A Woman Undefeated (37 page)

Maggie’s mind had quickly flown to Annie, when Betty brought up the subject of Mikey’s nursemaid. It was true that once they had left Seagull Cottage, Betty would expect her to take on greater responsibilities, and with Mikey being at the age of exploration, he would have to have someone with him every minute of the day. She remembered that when she had seen her last, Annie had been complaining that her father had been looking to her to bring some money in. Maybe he had carried out his threat and sold her to the gypsies, or had married her off to someone locally. It was quite a while since Maggie had been to Thistledown Cottage and she wondered if she should visit again?

She mentioned Annie to Betty, saying that the girl seemed happy to look after her small siblings. She had seen her look after Katie and Lenny, who were part of Ruthie Tibbs’ tribe.

“Do you mean the daughter of that man who stole the fighting purse from Jack?,” Betty asked suspiciously. “The one whose mother is a great big loud mouth? Maggie, dear, you’d never get the woman away from our house. I was thinking of that young daughter of Farmer Briggs, I think Florrie is her name? She will
be used to looking after her siblings also, because I think there were five of them, weren’t there? Everyone was a girl!”

“Yes, but Annie is in more need of a job, Betty,” Maggie stuck to her guns. “The family is very poor and there’s only one farmhand’s wage goin’ in to it. Florrie will be wantin’ something more than a nursemaid’s job. She went to the local school and can read and write, by the sound of things. I think we should give Annie a chance, I think it is only fair. And Ruthie won’t become a nuisance. Knowing her as I did, she’ll be overawed by Selwyn Lodge and be frightened that if she comes without an invitation from you, you would call in the Law. Let me visit Betty and if I’m not happy with things, I’ll say so. Mikey is me dear own son, so I wouldn’t leave him with just anyone.”

“Well, I give my permission with reservations. You can call on her tomorrow morning. Go by the coastal path on your way to work. But, let me say, if you decide to employ Annie, it will be on a month’s trial. Now, come, let us plan our trip to Chester. Our removal date will soon be here and we haven’t even thought on our furnishings.”

It was pleasant walking along the path that would take her to Thistledown Cottage. It was the third week of June and nature had done the area proud, with its profusion of red campion, sea rocket, strawberry clover and pink thrift. Bushes of bilberry flowers lined her way and rowan trees swayed in the playful breeze. Over in the farmer’s field the cows munched on a breakfast of tender grass, followed by a dessert of vetch and daisies to complete their meal.

Passing the gate of the colliery and only giving the place a quick glance, because there were men in a group staring at her, she came to the thicket. That meant in a few minutes Ruthie’s cottage would come into view.

She began to feel a little nervous, wondering now if she was on a fool’s errand. Did she really want any of the Tibbs family in her life again? But the picture in her mind of the poor under privileged Annie came to the fore. Where would she herself have been, if Betty hadn’t taken her under her wing?

Ruthie was standing in her garden, staring up at an ancient tree. She was shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun and shouting.

“If yer up there, get down now, ‘cos I told yer to go to the shops fer me, an hour ago.”

Whoever was on the receiving end of her attention seemed to be ignoring her, because no one scrambled down obediently, or answered her. Ruthie scowled and hit the tree with the spade she was holding.

“Tis no use pertendin’ yer not there, cos’ I know yer is. I saw yer pissin’ from the branches only a couple of minutes ago. I’m waitin, our Ernie, and if yer don’t come down, there’ll be no dinner, ‘cos me legs are givin’ me jip again. Oh, it’s yoo,” she said, when she saw Maggie standing at her fence patiently.

“Look Ernie, here’s Lady Muck come down ter see us. Where’ve yoo bin then all this time? Heard yer livin’ in a fancy house on that posh road and bin took on by that Miss Rosemary.”

“Hello, Ruthie, nice to see yer too. It’s Annie, I’ve come ter see.”

“Well, yer can’t, she’s not ‘ere. Works fer one of them private schools on the front. Taken on as a skivvy. Why, wot do yer want with ’er?”

She walked up to the top of the path, then glared at Maggie, balefully. Maggie had to move back quickly, as the smell wafting from her old neighbour was enough to bring water to the eyes. She was no longer dressed in the workman’s trousers and jacket that she had always worn before. Now she had on a long brown serge dress, gathered round her waist, and a big dirty white frilled blouse above it. On her feet were a pair of cracked, worn hobnail boots, with no laces in. Her hands were ingrained with dirt, her finger nails chewed right down. She had tied her long, brown, matted hair back with a piece of string.

Her eyes narrowed, as she heard Maggie’s reason for the visit, then slapped her hand on her thigh.

“So yer want to make a lady out of our Annie, do yer? That’s like wot they say, making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear! Did yer ‘ear that, our Ernie? She wants ter take our Annie and mek ‘er into a flamin’ nursemaid. S’pose she’d get a fancy uniform, a little frilly cap and a striped blue dress? I’ve seen ‘em on the front, pushin’ them prambulaters. Well, let me say this, since our Solly got ‘auled up on account of that money goin’ missin’, no bugger wants ter know us. Yes, ‘e kept ‘is job, Farmer woz very good to us, but everyone else turned their nose up and that’s why Annie is out scrubbin’ fer a livin’.”

She went back to bang the tree with the spade again and Maggie had chance to consider what she should further say.

“How’s Lenny and yer other children, Ruthie? Wouldn’t they benefit, if their sister had a pleasant job and was bringin’ better money in?”

“How much is the old woman paying then? ‘Cos if it’s better than that swanky private school, then Solly’ll say she must tek it. Would she be livin’ ‘ere or livin’ in?”

“Well, in the beginnin’, she will be comin’ in daily, because Miss Rosemary has to refurbish one of the bedrooms, to make it into a nursery.”

“Refurbish? What’s that then, when it’s at home?”

“It’s when you make somethin’ new, out of somethin’ old, I think.”

“Well, by crikey, yer can learn somethin’ refurbish every day!”

Maggie walked away, after getting Ruthie to promise that she would send Annie up to the dressmaker’s shop for an interview, as soon as she could. It was strange that Ruthie had not commented on her widow’s dress, but Maggie was glad that she hadn’t. The woman was more interested in getting her rascal son out of the tree. She learnt that Katie was fine, Lenny still the same, and Danny had started as a screen worker at the colliery, whatever that was supposed to be.

She peeped over the hedge of her old cottage on the way. It was just the same, but the lilac bush was in full bloom and someone had planted a bed of pretty flowers against the cottage wall. The place was quiet and she supposed that the new occupants would be out working. At least someone else had been given the chance of a job, with Jack moving out of the vicinity.

Did a small regret appear at leaving there, she wondered, as she waited for a twinge? No, she felt happy. Happy with the new life, that she felt she had made for herself. Lilac Cottage had been only part of it all, a stepping stone to all that was to come.

The dressmaker’s shop was full, when she arrived. Betty seemed grateful for her timely appearance.

“Can you see to this young lady, Maggie?,” she asked in a relieved voice. “She wants to look at that bolt of organdie, the one in the corner, next to the green tarlatan. Come in here with me, Mrs Williams, I use the kitchen as my office now. I won’t be a minute Mrs Brookes. Your dress is ready, but I have to adjust the tapes.”

She came back a few minutes later, saying goodbye to her customer and turning her attention to the next client, who was waiting patiently. Ten minutes later they were sitting alone in the kitchen, with Betty giving her an up to date account of who had been in.

“That was Mrs Williams, one of your loan customers, Maggie. I’ve been wondering what to do about your little enterprise when we move to Selwyn Lodge. I am a bit worried at having so much money on the premises at any one time and, once we move in, I don’t really want to be carrying cash up and down Burton Road. Perhaps we should consider a bank account for the Sheldon Loan Company? Put it on a proper footing. Though, then you will to have to sign any papers and I am a bit worried that the bank will think you rather young to have a business in your name.”

“How much are we talkin’ about, Betty?” Maggie asked eagerly, as it had been a while since she mentioned the money lending business and Maggie had felt it rude to ask. “The last time yer told me it was around thirty odd pounds, are we talking so much more since then?”

“A lot more, Maggie. It was seventy one pounds and one shilling at the weekend, when I checked the contents of the tin. Word has got round so quickly. Of course, it was Ezra who started it, you know how he likes to gossip, and now the wives have accepted it, as part of their weekly life.”

Maggie took in a deep breath and whistled. Such riches, but she dared not spend a penny of it. She would have had Constable Higgins on her trail, making out she’d stolen it from somewhere. An immigrant girl from Ireland, in his mind, could only be a thief.

“I wonder whether we should convert the upstairs room into
a sort of office?” Betty continued briskly. “Put a sign up saying, “Sheldon Loan Company” and employ a man to run it. I was thinking of offering vouchers. For example, we could give out something that can be cashed in at a big department store. The customer can get goods for, say, ten pounds. I don’t know what, maybe a piece of furniture, table and chairs, a sofa, a bed, anything. Or maybe, if they wanted an outfit to go to a wedding or a funeral, they could take the voucher to a tailor and come here to us with the loan repayment and pay some of the interest. They could be called “Bounty Vouchers” and you could charge a little more than you are charging now. For instance,” Betty continued eagerly, “say I want a chiffonier for my front room. It will cost me seventeen pounds. I take this voucher to Frogerty’s Furnishings in Chester, and they send a bill to you for seventeen pounds. The customer comes here and starts the repayment, plus the interest at ten per cent. You will make them sign a legal undertaking just as before, but this time, if we are talking about a larger amount of money, there would be something in the contract that mentions prosecution if the payment falls into arrears. Prosecution is a nicer word than big burly men, knocking at their door.”

“Can we do all that, Betty?” Maggie asked, amazed, at the way Betty, only a woman in the scheme of things, could let her mind work. “It sounds as if it’s a bigger thing than we could cope with, these vouchers. Shall we not just carry on with the company? All this talk of legal things frightens me, and can we really afford to pay a man to run an office?”

“Let me think about it for a few days, Maggie. Maybe I should discuss it with my solicitor, especially regarding a legal agreement. Perhaps a retired man, who has been used to working with figures, would give us a few hours a week. Just to cover the times when we’re busy, because I still have to go each week to collect my rents. Of course a man would be ideal to do that for me as well!”

“I went to Ruthie’s place earlier, Annie wasn’t in,” Maggie said, dazed by all Betty’s plans, so deciding to talk about something she knew.

“She’s workin’ at a school on the promenade, scrubbin’, poor girl. I suppose that’s all she can get, with Solly being put in the lock up like he was.”

“And what did Ruthie say, because I’m not very happy with your suggestion regarding Annie coming to live with us. I cannot see that family staying away from our door, no matter what is promised by them.”

“I know, I forgot how Ruthie is a law unto herself. She’d say she was checkin’ up on the girl, but probably she’d have only come to make mischief.”

“Well, we really could do with someone to do the straight sewing. Do you think Annie would be capable, if we showed her what to do? Is she a bright sort of child, do you think?”

“Oh she’s sharp as a tack, but I really do want a nursemaid fer Mikey, and Annie is used to lookin’ after her younger brothers and sister.”

“But we could do with a young girl here to help us now,” Betty said stubbornly, “and I am sure that Alice would be happy to continue to look after her grandson until we move into Selwyn Lodge. It would be no hardship for you to deliver him to her daily then, if we didn’t employ a nursemaid. Have you mentioned that you are moving yet, my dear?”

“No, I’m frightened it will cause a row and I’ll be landin’ here on yer doorstep with me bags packed. I’m waitin’ fer you to give me a date and then I’ll tackle her. I was just thinkin’ then of havin a word with Mr Arlington. He’s one of the lodgers and might know of someone from the estate office, who could give a hand runnin’ the loan company. Maybe someone who’s older and thinkin’ of retirin’. I’m a bit worried though of how to go about it,’cos Alice would be suspicious if I tried to take him aside.”