21

Dorothy pulled open the door to see a young man standing there.

‘I’m sorry to intrude but does Annie Cradwell live here?’

Annie stood up. She knew that voice. It didn’t sound as confident as usual but it was music to her ears. ‘Peter? Peter, is that you?’

Dorothy stood aside and let the young man in.

Annie ran to the front door and threw her arms around him, before remembering where she was. ‘What are you doing here? Who’s looking after your barrow?’ She stepped back, suddenly aware that everyone was looking at her. ‘Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude; I’m just shocked to see you here. Peter, this is my grandfather, William, my father, Tom, my brother, David and my sister, Margaret.’ She turned back to face him. ‘And the lady that opened the door is my Aunt Dorothy.’

Dorothy smiled as she shut out the cold evening air.

Tom watched Annie; her face had lit up and her eyes were sparkling. She looked alive for the first time since she had arrived.

Peter bowed his head slightly. ‘Good evening, everyone. I’m sorry, I don’t wish to intrude, I understand this is a difficult time for you all.’ He turned to Annie. ‘But I had to know if you were all right.’ He paused to take a breath. ‘Joyce only told me a few days ago so I came as soon as I could.’

William stood up and, holding out his hand, he walked over to him. ‘Nice to meet you, Peter. As Annie said, I’m her grandfather.’

‘Good evening, sir.’ Peter fidgeted from one foot to the other. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t think I thought this through.’ He clenched his hands by his side. ‘I should leave.’

David called out. ‘Come and sit down, Peter, you must be frozen. Have you come all the way from London?’

Peter took a tentative step forward. ‘Yes, sir.’

Dorothy stepped forward. ‘Let me take your coat and I’ll put the kettle on.’

Peter unbuttoned his jacket and passed it to her.

Annie took his hand and squeezed it. ‘Come on, they won’t bite, not even my father.’ She didn’t take her eyes off Peter as she pulled him to the table.

Tom eyed Peter wondering what it was about him that his daughter was smitten with. Ivy’s voice suddenly played in his head. Play nice, Tom, he’s come a long way so he must care a lot about Annie. He nodded.

Annie frowned. ‘You all right, Pa?’

Tom nodded. ‘Of course, it’s lovely to meet you, Peter. You must care a lot about my daughter to travel up to see her.’

Colour crept up Peter’s neck.

‘Pa.’

Everyone laughed, with the exception of Annie and Peter.

Dorothy rested her hand on Annie’s shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, he’s just doing his big brother and father thing.’

David chuckled. ‘Oh, does that mean I should be doing it as well?’

‘No!’ Annie scowled at David.

Peter glanced at Annie and forced a smile. ‘Don’t worry, Annie, I’d want to do the same thing if it was the other way round.’ He turned to Tom. ‘Mr Cradwell, I have been looking forward to meeting you. I don’t know if Annie’s mentioned me—’

‘I don’t believe she has.’

Peter frowned and looked over at Annie.

Annie shook her head. ‘For this very reason, and anyway there’s nothing to tell.’

Peter nodded. ‘Right, well, I have a fruit and vegetable barrow on the street near where Annie lives with Rose and Joyce. They walk past it every day.’

Tom nodded. ‘Then we probably need to talk, but not tonight. My son, David, goes back to the front line tomorrow.’

Peter’s face immediately coloured. ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’

David smiled. ‘Don’t be sorry, you weren’t to know. Also I’m absolutely delighted to meet you.’

William glanced at the young lad. ‘Don’t worry, Peter, she may not have told any of us about you but Annie has been babbling on to the chickens about you and her life in London.’

The room erupted with laughter as Annie’s face turned crimson.

Peter grinned. His smile faded when he turned to Annie. ‘I wasn’t sure if you were coming back, and Joyce didn’t know and neither did Kitty.’

Annie opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.

Tom was watching them together and was immediately transported back to the early days of Ivy and him. His eyes glistened; if they cared as much about each other as he and Ivy did, they would be in for a life of happiness together. ‘She will be going back to London. She still has a dream to make happen.’

Annie felt the tears pricking at her eyes. ‘Pa, we’ve had this conversation, and that’s not what was decided.’

Tom frowned. ‘I can always throw you out you know.’

Peter gasped. ‘Oh please, sir, don’t do that. Annie missed you all so much when she was in London.’ He turned to Annie. ‘I’ll move up here, and I could find work and help your father with the farm.’

Annie’s mouth dropped open. ‘You would do that?’

Peter nodded.

Annie shook her head. ‘No, you have your ma to think about, remember?’

Peter lowered his eyes as sadness washed over him.

Tom watched the worry trample down on Peter. This was going to be his future son-in-law, of that there was no doubt. ‘Stop worrying, Peter, Annie is going back to London, and not because I’m throwing her out either.’

Tears spilled over onto Annie’s cheeks.

Tom grabbed her hand across the table. ‘Listen to me, young lady; your mother will haunt me for the rest of my days if I don’t get this right. I didn’t encourage you when you left but this time I am. I was wrong then but I’m right this time. Dorothy is staying and who knows about Arthur but your grandfather and I can manage. If not, we’ll get a young lad to help from the village. So decisions have been made and it’s no longer up for discussion.’

David nodded. ‘Well done, Pa, that was a good decision. Ma would be proud of you.’

William stood up and scowled at Annie. ‘There’s a condition that goes with it, mind.’

Annie stared wide-eyed at him. ‘What is it, Grandpa?’

He grinned from ear to ear. ‘You write at least once a week and come back as often as you can.’

Annie jumped up and hugged him. ‘That goes without saying.’

Her grandfather pulled back and looked at her mischievously. ‘And make sure we’re all invited to your wedding; don’t do a Dorothy.’

Annie gasped, her face instantly beetroot red.

Everyone in the room laughed.

Peter chuckled. ‘Don’t worry, sir, all of those conditions will be met but first I would need to ask Mr Cradwell’s permission.’

Annie looked horrified.

Peter grinned. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to do it right now in front of everyone. I shall at least wait until I’ve spoken to the chickens about it.’

Everyone laughed at Annie’s embarrassment.

Margaret stood up and wandered round the table. ‘Give me a hug, Peter. You are going to be a good addition to this family as and when that time comes. It’s lovely to meet you.’ She threw her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek before stepping back. ‘Welcome to the madhouse.’

Annie shook her head and sat back down again. ‘You’re all mad, and I can’t believe you went to the theatre.’ She shook her head. ‘How is Kitty?’

‘She’s fine. She’s very proud of the fact she’s managing, but I’ll tell you more later.’ Peter smiled. ‘I almost forgot, Kitty asked me to tell you they are now doing The Earl and the Girl at the Lyric Theatre.’

‘My goodness they’ve moved again. She must have been in a pickle.’

Peter shook his head. ‘I believe she said Stan was looking after her but she’ll be glad when you’re back because he makes terrible coffee. Oh and she was insistent that I didn’t forget to tell you Matthew Harris has gone and apparently won’t be back.’

Annie’s eyes widened.

Tom had been listening to the exchange with interest. ‘You look shocked.’

Annie swung round to face her father but didn’t say anything.

Dot forced herself to smile. ‘Matthew was the Musical Director but he was known for overstepping the mark with some of the young girls, so they’ve done well to get rid of him.’

Tom frowned. ‘Did he try it on with you, Annie?’

Peter opened his mouth to speak but was stopped by Annie’s foot hitting his ankle under the table.

Annie looked at Peter and rested her hand on his arm. ‘Oh, I am sorry, was that your leg?’

Dot smiled at the couple.

‘In answer to your question, Pa, he didn’t. Kitty was always looking out for me. I was very fortunate.’

Peter nodded. ‘I don’t mean to change the subject but Joyce has come up too. She’s at Rose’s home.’

Annie breathed a sigh of relief. ‘How wonderful, it feels like ages since I last saw her.’

*

Annie stared out of the window as the train pulled into Paddington Station. ‘Rose, do you remember our excitement when we first came into this station? I don’t think I had ever seen so many people milling around in one place before.’

Rose laughed. ‘And that excitement quickly turned to fear, or maybe it was panic.’

Annie turned round as the steam whirled passed the window. ‘While I have you all in one place, I want to thank you all for being such good friends when I needed you the most.’ She smiled at Joyce. ‘I don’t know what’s happened to your uncle but he’s a different man now, and who knew your aunt was our Dot at the theatre.’

‘I know, I think he intends to stay a few more days and then he’ll have to make a decision about what he’s doing.’ Joyce frowned. ‘I suppose we could end up homeless if he moves back to the village.’

Annie shook her head. ‘I think he will give us time to find somewhere else to live and I do think him and Dot have a lot to sort out before that happens, if it ever does.’ She smiled. ‘Mind you, I think they do still love each other so I hope they do get back together.’

Peter smiled. ‘You old romantic, but I must admit they all seem very nice people, even your father, although I can’t deny he frightened me a little at first.’

Rose laughed. ‘That’s what fathers are meant to do for any potential suitors.’

The train screeched to a stop and the whistle blew loudly. Doors were opened and swung against the carriage, banging as it made contact. Peter stretched up and pulled down the three small cases from the overhead racking.

Peter gazed at Annie. ‘Yer know, I ’ad to buy this case especially to come to see you.’

‘I’m sorry, you could have written instead of taking a couple of days off work, and saved the expense.’

Peter shrugged. ‘I did think about that but I figured it would ’ave been easier for yer to tell me yer couldn’t see me anymore by letter, so ’ere I am.’

Annie rubbed her hand up and down the sleeve of his jacket. ‘And I’m glad.’

Peter jumped down off the carriage and held his hand up to help the ladies step off the train.

Once on the platform, Annie lifted her head to sniff the air. It was definitely different to back home, there was a freshness missing. ‘Ah, it’s good to be back.’ She looked at the others as they stepped down. ‘It’s been a tough couple of weeks. I miss my mother and I’m going to miss her letters but this feels like home now.’ Her vision blurred. ‘I just wish she could see how happy I am to be back.’

Rose put her arm around Annie’s shoulder. ‘Don’t you worry, your ma knew, and does know, you’re as happy as you can be in the circumstances.’

Peter tucked Annie’s arm under his and they all began walking off the platform towards the exit.

As they stepped outside the train station Annie shivered. ‘Would it be wrong of me to want to go straight to the Lyric Theatre?’

Rose laughed. ‘I’ll come with you, and fingers crossed, you never know, I might still have a job. I need to tell them about Dot not coming back anyway.’

Peter nodded. ‘It’s on Shaftesbury Avenue so we’ll be heading in that direction anyway.’

Joyce nodded. ‘While you do that I’ll go to The Meet and Feast Café and let Simon know I’m back so I’ll see you back at the house.’

Peter smiled. ‘I suppose I had better check ’arry hasn’t given away all my stock then.’

They all laughed as they marched along the street.

‘It will probably take about an ’our to walk so would you ladies prefer to get a taxi?’

Annie frowned. ‘I’m not fussed, it’ll be good to walk near Hyde Park, Marble Arch and Oxford Street.’

Joyce laughed. ‘Hark at you, you’ve become a proper West End girl. You know exactly where you’re going.’

Annie blushed. ‘I’ve had good teachers.’

It wasn’t long before the smell of hot food wafted in their direction and they were soon on Oxford Street.

Rose sniffed the air as she watched a man buy some hot soup. ‘Do you think this road is ever quiet?’

Peter laughed. ‘I don’t think so, it’s hard to get a pitch for yer barrow here, for exactly that reason.’

Annie chuckled. ‘Oh, Peter, you seem to have lost your posh accent now we’re back in London.’

Peter laughed. ‘Yeah, well, I can’t keep it up forever, can I?’

The girls all laughed.

Annie’s laughter faded away. ‘You know you didn’t have to pretend to be something you’re not for my family.’

Rose looked over at them. ‘And certainly not for mine, we have a reputation to keep up.’

Again they all laughed.

Peter squeezed Annie’s hand. ‘I didn’t want your family thinking I weren’t good enough now, did I?’

Annie shook her head. ‘All my family wants is for us all to be safe and happy, and they liked you.’ She giggled. ‘I think they worked out your speaking voice wasn’t the real you.’

‘How? I tried so hard to keep it going.’

Annie chuckled. ‘It was awful, that’s how. No one talks like you were, and certainly no one I’ve ever met.’

*

Rose and Annie stood outside the Lyric Theatre; it was not as grand or impressive as the Lyceum and didn’t have the round shape of the Aldwych Theatre. Rose dropped her small old case on the ground next to her, wishing she hadn’t bothered bringing the extra bits back with her.

Annie grinned as she looked up at the four-storey building. ‘I’ve got butterflies, my stomach is churning with excitement.’

Rose picked up her case with one hand and grabbed Annie’s hand with the other. ‘Come on then let’s get inside, and let’s hope we don’t have to sneak in.’ She opened the main door and peered in.

There was no one in the main foyer. They stood staring for a few minutes at the ornate decor.

‘Can I help you?’

The girls jumped at the officious deep voice. They turned to see an older man in a black suit watching them.

‘We’re not open yet, you’ll have to come back later if you wish to buy tickets.’

Rose watched the man walk towards the main door to let them out. ‘We’re not here to buy tickets, we’re here to work.’

The man eyed them up and down. ‘We don’t have any vacancies at the moment.’

Annie watched him, her lip curling indignantly. ‘Thank you for that information but we already work here.’

The man looked at them again. ‘I can assure you I know everyone that works here and I certainly don’t know you two.’

Annie clenched her lips tight.

Rose could feel her temple throbbing. ‘Might I suggest you find Stan, I mean Mr Tyler, and Kitty Smythe because I’m sure they will want to see at least one of us.’

The man didn’t move for a moment, his indecision running over his face.

Annie pasted on her best smile. ‘It might have helped if you’d asked us for our names before making assumptions about us.’

The man bowed his head slightly. ‘Perhaps we need to start again.’

The door from the stalls swung open.

‘Annie, you’re back, how wonderful.’ Stan beamed as he strode across the foyer. ‘It’s lovely to see you too, Rose.’ He put his arm around Annie and gave her a hug.

Annie was thrown against his chest, his woollen jumper soft against her cheeks.

Stan stepped back and studied Annie. ‘How are you feeling? I was so sorry to hear about your ma.’

Annie nodded. ‘I didn’t realise you knew it was my mother. I’m sorry, I should have written to you to let you know how things were but to be honest, with the family situation, I wasn’t sure if I was going to come back.’

Stan raised his eyebrows. ‘You might not have known but Peter did, and he came to see us. I believe Dorothy wrote to Kitty as well, she told her you would be back but sent her apologies because she wouldn’t be returning.’ He moved aside and gave Rose a hug too before stepping back smiling.

The older man stood and watched them all; he had clearly made a mistake.

Annie shook her head. ‘I don’t know how she knew… but I suppose it doesn’t matter now because I’m here.’ She paused for a moment. ‘It turned out Dorothy is my aunt so she’s staying at home with my father and grandfather. I can’t believe we were working together for all those months and I didn’t know who she was.’

‘One thing you learn in life is that people only tell you what they want you to know.’ Stan smiled. ‘I’m so pleased to see you both, and Kitty is going to be thrilled.’ He looked across at the older man that hadn’t moved away. ‘I take it you got the message that Matthew Harris has been let go?’

Annie nodded.

Stan frowned and stuffed his hands inside his trouser pockets. ‘That’s good, I didn’t want you worrying about coming back, and I certainly won’t be recommending him for work.’ He turned again to look at the man beside him. ‘I see you’ve met our new Musical Director.’

Rose chuckled. ‘I wouldn’t go that far, he was in the process of throwing us out.’

The older man raised his eyebrows. ‘I wouldn’t say that, but yes I didn’t ask their names or who they wanted to see, so I must apologise for my rudeness.’

Stan laughed and swung his arm out. ‘Well, it’s good to see you and Mr Atwell have met, even if it does sound like you have some making up to do, George.’ He looked down at Rose’s case. ‘I see you’ve come straight here from the station so let me show you where everything is while George gets back to his piano.’

George looked sheepish at the girls. ‘Please accept my apology and I hope it hasn’t left any bad feeling.’

Annie smiled at him. ‘Don’t worry, Mr Atwell, these things happen.’

‘Please call me George.’

Annie glanced over at Stan before looking back. ‘Thank you but I would prefer to be respectful and use your full name.’

Mr Atwell raised his eyebrows. ‘And what do I call you both?’

Rose chuckled. ‘Just Annie and Rose will do.’

Stan nodded; he turned and walked back towards the door to the stalls. ‘Come on then you two, Kitty is going to be one happy woman when she sees you.’

Annie giggled. ‘I have missed her. I never thought I would be this happy to be back, especially in light of everything that’s happened.’

Stan led them through a door marked Private, along a corridor and down some stairs. Disinfectant hung in the air, giving it a recently cleaned smell. He finally came to a halt outside a closed door. He gave a gentle knock and called out, ‘It’s Stan.’

Kitty’s familiar voice rang out. ‘Come in.’

Stan turned and beamed at the girls. ‘Ready?’

Rose and Annie nodded.

Stan turned the handle, the girls waited for the expected squeaks but none came, he pushed the door open wide. ‘I have a surprise for you.’

Kitty looked up from the papers that were on her lap. ‘Ooh, I love a surprise.’

Stan moved aside to allow the girls to walk in.

Kitty squealed with delight, simultaneously throwing her papers down onto the sofa. ‘Oh my goodness, I was hoping you would come back as Dorothy promised.’ She jumped up and ran at the girls throwing an arm around each. ‘This has made my day, you have no idea how pleased I am to see you.’ She leant back and stared at Annie. ‘You don’t look too bad all things considered.’

Stan chuckled. ‘I think that’s meant to be a compliment.’ He sat himself down on the chaise longue. ‘They’ve met George Atwell. I think he tried to throw them out.’ He groaned.

Kitty was giggling. ‘He’s all right. I told Stan to hire an ugly old man who is more concerned about his music than anything else.’

The girls laughed.

Kitty hugged Annie again. ‘He gets on my nerves a little but he’s good and there’s no nonsense about him, which is what we want. I’m so glad that business with Matthew didn’t put you off coming back.’ She stepped back again and waved her arms around. ‘Look how tidy this room is. Haven’t I been a good girl?’

Annie smiled as she peered around the room, deciding all the dressing rooms in all the theatres must look alike. ‘It is extraordinarily tidy.’

Stan laughed. ‘No brandy either. In fact, she even threw some wine down the sink the other day.’

Kitty raised her eyebrows. ‘Take no notice of Stan, I don’t make a habit of tipping any alcohol down the sink but I’m not buying it now.’

Stan laughed. ‘Are you going to take all the credit or are you going to tell the truth?’

Kitty scowled at him. ‘Well, I did want Annie to think well of me for a little while longer.’

Annie giggled. ‘I do think well of you. Do you know what’s the best thing about this room, and it’s not the tidiness?’

Kitty looked around her and shook her head.

Annie walked over to the dressing table and picked up the framed photograph. ‘This, I’m so pleased you have it out for all to see.’ She looked over at Rose and turned the photograph around for her to see. ‘This is Kitty, when she was a child.’

Rose stepped forward to take the photo. ‘What a lovely picture, you’re beautiful and you look so happy.’

Annie nodded before turning back to Kitty. ‘So, what do you have to tell me?’

Kitty tilted her head and looked a little sheepish. ‘Well, I cannot tell a lie, it isn’t me that has kept the room tidy. I’ve had help.’