The Buffer Girls (11 page)

‘Ah well, we had better things to do,’ Lizzie smirked.

‘Really?
Thanks for that,’ Nell said sarcastically and then added, as if curiosity had got the better of her, ‘Do tell.’

‘We went walking in Weston Park with a couple of handsome young men.’

So much for Lizzie being able to keep secrets, Emily thought wryly.

Nell’s eyes widened and then she grinned. ‘In that case, you’re both forgiven, but we want to hear all about it, don’t we, girls?’

There was a chorus of agreement as the girls hurried to dress themselves in their aprons and newspaper and brown-paper clothing.

‘When we have a tea-break, I promise,’ Lizzie said as the missus came in, her sharp glance raking the room to make sure everyone was ready for work.

‘You’d better get cracking, Emily. Be sure you’ve dished out enough sand for each of us,’ Lizzie reminded her,
and Emily felt a stab of guilt at the fact that she felt
obliged to warn her brother against this friendly and helpful girl. But there was no denying, she thought in her own defence, that Lizzie Dugdale was a veritable siren when it came to men. And the
trouble was, Emily was forced to admit, Josh was a softie when it came to a pretty girl with provocative eyes. She’d just have to make sure that
he kept his mind firmly fixed on Amy back
home.

‘Thomas Trippet!’ Nell exclaimed, thrilled and shocked in equal measure. ‘You mean Emily actually
knows
Thomas Trippet?’

‘I most certainly do,’ Lizzie said, triumphant to have a juicy piece of gossip that was holding all her workmates enthralled. But now they turned with one accord towards Emily.

‘How do you know him?’

‘How long have you known him?’

‘Are you courting?’

‘Oh, you lucky thing. He’s
so
handsome!’

The questions came thick and fast.

‘We’ve been friends since childhood. We live – lived – in the same village.’

‘But you’ve found him again – here in the city. How romantic. Are you seeing him next Sunday?’

‘I – I hope so.’ Emily’s tone was unsure; not because of Trip, but because of her mother.

‘Well, if you don’t meet him, I certainly
will.’ Nell grinned. She waved her hand towards the other girls. ‘You lot can go window shopping on your own.’

They all laughed, Nell along with them. With their blackened faces and rough clothes, they all knew they had little chance of ensnaring the son of a factory owner. And yet, when they dressed up
on a Sunday, they were as smart and pretty as any other city lass out for a bit of fun.
Nell had a strong face that on a woman would be called handsome rather than beautiful, but, nevertheless, she
was a striking-looking girl with auburn hair and green eyes. She was tall and carried herself well, but her trim figure, which she was not ashamed to parade on a Sunday afternoon, was always hidden
by the buffer girls’ ‘uniform’ whilst at work and her glorious hair was tucked firmly
beneath the head rag. But she was also a kindly, honest girl – if at times a little
blunt – and now she touched Emily’s arm. ‘Don’t worry, luv, I’m not out to steal your boyfriend.’

‘You’d have a job, our Nell,’ Ida shouted as she made her way back to her machine after their break. ‘You’re a good-looking lass, Nell, but you’re not a patch
on her with her blond hair and blue eyes.’

Emily blushed and tried to protest but all the girls laughed and, good-naturedly, Nell laughed the loudest of them all.

As they all returned to their machines, Nell prodded Lizzie. ‘And you, miss. We’ll hear all about your beau at dinner time.’

Oh dear, Emily thought, they’re going to encourage Lizzie to make a play for Josh. As if the girl needed any prodding.

Later, as they sat eating,
Lizzie said, ‘He’s Emily’s brother, Josh. He’s ever so nice.’

‘Is he handsome?’

‘Of course,’ Lizzie said indignantly. ‘Would I look at any feller who
wasn’t
?’

Laughter rippled amongst them.

I ought to say something here and now, Emily told herself sharply, but somehow she couldn’t force the words from her lips. A vision of her poor father floated before her eyes; her family
needed
the help of their neighbours and if she, Emily, were to antagonize Lizzie, not only would Martha no longer have Mrs Dugdale’s support but, also, Lizzie was quite capable of turning all
the other buffer girls against her. Emily’s life would be made intolerable both at home and at work and she might even be sacked, since the missus also lived in their court. She
couldn’t let that happen; her
family needed her weekly wage.

It would have to come from Josh, she decided, as they all returned to their work, their dinner-time jaunt into the city foregone; what Lizzie had to tell them had been far more entertaining.

But as they walked home that evening, Emily dared to say once again to Lizzie, ‘Look, I know you like Josh, but, as I told you, he’s engaged to Amy. You’re a good friend
to our
family, Lizzie. I like you a lot and I don’t want you to get your hopes up where he’s concerned and get hurt. That’s all.’

Lizzie was silent for several moments and Emily held her breath, fearing the worst. But then a low, almost seductive chuckle came out of the dusk of the October evening. ‘Don’t you
worry about me, luv. I know exactly what I’m doing and all I’ll say is, “Absence
makes the heart grow fonder” –’ she paused and then added, pointedly –
‘“of another”.’

Emily drew in a deep breath but before she could say anything, Lizzie squeezed her arm and said, ‘And yes, I like you a lot, an’ all. And whatever happens between me and Josh, we
won’t let it spoil our friendship. Agreed?’

‘All right, then, agreed, but—’

‘Look, Emily, I appreciate you being honest
with me and I can see you’re worried about your friend Amy, an’ all, but look, luv, if Josh truly loves this girl, then he’ll
give me my marching orders, now, won’t he?’

‘Well, yes, I suppose so.’

Emily couldn’t keep the doubtful note from her tone. Her brother was so nice; too nice, sometimes, for his own good, she thought. Would he really be strong enough to stand up to
Lizzie’s
wiles? Emily was very much afraid that he wouldn’t have the streak of ruthlessness needed to fend off the determined girl.

Whenever she had an odd moment in the day – and there weren’t many for an errand girl – Emily watched Nell working. She was fascinated by the way the young
woman picked up about half a dozen spoons in one hand, a fistful of the oily, damp sand in the other, and then
leaned in to her wheel.

Early in Emily’s second week of work, Ruth said, ‘Nell is going to let you have a go on her wheel at dinner break. She’s our best buffer girl, so you listen to what she tells
you.’

‘Orreight, luv,’ Nell greeted her after Emily had set out all the dinners the girls had brought in and had mashed tea for them. ‘We’d better get you dressed up properly
now, else
you’ll get covered in muck. Missus is lending you ’buff-brat and head rag you’re wearing, but if she starts you proper on the buffing, you’ll need to buy your
own.’ Emily glanced at what the other girl was wearing. Nell wore an old dress beneath the buff-brat, the short-sleeved, white calico overall, which fastened with ties at the back so that it
was easy to take off if it got caught in the spindle.

‘Right, lass. Fasten your sleeves to your shoulders with safety pins and then fasten this red cloth round your head like the missus showed you last week. That’s it. When you’re
buffing, you can either tie the two ends on top of your head or leave them down to wipe your face with. Gets right hot in ’ere. But you’ve got to wear one. It’s to protect your
hair. We don’t want that lovely blond
hair getting caught, do we?’

Nell was a bit older than the other girls and they seemed to turn to her for leadership. Even the missus deferred to her on occasions.

‘When you buy your own buff-brats an’ that, be sure to get a red head rag. A white cap’d be nicer – we tried ’em once – but they get mucky so much
quicker.’ Nell grinned, showing white, even teeth against her face, which was
already covered with grime after only a morning’s work. ‘Orreight?’

Emily nodded, not knowing how, at this moment, she was ever going to afford to buy the clothes she would need to become a proper buffer girl. Her mother needed every penny of the half-a-crown a
week she was being paid now. So she listened carefully to everything that Nell told her. The sooner she could become a buffer girl
and earn a little more money each week, the better.

‘Now,’ Nell went on, ‘put this coarse apron on over your buff-brat and then let’s tie the paper apron on you.’ For the first time, Emily put on one of the
brown-paper aprons she’d been cutting out for the other girls and tied newspaper round her legs. ‘Missus might start you off as what we call a “rougher” – that’s
just to get rid of
all the dents and marks – so you’ll need a piece of sacking tucked in your belt. And then we fasten the other end to ’side. You’ll have to get used to all
these funny names, Emily luv, else you won’t know what we’re talking about half the time.’

‘What’s it for?’ Emily asked. ‘The sacking?’

‘It catches the sand and stops it going all over the floor, and you can use it again to throw on
the spoons and forks when you’re working. Now, watch what I do,’ she added,
picking up a handful of spoons, ‘and don’t be frit. It’ll not bite thee.’

‘It might,’ Lizzie, overhearing, laughed loudly. ‘If she gets her fingers in the wrong place.’

‘You’d be better doing one at once,’ Nell mouthed to her above the noise of the machine. ‘Just to start with.’ Emily wondered if she’d ever be
as proficient
as Nell.

They didn’t have long during the dinner breaks, but at the end of the week, Nell came up to Emily. ‘The missus says she’d like you to train properly as a buffer girl.
She’s seen what you can do now, but it’s such a short time in just the dinner breaks and before she gives you a buffing wheel of your own, there’re a few more things you’ve
got to learn. So, she’s
said we can stop late after work for a few nights.’

‘You mean you as well?’

Nell nodded.

‘Will she pay you for the overtime?’

Nell threw back her head and her raucous laughter echoed round the workshop. ‘Not likely.’

‘I couldn’t expect you to work late just – just to help me.’

‘Why ever not? We all help each other.’ Suddenly, all jollity had gone from Nell’s tone and she
was very serious. ‘Mebbe there’ll come a time when I’ll need
some help. You never know what life’s got in store for you, luv. I’ll teach you all I know, Emily, and I can do most of the processes a buffer girl’s ever likely to need. I
learned a lot in the war when the fellers went away – things they wouldn’t normally let girls do.’ She grinned suddenly. ‘It’s a horrible thing to say, but the
war did
a lot of good for women. We’ve earned some respect. They’re even saying that we’re all going to get the vote one day.’

But Emily’s thoughts were still on the training that Nell was offering. ‘If you’re sure, I’d be so grateful.’

‘Right, then, you tell your folks that for the rest of this week, and probably a couple more after that, you’ll be home a bit later. And I’ll tell my
mam.’

‘You still live at home?’ Emily ventured. She knew very little about the other girls, and had only picked up snippets of information about their lives outside work. There
wasn’t much chance for her for conversation when the noisy machines were going full pelt, for she was hopeless at the lip-reading everyone else managed to do.

‘Yes,’ Nell said shortly and turned away, deliberately,
it felt, cutting off any further questions.

At the end of another week, Nell told her, ‘You’re coming on really well, Emily, though there’s still quite a lot I need to teach you, but I’ll tell missus that I think
you’ll soon be able to work a wheel on your own. She’ll give you all the easy jobs to start with, and then you’ll move on to roughing. Don’t forget you have to melt
’resin in
a pan and dribble it over the leather buff and then let it set hard before you start like I’ve shown you.’ Nell grinned at her. ‘I know there’s a lot to
remember, luv, and you’re only learning one or two processes at the moment, but you look as if you’re a quick learner, though don’t expect to earn a lot to start with, will you?
You’ll be slower than the rest of us, but we all are when we start.’

‘What about my work as an errand girl? Who’s going to do that?’

Nell laughed. ‘That’s partly the reason we’re training you up. Someone your age shouldn’t be on such low wages anyway, and Ida’s just told us she’s got a
niece who’s itching to leave school and start work here. Mrs Nicholson promised her that if you prove yourself at the buffing, she’ll set Milly on as the new errand girl.
And now,
we’d best get ourselves home. Our families will be wondering where we’ve got to.’

And my mam will be in a right old temper because I’ve not been there all week to help with Dad, Emily thought, but she said nothing. Perhaps her mother would be mollified a little by the
thought that, hopefully, Emily would be bringing home a little more in her wage packet from next week.

They
left the workshop and parted outside to go in opposite directions. Emily set off, her eyes gradually becoming used to the darkness as she entered the warren of alleyways that led to the
court where she lived. They were dark, dismal back alleys, with rats running over discarded rubbish. She didn’t like walking this way home, but it was the quickest route. She turned a corner
and almost ran into
someone. Strong hands gripped her shoulders.

‘Well, well, look what we have here, lads. A buffer girl still dressed in all her muck. But looks like she’s game for a bit of sport, if you’re not too fussy.’

Three other lads surrounded her and her heart pounded in fear. It had been very stupid of her to come this way, especially at night-time. Her anxiety to get home as quickly as possible
had
robbed her of her common sense.

She was still being held fast, her arms pinned to her sides, as the youth pulled her to him and searched for her mouth, planting a wet kiss on her lips. Then he began to fumble with the
fastenings of her blouse. Struggling, she tried to pull herself free, but he held her fast. She kicked his shins and he yelped in pain, released her with his right hand,
but drew it back and
smacked her on the left side of her face.