Bia's War (6 page)

“So it was a success, Nana.”
Victoria commented. “You were successful right from opening the
shop on the first day.”

“I suppose I was, but I didn’t
have time to stop and think about it. The next morning I was up
while it was still dark to go and get more supplies, Peter pushing
the cart and Simon running along beside us as we walked. Annie
stayed in the kitchen and baked again, which was a good thing
because the queues for pies were even longer on the second day and
we made four batches all together that day and sold the lot. Those
first few weeks shot past so quickly because I was always so busy,
but the shop was turning into the little gold mine I had always
hoped it would be. It wasn’t all plain-sailing, of course, I made
many mistakes in the first few months mainly because of my
inexperience, but I learnt from them and moved on. I had a bit of
trouble with some of the men who worked down the docks and who
weren’t too happy having to deal with a young woman, but they soon
got used to it, particularly as I always took them pies or pasties
which I gave to the ones who helped me.”

“More and more men were seduced
into the army and more women took over their jobs, giving up
working in service and earning more money in the factories and
driving buses than they’d ever been able to before. They wanted to
spend that money, so I began running up skirts and blouses for them
and getting in other little luxury items so that the girls wanted
to spend their extra money in my shop. I also started making ginger
beer and lemonade, because a lot of the work these women were doing
was hot and thirsty work and they couldn’t call in at a public
house on their way home like their menfolk used to do”

“You must have been working all
day and all night to get all that done, Nana.” Victoria was amazed
that this tiny woman had accomplished so much.

“I had help, don’t forget. Annie
was a godsend because she was prepared to work all hours to produce
pies and cakes and pastries and when she came to the shop, Peter
came with her. He was the muscle I needed to pick up supplies, but
he also acted as a minder when I was out buying. I had to carry
money around with me in order to pay for what I bought and there
were a good few lawless men around the docks at that time, who
wouldn’t have hesitated to knock me out to get their hands on my
money. I would have been a very easy target because, although I was
doing a lot of hard physical work and I was reasonably fit, I was
only a smidgeon over five feet tall and skinny with it, because the
hard work had sloughed off any excess fat I may have been carrying.
Peter was a marvellous deterrent to any of those men who got the
idea into their heads of relieving me of my cash.”

“So Annie, Peter, Simon and I
settled into a life of long hours and hard work, but it wasn’t very
long before I realised that I needed to take on another member of
staff, because the initial rush had never subsided and we were
running all the time to stand still. I didn’t mind whether it was a
boy or a girl that I employed, but I needed someone to run errands
for me, to help with the baking and to stock the shelves. Annie and
I discussed it but neither of us could think of anyone who fitted
what we were looking for and I must admit I was starting to get a
bit desperate. Then the right person dropped into my life out of
the blue and I knew we were onto a winner.”

“Couldn’t you have advertised
for staff? Didn’t the local paper carry ‘situations vacant’ like
they do now?” Victoria asked. “I bet you would have got loads of
candidates if you’d put an advert in the paper.”

“I probably would, pet, but I
didn’t have the time for interviewing loads of applicants. I just
wanted to find the right person, which I did. I’d started taking
‘orders’ from women who were going out to work and who didn’t have
the time to stand and wait to be served in the shop. All they had
to do was to drop a list of their requirements into the shop on
their way to work and we would pack them up and Peter and I would
deliver them that evening. It was cash on delivery mind, because I
didn’t work any other way. Nobody could run a tab in my shop, they
had to pay up or they didn’t get the goods, so if they didn’t pay
when I arrived with the order then that order went back to the shop
with me.”

“One morning, Annie took an
order from a young girl, while I was giving Simon his breakfast and
it was one of the orders Peter and I delivered that night. When we
arrived, it was a man who answered the door, which in itself was
rather unusual, because it was mostly women who dealt with me. He
greeted our arrival with a huge smile and ushered me into the
kitchen while he got the money to pay me. Peter stayed outside,
keeping watch over the cart and the rest of the orders, because we
didn’t want anyone running off with it and also because he was very
shy and didn’t mix with other people very well.”

‘I’m Sam, Sammy Lymer,’ the man
said as he paid for his order. ‘I think I know your husband, lass,
William isn’t it? Works in the iron works?’

“Granddad!” Victoria
interjected. “That’s how you met Granddad Sam!”

“Yes, that was the first time I
met him.” Nana agreed. “But let me continue or I’ll lose my train
of thought! I didn’t want to talk to a stranger about William. It
was late, I’d had a long day and I was finding it difficult to keep
on pretending that everything was hunky-dory between me and my
husband. I still had work to do when I got back to the shop because
I had another batch of ginger beer to make and Simon would be
wanting his bedtime story before he would settle down for the
night. Annie was baking while she kept an eye on Simon, but she
would be tired and ready to go home and I really didn’t want to
have to make small talk with a stranger, but he was a new customer
and I wanted the repeat business, so I sat on my impatience and
answered him.”

‘William used to work in the
works, but he’s away in France with the army, now. He’s doing his
bit for King and country.’ I said, the false patriotic tone which
was a part of my new persona coming easily to me because I’d used
it so often before.

‘I’d heard tell he’d enlisted.’
Sam said. ‘I’m foreman in the next section to where he used to work
and I couldn’t understand it when I heard he’d joined up. I thought
they were only taking single men as yet, although I suppose that
will change cos it’s not looking too good out there. I’ve no wish
to follow the colours, but I suppose I’ll still be needed to make
iron and steel for the ships and the guns, so hopefully I won’t be
conscripted. I mustn’t say that to most people, though, you get
called a traitor and a coward if you’re not desperate to get over
there and get your head blown off. But it must be hard on you,
lass, looking after a bairn and working all hours as well. You must
be exhausted.’

“I nearly buckled there and then
under his kind tone, because I was so tired and I was used to
people telling me what a wonderful thing William had done to
enlist. Most people ignored the fact that I was working at least
fifteen hours a day to keep William’s wife and son in food and
lodgings and praised what marvellous things William was doing. I
knew conditions wouldn’t be good for William in France, but he’d
chosen the road he wanted to travel and hadn’t spared a thought for
Simon and me. It was all about William’s ego and manliness, not
patriotism or bravery, but I was getting heartily sick of
pretending I was proud of him. And his army pay had never
materialised either. We hadn’t seen a penny since he’d marched off
to war; we could have starved in a gutter. But I pulled myself
together and refused to admit any of this to Sam Lymer who was a
stranger to me, albeit a sensitive stranger. I pulled my public
face back over the real me and smiled at him.”

‘It’s not so bad.’ I answered.
‘I’ve got Annie and Peter to help me and at least I’m always there
for Simon. If I’d gone out to work he would have had to be farmed
out and I don’t want that to happen.’

‘I can understand that. My
daughter, Alice, looks after her younger sister while I’m out at
work. I lost my missis last year and I’ve worried myself sick over
the two youngest ones ever since. Our George and Bill joined up a
month ago, so there’s only the three girls at home with me
now.’

‘Three?’ I asked. He’d only
mentioned two girls, so I wondered who the other one was.

‘Aye. There’s our Hannah as
well. She’s the one who brought the order this morning, on her way
to work. She’s started working for Dennison, the butcher, but I’m
not happy about it. He’s short-tempered and too handy with his
fists that one and I don’t want my lass working for him, not since
I saw the black eye on his missis last week.’

‘She’s telling folk she walked
into a side of bacon.’ I said. ‘But it’s more likely to have been
stuck on the end of her husband’s fist. It’s a shame he doesn’t
enlist so he could take his temper out on the Hun instead of his
wife. I find him very unpleasant, even with his customers and I can
understand why you aren’t happy about Hannah working for him. But
I’m looking for some more help in my shop. I could do with a lass
to help make up the orders and to train at making pies and cakes.
If your Hannah can turn her hand to that sort of work, then tell
her to come and see me tomorrow and I’ll show her what I want her
to do. Do you think she’d want to work for me?’

‘I’m sure she would, cos she’s
frightened of the pig butcher. I’m sure she would much prefer to
work for you. She’s a good girl and her mother trained her to bake,
so she should be of some help to you.’

‘Good.’ I said. ‘She’ll be doing
me a favour and she’s best away from that butcher. Thank you, Mr
Lymer.’

‘Call me Sammy, lass, everyone
does. Mr Lymer’s a bit too formal, don’t you think?’

‘Ok, Sammy. Tell Hannah to be
round at my shop at 7o’clock on the dot tomorrow. We start early in
my shop!’

‘She’ll be there, bright and
early. If you need any help from me, don’t hesitate to let me know.
I admire what you are doing, but with your lad away at the Front,
you need to know that you’ve got back-up if you need it. Take care
going home, Mrs Drinkwater.’

‘Call me Bia, Sammy.’ I said. ‘I
don’t think I need to be too formal either.’

‘Bia? That’s an unusual name,
isn’t it? I bet you got some stick for it when you were a kid.’

‘My full name is Abia, but I’ve
always been called Bia. Nobody ever forgets my name, Sammy. Once
seen, always remembered!’

“So, I left the house and Peter
and I finished delivering the orders. Annie was pleased when we got
home and I told her about taking Hannah on. She knew Sammy and had
known his wife, Sarah, before her death.

‘She had too many children, poor
Sarah. I think she had fourteen, or something very close to that
number.’

‘Fourteen!’ I choked. I couldn’t
believe my ears. ‘Are you sure, because Sammy only talked about the
three girls at home and two boys who enlisted, like William. That’s
only five.’

‘I think that was half of what
was wrong with Sarah. A lot of her children died young.’ Annie
said. ‘Sarah had her heart broken so many times when they died,
that it finally killed her. Only one of them died at birth, I
think, the rest caught one of the childhood diseases and I think
one of them was burned to death in a fire.’

‘Oh my God. That poor woman! It
was no wonder she died young.’

“I tried to imagine what it
would be like to lose Simon through an illness or, God forbid, an
accident and I couldn’t do it. My heart went out to Sammy’s wife
and to Sammy. He was still living with all his losses and still
managing to smile! My opinion of him rose even higher.

‘Did you say Hannah is working
for the pig butcher?’ Annie cut through my thoughts. ‘I hope he’s
not going to cause you any more trouble if he finds out that she’s
now working for you.’

“I had told Annie about Dennison
making a pass at me and then being so rude and brutal when I had
refused him. I had to admit that the thought of him causing trouble
had crossed my mind when Peter and I were walking home, but I had
decided to ignore it. Dennison might not be bothered about losing a
shop girl and surely he must have an apprentice butcher working
with him. There were lots of young girls looking for work at that
time, so he would be able to replace Hannah fairly easily. I didn’t
suppose for one moment that he was as choosy as I was about staff,
so a replacement wouldn’t be hard to find. That was where I made
one of the biggest mistakes of my life.”

“But why, Nana?” Victoria asked.
“Surely even someone as nasty as Dennison wouldn’t do anything bad
because one of his staff had left him and gone to work for you.
That’s a bit over-the-top, isn’t it?”

“Oh yes. It would be an
over-reaction, certainly, but I didn’t allow for Dennison’s state
of mind at the time. There again, I didn’t know much about him,
other than that he didn’t like having his advances turned down and
that he turned nasty when rebuffed. I don’t think anyone else would
have acted any differently from me, given the same insight into his
character. It’s something I’ve considered deeply ever since,
though. If I hadn’t employed Hannah, would life have turned out the
same? I just don’t know. When I consider what else happened, I
think it probably would have taken the same course. All I did was
exacerbate it.”

“Exacerbate what, Nana?”
Victoria was beginning to feel she was losing track of the story at
this stage, as though she had missed an important point.

“No, I’m getting side-tracked
again.” Nana shook herself mentally. “I’ve got to tell this in its
proper order or it will all get too confusing for anyone to
understand. Where was I? That’s right, Hannah. That was how I got
my third member of staff and Hannah turned out to be every bit as
capable as her father had said. On top of that, she had a really
sunny nature and she would set about tasks with a light heart,
singing hymns as she worked. The old biddies who came in the shop
liked her to serve them and she had a way with her that could turn
any sour face into a smile, so she made life a joy.”