The Teashop Girls Read online

  ‘You wanted to see me, Miss Neville?’ Anya said, ignoring the red-faced Tom.

  ‘Yes, Anya. Would you please take a seat? Mr White here tells me you were rude to him. Would you explain what happened?’

  Anya took a seat, placing her hands in her lap. ‘This man, he barged in front of the queue. I told him to wait his turn.’

  Rose looked to Tom to explain himself.

  Tom’s face grew redder than before. ‘I am management. This woman should not tell me what to do.’

  ‘Manners they cost nothing,’ Anya spoke clearly to Rose. ‘My lady customers they have been waiting patiently. He should not push them and ask for free food.’

  Rose raised her eyebrows and looked to Tom. ‘Free food? All staff should pay for their purchases, Mr White,’ she said coldly.

  ‘I am management,’ was his reply.

  ‘Miss Neville she pays for her purchases and she is senior to you,’ Anya told him without expression. ‘I simply do the Sally’s job and follow Mr Joe Lyons rules that I was taught at Sally school. If I am wrong, then Miss Neville she should give me the sack,’ Anya directed at him.

  ‘Mrs Polinski is correct. I must request that in future you pay for your purchases, and treat our customers with respect. Thank you, Anya, you may return to your counter.’ Rose waited for the door to close after Anya and turned to Tom, her eyes blazing with anger. ‘Don’t you ever act that way in my tearoom again, or I’ll speak to head office and have you removed so fast you will find yourself out of work and signed up for the army. Do you hear me?’

  Tom’s mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. ‘I’ll take this further, mark my words,’ he finally said. ‘I’ll not have any woman talking to me like that.’

  Rose took a step closer to him, and stared angrily into his face. ‘Lyons teashops have a reputation for perfection in catering. No employee acts as you have done in my teashop. Do you understand me?’ she hissed.

  He stepped backwards, lost for words, as Mr Grant entered the office. ‘Ah, Tom – let us be on our way. Thank you once more for making my job easy, Miss Neville. You run a tight ship, yes, a tight ship,’ he repeated, as he glanced out the window towards where a grey battleship was heading out to sea.

  Tom White followed Mr Grant from the office, but turned back at the last minute. ‘Don’t cross me, Miss Neville. Or you won’t like the outcome.’

  Rose took a deep breath. There was something about that man she really didn’t like. She wasn’t one to listen to rumours, but there were so many stories doing the rounds involving Tom White and female members of the Lyons staff, and she wasn’t happy about it. Especially as her gut feeling was that Lily had been involved with the man in the past. Surely he couldn’t be . . .?

  Giving herself a mental shake, she went out into the teashop to check that everything was in order. What Lily did in her private life was none of her business. Rose liked to walk through the teashop and onto the upper terrace that looked out over the sea. It must have been a wonderful sight before the war, to look out over the sands with families enjoying the sun and their time together.

  With the sun out and warm on her face, she felt good. She could cope with people like Tom White – and so far, the war hadn’t caused too many problems in her small world. Apart from the newspaper headlines and Pathé News, Rose felt the war had hardly touched her life so far. Thinking of Ben, her heart lurched a little, but the pain of him not being in touch since that blissful time in London was fading fast. He couldn’t have thought as fondly of her as she’d thought of him. She refused to think about Flora and her deceit – that was blocked from her mind. It didn’t occur to her that she was blocking out the most painful parts of her life.

  Picking up several newspapers that had been left on tables vacated by diners, she placed them on a rack for the use of new customers. The news reports were still full of Mr Chamberlain resigning, along with complicated explanations about the war overseas. France was mentioned, and she thought of Ben for one fleeting moment before dismissing him from her mind.

  Looking around, she could see the roof terrace part of the teashop was ticking over nicely, and she hurried back downstairs to look for Lily. She had a gut feeling that her friend was going to visit a doctor. Rose had begged Lily to see a doctor before making a decision about the baby. Perhaps this was where she was off to? Rose thought accompanying her friend would be the supportive thing to do. Collecting her coat from the office, she instructed a couple of Nippies on their duties before saying she would be going out for a while and asking if they’d seen Lily.

  ‘She left about five minutes ago, Miss Neville,’ one of the Nippies answered.

  Rose nodded her thanks and hurried from the teashop. She would soon catch up with Lily, she thought, walking away from the seafront and threading through the backstreets to where she knew the local doctor lived and had his surgery. Turning a corner, she spotted Lily’s royal blue coat and matching hat up ahead. ‘Lily,’ she called out, but her friend couldn’t have heard her.

  Not to worry, Rose thought. The doctor’s house was not far, and she should be able to reach Lily by then. She leant against a wall briefly, trying to catch her breath, before once more setting off at a fast pace. She could see the front garden of the doctor’s house, so it wasn’t far now.

  What happened next had Rose doubting herself. Lily walked straight past the house and headed across the road, down a side street. Rose shook her head in disbelief as a nagging worry filled her head. This was confirmed as she turned the corner and saw Lily standing on the pavement, not moving.

  This street was made up of run-down houses without gardens. The house Lily stood in front of was possibly the worst one in the street. As Rose picked up speed, ignoring the need to stop and take a breath, she saw her friend look at a scrap of paper in her hand before checking the house number. She raised her hand and knocked on the door.

  ‘No . . . no . . .’ Rose called out, her breathless voice going unheard. ‘No, please don’t do this,’ she started to sob. ‘Please don’t kill your baby.’

  12

  Rose caught up with Lily just as the door opened a crack. ‘Don’t do it, Lily. Please don’t do it,’ she begged.

  Lily ignored Rose and stared towards the door as it opened wider. ‘I was told to come along to see you this afternoon,’ she said without any form of expression on her face.

  ‘Please, Lily,’ Rose said as she reached her friend and clung to her arm.

  ‘You was told to come on yer own,’ the woman muttered, ushering Lily inside. ‘I don’t want no trouble on my doorstep.’

  Rose hung onto her friend and forced her way into the house as the door started to close. She’d heard about women who helped young girls when they were in trouble, and she didn’t want her friend to suffer. But she also feared for the baby she’d begun to think of as a real person. Surely Lily wasn’t going to get rid of her child? Rose took deep breaths, trying to calm down. She had to keep a clear head if this baby was to be saved. ‘Lily,’ she whispered. ‘Let’s go home, eh? We can talk about this properly indoors. This isn’t the answer . . .’

  Lily spun round to face Rose. ‘What? You mean we can chat about it over a cup of tea and everything will be all right?’ she said, looking distressed. ‘You’ve got no idea how I’ve worried about this and thought about the future and what people will say when they see me with a baby . . . his baby. I feel sick even thinking about it.’

  Rose knew it was the time for plain talking. ‘Lily, it could be me just as easily. I’m not as squeaky clean as you seem to think. I know how it can happen,’ she added, thinking fleetingly of that magical night with Ben before he walked out of her life.

  Lily gave a harsh laugh, sounding like an injured animal caught in a trap. ‘This was no lovers’ tryst, believe me,’ she snarled. ‘I want rid of it, and I would have done it before now if I’d known where to go for help. Do you think I’d have carried it for so long, covering myself up in loose clothes and keeping my coat on,
if I could have been rid of it months ago? Don’t make it worse for me than it already is,’ she pleaded. ‘Please, Rose, I need you to help by not trying to stop me. If you can’t promise me that, you should go home right now.’

  Rose looked around her at the hallway with its peeling wallpaper and torn linoleum flooring. There was a smell resembling boiled cabbage and cats that almost had her gagging as she took each breath. How could she walk away and leave her best friend to face whatever was about to happen? No; if Lily was determined to go through with this, then Rose would stand by her.

  ‘I’ll stay,’ she said, dreading what was about to happen. Abortions were only every talked about in hushed words. This was not something she had ever expected to experience, even if it was only by holding her friend’s hand.

  The woman pointed for them to enter a room, which turned out to be the kitchen of the house, giving Rose a wary look as she took the envelope of money held out to her by Lily. Rose wrinkled her nose at the stench. It seemed stronger in this room.

  ‘You can wipe that look off yer face,’ the woman snarled at Rose. ‘The table’s clean, and that’s all that matters for her. You can drink that before I get started,’ she said to Lily, sliding a half bottle of whisky across the table along with a chipped cup. ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’

  Lily lifted the bottle to her lips and grimaced at the strong taste. ‘Why do people drink this stuff?’ she said, trying to make Rose smile. ‘I thought women in my position were supposed to drink gin and take hot baths?’

  ‘I wouldn’t know,’ Rose said sadly.

  ‘Believe me, it doesn’t work. I tried it twice,’ Lily said. ‘All I did was waste the hot water.’

  ‘I don’t know how you can be so light-hearted about this,’ Rose snapped.

  ‘I’m most definitely not doing that,’ Lily said, taking another swig from the bottle. ‘I’m truly not.’

  Rose looked around the room as Lily continued to drink. She could only think that the idea was to get Lily so drunk she wouldn’t feel any pain. Apart from a cracked sink with a tap over it and a small stove in one corner, there was just a wooden cupboard with an assortment of items laid out on top. She stepped closer to look and gasped in shock, backing away.

  ‘What’s up?’ Lily asked.

  ‘I think these are what she’s going to use to . . . to help you . . .’ Rose whispered, feeling as though she might be sick at any moment.

  Lily stepped round the table and looked closer. ‘But that’s a knitting needle, that’s a crochet hook . . . and is that a hatpin?’ she asked, swallowing hard. ‘I don’t know what the rest are, but they look dirty. And the crochet hook is rusty. Surely she isn’t going to use them on me – is she?’ she asked Rose, who couldn’t find the words to answer.

  They both looked in silence before Rose reached for the whisky and took a gulp. ‘I don’t think this is a very good idea, Lily,’ she said, looking fearful.

  ‘I’ve got no choice.’

  ‘You do have a choice, and you have friends who will support you. Whatever happened when you fell pregnant with this baby, it shouldn’t make you decide to be rid of the child. It is still a human being and deserves to live. I know I’d be honoured to be an aunty, and I’m sure Katie would too,’ she said gently, taking her friend’s hand and giving it a squeeze. ‘We’d never question what happened or judge you for thinking this was the right decision.’

  Lily looked towards the door. ‘I don’t think she’d take well to me legging it,’ she said warily.

  ‘What’s she going to do – call a copper?’ Rose asked. ‘They’d lock her up before she stuck that hatpin in her bonnet. Come on. Let’s go home.’

  ‘Hang on just a minute,’ Lily said, picking up the envelope from where the woman had left it on the table and tucking it into her pocket. They both hurried from the room and let themselves out into the street, where they started to run.

  ‘Oi! Where the hell do yer think yer off to with me money?’ the woman bellowed from the doorway. ‘You drank me whisky as well, you thieving bitches!’

  The two girls ran as far as the corner of the road before leaning against the wall to catch their breath. ‘I know I shouldn’t laugh considering what I’ve done, but this reminds me of when we almost got caught when we went scrumping as kids,’ Lily said, giving Rose an apologetic look. ‘I’m sorry for dragging you into my problems. I suppose I’m going to have to go back to Sea View with my tail between my legs and hope Flora will take me back in, and won’t be shocked by my condition.’

  Rose noticed that Lily had not mentioned going back to live with her stepfather.

  The loud beep from a vehicle made both the girls jump. As it pulled up alongside them, the window was rolled down and a familiar voice boomed, ‘What are you two up to?’

  Rose leant into the car. ‘Hello, Mildred, we could ask you the same. Have you been delivering fish?’ she asked, wrinkling her nose.

  ‘I’ve just finished. Are you off home, or back to the teashop? I fancy a cuppa, but wouldn’t be welcome in my work clothes.’ Mildred grinned, knowing how the young girls disliked her choice of work.

  ‘We are on the way to my flat. You are welcome to join us,’ Rose said with a grin. One of the things she missed most about living at Sea View was chatting with Mildred.

  ‘Jump in, then,’ Mildred said, clearing a pile of papers off the long front seat. ‘It’s unusual to see you both together . . . and hurrying out of that old prostitute’s house. I’ve heard she offers other services these days. As I doubt Lyons have started making deliveries, can I ask what you were up to?’ She didn’t take her eyes off the road as they set off towards the seafront.

  Both girls fell silent until Lily nudged Rose to say something.

  ‘Well . . .’ she started to say, without knowing what words to use or how to explain Lily’s predicament.

  ‘I’ve got all day,’ Mildred threatened. ‘Unless you want me to drive through to Ramsgate and get your mum involved?’

  Lily gave Rose a sideways look and sighed. ‘It’s my problem, and I’ll share it with you, Mildred. Can we go to Rose’s flat, please?’

  ‘That went down a treat,’ Mildred said, brushing crumbs from the front of her navy-blue dungarees. She’d removed the pullover she always wore when out on her fishing boat, as even she knew it was rather ripe. ‘I’ve got a bit of news for the pair of you, but first I want to know what games you are playing at. Does it have anything to do with that?’ she asked, nodding towards the bulge under Lily’s Nippy dress.

  Lily gasped and put her hands across her stomach. She’d forgotten to cover herself up as she’d started to do in the past weeks, assuming Mildred wouldn’t notice.

  ‘Sit yourself down and tell me everything.’

  Lily did as she was told, but didn’t know how to start to explain.

  ‘Let’s start with: you are expecting a baby. And you went to that woman’s house to get rid of it, eh?’

  Lily nodded her head before bursting into tears. Rose hurried over to comfort her.

  ‘There’s no need for tears. I’m here to help you,’ Mildred said. ‘I’d like another cup of tea, though. That sausage roll has left me a bit dry.’

  Rose hurried into the kitchen to squeeze another cup out of the pot. She was a bag of nerves, wondering what Mildred had to say – and worse still, what she would say to Flora when she went home to Sea View.

  ‘You know that woman could have killed you?’ Mildred said, not unsympathetically.

  Lily sniffed into her handkerchief. ‘I didn’t know what was going to happen. One of the Nippies at the Ramsgate teashop gave me the address . . .’

  ‘So you told us all you had been transferred to Margate, so as not to cause concern for the people at Sea View who care for you?’ Mildred asked. ‘But you forgot one thing.’

  Lily frowned. ‘Did I?’

  ‘Yes. Some of us have experienced what you are going through, and were watching.’

  Rose’s eyes opened wide. ‘
Oh my goodness. Was it my mum, or perhaps Joyce? Don’t say it was Miss Tibbs?’

  Mildred gave a belly laugh. ‘No, it was me.’

  ‘You?’ both the girls asked in unison.

  Mildred looked affronted. ‘Why are you so shocked? I have had men friends, you know. There was a time when I was planning to marry. Oh, yes; I was considered a bit of a catch in my time, what with my father having his own boat. I hope you aren’t laughing at me,’ she said, seeing the two girls look at each other, although she had a kindly twinkle in her eye. ‘It was me who called it off when I found out he was stealing from my father. I sent him packing, I can tell you. Then I found I was expecting his child.’

  ‘Oh, Mildred,’ Rose said, thinking how the poor woman had lived alone without a family of her own.

  Mildred raised her hands in mock horror. ‘Good God, girl, don’t you be feeling sorry for me. It was a long time ago, and I’m more than happy with my lot. My point is, I panicked, and I went to someone like that woman you visited – and she nearly killed me with her dirty knitting needles. My old dad was beside himself with grief at losing his grandchild and nearly losing me, his only living relative. He blamed the chap I should have married. He should have blamed me, because I was too much of a coward to ask anyone for help, preferring to visit a butcher.’

  The girls fell silent as they digested Mildred’s words.

  ‘Did you never meet another man you wanted to marry?’ Lily asked quietly, feeling sorry for the woman she’d never once thought of as someone who’d carried a child.

  Mildred shrugged her shoulders. ‘Who’d want a barren bride? What that woman did to me left me unable to carry another baby, let alone conceive. I did meet someone else, but that’s another story – and a long one.’