The Bells of Bow (55 page)

Rita tried to give her her cup, but Clara’s hands were trembling so badly she couldn’t hold it. ‘I’m gonna fetch Dr Land,’ Rita said.

Clara looked up. ‘Please don’t bother him, Reet, we’re all right.’

Rita bit her lip. ‘Well, at least let me go over to Nellie’s to get yer both a drop of brandy,’ she said. ‘Look at yer, yer shivering.’

‘You stay here,’ said Babs, walking over to the door. ‘I’ll go.’

Clara was getting on for sixty but as she glanced up at Rita the look in her eyes made her seem like a frightened little girl. ‘I’ve been scared before, Reet,’ she said. ‘Lots of times. But this time … this time … Aw, I’m
really
scared. And Minnie looks real bad. Look at her.’

‘Please, Clara. Don’t upset yerself.’ Evie knelt down beside her chair and held her hand.

Clara sniffed. ‘I’m beginning to believe them stories you hear.’

‘What stories are they then, Clara?’ Evie asked her quietly.

‘That these flying bomb things know how to find yer.’ Now Clara was weeping openly. ’Cos I’m sure they’re after us. First Grove Road, then the hospital.’

The sight of the two fine, big women reduced to tears almost had Rita and Evie crying with them.

‘Look, here’s Babs,’ Rita said, trying to sound cheerful.

Babs handed Rita a bottle of brandy. ‘Nellie said she wishes yer both well and she’ll pop down and see yer later on. And yer to have as much as yer want of that ’cos it’s only Jim’s, so she don’t care.’

Rita smiled and tipped a good measure of the spirit into Minnie’s and Clara’s cups but their hands were still shaking so much that she and Babs had to help them hold the cups to their lips.

‘You’ll get used to these rotten doodlebug things,’ Evie said brightly. ‘You just see. Yer’ll be like me soon. If Babs here hadn’t woke me up, I’d have slept right through all that bloody row the night that first one fell in Grove Road.’

‘That’s right,’ said Babs, smiling encouragingly. ‘She would have and all.’

‘It’s like that old Mrs Meacher,’ said Evie, with an equally determined smile. ‘D’yer know her? Funny-looking old girl from down Bolldover Road way. I saw her down the Roman when we was queuing for spuds the other day.’

Babs looked at Evie questioningly. ‘Who?’ she said.

Evie winked. ‘You know, Babs. Nose like a beetroot and ear’ole like a cauliflower.’

Babs nodded. ‘Aw yeah,’ she said, realising that this was one of Evie’s tales. ‘Her.’

‘Well anyway, this Mrs Wheeler—’

‘Meacher,’ Babs reminded her.

‘Yeah,’ Evie said. ‘That’s what I mean. Well, she only woke up to find all her windows blown out, didn’t she. A doodlebug had crashed into the very next street and she didn’t know a thing about it. Slept right through the whole lot. Bad as me. And yer’ll never guess what, when someone from the newspaper come round to talk to her, to ask her about it, like, if the bombs scared her and that, do you know what she said? She said, I look at it this way: when the bloody thing’s got as far as England, then it’s gotta find London, ain’t it? Then after that it’s gotta find its way down to the East End. And then it’s gotta find its way here to Bow. And however it’d sort out Bolldover Road from all the rest, I don’t know. And after all that it’s still gotta find its way to number fourteen. And even if it did, if yer knew me and my Lukey, yer’d know the chances are that me and him’d be down the Earl of Aberdeen anyway!’

‘You’re a girl, Evie,’ Rita said, and she and Babs started laughing. Then, despite everything, Minnie and Clara joined in.

‘Blimey,’ said Evie, ‘that brandy must be a bit cooshty, making you pair laugh. Here, give us a drop.’

‘You stick to tea, girl,’ Babs warned her, picking up her cup. ‘We don’t wanna give Mr Silver no more reasons to threaten yer with the push.’

Evie tutted loudly and rolled her eyes, making Minnie and Clara start laughing again.

Babs sipped at her tea and then said, ‘I’m not sure what yer think of this idea, but Maudie Peters was saying the other day how the vicar had told her about some rest place the church has got in Gloucestershire somewhere. She mentioned it ’cos of Blanche, but shall I say that you two might be interested in having a little break away from all this?’

‘That’s a good idea,’ said Rita. ‘Here, and hopping starts in about six weeks, don’t it? Yer could do worse than go down there for a couple of weeks.’

Clara clasped Minnie’s hand and looked at her imploringly. ‘Aw, Min, I don’t think I wanna leave here. Not even for a little while.’ She looked at the twins, then at Rita and then back at Minnie. Her lip was quivering. ‘I wanna stay here with me friends, where there’s people we know we can depend on.’

‘We ain’t gotta go nowhere,’ Minnie reassured her. ‘Babs and Rita only wondered if we wanted a little holiday.’

‘Course we did,’ Babs promised her.

Rita took their cups and put them on the tray. ‘Let me make some more tea.’

‘Not for us, ta,’ said Babs holding up her hand.

‘It’s all right, yer welcome. I’ve got plenty. Bert got some off a feller he knows – swapsies, it was, for a tray of pie.’ She laughed. ‘Don’t ask what was in the pie, yer don’t wanna know.’

‘No, it ain’t that, Reet, honest, and we know we’re welcome, but we’ve gotta be off to get Betty to nursery.’ She looked at her watch. ‘And if we don’t hurry ourselves we’re gonna be late for work.’

Evie winked at Clara. ‘Old Silver, that’s our governor, he’s a good bloke but he can be worse than any flipping doodlebug when he gets going. Gets right excited, he does.’

Clara smiled weakly.

‘Look, why don’t yer let Betty stay with me today?’ Rita suggested. ‘It won’t hurt, will it? And I bet she’d enjoy herself. She’s no trouble, love her little heart.’

‘Suits me,’ said Evie, looking at Babs.

‘Smashing, Reet, but someone’d have to drop a note round the nursery to let ’em know, like. They worry if yer don’t come in, ’cos of,’ she pointed to the ceiling, ‘you know, in case something’s happened.’

‘I’ll make sure they get a note, girls. Don’t you worry. You just get yerselves off to work.’ Rita ushered them to the shop door. ‘Thanks for bothering to bring Minnie and Clara in,’ she whispered.

‘Daft,’ said Babs. ‘How’s that a bother?’

‘Well, I reckon it was thoughtful. They was in a right state.’

Babs shrugged. ‘It was a pleasure.’

Rita kissed each of them on the cheek and then looked up at the bright blue summer sky. ‘Now, you two look after yerselves, won’t yer. Yer never know when them bastard things are coming over.’

‘Don’t worry about us, Reet,’ grinned Evie. ‘We’re as tough as old boots, us Bells.’

Evie tossed another greatcoat sleeve to one side and looked up at the clock. ‘Quarter to five.’ She sighed. ‘Blimey, this afternoon ain’t half dragged. And I’m hungry.’

Babs turned to Lou and smiled. ‘Hark at her.’

‘Going out tonight, Eve?’ Babs asked.

‘Probably,’ Evie said wearily. ‘Me mate Gina mentioned something.’

‘That’s a shame,’ said Babs, winking at Lou. ‘’Cos Lou said she was gonna ask us round hers tonight, ’cos they’re having roast beef and Yorkshire pudden for their tea. Ne’mind.’

Evie threw a sleeve at Babs’s head and squealed, ‘You liar.’

Babs threw the sleeve back. ‘No I’m not,’ she giggled.

‘Are!’ Evie shouted back and soon the sisters were in a laughing, wrestling heap on the floor, flapping at each other with khaki overcoat sleeves.

‘Just look at them,’ sneered Ginny. ‘What a disgrace.’

‘No sense of humour, some people,’ Lou said to Maria.

‘And some people have got no sense of loyalty to their own country, talking to Eyties,’ fumed Ginny.

Maria stood up. ‘I’ve just about had it with you and your snidey comments, Ginny.’ She took a step towards Ginny and suddenly she felt as though the world had been turned upside down. There was a massive explosion, the windows buckled and then the glass came crashing down on her. Maria was thrown right across the room in a tumbling heap of cloth, chairs and boxes.

‘Bloody hell!’ yelled Evie and rolled herself into a ball.

When the thundering sound stopped, she lifted her hands gingerly from her head and got herself onto her knees. She peered around her; the air was thick with dust.

‘Blimey,’ she said. ‘This place looks like a bomb’s hit it.’

‘Yer scatty, mare,’ she heard Babs say. ‘Of course it looks like a bomb’s hit it. One just flaming did.’

‘Babs?’ Evie coughed and spluttered, trying to rid her throat of the grit. ‘Babs? You all right? Where are yer?’

‘Here. I’m stuck down here under the work bench.’

‘Stuck? Aw, Christ.’ Evie crawled towards her. ‘D’yer think yer can move without me hurting yer?’

‘Yeah. I don’t think I’m injured or nothing, it’s just this flaming machine in the way.’

Evie took a deep breath, grabbed the heavy industrial machine in both hands and wrenched it free with one enormous pull.

‘You been eating yer greens?’ Babs grinned up at her as she crawled out on her belly from under the work bench. She rolled over on her back and lay there, eyes closed, trying to get her breath.

Evie dropped to her haunches. ‘Yer sure yer all right?’

‘Bit bruised and a few cuts, that’s all.’ Babs laughed. ‘You was right this morning, weren’t yer? When yer told Rita that us Bells are as tough as old boots.’

Evie grinned and ruffled her twin’s filthy hair. ‘Yer might be tough, but yer look lousy. Yer should see yer face. Looks like yer’ve been doing a coal round.’

Babs opened her eyes. ‘Yer don’t look so good yerself. And yer sleeve’s all ripped and all.’ Babs patted her hair primly. ‘I dunno if I wanna be seen on the bus with you tonight,’ she teased.

‘Saucy mare.’ Evie held up her tattered sleeve. ‘I did that pulling out that machine. You can get me a flipping new frock for that. I want all your coupons. Every one of ’em.

Babs smiled up at her. ‘Typical. I might have known yer wouldn’t save me life for nothing.’

Suddenly serious, Evie bent forward and kissed her. ‘So long as yer all right, Babs, I wouldn’t care if I didn’t have another new frock ever again.’

‘Will someone help me?’ The sound of Joan snivelling made Evie turn round. ‘I’ve got glass in me corsets,’ she whined. ‘And I’m frightened to take ’em off in case I cut meself.’

Evie pulled herself to her feet. ‘Hang on, Joan. I’ll just see to Babs.’ She went and got her coat from the stand. ‘I think this is about the cleanest thing in here,’ she said, shaking it violently back and forward. Then she propped it under Babs’s head. ‘Don’t you dare bleed on that,’ she said, wagging her finger at her twin. Then she took Joan by the arm. ‘Come on, you. Let’s go in the lav and I’ll sort yer out.’

Joan limped along pathetically beside her. As they got to the double doors at the end of the room, Mr Silver and the warehouse workers came rushing in.

‘Careful, you,’ Evie shouted at Mr Silver. ‘Joan here’s leaning all her weight against me and I can hardly support her as it is, without you lot bashing into me.’

‘Sorry, Eve. Go on, through you go.’ Mr Silver ushered them past him. ‘Everyone else accounted for up here?’

Babs looked up at him from her makeshift bed on the floor. ‘I ain’t sure, but I think I just heard a noise coming from under the bench here.’

Lou knelt down and peered into the jumble of chairs, bench legs, machinery and broken glass. ‘I think it’s Ginny. But I can’t get through there to see properly.’

Maria knelt down beside her. ‘I reckon I can get in there,’ she said and started squeezing her way into the tiny gap, edging her way forward inch by inch.

‘I think we should wait for the rescue squad,’ Mr Silver said nervously.

‘It is Ginny,’ Maria called to them. ‘I can see her. She’s wedged sideways. I can’t tell how bad she’s been hurt though.’

Mr Silver went over to the glassless window and looked out. ‘There’s chaos out there. No sign of the rescue people.’

‘I’ll have to do something.’ Maria sounded serious.

Mr Silver thought for a moment. ‘Well, for God’s sake be careful, Maria.’

After a few tense moments, Maria called out again. ‘This stuff keeps slipping when I try and move her. I need another pair of hands in here.’

‘I’m little,’ said a male voice from behind Mr Silver. ‘I can get in there next to yer.’

‘Tiddler?’ Mr Silver frowned. ‘I’m not sure.’

But Tiddler wasn’t listening to his governor’s reservations. Ducking down, he began wriggling his way forward. After much panting and puffing, he reached Maria.

‘Hold that bit to one side for me,’ Maria said, ‘so’s it don’t fall and I can get this chair shifted. It’s digging right in her back. That’s it, Steve. Hold it there.’

‘What did you say?’ Ginny’s voice was faint.

‘Don’t worry yerself, Ginny, Maria said gently, ‘it don’t look like the chair’s damaged yer or nothing. It’s just the legs are blocking yer in.’

‘I don’t mean about the bloody chair,’ Ginny snapped impatiently, her voice more like her usual whine.

‘What?’ Maria said.

‘I heard you call him “Steve”.’

‘Well,’ the now fascinated machinists and warehouse workers heard Maria reply, ‘when me boy friend’s name is Steven, what d’yer think I should call him, Cyril?’

‘No,’ they heard Ginny answer. ‘“Tiddler”, just like everyone else.’

There was a pause and then they heard Maria speak again. ‘Shall I let this chair fall back on her, Steve?’

‘No!’ Babs shouted insistently. ‘Don’t do that, Maria. I wanna see the look on her face when yer drag her out.’

Unaware that his daughters were waiting at the factory for their turn to be checked over by the ambulance crew, Georgie had just gone into the watch room at the sub-station to sign on for the evening shift.

When he had handed the completed duty book back to Sub-officer Smith, Flossie touched him gently on the shoulder. ‘There’s already a couple of incidents on the report sheets from this afternoon, Ringer.’

He smiled over at Maudie who was sitting by the switchboard. ‘We could be in for another busy night, then.’

‘One of them was Aldgate way,’ Flossie said.

He swallowed hard. ‘Blimey, I hope the girls are all right.’

‘I thought you’d want to know.’