The Dover Cafe Under Fire, page 2
Edie snorted, then glanced up at the vicar apologetically. ‘Sorry, Reverend, but I find that hard to believe. Especially as there are so many millions suffering because of this horrible war! I mean, look at us, hiding away in a basement like rats.’
He inclined his head. ‘We all have our own beliefs.’
Just then the all-clear sounded. ‘That was quick,’ Edie remarked. ‘Must have been a false alarm.’ She stood up. ‘I’d better get going. Mr Pearson’s expecting me at the garage early this morning, and to be honest, I’ll be glad to get back. Living with him is so much more peaceful than being at home.’
Reverend Johnson chuckled. ‘Yes, your family has always struck me as rather . . . lively.’
‘That’s one way of putting it,’ Edie laughed as they walked up the stairs and back through the church.
‘You know you can talk to me any time,’ the vicar said kindly as they stood on the church steps.
‘I know. Thank you.’ Impulsively she leant forward and kissed his cheek.
‘Take care, dear.’ She could hear the smile in his voice, then he turned and in the beam of her torch she could vaguely see his white collar bobbing back to the church.
She looked out over the small graveyard. ‘Bye, Dad. Sleep tight.’
It was time to put her sadness aside and get on with what needed to be done. Thank God Christmas was over and they could all go back to normal. Although, she thought, as she heard the drone of aircraft, the first they’d had for a few days, back to normal wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
This time the planes were flying back the other way, and she stopped and looked up at the dark sky. Was that Greg? she wondered, feeling a little sick as she remembered how Lily had discovered her and the Canadian pilot, naked and fast asleep in the basement on Christmas morning. She shuddered with self-disgust.
She should never have slept with him. He was handsome and she’d enjoyed his company, but she was uncomfortably aware that on both occasions they’d been together, she’d not been entirely willing. Somehow, though, he always managed to persuade her. But never again, she promised herself. She wasn’t ready to risk her heart again.
Chapter 2
It was six fifty-five in the morning and Nellie peered down at the market square from the sitting room window above Castle’s Café. There wasn’t much to see on this cold, dark December morning, but she could hear the murmur of voices and see the glow of several cigarettes, bobbing through the darkness like fireflies.
She tutted. Where was the ARP warden when you needed him? If Jasper were here, he wouldn’t stand for that. But then, he wasn’t here, she thought glumly. And who knew when he would be again. He might be awake after three long months in a coma, but there was a long road ahead before he’d be back to his old self – if he ever would be.
Throwing open the window, she shouted down to the crowd, ‘Ciggies out, please. Amount of light coming from your fags, the entire Waffa’ll be flyin’ over quicker than Lou Carter can polish off a pint of whelks.’
‘Oi, watch your mouth!’ a woman’s voice shouted.
‘We’ve all seen you, scoffing ’em down, Lou. It’s a wonder you’ve got anything to sell the amount you eat.’
‘Aw, come on, Mrs C, open up. It’s brass monkeys out here!’ a man called.
Just then the air raid siren wailed around them.
‘See?’ Nellie screeched. ‘Now we’re gonna be stuck in the basement and all because you couldn’t wait to light up.’
Hastily picking up a bird cage, inside which sat a green parrot with bright red tail feathers, Nellie ran downstairs and, leaving the cage on the counter, she went and opened the front door, allowing the small crowd outside to run through the café and into the kitchen, where Marianne, Nellie’s eldest daughter, was busily pouring water into a large teapot.
‘Bring us down some grub, love,’ Lou Carter said as she swept past and Marianne sighed as she went to the pantry and took out a tin of currant buns she’d baked the night before. If her mother couldn’t get hold of more supplies soon, they’d have to stop feeding everyone who sheltered in the basement.
The back door opened and a tall thin woman with grey-streaked blonde hair rushed in.
‘Mornin’, Gladys,’ Nellie said brightly. ‘No need to hurry, love, God’ll look after ya.’ She chortled at her own joke.
‘It’s not me I’m worried about,’ she retorted. She gave Nellie a hard look.
Ignoring her, Nellie turned away to usher the customers down the stairs.
‘Sounds like a false alarm to me,’ someone was saying as Marianne walked in to the large basement, the tin of buns under one arm.
‘You could be right,’ Nellie replied, cocking her head. ‘What do you reckon? Shall we risk it?’
‘I’m not sure, Mum,’ Marianne said. ‘I heard an explosion.’
‘But the walls didn’t shake. I’d lay money on this bein’ one of them damn precautionary sirens,’ a man in army uniform commented irritably.
‘I agree. What say we go back up and get on with the day,’ Nellie replied. ‘Any who don’t like it can stay put.’
As everyone filed back out, Marianne caught her mother’s arm. ‘We’re running low,’ she whispered.
Nellie huffed. ‘What do we need?’
‘Everything.’
‘But I only got stuff a few weeks ago.’
‘And it’s all gone to the tea stand in the caves.’
Nellie sighed. ‘Fine, I’ll see what I can do. But reuse the tea leaves, for gawd’s sake. Amount we get through, anyone’d think we bathed in the stuff.’
‘Oh, silly me, why didn’t I think of that?’ Marianne said sarcastically.
Nellie frowned. ‘No need for that tone, my girl. I said I’d do my best, didn’t I?’
As they went back into the kitchen, Lily, Nellie’s youngest daughter appeared from upstairs, dressed in her nurses’ uniform.
‘Shouldn’t you be sheltering?’ she asked, picking up her cape and swinging it around her shoulders.
‘I could ask the same of you, young lady,’ Nellie said disapprovingly.
Lily shrugged. ‘Matron’ll kill me if I’m late, and it sounds like a false alarm to me.’
‘Get off then, but keep an eye out. Oh, and I’ll be up later to see Jasper,’ Nellie told her.
‘Maybe not today, Mum. Charlie’s coming in to examine him—’
‘Charlie?’ Marianne turned from the range. ‘Won’t that be a bit difficult after you dumped him on Christmas Eve?’
‘I didn’t dump him,’ Lily muttered defensively. ‘I just said I wouldn’t marry him. He’s still my boyfriend.’
‘Boyfriend, my foot!’ Nellie snorted. ‘You turned down a proposal from a doctor who also happens to be an officer!’ She regarded her youngest daughter sternly. ‘And here was me thinking you were the brains in the family.’ She tutted. ‘Anyway, like I said, I’ll be up later.’
‘No, Mum! Jasper needs rest and you’re not very restful.’
‘Stuff and nonsense,’ Nellie responded briskly. ‘What Jasper needs is to be cheered up and fattened up. Here, Marianne, stick a few of them left-over mince pies in a tin, love, and I’ll take ’em up to him.’
As she went back into the café, Lily rolled her eyes at her older sister. ‘Why won’t she listen to me?’
Marianne laughed, pouring out a cup of tea and pushing it across the large table in the centre of the kitchen. ‘Is that a serious question?’
Lily chuckled. ‘No.’ She picked up the cup and took a gulp.
Marianne eyed her curiously. ‘Won’t it be awkward seeing Charlie today?’
Lily sighed. ‘Maybe. I still don’t know if I did the right thing. But . . .’
‘But?’
‘But like I said, he’s still my boyfriend.’
‘Is he?’
‘Yes! Of course he is. He loves me and I love him.’
‘Just not enough.’ Marianne turned to the range and flipped the sausages over.
‘That’s not fair! I’ve got stuff I want to do with my life, that’s all. And marriage would put an end to all that.’
‘Well, I’m sure you know what you’re doing,’ Marianne said non-committally.
‘Any sign of Edie?’ Lily asked. She didn’t want to talk about Charlie anymore. She’d been driving herself mad over Christmas, asking herself if she’d done the right thing and missing him so much, her heart hurt.
‘No. You know where she’s gone, though, don’t you?’
Lily wrinkled her brow.
‘It’s the twenty-seventh of December. Thirteen years since Dad died.’
‘Oh,’ Lily said. ‘I’d forgotten . . . But then, seeing as he wasn’t my dad, and I barely remember him, I don’t think about him at all.’
‘Aren’t you the lucky one,’ Marianne muttered. In truth, though, her own feelings were conflicted. On the one hand, she felt she ought to stand remembrance with Edie, but on the other . . . She had nothing but bad memories of her father and since they’d discovered the existence of a half-brother, she’d decided he didn’t deserve her loyalty. As far as she was concerned, Jasper was their father in every way that counted.
Chapter 3
When Edie returned to the café, the three rows of dark wood tables were crowded and the place was humming with chatter, the air thick with cigarette smoke and the smell of fried food. Most of the customers were dressed in khaki or navy blue, and while some had just finished their night shifts, others were getting ready for another long day of trying to keep the enemy at bay.
Edie put the hyacinth stem in a glass of water and placed it on the small table at the side of the kitchen.
‘Another one?’ Marianne asked as she turned from the range to slide eggs on to a plate.
‘Yup. And today Reverend Johnson told me that blue hydrangeas signify apology. Do you think maybe Mum . . . ?’
Marianne studied the flower for a moment, then shrugged. ‘Maybe,’ she said. ‘But why would she keep it so secret?’
‘Well, as we’ve discovered, Mum’s quite good at keeping secrets. Which is odd, considering she’s always shouting her mouth off,’ Edie said snidely.
‘It’s strange, though. Every spare bit of land’s been dug up to plant veg, so where did she get it?’
Just then, Gladys bustled in. ‘You look like you’ve lost a pound and found a penny,’ she said as she picked up the plates Marianne had just filled.
‘You’ve forgotten as well, haven’t you?’ Edie said.
Gladys stilled. ‘No, I’ve not forgotten. Hard to forget something like that.’
‘You were there when Dad died. Can you tell me what happened?’
Gladys shook her head. ‘Nothing to tell, love – he shot himself with his service pistol. Go and sit down and I’ll bring you something to eat.’
Gladys hobbled out of the kitchen and Edie sighed as she followed her and sat down at the table by the counter – Jasper’s table. Gladys was as tight-lipped as her mother when it came to discussing what had happened that fateful day.
‘Won’t be a minute, love,’ Gladys called over to her. ‘Tea and toast, is it?’
‘Let her get it herself,’ Nellie called. ‘Unless she fancies paying?’ Nellie gave her middle daughter a challenging stare.
Edie glared back, her eyes running over her mother’s lime-green jersey, red skirt and bright pink pinny. Since Jasper had been injured three months before, she’d been wearing more sober clothes, but today it looked like she was back to her old colourful self. ‘Nice outfit, Mum,’ she said sarcastically. ‘The anniversary of your husband’s death, and here you are, dressed for the carnival.’
Nellie crossed her arms over her chest. ‘I can dress how I like. Not as if it makes any difference to him, is it?’
Gladys hurried back into the kitchen, returning with Edie’s breakfast. ‘That’s enough, you two. God knows what’s in our hearts, and it’s not for anyone else to judge.’
‘I bloody hope God don’t know what’s in my heart,’ Nellie said.
Gladys looked at her friend. ‘As do I, Nell,’ she said quietly. ‘But rest assured, he does.’
Nellie looked away. ‘Oh, shut up. Your God-botherin’s been getting worse since the war started. What you do in your own time is nothing to do with me, but don’t bring that nonsense into my café!’
Gladys turned and went to take an order without another word.
‘How can you be so rude to her? She’s one of your oldest friends, and you couldn’t manage without her.’
‘Me and Glad understand each other.’
Edie felt the familiar anger with her mother fizz in her stomach, but there was no point continuing the argument. Especially not in front of so many people.
The bell over the door tinkled and another soldier walked in, rubbing his hands against the cold. ‘Land’s sakes, Mrs C,’ he exclaimed as he walked up to the counter, shielding his eyes. ‘You could have warned us.’
Nellie raised an eyebrow. ‘About what exactly?’
The man’s eyes ran over her, then he shrugged. ‘Nuffin’,’ he muttered, sticking his fingers through the bars of the birdcage that sat by the cash register. ‘All right, Polly. How’s Hitler these days?’
‘Bloody man!’ the parrot responded, turning full circle on her perch and flapping her wings.
The soldier grinned and sat down. ‘By heck, it’s good to be back,’ he said. ‘Colours, parrot and all. Mornin’s aren’t the same without a good nosh-up at the caff before work.
‘Café,’ Nellie responded. ‘This is a café, and please don’t forget it.’
He gave her a brief salute and Nellie smiled in response, before picking up a teacup, which she tapped loudly with a spoon. ‘Listen up, everyone. I have an announcement to make!’
Edie sighed. What now? she thought moodily. On the one hand she was pleased her mother had returned to her usual snippy, colourful self, but on the other . . . God, she drove her round the bend!
Lou Carter groaned loudly. ‘Can’t it wait till after I’ve got me grub, Nell?’ she said. ‘I’m bloody starvin’.’
‘Feel free to leave if you don’t want to hear it, Lou. No one’s forcin’ you to come in here every single bloomin’ day!’
Lou grimaced at her. ‘Nor I wouldn’t, if not for Marianne’s cookin’. This place’d be nothin’ without her.’
Nellie ignored her and continued, ‘So no one’s interested in how Jasper is? The man that’s saved a fair few lives and helped most of you at some point.’
‘Is he awake?’ Lou asked.
‘He is!’ Nellie’s face broke into a broad grin. ‘Woke up Christmas Eve while you lot were all singing along to Vera Lynn at the Oak. It’ll be a long road to recovery, but I’m happy to say that hopefully soon the market square will have its ARP warden back so you, Mr Bulger’ – she pointed at a tall thin man with grey hair and a bushy moustache – ‘can get back to your normal rounds.’
‘Thank gawd for that,’ Mr Burton the cobbler called out, then shot a wary glance at Mr Bulger, whose moustache was bristling with outrage. ‘No offence, but life’s not been the same without Jasper.’
‘You should be grateful there’s folk willing to do the job!’ Mr Bulger exclaimed bad-temperedly. ‘There’s some I could mention what don’t do anything to help the war effort.’
Mr Burton looked outraged. ‘I’ll have you know, I spent Christmas night fire-watchin’.’
‘The fact is’ – Nellie raised her voice and shot a warning look at the two men – ‘Jasper will soon be back where he belongs, sitting at his table and enjoying his grub.’
Edie shook her head. Aside from the fact that he was blind, she wasn’t convinced that Jasper would want to come back to the café. And frankly, she wouldn’t blame him if he never set foot in here again, after the way her mother had suggested he wasn’t part of the family.
‘I’m not so sure,’ Edie hissed as she stood up. ‘Not after the way you treated him.’ She picked up her plate and cup and saucer and went through to the pantry where she dumped them in the sink with a clatter, then took her coat off the hook by the back door.
‘I don’t know how you stand it,’ she said.
Marianne looked surprised. ‘What?’
‘Mum going on day in and day out. And now she’s just pretending that nothing happened between her and Jasper before he got hurt.’
‘Oh, stop it,’ Gladys hissed. ‘Believe me, just cos she don’t show it, today’s no picnic for her either.’ She slammed the empty tray she was carrying on the table. ‘Two more porridges if you please, Marianne.’ She pointed a skinny finger at Edie. ‘You have no idea what that woman has done for you. For all of you. It ain’t been easy, bringin’ you six up on her own and keeping this place going, so in future, maybe you should think about that before you have a go at her!’
‘Sorry,’ Edie replied, feeling ashamed. ‘You’re right, as usual, Gladys. I’ll try to be nicer. But she makes it so hard sometimes. Anyway, I’ve got to get to work. Tell Mum I’ll be back New Year’s Eve.’ She put her tin hat onto her head, picked up her gas mask and stomped towards the back door.
Gladys stared after her with a frown. ‘Why can’t you tell her yourself?’ she called.
‘Because I don’t want to,’ Edie called back, slamming the back door shut behind her.
Chapter 4
Determinedly pushing all thoughts of the morning and her mother from her mind, Edie walked up Castle Street, keeping her eye out for a bus. But as she passed the umbrella factory, her attention was caught by a woman on the other side of the road wearing a brown fur coat and red high-heeled shoes who was struggling down the road with what looked to be a very heavy suitcase.
‘Need a hand?’ Edie called.
The woman stopped and squinted over at her. ‘Wouldn’t say no.’ She made to cross the road towards Edie and was nearly run over by a large black Bentley that was speeding down the hill. She jumped back, her ankle turning as the weight of the suitcase caused her to overbalance and she sprawled onto the ground.
‘Are you all right?’ Edie dashed over to help.
