Two Penn'orth of Sky (22 page)

Emmy looked up as she entered. She was alone in the room, which was fortunate, and smiled at Beryl and Jimmy, going immediately to the biscuit tin and handing Jimmy a finger of shortbread. ‘Hello, Beryl, you’re early,’ she said. ‘Anything wrong? Only I start work at eight this morning, so I shall have to be off in ten minutes or so.’

‘No, nothing’s wrong exactly,’ Beryl said, sitting down at the table and settling Jimmy comfortably on
her knee. ‘Look, Em, I’ve told you before that it ain’t fair to dress Diana up so neat and clean for a day’s play in the court. What I haven’t told you is that she’s driving Charlie mad because she won’t leave him alone. She follows him everywhere, even when he’s with his mates and they go places which aren’t suitable for a little girl, let alone one dressed so fancy. Today they’re going fishing in the canal an’ I’m tellin’ you they’ll come back covered in muck and dog tired. Probably they’ll go along to the Scaldy for a swim and that ’ud be downright dangerous for Diana.’

Em sat down at the table opposite her friend, her eyes rounding. ‘But – but I thought she played with Becky when Charlie left the court,’ she said. ‘Why, she often tells me that Becky and she have been playing shop, or hopscotch, or that they’ve gone down to the park to play Relievio. Is – isn’t it
true
, Beryl?’

‘Of course she does play with the other girls sometimes,’ Beryl said, not wanting to get Diana into more trouble. ‘But for the most part she simply follows Charlie around, and when they’re playing out, which they do whenever the weather’s fine, I don’t always know exactly where she is.’

‘Well you should,’ Emmy said, her face flushing pink. ‘I thought you always knew exactly where she was! Oh, Beryl, I trusted you to take care of her, not to let her go wandering off.’

Beryl felt the first stirrings of annoyance with her friend. She would have liked to reply, hotly, that for half a crown a week Emmy was getting more than her money’s worth without expecting Beryl to spend her time following Diana about. Instead, she took a deep breath and counted to ten before she spoke. ‘Diana is seven, quite old enough to know that she
must either stay in the court, or leave it with someone both you and I trust. I trust Charlie completely, and thought you did too . . .’

‘I do, I do,’ Emmy said quickly. Tears filled her big blue eyes and she began to cough. She smothered the spasm in her handkerchief, waited a moment, then spoke again. ‘But the canal! I shall never forget her falling into that deep pool when we took the children to New Brighton . . .’

‘And I hope you’ll never forget that if it hadn’t been for Charlie, you probably wouldn’t have a daughter at all,’ Beryl said crossly.

‘If Diana hadn’t been following Charlie then, she would never have fallen into the pool,’ Emmy said tearfully. ‘Oh, I’m not
blaming
Charlie . . .’

‘I should hope not!’ Beryl said harshly. ‘But don’t you see, Em, that’s just what I’m trying to talk to you about? Charlie goes places and does things which are safe for him but which just aren’t safe for Diana. My boy’s a good boy. He helps in the house, gets my messages and looks after the young ones, but he has to have some time for his own friends.’

‘Well, since I’m not there, it’s got to be up to you, Beryl, to see that she’s happily occupied,’ Emmy said obstinately. ‘If you tell her she must play with Becky, I’m sure she’ll do so. She’s a good girl, Diana, whatever you may think. Or she could help you in the house, I suppose.’

‘She wouldn’t think much of that,’ Beryl said ruefully. ‘Half the time I’m down at the Burroughs Garden washhouse, laundering the tablecloths and that. Or else I’m at home ironing the stuff. Oh, I know she likes to help when I’m baking, but I only do that once a week, and she seems to think Becky and her pals are still babies.’

‘Well . . . suppose you told Charlie not to go to the canal? If I gave him sixpence perhaps he could go to the cinema, or take Diana to the park and buy them both ice creams,’ Emmy said distractedly. ‘I can’t think what else to do, if you aren’t going to put your foot down and make her play with Becky.’

Beryl stared at her friend. The time for some plain speaking had clearly arrived. ‘I can tell Diana to play with Becky until I’m blue in the face and she’ll agree to do so as meek as you please, but the moment my back’s turned she’ll be off after Charlie. I didn’t want to say anything because it seemed like tale-clatting, but the truth is Diana’s no plaster saint. When she comes home again and I try to tell her off, she looks as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth and says you told her she would be safe with Charlie, and she’s been with Charlie all day.’

Emmy bristled, there was no other word for it. ‘You’re saying that Diana disobeys you, and I don’t believe it. She’s a good girl. Why, she’s never missed a day’s school since that row last Christmas and she’s moving up a class in September, so she won’t have to put up with Miss Williams any more. She wouldn’t lie, I know she wouldn’t.’

‘I didn’t say she lied, because no doubt she has been with Charlie. What I’m saying is she won’t do as I tell her, but goes her own way and then justifies it by saying you told her it was all right,’ Beryl said, with all the patience she could muster. ‘The truth is, Diana needs a pal of her own. She’s real fond of Wendy but you’ve put a stop to that friendship, so she’s turning to Charlie. Remember, because of the way she’s been brought up – being an only child and all – she’s old for her age and don’t get on with younger kids. Charlie suggested you might let her
play with Wendy again because they used to get on so well before . . .’

Emmy jumped to her feet, the bright colour rushing into her cheeks once more. ‘I’m going to work!’ she snapped. ‘And I’ll thank you to mind your own business, Beryl Fisher! You know full well that Wendy’s a bad influence and I’m beginning to wonder whether Charlie isn’t a bad influence too. Taking a young girl like my Diana fishing in the canal! If you can’t control a kid of seven, then mebbe I ought to make other arrangements.’

She snatched her hat off the peg and was struggling into her light coat when Diana came heavily down the stairs. The child opened the kitchen door, looking anxious. ‘Hello, Aunty Beryl. Mammy, why were you shouting? Surely you aren’t going to leave before I’ve had my breakfast? Oh, Mammy, you’ve been crying. Whatever is the matter?’

Emmy hesitated. ‘You’d best have your breakfast with Aunty Beryl today,’ she said brusquely. ‘I dare say she won’t mind having you for one more day, nuisance though you are to her.’

‘One more day will be fine,’ Beryl said, her voice icy. ‘But from tomorrow, Emmy, you can find someone else to take on your responsibilities.’ She turned to Diana. ‘I’ll put you a plate of porridge out; come round to No. 4 when your mam leaves.’

Beryl let herself out of the front door, literally shaking with temper and hugging the baby to her, for he was beginning to grizzle, upset by the raised voices. She had done her best for Emmy and for Diana, but apparently her best was not good enough. She thought, wryly, that Emmy was about to get one hell of a shock if she meant to offer some other poor woman half a crown to take all the
responsibility for a precocious kid like Diana. And she was not only precocious but also slippery as an eel. Still, she would be somebody else’s responsibility soon, and Beryl realised that not having to keep an eye on Diana would be a great weight off her mind.

Yet her heart was heavy as she opened her own front door. She had managed to remain friendly with Emmy for at least twenty years, though there had been many times when the younger girl’s attitude had infuriated her. Now she had allowed their relationship to break down completely. She could have been more tactful, more generous, knowing that Emmy had only herself on whom to rely. Her friend adored Diana and was clearly unwilling to admit that no child is ever perfect, but Beryl felt Emmy had been downright ungrateful, blaming both her old friend and Charlie for everything that had gone wrong, and refusing to allow that any faults could be attributed to Diana.

Re-entering her kitchen, she set the baby down on the hearthrug and smiled across at Charlie. ‘Well, chuck, I’ve done me best and you can go off on your fishing trip without no one tagging you. In fact, Emmy’s going to look for someone else to look after Diana in the future. She – she understands that you need time to yourself and I told her Diana doesn’t want to play with Becky. So you see, old feller, it’s all for the best.’

Charlie stared at her, his expression troubled. ‘Oh, Mam, you haven’t fallen out with Aunty Em, have you?’ he asked anxiously. ‘And who’ll she find to look after Di, apart from us? There’s no one else in the court who’d take it on; they think she’s an awkward little madam. But there’s a house what
childmind up Hornby Street; I suppose Aunty Em could try there.’

Beryl was tempted to reply that Emmy would find no one willing to look after Diana and give her her meals as cheaply as she had done, but realised that she must not do so. She hoped that Emmy would come round later and apologise, try to put things right, so she had no intention of allowing any member of her family to know what had transpired. Wally was a good husband and a patient man, but if he knew how Emmy had insulted her he would have seen red. He would probably have gone next door to give Emmy a piece of his mind, which would have helped no one, least of all Beryl herself. At the moment, I do believe I’m in the right, but if Wally or Charlie began on poor Em I would be very much in the wrong, she told herself.

Charlie had dished up the porridge and the children were now filling the gaps with bread and marge and weak tea. Beryl smiled reassuringly at her eldest. ‘No, we haven’t fallen out. We’ve agreed to differ,’ she said diplomatically. ‘I dare say in a couple of days I’ll be keeping an eye on Diana again, but I’ve made it clear that I don’t want you pestered. And now, how about you pouring me a nice cup of tea?’

‘I hate Mrs Lucas, and I hate her dirty, whining kids,’ Diana said furiously, two weeks later. ‘I were going to try and stick it, but today was the last straw, so I’ve given her the go-by and come to Mac’s to tell you I won’t, I
won’t
stay in her horrible house any more.’

Emmy had been serving a table of four with coffee and scones when she had spotted her daughter’s small figure hovering just outside the door of
the dining rooms. Despite the fact that it was August, it was raining in a steady and relentless sort of way and Diana was not wearing her mackintosh and looked half frozen. Emmy had served the customers and had then hurried over to the big glass-plated door and pulled her daughter inside. She had looked wildly round for a vacant table but almost every one was occupied, so she had ushered her bedraggled child through into the office, which, fortunately, was empty. She had begun to remonstrate, but Diana had forestalled her, airing her grievances immediately and at the top of her voice. Emmy looked round nervously; it would not do if one of the other waitresses came in to discover what the noise was about.

‘Hush,’ she said urgently, therefore. ‘Keep your voice down, Diana! Do you want me to lose my job? Mr Mac is very understanding, but the customers come first – he’s always telling us that. Now, take a deep breath and tell me exactly what poor Mrs Lucas has done to put you in such a flame.’

Diana pushed the wet hair out of her eyes and tried to wipe her rain-soaked face with the backs of her hands, and Emmy immediately felt remorseful. The poor child was drenched and in obvious distress. It was no use expecting her to explain what had happened when she was in such a state.

‘Look, Diana, I’m just going to nip into the kitchen for a moment and get a towel, and I’ll have to explain to Mrs Ridley – she’s the cook – that I’ll be off the floor for ten minutes or so. Sit down and wait for me.’

She left the room at a trot and went through to the kitchen. Mrs Ridley was extremely kind, hooking down a clean roller towel from the drying rack and telling Emmy, comfortably, that when the
elevenses rush was over she might put her daughter at a corner table with a book and a plate of biscuits until they were quiet enough to allow her to return Diana to the childminder’s place.

‘If you’re going to send her back, that is,’ she added shrewdly. ‘Because some of these women give the kids a hard time, I’m told. And you wouldn’t want that for your littl’un. Mebbe it would be better to let her stay with a friend until you get things sorted.’

Emmy thanked her and hurried back to the office. Diana looked up and smiled rather guiltily as her mother re-entered the room and Emmy thought, hopefully, that the child might have had second thoughts. Truth to tell, she had worried at first over how Diana would get on with Mrs Lucas after having been treated as a member of the Fisher family for so long. She had asked her daughter to give Mrs Lucas a fair trial, but now it seemed things had come to a head. Emmy began to wield the towel, rubbing Diana briskly until she was pink all over and beginning to smile. Then she produced one of the spare overalls which the waitresses used when doing the kitchen work, stripped Diana down to her bare skin, and put her into the overall. It could have contained at least three Dianas but Emmy belted it firmly round the waist and then surveyed her handiwork. Diana’s teeth no longer chattered and though there was still a mutinous glint in her eye, she looked a good deal happier than the child who had entered the premises some ten minutes earlier. ‘Well? Just what happened this morning to send you flying off without your coat or your hat?’

‘She hit me!’ Diana said baldly. ‘She often hits the other kids but she’s known better than to try and hit
me
, because she must have known I wouldn’t stand
for it. But today she was really cross and lashed out. She hit me across the face so hard that she knocked me over.’ Diana touched her left cheek gingerly, and for the first time Emmy realised that her daughter’s left ear was scarlet and that there were what looked like reddened finger marks on her cheek. ‘You can’t see my shoulder because of the overall but I bet there’ll be a huge bruise there in an hour or two,’ Diana finished, with a certain satisfaction.

‘But – but why did she hit you?’ Emmy asked anxiously. ‘Of course, she shouldn’t have hit you at all and I shall tell her she is never to do such a thing again, but she must have had a reason.’