The Women of Mulberry Lane, page 7
‘What’s this?’ she asked, surprised.
‘Look inside and see…’ His eyes were bright with anticipation.
Maureen lifted the lid and gasped with pleasure as she saw the delicate necklace that lay against the blue velvet. The outside of the box had faded, but the inside was still a beautiful dark blue and the pale blue stones set at intervals the whole length of the fine gold chain sparkled up at her. It was long and would wind twice around her throat and still reach the V of her neck.
‘How beautiful – what are the stones?’
‘Aquamarines, so I’m told,’ he said. ‘The dealer said it was once a muff chain, which is why it is so long. I thought you might like it?’
‘I love it, Gordon. Thank you so much, darling. I’m afraid my gift for you is far more ordinary…’
‘I need nothing but the pleasure of being your husband,’ he said and as Maureen moved closer he kissed her with passion. She responded instantly, melting into him and feeling the glow of love. ‘I love you very much and one day soon I’m going to be fit enough to show you how much…’
‘Oh, Gordon, oh, darling,’ she whispered, choking on her emotion. ‘I am so very lucky…’
Her eyes were moist as she snuggled into his chest. She had so much and for a moment she remembered what Peggy had told her and felt the hurt and pain her friend must be feeling. Laurie had told her he wanted a separation and demanded she pay him all her savings for his share of the pub business. On top of Pip’s news, it was just too much and Maureen wished she might have done something to help, but she knew that Peggy had to fight her own battles. They all did, including Gran. Maureen would do what she could to make things easier, but Gran wouldn’t want sympathy. She would face whatever came with the courage she’d shown all her life.
*
Peggy had washed most of the glasses and bits and pieces before she went to bed. Anne and Janet had helped; Nellie had done much of it before she and her daughter went home. Rose hadn’t come to the party. Peggy thought Tom might have taken her out on his last evening in the lane before returning to his base, and Peggy hadn’t seen her since.
Poor Rose, she thought and sighed. Peggy was used to life throwing problems at her and Laurie’s selfish demands hurt less than they would have once. She’d decided that she wouldn’t give in to them. She knew that he had two thousand pounds in a post office account and she would make no demands on him when they separated – except that she wanted a divorce. His last letter was the straw that broke the camel’s back as far as she was concerned. Laurie had taken her for granted once too often and she’d had enough. As soon as he was well enough to leave hospital, she would tell him that she didn’t want a separation but a divorce.
Pip’s injury had distressed her and she’d been close to tears several times that evening, but she’d held them back. Everyone was suffering, many far worse off than she was, and she’d gone ahead with the party even though her heart was aching, but Laurie’s letter had made her angry. Who the hell did he think he was? She knew him to be fiery when in a temper and selfish, but somehow the calculated tone of the letter wasn’t him.
There was something odd about the letter altogether – something that made her wonder whether he’d dictated it or someone else had decided what to write for him.
Peggy shook her head. She wasn’t going to think about it tonight. The presents were waiting for her twins and Maggie, Janet too. She’d sent book tokens for Pip, some white handkerchiefs and a white silk scarf; for Sheila she’d knitted baby clothes and sent her a pretty maternity top and a pair of silver earrings she’d found on the market. Now, she was tired and needed her bed – but first she would check the bar, make sure that the door was bolted. It was and, although she looked hopefully, there were no cards or letters on the mat.
Could it be that Able was no longer interested? Had his last card been saying goodbye? No, she wouldn’t believe that; it was just that her letters hadn’t reached him yet.
Sighing, she made her way upstairs. It was odd Rose hadn’t come round, because she’d told Peggy she had gifts for the twins. She hoped she was all right. Tom hadn’t mentioned Rose before he left. Peggy just hoped she was all right. It was miserable having to cancel her wedding a couple of days before it was due to happen, but after all, Jimmy couldn’t help it… could he? Peggy hoped he hadn’t thrown her over, because that was just too much…
*
Rose lay shivering in her bed. It was cold because there was no fire in the room and she’d let the range in the kitchen go out because she’d stayed in bed all day, hiding her head under the covers. She couldn’t believe what she’d done the previous night.
After she’d left Peggy’s kitchen, two days after Jimmy’s letter had devastated her, and she’d woken in the night feeling so miserable, Rose had bumped into Tom Barton on his way back to the Pig & Whistle. She’d put on a false smile and asked him to take her out that evening. He’d agreed with alacrity. It was his last before returning to the army, and he’d taken her to a local dance where there was a bar. Tom had bought her gin and orange all night, pushing each glass into her hand and telling her to drink up. He’d done his best to tease and compliment her, trying to keep her spirits up, but she’d been in a foul mood. She’d been drunk by the time he walked her back to what had been his home – it still was really, because his furniture was all there and Rose had got the tenancy only until his father decided whether they were coming back after the war.
Rose suddenly felt hot all over as she recalled the way she’d wound her arms around Tom and begged him to come in with her. She’d tried to seduce him on the lumpy old sofa in the kitchen, but Tom hadn’t been drunk and he’d laughingly refused, telling her she’d be sorry in the morning.
‘Jimmy will be back,’ he’d told her. ‘I’m not going to sleep with you like this, Rose – though heaven knows I’d like to. I want you like crazy and I’d wed you if I got the chance. You were always the girl for me, but I won’t take advantage when you’re down. Nor will I grab my chance at you just because Jimmy had to do what the army told him.’
Rose couldn’t remember anything more, but she’d woken up wearing only her silky slip in the bed upstairs. Tom must have carried her up and put her to bed. Had he given into her tears and pleading – or had he remained the perfect gentleman?
It didn’t much matter, because she’d made a fool of herself and she couldn’t face him ever again… At the moment she didn’t feel as if she could face anyone. She just wanted to lie here and die.
Rose had shed so many tears of self-pity that there were none left in her and she just felt as if she’d been beaten all over. She’d missed Peggy’s party, but in the morning she would take the presents round for the twins and tell Peggy that she’d been unwell. If she was lucky, she could spend an hour or two in Peggy’s warm kitchen, which would save her being alone the whole of Christmas. She would be glad when the holiday was over and she could return to work. Lying here thinking about Jimmy and feeling sorry for herself would do no one any good.
Rose dragged herself from bed and went down to make herself a cup of Camp coffee. It was sweet with the condensed milk, which was all she had in the cupboard, and she pulled a wry face but swallowed it, because at least it was hot.
She was beginning to feel better. Tom had proven himself a good friend and shown her that he respected her too much to just go to bed with her because she was drunk and broken-hearted. He must have been sorely tempted. A faint smile touched her mouth, because she would have to be a fool not to know that Tom fancied her something rotten. It was just her luck that she’d fallen for Jimmy and he’d let her down, because surely he could have refused to go on this new course – couldn’t he?
*
What a way to spend Christmas Day, Tom thought as he sat in the back of a truck heading for the coast. From the kit they’d been issued, the popular conclusion was that they were going to France – or maybe even to join the advance on Germany itself. Even though the officers were close-mouthed on the subject, the men talked endlessly about the state of the war and the Allies’ position.
The German offensive in the Ardennes had set them back for a start, but now the Allies were pushing forward again, and most of the chaps thought they would soon be marching into Paris. The more salacious spoke of the French women and how grateful they would be to the conquering heroes, but Tom wasn’t interested in women dropping their knickers out of gratitude. If he could have any woman, he would choose Rose – and she’d offered herself on a plate when he’d tucked her up in her bed that last night in the lane.
A rueful smile touched Tom’s mouth. How many times had he dreamed of kissing Rose, of undressing her piece by piece and touching all the sweet places of her lovely body? He must be the worst idiot in the world! She’d offered and he’d turned her down – and yet he knew she’d done it because she was drunk and because Jimmy had hurt her so badly.
Tom had seen Jimmy’s letter. Rose had insisted on showing it to him. He thought that he would have written a very different letter if it had been him – and he would have moved heaven and earth to get out of some daft course to be there on his wedding day… If Jimmy had been sent on a course. Tom heard things and he knew that there was lots of stuff going on behind the scenes. The public saw pictures and read articles about battles, won or lost, but they didn’t know about the secret missions that went on all the time.
Tom had a feeling that Jimmy had been training for special explosives work. Not that the solider had ever mentioned it, but he’d seen yellowing on his fingers and other men had told him that it came from handling explosive materials. The girls who worked in the munitions factories often got yellow skin and it followed that men who handled them a lot might also get stains on their fingertips. Besides, they had the look of men who lived on the edge and Tom had seen that look in Jimmy’s eyes a couple of times – and he’d seen it in the training camp too. Officers had taught them to understand booby traps and suchlike and he’d seen men with that slightly haunted expression more than once. If Tom’s guess was right, Jimmy might have been sent on a dangerous mission – one he couldn’t tell Rose about.
The only thing that puzzled Tom was why he hadn’t refused. He must have been granted special leave for his wedding. Surely he could have said no – and yet would Tom if it came down to it?
His thoughts returned to the lane and the distress and fear those V2 rockets had caused Peggy and others. One of them had come too close for comfort and most folk had felt the tremors, which resulted in cracked windows if nothing more. If Jimmy had been asked to give up his leave for something like that, then he was a bloody hero! Tom was even gladder he hadn’t taken advantage. If he’d had the chance, he would take Rose from Jimmy by fair means, but he wouldn’t go behind his back.
‘You look as if you’ve lost a quid and found sixpence, Barton,’ one of the other privates said and dug him in the ribs. ‘What’s the matter – fall out with your girl on leave?’
‘Yeah, something like that,’ Tom said and grinned. ‘Where do you reckon we’re goin’ then, mate?’
‘I reckon they’ll use us to make the push on Berlin,’ his friend said and looked like a Cheshire cat, his grin stretching from ear to ear. ‘Stands to reason – we’re fresh meat to the fodder and we were the best of our intake.’
‘Great.’ Tom felt his spirits lift. This is what he’d been waiting for since the war started. ‘We’ll give them buggers a taste of their own medicine, Eric.’
‘Yeah. I can’t wait!’
Tom took a packet of cigarettes from his pocket and offered them around. They smoked in companionable silence with all the confidence of youth and ambition. They’d show the bloody Germans a thing or two once they got going!
6
Sheila phoned on Christmas Day and Peggy felt better after they talked. Her daughter-in-law said that Pip was sitting up eating again and seemed to be bearing up well.
‘Does he realise that he may lose the sight in that eye?’ Peggy asked.
‘I don’t think they’ve told him yet,’ Sheila said, ‘but he knows that any flaw in his sight would rule him out of flying as a pilot. It was time he stood down anyway, Peggy. He’d flown more missions than most and his luck just ran out…’
‘But he wanted to be a civilian pilot…’
‘He will have to think again,’ Sheila told her and Peggy thanked God for the practical manner of her son’s wife. ‘He could have died and I’m just glad to have him back – besides, he told me once he was torn between flying and designing new planes. I think he will see that there is still a future for him once he gets used to the idea – and he may be able to see a bit from his damaged eye, though not enough to fly…’
Peggy asked her how she was feeling and Sheila said she’d never felt better.
‘I’m looking forward to the birth,’ she said. ‘We both want a big family, Mum, and all I need is my husband and family. I’m not interested in a career…’
‘I think Pip was lucky to find you,’ Peggy said and meant it. She was feeling better when she put the phone down and went back to cooking the dinner. At least Pip had Sheila to bolster his spirits and didn’t have to put up with a tearful wife weeping all over him.
Rose came round later that morning with gifts for the family. Peggy had a large joint of beef in the oven and the smell was tantalising. She, Janet, Nellie and Anne had put their meat rations together and the butcher she favoured had come up trumps with a lovely rib of beef. With roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, gravy and vegetables it would be a delicious dinner and there would be enough cold for sandwiches the next day and maybe even a shepherd’s pie. Peggy gave the girl a glass of sherry and a mince pie, and then, as Rose seemed in no hurry to leave, asked her if she’d like to stay for lunch. There was more than enough for an extra one, and Rose looked pleased as she accepted.
Somewhere, she’d found a pretty doll with a wax face and yellow hair for Fay, and Freddie had a metal train engine that was clockwork and ran on its own set of rails. It was amazing what still turned up if you were prepared to hunt for it. Although the toy shops had very little new other than cheaply made puzzles and games, the second-hand shops had things hidden in dark corners if you were prepared to look. Maureen had bought new wooden toys for her children from Ben, a soldier confined to a wheelchair, and she’d given Freddie a large truck and Fay had a set of three wooden dolls she’d dressed for her.
In fact, the twins had more than their fair share of loot. Janet had stuff she’d brought back from the country last summer, which she’d kept for Christmas. It had come from Rosemary’s attic and her friend had been glad to give her all the toys her own children no longer wanted. Freddie had a set of tin soldiers that might have been Victorian and Fay had yet another doll, but this one had a china head and only painted-on hair with a composite body. Janet had made a set of clothes for it, and Fay had lined all her toys up and looked furious whenever either Maggie or Freddie went near them.
Peggy had managed to find a toy for both twins, but she’d given them new clothes too, because she thought they had quite enough toys. She tried not to spoil them, perhaps because all her friends did. Anne, Nellie, Alice, Maureen, and even Tom Barton had left parcels for them, and Peggy couldn’t help thinking about other kids in the lanes who had very little. She decided that she would sort out a few bits that both Maggie and the twins had discarded and take them to the next church jumble sale.
They would be sold for pennies and that gave mothers who had so little a chance to buy a little gift for their children. Had she known who to give the discarded toys to Peggy might have done so, but she knew from experience that many folk did not take kindly to charity. The people of the East End were proud, and even during the worst of the bombing, when those who had lost everything were offered whatever their neighbours could spare, some had refused.
By giving the toys to the church, Peggy solved that problem and helped the church, whose funds were low because of all the property lost in the war. Many churches and church buildings had been damaged and much of it was too expensive to repair and would never be rebuilt. The churches also did their bit to feed those who were homeless and hungry, and there were so many that had neither a roof over their heads nor money to purchase food. Men of working age, women and youths could find work, either in the factories or the forces, but the elderly had nowhere to go. A lot of hostels had been lost to bombs or simply because the resources were needed elsewhere and that left old men and women on the streets, as well as orphaned children. A few homes for children remained in London, though most had moved out to the country to be safer; they took in the kids that were brought to them, caring for them or sending them on, but Peggy knew that the children still gathered near the docks or under the railway arches, begging for food or scavenging in dustbins. She’d caught one in her dustbin only a few days before Christmas. After feeding him and giving him a pair of Pip’s old shoes, she’d sent for the police, who had taken him to an orphanage a few streets away. Whether he would stay there was a moot point, because a lot of them ran away, preferring a life on the streets.
‘Would you like me to do anything, Peggy?’ Rose asked, bringing Peggy’s thoughts back to the present.
‘You and Janet can set the table in the dining room upstairs,’ Peggy said and smiled at her. Rose was miserable but making an effort. ‘I’m sure Jimmy will be back as soon as he gets the chance, love.’
‘Yeah, that’s what Tom Barton said.’ Rose laughed at something and shook her head. ‘He’s a good bloke, Tom – I should have fallen for him, shouldn’t I?’
Peggy looked at her thoughtfully. ‘Don’t use Tom to get back at Jimmy, love. He doesn’t deserve to be hurt…’
‘I know – I shan’t,’ Rose said and hurried off, before the tears fell, to help Janet set the table.
