by Pam Howes
Back in the dining room Mary coughed to gain attention and, all eyes on her, she began to lie. ‘I just found Bella in the cloakroom feeling rather unwell. I’ve packed her off home to go straight to bed. I’m really sorry about her dinner getting wasted but I felt it was for the best.’
Everyone showed their sympathy. ‘We can ask Margaret to wrap a parcel of food for you to take home for Bella for later,’ Mrs Harrison said. ‘You can heat it up for her supper maybe.’
‘Thank you, that’s very kind of you,’ Mary said, trying to catch Bobby’s eye. He was the only one not to have said anything and she wondered why. Ah well, it would all come out soon enough. She tucked into her dinner, savouring the tender turkey breast and hoping Margaret would pack plenty up for them to take home. They could enjoy a nice turkey sarnie tonight as well as Bella having a dinner.
Bella stirred as she heard the front door opening and voices in the hallway. The bedroom was dark; she sat up for a moment, confused, wondering why she had her coat and scarf on and was lying on her bed. Then she remembered. She’d left Bobby’s home in a hurry. And she remembered why. Her mam was calling her, so she slid off the bed and opened the door, peering down the stairs at her mam’s flushed face.
‘Ah, there you are, chuck. Are you okay?’
Bella shrugged and walked slowly down the stairs. She took off her coat and scarf and hung them on the hall pegs. ‘I think so, Mam.’ Her lips trembled and Mam put her arms around her and held her close. ‘It’s just been a funny day, hasn’t it? I’d rather have Christmas in our own house.’
‘So would I, chuck, but we didn’t half get well looked after. Fenella is a good hostess, I’ll give her that.’
‘That’s because she does bugger all else but give orders,’ Dad said. ‘She’s got plenty of time to play at being her ladyship.’
‘Oh get away with you, Harry; I didn’t see you refusing anything, food nor drinks.’
‘Well I’d have been a bloody fool to, now wouldn’t I? Grub as good as that doesn’t often pass my lips.’
Bella started to laugh and then they were all chuckling together. When they finally recovered she said, ‘What are you both like? Well at least you enjoyed it. What about you, Molly?’
Her sister nodded. ‘I wanted to stay and play some board games with Bobby but Mam insisted we come back because she told them you were feeling poorly and that she’d sent you home.’
Bella’s eyes widened. ‘Did you, Mam? And what did Bobby say to that?’
‘Not a lot. He was quiet all the time and just toyed with his food. You need to have a chat with him, chuck, try and find out if he is involved with the young girl they mentioned. If he is, maybe he didn’t feel it was right to bring it up with you. After all, like you are always saying, you’re just good pals and nothing more. He might think that’s all you want to be. If you don’t, then a good talk will soon put that right.’
Bella shrugged. ‘We’ll see. I’m seeing Fran and Edie tomorrow. I’ll see what they think. Can I have some of the food you brought home? I’m starving.’ She wanted to think about something else; otherwise it would go on all night.
If Bobby did have a girl – and his family seemed to think he did – then what was the point in harbouring any feelings other than friendship for him? They could still sing, just as they’d been doing before Alicia’s name had even been mentioned. And Bobby had denied what his mother had said. So who knew what was going on?
Fran shook her head after Bella’s departing back. She looked at Edie, who shrugged. Their friend had just told them all about her Christmas Day upset during the threesome’s usual Boxing Day morning walk over The Mystery with Edie’s little fox terrier, Rebel.
‘What do you make of that then?’ Fran asked, sitting down on a wooden bench. She pulled her woollen scarf tightly around her neck and tucked her hands under her armpits to keep them warm. She’d forgotten to bring her gloves out with her and her hands were freezing.
‘Not sure,’ Edie said, sitting down beside her and pulling Rebel close to her legs. ‘It sounds almost like his mother thinks he’ll marry the girl eventually; like the family expects it.’
‘Hmm, like them arranged marriages you hear about for foreign people. You’d think he’d have said something to his mum though while Bella was there, even if he only said it in a joking sort of way, so that his mum gets the idea he doesn’t want to be with whatsername. It must have really upset Bella for her to run off like that. She’s obviously got more feelings for him than she’s letting on.’
Edie nodded. ‘What about our singing? She’s got to talk to him about that hasn’t she?’
‘Well we’re back in work tomorrow, so we’ll have a discussion about it at dinnertime. And if she still wants to do it then we’ll tell our parents and maybe have a chat with Bobby as well.’
‘I hope my mam says yes,’ Edie said. ‘I’d love to get out of the factory for good one day.’
‘Me too.’
Bella rounded the corner of Victory Street to see a familiar figure standing at her front door, his hand raised as though about to knock on the door. The house was empty as her mam and dad had taken Molly to see an uncle in Old Swan. He turned as she approached and his wary smile made her heart beat a little faster. But she tried to keep her voice level as she said, ‘Bobby. What do you want?’
‘Bella, I need to talk to you. About what happened yesterday.’
‘You’d better come inside,’ she said, unlocking the door and leading the way into the back room. ‘Sit down and I’ll make us a hot drink. I’ve been out walking with Fran and Edie and I’m freezing.’
He sat on the sofa while she busied herself making two mugs of steaming tea and carried them into the room. She handed one to him and then sat down on her dad’s chair at the side of the fireplace.
‘Thank you,’ he said, putting his mug down on the coffee table next to a half-finished jigsaw puzzle of a sandy cove, blue sea and cliffs, one of Molly’s Christmas presents. ‘Look, I’m really sorry about yesterday. Your mother said she’d sent you home, but I kind of got the impression that you’d already gone.’
She nodded and looked at the floor. ‘I had.’
‘Because of what Mother said about me and Alicia?’
‘Is there a you and Alicia?’
He shook his head. ‘Not in the way you think. To me, Alicia is like the sister I never had. Our parents were the best of friends and we were practically brought up together. We’re as close as siblings. Our mothers always talked about how lovely it would be if we married each other eventually and our families were related, but believe me, it will never happen. I don’t feel that sort of love for her, just brotherly love, that’s all. But Mum’s still got this idea in her head.’
Bella took a sip of her tea and peered from under her fringe at him. ‘I overreacted, I think.’
He gave her a tentative smile. ‘But was that because you care or don’t care? I know that you’re angry with me, but there’s no need. I never even thought to mention Alicia because it was never relevant to any of our conversations, not because I was trying to hide something from you.’
Bella sighed and put down her mug. ‘Probably because I do care,’ she admitted. ‘But I’m scared of caring for someone who doesn’t care back.’
He went to kneel beside her chair. ‘Bella, I do care, I care very much. You have become the most important thing in my life – you and our singing together are all I live for. In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve fallen in love with you.’
Bella stared at him. ‘In love with me?’ she repeated.
He nodded. ‘Yes,’ he whispered. ‘Oh I know we’re ridiculously young and there’s a war looming and we don’t know what’s going to happen next, but yes, I really do love you. What about you. How do you feel about me?’
She put her hands up to her mouth, feeling more shocked than she’d ever felt about anything, and realised that yes, she did – love him, that is.
She reached out to stroke his cheek a
nd he caught her hand and held it to his lips. She took a deep breath and burst out, ‘Yes, Bobby, I love you too.’
He pulled her to her feet and into his arms. They shared their first real kiss, then drew apart and looked into each other’s eyes. ‘Oh my God,’ he said. ‘I see it in your eyes – I’ve seen it before when we were singing, but I never realised what it was. I do now. I love you, and it feels so good to say it.’
‘I love you too, I really do. And it feels so right to say it.’
They sat down together on the sofa and Bobby held her tight in his arms. Bella didn’t want to move as he kissed her time and again, but when they heard the front door opening they sprang hurriedly apart and Bella straightened her hair and her dress where Bobby’s hands had roamed.
‘Let’s tell them about the singing at the club,’ he whispered before Bella’s parents came into the room. ‘Then that’s another thing out of the way.’
She laughed and squeezed his hand. ‘So I was a thing, was I? Okay, well at least we’re making some progress now.’ The door opened and she got up to greet her mam and dad. ‘Where’s Molly?’ she asked.
‘At her pal’s down the street,’ Mam replied. ‘Oh hello, Bobby. Fancy seeing you here.’
Bobby smiled. ‘Yes, we’ve been talking and sorting some things out,’ he said. ‘Err, will it be okay with you both if Bella and I did a bit of courting from time to time?’
Mam’s face broke into a wide grin. ‘Well it is with me, son. Harry, what about you? Is it all right if Bobby takes our Bella out now and again?’
‘Aye, lad. Be my guest,’ Dad said, shaking Bobby by the hand. ‘As long as you look after her, it’s fine by Mary and me.’
‘There’s one more thing we need to talk about,’ Bella said, nodding at Bobby, who joined in. They explained about the offer from Chas Morris and how they really wanted to give it a try.
‘Harry, what do you think?’ Mam asked. ‘I’m okay if you are.’
Dad nodded. ‘It’s not every day this sort of chance comes your way,’ he said. ‘Take it while you can, we don’t know what’s around the corner in the next few months. Enjoy yourselves and go and do it.’
Bella flung her arms around both of her parents. ‘Thank you so much. We’ll make you proud one day.’
‘We already are, chuck,’ her dad said and he shook Bobby by the hand. ‘Good luck to you two and to the Bryant Sisters as well. May you all have every success that you deserve.’
12
April 1940
By the time Bella’s sixteenth birthday had come and gone the country was in a state of flux. According to regular reports on the wireless and her dad’s daily Echo headlines, and even though he’d declared war on Germany last year, Neville Chamberlain was showing signs of being ill-equipped to save Europe from Nazi conquest. There were calls for him to give up his Conservative Party leadership and let Winston Churchill take the helm.
Bella didn’t fully understand what her dad was going on about night after night when he was reading his paper and ranting on about the disgraceful way things were being managed. There had been attacks on ships crossing the Atlantic with supplies of goods and food and Dad said did that bugger Hitler want them all to starve, because that’s what would happen if something didn’t change soon.
Mam was complaining about the shortages in the shops. Ration books had been issued in January and bacon, butter and sugar were now in short supply, along with many other goods. Things at work had taken a strange turn too. Most of the single lads on the factory floor had signed up for the forces, leaving the women behind to hold the fort.
Fran’s little brother Alfie had been evacuated to a farm in North Wales, but Mam still refused to let Molly go, even though Molly had told her that half of her class had gone to families in Wales and were enjoying themselves and there was loads more to eat there than in Liverpool. Fran’s two older brothers had joined the army, ignoring their mother’s protests.
‘My brother Don said the war will be over by Christmas anyway,’ Fran announced one morning, as they waited for the tram to take them to work. ‘But he said they might as well as go and do their bit to get it finished quicker. My Frankie is going next week and he’s to be billeted in Yorkshire somewhere for now. I don’t mind him being in the army and he did look so smart in his uniform, but what if they decide to send them away to France? It looks awful over there, like a proper war zone. That scares the life out of me.’
Bella squeezed her arm as a tram came trundling into view. ‘He’ll be fine and like your Don says, it’ll all be over and done with soon.’ She hoped it would, as Bobby did nothing but talk about joining the RAF now he was nearly seventeen. His father was supposed to be sorting it all out for him. He wouldn’t be able to fly planes yet but he could be carted off in one to God knew where.
At the match factory the mood wasn’t much better and two of the women on the packing line were grumbling about their sons leaving home. ‘Don’t know how I’m supposed to manage without his wages. I’ve two more mouths to feed as well as pay me rent and put money in the meters,’ the woman called Marge said.
Her friend Patti agreed. ‘Yes, it’s always us women that suffer when these bloody wars start. I remember how me poor old mam, God rest her soul, struggled when we was little and our dad was away fighting. And he never came back. It’s always bloody men start it and us women what’s left behind holding the babbies and expected to deal with everything. And another thing, having to remember to cart them bloody gas mask boxes everywhere we go.’
‘Well, you’ve still got your ’usband at home,’ Marge said, winding her turban around her head and tying it in a neat knot at the front. ‘Can’t he get a few more hours down at the docks? And that gas mask might save your life one day; you never know when you’ll need it.’
‘I suppose he can try and get more hours, but he was talking about “doing his bit” last night as well. I’m going to have to send me kids away. It’s the only thing I can think of doing right now that makes any sense. How’s your Alfie getting on, Fran? Has he settled in okay with his new family?’
Fran smiled. ‘As far as we know. We had a short letter last week and he seemed fine and liked the cakes the farmer’s wife makes. At least we know he’s safe now, just in case.’
‘And is your mam still refusing to send Molly away?’ Marge asked Bella. ‘She could always go with her you know. A few have done that and they help out on the farms they are staying at. Makes sense to me. I wouldn’t mind giving it a go myself.’
Bella sighed. ‘I can’t see Mam doing that, well not right now anyway. We’ll have to see what happens.’
At break time the threesome sat hugging mugs of tea, the gloomy atmosphere settling on everyone’s shoulders. There were no wisecracks from the young lads to make them all smile. They were sadly missed and the main workforce was all women, who could talk about nothing but rationing and evacuation. It felt depressing.
Fran got to her feet. ‘Come on, I’ve had enough of this doom and gloom. Song time,’ she announced, standing on a chair to get attention. Bella and Edie jumped up and joined in with Fran’s rendition of ‘Alexander’s Ragtime Band’. By the time the song came to an end everyone was smiling and thanking the girls for cheering them up.
‘At least we’ve got our nights out singing at Speke Legion to give us a bit of a break from it all,’ Eddie said. ‘Thank God. I wish we could do more than just once a month though.’
‘Me too,’ Bella said. ‘But we might get more bookings soon because some of the variety acts are male and most are young enough to be called up. Which means we ladies will be there to fill in the slots left by them.’
‘Hmm, now there’s a thought, Bella,’ Fran said. ‘But we’ll have hardly any audience if the younger blokes are away. Anyway, we’ll have to see, won’t we?’
On Friday 10 May Neville Chamberlain stepped down from his post and Winston Churchill was appointed prime minister of the United Kingdom.
‘And not before
time,’ Dad said from his usual chair by the fire as Bella, her mam and Molly were sitting around the table finishing their tea, the wireless giving regular updates in the background. ‘With Churchill in charge we stand a chance of defeating bloody Hitler once and for all.’
He flicked his ash onto the tiled hearth, earning him a look of disapproval from his wife, and carried on. ‘We really do need to think seriously about letting our Molly go somewhere safer, Mary. It’s selfish to keep her here, because I’ll tell you now; things are going to start hotting up. You might find yourself in an air raid while at work and Bella won’t be here either, then what? Molly will have to go down the cellar on her own for God knows how long. What if a bomb falls on the house, or on Olive Mount when you’re working?’
Mam frowned at him. ‘Well if I’m working at night, you’ll be home, and she can always knock on next door if she’s worried.’
Dad fidgeted in his chair, a sheepish air about him. Bella frowned.
‘Dad, what have you been up to?’ She knew even before he admitted it that he’d signed up. Suddenly she didn’t want any more tea and her stomach felt like it had fallen down three flights of stairs. Not Dad too.
‘I’ve, er, well I’ve enlisted today. I’ll be leaving the trams next week and joining the army. No, Mary,’ he said as she jumped to her feet and began to protest that he was too old. ‘I’m not too old at all, and they need every man they can get. If we want a peaceful world for our kids to inherit, we need to fight for it with everything we’ve got.’
‘And what about us? We need you Harry. I can’t lose you too,’ said Mam, starting to cry.
Dad tried to stay practical. ‘I’ll get paid as a soldier. You’ll still get your housekeeping money and what have you. If Molly is evacuated the government pay for her keep and that will save a bit as well. And she’ll be safer.’
