Chapter 20
After she left the recruiting centre, Bobby jumped on a tram to East Bowling, where the Scotts lived – if not quite with a song in her heart then at least with a lightness of spirits she hadn’t been able to feel since the day she had learned she was to be called up.
It was the best she could hope for. For her training period, at least, she would be within easy distance of Silverdale. That meant she could spend all her leave there, even if she only had a pass out for a few hours.
And she could stay in the Dales. Bobby hadn’t realised how much the thought of leaving the stark and magnificent fells, and the terse but generous-natured folk who lived among them, had been weighing on her heart.
The fells felt like a bridge, somehow, between this unasked-for new life and the old one she was leaving so reluctantly behind.
She would feel closer to Charlie too. Ryland Moor had been where he trained and now she could see it from the inside.
Knowing something of his routine, having mutual acquaintances not only in the civilian world of Silverdale but in the Air Force, would go a long way to closing that distance Bobby was always afraid might grow between them.
She would be at home for Topsy’s wedding as well. Bobby would have hated to miss seeing Topsy and Teddy finally tie the knot after everything she had done to help them reach their happy ending.
When the tram halted, she almost skipped off it.
Bobby walked to the Scotts’ grimy terraced house and rapped the door knocker.
Mrs Scott – or Mrs Scott Senior, as Bobby supposed she ought to call her now – answered a moment later.
She was wearing the bottle-green uniform of the Women’s Voluntary Service, hat on and coat over her shoulders as if preparing to go out.
She was unsmiling as ever while she smoked a cigarette.
‘You’re the other one,’ she said, on looking Bobby up and down. She didn’t remove her cigarette, which perched precariously at one side of her mouth.
Bobby hadn’t exactly expected her sister’s new mother-in-law to roll out the welcome mat, but a ‘good afternoon’ might have been nice.
‘Um, yes,’ she said. ‘Hello again.’
‘Come up from t’ country, have you?’
‘That’s right. Is my sister at home?’
‘In the kitchen,’ Mrs Scott said, jerking her head in that direction as she buttoned up her coat. ‘Mind you take your shoes off. I’ll noan have mud and cow muck smeared all over my clean carpets.’
Without another word she marched out of the house, brushing Bobby aside as she did so.
Bobby assumed this was as much of an invitation to come in as she could expect and entered the dark little house, closing the door behind.
The carpets didn’t look particularly clean to her. They were faded and threadbare, yellow in places from decades of tobacco smoke. Still, not wishing to arouse Mrs Scott’s ire, Bobby removed her shoes as instructed.
It was less than a fortnight since she had last seen Lilian, but when she sought out her sister in the kitchen, Bobby was shocked to see the change in her.
Lil looked harassed and ill-kempt, her normally carefully styled hair shoved untidily under a headscarf.
She had no make-up on, which emphasised her pallor and the dark circles under her eyes.
When Bobby came in, she was on her knees sweeping out the fire grate.
‘Should you be doing that in your condition?’ Bobby asked.
‘Bobby.’ Lilian put one hand against the small of her back, wincing as she knelt upright. ‘I thought I was dreaming when I heard you talking to the Wicked Witch of the West. Isn’t my new mama a delight?’
Bobby smiled, pleased to hear that her sister’s sense of humour hadn’t been quashed by this spartan new life. ‘Don’t ask me. I’m only a humble country peasant girl covered in cow muck, apparently, and hardly worthy of an opinion.’
‘I see you’ve been given the traditional warm Scott welcome.’ With an effort, Lilian got to her feet. ‘I won’t hug you, since I’m covered in cinders. Has she gone?’
‘Yes, she went out as I came in.’
‘Thank the Lord. Then I can have a rest.’
Lilian went to a cupboard and took out a bottle of Wincarnis. After pouring a generous glass of the syrupy, slightly meaty-smelling tonic wine, she threw herself into a nearby chair.
‘Honestly, I think the only reason she agreed Tony and I could live here was slave labour,’ she told Bobby, drinking her tonic wine down in one gulp. ‘At first she was absolutely raging about the baby, Tony says. Determined I’d done it on purpose to trap her precious boy into marriage.’
Bobby smiled dryly. ‘Right. Because he’s such a catch.’
‘Oh, please don’t say that,’ Lilian murmured, rubbing her temples.
‘Sorry.’ Bobby went to crouch by her sister. ‘It was supposed to be a joke. Perhaps it was in rather poor taste.’
‘Well, Mother Scott soon changed her tune when she realised me being here meant she never needed to lift a finger.’ Lilian flopped back in her chair.
‘I don’t think I’ve stopped scrubbing since we signed the marriage register, except for the hour a day she spends at the WVS centre, gossiping when she’s supposed to be rolling bandages. ’
‘How’s married life, Lil?’
‘Goodness knows. I’d hardly call skivvying for the evil mother-in-law while sharing a camp bed in Tony’s brother’s room a taste of married life.’
Lilian swallowed a sob, and Bobby took her hand.
‘There has to be more to it than this, Bob,’ she whispered. ‘Three days in and I’m exhausted, and the baby’s not even here yet.’
‘Things will get better.’
‘They have to.’ She dabbed at her damp cheeks with a duster. ‘I feel like we’ve skipped over the courtship and landed straight in domestic hell. The few dates we had weren’t enough to really get to know one another. But I do so want it to work, for the baby’s sake.’
‘It’s only been a few days.’
‘I know,’ Lil said with a sigh. ‘I suppose it’s been rather a rude awakening. Perhaps I could fall in love with Tony, if we only had a little time for us. But there isn’t a moment in the day where it’s just me and him.’
‘Couldn’t you go out dancing, or to the pictures?
’ Bobby asked. ‘Just because the courtship didn’t happen before you were married doesn’t mean it needs to be dispensed with completely.
You’re still two young people, and you really ought to be making the most of the time you’ve got together before the baby comes. ’
‘I’m too exhausted for dance halls after scrubbing all day,’ Lil said with a sigh. ‘Dancing was all very well when I was a single, fun-loving young Wren, but it isn’t for expectant housewives. Besides, we really ought to be saving our money while Tony’s out of a job.’
‘I’m sure Tony can spare a few bob to take you out to a film. If he can afford fags and beer, he can afford a couple of ninepenny seats at the Majestic.’
‘Perhaps. But his mam would humph so about it, while we’re living here rent-free.’
Bobby glanced at the bucket of cinders her sister had raked out of the fireplace. ‘Looks like you’re more than paying your rent in labour.’
‘Mmm. She doesn’t think so. Still, she hasn’t realised I’ve been helping myself to a salary out of her precious Wincarnis yet.’ Lilian sat up straight. ‘What are you here for anyhow? You didn’t forget we’re coming to you the day after tomorrow?’
‘Government summons again,’ Bobby said with a shrug. ‘I got called to enrol in the WAAF. I’m to be placed on deferred service and drafted the 6th of April.’
‘You made up your mind against applying for postponement then?’
Bobby sighed. ‘I’m sorry, Lil. I had to.’
Lilian slid down in the chair and rested a hand on her swelling stomach, clearly visible under her housecoat today in the absence of corsets.
‘I knew you would,’ she said with a wistful smile. ‘I know how that nagging conscience of yours works, Bobby.’
‘I’ll be close to home, for my training at least.’ Bobby gave her sister’s hand a reassuring press. ‘Only ten miles from Dad in Silverdale, and a train ride from Skipton to you. We’ll be closer to each other than we are now – for as long as you’re in Bradford anyway.’
‘You always do the right thing, don’t you?’ Lilian said dreamily. ‘You’d think, being twins, I’d be more like you.’ She glanced down at her stomach. ‘I wish I was, for my own sake.’
‘I don’t always do the right thing.’ Bobby lowered her gaze. ‘I didn’t do the right thing the other day. Did you get any letter from Dad?’
Lil sat up straighter. ‘No. Have you told him?’
‘I told him more than I meant to. I got cross when he said some things and I…’ She swallowed. ‘I’ve been such an idiot, Lil.’
‘What did you tell him?’
‘I told him that you and Tony had been walking out. I told him you were married. He worked out for himself why. And I told him… why you’d started walking out in the first place.’
‘Oh Bobby, you didn’t!’
‘I’m so sorry. He was angry, and he said some things that hurt me. Said it was all my fault for letting you get close to Tony, and keeping it a secret from him. I was so upset that it slipped out before I could stop it.’
‘How did he take it?’
‘I think I can safely say, not well,’ Bobby muttered.
‘He was in a blind rage when I told him about you and Tony walking out, and by the time I broke the news of the marriage and the baby, I was getting seriously worried about the way he kept looking at his shotgun. Then when I said it was for his sake you’d started seeing Tony, he just went sort of… numb. He’s been like that ever since.’
‘Has he…’
‘Sometimes, in the evenings. No more than three. But he hasn’t tried to get any more, or drunk himself into a stupor.’
‘Then perhaps he’s not too bad.’
‘I don’t know. He’s not drinking heavily – yet – but I can tell he’s far from settled in his mind.’
‘Is he very angry with me?’ Lilian whispered.
‘I think he’s mostly angry with himself, after what I told him. With Tony a close second.’
‘Whatever are we going to do about him when you have to go? Mary can’t watch him constantly.
She’s got her hands full in her own home.
Besides, he isn’t her responsibility, kind as I know she is.
’ Lilian rubbed her head. ‘I don’t suppose he’d agree to us hiring a housekeeper, even if we could afford it. He wouldn’t live with a stranger.’
‘I did have one idea.’ Bobby stood up so she could rest a hand on her sister’s shoulder. ‘Supposing I could help Tony into a job near Dad? You two could live with him in the cow house.’
Lil blinked. ‘The cow house?’
‘Yes. I know it’s cold and small and a far cry from perfect as a family home, but it has to be better than this place,’ Bobby said, glancing around the cramped, dingy little kitchen. ‘Or Liverpool, with bombing raids every other night. Don’t you think so?’
‘Well, I suppose so, but—’
‘And once the baby’s older, you might be able to earn a bit on the side too,’ Bobby went on, warming to her theme. ‘I’m sure Mary would mind the baby if you needed to go out to work a few hours a day. I don’t like to presume too much on favours from her and Reg, but she adores little ones.’
‘What is there for women to do out there? Charring?’ Lil said, curling her lip.
Bobby shrugged. ‘Better to get paid for it than stay here doing it for nowt, isn’t it? If you could only bring in a little extra then it might be enough to rent a more comfortable cottage, as long as Dad’s still able to work and Tony can hang on to a job. I’ll help out too.’
Lilian placed a palm on her forehead. ‘We’re getting ahead of ourselves, Bobby. I can’t keep a family on a few bob a week charring, and it’ll be a year or more until I can leave the baby. What’s Tony going to do? He’s the one who’ll have to support us.’
‘Isn’t it obvious? He’ll do my job, over at The Tyke.’
Lilian blinked at her. ‘Your job? Aren’t you doing it?’
‘I’ll be off in April, won’t I? For who knows how long – years perhaps. Reg was going to advertise for a boy, but I asked if he’d hold off until I’d spoken to Tony.’
‘A quid a week though, Bobby. It’s no wage for the head of a family.’
‘Yes, but that includes the cottage,’ Bobby reminded her. ‘Mary will be around to help with the baby, and you’ll be there for Dad and him for you. I know it isn’t perfect, but I do think it’s the best answer.’
Lilian still looked dazed.
‘Reg has really said he’ll give this job to Tony?’ she asked. ‘Does he know him?’
‘Well, he knows of him,’ Bobby admitted. ‘But I spoke up in Tony’s favour, and Don’s written him a glowing reference. Reg said he couldn’t promise anything, but he’s soft-hearted. I do think if Tony applies, he’s got a good chance.’
A glimmer of light appeared in Lilian’s eyes as she caught a little of Bobby’s enthusiasm.
‘It isn’t a bad plan,’ she admitted. ‘Tony thinks he can earn forty or fifty bob a week in the shipyards, but rent isn’t cheap in Liverpool, and we might need to hire help while the baby’s small. We could be not much worse off at the end of the day.’
‘Where is Tony?’ Bobby asked. ‘I’d like to talk to him before the pair of you come on Wednesday, and persuade him he ought to apply. He can speak to Reg while he’s there.’
Lilian rolled her eyes. ‘He’s out “job-hunting”. Which means he’s at the pub around the corner, sobbing over the Situations Vacant page.’
‘Right. I’ll go find him.’
‘Be gentle, OK?’ Lilian said, standing up. ‘If he thinks you’re trying to do him a favour offering him a quid-a-week job – one a woman’s been doing as well – he’ll go all stuffy and refuse to consider it.’
‘Oh, don’t worry. I’ve known Tony Scott a long time. He’ll always go for a distressed damsel act,’ Bobby said as she fastened her coat. ‘Leave him to me.’