Gypsy - Lesley Pearse [31]
‘Maybe you won’t think it so kind when you see how dusty it is!’
Beth’s face broke into a wide smile. ‘I don’t care if it’s like the Black Hole of Calcutta. I’d work for you every day for nothing in return for a place to live.’
‘That won’t be necessary,’ Mrs Langworthy said crisply. ‘Just pop up there now and give it a clean before you go and get Molly and your brother. I’ll ask Mrs Bruce to sort out some bedding and linen for you.’
Beth stood at the top of the wooden stairs inside the disused stable looking into the first of the two rooms, and her spirits rose. It was small and very dirty, but she could see that once she’d cleaned the windows it would be light and airy because it had windows both on the side which overlooked the Langworthys’ backyard and on the mews side. It had a sink, a stove and a table and chairs. Excitedly, she rushed across to look in the other room and found there was an old iron bedstead and a truckle bed, which she could put in the kitchen for Sam.
She had no real idea what kind of accommodation she and Sam could have got for a rent they could afford. But she was absolutely certain it would not have been anything like this, and probably just one room in a slum.
Beth worked like a beaver cleaning the rooms for two hours. She propped the two mattresses up in the sun to air, scrubbed the floors and cleaned the windows. When she’d finished there wasn’t a single cobweb anywhere, but she looked like a chimney sweep and her bare feet were black.
Mrs Bruce and Katherine came across the yard just as she finished, each laden down with a pile of blankets, pillows and clean linen. They helped Beth make up the two beds, and Mrs Bruce put a red and white checked cloth over the table.
‘Isn’t it wonderful?’ Beth gasped. ‘I can’t believe any one could be as kind as Mrs Langworthy.’
‘She’s had more than her share of bad luck and hard times,’ Mrs Bruce said knowingly. ‘And she said you’re to go upstairs and have a bath and wash your hair before you go to get Molly. She’s found a few clothes for you too.’
As Beth lay back in the warm water, letting her hair drift on the surface, she was staggered by how she could have gone from sheer desperation to bliss in such a few hours.
She’d only ever been in a tin bath before, and not since she was five or six had she been able to lie down in one. She just hoped people had been as kind to Sam today as they’d been to her.
The clothes Mrs Langworthy had given her were folded on the bathroom stool. A dark blue skirt, a blue blouse with white spots, a chemise, drawers and a petticoat. She wondered if Mrs Langworthy knew she’d had nothing under that horrible green dress today. Mrs Bruce had given her a pair of her boots and some stockings as Mrs Langworthy’s were too big.
Lovely as it was in the bath, Beth knew she must hurry now and get back to Mrs Craven and Molly.
‘Well, blow me down!’ Mrs Craven gasped as Beth turned into her backyard in new clothes and her hair shining like polished ebony. ‘Someone’s done you proud, and I know it weren’t the Sally Army!’
Beth smiled, partly because she felt more like her old self again, all clean and neat, but also because it was pleasing to find Mrs Craven outside in the sunshine with Molly.
She picked her little sister up off the blanket she was sitting on, and hugged her. ‘Beth’s got a nice surprise for you,’ she said.
‘Well, you’ve fallen on your feet and no mistake,’ Mrs Craven exclaimed after Beth had told her about the morning’s events. ‘Talk about lucky!’
Beth felt a little embarrassed then, for it sounded as if her neighbour was almost disappointed that her luck had turned so soon. ‘It won’t be the same without having you just across the alley,’ she said quickly. ‘You’ve been so very kind, Mrs Craven, right since Papa went. I don’t know what Sam and I would’ve done without you.’
Her neighbour beamed at that. ‘Just make certain you come round to see me now and then. I shall miss you all, but specially my little Molly.’ She held out a finger to the baby who grasped it eagerly. ‘Now,