Love Changes Everything (11 page)

Trixie felt the colour flooding into her face at the mention of Andrew's name. She wished she knew him well enough to buy him a present to thank him for all the help he'd given her with the Christmas money, but it was completely out of the question since she didn't have the money to spare.

Trixie wanted to get something special for Cilla and, knowing how much she enjoyed playing with the dolls that had been Nelly's when she went to the O'Malleys', that was what she intended to buy for her.

‘Why buy that when she can play with them round at my place?' Ivy asked her. ‘Why not get her something different?'

‘I want to get her a doll that she could cuddle in bed when she goes to sleep at night.'

‘Most dolls aren't very cuddly, not unless you buy her a rag doll, and I don't think she will like that after playing with Nelly's because they have real porcelain faces and eyes that open and shut.'

‘Yes, you're right,' Trixie admitted as they looked at the ones on display, ‘so what do you suggest instead?'

‘Why not get her a teddy bear?'

‘I think she's too old for one of those,' Trixie argued.

‘Then what about a furry animal, like a dog or something?'

Trixie stopped in her tracks and clapped her hands excitedly. ‘I know, I'll get her a Bonzo; you know, that little dog that's got those big ears, one black and one white.'

‘And spots and big blue eyes,' Ivy added. ‘She'd love one of those and they're quite cuddly.'

‘I might have a job finding one,' Trixie sighed.

‘That's rubbish! Bonzo is ever so popular, there's even a Bonzo comic.'

‘Well, we can look. Where shall we start, then? Shall we go to Paddy's Market?'

‘That's probably the best place,' Ivy agreed as they hurried up Great Homer Street. ‘How much do you want to spend?'

‘I've only got three shillings and sixpence and I want to buy something for Mum out of that as well.'

‘What about your dad?'

‘Trixie made a face. ‘I wouldn't even buy him a wet
Echo
, the miserable old devil. Do you know, he nearly gave me a hiding because I'd dared to open the envelope with my savings money in it instead of handing it over to him. He tried to grab at it and said it was his by right because it was part of my wages, only my mum stood up to him and insisted that it was mine to do as I liked with.'

‘Come on, then, let's start looking,' Ivy told her. ‘We'll see if we can find a Bonzo first and then you'll know how much you've got left to spend on your mum's present.'

‘As we go round I can still keep an eye open to see if there is anything I think she'd like.'

‘You haven't said what you're looking for, would it be something to wear?'

‘I don't think I can afford anything like that. I thought perhaps a pretty cup and saucer that she can drink her tea out of when she's there on her own.'

‘Mm! She'll probably put it on a shelf or on the mantelpiece where she can look at it and admire it, but she'll be afraid to use it in case it gets broken.'

‘Or in case my dad smashes it up when he's in one of his tempers and looking for some way of upsetting her.'

‘Your dad sounds pretty horrible,' Ivy shuddered. ‘No wonder you don't want to buy him a present.' She paused and looked thoughtful. ‘You know, perhaps that's where you're wrong, perhaps you should buy him one. It might please him so much that he won't make trouble over Christmas.'

The two girls looked at each other and giggled. It was a joke that kept them laughing for the rest of their shopping spree, especially when Ivy picked out the most audacious items and suggested they might be suitable for Sam Jackson. In the end Trixie bought him a tin cigarette case with a picture of a boat painted on the front. ‘He's always complaining that his ciggies get crushed when he has the packet in his pocket so this might please him,' she explained.

They were feeling tired by the time they'd finished their shopping, but they were both delighted with their purchases.

‘We should have bought some fancy paper to wrap them up in, but I've only got three halfpence left and they are asking two pennies a sheet for it,' Trixie sighed.

‘You can buy a whole roll for threepence,' Ivy pointed out, ‘so why don't we buy one of those between us? We've got to go back to my place so that you can collect Cilla, so we can take all the presents up to my bedroom and wrap them up while you're there without anybody knowing what we've bought.'

‘I hope Cilla has behaved and been a good girl for your mum,' Trixie said worriedly.

‘Of course she will have been. It's not the first time she's stayed with her and anyway, Mum knows how to keep her amused. There're the dolls for her to play with and when she gets tired of them there's always the jigsaw.'

Their plan worked well, and before Trixie took Cilla home she'd wrapped up the presents she'd bought, but agreed with Ivy that it was better to leave them there till the next day.

‘Didn't you buy anything at all?' Maggie asked in surprise when Trixie arrived home very late in the afternoon.

‘I've spent all my money and I've left the presents at Ivy's place till tomorrow,' she explained as she undressed Cilla and got her ready for bed. ‘I thought they'd be safer there.'

After that Christmas Day couldn't come soon enough. Waiting was a mixture of frustration and torture as she went over in her mind what she'd bought and kept wondering if she'd chosen the right presents for everybody.

‘That's the trouble with Christmas presents,' her mother smiled when she mentioned it to her. ‘They look lovely in the shop or on the stall and then afterwards you wonder if you've done the right thing or not. It's even worse when people start opening them because you feel so anxious about whether or not they are going to like them. What have you bought for Cilla?'

Trixie hesitated. ‘It's too late to take it back and change it so I think I'll just wait and see if she likes it.'

‘You haven't told me what it is yet?' her mother persisted.

‘I'd sooner wait till Christmas Day. You may think it's a daft waste of money.'

‘Why would I do that? I'm sure that whatever it is you've picked it will be something she'll love. Have you bought anything for Ivy and Mrs O'Malley?'

The colour drained from Trixie's cheeks. ‘Oh, Mam, I never gave it a thought. Mrs O'Malley has been so good to our little Cilla, I should have bought her something.'

‘Well, it's not too late to do so. The shops will be open till midnight tonight.'

‘But I haven't any money left!'

‘Oh dear! Well, you tell me the sort of present you'd like to get for them and I'll see if I can jiggle the housekeeping and we can buy them something out of that. What about a box of nice chocolates or a big tin of biscuits that they can all enjoy?'

‘If you do that then it's going to leave you short,' Trixie sighed. ‘Why do we always have to scrimp and scrape like this, Mum? Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had enough money to buy whatever we needed and still have a few coppers left in our purse at the end of the week.'

‘Perhaps I should try and get a full-time job,' Maggie sighed. ‘I know your dad thinks I ought to, but who's going to look after Cilla if I do? I can't leave her here on her own all day; heaven knows what mischief she'd get into if I did that.'

‘She is getting a lot better at entertaining herself when she's left for a short time in the mornings and evenings. In fact, she's getting brighter all the time,' Trixie mused. ‘Do you think that perhaps she will be able to go to school one day?'

‘She's still terribly backward, luv,' Maggie sighed. ‘If she went to school she'd have to start in the infant's class and they'd probably tease her and make her life miserable.'

‘Perhaps we ought to start teaching her at home. Look how quickly she picked up those rhymes that Ella and Jake taught her. If we helped Cilla to learn her letters, and perhaps her tables, then she might be able to go into a class where the other children were only a couple of years younger than her and it wouldn't matter so much.'

‘I'm not too sure that I'm up to teaching her but perhaps between the pair of us we might manage something,' her mother agreed.

‘I'll mention it to Mrs O'Malley as well. She's probably got some books that her little Nelly used when she was starting to read and I'm sure that she'd help teach her as well.'

‘Is this going to be your New Year's resolution, getting little Cilla to be able to read and write?' Her mother smiled indulgently.

‘It would be good for her if she could, and for all of us too.'

‘That's true, but don't go saying anything about it in front of your dad. He'll only scoff, or else he'll start badgering and bullying Cilla and making her a nervous wreck.'

‘Will he? He never speaks to her or has anything to do with her if he can help it,' Trixie said scornfully.

‘Now don't start stirring things up by saying anything about it,' her mother warned. ‘It's far better for things to stay the way they are than for him to be constantly taunting Cilla or shouting at her; you should know that.'

Trixie wanted to ask her mother again if she knew what her dad had meant when he kept saying that he had ‘something planned for her' but she was afraid that if she did know it might spoil things over Christmas so she said nothing.

Christmas Day started off so well that Trixie felt that for once they were like a normal family. Sam Jackson went off to the pub in the morning for a drink with his cronies but he returned home in good time for them to sit down to their festive dinner.

Maggie had done them proud. She'd been scrimping and saving for months to make sure they had something special for Christmas Day. Along with the chicken she'd also roasted potatoes and parsnips as well as cooking Brussels sprouts. Even the gravy was so thick and tasty that Sam Jackson was unable to find fault with any of it and he tucked into it all with gusto.

Afterwards they had Christmas pudding and custard which Cilla enjoyed so much that she even had a second helping.

They waited till after they'd finished eating and Maggie and Trixie had cleared everything away, washed up and brought in a pot of freshly brewed tea, before they opened their presents.

‘Sit down and open your present, Mum, while I pour the tea,' Trixie insisted.

Maggie gave a gasp of delight as she unwrapped her parcel and found the china cup and saucer that was prettily decorated with blue and pink flowers. ‘It's lovely, Trixie, really beautiful,' she exclaimed with pleasure.

Sam was surprised to find he had a present at all, especially one from Trixie, but he spoiled the occasion by commenting, ‘Trying to soft-soap me, are you? Well, you needn't bother. I've still got a surprise planned for you.'

Trixie tried to shut out his words as she helped Cilla unwrap her parcel. The delight on Cilla's face when she saw the Bonzo dog and began making little cries of excitement and happiness as she hugged it tight and ran to show it to her mother, brought tears to Trixie's own eyes and for the moment made her forget her father's threat, her disappointment over not seeing Andrew over Christmas and all the problems she'd encountered at work. She hoped that perhaps everything would be much better in the future.

Chapter Ten

When Trixie and Ivy returned to work after Christmas they were bubbling over with excitement not only about what they'd done over the holiday, the presents they'd exchanged and the food they'd enjoyed, but also about Ivy's suggestion that they should go out on New Year's Eve and celebrate in some way.

‘I've never done anything like that before,' Trixie said doubtfully.

‘There's a first time for everything,' Ivy giggled as she put on her overall.

‘I'm not sure my dad would let me,' Trixie mused.

‘Don't tell him. He'll probably be down the boozer so he need never know,' Ivy told her as she finished fastening the buttons.

‘What if he gets home before I do? He'd kill my mum if he discovered that I was still out,' Trixie muttered as she pushed her hair up inside her cap.

‘She's only got to let him think that you're home and in bed. He never checks up to see if you are, does he?'

‘No, of course not! Mum would never dare tell him a lie, though, because if he found out the truth he'd belt her one.'

‘So you won't come, then?' Ivy said in a disappointed voice. ‘It's a pity,' she sighed, ‘because I thought we could go out with my brother and his friend . . .'

‘Do you mean Andrew? Andrew Bacon?' Trixie gasped, her eyes widening in surprise.

‘That's right. It's his suggestion, actually. He told Jake he thought it would be a good idea for him to bring us both along,' she added with a smile.

‘What did Jake say to that?' Trixie asked as they made their way into the factory.

‘He said he didn't mind although he didn't think it was going to be much fun for him having to take his sister along when he asked a girl out for the first time,' Ivy said as she followed her.

Trixie looked puzzled. ‘Let me get this right. You mean they've only invited us because Andrew wants to go out with you?'

‘No,' Ivy laughed. ‘It's Andrew who wants to take you out; he's quite smitten. The trouble is, though, Jake has a bit of a crush on you as well and he thinks he's the one taking you.'

‘Confusing, isn't it!' Trixie sighed, the blood rushing to her cheeks. ‘I like your brother a lot, Ivy, I think he's very nice indeed but—'