by Lesley Eames
‘The man spoke funny,’ Artie said. ‘Like a gent, I mean. He said he used to be a schoolmaster but I expect it was at a school for rich boys.’
‘Rich or poor, it’s important to get some schooling while you can,’ Gran said.
While you can? Did that mean Gran thought things were changing for them all? Lily’s stomach gave a sickly lurch.
*
Lily went about her errand-running with an extra sense of urgency the next day and was delighted when afternoon came and Mr Higgs from around the corner gave her threepence instead of just a halfpenny. ‘One good turn deserves another,’ he said, referring to the way Lily had cleaned and bandaged the finger he’d cut on Saturday when he’d dropped a milk bottle and been careless picking up the broken glass.
The money in the sock reached almost three shillings. Gran had been sick for a whole month now so clearly needed help with getting better. Surely three shillings would be enough for a deposit for the doctor – if doctors took deposits.
Lily never had the chance to find out because she entered the yard to hear loud voices coming through the open kitchen door. ‘You know I’m good for the money. I’ve never been short before,’ Gran was protesting.
‘But you’re short now, Mrs Tomkins. And it’s now what matters.’
Lily hastened to the door and saw that Gran’s visitor was the rent collector.
‘I just need more time,’ Gran said, and there was a desperation in her voice that Lily had never heard before.
Lily stepped into the kitchen and closed the door to stop Gran’s personal business from being overhead by all their neighbours. It signalled to Gran that Lily wasn’t only present but had also realised what was going on. Poor Gran looked stricken.
The rent collector, Mr Jones, simply looked irritated. He stuck out his chin as though to show that the presence of a child wouldn’t stop him from doing whatever he planned to do.
‘How much short are you, Gran?’ Lily asked.
‘One and six,’ Mr Jones said, leaving Lily in no doubt that he wouldn’t take a penny less.
‘Wait there.’
She ran upstairs and counted out coins from the sock. ‘One and six,’ she said, returning downstairs and handing them over.
There were lots of coins – pennies, halfpennies and even farthings. Mr Jones put them on the table and counted them out. ‘One and six,’ he confirmed. ‘Well, Mrs Tomkins, I’ll bid you good day. But don’t forget I’ll be back next week.’
When another week’s rent would be due.
Mr Jones nodded and left them. Lily looked at Gran, waiting for her to speak. Gran took a moment then swallowed. ‘Thanks for helping, Lil, but where did you get all that money?’
‘I’ve been running errands.’
‘Saving for books, I suppose.’
‘Saving for you to see a doctor. Please don’t tell me you’re not sick, Gran. It’s been weeks.’
Gran’s mouth opened as though to insist that she was fine but she must have realised there was no point in pretending anymore. She sighed, pulled out a chair and sat down heavily. ‘I haven’t been so good,’ she admitted.
‘Then you need to see a doctor.’
Gran shook her head.
‘I’ll earn the money, even if it means missing school. You know I’m not learning anything new there, and—’
‘I’ve already seen a doctor, Lil.’
Lily blinked. ‘What did he say? Has he given you medicine to make you better?’
The kitchen door burst open and Artie ran in. ‘I’m starving,’ he announced.
‘Then let’s see if we can spare you a bit a bread to be going on with,’ Gran said, getting up.
Lily chewed on her lip but didn’t protest. She and Gran were both keen to protect Artie. They wouldn’t be able to talk properly until he’d gone to bed, but that was hours away. The waiting was going to be awful.
THREE
Lily lay in bed, listening as Artie’s breathing grew slower and deeper. ‘S’my turn,’ he murmured, and Lily guessed he was dreaming about Davie’s marbles.
She slid from between the covers, stuffed her feet into the shoes she’d left ready and wrapped a spare blanket round her shoulders. Creeping to the door, she left the room and went downstairs.
Gran was sitting at the table waiting for her. She looked grave and Lily felt a flutter of dread. ‘What’s the doctor going to do to help?’ she asked, sitting opposite Gran.
‘There’s something inside me that shouldn’t be there, Lil. A growth.’
Lily’s shiver owed nothing to the chill that had crept into the room with the dying of the fire. ‘Can’t the doctor make it go away? Or take it out?’
‘No, Lil.’
‘So what’s going to happen?’
Gran’s silence gave Lily her answer. ‘Oh, Gran!’
Lily got up to wrap her arms around Gran and be hugged in return. Sobs rose up from deep inside Lily’s soul and she wept against Gran’s shoulder as Gran’s worn but well-loved hand stroked comfort into her hair. ‘There, there, my love. There, there.’
Lily had no idea how much time passed but eventually her body was exhausted and her sobs turned to shuddery breaths.
‘Dry your eyes, Lil. We’ve got a lot to talk about,’ Gran said, passing her a handkerchief.
More tears welled in Lily’s eyes but Gran needed her to be sensible now. Lily wiped her face and blew her nose. ‘Good girl,’ Gran said, and waited for Lily to return to her seat.
How long? That was the question Lily wanted to ask. But it felt too cruel. Too stark.
Too terrifying.
‘Now then,’ Gran began. ‘I’ll keep going for as long as I can but we have to face facts, Lil. I’ll be lucky to last a year.’
Lily felt as though her heart were being stabbed with ice.
‘You know what’ll come afterwards?’ Gran asked.
‘The workhouse,’ Lily said.
‘It’s the last thing I want but you needn’t despair. You might not have to stay in the workhouse itself because you may be boarded out with a family, but if you’re too old for that once you turn eleven, you could be sent to one of those training schools I’ve heard about. Even the workhouse is better these days. Whatever happens, you’ll have a roof over your heads and food in your bellies. And remember, in another few years you’ll be able to work and make your own futures.’
‘But boys and girls are kept apart in the workhouse, aren’t they?’
‘There’s no stopping that but, like I say, it won’t be forever.’
Would Artie lose his spirit, though? Would he lose his hope for a better future because he feared his life would always be tainted by having been in the workhouse or some other institution? Worse still, would he fall into bad ways with bad people and give up on learning?
Lily pulled her thoughts in for Gran’s sake. ‘Artie and I will manage,’ she said. ‘But what about you?’ The thought of Gran being in pain was unbearable.
‘I’m off my food and I get tired,’ Gran admitted.
‘Your belly hurts?’
Gran looked ready to deny it only to realise it was too late for that. ‘Sometimes. And sometimes I need the privy in a rush. But I don’t need to take to my bed yet. I can still work.’
‘You can’t do as much as you used to.’ That was obvious. ‘You need me to help with the laundry and earn money in other ways or we won’t be able to pay the rent.’ Neither would they be able to pay for medicine if Gran’s pain got worse.
‘You’re a good girl, Lil, but you need to go to school. It’s the law.’
‘I’ll go to school often enough to stop us getting into trouble.’ But she’d invent a sickness of her own when she needed to stay home.
‘Your dad wanted both of you to stay at school until you were fourteen,’ Gran said, shaking her head as though she was letting him down.
‘You can’t help being ill,’ Lily pointed out.
‘True enough, but I dread leaving you with no one loo
king out for you. Except that I hope you’ll look out for each other.’
‘’Course we will, Gran.’
‘No one must know I’m ill,’ Gran said. ‘Not until it’s impossible to hide.’
‘I understand.’ They couldn’t take the risk of rumours reaching the ears of someone in authority who might decide to interfere and break the family up before it was absolutely necessary. This time together was precious, to be protected at all costs. And people might stop sending their washing if they suspected Gran was ill.
‘About Artie,’ Gran said then.
‘We should hold off telling him as long as we can,’ Lily replied.
Gran nodded. ‘I’m sorry the burden’s all on you, Lil. But you’re strong.’
Lily didn’t feel strong. She felt like weeping again. But she she’d have to find the strength from somewhere because she couldn’t let Gran down.
FOUR
‘It isn’t like you to miss school,’ Miss Fielding said, after calling Lily to the front of the class.
‘I felt sick,’ Lily explained. ‘Lots of people are sick at the moment. Agnes, Ida…’
‘I was hoping you’d win a prize for perfect attendance.’
Lily had been hoping the same thing. The prize would have been a book which she’d have loved but right now she had to give all of her attention to keeping the family going.
‘Is all well at home?’ Miss Fielding asked.
Lily faked an expression of puzzlement as though she couldn’t understand why Miss Fielding should suspect all might not be well. ‘Yes, Miss.’
She hated lying, though, particularly to someone she liked and admired.
‘You’re an excellent pupil, Lily. I hope you’ll come to me if you need help.’
‘Thank you, Miss.’
Yesterday had in fact been the first time Lily had missed school as she was trying to fit the work into the time before and after school as well as her dinner break. These days she was always the first to get up so she could light the fire, make a start on the washing and prepare bread and tea for their breakfasts. Sometimes she’d tackle a little sewing and ironing too.
She woke Gran in time for her to make her way downstairs slowly and only then called Artie who gave no sign of realising that Lily was doing the work Gran used to do. Luckily, another of his friends, Sidney, had been given some marbles and, keen to spend time outdoors taking a turn with them, Artie never noticed how busy Lily was. Neither did he see past the show of good cheer Gran put on in front of him.
Despite all her efforts, the work had fallen behind and she’d taken a day off school to catch up. Artie had believed her when she’d pretended to be ill. He’d given her a hug and said, ‘Poor Lil. You’ll hate missing school.’
Would Miss Fielding believe her too?
‘Very well, Lily. You’d better sit down so we can get on with the lesson,’ Miss Fielding said.
Relieved, Lily returned to the others.
Strangely, despite all her running around she wasn’t tired exactly. She felt as though a strange electric current were running through her and igniting her body with energy. But there were times when sleep suddenly ambushed her. One day she’d been sitting at the kitchen table waiting for the irons to heat in the fire only to be jolted awake as Artie burst through the back gate. Another day, it had only been a sneeze from someone in the class that had stopped her from nodding off as Ida Banfree stumbled through a reading in class. There’d also been some nights when she’d fallen asleep so quickly she hadn’t remembered getting into bed.
‘You’re doing too much,’ Gran had protested after two weeks had passed.
Denying it, Lily had changed the subject. ‘We’ll be in March next week, Gran.’
Spring was always welcome in the Tomkins household. It meant the days were growing longer and milder. Washing was easier to dry and they needed fewer coals on the fire.
Miss Fielding said nothing more that day and Lily made sure to attend school on the day that followed. She was running between errands after school when she heard someone calling, ‘Little girl!’
She skidded to a halt and turned, unsure if the call had been directed at her but keen to take any opportunity of earning a halfpenny or two. Seeing a tall, thin man some way behind her, memory stirred. Of course. The gentleman they’d seen by Tower Bridge some weeks ago.
She walked towards him, trying to remember his name. Mr Allman? No, not Allman. Alderton.
‘Good afternoon,’ he said.
Lily nodded. ‘Mr Alderton.’
‘I’ve looked out some books that I thought might interest your brother.’ He held out a small stack of books tied together with string.
How kind of him! ‘Thank you,’ Lily said. ‘He’ll look after them, I promise.’
‘Perhaps I might call in a week or two to learn how he’s getting on with them? You live at twelve Jessy Street, I think your brother said.’
‘Just around the corner,’ Lily confirmed, though she thought Mr Alderton would get a shock if he did call. The Tomkins home was a tiny terraced house built of soot-blackened brick that opened straight onto the pavement at the front.
‘Good day to you,’ he said, inclining his head.
‘Good day to you too,’ Lily echoed.
She watched him walk away then ran off to complete her errands, holding the heavy books under her arm.
‘What’s this?’ Gran asked, when Lily arrived home and put them on the table.
Lily reminded her of the man they’d met at the docks some weeks before.
‘He remembered Artie?’ Gran asked. ‘Heavens.’
‘Blimey,’ Artie said, when he saw the books.
‘You’d better wash your hands before you touch them,’ Gran told him.
The parcel contained five books. The largest was Drummond’s Atlas for Children. As Artie flipped through it, Lily saw maps of continents and countries. ‘That’ll be useful,’ she said.
The second was A Boy’s History of England and the third Elementary Mathematics. Artie pulled a face over that one. ‘I won’t understand a word of this unless you help me, Lil.’
‘I’m not sure I’ll understand it either, but I’ll help if I can.’
The fourth was Flora and Fauna of the British Isles. ‘What’s flora and fauna?’ Artie asked.
Lily opened the book and looked through the pages. ‘Plants and animals, by the look of it.’
‘I like this one,’ Artie said, picking up a story book which had a picture of a toad dressed in a hat and coat on the cover.
It was called The Wind in the Willows and Artie read the opening lines out loud. ‘The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms. Yes, I like this one.’
‘You’ll have to look at all of them or Mr Alderton might be offended,’ Lily said.
‘Is he really coming to visit?’
‘He’ll have to visit if he wants his books back.’
‘Lord knows what a gentleman will make of me,’ Gran said.
‘You’re good enough for anyone,’ Lily insisted. ‘If Mr Alderton turns his nose up at you, he’s a fool.’
*
Mr Alderton came ten days later. Hearing a knock on the front door, Lily guessed the caller might be him because everyone else came through the back yard. The front door led straight into the small front parlour. ‘Come in,’ Lily invited.
The room looked even smaller with Mr Alderton inside it because, even though he was thin, he was also tall and slightly stooping. There wasn’t much in the way of furniture – just one shabby armchair and one plain wooden chair placed either side of an empty fireplace with a small, scuffed table nearby and a cupboard to one side. It was in this cupboard that the books were kept in an effort to keep them dry from the steam and d
ampness of the washing.
‘Sit down,’ Lily said. ‘I’ll fetch my grandmother.’
She ran upstairs to Gran’s room. Gran had been lying down but must have heard Mr Alderton arrive because Lily found her sitting up in bed. ‘Is it—’
‘Mr Alderton,’ Lily confirmed.
Gran rubbed her cheeks to give them some colour. Lily noticed the laudanum bottle within reach on the window ledge. This must be one of Gran’s bad days because now that laudanum could only be bought with a doctor’s prescription, Gran was eking out her old supply. ‘We don’t need to trouble the doctor yet,’ she’d said.
‘Shall I tell Mr Alderton you have a headache?’ Lily asked. Gran’s face looked as white as her hair.
‘No need for that. Just give me a minute or two.’
Lily returned downstairs. She had no idea what went on in the houses of ladies and gentlemen but in Jessy Street the friends and neighbours who called were offered tea. Lily offered it to Mr Alderton.
‘Thank you. Is Arthur at home?’
‘He’s out but I’ll call him in.’
Lily put the kettle on the kitchen fire and went out to the alley to call Artie. His eyes widened when she told him Mr Alderton was here. ‘Blimey, Lil. I hope he doesn’t ask me lots of questions.’
‘Just do your best if he does. You need to wash your hands and face before you see him.’
Back in the kitchen she gave him warm water, soap and a scrap of old towel. ‘Don’t forget your nails and behind your ears,’ she said, whispering in case Mr Alderton overheard.
Warming the teapot, Lily decided weak tea was a poor way of repaying his kindness in lending the books so put fresh leaves in the pot. She also poured a little milk into Gran’s green pottery jug and put a small amount of precious sugar into her green pottery bowl. Gran was proud of having a jug and bowl that matched.
She came downstairs as Lily and Artie were carrying in the tea. She’d combed her hair but still looked dazed. Mr Alderton stood up politely as Lily introduced Gran. Then he sat back down on the armchair while Gran took the wooden chair. Lily poured a cup of tea for each of them, feeling relieved when Mr Alderton declined the last of their sugar.
