‘Cor blimey!’ Charlie curses as he sits on the stairs to take his shoes off ‘Don’t know as I shall bother t’go ter The’Orse fer a while’
‘Why’s that?’ Edna calls from the kitchen sink where she is draining the potatoes.
‘You int see’d nothing like it. Took forever t’get t’the bar an’ that silly ole fart couldn’t pull a pint t’save ‘is life, no matter ‘e’s the landlord’ he grumbles, still pushing his feet into his slippers as he shuffles into the kitchen. ‘I shan’t go ‘til I knows Viv-yen ‘s back an’ tha’s a certain sure fact!’ he tips his head in a half shake and wags his finger ‘I’d rather sit on the green wi’ George ‘n a can than go in there again yet awhile’
‘I thought what Viv were only away fer a fortnight’
‘So she were an’ all but she’s stuck over there in Portugal wi’ that friend on ‘ers, Daphne. They was comin’ back as day afore yesterday but there int no planes takin’ off not no how, so they’s ‘ad t’stop there’
‘Don’t s’pose they’ll mind a few more days lyin’ on some beach an’ chattin’ up the waiters, you know what they’re like. She int no better than she ought t’be an’ that friend ain’t much different. Married, yer know, though you wouldn’t guess it at times’ Edna purses her lips primly ‘Goes off on these ‘ere ‘olidays on ‘er own’ She cuts into the steak pie with a fierce sawing of the knife then pauses to reconsider as she lifts Charlie’s share onto a plate ‘Though I s’pose there’s a lot t’recommend it at times’ she mutters to herself.
‘That ain’t what’s important, woman!’ Charlie scrapes a chair from under the table and sits down to wait for his lunch ‘It’s a poor bloomin’ show if a man can’t go fer a decent pint on a dinnertime. The place were in uproar...’
‘I doubt they get enough folk in there this time a day fer one a them. Uproar, indeed!’ her mouth vibrates in a scornful raspberry as she loads his plate with cabbage. ‘Pah!’
‘I’m tellin’ you’ he raps the end of his knife on the table ‘That pub ain’t nothin’ wi’out Viv –yen t’run it. They might not get many folk in few at a time but when the last few’s still damn well waitin’ t’be served, they makes a crowd. You say what yer like, ‘er runs a good bar’
‘P’raps she’ll get ‘erself one out there’ Edna puts his plate in front of him ‘And ‘ave that Daphne fer entertainment. Very likely topless, knowin ‘er. What’d yer do then, eh?’
‘Bloomin’ well emigrate t’Portugal, tha’s what I’ll do!’
25 Piper Street
Chapter Thirty-seven
‘I still feel a mite awkward aboot ye haein tae flit sae me an ma Duncan can come here’ Jeannie carefully wraps newspaper around a glass from the cupboard and lays it in the small cardboard box on the worktop. ‘I feel like we’re rushing ye’ she says, reaching for another glass.
‘Nonsense’ Helen says crisply ‘We were not planning on staying here long term anyway and whether we move now or in a couple of years time makes little or no difference to us’
‘Noo, but if ye were moving tae yer ain hoose insteid a yon cottage ye wudna hae tae move twice’
‘Jeannie’ Helen lays her hand on Jeannie’s arm and grins ‘The amount of rubbish Kester accumulates, it would be a good idea to move house every year if only for the chance to bin some of it!’ She passes behind where Jeannie is standing and starts to empty the corner cupboard ‘When we do find what he calls a ‘proper’ house’ she says, layering newspaper between plates ‘we’ll keep one bedroom solely for his rubbish and things he says might come in useful. I won’t have to tidy them and I certainly won’t be lost for an answer when he says have you seen my whatever it is. It will be in that room and he can go look for it himself!’
‘Ye’ll mebbe hae a barn an’ he can go play wi’his bits an’ pieces in there’
Helen bits her lip and snorts ‘You may want to rephrase that’
Jeannie stops what she is doing to think over what she has said ‘Och, aye!’ she chortles ‘I may do too but ye ken what I wis meaning’
‘I do’ Helen laughs ‘A barn would be wonderful but I daresay everything would find its way into the house eventually or never get put out there in the first place. He does like his comfort. And heating and lighting would come before any need to keep the place tidy ’
‘Aye, all men are the same, I’m thinking’. Having finished packing the glasses, Jeannie stands with marker pen poised to write on the outside of the box ‘Are these tae go now?’
‘Yes please. The more we can take to the cottage in dribs and drabs the less time it will take us to move on the actual day. I was hoping to get everything packed up we don’t use every day and drop it off bit by bit on the way to work. I’ll worry about sorting it the other end when I get round to it. It won’t take long. I can do a couple of hours in the evening if Kester’s working late’
‘I’ll put it beside the door then, hen’
‘Thanks. I really appreciate your help. You must have enough of your own sorting and packing to do without coming and helping us with ours’ Helen follows Jeannie into the hall with the box of crockery and sets it down..
‘Aye but I’ve only one hoose tae dae and wi’ the missus haeing a wee holiday, there’s naught tae dae o’er the way’
‘It’s like musical chairs, isn’t it?’ Helen smiles over her shoulder as they walk back into the kitchen. ‘This is all going to the cottage, your things are coming here and what we want to keep of the furniture at the cottage, we’ll store with Harriet’ she mops her brow with the back of her wrist and laughs ‘I take that back, it’s more of a never ending merry-go-round! You won’t forget what I said about you moving some of your things in here now if you wanted to, will you?’
‘We’ve nae spare tae bring!’ Jeannie says with a sigh although smiling at the same time ‘We haed the hoose but there wis penny-fee tae gae wi’it. Och, we haed enough’ she says, seeing Helen’s look of concern ‘we’ve nae done withoot what wis needed but there wis nae money tae spend on trappin’
‘I see’
‘Dinna fret yersel, hen. Me an’ ma man dinnae want fae aught we canna gie each other’
‘Aaw, that’s rather lovely’
‘T’is true enough’
‘Will he get another job, do you think?’ Helen asks as she fills the kettle.
Jeannie lifts another cardboard box onto the worktop and opens a cupboard door ‘I hope he disna’ she says with a wistful smile ‘Be guid tae hae the man aboot the place’
‘Leave that’ Helen instructs ‘Time for a cuppa before we start anything else. Didn’t Harriet intend for him to be an odd job man of sorts?’
‘Aye but there wouldna be enough tae keep him busy’
‘You obviously don’t know Harriet as well as I thought you did’ Helen quips.
Jeannie smiles in return ‘Fae the first wee while I daresay but she’ll soon run oot a things fae him tae dae. Noo, wi’ma money here, we can manage fine. It’ll be nice tae spend some time wi’him’
‘Although you will be working virtually full time with Harriet’
‘Aye but we’ll hae the evenings tae oorsels’
‘Mm, he does work very long hours at the moment’
‘And if the missus carries on the way she’s doing, there’ll be little fae me tae dae anyways’ Jeannie carries on emptying the cupboard despite Helen’s bidding.
‘She has got her second wind, hasn’t she?’ Helen comments as she drops tea bags into the pot. ‘It’s lovely to see some of the old sparkle back. It’s given us a lift somehow too’
‘I’m fair tickled masel but....’ she pauses momentarily and turns from the cupboard with a troubled expression ‘I’m thinking there’s nae need fae me tae be here noo an’ be putting ye tae all this trouble’
‘We truly are glad for you to be here’ Helen assures her ‘The fact that there will be someone close by to keep an eye on her is worth ten times more than any bother in moving out, honestly. You mustn’t feel like that. You’re doing us a favour, whether or not Harriet needs as much looking after as she did. That last little episode came out of the blue and it would be awful if it should happen again while me and Kester are at work. No, having you here is the perfect answer. I’m not saying you’ve got to be on call twenty four hours a day; you’d be free to come and go as you choose, but you’d certainly be here more often than either of us would. We’re all happy with the way things have turned out, so stop yer mitherin!’
‘Richt ye are, lassie’ Jeannie’s smile returns.
Tawny House, Manor Road
The Annexe
