Ruby McBride (8 page)

Ruby nodded, relieved that she wasn’t to be questioned further.

After the older children had gone, leaving only a three year old and the baby, a pot of tea was brewed and Ruby gratefully accepted a mug. ‘You said he had one or two part-time jobs, Mrs Jarvis. What is it Kit does, exactly?’

‘Call me Marie. I don’t rightly know what he does. A bit of this, bit of that. Cleaning windows, delivering, sweeping - anything he can find. Right now he’s down at the docks helping with the stacking and loading and, with a bit of luck, will pick up summat to eat while he’s at it, and a nip of rum happen,’ she said, her face brightening. `At best, he might earn a copper or two.’

‘I see.’ It all sounded a bit vague and Ruby’s mind was in turmoil. It would be sensible to spend one or two nights here, but she couldn’t depend on handouts. They’d have to learn to stand on their own feet. Somehow or other she must find employment, but would anyone take on a thirteen year old with no experience whatsoever? She suddenly felt very young and vulnerable.

‘Since my Mick died . . .’ A flicker of pain crossed the woman’s face and her eyes filled with tears. ‘He was killed in an accident down in the loading bay twelve months ago.’

‘I’m so sorry.’

‘Aye, well, I’ll spare you the details. Mick were the nearest Kit had to a dad, but he’s never complained once. Just left school, found himself work and got on with it. He’s a good lad. To his mam anyroad,’ she added by way of qualification.

‘I shall need to find work too. How should I go about it, do you reckon?’

‘Finding work is easy enough, lass, so long as you look smart and clean and as if you don’t need it.’

‘Oh!’ Ruby didn’t quite know what to make of this advice.

‘Nay, don’t worry, love. You look well enough.’ Marie studied her more carefully, taking in the full measure of her youthful appearance, the telltale uniform, then glanced across at the sleeping Pearl and Billy, curled up together in their favourite fashion. Her gaze now was thoughtful and filled with pity. ‘How old are you, love? If’n you don’t mind me asking. I’d like to help you look after them babbies but, as you can see, me hands is a bit full already. And once I’ve weaned this little ‘un, I’ll have to get back to work meself. Old Maggie upstairs’ll watch childer fer me in return for a few handouts.’

‘Oh, that’s all right. I can manage, thank you. I’m nearly sixteen,’ Ruby lied.

Mare’s eyebrows lifted slightly in disbelief, then she gave a gentle sigh. ‘Well, you’re welcome to stop on till you find yer feet, but even if you finds a proper job like, getting paid a living wage that’ll keep a family is well-nigh impossible. Make you old before yer time bosses do, allus clipping a bit off here, cutting a penny off there. Just when you think you’re sorted you find you can’t afford to pay the rent and eat. Not both at the same time anyroad.’

‘We’ll manage. I’m sure we will.’

‘Happen so.’ The sadness in the woman’s voice expressed a weary lack of conviction, despite her efforts to inject enthusiasm into her voice. ‘I can see yer a lass with a bit of gumption about her.’

Or impulsive, rebellious stupidity, Ruby thought.

At that moment the door burst open and Kit strolled in to place a cabbage and a couple of pennies on the table in front of his mother. ‘Best I could do.’

‘That’s grand. I can buy some tatties and onions, and make us a bit of soup. Bless you, luv. It might even run to a gill of milk for the little ‘uns, though I’ll need a penny for the gas soon, come to think of it.’

‘Don’t worry, I’m off now to do me bit of delivering for Willy, then I’ll see what else is going.’

‘All right, chuck. Take care.’ There was a warmth in her tone as she addressed her eldest son, and pride shining in her eyes.
 

‘I allus do.’ He didn’t glance at Ruby until he’d reached the door, almost vanishing from sight, then he popped his head back inside and said, ‘Are you coming or not?’ His voice was impatient, just as if he’d been waiting hours for her to make up her mind.

His mother chuckled. ‘Go on with yer. I’ll see to these two nippers,’ and seconds later Ruby and Kit were out on the streets of Salford on a cold, autumn morning, and somehow, against all odds, everything seemed right with the world.

Life on the streets with Kit Jarvis was an education for Ruby. In the days and weeks following, she discovered that it might be precarious but certainly never dull, even at times quite exciting. She often accompanied him on his delivery round and was amazed to find that at many of the big houses where he took the boxes of groceries, he’d be given a halfpenny, a newly baked cake from the oven, and once a few broken eggs which they took straight back to Marie. They all fed like kings and queens that dinnertime on scrambled eggs and milk.

‘Are people always so generous?’ Ruby wanted to know.
 

‘Them that aren’t can fetch their own groceries,’ came his cutting reply.

Ruby didn’t dare risk sending Billy and Pearl to school, in case
too many questions were asked or Sister Joseph had reported them missing, so most days they came along too. She was always nagging them to behave, afraid they might run off. Not that Billy would, he stuck to her like glue, but Pearl was perfectly capable of doing something daft. ‘You do what I tell you, remember?’ she constantly remind them.

‘What, me an’ all?’ Pearl would ask. ‘Even though I’m ten now, and not so daft as our Billy?’

‘You an’ all, madam. You haven’t a sensible notion in your pretty head, so let me do the thinking.’

Pearl purred with pleasure, taking this as a compliment. They were joined during the course of that first week by the other boys who made up Kit’s gang. One, introduced as Jackdaw, apparently had a knack of finding useful stuff for them to sell. Charlie and Clem were brothers and hard to tell apart for all they weren’t twins. They also had a habit of finishing each other’s sentences.

Charlie said, ‘He’s thirteen and shouts all the time. He can’t hear proper, and I’m. . .’

‘. . . eleven and got a club foot so he walks funny.’
 

They both giggled and started pushing and thumping each other, just as if life were some silly jape.

The last of the group was Pongo, so named, he explained to Ruby, because he had a good nose for sniffing out which dustbin was worth exploring for food that had been thrown away, yet was still fit to eat.

‘It’s all in the nose. Yer know what I mean?’ he said, tapping it and giving her a huge wink.

Ruby didn’t care to consider how hungry a person needed to be to scavenge dustbins for food. They wouldn’t find much in the bins behind Ignatius House, she thought, trying not to show her revulsion, or the fear of what lay ahead that was curdling her stomach. She wasn’t concerned in the least on her own account, quite certain she could survive by her wits as
Kit did, but Pearl and Billy were too young to suffer such deprivation. They deserved better. Oh, what had she got them into?

All the gang seemed to be shabbily dressed in trousers of varying lengths, any slack taken up by a wide leather belt in addition to braces. Some wore jerseys, others a jacket or waistcoat. They all had clogs or boots, of course, and an identical slouch cap tugged ruthlessly into place or tipped rakishly to the back of their head. And every one of them would have had Sister Joseph reaching for her scrubbing brush and a bar of carbolic soap.

Without exception, Ruby liked the entire gang and, as the weeks passed, only hoped they wouldn’t prove to be too bad an influence on young Billy who was hanging on to their every word, even copying the way they swaggered along, sparking the irons on the soles of their clogs every five minutes. It made her laugh just to watch him trying to appear as grown up and manly as them.

Most days the whole gang would go off scavenging leftover vegetables from the allotments down by the River Irwell, or picking mushrooms or blackberries by the canal. When dusk fell, they would move on to the slag heap to pick coal. In no time at all they would be covered in dust and soot. Everyone seemed used to this, so Ruby said nothing. Billy was always happily enthusiastic, the nuns never having allowed him the opportunity to get dirty. Pearl, however, complained bitterly about the state of her pinafore, her pretty face streaked with black tears, and her dandelion hair clouded with black dust.

‘How will I ever get clean again?’ she’d groan.

‘Why would you want to?’ Charlie asked. ‘We like. . .’

‘. . . getting mucked up,’ Clem finished for him.

‘It’s more important to keep warm,’ Kit told her, without a trace of sympathy.

‘Is this how you survive?’

‘In these streets you learn to get by on your wits. We barter, exchanging our time and skills for a copper or two here and there, doing whatever odd jobs come our way. When that don’t work, we buy and sell any odd bits Jackdaw finds fer us - bits of rags, metal, nuts and bolts. And we scrounge whatever’s going begging, like coal and tatties. We ain’t criminals, that’s for sure.’ For a moment his eyes blazed, fists clenched, and his whole body became tense with anger.

‘I didn’t say you were.’

‘So long as you understand. We happen let off steam now and then, do a bit o’ fiddling, but we aren’t violent. Not like the Napoo who carry cut-throats and lop off girls’ plaits. We don’t hurt or attack anyone, Ruby, not like them what went for you. “Street barbarians”, “slum monkeys”, that’s what some folk call us, yet we have our standards, our code of honour. We only do what’s fair game, enough to get by. If the government won’t help us, we have to help ourselves, see?’

‘Oh, yes, I do see,’ Ruby agreed with feeling.

‘Property, jobs and money only goes to them what already has plenty. It’s the toffs’ way of keeping us down. ‘Tai’t right, so we have to look after our own as best we can. How else can we survive? I mean, when did you last see anybody coming round with any handouts?’

Ruby was gazing up at him, drinking in every word. Only a few inches taller than she and eighteen months older, yet he seemed so much wiser in the ways of the world, so much more in control of his life. ‘So you hang around shops hoping for cheap stale bread or free handouts? Not forgetting broken biscuits.’

Kit gave a careless shrug. ‘Accidents will happen.’

‘What about the poor shopkeeper?’

‘We only take what’s due to us, from them who can afford to spare it, and allus share equally with the rest of the lads in the gang. It’s vital that everyone plays fair. Right?’

‘Right!’

‘Aye, well, so long as that’s understood. You’re either with us or against us.’

‘I understand.’ Ruby felt a shiver of apprehension at the stark anger in his face. He obviously liked things to be done his way, a message that had come across loud and clear. She swallowed a spurt of anxiety and offered him a radiant smile which, unknown to Ruby, made her look suddenly pretty. ‘What else do you do?’

He tapped one finger on the tip of her nose. The gesture made her blush bright pink. ‘Questions! Questions! You’ll find out soon enough, if you hang around long enough.’

The chill of her reservations melted under the warmth of his grin, and the prospect of hanging around with Kit Jarvis for any length of time brought a burn of excitement to Ruby’s heart, a sensation quite unlike anything she’d experienced before.

The days passed in a whirl of activity. There always seemed so much to achieve and so little time in which to do it. Finding sufficient food for them all to eat, and fuel for the fire so they could keep warm, was a relentless, all-consuming task. And since there were so many of them in the Jarvis household, Kit’s share had to stretch further. Ruby, still fearful of becoming a burden, was not surprised when one morning, over their usual cuppa together while Kit was at the docks, Marie asked how much longer she would be staying. It was gently done, with shamefaced reluctance, but the meaning was clear.

Quick as a flash, and without giving it a moment’s thought, Ruby answered. ‘We’re leaving today, s’matter of fact. Meant to tell you but I forgot.’ She could feel her cheeks growing warm at the lie but Marie didn’t notice, or if she did, chose not to question the decision. ‘It’s long past time we moved on but thanks for your help. We’ve really appreciated it.’ She kissed the baby’s cheek, hugged Marie, and then ordered her somewhat stunned brother and sister out of the door. Billy, as always, blindly obeyed, having made up his mind that so long as he stuck fast to Ruby, he’d be all right. Pearl was not so easily budged. She stood on the steps in a sulk.

 
‘Do we have to go now? This minute?’

‘Yes, Pearl. Come on.’

‘But where will I sleep?’

‘You’ll sleep with us, as always. Come on, Pearl, we haven’t all day.’