Memories Are Made of This (11 page)

She was pretty with pale ginger hair, a slender figure, and was wearing a swagger jacket and a straight skirt in dark green gaberdine. Accompanying her were two young men who were good looking and so alike that they had to be twins. One of them had a limp. ‘So you and Jimmy made it then,' said the girl, walking over to the table where Irene sat.

‘We're here, aren't we, Maggie?' said Irene in a tone of voice that told Jeanette that the other girl was not one of her favourite people. ‘
Ciao
, you two! I haven't seen you for a while,' she nodded to the twins. ‘How's tricks?'

Jeanette stood over by the counter whilst the three newcomers sat at the table with Irene. She waited a few moments whilst they scrutinized the menu, interested in how they knew each other. Jimmy was still standing next to the jukebox, looking at the list of records. One of the twins beckoned Jeanette and she went over to the table and took their order as ‘Three Coins in the Fountain' came to an end. Maggie did not seem able to make up her mind. As Jeanette stood waiting, she heard the click of a record dropping and the seductive tones of Alma Cogan singing ‘I Can't Tell a Waltz from a Tango' almost had her dancing back to the counter.

‘They're all so fattening!' complained Maggie, tossing the menu aside.

‘Stop worrying about your figure, Maggie,' said Irene. ‘You know you never put a pound on.'

‘That's because I watch what I eat and care what I look like, unlike my dear cousin.'

Irene frowned. ‘Why bring Betty into this? She's not fat!'

‘You would say that because you're not exactly slim either,' said Maggie bluntly.

‘Don't you two start,' said one of the twins. ‘It's only puppy fat with Irene, and you are too skinny, Maggie.'

She pouted. ‘I have the perfect figure for a model, and when I leave school that's what I'm going to train to be. Betty's trouble is that she gobbles down what's nearest to hand because she can't be bothered cooking a proper meal when she's painting.'

‘You could cook her a proper meal,' said Jimmy, pulling up a chair and sitting next to her.

Maggie shrugged. ‘She won't eat what I eat.'

‘You can't blame her for that,' murmured Irene. ‘And our Jimmy has obviously never tasted your cooking. You can't cook for toffee, so that's why you make do with rabbit food and tinned soup.'

Jeanette cleared her throat. ‘Is that it, then?' she asked.

‘No, I do want something to eat,' said Maggie hastily. ‘I'll have a lemon tea and a buttered teacake. But don't go putting too much butter on the teacake, waitress. Put it on and then scrape it off.'

‘Yes, Miss,' said Jeanette in a colourless voice, thinking she would have a job scraping off melting butter. The twin with the limp caught her eye and winked. She smiled involuntarily before turning away.

She wasted no time in dealing with their order and carried it over to the table just in time to hear Irene ask, ‘Why aren't you working today, Pete?'

The twin who had winked now frowned. ‘I've been in the office this morning. There's talk of a possible dockers' strike. Have you heard anything, Jimmy?'

He nodded. ‘I hope to God it's not true. They'll finish Liverpool if they're not bloody careful. As it is, although the ferries will still be running, a strike will prove a bloody nuisance if the dockers go ahead with it.'

Such talk filled Jeanette with dismay. If the dockers carried on taking such action, she worried that there would soon be no ships coming to Liverpool. Some companies had already transferred to Southampton.

‘Well, if there's a strike it's not going to affect me,' said the other twin, ‘although it will our Pete with him working in a shipping office.'

Jeanette was tempted to tell them it would affect her too, but kept her mouth shut, wondering which shipping office Pete worked in as she placed the bill on the table. As she walked away she heard Jimmy say, ‘So who's going the Grafton tonight? Did Betty say she'd come?'

Jeanette shot a look at him and wondered if she would see him there.

‘Can you see any sign of that Jimmy you served in the milk bar?' asked Peggy, glancing about the ballroom.

Jeanette did not answer, having spotted a vacant table not far from the edge of the dance floor. She claimed one of the chairs and took a sip of her lemonade and gazed about her. Already there were plenty of people dancing to the music of a live band playing a quickstep. She was aware of a simmering excitement, despite being unable to spot Jimmy amongst those who had taken to the floor or who were sitting out this dance, having a drink and taking in the scene before them.

Then suddenly she spotted him dancing with a girl. ‘There's Jimmy, with that redhead!' she cried.

‘Where, where?' asked Peggy.

Jeanette did not answer, wondering if the redhead could be the Betty mentioned earlier that day. She knew the moment Jimmy spotted her because his eyes widened and then he bent his head and whispered in the girl's ear. She looked in Jeanette's direction and smiled. But it was not until the number ended that the couple made their way towards where Jeanette and Peggy were sitting.

‘Hi!' said Jimmy, smiling. ‘It's Jeanette, isn't it? I wondered if I'd see you here.'

‘I felt the same about you,' she said, returning his smile.

Suddenly one of the twins appeared at his shoulder. ‘Well, if it isn't the waitress from the milk bar,' he drawled.

‘I saw her first,' said Jimmy, his smile vanishing.

Jeanette caught the redhead's eye and expected her to look annoyed, but she just stood there with a wry smile on her freckled face. ‘Shut up, you two,' she murmured. ‘If I were you, Jeanette, I'd have nothing to do with either of them. They're both terrible flirts.' She held out a hand. ‘I'm Betty Booth. It's nice to meet you.'

‘It's nice to meet you, too,' said Jeanette, shaking her hand. ‘Are you the Betty studying art?'

‘Don't get her started on art,' said the twin, taking out a packet of Players. ‘She'll be having you visiting the Walker to see her father's painting next.'

‘Your father has a painting hanging in the Walker Art Gallery!' Jeanette was really impressed.

Betty flushed. ‘Yes, but no credit to me.'

‘I'd like to see it.'

‘Now you've done it,' groaned the twin.

Betty turned on him. ‘If you don't want to listen, then go and dance with our Maggie.'

He ignored her and stared at Peggy. ‘So who's this?'

‘My name's Peggy,' she said, smiling. ‘Me and Jeanette work in the Cunard Building.'

‘You don't say,' he murmured, putting away his cigarettes. ‘D'you want to dance?'

‘I wouldn't say no,' replied Peggy.

Without another word, the twin grabbed her arm and walked her onto the dance floor.

‘Well, that's got rid of him,' said Jimmy, offering Betty the vacant chair.

She sat down opposite Jeanette. ‘There was a time when Norm didn't have much to say for himself, because he was in his twin's shadow, but after Pete's accident Norm found himself having to make his own decisions and go places on his own.'

‘Pete is the twin with the limp?'

Betty nodded. ‘He doesn't do dancing.'

Jimmy rested both hands on the back of Betty's chair. ‘I used to have a twin. He got run over during the war when we were only little. My dad got killed down at the docks during the blitz not long before, so it was a terrible time for my mother.'

‘That's so sad,' said Jeanette. ‘My mother went missing during the blitz. Her body was never found.'

‘I lost my dad at Dunkirk,' said Betty. ‘Not that I remember him.' She frowned. ‘It was much worse when Mam was hit by a car and died a few years ago.'

Jeanette grimaced. ‘I can imagine.'

‘Fortunately I have cousins, as well as a half-sister I never met until a couple of years ago,' said Betty.

‘How come?' asked Jeanette, experiencing a fellow feeling with both Betty and Jimmy.

‘Emma was brought up in Whalley, near Clitheroe, by her maternal grandparents,' replied Betty. ‘She didn't know I existed until she found a letter from my mother when she was clearing out after her grandfather's death. She's since married my cousin Jared and so I see more of her now.'

Jeanette was fascinated by the story. ‘I presume your father married twice?'

‘That's right.'

‘How does it feel meeting someone like that after being parted for years?'

‘Oh, we took to each other straightaway,' said Betty.

The three of them were silent a moment and then Jeanette said, ‘So Norm's twin, Pete. You mentioned an accident, is that how he was crippled?' Betty and Jimmy exchanged looks that caused her to add hastily, ‘You don't have to tell me if you feel it's something I shouldn't know.'

‘No, that's OK,' said Jimmy. ‘The twins also lost their dad during the war.'

‘We should form a club,' murmured Betty.

‘Well, we have, sort of,' said Jimmy, squeezing her shoulder. ‘We all support each other. Even Maggie's part of it, although she didn't lose her parents until after the war.'

‘Let's not talk about our Maggie,' said Betty. ‘Stick to talking about Pete.'

‘OK!' exclaimed Jimmy. ‘He used to be a real daredevil. He and Norm were always up to mischief, but Pete was the leader. But they had a bossy older brother to keep his eye on them.'

‘I suppose they rebelled?' said Jeanette.

‘Aye, I won't tell you how it came about but Pete fell from an upstairs windowsill.'

Jeanette gasped. ‘It's a wonder he wasn't killed!'

‘It's a wonder the pair of them weren't arrested!' said Betty. ‘Fortunately their brother is a policeman.'

Jeanette was about to remark about the coincidence because of her family, when Jimmy said, ‘Here comes your friend with Norm and she's limping!'

Jeanette's head turned and she spotted the couple making their way around the edge of the dance floor. Peggy's face was drained of colour and she was being half-carried, half-dragged along by Norm. Jeanette stood up and hurried towards them. ‘What happened? Are you OK?'

‘No, I'm not bloody OK,' said Peggy tearfully. ‘I think I might have broken my foot. Some bloody fool tripped and fell against me and crushed it with his damn great big number twelve shoes. I'm going to have to go home.'

‘Shall I phone for a taxi?' asked Jimmy, looking concerned.

‘I'll come with you so Peggy can have her chair back and sit down,' said Betty. The pair hurried away.

Jeanette helped her friend to sit down. ‘It's a blinking shame,' she said, carefully inspecting Peggy's swelling ankle and foot.

‘Yeah! Just when we were getting into the groove,' said Norm.

‘Well, forgive me for getting in the way of that idiot's foot,' said Peggy pettishly. ‘I'm sorry to spoil your fun.'

His mouth tightened. ‘I didn't say it was your fault.'

‘Sorry,' mumbled Peggy, tears in her eyes. ‘I'm in pain and I feel so frustrated. I'm sorry for you, too, Jeanette. I didn't want to spoil your evening.'

‘It can't be helped,' said Jeanette. ‘There'll be other dances.'

‘Would you like me to go in the taxi with you, Peggy?' asked Norm.

‘Best not,' she said hastily. ‘Jeanette will come with me.'

He hesitated. ‘If that's what you want.'

She nodded. ‘You don't have to hang around, Norm.'

‘Well, if you don't need me, I'd better check that Maggie's OK. I noticed that she had a bit of a face on her when we danced past. She's really too young to be here, but you wouldn't think so the way she dresses and slaps on the make-up.'

‘Don't let me keep you,' said Peggy.

He nodded, then walked away.

‘Well, that's him gone,' said Peggy, her face tight with pain.

‘Didn't you like him?'

‘Oh, I liked him all right, but he'll be going off to a shipping yard in Glasgow next year as part of his apprenticeship to be a marine engineer. I wouldn't be seeing much of him then, would I?'

Before Jeanette could comment, Jimmy and Betty returned and told them that the manager had phoned for a taxi and it would be here shortly. Between the three of them, they had no trouble getting Peggy up from the chair and out into the foyer. Jeanette went and collected their coats from the cloakroom and she arrived at the front entrance just as the taxi drew up. There was a flurry of goodbyes as Betty and Jimmy waved them off.

As Peggy and Jeanette flopped down in the back of the taxi, they both let out a sigh of relief. ‘Well, this evening didn't turn out in the least like I hoped it would,' mourned Peggy. ‘I'm just worrying now what my mam and dad are going to say. It could mean that I'll have to stay off work and Mam's not going to like that.'

Jeanette thought it highly likely that Peggy would have to rest her foot. She imagined it could be days before she was able to walk without difficulty. She only hoped that Peggy's parents would not direct their annoyance at her. From some of what her friend had said, it was clear they still partly blamed Jeanette for a policeman landing on their doorstep after the trouble in the chippy.

Peggy's foot was not broken, but it was badly bruised and swollen which meant she did have to take time off from work. Jeanette popped in to see her a couple of times during the week. They had discussed that evening at the Grafton, and on Sunday afternoon when she visited the question on Peggy's lips was whether Norm or Jimmy had called in at the milk bar on the Saturday.

‘No, as it happens,' said Jeanette. ‘I can only think that they're occupied elsewhere.'

‘So Norm doesn't have my address.' Peggy sighed.