Love Changes Everything (7 page)

She made sure she stayed close to Ivy and Jake and their friends. As Ivy had said, Jake was an excellent dancer and she watched enviously as he whirled first Ivy and then Katy around the floor. When they played a waltz and he suggested that she should dance with him she felt herself stiffen with fright and she knew she was like a board as they took to the floor.

After a few minutes, though, once she became accustomed to the pressure of his arm around her waist, she was able to relax. As she listened to his voice quietly telling her what to do she found herself moving in accord with him and the music and knew the thrill of being able to dance.

From then on she really began to enjoy herself and to join in their fun and laughter when they took a break and sat drinking their beers and fruit juices.

When she went on to the floor with Andrew and later with Sid, she managed to get round without stumbling, but it had none of the magic that she'd experienced when dancing with Jake.

She wasn't sure whether this was because they weren't nearly such good dancers or because she didn't know them very well. Sid was pompous and talked rather loudly but Andrew was so tall and handsome that although she felt nervous, being in his arms was far more exciting than dancing with Jake.

It was after midnight when she reached home, tired but so keyed up with excitement that she was sure she wouldn't be able to sleep for thinking about the wonderful time she'd had.

She crept in as quietly as she possibly could after they left her on the doorstep and she was surprised to find that her mother was still up and waiting for her.

‘I've had a wonderful time, a night I'll never forget,' she breathed happily as her mother came out into the hallway. ‘You shouldn't have waited up, though—'

Maggie placed a finger to her lips and indicated with her head towards the living room. Before Trixie could work out what she was trying to tell her she heard her father shouting at her to get in there right away as he had something to say to her.

‘What have I always tried to drum into that thick skull of yours ever since you were a nipper?' he bellowed angrily as she went into the room.

She smiled at him uncertainly, not sure what he was getting at although she could see from his face that he was in a towering rage about something.

‘It's after midnight and you've been out gallivanting all bloody night,' he exploded when she stood there looking from him to her mother in bewilderment.

Her face hardened. ‘I've been to a dance with one of the girls from work and we went with her brother and some of his friends. I asked Mum if it was all right.'

‘I bloody well know all that and I also know that she's one of the O'Malleys from Horatio Street and that they're Irish Cat'lics! You've been out with the buggers after all that I've told you about steering clear of that slummy popish lot.'

‘I've been to a dance, not to church,' she protested.

‘Bloody Micks! Come over here and snaffle up all the decent jobs. I've told you time and again I want none of you to have anything to do with them and yet you don't take a blind bit of notice of what I say,' he thundered.

‘You don't ask people what their race or religion is when you meet them,' Trixie defended. ‘They're not slummy, and the friends with them weren't slummy either. Andrew Bacon works in a bank,' she added triumphantly.

‘Keep well away from the whole bloody lot of them in future and let's have less lip or you'll feel my strap across your backside the next time you answer me back,' Sam told her furiously.

‘I work with Ivy, so I can't ignore her,' Trixie protested. ‘Anyway, she's my friend—'

‘Troublemakers, the pair of you, from what I've heard,' he sneered. ‘Steer clear of her in the future. Understand? Now get yourself to bed and don't let me find that she's set foot over this doorstep ever again.'

Chapter Six

Trixie had been working at the biscuit factory for just over two years when Fred Linacre announced the Christmas savings scheme.

‘My dad will be hopping mad when he opens my pay packet and finds that it's sixpence short. He won't believe me when I say it's been deducted out of it because they're saving it up for us for Christmas,' Trixie commented when she and Ivy met up the following Saturday.

Since the night of the dance they were very careful not to meet in Virgil Street or Horatio Street just in case Sam Jackson spotted them. It had taken Trixie every ounce of will power to explain the situation to Ivy because she'd been afraid it would be the end of their friendship and sharing things together.

Ivy had taken it in good part and merely shrugged. ‘It doesn't bother me what he thinks about Catholics,' she said indifferently, ‘we can still be friends.'

‘My mum says if we're careful not to let him see us together he may forget about it, given time,' Trixie said hopefully. ‘He'll probably be more concerned about me being sixpence short,' she giggled.

‘My mum won't too happy about being sixpence short either,' Ivy agreed, ‘because she says every penny counts. Still, I suppose it mightn't be such a bad thing. We never manage to save up for Christmas so someone else doing it for us means that at least there'll be a couple of bob to spend on luxuries.'

‘It's only September; Christmas seems such a long way off that I don't want to think about it, certainly not start saving up for it,' Trixie sighed.

‘It will be Christmas Day in exactly fifteen weeks' time,' Ivy told her.

Trixie stopped in the middle of the pavement and stared at her in surprise. ‘You mean that you've worked it out, then?'

‘Of course I have; I want to know how much there's going to be to spend, don't I?'

‘And how much will it be?'

‘I would have thought that since you were the brightest girl in your class and supposed to be good at sums you'd be the one who knew the answer to that,' Ivy teased, imitating Fred Linacre's way of taunting Trixie.

They both laughed. ‘It will be seven shillings and sixpence,' Trixie said.

‘Not really a fortune, is it?' Ivy said pulling a face. ‘Still, it's better than nothing, I suppose. Fred did say that we could put in as much as we liked extra each week if we wanted to do so.'

‘Not me, not out of the few pence pocket money my dad gives me back,' Trixie affirmed. ‘It's hard enough as it is making that go as far I want it to, and I know what he'd say if I asked him for more to put away for Christmas.'

‘I don't suppose I'll be able to afford to save any extra, either,' Ivy agreed as they stopped so that Trixie could tuck the blanket in around Cilla's legs. ‘Anyway, I'm not sure I want to trust Fred with my hard-earned money.'

‘Why's that, do you think he might go off on the razzle and spend it all?' Trixie giggled as she straightened up. ‘Anyway, he won't be the one looking after it, will he? He said that they were going to appoint someone as treasurer, so whether we decide to give up our weekend outings or not so that we can save more for Christmas will depend on who that is,' Trixie mused.

‘Yes, I suppose it will,' Ivy agreed solemnly.

The two girls looked at each other and giggled. ‘We're talking as if we have a fortune to invest,' Ivy said.

‘If we had a fortune then we wouldn't need to save up for Christmas or for anything else. Just think what it would be like to have so much money that you could buy anything you wanted any time you liked,' Trixie exclaimed dramatically.

‘I wonder who will be treasurer though, and whether it will be someone we can trust,' Ivy pondered. ‘There're twenty of us on our line who're being forced to save, which means that by Christmas there will be at least seven pounds in the kitty, probably a great deal more because some of the older women reckoned they'd be putting in at least another shilling a week. If they do, then there could be over ten pounds and think what a nice little haul that could be for the treasurer if she decided to scarper with it!'

‘It mightn't be a she; it might be Fred himself when he works out how much money will be involved,' Trixie pointed out as they waited to cross the road. ‘If it is Fred, then I certainly wouldn't trust him to look after it,' she added indignantly.

‘Mind you, he's probably the best person of all to do so,' Ivy said thoughtfully. ‘He's hardly likely to risk losing his job for the sake of a few bob, now is he? As Foreman he probably earns twice as much each week as we do, even if our wages were put together.'

‘Or even more. He goes drinking every night of the week. I know because that's how my dad got friendly with him; they go to the same boozer.'

‘Heavens, does your dad go drinking every night?' Ivy asked in surprise.

Trixie nodded glumly. ‘That's his hobby, going for a bevvy. It's where most of our money goes and it's why my mum has to go out to work.'

‘I don't think I ever want to get married,' Ivy admitted with a deep sigh. ‘Something always seems to go wrong and it's more trouble than it's worth.'

‘What about if you fall in love with someone, won't you want to get married then?'

‘I'll make sure I don't. Once you're married and have got kids, the husband always seems to start drinking. Or else he beats his wife up, or does both!'

They looked at each other and laughed.

‘It makes you wonder why our mums make such a fuss about saving up to have a good time at Christmas,' Ivy said philosophically, ‘when the rest of the year they're fighting like cat and dog or going short of things they really need.'

‘Come on, for the moment let's enjoy a lovely big cornet and put off thinking about Christmas till we have to,' Trixie laughed as she bumped Cilla's pushchair down from the pavement so that they could cross over the road to where an ice cream van was stopped.

When they went into work the following Monday morning they found that chatter was all about the savings fund and who was going to be treasurer. Mid-morning, when Fred called for silence because he said he had an announcement to make, all of them waited expectantly to hear what he had to say.

‘I've talked to the management about these Christmas savings,' he told them pompously, ‘and as a result of my recommendation it's been agreed that Trixie Jackson will be appointed treasurer. That means she'll be the one who will be looking after all your savings from now till the middle of December.'

For a moment there was a stunned silence, then came an outburst as voices were raised in disapproval. Everyone, it seemed, was questioning the decision.

‘Trixie Jackson! She's only a kid!'

‘She hasn't been here five minutes.'

‘She's not old enough to look after our money.'

‘Bloody nonsense, picking a kid like her; if it's got to be one of the women, then we want someone older and more responsible to take charge of it.'

‘That's right! Someone we know and trust.'

Fred held up his hand for silence and waited till the turmoil died down. ‘Trixie Jackson was the brightest girl in her class at school, I know that for a fact, because her father tells me often enough,' he announced solemnly, looking round the circle of faces as if challenging anyone to dispute it.

‘Your money'll be safe with her,' he went on, ‘she's got good, clear handwriting, so we know she can write it all down, and she's good at sums, so she'll keep the records properly. Now, if any of you want to add more than the sixpence a week that will be deducted from your wage packet, give it to her and make sure that she writes it down against your name in this ledger,' he told them, waving a thin dark green book in front of them.

‘Any time you want to look at it and check for yourself that she's doing a proper job of keeping the records, you've only to ask her to let you see the ledger,' he added as there was a low muttering all around him.

‘So where are you going to keep all this money of ours, then, Trixie Jackson? Will it be in your sock or under your bed?' one of the women questioned, raising a noisy laugh from some of the others.

‘I haven't even said that I will look after the money for you; no one's asked me if I want to do it or not,' Trixie protested in a small, scared voice.

The thought of acting as treasurer frightened the life out of her. She knew how much it mattered to the women involved that the money was safe and she could understand them thinking she was far too young and inexperienced to take on such a big responsibility. She couldn't understand what Fred was thinking to put her name forward to do it.

‘No one asks you what job you want to do on the assembly line when you come to work here,' one of the other women chimed in. ‘You do as you're told; we all do, from day one. Fred's told you that you're going to be treasurer and look after the Christmas money, so that's that.'

‘Right, well, now that's all settled, will all of you get back to work,' Fred ordered smugly. ‘You've wasted enough time today with all your chattering; if you're not careful, you'll all be finding you've another stoppage for wasting working time when you get your pay at the end of the week.'

Although they all obeyed Fred and busied themselves with their appointed task, there was a definite air of unrest for the rest of the morning. Many of the women were grumbling, whispering their views to the women next to them, who then passed the comments along the line. There was no doubt about it that no one approved of Trixie being put in charge of their savings.

Trixie agreed with them wholeheartedly. She didn't want the job even though she wasn't sure about what was involved; the very thought of the responsibility she was being asked to shoulder made her feel depressed and the remarks she overheard from the women made her feel very uneasy.