Northern Girl (16 page)

‘It’s only me … Jessie!’

‘Oh, Jessie, what on earth’s the matter?’

‘Ah’m sorry, Hannah, but ah’ve ’ad such a row with me mother, ah’ve walked out, and ah didn’t know where else to go.’

‘Come on in then, pet, have yer seen our Tom, then?’ Hannah asked carefully.

‘Oh aye, ah’ve seen him all right. That’s how the trouble started.’

Hannah was at a bit of a loss as to what to do or say next, when Jessie reassured her, ‘Oh don’t worry, Hannah, ah know ah can’t stay ’ere, what with Tom back, and your Rene and young Jeannie due ter come back termorrer. Ah just need ter catch me breath a bit.’

Relieved to hear that, Hannah relaxed a little, and Jessie added, ‘Ah just couldn’t stay in the house with Ma. Ah’m sorry ter put yer out like.’ Then, thumbing over her shoulder towards the stairs, she whispered, ‘Is Jack in bed then?’

‘Oh aye,’ whispered Hannah in response. ‘Eee’s got an early start in the morning, so he thought he’d go up and get his beauty sleep while he had a chance.’ She added with a laugh, ‘Beauty sleep, indeed!’

‘Well, ah won’t keep yer any longer, Hannah. Ah’ll let meself out, but will yer let Rene know that ah called, and ah’ll see ’er termorrer? Apart from that, ah need ter explain somethin’ ter Tom.’ She was careful not to say that she wanted to apologize to him. She still felt
that he was the one who should apologize, because he hadn’t written her any letters. She felt that was unforgivable. None of this would have happened if he’d kept in touch, she told herself. But she was willing to hear his side, now that she knew he’d at least told her the truth about the note.

She bade Hannah goodnight, and let herself out.

‘Ah’ll be glad ter get ’ome, mam, won’t you?’ Jeannie said, as she skipped along the pavement with one foot on the kerb, and the other in the gutter.

Rene looked at her daughter in despair. ‘Jeannie!’ she corrected, ‘How many times must I tell you it’s “home”, not “’ome”.’

‘Aw, mam, ah keep fergettin’. Anyway why der yer want uz ter talk all proper? Nobody else does round ’ere.’

‘I want you to talk
all proper
, as you so eloquently put it, because one day, when it helps you to get a really good job away from here, you’ll thank me for it.’ Jeannie was looking puzzled, so Rene smiled sympathetically before adding, ‘Oh, pet! I don’t expect you to understand right now, but when you grow up, if you speak nicely and go to the right kind of places you will meet the right people, and hopefully it will lead
to a better life than you can expect if you stay here.’

‘But ah like me life ’ow it is right now,’ Jeannie protested, as she hopped along the footpath – on one foot.

Rene sighed with frustration. How was she ever going to teach this girl of hers the finer things in life while they still lived here? She looked around at the rows of terraced houses, and felt sick. Her affection for them had waned long before she’d gone to work in Bella’s, the new fashion shop in Bishop Auckland. But this new managerial post that she had just taken on had brought home to her just how much hung on how you acted and spoke. Not that she didn’t slip up herself, from time to time, much to the amusement of her friends – and sometimes even her family. They were all for her being ambitious, but couldn’t help finding her struggle to be posh a little comic. Even so, they all admired her for working hard, and even for going to elocution class. She had grit, and didn’t care who thought she was getting above herself.

What was she going to do about Jessie? she wondered. Right from the start, Jessie hadn’t wanted her to go on this managerial course in Darlington. What had she said? ‘Why, yer getting too big fer yer boots, man! Yer’ll be too good fer the likes of me be the time yer get back.’

Rene had to admit that that remark was prescient.

‘Mam?’ Jeannie broke her train of thought.

‘Yes, Jeannie? What is it?’

‘Will our Tom be back when we get ’ome? Er, ah mean
home
.’

Rene sighed again, but this time she smiled as she looked down on Jeannie’s dark bouncing ringlets, which had finally freed themselves from the restraint of the pink ribbon that had kept them in check during the bus and train journey from Darlington to Evenwood.

Jeannie, waiting for an answer, lifted her pretty face towards her mother.

‘Yes, pet, Tom should be back by now.’

‘Ah can’t wait ter see him. Can you?’ Jeannie questioned excitedly.

Rene turned to face Jeannie, put her case down, and took both small hands in hers as she answered, ‘No, I can’t, pet. Let’s hurry and get home, shall we?’

Tom, his hand pressed to his forehead, was wandering around the house looking for headache pills to stem his hangover. He’d drunk far too much with his mates at the Scout hut dance the night before. Suddenly the back door flew open with a bang, and in barged Jeannie, who jumped straight into his arms shouting, ‘Yer back, our Tom! Yer back!’

Tom didn’t know whether to laugh at her, or cry at the increased throbbing in his head. Holding her at arms’ length, he said with a grin, ‘Hold on, lass, give us a chance!’ He put her down and crouched down beside her, exclaiming in genuine surprise, ‘Eee, just look at you, all grown up since I last saw you!’

‘Ah know! Ah’m ten now, yer know,’ she confided, wriggling coyly. Rene, following behind, was hardly
through the door before Jeannie was calling to her for confirmation, ‘Aren’t ah, Mam?’

Tom looked up to see his sister lugging her case in through the door. ‘Rene!’ he called, grabbing her case with one hand and enfolding her with the other. ‘Aw, don’t cry, lass, else you’ll set me off,’ he said teasingly. He held her away from him. ‘Let’s have a look at you, too.’ Studying her pale-grey jacket and matching pencil skirt, he said, ‘Ay, aren’t you looking smart, our Rene! But how the hell you can walk in shoes with heels as high as that I don’t know!’ She smiled, and before she could answer he went on, ‘I’ve been hearing all about your new job, you know!’ He added with a sly grin, ‘I always knew you weren’t cut out for round here, like!’ Letting go of her now, and with an exaggerated bow, he beckoned her towards the living room. ‘Your ladyship!’

‘Aw, come on, Tom. You make me feel like a right snob. I do care about the people around here … well, some of them, anyhow, but I want more, both for me
and
our Jeannie, and it’s never going to happen if I stay here.’ Although she was trying hard, there was still a Northern softness to her speech, giving it a gentle charm.

‘Well, I’m glad to hear you’ve not lost
all
your local accent anyhow,’ Tom said. ‘It’ll always be there, our Rene, you know. Just mind you keep your feet on the ground, and you’ll be all right,’ he advised.

Giving him a shove she joked, ‘Aye, ah’ll do that all right, our Tom. Anyway, there’ll be no chance of
doin’ otherwise, with you keeping yer beady eye on uz.’

‘Well, I’ve got better things to do than keep a beady eye on you, like looking for something to get rid of this bloody headache, for a start. Where’s me mam keep all the medicines and stuff, anyhow?’ he complained, opening and closing one drawer after another.

Rene went straight to the relevant drawer, and as she handed him the headache pills she asked, ‘You will try to watch your language in front of our Jeannie, won’t you?’ Then, realizing that what she’d just said might have sounded snooty, she added, ‘The cursing, I mean. Your accent’s gone a bit with the war, hasn’t it? I like it.’ And without waiting for a response she asked, ‘Where’s Mam and Da, anyhow?’

‘They’ve gone to church,’ he rolled his eyes. ‘Can you believe Da’s gone with her?’

‘Well, yes, I can,’ she replied. ‘He started going when you were away fighting in the blessed war, when he knew you must be in the thick of it. He needed the comfort of the church then, and I guess he thinks it would look bad if he stopped going now that he’s got what he prayed for, and you’re home safe.’

‘Oh no!’ Tom laughed, touched by his dad’s dilemma. ‘I suppose he’s saddled himself with it now, and can’t see a way out, poor sod!’

‘Oh! Knowing our Da, he’ll make his excuses when he thinks the time’s right,’ Rene said confidently.

‘Aye, I suppose he will. It beats me why they’ve got to walk all the way down to the Methodist Church anyway, when the Pentecostal Church is just over the
road there! Surely one place of worship is as good as the next?’

At this Rene warned, ‘Well, I wouldn’t let Mam hear you say that, you know she’s Methodist through and through, and
nothing
would induce her to go to the church over the road. Even if it meant walking to the next village, she’d do it.’

Tom responded with resignation, ‘Aye, I know you’re right, lass. Each to their own, eh? And in the meantime, should we be doing something about the dinner?’

‘Well, in case you hadn’t noticed,
I
put the beef in the oven while you were putting the world to rights … Did Mam tell you that Grandda Elliott is coming for dinner?’

‘Well, no. I haven’t seen her this morning. I had a bit of a skinful last night, and they’d gone to church by the time I got up. Eee, Grandda Ellott! I haven’t seen him since God knows when,’ Tom said, just as Jeannie came hurrying back in from the outside lavvy with her skirt half-tucked into her knickers.

She exclaimed, ‘Oooh, Grandda Elliott! Does that mean that ah can have me Yorkshire puddin’ before me dinner, with milk and sugar on, like he does, Mam?’

Tom picked her up and lifted her up over his head laughing, ‘Well, that depends, young lady!’

‘Depends on what?’ she giggled, while he shook her around. ‘Ah’ll be sick on yer head if yer don’t put uz down, our Tom,’ she squealed.

‘Ugh! Disgusting!’ Tom pulled a face. ‘Tell you what,’ he said, setting her down on the floor. ‘You lay the table
nicely, and I’ll make sure they let you have your Yorkshire puds with milk and sugar just like your great grandda.’

Rene, who was busily putting the potatoes in the roasting tin alongside the beef, gave Tom a look, reminding him that there would be no hope of ever getting their Jeannie to appreciate the advantages of etiquette as long as he encouraged her like that. But it was their first day together since she couldn’t remember when, and there was no way she was about to spoil it over something like Yorkshire pudding, of all things.

Jeannie had just managed to get the last of the plates she’d been balancing precariously on her arms on to the table as her gran and grandda came in, followed by Great-Grandda Elliott.

‘Well, this is a sight fer sore eyes,’ Jack commented, with a satisfied grin, as he walked into the living room. ‘Ah never thought ah’d see the day … The whole family together, at last!’

Hannah, having hugged Jeannie several times, looked over at Rene and exclaimed, ‘Eee, pet! Well done! Yer a manager now, then?’

‘Yes, Mam, a fully fledged manager.’

‘That’s grand! Aw, come here, lass.’ Hannah held out her arms.

Rene, feeling really pleased with herself, stepped over to her mother and they hugged.

Hannah looked at Tom. ‘What de yer think of yer big sister, then, lad? Passin’ all them exams on fashion and
buyin’ and accountin’ and all that? She’ll be runnin’ the shop in Bishop now, yer know!’

But before Tom, who was still enfolded in the arms of his granddad, could answer, Rene told Hannah the other bit of good news she had. ‘I’ll soon be out from under your feet, Mam, because the rooms above the shop in Bishop are being converted into living accommodation, and they’ll give me a good rate on the rent—’ She stopped mid-sentence at the concerned look on Hannah’s face. ‘Oh, Mam, be pleased for us!’ She glanced at Jeannie, who was busily pestering her great-grandda while he struggled to light his pipe, and said quietly, ‘We need to get away from the village, Mam. It’s stifling us.’

‘Oh, ah know, pet. It’s just me bein’ selfish.’

‘Mam, you are the least selfish person I know.’ Then, making sure they were well out of Jeannie’s earshot, she whispered, ‘I’ve asked about the local schools for our Jeannie, but I haven’t told her yet. The living accommodation won’t be ready for a few weeks, so I’ll do it nearer the time.’

Hannah gave her a hug. ‘Well, ah’m that pleased fer yer, pet. It’ll be a step in the right direction, that’s fer sure. But ah’ll miss yer, and the house’ll be dead without our Jeannie runnin’ around.’

Jack, having overheard some of this, added his twopenn’orth now. ‘Fer God’s sake, woman, they’ll only be five miles down t’ road, half an hour on the bus!’ He added with a wink, ‘We could do with a bit more space round ’ere, anyhow, now that our Tom’s back ter clutter the place up!’

‘Aye, well, you’ve got me for a while yet, and all,’ said Tom. ‘Because when I was chatting to the lads at the dance last night, they were telling us that brickies are needed down the pit, so I thought I might go and see, like!’

‘Yer don’t want ter be workin down t’ pit!’ Grandda Elliott interrupted, without looking up from the armchair where he’d settled himself.

No one was ever sure just how much Grandda could hear. But he’d heard this all right, and, seemingly, had a strong opinion on it.

Tom laughed affectionately. ‘You’re right, Grandda, I don’t want to work down the pit. But it won’t be being a miner, it’ll be building, like, and it’d probably only be for a month or two, till I get on me feet.’

Jack joined in now. ‘I have ter agree with yer Grandda, lad, the whole point of goin’ into the building trade was ter be outside in the fresh air. Yer don’t want ter be stuck down there fer long, ah’m telling yer, lad. The only fresh air ah get is when ah’m on the allotment digging up carrots and potatoes, and such like.’ He added proudly, pointing to the vegetables in the pans, ‘Ah grew all those meself, ye know!’

To which Hannah, who could be heard in the scullery vigorously beating the mixture for the Yorkshire puddings, shouted in response, ‘Not half as much fresh air as yer get walking to and from the club nearly every night, mind!’

Grandda Elliott, totally oblivious to the conversation in hand, suddenly called out, ‘Don’t ferget, ah’ll ’ave
mine afore me dinner, with milk and sugar on. Can’t stand that bloody gravy on me Yorkshire puddin’s!’