Letters To Alice. Rosie James
the sound of a tractor rumbling past at full throttle.
It was 4.30.
The three girls awoke almost simultaneously and sat up, staring at each other blearily.
‘Blimey,’ was the only word that Fay could manage.
Just then there was a tap on the door and Mabel’s voice outside. ‘Hot water ’ere for you,’ she said cheerfully. ‘Your breakfast’ll be ready in an hour, so there’s plenty of time… ’Ope you all slept well, luvvers! Tis another lovely day!’
With no one saying very much, they began to get ready, taking turns at the basin before getting dressed in their uniforms.
Fay was the first to pull on her breeches and thrust her feet into her long woollen socks and brogues, before slipping on her shirt, leaving the three top buttons undone. Then, sitting on the edge of her bed, she began applying her make-up, and combing her hair, leaving it loose. She looked across at the others, who’d nearly finished getting ready, watched Eve still brushing out her thick curls, which was taking her a long time - well, there was a lot of it. Though Alice didn’t seem to have much difficulty with her dark browny-black glossy hair, which she was plaiting rapidly before pinning up out of the way. Fay studied her for a second.
Alice had a soft, heart-shaped face, dominated by jewel-green eyes, her expression sometimes pensive and preoccupied, Fay thought. She seemed to wear little make-up – if any – though she had now begun to smooth on some cold cream. Fay shrugged inwardly. She was not going to change her ways just because they were out here, far away from everything. She’d always loved make-up – especially the bright red lipstick favoured by glamorous American stars in the pictures. She made a face to herself. They weren’t going to see any films in this God-forsaken part of the world – and no one knew how their time off was going to work out either…whether they’d be able to get a lift back to Bristol and see a bit of life…perhaps go to the Odeon, or the Gaumont. Even to think about it made Fay remember the smell of the plush seats as you went in, the soft carpet under your feet as you edged your way along the rows. The fug of cigarette smoke, the sense of anticipation as you waited for the programme to begin. The second feature, the B movie came first, often a cowboy one, then the Pathe News – and finally the big one. The one you’d really come to see. To inhabit, just for an hour or two, the glitz, the glamour, the amazing lifestyles of the American populace…
Alice finished what she was doing and stood up. ‘Well, that’s me done,’ she said in a somewhat resigned tone. With such basic facilities, getting ready for the day didn’t take long. And after a moment’s thought she added, ‘Who’s going to be the first to have a hip bath? It’s not going to be very luxurious!’
Fay shrugged. ‘I’ll volunteer to try it out,’ she said, ‘especially if Roger’ll offer to come and scrub me back!’
Alice laughed, and glanced across at Eve who had been quietly getting ready. She looked rather pale and was saying very little. But she did look quite cute in her uniform, Alice thought. And the hat would suit her, perched on top of all those curls.
‘Are you feeling OK, Evie?’ she said, hoping that the new nickname would cheer the girl up. ‘Did you manage to get much sleep last night?’
‘I think so – eventually,’ Eve said, ‘I thought you two were well away before I’d even closed my eyes.’
‘Wrong,’ Alice said cheerfully. ‘It was the middle of the night before the sandman threw anything into my eyes…but, strangely, I don’t feel particularly bad this morning,’ she added. ‘In fact, I think I’m ready to pull up a few of those potatoes!’
‘And I’m ready for some breakfast,’ Fay said decisively. ‘Come on – let’s go down…does anyone smell bacon and eggs and black sausage and mushrooms…?’
Eve gave her a watery smile, and said that a slice of toast and marmalade would be enough for her, after that huge supper last night.
Mabel greeted them as they went into the kitchen. ‘Good, there y ’are,’ she said. ‘And don’t you all ever look lovely! Uniform suits you fine! Now then – the porridge is there in that pot on the range, just ’elp yerselves to as much as you want. And there’s plenty of milk to keep you going, straight from our own cows, so couldn’t be fresher.’ She brought a large white enamel jug over to the table and put it down. ‘And I expect you like sugar with yours, so there’s the bowl. Just ’elp yerselves.’
‘Oh…thank you, Mrs. Foulkes,’ Alice said, not catching Fay’s eye. So much for bacon and eggs!
But Mabel hadn’t finished, putting a big crusty loaf, a knife, some butter and a pot of home-made jam onto the table. ‘There – you just ‘elp yerselves, won’t you. And Roger’ll be coming in soon to take you up the field.’ She stood with her hands on her hips for a few seconds, looking at them each in turn. ‘I ‘ope you’ll be ’appy with us here, luvvers,’ she said slowly. Having three women – three girls – on the farm instead of all men was going to be a nice change for Mabel. She’d been looking forward to it as soon as she’d known it was going to happen. ‘Now, I gotta go and finish getting they eggs in,’ she began, and Alice interrupted –
‘I’d love to help you with that sometimes, Mrs. Foulkes – if I’m not needed anywhere else, of course,’ she said eagerly. Alice had a picture-book view of putting her hands into warm straw and finding a lovely brown egg nestling beneath…
‘’Course you can, luvver – but s’mornin’ those ’taters d’come first I’m afraid!’
As she turned to go, Fay said tentatively – ‘Um…how far are we from the village, Mrs. Foulkes?’ She wanted to say – how far were they from any kind of civilization at all. ‘And is there a bus service into Bristol…or into anywhere?’ she added hopefully.
Mabel pursed her lips. ‘We used to get two buses a day, ’afore this war,’ she said, ‘but now all we get is a charabanc twice a week – Sundays and Wednesdays. The train sometimes stops at the Halt – but it’s only a branch line and I dunno the times. I ‘aven’t used the thing for yers.’
‘But I take it you have some shops…somewhere…?’ Fay said.
‘’Course!’ Mabel said at once. ‘The village is only a mile and a half away, though there’s only the one shop, really – but it’s big – an’ they sell a bit of everythin’! An’ the chemist is next door. Then a ’ course there’s our church by the green – next the war memorial and the school. And there’s the pub…the Wheatsheaf…and the bakery, next to the telephone box…mind, we get a bread delivery come in from one of the towns each mornin’ but, well, the little bakery everyone uses is not really a shop,’ Mabel went on, ‘see, the twins, Eileen and Esther, have run the place from their house for yers and yers. They got a big front room, see, and they sell everythin’ from the open window first thing each mornin’…and they never ever fail. ’Course, tis only bread and buns, though sometimes there’s somethin’ a bit more fancy.’ Mabel paused reflectively. ‘We’ve never got our bread from them, a’course, because I do all our bakin’ meself, like most others do.’ She folded her arms. ‘An’ there’s our WI hut where they have whist drives every Tuesday and Thursday evenin’s, and some Saturdays there might be a film showin’ as well… I know Rog goes up there if it’s summat he wants to see.’
Fay had stopped listening. At least there was a pub!
After Mabel had gone, the girls filled their bowls with the porridge then went over to the table and sat down. Eve stared down at hers and shuddered.
‘I don’t really eat porridge,’ she said, ‘and not this thick.’
‘Well – dilute it, Evie,’ Fay said, pushing the jug of milk across.
‘What – with raw milk?’ Eve said, shocked at the thought of swallowing anything that hadn’t been made bug-free. ‘I think it would make me sick!’
‘No, it wouldn’t,’