One Step at a Time (13 page)

‘Yes, sir.’ She sagged against the door in relief.

He nodded and walked out of the room and back to Mrs Dalton, who had remained in the sitting room, allowing Amy to be interviewed on her own.

How she made her legs move was a mystery to Amy. She had been so frightened: she had heard such tales about children being taken into care.

‘That all seems to be in order, Mrs Dalton. If you’ll just sign these papers, I’ll be on my way.’

It was soon done, and Amy waited while Mrs Dalton saw the man out. When she returned she couldn’t keep the tears of gratitude at bay and they ran down her cheeks like a flood. She hadn’t come from a demonstrative family, so she stifled her desire
to throw her arms around Mrs Dalton and sob out her thanks.

Wiping her hand over her wet cheeks, she said, ‘I don’t know how to thank you. I’ll never be any trouble to you, I promise.’

‘I know that, my dear.’ Then Mrs Dalton put her arms around Amy and kissed her cheek. ‘There, it’s all over now, you’re safe here, and I always did want a daughter. I was never blessed with children.’

This outward show of affection was strange to Amy, but it was so comforting.

There was a sharp knock at the door, and it opened slowly as Ben and Howard looked in.

‘We heard him leave.’ Ben stepped inside the room, quickly followed by Howard. ‘What happened?’

‘Amy can stay with us.’ Mrs Dalton gave the boys a stern look. ‘This is now my new daughter, so you’ll mind your manners and treat her with respect.’

‘Mrs Dalton, you’re a gem.’ Ben lifted his landlady off her feet and spun her round.

‘Put me down, you fool.’ But she was laughing as her feet touched the floor again and Howard hugged her as well.

Amy then received the same treatment from them.

‘This is wonderful! Now we’ve got a sister, Howard.’

And as Amy looked at the smiling faces around her, she felt as if she was in heaven.

12

After a quiet weekend settling in, and still hugging her happiness to her, Amy set off for her first day in the shoe shop.

As soon as she arrived the manager, Mr Broad, introduced her to the two senior assistants, Mrs Green and Mrs Jones. Her first job was to make them all tea, and this was something she did cheerfully, speaking only when spoken to.

They had no sooner finished their tea when the customers began to arrive.

It was a busy shop and Amy enjoyed the bustle of people coming and going. For the first two hours she just watched the assistants, listening to what they said to customers, but it soon became obvious that it wasn’t going to be as easy as she had first thought. When a customer asked for a certain shoe they had to go into the back of the shop where there were shelves lined with boxes. The style and size were written on the outside of the box and you had to find the right one. There was worse to come though. Once the customer had bought the shoe, the assistant had to write out the sales slip showing the type of shoe and the price.

During the morning her happiness dissolved and
the usual frustration took its place as she tried to hide her disability. As she was new it was easy to claim that she didn’t know where everything was kept when another assistant asked her to get a shoe from the back. But she wouldn’t be able to get away with this for very long.

The manager, who had been watching her carefully, came up to her at the midday break. ‘You can serve customers this afternoon, but I’ll work with you for a while just to see that you do the job properly. You must make the customer feel that they are the only person you are interested in, be helpful and smile. Now take your break.’

‘Yes, sir.’

She left the shop, walking blindly, not bothering to notice where she was going. What was she going to do? The two other women assistants hadn’t had time to say much to her, and anyway, she was too young for them to want to bother with. She’d been told their names, but as with so many things, it had slipped right out of her mind. And with the manager looking over her shoulder all the time she would never get away with it. The words and numbers would be a jumble once she was nervous. He would spot her trouble at once!

Without realizing she had walked in that direction, she found herself outside Ted’s shop. A quick glance inside showed it to be empty of customers.

When the bell tinged over the door, Ted came out from behind a high bookshelf. ‘Hello, Amy, on your lunch break, are you?’

All she could manage was a nod. She shouldn’t have come in here. What did she think she was doing? There was only one thing she could do, and that was not go back to the shop. It would be too humiliating if they discovered she couldn’t read properly. And they would! But that would be a coward’s way out and she would only have to face the same problems in another job – even if she could get one. Jobs were hard to come by, and she’d been incredibly lucky to get this with so much unemployment around. It was absolutely essential that she be able to look after herself. She mustn’t give in at the first sign of difficulty, for this was something she was always going to have to face. As much as it pained her, she just didn’t see how she was ever going to be able to read much better than she could now. Somehow she had to find a way around the problem, but coming in here had been a mistake. She couldn’t ask Ted to help her – she just couldn’t. She would be so ashamed.

Turning to walk out again, Ted caught her arm. ‘Wait! You look upset. What’s the matter?’

‘Nothing.’ She shrugged. ‘Working in the shop is not as easy as I thought it was going to be, but I like it.’

‘Good. I’ll close the shop and we can have a cup of tea together.’ Ted didn’t give her a chance to refuse as he put the ‘closed’ sign on the door. ‘Have you got your sandwiches with you, or have you already had something to eat?’

‘They’re in my bag.’ She wasn’t sure she could
manage to eat anything, but allowed Ted to lead her into the back of the shop. It would be rude to walk away when he was being so kind.

He set about making a pot of tea, and then sat at the small table with her. ‘I know you’re pretending to be all right, but you have a very expressive face and I can see something is bothering you.’

She dipped her head, feeling helpless. ‘No one can help. I’ve tried so hard, but it’s no good. Everyone says I’m stupid.’ Her mouth thinned in frustration. ‘I’m not. Why can’t I do it?’

‘Do what, Amy?’ Ted spoke gently, seeing how upset she was.

Realizing what she had nearly done, she sat up straight and smiled brightly. ‘Oh, it’s nothing. I found the work a bit confusing, but I’ll soon get used to it. I didn’t know there were so many different styles of shoes. And out the back they’ve got a big room absolutely packed with boxes.’ She was babbling, but she didn’t care. She had nearly told him she couldn’t read. The only place she hadn’t been able to hide the fact had been at school, but she wasn’t ever going to let anyone know again. She would work out some way to manage at the shop, just as she had at the factory. ‘Everything’s fine.’

‘All right, Amy.’ His smile was wry. ‘If you don’t want to talk about it, let’s have tea and eat our sandwiches.’

Relieved she hadn’t blurted out her secret, she took the sandwiches out of her bag, opened the
packet and held them out to him. ‘I’ve only got bread and jam, but would you like one?’

‘I would, thank you.’ He took one and they began to talk about all sorts of things.

Gradually she found herself relaxing in his company, enjoying the stories about some of his more eccentric customers, which made her laugh.

When it was time to go back to the shop, she didn’t feel so agitated. If she kept calm everything would be all right. She hurried up the road, determined to do well in the afternoon.

But when she saw the manager waiting for her, her confidence seeped away and she knew she was going to have to be very clever to stop them finding out.

As she was the junior assistant she couldn’t serve a customer until the other two senior assistants were busy. She watched every move they made, following them when they went round the back to get shoes from stock. Every bill was scrutinized with great care as it was made out, and she was pleased to see that there wasn’t much to put on the slip; as long as she got the price right, they might not notice her spelling mistakes.

It was the middle of the afternoon before they were busy enough for her to have a customer of her own. It was an elderly woman who reminded her of her gran, and she went up to her all smiles, copying what the other assistants did.

‘Can I help you, madam?’

‘I’d like a pair of black lace-ups.’ She sat down
heavily and sighed. ‘My bunion’s killing me in these. They’re too tight.’

‘Let me have a look.’ Amy felt completely at ease with this customer, even though she knew the manager was watching her closely.

Removing the right shoe she ran her fingers over the woman’s foot, feeling the distortion near the big toe, exactly the same as her granny had had. She had always worn a slightly larger shoe to give her more room. ‘You need something in very soft leather so it doesn’t press too much.’

‘That sounds good.’ The woman smiled at her. ‘Can you find me something?’

‘I’m sure I can. What size do you take?’

‘A five.’

‘Why not try a half-size larger just to see if that feels better?’

‘Worth a go, I suppose.’

With another smile, Amy went to the stockroom. She had seen something this morning. Now where was it?

The manager was right behind her and she struggled to keep calm. If she didn’t then she would never get through this. She looked up at him. ‘What do you think would suit the customer, sir?’

‘What size did she want?’

‘Five, sir.’

‘And you suggested a half-size larger, didn’t you?’ He pulled out a box. ‘This is a five and a half.’

‘Thank you, sir.’ Now she had the shoes she
needed to find out the price. She deliberately turned the box label away from her as if searching for the price. ‘I hope these aren’t too expensive.’

‘They are eight and sixpence.’ The manager turned the box round for her to see.

After pretending to read it, she smiled confidently. ‘Ah, that’s right. Madam might be able to afford these.’

He nodded. ‘Let’s see if you can sell those to her.’

Amy went back into the shop. ‘I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, madam. Try these and see if they are more comfortable, and if not we’ll find you something else.’ She had been listening to the other two assistants’ sales patter and copied them with ease.

The shoes fitted perfectly and when the woman walked up and down, she smiled in relief. ‘Oh, these feel wonderful. That extra half-size was a good idea of yours.’

‘My grandmother had the same problem and she used to wear a slightly larger size.’

‘Ah, well, you know what you’re talking about.’ The woman sat down again. ‘I’m glad you served me. Now, how much are they?’

‘Eight and sixpence, madam.’ She had been saying the amount over and over in her head so she didn’t forget it. ‘They are of the softest leather and will last you a long time if you keep them polished.’

‘Quite right. You are a sensible girl.’ The customer looked at the manager who was still hovering in case Amy made a mistake and lost the sale. ‘Good girl you’ve got here, and such a lovely smile.’

He bowed slightly. ‘I am pleased you are satisfied with the service, madam.’

‘Indeed I am.’ She handed Amy her old shoes. ‘Wrap these up for me, dear. I’ll wear the new ones.’

Amy put them in the box, her heart pounding. Now all she had to do was write out the sales slip. All!

She wrote very carefully, knowing it would be fatal to rush. It looked all right when she’d finished but she was careful not to let the manager see, then she took a pound note from the customer and went to the pay desk.

Much to her relief the cashier didn’t question the bill and Amy hurried back with the customer’s change.

She was shaking by the time the woman left the shop. Had she got away with it?

‘That was a good sale, Miss Carter, and you had a pleasant way with the customer. Keep that up and you will do well here.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

He left then, and when she had another customer an hour later, he was nowhere to be seen. Luckily, one of the other assistants was in the back and Amy pleaded ignorance of the system and the shoes were found for her. She made another sale and was relieved to have survived so far.

There was a tap on the studio door and Ted walked in. ‘Am I disturbing you, Ben?’

‘No, I’ve just finished for the day.’ He wiped his hands with a cloth dipped in turps.

‘That’s good.’ Ted studied the landscape and grinned when Ben pulled a face. ‘Are you ever satisfied with your work?’

‘If I ever get to that point I’ll stop trying to improve.’

‘Hmm, Howard’s the same, I think. I swear he throws those pots across the room sometimes.’

‘He does.’ Ben began cleaning his brushes. ‘How’s business?’

‘Ticking over.’ Ted sat on the stool. ‘Amy came to see me today in her break, and she was in a terrible state.’

‘Oh?’ Ben stopped what he was doing. ‘Wasn’t the job at the shop going well?’

‘I don’t know. She seemed on the point of telling me something, and then changed her mind. The smile she gave me as she offered me one of her jam sandwiches was very forced.’ Ted shook his head. ‘Something was worrying her, I’d bet my shop on it.’

Ben opened his pad at the sketches of Amy he had done by the river. ‘I felt there was worry and frustration in her eyes when I met her.’

Ted examined the pictures. ‘A secret, that’s what you’ve captured. I had the strong feeling today that she’s hiding something she doesn’t want anyone to know about.’

Ben whistled through his teeth. ‘That’s very observant of you. I felt there was something, but I
haven’t been able to pin it down, and that’s why I haven’t finished the portrait. It just isn’t right.’

‘She’s a strange little thing, with so much going on behind her eyes,’ Ted mused. ‘I wish I’d been able to get her to talk to me.’

‘Perhaps someone at the shop knew about her father.’

‘Maybe, and perhaps I’m just imagining things.’ Ted rubbed his chin. ‘That business with her father can’t be easy for her. I’m sure she doesn’t want anyone to find out about that.’