Christmas at Tuppenny Corner Page 5

  Rosie blinked the tears back as enormous happiness filled her. He was not going to use the war as an excuse to drop her, and though he had not actually said so he must have been looking forward to the seaside trip as much as she was. And with this realisation came another; that Tim genuinely liked spending time with her. She was about to nod her approval when a thought occurred to her. ‘Oh, Tim, I forgot our snap. I’ll have to go back and get it …’

  He raised his brows. ‘Don’t you worry about that. I’ve got the money I was goin’ to use for the trip to Sea-forth; that should be enough for a couple of sarnies … unless you’d prefer the ones you make?’

  Rosie shook her head and beamed at him, though her smile soon faded when she remembered the question that had been uppermost in her thoughts. ‘Will you be going off to join the war, Tim?’

  For the first time Tim looked awkward. Drawing a deep breath, he looked in the direction of the Sally Anne before turning his eyes back to Rosie. ‘I’ve applied for the RAF, queen. I had to lie about my age, but I did it a couple of weeks ago.’ He ran his fingers through his hair, then placed both hands in his pockets. ‘Dad reckons it’s best to pick the services before they pick you and besides, I’ve always dreamed of working on those aeroplanes, or better yet flying one of them.’

  Rosie’s heart dropped into the pit of her stomach, but she was not about to let her disappointment show. ‘Oh. I …’ she was beginning, when he gave an exclamation and pointed further up the quayside to where a couple of boys and a girl were in earnest conversation.

  ‘I wondered where Frog, Taddy and Patsy had got to. You must’ve seen them around, though I don’t suppose you’ve ever had a chance to chat. Frog and Taddy are on the Reedcutter, and Patsy’s on the Marsh Harrier …’

  The sudden change of subject had caught Rosie off guard, and rather than continue with their previous conversation she looked over to where the small group of youngsters stood. ‘I’ve seen them before, of course, and while I didn’t know their names I do know which boats they come from. I’m assuming the older boy is Frog and Taddy’s his little brother? Why do they call him Frog?’ Tim opened his mouth to reply, but Rosie continued. ‘Look, he’s waving to you. Had you better go over?’

  ‘Might as well,’ Tim said. ‘Isn’t it absurd? You’ve been on the same canal as them all your life yet you’ve never exchanged a word. They’re grand fellers … well, not Patsy of course, although she’s as good as any bloke when it comes to helping her parents run the Marsh Harrier. You’ll like them and they’ll like you, but don’t worry that they’ll want to come round the city with us. That wouldn’t be their style at all; they’d start squabbling over trifles. They may be real fond of one another, but when Frog tries to boss Patsy about … well, let’s just say she won’t put up with any of his nonsense.’

  Looking at the smile on Tim’s face, Rosie realised that the change of subject had been just as welcome to Tim, who had also been grateful to talk of other things than the war. As they walked towards the small group a dark-haired, dark-eyed cherub with an enchanting smile ran up to them and grabbed Tim’s hand, words bubbling out of his mouth. ‘Tim! Oh, Timmy, we was wonderin’ where you were. I thought you was probably in a plane already, swoopin’ among the clouds, but know-all Froggy said it were too soon.’ He released Tim’s hand and spun round to point at Rosie. ‘What’s she doin”ere?’ he enquired rudely. ‘She’s “Miss Never Smiles”, that’s what Frog calls her. I call her “Cross-patch”, because that’s what she is.’

  Tim pretended to clout him, saying reprovingly: ‘Don’t be so damned rude, you horrid brat. Just because Rosie’s quiet and obeys her Number One, that doesn’t make her bad-tempered!’

  The little boy laughed and put out his tongue. ‘Timmy’s got a girlfriend,’ he chanted. ‘Now he’ll be sittin’ in the back row of the pictures cuddlin’ and cooin’ an’ kissin’ … yuck!’

  Patsy, who had yet to speak, aimed a swipe towards Taddy’s curly mop, but luckily for him she failed to connect, so he continued. ‘When I grow up I’ll be a Number One on me own barge and I won’t let no women come on board; and if they try I’ll chuck’em in the drink.’

  Rosie smiled into Taddy’s rosy little face. ‘I take it, then, that you’ll cook the meals, do the washin’, hang it on the line and iron your Sunday best?’ she said seriously. ‘As well as steerin’ the barge, loadin’, unloadin’ … my, you will be a busy little bee.’

  Frog smothered a chuckle and winked at Rosie before addressing his little brother. ‘Well, Mr Clever Clogs? I disremember the last time you boiled so much as a pan o’ water. I do admit you’re grand at eating, but I don’t fancy tryin’ to live on the sort of things you could cook. And before you say another word I think it would be nice if you apologised to this lady for all the rude things you said.’

  Taddy pulled a face. ‘Don’t know who she is,’ he muttered. ‘Don’t know what’pologise means.’

  Frog laughed. ‘You should do, you’re allus havin’ to say you’re sorry for one thing or another—’

  ‘It means you’re sorry,’ Rosie cut in. ‘But you needn’t apologise, because you didn’t really mean it, did you?’

  Taddy gave her a grin that was so broad it nearly split his face in half. ‘I’ve changed me mind! You’s nice; I like you,’ he said. ‘Where’s our Tim takin’ you? I want to come an’ all.’

  ‘Well you can’t,’ Tim said firmly. ‘We’re goin’ to walk miles and miles and your legs are too short to keep up. No, don’t start arguing or it’s you who’ll be chucked in the drink.’ He turned to Rosie. ‘Where’re my manners? Rosie, meet Patsy Topham, and Frog, and of course the oh so quiet Taddy.’

  Rosie smiled warmly at the other youngsters, and though they all smiled back she noticed that Patsy’s smile was fleeting. The other girl turned to Tim. ‘So how come you two are off on your own? I know Taddy can be a nuisance, but I don’t see why me and Frog couldn’t come along.’

  Tim eyed Patsy shrewdly. ‘You two know the city like the back of your hands, but Rosie here is still getting to know it. Besides, I’ve only money for a couple of sarnies, so perhaps it’d be best if we all went together on some other day.’

  Patsy, who had been eyeing Rosie suspiciously, shrugged her shoulders. ‘Please yourself. I’ve other fish to fry anyway. I’m sure you and your new friend will have fun.’

  Taddy giggled. ‘Ooo, somebody’s jealous.’ He ducked as Patsy aimed another swipe at his head. ‘Tim and Rosie, sittin’ in a tree …’ he started to chant, the words getting lost as he started to run away from an infuriated Patsy.

  ‘I am not jealous!’ she yelled as she chased after the little boy. ‘Get back here so I can give you a good walloping!’

  Frog grinned at Rosie and Tim. ‘I’d better go and save Taddy before Patsy gets her hands on him.’ He nodded at Rosie. ‘Nice to have met you. Cheerio.’

  Tim, who was watching Taddy’s delight at being chased, laughed. ‘He’s gettin’ awful hot with Patsy runnin’ after him. If he keeps goin’ at that rate he’ll probably welcome a dip in the drink.’

  Rosie looked anxious. ‘Oh dear, I hope I haven’t caused any trouble.’ She glanced in Patsy’s direction. ‘I don’t think Patsy likes me very much.’

  Tim started to walk along the towpath. ‘Nah, they’re always like that, those two. And as for Patsy not liking you, I’m sure you’re wrong. Patsy gets on with everyone. She’s a grand lass, full of life. Mebbe it’s just because she doesn’t know you.’

  Following behind, Rosie looked doubtful. The look the other girl had given her was not a friendly one; unlike Frog and Taddy, who were full of smiles, Patsy had looked at Rosie as though she had smelt something unpleasant. Rosie had also noticed that when Patsy had looked in Tim’s direction she wore the same gooey expression as all the other canal girls whenever Tim was around, making it plain, to Rosie at least, that she was clearly smitten with him. Rosie tried to think why Patsy had taken a dislike to her, but could find no reason other t
han the fact that Tim had chosen to spend his time with her rather than with Patsy herself. Rosie frowned. Surely the other girl couldn’t be jealous of her? Surely she must realise that Tim was only taking Rosie about as a friend, doing her mother a favour by getting her out from under the adults’ feet whilst they learned the mechanics of the new barge? She shook her head. If Tim was after a girlfriend, someone like Patsy, with her sleek blonde curls and large blue eyes surrounded by a fringe of thick lashes, made a much more obvious choice than Rosie with her mousy brown hair and boyish looks. She gave a mirthless chuckle. No, if Tim was going to be attracted to either of them, surely Patsy must realise she had nothing to worry about.

  When Rosie returned with Tim to the Wild Swan after their tour of the streets of Liverpool, she had scarcely set foot on the decking before Ken’s curly mop of dark hair popped out of the cabin, and he placed a finger to his lips. ‘Your mam’s been in quite a state, wondering where you’d got to,’ he said in a low voice. ‘She guessed the trip to the seaside was off, because no one will be allowed near the coast now that war has been declared, so when you didn’t come back, she began to worry that something bad might have happened.’ He glanced apologetically at Tim. ‘I told her you were probably tryin’ to see a bit more of Liverpool than you had managed yesterday …’

  A sharp voice from inside the cabin cut across his words. ‘Rosie O’Leary, just you come down into the cabin and help me dish up. I got some best of neck off the butcher for half price’cos he said it wouldn’t go another day, so I made a good thick stew to line our stomachs and then what happens? You bobby off with that Tim Bradley, without a word to me – or Ken for that matter – and you needn’t think I’m goin’ to feed him as well as you,’cos it’s your fault you forgot your snap—’

  ‘Sorry, Maggie,’ Rosie said quickly, in a bid to cut her mother’s words off before she had chance to say anything else. She glanced to where Tim stood on the towpath, hoping he had not heard, but guessing he had done so when she saw a blush creep up his neck. ‘Tim was kind enough to see me back safe, but he’s not intending to stop, so your stew for us three is safe.’

  Maggie grunted and poked her head out of the cabin. Rosie was pleased to see that when her mother saw Tim a similar blush to his own mantled her cheeks. ‘You might’ve warned me,’ she said, scowling at Ken. She looked at Tim, and seeing that he was about to leave put out a detaining hand. ‘I reckon you heard what I said,’ she muttered. She fished a handkerchief out of her apron pocket, blew her nose and rubbed at her eyes with the back of her weathered hand. ‘If I knew where she was going—’

  Tim cut across her. ‘No need for explanations,’ he said apologetically. ‘We should have told you that we were heading into the city; I’m sorry, it was wrong of me. Please don’t let me keep you.’ He turned to Rosie. ‘If you’re free again tomorrow, we might as well continue to explore the city’ – he raised his voice to gain Maggie’s attention – ‘if your mother agrees, that is?’

  ‘Oh,’ Rosie said doubtfully. ‘But I don’t think I’ll be allowed now, not after today at any rate …’

  Maggie opened her mouth to respond, but Ken cut her off. ‘You may as well be out with Tim as stuck on the barge on your own,’ he said baldly. ‘You go off, queen, and have as much fun as you can while you’ve got time.’

  Tim grinned at Rosie. ‘That’s settled, then. I’ll be here at nine o’clock on the dot.’

  He turned away on the words and Rosie glanced apprehensively towards where Maggie still stood framed by the cabin doors. She expected an angry outburst, but for once she misjudged her mother. Maggie was looking defeated. ‘Come down and eat your dinner,’ she muttered. ‘As you forgot to take the snap you’d made for your lunch today, you can take it tomorrow instead. But don’t you forget, I want you home before dusk.’

  They were nearly a week into their stay and so far Rosie had spent each day with Tim, either going into Liverpool or wandering along the canal, talking to the other bargees and relaxing in the early autumn sun. It was on the fifth day that Maggie announced over breakfast that today was the day when Rosie would have to take Daisy to her new home.

  ‘You can ride her to the farm,’ Maggie told her daughter. ‘Mr Pank said he’d give you a ride back, and he’ll give me the money for her then, as well as pickin’ up her harness. Perhaps that Tim feller would like to go with you? You could always ride two up, or walk – it’s up to you.’

  Whether Maggie had intended this suggestion to ease the blow of Daisy’s leaving, Rosie could not be sure, but the thought of Tim’s going with her did make the prospect less daunting. She bolted down the last of her breakfast and hurried off to the Sally Anne, where to her delight she found Tim still in the middle of eating.

  ‘Morning, queen. Where’re you off to?’ he said, stepping off the barge and on to the towpath.

  Rosie told him about Maggie’s suggestion that the two of them might like to take Daisy to Pank’s farm together, but instead of the enthusiastic response she was hoping for Tim told her that though it would be fun, he had other duties to attend to. ‘Today’s the day I go to the RAF offices for my medical, so much as I’d like to I’m afraid I can’t,’ he said regretfully.

  Rosie’s stomach lurched unpleasantly. She hadn’t broached the subject of Tim’s going into the RAF since the day war had been declared. Trying to put it out of her mind altogether, she supposed that she had hoped that Tim would think better of his decision to join the RAF and stay on the canals with her, but this was obviously not the case. ‘Well, now that I know where Lime Street station is, how about I come and meet you off your train when you come back?’ she suggested.

  Tim raised his brows. ‘You sure your mother won’t mind you comin’ into the city on your own?’

  Rosie shrugged her shoulders. ‘To be honest, I rather think Maggie has given up on the idea of me being tied to the barge.’ She gave a chuckle. ‘I get the feeling that she’s enjoying the time alone with Ken.’ She smiled at her friend. ‘Anyway, good luck with your medical. I’m sure you’ll smash it, but I suppose I’d really better get a move on, especially if I’m goin’ to meet you later on.’

  Setting off towards the field where Daisy grazed, Rosie felt a lump forming in her throat. As she neared the paddock she could see the big mare standing expectantly by the gate. Blinking back her tears, Rosie placed the rope bridle over the mare’s head.

  Daisy was a big horse, and Rosie had to use the field gate to get on to the mare’s back. Clicking her tongue, she ordered Daisy to walk on. ‘You’re going to be so happy at the farm,’ she said, as they ambled along the towpath. ‘There’ll be big fields full of grass, and Mr Pank has a couple of horses which he uses to pull his plough, so you’ll have some new friends …’ She fished a hanky from her pocket and blew her nose noisily. ‘Truth be known, it’s not you who’ll miss me at all, but me that’ll miss you.’

  As Daisy plodded along the path Rosie used the time to think over her past few days of freedom. She could not for the life of her imagine what had changed her mother’s mind about letting her go off with only Tim beside her, but she was jolly glad that her mother had at last begun to release the tight hold that she had always had over her daughter. Maybe it was because she had married Ken, Rosie mused; perhaps having a partner had mellowed Maggie’s approach to parenting.

  Maggie had been on her own ever since Jack O’Leary’s tragic accident, almost eleven years ago. Most of the men who worked the canals did not look kindly on women running a barge, and despite the tragic circumstances Rosie knew that they had not made an exception in her mother’s case. As far as the men were concerned, the Wild Swan was competition that they did not need. Rosie had even overheard one of the bargees calling out to Maggie that she should go back to where she came from. When Rosie had asked her mother what the man had meant, Maggie had explained that she had met Jack O’Leary on the Shropshire Union Canal, when she had been on holiday there with one of her cousins.

  ‘Before I met your
father I used to work in one of the pubs in Liverpool, and I ain’t goin’ to go back to a life surrounded by leerin’, lechin’ drunks for no man,’ she had said, her voice full of determination. ‘And I sure as anythin’ ain’t goin’ to bring up no kid in a pub!’

  Rosie shook her head at the recollection. Maggie, it seemed, could not be content with either life. She did not approve of public houses, but neither did she approve of canal folk. It occurred to Rosie that it was probably due to her mother’s surly nature that she had been on her own for so long.

  Her mother’s meeting with Ken had been purely accidental. Maggie had been having an argument over a lock key that she had foolishly lent to one of the other bargees at the Bingley locks. The bargee concerned denied having borrowed the key and said that it was Maggie who had stolen it from him some time ago, and that he was just taking back what was rightfully his. Ken had been waiting aboard his rented barge at the top of the locks and had come down to see what the hold-up was.

  The man had been swinging the key round in one ham-like fist. ‘Women don’t belong on barges, especially thievin’ ones.’ He had grimaced, revealing a set of crooked yellow teeth. ‘Why don’t you sod off back down the canal? All you’re doin’ is holdin’ up everyone else what wants to make a livin’.’

  Rosie had watched anxiously as her mother tried to gain possession of their key. But trying to grab a rotating lump of metal was no easy task, and the man who was swinging it more like a weapon than a key, guffawed at Maggie’s failed attempts.

  Maggie had tried to reason with him. ‘Look at the handle, it’s got WS written on it, that stands for the Wild Swan. If you look you’ll see that it’s not your key.’