A Wartime Christmas (15 page)

Kay knew that Babs would be sad and lonely for a while, but in a very short time she’d be back on her feet. With their men gone, they were the sole providers and would have to make sure
their families were safe. It was this thought that kept Kay focused and the heartbreak of separation at bay.

The winter was setting in with icy November mornings and cutting winds, forcing Kay to burn some of the old wood that was stacked at the side of the outside wall. She knew Alan
was keeping it for repairs to the house, but some of it was needed now and it helped to eke out the coal.

Money was so scarce in December that Kay and Babs decided to pool their resources for a special family day on Christmas Eve. Between them they planned to ask a few neighbours to drop in and
share the festive cheer.

‘My place has got more room,’ Babs offered. ‘And the kids will have space to perform their little concert.’

Kay nodded approvingly. ‘We’d only need one fire as well. I’ll get the kids to bring over some of Alan’s wood.’

‘That’d be lovely.’

‘Me and Vi will cook up a few bits in the morning and bring them round for the afternoon.’ Kay frowned. ‘But what we gonna do about a tipple?’

‘There’s a few of Eddie’s ales left in the sideboard,’ Babs remembered. ‘If we’re careful we can share them out.’

With everything settled, Kay and Babs put the word out that there was going to be an open house at Babs’s on Christmas Eve afternoon.

When the big day arrived, there was a loud knock on Kay’s door. Expecting it to be one of their neighbours arriving early to help out with carrying things to Babs’s house, Kay rushed
to open it.

‘Surprise, surprise!’ exclaimed the smart, formidable-looking woman standing on Kay’s doorstep.

‘I’ll bet this is a surprise an’ all, ain’t it, love?’ chimed in the equally chipper-looking man beside her. ‘Happy Christmas, love.’ Kay’s
father, Bob Briggs, lowered the suitcase he was carrying and elbowed his way past his wife. ‘Give us a kiss, Kay.’

‘Dad! Mum!’ Kay gasped as she was swamped by hugs.

‘Blimey, you should see the look on your face,’ chortled Lil Briggs in her smoke-roughened voice. ‘You didn’t expect to see us on Christmas Eve, now, did you?’

‘Well – no, seeing as the weather’s been so bad and there’s snow forecast.’ Kay stood back to allow her parents entry to the house with their armfuls of
baggage.

‘Well, how is everyone?’ Lil demanded, looking around expectantly. ‘Where’s the little terror? We can’t wait to see him, can we, Bob?’ Lil Briggs pushed an
assortment of raffia bags and parcels into Kay’s arms. ‘There’s a few bits and pieces in there for Christmas and a cake and pudding I made meself.’

‘Why didn’t you let me know you were coming?’ Kay juggled the parcels in her arms. ‘I’d have got something in—’

‘Decided to surprise you, so you wouldn’t go to no expense on our behalf,’ beamed Lil. ‘Knowing you ain’t got Alan at home this year and were on your own with the
lad, we thought we’d come and keep you company for a few days.’

‘A few days?’ Kay repeated.

Bob and Lil nodded together. ‘Don’t worry, love, there’s enough grub in them bags to see us all through a siege.’ Lil turned her narrowed grey eyes on her daughter.
‘The last time we saw our grandson was in March this year. Alfie was having a whale of a time at Len’s. The boy was in seventh heaven in that lovely garden. Len had built him a swing
an’ all. What a lovely place to bring up a kid! Nice neighbours too. All very friendly, I must say . . .’

As Lil chatted, barely taking a breath, Kay was returned to the troubled years when she had lived at home after Norman’s death. It had been a disaster from start to finish. Kay had
recognized her mistake very swiftly as Lil had tried to find a replacement for Norman. An awkward suitor would turn up, one of her parents’ friends’ sons, or someone from the local LCC
social club her bus-driver dad belonged to. Kay knew then she should have remained in her father-in-law’s house where she had lived with Norman. But after Mr Williams Senior had died, the big
house had seemed very empty. There had only been memories left in the silent corners. And it hadn’t been long before Lil had persuaded her daughter to return the rent book to the landlord,
and move out.

‘It’s cold enough to freeze the whatsits on a brass monkey,’ barked her father, interrupting his wife’s flow of speech as he rubbed the palms of his hands together.
‘I hope you’ve got a nice fire going—’

‘We had to change train’s twice,’ Lil continued, turning to the closed door of the front room. ‘Me legs are like two lumps of ice. Now if I remember rightly this is
the—’

‘No, Mum!’ Kay dumped the parcels on the floor. She caught Lil’s arm. ‘You can’t go in there.’

‘Why in heaven’s name not?’ Lil stared at her daughter in astonishment. The blush of colour on each of Lil’s cheeks was as meticulously applied as the black mascara on
her eyes. Contrasting with her short, silver-white hair and black astrakhan coat, Kay reflected that her mother still looked a daunting character.

‘Because Vi’s having forty winks,’ Kay explained.

‘Vi who?’ frowned Lil, beginning to unbutton her coat.

‘Vi Hill, my neighbour. I wrote and told you about her.’

‘But why’s she kipping in your front room?’

‘Vi’s lodging with us, Mum. I told you in my—’

‘You’ve a lodger?’ This time it was her father who looked surprised. He slipped the plaid cap from his head to reveal a handful of thin strands of dark hair combed over his
bald pate. ‘Do you need the money then, gel? Are you hard-up? You should have told us and we would have helped out.’

‘No, Dad. It’s nothing like that,’ Kay assured him. ‘Vi’s been living here since the Blitz ended, when her house was bombed.’

Lil’s left eyebrow swept up. ‘So why didn’t she evacuate? It would have been the sensible thing to do.’

‘Vi’s lived in Slater Street all her married life. She lost her husband and son before the war and her memories are all here. At her time of life she don’t want to move
anywhere else.’

‘She might not want to,’ protested Lil, ‘and nor did we, but we had to leave all the same.’

‘You had Aunty Pops to go to,’ Kay reminded her mother. ‘Vi has no one except us.’

Lil’s face went a deeper shade of pink. But before she could speak, Bob nodded to the kitchen. ‘Don’t mind me saying, Kay, but I’d give me right arm for a nice, hot
cuppa.’

‘Course. Come along and I’ll make a fresh pot.’ Kay led the way to the kitchen.

‘Hell’s bells,’ gasped her father as they entered the freezing room. ‘I thought it was cold outside. But it’s the ruddy North Pole in here.’

‘Sorry,’ said Kay, embarrassed. ‘We wasn’t expecting visitors.’

Lil shivered, shrinking down into the fur collar of her coat. ‘It’s a wonder you ain’t got icicles on your washing-up.’

Quickly, Kay tried to clear the cluttered draining board. She was ashamed at the untidy state of her home. ‘I was going to give the kitchen a once over but I didn’t get round to
it.’

‘I know it’s wartime and women are expected to pull their weight,’ replied her mother as she watched Kay hurriedly return the crocs to the cupboards, ‘but Alfie is your
priority. Is it really necessary to work?’

‘Most women manage a few hours, Mum. Like my neighbour, Babs. She cleans at the fire station. Her husband Eddie was called up in October. So we help each other out.’

‘Babs?’ repeated Lil with a frown.

‘Babs, me best mate, and Eddie, her husband, and their two children, Gill and Tim. They used to live at the top of the street before they moved next door,’ Kay replied.
‘Remember I wrote to you about them losing their house in the bombing?’

Her mother waved her hand in the air. ‘You may have mentioned it, love, but you know my memory for names. All I can say is, I’m shocked anyone with a family chooses to stay in such a
dangerous area as the docks.’

Just then, there was a loud creak from the front-room door. Vi appeared, blinking her sleepy eyes. She was, as usual, wearing her knotted scarf and at least two jumpers under her crossover
apron. ‘Well, I never did,’ Vi croaked, ‘it’s Kay’s mum and dad, ain’t it? I’m Vi Hill. You might not remember me but I met you once before. It was only in
passing, when you called about a year after Kay and Alan moved here.’

Lil managed a smile. ‘Yes, that would be right.’

‘It’s thanks to your daughter and son-in-law I still have a roof over me head,’ Vi continued. ‘Salt of the earth, they’ve been.’

‘Rotten luck, about your house,’ said Bob kindly. ‘Must’ve been a shocker.’

Lil frowned at her husband, then made her way to the window. ‘You’ve got a big hole in the fence, Kay. Your dad will soon have it boarded up, won’t you, Bob?’

‘Too right I will,’ Bob agreed, rubbing his hands together again.

‘No need, Dad,’ said Kay, swiftly stowing away Alfie’s dirty socks and vest in the laundry bag under the sink. ‘I’ve given up trying to mend it as Alfie and Gill
and Tim from next door use it as a shortcut. Saves going round the front.’

‘And what’s all that rubbish by the wall?’

‘Alan didn’t have time to put it anywhere else. It’s been handy as I’ve used some of it for firewood.’

‘If it was me, I’d put up a nice new fence and clear that yard completely.’ Lil turned slowly and inspected the kitchen. ‘You could do with a lick of paint in here
too.’

‘Yes, I’ve been meaning to get round to it.’

‘You?’ said Lil in surprise. ‘Painting’s a man’s job.’

‘It don’t take a man to paint a wall, Mum.’

‘You’ve enough on your hands as it is, what with your work and looking after Alfie.’ Lil’s eagle-eyed gaze travelled to the dresser. ‘Where’s that tea set I
gave you?’

Kay felt her cheeks go crimson. ‘I’m sad to say it got broken in the Blitz.’

‘You should have packed it away, dear.’

‘Yes, but it looked so nice.’ Kay put on a bright smile. ‘At least the house was still standing.’

Lil nodded slowly. ‘Your father and I saw hundreds of houses missing in roads. Piles of bricks as high as mountains as far as the eye can see. Kay, your brother is still of the mind that
you’d do far better to make a fresh start in Hertfordshire.’

‘When did he say that?’

‘We stayed with them in September.’

Vi reached for the kettle. ‘Why don’t you take yer mum and dad through to the front room, flower? The fire just needs a bit of coke and we’ll soon be nice and cosy. Oh, it
might need a bit of a tidy-up, but that won’t take long. I’ll do the honours and bring in the tea and a couple of sandwiches. Alfie should be back from next door in a minute. He’s
taken some of his toys in for later.’

‘Later?’ repeated Lil sharply.

‘Yes, we’re having a bit of a knees-up.’ She added quickly, ‘Anyway what about something to eat first?’

‘Them sandwiches sound lovely, Vi,’ said Bob, as he took his wife’s arm and guided her out of the kitchen. ‘Come on, Lil, let’s stop gassing and find the
fire.’

Kay followed, glancing over her shoulder to roll her eyes at Vi.

But in the front room, Lil recoiled; her nose lifted in the air, sniffing the cocktail of tobacco, camphor-rub and mothballs clinging to the warm air. Her gaze soon dropped from Alfie’s
homemade paper-chains strung across the ceiling to the assortment of Vi’s clothes airing along with her undergarments over the open wardrobe door. Beside this was the dining-room table,
invisible under the mountain of Alfie’s toys, books, papers and pencils.

Kay glanced at Lil, whose bottom jaw hung open as she looked around her, trying unsuccessfully to hide her dismay.

‘Well, this is very cosy I must say,’ said Lil as she sat in Babs’s front room, squeezed on a chair between Babs and Kay, with Vi seated at the end of the
row. Kay was grateful to Babs who, when she heard that Bob and Lil had arrived, invited them to the afternoon’s entertainment which was to be performed by the three children. Alice and Bert
Tyler had called in earlier along with Jenny Edwards, but had left to join their families, leaving their empty chairs for Kay to arrange in a semi-circle in front of the window.

‘Alfie don’t know the words to the carols, Mum,’ whispered Kay with a grin, ‘but he sings along anyway.’

However, Lil’s attention had strayed to Paul and Neville Butt seated with Bob on the couch.

‘What does the younger man do? And how did he get hold of the food he brought with him?’ Lil enquired as she narrowed her eyes in the men’s direction.

‘Paul works at the steel factory,’ whispered Babs. ‘His dad, Neville, worked there before him.’

‘Paul has a friend, Rose, who works in the canteen,’ Kay added. ‘Sometimes she gives him the food that’s left over, rather than it being wasted.’

‘What does his wife think of that?’

‘Paul’s not married,’ Kay informed her mother, smothering a smile as she glanced across at Babs. ‘He seems to be a confirmed bachelor.’

Lil looked surprised. ‘He’s not in the services either?’

‘No,’ said Babs, just about managing to contain her amusement. ‘He’s in a reserved job.’

Just then, Gill stepped forward, pushing back her plaits. ‘We’re the three wise men,’ she announced, elbowing her brother who nodded. Alfie grinned broadly under the yellowed
net curtain that served as a cloak. Tim was wearing a curtain looped over his shoulders and secured by a safety pin. Gill had dressed in a long yellow frock of her mother’s that was drawn
together at the waist by Kay’s leather factory belt. A passage from the Bible was read by Gill as Tim and Alfie stiffly pointed up at the star. When the stable and animals were mentioned,
there were strange animal noises from the two boys. Dissolving into giggles, they began to fight.

Babs sprang to her feet and parted them. ‘Now, for our last carol.’ Babs began to hum the tune to ‘Silent Night’.

Everyone joined in and when it was over, the applause was deafening. Kay and Babs handed round sandwiches, sliced sausages and pork pie. Added to this was the large, round, white-iced cake that
Lil had brought. Cake was so scarce that Kay knew it would disappear in seconds.

When it was time to say goodbye, Paul bent to kiss her on the cheek. She knew Lil was watching and was relieved when Paul did the same with Babs, wishing them all a happy Christmas.