Love or Duty--A saga set in 1920s Liverpool (6 page)

‘They will probably think that it is something to do with one of the many charities you support and that I'm helping out,' Penny muttered.

From the annoyed look on her mother's face Penny knew she had heard what she'd said but preferred to ignore her sarcastic remark.

Penny felt both angry and dismayed that her mother's reaction to Kelly was so negative. She hadn't dared hope that she would welcome Kelly with open arms but as it was she was barely being civil towards her.

She would have been more welcoming if I'd brought a puppy home, Penny thought resentfully. As soon as they'd had something to eat she would certainly take Kelly out and buy her some new clothes. Perhaps if she was wearing a pretty dress and her hair was washed and trimmed a little shorter she wouldn't look so untidy and bedraggled and her father wouldn't be quite so critical as her mother when he met Kelly for the first time.

Kelly was starving. She tucked into the crusty roll even before Penny had time to put any butter on it or cut the ham on her plate into small manageable pieces. Then, ignoring the knife and fork, she used her fingers to eat everything on her plate.

She looked doubtful and shook her head when Penny asked her if she would like some raspberries and cream. When Penny offered her a taste from her own dish, however, she seemed to like it so much that Penny gave her a very small portion in a dish of her own. Kelly ate it with relish and then held out the dish for some more.

Penny waited until she knew her father had left the house before taking Kelly upstairs to give her a good wash and to try and do something to tidy her hair before taking her out.

Kelly looked round in awe when she carried her into the gleaming white bathroom.

‘I only have a bath once a week at home and that's in a tin bath on a Friday night,' she confided in a small voice. ‘The rest of the time the bath is on a nail outside the back door. Do you get in that great big white one, miss?'

‘Yes, every morning before I have my breakfast,' Penny told her gravely.

‘Why? You never get grubby do you?' Kelly said in a puzzled voice.

‘You also need to have your hair washed,' Penny told Kelly while ignoring her question.

‘I don't like having that done because me mam always gets soap in me eyes and it stings so bad it makes me cry,' Kelly scowled.

‘Well it won't today, not the way I'll do it,' Penny promised. ‘I'll let you sit in a chair with your head back over the wash basin and I'll use a lovely shampoo and make sure it doesn't get in your eyes.'

Kelly looked puzzled but agreed to do as Penny asked. It was a messy procedure and by the time she'd finished washing and rinsing Kelly's hair Penny felt exhausted. Kelly, on the other hand was exuberant because no soap had gone in her eyes.

‘I'd like to fill up the bath and let you soak in the warm water but I can't do that because of your leg, Penny told her. ‘Instead I am going to wash you all over and then I'm going to take you shopping and buy you a new dress.'

Kelly shuddered but made no protest as Penny stripped off her clothes and lathered the flannel with soap and began washing her from head to toe.

Penny couldn't believe how thin and frail Kelly was. Her ribs and shoulder blades protruded and her legs and arms were spindly. There seemed to be nothing of her she thought uneasily as she wrapped Kelly up in a big fluffy pink towel and began to dry her.

She felt a sense of revulsion as she re-dressed Kelly in her shabby clothes and wished that there was something else she could wear.

The shopping trip went extremely well. It was rather difficult for Kelly to try things on because she couldn't stand up very well. In both the shops they visited, however, the assistants were very helpful.

Kelly loved the two pretty cotton dresses with matching cotton knickers that Penny chose for her and looked astonished when new white socks and a pair of brown sandals were added to the pile.

‘Now all we need are either some pyjamas or a couple of nightdresses. I suppose it will have to be nightdresses because of your leg,' Penny mused.

By the time they reached home again Kelly looked exhausted. She didn't even brighten up when Penny told her that she could put on one of her new dresses and that she could choose which one.

Kelly shook her head, yawned deeply and rubbed her eyes. ‘I'm tired, I want to go to bed,' she said.

‘You haven't had anything to eat since lunchtime. You are probably hungry,' Penny told her. ‘Let's get you all dressed up and then we'll go downstairs for dinner. I'm sure you'll feel much better after that.'

‘No!' Stubbornly Kelly shook her head. ‘I want to go to bed,' she repeated in a whining voice.

‘Oh very well, if that's what you really want to do,' Penny exclaimed in exasperation. ‘I'll help you to get ready for bed and then I'll see what I can find for you to eat and bring it up here for you.'

Kelly brightened up, the tears and snivelling stopped. ‘Can I have a jam butty?'

‘You need to have something more substantial than that. Isn't there anything else you'd like?'

‘A chip butty then, and could I have a sausage as well?' she asked hopefully.

‘I'll see what I can find,' Penny promised. ‘Let's get you into bed first,' she added as she half carried Kelly towards the small truckle bed that had been set up on the far side of the bedroom for her.

‘I'll see what I can find is what me mam always says when we say that we are hungry and all she can find for us is bread and scrape.'

‘I think I can do better than that,' Penny promised as she helped Kelly to undress and put on one of the pretty cotton nightdresses that they had bought that afternoon, before helping her into bed.

‘Now you lie quiet for a few minutes and I'll be back with a glass of milk and something for you to eat.'

‘Water'll do if you can't afford milk,' Kelly assured her cheerfully. ‘Unless there is some of that lovely lemonade left; you know what you gave me to drink when we first got here this morning.'

Ten minutes later, when she came back upstairs with a plate of tiny sandwiches and both a glass of lemonade and one of milk Penny found that Kelly was fast asleep.

She put the tray down on a stool within reach of the bed so that Kelly would find it if she woke up. Then she straightened the bedclothes and made sure Kelly was comfortable. She looked so innocent and fragile, her dark hair, now clean and shining, fanned out against the white pillowcase, that it brought a lump to Penny's throat.

Captain and Mrs Forshaw were already in the dining room enjoying a glass of sherry when Penny went downstairs.

‘On your own, Penny? What have you done with the child?' her mother asked, raising her shapely eyebrows enquiringly. ‘Have you taken her back to her own home?'

‘Child, what child are you talking about?' Captain Forshaw asked tetchily looking from his wife to Penny and then back again. ‘Penny, you haven't gone against my express wishes again have you?' he asked angrily.

‘She most certainly has done so!' Leonora Forshaw stated forcibly.

‘You mean she's brought that little Liverpool street urchin back here to our home!'

‘Yes, Father, I have brought Kelly back,' Penny said defensively.

He stared at her in disbelief. ‘After all the warnings I gave you, Penny? I stressed that it was inadvisable to have anything at all to do with the Murphy family. Even Arnold warned you against the idea.'

‘I've brought Kelly back because I intend to look after her until she is better. As I explained to you all, I am doing it so that I am not taken to court over the accident.'

‘How long will it take for her to be fit again? Have you any proof that the parents won't take any action? What will happen if they do?' Her father scowled.

‘You can't trust that sort of rabble,' he went on giving her no chance to reply.

‘She was filthy dirty and absolutely in rags when she arrived here,' Leonora stated with an exaggerated shiver. ‘I had to send Penny out to buy some decent clothes for her.'

Penny shook her head. ‘She isn't looking like that any longer, Mother. Wait until you see her tomorrow and then you'll realize what a lovely little girl she really is.'

‘Where is she now?' Captain Forshaw demanded looking at Penny.

‘At the moment she is upstairs in my bedroom. She is sound asleep because she is utterly exhausted by all that has gone on today.'

‘She won't remain that way for long,' her father warned. ‘You'll need to watch her; she'll be into everything, nothing will be safe. She's probably been brought up to thieve for everything she wants.'

‘Father, Kelly is six years old; she has a broken leg and is unable to walk without help.'

‘At the moment! Another couple of weeks and she'll expect to have the run of the place. And what about her family? Are we going to have them calling every few days to see how she is?'

‘It's not very likely. There are three children younger than Kelly and a boy who is older. I can hardly see Mrs Murphy bringing all of them over here to visit Kelly, can you?'

‘Who knows? You can't be sure. If they think they might benefit from handouts of some kind then those sort of people will go anywhere,' he muttered gloomily. ‘What has Arnold got to say about it all? Or doesn't he know that you've brought this child here?'

‘Not yet because I haven't seen him since I brought Kelly home.'

‘I don't think he is going to like it one little bit,' Leonora sighed. ‘He was very much against you even going to see this family,' she reminded Penny.

‘I know that, Mother. I have to do what I think is right though, don't I.'

‘You should have taken my advice,' her father said bluntly. ‘If you'd listened to me I would have handed the matter over to Sidney Porter and let him deal with it. Solicitors are used to handling such cases and know how to treat those sort of people. It's still not too late.'

Penny shook her head, her eyes bright with tears. ‘No, I can't do that,' she insisted. ‘I made a promise to look after Kelly and I intend to keep it.

Penny slept very fitfully because she felt so anxious about Kelly. She wasn't too sure that she'd done the right thing by separating the little girl from her family and familiar surroundings and bringing her over to Wallasey.

Kelly, however, was so worn out with all that had happened to her the previous day that she remained sound asleep until well after daybreak.

When Penny woke up she found that Kelly was propped up in the little truckle bed eating the dried up sandwiches she had left there the night before and drinking the lemonade.

‘That milk tasted a bit funny, I think it must have gone sour,' she commented when Penny sat up and greeted her and asked her if she had slept all right. ‘The rest of my breakfast is lovely,' she added quickly.

‘That was supposed to be for your supper last night, not your breakfast, but you were sound asleep when I came back upstairs with it,' Penny told her with a smile.

‘The butties were the nicest I've ever had,' Kelly told her with a deep sigh. ‘I wish I could eat them all over again.'

‘Well you can have your breakfast as soon as we are both washed and dressed. Which of your new dresses do you want to wear?'

Kelly's eyes lit up. ‘You mean I can choose which one,' she said excitedly. Then her face clouded. ‘I don't have to get washed all over again like I did yesterday do I?'

‘No, you need only wash your hands and face this morning. Why don't you lie there and decide which dress you want to wear while I go and have my bath,' Penny suggested as she slid out of bed and slipped on a blue floral cotton dressing gown.

Kelly regarded her wide-eyed. Is that what you are going to wear today, miss. It's ever so pretty, you look really lovely in it.'

‘It's my dressing gown and I'm only wearing it to go to the bathroom.' Penny smiled. ‘After I've had my bath I will be putting on a pretty dress the same as you are going to do,' she added as she went over to the chest of drawers. She picked out some clean underwear to take through to the bathroom and then selected a sleeveless cotton frock from her wardrobe.

When she returned dressed ready for the day Kelly regarded her critically. ‘I think your dressing gown much prettier than your frock, miss,' she remarked.

Penny smiled. ‘Listen, Kelly since you are going to be living here for quite a long time I think you should call me Penny, instead of saying miss, don't you.'

‘Penny, Penny,' Kelly repeated the word several times then frowned.

‘Shouldn't it be Auntie Penny? You are a grown-up and me mam says I always have to say mister, missus or miss when people speak to me. That's unless they are friends of my mam's and then I calls them Auntie or Uncle. Well, all except policemen and we calls them rozzers or scuffers. The man who calls each week for money is the tallyman. Do you have one of them coming to the door, miss … I mean Penny.'

Penny shook her head. ‘No we don't, Kelly. Now look, it's time for you to come along to the bathroom. After you're washed I'll help you to get dressed and then we'll go downstairs and have some breakfast. Have you decided which dress you are going to wear today?'

Kelly screwed up her eyes in concentration. ‘The pink one,' she said.

Twenty minutes later in her new pink cotton dress and with her clean dark hair tied back with a piece of pink ribbon Penny had managed to find she looked quite different from the scruffy little girl she had been the previous day.

Penny wished Kelly had looked like this when her mother had seen her for the first time. If she had then perhaps her mother would have been far more welcoming.

Her parents were already seated at the breakfast table when Penny carried Kelly into the morning room.