sean up to the bar. He seemed to be giving him a talking to. She hoped that her brother hadn’t got himself in trouble again. But she could hardly be bothered to keep the thought in her head.
She shivered as she felt cold air rush past her as someone opened the door.
‘Sorry I’m late,’ a voice said behind her.
She spun round. ‘Simon! What’re you doing here?’
‘Aren’t I welcome?’
‘Er . . . yeah. Yeah, course you are. But I never thought yer’d really come.’
‘I don’t suppose I did either. Not until about an hour ago.’
She looked nervously over her shoulder. Everyone was still dancing, eating or drinking: too busy to worry about what she was up to.
‘Will you come outside for a moment? I want to talk to you.’ Molly nodded; he sounded so serious.
Simon pushed the door open and let her step out in front of him into the wintry afternoon sunlight.
‘Over here, out of the wind,’ he said, leading her over to where the high brick wall that blocked the end of the street formed a corner with the wall of the pub.
He took off his overcoat and draped it round her shoulders. ‘You look so beautiful.’ He gently took her hand in his. ‘I’ve been speaking to my uncle about you.’
Molly’s mouth felt so dry she thought she would choke. ‘And what did he say?’
‘What I expected. He doesn’t approve.’
Molly dropped her chin, unable to face him.
He squeezed her hand. ‘But I don’t care what he thinks. You’re everything to me, Molly, and I can’t live without you. Not now I know what it is to be in love and to laugh and be happy.’
Molly stared down at the pavement. ‘You don’t look very happy now.’
‘I really love you, Molly.’
‘And I love you, but it ain’t doing us much good, is it?’ She pulled her hand away and smacked it against the rough brick of the wall. ‘There’s some things yer can just hitch up yer skirts and climb right over, like this here. But there’s others, they’re just too high.’
He leant close to her. As he spoke, she could feel his hot breath on the top of her head. ‘My uncle had something else to say.’
‘Aw yeah? Found yer a nice Jewish girlfriend, has he?’
‘No. He told me the truth about who I am.’
‘Who you are?’ she repeated.
He laughed ironically. ‘I come from bad stock, apparently. I’m useless, just like my mother.’
‘That’s wicked, him talking ill of the dead like that.’
‘There’s more.’ Simon shook his head as though he could hardly believe what he was about to say. ‘My mother and father didn’t die in an accident. The story he’d always told me was just that, a story. None of it was true.’
‘They’re alive?’
He shook his head again, hesitated for a moment. ‘Well, my father might be.’
‘I don’t follow yer.’
‘My mother, my real mother, became pregnant by the boy she wanted to marry. But the family didn’t approve of him, so they sent her away to have her baby with some cousin in Manchester.’
‘Didn’t the boy go after her?’
‘They refused to tell him where she was. When the child – me – was born, she started pining for the boy. She became ill. So they took me away from her, and the family brought me up, passing me around over the years like an unwanted parcel.’
‘So what happened to yer mum?’
‘She . . .’ he spoke so softly, Molly could just about hear him ‘. . . died. A few years ago, in an institution. I could have gone to see her if only my uncle had told me about her. She died alone, and I never even knew she existed.’
As he took her hand again, Molly felt her eyes brim with tears.
‘He even took me to see the graves where my so-called parents were supposed to be buried.’ He swallowed hard. ‘When I was a child I cried over the graves of strangers, strangers who just happened to have the same name as mine. My whole life has been a lie.’
Molly dropped her chin again. ‘Just like you lied whenever you came to meet me.’
‘Don’t talk like that, Molly, please. You’re the only one who makes any sense to me any more. Molly,’ he took her face in his hands, and searched her eyes for the answer, ‘you’ve got to marry me.’
Molly shrugged away from him. ‘Look, yer’ve rowed with yer uncle. It don’t mean nothing. Us lot row all the time. You see, it’ll all have blown over by the time yer get home, and then yer’ll be sorry yer said that.’
‘No, you’re wrong. I’ll never regret it. I’m going to find us some rooms, and I’ll stay there by myself until we get married. I’ve got a bit of money, I can get by until I find another job, and then I’m going to find my mother’s grave. My real mother’s grave.’
‘Simon, yer know I can’t marry yer. When all this is sorted out, and you and yer uncle are mates again, how yer gonna feel then? Yer’ve said it yerself: he’d never forgive yer if yer didn’t marry a Jewish girl.’
Simon closed his eyes. ‘It’s nothing to do with religion, Molly. That’s something else I found out.’
‘So what is it about then?’
Slowly he opened his eyes. ‘All he cares about, all he really cares about, is that I should marry “the right sort of girl”.’
Molly bristled. ‘So I ain’t posh enough for him, is that it?’
Simon grabbed Molly by the shoulders. ‘He’s a fool. He’s the sort of man who thinks that men without jobs are all worthless loafers, and even if someone tried to give them work, they’d only live like animals, and spend all their spare time thieving and drinking.’
Molly laughed mirthlessly. ‘There’s a few from round Upper North Street what wouldn’t change his mind.’
‘Don’t mock me, Molly.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘It was one of those “worthless” types who my mother was in love with. That was why my uncle wouldn’t hear of their marrying. She had no choice but to let them take me. It wasn’t her fault.’
‘Course it wasn’t.’ Molly reached out and touched his cheek with her fingertips.
‘I’m going to find her grave, Molly, and you’re going to be with me, as my wife, when I do.’
‘But it ain’t as easy as that, is it?’ Molly buried her face in her hands. ‘It ain’t gonna be easy whatever we do.’
Molly felt someone gently take her hands away from her face. ‘What’s not gonna be easy, my little love?’ It was Stephen, he had appeared from nowhere and was standing next to Simon. ‘Sure, I’d fight the buggers with one hand tied behind me back if they tried to make things hard for my angel of a granddaughter.’
‘Farvee!’ Molly flung her arms tightly around his neck. ‘Aw, Farvee!’
‘And who’s this handsome young feller?’ Stephen gasped, trying to twist his head so that he could see Simon.
Simon held out his hand. ‘Simon. Simon Blomstein.’
Stephen peeled Molly’s arms away and shook Simon’s hand. ‘A good Irish name, Blomstein,’ he said with a wink. ‘Now you, Molly, my girl, you go inside and find them young grandsons o’ mine for me. I want to see ’em before I have to face yer mammy. And don’t worry, I’ll look after yer man here.’
Molly nodded, wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, and ran into the pub to look for them.
She found Michael straight away; he was supposedly collecting empty glasses and taking them back to the bar, but was actually relieving unsuspecting guests of their unfinished drinks, which he then knocked back in one go, before piling them on to an over-spilling tin tray of empties.
‘Yer’ll be sick as a dog if yer carry on like that, and serve yer right,’ Molly hissed into his ear. ‘So before yer do start chucking up or passing out, I’m going into the lav, and while I’m in there, I want you to go and find Timmy and Sean for me.’
‘Aw, Moll,’ he whined.
‘There’s a surprise outside for yers. But only if yer fetch the others and only if yer keep quiet about it,’ she warned him.
When Molly had washed her tear-stained face she went back outside. Simon and Stephen were talking animatedly to one another.
‘Me and yer man here have had a little chat,’ said Stephen, clapping his hand on Simon’s shoulder. ‘He seems like a good boy to me.’
‘Yeah, he is,’ said Molly. She kissed her grandfather on the cheek. ‘We’ve missed yer, yer know, Farvee.’
‘And I’ve missed all of yous.’ Stephen smiled ruefully. ‘Sure, I found I couldn’t live without yers, didn’t I?’
Molly’s three younger brothers appeared in the pub doorway. When they saw who was waiting for them they launched themselves forward like a rugby team on the attack. ‘Farvee!’ They were so excited, and had seen so many strange faces at the reception, that they didn’t give Simon a second glance.
Timmy was almost beside himself. ‘I’ve gotta go and get Mum. She ain’t gonna believe this.’
Stephen raised his eyebrows in mock alarm as Timmy dashed back into the pub. ‘Now I’m for it.’
‘Don’t worry, Farvee,’ Molly said. ‘Mum won’t start, not today.’
‘Has she met yer friend Simon yet?’ he asked.
‘Er . . .’
‘Well, it might be better if I go inside and see her in there, eh? Don’t want her coming out here and finding two surprises waiting for her.’
He winked at Molly, put his arm round Sean and guided him back towards the pub door. ‘Now young feller, tell me all yer news.’
As they stepped back inside the warm pub, Sean felt the blush rising from his throat and colouring his face, but it wasn’t the heat that was making him red. ‘Joe Palmer was talking to me just now. He asked me if I’d be interested in working for him now that our Danny’s gonna be setting up on his own.’
Stephen nodded approvingly. ‘Setting up on his own, eh?’
‘Yeah.’
‘And what did you say to Joe Palmer?’ he asked as he shoved the door shut behind him.
‘I said I might be.’ Sean grinned. ‘No, I didn’t. I said, yeah, I said thanks very much Joe, I’d love to work for yer!’
Stephen ruffled Sean’s red curls. ‘Good for you, son, good for you. But now it can’t be that what’s making yer go the colour of a beetroot, now can it?’
‘No, there’s something else,’ Sean whispered, so that Michael couldn’t hear. ‘I’ve got meself a girl, ain’t I? That pretty blonde one over there with Peggy Watts. She’s Liz’s cousin. Her name’s Lalla. It’s short for Alice.’
All the while that Stephen was admiring Lalla and praising Sean for his good fortune, he was aware of Katie threading her way towards him through the dancers behind the still beaming Timmy.
‘Hello,’ said Katie stiffly, stopping in front of him.
‘We’ll let you and Mum have a talk, eh?’ Sean said, dragging the protesting Michael
and Timmy away behind him.
Katie frowned suspiciously at this new mature Sean; strange things happened when Stephen was around.
‘He’s growing into quite the young man.’ Stephen said, watching his grandsons’ progress across the bar. ‘And no more dog fighting, I hope?’
‘No.’
‘Yer know that had nothing to do with me, don’t yer?’
‘I know. But ne’mind all that. What’re you doing here?’
He shrugged. ‘I found I missed them little monkeys as much as I’d miss the fingers off me own hand. And sure I couldn’t not come to me own grandson’s wedding, now could I?’
‘How’d yer find out about it?’
Stephen winked and tapped the side of his nose with his finger. ‘Happiness has a way of making things happen for the best.’
Katie paused for a moment, then said, ‘Thanks for coming. I know it’ll mean a lot to our Danny.’
Stephen nodded. ‘And it means a lot to me too.’
‘I’ll go and fetch him in a minute. But I’ll get Mum first.’
‘Where is she?’
‘Only over there, talking to Edie and Frank.’
‘Edie and Frank, eh? Sounds interesting.’
Katie’s voice softened. ‘Yeah, it’s nice. They’ve got right close lately.’
‘Well, I’m more than pleased for the pair of ’em. Being alone’s a terrible thing. It’s a hard lesson, but I’ve learnt it well, the older I’ve got.’
Katie began to walk away but she stopped again, turned round and said to him, ‘Edie’s always been right grateful about how good you were to her Bert, yer know. It was important to her, she said, knowing he’d been happy them last few months.’
Stephen smiled, but his eyes looked sad.
‘Thanks for coming, Dad.’ She emphasised the word with a smile, then bowed her head. ‘I never thought I’d say this, but I’ve missed you, yer know?’
‘I’ve missed you too, my love.’
Katie hurriedly turned away and pushed through the crowds to Nora. ‘Mum, there’s someone here to see yer.’
‘So, who would that be, darling?’
Just Around the Corner Page 44
