Until We Meet Again by Margaret Thornton Read Free Book Online Page A

jazzy tunes, all the while flashing their brilliant white teeth in beaming smiles. How old were they? Tilly wondered. Surely they must be forty if they were a day by now, but they appeared ageless; Barney, sleek and dark-haired and pale of complexion, and Benjy, rosy-cheeked and with curly blonde hair. Many assumed them to be brothers despite their dissimilar looks, but they were just ‘very good friends’ who had been dancing together for ages, not without tiffs and clashes of personality from time to time.
    Another performer who seemed never to age was Susannah Brown, the soubrettist of the troupe who sang light-hearted, sometimes cheeky, songs and was well known for flirting with the audience. She was now Susannah Morrison, of course, having married Frank Morrison, the Music Man and her long-time friend, several years ago. Tilly hazarded a guess that Susannah, also, must be in her forties now and her husband at least ten years older. As well as being husband and wife they had now combined their act as well.
    ‘You are my honey, honeysuckle, I am the bee…’ sang Frank, whilst his wife pirouetted around him, her saucy blue eyes twinkling and winking at the audience.
    Then Susannah sang on her own, ‘The boy I love is up in the gallery, the boy I love is looking down at me…’ and then Frank showed his proficiency on the banjo, concertina and mouth organ.
    It was Freddie’s turn next and he made his family proud, astounding everyone with his faultless tricks: making spots disappear from playing cards, miles of silken scarves appear from nowhere, full containers miraculously become empty and a lop-eared white rabbit jump from a top hat to the accompaniment of ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the audience.
    There was a witty sketch about a courting couple and an irate father in which several members took part, then a recitation of ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ by the new man, Cedric Wotherspoon. But what Tilly was waiting for above all else was the moment when Maddy would take her place on the stage.
    Her solo spot was the last item before the interval. Percy stepped onto the stage and announced, ‘And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment I am sure you have all been waiting for. We have with us tonight Miss Madeleine Moon, “Yorkshire’s own songbird” and, of course, as many of you know, a lass from right here in Scarborough. So please give a hearty welcome to our guest artiste…Madeleine Moon.’
    She ran onto the stage in her usual girlish way to a warm welcome from the audience. She stood there smiling until the applause had died down, then she nodded to the pianist, Letty, who played just one note on the piano. Then Maddy sang, unaccompanied, the song which over the years she had made her very own.
    ‘Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
    Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
    Remember me to one who lives there,
    For once he was a true love of mine.’
    When she was younger Maddy had always worn a simple dress of cream or white which emphasised her youth and innocence. Tonight she wore a dress of lilac silken chiffon with a narrow skirt and a hemline cut into points, known as a ‘handkerchief’ hemline, which showed off her neat ankles. The cummerbund, in a darker shade of purple, was decorated by a silken posy at one side. It was simple yet elegant, the height of fashion without being ostentatious.
    But it was her voice that people would remember even more than the loveliness of her face and her golden hair, worn loose now and waving gently almost to her shoulders. The silver-toned notes of the haunting melody rang out across the soft air of the summer night. There was a moment’s hush when she stopped singing, then rapturous applause to which Maddy bowed her head in her usual unassuming manner.
    She sang two more songs, this time accompanied by the piano; ‘Silver Threads among the Gold’ and one which revealed the more frivolous side of her nature and with which the audience were invited to join in