Liverpool Angels Read online

  Their standard of living had greatly improved although she didn’t indulge in ostentation; ever thrifty, she was saving for what she termed ‘the kids’ futures’. Eddie was a bright lad and she wanted him to go to the Mechanics Institute when he left school to learn a proper trade, which would stand him in good stead for the rest of his life.

  Yes, she would be eternally grateful to Isaac and she still made sure that one of the girls went down to his house each Saturday morning and she wouldn’t hear of him paying them. She smiled. Even Isaac and his son and daughter-in-law were going out today.

  She raised her eyes to the ceiling as Eddie bawled up the stairs demanding to know if his sister and his cousin were going to keep them all waiting much longer. ‘I told you to go and see, not bawl up the stairs like a barrow boy! You’ll be the death of me, Eddie McEvoy. Go into the kitchen and tell your Uncle John that we’re ready to go, here’s Agnes now.’ She shoved eleven-year-old Eddie towards the kitchen as Agnes and Bertie, accompanied by their children, arrived on the doorstep.

  ‘It’s hot out there already – it will be sweltering by noon! Mam’s decided that she’s not up to coming, she’ll have a rest and keep her eye on the shop, not that there’ll be many customers today. By, that colour does suit you, Maggie,’ Agnes announced, nodding approvingly at her friend’s burgundy skirt, which finished just on the ankle, showing neat, high, black buttoned boots. The white cotton blouse, its high neck and leg-o’-mutton sleeves intricately pintucked and trimmed with burgundy ribbon, looked crisp and smart. The small cameo brooch Maggie had pinned to the neck set it off to perfection and her wide-brimmed hat, fashionably trimmed with a big artificial flower, completed the outfit.

  ‘You look very smart yourself, Agnes, luv. In fact, you all do,’ she said firmly, looking pointedly at the twins whose faces showed signs of recent scrubbing, their hair plastered down into neatness with a wet comb. They looked every bit as uncomfortable as Eddie in their Sunday suits, complete with starched Eton collars, even though it was only Saturday. Eddie had been complaining all morning that the collar was choking him but she’d deliberately ignored him.

  ‘Well, now, don’t you two look like a pair of angels!’ Agnes exclaimed as nine-year-old Mae and her eight-year-old cousin Alice finally came downstairs.

  Maggie beamed at them both, feeling a sense of pride welling up in her. Mae had grown into a lovely, fair-haired, blue-eyed miniature of her mother, and her own daughter Alice, born long after Billy’s disappearance, had his dark curly hair, brown eyes and vivacity, although thankfully she had very few of his other traits. Both girls wore their hair long and loose, Alice’s falling in thick ringlets over her shoulders, while Mae’s looked like a curtain of pale silk cascading down her back, almost to her waist. They both wore straw boater hats and summer dresses of pale blue and white striped cotton with starched white petticoats beneath. Their buttoned buckskin boots had been whitened with Blanco that morning by John, who had remarked that he doubted they’d stay that colour for very long when they got in amongst the crowds.

  Eddie, accompanied by his uncle, in his good suit and wearing a clean shirt and starched collar and a tie, joined them.

  ‘Do I look pretty, Da?’ Mae asked, tugging at his sleeve, excitement dancing in her eyes.

  John smiled fondly down at her. She was the light of his life, his reason for living and he was so proud of her. She had the best he could afford and he was saving hard so she could go to learn to use one of those newfangled typewriting machines when she left school. His Mae wasn’t destined for a factory or a shop. No, she would work in an office where she would mix with a better class of person and hopefully marry well. It had been Maggie’s idea, of course; she had determined that Alice would also learn and she too was saving hard for the fees.

  ‘Do I look pretty too, Uncle John?’ Alice begged. ‘Do I?’

  John grinned at them both. ‘You both look as pretty as pictures! And so do you, Lucy,’ he added, noting the petulant expression on the face of Agnes’s five-year-old daughter, who he knew was the bane of her brothers’ lives.

  ‘Right then, we’d better get a move on or we’ll not get a decent place to see everything from, never mind a seat in the grandstand,’ Maggie announced, ushering her family towards the door.

  It seemed as though the entire population of the city was on the move towards Wavertree Park, John thought as they mingled with the crowds thronging the city streets, and by every conceivable means of transport. Trams, omnibuses, motor cars, bicycles, horse, pony, dog carts, or on foot, but then it wasn’t every day that the City of Liverpool celebrated being seven hundred years old.

  ‘It’s hard to think that back when King John granted the city its charter it was just a little place with a castle and a few houses by a muddy pool on the river,’ Bertie Mercer commented – he’d been reading up on it all at the library. ‘The Liverpool Pageant’ it was being called and there were to be all kinds of balls and parties for the civic dignitaries as well as events for ordinary citizens such as themselves. Nothing like it had ever happened before.

  ‘It said in the newspaper that there’s going to be a display with floats depicting all the centuries and the important events with people dressed up in costumes,’ Maggie added. ‘I’m really looking forward to seeing them.’

  ‘I’m not half glad we weren’t chosen to do all those Swedish exercise things! Having to get dressed up in that daft outfit and you’d be worn out and sweating like a pig in this sun,’ young Jimmy muttered thankfully to Eddie.

  Agnes heard him and cuffed him smartly. ‘Stop showing us all up, saying things like that! It might have done the three of you lads some good.’ Thousands of schoolchildren from all over the city had been drilled for weeks in what was going to be a spectacle of ‘physical excellence’ as they demonstrated – in unison, it was sincerely hoped – a series of Swedish exercises. Only a handful had been chosen from St George’s and neither Harry, Jimmy nor Eddie had been amongst them, much to their relief.

  ‘When we’ve seen all these “float” things, can we go down to the river, Mam, to see the ships?’ Eddie asked. Anchored in the Mersey and stretching five miles from the pier at New Brighton to the training ship Conway were the fourteen battleships and three cruisers of the Channel Fleet, which had arrived to celebrate the Liverpool Pageant and Eddie viewed these as a far more interesting spectacle than a parade of floats depicting history.

  ‘I thought we’d make our way towards Stanley Park for the fireworks. It will get very packed later on,’ Maggie replied.

  ‘But they’re not until Monday night, Mam!’ Eddie protested. He wanted to see the battleships and he’d heard that all kinds of small boats would be on the river, ready to take sightseers for a closer view.

  ‘He’s right, Maggie. It definitely said in the paper the fireworks are on Monday night. I’ll miss them, I’m afraid,’ John added a little regretfully, for he was sailing on Monday morning. ‘I suggest that Bertie and I take the lads down to the waterfront to see the fleet after the displays are over and you, Agnes and the girls go back home. You don’t want to be standing in this heat all day and it will take a while to get back home because of the crowds.’ He was looking forward to seeing the ships of the fleet himself, all of which were bigger than the Campania. Still, he wouldn’t be making many more trips on her, he mused. She was an old ship now and Cunard’s latest and biggest ship had been launched on the Clyde in June and he’d been notified that he’d been transferred and was to sail on the new ship’s maiden voyage from Liverpool early next month.

  ‘He’s got a point, Maggie,’ Agnes agreed; already she could feel beads of perspiration forming on her forehead and was glad of the shade afforded by the brim of her hat. ‘We can’t go hours without a cup of tea and a bite to eat, we’d all be fainting and you’d never get served in a café – those that will be open, and I bet there won’t be many.’

  ‘What about you two and the lads? Won’t you be parched?’ Maggie asked her brothe
r.

  ‘I’m sure Bertie and I can manage to find the coppers for a bottle of ginger beer for us all,’ John replied, winking at Agnes’s husband, who grinned back, looking forward to spending an hour with the lads on the waterfront and maybe even taking a trip on a sightseeing boat. It wasn’t every day you got to see the ships of the finest Navy in the world at close hand.

  When they at last reached the park it was already very crowded but all the children were hugely excited to see the funfair and the stalls selling sweets and ice cream that had been set up in one area, well away from the grandstand where the main events would take place.

  ‘Mam, can we have an ice cream, please? It’s so hot!’ Alice begged.

  ‘Mam, can Jimmy, Harry and me have a go on that stall over there! They’ve got real rifles to shoot and you can win prizes!’ Eddie begged, his eyes wide with excitement. Mae and the Mercer twins added their pleas for ice cream and turns on the various rides.

  ‘Would you just listen to them, Agnes! Do they think we’re made of money? You bring them on a day out and they’re not satisfied with that!’ Maggie protested.

  John laughed as he exchanged glances with Bertie. ‘Oh, go on, Maggie. It’s a special occasion and I don’t mind giving them a few pence to spend on treats. Why don’t you and Agnes go and see if you can get us seats in the grandstand?’

  ‘And leave this lot to their own devices and with money to spend? For a start they’ll get lost in this crowd and we’ll never find them, and I dread to think what damage our Eddie could do with a rifle,’ Maggie shuddered.

  ‘What if Bertie and I stayed with them, kept our eye on them? We’ll come and find you when they’ve spent up, which won’t be long as they’re only getting pennies,’ John offered.

  Maggie looked enquiringly at Agnes and then nodded. ‘All right, as long as you don’t mind and you don’t let them run riot. I doubt we’ll get seats though so we’d better pick a spot to meet up,’ she said, looking across to the already packed raised grandstand on the other side of the park.

  ‘How about over there by the bandstand?’ John suggested, and Agnes and his sister agreed.

  ‘Right, what do you want to do first? Rides or ice cream?’ John asked the over-excited little group.

  ‘We want a go on that rifle range!’ Eddie and Jimmy instantly replied in unison.

  ‘Da, can we go on that ride with the painted horses?’ Mae pleaded and Alice nodded enthusiastically.

  ‘I wouldn’t mind going on that too,’ Harry added. He was quieter than his twin and wasn’t at all sure that he wanted to try the rifle range; it looked a bit dangerous. But the ride with the horses was going round really quite fast too.

  ‘Don’t be daft, that’s a ride for girls!’ Eddie scoffed while Jimmy sneered at his brother.

  Seeing an argument brewing, John intervened. ‘I think you’ll find that you’ve got to be a certain age before they’ll let you have a go on the rifle range, lads, and I’d say you’re too young. So why don’t you all have a turn on the carousel, or those swinging boats, and then ice cream? By then it will be almost time for the big events and we certainly don’t want to miss them.’

  Eddie was disappointed. ‘That carousel thing doesn’t look very exciting,’ he muttered.

  ‘There seems to be just girls on it,’ Jimmy added gloomily.

  ‘Uncle John, do we have to have them with us?’ Alice demanded, glaring at her brother and Jimmy Mercer. ‘They’ll only go showing us up, won’t they, Mae?’

  Mae supposed Alice had a point although she didn’t mind Harry Mercer: he at least was quieter than the other two.

  ‘We’d sooner go on those swinging-boat things, anyway. They look more exciting than those soppy wooden horses,’ Jimmy stated, frowning at Alice.

  ‘See what I mean, Uncle John?’ Alice retorted smugly.

  ‘Right! You lads all come with me to the swinging boats. Mae, Alice and Lucy, you go with Mr Mercer to the carousel, then we’ll meet up when the rides finish for ice cream – and no more arguments! We’re all supposed to be enjoying ourselves,’ John stated firmly before shepherding the boys in the direction of their chosen ride.

  Bertie Mercer grinned at him. ‘Kids! You can never please them!’

  When Maggie, Agnes and the girls got home later that afternoon they all agreed that it had been well worth standing in the hot sun to see the spectacle, even if they hadn’t been able to get seats in the grandstand.

  ‘You girls go up and take off those hats and dresses. I see you managed to get ice cream all down the front of yours, Alice; you never seem to stay tidy for long. I’ll put the kettle on,’ Maggie told them, removing her own hat and unbuttoning the neck of her blouse, which was sticking to her with perspiration.

  Agnes did the same as she got out Maggie’s cups and saucers, instructing Lucy to take off her hat and not scuff her boots against the stretcher of the bench. ‘It must have taken hours and hours to decorate some of those floats – and didn’t the Mayoress and Lady Derby look elegant? I wish we’d had one of those lacy parasol things to keep the sun off us.’

  ‘I’d like to see the style tonight at the ball; it will be silks, satins and diamonds and pearls,’ Maggie added.

  ‘I liked the float with the Rose Queen best,’ Mae remarked dreamily as both she and Alice, now changed into their everyday dresses, sat beside Lucy on the bench next to the table with a mug of buttermilk each.

  ‘Now that’s one that must have taken ages to dress,’ Agnes stated. ‘All those pink tissue-paper roses and green leaves: it was a blessing the weather is so fine – a shower of rain would have absolutely ruined all that work.’

  ‘And don’t forget the horses, Aunty Agnes, they had pink and silver ribbons plaited into their manes and tails,’ Mae reminded her. ‘And we had a great time on the carousel. I’m glad Da was home.’

  ‘You’re spoiled, all of you! Well, I hope they don’t stay down on the waterfront for very much longer or we’ll do no good with those lads for the rest of the day; they’ll be over-excited seeing so many battleships and no doubt start going on about joining the Navy,’ Agnes said, looking meaningfully at Maggie.

  ‘Our Eddie can get any ideas like that right out of his head. Having John away at sea is enough, isn’t it, Mae?’

  Mae nodded as she sipped her drink. She wished her da wasn’t away so much, she always missed him. It was a shame he wouldn’t see the firework display in the park, but at least he’d been home today and it had been a very special day.

  The heat of August had given way to the cooler but still fine days of early September as John prepared to take his next trip, which for once he was looking forward to.

  ‘I won’t be away for as long this time, Maggie. That service speed of twenty-five knots’ll cut a day off the trip. I shouldn’t wonder if we take the record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic – the Blue Riband.’

  Maggie was folding his laundered work clothes prior to putting them into his kitbag. Both the girls had gone to bed although neither were asleep and Eddie was over at Agnes’s.

  She smiled at his enthusiasm. Even as a young boy he’d always wanted to go to sea; he’d always pointed out to her the different types of ships in the river when they’d gone down to the waterfront as children. ‘I’m looking forward to going down to see you off tomorrow. It looks as if it’s going to be a great occasion; they’re expecting thousands of people to turn out for it and there’ll be a band and everything.’

  ‘I won’t see any of that, we’ll be hard at it getting the boilers fired up. At least on this ship the bunkers are lined up against the stokehold bulkheads,’ he informed her, ‘so the lads won’t have to cart the coal as far as they do on older ships. That’s a big improvement.’ There were other more technical innovations too which she wouldn’t understand and he wouldn’t bore her with.

  ‘It’s still damned hard work, John, and I bet they haven’t improved the conditions that much. You know, you’re not getting any younger and work like th
at takes its toll. Do you never think of looking for a job ashore?’

  Although he knew she was right he shook his head. Years of working in that heat and dust-laden atmosphere played havoc with men’s bodies, particularly their lungs, but he’d become used to life at sea. ‘I don’t know if I could settle to anything else now, luv, even if I could get a steady job that paid me the same wage. The sea sort of gets into your blood – and don’t forget that while I’m away, bed and board are included.’ He grinned. ‘We’re well fed and we get to see the world.’

  ‘Not much of it, and most of that lot only get as far as the docks whichever side of the Atlantic they’re on. You must have seen far more of New York than the rest of the Black Gang put together.’

  ‘I have and it’s a fine city. I bet we get a great welcome when we sail up the Hudson at the end of this trip – especially if we’ve managed to break the record.’

  She sighed, wondering if he would ever give up the sea. ‘I do worry about you though, especially during the winter in all that atrocious weather. You’ve been lucky so far to escape with just minor injuries. You know as well as I do that men have been seriously hurt, even killed.’

  He got up and placed the last few items in the bag before pulling the drawstring tight. ‘Aye, it can be bad and I’m not saying the weather doesn’t affect us in the stokehold. You can be flung off your feet, pitched against the side of a boiler and burned, and it’s far harder to get the furnace door shut with the ship rolling. I’ve known us go through three blizzards in one day in winter – not that we ever get to see with our own eyes just what the weather is doing.’ He grinned at her and pulled a face of mock-horror. ‘Can’t have the likes of us loose on the decks, we’d frighten the daylights out of the paying passengers – and some of them pay a small fortune. Can you imagine if you were taking a stroll on deck after dinner in all your finery and came face to face with one of us covered from head to foot in coal dust? You’d think you’d come across one of the fiends from hell!’