‘Don’t forget,’ Charlotte told Marjorie as they got ready to leave the house, ‘use the toilet before we go. And squeeze out every last drop, because believe you me, you do not want to be using the lavvy at the yard.’
Marjorie giggled at her friend’s use of the word ‘lavvy’. Charlotte had always had a slight accent – another reason she’d been picked on at Runcorn – but now she was back home, it was stronger.
‘Gosh, yes, I nearly forgot!’ Marjorie dumped her handbag and gas mask, and headed off to the toilet next to the back door.
‘And remember, nil by mouth,’ Charlotte shouted after her friend. She reckoned they’d probably already drunk too much tea this morning.
When Marjorie returned, Charlotte noticed her wiping her mouth.
‘You’ve had some water!’
‘Oh golly, I forgot,’ Marjorie said, putting her hand on her mouth. ‘Force of habit.’
‘Don’t worry. If you think you might need the loo again, we can pop into the public ones by the park.’
Marjorie pulled a face.
Charlotte laughed.
‘God, Marge, if you think that one’s bad, you really need to see the one at the yard!’
Charlotte put her hand on the front-door Chubb and turned back to face her friend.
‘Now remember, full sprint from the moment we get out the door. Mrs Jenkins can sense you’re going to leave the house before you know you’re going out yourself.’
‘Righty-ho,’ Marjorie said, checking her pocket for her inhaler.
A few minutes later they’d made it out the gate at the bottom of the private road and had stopped to cross Tunstall Road.
‘You all right?’ Charlotte looked at her friend, who was out of breath but not struggling.
‘Yes, yes, all good,’ Marjorie said. ‘Oh, I do miss you, Charlie,’ she went on as they hurried across the road and made their way up Tunstall Vale.
‘I miss you too, Marge,’ Charlotte said. ‘But I actually think it’s going to be so much better now we’re both back home. We can see each other lots.’
Marjorie had jumped for joy when she’d got Charlotte’s letter telling her she had succeeded in escaping ‘the castle’ and was now a new girl at the Sunderland Church High School – the sister school to the one Marjorie was now attending in Newcastle.
‘And,’ Marjorie said, pulling her hat further down past her ears, ‘our schools will be in tournaments against each other.’
‘Yeah,’ Charlotte said. ‘Miss Launder, our PE teacher, says she wants me to play centre forward.’
‘And I’ll ask my PE teacher if I can come and support our team.’
Both girls knew there was no way Marjorie would ever be chosen to play hockey for the school, or any kind of sports for that matter, but she would be able to wangle herself a seat on the school bus as their mascot.
As they reached the corner of West Lawn, Charlotte stopped.
‘Follow me.’ She turned right and Marjorie followed suit.
‘Where are we going?’ Marjorie asked.
‘Look,’ Charlotte said. ‘See that house there?’ She pointed to the second house in.
‘Yes, I see it,’ Marjorie said, staring at the grand, three-storey, turn-of-the-century terraced house.
‘Well, that’s where Lily and George live.’
‘Oh, it looks nice,’ Marjorie said. ‘A bit like my house in Jesmond.’
Charlotte had never been to her friend’s house in Newcastle, but she was going to find out soon. Marjorie’s parents had invited her to stay overnight during the holidays.
‘Why don’t we pop in and see them both? Introduce you quickly,’ Charlotte said.
Marjorie thought for a moment. She was intrigued but also a little nervous. George sounded nice – just like her great-uncle Bertie – but from what Charlotte had told her, Lily was very eccentric.
‘Come on,’ Charlotte said, dragging her friend towards the house.
They were just a few yards away when they stopped in their tracks as the door opened and a man who wasn’t George stepped out. The large black front door closed behind him and he stood and lit a cigarette.
‘I think we should leave it,’ Marjorie said. ‘It’s not polite to turn up unannounced.’
Charlotte stared at the man. He looked a little dishevelled.
‘Maybe you’re right,’ she conceded. ‘Guess I’m just curious to see inside. Especially as Rosie works there.’
‘Doing the books?’ Marjorie said.
Charlotte nodded.
‘What business does Lily have?’ Marjorie asked.
‘I’m not sure,’ Charlotte said, suddenly realising that no one had really explained. ‘I’ve only been here the once. And then I didn’t even make it past the gate.’
Charlotte watched as the man hurried down the stone steps and down the long pathway.
‘When was that?’ Marjorie asked.
‘The morning George took us to Harrogate.’
Marjorie was still overawed by what Rosie had done that day. Going to the school in her overalls! She couldn’t believe it when Charlotte had told her. She kept asking her to go over and over each part of the day in the minutest of details so that she could imagine that she too had been there.
‘Anyway,’ Marjorie said, looking at her watch, ‘we’ve not got time. Rosie’s expecting us at noon, so we’re best not to be late – and you said you were going to show me the school en route.’
Charlotte agreed and after a brisk walk back onto Tunstall Vale, across the Ryhope Road and down Mowbray Road they were standing facing Sunderland Church High School.
‘That’s my form room there.’ Charlotte pointed to the left of the red-brick building, which looked more like a huge detached house than a school. ‘The headmistress’s room is there on the left, just as you walk through the main entrance, and the deputy head’s is on the right.’
‘It looks like my school, only smaller,’ Marjorie said. ‘Rosie must have to work all hours to send you here,’ she said. She’d heard her own parents discussing her school fees the other day and how it was probably for the best that they’d only had the one child.
‘Yes,’ Charlotte said thoughtfully. ‘Now you mention it, I suppose she does.’
They were quiet for a moment.
‘Come on, then!’ Charlotte said, hooking her arm through her friend’s. ‘To Thompson’s!’
‘Yeah! To Thompson’s!’ Marjorie repeated.
The two girls looked at each other, and putting one foot forward and taking a deep breath, they began singing and marching in step:
Follow the yellow brick road,
Follow the yellow brick road,
Follow, follow, follow, follow,
Follow the yellow brick road.
It was, of course, their favourite film.