Winter on the Mersey(52)
‘But how about the paper?’ Laura tried one last shot. ‘Don’t you think it looks a bit French?’
‘Well, it’s a tatty piece of paper that looks as if it’s been scrunched up and unscrunched scores of times,’ Kitty said carefully. ‘But … French paper? I’m not sure I’ve ever seen any.’
‘Oh, you know. The lines are a bit closer together. All right, I’ll stop, I can see you don’t believe me.’
‘I’d love to,’ Kitty assured her. ‘There’s nothing I’d love more than for this note to be from your brother, except I can’t honestly say I think it is. If it was, it would be nothing short of miraculous.’ She took a long sip of her lemonade, which was blissfully cool on the hot summer day.
‘That’s why I needed to talk to you,’ Laura said. ‘I knew you’d listen to my muddled theory but be kind about it. Thank you, Kitty, and for giving up your day off when I’m sure you could have found plenty of other more fun things to do.’ She sat up and took a drink from her own glass. ‘So, tell me, what is it like being home? Are you finding new ways to have fun? I do hope so. It has to be livelier than where you were before, surely.’
Kitty smiled and ran her finger through the drops of condensation forming on the outside of her glass. ‘Not fun like we used to have, if that’s what you mean. I’m working too hard, but it’s lovely being back and seeing my family. I wrote to you about Tommy, didn’t I?’ She described the trouble she and Danny had had with him before he agreed to become a telegraph boy. ‘Then there’s Rita’s new baby, who’s lovely, although I’m a bit biased as she’s my goddaughter. And now Violet is having a baby too, which is the best thing that could happen after losing Eddy.’
‘I was so sorry to hear about that,’ said Laura sincerely. ‘You’re close to all that family, aren’t you?’
Kitty nodded. ‘Mind you, the older brother, Frank, is driving me mad. He works at Derby House and so I see him all the time. He’s an officer now and he’s so strict, a real stickler for detail, and he drives me round the bend. Even though I should be grateful to him as he’s found a bike for Tommy, he just has this way of getting my goat every time I see him.’ She finished the rest of her drink in one go, suddenly feeling far too hot.
Laura raised her eyebrows and gave a lopsided grin. ‘Well, well. Seems as if he really has got under your skin. Surely he can’t be that bad? Haven’t you known him all your life – is it only now that you see a different side to him?’
‘Maybe,’ said Kitty. ‘Or else, I’ve grown up and he can’t treat me like a little kid any more.’ She blotted out the few times in the past when she’d thought he saw her potentially as something else. ‘He’s too annoying for words.’
‘Interesting,’ said Laura mildly. ‘I’ve never seen you get het up like this about a man before. Are you sure that’s all there is to it?’
Kitty frowned. ‘Absolutely. Don’t go looking at me like that. You’re deliberately getting the wrong end of the stick. Anyway, he’s spoken for – he’s got a Wren girlfriend and she works at Derby House too.’
‘A regular family business, that place,’ said Laura, more cheerful now. ‘Isn’t another of your brothers there too, some super-sleuth type?’
Kitty, as ever, looked around before answering. She hated talking about what Danny actually did, even when there was nobody else about. Walls had ears.
‘That kind of thing,’ she said warily.
‘We should introduce him to Marjorie one day,’ mused Laura. ‘She might have outgrown her preference for Canadian pilots and be ready to settle down with a nice British boffin type.’
Kitty had to laugh. ‘He’s the least boffin-like boffin you could ever meet. Anyway, she wouldn’t like him. His hair’s too dark. She always likes them fair-haired.’
‘So she does.’ Laura nodded sagely. ‘I wonder where she is now.’
‘Don’t suppose we’ll find out for a very long time,’ said Kitty. ‘I wasn’t expecting to get any letters from her and I haven’t. I don’t think that should worry us too much, though.’
‘No, I suppose not. No news is good news when it comes to Marjorie. She’ll be doing a good job, whatever it is,’ Laura said fervently. ‘Oh, blast, look at the time. My train is due in fifteen minutes – not that I think it’ll be on time, but I’d better be getting back to the station. Can’t have Pa hanging around waiting for me, wondering where I’ve got to.’
They reached the platform and Kitty impulsively leant forward and hugged her friend. ‘I’m so glad we managed to meet up like this, Laura. You must let me know what happens. If I have any bright ideas, I’ll let you know too.’
Laura hugged her back. ‘Thank you so much for coming out of your way like this. I feel miles better. Don’t suppose you have any access to a phone? You being a telephone operator and all that?’
‘No, you’d better not start calling Derby House, you’ll start an international incident,’ Kitty warned her. ‘I wish we could take social calls, but it’s out of the question. Rita was talking about getting a telephone for the shop but, what with Ellen arriving, nothing has happened.’