Authors: Ellie Dean
Peggy silently blessed sweet little Sarah for her kindness, but she could see the inner battle going on in Rita, and silently willed her to agree. Rita liked to think she was tough, but under that fierce, prickly exterior Peggy suspected there beat the heart of a little girl who longed to be pretty and popular, but who’d not really had much chance to learn how.
Rita glanced at Peggy and then back at Sarah. ‘All right,’ she muttered, ‘but I’m not having ten inches of make-up all over my face, and my hair stays loose.’
Sarah nodded and took her hand. ‘Come on then, we’d better get started. I’ll get dressed while you use the bathroom, then Jane and Fran can take turns in there, and before you know it, we’ll all be ready for a lovely evening out.’
Suzy decided she’d rather supervise and help than sit about getting more nervous by the minute as she waited for Anthony, and the five girls hurried out of the room and pounded up the stairs, their happy voices ringing through the house.
Peggy and Cordelia exchanged glances and grinned. This was more entertaining than any show at the theatre, and they were both on tenterhooks to see what sort of transformation Sarah made of Rita.
Daisy was asleep in her cot in Peggy’s room on the ground floor, the door ajar so they could hear if she woke up crying. Ron, Peggy and Cordelia had tucked into the hot, tasty vegetable stew that was so welcoming on such a dirty night, and Suzy had spent the last few tense minutes nervously flicking through the stack of old magazines that sat next to the wireless.
Ron had left for his Home Guard meeting when the knock on the front door heralded Anthony’s arrival and Suzy rushed to meet him.
‘I think she’s glad the waiting’s over,’ said Cordelia, ‘but utterly dreading what’s to come.’ She took off her half-moon glasses and pinched the bridge of her little nose. ‘Oh dear. I do hope it doesn’t all end in tears. They make such a lovely couple.’
‘If there’s one tear shed after tonight then I’ll make sure my sister pays for it,’ said Peggy flatly. Her mood lightened immediately when her nephew Anthony came into the room, for she’d always been extremely fond of him, and couldn’t for the life of her understand how someone as awful as her sister Doris could have given birth to such a sweet-natured son.
Tall and rather too thin, he had a well-defined mouth and his horn-rimmed glasses framed expressive eyes. The shoulders of his thick overcoat sparkled with raindrops, and as he undid the buttons, she could see he was wearing a suit instead of his usual corduroy trousers, sweater and tweed jacket.
Anthony greeted them both with a soft kiss on their cheeks. ‘Don’t worry, Auntie Peg,’ he said warmly, ‘I’ll look after Suzy and make sure she has a pleasant evening.’
‘I know you will,’ she replied, ‘and I’m relieved that you realise this could be quite an ordeal for her.’
He smiled his lovely shy smile and patted her shoulder. ‘Mother can be a little bit difficult at times,’ he said with admirable British understatement, ‘but don’t fret, Auntie Peg, I won’t let her spoil Suzy’s evening.’
As Suzy came back into the room Peggy saw the love that shone from his eyes and knew his promise would hold good. She kissed them both goodbye and waved them off as they quickly ran out into the rain and down the steps to the little black Austin parked by the kerb. She closed the door, heard the giggling and chatter coming from upstairs and, with a smile of contentment, returned to the kitchen.
‘Whatever is keeping those girls?’ grumbled Cordelia some time later. ‘It’s past seven o’clock and we haven’t seen hide nor hair of them for nearly two whole hours.’
As if on cue they heard footsteps on the stairs and the click-clack of heels on the hall’s tiled floor and both turned towards the doorway. They could hear muffled giggles and hoarse whispers and wondered what on earth they were up to out there.
‘We thought we’d give you a fashion show,’ said Fran from the other side of the doorway. ‘Are you ready?’
Peggy and Cordelia smiled in pleasurable anticipation and replied that they were.
Sarah came in first, her fair hair elegantly coiled at the nape of her nape, the string of pearls gleaming at her throat, the plain cream sheath of her linen dress skimming over her slight figure. She looked sophisticated and completely self-assured as she gave a twirl, acknowledged their happy applause and then went to stand by the table.
Jane’s long fair hair had been swept back into victory rolls which emphasised her fine cheekbones and blue eyes. She looked rather bashful as she teetered a bit in her borrowed high-heeled sandals and showed off the deep blue dress Suzy had lent her for the occasion.
Fran had no such inhibitions and sashayed in wearing a dress of emerald green, her beautiful hair rippling down her back and over her shoulders as if she’d stepped out of a Pre-Raphaelite painting. Scarlet glass beads were at her throat, and she’d finished off her outfit with rather saucy red shoes.
Cordelia and Peggy applauded enthusiastically and then waited with bated breath for Rita.
She emerged shyly from the doorway, her eyes downcast. Her dark curls fell about her face, held back only with a pretty butterfly-shaped slide above one ear. Her dainty figure, hidden so long beneath thick trousers and her old flying jacket, was quite remarkable. The tight bodice of the flowery pink and white dress was nipped in at the waist with a narrow white belt, from which the full skirt swirled almost to her knees. She wore low-heeled court shoes, had a sparkling bangle round her wrist and looked so sweet it brought tears to Peggy’s eyes.
‘Goodness me,’ said Cordelia, reaching for her handkerchief. ‘What a transformation. You look absolutely lovely, my dear.’
Rita’s dark eyes regarded them all from beneath the curls, her cheeks burning with embarrassment at being the focus of everyone’s attention. ‘I do feel very different,’ she admitted, ‘but it’s cold without trousers and my jacket.’
Fran waved a pink cardigan at her. ‘Put that on,’ she ordered, ‘and stop moaning.’ She grinned and gave the younger girl a hug. ‘You look gorgeous, so you do, and I lay odds that you’ll not be off the dance floor all night.’
‘That’s all very well,’ retorted Rita, who seemed to have found her prickliness again, ‘but I don’t know how to dance.’
‘You will when it comes to the smoochy ones,’ said Fran. ‘It’s easy, you just hang on and let them steer you about the floor.’
The rap of the door knocker brought this exchange to an end and had them all rushing about hunting for bags and coats and doing last-minute things to their hair. Peggy clucked and smiled and went to open the door.
Two very tall, handsome young American officers stood on her doorstep in their smartest dress uniform. They whipped off their peaked hats and saluted, their pristine white gloves glimmering in the light from the hallway. ‘Good evening, ma’am,’ said their spokesman. ‘Lieutenant Jonathon Cable at your service. This is Lieutenant Randolph Yates. Are the young ladies ready?’
He pronounced it ‘lootenant’ and as this was the first time Peggy had managed to get a close-up view of any Americans, she could instantly see why the girls had been all of a flutter. ‘I’m Peggy Reilly,’ she said. ‘Please, come in out of the rain. The girls won’t be a moment.’
She closed the door and beckoned for them to follow her into the kitchen so she could introduce them to Cordelia.
Cordelia went pink and giggled as they saluted her. ‘My goodness,’ she twittered. ‘You both look like film stars. Are you from Hollywood?’
‘No, ma’am,’ said Jonathon Cable, ‘I’m from Texas, and Randolph here is from Chicago.’
‘Goodness,’ breathed Cordelia. ‘Is that anywhere near Kalamazoo? I do love that song, don’t you?’
‘Sure do, ma’am,’ he replied and smiled, showing wonderfully white and even teeth. ‘But Kalamazoo is in Michigan, ma’am.’
Peggy realised this could go on for ages and decided it was time for them all to leave. She chivvied the girls into their coats and herded them into the hall while the American boys said goodbye to Cordelia and swiftly followed.
Ignoring the rain that was still hammering onto the pavement, she watched from the doorway as the girls climbed into the large grey saloon car that was parked at the kerb. It was at least four times larger than Anthony’s little Austin, with white-wall tyres, acres of gleaming chrome, and American pennants fluttering on the wings.
Waving goodbye as the car roared off down the terrace to the main road, she closed the door and slowly returned to the kitchen. It was lovely to see Rita looking so feminine and pretty in her borrowed party dress. Lovely, too, that all her girls were living life to the full and having fun, for the world was a dark place, the future uncertain.
She gazed up at Jim’s photograph, remembering her own youth and the excitement of dressing up to go out dancing. Jim was a good dancer, and she had felt as light as a feather as he’d twirled her around the ballroom at the end of the pier. She gave a soft sigh. It all seemed a very long time ago – but the memories lingered and warmed her as she settled into her chair and prepared for a cosy night in with Cordelia.
Chapter Four
Bow
RUBY HAD BEEN
back at work for two weeks now and although the bruises had gone, she felt empty inside, and in the few quiet moments she had, she still mourned the loss of the tiny baby that had not been allowed to live.
She had finished the lunchtime session at the pub and wasn’t due to go back until the next day, so she’d queued for what felt like hours at the butcher’s stall in the market only to return home with a mutton bone and a few scraps of dubious-looking offal. Placing this meagre offering in her only heavy cooking pot, she lit the gas ring which stood on the scarred table by the hearth and boiled it up with some pearl barley.
Once the few strips of meat had fallen off the bone, and the offal had made a thick stock, she peeled and chopped the last of the whiskery potatoes and shrivelled carrots, then shredded the cabbage leaves she’d managed to forage from beneath the grocer’s stall, and added them to the pot.
It didn’t smell too bad at all and her mouth watered at the thought of mopping up the rich gravy with some of the wheatmeal bread the Ministry of Food was calling the ‘national loaf’. It didn’t taste of much, but it was filling, and that was the important thing.
She ignored the pangs of hunger and looked round the room to make sure everything was neat and tidy as she took off her apron. The floor was swept, the bed was made with clean linen, the brass knobs polished to a gleam. Ray’s shirts and freshly pressed suit trousers hung waiting for him on the back of the door. His shoes had been polished and were lined up on newspaper by the dilapidated dresser where his brushes, soap and razor had been placed neatly on a clean towel next to the bowl and jug of water he would need when he got in. She’d even managed to clean the window and nail the blackout curtain back onto the frame where it had come loose. Ruby gave a sour grimace of satisfaction. He would find no fault today.
Waiting for him to come home always made her nervous, for she never knew what sort of mood he would be in, and with everything ready and nothing to occupy her, she became restless and began to pace the small room. She checked her appearance in the mirror, glad she’d had the time to wash her hair and put on some powder and lipstick. The bruises might have gone, but she couldn’t hide the apprehension in her eyes, or ignore the growing resentment and hatred for the man who’d so cruelly robbed her baby of life and treated her like dirt.
Tamping down on these dangerous emotions, Ruby turned from the mirror and looked out of the window to see what the weather was doing – it was still light, so she didn’t untie the blackout curtain but left it knotted to one side – and then gave the soup another stir.
Her gaze flitted to the meter. It was running low and she’d spent the last of her meagre housekeeping on tonight’s meal. If the gas ran out then the soup would get cold, and she wouldn’t be able to heat his shaving water. The thought of what Ray might do if that happened made her stomach churn. She should have remembered – should have made sure she had a spare tanner for just such an occasion. But she’d been tired and in a rush to get everything done in time and had forgotten.
She looked at the cheap clock that ticked on the mantel and decided to risk going down to her mother’s room. Ethel always had a few tanners put by, and she only needed to borrow one. Turning off the gas beneath the saucepan, she quickly opened the door and raced down the stairs to the third floor.
Ethel was in the middle of ladling her own soup into bowls for her two young lodgers who worked alongside her on the assembly line in the canning factory and slept on a mattress in the corner of her tiny room. They all looked startled by Ruby’s sudden appearance.
‘Whatever’s the matter?’ Ethel asked.
‘I need to borrow a tanner for the meter,’ she replied breathlessly. ‘I’ll pay you back tomorrow when I get me wages.’
Ethel raised an eyebrow but said nothing as she delved into her purse and handed over the small silver coin.
‘Thanks, Mum, you’re a diamond.’ Ruby kissed her mother’s cheek, charged back out onto the landing and raced up the stairs.
Ray was waiting for her, framed in the open doorway, arms folded, expression thunderous.
Ruby’s heart was hammering and her mouth was so dry she could barely speak. ‘I just popped out to get—’
‘Shut the door,’ he snapped.
Warily, she stepped into the room and, with her heart banging against her ribs, closed the door behind her. ‘I was only gone for a few seconds,’ she said softly.
‘I told you never to leave this room unlocked.’ His voice was deadly calm, his face almost expressionless as his eyes bored into her.
She could smell the whisky on his breath as he came nearer. ‘But I was only at Mum’s to fetch a tanner for the meter.’ Her back was pressed against the door, the sixpenny piece biting into the palm of her hand as she clenched her fist around it. ‘I didn’t want your soup to get cold.’
‘But you didn’t lock the door.’ His gaze was arctic.
Ruby was so nervous she had the sudden terrible urge to giggle – but that would have been fatal, and she fought to control it. ‘It ain’t as if we’ve got anything to steal,’ she managed in a hoarse whisper.