A Mistletoe Kiss (18 page)

Then there was the pier, which she believed to be one of the longest on the North Wales coast, and the lovely shops, and the beach …

Hetty jumped out of bed, hurled her nightdress on to the floor, splashed water into the basin, and began to wash. This was going to be a day she would never forget, and she and Aunt Phoebe had planned together so that Hetty would be as smartly turned out as anyone else on the coach. Aunt Phoebe had bought her – from Paddy's market, naturally – a primrose-coloured linen dress, very much in the modern mode, with a straight
skirt ending in a frill of tiny pleats, short sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. It had seemed to Hetty that it had cost a great deal of money, but she and her aunt had shared the price and thought it worth every penny.

Now, she dressed carefully, brushed her hair till it shone and descended the stairs at a gallop. In the kitchen Aunt Phoebe and Uncle Alf looked up and smiled as she hurried into the room. Aunt Phoebe immediately began to dish up porridge whilst Uncle Alf poured her a mug of tea and nodded approvingly as he pushed it towards her. ‘You look grand, queen, pretty as a picture,' he said. ‘My, that's a rare smart get-up. That old woman should be proud to have such a friend.'

Hetty, gobbling porridge, grinned at her uncle. She knew that Mrs Preece would be in her best, knew also from what Miss Preece had told her that the majority of the folk on the coach would be elderly and would pay little attention to a fifteen-year-old girl who was not even a whist player. Still, it was nice to be admired, particularly as Uncle Alf seldom noticed such mundane things as his niece's appearance. ‘Thanks, Uncle Alf, but I shan't be the only one in my best,' Hetty said, finishing her breakfast and jumping to her feet. ‘Thanks, Aunt Phoebe, that was delicious. I reckon I'll be late home so don't wait up for me; just leave the key in its usual place.'

She snatched her jacket from its peg and was soon hurrying along, heading for the Pier Head, since Miss Preece was ordering a taxi which would take her and her mother to the coach stop. Indeed, when Hetty
arrived, the first thing she saw was Miss Preece helping her mother into a large, cream-coloured coach. The librarian turned and smiled as Hetty joined her. Thinking she must be late, she began to apologise, but Miss Preece laughed and shook her head. ‘Mother likes to be one of the first aboard so she can choose her seat,' she explained. ‘Unless you particularly want to sit with her, you can choose your place too, but if I were you I should join the other young people right at the back of the coach. Tell Mother where you're sitting and help her down when you reach Llandudno. You'll find her whist partner will be waiting and the two of them will go off together, happy as sandboys.'

This proved to be absolutely true. When she got on the coach, Mrs Preece greeted her warmly enough, but said she had arranged to sit with another whist player for the journey to Llandudno. ‘It's not as though there's no one your age aboard, because several young people have already taken over the back seat,' she said. Her eyes scanned Hetty from head to feet, then she smiled. ‘My dear girl, I've never seen you look so smart! You do us credit, indeed you do. Now off with you; go and make friends with folk your own age.'

Hetty was only too glad to obey, for she already knew at least one of the back seat passengers, a girl called Julia, who was in the class above hers at school. There were a couple of lads who looked to be around fifteen or sixteen, and another girl, probably a little older. Hetty walked down the aisle towards them a trifle shyly, but Julia looked up and beamed. ‘Hello, Hetty! What a bit of luck you being on our coach,' she
said happily. ‘We were wondering if we could get someone we knew to take the last place on the rear seat. I say, I do like your dress!'

Hetty smiled. Julia was a small, plump girl with dark feathery curls, and she was clad today in blue gingham to match her eyes. Hetty took the vacant seat offered and sat down beside the other girl. ‘You look very nice too,' she said generously. ‘Wasn't it a piece of luck you having a spare place on the rear seat, though? I'm accompanying the old lady sitting right at the front of the coach, but all I have to do is make sure she gets to the whist drive, then the day's my own.' She looked shyly at the other girl. ‘Do you have plans? I s'pose I couldn't go round with you, could I?'

‘Course you could,' Julia said at once. ‘Llandudno's a lovely place, but not a great deal of fun on your own, I shouldn't think. We aren't giving an eye to anyone, but there were half a dozen empty places on the chara-bancs so we nagged our mothers to buy us tickets, and here we are.'

She delved in her pocket and produced a pink ticket, similar to the one which nestled in Hetty's jacket. ‘You know Amanda, I suppose? She's in the year above me and a prefect … Amanda, this is Hetty, who's also at our school.'

Amanda grinned. ‘Hello, Hetty. The feller sitting next to me is Billy Williams and the chap on the end is my brother Jack.'

Hetty smiled at the boys and they began discussing what they should do when they reached Llandudno, soon drawing Hetty into the conversation, even though
she had never visited the town before. They agreed emphatically that they must visit the Great Orme and also the pier, and Hetty scarcely noticed when the coach jerked into motion, so busily engaged was she in enjoying the company of her new friends.

She particularly liked Amanda's brother, Jack, and was glad when he suggested that the two of them might spend some time on the beach. ‘We're a bit big for donkey rides,' he told her, grinning. ‘But I reckon we're neither of us too old for a paddle. Then we might build a sandcastle, or go along the beach a bit further, where it's all rocks and pebbles, and see what we can find. Ever seen a starfish? Or a sea anemone? I once found a sea urchin,' he chuckled reminiscently, ‘it were the thrill of me life, I'm telling you. Going to come with me? Or do you want to go round the smart shops? Julia and Amanda think they're young ladies and too old for the beach, but you look like a girl with a bit more sense.'

So when the journey was over the five of them already knew just where they should head. ‘Only first I have to take Mrs Preece to the hall where the competition is to take place,' Hetty confessed. ‘So perhaps I'd better arrange to meet you somewhere in say half an hour's time.'

But this was not necessary, since, as Miss Preece had foretold, her mother's whist partner was waiting for her at the stop and pounced as soon as Hetty helped the old lady to alight.

‘We may not see you at lunchtime,' Mrs Preece told Hetty briskly. ‘But we'll meet up again for high tea,
which is taken at six o'clock on the dot, so if you want your share be sure to arrive promptly.'

Miss Milner was a good deal younger than her partner, a brisk, grey-haired woman in her early fifties, Hetty guessed, with a wide, humorous mouth and shrewd, pale blue eyes. She gave Mrs Preece a kiss, telling Hetty that they had been whist partners now for eight years, shook Hetty herself heartily by the hand and then disappeared in the direction of a large hall into which a number of elderly ladies and gentlemen were disappearing, though there were younger folk also heading in that direction.

‘The prizes are real good,' Hetty heard one of the younger women remark. ‘Last year I paid for a week's holiday in the town wit' me winnings.'

As soon as the little group of friends set off, Hetty turned to Julia. ‘I assumed that we'd go to the hall where the competition is being held for our lunch,' she said, rather puzzled. ‘I know we go there for high tea, because old Mrs Preece told me so …'

‘Yes, because by six o'clock, when high tea is served, the competition is over,' Julia explained. ‘But if you look closely at the portion of your ticket which entitles you to lunch … well, look at yours and tell me what you see.'

Hetty complied and saw that the words
The Seagull, The Wintergardens
and
The Frolicks
were printed across the bottom of the section which applied to lunch. She turned puzzled eyes on her new friend. ‘What does it
mean?
' she asked plaintively. ‘I don't understand.'

Julia chuckled. ‘And you one of the clever scholarship girls,' she remarked. ‘They're restaurants, silly,
and the token allows you one main course, one pudding and one cup of tea at any of them. I don't think we'll go to the Frolicks because all the little old ladies from the town go there, and we won't go to the Wintergardens on Gloddaeth Street, because that's where the whist drive is being held. But the Seagull serves the best fish and chips in Llandudno, as well as the biggest puddings. It's a good walk, but well worth it.' She glanced at her small watch. ‘Want to take look at the shops as we go? Only we might as well get lunch out of the way. Then we can split up and do whatever we want until we head for the tram and the Great Orme.'

As Julia had said, the meal at the Seagull was very good indeed, and afterwards Jack and Hetty set off for the beach, so full of food that Hetty doubted if they would be able to reach the sea, let alone paddle in it. The tide was out, but somehow her energy – and Jack's – came back as, shoes and socks in hand, they padded across the firm wet sand to the rocks where they found tiny crabs, flat fish no bigger than a penny, sea anemones which clutched your finger if you held it near enough to their waving tentacles, and many beautiful sea shells, which Hetty collected eagerly, pushing them into the pocket of her linen jacket.

They met the others on the pier as agreed and discussed at great length whether they should go up the Orme before or after high tea, finally deciding to hurry straight to the Wintergardens and enquire of the coach drivers what time the vehicles left for the return journey. ‘If it's fairly soon after tea is finished, then
we'll have a straight choice between filling our stomachs with grub or rejoicing in the beauties of the sunset,' Billy said. ‘I know which I'd rather do, but then I always was a great one for me food.'

The others all laughed at him, particularly a tall, handsome boy, Hetty thought probably seventeen or eighteen, who appeared to have joined the others whilst they were exploring the shops. Amanda, looking rather self-conscious, introduced him as ‘my boyfriend, Cyril‘, and it appeared that he had borrowed his father's car and intended to take Amanda home at the end of the day. ‘So you'll have more room on the back seat if you want to cuddle and canoodle,' Amanda said, and was set upon by Jack and Julia, who thought the suggestion quite revolting.

At the Wintergardens they were told that there should be plenty of time after tea to go up the Great Orme before the coaches left, so they made their way first to the large conference hall where the whist drive was being held, and their high tea would be served. As soon as she saw Hetty, Mrs Preece, pink with excitement, displayed her winnings: a large box of chocolates, a beautiful little oil painting in a gilded frame and a pound note in a tiny velvet purse. Naturally enough, Miss Milner had shared in her partner's success and both ladies were delighted with their day out.

When high tea was finished, Hetty and her new friends caught the tram and spent longer than they perhaps should have done on top of the Orme. As Miss Preece had said, the views were spectacular, and Hetty
felt tears come to her eyes as she gazed out across the ridged sand below to where the tide was slowly creeping back, and beyond the sands to the mountains, dark blue against the brilliance of the sky.

Presently, they went to the small café on the summit, where Cyril bought them all ice creams and then hustled them aboard the tram, saying that if they wanted to catch the coach they should really get a move on. Hetty thought he was joking, having no idea of the time since she did not own a wristwatch, but when they got to the coach park outside the great bulk of the Wintergardens she was dismayed to find that some of the coaches had already left. She grabbed Julia's arm. ‘Don't worry about saving me a place; I've simply got to find Mrs Preece and make sure she's all right,' she gabbled. ‘Goodness, how the coaches are filling up! But I don't mind where I sit so long as I can keep an eye on old Mrs Preece.'

‘Okay, we won't save a place for you then,' Julia said. ‘I say, Hetty, you'd better move quickly else you'll be on a coach with all the old biddies who can't hurry even if they want to.'

‘I'll do my best,' Hetty said, and ran towards the Wintergardens. Inside, it took her a few minutes to ascertain that neither Miss Milner nor Mrs Preece were amongst those still strolling around and gossiping, and by the time she got back to the coach park only two vehicles remained. Hastily, she ran alongside the one about to depart and saw Mrs Preece sitting in her favourite front seat. The old lady beckoned and Hetty banged on the side of vehicle, for the door was shut,
but to her dismay the driver either did not hear, or chose to ignore her.

Heaving a frustrated sigh, Hetty ran to the following coach, which was drawing up before pulling off the park on to the main road, and the driver obligingly opened his door just long enough for her to tumble aboard. She glanced towards the back seat, but it was fully occupied with young people she did not know, so she handed her pink ticket to the driver, who tucked it into his pocket. Then she took the only remaining seat and plumped herself down, addressing the elderly lady who occupied the window seat.

‘Excuse me; I came on a coach to accompany an elderly lady to the whist drive, but she's on the coach in front of this one. I couldn't get aboard, the driver wouldn't wait … but can you tell me if all the coaches will reach the Pier Head at about the same time? Only I promised I would look after her, see her back to her own home.'

The woman seated beside her was red-faced and hugely fat and took up at least three-quarters of the seat, but she was clearly well disposed towards her young companion, smiling and patting her hand. ‘Don't worry, cariad. These coaches is like beads on a necklace, they follows one another that quick,' she said, in the loud voice of one who was somewhat hard of hearing. ‘You'll be wi' your pal in no time.'