A Moment to Remember (23 page)

‘I’ve ’eard that before.’

Back in the shop, the fat man went to a drawer under the counter and took out a ten-shilling note.

‘Look at that,’ said a customer. ‘What she ’ave ter do ter git that, then?’

The fat man grinned and touched the side of his nose.

Milly wanted to smack his face, but she knew that wouldn’t do any good, so she grabbed her money and stalked out.

 

As she walked to the office, she wondered how she was going to get the money to the police station. She didn’t want to go there herself, but could she trust Pammy to deliver it? What option did she have?

‘Sorry I’m late,’ she said, taking off her hat. ‘We had a bit of trouble at home.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ said Ada. ‘You know you don’t have to stay if someone is ill.’

Milly smiled. ‘No. It’s nothing like that.’ She wasn’t going to elaborate.

‘There’s a batch of letters to be stamped and posted. Could you do that this morning?’

‘Yes, of course.’ Milly knew that that was the answer. She would post the money.

 

The following evening she had to look surprised when she walked into the kitchen to hear Bert telling everybody how someone had sent the money to pay for the goods he’d stolen.

‘You must have a secret benefactor somewhere,’ said Milly.

‘Don’t know wot that means, but fank Gord for ’im. Didn’t like it in clink.’

‘Now you might think twice about going round stealing.’

‘He will fer a little while,’ said Pammy. She looked at Milly. ‘I wonder who sent the money.’

Milly shrugged. She certainly wasn’t going to tell them.

I
N 1913 THE SUFFRAGETTES were truly making themselves heard. There had been many incidents and arrests, but it was in June that they received the greatest amount of publicity.

One afternoon Ada came rushing into the office with tears running down her face.

Milly jumped up to comfort her. ‘What is it? What’s happened? Eve, get Ada a glass of water.’

They sat Ada down and waited for the sobs to subside.

‘You remember the Epsom Derby, when Emily Davison threw herself under the King’s horse.’

There was a quick intake of breath from all who were present.

‘Yes. Why?’ asked Eve.

‘We believe she wanted to stop the horse. It was a protest that went horribly wrong, and she was taken to the hospital. I’ve just heard it was too late.’

Milly sat at her desk. She suddenly felt she should do more. Like everybody else she was aware of the imprisonment and the hunger strikes, but this was the first time someone had actually died for the cause.

 

The papers were full of the death of Emily Davison. It was the talk of the streets. On the day of the funeral many ordinary people stood at the roadside to watch the cortege pass by and say their last goodbyes. The office had been draped in black, and although it was a very sombre affair, for Milly like countless others, the funeral was the grandest thing she had ever attended. To walk with the women and to hear the sound of the muffled drums brought tears to her eyes. The women who lined the route were crying, and even the men with bowed heads were silent. It was very emotional.

‘We must get the vote now,’ Ada said. ‘Surely this has to be the supreme sacrifice.’

 

Towards the end of the year Milly’s life took another turn. Last week had been her nineteenth birthday. Now she was well into the movement and had been on a few marches but always managed to stay out of trouble. At the rallies she was thrilled by speeches by the Pankhursts and other women, and admired their passion and dedication.

The so-called cat-and-mouse game was also in the news. When the women in prison became ill through being on hunger strike, they were given a temporary discharge and sent home to recover then arrested again. It was all very sad.

‘Milly,’ said Ada one morning as soon as she arrived at the office.

Milly, who was busy writing at her desk, looked up. She was always worried when Ada used that tone of voice. Had she done something wrong?

‘Don’t look so apprehensive.’ Ada seemed excited and quickly removed her hat and coat. ‘As you know, we have a tenant in the two rooms upstairs, who is leaving soon. Now, I know you are not very happy at home, and I was wondering if you would like to move into the upstairs rooms.’

Milly sat with her mouth open.

‘You don’t have to answer me now. Think about it and let me know.’

‘What about the rent? I don’t think I could afford it.’

‘We have thought about that, and we, that is the movement, were wondering if you wouldn’t mind sharing.’

Milly was still in shock. ‘No. No, I don’t mind. Who did you have in mind?’

‘There’s a young lady about your age whose father as we know has made her homeless. She is from a very good family; her mother died a while back and she was a member, so we were wondering if that would be all right with you.’

‘Yes, that would be fine. When do I get to meet her?’

‘This afternoon.’

‘When are the people upstairs leaving?’

‘This weekend. Now, I must get on.’

Milly sat looking at her desk. She wanted to dance round the room. She couldn’t believe that she had been given another chance to better herself. She thought about her family. What would they do without her? She knew it was selfish, but she had to take the moment. Her mind was churning over and over. They didn’t know where she was working; they had never been interested just as long as she brought in the money. She wouldn’t give them her address but she would send them money now and again.

As usual when anything good was offered to Milly, her thoughts always went to Jane. If she hadn’t taken me off the streets and educated me, where would I be now? She knew she would never forget her friend and would be grateful to her for the rest of her life.

 

It was late in the afternoon when Elizabeth Phillips walked into the office. She was a small, thin girl with large blue eyes and mousy-coloured wavy hair that peeped out from under her lovely fur hat. She glanced quickly round the room and smiled at Milly. ‘Hello, I’m Lizzie Phillips.’

Milly jumped up and held out her hand. ‘I’m Milly Ash.’

‘Are you the one I’m going share these rooms with?’

Milly nodded. ‘Please take a seat.’

Ada came over smiling. ‘I’m going to leave you two to have a chat. Lizzie, would you like a cup of tea?’

‘Yes please.’

Milly suddenly felt very shy and scruffy, even though she always wore a nice skirt and blouse for work. Lizzie, who was wearing a beautiful brown coat, sat down and placed her brown leather handbag on her lap and removed her matching leather gloves. Milly could see that everything about her was expensive.

‘I hope you don’t mind me sharing with you, but you see, my father doesn’t approve of women getting the vote. He’s in government, so it means he has to be against us, even though secretly he’s quite supportive really. I’m not a very active member, it’s just that Mother was and I feel that in part I should try to keep up her work.’

Milly sat listening to the lovely way Lizzie spoke. ‘No. No, I don’t mind. In fact I shall rather like it. I’ve never lived on my own before.’

Lizzie giggled. ‘Neither have I. I’m sure we shall muddle along together.’

Milly smiled. Somehow she knew she was going to like Lizzie and enjoy this new life.

 

On Saturday, once the tenants had moved out, Milly and Lizzie went upstairs to check out the rooms. They were like a couple of children laughing and giggling at their new-found freedom.

There was a bedroom, a dining-cum-sitting room, a very small kitchen and a toilet.

‘Thank goodness for that,’ said Lizzie as she opened the door that led to the toilet. ‘I couldn’t face having to go to that one in the yard.

‘We must get some new furniture,’ she continued. ‘Tomorrow we can make a list. Can you come here tomorrow? ’

‘Yes.’

‘Good. Look at the state of that fireplace. I’m not very good at cleaning, are you?’

‘I’m good at cleaning, but Lizzie, I can’t afford to buy any furniture.’

‘Don’t worry about that,’ she said dismissively, waving her hand. ‘I expect my father will help; besides, I get a very generous allowance and we can go shopping together.’

Milly couldn’t believe her luck. In some ways Lizzie was a bit like Jane, always with a ready smile and full of life. This was going to be a new start, and Milly was very happy with that.

 

Milly had a job to keep her excitement to herself when she arrived home that evening.

‘Where is everybody?’ she asked Pammy as she took off her coat and hat.

‘All out scrounging. Why?’

‘Nothing. I’ve got us some beef for tomorrow, so we can have a nice roast dinner.’

‘Cor, you come inter a fortune then?’ asked Pammy, who was sitting at the table feeding Freddie.

‘No. I was lucky, the butcher was just closing up and was selling his meat off cheap.’

‘I dunno what we’d do without yer now, Mil,’ said Pammy, smiling. ‘I can’t believe how good you are to us. And it was you what paid Bert’s fine, wasn’t it? Where did yer git that sort a money from? I know yer wouldn’t pinch it; did yer borrow it?’

Milly swallowed hard and just smiled. They could think what they liked. Her big worry now was that in a week or two she would have to tell them she was leaving again.

‘So, where d’yer work now? It must be a nice clean place, as yer always look really nice when yer goes orf.’

She quickly changed the subject. ‘Pammy, I know it’s none of my business, but I do wish you wouldn’t sleep with Dad.’

‘Don’t start on that again.’

‘I’m worried at what he does to you.’

‘He don’t do nuffink.’

‘Now that you’re thirteen, you’ll be starting your monthlies soon.’

‘I told yer before, he just cuddles me, that’s all. He don’t do what uvver blokes do.’

‘Why don’t you go and sleep in with the others?’

‘I told yer. I like being wiv Dad and in a proper bed. Don’t keep on about it.’

Milly sat down. She had been over and over this conversation with her sister many times. She knew it was useless trying to make Pammy see the danger, but the poor girl wanted some love in her sad life and didn’t care who gave it. But what if she became pregnant? How would they manage then?

 

‘I might be late back this morning,’ said Milly on Sunday as she adjusted her hat in front of the mirror. ‘I’ve done the potatoes and the veg, and Pammy, can you put the meat in the oven about ten?’

‘You wanna tell that vicar bloke not ter keep yer, we want our dinner,’ said Bert.

Milly didn’t answer, and left without telling them that she wasn’t going to church. She was meeting Lizzie at the flat.

When she arrived, she was surprised to find Lizzie already going round making a list.

‘Now, we need two beds and a dressing table. We can hang our clothes behind the door for now, and we can put a lot of things in that big cupboard next to the fireplace.’

Milly was impressed with her efficiency as she followed her around.

‘In this room we need a sofa and a table, it can’t be very big, and we shall have to have two dining chairs. Then there’s cutlery, curtains, china and bedding, of course. Can you think of anything else?’

Milly was dumbfounded. ‘I can go to the market and see what I can pick up on the second-hand stalls.’

Lizzie looked shocked. ‘I don’t want second-hand.’

‘But Lizzie, we can’t afford all that.’

‘We can’t, but my father can. He’s lovely and I know you’ll like him.’

Milly still couldn’t believe her luck. How could she be given two chances in her life? What had she done to deserve this? She still had this fear that she would have to pay again with some terrible consequence for any happiness that came her way.

M
ILLY AND LIZZIE decided they would wait till after Christmas to move into their new home.

‘That will give us time to get together the last few things we need,’ said Lizzie, bubbling with enthusiasm.

One morning, only a few days after they had looked at the flat, Milly was surprised when furniture and various other goods arrived for upstairs.

When Lizzie came in, she told Milly that most of the furniture had come from her house. ‘I hope you don’t mind?’

Milly was speechless as she admired the quality. She was beginning to get really excited about the move. Never in her wildest dreams had she even begun to think that once again she would be sleeping in a bed and sitting on expensive furniture, and she couldn’t wait for the big day.

On the Saturday morning before Christmas, Ada said they could go upstairs and hang the curtains that had arrived.

‘That way the place will look as if people have moved in.’ After the shop had had its window broken, she was always concerned about reprisals.

‘These are so lovely,’ said Milly as she arranged the beautiful rust-coloured brocade curtains. She stood back to admire her work. ‘They’re a bit long, but I can soon sort that out when we’ve moved in.’

‘You are so clever. Now, as I don’t know what else you need in the kitchen, could you get what you want?’ Lizzie handed her a five-pound note. ‘After all, you’re the one who will be doing the cooking and the like.’

Milly gasped. She had never even seen a five-pound note before. From the beginning she had told Lizzie that she was more than happy to do the cooking and cleaning, while Lizzie had insisted on paying the lion’s share of the rent. ‘You have been more than generous. There are just a few things I shall want, and I certainly won’t need all this.’ She held out the money.

‘No, please take it,’ Lizzie said. ‘So, what are you doing for Christmas?’