Towards a Dark Horizon (37 page)

Joe came in a few days before the wedding and as usual he was despondent.

Connie stopped him in mid flow. ‘Och, well, Joe, maybe Mr Chamberlain will get the peace he’s looking for. He’s going to Munich to see that terrible Hitler.’

Joe snorted with derision. ‘Aye, he’ll maybe get a peace deal but what about the rest of Europe? Do we want to abandon them to that dictator?’

‘Well, if it stops our laddies getting killed in another war, then let’s hope Mr Chamberlain will get what he wants. I’m all for looking after number one in this life.’

Joe muttered something under his breath which sounded like ‘Just like a woman’. Then he left with his five cigarettes.

I found this kind of talk depressing and I hoped that Mr Chamberlain would get a peace deal with Hitler – even if the German Chancellor was the toerag that Connie always said he was.

One good thing was the weather. It was not very warm but lovely and sunny – autumnal, in fact. The trees along the Perth Road were a delightful mixture of russet red, gold and brown.

On the evening before the wedding, Mr Pringle ran us to the church for the rehearsal. Mrs Pringle sat in front with her husband while Maddie, Hattie and I sat in the back. Maddie’s uncle was bringing Joy, Lily and Danny and Greg was coming straight from the station.

The church was cool and dim, the wooden pews lying like shadowy masses at each side. There was a smell of old wood and candles and, for some reason, we all began to speak in whispers in this hushed atmosphere.

The minister was standing at the altar and he came forward to shake our hands.

I heard Lily’s high voice saying, ‘Pleased to meet you.’

The Pringles closed their mouths tightly and looked as if they would burst out laughing. I made another mental note to speak to my sister before the wedding with a list of dos and don’ts. Then I realised I was forever making these little mental notes to myself. I would try and relax I told myself – another mental note.

Then Greg arrived. He had been running and was out of breath.

‘Sorry I’m late,’ he said, smiling at the group but he didn’t pick me out for a special glance.

Oh dear, I thought, he must be upset at my not writing.

The minister put us through our paces and it seemed to take forever. If Lily was walking the right way then Joy wasn’t or vice versa but by nine o’clock we all knew our proper moves – at least I hoped so.

We stood in a tight bunch outside the church. It was a lovely night – clear and starry with a sharp coldness in the air – and the weather was to be good for the following day we had heard.

Mr Pringle and his brother were rounding up their passengers. Greg and Danny decided to set off on foot while I went in the car with Maddie and Hattie. I tried to speak to Greg before he went but I didn’t get the chance. As we passed them in the Murraygate, I gave him a wave and although he waved back I felt there was a lack of passion in his hand movement. Danny’s wave had been positively vigorous in comparison. Still, there was nothing I could do until the next day when I would apologise for not writing.

The house at Perth Road was full of people when we arrived, most of them relatives of the Pringle family. After a quick supper, Joy and Lily were despatched to their beds while the rest of us sat around with a glass of sherry.

Maddie’s uncle had come into the house with us where he joined his wife. I gave him a covert glance and wondered if he was still secretly meeting Margot.

‘Thank you both for the beautiful Chinese rug, Uncle John and Aunt Dorothy,’ said Maddie.

Uncle John looked as if he had been drinking something a lot stronger than sherry while Dorothy looked as if she might be missing a bridge night. Life might have been kind to her but her looks hadn’t. Her long gaunt face was devoid of any make-up and the grey suit she was wearing didn’t help her appearance one bit. I wondered if her snooty look was perhaps just a bad habit. Did she wear spectacles? I wondered. If she kept them off in public then that would account for the permanent haughty expression.

After a decent time in her family’s company, Maddie excused herself and we escaped to her bedroom. She was highly flushed from the heat in the lounge and the sherry and she was looking morose.

‘I know I should be overjoyed tonight, Ann, but I can’t stop worrying about the talk of war. If it happens, then all the young men will be called up and that means Danny and Greg.’

This infernal rumour of war, I thought, it intruded into all our conversations and our lives and, if we were all honest enough to admit it, it caused real fear in our hearts. I thought about it all the time but had tried to push it to the back of my mind.

‘Och, maybe it’ll fizzle out, Maddie. Connie says that Mr Chamberlain will bring back a peace treaty and we’ll not be at war with Germany.’

‘The government are issuing gas masks, Ann. Did you know that?’

I nodded. There was no getting away from all the news in the shop. The daily headlines were in my full view every day and I was becoming more knowledgeable about the world situation with each lurid story but, as I had said, I had tried to avoid it – like an ostrich with its head in the sand. Still, one thing was clear – I had to cheer Maddie up. After all, it was her wedding day in a few hours and she shouldn’t be worried like this about a war – whether or not it ever materialised.

I asked her, ‘Are you going away on a honeymoon, Maddie?’

Her face lit up. ‘We’re not going away because Danny has only the three days off work. Now that he’s one of the chief assistants, he has to be in the shop. He has tomorrow, Sunday and Monday off so we thought we would just stay in the flat. Then, later on, if he gets some time off, we will go away for a holiday.’

I tried to visualise what life would be like living with a man all the time and I couldn’t. Was I too independent?

‘Will you be getting married soon, Ann?’

I shook my head. ‘We’ve not made any plans yet.’ I showed her the ring Greg had given me.

She was excited. ‘So it won’t be long till you do get married.’ She turned the ruby and pearl twist in her hand. ‘It’s a beautiful engagement ring, Ann. I wish you would wear it tomorrow.’

I said I would wear it although not on my engagement ring finger. No, I wouldn’t wear it there – at least not until I saw Greg. A shiver ran up my spine as I recalled how distant Greg had been and the cool glance he had given me.

I awoke the next morning to a cacophony of sound and golden autumn sunrays streamed through the window. I lay for a moment, unable to remember where I was then it all came back as my senses slowly wakened. It was Maddie and Danny’s wedding day and it was here at last.

There was a delicious smell of frying bacon coming from the kitchen and I realised how hungry I was. I dressed quickly and hurried downstairs. Joy and Lily were sitting side by side at the large wooden kitchen table. Joy was picking at a bowl of porridge while Lily was tucking into a plate of bacon, sausages and egg.

A plump woman stood at the cooker and I remembered that Hattie had said Mrs Pringle had hired her for the weekend to do the cooking and housework to allow Hattie to have the weekend off for her son’s wedding. The woman looked up. ‘Breakfast, Miss?’

I nodded. ‘Please let me help you with it.’

I made the toast and tea while she put the food under the grill. As she turned to speak to me a large splodge of porridge hit her on her chest and dribbled down her spotless overall. Although she said nothing, she glared at the culprit – Joy.

I was at a loss myself. I couldn’t possibly chastise my hosts’ child. Then she did it again. I heard my voice before I gathered my wits about me. ‘Joy, stop that. Now say you’re sorry to the lady.’

Joy was taken aback with my sharp voice. She gave me a black look but she did say, ‘Sorry, Mrs Patterson.’

I sat down with my plate and it was a very chastised little girl who faced me but I could see she hadn’t liked my getting on to her.

After breakfast as they ran out into the garden to play I heard Joy say to Lily, ‘You’ve got a right old dragon of a sister, Lily.’

Lily stopped dead in her tracks. ‘No, I don’t, Joy Pringle – I’ve got the best sister in the whole world, so there.’

Mrs Patterson grinned. ‘You’ve got your fan club in that wee lassie.’

Before I could reply, Maddie and her mother appeared. They didn’t want any breakfast and I felt like a gigantic glutton with my piled-up plate.

Mrs Pringle was fretting about the flowers. ‘They should be here by eleven o’clock Maddie and I hope they’re not late. The hotel phoned last night and thank goodness they have everything under control. The flowers for the table arrangements were delivered there last night so that gives them loads of time to do that and it’s the same with the flower arrangers at the church.’

I felt quite faint by all this talk of flowers and I thought I should be pulling my weight here instead of sitting eating a huge breakfast. ‘Can I do anything to help, Mrs Pringle?’

She smiled. ‘No, thank you, Ann. I think everything is in order but my ankles are beginning to swell up and I hope I can get my new shoes on.’

‘Why do you not go and have a rest and put your feet up? When the flowers arrive, I’ll let you know.’

‘Do you know, Ann, that’s exactly what I’ll do.’ She set off for the lounge which was now bathed in warm sunshine.

The flowers didn’t arrive till twelve o’clock by which time the entire household was going daft. In fact, Mrs Pringle was actually on the phone to the florist when the man arrived at the door with them.

Maddie’s bouquet was lovely. It was done with white flowers mixed with a sprinkling of pale lemon blossoms while the bridesmaid and flower girls’ posies had blue and lemon flowers in them. Mine was identical to theirs but slightly larger. There were also three circlets of flowers for our heads, again in blue and lemon flowers.

Then it was time to get dressed. I had a bath. The water was perfumed with Maddie’s bath crystals and I felt like a princess. Afterwards I dressed in Maddie’s bedroom while the girls were in Joy’s. Maddie stayed in her parents’ room until the car arrived to take us to the church.

When she came out, the effect was breathtaking. Although I had seen the dress in the department store, it now looked so much better with the addition of a filmy veil and a white flowered headdress.

Her father stood at her side and I could swear he had tears in his eyes but maybe it was merely a trick of the light.

Lily and Joy were like little dolls and I was delighted by my appearance. The deep blue of the dress went well with my dark hair and the circlet of flowers matched exactly the ones on the girls’ heads.

Mrs Pringle came with us and we left the bride alone with her father to await the bridal car. It was traditional for there to be a ‘scramble’ when the bridal car set off for the church. This involved the bride’s father tossing a couple of handfuls of low-denomination coins to the local children who would each do their utmost to pick up as much money as they could. In anticipation of this, a horde of children waited patiently in the street for Maddie and her dad to emerge from the house and head for the car. They were not disappointed. As the chauffeur drove off, Mr Pringle scattered a generous amount of money out of the car window. In their eagerness to collect the coins, some of the smaller children seemed oblivious to the possibility that they might get run over but the older ones had seen it all before and made sure this didn’t happen.

At the church, loads of spectators had gathered. Everyone, it seemed, liked a wedding to look at. We stood inside the porch and I heard the rousing strains of the church organ. Suddenly I was filled with the sense of the occasion that had been missing. Up until that minute, I had been slightly cynical of all the religious trappings of a wedding but, now, in this lovely church, I felt overcome and touched by the solemnity of the building.

Then Maddie arrived. The organ soared into the ‘Wedding March’ and we began our walk behind her down the long aisle. I saw heads turning and gasps of excited breath. Ma Ryan and all her family sat beside Granny and Grandad. On the opposite side sat all Maddie’s relations and friends. All had gathered there to witness the marriage of Maddie and Danny.

Standing at the altar were Danny and Greg. I thought they looked nervous but they both also looked so handsome in their dark suits. I don’t think I had ever seen Danny looking so smart and good looking as he was that day. His red hair, normally so bouncy, was slicked down but I knew it wouldn’t last like that for long. Before the day was over, it would be like a red halo around his head.

It was then that I realised how much I really loved him. Oh, not in the sense that Maddie loved him but more like a sisterly feeling of love. My mind flashed over all the years we had known one another – all the help and support he’d given me – and I knew then that we were truly grown-up. Our childhood lives were behind us.

Then he glanced at Maddie and all the nervousness left his face. He smiled at her and she responded with such a wonderful look of love that I just knew they would both be very happy always. He glanced at Lily and Joy and gave me a grin but his special look was for Maddie and that was how it should be.

Greg hadn’t turned as I stood beside the bride and I became anxious. Something was amiss and, whatever it was, I had no doubt I would soon find out – nothing was surer. I glanced at my ring which I wore on my right hand. I had hoped that Greg would perhaps place it on the left hand at the wedding meal but now I wasn’t so sure. But, for now, I let the minister’s words wash over me and the voices of the congregation rose with the sound of the organ playing ‘Love Divine’.

Then it was over – far too soon, I thought. We found ourselves out in the autumn sunshine with the crowds of spectators peering through the railings. There were more photographs here and I knew it had been planned that others would be taken at the hotel.

I was in the car with Maddie’s parents and her mother was crying. But it was tears of joy, she said – just tears of joy.

The garden at the hotel was a wonderful kaleidoscope of autumn tinted trees and banks of gold, bronze and crimson chrysanthemums. We posed for more photographs against this backdrop. Lily took her role so seriously and did all the things she was told by the photographer and the sun shone on all the proceedings.