Bia's War (33 page)

Nana opened the envelope with
difficulty and withdrew the many closely written sheets from inside
it. Attached to the top, handwritten sheet was a letter which had
obviously been typed and signed with Anthony Vine’s rather
elaborate signature.

“It’s my copy of my will.” Nana
said when she had perused the top sheet. “Anthony’s had it all
legally tied up so it can’t be ignored when I die. Put it in the
top drawer of my dressing table, will you? There’s a good girl. I
can rest happy now that I know that’s been done. Will you do me one
more little task today, Victoria? Will you promise me that you will
let Mr Vine know when I die, as quickly as you can? I want him to
start carrying out my wishes as soon as he can after I’ve
gone.”

“Nana, please don’t distress
yourself.” Victoria begged. “Please don’t talk about dying like
that. You are frightening me, now. It’s almost as though you want
to die tonight.”

Nana Lymer shook her head
vigorously and then helped herself to one of the biscuits that
Victoria had put on the tray.

“Rubbish.” She declared,
twinkling her eyes at her granddaughter. “Let’s finish the story
now, shall we? I’ve nearly told you all there is to tell. What
happened after this was incredibly boring, so I’m sure you won’t
want to hear about the rest of my life.”

“That was the turning point in
our relationship.” Nana Lymer continued with the story. “After that
night, Sam and I became more than friends. We had both tasted every
nuance of the full load of human emotions and Sam losing his two
boys seemed to balance out the death of Simon. There was only one
road left that we could travel together and that was as proper
partners in life- as husband and wife. We waited a little while
until we felt it was acceptable for us both to make this
commitment, when no-one could say that we had married because I was
looking for a replacement for William or that Sam didn’t know what
he was doing so close to losing both his boys and then we made
arrangements to close the shop and have the quietest wedding ever
in the Registry Office on Middlesbrough Road.”

“All three of Sam’s girls were
bridesmaids for us and Sam bought them all a gold chain with a
small locket as presents for wishing us both well. Annie gave me
away because I didn’t have any other family and Sam bought her the
same gold chain, which she cherished for the rest of her life. She
had been very quiet after we had told her that we were getting
married and I worried that she thought I shouldn’t have been
looking for any happiness in this life after the loss of Simon,
but, when I finally got the truth out of her it was so much simpler
than that. She thought that Sam and I wouldn’t want her to continue
living with us after we got married, because she wasn’t a family
member and we had no duty to care for her. I soon disabused her of
that notion and she finally accepted that we looked on her as
family and that we wouldn’t tolerate her moving away from us. If
the truth were known, I would get a cold sweat at the thought of
her moving away, because she was as important to me as my bones
were.”

“The three girls were all
delighted that their father was going to marry me. Sarah admitted
that they had been dropping hints to Sam for weeks for him to ‘pop
the question’ but he had acted remarkably obtuse about the subject.
They were even more pleased when they discovered that it was to be
a spring wedding and that they were all to get new dresses for the
occasion. They all made a trip to the wild meadow over behind the
railway line and came back with armfuls of early spring flowers
which they wove into coronets and wore atop their shining curls. I
carried a bunch of wild violets which Hannah had managed to find in
some hidden corner of the meadow and they released a delicate scent
for the rest of the day, so beautiful that I am transported back to
that wonderful day whenever I catch even a faint whiff of the
perfume.”

Nana Lymer didn’t even pause for
breath, but carried straight on to the next part of the story. It
was obvious to Victoria that she fully intended getting through the
rest of the story that day and nobody was going to stop her.

“In the run-up to the wedding, I
had worried about the age difference between Sammy and I. He was
forty seven and I was thirty three and fourteen years is a big age
gap. I didn’t want the town gossips spreading vitriol about me
marrying an older man for his money, as the townsfolk knew that
Sammy rented out houses, but no-one knew I was part-owner of those
houses. They would think I only had the income from my shop and my
bit of pawn brokering and might look on me as a gold digger,
marrying an older man for his money. When I mentioned this to Annie
she laughed my fears away.”

“‘Fourteen years is nothing,
Bia.’ She said, when I mentioned my concerns to her. ‘Any lass
needs a man with a bit of maturity and there’s so many war widows
marrying anything so long as it wears trousers to give themselves
and their bairns a bit of security, that nobody is going to say
anything about you. Anyway, you’ve only got to see the way you two
smile at each other to know that you’re both in love. You worry too
much about everything. Take a deep breath and get out there and
enjoy your wedding day without worrying what other folks may
say.’”

“She was right, as Annie usually
was, although I took a few deep breaths, not just the one. I didn’t
think that one would be sufficient. It was a wonderful day and we
left the girls with Annie after the ceremony and went to Redcar on
the train. The sun shone, although there was a chilly breeze coming
off the sea, as there usually is at Redcar, but I was well wrapped
up in my new shawl which I had crocheted for that day and so we
walked along the sea front, watching the water lapping on the
shore. It was so peaceful a scene that it was almost unbelievable
that such death and destruction had come out of that same sea
eighteen months before. We couldn’t help but wonder if the cruel
ships would come again during this terrible war and wreak the same
amount of damage again. It was the only dark moment of that
glorious day, which soon dissipated when we left the sea front and
went and had afternoon tea in the tea shop on the corner opposite
the clock.”

“‘I’d like to run a teashop.’ I
said to Sammy as we ate cucumber sandwiches and delicate little
cakes from porcelain plates. ‘I’m sure I could make a go of it.
I’ve got plenty of recipes for scones and cakes, people love the
ones I sell in the shop, so the next step is to sell them with a
cup of tea in a nice place like this.’”

“‘Don’t you ever stop, Bia?’
Sammy laughed, his face crinkling in the way I loved so much. ‘It’s
our wedding day and here you are talking about wanting to open
another shop! Business can wait until tomorrow; let’s enjoy being
waited-on today.’

“He was right, of course, I did
concentrate too much on business, but it had become a way of life
for me and when I got an idea into my head which I thought would
prove profitable, I wanted to run with it. So I tucked the idea
away into the back of my mind for that day at least and
concentrated on being happy for the rest of that day.”

“We caught the last train back
from Redcar to Middlesbrough, getting off at the station and
strolling up Station Road, past Turner’s the photographers and Mr
Vine’s solicitors office, before turning into King Street, from
where we could see the shop in the distance on the corner with
Queen Street.”

“‘I wonder how many times I’ve
walked this road since the war started.’ I said. ‘I remember going
to see Mr Vine about starting my shop in Albion Street, when I was
renting the house from him. If he hadn’t given his permission for
me to use the parlour for my shop, I don’t know what I would have
done. I certainly wouldn’t have succeeded as well as I have.’”

“‘He’s done a lot for us.’ Sammy
agreed. ‘We’ve used him for all of our property buying and I’m sure
he charges us under the going rate. I think he’s always had a soft
spot for you, so he reduces the charges. It has its good points,
being married to you, you know, cheap solicitor’s fees!’”

“‘I hope that isn’t the only
reason you married me, Mr Lymer.’ I laughed.”

“‘No, Bia. I could think of a
million reasons for marrying you and cheap solicitor’s fees would
still be at the bottom of the list.’”

“He swung me round by my arm and
we stood in the middle of the street and kissed and cuddled like
youngsters. Laughing, we turned back towards Queen Street and
started walking again until Sammy put his hand on my arm and drew
me to a halt.”

“‘That’s Annie; she’s out in the
street. She must be looking for us.’”

I stared ahead, trying to make
out Annie’s figure in the sparse light, immediately worrying what
could have happened that she was outside waiting for us. My heart
was hammering loudly and I was breathing with difficulty, afraid
that something bad had happened.”

“Oh please, not today of all
days.’ I moaned. ‘Please don’t let our day be spoilt by any more
disasters.’”

“I didn’t know what or who I was
praying to, my faith in a god having left me during the dock
bombardment, but here I was, praying again. Sammy grabbed my hand
and we ran down the road to meet Annie, who was trying to see if it
was us in the darkness.”

“‘It is you.’ She exclaimed, as
soon as we got close enough to her for her to be able to see us.
‘Thank goodness. I didn’t know when you would be home.’”

“‘What’s happened, Annie?’ Sam
was as worried as I was, I could tell by his clipped tone. ‘Is it
one of the girls? Which one? Is she ok?’”

“The questions were tumbling out
of his mouth, one after the other, not leaving Annie any time to
answer any of them. She took Sam by his hand.”

“‘Come away in, lad. It’s one of
them telegram things. It came this afternoon after you’d gone off
to Redcar and I didn’t know when you would be back.’”

“We were inside the house by
this time and the three girls turned their worried faces towards us
from where they were sitting grouped round the kitchen table. The
telegram was in solitary state, face up in the middle of the
table.”

“‘It’s for you, Dad.’ Hannah was
almost whispering with the fear of it. ‘The boy took it to our old
house but Mr Stevens next door sent him round here with it, knowing
that we are living here now. We didn’t know what to do with
it.’”

“She looked up at her father,
her brown eyes huge with concern and her merry face creased with
worry.”

“‘I don’t understand,’ Sammy
said, slowly. ‘We’ve nobody else at the Front, not since George and
William died, so why are we getting another telegram?’”

“That was the way of it during
the War. We were all so used to getting the worst news in the form
of a telegram that nobody remembered that they could be used for
other news as well and their arrival always caused the deepest
concern. Sam picked the telegram up and turned it over in his hand.
Puzzlement was etched across his features as he opened it and began
reading its contents. Then the hand that was holding it dropped to
his side and a huge grin spread across his face.”

“‘It’s Bill.’ He gasped out.
‘He’s not dead! They’ve found him in a casualty clearing station,
wounded but alive. He’s on his way home! That’s the perfect end to
a perfect day!’”

“We all rejoiced at this news.
The girls were overjoyed because they were getting their big
brother back, Sam was overjoyed because he was getting one son back
and Annie was happy because everyone else was happy. I was the only
one with reservations. Oh I was ecstatic for Sam and the girls, but
I had never met Bill. What if he didn’t like me or didn’t like the
idea of his father getting married again? The girls were happy for
me to be their step-mother, but they were still really children.
Bill was twenty one and a man. He may have had a different idea
altogether.”

“Annie saw me hanging back from
the group of Lymers who were hugging and laughing and she moved
round the table until she was standing next to me.”

“‘What is it, Bia? Aren’t you
pleased that he’s coming home?’”

“Of course I am, how couldn’t I
be? But what if he doesn’t like me? What if he thinks Sam shouldn’t
have got married again and takes against me?’”

“‘You silly girl.’ Annie said in
her forthright way. ‘Why do you always fear the worst? He’ll love
you because his father does and because you are one of the kindest
and nicest people he could ever hope to meet. Now, stop worrying
and join in with the celebrations. I’m going to get that bottle of
sherry you got me for Christmas and we’ll all have a double toast –
one for your wedding and one for Bill’s return,’”

“So I tried to shake off the
remaining doubts I had and we all had a glass of sherry, even the
girls. Sam mixed theirs with some of my home-made lemonade so that
it was mostly innocuous and we solemnly toasted our wedding and
Bill’s return from the dead.”

.“‘Life is going to be better
for all of us from now on.’ Sam declared as he raised his glass in
the toast. ‘To the Lymer family and our new and better lives.’”

“‘To us and our better lives.’
We all chorused together.

Chapter Sixteen

Nana Lymer paused and eased her
shoulders away from her pillow. She grimaced slightly as she did so
and Victoria automatically leant forward and rearranged the pillows
behind her, to make her more comfortable.

“I bet you would make a pretty
good job of caring for me even if you had your eyes closed.” Nana
smiled at her granddaughter.

“Yes, I’m number one nurse now,”
she agreed. “But I don’t mind. I quite like it when I know that I
can do something for you that makes you feel better.”

“I know you do, pet, but I don’t
want to be a burden on you and if you’re looking after me then I’m
stopping you from living your own life. Nobody has the right to use
another person’s life like that. You only get one go at this living
game, so you’ve got to make the most of it. My story is nearly
finished now and, when it is, I want you to promise me you’ll stop
thinking about my past life and concentrate on living your own life
to its fullest extent.”