Memories Are Made of This (36 page)

‘Well, what d'you think of that?' asked Jeanette. ‘Maybe she'll drink herself unconscious, just like Dad.'

Before Hester could reply, the door knocker went. ‘That'll be your David,' she said. ‘You'd best go.'

‘OK.' Jeanette hurried out of the bathroom.

Hester grabbed her clothes and went into her bedroom. She rubbed her hair as dry as she could and then took out her best jumper and skirt from the wardrobe and clean underwear and stockings from a drawer. Once dressed, she applied some make-up, brushed her hair which was just dry, put on her shoes, grabbed her best coat, hat, gloves, shopping bag and handbag and left her bedroom.

As she went downstairs, the kitchen door opened and Jeanette came out. ‘So you're off shopping?'

‘Yes, hopefully I won't be too long and I'll be able to get all I need.' Hester hurried to the front door, opened it swiftly and went out before Jeanette could think of saying,
Come and meet David first
.

There was a nip in the air but no snow to make it feel more Christmassy, although lights shone on Christmas trees in the parlours of houses and her shoes rang out on the frosty pavement, reminding her of bells. She was halfway up the street when she saw a man approaching. He walked like a soldier, shoulders back and with his head held high. Her heart began to thud and she felt a rush of emotion that threatened to overpower her.

‘Hester!' His pace quickened.

She stayed where she was because her legs seemed to have turned to water and she feared she might collapse onto the pavement. ‘Ally?' she croaked.

He stared into her face and she thought he must have seen something there that caused him to say, ‘I know it's Christmas Eve but I couldn't wait to see you.'

‘I . . . I was just going shopping.' She paused, frantically searching for something to say that would make him turn about-face. She wasn't ready for this encounter and couldn't think what to say to him.

‘Wendy told me Cedric's dead.'

That was the last thing she had expected Ally to say and she could only respond with the words, ‘How did she find out? I haven't been to see her. I should have got in touch. It was a real shock.'

‘She read it in the
Echo
. I would have thought you'd have known the manner of his death would have hit the headlines,' said Ally.

‘I haven't been reading the newspapers. I haven't been well.' She found strength from somewhere to walk past him.

He seized her arm. ‘I can't believe that you might have loved him after all.'

She could feel herself trembling. ‘I didn't love him. I despised him. I've had a hellish couple of weeks and I just want peace and quiet.' She put up a hand and gripped his arm. ‘Now if you'll let me go, I have to collect the turkey and the bacon joint from the butcher's.'

‘May I come with you?'

She stared into his face and was aware of such an ache of longing inside her. She wanted him with her, but what if Jeanette was wrong and she was pregnant? She imagined his expression changing and she could not bear it. He would pity her, she felt sure of that. But it wasn't pity she wanted from him, so she walked away without a word.

Hester had not gone far when she became aware that he was following her. She fought against turning and speaking to him, but part of her was glad that he was there. She just could not cope with explanations right now.

When she reached the main road and went into the butcher's, she thought he might change his mind about staying with her and return to Wendy's and Charley's apartment, but he was waiting outside when she emerged from the shop. She looked at him and he smiled. Her cheeks warmed and she gave him a nod before walking past him. The same thing happened when she came out of the other shops, where she bought presents and vegetables.

Eventually he said, ‘I want to know why the last fortnight has been so hellish.'

Emotion seized her by the throat and tears pricked her eyes and spilt over. ‘I can't talk about it right now. It's too painful.' Her voice was raw.

He reached out and wiped away her tears with the side of his gloved hand before taking her shopping from her. ‘Then we don't have to talk about it right now,' he said briskly. ‘Come on, I'll walk you home if you've finished.'

She nodded wordlessly.

So they walked silently side by side and she appreciated that he did not try and make conversation. She still felt far too emotional for speech. It was not until they were within sight of the house that he asked, ‘What are you doing tomorrow?'

Hester managed to find her voice. ‘I'll be helping prepare Christmas dinner for the family.'

‘Can I come and see you after dinner?' asked Ally.

She nodded, praying that her life could change for the better overnight.

‘Three o'clock okay?' he said.

Again she nodded.

He handed her the shopping and leant forward and brushed his lips against hers. ‘Goodnight, Hester. God bless you.'

She watched him walk away until he was out of sight and then went inside the house.

‘So what do you think?' asked Sam, standing on the pavement with his arm around Dorothy's shoulders on Christmas Day.

It was almost lunchtime and Sam having left early had returned home only ten minutes ago. He had dragged Jeanette and Hester from the kitchen and now they stood, alongside David and George, staring at the Austin A40 Somerset parked at the kerb.

‘I suppose it'll come in useful,' said Hester, her hands tucked inside the deep, wide pocket of her apron.

‘Of course it'll come in useful,' said George, clapping a hand on his son's shoulder.

Sam said incredulously. ‘Is that all you can say?'

‘How old is she?' asked David.

‘A couple of years. I couldn't afford a brand-new one.'

‘I'm sure you'll get a lot of use out of her,' said Hester. ‘Now can I get back to the kitchen or you won't be getting your dinner on time?' She smiled to soften the words before returning to the house. She'd had a splitting headache when she woke that morning to find her period had come. Fortunately there was a packet of STs in her chest of drawers and Aspro in the bathroom cabinet. The song ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' was playing in her heart.

Jeanette stared after Hester and could have danced up the street. Her half-sister had indicated that she'd received the best Christmas present possible, and that could mean only one thing.

‘Well, what have you got to say?' asked Sam, looking at his younger sister.

‘I agree with Hester. A car will come in useful.' She smiled.

Sam groaned. ‘Women!'

Dorothy chuckled. ‘It's what I said. Some girlfriends who had been proposed to might have asked where's my engagement ring, or shouldn't we be saving up to get married? But I accepted that a car will prove useful to both of us.'

‘OK, point taken,' said Sam, grinning. ‘I just expected a different reaction from my sisters. I know, Dorothy, you're thinking it'll save time when you need to be somewhere fast.'

‘Or when she's in a play in another town and you want to visit her,' pointed out Jeanette.

‘She's not going to be doing much of that for a while if she's filming here in Liverpool,' said Sam.

‘She's got nice lines,' said David, stroking the car bonnet. ‘What's the engine like? How fast can she go?'

‘You men,' said Jeanette fondly. ‘Why does a car have to be a she?'

‘It's the same with a ship,' said Dorothy, winking at Jeanette. ‘Shall we go inside now? It's cold out here.'

Sam removed his arm from about her shoulders. ‘You go in, luv. I want to show Davy and Dad the engine.'

As Jeanette and Dorothy went up the path, they heard George say, ‘So how about taking me through the tunnel to Little Storeton? If Christmas Day is about families, then perhaps I should visit my wife.'

Jeanette turned and said, ‘Aren't you better waiting, Dad? You don't know what plans Mam has made for today.'

His mouth set stubbornly and for a moment she was reminded of the old witch and thought he was going to insist on going today. Then his expression altered. ‘Perhaps you're right. I'll write her a letter and let her know when we're coming.'

‘Of course, Jeannie's right,' said Sam. ‘Besides, I haven't enough petrol and I can't remember if the tunnel is closed for Christmas.'

‘And you a policeman,' teased Dorothy as she paused on the threshold.

‘I'm not a traffic cop, luv,' said Sam.

She laughed and went inside the house with Jeanette. ‘So where is your Aunt Ethel?' asked Dorothy.

‘In her bedroom. I found an empty gin bottle outside her door,' she said. ‘The last thing I thought she'd do when threatened with the old folk's home was to take to the drink. Whether she'll come down for dinner, I don't know.'

Dorothy looked thoughtful. ‘I know you think she's an old witch, but she's suffered in her time. The wedding she kept secret . . . I've seen her marriage certificate. She found it in a drawer and showed it to me.'

Jeanette raised her eyebrows. ‘I wonder what she'll surprise us with next? You're not going to give me a sob story, are you?'

Dorothy rolled her eyes. ‘She's a fool to herself. She married her young man when he was dying. He had consumption and there was no hope for him. She risked catching the disease herself to nurse him. He had no one else but did have a bit of money and wanted her to have it.'

Jeanette did not want to believe the story but could not resist asking, ‘How did they meet?'

‘He was a socialist and was caught up in a riot and arrested. Their eyes met when they passed each other in a corridor in the holding cells beneath the courts in Manchester. She was there with a woman prisoner.'

‘Is that how she told it?' asked Jeanette.

Dorothy's eyes twinkled. ‘It makes a good story. She was a woman alone who supported herself and her sister until the latter married. After the husband was killed and her sister died, she cared for your father until he was earning himself.'

Jeanette sighed. ‘It still doesn't cancel out the way she's treated us.'

Dorothy nodded. ‘I agree. I'm just glad it's not my decision to put her in a home. I remember my mother talking about how many people feared destitution and ending up in the workhouse when she was young.'

‘You're saying the old people's home is like the workhouse? Surely things have improved since those days?'

‘One would hope so,' said Dorothy.

‘Anyway, it's Dad's decision not mine,' said Jeanette, relieved. ‘But I might put a good word in for her if she behaves herself today. I'd better go and help our Hester.'

An hour later they were all seated around the table ready for Christmas dinner. Almost at the last minute Ethel had appeared like a shadow in the kitchen and placed three bottles on the Welsh dresser: one of sweet sherry, one of port and one of whisky. Then she had sat down before anyone else and kept her head down.

She appeared to have shrunk somehow, thought Jeanette, as she helped Hester dish out the food. After the barest hesitation Hester placed turkey and all the trimmings on Ethel's plate. George had said not a word about the old people's home so far that day. Perhaps Dorothy had told Sam the same tale about Ethel as she had told her and he had told their father. It could be that they were just going to have to accept that the old woman was family and it was not in the spirit of Christmas to cast her out.

It was a merry gathering and they ate their fill, pulled crackers, put on paper hats and groaned over corny jokes. Through it all, Hester's senses were alert for the sound of the door knocker. It banged promptly at three o'clock and she could not contain herself, despite not knowing exactly what she was going to tell Ally about what she'd been through recently.

She removed her apron and paper hat as she reached the front door and flung it open. Her heart seemed to swell as she gazed at the man standing there. He had kept his word and come exactly on time. And not empty-handed.

‘For remembrance,' he said, holding out a bunch of yellow mop-headed chrysanthemums.

Her face lit up. ‘No one has ever brought me flowers. How lovely of you!' She breathed in their fragrance before lifting her head and staring at him. ‘What do you mean – for remembrance?'

‘Are you prepared for what I think of as a pleasant shock?'

She gave him a puzzled look. ‘What do you mean?'

He smiled. ‘How are you feeling today?'

‘Much better! Are you coming in? There's a fire in the parlour, we can go in there and you can tell me what this pleasant shock is.'

He followed her into the house and through a door on the left. She placed the flowers on the sideboard and waved him to one of the armchairs by the glowing coal fire. She sat down the other side of the fireplace and stared at him. ‘Well?'

‘I got talking to Wendy last night. She told me about Mrs Jones who lives in Whalley. I remember her from when I used to go into the village, and once Wendy said you were an evacuee, I remembered you as well. Although I never knew your name and thought when you seemed familiar that it was because we'd met the day of the accident, I realize now that maybe it was also because I saw in you traces of the girl you were when we first met as youngsters.'

She could not tear her eyes from his face. ‘Are you saying you're the lad I met on the farm?' she said hoarsely, scarcely able to believe it.

He nodded. ‘I know we've grown up and changed a bit since then, but even so, I don't think either of us is that different. The farm belonged to my sister's future father-in-law. It's where she lives now.'

Hester felt as if her heart stopped before increasing its beat. ‘It was an incredible, lucky chance us meeting again the way we did,' she said breathlessly.