The Rag Nymph

by Catherine Cookson

  But a speck of dirt never hurt anybody, as far as I've learnt. And if you're goin' to stay here you'll get your hands dirty an' all before long.'

  There was a slight clatter as Aggie dropped her trotter on to the plate, demanding, 'Who says she's goin' to stay here? She'll be home tomorrow; her mother'll be out.'

  'Out of where?'

  Aggie drew in a long breath and glanced at the child before answering Ben. 'Out of where she'll be spendin' the night,' she said. 'Now, no more questions. And your hands are dirty, mucky's the word I'd say.'

  'What about your own?'

  'I can have dirty hands if I like. You're here to take orders, an' don't forget it. You're gettin' too big for your boots.'

  'No! Am I? Well, that's good to hear after ten years, Aggie. Well, now that I'm too big for me boots, d'you think me legs'll sprout?'

  Aggie turned her head slightly away, took up the knife that was lying to the side of her plate, cut a piece of meat in two, then picked it up with her fingers and ate it; then she turned to the child and said, 'What's your second name?'

  'Forester. It's spelt, F-o-r-e-ster.'

  'My! my! we've got a learned one here.' Ben was nodding his head towards Aggie now. 'And by the look of her she hasn't seen six yet.'

  'I'm seven.'

  They both stared at the child.

  'Seven, are you, me love? Well, as he says, you don't look it.'

  'Can I have a fork, please?'

  Aggie again looked to the side as if to help check the escape of some quick retort from her lips. Then, without looking at Ben, she said, 'Get her a fork out of the top drawer.'

  When Ben came back to the table he placed the fork with great ceremony to the side of Millie's plate, saying, 'There you are, madam. Is there hanything belse you would desire?' He was bowing over her, and he was nonplussed when, smiling up into his face, she said, 'You are teasing me now, aren't you?

  But I always have a fork, a knife and fork; it's.., it's bad manners to eat with your fingers.' Then looking quickly from one to the other, she added, 'At least for.., for children.'

  Ben now straightened his back and returned to his seat and, looking at Aggie, said, 'Besides which, there is what is called a diplomat in our midst, Mrs Winkowski.'

  When Aggie sat back in her chair and her great fat body began to wobble, slowly from her open mouth there issued deep bellows of laughter. Ben, too, joined in, and Millie, looking from one to the other, smiled widely at them.

  Of a sudden Aggie rose from the table and left the room, and the smile slid slowly from Millie's face and she looked at the funny young man, as she thought of him, and said, 'Is she vexed?'

  'No. No, she's not vexed. But you've done something tonight, you know. It's the first time I've heard her laugh in years.., years and years. Chuckle, aye, smile now'n again, but never laugh like that... Have you got a dad?'

  She shook her head. 'No, not now. I had.'

  'Is he' - he paused - 'is he dead, then?' 'I... I think so. Mama said he was dead.'

  'You don't seem sure. Is he dead or is he not?'

  'He... he went away.'

  'Just recently.., like?'

  She paused before answering him, her eyes blinking as if she were thinking; and then she said, 'It was last year.., or sometime longer, when.., when we lived in Durham.'

  'Oh! You lived in Durham, did you? All the way up there? Durham's near Scotland, isn't it?'

  She thought for a moment, then said, 'Not really.

  It's... it's near Newcastle. That's the city.'

  'Oh aye, Newcastle. And your dad.., did he work in Durham?'

  'Yes; sometimes I think, and Newcastle.'

  'What was he?'

  'Oh, he was a tall man.' Then she shook her head and laughed. 'I thought you meant, what was Dada like. I ... I don't rightly know but only that he worked in a shop, a big shop, and he always wore a nice suit. It was black and he had a big shiny hat. And

  sometimes--' She looked away from Ben towards the corner of the room where a picture was hanging at a slight angle, and her head moved to one side as if to see it better. Then looking at him again she said, 'He sometimes had a walking stick, and.., and on that day he bought me a parasol.' Again her eyes were blinking as if her memory were groping to recall the special occasion when her father had a walking stick and she had a parasol.

  'How long have you been down here in Manchester?'

  Neither

  of them now took notice of Aggie's returning to the room and seating herself down on the leather couch. And when Millie answered him, 'It . .. it was before Easter, in March. Yes, in March,'

  she was nodding her head.

  Ben now sat back in his chair, then glanced towards Aggie. Following this, he took the last piece of pork from his plate, chewed on it, then swallowed it before asking the next question. 'Does your mother go to work?' he said.

  'Well, she went to the factory to make buttons, but they didn't give her enough money. Then she hired a machine to do shirts, but they wanted too many shirts done. I liked the hat room.' She looked from one to the other. 'It was right upstairs above the shop and all the women were nice. And there were lots of pretty colours, but--' She now looked down towards her hands, her fingers flicking against each other, and after a moment she said, 'I fidgeted. It was a long time to stay quiet all day until eight o'clock at night. And one day at dinner time I tripped and spilt a can on the table. It... it was full of beer and it flowed over the ribbons and spoilt a hat and the mistress of the room was very angry and told Mama I hadn't to be brought back again, so Mama left.'

  Aggie, sitting looking into the fire, nodded as she thought: And aye, Mama took the only step left to her, and look where it's got her.

  She now turned towards the table when Ben said,

  'You finished?' and the child replied, 'Yes, thank you. Can I help to wash up?'

  'Who said I was goin' to wash up? We just blow on the plates here.'

  Millie smiled widely at him now, and once again she said, 'You are teasing me.'

  'You seem to know a lot about teasing, young lady. Well, take your plate into the kitchen and put it into the sink. And oh, don't forget.., your fork, and your knife an' all.'

  As she went out of the room carrying her plate and the cutlery, he stepped towards Aggie, saying softly, 'What d'you make of her? She's canny, isn't she? And did you ever see such a bonny piece? She must have been decently brought up.'

  'Aye, maybe. But I can't see her with a very decent future with the mother she's got.'

  'Bad type, was she?'

  'No; no, a young lass really, very like her.' She nodded towards the far door. 'But by the sound of what she has just said her mother wasn't cut out for work, not the kind you'll find in this quarter, except

  her last job. And then she's made a hash of that an'

  all. They must have been on to her or somebody's given her away, one or t'other, 'cos it must have been a set-up cop. I'd passed that fella on the road an' when I looked back she was talking to him; then when I turned the cart into the alley the next minute, she was flying past, almost throwing the child at me.

  Well, not at me, she yelled at her to go home. But as the bairn said, she hadn't a key, it was on her mother.

  So there you have it, that's how it happened. And from what she's been prattling on about she's had a number of uncles.'

  'It sounds as if the old man scarpered. She doesn't seem to know if he is dead or not. She said he wore a black suit and worked in a shop.'

  'Oh aye. Sounds like a shop-walker.'

  'Could be. Shush! Here she is.'

  'I couldn't find any water but I've rubbed my plate with a cloth, and my knife and fork.'

  'Well, that's a clever lass for you.' Ben was laughing down at her again. 'D'you want the job as in-between maid, one pound, one 'an wompence a week?'

  'That's what my mama was; she was a maid to a lady.' She now turned quickly towards Aggie, adding, 'She will come for me in the morning, won't she? She
... won't go away, will she? I mean ...

  not like' - she now lowered her head - 'I want her.

  I want my mama. She always put me to bed.., and read me a story.'

  They both remained silent, looking at her; then Aggie said, 'She'll come for you in the mornin'.

  Would you like to go to bed now? There's ...

  there's a nice bed upstairs. Well, it's a big one with a feather tick. It's a snuggler.' She smiled.

  'I'm... I'm afraid to be in the dark.'

  'Well, it won't be dark for a long time yet. By that time I'll be upstairs.'

  'Will... will you be sleeping with me?'

  'Well!' Aggie glanced at Ben; then her head drooped and wobbled from one side to the other before she said, 'Well, if you don't mind, miss.'

  'Oh no. I... I think I would like you to.'

  'That's very kind of you.'

  They now looked towards the door through which the young fellow was making a hurried exit, and, somewhat impatiently, Aggie said, 'Come along with you, come along,' and led the way through yet another door and into a passageway, and so into a square hall from which a stairway rose.

  The stairs were bare, and before mounting them Millie looked down at Aggie's stockinged feet and said, 'Aren't you afraid of getting splinters?'

  It was on a sigh that Aggie replied, 'No, love, I'm not afraid of getting splinters. I crawled down these stairs forty-eight years ago and I've walked up and down them ever since, mostly in me bare feet, and I've never got splinters.'

  On the landing Millie stopped and, looking about her, she said, 'This is a big house.'

  'Aye; I suppose it is.'

  'There are lots of doors.'

  'Aye, there are lots of doors, and through this one'

  - Aggie pushed a door wide - 'is me bedroom. Now come on and no more lip, an' get your clothes off and into that bed, 'cos there's things I've got to do before I sleep tonight.'

  'Are you vexed with me?'

  Again Aggie sighed and she half closed her eyes before answering, 'No, child, I'm not vexed with you, but, as I said, I've got things to see to. Now, off with your clothes and no more chatter. D'you hear me?' Her voice had risen and the child now sat down on a low chair and quickly took off her shoes, then pulled her grey stockings down over her knees before, standing up, she asked, 'Will you unhook me, please?' And Aggie, bending down, undid four buttons on the back of her dress.

  After the dress, the child took off two white petticoats, and Aggie noticed that the material was quite good; and when it seemed that the shift was about to be taken off too, she said, 'I would keep that on, if I were you; you haven't got a nightgown.'

  'Oh yes. Yes, I forgot. I haven't got a nightgown.'

  'Well, up you get!'

  'I must say my prayers.'

  'Oh. Oh aye. Well, get on with it.'

  When Millie knelt by the bed and the mattress seemed out of reach, she had to raise her clasped hands head high to rest them against it. Then she began: 'God bless Mama and Dada, and please take care of them. And thank you for this day and make me grateful for what I've got. And God bless Mrs Melburn and this big woman.., lady who has been kind to me today. And please bring my mama back early in the morning. Amen.'

  As she rose from her knees Aggie said, 'Who's Mrs Melburn?'

  'She was a lady in Durham who was kind to us, the parson's wife. She let us stay with her for a week after Dada..' She paused, and again her hesitation appeared as if her mind were groping for an answer or a revelation to something she couldn't understand; then she said, 'After Dada... died. And ... and she set us to the station, and.., and Mama

  promised to write.'

  'Did she? I mean, did your mother write?'

  'Yes, and so did Mrs Melburn.'

  'Well, get up into bed.'

  'Do you have bed bugs?'

  'No! I do not have bed bugs. A flea now, here and there, but no bed bugs. Get in!"

  When the child shrank back against the edge of the bed and made no attempt to climb up on to the mattress, Aggie put a hand to her head before muttering,

  'I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Don't look so scared. But I'm particular about me bed. All right, you might find everything that crawls in the yard an' they might get as far as downstairs here and there, but not up here.

  And not on me clothes either, not if I know anything about it. If I do find them, they get short shrift. So come on, love.' And she leaned down towards the child, her thick arms going out and around her, and she lifted her into the bed, saying softly, 'There now.

  Isn't that nice and comfy?'

  Still shaking somewhat with fright, Millie swallowed twice before she brought out in a small voice,

  'It's very nice, thank you.'

  'Well then, go to sleep now. But I'll leave the door open, and it won't be dark for a long time. I'll be popping up and down to see how you are, an' when it gets dark I'll light the lamp.

  But I'll be up long before

  that. Now the pot's under the bed if you want to do a number one. You'll be able to get out on your own, won't you?'

  'Oh, yes, yes, thank you.'

  'Well then, snuggle down.'

  Aggie took two or three steps backwards, smiled, and turned and went out of the room, leaving the door wide open. At the head of the stairs she paused and gripped the broad banister; then slowly descending the stairs, she muttered to herself, 'A little of that one will go a long way.'

  Back in the sitting-room she found Ben packing the fire with tins filled with coal dust mixed with dried mud, and he turned to her, saying, 'One of these days you'll go daft and buy some real coal.'

  'Why should I? What'll we do with all the tins?'

  'You could always get a few coppers for them.'

  'Coppers, aye, but it takes more than coppers to cart them there; they won't come and pick 'em up.'

  He straightened his back and while dusting his hands he said, 'You got her off, then?'

  'Aye, I got her off, and thankfully. By! she's got a tongue.'

  As she sat down on the couch, Ben sat opposite her on the settle, his big body and large head topping the back of it while his short legs hardly touched the floor.

  'She's been well brought up,' he said.

  'Aye, she has, finicky, I would say. And you can imagine it, if her mother has been a lady's maid or some such. I wonder what happened to the father?

  I bet you a shillin' he's not dead. Done off, more like it. By what I can gather they must have lived in Durham for a time, 'cos when she was saying her prayers she brought in a Mrs Melburn, a parson's wife, who was kind to them after the father died or whatever, an' from what I made out of her jabbering the woman and the mother have written to each other. Now' - she leant towards him, her finger wagging - 'first thing in the mornin' you get down to the station and have a word with Constable Fenwick; he'll know what's goin' to happen to that lass. Don't say anything about the bairn being here. Just make out you're interested in her the woman

  called Forester.'

  'Oh, Aggie, that's a laugh for the wrong side of me face. Now, I ask you, me being' interested in somebody, a woman who looks like that bairn upstairs... Have a heart.'

  'Well, all right. If your feelings are so tender about your damned legs, tell him that Aggie was enquirin' about her. Make up some tale that I've spoken to her on me rounds. D'you hear what I'm

  sayin' to you?'

  Ben's voice was solemn as he said, 'Aye, I hear you, Aggie. Sometimes I wish I didn't; you don't half rub it in.'

  'I don't rub it into you more than you rub it into yourself. You're not above mentioning your height, even bragging about it at times, saying you're as good as any two men twice your size. Aye well, you might be, the upper half of you, but you've got to reach them and you do it with your tongue. So I'm not speakin' about any part of you you don't bring to the fore yourself.'

  A silence fell on the room, and its increasing heaviness made her heave herself up from the couch and take the three steps to throw herself
on to the seat beside him; and to put an arm around his shoulder and say, 'Come on, lad, come on. You know me. There's nobody in this world more sorry for you at times than I am, for you could have been a real good-lookin', strappin' fella. You're still good-lookin'; and after all, you've got Annie.'

  'Aye, I've got Annie.' He turned towards her now, adding, 'And you don't think much of Annie, do

  you? And you've made that plain enough.'

  'Well, lad, it's only because I think you're worth somebody better than her. And it isn't the first time I've said that, is it? You undervalue yourself. There's plenty of men that haven't half your appearance and are five feet or so who have married decent lasses and brought up a family.'

  'Aye, well, Aggie, there's a lot in the "or so" bit.

  "Or so" could be two, four, or six inches. But I'm five feet dead and it wouldn't look so bad if I was narrow from the legs up. But to have an upper bulk like mine and a head like a bull, well, I can't see all the good, kind lasses falling over themselves and saying, "Aw, Ben come on to bed with me." ' His voice had changed during the last few words and she pushed him hard against the end of the settle as she said, 'No, they won't come running, but have you ever thought of you doin' the askin'? Anyway, what I'm askin' you to do now is to get on your feet and go and get me a drop of gin and a couple of pints of beer.'

  'Is it a party?'

  'Well, it could be; but then, you might want to get away.'

  'No, I don't want to get away. They can all wait, all those stupid bitches beggin' me to strip 'em. You get tired of doin' it.'

  Aggie pushed him and he got to his feet, saying,

  'Will I take the money from the box?'

  'Aye, where else?' she said as she, too, rose from the settle and returned to the couch, from where she watched him go to the box that was standing on the end of the sideboard, and from it take a piece of silver, then button his coat across his broad chest, take his cap from his pocket and, having put it on at an angle, salute her, saying, 'Your servant, madam.'

  Then, clicking his heels together, he turned on his short legs and marched from the room.