‘Oh Douglas, not again,’ Betty said after listening to her husband’s news that he would be working late. ‘We never seem to spend any time together as a family. It’s been a fortnight now that you’ve not reached home until the girls are in bed. We do miss you, but apart from that you look so tired all the time. Something has got to change, you can’t carry on like this.’
‘Unless you can miraculously find me some extra staff, I’m afraid it will be some time before I’m home in time to join you for dinner,’ he apologized.
‘With the funeral service being a reserved occupation you’d think finding employees wouldn’t be a problem,’ Betty sighed. ‘I take it another of your men has joined the services?’
‘Yes, two this week and both off to join the army. If only I could pay them more, they wouldn’t have the lure of leaving to join up.’
‘You can’t blame them for wanting some excitement, I suppose,’ she replied, thinking how lucky she was that unlike Sarah, she knew her husband would remain safe and be home for dinner each night, regardless of whatever time that would be.
‘That reminds me: would you let Bob Jackson know that I’ll not get to the Home Guard meeting this evening? It’s a damn nuisance as we’re having training on how to make Molotov cocktails.’
Betty smiled to herself. What was it with men that they enjoyed such things? ‘I will, Douglas, and please do try to find some more staff before your family forget what you look like.’
‘I’ll do my utmost to rectify the situation, my darling wife. Perhaps you could loan me a few of your Woolworths girls?’
‘Don’t you lay a finger on my staff. To use one of Ruby’s sayings, it would be easier to find hen’s teeth at the moment than to fill all the vacant positions in this store. Maureen gave notice this morning. She’s off to do her bit for the war by working on the railway, along with Irene Caselton, would you believe?’
‘My goodness, that is a surprise. I suppose that puts an end to a slice of cake when I visit you at work?’
Betty laughed. ‘That’s the least of my worries.’
After saying goodbye to her husband Betty placed the heavy Bakelite receiver down and sighed. It would be another difficult evening alone with the girls. She could think of nothing less appealing. Clemmie was becoming more challenging by the day. It was as if a rebellion was building and very soon would erupt, splitting the Billington family. At times she still felt like the outsider living in a home that she took no part in choosing, caring for another woman’s children. ‘Oh Betty, whatever have you undertaken?’ she muttered to herself before tackling the pile of paperwork in front of her that never seemed to decrease. The cup of tea, brought in by Freda, went untouched on her desk.
Freda headed downstairs into the Woolies store. The sun was shining through the sticky paper covering the floor-to-ceiling shop windows. Dust motes could be seen in the beams of light. Freda frowned and took a close look at the floor and the dust that lay close to the wooden skirting boards. She could see there was no longer a high shine on the counters closest to her. The standard of cleanliness Betty expected of her store seemed to have slipped. She might not be able to do anything about the shortage of staff but it shouldn’t be that hard to use a bit of elbow grease and have the store spick and span again before head office got to hear that standards had dropped. Calling out to two assistants who weren’t serving at that moment, she decided to get cracking. ‘Dora, can you find out where the cleaner is and have her come down here, please? Rachael, find the polishing cloths and put a shine back on this counter, would you?’
Both women nodded and set to with their tasks. Freda might be younger than many of the Woolworths staff members but she was admired as a hard worker and no one would think to question what she was up to.
‘Did you want me?’ Enid Singleton said, appearing by Freda’s side.
‘I did, Enid. I was wondering why the floors were so dirty. Haven’t they been swept lately?’
Enid shrugged her shoulders. ‘They looked all right this morning.’
‘And the wooden counters don’t seem to have a decent shine on them. Aren’t you supposed to polish them every day?’
Enid shrugged her shoulders. ‘I can’t be everywhere at the same time.’
‘By the state of this store I’m wondering if you’ve been anywhere lately. You know how understaffed we are at the moment and we all need to pull together. Do you think you could get this place looking shipshape again before Mrs Billington notices?’
Enid nodded and limped away slowly, dragging a broom behind her.
‘A little faster, please, Enid,’ Freda called after the woman but was ignored. Not one to be ignored when there was work to be done, she raced after the woman and caught her up by the entrance to the staff area. ‘I say, Enid, do you have a problem with your work?’
Enid turned and looked at the younger woman. Freda could see she had tears in her eyes. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered, wiping her face with a grubby hand. ‘I’ve not been sleeping that well lately and everything’s got a bit on top of me. Please don’t get me sacked. I’ll catch up, I promise I will.’
‘Don’t go upsetting yourself, Enid. This is easily fixed. A little elbow grease and everything will soon be as right as rain. Now, how long have you got left at work before you clock off?’
‘Two hours,’ the woman replied, starting to look a little brighter. ‘I’ll work hard, I promise.’
Freda gave her a bright smile. ‘Perhaps start with the floor and if it quiets down, you can put a shine on the woodwork around the counters. I’ll have some of the girls polish the glasswork and the mirrors on the pillars. Now, I have to leave you, because I need to find out if any of the girls can cook, as we need a replacement for Maureen. Mrs Billington is almost at her wit’s end trying to replace her,’ she added as she pulled a notebook from her pocket and walked off through a crowd of shoppers.
Enid looked downcast. ‘Don’t bother asking me. No one ever asks me,’ she muttered, angrily kicking her broom.
Betty let herself into the house. It was gone eight o’clock and yet again she was late. Knowing that Douglas wouldn’t be home made her stay just a little later than usual. She’d even caught up with reports that head office was waiting on, which wasn’t a bad thing. She hung her coat and gas mask on the large oak hall stand and placed her handbag on the floor close to the umbrella stand. She checked the blackout curtain was pulled tightly over the front door before walking down the hall to the kitchen.
‘Good evening, Mrs Billington, your dinner’s keeping warm in the oven and the kettle is on the boil. Would you like me to make you a cup of tea before I leave?’ their housekeeper said as she started to remove her apron.
Betty felt guilty. All the time she was dragging her heels not wanting to get home to the girls and here was the poor woman waiting patiently for her to arrive when she had her own home and husband to get home to and feed. ‘I’m so sorry; I’ll do my best to be home earlier in future. I’ll have a word with Douglas about someone sitting with the girls in the evening when we’re working late. It’s not fair of us to presume on your time so much. Give my apologies to your husband.’
The woman nodded politely, although her lips were pursed into a thin line. ‘It was no trouble to sit with the girls. They are a credit to you and your husband. My Percy is down the Black Prince this evening with his darts team so he won’t have missed me, although I’d appreciate getting off on time tomorrow as my daughter’s intended is visiting. We have a wedding in the offing,’ she added proudly, pinning a navy felt hat to her grey hair.
‘How absolutely wonderful,’ Betty beamed. ‘You must let me donate something to the proceedings, you being such a good friend to our little family.’
‘I won’t say no. It’s not been easy arranging a wedding, what with rationing and Neville being away at sea so often. I’d like to put on a nice spread to show his family that our Doris comes from a good family, like. In fact, Doris wondered if Clementine and Dorothy would be her bridesmaids, what with me knowing them since they were small children. The first Mrs Billington was such a dear woman and the girls have been so brave about things,’ she added, reaching for her coat. ‘I’ll bid you goodnight.’
‘Goodnight,’ Betty said in a whisper as she followed the woman, turning out the hall light before opening the front door.
‘I take it Mr Billington will be home late again this evening?’ the housekeeper enquired as she stood on the doormat.
‘Yes, it’s a busy time in his business, as you can appreciate. We’re both rather busy at the moment.’
Even in the semi-darkness Betty could see the woman nod her head slightly. ‘The first Mrs Billington didn’t hold with her husband staying out late. She insisted he was home each night for dinner. There again, she didn’t work in trade. She was a lady,’ she added before heading off down the garden path.
‘She was a blooming saint from the way you’re always going on about her,’ Betty muttered to herself as she checked the door was closed and dragged the blackout across it aggressively.
‘Are you angry about something?’ a voice said.
Betty spun round to see Douglas’s eldest daughter sitting on the bottom step of the staircase, her hands folded primly on her lap. ‘Good evening, Clemmie, I’m very well, thank you. Should you not be preparing yourself for bed? You do have school in the morning.’
The girl tossed her long ringlets and stared at Betty haughtily. ‘Daddy said I could wait up for him. I’m not a child, Betty.’
Betty sighed. It had been a long day and she was pretty sure her husband had said no such thing. ‘As you please, but I suggest you bathe and put your nightclothes on so that once you’ve seen him you can go straight upstairs.’
They both stared at each other for what to Betty felt like a long time before the girl got to her feet and slowly climbed the stairs to her room. She’d just disappeared from sight when there was a shriek followed by a child’s cry. ‘I’ll tell Betty you hit me,’ she heard the younger child cry out.
‘You can tell her whatever you want, Dorothy, I don’t care what she thinks; she isn’t our mother. She’s just some shop girl who got her claws into Daddy. Mummy was a lady and you must never forget that.’
Betty held on to the banister rail, ready to go up and sort Clemmie out once and for all. She was becoming spiteful and often made her younger sister cry. But would it make any difference? She’d tried being pleasant and bringing home treats but the girl was becoming progressively more aggressive in her behaviour when alone with her stepmother. When Douglas was at home she was sweetness personified. No, she would bide her time and show this young girl that she was not going to give up on her new family whatever it took.
‘Welcome to our new ’ome,’ Maisie announced, throwing open the front door to Freda and Ruby and pulling them inside. ‘Mind where you step, the floor’s still a bit wet. I’ve got some rugs to put on the linoleum once it’s dry. I ’aven’t stopped all day long. Who’d ’ave thought that moving a few bits and pieces from our old place would have taken so long? Thank goodness David was ’ome and able to help me out or I wouldn’t have even been able ter put the kids’ beds together before it got dark.’
‘Where are they?’ Ruby asked as she looked around the front room that she’d walked into as she followed Maisie. ‘This is a nice room. It’s a bit smaller than mine but very nice all the same,’ she said, running her hand across the back of a large sofa. ‘This looks new.’
‘David’s gone ter pick them up from school and take them up the swings so as ter give me a while to get things straight. Everything is here but I just need ter make the beds and put the crocks away. Park yerself down and I’ll put the kettle on. It’s nice, isn’t it?’ she said, noticing Ruby admiring the sofa. ‘David’s mum sent it down on the back of a lorry, would yer believe? There was also some beds and two chests of drawers for the girls now they have a room to themselves. I was going ter buy the furniture in the second-hand department at Mitchell’s but there’s no need now. I’ll use the coupons ter make some curtains instead, as long as I have enough.’
‘This is comfy,’ Ruby said, almost bouncing up and down on the seat. ‘I could doze off here in front of the fire listening to Vera Lynn on the wireless of an evening. Yes, this would do me very nicely.’
‘You’re welcome to visit as much as you like, Ruby. You opened your home to me when I ’ad nowhere to go and as far as I’m concerned what’s mine is yours.’
Ruby felt choked at Maisie’s kind words. ‘I’d not see any of our Sarah’s friends without a place to put their head down. Besides, you’re part of the family now, just like Freda here.’
Freda had been standing quietly by the door. ‘One big happy family,’ she said without much enthusiasm. ‘I thought Sarah would have been here to help seeing as she wasn’t working today.’
‘Did I hear my name being mentioned?’ a voice said from the back room before Sarah appeared holding a bucket and cloth. She was wearing an oversized wraparound apron and her shoulder-length hair was caught up in a bright flowered headscarf to keep it clean. ‘Hello, you two, have you come to give us a hand? I’ve run a cloth over the washing line and swept the garden path. You’re all ready for wash day,’ she grinned. ‘The Anderson shelter looks snug and not too damp so you’ve struck lucky there. Fingers crossed you’ll not have cause to use it for much longer.’
‘Let’s hope so,’ Ruby said as she pulled herself up off her seat and walked over to the window, sizing it up with her hands on her hips. ‘I’ve got some curtains I reckon will fit these windows. I went mad a few years ago and bought some new ones for all of downstairs and put the old sets in the loft. As long as the mice haven’t got at them they should be all right for you for now. Even though you’ve not got a bay window like me I think they’d fit. You can have them as a moving-in present.’
Maisie gave Ruby a hug. ‘You’re sure about that, Ruby? You may need them again someday. It only needs bloody Hitler ter send the Luftwaffe over and drop a bomb and you could lose your windows and ruin your curtains.’
They all laughed at Maisie’s enthusiasm. ‘If Hitler ruins my curtains, I’ll pop up the road and get the others back from you,’ Ruby roared with laughter.
While Maisie and Ruby were standing by the window discussing curtains, Freda looked shyly at Sarah. In the couple of days since they’d had their falling-out in the Woolworths canteen she’d avoided Sarah while she planned how to make things up to her friend for her silly words. ‘I’m sorry for what I said, Sarah. I wasn’t thinking and I feel awful that it could spoil our friendship.’
Sarah, who had felt equally bad for being so short with her best friend, punched her gently on the arm. ‘Don’t be daft. I was just as much to blame and more than a little selfish. Let’s forget all about it, shall we?’
‘I’d rather not if it’s all the same to you,’ Freda said as she opened her handbag and pulled out two envelopes. ‘Maureen reminded me that we used to have so much fun together before weddings and children came along and perhaps, with the war and everything, we’d forgotten how much we meant to each other, so I thought I’d treat the three of us to a night out. Here you are,’ she said, handing an envelope each to Maisie and Sarah.
‘Tickets to see Show Boat in the West End,’ Maisie shrieked. ‘Oh my goodness, Freda, you are a sweetheart,’ she said, holding the ticket to her chest and jumping up and down with glee.
‘You know you didn’t have to do this,’ Sarah said, hugging her young friend. ‘But as you have, I’d like to treat us to a meal at the Lyon’s Corner House.’
‘And I’ll buy the cocktails. It’s time you expanded your taste in alcohol and they taste far better than sherry,’ Maisie grinned, reminding Freda of the afternoon they’d spent in the pub in Bethnal Green.
‘As for me, I’ll be comfortable right here with a bottle of stout to keep me company,’ Ruby said, settling back down on the leather sofa. ‘I take it you girls would like me to look after the children for the evening?’
‘Ruby, you’re a gem,’ Maisie exclaimed, throwing herself down next to the older woman and giving her a big kiss on the cheek. ‘I bless the day I came to Erith and met you all.’
Ruby, accompanied by her granddaughter, Sarah, along with her lodger, Freda, walked back down Alexandra Road after a busy time helping Maisie make beds and turn the house into a home for her young family. It was fast approaching teatime; she was glad she’d thought to prepare a meat and potato pie that would only require warming up in the oven when she got indoors. ‘So what’s this about the pair of you falling out? If you weren’t grown women, I’d have banged your heads together and told you to grow up.’
‘It was nothing, Nan, honest.’
‘Best forgotten,’ Freda added quickly.
‘The pair of you don’t get off that light. Come on, out with it,’ Ruby demanded.
‘I made a comment about the raids on the dams in Germany and how many German people would have been killed and how most would have been women and children,’ Sarah explained.
Ruby stopped walking to catch her breath. ‘And what did you have to say about this that made the pair of you fall out?’
Sarah hung her head. ‘I was angry as I thought that Alan could have been flying on that mission protecting the men carrying the bombs.’
Ruby thought for a second or two. ‘So who thought they were right?’
‘I thought it was right for me to say what I thought,’ Freda said quietly, before explaining her view.
‘I believe I’m right with my view,’ Sarah said, jutting her chin out defiantly.
‘You’re both right. I also think that the pair of you agree with each other’s views, even though you’ll not say as much. We don’t want Alan injured . . . or worse. We love him dearly and for that reason we want this war over and done with as soon as possible and if that means blowing up all of Germany, then so be it.’
Freda started to speak. ‘But, Ruby—’
Ruby raised her hand to silence the young woman. ‘However, none of us want to see anyone hurt, especially women and young kiddies, but that’s war for you and most likely all those hundreds of miles away there are women just like us having the same conversation. War is not nice. I’ve been through it once and didn’t expect it to happen again in my lifetime. So we’ve got to put up with it and cope as best we can. Let’s not fall out over it, shall we? What do you say?’
The girls both nodded in agreement and linked arms with Ruby as they started walking down the street. Ruby didn’t say that she’d kept her copy of the Daily Telegraph that contained the article and put it away at the bottom of her wardrobe along with other newspapers. She knew that Alan would like to read the news when he finally got home, whether he be flying over Germany, bombing Burma or teaching younger lads how to fly planes. There was also an advertisement about ration books that she needed to cut out and read.
The women walked on in silence until Ruby spoke. ‘Who’d have thought it?’ she said out loud.
‘Thought what, Nan?’
‘That our Maisie would have become such a home bird, and with three kiddies as well.’
‘To be fair, she did always want to have children. She made that plain enough the first time we ever met her. I was rather embarrassed by the way she put it and I’d only met her an hour before,’ Freda giggled.
‘She’s a good mum,’ Sarah said. ‘Bessie and Claudette are fortunate to have been rescued that evening in Bethnal Green. My blood runs cold just thinking what could have happened if you and Maisie hadn’t been there to pluck those girls out of the crush of bodies.’
Freda nodded. ‘I still wake up at night in a cold sweat after dreaming of being pulled down with all those other poor people. If we’d been a few minutes earlier, it could have been us that died along with Maisie’s mum. What I don’t understand is how there was nothing in the newspapers about it. Not even a mention on the Pathé News. If it wasn’t for going to Queenie’s funeral with Maisie, we could have thought we’d imagined the whole thing.’
‘Yes, I thought the same,’ Sarah agreed. ‘But wasn’t it the same with the oil bomb landing on Bexleyheath Woolworths? Not a mention of it and the police, as well as head office, told us we weren’t to talk about it because of national security.’
‘The last thing we want is Hitler finding out as he’d say he was winning the war with so many deaths. Best it’s kept quiet. Those who are grieving know the truth,’ Ruby said. ‘What I want to know is if anyone’s going to turn up and lay claim to those two little girls? It will break Maisie’s heart to lose them now. Has she heard from that brother of hers? You’d have thought he’d have at least sent a postcard to his own kids,’ she huffed.
‘All I know is that David helped Maisie send a letter to the army after Queenie’s death to let him know that the girls are safe with her. But who knows if the letter reached him, wherever his unit is in North Africa. It’s supposed to be a big place,’ Freda said.
Ruby stopped at the gate of number thirteen. ‘Then again, he may not be bothered about them kiddies. He’s been a bit of a lad from the little Maisie’s told us. Now, have you got time for a quick cuppa before you head for home, Sarah?’
‘If it is quick. Maureen’s off out to her whist drive this evening and she’s been a star looking after Georgie for me. I’m going to miss her help once she starts shift work on the railway,’ Sarah said as she followed Ruby and Freda up the short path to the house.
‘I still can’t imagine your mum working. You say she wants to be a train guard? At least the trains will all run on time. God forbid anyone, including the Luftwaffe, who tries to stop her trains not keeping to the timetable,’ Ruby laughed. ‘Why, I . . .’ She stopped dead as she walked into the front room, causing Freda to bump into her. ‘Whatever’s wrong, Gwyneth?’ Ruby asked, rushing to her pretty Welsh lodger who was sobbing into her handkerchief. Her adopted daughter, Myfi, stood close by with an arm around Gwyneth and was equally distressed.
‘I’m not going to be a bridesmaid,’ the little girl cried, running to Ruby, who swept her up in a big hug.
‘My, my, whatever is this all about?’ she asked, stroking the girl’s head and holding her close while she cried.
‘I’ll put the kettle on,’ Freda said and disappeared out of the room as Sarah went to sit next to Gwyneth and put her arm around the woman’s shoulder.
‘What must you think of us?’ Gwyneth said as she blew her nose and gave the women a weak smile. ‘I didn’t mean for you to come home to all of this. I had a few words with Mike and he left,’ she added, looking worried. ‘I said some harsh things, forgetting that Myfi could overhear from the next room.’
Ruby knelt down in front of the little girl and wiped her eyes using a clean handkerchief from her coat pocket. ‘Now, young lady, you are not to get yourself upset like this. I take it you overheard your mummy?’
Myfi nodded her head, her face still quivering from the bout of crying, and looked at Ruby with her large green eyes.
‘Sometimes people say things that they don’t always mean when they’re upset or when they think they’re alone. I’d be very surprised if your mummy didn’t wear that lovely dress we’ve been talking about so much and marry Mike just as we’ve been planning. Now, why don’t you go and help Freda make the tea. I know you’ve been practising how to do it for your Brownie badge and it’s the right time to show us how good you are. You could also tell Freda that there are a few biscuits tucked away in the tin at the back of the pantry. I was saving them for a special occasion and there’s nothing more special than getting over a few tears.’
Ruby used the arm of a nearby chair to help her to stand up. ‘I should think twice about getting down on my knees. It’s a bugger to get up again,’ she sighed as, with a slight stagger, she sat down in an armchair. ‘Push the door to, Sarah, there’s a love, then we can talk without little ears listening in.’ She waited while Sarah closed the door and went back to sit beside the dark-haired woman, who seemed a little more composed than she had a few minutes before. She thought how so much had happened within these brick walls – sadness, happiness and a little too much grief. No doubt it would be the same in Maisie’s house up the top end of the road, given time. Such was life. ‘Now, why don’t you tell us what all this is about and then we can see how to put things straight again, if only so that a little girl can walk down the aisle behind her mother?’
‘This has been brewing for a while . . . well, it has for me. Mike seemed oblivious to what was bothering me. I’ve tried to talk to him but he either didn’t understand or chose to ignore me.’
‘Well, I’ll be blown if I understand what your problem is . . .’ Ruby said with exasperation.
‘Give her time, Nan. Gwyneth needs to explain in her own time. Go on, love,’ Sarah said, taking the woman’s hand and giving it a squeeze.
‘As much as I love her, Myfi’s not my own child and I always dreamt that one day, if I should find the right man and marry, there would eventually be children. I’d hoped for three or four. When I met Mike and we fell in love I thought my life was complete. I hinted about our family a few times and Mike always managed not to answer. To begin with I thought he was shy. He’s older than me and it’s hard for some men to talk about love and such things.’
‘You’re right there, love. My Eddie was a decent husband and father but wasn’t much of one for romance or talking about his feelings. I knew it was here in his heart,’ Ruby said, placing her hand over her heart, ‘but he’d have died rather than put it into words. In fact, he did,’ she added, looking sad. ‘Your Mike is no doubt just the same.’
‘No, it’s more than that,’ Gwyneth said, her voice rising as she became distressed. ‘This afternoon he met me from work and we walked home together, collecting Myfi from her school on the way. I was telling him about meeting the vicar to arrange for the banns to be read and he suggested that until we have a place to live we shouldn’t think of booking the church. He did say that we may be able to rent the rooms up the avenue where Maisie and David lived and that’s when I got upset. I told him it was pointless moving into a place like that, as nice as it is, when we would most likely have to move within a year when a baby came along. We all know that Maisie didn’t have room to swing a cat in her old home and we’d be in the same position when the kiddies arrived.’
Ruby thought Gwyneth was jumping the gun somewhat but decided to keep quiet when she saw Sarah raise her eyebrows at her. Her granddaughter knew her far too well. ‘Go on, love,’ she urged instead.
‘We’d just reached home and I let Myfi open the door and go ahead when he stopped me and . . . and . . .’ She pulled her handkerchief from where she tucked it into the sleeve of her cardigan. ‘He told me he thought we should consider carefully if we should have children . . .’ She blew her nose and tried hard not to start to cry again. ‘He told me he was happy with the way things were with us, having Myfi, and that we could adopt her properly and live together happily, just the three of us.’
Sarah was surprised to hear Gwyneth’s words. Mike had never struck her as being a man who didn’t want children. ‘Are you sure this is what he said, Gwyneth, and you couldn’t have been mistaken?’
Gwyneth shook her head violently. ‘Oh no, he made his feelings extremely clear and so did I. I put my foot down. No children of our own means there’s no wedding for him. As far as I’m concerned I never want to see the man again.’