Beyond a Misty Shore (18 page)

‘What is it, Frank?’ she asked quietly. She could see the longing in his eyes but knew there was something else. He must obviously have come to some kind of a decision for her aunt to let him in.

‘I came to say goodbye, Sophie. I’m going back to sea. I sail early on Tuesday morning.’

She was taken aback. ‘You’ve gone back in the Navy?’

He shook his head. ‘Not the Royal Navy. I’m sailing on the
City of Exeter
. It’s a cargo ship. I . . . I couldn’t stand it any longer, Sophie. Not being able to even speak to you . . .’

Sophie pushed aside the lavender wool crêpe of Hetty’s new dress and sighed. ‘Oh, Frank, I . . . I thought it was for the best, for both our sakes, I really did. You know I don’t want to hurt you but . . .’

He nodded. ‘It probably is, Sophie, but I couldn’t go on living just across the road, having to put up with Nora, and not—’

‘So, where are you going to?’ she asked, not wanting the conversation to become bogged down in the futility of their situation.

‘Eventually to South Africa. I’ll be away for about three months.’

‘It’s a long time,’ she managed to reply, feeling suddenly miserable.

‘I didn’t want a short trip. Can I . . . can I write, Sophie? Just something short, a postcard or two? To let you know I’m safe and well.’

She desperately wanted to say ‘yes’, the seas and oceans of the world could be treacherous, as she knew well, but she shook her head sadly. ‘I don’t think it would be wise, Frank. I’ll hear from your mam how you are getting on. I know you’ll be writing to her now that you’ve patched up your differences.’

‘Yes, I suppose I will.’ He couldn’t keep the hurt and disappointment from his voice. ‘I . . . love you, Sophie, and I’ll never give up hope that one day . . . one day . . .’

She felt the tears welling up in her eyes but she fought them back. ‘I know, Frank, and I hope too that one day . . .’ The words caught in her throat.

Instantly he was beside her and, heedless of the folds of lavender material, he pulled her to her feet and held her. ‘Oh, Sophie! I don’t want to leave you but I have to go . . .’

For a second she clung to him, and then with an effort she pulled away. ‘Yes, you do, Frank. It’s best this way but . . . but take care of yourself, promise?’

He smiled down at her ruefully. ‘I promise.’

A
S SOPHIE WALKED UP
Laurel Road that early April day she thought that at times the last three months seemed to have passed quickly and then at others they had seemed interminably long. Frank was well; she heard via his mother that he was finding life far more bearable now. Martha had even shown her a small snapshot he’d sent of himself and two other crew members taken at the top of Table Mountain. He looked tanned and fit and the sun had lightened his hair. When she’d commented on it, Martha had smiled and said she felt so relieved. It was a weight off her mind, she’d added, that he’d lost that terrible air of dejection, despair and neglect that had seemed to cling to him before he’d sailed.

Sophie smiled ruefully to herself as she recalled Martha’s comments on the way Nora had acted up on learning of her
husband’s imminent and totally unexpected departure. The girl had all but accused Martha of instigating what she chose to regard as Frank’s desertion of her. Martha’s reply had been cutting and to the point. Everyone knew Frank couldn’t stand the sight of Nora so it was only natural that he’d wanted to put a couple of thousand miles of ocean between them, and he wasn’t ‘deserting’ her. She should be very grateful that he was leaving her an allotment, for if she’d had her way Nora wouldn’t have got a brass farthing to waste on drink, cigarettes and the cheap tat she wore. And Nora certainly didn’t stay in pining for Frank. She was always going out, ‘dolled up to the nines’ like the cheap trollop she was, Martha had remarked cuttingly.

In the time he had been away Sophie herself had become very busy. Two of Hetty Foster’s friends from the church had ordered dresses and Hetty herself had decided she needed a new coat and then a new costume for Easter. Arthur had urged her to place another advertisement, for, as he’d pointed out, she couldn’t rely totally on Hetty Foster and her friends for business. As she’d expected, Mrs Henderson hadn’t ordered anything further.

The response to her second advert had been very encouraging, probably due to the better weather, and the fact that not only was there still not much choice in the shops but Sophie’s prices were very ‘affordable’, as Lizzie had remarked. She was in fact having difficulty in coping with the orders and had been forced to stay up well after midnight each night for the past two weeks. She had at last concurred with Arthur
and Lizzie that it was time to give in her notice at Marsden’s.

What was troubling her now was finding suitable lodgings for the amounts of material, trimmings and garments in various stages of completion that had taken over most of her aunt’s house – so much so that Uncle Jim had been heard to comment that it was like living in a dress shop. She needed two bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room plus a room suitable for cutting out, sewing and fittings and so far she hadn’t been able to find anything.

Hetty had the table set and the tea made. It was a ritual now and one the old lady looked forward to. Sophie was only bringing back a dress for which she’d made a new collar and cuffs, for Hetty felt she had enough new clothes to last her for years, but they had become friends and Sophie rarely missed her Saturday afternoon visit, even though at times it was very brief. On a couple of occasions Maria had accompanied her and once she had taken Bella as Hetty had asked to meet the child, declaring her to be the prettiest little thing she’d ever seen. Sophie had been on tenterhooks lest Bella, who was naturally curious, had broken something, but Bella had been on her best behaviour, most probably overawed by her surroundings.

‘Is it to be a brief visit, Sophie? You look tired, you’re working too hard, dear,’ Hetty chided, noting the dark circles under Sophie’s eyes.

‘I have been staying up very late to get things finished on time, but I gave in my notice yesterday, so I’ll have more time after next week.’

‘I’m glad to hear it. You are so gifted that you deserve all your success,’ Hetty beamed, passing over a china cup and saucer.

‘I’ve almost paid Arthur back too. All I have to do now is find somewhere to live and work. I’m afraid I’ve turned Aunty Lizzie’s house into something resembling a small clothing factory. Uncle Jim says it’s like living in a dress shop.’

Hetty nodded, stirring her tea slowly. ‘I’ve been thinking about that, Sophie. As you once mentioned, this is a big house for just one person – much too big. Would you consider coming to live here, with me? I’d love to have you, we get on so well.’

Sophie was lost for words; she hadn’t expected this. ‘But there’s not just me, Hetty, there’s Bella and Maria too. You wouldn’t want us crowding in on top of you and Bella can be a bit of a handful sometimes.’

‘Nonsense, she’s a sweet child. We could turn the big room at the front of the house into your workroom; it gets a lot of sun so the light is good. Then there’s the breakfast room, which isn’t used, and the dining room – either of those could be used for fittings. Upstairs there are four large bedrooms and the bathroom and then there is the attic, Bella could have that as a playroom for there is only a yard at the back of the house, no garden, I’m afraid, and children need somewhere to play. We aren’t far from either the tram or bus stops so your customers could come here instead of you having to traipse all over the city carrying bags and parcels.’

‘You really mean it, don’t you? You have it all worked out,’
Sophie cried. It would be ideal, providing Hetty could adjust to a decidedly more hectic lifestyle and the times when Bella was being far from ‘sweet’.

‘I’ve had plenty of time to think about it, Sophie. Oh, please do say yes. I’d love the company, it’s so very quiet here – especially during the winter months. Some days I never see a single soul.’

Slowly Sophie nodded, thinking how very fortunate she was that she had found two people who were so willing to help make her ambitions come true. ‘Providing I pay you what I would have been prepared to pay in rent.’

Hetty waved her gnarled hands in a gesture of dismissal. ‘We can sort all that out later. Now, have you time to see all the rooms or would a visit tomorrow afternoon be more convenient?’

Sophie desperately wanted to see the rest of the house for she’d only ever been in this room and the kitchen, but knew she just didn’t have the time. ‘Could I come tomorrow, after lunch please? And would it be possible to bring Maria too?’

‘Of course. Bring Bella and your aunt as well, I’m sure she’ll want to see the type of home you’re coming to live in. I know I would if you were part of my family.’

Sophie got up and put her arms around Hetty’s slightly rounded shoulders. ‘Thank you, Hetty. It’s so very kind of you and I do appreciate it. We’ll be here at about half past two.’

‘I’ll take the dust sheets off everything,’ Hetty said happily, thinking that from now on there would be no more quiet,
empty days and long, lonely evenings, and that after many – far too many – long years a child’s laughter would again be heard in this house.

Lizzie was utterly lost for words when Sophie arrived home and told her the news. Both Bella and Billy were out playing with friends but Sophie intended to break the news to her daughter that evening.

‘And she wants you to go with us tomorrow, so you can see for yourself what kind of a place it is,’ Sophie finished.

‘And I can actually have a bedroom all to myself?’ Maria cried, delighted at this unheard-of luxury.

Sophie nodded. ‘There are four bedrooms, so we can all have one each.’ She turned to Katie, who was looking just as startled as her mother. ‘And you can have your bedroom to yourself now, Katie.’

‘Does this mean that all the dressmaking paraphernalia will be disappearing too?’ Jim asked with a twinkle in his eye.

‘Yes. You won’t have to move scissors or bits of material pinned to a paper pattern or anything else when you want to sit down to read your paper,’ Sophie laughed.

Lizzie had regained her composure; of course she’d known that Sophie was looking for somewhere to rent, but there was no denying she was going to miss her nieces and little Bella.

‘Most of the rooms have been shut off, things covered up with dust sheets and we’ll probably need to move some furniture around,’ Sophie said. ‘Maybe before we move, Uncle Jim, John and perhaps even Arthur could help us do
that. Now I really should go in and tell Arthur the good news, after all it’s thanks to him that I met Hetty in the first place,’ she reminded them, leaving her aunt, her cousin and her sister excitedly discussing the news.

Arthur was listening to his wireless but seeing Sophie’s flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes he switched it off. ‘I can see you are excited about something, Sophie. Is it good news?’

She nodded. ‘Hetty Foster has asked us to go and live with her. She is all alone in that big house so there’s plenty of room for us and for my workrooms. She’s asked us to go tomorrow to see around the place and we might have to move some pieces of furniture and if we do I was wondering if you could give Uncle Jim and John a hand? Oh, I have so much to thank you for, Arthur! If it hadn’t been for you I never would have been able to leave Marsden’s, never would have met Hetty . . .’ It all came out in a rush.

Arthur smiled. He was delighted for her but he would miss her. He’d got used to her sitting in his room at her machine each evening. ‘I’m delighted for you, Sophie, I really mean that, but I have to say I’ll miss you. It just won’t be the same in here.’

The following afternoon the little group got off the tram at the less built-up end of Hawthorne Road and Lizzie looked around with approval. Sophie was holding a rather subdued and apprehensive Bella tightly by the hand for the child wasn’t at all sure that she wanted to leave her aunt’s home and Katie and Billy to go and live in a big, strange house that
she remembered being full of things that would break easily. She would have to leave her school and Miss O’Malley and Emily and her other friends but her mam had said she would soon make new ones and that there was a big room at the top of the house that she was to have as a playroom.

Maria was as excited as Sophie, thinking of a proper bathroom and a bedroom of her own – and she also had her own reasons for wanting to move away from Harebell Street.

When they turned into Laurel Road Lizzie noted that there wasn’t a soul to be seen even though it was a fine sunny afternoon. No kids playing; no women standing on their doorsteps gossiping. It was very quiet – a bit too quiet for her, she thought, thankful that Billy hadn’t wanted to come as well. Billy and his hooligan friends wouldn’t be welcomed with open arms in this street.

Arthur had also noted the air of tranquillity and the neatly kept little gardens, and as they approached number five, he thought how pleasant it would be to tend to those rose bushes on a summer evening. Then he dismissed the thought.

‘Well, what do you think, Aunty Lizzie?’ Sophie asked as she rang the bell.