The Clippie Girls (14 page)

‘You’re beginning to look better. The colour’s coming back into your face,’ Terry said.

Peggy pulled a wry face. ‘I still feel dizzy.’

‘You’re bound to. Just take it easy.’ He glanced round the room, his gaze coming to rest on Grace, whom he’d guessed to be the head of the household.

‘I’m not due back at camp until Sunday night. I could give you a hand here, if you like.’ He grinned. ‘Cleaning’s one of my sergeant’s favourite punishments. I’m quite a dab hand now.’

‘That’s very kind of you,’ Grace said, ‘but there are plenty of us. We’ll manage.’

He shook hands politely with Mary and Grace, but it was Peggy whose hand he held a little longer than was absolutely necessary, Peggy’s eyes he looked into a little too earnestly as he murmured, ‘Take care of yourself.’

‘I will.’ Peggy was gazing up into his brown eyes and making no effort to pull her hand away from his. ‘And – thank you so much for – for everything.’

‘I’ll see you out,’ Rose said tersely, breaking up the tender moment. You should be thinking of Bob, she wanted to shout at her sister, not making cow’s eyes at a complete stranger. ‘Goodnight, Terry, and thanks again for all your help.’

‘Don’t mention it,’ he said, picking up his kitbag, which he’d left in the hall.

As he began to walk along the street, Rose heard him whistling jauntily. The sound brought a smile to her lips and she shook her head. He was a likeable rascal – even their grandmother had been bowled over by him. But it was obvious to her that his interest was in Peggy and, to her dismay, Peggy had responded.

Rose sighed as she closed the door. Much as she loved Bob herself, she knew he had eyes for no one but Peggy and she couldn’t bear to see him hurt. Plastering a smile on her face, she went back into the living room. ‘Right, who’s coming to the hospital with me to find out how Bob is for Peggy?’

‘I will,’ Mary said. ‘But aren’t you going to wait until this afternoon? Besides, there’s work to think of.’

Rose made an impatient gesture. ‘Mr Bower will understand. Besides, how d’you think the trams can keep running after last night? The whole city centre is devastated.’

‘Maybe they won’t, but they’ll run what they can and it’s not for you to decide not to turn up for work,’ Mary said firmly. ‘I think we should all get a bit of sleep now, have some lunch and then you and I, Rose, will report in for work. If we’re not needed, we’ll go to Hester’s to make sure she knows about Bob and then we’ll go to the hospital.’ She paused and looked at Peggy. ‘As long as you’ll be all right.’

‘She’ll be fine,’ Grace said. ‘I’ll keep my eye on her. Myrtle, hadn’t you better be getting ready for school?’

The girl yawned. ‘Do you think they’ll be opening?’

‘Well, you’ll find out when you get there, won’t you?’ She turned to Peggy. ‘And you, young lady, would be better in bed.’

‘No, I’ll stay down here for a while.’ Peggy leaned her head against the back of the chair and closed her eyes. Mary fetched a blanket from Peggy’s single bed and tucked it around her, but Peggy was already asleep.

‘Right, Mam, are you ready?’ Rose was fidgeting to be off. The sooner they reported for work, the sooner she could find out how Bob was.

‘Like I said, a rest now, some lunch,’ Mary said firmly, ‘and then we’ll go. Dear me, what a Friday the thirteenth this is turning out to be.’

‘What about all this?’ Frowning, Grace waved her hand around the room. ‘I can’t manage it on my own and Peggy’s not fit. I wish I’d taken up that nice soldier’s offer now.’

‘I’ll wash the paintwork down tonight,’ Rose promised swiftly, ‘but I think the wallpaper’s spoilt.’

‘I’m not redecorating yet just to have the same thing happen again,’ Grace said, her fighting spirit restored. ‘A good brush down and a wipe over will have to do for now. And I doubt you’ll do much washing down tonight, Rose. The water’s off. Let’s hope that’s only temporary. No doubt they’ll come round with water carts.’ Grace pulled a face. ‘More queuing – this time with jugs and buckets. And all drinking water’ll have to be boiled.’

‘It could be a lot worse, Gran. At least our house is still standing.’

As Rose had rightly predicted, the duty board at the depot was in chaos. Poor Laurence had no idea which tram routes could operate – if any.

‘I’m still getting information in. Nothing’s running at the moment. There have been over thirty cars damaged beyond repair and about another thirty need major work on them. Then there are a lot more with minor damage – broken windows and the like – to say nothing of the poles and overhead cables. The centre of town is out of the question and even outlying routes have been badly affected.’ He ran his hand through his hair. ‘It’s a nightmare. Look, you two go home, but keep in touch and I’ll let you know when you’re needed. How’s Peggy?’

‘Badly shaken. She’ll not be into work for a few days. And I suppose you know about Bob?’

Laurence nodded. ‘Let me know how he is, will you? I can’t get up to the hospital myself yet. Maybe tonight.’

As they walked, Rose could sense that Mary was feeling the same horror that she’d felt at the sight of the carnage the night’s bombing had left. When they arrived in the street where Bob and his mother lived, Rose breathed a sigh of relief. Bombs had fallen not far away, but thankfully not near their home. But when she rapped on the front door, there was no reply.

‘Let’s try round the back.’

They went down the alleyway between Mrs Deeton’s home and the adjacent house and knocked on the back door. Still, there was no answer. Then the neighbour’s back door opened and a man came to the fence and leaned on the top of it.

‘Looking for Hester, a’ yer?’

‘That’s right,’ Rose said and stepped towards him.

‘She’s gone up t’ hospital, lass. Her lad was injured in one o’ them trams that was hit last night.’

‘Oh, she knows. That’s all right then. We’d come to tell her. We’re on our way there now. Thanks very much.’

‘No trouble, love. I hope you find him on the mend.’

‘Yes – thanks,’ Rose murmured and beneath her breath added, ‘I hope so too.’ Louder she said, ‘Come on, Mam, we’d better get ourselves up there, else visiting will be over.’

But when they arrived at the hospital, it was to find that they were not allowed in to see him.

‘Next of kin only, I’m afraid,’ a nurse told them. ‘I am sorry.’

Rose turned pale. ‘How – how bad is he?’

‘He has a head injury. We suspect a fractured skull, but we’ll know more when we get the results of the X-ray.’

‘Is his mother still with him?’ Mary asked and the nurse nodded.

‘Then we’ll wait for her, if we may?’

‘Of course.’

They went back to the entrance hall, through which Hester was bound to pass when she left. Whilst they waited, Mary said, ‘I’ve known Hester a long time, you know. We were at school together.’

‘Really, Mam? You’ve never said.’

‘The Askews – that was Hester’s name before she married – lived two streets away from us then.’ Mary paused and bit her lip. ‘If I was being snobby – and you know I’m not – I’d say that Hester married beneath her. Her husband was a hard worker, though,’ Mary added quickly. She never liked to speak ill of anyone, not even if they richly deserved it. ‘He worked at the steel works, but died following some sort of accident.’

‘Wasn’t he in the Great War, then?’

Mary shook her head. ‘No, exempted because of the job he was doing.’

‘But he died anyway.’

‘Yes. Sad, isn’t it?’ Mary whispered and Rose knew she was referring not just to all the men who’d died in the previous war, but also all those who were dying right now. And this time the enemy were targeting the civilian population too.

They were trying to demoralize not only Londoners but the citizens of other big cities too. And one of those was their very own Sheffield.

‘There she is,’ Mary said suddenly, as the tide of visitors came flooding down the corridors and out through the entrance hall.

The little woman, shabbily dressed and clutching a shopping bag, came hurrying past them. Her face was creased with anxiety and she chewed her bottom lip nervously.

‘Hester?’ Mary stepped forward and touched the woman’s arm. The woman jumped and turned frightened eyes towards Mary, but recognizing her, her face relaxed a little.

‘Oh, Mary, how good of you to come.’ She turned to look at Rose, but it was obvious that she’d been expecting to see Peggy. At once the anxious look returned. ‘I thought Peggy would have come. Oh dear, she’s not hurt too, is she?’

‘Only very slightly, but she’s badly shaken. She’s resting at home. But how is Bob, Hester? The nurse wouldn’t let us come in.’

Mary guided Hester to the side of the hallway so that they could stand and talk without hindering those rushing to get home before the blackout, their journey hampered by the lack of public transport and the bomb damage. There was even the fear of unexploded bombs or, worse still, another visit from Hitler’s Luftwaffe.

‘They think he’s got a fractured skull.’ Tears filled Hester Deeton’s eyes.

‘Is he conscious?’

‘Yes, but he’s very dazed. Says he has no recollection of what happened.’

‘We’ll walk a little way with you,’ Mary offered, linking her arm through Hester’s. ‘Is there anything we can do to help?’

‘That’s kind of you, Mary, but I don’t think so. Only – only if Peggy could visit him as soon as she feels able. He’s asking for her.’

Hester’s words were like a knife through Rose’s heart.

By the time they reached home Peggy was in bed and asleep.

‘I told her that bed was the best place for her,’ Grace said, setting down mugs of steaming cocoa on the table. ‘I managed to boil some milk on the fire, so, come on, drink it while it’s hot, ’cos I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to enjoy cocoa. That’s the last we had in the cupboard.’

Mary and Rose sipped it gratefully, cupping their hands round the hot mugs to get warm.

‘It’s bitter out and the blackout makes it worse somehow,’ Mary said. ‘I wish I wasn’t back on duty quite so early in the morning.’

‘I doubt either of us will be needed tomorrow or for a few days yet,’ Rose said.

‘But we must report in.’

‘So – how was he?’ Grace asked.

‘We don’t really know any more yet—’

‘They wouldn’t let us see him,’ Rose burst out. ‘Next of kin, but I bet they’d’ve let Peggy in if she’d gone.’

There was a note of reproach in her tone that the other two women could not fail to hear.

‘She’s not fit,’ Mary said gently. ‘She’ll go as soon as she can.’

Rose buried her nose in her mug of cocoa. She wasn’t too sure. She’d seen the way that Peggy had looked up at the soldier.

Seventeen

The knock at the door came early on the Saturday. Peggy, still in her dressing gown, was sitting near the kitchen fire. Mary and Rose had reported for duty though there was little they could do: most of the city’s transport system was at a standstill. So, Grace, grumbling beneath her breath, was the one to open the door.

‘Oh, it’s you,’ she smiled up at the dark-haired soldier. ‘Come in, do.’

‘I just called to see how Peggy is. And her young man,’ he added, striving to be circumspect. He didn’t want any of them guessing the real reason for his visit today, that he hadn’t been able to get Peggy’s pretty face out of his mind.

Grace held the door open wider and he stepped inside. She glanced up at him and smiled. ‘You didn’t find your cap then?’

Terry grimaced. ‘No, I’ll be for it when I get back to camp tomorrow night. That’s if I can get there at all. I don’t know what trains are running.’

‘Surely not? You were caught up in a bombing incident. You can’t be blamed for your cap going missing.’

Terry laughed. ‘You don’t know my sergeant. He’ll likely think it’s an excuse.’

‘Well, you refer him to me if you have any trouble. I’ll give him what for. Come on through. Peggy’ – she raised her voice as she ushered him into the living room – ‘are you decent? You’ve got a visitor.’

Peggy, who’d been dozing by the fire, opened her eyes and blinked. ‘Oh! Hello.’ There was no mistaking the blush that tinged her cheeks as she sat up and pulled the dressing gown more closely around her.

‘Sit down, sit down.’ Grace almost pushed him into the armchair that was usually her seat. ‘I’m busy washing up.’

‘Can I help?’

‘No, no, you sit and chat to Peggy till I’m done.’ Her eyes twinkled at him with a merriment that Peggy hadn’t seen in her grandmother’s eyes for a long time – if ever. If she hadn’t known better, she’d’ve thought Grace was flirting with the young soldier.

When the door into the kitchen closed, Terry smiled at Peggy and asked softly, ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Much better. I ought to be back at work really.’

‘You’ll do no such thing. Besides, you’re supposed to go back to the hospital today to have the dressing changed, aren’t you?’

Peggy nodded. ‘Mam’s going with me when she gets home.’

‘I could go with you.’

‘Oh – well – that’s kind of you, but I don’t want to take up your time.’

Terry shrugged. ‘I’ve nothing – else to do.’ He’d almost said ‘nothing
better
to do’, but he’d altered the word just in time. He didn’t want to push his luck too far, too soon. ‘And anyway, there aren’t many trams running. I’ve walked all the way here.

‘You go and get dressed while I help your gran finish off in there and then I’ll get you to the hospital somehow. And,’ he added with more generosity than he was feeling, ‘you can find out how your feller’s doing.’

Peggy gave a weak smile as she got up and went towards the door into the hall. Terry went into the kitchen to explain their plans. ‘Now, Mrs Sylvester, where’s a tea towel?’

‘’Tisn’t Mrs Sylvester. I’m Mary’s mother. It’s Mrs Booth.’

‘Oh, sorry.’

‘You weren’t to know.’

They’d finished the washing up together and were sitting by the fireside when Peggy came down. Terry rose to his feet at once. ‘You look a lot better already, don’t you think so, Mrs Booth?’

‘Mm.’ Grace eyed her granddaughter suspiciously. She couldn’t tell whether this was because she was on her way to see Bob or because she was going out on the arm of a very handsome soldier.