Lizzie's War (12 page)

‘Only the sausage rolls – we give one per person, otherwise there won't be enough to go round, but there are plenty of corned beef and pickle sandwiches. We had some large tins donated to the club…'

Mary came round the counter and started to serve almost straight away. Lizzie went into the kitchen where she discovered a huge pile of washing up. Janet, who was the only one working in there, shot her a grateful look as she started on the washing up.

‘Thanks for that, Lizzie. No one likes doing it and I usually get stuck with the lot when we've finished.'

‘That's a bit unfair on you,' Lizzie said. ‘I don't mind giving you a hand when I come in, Janet.'

‘Most of the girls think they're here to flirt with the men and they take the first opportunity to go off with whoever takes their fancy.' Janet sniffed in disapproval. ‘Some of them have got husbands or boyfriends serving – and I can't stand that. Our men have enough to cope with; they don't want one of those
Dear John
letters.'

‘No, that must be terrible when they're out there in the thick of it. Have you got someone over there, Janet?'

‘My husband and two brothers,' Janet said. ‘We don't know where any of them are, because they can't tell us. Me and Jim arranged a bit of a code before he left, so I know when he talks about a seaside holiday that he's somewhere nice and warm.'

‘The censor doesn't blue-pencil that then?'

‘No…' Janet laughed. ‘We've got several code words that we recognize but no one else would. I think Jim is with the Desert Rats, because he talked about the nuisance in the attic and we had rats once.'

‘I think that's a brilliant idea,' Lizzie said amused by their ingenuity. ‘Do you fancy a cup of tea? We should both have a sit-down for a moment, and then I'll take those sandwiches through.' Just then they heard the wail of a siren and automatically looked up at the ceiling, but neither of them made a move to evacuate the building. There was a cellar that some people used during an air raid, but a lot of the men and girls simply chose to ignore the warning.

‘I'd like that,' Janet said a little shyly and pulled a chair out. The music was still playing in the front room so obviously their guests had carried on in spite of the siren. ‘You make hats, don't you?'

‘Yes, I do,' Lizzie said and explained where the showroom was. ‘Why don't you pop round and see me?'

‘I should love to, but I think your hats would be too expensive for me. I usually get all my clothes from the market, you see. It's all I can afford. Jim and me have got three kids. Mum looks after them one night a week to let me come here and I work a few hours while they're at school – but Jim wouldn't like it if he knew. His Army pay doesn't cover all we need these days. I don't tell him, because it would hurt his pride.'

‘What sort of work do you do?' Lizzie asked.

‘I do a bit of housework for someone,' Janet said. ‘It's just a few hours in the middle of the day, but the six shillings a week I get helps to buy the kids things they wouldn't otherwise get.'

Lizzie was thoughtful, then, ‘Come and see me, Janet. I might be able to find you something that pays more than six shillings… if you ever decide to make a change.'

‘That's very kind,' Janet said. ‘But I couldn't leave poor old Mrs Jones in the lurch. I do a bit of shoppin' for her and give her house a tidy up – and I see to the laundry for her.'

‘I wouldn't dream of asking you to leave her,' Lizzie said. ‘I think that's really nice of you, Janet.'

They heard the all-clear sound. It seemed the warning had been a false alarm again. Her tea drunk, Lizzie took the fresh sandwiches and went back to the room where the soldiers, airmen and a sprinkling of Navy men were enjoying themselves. Beth threw her a look of relief when she arrived.

‘Thank goodness! I want to pop to the toilet, but I couldn't get away. Take over for me, please, Lizzie.'

‘Where is Mary?'

‘She went off with a solider just after the siren went,' Beth scowled. ‘She wasn't interested in helping, just in having some fun. I thought she was supposed to be grieving for her baby – and worried about her husband! The first chance she got she was off!'

Beth hurried away and Lizzie was kept busy serving tea and offering the sandwiches. Most of them went in a few minutes and all the sausage rolls had gone. There wasn't much left in the kitchen and they would be down to toast and margarine soon, perhaps with a smear of jam if the men were lucky. When she glanced at her watch she saw it was nearly ten o'clock and the club was due to close in another quarter of an hour. Lizzie decided not to offer toast, because the club was gradually emptying. The men knew that ten o'clock was their time and the doors would be locked at ten fifteen.

‘Night, miss,' Alfie said as he pulled on his cap and headed for the door. ‘Sure I can't see you safely home?'

‘My friend and I will be safe enough,' Lizzie replied. ‘Thanks all the same.'

‘See you tomorrow then…'

‘I only come once a week. Perhaps next week?'

His face fell and he shook his head. ‘I'll be back on holiday then,' he quipped and she knew that he meant he was returning to the fighting.

‘Oh, well good luck then,' Lizzie said and he offered a hollow grin, looking a bit scared.

By the time Beth returned the club was empty, the last servicemen going out of the door.

‘Janet says she'll lock up,' Beth told her. ‘I offered to help clear up, but she said you'd done most of the washing up and the rest could be left until the morning, when the next shift comes on.'

‘We'd better get our coats then,' Lizzie suggested. ‘We don't want to miss the last bus home…'

‘No, Aunt Miriam might not want to come again if we're too late back.' Beth hugged her arm. ‘I really enjoyed this evening, Lizzie. It was nice just being out of the house and talking to different people.'

‘Yes, I enjoyed it too. Janet is lovely, isn't she? She never asks to come out and serve, just gets on with the work in the kitchen.'

‘I wish Mary was a bit more like her.'

‘You shouldn't be annoyed with her, Beth. She came for a while and that must have taken some courage.'

‘Huh. If you ask me she just came to flirt and enjoy herself.'

‘Is that so bad? Isn't it better than her sitting at home feeling miserable?'

‘Not when she still has her husband….' Beth sighed. ‘Take no notice of me, Lizzie. I'm not a big fan of Mary, even if she is my sister.'

Lizzie shook her head but didn't argue. Mary envied Beth her children, and Beth didn't trust her sister. It was an unhappy state of affairs for a family, but Lizzie knew better than to interfere.

They'd just reached the house when they heard the siren go again, and this time it was for real, almost before they could fetch the children down to the Morrison they could hear the loud explosions and whooshing noises that told them the bombs weren't far away. Most of them would be falling in the docklands, but as one tremendous explosion seemed to shake the house they knew that it must have been in the next street.

Aunt Miriam scrambled into the shelter with them, which made it a tight fit, but Lizzie had refused to let her leave once they'd realized that the raid was genuine.

‘Bert will be worried half to death,' she said as the hours ticked by before the all-clear sounded. ‘He'll think something's happened to me…'

‘What will you tell him?' Lizzie asked. ‘He won't like it if he knows you were here with us…'

‘I'll tell him I was on my way home and went down the Underground,' Aunt Miriam said. ‘I don't like lying to him, Lizzie, but I'm not giving up coming here, and he's brought it on himself…'

It was light when Miriam was eventually able to leave and walk home. Lizzie and Beth put the children back in their cots and put a kettle on the range to boil. Lizzie had kept it for heating the water and some cooking even after she'd bought a gas cooker, and now she was glad of it, because the thing you wanted most after a raid was a cup of tea, and the last thing you dared do was light the gas.

‘What a night,' Beth said after they'd drunk their tea. ‘I don't know about you, Lizzie, but I'm going to get half an hour's shut-eye.'

Lizzie nodded but she made no move to follow her friend upstairs. It had been a close thing, the nearest they'd come to being on the wrong end of one of Hitler's bombs. For several minutes she just sat staring into space, tears on her cheeks.

‘Where are you, Sebastian?' she asked of the empty room. ‘I need you so much…'

Lizzie popped round to see Tilly at her home on that Sunday afternoon. She took some fairy cakes she'd made as a present for Tilly's daughter Sally and a pretty dress that she'd run up in the workrooms from a few odd pieces of velvet.

‘Oh, Lizzie, it's so lovely to see you,' Tilly greeted her with a kiss and a big smile. ‘I really miss you at work – and I've been meaning to come and see you about something…'

‘It's lovely to see you too,' Lizzie said. ‘I knew it was your little Sally's birthday soon – I hope I've judged the size of the dress right?'

Tilly ripped the paper off and exclaimed in delight. ‘I know this will fit her and she'll love it,' she said and hugged Lizzie impulsively. ‘Her granny has taken her to the park to see the ducks this afternoon or I'd have tried it on her. It was so kind of you to make this for her.'

‘I enjoyed doing it,' Lizzie said. ‘I had some pink velvet left over that I bought from Arthur Stockton and a few bits of lace – and it's difficult to buy anything new for children in the shops.'

‘My Sally has never had a new dress from the shops,' Tilly said. ‘It's second-hand from the market, unless I have time to make something myself – and it isn't easy to find material like this now.'

Lizzie had made the bodice and skirt of pink velvet, added a wide white waistband and little white sleeves and a lace collar. It would suit Sally's colouring, because she was darker than her mother and took after her father.

They talked for a while about the war and how difficult it was to find anything, and then, after Lizzie had drunk two cups of tea and eaten a piece of fatless sponge filled with strawberry jam, she prepared to leave.

‘I wanted to tell you…' Tilly said, blushing. ‘I think I may be pregnant at last.'

‘You must be over the moon,' Lizzie hugged her. ‘I'm thrilled for you…'

‘Yes…' Tilly hesitated, then, ‘I think Mr Oliver may sack me when he knows, because he won't want me taking time off, and I'm not sure how many hours I'll be able to work in future.'

‘Surely he'll let you stay until you have the baby?'

‘He might – but I was wondering…' Tilly looked awkward. ‘If I only wanted a few hours a week afterwards… would you take me on?'

‘I would've offered you a job ages ago, Tilly, but I didn't think it was fair to Harry's uncle – and I'm not sure I could afford to offer you a full-time position, but a few hours a week would be ideal.'

‘Don't be surprised if I turn up one of these days,' Tilly grinned at her. ‘Knowing me, I'll be as sick as a dog for weeks and Oliver is sure to kick me out if I take days off.'

‘He doesn't know what it's like,' Lizzie said. ‘I remember all too well and it wasn't great, but you know where to come if you want me.'

She left Tilly and walked home. It was a pleasant early summer evening and it felt good to be alive, even though the evidence of war was all around her. Some of the bombed-out houses had been pulled right down and most of the rubble cleared; it wouldn't be long before weeds started to grow between the broken concrete. So many people had lost their homes, but there wasn't the manpower or the resources to rebuild houses, especially as they might get blown up again very soon.

The sound of a siren close by made Lizzie start, because it was still daylight and though there had been occasional daylight raids it was rare. She looked about her, wondering what best to do. Some distance from her home, Lizzie knew she might not have time to get back before the raid started, if it did – but perhaps it was simply a false alarm.

Rather than spend hours down the underground, waiting for the all-clear, she decided to ignore the warning and get home as quickly as she could. Beth was looking after the children to give Lizzie the chance to visit Tilly and she would take them under the Morrison if necessary.

She walked swiftly through almost empty streets as people rushed to take shelter wherever they could. Some of the larger shops had cellars they'd strengthened so that their staff and customers could seek refuge if an air raid should come during working hours, but there were none around here that Lizzie knew of and the shops were shut as it was Sunday. She quickened her pace, wanting to be home.

Lizzie had almost reached her street when she heard the noise overhead and looked up to see the planes swooping over the river and the Docks. She shivered as she heard the sudden explosion as the bombs began to drop and saw flames shoot into the air. It looked as if that one was much closer, in the next street… her street…

A scream building inside her, Lizzie started to run. She saw the damage as soon as she entered the street; it was at the far end, not near her home, although it had looked to be nearer. Appearances were deceiving, but as Lizzie saw the flames leaping up, she kept running towards the scene of the disaster.

The house that had taken a direct hit was beyond help, because it was on fire, but several other houses had been affected by the blast, tiles lying shattered in the street, glass everywhere and a great hole in the side of a house two doors down. Lizzie saw a woman staggering out and a man carrying a child emerging from the damaged building and went up to them.