Blue Moon by Pam Weaver Read Free Book Online Page A

called her a ‘simple girl’ because there were things she couldn’t understand and she got very upset if she was told off, but Phyllis had a sweet nature. She liked working with Ruby, so she stuck close.
    Edith Parsons came from the area of Worthing called Heene, where she lived with her widowed mother and three siblings. A rather plain girl with dowdy clothes, Edith was a little older than Ruby and she had already had a hard life. Her father had died of tuberculosis about a year ago and, young as she was, Edith was the main breadwinner in the house. Her mother took inwashing and cleaned at the local public baths to make ends meet, but Ruby knew Edith had little time for fun.
    Doris Fox was by far the prettiest of the chambermaids. At nineteen, she had blonde hair and blue eyes and a fashionably slim figure, perfect for the long-line dresses so favoured at the moment. She was stepping out with a taxi driver she’d met at one of the dances at the Assembly Hall, and Ruby felt it wouldn’t be long before she left to get married. Unemployment wasn’t as bad in Worthing as it was in other parts of the country, but no self-respecting hotel employed young married women. A woman’s place was in the home, especially once children came along; and besides, there were plenty of single young women who would jump at the chance to work for a prestigious employer like the Warnes Hotel.
    ‘So come on, Ruby,’ said Doris. ‘Tell us all about yesterday.’
    Ruby made sure they were all doing specific jobs, and then Doris, Edith and Phyllis were all ears as she told them about her rescue of Dr Palmer, and about the concert they’d all enjoyed on the hill.
    ‘We began with a couple of old Sussex songs,’ she said. ‘“Sussex Won’t be Druv” and “Sussex by the Sea”.’
    ‘I like that one,’ said Phyllis, and immediately started humming the tune.
    ‘Everyone was touched by May’s sweet solo,’ Ruby went on. ‘I saw several people wiping away a tear or two as she sang and, when she’d finished, the applause went on for a very long time.’
    ‘Aaah,’ sighed Doris. ‘I wish I’d been there.’
    ‘Nice doing things as a family,’ said Edith wistfully.
    Embarrassed, Ruby turned her head. She had deliberately left out the bit about the row with Percy, and her father stalking off in a huff, but then some things were best left private. She was now on her hands and knees, dusting the ornamental legs of an Indian-style table. Once it was dusted, she put a little polish on a cloth and gave the legs a shine. She loved the smell of lavender and took pride in her work.
    ‘I suppose your brother went up on his bicycle?’ said Doris.
    ‘He did,’ said Ruby. ‘Quite a few of the cycling club went with him.’ She named a few names, including that of Jim Searle.
    ‘Oooh,’ said Edith. ‘Did Martha come as well?’
    With a little stab of jealousy, Ruby shook her head.
    Doris pulled the corners of her mouth down. ‘So did Dr Palmer stay to the bitter end?’ she asked.
    Ruby nodded. ‘I was quite surprised,’ she said. ‘I mean, the singing wasn’t the sort of quality he must be used to.’
    ‘But he enjoyed it,’ said Doris.
    ‘Actually, he was quite generous in his praise.’
    ‘How did he get home?’ Doris was putting a vase of limp flowers onto a trolley, ready to push it into the outside kitchen. ‘You never brought him back here in the coach, did you?’
    ‘We did,’ said Ruby. ‘Right to the door.’
    ‘Blimey,’ said Doris. ‘Talk about lowering the tone. A coach outside Warnes Hotel. Whatever next?’
    The four of them laughed, although Ruby had a sneaky feeling that Phyllis didn’t really understand why.
    They heard pots and pans clanging in the kitchen and knew that the chef must have arrived and that breakfast was on its way. Before long, a delicious smell of bacon filtered through, and it was time to move into other areas of the hotel. They wheeled the flowers into the outside kitchen and laid