The Price of Love (15 page)

‘Of course I do, I’m not blind. I like the way you’ve kept it secret between the two of you,’ she added quickly. ‘You don’t want any interference from me but I’ll tell you this, Lucy, I couldn’t wish for him to take up with anyone nicer.’

Lucy smiled politely. She wanted to tell Berky that there was nothing serious between them but she didn’t think that this was the right moment to do so because it might put a dampener on the festive occasion. She thought of Barry as a friend, nothing more, and she hoped he felt the same way about her.

At the moment she didn’t want anything to change. She and Sam had found a place to live that was comfortable; she enjoyed Berky’s company and appreciated all the countless things she did for them that made their lives so much easier.

Sam was making a decent living from his shoe cleaning and she intended to look for a better job now that they were settled. In fact, it was her New Year resolution; the very first thing she planned to do in January 1923.

Later on when they were on their own, she mentioned what she had been planning to Sam and he seemed relieved. ‘I agree that it’s about time you stopped charring and washing up dirty dishes and found yourself an office job,’ he told her.

‘I don’t know if I can manage that,’ Lucy said dubiously. ‘I thought perhaps I might get a job as a shop assistant or even work as a Nippy at the Lyons Corner House.’

‘Becoming a Nippy is not much better than what you’re doing now at the hotel; you would be on your feet all day, don’t forget, and that can be very tiring.’

‘I wouldn’t be up to my elbows in scummy water, though. I rather fancy one of those smart little black and white caps and a black dress and white frilly apron.’

‘It wouldn’t suit you,’ Sam teased. ‘You look your best when you are sitting at a switchboard wearing headphones.’

‘Those days are gone,’ Lucy sighed. ‘You can’t turn the clock back, you should know that. We’d all be doing it if we could.’

‘Since we moved in here we have become rather complacent, though, haven’t we?’ Sam sighed. ‘The trouble is Berky spoils us. She does so much to make our lives comfortable that we’re not making much effort to do better.’

Lucy frowned. ‘I thought you were very happy with things as they are?’

‘I am, that’s the trouble. In the summer I was determined to extend my hours and I still haven’t done so. I thought that if I went back again in the evening, say about six or seven o’clock, I might pick up trade from people coming over to Liverpool for a night out. Men who’ve dashed home from work and rushed to get ready to go out and completely forgotten about polishing their shoes.’

‘It’s possible,’ Lucy agreed. ‘Leave it until after Easter, when the nights are lighter and the weather’s not so cold.’

Two weeks into January Lucy had a letter from Barry to say he would be on shore leave early in February.

He’d also written and told his mother, so all they could talk about in the evenings was his forthcoming visit.

‘I wish he’d said how long he’d be home for,’ Berky fretted. ‘I wonder if he will be here for St Valentine’s Day.’

‘Why on earth does that matter?’ Lucy asked.

‘Well, you never know what might happen; it’s the time when there’s romance in the air, now isn’t it?’ Berky murmured, raising her eyebrows at Lucy.

Lucy smiled non-committally. She hoped Berky wasn’t getting silly ideas about her and Barry. Lately she had been talking a lot about how she was looking forward to Barry getting married. She’d even gone on about how lovely it would be to have grandchildren.

‘As far as I’m concerned, Barry is simply a very good friend and there is no romantic involvement on either side and I intend it to stay that way,’ Lucy told Sam.

As it turned out Barry’s leave was a very short one. ‘Don’t worry,’ he told them when his mother looked so woebegone. ‘I’ll be back again before you have had time to miss me. We are only going across to Holland this time so we should be back shortly after Easter, and I’ll be home on leave again, probably before the end of April.’

‘Well, I suppose that’s something to look forward to.’ Berky sighed. ‘In some ways it would be nice if all your trips were short ones and we could count on seeing you a bit more. Don’t you agree, Lucy?’ she asked archly.

In the weeks leading up to Whitsun at the end of May, Berky regaled Lucy and Sam with details of all the Bank Holiday treats she and Barry had enjoyed in the past.

‘One of his favourite outings was to go to Bidston Village. It’s just outside Birkenhead and there is a lovely hill there; if you climb right up to the top, you can see all over Liverpool,’ she told them, her blue eyes shining.

‘So is that where you want to take him for a day out when he comes home at Whitsun?’ Sam asked.

‘He’d certainly love to go there but I know Lucy has set her heart on a trip to New Brighton.’

‘Perhaps we could do both,’ Lucy said quickly. ‘On Whit Sunday we could go to Bidston Hill and then on the Monday go across to New Brighton.’

Berky could hardly wait to tell Barry what they’d planned when he arrived home. And her face registered disappointment when he shook his head.

‘Sorry, Mam, but I have to leave on Whit Monday; we sail at midday. We can still have our outings, of course. We can go over to New Brighton on the Saturday, if that’s all right with Lucy and Sam, and to Bidston Hill on the Sunday.’

‘That’s settled, then. On the Monday we can have a nice day at home. I’ll roast a joint of beef so that you have some good food inside you before you sail.’ She smiled. ‘Sam and Lucy will come and eat with us and we’ll give you a good send off.’

‘That’s our entire holiday weekend taken up with going out with them,’ Sam grumbled when he and Lucy were alone. ‘I was thinking of working on Saturday – it’s all right, I’ll come with you instead, if that’s what you want me to do,’ he added quickly as he saw the frown on Lucy’s face.

‘A couple of days off will do you good. All the offices will be closed so I don’t suppose many people will be worrying about having their shoes shined,’ she told him.

It was a bright sunny day on the Saturday and they set off for New Brighton around mid-morning. Lucy was wearing a crisp, blue cotton dress with a scooped neckline and dropped waist and a wide-brimmed hat to keep the sun from her eyes.

‘You’d better take a coat of some sort,’ Berky told her. ‘It can be quite chilly crossing the Mersey and it might get cold again before we come home. You can always carry it, if you get too warm.’

‘Stop fussing, Mam,’ Barry laughed. ‘I can see you’re well wrapped up, thick skirt and blouse and a scarf as well as a top coat, so you should be roasting,’ he teased.

‘It’s better to be safe than sorry; I don’t want to catch a chill and I can always take my coat off and carry it, if I’m too hot,’ Berky told him as she pulled on her gloves ready to leave.

As they made their way down to the Pier Head the sun was warm but there was quite a keen breeze and Lucy was glad she had a coat. The crossing was choppy and as the
Royal Iris
ferry boat rolled, Barry laughed at the expression on her face and told her that she’d have to get some sea legs if she wanted to be a sailor.

‘I prefer to be on dry land,’ she told him. ‘The sooner we get to New Brighton the better.’

‘We’ll be getting off any minute now,’ Barry affirmed as the boat began to slow down and manoeuvre into position alongside the pier landing stage.

All four of them walked along the promenade and then when Berky felt tired they sat in one of the shelters watching people go by and admiring all the pretty dresses and smart hats that the women and girls were wearing. Lucy wondered how she would feel if Robert and Patsy sauntered by and if it would upset Sam at all if they did.

Barry took them to one of the cafés on the Ham and Egg Parade and they all had fish and chips and mushy peas for their midday meal, followed by a pot of tea.

‘I thought you were going to take Lucy to the funfair,’ Berky stated as they emerged on to the promenade again and made their way down on to the shore where there were deckchairs for hire. ‘Go on, don’t worry about me, I’ll be happy enough sitting here watching all the folks in their finery parading by and the children having donkey rides on the sand.’

‘Coming, then?’ Barry asked, holding out a hand to Lucy who looked enquiringly at Sam.

‘I’ll stay here with Berky,’ Sam told her, settling into a deckchair, stretching out his legs, and making himself comfortable.

Barry didn’t give Lucy time to argue; taking her arm, he hurried her along King’s Parade in the direction of the Tower Ballroom where there was a large fairground with countless rides and side-show attractions of every kind.

They even went on the Wilkie’s Safety Aerial Railway and Lucy was so nervous that she kept her eyes tightly shut most of the time.

They had rides on the roundabouts, in tiny metal chairs that swung out right over the heads of the crowd, as well as in the swing boats until Lucy felt dizzy. Barry showed off his prowess in the shooting booths and they came away armed with a large cuddly teddy bear which Barry had won on the coconut shy and which she insisted he must give to his mother.

He wanted to stay longer but Lucy was worried that Sam would be fed up and so she insisted they ought to get back and take Berky and Sam for a cup of tea.

‘There’s a live band and dancing at the Tower Ballroom tonight,’ Barry said as they sat in one of the cafés on the promenade refreshing themselves with a big pot of tea and a plate of toasted teacakes. ‘Would you like to go, Lucy?’

‘Go on, my Barry’s only got a couple of days’ leave so he wants to make the most of it. Me and Sam will sit and listen to the band for a bit and then when we get tired of doing that we’ll go home,’ Berky said as Lucy shook her head.

Lucy was well aware that Berky was doing all she could to throw her and Barry together and although she enjoyed his company very much she didn’t want things between them to become serious.

‘I’m not wearing the right sort of dress or shoes for dancing,’ she prevaricated.

Neither Barry nor Berky would accept this so, in the end, she gave in and said she would go dancing after they’d taken another stroll along the promenade. Berky and Sam said they’d decided not to stay on any longer but would go home, and they’d see them both later on. Lucy wished she could persuade Sam to come dancing so that perhaps he would meet someone.

‘Now don’t rush; if you’re enjoying yourselves, stay until the dancing ends. There are bound to be late boats to get folks back to Liverpool and I’ll leave the door on the latch so you can stay out as long as you like,’ Berky insisted.

It was Lucy’s first visit to New Brighton’s Tower Ballroom and she found the immense dance hall with its wonderful lighting, beautifully painted ceiling and sprung parquet floor impressive.

She felt she was in a dream as she circled the floor and wished she was in Robert’s arms, not in Barry’s. Finally, they danced the last waltz and left the ballroom and made their way to the pier to catch the ferry boat home. It was such a beautiful star-studded night that she found it hard to bring herself back to reality.

They went up on to the top deck of the boat and stood together by the rail watching the lights of New Brighton recede and then the lights of Liverpool gradually come into full view. When Barry took her into his arms and began kissing her, she found herself responding; it was all part of the magic of the night.

Berky was still up when they arrived home, her sharp eyes inquisitive as she studied their faces when they came in. Lucy declined the cup of tea she had waiting for them and quickly made her way up to her room. She didn’t want to ruin her delightful memories of the evening by talking about it and she certainly didn’t want to analyse the growing empathy between herself and Barry.

Lucy slept late; it was half past ten when she finally got out of bed and she would have stayed there even longer, only she knew Berky was looking forward to their trip to Bidston.

Berky already had a cold lunch on the table and as soon as they had eaten they set off. They took the ferry across to Birkenhead, then a tram as far as Bidston Village.

‘It’s about half a mile from here to the hill,’ Berky told them. ‘Then it’s a steady climb because it’s almost three hundred feet high. It’s the highest point hereabouts. There’s an observatory up there, and a windmill and a lighthouse, although that hasn’t been in use for years.’

All four of them were exhausted, especially Sam, by the time they reached the top so they sat down on the short grass to get their breath back and to admire the expansive view.

‘I can understand why I’m out of breath,’ Berky puffed, ‘but you young ones shouldn’t be.’

‘It’s all the dancing we did last night,’ Barry laughed. ‘We barely sat down all evening.’

Like Sam, Berky seemed to find going down more difficult than climbing up the hill. ‘I think you’d better let me take your arm, Barry,’ she said as her feet slipped and stumbled on the descent.

‘Come on, then, Mam.’ He stopped and waited for her but before she could reach him she slipped and, the next minute, she had collapsed in a heap on the ground and was crying out with pain.

Both Lucy and Barry rushed to her side but when they tried to get her up on to her feet again she shook her head and tears rolled down her cheeks.

‘I can’t stand, I can’t put my weight on my leg,’ she gasped.

Sam took off his jacket and made a cushion of it and they helped her to sit back down again. Very gently Lucy ran her hands down Berky’s leg and looked concerned when Berky not only winced but cried out for her to stop.

‘I think it might be broken.’ Lucy frowned, looking up at Barry worriedly.

‘Let me see.’ He knelt down beside his mother and gently felt her leg and nodded in agreement.

‘What are we going to do now? How are we going to get her home?’ Lucy asked.

Barry shook his head. ‘Her leg is going to need fixing so we’ll have to take her to hospital.’

‘How are we going to do that? We certainly can’t carry her,’ Sam pointed out. ‘What we need is an ambulance.’