Chapter 12
Bobby tied her pixie hood over her ears and pulled her coat tight around her as they set off walking towards the pub near their old offices. In her days at the Courier, they had visited every Tuesday for a game of darts after putting that week’s paper to bed.
‘Everything’s changing, Don,’ she said with a sigh.
‘Aye.’
‘Are you afraid?’
‘Of the Army?’ He shrugged. ‘At my age it’s bound to be Pioneer Corps they pack me off to.
Not much danger there – just me and a load of other broken-down old buggers doing a bit of navvying.
I’m more worried Clarky’ll get a taste for being a newspaperman again and I won’t have a job to come back to when I’m demobbed. ’
‘I know how you feel.’
Don glanced at her. ‘The war going to put you out of a job too, is it?’
‘All I know is that Reg refused to guarantee he’d still have a place for me.
He never liked the idea of keeping me on after marriage, and now this has happened, I wouldn’t be surprised if he decided replacing me was for my own good.
Once the WAAF’s finished with me, he’ll expect me to settle down to being a housewife like a good little woman should. ’
‘The WAAF? That’s where you’re going?’
‘Unless I get a postponement. I could try claiming hardship – you know, for my dad’s sake. I’ve got the form in my bag.’
‘Huh. I tried that as well. Said I had a new babby and a wife who weren’t as young as she used to be, and I was needed at home. No good, I’ve still got to go. You might have better luck, being a lass.’
‘The WAAF officer who interviewed me seemed to think they’d let me out of it if I applied,’ Bobby said. ‘She didn’t approve though. I felt two inches high the way she was looking down her nose at me.’
‘Better than peeling potatoes in the ATS, at any rate. Your young man’s RAF too, isn’t he? Maybe you can get a posting on the same base.’
‘Maybe, but that doesn’t help my dad.’
‘Hmm. Suppose not.’
They fell into a thoughtful silence as they walked.
It was dark now, and Bobby took out her little torch to light their way.
One thing about Bradford compared to the countryside was that there were at least streetlamps on the main roads, even if they were only the blackout-approved ‘starlighting’ type with their thin, sickly glow.
It glinted wanly off the ice crystals in the gutters.
Bobby smiled when they entered the pub. That, at least, had remained the same. There was even a group of Home Guard men playing darts, as of old.
‘Home sweet home, eh?’ Don said, kicking the slush off his boots. ‘I’ll get the drinks. You can claim the table.’
Bobby sat down at what had once been their usual table while Don visited the bar for a pint and a half of mild. He shook his head as he put her half in front of her.
‘Never thought I’d see the day I was paying over a shilling a pint for beer that’s half water,’ he said. ‘This cost of living’s getting daft. God knows how I’m going to manage on a private’s salary with a family to support. I just hope they promote me quickly.’
‘I wonder when we’ll be able to do this again,’ Bobby said.
‘Not for a long while, I reckon.’
‘No.’ She sighed. ‘I suppose not.’
Don started stuffing his pipe. ‘Well then, what are they going to give you to do in the Air Force? Will you be flying Hurricanes or Spitfires?’
Bobby smiled. ‘Administration, the officer who interviewed me said. They seem to be desperate for shorthand typists. Well, that and euphonium players.’
‘Shorthand typing all the livelong day? You’ll be bored rigid, Bobby.’
‘I know, but if that’s what’s needed to free up men then I guess that’s what I have to do.’
‘Just remember you’re a writer. Don’t let that journalist’s nose of yours get permanently stuffed up.’
‘I’ll try.’ She stared into her beer. ‘It’s so strange, the way nowadays you can just be summoned to a whole new life.
I haven’t been told a damn thing about what to expect.
I don’t know where I’ll be sent, who I’ll be sharing quarters with, what I’m to wear or how my day will look.
I know it’s the same for everyone, time of national emergency and so on, but…
it makes me feel so helpless. Like a child who has all her decisions made for her with never a word of explanation. ’
Don lit his pipe. ‘I know how you feel.’
Bobby inhaled the smoke from his pipe deeply, relishing the familiar, comforting smell. This seemed to tickle Don.
‘Going to start smoking one of your own, Aircraftwoman Bancroft?’ he asked, laughing.
‘It reminds me of the Courier, that’s all. I do miss it.’
‘That’s your fault, isn’t it? I’ve offered you a job every time I’ve seen you since you left. No good deciding you miss it now that it’s too late for me to offer you another.’
‘I don’t mean I miss the work.’ She glanced around the familiar old local. ‘Just… us. The way we all used to be. They were happy times when it was you, me, Tony and Jem.’
Don sighed. ‘That poor kid.’
‘I know. I often think about him.’
‘Well, let’s try to stay off morbid subjects, eh? I miss them days myself, I must say.’
Talk of the Courier reminded Bobby of her conversation with Tony, and the promise she had made.
She nodded to her friend’s pint. ‘Have a drink, why don’t you?’
‘What for?’
‘Because it’ll put you in a good mood and I’m about to ask you for a favour.’
He raised an eyebrow as he took a sip of beer. ‘Another one? What do you need this time?’
‘It’s not for me, it’s for… someone else. And before you say no, just let me finish, all right?’
‘Huh. I can guess what this is about.’ Don planted his pipe back in the corner of his mouth, and it wobbled as he spoke.
‘You’re going to ask me to help out that work-shy loafer Scott.
I wouldn’t waste your breath, Bobby. Tony Scott’s a dead-end kid and it’s long past time both of us washed our hands of him. ’
‘How did you know that’s what I wanted to ask?’
‘I know Tony. He’s begged me twice for a reference, and I could’ve guessed his next stop would be you. Well he’s had more lives than a cat and he’s spent them all, so the answer’s no. I’ll not be persuaded to tell lies that’ll help him make a mug out of the next poor sod.’
‘You don’t understand. I’m not asking only for Tony’s sake. There’s a little more to it.’
He frowned. ‘Oh?’
‘Tony’s engaged, Don.’
He gave a hoarse laugh. ‘What, and for the sake of whatever deluded mare’s said she’ll marry him, you think I’ll do him a favour?
If she’s a girlfriend of yours, Bobby, best thing you can do for her is warn her off before she’s signed her life away.
She’ll get nowt from marriage to Tony but misery. ’
‘Oh, please don’t say that,’ Bobby said quietly.
‘You know it as well as I do.’
‘You see, it’s no good.’ Bobby broke eye contact to watch the swirling bubbles in her barely touched beer. ‘This girl, the one Tony is to marry… she has to go through with it. I mean, she’s got no choice, Don. Do you understand?’
Don was silent for a long time, watching her. Bobby felt her cheeks getting redder and redder under his gaze.
‘You bloody idiot, Bobby,’ he said quietly.
‘What, you think…’ She laughed aloud, the idea was so absurd. ‘Oh Lord. No, it’s not me.’
Don let out a whistle of relief. ‘Thank God for that. I didn’t think you could be that stupid, but I did wonder when he’d be winking at you in the pub if he might’ve had his eye on you.’
‘He had an eye on everyone female-shaped when he’d had a few. That didn’t mean anything. But it is someone I care about, very deeply.’ She lowered her voice. ‘It’s Lilian.’
He frowned. ‘What, your Lilian?’
‘It wasn’t her fault. He tricked her into going on dates with him – took advantage. She says he didn’t, but I know what he’s like.’
Don didn’t speak, but puffed on his pipe. He didn’t look shocked, or surprised, or anything much other than thoughtful.
‘Don?’ Bobby said after a moment had passed.
He roused himself. ‘Sorry. Was just thinking about our Sal.’
‘It wasn’t Lil’s fault,’ she said again.
‘No. I know that.’ He sighed. ‘It’s a man’s world, all right. How’s she bearing up, your sister?’
‘She says it’s for the best – the wedding, I mean.
She was so worried she’d have to give the baby away, but now Tony’s stepped up she can do everything respectably.
But I know she wanted so much more, Don.
She was crying her eyes out today. Tried to convince me it was the pregnancy making her emotional, but she must be so terribly afraid for the future. ’
‘And has he truly stepped up? This is Tony Scott we’re talking about.’
Bobby shrugged. ‘As much as I wanted to wallop him when she told me what he’d done, I have to give him his due – he came straight back with a proposal when he found out our Lil was in trouble. Never questioned if the baby was his or anything, the way some men would to get out of it.’
‘You talked to him, did you?’
‘Yes, today. He was adamant he’d turned over a new leaf.’
‘And you believe him?’
‘I think he believes himself, at least. Whether it lasts is another matter.’
‘Hmm. He’d turn over a new leaf every few weeks on the paper, I recall. One week he was going to give up smoking, another he was determined to prove himself with some big story. A fortnight of sucking on barley sugar sticks or working more than an hour a day and he was soon back to the old habits.’
‘I know, but he can’t easily turn his back on a wife and child, can he? Anyhow, for Lilian’s sake, I have to hold on to that hope.’ Bobby took a sip of her neglected beer. ‘He wants to move the family out to Liverpool.’
Don raised his eyebrows. ‘Liverpool?’
‘Apparently they’re desperate for men in the shipyards. Tony says if he can’t get work in Bradford, he’ll take Lilian and the baby down there.’
‘Lot of bombing in Liverpool.’
‘I know.’ Bobby reached out to press his wrist. ‘Please, Don. I’m not asking for Tony, or even for Lilian really. I’m asking for me. I want my sister and her baby to be safe, and close to friends and family in case Tony lets them down. It would mean a lot to me if they could stay in Bradford.’
‘I wish I could help, Bobby. I mean, I’ll write the man a damn reference – one he doesn’t deserve, full of the biggest fibs I can bring myself to tell about him, since there’s a babby to consider. But too many folk in this town know him by reputation. I can’t in all honesty say it’ll help.’
‘He wanted me to ask if you’d talk to Clarky about getting him back on the paper.’
‘Clarky won’t listen to me.’
‘Why not? He respects you.’
‘Perhaps, but I had to plead enough times for Tony’s job when he was still working for us.
Clarky would’ve let him go long ago if it hadn’t been for me making excuses for him.
’ He laughed quietly. ‘God knows why I did it. Suppose I couldn’t help liking the man in spite of my better judgement – until he spent his last chance. ’
‘But you could try, couldn’t you? Tell Clarky that Tony’s changed?’
He drained the last of his beer.
‘I’ll give it a go,’ he said. ‘But if you ask me, you’d be better talking to your boss.’
Bobby frowned. ‘You mean Reg?’
‘Aye. Don’t forget him and Clarky were in the trenches together. I doubt he’ll listen to me now I’m on the outside but he might do a favour for an army pal. Those old soldiers stick together.’
Yes, that was right, wasn’t it? Reg and Clarky had served together in the last war. The very first time Bobby had met Reg, he had dropped into the Courier offices to ask his old friend for a favour – it seemed so long ago now, she had half forgotten.
‘I don’t think I ought to tell Reg about the baby though,’ she said. ‘He can be old-fashioned about some things. I don’t want to be shouting about my sister’s condition all over the place.’
‘No need. Just tell him she’s to be married, the prospective husband’s out of work and you’d be grateful if he put in a good word.’
‘I don’t know. We haven’t told Dad about the engagement yet, or the baby. I’d have to ask Reg to keep it quiet until we do.’
Don shrugged. ‘That’s your business. But like I said, Clarky’ll listen to Reg Atherton before he listens to me.’