Sweet Memories of You (Beach View Boarding House) (41 page)

He thought about this, and then his frown cleared. ‘Do you know where she is, Mrs Reilly? Only I’ve got a horrible feeling I know what all this is about, and I need to talk to ’er.’

‘What have you been up to, Andrew Rawlings?’ she asked sternly, folding her arms.

‘Nothing. I ain’t been up to nothing, but …’ He fell silent, shuffled his feet and chewed on his thumbnail for a bit, and then told her everything.

‘Well, I’m not surprised she’s upset,’ she said sharply. ‘You should have told her straight out.’ She regarded his hangdog expression and gave a sigh of frustration. ‘Really, you young people don’t have the sense you were born with,’ she said crossly. ‘Get yourself up to Ruby’s and tell her straight, or you’ll have me to deal with.’

‘Yes, Mrs Reilly. Right away, Mrs Reilly.’ He turned on the steps and got halfway down before he turned back to her again. ‘Where does Ruby live, Mrs Reilly?’

Peggy gave him the address in Mafeking Terrace and shook her head as he went charging down the road. ‘The Lord help us,’ she murmured. ‘Men can be so dense at times.’

‘Who was that?’ asked Cordelia.

‘Just someone for Ivy.’

‘Oh. I was rather hoping it might be Bertie. He hasn’t called for a while now, and I miss his company.’

‘I’m sure he’ll be in touch soon enough,’ Peggy said consolingly. ‘He’s probably been playing more golf now the weather’s improved, and finds he’s too tired at the end of the day to go visiting.’

‘No stamina, that’s his problem,’ muttered Cordelia. ‘Men were different in my day. They could hunt in the morning, play golf in the afternoon and dance the night away.’

‘Not when they’re as old as Bertie Double-Barrelled,’ rumbled Ron around his pipe stem.

‘He’s younger than me,’ Cordelia protested.

‘Exactly,’ he retorted.

Peggy lit a cigarette and exchanged a knowing look with Doreen. Life at Beach View was back to normal – if one could describe such goings-on as normal.

Ivy and Ruby were doing the washing-up so that Ethel could put her feet up and enjoy her glass of gin while Mike and Stan went into the other room to warm up the wireless and get the fire going so they could all be cosy.

‘That were a lovely tea,’ said Ivy as she dried the plates and carefully stacked them in the cupboard. ‘I’m full to bursting.’

‘Yeah, Mum knows how to cook all right now she’s got something proper to deal with. It was all scrag end and leftover veg from the market back in Bow.’ Ruby finished the last few bits of cutlery and dried her hands. ‘What about your mum?’

‘She does all right too, but like yours, there were never much to get fancy with.’ Ivy dried another plate and gave a deep sigh. ‘I wonder if Andy went to the dance with that girl?’

‘You gotta stop worrying about it, Ivy, or you’ll go mad.’ Ruby took the tea towel away from her and unfastened the apron round her waist. ‘Come on, let’s have a drop of Mum’s gin and listen to
ITMA
on the wireless. It’s me favourite.’

They went into the front room to find Ethel happily ensconced in her favourite armchair, fag in the corner of her mouth, glass of gin in her hand. Stan was comfortably settled in the matching chair and Mike was on the couch beneath the big bay window. Ruby poured two hefty slugs of gin into some glasses and they sat down next to Mike just as Tommy Handley announced, ‘It’s That Man Again’ to a thunder of applause from the studio audience.

The loud knock on the door annoyed them all, and with a great sigh, Stan got up to see who was interrupting his favourite comedy programme. There was a murmur of voices and then he came back into the room. ‘It’s for you, Ivy,’ he said as he plumped back into his chair.

‘Who is it?’

‘That young fellow of yours. You can’t leave him standing out there, so take him into the kitchen.’

‘He’s got nothing to say that I wanna hear,’ Ivy said, folding her arms. ‘Tell ’im to sling ’is hook.’

‘Tell him yourself, Ivy,’ he said mildly. ‘I’m not a messenger boy.’

Ivy reddened and apologised, then stomped into the hall. Andy was standing on the doorstep looking very sorry for himself – as he jolly well should. ‘I don’t wanna see you, Andy, so go away.’

‘But there’s something I gotta tell yer, Ivy.’

‘I ain’t interested in anything you got to say,’ she snapped. She went to close the door on him, but a size-twelve boot was suddenly blocking it. ‘Get yer foot outta there, or I’ll have Stan and Mike come and make you,’ she threatened.

‘I ain’t moving it until you’ve heard me out, Ivy Tucker. I know what you think, and you got it all wrong.’

She whipped the door back again and glared at him. ‘Oh yeah? So telling me lies about being on duty is all right then, is it?’

‘I can explain that,’ he said urgently.

‘What about the blonde piece I saw you with last night? How do you explain that?’ she stormed.

‘I can explain all of it if only you’d calm down and give me a chance,’ he said in exasperation.

Ivy felt a twinge of hope, but she wasn’t about to fall for any old flannel. ‘That weren’t the first time you was seen at the Crown with her, neither,’ she said flatly. ‘So, go on then. Explain that away.’

‘Ivy,’ he sighed. ‘Can we do this indoors? It’s brass monkeys out ’ere.’

‘You’ll stay where you are and lump it,’ she retorted. ‘Now get on with what you gotta say before I get bored and shut this door.’

‘I didn’t lie to you about being on night shift,’ he said hurriedly. ‘I just didn’t tell you I had to take a couple of shifts off.’

Ivy regarded him stonily.

He cleared his throat. ‘There was a family crisis, and I was needed to help.’

‘Oh, yeah? I suppose the next thing you’re gunna say is that that blonde tart is your sister. Well, pull the other one, mate, because from where I was standin’ that wasn’t brotherly love you were showin’ her.’

‘Ivy, will you shut up and listen to me?’ he shouted.

She flinched at his loud voice and took a step back. He was big and angry, and she didn’t like the way he was looming over her.

‘Is everything all right out here?’ said Stan from the front room doorway.

Andy let out a long sigh and relaxed. ‘It’s fine, Stan. I just need Ivy to shut her gob for five minutes and hear me out.’

‘Best of luck on that one,’ said Stan with a knowing smile, and went back into the front room and closed the door.

‘Gloria Stevens who owns the Crown is my dad’s sister,’ Andy said before Ivy could open her mouth. ‘Her son were killed in the Far East, and the “blonde tart”, as you so delicately put it, is his young widow.’

A chastened Ivy could only stare at him.

‘Betty come down the other day and of course were in pieces. She’s got two kids, her house in Stepney has been flattened in a raid, and both her parents were killed in the Blitz,’ he rattled on. ‘She’s at her wits’ end. So she come to stay with Gloria, and I’ve been trying to ’elp find a place for her and the kids so she can settle here more permanent like. Gloria was happy to put them up in the pub, but Betty didn’t want ’er kids to hear all the noise and the language and such.’ He took a breath finally, and reddened. ‘Auntie Glo can get a bit boisterous with so many men about,’ he finished.

‘Poor girl,’ Ivy breathed. ‘I’m so sorry, Andy. But Fat Beryl said … and I saw … and …’

‘You put two and two together and come up with eight.’ His expression was grim. ‘I thought you trusted me, Ivy, like I trust you. I’m hurt to know you thinks so little of me.’

‘I’m sorry, Andy. I did trust you, honest. But when I saw you last night …’

‘I tried to get to see you at work, but they wouldn’t let me through the gates, so I asked Rita to tell you what was ’appening. Didn’t she give you the message?’

‘Peggy said she had something to tell me, but we’ve been like ships passing in the night and never got to talk about anything.’ She looked up at him through her tears. ‘I’m ever so sorry, Andy.’

‘You soppy little mare,’ he murmured as he looked down at her, his expression softening. He reached out and cupped his large hand over her cheek and slowly drew her towards him. ‘Oh, Ivy,’ he sighed. ‘What am I going to do about you, gel?’

She blinked away her tears and raised her face to him. ‘Kiss and make up?’ she said hopefully.

He swept her into his arms and kissed her so thoroughly that her head was swimming by the time he’d put her back on her feet. ‘Can I come in now?’ he asked. ‘It’s flamin’ freezing out ’ere.’

She took his hand and led him along the narrow hall to the dining room, where they could close the door on the world and make up for all the silly misunderstandings so they could begin again.

It had taken five days to get all the travel permits in place for her trip to Wales, and tonight would be Doreen’s last at Beach View until the end of the war. She’d sent a telegram to Mrs Fletcher to tell her she could let out her room, for she wouldn’t be returning to Fort Halstead. There would be work in Wales once she’d relocated to a larger community than the hamlet where her children now lived. She’d miss Veronica and the excitement of developing that bouncing bomb and all the other new munitions, but her priorities had changed now and there were more important things to concentrate on.

As she slowly walked along Camden Road in a daze of happiness, she knew that this small seaside town was where she really belonged, and that one day she would achieve her dream and buy a house right here, close to Peggy and Ron and the family that she loved. This was her home, and she knew she would return with her children to make a settled life for them all by the sea, just as Archie had envisioned.

She walked up the hill and along the twitten to the back gate of Beach View. Pausing, she looked up at the window, knowing that behind it was a warm, welcoming kitchen, the true heart of her family home, made special by Peggy’s love and care.

Doreen experienced an overwhelming sense of joy as she softly placed her hand on her stomach and lifted her gaze to the sky.

‘Our child will be my sweetest memory of you, Archie,’ she whispered. ‘Watch over us, my darling, and know that I’ll always love you.’

I hope you enjoyed reading
Sweet Memories of You
, and although it is quite a sad story, I think it has been lightened by the antics of Ron and Harvey who continue to thwart Peggy and cause chaos at every turn. I was delighted to be able to pass Ron’s bravery award onto Harvey as the Dickin medal had yet to be established, indeed the first one was given to a carrier pigeon at the end of 1943. We sometimes forget that many animals gave their lives during both the World Wars so that we humans could survive – and their work and bravery is ongoing as our world continues to be divided by conflict.

As I write the series, I’m aware of all the stories that still have to be told, and of the characters I have mentioned but never fully explored. Doreen was one such character, and as Peggy’s younger sister, it was time to tell her tale. The Atlantic convoys braved mountainous seas, U-boats and aerial attacks and far too many brave men lost their lives bringing vital supplies to our shores, and although Archie survived that onslaught, he was no match for the lethal crush on those stairs leading down to the unfinished tube station. It is Doreen’s stoicism which pulls her through, and of course the love and warmth of Peggy and her family home which helps to heal her.

I hope you continue to enjoy the
Beach View Boarding House
series, and I welcome you to join me as the Reilly family and their evacuees continue to battle against the odds towards victory. In the next book, we’ll be following the story of Wren, April Wilton as she overcomes prejudice, pain and disgrace and learns the true meaning of love.

Bethnal Green tube station was still unfinished in March 1943, and as it was so deep underground, it was used by the East Enders as an air-raid shelter. It was large enough to accommodate two thousand people, and the council erected hundreds of bunk beds, a lending library and even a hall for putting on entertainment.

The local councillors were very concerned that the entranceway was too narrow for the number of people who used it as a shelter, and repeatedly applied to the government to have it enlarged. All requests were refused. The stairs had no central railings and were not marked, so it was difficult to see anything in the dim light of a single 25-watt bulb which had been partially painted black to comply with the blackout ruling.

The full horror of the disaster at Bethnal Green tube station on 3 March 1943 was deliberately kept from the general public, and the survivors were warned not to talk about it, since the government decided it could be used as propaganda by the enemy and would be bad for British morale. A total of 173 people died on that late evening, including 62 children.

The day after the disaster the council erected central handrails, the entrance was widened and the edge of each step was painted white. There were several investigations into what had happened, but the Official Secrets Act meant that none of the details were available to the public until very recently.

A small memorial plaque was placed by the entrance to the tube station in the 1990s, and in 2007 a project was set up to build a lasting and more fitting memorial to the civilians who died that night. Work began on the Stairway to Heaven Memorial in 2012, which, through determined fundraising, is now almost completed.