Daughters of the Mersey (40 page)

‘Amy,’ he said softly. ‘Don’t be afraid, I’ve come to help you.’

She pushed her face forward, wide-set eyes peered doubtfully at him. ‘Who are you? I don’t know you, do I?’

He had to bite back the words, I am your father. ‘Nick,’ he said. ‘My name’s Nick. I’m a friend of Elaine’s, you know her, don’t you? And Tom is almost my brother. Your mother is staying with them. She can’t live here any more, the roof has gone.’

‘I know.’ The girl was crawling out of the blankets and he could see something of her now. ‘Was my mum hurt when the house got bombed?’

‘No, she was at Elaine’s house the night it happened. She’s fine and so are Milo and June.’ She hung back, suspicion on her face. ‘Don’t be afraid, my car’s outside. I’ll take you to them.’

Slowly she put on her shoes. Her hair hadn’t been cut for months, she had one thin pigtail little more than shoulder length but its partner had come undone and her hair on that side swung in a limp curtain. She looked frightened. He had to stop himself throwing his arms round her in a gesture of comfort. That might frighten her more.

‘Everybody’s been worried stiff about you.’

‘I’m all right,’ her smile quivered, ‘but I’m glad you found me.’

‘I’m glad too,’ he said. He was feeling for her hand, about to lead her out to his car, when she stiffened.

‘There’s somebody outside.’ It was a horrified whisper and
she was shrinking away from him, but he’d heard a footfall too. Somebody else was creeping about. Looters? If so, they were certainly trespassing.

His heart was hammering as he opened the door, determined to defend his young daughter and keep her safe from whoever it was. Somebody was trying to come into the shed! Nick found he was clutching at a soft woollen coat, while flailing arms brushed his head and shoulders. He tried to restrain them.

A soft voice he immediately recognised said, ‘Nick, is it you?’

He wanted to laugh. His spirits soared, he felt hysterical. ‘It’s me.’ He wrapped his arms round her in a welcoming hug. ‘Amy, here’s your mother.’

With a gurgle of joy, Leonie swept her daughter into her arms. ‘Darling, thank goodness you got here safely. I’ve been so worried about you.’ Still hugging Amy, she looked up and said, ‘Thank you, Nick. Oh, it’s lovely to see you both again.’

Smiles didn’t leave their faces. They kept hugging each other. Leonie kissed them both. Nick felt he’d found at last what he’d spent his life hoping for. He wanted to stop the world at this moment. After a while he said, ‘I’d better get you to Tom’s house.’ He ushered them to his car. ‘They’re worried about you too, Amy.’

Leonie felt up on cloud nine. She couldn’t bear to let her daughter out of her arms and shared the front seat of the car with her. She was delighted and relieved to have Amy restored to her unhurt, but bemused as well to have found Nick looking for Amy too. That must mean she still meant a lot to him.

Leonie studied
what she could see of Nick’s profile as he drove and said, ‘I couldn’t sleep, I decided the only thing to do was to walk down and check again whether Amy had reached home.’

‘Mum, did you walk all that way in the blackout to find me? You must have been worried.’

‘I was out of my mind. But Nick, how did you come to be looking for her?’

‘I couldn’t sleep either.’ In the dim light from the dashboard she saw him flash a smile in her direction. ‘After Tom told me Amy was missing I tossed and turned for hours. I had to do something so I came to look for her.’

‘I shouldn’t have left Auntie Bessie’s, should I?’

‘No,’ her mother said firmly. ‘You shouldn’t have.’

‘I’m sorry.’ Amy’s voice shook. ‘I’ve caused you all a lot of trouble.’

‘And anxiety,’ Nick said. ‘For Auntie Bessie too.’

When he pulled up on Tom’s drive, the house was still and silent. ‘It’s not really light yet,’ Leonie said. ‘They’re probably still asleep in their air-raid shelter but they leave the back door open so we can get in.’

She led the way round the back, but in the dark she could hear Tom and Elaine coming across the garden towards them. ‘Here they are.’

‘You’ve found Amy! Thank goodness for that. And Nick too!’ They were both trying to hug and kiss Amy at the same time. Milo was the last to come running up and he swung her off her feet in the way he always did. Leonie was drawn into the kitchen surrounded by her friends and family all laughing and talking at once.

Elaine put on the kettle for tea and
they all helped to make toast. The scent filled the kitchen. ‘I’m hungry,’ Amy said. ‘I had no tea and no supper last night.’

They all fussed round her, wanting to hear about her journey. Elaine boiled an egg for her and Leonie cut soldiers to go with it. Tom brought out the honey jar with just the last inch remaining and set it in front of her. Milo had to rush to get ready for work. Tom went to pack a few things and ring his sister to tell her he’d collect the twins this morning.

Nick said, ‘You’ve got a key to my place, haven’t you? Eat the fish for lunch while it’s still fresh.’

‘Before I go to work I need to go home to let the hens out,’ Milo said.

‘I should have thought of that while I was down there,’ Amy spoke with her mouth full.

‘You go to work,’ Tom said. ‘There’s no hurry for that. I’ll pop down to do that when I’m leaving for Chester.’

Elaine said, ‘I’ll open the shop for you first, Leonie, you’ll want to see to Amy. Tom, can you stop and collect me on the way?’

‘Yes, all right, I’ll only be an hour at the most.’

‘Ida should be there by ten.’

The house emptied and the stampede subsided. Nick couldn’t take his eyes off Leonie and Amy and was delighted to be left with them. He’d spent a lot of time in this house and felt at home here. He settled down with another cup of tea and began to daydream of what might be possible if Leonie wanted it too.

It was Leonie who said, ‘I must send a telegram to Auntie Bessie to tell her you’re safe and
thank her for letting us know so promptly. It was very wrong of you to leave like that, Amy.’

Nick came to the support of his daughter. ‘She was afraid you and Milo had been hurt – or even worse.’ He was rewarded with a nod of agreement from her.

Leonie went on, ‘You’ve caused a great deal of trouble for a lot of people. Do you realise Uncle Jack called out the Welsh police to help find you?’

‘And now we have to get you back to Wales,’ Nick said.

‘Do I have to go?’ she wheedled, comfortable in her mother’s arms.

‘Yes,’ he and her mother chorused. Leonie laughed and reminded her, ‘Next Thursday you are sitting your scholarship exam. We want you to do well so you need to be settled back there as soon as possible.’

‘You went there to get away from the air raids,’ Nick explained. ‘You didn’t like being in one last night, did you?’

Amy shivered. ‘That noise they make to warn you the bombers are coming, I didn’t like that. It was scary.’

‘Last night the bombers weren’t aiming their bombs on us,’ her mother said. ‘We had the alert and we heard them go over but it sounded as though they were over Bootle way, so for us it was a good night. We want to get you back to Wales before they come here again.’

Nick looked from one to the other and knew he wanted to stay close to them. He felt a frisson of excitement run through him. If Leonie wanted that, there was no reason now why they couldn’t.

‘I don’t have enough petrol coupons to drive there and back,’ he lamented. ‘It’ll have to be the train. I’ll see if I can find
out what time they run.’ He went to the phone. Everywhere posters were plastered asking,
Is Your Journey Really Necessary?
And trains were notorious for being late since the heavy raids had started.

‘Amy, you look as though you need a bath and a hair wash. Elaine’s put the immersion on so we’ll do that next, but we’ve no clean clothes for you here.’ Leonie took her up and started the bath running. ‘I’ll help you wash your hair and then you can bath yourself. Elaine’s left out some of Dulcie’s knickers and socks, which she fears will be too small, and a pair of her own which will probably be too big. You’ll have to choose between them or put on your dirty ones.’

Nick followed them up to the bathroom door and listened to the sounds of family life within. He didn’t feel he could go in, Amy mightn’t like it. He called, ‘Leonie, it is possible to get there and back by train today if we catch one leaving Woodside at ten o’clock. Well, according to the timetable it is. I’ll take Amy back for you.’

‘I could do that.’ Leonie sounded at a loss.

‘I can go by myself,’ Amy piped up indignantly. ‘I got here without any help, didn’t I?’

‘You certainly did,’ Nick said, ‘but you won’t be going back on your own. No, absolutely not. We all need to know that you’ve got there safely. I will take you.’

‘I’d like to come too,’ Leonie said.

‘Yes please, Mum.’

‘We’d both like you to come,’ Nick said, ‘but it will be a long day for your mother, Amy, and she already looks exhausted. Besides, she has still got a lot of straightening out to do in the shop before she can live there and
she must order a Morrison shelter today if she can.’

‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I’ve got to do that. Nick, it’s very kind of you to offer. I have to be sensible, Amy love, and let him do it.’

Nick was already running down to the phone, to dictate a telegram to Auntie Bessie telling her Amy was safe and he was bringing her back this afternoon. Then he rang his chief clerk and told him that he didn’t intend to come in today and asked him to help Miss Beggs cancel all his appointments and reschedule them for next week.

They were about to go when Nick said, ‘I’m going to drive to the station and leave my car there. If you’re ready, why don’t you come with us and I’ll drop you off at your shop?’

‘Yes please. I don’t have to get ready, all my things are there so I needn’t hold you up.’

‘I wish my mum could come with us.’

‘In this world Amy, we all wish for a lot of things we can’t have, especially now there’s a war on. Your mum can’t do everything though she tries. She’s had a lot of extra work and worry with the house being bombed, and she said she couldn’t sleep at all last night when she knew you were missing. So I’m afraid you’ll have to put up with me escorting you back.’

She sniffed hard. ‘I know I shouldn’t have come.’

‘No, but you did well. You had to keep your wits about you to find your way home and you were brave. But please don’t try it again, there’s a good girl.’

As Nick stopped his car outside the shop and Leonie kissed Amy goodbye, he said, ‘Elaine and Tom can settle into my house without me. I’ll come back here to see you, shall I?’

L
EONIE STOOD ON THE
pavement waving goodbye to Amy as Nick’s car pulled
away. The utter relief she’d felt at finding Amy unharmed and the shock of seeing Nick after eleven years had left her spinning with pleasure. She’d been dead dog weary when she’d walked down to Mersey Reach before dawn, but she no longer felt tired. She was filled with zest to face the day.

Ida was machining hard in the shop window. She’d heard from Elaine that Amy had turned up unharmed and Leonie stopped for a moment to share some of her joy about that. Then she went upstairs to the phone in the sitting room to enquire if it was possible to get a Morrison shelter. It seemed that it was. ‘But we won’t be able to deliver it today,’ she was told. ‘It’ll be Monday at the earliest.’ Pleased with that, Leonie ran back downstairs to size up the room behind the shop where their customers were measured and fitted. Elaine was just finishing with a customer and showing her out.

‘This is the only possible place to have the shelter installed,’ she said to Ida who had finished the garment she’d been working on. ‘But it will make things tight.’

‘We’ll be
able to use it as another cutting-out table.’

Elaine came rushing back. ‘Tom’s outside, I’ll have to go. Will you come with Nick when he gets back?’

‘I don’t know. I don’t know what Nick intends to do. In fact I don’t know whether I’m on my head or my heels, but I’m so happy everything has come right.’

‘So am I.’

‘I’ve even managed to order a Morrison shelter though they aren’t sure when they can deliver it.’

‘You must both stay at my place until you’ve got it erected. I’ll see you when I do then.’ Leonie followed her through the shop. ‘Sorry I can’t stay to help you organise things here, it’s a real mess upstairs. Goodbye.’ The shop doorbell rang as she opened it.

‘Goodbye,’ Leonie said. Nothing could dent her happiness this morning.

Ida said, ‘I heard that, you won’t be able to put your mind to sewing until your flat is straight. The sewing is well in hand at the moment. Let me help you to make up those beds for a start. It’s an easier job if there are two.’

When they’d made up the beds, Leonie set about trying to organise her clothes and belongings to make it possible to sleep in the smaller bedroom in reasonable comfort. Ida dusted and Hoovered. Leonie had far too much stuff for the one wardrobe and small space. She and Ida packed the rest into boxes and bags and put them up in the loft out of the way.

She almost danced to the tiny kitchen and did the same there. It was harder because many more things had been salvaged from Mersey Reach. When it came to the sitting room it was quite impossible, they had an enormous number of ornaments. She gave
a mantel clock to Ida and put some Dresden china shepherdesses on one side to give to Elaine. ‘At least I’ve got the loft to store the surplus,’ she said as they put that up too.

‘You’re very brave,’ Ida said. ‘You lost the house you’ve lived in for years and you’re still cheerful.’

‘None of my children have been hurt,’ she said, ‘and everybody has been so generous with their help. I’ve salvaged a lot of my things and I’ll be able to claim compensation for the house from the government. I’ve a lot to be thankful for.’ She mused that she had much more to make her happy than that.

Together they started to tidy up the living room and remove the dust and grime from all over the flat brought in with her salvaged belongings.