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

the chorus.
    ‘I wouldn’t leave my little wooden hut for you;
    I’ve got one lover and I don’t want two…’
    Then she curtsied to the audience, kissed and waved her hand, and ran into the dressing tent to the sound of clapping and cheering and even one or two whistles.
    ‘Well, that will have cheered everyone up, I’m sure,’ remarked Tilly. ‘She’s very good, my sister, isn’t she? I told you what a lovely voice she has.’
    ‘Yes, I’m very impressed,’ replied Dominic. ‘It’s the first time I’ve heard her sing. It seems that yours is a very talented family. Piano playing and singing, and your brother’s a wizard at Maths. Even better than me!’ he remarked with a sardonic grin.
    Tilly hadn’t quite got the measure of him yet. She wasn’t sure whether he was conceited and self-opinionated, or if his remarks contained a touch of irony. Or if his facetiousness was, maybe, a cover for a lack of confidence. She just smiled in reply, unsure as to what to say.
    Pete, the ‘bottler’, was coming round now with his bag on a stick. He was one of the funny men of the troupe and a good all-rounder who could turn his hand to anything. He had been with Percy’s company ever since it started, along with his wife, Nancy, who had the performing dogs. Most people had paid for their seats on arrival, but there were others standing at the back, and there were not many folk who did not dig deepinto their purses or pockets to drop another coin or two into the bag. Pete was skilled, after many years of experience, at extracting money from the crowds, ‘as skilled as a dentist extracting teeth,’ he sometimes quipped.
    There was a buzz of conversation going on all around, about the marvellous show and the wonderful weather, and how good it was to see so-and-so again… Clearly everyone’s spirits had been raised and there was not a whisper of the war.
    The second half of the show commenced with the Pierrots and the audience singing, ‘Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside…’ This was followed by the final acts of the night: another comedy sketch about a frustrated debt collector; Jeremy Jarvis, the ventriloquist, with his trio of wooden dolls – Tommy the Toff, Belinda the Belle of the Ball, and Desmond the Drunkard; Pete and Percy, the comedy duo, with jokes old and new; Percy again, singing romantic ballads with Dora Daventry; Cedric, dressed as a judge, singing comedy songs from Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘Iolanthe’; and Maddy, in her second spot of the evening.
    She sang two plaintive Scottish ballads, ‘Robin Adair’ and ‘Comin’ thru’ the Rye’. Then a light-hearted song, ‘In the Twi-twi-twilight’. Once againthe audience sang along happily to the chorus.
    It was perhaps inevitable that the finale of the show, with all the Pierrots and guest artistes on the stage, should contain a patriotic song. The last time many of them had sung it had been in Queen Victoria’s reign when the Boer War had been raging. ‘We’re the Soldiers of the Queen,’ they had sung then. Now it was the old queen’s grandson on the throne and the country was once again at war, but it was hoped it would not be for long.
    ‘We’re the soldiers of the King,
    Who’ve been, my lads, who’ve seen, my lads,
    In the fight for England’s glory, lads,
    Of its world-wide glory let us sing.
    And when we say we’ve always won,
    And when they ask us how it’s done,
    We’ll proudly point to every one
    Of England’s soldiers of the King.’
    The rousing cheer went on and on after Percy had bade everyone ‘Good night and God bless,’ and there were very few dry eyes as the members of the audience made their way across the sands and up the cliff path to the promenade.
    Dominic hung around whilst Tilly spoke to the members of her family, then Maddy and Freddiecame out of the dressing tents to join the family group.
    ‘May I walk home with you?’ asked Dominic, beckoning Tilly to one side. ‘It’s a lovely evening.