by Pam Howes
‘How’s Ken next door coping with the air raids you’ve had?’
‘He’s not here, chuck. He’s at his sister Minnie’s on the Wirral. They came for him a few weeks ago just before Minnie’s boys went away. He’s keeping her company – or winding her up more like.’
Bella laughed.
‘But anyway, the house is shut up. I keep my eye on it and Flo next to him’s gone to her brother’s in Chester. I’m pretty much on my own in this row at the moment. I don’t like it, but there’s not a lot I can do about it.’
Bella hurried up the yard to the toilet block, feeling worried. The thoughts of her mam on her own at night in that cellar when the air raid sirens went off really bothered her. Tonight she would have a good talk with her and try to persuade her to join the family Molly was staying with in Wales.
She could shut the house up and as long as the rent was paid each week, so they all had a home to come back to, it would save Mam money. There’d be no bills to pay as no one would be using gas and electricity, so the meters wouldn’t need feeding their regular shilling pieces. She’d save on food shopping too; in the country there was no real shortage of fresh food like there was here. Mam would have company and be a lot safer.
As they hurried to get the tram, Bella linked her arm through her mam’s. On the journey into the city, the evidence of destruction appalled her. ‘I can’t believe how bad it is round here,’ she said as they neared the Dock Road.
Mam nodded. ‘Well, you hear about the damage on the wireless and see it in the Echo, but until you witness it with your own eyes, it doesn’t hit home. I’d no idea it was this bad, although Violet said a lot of the tenements near where she came from had been flattened and many streets of terraces are gone as well as schools and churches. It’s shocking. There’ll be nothing left at this rate. Good job we’ve come down today while we still can.’
‘I’ll get my shopping first before we go and get a brew,’ Bella said as they made their way to the junction of Renshaw Street and Ranelagh Street where Lewis’s store entrance stood. At the Max Factor counter she chose her red lipstick and matching nail varnish and asked for a Pan Stik in a natural colour.
‘Last one,’ the girl on the counter said, dropping her purchases into a paper bag. ‘That was lucky.’
Bella smiled. ‘It was indeed.’
They had a wander around the sales floors looking at clothes. ‘Not got much choice,’ Mam said as they admired a rail of summer dresses. ‘Nothing like they usually have. And it was on the news the other night that from next month we’re all getting clothing coupons and will only be allowed to buy so much. I think it’s because all the clothing factories are making uniforms for the troops and nurses. There’s not a lot of ordinary clothing being made. I wish I could sew. I’d make meself a nice dress. I love knitting but could never master needlework at school.’
‘Me neither,’ Bella said, smiling. ‘You used to alter our clothes though when we were little.’
‘Oh I can turn up hems and put collars and cuffs on things, but I get them ready made or unpicked from things I buy cheap at Paddy’s Market, and they just need a few stitches to hold them in place. Well, there’s not much here. Shall we have a quick look in Blacklers before we go to the Kardomah?’
‘We’ve got a nice lady that comes along with us on the ENSA bus does all our sewing,’ Bella said as they left the store. ‘She makes lovely dresses and there’s always someone’s outfit that needs repairing and buttons replacing. I hope we can still get materiel for dresses for our shows or we’re going to be stuck. We’ve a few nice things but we’ll need more as the year goes on.’
Mam nodded. ‘Well, all being well this war will be over by Christmas. That’s what people are saying anyway. All I want is to get back to normal and have my family home with me again.’
Bella puffed out her cheeks. ‘Let’s hope so, Mam.’
In Blacklers Bella managed to get a pair of stockings, and treated her mam to some warm blue slippers with thick rubber soles. She’d noticed earlier that her old ones were all broken down at the back, and that was dangerous if she had to get down to the cellar in a hurry. She’d end up breaking her neck if she fell down those stairs, and no one would be any the wiser until it was too late.
As they sat in the Kardomah drinking coffee and looking out over Bold Street Bella stared at a woman and a slim, blonde girl on the other side of the road, carrying large bags of shopping. They momentarily disappeared from sight behind a bus.
Mam saw Bella looking and followed her gaze, but the women were getting into a car now that blocked her view. ‘Do you know them women, chuck?’
‘Well I didn’t get a proper look, but I thought it was Bobby’s mother and Alicia,’ Bella said, frowning. ‘But it can’t be. They’re supposed to be in Oxfordshire, or at least I thought they were. And, er, well Alicia looked far too slim to be in the family way,’ she finished, looking down at her cup of coffee.
Mam gasped and put her hand to her mouth. ‘You never told me she was expecting.’
Bella sighed. ‘That’s the reason they were getting married, Mam. She told Bobby she was pregnant after he sang with me at one of our shows. He wanted us to be together. We’d talked about neither of us getting each other’s letters and he said he’d tell her it was over between them, but she was hiding nearby and overheard our conversation and just blurted it out.’
‘Oh, Bella,’ said Mam. ‘I’m so sorry, love.’
‘I told him to go after her and that we couldn’t be together if she was, and that was it. She’d been working on telephony and postal duties for the WAAF at Brize Norton for a while and Bobby suspected she’d been hiding our letters to each other, although he didn’t really have any proof of that but it seems the only logical explanation. Well apart from the t-two letters you gave me that ended up across the road…’ Her voice finally cracked.
Mam pursed her lips. ‘Well it sounds about right that she would do that. The devious little madam. So this baby would be due about when?’
Bella shrugged. ‘I don’t know exactly, but that was Christmas Eve she told him. Bobby looked really shocked. He hadn’t been expecting her news. She said she was planning on telling all the family on Christmas Day. She didn’t have any signs of a bump so she must have been only a few weeks gone then.’
Mam counted on her fingers. ‘So it’s May now, that’s five months this year just, and one or two at the most from before Christmas would make her six or seven months and she’s slim as a rake and running around Liverpool shopping today. That doesn’t add up. Do you think she was lying to trap Bobby?’
‘That’s what Fran and Edie said.’
‘Well there’s only one way to find out. We’ll call round to see them on the way back. Say we spotted them in the centre and realised they were back home from Oxfordshire.’
‘Oh, Mam, we can’t do that,’ Bella protested.
‘We can. Well I can, anyway. Just to see how they are, being neighbourly, like. You can go home or to Fran’s, and I’ll nip round to Fenella’s place. I’ll get to the bottom of things, don’t you worry. If that young madam has lied it’ll show all over her face. I’ll tell them you’re home for a few days and watch how she takes it. She will know you’ve told me what happened. I’ll call her bluff.’
Bella shook her head and took a sip of her coffee, which was now cold. She pushed the mug away and sighed. ‘But, Mam, Bobby’s married to her now, so what difference will it make?’
19
After leaving Bella and their shopping back at the house, Mary hurried across The Mystery Park and knocked loudly on the Harrisons’ front door, which was opened by Margaret in her neat uniform.
‘Afternoon, Margaret. I was just wondering if Mrs Harrison was home today.’
‘Oh, is it Mrs Rogers?’ Margaret peered short-sightedly at Mary, who nodded her head.
‘It is,’ she replied.
‘Come in, please. I’ll just let Mrs Harrison know you are here. I take it she isn’t expecting yo
u. She didn’t tell me we were having guests today.’
‘No, she isn’t expecting me. I’ve just called on chance. I think I spotted her in the city earlier but she’d gone before I realised it was her.’
‘Ah yes. She and Alicia have been shopping. If you’ll just wait a moment.’ Margaret hurried off down the hallway to the last door on the left and tapped before entering.
Mary heard the murmur of voices and then Margaret was back. ‘Follow me, please.’
Mary followed her to the drawing room. ‘Mrs Rogers, madam,’ Margaret announced, before leaving the room.
‘Mary, dear, how very nice to see you,’ Fenella said. ‘Please, take a seat.’ She gestured to the sofa near the window and Mary sat down. ‘To what do I owe the pleasure?’
‘Eh?’ Mary said, confused. Why the devil doesn’t she say what she means?
‘How are you, dear? Would you like a cup of tea?’
Mary nodded. They were on safe ground now. ‘Yes please, I would that.’
Fenella picked up a little brass bell from a nearby table and shook it a few times.
Margaret popped back into the room. ‘Yes, madam.’
‘Tea for two please, Margaret. And have we any of Cook’s lovely scones left?’
‘I think so. I’ll see what I can do.’ Margaret smiled and left the room again.
‘Are you home for good?’ Mary asked. There was no sign of the girl, Alicia.
‘Just for a few days,’ Fenella replied. ‘We had some legal business to attend to locally for Alicia’s father’s estate. So we thought we’d come back here until we venture back to Oxfordshire after the weekend. We managed to do some shopping, but I must say the city has taken some bad hits since we went away. Although it’s not quite as bad as London. It’s far too dangerous to venture down there at the moment. How are your family coping, Mary?’
‘As best they can. Molly is evacuated to North Wales and she seems happy enough. My husband Harry is somewhere abroad, but Lord knows where. And Bella is travelling around with ENSA, doing her bit, singing for the troops. They say she’s the next Vera Lynn, you know. I’m that proud of her.’
Mrs Harrison raised an eyebrow. ‘Yes, I heard she’s doing very well with ENSA now. Robert mentioned it last Christmas.’
‘Did he? He sang along with the girls at the show,’ Mary said. ‘They enjoyed it, and so did he.’
Fenella’s lips formed a straight line. ‘Yes, well he won’t be doing that any more. He’s learning to fly now and will be too busy to be messing around. Also, he has his dear wife Alicia to consider these days.’
‘Ah, so he did get married then?’ Mary said as the door opened and Margaret pushed a laden tea trolley into the room.
‘Indeed he did. Just after the New Year. Alicia is having a lie-down. She’s not too well at the moment.’
Mary nodded as Fenella poured tea into two dainty china cups.
‘Help yourself to sugar,’ she invited and handed Mary a tea plate with a buttered scone.
‘I hope it’s nothing serious,’ Mary said. ‘Alicia, I mean. Only I heard from Bella that a baby was due soon. Hope all is well in that respect.’ She watched closely as Fenella took a deep breath as though considering her answer before replying.
‘Alicia lost the, er, baby, shortly after the wedding. It’s taking her a while to get over the shock.’
‘I’m very sorry to hear that,’ Mary said, but she doubted there’d ever been a baby anyway. It had been a ploy by Alicia to get her claws into Bobby and stop him being with Bella. The poor lad. And as Mary’s thoughts turned murderous the door flew open and Alicia bounced into the room, wearing a light-coloured dress suitable for dancing in.
‘Aunty Fen, it fits like a dream and it feels lovely on. It’s just right for the next officers’ dance at the camp.’ She stopped in her tracks and stared at Mary, her cheeks turning bright pink as she realised she and Fenella weren’t alone. ‘Oh, sorry. I didn’t realise you had a visitor.’
Fenella introduced them. ‘This is Mary Rogers, Bella’s mother, and this is my daughter-in-law, Alicia,’ she said. ‘You seem to be feeling much better, my dear.’
‘I am, thank you. Nice to meet you, Mrs Rogers,’ Alicia said, with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. ‘I hope Bella is well.’
Mary nodded. ‘She is, thank you. She’s just on a short break before travelling up to Scotland to work. The ENSA team are very busy keeping the troops’ morale up.’
‘Yes, er, we did meet briefly at Brize Norton.’
‘So I believe,’ Mary said, watching the girl flush a deep red. ‘Bella said you were working there. Postal duties, wasn’t it?’
‘And telephony,’ Alicia replied.
‘I expect you’ll be going back to work there when you return to Oxfordshire. We all have to do our bit, don’t we?’ Mary’s voice was laden with sarcasm. These two wouldn’t know an honest day’s work if it slapped them around the face.
‘Oh, Alicia won’t be returning to work now she’s a married woman,’ Fenella answered for her.
Mary laughed. ‘But we’re all married women. The ladies that work in the factories, on munitions etcetera, are, in the main, married women. Like I say, we all have to do our bit and keep the country running while our men are away fighting for us.’
Fenella looked at her watch. ‘Well, that’s as maybe,’ she said. ‘But some of us do our bit in other ways. We are due to go out shortly, Mary. Don’t think me rude in hurrying you along. It was very kind of you to think about us.’ She stood up as Mary put the last bit of scone in her mouth and took another sip of tea.
Alicia excused herself and dashed out of the room. Mary raised an eyebrow. ‘Made a good quick recovery since you said she wasn’t well earlier.’ She finished her tea, taking a deliberate amount of time, as she suspected they weren’t in a hurry to go anywhere and just wanted rid of her. Finally she put down her cup and got to her feet. Feeling the devil sitting on her shoulders, she couldn’t resist asking, ‘Do you ever see anyone from our old schooldays, Fenella?’
‘Old school? I’m not sure what you mean, Mary,’ Fenella replied quietly.
‘Old Swan Primary School, do you ever see any of our old mates?’ Without waiting for a reply, she walked to the door and into the hall. ‘I’ll see meself out,’ she announced as Fenella hurried after her, her face as white as the paintwork around the doorframe.
‘That’s a time in my life I don’t wish to speak about,’ Fenella hissed as Mary opened the door.
Mary smiled. ‘Your secret’s safe with me. But that one up there,’ she raised her eyes to the ceiling, ‘that little madam has got you wrapped around her little finger and I think you know it. She’s not the one for your boy, but too late now, she’s trapped him. I’ll swear to God there was no baby. She’s a liar.’
And with that she walked away, leaving Fenella standing on the top step, clinging to the door with her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Mary took a deep breath and felt pleased with herself. That little showdown was for Bella. Fenella didn’t call after her to put her right, so she’d bet her life she’d hit the nail on the head. Sadly it was too late now for her daughter and Bobby, but she felt a whole lot better for having her say.
As the air raid siren woke her from a deep sleep that night, Bella turned over and wondered for a moment where she was. Then, remembering she was at home on Victory Street, she jumped out of bed and pushed her feet into her slippers, grabbed her handbag and gas mask box and hurried onto the landing. Mam was making her way out of her bedroom at the same time, wearing her new slippers.
They dashed down to the cellar and climbed into their camp beds as engines droned overhead, so low Bella swore she felt the house shaking with the vibration. She hoped they wouldn’t take the slates off the roof. Loud rumblings sounded in the distance as bombs exploded, probably on the docks and nearby streets where not a lot was left standing. Bella chewed her lip. When will it all end? It seemed to be getting worse, not better.
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Almost every night for the next seven days Liverpool suffered its worst bombardment. The areas of Bootle and Birkenhead were badly damaged and when Bella saw the pictures in the Echo of the state of Lewis’s and Blacklers’ stores she couldn’t believe her eyes. They’d only been standing in those shops a few days ago. A cargo ship had been blown up on the docks, making even worse the already short supply of goods.
After Mam had gone to work, Bella got a pad and pen out of the sideboard drawer and wrote to Molly, telling her that she was putting their mam on the train to join her. Molly would get this letter tomorrow, in time to let her evacuee family know, and they could arrange to meet Mam at Llandudno station and take her out to the farm to stay. Bella was going to insist that her mam tell her boss at Olive Mount tomorrow that she was finishing and it would be her last day.
There was no way she could leave her here, alone, in this house. She’d never be able to concentrate on her singing or anything. It was time to put her foot down and make Mam realise that to survive this war she needed to be out of Liverpool. It was bad enough not knowing where Dad was, but at least Mam and Molly would be safe and that was one less thing to worry about. She finished her letter, addressed an envelope and set off for the post office. With a bit of luck the letter would go off with the dinnertime collection.
Standing in the queue, Bella listened to the conversations going on around her. People were talking about the terrible mess their city was in. One lady was saying that her next-door neighbour had lost her son the other day and was inconsolable. She wondered if Fran had heard anything yet about Frankie. She’d seen little of Fran and Edie since they’d arrived home, as both wanted to spend as much time with their mothers while they could. She paid for a stamp and put her letter in the pillar box on the street, then set off for Fran’s house.
‘Come on in, chuck,’ Fran’s mam said as she opened the door. ‘She’s in the back room with Edie. I’m just dashing to the butcher’s while they keep an eye on Gran for me.’
