It Had To Be You (13 page)

‘And do the Gianellis have a son?’ demanded Teddy.

‘Yes, two, but—’

‘Enough said,’ muttered Teddy. ‘You can’t go. Besides it would cost money and we can’t be throwing that away on a holiday, just for you.’

‘Camping! Surely it won’t cost that much, Mum,’ said Dorothy.

Her mother hesitated before saying, ‘Betty’ll need a new school mackintosh for next term and that’s going to cost. Besides, if I were to let her go, then she’d have to take our Maggie with her. Fair’s fair.’

‘You can’t afford it, Elsie, and that’s that,’ said Teddy. ‘These girls have no sense of the value of money.’

‘You can talk,’ said Dorothy, lifting her head and staring at him. ‘When are you going to get yourself a proper job instead of messing around just doing a few hours here and there and living off me and Mum?’

Teddy started to his feet with an ugly expression on his face and lunged towards her. ‘You have too much to say for yerself, girl. If you’d had my life you’d know you were born.’

‘I think I know I was born,’ said Dorothy, without flinching. ‘I work blinking hard for every penny I earn. You want to try piecework, that’s what I have to do if I want to go out and to keep myself in stockings, on top of what I give to Mum. It’s no doddle.’ She stood up and tossed her magazine on the chair. ‘Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to get ready to go out.’

She brushed past him and left the room.

‘She has a bloody cheek that girl,’ blustered Teddy. ‘Our Owen was far too soft with her. That’s why you’ve got to be firm with these two, Elsie,’ he added.

‘They’re not bad girls,’ said Elsie, getting out a cigarette with a trembling hand.

‘No, we’re not,’ said Betty, getting up from her seat. ‘I’m going upstairs to do some revision. Forget I asked about camping, Aunt Elsie. I’m sorry it caused an argument.’

‘That’s all right, Betty. I have a week off during the holidays. I’ll take you and our Maggie to Southport for a day out,’ said Elsie hastily.

‘That’ll be nice,’ murmured Betty, and left the room.

‘Can I go and do my homework too, Mum?’ asked Maggie, taking one look at Teddy’s face and wanting to escape.

‘Yes, you go, love,’ said Elsie.

After the girls had left, Elsie switched on the wireless and dance music flooded out. She guessed the conductor was Victor Sylvester as she picked up the magazine that Dorothy had left behind. Her fingers trembled as she opened it.

‘You should have told your Dorothy off for speaking to me like that,’ snapped Teddy, hitting the open magazine with the flat of his hand. ‘I’m going down the pub and I don’t know when I’ll be back.’ He slammed the door as he went out.

Elsie wished she could turn back the clock but it was too late for that. Perhaps God was punishing her.

‘So you’re off to Liverpool at last,’ said Lila. ‘I can’t believe how quickly the summer’s gone and now we’re well into October.’

Emma tucked the chamois leather pouch on its string inside her brassiere. ‘I would have gone in September, but the weather was so good I thought I’d grab any chance of making money at the weekends that I could. Besides I’ve a couple of small-time clients whose accounts I’m doing weekly now and Betty was only settling back into school then.’ She frowned, remembering her half-sister’s last letter mentioning she would be doing her school certificate next year. How old was she? Emma had been of a mind that Betty would have been too
young to be sitting those exams just yet. When had she been born? If she was sixteen in the next nine months, then her mother and their father must have married almost as soon as Emma’s mother had died.

She glanced out of the window. ‘It looks like rain. I’d best take my umbrella.’ As she placed it in her leatherette shopping bag, she added, ‘Why aren’t you at work this morning? Surely the mill hasn’t closed again?’

‘I’ve packed it in.’

‘What!’ Emma stared at her in amazement. ‘What did your parents say?’

Lila fiddled with her hair. ‘Mam’s furious and Dad just looked stunned. Then this morning he told me he’d thought that I’d never have the guts to give it up and look for another job.’

‘You are going to look for another job, then?’

Lila said, ‘Of course! I could do with a real change from everything, though.’ She hesitated. ‘I wouldn’t mind going to Liverpool with you today.’

‘You mean you’re thinking of looking for a job there?’ Emma’s voice rose to a squeak.

‘What’s wrong with that?’ asked Lila, flushing. ‘Although, I haven’t come to any proper decision yet. But I’d like a look at the place.’ She added, ‘Will you be seeing Dougie as well as your sister while you’re there?’

Emma remembered the last letter he had written, and although its tone had been friendly, he hadn’t
said anything that caused her heart to flutter and there had been no mention of seeing her again. ‘I’ve sent him a note, telling him when I planned to go.’ She sighed.

Lila said, ‘So he didn’t get back to you?’

‘No, but then he does have a job that occupies a lot of his time. As well as that he has to think of his mother and brothers. Pete was still in hospital last time Dougie wrote to me.’ She remembered the last time she had seen Betty and they’d met his mother and Norm, and how Maggie had turned up as well. According to Betty, her cousin had kept quiet about having seen them because she had promised to take Maggie along to some musical evening at the house of a family called Gianelli. Emma felt uncomfortable about what had happened with Maggie, because surely she would have wanted to see her brother march by. Emma remembered the way he had winked at them and could still see his face in her mind’s eye.

‘We really don’t need Dougie, do we, to enjoy ourselves in Liverpool?’ said Lila bracingly, rousing Emma from her thoughts.

Emma agreed. ‘Can you afford the train fare?’

Lila nodded. ‘I haven’t been giving Mam my wage packet unopened for the whole of the summer. I suddenly thought, I’m twenty-one, what am I thinking of handing it over, just like that, at my age? I’m also doing half the housework, cooking
and looking after Dad, so I deserve more than I was getting. I give her what I think is a fair whack, and keep the rest for myself.’

‘Blinking heck!’ exclaimed Emma, even more surprised. ‘You’ve kept that a secret. What did your mother say?’

Lila smiled nervously. ‘She ranted, but I stood my ground, even though my knees were knocking. Eventually she just had to accept it. Same as me having given up my job. She hit the roof and called me a daft bitch and threatened to throw me out of the house if I didn’t get another job straight away, but I think she’s bluffing. She needs me there, but it’s time I had a bit more life of my own.’

Emma shrugged on her coat. ‘She’d have more of a fit if she knew you were considering looking for a job in Liverpool. How will they cope without you?’

Lila’s mouth drooped at the corners. ‘That’s my problem. Dad can be a pain at times but I do worry what he might do if he were to get really down. He used to be such an active man. I did take him out in the wheelchair during the summer, just along the road, but it’s not the same as him striding across the fells.’ She sighed.

‘It’s so upsetting for you all,’ said Emma, pulling on her hat and matching gloves, knitted from the wool she had found in spring.

‘I probably won’t look for a job in Liverpool,’
said Lila, ‘but I’m looking forward to seeing the shops.’

‘Well, keep a tight grip on your handbag when we get there,’ warned Emma, opening the door and leading the way. ‘Your mother will only say I told you so, if it were to get snatched.’

On arriving in Liverpool, Lila not only hung onto her handbag but clung to Emma’s arm as if her life depended on it. They shared Emma’s umbrella as they made their way through the rain to the Forum cinema. ‘I don’t know why your sister couldn’t meet us in Lime Street station,’ complained Lila.

‘I didn’t think of it this time,’ said Emma, understanding how her friend felt in light of the horrible weather. ‘Be thankful we weren’t in that train crash involving those three trains at Harrow last week.’

‘I know, it was awful,’ said Lila, seizing hold of part of the umbrella as the wind threatened to blow it inside out. ‘All those people killed! I’d have thought twice about taking the train if I’d remembered that before we set off.’

‘Well, we’re here now,’ said Emma brightly. ‘And I think I can see Betty standing on the steps out of the rain.’ She lifted the umbrella higher and waved frantically, shouting, ‘Betty, I’m here!’

She saw her half-sister’s face brighten. Then, as Emma began to cross the road, she caught sight
of Dougie. Instantly she turned in the opposite direction and barged back across the road with her umbrella held in front of her like a shield, hauling Lila with her. They narrowly missed getting hit by a van and fortunately reached the pavement in one piece.

‘You’re mad!’ cried Lila, her face pallid as she tugged her arm free from Emma’s. ‘We could have been killed! What were you playing at?’

‘We made it, didn’t we?’ said Emma in a slightly breathless voice. ‘I thought I saw Dougie.’

‘So where is he?’ asked Lila, gazing about her.

Emma’s eyes darted here and there but she could no longer see him. Her face fell. ‘He’s vanished.’

‘Hard luck,’ said Lila, shaking her head at her as she smoothed her coat sleeve. ‘But next time, think twice, luv, before dragging me with you and putting our lives in danger. We both could have been killed, and how would me mam and dad manage then?’

‘Sorry,’ said Emma, biting her lip.

‘Are you OK, Emma?’ asked Betty, appearing beside her. ‘You gave me a fright. I thought you were going to be hit by that blue van.’

‘I know. It was stupid of me to do what I did, and all because I thought I saw Dougie Marshall,’ she said crossly. ‘No, not thought. I
did
see him. Maybe he saw me and didn’t want to talk to me.’

‘I’ve seen his brother a few times at Irene’s house
and also at the Gianellis’. I did think to ask how his brothers were and I’ve a feeling he told me that the one you like is on a training course.’ Betty glanced curiously at the woman, standing the other side of Emma.

‘A course!’ said Emma, her eyes brightening. ‘Does that mean he could have been away somewhere?’

‘Probably. I could ask Norm, if I see him again,’ said Betty.

Emma smiled. ‘Thanks for telling me. It’s possible my letter didn’t reach him until it was too late for him to arrange a meeting.’

There was a silence and then Lila said, ‘So are you going to introduce us, Emma?’

‘Sorry,’ said Emma hastily. ‘Betty, this is my friend, Lila Ashcroft. I’m sure I’ve mentioned her in my letters. She had some time off, so decided she’d like to come and have a look at Liverpool.’

‘I see,’ said Betty, sounding slightly put out. ‘Seems you brought the rain with you, Miss Ashcroft.’

‘I don’t know about that,’ murmured Lila. ‘Probably it swept in from the sea and you got it first and passed it on to us.’

Emma sensed an atmosphere. It had never occurred to her that they might not take to each other. ‘So, what are we going to do with ourselves now it’s raining?’ she said brightly.

‘An afternoon at the pictures?’ suggested Betty.

‘That sounds sensible,’ said Emma.

‘I can go to the pictures at home,’ said Lila, adjusting her hat which had been knocked askew by the umbrella. ‘I came here to look at the shops.’

Betty exchanged glances with Emma. ‘Perhaps we could go to the Tatler cinema in Church Street and your friend can look in the shops on the way.’

‘That sounds fine to me,’ said Emma. ‘Lead on, then, MacDuff!’

‘So you’ve read
Macbeth,
’ said Betty instantly. ‘I’m studying that for my English Lit. GCE. It’s a bit dark, full of witches, ghosts and murders.’

‘We had our own witches not far away,’ said Emma. ‘Ever heard of the Pendle witch trials?’

‘No!’ exclaimed Betty, her eyes widening. ‘The only other witches I’ve come across are in Enid Blyton and Grimm’s fairy tales, although I’ve grown out of them now.’

Emma said casually, ‘So how old are you?’

Betty smiled. ‘I’ll be sixteen next month.’

‘What date?’ asked Emma, trying to work out the sums in her head.

‘The same day as Prince Charles,’ replied Betty.

Fourteenth of November
, thought Emma.

Lila burst out, ‘Isn’t it time we made a move? We’re only here for a few hours.’

‘Sor-ry,’ said Betty, pulling a face, ‘but we’ve only been here a couple of minutes at the most. She led
them past St John’s indoor market in the direction of Clayton Square, unaware that they were being watched.

Dorothy had been shopping and, a few moments earlier, was in a hurry to get home out of the rain. Then she had caught sight of Betty outside the Forum cinema. That had surprised her because, on such a horrible day, it would have made more sense for her cousin to visit one of the local cinemas, rather than come all this way in to town. The next minute, she saw Betty waving to someone. Then her cousin bolted across the road and had stood talking to a couple of women for a while before the three of them had headed off in the direction of Clayton Square.

Dorothy wasted no time in following them. She had felt protective of her younger cousin since Aunt Lizzie was killed. Now Dorothy watched as the two women and Betty dawdled along the pavement, gazing in the windows of Owen Owen and then turning the corner into Church Street. They looked in the shop windows of Bon Marché and George Henry Lee’s.

Eventually they came to the Tatler cinema, where the programme ran continuously, showing newsreels and cartoons, and stopped outside. They did not go in immediately but stood talking. Then Betty and one of the women went inside the cinema
and the other crossed the road to gaze into the shop windows on the other side.

Dorothy’s curiosity got the better of her and she decided to follow Betty and her companion into the cinema. She bought a ticket and was shown to a seat. On the screen was a newsreel about the queen, and the broadcaster was providing the latest information to do with the arrangements for Her Majesty’s coronation next June. It still seemed a long way off to Dorothy, so she didn’t take much notice. The next item of news was about the situation in Korea.

She felt a trickle of fear down her back, thinking of her brother, Jared. In his last letter, he had made her envious of the tropical climate in Hong Kong and that made the last-minute training his regiment was having to
suffer
before sailing for Korea sound a bit of a joke. She knew he was making light of the situation, so as not to worry her. Yet she dreaded her mother receiving a telegram, saying he had been killed. It would have been great if he could be home for Christmas but he still had almost a year to go before finishing his national service.

The newsreel came to an end and Dorothy looked about her for Betty and her companion. Then she spotted the two of them several rows in front of her on the left-hand side of the aisle. She divided her attention between them and the screen, while she planned how she could accidentally-on-purpose
bump into them on the way out of the cinema. Who was that woman? She remembered Jared mentioning, in a letter, having seen Betty chatting to a bit of a dish dressed in turquoise and green, standing on the steps of the Victoria Monument. He had added that she was no doubt someone with whom their over-friendly cousin had struck up a conversation.

Dorothy now wondered if that was true as she sat through several cartoons, including Bugs Bunny and Tom & Jerry, until she saw Betty and the woman getting to their feet. Instantly Dorothy rose and, with a whispered ‘Excuse me’, made her way to the aisle and hurried to the rear of the auditorium.

She reached the exit at the same time as her cousin and her companion and feigned surprise. ‘Betty! What are you doing here?’

‘Watching the cartoons,’ countered Betty, startled. ‘What about you?’

Dorothy gave her cousin credit for her swift reaction and said good-humouredly, ‘I asked first. Who’s your friend?’

Betty sighed. ‘Emma, this is my cousin Dorothy. She probably won’t budge until she gets the truth out of me. It amazes me how I can’t go anywhere without bumping into a member of my family.’

Emma smiled and held out her hand. ‘I’m Emma Booth, Betty’s half-sister.’

Dorothy did a double take before taking the
hand offered. ‘I’m Dorothy Gregory. I’d like to know where you’ve sprung from.’

Emma said in a whisper, ‘I think we’d better go into the foyer as we don’t want to disturb people.’

The three of them left the auditorium and found a sofa and a chair to sit on. ‘So what’s this all about?’ asked Dorothy, placing her shopping beside her chair. ‘Am I to take it that Betty’s father had another wife before Auntie Lizzie?’

‘That’s right. My mother’s name was Mary Harrison,’ said Emma. ‘She came to Liverpool from my village near Clitheroe when she was eighteen. She met my father here and they married and had me. Then she became ill with consumption, so went back home to my grandparents, taking me with her. She died when I was about five.’