Lily of Love Lane by Carol Rivers Read Free Book Online Page B

out on the kitchen table.
    ‘Reube gave me a five bob bonus for selling a lot of stuff. And with working Saturday afternoon I got twenty five shillings altogether.’
    ‘You should have some for yourself.’
    ‘No, I’ll manage.’
    Josie quickly slipped the money in her apron pocket. ‘Well, ducks, I’ll be able to go to the corner shop and hold my head up high again.’
    ‘And clear the arrears on the rent.’
    ‘Of course. Are you going to see Hattie tomorrow?’
    Lily nodded. ‘If she hasn’t got to sit with Sylvester.’ She looked through the kitchen window to the tin tub hanging on the side of the shed. ‘Is Dad using the bath
tonight?’
    ‘Yes, after what he’s been doing on them ships, he’ll need a good scrub.’
    ‘Could I have the first bath, then?’ Lily hated the smell of the disinfectant he had to use, that clung to the sides of the bath.
    ‘Course you can. It’ll be filthy when he’s finished with it, anyway. I’ll get the water warmed in the copper first.’
    Lily hoped she could have a long soak. She wanted to lay in the water and think of herself in a big white bath with lion’s claw feet. She had imagined doing this all week through the rain
and wind. She had been disappointed not to see Charles Grey again. But what would a man like him want to return to Cox Street for?
    On Sunday afternoon, Lily called for Hattie. ‘Can you come out?’ She stood muffled up to the ears with a scarf and her hat pulled hard down around her ears. It was
threatening to rain again.
    ‘I’ll ask Mum and Dad. Come in a minute.’
    Lily stepped inside. Hattie hurried off and was soon back. ‘They ain’t going for a walk as Sylvester’s poorly,’ she said in whisper as she put on her coat.
    ‘What’s happened?’
    ‘He had one of his nightmares. Is it gonna rain?’
    ‘It might.’
    ‘I’ll take the umbrella then.’
    Lily knew that Sylvester had such bad dreams of the war that they made him very ill. As she waited for her friend to put on a hat and tuck her bob gently inside she felt very sorry for the Parks
family. Their life was dominated by Sylvester’s illness. Despite this, Hattie always managed a smile and to take a pride in her looks.
    Hattie glanced in the hallstand mirror. She turned this way and that, pouting her lips, then she drew her middle finger under her eyebrows as if she was urging them up. ‘How do I
look?’
    ‘Beautiful as always.’
    ‘Don’t be funny. I’ve had a rough night.’
    ‘I mean it. It don’t matter what sort of night you’ve had you always look the same.’
    ‘That’s Madame’s training for you. She’s a stickler for looking your best. She says her girls are representatives of her work. So we all have to remember that outside of
work.’
    ‘She expects a lot, don’t she?’ Lily asked as they stepped out into the gloomy afternoon.
    ‘Yes, but she pays me well, don’t she? And in the end it’s the money that counts.’
    ‘You’re right about that,’ Lily agreed, thinking that nearly all her thoughts were taken up with how she was going to pay this or that, or which bill she should help her mother
to settle first. It was a relief to know now that at least the rent was up to date.
    They walked arm in arm, discussing the events of the past week as they took the foot tunnel from Island Gardens to Greenwich. The tunnel wound under the River Thames to the South Bank, and by
the time they saw daylight at the other end, they had begun to discuss Lily’s birthday in March.
    ‘I’m going to make a cake for me twenty-first, with twenty-one candles,’ Lily said.
    Hattie laughed. ‘You’ll need a lot of puff to blow that lot out. You’re getting old, girl.’
    ‘You’re only six months younger than me.’
    ‘Are you gonna have a party?’ Hattie wanted to know.
    ‘I’d like to. But I haven’t asked Mum yet.’
    ‘Can she afford it?’
    Lily shrugged. ‘I’m trying to save up a bit.’ She didn’t want to tell her friend just how