The Dover Cafe Under Fire, page 20
‘Quite right too,’ Hester said mildly. ‘I don’t deal with them backstreet butchers. There are other ways. Anyway, I thought this might cheer you up.’ She held up a bottle of wine with one hand and a corkscrew with the other. ‘Go on, have a coupla glasses while you’re getting ready for your concert. You’ll feel better in no time. Might not feel so great in the mornin’, but then I imagine you don’t anyway.’
‘Thanks, Hester. This is exactly what I need.’ Edie reached for the bottle eagerly.
‘I’ll leave you to it then. Have fun tonight and don’t do anythin’ I wouldn’t do,’ she said with a throaty laugh as she left the room.
Edie pulled the cork out with a pop and raised the bottle to her mouth, taking a hefty slug.
‘Edie, whatever she’s suggesting, it’s a really bad idea,’ Lily said urgently.
Edie took another gulp, then wiped her mouth, handing the bottle to Lily. ‘I’ll do what I have to. And nothing you can say will make me change my mind.’
Chapter 36
Marianne hummed happily as she walked up the stairs to get changed for the New Year’s Eve concert. She and Reenie had had a good chat that afternoon and for the first time in days she was feeling a little brighter. And the more she thought about her decision not to attend Mr Fanshawe’s funeral, the better she felt about it. She’d done a lot of thinking over the past couple of days, and the words that kept going round and round in her mind were Hester’s. Treasure this time, cos he’ll be grown in the blink of an eye, an’ he won’t be interested in his mum no more. It had made her realise that if Donny inherited half the business, the family would try to take over. Maybe send him to one of those posh boarding schools rich people were so fond of. And then she’d lose him. He’d change, become one of them. He might even become ashamed of his humble roots. There was no amount of money in the word that would be enough for her to risk that. Especially now.
‘Someone’s looking better,’ Hester remarked as she came out of her room. She was dressed in a bright yellow blouse that Marianne recognised as belonging to her mother and a blue skirt she’d got from the WVS; she’d smeared red lipstick over her mouth and her yellow hair was carefully curled and pinned, disguising the dark roots.
‘I’m feeling much better, thank you.’
‘I suppose it’s the thought of seeing your handsome young man that has put the roses back in your cheeks. If only I were twenty years younger . . .’ Hester grinned.
Marianne laughed. ‘I’m glad you’re not. I bet you were a looker back then.’
‘I didn’t get many complaints. Now, I’ve left a little present for you girls in the room, so you better hurry in and get your share before it’s all gone.’
‘Where are you going?’
‘Things to do, people to see.’ She winked and tapped her nose as she tripped past Marianne in her red high-heeled shoes. ‘Oh, and Happy New Year, love,’ she called, glancing round and blowing a kiss.
In the bedroom, Lily and Edie were already dressed. Edie in a green dress with a peplum skirt and Lily wearing her favourite red dress. ‘You two look like Christmas,’ she said.
‘And you will be the sugarplum fairy.’ Lily gestured at the lilac chiffon dress that she’d laid out on Marianne’s bed.
Marianne smiled. It was the dress she’d worn to marry Alfie, and also the one she’d been wearing at the dance when he’d first kissed her.
‘No complaints?’ Lily asked.
‘Nope. Alfie loves that dress and I want him to find me irresistible tonight.’
‘I don’t think you need the dress for that,’ Edie remarked, taking a swig from the bottle of wine.
Lily took it from her and handed to Marianne. ‘You better have some of this before Edie drinks it all.’
Marianne took the bottle and sniffed. ‘Ugh, no thanks,’ she said, wrinkling her nose.
Edie snatched it back. ‘All the more for us then.’ She took another healthy gulp.
Lily rolled her eyes. ‘Rate you’re going, you’ll have passed out by midnight.’
‘Here’s hoping.’
Marianne looked questioningly at Lily, who just shook her head.
Edie put the bottle down and took a last look in the mirror, patting her hair, which Lily had pinned up for her, and pinching her cheeks. ‘I suppose I better go meet Greg then,’ she said with a heavy sigh.
‘You don’t sound too happy about it,’ Marianne remarked as she pulled her sweater over her head.
‘I’m not,’ Edie said abruptly as she left the room.
‘Poor old Edie,’ Marianne said. ‘She’s really going through it at the moment.’
‘Aren’t we all?’ Lily said, thinking of Charlie and the fact that she had no idea where he was or if she’d see him again. He’d only been gone a few days, but it felt more like a year. She knew she could manage without him, but oh, how she wished she didn’t have to.
*
‘That you, Edie?’ Nellie called as Edie walked past the sitting room door.
Edie gritted her teeth. ‘How did you know?’ she asked, leaning on the door jamb. Her mother was wearing her purple dress with red flowers and a half-full glass of sherry sat on the table beside her.
‘Cos you come down the stairs like a baby elephant,’ Nellie said. ‘Marianne’s footsteps are soft like a cat, while Lily’s are like the pitter-patter of rain.’
‘Thanks very much,’ Edie said moodily.
‘I happen to like baby elephants,’ Nellie said. ‘So get that look off your face and come and have a drink with me.’ She held up a glass, but Edie shook her head.
‘Can’t,’ she said shortly, before carrying on down the second flight of stairs.
Nellie sighed heavily. Every year, she made the resolution to somehow make it up to her daughter for everything that had happened, but Edie could be as prickly as a cactus and as distant as the moon, and she had no idea where to even start. When she’d mentioned it to Jasper that evening, he’d laughed. ‘Only way to bridge a gap with Edie is to take her hand and coax her across as though she’s a frightened dog. And you ain’t got the patience. Talk to Glad, maybe she can help.’
But there was no way she’d be speaking to Gladys about this. Not ever.
*
Outside, the streets were full of happy people; some were already drunk – a bit like her, Edie thought as her head swam. But frankly, she wasn’t nearly drunk enough. And now she had to face Greg. She burped and winced as acid burnt her throat. The wine had tasted bitter and metallic to her, but she’d hoped it would at least bring her to a point where she no longer cared about anything. But no such luck.
She turned into Snargate Street and walked towards the large arched doorway of the Hippodrome Theatre, where she slipped through the blackout curtains. The foyer was dimly lit, and as it was still an hour before the concert was due to start, there weren’t many people around. Through the door that led to the auditorium, she could hear the piano playing and someone was singing ‘Auld Lang Syne’. Just then a trumpet joined in and she went and peered down through the empty seats.
Alfie stood in the middle of the stage in his usual pose – back arched, head back, feet tapping – and Edie felt a surge of affection for him. He was such a lovely man; Marianne really was lucky. If she could find someone half as nice as Alfie, then she’d be doing well.
‘Hey, beautiful!’
Edie jumped as a hand snaked round her waist and someone kissed her on the neck.
‘God! Don’t scare me like that,’ she snapped, turning into Greg’s embrace.
He grinned down at her, his bright blue eyes sparkling as he bent and kissed her lips, and Edie felt a flash of annoyance.
‘Did you miss me?’ he murmured.
‘No,’ she answered truthfully.
But rather than taking offence, Greg just laughed. ‘You’re lucky I know you don’t mean that,’ he said.
‘I do mean it,’ Edie replied, emboldened by the wine.
A flash of anger passed over his face, then he grinned. ‘Feisty as ever, I see. Maybe you can put some of that aggression to good use later.’ He winked suggestively and Edie resisted the urge to smack him. ‘Let’s go and find a seat.’ He went to take her hand, but Edie avoided him.
‘Let’s go downstairs to the bar. We might be able to get a cup of tea or something.’
Greg grimaced. ‘You know I hate damn tea,’ he grumbled. ‘I thought maybe we could find a seat at the back.’ He bent and whispered in her ear, ‘You know you want to.’
‘Is that all you’re after?’ she asked tartly.
‘No, of course not.’ Greg looked offended.
‘Then let’s have a drink. I’m sure they’ll have beer.’
He sighed heavily as she led the way downstairs where they took a seat on a couple of barstools.
Edie turned to Greg. ‘I think we need to talk,’ she said.
Greg raised an eyebrow. ‘Uh oh, that sounds serious.’
‘The thing is . . .’ Edie began, trying to pick her words carefully, unable to meet his eye. ‘I think—’ But before she could say any more there was a loud crash that made the room shake, the light swing and flakes of plaster drop on to the bar in front of them.
Edie let out a squeal of alarm and dropped to the floor. Greg followed her, putting his arm around her protectively as the lights went out.
‘That felt as though it was upstairs,’ Edie exclaimed, her voice shaking.
‘I think it was,’ Greg grunted.
‘Oh God, Alfie’s up there!’ Edie stood up and began to feel her way towards the stairs.
Vaguely, she heard Greg shout out, ‘Edie! Get back here. There could be another one at any moment.’
But Edie ignored him. As she reached the foyer, a frantic voice yelled, ‘Everybody out!’
Where just moments before the place had been almost deserted, now it seemed full of people rushing around and no one noticed her as she made her way to the auditorium and started to stagger down the aisle, the dim beam of her torch wobbling in front of her. Briefly someone caught her arm, but she managed to shake it off as she continued on, dust tickling her nose and throat. The lights flickered back on, and blinking against the glare, Edie saw that the piano seemed to have fallen through the stage. Beside it, a man was sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms around his head, as though trying to shield himself from the falling rafters. She looked up and saw a jagged hole through which the stars were faintly visible.
‘Turn the bloody lights off!’ a man shouted. ‘Or do you want to show ’em where to drop the next one!’ Immediately they were plunged into darkness again.
Chapter 37
‘We’re off, Mum!’ Lily said, leaning on the sitting room door. ‘Last chance to join us?’ She didn’t like the thought of her mother sitting in alone on New Year’s Eve.
‘No. Me, Ethel and Phyllis’ll be popping into the Oak later to see Mavis. Not sure there’ll be much celebrating though,’ Nellie said grumpily. ‘This next year’ll be worse than the last. Mark my words.’
‘Maybe we’ll join you after the concert,’ Lily said.
‘You do that, love. And make sure Edie enjoys herself, won’t you? The poor girl needs some cheering up, what with this business with Mr Pearson.’
‘We’ll do our best. Try not to worry about her.’
‘I worry about all of you,’ Nellie said. ‘After the last war ended I thought that at least my children wouldn’t have to go through all that. And now look . . . If anything it’s worse.’
‘Oh, Mum. We’re fine. Honestly.’
Nellie smiled a little. ‘For now, love. For now.’
‘Bye then, Mum,’ Marianne said, pulling on Lily’s arm and shaking her head at her. They didn’t have time to indulge their mother’s maudlin mood right now.
As they hurried out of the café, they were aware of voices and shouting around them. For a moment, across the road in the rooms above Perkins’ Fish, Marianne spotted a chink of light and a couple of heads outlined against it. ‘Oy!’ She ran over and gestured up towards them. ‘Shut the bloody curtains!’
The light disappeared abruptly and she sighed. ‘Honestly, you’d think those boys would’ve learnt by now,’ she said.
‘Give ’em a break. Don was desperate to come to the concert tonight to see Alfie play.’
‘Yes, well, he can’t always get what he wants. The Hippodrome’s no place for a young boy. The amount of strippers they’ve had there recently . . . Bert tried to get Alfie to go to see some the other night. Flamin’ cheek.’
Lily laughed and dragged Marianne back along the pavement. ‘Even if he’d gone, you know you don’t have anything to worry about with Alfie.’
‘Even so, I don’t like the thought of him ogling naked women.’
A droning overhead made them stop abruptly. ‘Oh Jesus,’ Lily whispered. ‘Can’t they give us just one night of fun?’
Within seconds the noise seemed to be right overhead, and as the air raid siren started to screech, there was a crash as the plane released its stick of bombs.
The explosion made their ears ring, and around them people started to shout and run for cover. Marianne and Lily looked at each other in alarm. ‘Was that over Snargate?’ Marianne whispered.
‘I don’t know, but it sounded bloody close.’
They began to run down King Street, while above, the solitary plane turned and flew back across the Channel towards France.
By the time they reached the theatre, the place was crawling with rescue workers and ARP wardens. The street seemed relatively unscathed, but the fact that so many people were focusing on the Hippodrome made Marianne’s heart leap with fear.
She ran up to the man guarding the entrance. ‘Where did it drop?’ she screamed. ‘Tell me! Did anyone see where?’
‘Northampton Street. Other side.’
Marianne gasped. The back entrance to the theatre was on that street, and, she knew, that was the side where the stage was situated – the stage and the dressing rooms where the performers changed and waited to make their appearance.
‘Let me in! My husband’s in there!’ she screamed.
‘Sorry, love. It’s not safe. Get to a shelter and wait for the all-clear.’
Marianne tried to dodge around him, but he caught her arm and swung her out into the street.
‘I said no!’
Lily pulled Marianne back. ‘He’s right,’ she said. ‘Come on, over here.’ She led her sister to the other side of the road, where a crowd had gathered.
‘That you, Marianne, love?’ a voice said. It was Ethel Turner.
‘Mrs Turner, could you look after her, I’m going to help – they’ll need people to give first aid,’ Lily said.
‘No!’ Marianne wrenched her arm away. ‘I am not standing here doing nothing when Alfie might be lying dead under a pile of rubble!’ Her voice broke and she ran back to the entrance, dodging past the warden, who was busy holding others back, and disappearing inside.
Lily followed after her. ‘I’m a nurse,’ she said breathlessly. ‘I can help.’
He nodded and allowed her to pass and she ran into the dark foyer. With her torch beam waving in front of her, she could see Marianne standing in the doorway to the auditorium. ‘Alfie!’ Marianne screamed, her voice cracking.
Lily joined her; it was completely dark inside, the occasional flicker of a torch all that could be seen.
‘Marianne, go back,’ she said gently. ‘I’ll find him.’
But Marianne ignored her and disappeared into the darkness.
Chapter 38
In the brief moments that the lights had been on, Edie had spotted Alfie kneeling beside a man lying in front of the stage. ‘Alfie!’ she called over to him, training her torch in his general direction.
‘Edie? Get over here. I need some help.’
Edie picked her way carefully towards him, trying not to breathe in too much dust, and knelt down beside the man, who was groaning and grasping at his crotch.
Alfie thrust a wad of cloth at her. ‘Press it against his groin,’ he shouted. ‘We’ve got to stop the blood. I’m gonna help over there.’
Edie took the cloth and trained her torch on the man on the floor. A dark stain was spreading over the front of his trousers, and quickly she unbuttoned his fly and, seeing that there was a long, deep cut at the top of his thigh, she pressed down on it as hard as she could.
‘Aargh! Get your hands off me!’ the man shouted, his voice high and shrill.
‘Oh, shhh. I need to stop the bleeding,’ she admonished.
‘Christ!’ he groaned, lying back on the floor. ‘To think I need to be bleedin’ to death before I can get a pretty girl to touch me.’
Despite the situation, Edie let out a short laugh. ‘Must be your lucky night.’
‘Ain’t it just.’ Despite his humour, though, the man was shaking with pain and shock.
‘It’s all right. Take a deep breath,’ Edie soothed, forcing her voice to stay calm, even though her heart was hammering and her armpits were damp with sweat.
Someone touched her shoulder and she squinted up, just making out Greg’s face in the torchlight. ‘Jesus Christ, Edith. Don’t leave me in the middle of an air raid! You coulda been killed!’
‘I’m fine,’ Edie said through gritted teeth. ‘But I think help’s needed over there.’ She nodded in the direction Alfie had gone.
Greg kissed her quickly on the head. ‘All right. But wait for me outside when you’re done. Don’t disappear again.’
Edie returned her attention to the soldier; her arms were trembling with the strain of pressing down on the wound and her throat was stinging from the dust. From somewhere, she could hear people groaning. A man shouted out, ‘Rosie Lockwood, are you safe?’
A woman’s voice called back. ‘I’m safe. Meet me outside.’
‘And they say . . . romance is . . . dead,’ the soldier gasped, attempting to laugh, but then falling back with another groan.
‘Lie still. You’ve lost a lot of blood so you need to conserve your energy.’
