One Step at a Time (45 page)

‘Yes, darling, that’s exactly how you look. Thank Uncle Ben for doing such a lovely picture for you.’ It warmed her heart to see him with her daughter, because around her, he was more like the Ben they had known before the war.

‘Thank you.’ Grace kissed his cheek, looking happier now her mother had told her the picture was like her. ‘Can I have it in my room?’

‘You tell me where you want it and I’ll hang it for you right away.’ He put her back on the floor.

‘Please. Please.’

They all trooped downstairs, and, after making Ben hold it in place all around the room, it was finally put on the wall next to her bed. Every time she looked at the picture, she giggled.

‘I’ll get Oscar and let him see it.’ Grace tore off to the garden to find the cat.

Ben was shaking his head and chuckling. ‘I’m not sure if she likes it or not.’

‘She loves it,’ Amy said. ‘We’ll be having all the neighbours and children from the street in to see it.’

‘Oh, Lord, yes.’ Mrs Dalton looked at the clock. ‘A couple of them are coming this afternoon, so I’d better make a cake.’

Because the celebrations were still going on, Ted hadn’t bothered to open his shop, so they all decided to have a look at the place Howard had found, except Mrs Dalton, who was already busy with her baking.

‘Off you go,’ she ordered Amy. ‘I’ll look after Grace.’

*

The shop was the other end of the King’s Road from their previous one, and even from the outside it was obvious that it had been neglected for a long time, and was in a dreadful state.

Ben slanted Howard an incredulous glance. ‘You’re joking, right?’

‘Don’t judge it yet.’ He took a key out of his pocket. ‘The owner said if we were willing to spruce the place up, we could have it rent free for the first three months, and cheap for the first year of opening. Wait till you see the space inside. It’s perfect.’

It was a struggle to open the door and, even though Ben was getting his strength back, it took all three men to shift it enough for them to be able to get inside.

‘How on earth did you ever get in to have a look round, Howard?’ Ted was puffing after the effort.

‘I got it open enough to squeeze through.’ Howard began to pace around, his slight limp hardly noticeable now, pointing out the finer points with enthusiasm.

Ted was scratching the bald patch on top of his head and muttering under his breath. Ben was silent, and Amy wide-eyed with disbelief.

‘The place needs pulling down.’

‘Amy, where’s your vision?’ Howard grinned with excitement. ‘Can’t you just picture shelves all along here, and look at the amount of window space. Ben, you go upstairs. There’s huge scope for putting on a special exhibition, if you wanted to.’

Giving the banister a shake, Ben examined it doubtfully. ‘I admit that the sweep of the staircase is impressive, but is it safe?’

‘Of course it is!’ Howard bounded up the stairs and back again to prove the point. ‘Come on, show a bit of enthusiasm. The low rent will give us a breathing space until we get established.’

‘Being in love has turned his brain,’ Ted murmured. ‘The four of us will never be able to lick this wreck into shape.’

‘I heard that, Ted!’ Undaunted, Howard laughed, giving Ben a shove up the stairs.

As he made his way up, they creaked and groaned under his weight, but they felt secure enough. Once at the top, he could see what Howard was on about. He paced the floor, kicking aside the rubbish as he went, imagining what it would look like freshly painted and lined with pictures. He stopped in the middle of the room and felt a stirring of pleasure. Yes, he could do this. Taking a deep breath, he tipped his head back; it was almost as if he were coming to life again. As the months and years in that prison camp had passed, he had withdrawn into himself utterly. It had been the only way to survive. When he had finally arrived home, he had thought the safe familiarity of his old home would rekindle his zest for life. But the people he knew and loved had changed, just as he had, and he knew that nothing was ever going to be the same. He had to start afresh – and he would. He was still having trouble handling
the transformation in Amy. She had grown into a stunning woman, as he had always known she would. The young girl he’d met sitting beside the river no longer existed. In her place there was a mature woman with a young child, and already a widow. She’d loved John completely, and in one cruel night of the Blitz, she had had to face the future without him. Dear God, he wished he had her courage. One look at a blank canvas and he had panicked, terrified he wouldn’t be able to paint again – convinced he couldn’t. It was Amy who had made him realize that he had to accept the changes his experiences had made in him, and in the way he worked. A slight smile touched his mouth. And then there was Grace. He could see her now, standing beside him, accusing, and telling him that he
wasn’t nice
. What a combination mother and daughter made…

‘Ben!’ Howard yelled. ‘What’re you doing up there?’

Realizing he had been standing there for some time, he made his way down again.

‘Well, what do you think?’

Sitting on the stairs and stretching his long legs in front of him, Ben noted his friend’s animated expression, and nodded. ‘It’s a perfect space.’

‘Told you. We—’

‘But’ – Ben held up his hand to stop Howard – ‘Ted is right. This is too big a job for us to tackle on our own. We’ll need help.’

‘How much help, Ben? We can’t afford to employ builders.’

Amy sat down beside Ben. ‘I can help.’

‘So can I.’ Ted gazed around again. ‘It could look wonderful, if the job’s done properly.’

Howard was shaking his head. ‘We can’t take your money, Ted, nor yours, Amy; you’ve got Grace to support.’

‘You could make me a partner,’ Ted suggested.

‘And I’m going to be in this with you, so I must contribute.’ Amy gave Ben and Howard a ‘don’t you dare argue’ look.

‘OK.’ Ben unwound himself from the stairs. ‘Let’s do as much of it as we can ourselves, and see how it goes financially. We’ll use your money only if it becomes necessary. Do you agree?’

Ted and Amy nodded.

‘Good, now that’s agreed, I’ll go and have a word with Stan and see if he’s found a job yet. If he hasn’t, he might be willing to give us a hand. We must pay him a fair wage, though, as he’s got a family to look after.’

‘That’s a wonderful idea.’ Amy had taken a liking to Stan and his family. ‘Do you think he’ll do it?’

‘I can but ask.’

‘I knew you’d all agree, after you’d thought about it.’ Howard was rubbing his hands together and grinning. ‘I can’t wait for us to get back into business again. I’ll go with Ted and see about the lease.’

‘And I must get back to help Mrs Dalton with our afternoon visitors.’ Amy waved as they all went their separate ways.

As Ben made his way to Stan’s, there was a spring in his step. Oh, it felt good to be doing something about a new shop. It was going to be a challenge, and that was just what he needed. He would be working hard and planning for the future – a future many poor devils wouldn’t have.

41

They had hoped to have the shop ready within two weeks, but it was turning out to be a much bigger job than anticipated. In addition to the amount of work needed, there were other delays. Grace had caught chickenpox from the neighbours’ children. She was miserable, itchy and fretful, taking up a lot of Amy’s time. Then Chrissie and Howard had decided to marry as soon as she was demobbed at the beginning of August. As Chrissie had little time to help with arrangements, Howard was always tearing off somewhere or other. Amy hadn’t known that Chrissie didn’t have any family of her own, so with Mrs Dalton’s help they had taken on the role of Chrissie’s parents. Ted was helping at the new shop whenever he could, but Ben and Stan were tackling the bulk of the work.

They would be lucky if they could open in another two weeks, Amy thought as she hurried to the bedroom.

The sight of her darling Grace, sitting up in bed, covered in nasty blister-like spots and looking a picture of misery, brought tears to her eyes.

‘Mummy,’ she wailed. ‘I can’t scratch with these on.’ Her little hands waved around, showing the pink woollen gloves tied securely to her wrists.

‘I know, darling, but you mustn’t scratch; it will only make things worse.’ Sitting on the edge of the bed, she pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the tears from Grace’s face. ‘You’ll soon be better now.’

Her bottom lip trembled. ‘I don’t like staying in bed. Can I get up, please?’

‘How’s my favourite girl?’ Chrissie arrived, looking smart and efficient in her uniform.

‘Auntie Chrissie,’ Grace sobbed, ‘make me better.’

‘Let me have a look at you.’ Winking at Amy, she took hold of Grace’s wrist, pretending to take her pulse, then she examined the spots. ‘Hmm, if you stay in bed for one more day, you’ll be feeling much better by tomorrow.’

‘But I itch.’ Grace’s eyes swam with miserable tears.

‘I have something to ease that.’ She took a bottle out of her bag. ‘We’ll dab this on those nasty spots to make them keep quiet, shall we?’

Grace nodded as Chrissie undressed her, and began smoothing the white liquid over the affected areas.

Amy was having a job to stop her own tears from overflowing; she hated to see her normally happy daughter so unwell. It hurt, but all they could do was let it run its course. There were already signs of the spots drying up.

‘There.’ Chrissie put the stopper back in the bottle and left it on the bedside table. After slipping Grace’s nightdress back on, she said, ‘Does that feel better?’

‘It feels all cold.’ Grace gave a watery smile. ‘And it doesn’t itch quite so much.’

‘Good girl.’ Chrissie stood up. ‘Put some more of that on at bedtime, Amy, and that should help her sleep.’

‘Thanks.’ She smoothed her hand over Grace’s tousled hair. ‘You’re being a very brave girl, so I think a treat is in order. Would you like some jelly?’

‘Yes please, Mummy.’

Collecting a dish of red jelly from the kitchen, Amy returned to Grace and fed her until it was all gone. As her eyes began to close, Amy kissed her gently. ‘You have a nice sleep now.’

‘Ah, she finished it all, then.’ Mrs Dalton gave a satisfied nod at the empty dish.

‘Yes, and she’s asleep at last. The poor little darling had an awful night.’

‘And that means you did, as well.’ Chrissie tapped the chair beside her. ‘Sit down for a while, Amy, you look tired out.’

‘Thanks.’ She sighed with relief. It seemed as if she hadn’t stopped for days. ‘It’s lovely to see you. How much leave did you manage to get?’

‘I’ve only wangled three days.’

‘Have you seen Howard?’ Mrs Dalton asked.

‘Yes, I popped into the shop on my way here.’ Her smile spread. ‘You should have seen the state of them. But through the dust and frantic sawing, the shop is taking shape.’

‘I should be helping, but I can’t leave Grace while
she’s so poorly.’ This had fretted Amy. She hated leaving them to do all the work, but Grace came first in her life. Her grandparents hadn’t been able to come and help because Mildred had never had chickenpox, but as soon as Grace was no longer contagious, they would be here on the first train.

‘Why don’t you go there now for a couple of hours? It’ll do you good to get out of the house for a while. I’ll look after Grace for you.’

‘Oh, would you, Chrissie? I would like to see how they’re getting on.’

‘Off you go, and tell them all to pack up by seven and come home for dinner.’ Mrs Dalton tried to look stern. ‘I don’t want them creeping in at midnight too tired to eat.’

‘I will, but I doubt they’ll take any notice of me.’ Without further delay, Amy grabbed her purse and headed for the bus stop.

The repaired door opened easily now, and they’d even fixed a bell so that it tinkled every time someone came in.

Ben looked up at the sound, rushing forward to shake hands with the man standing just inside the door. ‘Charlie! It’s good to see you.’

‘Stan’s wife told me where I could find you.’

Stan clattered down from upstairs, a wide smile on his face. ‘How are you, mate?’

‘Not too bad, thanks.’

‘Come and meet Howard and Ted.’ After Ben had
made the introductions, he said, ‘We’ve got some beer out the back, so let’s take a break. We deserve one.’

They sat round on boxes with bottles in their hands.

‘You two look better than the last time I saw you.’ Charlie’s smile was amused as he looked around at the mess.

‘Regular meals make a difference.’ Stan took a swig of beer. ‘You don’t look too bad yourself. What have you been up to since we got back?’

‘I’ve been staying with my sister. I would have come a bit sooner, but my old dad’s not been too good.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that.’ Charlie looked slightly ill at ease, and Ben had never seen him like that before. He hadn’t even put down the packet he’d had in his hands ever since he arrived. Even in the camp he’d been sure of himself, brash even. ‘I hope he’s better now?’

‘Yes, thanks, he’s back to his old cantankerous self.’ Charlie took a long swig of beer, and then held out the package to Ben. ‘Er… these are yours. When they moved us out of the camp, you left these behind. I took care of them, hiding them when the march was over, intending to give them back to you. But when we were liberated, things got so chaotic… I grabbed them, but you were nowhere in sight, so I stuffed them in my jacket pocket, and forgot about them in the excitement of getting home…’ He tailed
off, taking another quick drink. ‘I’m sorry, Ben, I never intended to keep them, honest.’

‘If I remember rightly you had special pockets on that jacket of yours.’ Stan grinned. ‘All part of your trade, eh?’

‘That’s my past life. I’m going straight now.’ Charlie watched Ben open the packet.

When the rough drawings spilt out, Ben gasped. His throat was tight with emotion when he saw the pictures he’d done during his time as a POW, and he had to swallow twice before he could speak. ‘Thanks for taking care of them, Charlie. I thought they were lost.’

‘I couldn’t let that happen. That’s a record of the men who were with us, and they’re bloody good pictures.’