White Boots (12 page)

The first of Lalla's presents to be opened was Alec's. A big book on cultivating vegetables. There was a card inside, which nobody would read except Alec, on which was written: “There are six closhes (I can't spell it) as well you know where. Guzzle guzzle guzzle quack quack quack, Lalla.” Alec was pleased with the book, but when he read what was on the card he gave Lalla a hug, and as he shoved the card into his pocket he whispered, “Quack quack quack.”

For Toby there was a new fountain pen to use when he was working out mathematical problems, Edward had a Meccano set that he had been wanting for ages, but the great present was Harriet's. The boots and the skates had been packed in boxes, and the boxes were wrapped in brown paper, and on top of that Lalla had used her Christmas paper and bows, so they took Harriet quite a time to unpack. When at last she saw what her present was, her face was so pleased that it stopped looking thin, and seemed swollen with smiling.

“Darling,” said Olivia, “I didn't know you wanted skates and boots so badly. Are you getting fond of skating?”

Harriet hugged the boots and skates to her and almost sang.

“My own white boots and skates. Proper white boots!”

Lalla had forgotten what giving the skates and boots to
Harriet would mean to Alec, but Toby saw the moment the boots came out of their box.

“You won't give up your paper round, Alec, will you? Imagine all that money is for you to save.”

Alec, who was looking at his vegetable book, said “No” and gave Toby a wink. Harriet remembered her manners. She danced across to Lalla.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, Lalla. My own boots and such lovely skates. I'll be an absolutely proper skater now.”

Miss Goldthorpe put the boots back in their box.

“I believe they'll fit you perfectly, dear. But Sam, who got them for us, said you were to keep them clean and bring them in tomorrow for him to make sure they are the right fit; if not he'll change them.”

Harriet hated to see her boots shut up in their box even for one day, but she knew that skating boots ought to be properly fitted, and she had a great respect for anything that Sam said, so she let them be put away, though for the rest of the evening she went to the box every now and again and lifted the lid just to be sure they were there.

Mr Pulton had told Alec to call on him on Boxing Day. Alec found him in his sitting room wearing his brown velvet coat and cap, and his slippers embroidered in gold and silver thread. He welcomed Alec in his fading, tired voice, but his blue eyes were twinkling and pleased.

“Good morning, young man. This is Boxing Day, do you
know why it's called Boxing Day?” Alec said he did not. Mr Pulton smiled. “It's the day set aside for the giving of presents or boxes to employees or messengers. I think a boy who carries round papers is a messenger, don't you?”

Alec felt embarrassed. In the Johnson family if you received a present you gave a present; he had not sent Mr Pulton even a Christmas card, and he had not expected to receive one from Mr Pulton, and it had never crossed his mind there might be a present. Mr Pulton seemed able to read what Alec was thinking.

“Boxing Day is only a day for giving presents to those types of persons; a present from an employee or a messenger to the employer would be most unseemly, most.”

Alec glanced round the room; it looked very un-Christmasy, not a piece of holly, a decoration or a little bit of paper and string to show where a present had been. He wished he had sent at least a Christmas card; a Christmas card with a horse on it would have been nice; Mr Pulton would have liked that. Mr Pulton pointed with his finger to the kitchen.

“If you go through there you'll find some plum cake, and port for myself and ginger wine for you. Employer and messenger should drink a glass of wine together at this season.”

The kitchen was as spotless as when Alec had last seen it; on the table was a tray, on which stood a decanter of port, two glasses, one filled with ginger wine, and some slices of plum cake. He carried the tray carefully back to the sitting room, and put it on the table beside Mr Pulton. Mr Pulton filled his glass
with port, and signalled to Alec to take his ginger wine. He held the port up to the firelight, so that it glowed like a ruby in his hand.

“Tell me, how is that vegetable garden shaping?”

Alec sipped his ginger wine, it was good and warming and Mr Pulton looked interested and encouraging, so in no time he was telling him everything, even about Lalla and her piece of garden, and the cloches. Then he explained that he would be able to do things now on a far greater scale than he had anticipated because Harriet's Christmas present had been skates and boots.

“You see, sir, that means fourteen shillings a week instead of two for my money-box.”

Mr Pulton was a man who respected money; he said: “Fourteen shillings!” in a voice which showed that he appreciated what this meant.

“With this fortune do you intend to give up the idea of growing things in your sister's friend's garden?”

“Not really, but she's only got a small bit I think. We haven't seen it yet, but you can't do much with a small bit. I think in March I shall start spending some of my money on stuff I shall buy at Covent Garden. If we could get a few people used to coming to Dad for decent vegetables regularly it'd be a start. I rather think my first buy will be new potatoes, but Toby's working that out. He's the mathematical one.”

Mr Pulton sat silent for quite a while, drinking his port and thinking over what Alec had said. Then a coal dropped in the
fireplace, and brought him back to the present. He leant over the arm of his chair and picked up a parcel that was on the floor at his side.

“Here is your box.” It was a cash box, a funny, old-fashioned-looking one made of leather, with little iron bars down it, and imitation iron studs all over it. “It's a copy of a very old chest, my boy. Fine craftsmanship. Smell it… beautiful leather.”

Alec smelt, and found the box had a lovely smell. Then he turned the key and lifted an iron hinge and found how splendidly it was made. Inside there were compartments divided by leather walls. Because it was such an original box it was nice to think of savings being kept in it.

“I say! Thanks awfully, sir.”

“That's all right, young man. When you were here before I spoke to you of horses.” He swept his hand round the horses in the room. “And you told me about a pony and trap and vegetables and how some day you wished to be a market gardener. It will be an admirable start if you buy at Covent Garden, but you should not neglect growing things yourself in that piece of garden.” He raised his glass. “To your dreams. May you follow them as I never followed mine.”

Because of this talk with Mr Pulton, Alec told Harriet to ask Lalla if he and Toby could come over and look at her piece of garden before Aunt Claudia came back. Because Aunt Claudia was away and it was Christmas time it was easy to arrange. The gardener was not coming, or if he came
probably he would sit in the kitchen, and have tea and Christmas cake. The weather was cold, and Nana never came into the garden in the cold weather. The only person to worry about was Miss Goldthorpe. In the Christmas holidays Miss Goldthorpe came as usual, but it was not to give lessons, but to take Lalla for walks and to her special classes, so Miss Goldthorpe had to be told. One of the surprising things about Miss Goldthorpe was that you never knew what she would think about a thing. When she heard that Alec and Toby were coming over she did not understand why it had to be a secret.

“But very nice, dear. It's not really gardening weather, but it'll be healthy for you out of doors, but I shouldn't let Harriet come, she ought not to get her feet wet.”

They were sitting by the schoolroom fire, roasting chestnuts, which would have shocked Aunt Claudia if she had seen them, because chestnuts were fattening. Lalla pushed a chestnut nearer the flames.

“But, Goldie, you do see, don't you, that it's got to be a secret? I mean, Aunt Claudia doesn't know that Harriet's got any brothers, and she mustn't know that they come here. Nobody can come here unless she says so, you do know that.”

Miss Goldthorpe sighed. She did indeed know. But she had thought Harriet's brothers just looking at the garden would be an exception.

“I can't believe she'd mind, dear. After all, anybody can be
shown round a garden, though I don't think there's much growing at this time of year, is there?”

Lalla took a chestnut off the fire and pinched it to see if it was done.

“You don't understand at all, Goldie. And I can't explain absolutely because it's a secret. It's nothing wrong; as a matter of fact it's something good, so good it couldn't be gooder, and it's something nobody but Aunt Claudia could mind. Please, Goldie, would you know where I am if Nana asks, but not know the people I'm with. Nana gets in such a fuss if she thinks I'm doing something Aunt Claudia mightn't like.”

Miss Goldthorpe thought of Uncle David's and her own scheme. It would be terrible if it was all muddled up because Harriet's brothers came to the garden and Aunt Claudia found out, though why the child should not be allowed to garden with Harriet's brothers she could not imagine. Still, Aunt Claudia was queer, everybody knew that.

“Very well, dear. But they're not to come without you telling me, when they come you must let me know, and you can slip out to the garden, but I don't like all this secrecy.”

The visit to Lalla's garden was a huge success. The piece of bed which belonged to Lalla had been marked out by stones, and though the gardener had taken most of the stones away, there were enough to see where it used to be.

“The first thing we must do,” said Lalla, “is to put the stones back, and if we sneak a little bit of extra garden I shouldn't think
anyone would notice, and if anyone did it would be the gardener, and I expect he would be pleased because it would be less for him to dig.”

While Lalla and Alec collected stones to mark out the bed, Toby measured the ground and put figures down in a notebook. He said he thought that they might try their luck at early lettuces, anyway the seeds would not cost much. It was a pity they had not started in the autumn, because a paying thing would have been strawberries. They would not be able to grow much of anything, but then it was not going to cost anything once it was planted out, so that would not matter.

To her surprise Lalla found that putting stones round the garden with Alec was fun. She had not thought it could be fun grubbing for stones in damp earth, but it was when there was someone to do it with. So when Alec said that the difficulty was going to be getting the bed looked after, watered and weeded and all that, Lalla found herself offering to help.

“I think Uncle David could get Aunt Claudia to let you come and give me gardening lessons. We could call it that. Aunt Claudia thinks gardening good for me, it's being out of doors and exercise both at once. But when you can't come I won't mind watering sometimes.”

Toby looked at her over his spectacles.

“It would be a very good thing if you took up gardening. It's always a mistake to count on just one thing. It'll be all right if you are a skating star,” he put enormous weight on the word “are”, “but if you're not you might be very glad to get a job in Alec's market garden.”

Lalla, safe in the knowledge of how well she had passed her inter-silver test, looked at him with scorn.

“It's no good talking like that,Toby, my boy. Here's someone who is almost a champion. If you don't believe me you'd better come and see my exhibition, it's two weeks from Wednesday.”

UNCLE DAVID HAD partly suggested to Aunt Claudia his and Miss Goldthorpe's plan for Lalla and Harriet. He knew that with Aunt Claudia it was a good idea to suggest something and then let the suggestion simmer. This idea took a lot of simmering, for Aunt Claudia could not put her mind seriously to anything until Lalla's exhibition was over. The nearer it got to the skating gala day the more excited she got. She made all her friends take seats, and found herself looking forward to the night more than she had looked forward to anything for ages. Her friends said, “Dear little Lalla, of course we'll take seats, especially if it's for charity.” Aunt Claudia let them think that Lalla was just a dear little child giving her first skating exhibition; it would be such a moment when the friends saw what Lalla's skating was really like. Already in imagination she could hear the buzz of
admiring remarks and congratulations which would shower on her. She listened to Uncle David's idea and brushed it aside. It might be a good plan, she didn't know, she would see what everybody said; if it was thought helpful for Lalla she might consider it. She would not go further than that.

Uncle David had wanted a good moment for George and Olivia to meet Aunt Claudia. He knew it would be a failure if Aunt Claudia met them in their own house, because she was the kind of person who expected houses to be large and grand. He thought the skating exhibition would be his opportunity, so he bought three good seats fairly near Aunt Claudia's and sent them to George, with a letter. In the letter he said he did not imagine this sort of thing was much in George's line, but he would be glad if he and Olivia would bring Harriet, because it would be an opportunity for the two families to meet.

Olivia never bothered very much about clothes; she always managed to look nice, so she took dressing for the skating gala quite casually, but not Harriet. The moment she saw the tickets she fussed.

“Mummy, what shall we wear?”

Olivia was busy at the time and answered vaguely.

“Our thick coats I suppose, it'll be cold, darling.”

Harriet saw that her mother had not appreciated the importance of the occasion.

“But, Mummy, it's fur coats and fur boots. Lalla told me so. She said that Aunt Claudia had said on the telephone to
somebody just a smart warm dress under a fur coat, and, of course, fur boots.”

Olivia laughed.

“I've not got a fur coat, darling, and neither have you, and we've no smart, warm dresses, and we've not got fur boots, so I'm afraid we'll have to watch Lalla in our ordinary winter clothes, with a rug over our knees to keep us warm.”

Harriet confided in Nana.

“Mr King has sent Daddy the poshest seats, and he wants Mummy and him to meet Aunt Claudia, and that would mean me too. Lalla says people wear fur coats and fur boots to things like that, but Mummy and me haven't those.”

Nana was as usual knitting. She made soothing, clucking sounds, but her mind was on the problem. It was very important how people looked when they met Aunt Claudia.

“Anything your mother wears is sure to look nice, dear, she's one of the sort who looks dressed no matter what they wear.” She paused and knitted half a row. While she knitted she thought about Harriet. Harriet's winter coat was in Nana's opinion only fit for the dustbin; it was navy blue and it fitted her before she was ill. Now it was too loose, much too short in length and, worse still, much too short in the arms. It had too a saggy hang about the pockets, and there were worn patches where the material had a whitish look. If Harriet took the coat off Nana was sure she would be wearing her brown velvet. If possible, in Nana's view, the velvet was worse than the coat. The
coat was just plain and shabby, but the velvet should have been smart. If there was one thing Nana could not abide it was clothes that had once been smart and now were shabby. “There's a pink coat Lalla has grown out of; it's nice in the length but she's a bit square in the shoulders for it. It would fit you nicely, dear.”

“But wouldn't Aunt Claudia know it was Lalla's?”

“No. You see, Lalla's got so many things. Besides, even if she'd notice it in the ordinary way, she never would on a night like that. You ask your mother if you can borrow it, and if she says yes I'll bring it along and an extra warm sweater of Lalla's to wear with it. It's a spring coat really, and not thick enough without something warm under, and you want warm knickers, the ice strikes up very cold, you don't want to catch a chill.”

The night of the skating gala every seat at the rink was taken. It was an annual event, in aid of local charities, and was always a big occasion. All types of skating celebrities gave exhibitions: professionals, championship soloists and pairs, champion figure skaters and champion dancing pairs. As well there was usually an exhibition by promising local children. Sometimes it was a skating ballet arranged for a lot of children, sometimes it was a pair of children ice dancers, and now and again it was a solo exhibition.

Lalla, as her father's daughter, and an unusually promising child, was given a star place on the bill. She was to come last in the first half before the interval. Nothing that could contribute
to Aunt Claudia's approval of the evening had been forgotten. Mr Matthews met her in the entrance and gave her a beautiful bow, and told her how proud she was going to be of Lalla in a loud enough voice for all the people coming in to turn round and look at Aunt Claudia. He himself took her and Uncle David to their seats, which were the best placed at the rink, and stayed a few moments saying polite things. When he had gone Aunt Claudia looked round, and found her friends were trying to attract her attention by waving their programmes. One of the many things that pleased her most about the evening was that Uncle David had not only agreed to come but came willingly. This had been a great surprise. Willingly to a skating gala! He who said about watching skating, “I'm blessed if I'm going to pay to have cold feet!” She thought how good-looking he was, and guessed how envious everyone must be of her; such a handsome husband and a niece the star child of the evening. She did not know that Uncle David being there was part of a scheme and that while Aunt Claudia was waving to her friends he was waving to George and Olivia.

“Is that your friend David King?” Olivia asked.

George nodded.

“Not a friend, really, you know. Surprised he remembered me.”

Harriet, feeling very grand in Lalla's nice-fitting pink coat and snug in her pink jersey, pulled at her mother's arm.

“The lady beside him is Lalla's Aunt Claudia.”

Olivia was going to say that nobody could suppose the grand lady in mink was anybody but Lalla's Aunt Claudia, when she looked at Harriet. Pink was not her colour, poor pet, it did not go with reddish hair and rather a pale face, Harriet was getting on splendidly, but she still had too much eyes for the rest of her. She was so proud in her pink coat, and so in awe of Aunt Claudia, whom presently they had to meet, that Olivia knew it was not the moment to speak jokingly.

“Isn't she grand, but no grander than you look, darling. I shall feel as though I ought to curtsey when you two are speaking to each other.”

The performers in the gala waited for their entrances on the small rink, so that they could warm and limber up before they went on. Nana had a seat reserved for her at the end of the rink next to Miss Goldthorpe, but she was not going to use it until Lalla went on. In the meantime she sat and watched her, holding her white ermine coat on her knee. Nana did not really hold with what she called “making a show” of Lalla. A little private theatricals was nice for a shy child, but Lalla was not shy and did not need bringing forward, so she was being kept up past her bedtime for no purpose, so Nana was a little disapproving. But as she watched Lalla practising the disapproving feeling wore off and she felt a little proud. Lalla was wearing a white ballet dress, with a bodice of white satin, and net and tarlatan skirts which glittered with silver stars. On her head, in place of the bonnets she usually wore, was a small cap of diamanté, which held her
curls in place. Nana saw that the grown-up skaters watched Lalla with pleased faces, thinking how sweet she looked, which she did, the pretty lamb. Nana still disapproved of dieting her, but Lalla did not seem any the worse for it, and now that she was dressed in her ballet dress, she thought, with that tight satin bodice, it was a good thing she didn't stick out in front as she had done a week or two back. Aunt Claudia had succeeded in buying a pair of the most beautiful nylon tights. When Nana had first seen them she had been most sniffy about them.

“Nylon tights! Lot of foolishness, catch her death. She should be wearing her white wool same as usual.”

Lalla had giggled.

“Silly Nana! I couldn't have worn wool anyway, with a ballet dress, it would have to have been bare legs. Nobody could wear wool tights with a ballet dress.”

Now that Lalla had the tights on Nana saw that she was lucky to have them. Many of the skaters had bare legs, and very cold Nana thought it looked, giving a nasty bluish tinge to the skin. If a child had to do a foolish thing like stripping to go on the ice in midwinter, then it was better to wear nylon than nothing at all. One thing she had seen to, and it comforted her to know that she had seen to it, Lalla was wearing good wool next to the skin, wool knitted by herself. She did not hold with ice, nasty, damp stuff, but she defied any ice to give a chill to a child who wore wool knitted by herself next to the skin.

Max Lindblom had arranged a programme for Lalla to fit into a specially orchestrated mixture of music from
When the Rainbow Ends
. A few bars were played before her entrance, then, as she skimmed on to the ice, she was picked out by a frosted spotlight. The fairy music and Lalla's fairylike appearance, and the magic quality of the cold, blue light on the ice, was enchanting; her entrance got a spontaneous burst of applause.

Lalla had not felt nervous before she came on; she enjoyed free skating and was happy performing the routine Max had arranged for her. It included most of the jumps she liked best and, as well, spread-eagling, which she adored. She was enchanted at receiving a round of applause, smiled gaily and settled down to enjoy herself. The programme Max had chosen was not difficult, and no knowledgeable person would be fooled into thinking that it was; equally the knowledgeable preferred seeing children performing a programme well within their range. What was noticeable about Lalla was her gaiety; that she was finding every minute of her exhibition fun bubbled out of her and made the audience think it was fun too. When, at the end, she skimmed down the rink in an arabesque, her arms outstretched and curtseyed to the best seats, which really meant curtseying to Aunt Claudia, the audience not only clapped but they cheered. Lalla had to take six calls, and on the sixth Mr Matthews, very nervously because he was not wearing skates and was afraid of falling down, came on the ice and presented her with an enormous bouquet of pink carnations.

Olivia turned to Harriet, her eyes very bright and her cheeks very pink with pleasure.

“Darling! How lovely Lalla is! The pet can skate, can't she?”

Harriet glowed; being Lalla's friend was almost as grand as being Lalla.

“And she can do much more glorious things than that, terribly difficult things that lots of people who've learnt skating for years and years can't do.”

George lit a cigarette. He was watching Uncle David with Aunt Claudia. He turned to Olivia.

“I doubt whether King will be able to make that introduction. Look at the aunt.”They all looked.

Aunt Claudia was in a dream-come-true world. She had always known that Lalla could skate, always known that she would be a star, but this was the first time she had felt what it was like to own Lalla. Years ago she had found it made her important that she was Cyril Moore's sister, and she had liked the feeling, and had missed it when he was drowned. But being Cyril Moore's sister was a mere nothing to being Lalla's aunt and guardian. Everybody that she knew and lots that she did not, flocked round her saying all the nicest things, and the nicer the things they said the grander Aunt Claudia felt. It was only just as the interval ended that Uncle David managed to introduce the Johnsons. By this time a smile had become part of Aunt Claudia's face, and a rich graciousness so much part of her voice that it was almost as if she were talking with a piece of cream
out of a chocolate bar lying on her tongue.