Memories Are Made of This

by June Francis

  ‘You don’t say,’ he murmured, putting away his cigarettes. ‘D’you want to dance?’

  ‘I wouldn’t say no,’ replied Peggy.

  Without another word, the twin grabbed her arm and walked her onto the dance floor.

  ‘Well, that’s got rid of him,’ said Jimmy, offering Betty the vacant chair.

  She sat down opposite Jeanette. ‘There was a time when Norm didn’t have much to say for himself, because he was in his twin’s shadow, but after Pete’s accident Norm found himself having to make his own decisions and go places on his own.’

  ‘Pete is the twin with the limp?’

  Betty nodded. ‘He doesn’t do dancing.’

  Jimmy rested both hands on the back of Betty’s chair. ‘I used to have a twin. He got run over during the war when we were only little. My dad got killed down at the docks during the blitz not long before, so it was a terrible time for my mother.’

  ‘That’s so sad,’ said Jeanette. ‘My mother went missing during the blitz. Her body was never found.’

  ‘I lost my dad at Dunkirk,’ said Betty. ‘Not that I remember him.’ She frowned. ‘It was much worse when Mam was hit by a car and died a few years ago.’

  Jeanette grimaced. ‘I can imagine.’

  ‘Fortunately I have cousins, as well as a half-sister I never met until a couple of years ago,’ said Betty.

  ‘How come?’ asked Jeanette, experiencing a fellow feeling with both Betty and Jimmy.

  ‘Emma was brought up in Whalley, near Clitheroe, by her maternal grandparents,’ replied Betty. ‘She didn’t know I existed until she found a letter from my mother when she was clearing out after her grandfather’s death. She’s since married my cousin Jared and so I see more of her now.’

  Jeanette was fascinated by the story. ‘I presume your father married twice?’

  ‘That’s right.’

  ‘How does it feel meeting someone like that after being parted for years?’

  ‘Oh, we took to each other straightaway,’ said Betty.

  The three of them were silent a moment and then Jeanette said, ‘So Norm’s twin, Pete. You mentioned an accident, is that how he was crippled?’ Betty and Jimmy exchanged looks that caused her to add hastily, ‘You don’t have to tell me if you feel it’s something I shouldn’t know.’

  ‘No, that’s OK,’ said Jimmy. ‘The twins also lost their dad during the war.’

  ‘We should form a club,’ murmured Betty.

  ‘Well, we have, sort of,’ said Jimmy, squeezing her shoulder. ‘We all support each other. Even Maggie’s part of it, although she didn’t lose her parents until after the war.’

  ‘Let’s not talk about our Maggie,’ said Betty. ‘Stick to talking about Pete.’

  ‘OK!’ exclaimed Jimmy. ‘He used to be a real daredevil. He and Norm were always up to mischief, but Pete was the leader. But they had a bossy older brother to keep his eye on them.’

  ‘I suppose they rebelled?’ said Jeanette.

  ‘Aye, I won’t tell you how it came about but Pete fell from an upstairs windowsill.’

  Jeanette gasped. ‘It’s a wonder he wasn’t killed!’

  ‘It’s a wonder the pair of them weren’t arrested!’ said Betty. ‘Fortunately their brother is a policeman.’

  Jeanette was about to remark about the coincidence because of her family, when Jimmy said, ‘Here comes your friend with Norm and she’s limping!’

  Jeanette’s head turned and she spotted the couple making their way around the edge of the dance floor. Peggy’s face was drained of colour and she was being half-carried, half-dragged along by Norm. Jeanette stood up and hurried towards them. ‘What happened? Are you OK?’

  ‘No, I’m not bloody OK,’ said Peggy tearfully. ‘I think I might have broken my foot. Some bloody fool tripped and fell against me and crushed it with his damn great big number twelve shoes. I’m going to have to go home.’

  ‘Shall I phone for a taxi?’ asked Jimmy, looking concerned.

  ‘I’ll come with you so Peggy can have her chair back and sit down,’ said Betty. The pair hurried away.

  Jeanette helped her friend to sit down. ‘It’s a blinking shame,’ she said, carefully inspecting Peggy’s swelling ankle and foot.

  ‘Yeah! Just when we were getting into the groove,’ said Norm.

  ‘Well, forgive me for getting in the way of that idiot’s foot,’ said Peggy pettishly. ‘I’m sorry to spoil your fun.’

  His mouth tightened. ‘I didn’t say it was your fault.’

  ‘Sorry,’ mumbled Peggy, tears in her eyes. ‘I’m in pain and I feel so frustrated. I’m sorry for you, too, Jeanette. I didn’t want to spoil your evening.’

  ‘It can’t be helped,’ said Jeanette. ‘There’ll be other dances.’

  ‘Would you like me to go in the taxi with you, Peggy?’ asked Norm.

  ‘Best not,’ she said hastily. ‘Jeanette will come with me.’

  He hesitated. ‘If that’s what you want.’

  She nodded. ‘You don’t have to hang around, Norm.’

  ‘Well, if you don’t need me, I’d better check that Maggie’s OK. I noticed that she had a bit of a face on her when we danced past. She’s really too young to be here, but you wouldn’t think so the way she dresses and slaps on the make-up.’

  ‘Don’t let me keep you,’ said Peggy.

  He nodded, then walked away.

  ‘Well, that’s him gone,’ said Peggy, her face tight with pain.

  ‘Didn’t you like him?’

  ‘Oh, I liked him all right, but he’ll be going off to a shipping yard in Glasgow next year as part of his apprenticeship to be a marine engineer. I wouldn’t be seeing much of him then, would I?’

  Before Jeanette could comment, Jimmy and Betty returned and told them that the manager had phoned for a taxi and it would be here shortly. Between the three of them, they had no trouble getting Peggy up from the chair and out into the foyer. Jeanette went and collected their coats from the cloakroom and she arrived at the front entrance just as the taxi drew up. There was a flurry of goodbyes as Betty and Jimmy waved them off.

  As Peggy and Jeanette flopped down in the back of the taxi, they both let out a sigh of relief. ‘Well, this evening didn’t turn out in the least like I hoped it would,’ mourned Peggy. ‘I’m just worrying now what my mam and dad are going to say. It could mean that I’ll have to stay off work and Mam’s not going to like that.’

  Jeanette thought it highly likely that Peggy would have to rest her foot. She imagined it could be days before she was able to walk without difficulty. She only hoped that Peggy’s parents would not direct their annoyance at her. From some of what her friend had said, it was clear they still partly blamed Jeanette for a policeman landing on their doorstep after the trouble in the chippy.

  Peggy’s foot was not broken, but it was badly bruised and swollen which meant she did have to take time off from work. Jeanette popped in to see her a couple of times during the week. They had discussed that evening at the Grafton, and on Sunday afternoon when she visited the question on Peggy’s lips was whether Norm or Jimmy had called in at the milk bar on the Saturday.

  ‘No, as it happens,’ said Jeanette. ‘I can only think that they’re occupied elsewhere.’

  ‘So Norm doesn’t have my address.’ Peggy sighed.

  ‘Obviously not.’ Jeanette wondered why Peggy should think she would have given it to him when Peggy had made it clear that she thought going out with him was a waste of time. Besides, she was determined not to get involved in Peggy’s love life again. Her friend’s father had wanted to know everything that had happened the night of the Grafton incident. She had backed up what Peggy had told him, but he had looked at her as if he doubted her word. She had also been aware of Peggy’s brother Marty’s eyes on her. Maybe he didn’t believe her either.

  ‘Perhaps I’ll see one of them next week,’ said Jeanette.

  ‘Your great-aunt hasn’t discovered you’re working part time at the milk ba
r yet?’ asked Peggy.

  ‘Surprisingly, no. I can only believe she really is getting senile.’

  ‘Well, I’m hoping to be back at work on Monday,’ said Peggy. ‘I’m real fed up being stuck at home.’

  The following morning, no sooner had Jeanette walked into the office than Elsie, the other typist, greeted her with the words, ‘Have you seen this?’

  ‘Seen what?’ asked Jeanette, removing her headscarf and fluffing out her light brown hair.

  ‘The dockers are on strike – which means if they’re all out, there’ll be no ships getting loaded or unloaded today!’

  A dismayed Jeanette remembered Norm and Jimmy mentioning a strike. ‘That could mean we might be laid off and have money docked from our wages!’ she cried.

  ‘I know, although I’ve still got some work to do,’ said Elsie. ‘Bills to type and a couple of letters from yesterday.’

  Jeanette pulled a face. ‘I haven’t! I just hope to God that there’ll be some ships arriving in the Mersey today despite the strike. Perhaps some will get unloaded. Are today’s expected arrivals listed on the board?’

  Elsie nodded. ‘But it’s reckoned that there are already forty-four ships idle on both sides of the river. If any ships do dock today, they could be here for some time. Fruit could rot in the holds. I’m not sure what will happen with the frozen meat from Australia and New Zealand.’

  ‘Surely they’ll just keep the freezers going, and where the fruit’s concerned it shouldn’t be too bad because it’s not as if it’s high summer. I wonder if the boss will decide to send us home early?’

  ‘I wonder. Do you have something you can be doing at home?’ asked Elsie.

  Jeanette removed the cover from her typewriter. ‘I guarantee that, if I were home, my great-aunt would find me something to do that I don’t want to do. It’s not that I’m averse to a bit of housework or cooking, but I’d rather be earning my living.’

  At that moment the door to the manager’s office opened and both girls turned to give him their attention.

  There was not much for them to do that day after all, but they weren’t sent home. At twelve fifteen Jeanette found Peggy making tea in the room where they ate their lunch. They discussed the strike and Jeanette mused aloud as to whether it would affect Pete as he also worked in a shipping office. ‘I wish I had thought to ask which company he worked for,’ she murmured.

  ‘Is he the spitting image of Norm?’ asked Peggy, her expression brightening.

  Jeanette nodded.

  Peggy asked no more questions, but sat looking thoughtful.

  At the end of the afternoon the manager told Jeanette and Elsie to come in the following morning as not all the dockers were on strike, adding the proviso, weather permitting. A blanket of fog had descended over the course of the afternoon, so that by going home time, the Pierhead was invisible and the mournful sound of a ship’s foghorn could be heard from the Mersey.

  As Jeanette and Peggy left the building there was hardly a tram or bus to be seen, so they decided to start walking home. As they made their way up Water Street, Jeanette could hear footsteps behind them.

  ‘D’you hear that?’ she whispered, quickening her pace.

  ‘Hear what?’ Peggy’s voice was muffled through the scarf covering her mouth and nose.

  ‘It sounds like someone dragging their foot.’

  In the silence that followed they heard a quickening footstep followed by that dragging sound again.

  ‘It reminds me of a Sherlock Holmes film,’ said Peggy.

  ‘Maybe someone has fallen and hurt their foot just like you did,’ suggested Jeanette.

  They both turned and a moment later a limping figure materialized out of the fog. He lowered the football scarf swathed about his neck and mouth and said, ‘It is Jeanette, isn’t it?’

  She nodded.

  ‘He does look the spitting image of Norm,’ said Peggy, a hint of wonder in her voice.

  Pete stared at her. ‘I’m his twin. You must be Peggy, and I take it your foot’s OK now from the speed the pair of you were walking?’

  ‘It still gives me some gyp now and again,’ said Peggy. ‘I take it your Norm mentioned me?’ She sounded gratified.

  ‘That’s right. He asked me to try and look out for you.’

  ‘You chose a good night,’ said Jeanette, deciding to get a word in, and remembering the way he had winked at her in the milk bar.

  He grinned. ‘Luck of the draw.’

  ‘So where do you work?’

  ‘King’s Dock.’

  Peggy looked from one to the other. ‘Can we get a move on?’

  ‘Sure! Sorry to keep you,’ said Pete, an edge to his voice.

  Peggy said hastily, ‘It’s just that it’s freezing standing here and it’s my first day back at work. I’m wishing I was indoors by a lovely roaring fire. Don’t you?’

  ‘Sure.’

  ‘Me too,’ said Jeanette. ‘Shall we get going?’

  ‘I must admit I’m hoping there’s some buses or trams running,’ said Pete, limping between the pair of them. ‘I don’t fancy walking all the way to Bootle in this damn fog. Where d’you live, Jeanette?’

  ‘Not your way. Besides, I thought I’d drop in on my brother and sister at police headquarters. I just might be able to get a lift in a shiny black police car. Sam is a detective sergeant,’ she said with a hint of pride.

  ‘Now there’s a coincidence,’ said Pete. ‘My older brother’s in the Bootle division.’

  ‘You mean your brother is a policeman?’ said Peggy, sounding dismayed.

  ‘Yeah, and you don’t have to sound like that,’ said Pete grimly. ‘I don’t like it either. Since our Dougie joined, me and our Norm have been expected to toe the line and not make a wrong move. If he hadn’t wanted us to be saints, I wouldn’t be a cripple now.’

  ‘I have my dad always going on at me, wanting to know what I’m up to,’ said Peggy. ‘It’s not just policemen who are like that.’

  ‘I have the same worry,’ said Jeanette. ‘Except it’s my great-aunt I have breathing down my neck. My dad’s lovely and our Hester and Sam aren’t bad, but Aunt Ethel is an old witch. She was a prison wardress!’

  ‘Bloody hell!’ exclaimed Pete. ‘Doesn’t it drive you crazy? I’d be leaving home.’

  ‘That’s what I want to do but I can’t afford it just yet,’ said Jeanette.

  The three of them walked on in silence until they came to a bus stop. There Peggy halted. ‘My foot’s hurting and maybe if we wait here for five minutes, a bus might come along.’

  ‘That’s a good idea,’ said Jeanette. ‘You’re both going the same way. I’ll say tarrah now. If you can pass on a message to Betty and Jimmy, Pete, tell them I did enjoy their company.’ She hurried away, calling over her shoulder, ‘See you in the morning, Peggy!’

  She arrived outside police headquarters to the rear of the fire station in no time at all, although she had no intention of going inside. It had just been an excuse in case Pete offered to see her home after asking where she lived. She hadn’t wanted to put him to any trouble. She carried on walking, wondering what he and Peggy would talk about on their way home.

  By morning the fog had evaporated and after listening to the news on the wireless, Jeanette was ready to leave the house when the post arrived. She picked it up before Ethel had a chance to get her hands on it and rifled through the envelopes and found one for Hester. She had not long left and had gone on foot. It was possible that Jeanette might catch her up if she hurried herself.

  She reached the main road and spotted Hester a few yards ahead of her. Despite being out of breath, Jeanette shouted her name. At first Hester appeared not to have heard her, and then she turned her head. At the same time, Jeanette heard the sound of a bus and she ran for all she was worth. Fit to collapse with running so hard, Jeanette was heaved aboard by her half-sister. There were no seats available so they had to strap hang.

  When Jeanette got her breath back she handed the enve
lope to Hester. ‘This just came for you.’

  Hester’s face lit up. ‘It’s from Myra Jones. I recognize her handwriting.’

  ‘You mean the woman you stayed with when you were evacuated?’

  ‘Yes!’ said Hester. ‘Oh, I’m glad she’s still alive. Neither of them were young and I was worried in case they’d died. Myra had a nephew, David Jones.’

  ‘You’re kidding! Is that why you wrote to her?’ asked Jeanette.

  ‘Partly. But I was very fond of her and I really liked the area where I stayed.’

  ‘I can’t see how it can be the same person as my David Jones,’ murmured Jeanette. ‘Wrong direction.’

  ‘He didn’t live in Whalley. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about the past and wondered if they’d be able to help me find someone as well,’ she added casually.

  ‘Who?’ asked Jeanette, taking a couple of coins out of her pocket ready to pay her fare.

  Hester did not answer but murmured, ‘Memory is a strange thing.’

  Jeanette slanted her a startled look. ‘What d’you mean?’

  Hester folded the envelope and placed it in her pocket. ‘I met a lad whilst I was staying with Myra. I never did get his name or give him mine, but I think he must have been an evacuee too because he mentioned living in the city. He made me laugh.’

  ‘Was he lodging in the same house?’ asked Jeanette.

  ‘No. I met him when I tripped over some wire across a hole in a hedge and landed in a patch of mud. He’d done the same thing a few minutes earlier and he helped me up. The wire had cut into my shin and he said I needed to put some iodine on it.’ She paused and added in a surprised voice. ‘I’ve never told anyone else that before.’

  ‘Well, now you have, tell me more about him.’

  ‘OK! I said that I would put iodine on the cut and then I straightened up. We looked at each other and burst out laughing because we were covered in mud.’ Hester’s face was soft with remembrance.

  ‘So what happened next?’ asked Jeanette, nudging her to continue.

  Hester sighed. ‘The farmer came along, cuffed him over the head and hauled him away.’

  ‘So did you meet again?’

  ‘Oh yes, but only briefly.’ A small smile played about her mouth. ‘I was ten when I’d left Liverpool almost two years earlier, and I was just sprouting a bust and starting to find boys not so much of a nuisance. There was this . . . this feeling there between us. I felt excited and scared at the same time in his company. Anyway, he suddenly grabbed me and kissed me.’