The Teashop Girls

by Elaine Everest

  ‘That woman is like big child,’ Anya huffed as they entered the teashop. ‘But I like her very much.’

  ‘Oh Miss Neville, thank goodness you’re here!’ One of the Nippies rushed up to Rose as she crossed the floor of the teashop, stopping to speak with diners she recognized. ‘We’ve been so worried about Lily. We heard she’d been hit by a bomb . . . please tell us she hasn’t died.’

  Rose, who was used to news travelling fast in the small town, found a small lump forming in her throat at this evidence that despite the shame usually associated with Lily’s situation, people really did care for her. In the few months Lily had worked at the Margate branch, she had become a firm favourite with staff and customers. ‘No, Jennie, Lily is still very much with us, but as she requires an operation to repair her broken limbs, they are going to deliver the baby early. Perhaps you would let your fellow Nippies know and ask them to keep her in their prayers. I promise to let everyone know as soon as we are told more,’ she said with a reassuring smile.

  Entering the office, she closed the door behind her and leant against the wall. It was going to be hard holding herself together while wondering what was happening with her dear friend.

  ‘Miss Neville?’ her assistant said as she tapped on the door and entered carrying a tray.

  ‘Oh Phoebe, thank you so much for opening up the teashop and holding the fort,’ Rose said. ‘I don’t know what I’d have done without you today.’

  The Nippy smiled. ‘At least we’ve survived the air raid – and as we’ve only been open a few hours since the all-clear, there’s not much that has happened to cause problems. I’ve just heard about Lily, and I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve said a little prayer for her.’

  ‘That’s very kind of you, Phoebe. She could do with as many prayers as possible, as could her baby,’ Rose said as Phoebe passed her a cup of tea. ‘Now, what has happened here? Has today’s delivery got though?’

  ‘Yes – and we’ve taken Ramsgate’s delivery as well, as the van couldn’t reach them. With us opening late this evening, and so many people wanting to get out and stretch their legs after spending hours in their-air raid shelters, we’ll soon use up the food. That’s if the Luftwaffe aren’t planning another visit. Tell me, was it bad in Ramsgate?’

  ‘Pretty awful, but thank goodness for the tunnels under the town where many of the locals could take shelter. Lily’s stepfather died in his house, as he never took refuge when the sirens went off. Lily was injured when she went to find him.’

  ‘My goodness – it doesn’t bear thinking about,’ Phoebe said, shaking her head. ‘Something strange happened here an hour ago. One of the Nippies came to find me to say she thought the Germans had invaded and were asking after Anya.’

  ‘Oh no, not that again,’ Rose sighed. It used to be funny, but at the moment she couldn’t laugh at the joke. ‘I thought people were used to our Anya and her being Polish. But who was the man?’

  ‘Joan said he was a Polish airman – but of course some of the younger Nippies didn’t believe that, and were checking their gas masks were to hand. At least it was an opportunity to remind them they should all be wearing their masks on the back of their uniforms, attached to their belts.’

  Rose nodded her agreement. But deep inside, a glimmer of hope had begun to form.

  18

  Anya was on her hands and knees, sweeping crumbs from the floor behind the counter. ‘Why these other Sallys cannot clean up after themselves, I don’t know,’ she grumbled. ‘I smell of fish and have hole in my stockings from kneeling, and now there will be vermin to contend with. I sometimes think my life was better when I was fleeing from Adolf Hitler. I am nothing but the skivvy around here,’ she muttered to herself.

  ‘Excuse me, love, there’s a queue here waiting to be served. I’d love to put a bit of food in front of my old man before the air-raid sirens go off again, if it’s all the same to you. This man in front of me has been waiting for ages to be served.’

  ‘You English think I am at your becking and calling all the time. Why you not wait for a while? Unless you want rodents running around your feet if I don’t sweep away this mess,’ she huffed, brushing her hair away from her face with one hand as she stood up while straightening her skirt with the other.

  ‘Please may I have some babka?’ a gentle male voice requested.

  Anya turned with a scowl on her face. ‘You foolish man, what makes you think Joe Lyons would sell such things?’ she said before bursting into tears, rushing out from behind her counter and throwing herself into his arms.

  ‘Oh my beautiful Anya, I have missed you so much,’ he said, covering her face with kisses.

  ‘I thought you were lost to me,’ she whispered. ‘Who would want a simple Polish girl when you have the English roses to choose from?’

  ‘You are the most beautiful woman in the world to me, my Anya. We must never be parted again,’ he said, kissing her lips.

  ‘Your English is much better, Henio,’ she whispered when she could speak. ‘How did you find me?’

  ‘A kindly policeman spoke to my commanding officer, and a lady called Flora Neville wrote to me. I went to her house, but she was not there. An old lady told me where I could find you – and here I am,’ he said, swinging her round before kissing her soundly.

  ‘Some of us only want a loaf of bread, not a bloody song and dance,’ the lady in the queue complained, while others cheered.

  ‘Anya, take the rest of the day off,’ Rose said as she joined the couple. ‘I’ll get someone to take over your duties. You must be Henio,’ she smiled, holding out her hand. ‘You have no idea how pleased I am to see you.’ The man stood as tall as Anya and his hair, as dark as hers, held flecks of steel grey even though he could only be in his early thirties.

  ‘Miss Neville is the manageress, and one of the good friends I have made since coming to this country. Come, I take you back to Sea View for the cuppa. We drink nothing else. I have become very English. I can do the hokey-cokey, and I like Winston Churchill. Come, husband, we have much catching up to do,’ Anya said, as one of the Nippies handed her her coat and bag. She and Henio left the teashop, followed by cheers and claps from those who knew her.

  ‘At last, some happy news,’ Rose said with a huge grin on her face as she stepped behind the counter to serve the waiting customers.

  The time shot by in the teashop as Rose tried to do her own work and also help out her staff. They were two people short, what with Anya’s unexpected departure and poor Lily having her operation. Rose only wished that she too could leave the teashop and rush to Lily’s side. Every minute, she found herself praying for her friend’s survival. Whatever work she was doing, Rose’s eyes kept going to her wristwatch as she counted the minutes and wondered what was happening at the hospital. She was deep in thought when her office door burst open and Tom White staggered in, his suit covered in dust and a small cut on his cheek. ‘Mr White – whatever has happened to you?’ she asked, trying not to laugh as he collapsed into a chair, sighing deeply.

  ‘I was very nearly killed!’ he exclaimed. ‘Get a Nippy to bring me a drink and something to clean up my suit.’

  ‘Was it the air raid?’ she asked, starting to stand up to help him.

  He gave her a glare. ‘No. I was attacked by the husband of one of the Nippies in the road outside. He accused me of carrying on with his wife.’

  Rose sat back down and folded her hands in front of her on the desk. ‘And have you?’

  ‘She didn’t tell me she was married. I do believe I will have a black eye,’ he said, as he gently touched his cheek and winced. ‘Perhaps the Nippy could get a cold cloth for it? Well, hurry up and call someone before I start to bruise.’

  Rose gave a harsh laugh. ‘Why not go to the staffroom and sort yourself out? I have work to do here, and you are holding me up. My friend Lily is in hospital and I need to be with her. I don’t wish you to hold me up any longer than necessary. Oh, and stop bothering members of my staff. They a
re not your playthings. I have your number, Mr White, so watch your step.’

  Tom White got to his feet and glared at Rose, but kept quiet as he left.

  When Mildred appeared in the teashop, Rose ushered her into the office and ordered sandwiches and tea.

  ‘You need to have something inside you, with all the running about you are doing for all of us,’ Rose told her sternly when Mildred tried to refuse.

  ‘I grabbed a bite when I popped back to Sea View for a wash and to change my clothes. It doesn’t do for someone to be wandering about the hospital in old overalls and a sou’wester,’ Mildred said, looking embarrassed to be seen in a tweed skirt, knitted jumper, lisle stockings and stout shoes. ‘I also met Henio. What a delightful chap, and such a happy ever after – just like those daft films you like to go and see at the pictures.’

  Rose didn’t like to say that they’d all spotted Mildred in the stalls on numerous occasions, sniffing into a large white handkerchief. It was a secret they’d keep until such times that she agreed to go with them to see a weepie. ‘We could all do with a happy ever after at times. I’m hoping Lily gets her happy ending after what she’s gone through today. How about you, Mildred?’

  The older woman shrugged her shoulders. ‘I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time. Just to see you girls making use of Captain’s Cottage. It pleases me a lot to see it being turned into a home.’

  ‘You’ve never said why you don’t want to live there yourself. Did something happen there to make you unhappy?’ Rose asked, as a Nippy brought their tray in and left it on the desk.

  ‘It was a long time ago. I’m not one to rake over old times – but perhaps if I tell you, you’ll understand a little more about me. But it may shock you.’

  ‘I feel I know you very well, Mildred. Nothing would shock me about you.’

  Mildred took a gulp of tea and placed her cup back on the saucer. ‘There is more to what I started to tell you about my earlier life after my fiancé died. I returned to live with my father at Captain’s Cottage and to recuperate, but he kept introducing me to young men. I wasn’t interested, as I was still grieving for the life I had lost. The one thing we shared was a love for the sea, and I managed to convince him to let me join him on the fishing boat. In a way, that was the only time we got on well together. He was thinking of retiring, and I was to have the boat put into my name.’

  ‘So that’s how you got to have your own fishing boat. How exciting; and to be able to carry on your father’s business,’ Rose said, before noticing the troubled look on Mildred’s face.

  ‘It didn’t become mine until he died,’ she said. ‘I told him something that shocked him so much, he had a seizure at Captain’s Cottage. He died less than a month later.’

  ‘Oh, no. The poor man – and poor you, for going through that after all that had happened in your life.’

  Mildred shook her head. ‘No, I told him that I had a lady friend and was going to move in with her. He took off his leather belt and beat me relentlessly, and to within an inch of my life. The names he called me are unrepeatable. I took the beating and just looked him in the eye. It was then he collapsed,’ she said, wiping her eyes with one of the familiar large white handkerchiefs she always carried. ‘Until recently I couldn’t enter Captain’s Cottage without seeing my father with his hateful expression, raising his belt to me. I still carry the scars.’ She put her hand to her heart.

  Rose felt the tears running down her cheeks and made no attempt to wipe them away. ‘At least you had your friend,’ she said gently. ‘She must have helped console you?’

  ‘No. It is my biggest regret that I turned my back on the one person who could have brought love into my life. That is why I cannot stand by and see you fall out with your mother, and why I think you should listen to what Ben has to say. Grasp love and happiness while you can, or you will regret it for the rest of your life, Rose.’

  ‘I will,’ Rose promised before wiping her eyes and leaving her seat to give this wonderfully generous woman the biggest hug she could. Did it matter that her friend had found love with another woman, if only for a short time? ‘Don’t forget we all love you, Mildred. You are part of our family now, so please, don’t ever feel you are alone.’

  Rose entered the hospital waiting room with trepidation. ‘Has there been any word yet?’ she asked her mother.

  ‘Not a word. If it wasn’t for Joyce finding somewhere to get us a cup of tea, we’d not have left this room since you were all here. I’m almost ready to hammer on that door and ask what’s going on,’ she sighed. ‘It’s long past three hours now.’

  Rose dug into a shopping bag she’d brought with her and pulled out a box full of sandwiches. ‘Here, help yourselves. Mildred and I had ours before we left the teashop. I have some bits and pieces of broken cake and biscuits and there’s a flask of cocoa. Oh, and a few sausage rolls. We have an excess of them, as the delivery couldn’t get through to the Ramsgate teashop. How did you get on, Katie?’

  ‘Oh Rose, I don’t think we will be opening for a few days. The place is a mess. No one in their right mind will be going in there for a meal until they’ve mended the broken windows and cleared up all the muck and dust,’ Katie said.

  ‘So that’s why you’ll be coming to work for me from tomorrow. I had Mrs Burgess from Cadby Hall on the telephone just before we left. I assured her we could take on every available Nippy from the Ramsgate teashop – although a few would have to cover Sally duties, as we are one short at the moment. I particularly asked for you.’

  Katie grinned. ‘Thank you. It will be just like old times.’ Her face dropped. ‘Or it would be if Lily was with us.’

  Mildred looked at their sad faces and made a decision. ‘I’m going to find out what’s happening,’ she declared, and barged through the doors marked ‘private’.

  They held their collective breath and waited for someone to send Mildred back through the doors with a flea in her ear, but nothing happened.

  ‘They’ve probably kicked her out the main entrance,’ Miss Tibbs said with just a hint of glee in her voice.

  ‘I doubt it very much, as she’d come back to let us know. She looked quite impressive in her proper clothes. I’d not want to cross Miss Mildred Dalrymple,’ Flora said.

  They all jumped as the door to the outside passage opened and then relaxed as Anya walked in, followed by Henio. ‘Why you all look at me like that?’ she demanded. ‘I only bring the husband to meet you all. Henio, this is most of the people I know since coming to England,’ she said as she introduced each of them to her husband.

  ‘I’m so pleased to finally meet you,’ Flora said as she patted the seat next to her so he could sit down.

  ‘I must thank you for looking after my wife, and for writing the letter. If not for you we might never have seen each other again,’ he said, taking her hand and placing a gentle kiss on the back.

  Flora watched as he returned to his wife before turning to Rose, who was now sitting next to her pouring out cocoa. ‘He wrote to you . . .’

  ‘Henio?’

  ‘No, Ben; he told me he wrote to you while he was in France. He’s a good man, Rose. Please don’t disappoint him.’

  ‘It’s too late. I have nothing to say to him,’ Rose said, getting up to hand out the hot drinks and ignoring Flora’s pleading looks to sit down and talk more.

  Another ten minutes passed in silence before Mildred returned. ‘I’ve seen her,’ she declared, before bursting into loud sobs.

  ‘Oh no, please don’t say something’s gone wrong and that’s why they’ve not spoken to us,’ Flora said, getting up to wrap her arms around the inconsolable woman.

  ‘I’ve seen the baby,’ Mildred said as she blew her nose with a loud honk. ‘A little girl, and such a small scrap of a thing, but they say she’s full of life and she’ll pull through even though she’s still a bit on the small side. A nurse is on her way to take you through to see Lily, and one other visitor can come,’ she added, looking at Flora�
�s puzzled expression. ‘You are the next of kin, are you not?’

  ‘Oh, of course,’ Flora said, remembering how she’d insisted on being the person to be contacted. She hadn’t wished for Rose or Katie to be the ones to hear bad news if things had gone wrong. ‘Who would like to come with me?’ she asked.

  ‘You go, Rose. I’m happy enough to sit here knowing Lily and her baby have pulled through,’ Katie said. ‘Besides, you know me. One drop of blood and I’ll be fainting at your feet.’

  ‘If you are sure?’ Rose said, standing up as a nurse appeared and called out Flora’s name.

  ‘Come along, love,’ Flora said as she took Rose’s arm. ‘Let’s go and tell Lily how she gave us all a scare. Just remember, she has lost a member of her family today as well as gaining a new one.’ Not that any of us will mourn the passing of George Jacobs, she thought to herself.

  They followed the young nurse down a long corridor that sloped downwards into the cellars of the hospital. They could hear voices and movement behind some of the closed doors they passed. ‘It’s as if they’d moved the whole hospital underground,’ Flora said in awe.

  ‘Quite a lot of it,’ the nurse replied before stopping at a door and ushering them through. ‘Lily, we have visitors for you,’ she said brightly before turning to Flora and Rose. ‘She is still very groggy after the long operation, so you can only have a few minutes with her. I’ll let you take a peep at the baby afterwards. We’ve all fallen in love with the little mite already.’ She smiled before leaving them alone.

  Rose pulled two wooden chairs close to the bed so they could talk without Lily having to move. Her friend looked pale against the white sheets, and Rose marvelled at what she must have gone through since they’d last met. A cradle contraption covered her legs, and that in turn was covered with a blanket. One arm lay on top of the covers, encased in white plaster of Paris.

  Lily’s eyelids fluttered before opening, and she gave a weak smile. ‘Hello, you two,’ she said. ‘I hope you don’t mind if I don’t get up.’