Читать книгу Far From Home - Anne Bennett - Страница 9

Kate knew that if this antagonism her mother had for Sally was to abate, even slightly, then surely Christmas was the time to build bridges and heal wounds. Though she doubted that Sally would want to return to Ireland to live, she knew she hated being on such bad terms with their parents. And so Kate wrote her mother a long letter and mentioned Sally a lot and said how helpful she was and how mature she was becoming and told her that she was enjoying her work as an usherette at the cinema and hoped it would help thaw her mother’s anger a little.

Sally thought the same way as Kate did, and was more than glad of the tips she was getting, which had increased slightly as Christmas drew nearer, because the extra money meant she was able to buy her mother the softest cardigan in pale blue and a rugged navy blue jumper for her father and a spinning top for James. She packed them up with a card in plenty of time, but she never had any acknowledgement that they had even been received.

Philomena did write to Kate, though, and thanked her for the presents she had sent: a pair of warm slippers for both parents and a small toy horse and cart for her brother. Other news in the letter sent consternation running through Kate, though, and she couldn’t wait to get to the tram stop that morning and discuss it with Susie.

It was the day before Christmas Eve and the first thing Susie said as they got on the tram was, ‘Has Sally heard anything from your mother?’

Kate shook her head. ‘I did hope that Mammy would relent with Christmas approaching,’ she said. ‘After all, Sally has paid back nearly all the money she took and she has said how truly sorry she was, still is, and she also sent them lovely presents.’

‘There’s always tomorrow,’ Susie reminded her friend.

Kate shook her head. ‘I think that she would have heard before this. Mammy sent me a long letter inside the Christmas card telling me all the news and when I had read that for a moment or two I wished I hadn’t.’

‘Why?’ Susie cried. ‘What on earth did she say to you?’

‘She told me that Tim is walking out with a girl called Maggie Mulligan,’ Kate said miserably, and added, ‘Maybe you might remember Maggie? She was about our age.’

Susie thought for a minute and said, ‘Wasn’t she the girl whose plaits were always coming unravelled?’

‘That’s the one,’ Kate said with a rueful smile. ‘The schoolmaster used to say that by the time the bell rang at the end of the day she looked as if she’d been pulled through a hedge backwards. Anyway, I would imagine she has full control of her hair now.’

‘And you say her and Tim are walking out together?’ Susie asked, but she spoke gently because she knew how Kate still felt about her cousin.

Kate nodded dumbly and then said, ‘I could almost feel Mammy’s relief because that’s it, really, isn’t it? When you walk out with someone in Ireland you are almost committed. Maybe you remember that?’

‘A little bit, I do,’ Susie said, with a brief nod. ‘But really—’

‘And added to that,’ Kate said a little bitterly, ‘Maggie is a farmer’s daughter, like me, but her father has no sons and Maggie is the eldest and so, once married, Tim will eventually have control of the Mulligan farm as well as his own. That will be the reason he has behaved like this.’

‘Like what?’ Susie said. ‘In all fairness, he has done nothing wrong.’ And then as Kate made no response, she went on, ‘Ah, come on, Kate, you accepted that you had no future together when you came to join me in Birmingham. And I can quite understand your mother’s relief, can’t you?’

Kate sighed and nodded. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Course I can, because it is so final now. Mammy said that Aunt Bridget is very relieved too, because he had shown no interest in any of the girls around until now. But he did say to me once that he wanted to get married one day and have children, ideally a son to take over the farm after his day.’

‘Oh, farmers set great store by that,’ Susie said. ‘You wrote and told me how cock-a-hoop your father was when James was born, and I saw that for myself when I went on holiday that year. He was only a few months old and you would think him the greatest child that had ever been born.’

‘Oh, yes, our parents were very like that at first,’ Kate agreed. ‘And I understand that Tim might have designs that way too, but do you think he has forgotten already the passion I know we shared.’

Susie had never really known Tim well, and she only had Kate’s version of the forbidden love that they had never even spoken of. So she didn’t really know whether with Tim it was ‘out of sight out of mind’, or that he still had a lingering love for her best friend, but she knew what she wanted to hear. So she said, ‘I doubt either of you will ever forget that, because for both of you it was a heady first love, but you could do nothing about it. Tim has accepted that and moved on.’

‘As I must do,’ Kate said. ‘That’s what you’re saying, isn’t it?’

‘What I am saying, Kate,’ Susie said firmly, ‘is I want you to take life in both hands and learn to live it to the full, or else you will exist in some sort of half-life, wishing things had been different.’

Kate had no time to answer because the tram had pulled up at their stop and they were soon surrounded by workmates. It was as they made their way home that she had any free time alone with Susie again and, as if there was some sort of tacit agreement between them, Susie kept off the subject of Tim Munroe and asked Kate instead about her sister and Phil, the trainee projectionist.

‘Did you mention this “Great Romance” to your mother?’

‘I did not,’ Kate retorted. ‘I said not a word about it because that would have blotted Sally’s copybook right and proper. I’m sure Mammy thinks that she is about seven years old, certainly not old enough to have an eye for the boys.’

‘Be fair,’ Susie said. ‘It is only the one boy she has the eye for.’

‘I know,’ Kate said. ‘And maybe I am worrying unnecessarily, but it is very intense at the moment, I think.’

‘But they are working nearly every night.’ Susie protested.

‘Ah, but you see they have two days off in the week, don’t forget, and they do their level best to try and wangle to have the same days off,’ Kate said. ‘And another thing, one of the girls upstairs said she was sent home from work bad last week, and as she was going up the stairs a young man passed her. I mean, we know everyone in the flats, and knowing that Sally was probably on her own, she watched where he was going. And he knocked on our door and she said Sally was obviously expecting him because the door opened very quickly and she said Sally greeted him very affectionately.’

Susie smiled. ‘I suppose you asked her about it?’

‘I surely did,’ Kate said. ‘And she freely admitted that Phil called for her most mornings. She had not a whit of shame or embarrassment about it at all, and said that she hadn’t bothered to mention it to me because she didn’t think it was important, and then went on to say that in case I had any other spies in the streets that this Phil walks her home at night too. In fact, she said he will not allow her to walk home alone.’

‘He has a point,’ Susie said. ‘It could be dangerous for her because it’s late when she finishes and you get all types on the streets these days.’

‘Yeah,’ Kate said. ‘I agree that could be dangerous, but being alone with a young man in the dark of the night is just as worrying, in my opinion.’

‘She is a young woman with needs of her own,’ Susie said. ‘And it isn’t bad to want someone special in your life. It’s what everyone wants deep down, isn’t it?’

Kate didn’t answer and Susie went on: ‘Don’t you want a home of your own, a family of your own one day?’

‘I suppose.’

‘Well, why don’t you get to know other men? Give them a bit of encouragement. You might be pleasantly surprised.’

‘You’re talking about David Burton, aren’t you?’

‘Not particularly,’ Susie said. ‘But at least you like him a bit, don’t you?’

‘Course I like him, but liking isn’t loving, is it?’

‘Maybe not, but it’s a good starting point,’ Susie said. ‘And I dare say with a bit of effort on your part you could grow to love David Burton.’

‘I thought we were discussing Sally,’ Kate said.

‘Well, if you ask me, Sally is doing all right,’ Susie said. ‘She has certainly grown up a lot in the short time she has been here and she is having fun and enjoying herself and where’s the harm in that?’

‘I know but—’

‘But nothing, Kate,’ Susie said. ‘Look, we are only young the once and you are letting your life float past.’

‘I’m not,’ Kate protested. ‘We’re out tonight, aren’t we? And it’s a Christmas dance, with spot prizes and everything. So how can you say I am letting my life float past? And I never seem to be short of partners at the dances – you have to agree with that.’

She was right too, but Susie said, ‘I know, Kate, but sometimes it is nice to have someone special.’

‘I don’t feel the need for anyone special just now,’ Kate said dogmatically. ‘But if David Burton asks me up, then I will dance with him.’

‘He’ll ask you all right,’ Susie said assuredly. ‘But you won’t dance with him exclusively, will you?’

‘I doubt it,’ Kate said.

‘If he asked you to just dance with him, or to dance with him most of the time, then would you?’

‘Give over, Susie.’

‘What’s the matter with you anyway?’ Susie demanded. ‘The way you are going on you’ll end up a crabbed old maid.’

That made Kate smile, and, as the tram pulled up at their stop, she said, ‘All right then, I’ll think about it, now stop nagging me. Anyway, how about going down the Bull Ring tomorrow?’

Susie knew that Kate was trying to change the subject. She was a dab hand at doing that, and she could be aggravatingly stubborn at times. ‘Well, do you or not?’ Kate demanded. ‘Surely you’re not sulking because I can’t be filled with lustful passion at the mere mention of David Burton’s name?’

Even Susie had to smile at that, and Christmas Eve in the Bull Ring was not to be missed, especially if it fell on a Saturday as this did, and so she said, ‘All right then.’

‘You can help me choose some little thing for Sally for Christmas,’ Kate said. ‘Whatever she says, she is bound to feel it, the first Christmas away from home. I know we have been invited to your house for dinner again this year, but I’d like her to have something to open when she comes home from Mass.’

‘Oh, you’re on,’ Susie said as they alighted from the tram. ‘I love choosing presents for people. Anyway, see you later.’

‘Yeah, I’ll be up about half seven,’ Kate said, and with a wave they went their different ways.

Kate had planned what she was going to wear that night, having bought a dress from the Rag Market the previous week. She’d tried it on at home so that Sally could see it. She valued her sister’s opinion because she knew all about fashion from watching all the stars on the screen. Sally was really enthusiastic about the full-length silk dress in the softest pink. Apart from the ruffles at the neck, the dress was plain and sleeveless; it fell in shimmering folds to the floor.

‘Oh, Kate, that’s so gorgeous,’ Sally enthused.

‘Do you really think so?’

‘I know so.’

‘Susie thought I should have something with a fuller skirt to accentuate my waist. She had one like that with little grey and black flowers all over it, with big butterfly sleeves. It’s ever so pretty.’

‘So is that,’ Sally said. ‘You look like a Grecian goddess – only someone as slim as you could wear a dress like that.’

‘That’s what the woman on the stall said,’ Kate said to Sally. ‘She said she thought she might have had it left on her hands.’

‘I’m not surprised,’ Sally said. ‘It would look awful on someone my shape, and I don’t think even Susie could carry it off.’

‘If you’re sure then?’

‘I am,’ Sally said. ‘The only thing is – unless you are dancing every minute – your arms might get very cold.’

‘Oh, no, I’ve got this to wear after I’ve taken my coat off,’ Kate said, and withdrew a silver fur stole from another bag. ‘It’s artificial,’ she said. ‘But in a way I prefer that.’

‘Yeah, I know what you mean,’ Sally said. ‘But that settles it really. Kate, you will be the belle of the ball.’

‘Don’t be so silly,’ Kate said, colouring at the unaccustomed praise. But it did mean that that night she could dress with confidence, knowing that she looked good, and she did cause a bit of a stir when she went into the dance and she saw David’s eyes widen in appreciation. She smiled at him as he approached and put two hands on her shoulders as he said, ‘Kate, you look beautiful, absolutely stunning.’

She couldn’t be anything else but pleased, any woman would feel the same, but the gesture did not go unnoticed. It was like a stamp of ownership – many of the other men were aware of this and so gave Kate a wide berth. She noticed, but she liked David too much to want to upset him, and he had made no secret of how he felt about her. So David got his heart’s desire as Katie danced almost exclusively with him. He knew she would rather dance with him than not dance at all, and especially as the band were playing much of the swing music seeping over from America, performed by people like Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey and, of course, Glenn Miller.

And David was a superb dancer and a proper gentleman and very attentive, and it was as they were taking a well-earned breather that he said, ‘Nick and Susie seem to be getting on all right.’

‘Yes, yes, they do.’

‘We could do the same.’

‘What?’

‘You know, get on better,’ David said, and Kate heard the tentative eagerness in his voice.

‘I don’t think we could get on better,’ Kate said, looking into David’s deep brown eyes. ‘We get on very well now, but that isn’t the same as loving someone.’

‘I know that,’ David said. ‘But I have enough love for both of us.’

Kate smiled a grim smile and shook her head. ‘I don’t think it works like that.’

‘Look,’ David said, deciding to lay his cards on the table. ‘Tomorrow night, Nick is taking Susie with him to see the pantomime of Sleeping Beauty at the Hippodrome in the town.’

‘Oh,’ Kate said – she loved pantomimes. They were such fun and very Christmassy. Susie had taken Kate to see Cinderella the first Christmas she had been in England, and she had been amazed because she had never seen anything like it. Plays of any sort were sparse in Donegal, but plays where the Prince Charming that Cinderella falls in love with is actually a girl and the old stepmother really a man was out of her understanding. When she found that the audiences were encouraged to boo the baddies and cheer the goodies, she had been astounded. She had soon got into the spirit of it, however, and had been as vocal as everybody else. She had a sudden longing to do it again.

‘Point is,’ David continued, ‘I will be at a loose end and so will you, and it is Christmas Eve, so I was wondering if you wanted to see the pantomime as well. As friends,’ he said, holding up his hand. ‘Scout’s honour.’

A smile dimpled Kate’s cheek and David felt as if his heart had stopped beating. ‘You are a fool, David, and I’d love to go with you, but I’d better say no,’ she said, but had to bend her head so that she couldn’t see the disappointment that flooded his face.

‘Kate,’ David said, ‘I’ve never asked you this before, but is there someone else?’

Kate thought of Tim, the man she had given her heart to but who would soon belong to Maggie Mulligan, and she shook her head. ‘No,’ she said quietly.

‘Then, why not come out with me?’

Why not indeed? said the little inner voice inside her head. I’m not agreeing to marry him just because we watch a pantomime together. ‘All right then,’ she said. She saw relief light up his eyes as she added, ‘Though I doubt we’ll get tickets for tomorrow night’s performance at this late stage.’

‘No,’ David said. ‘So it’s a good job that Nick and I bought the tickets a fortnight ago.’

Kate stared at him in shocked surprise. ‘You were very sure of yourself,’ she remarked

‘Oh, no,’ David said with a heartfelt sigh. ‘I wasn’t sure at all. I just hoped you’d agree.’

‘What if I’d refused?’

‘Then I would have given them away,’ David said. ‘I mean, I could hardly go and sit beside Nick and Susie on my own. I’d have felt right awkward.’

Kate knew he would and she thought she had made the right decision. She was even more certain of this when David took her hand and led her on to the floor for the Last Waltz. She went willingly and felt they fitted beautifully together, but when David held her close and she felt his heart banging in his chest, she felt quite protective towards him and didn’t fully understand why.

It was when she went to retrieve her coat at the end of the night that she saw Susie again, and then she took in her friend’s slightly dishevelled appearance and she knew what she had been doing with Nick. Susie, however, was more interested to learn that Kate had eventually agreed to go out with David. ‘At last you realize that the man hasn’t got three heads.’

Kate laughed. ‘I never thought he had,’ she said.

‘And maybe when you go out with David you will find yourself bowled off your feet,’ Susie continued.

‘And maybe I won’t.’

‘Well, you do as you please,’ Susie said, ‘for I intend to enjoy myself; and, so far, this Christmas is shaping up to be one of the best I have ever had.’

Kate had never actually been on a date before and she dressed with care. She seldom bought much for herself, but she had seen another snip of a bargain in the Rag Market earlier that day when she had gone in with Susie, who urged her to buy it. And so she was wearing a calf-length dress in muted shades of blue when she opened the door. The dipped neckline was edged in lace, the skirt was full from the nipped-in waist and the butterfly sleeves were the height of fashion; again David thought she looked stunning and knew he would be proud to be seen walking out with her.

He had also made an effort, and he too looked incredibly smart. Kate noticed the cuffs of the pure white shirt peeping from the sleeves of his tailored overcoat and the smart tie at his neck. She also saw his light brown and rather unruly hair had been tamed and darkened with Brylcreem. His smile was so wide it lit up his whole face and made his eyes sparkle for he was hardly able to believe that Kate had at last agreed to go out with him and he held out the flowers with hands that shook slightly.

Kate blushed as she took the flowers from him and that just made her ever prettier. ‘Oh, David,’ she said, ‘what a lovely surprise!’ and she asked him in while she found water. When she disappeared into the little kitchenette, he took the opportunity to look around the room. ‘You have it nice,’ he said when she returned with the flowers in a vase.

Kate wrinkled her nose. ‘Bit small now,’ she said. ‘Though it was all right for one, it’s cramped now my sister lives here too.’

‘She must be company for you, though.’

‘Not really,’ Kate said. ‘She’s seldom here in the evenings because she works as an usherette in the Plaza. And to be honest, I never envisaged her living here at all.’

‘Oh?’ David said, his eyebrows arched in enquiry.

‘Oh, I’ll tell you the whole tale as we go,’ Kate said. ‘We’re meeting Susie and Nick at Stockland Green and we had best be off now or we’ll be late.’

So, as they walked together that cold, frosty night, Kate didn’t object when David linked her arm and pulled her tight against him as she told him of Sally’s flight from their farmhouse in Donegal. ‘And she had told you nothing about what she intended?’ David asked.

‘No, not a hint of it,’ Kate said. ‘She was waiting for me when I came home from work. I thought our parents would have her back because she wrote and said how sorry she was, but they won’t.’

‘So you’re stuck with her?’

‘That’s about the strength of it,’ Kate said.

‘You must get on all right,’ David said. ‘I do nothing but fight with my brother, Lawrence. There would often be wigs on the green if we shared a place.’

‘We don’t argue much,’ Kate said. ‘But then with different work patterns we don’t see that much of each other.’

‘And does she like Birmingham?’

Kate nodded. ‘She loves it,’ she said. ‘She loves her job and the fact she has money in her pocket, which in itself is quite a novel experience, and she can’t get over all the entertainment there is for her to enjoy when she does have time off. But I think, most important of all, she’s become very friendly with the trainee projectionist at the cinema, and I definitely don’t think she would like leaving him.’

‘Isn’t she rather young for that?’

‘Probably,’ Kate said. ‘But what can I do about that?’

‘Not a lot,’ David agreed. ‘What about her elder sister?’

‘What do you mean?’ Kate said, though she knew full well what David was getting at. And then, with relief, she saw Susie and Nick waiting at the tram stop and she said, ‘Come on, let’s hurry. It’s too cold to stand for long in this weather,’ and the opportunity to talk further was lost.

In the interval, Susie and Kate headed off to the Ladies’, and Susie barely waited till the door shut behind them before saying, ‘Well?’

‘Well what?’

‘Come on, Kate. I‘ve been dying to ask you.’

‘Ask me what?

‘Don’t be stupid,’ Susie snapped. ‘You and David, of course.’

‘What about me and David?’

‘You know,’ Susie said. ‘You looked ever so lovey-dovey to me when you arrived at the tram station earlier.’

‘It seemed sensible. It was cold, that was all.’

‘And was it sensible of him to buy you a whole box of chocolates?’

‘No,’ Kate said. ‘That was far from sensible. I didn’t expect him to do that and he is very generous, but I know what it is to truly love someone.’

‘D’you know?’ said Susie. ‘I’m not sure that you do. It might not be love that you feel for Tim Munroe at all, but infatuation, probably made all the sweeter because you knew from the start he was unobtainable.’

Kate stared at Susie and Susie knew she had hit home. For the first time she saw doubt flit across Kate’s face as she digested Susie’s words and wondered if there was an element of truth in them.

‘I mean, you have never been courted by Tim – walked out together or anything, have you?’ Susie asked, knowing they hadn’t. ‘The most you two have done is gaze at each other. You don’t know anything about him really.’

‘Don’t be daft, we nearly grew up together.’

‘I know that. So you know Tim the child, the boy, but nothing at all about Tim the man. I bet when you got to a certain age, your mother at least made quite sure you were never left alone together.’

Kate nodded, because that had been true.

‘Well, here there’s a man that you have admitted you like and who more than likes you. I mean, you’ve really enjoyed yourself tonight, haven’t you?’

‘Oh, yes,’ Kate said. ‘And the pantomime is great, but we should really be getting back because the first bell has just gone.’

‘I know,’ Susie said. ‘We’ll go now, but you will think about what I said?’

Kate nodded. ‘I will,’ she promised, and she would because – quite apart from anything else – she felt she owed her friend a favour, and knew it would make life easier for the budding relationship between Susie and Nick if she agreed to go out with David.