Moonlight and Ashes (6 page)

Even so, more evacuees began to drift home and slowly the classrooms filled up again.

They were almost at the end of January when the storms struck. Torrential rain and gales swept across the country, and Maggie began to feel like a prisoner in her own home, for Lucy had come down with a terrible hacking cough and she didn’t dare to venture out with her.

Mrs Massey and the rest of the neighbours made sure that she had everything she needed and Maggie wondered how she could ever thank them.

‘There yer go, me gel,’ Mrs Massey puffed as she placed the meagre rations on the table one bitterly cold Thursday morning. ‘Though how far four ounces o’ butter will go between five of yer to feed I dread to think.’

‘Thanks, Mrs Massey. You will stay for a cup of tea, won’t you?’ Maggie offered gratefully.

‘Well, are yer sure as yer can spare it?’ the kindly neighbour asked uncertainly.

Maggie laughed aloud. ‘I hardly think one cup of tea is going to make much difference, do you? It’s the least I can do for you after how good you’ve been to me over the last couple of weeks. I dread to think what I would have done without you. Now come on, take that wet coat off and get over by the fire.’

Mrs Massey shrugged her plump arms out of her sodden coat, and hanging it over the wooden clotheshorse, she obediently crossed to the fire and held her hands out to the comforting blaze. They were still able to get coal, which was one blessing at least.

‘So how’s the little ’un doin’?’ She glanced at Lucy who was fast asleep under a blanket on the settee.

‘Not so good, to be honest.’ Maggie carefully measured two spoons of tea into the heavy brown teapot. ‘I had the doctor out to her the other night and he gave me some medicine, but it doesn’t seem to have done much good up to now. If anything, I think she’s worse.’

When Mrs Massey placed a hand on the child’s brow, she frowned. ‘Poor little mite is burnin’ up!’ she exclaimed, and much to Maggie’s horror she promptly whipped the blanket off her and rolled up her sleeves.

‘Get me some cool water in a bowl,’ she ordered. ‘We need to bring her temperature down. The way you’ve got her wrapped up, she’ll be cooked in no time.’

Something about the tone of her neighbour’s voice made Maggie hurry away to do as she was told. Soon Mrs Massey had the child undressed down to her Liberty bodice, and as Maggie looked on with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, she began to sponge the child down. Lucy whimpered and tossed her head from side to side, but Mrs Massey spoke soothingly to her until she was satisfied that she was a little cooler.

The excited chatter died on the twins’ lips when they entered the room some time later to see their baby sister lying limply across the settee. They saw at a glance that their mother had been crying and looked from her to Mrs Massey in dismay. As usual in times of uncertainty, Lizzie shrank into Danny’s side, her eyes huge in her small face.

‘What’s up wi’ our Lucy then?’ Danny tried to control the tremor in his voice as best he could.

‘She’s poorly, love, but don’t worry. Mrs Massey is tryin’ to bring her temperature down and we’ve sent for the doctor. He should be here in a minute. Now come to the table and have some of this stew I have ready for you, then I want you to both go upstairs till the doctor’s been.’

‘But Mam, it’s cold up . . .’ The words died on Danny’s lips as he saw the stark terror in his mother’s eyes, and in that moment he knew that Lucy must be very poorly indeed.

‘Come on, Lizzie.’ Suddenly the little man of the house, he began to peel his sister’s coat from her thin arms and usher her towards the table. ‘Let’s get us tea an’ then we’ll have a go at that jigsaw we had for Christmas, eh?’

Maggie’s heart swelled with love as she looked at him, and once more the striking difference in the twins’ nature was brought home to her. Danny was like a little rock, whilst Lizzie was timid and shy. Nevertheless she loved them both equally, and as for Lucy . . . As she stared down into the flushed little face a cold hand closed around her heart. How would she cope if anything happened to her? If anything happened to any of them, if it came to that? But Lucy was special. Had always been special, from the moment she had first held her in her arms. Once again, the urge to break down and cry was on her, and Maggie wished with all her heart that she could run away and hide from the mess that her life had become.

What seemed like a lifetime ago now, she had thought that her future would be with David. They had been courting, but then they had gone to a party at his mother’s house one night and Maggie had got tiddly, which hadn’t taken a lot, for she had never been much of a drinker. Sam, who had never made a secret of the fact that he fancied her too, had also been at the party, and as the night wore on he had plied her with drink. She had danced with both David and Sam, and as her mind grew more and more befuddled it had got harder and harder to tell them apart. One thing had led to another until eventually she had followed who she thought was David upstairs.

The next morning, she had been appalled when she woke up lying next to Sam, and even more appalled weeks later to discover that she was pregnant. Sam had almost broken his neck to tell David what had occurred and for a time, Maggie had felt as if she would die of shame. Especially when she found out that whilst she had been lying in bed with Sam, David had been out all night, scouring the streets for her. He and her parents had been frantic with worry. Her initial reaction was to have nothing more to do with Sam after the way he had tricked her, especially when David offered to marry her anyway. But then she had looked at Sam, and decided that he had a right to bring up his own child. It wasn’t as if she and David had been engaged or anything, after all. And so they had married and all had been well - until she gave birth to the twins. It was after that that Sam had begun to change, for he couldn’t cope with the fact that Maggie and David remained friends. His jealousy reared its head once more, and Maggie came to realise then that, although the two men were like a matching pair from the outside, they were totally different in nature. However, as her mother was soon to point out, she had made her bed and now she must lie on it. And lie on it she had done ever since, though not a day passed when she didn’t regret her choice. Still, she told herself now as she looked down on her little daughter’s flushed face, it was no good crying over spilled milk. What was done was done and the time for regrets was long past.

Lucy’s fever finally broke during the night. By the following morning, although still deathly pale, she was more herself and Maggie offered up a silent prayer of thanks. As long as her children were well and all together she knew that she could cope with anything that life cared to throw at her.

‘Thought any more about getting the little ’uns away yet, have yer?’ Ellen asked.

Maggie’s face became as black as the thunderclouds that were crashing overhead. ‘You know I won’t do that, Mam. There’s no point. Mrs Massey hasn’t long since brought Carol and Tony back home, as you well know. We haven’t been bombed an’ I have no intention of sendin’ my children away just for the sake of it.’

‘All right, all right, keep yer hair on. I was only askin’,’ her mother retorted.

Hearing the tension between the two women, the twins glanced at each other nervously. Seemed like everyone was in a bad mood nowadays, though for some reason their mam and dad didn’t seem to be arguing so much lately, so that was a good thing at least. Not that their dad was there for much of the time. Most nights he would come in from work and after tea he would get ready and clear off to the Three Shuttles in Howard Street. And they did still have their Saturday matinées at the Palladium to look forward to, though even that was tinged with wartime stories on the newsreels now.

Raising their eyes, they shrugged before bending their heads across the homework that their teacher had set them to do. Grown-ups were very hard to understand at times.

 

At last the weather began to improve as winter gave way to spring, and the people of Coventry felt their spirits begin to lift. Rationing was still a problem, but up to now the city had not been bombed and they were beginning to feel more optimistic.

‘I heard on the wireless that Vivien Leigh has won an Academy Award for her role as Scarlett O’Hara in
Gone With the Wind
,’ Mrs Massey informed Maggie as they pegged the wet clothes to the washing line they shared in the back yard.

Spitting a wooden clothes peg from her mouth, Maggie grinned. ‘I can’t say as I’ve ever been a big theatre-goer but I shall definitely be goin’ to see that when it comes to the Rex in June.’

‘Well, I’m pleased to hear it. They reckon that new cinema is the bees-knees. You don’t go out enough fer a young woman, if yer was to ask me. An’ yer know you only have to ask an’ I’d babysit fer yer at the drop of a hat.’

Mrs Massey couldn’t have said a better thing and Maggie beamed at her kindly neighbour. Lately she was feeling a little happier, and it showed. There was something else making her smile too, though she hadn’t broached what was on her mind to Sam yet. She had noticed that more and more women were going back to work, most of them in munitions factories. The government had decided to give women equal pay to the men for the duration of the war, and Maggie was toying with the idea of applying for a job herself. That is, if she could find someone to care for Lucy and the twins when they got in from school. Now here was Mrs Massey offering to babysit any time. And of course, her mother would help out too, she was sure of it. The money she earned would make all the difference to the way they lived.

Both Danny and Lizzie were desperate for new shoes. Lizzie’s school skirts were well above her knees and Danny’s school trousers had been patched so many times that she was ashamed to put them on him now. But if she went back to work, that wouldn’t be a problem any more. She was tempted to tell her idea to Mrs Massey there and then but decided against it until she had spoken to Sam. Unfortunately, Sam was old-fashioned and believed that a woman’s place was at the kitchen sink. Well, fine, let him think that. This time she was determined to get her way for once - and
damn
what Sam said.

Hands on hips, she watched the wet sheets flapping in the breeze with a broad smile on her face. It was so nice to be able to dry the washing outside again, after all the months of having it hanging around from ceiling lines and over the clotheshorse in the kitchen.

‘Penny fer yer thoughts, gel?’

Maggie jumped then giggled as she snatched up the large wicker washing-basket. ‘I was just thinking what a lovely day it is,’ she replied, then swinging about, she went merrily back into the kitchen leaving Mrs Massey to scratch her head in bewilderment.

That night, as Sam sat at the side of the empty fireplace reading his newspaper, Maggie plucked up her courage and asked, ‘How would you feel about me going back out to work?’

Had she smacked him in the mouth he couldn’t have looked more shocked as he stared at her, his mouth hanging slackly open.

‘
You
. . . go back to work?’

Although Maggie’s heart was fluttering like a caged canary she stood tall as she stared back at him. ‘Yes,
me
go back to work. What’s so strange about that? Dozens of women from hereabouts have already done it. They’re crying out for women workers at most of the factories at present.’

‘An’ what were yer thinkin’ o’ doin’ wi’ the kids?’ he sneered.

‘I’ve already thought of that,’ she retorted, her head held high. ‘Me mam an’ Mrs Massey will have them between them. I’ll slip them both a bit out of me wages each week an’ then they’ll feel the benefit of me workin’ an’ all.’

‘Forget it,’ he snapped, as his eyes drifted back to the newspaper. It was obvious that he thought the conversation was over, but Maggie had other ideas.

‘No, Sam, I won’t forget it - not this time. This is something I really want to do. I read the newspapers too and it seems that things could get a lot worse before they start to get better. I want to do me bit just like dozens of other married women are doing.’

For the first time in their married life Sam was speechless as he gazed back at her. Not once had Maggie ever defied him in anything, but on this point she seemed determined.

‘Carry on then if yer so set on it,’ he mumbled. ‘But you’ll soon see which side yer bread is buttered on, you just mark me words. I’ll give yer a week in a factory an’ you’ll be only too pleased to come back to bein’ a full-time wife an’ mother.’

Maggie struggled to hide a smirk of satisfaction as a wave of excitement snaked through her. She had no doubt at all that she would earn every penny she made, but on a brighter note she would also have a measure of freedom for the first time in years. Grinning from ear to ear, she slipped out into the lane of back-to-back terraced houses and hurried over to her mother’s to tell her the good news before Sam had the chance to change his mind.

 

The very next day, once Maggie had got the twins off to school and settled Lucy with her grandma, she set off through Swanshill and headed towards the city in her search for a job. It was a bright morning in late March and the sky was blue with fluffy white clouds. It had been a while since she’d ventured far from home, and Maggie was shocked to see the shelters that had sprung up everywhere. On the old bowling green in Bird Street a trench shelter that could house up to 642 people had appeared. Another trench shelter that would hold a further 306 people had taken the place of the tennis courts in Swanswell Park. She had heard about them from various friends and neighbours, but somehow actually seeing them brought the war ever closer.

The sight made Maggie’s blood run cold, and some of the pleasure was suddenly gone from the day as she headed towards the city centre.

 

On 9 April, word swept through the Courtaulds factory where Maggie was now working that Hitler had invaded Denmark and Norway. The women gazed fearfully at each other before bending their heads to their work. Maggie fleetingly wondered where David might be but then pushed him firmly from her mind. From now on, Sam and the children were the only ones that she would allow herself to worry about.