Wave Me Goodbye. Ruby Jackson

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СКАЧАТЬ to serve porridge. ‘She went all funny,’ she said, angrily, as she practically slammed a bowl down in front of Jack.

      ‘I’ll be with her on the milk run this morning and I’ll keep an eye on her. Nothing to worry about.’

      Grace felt like bursting into tears. She had no idea what had happened, just that she had remembered something that had already swum away from her; something about porridge – but what? She felt stupid and was so embarrassed to find the others looking at her with concern. They quickly turned back to their breakfast bowls, when she looked at them and, for a time, there was no sound but the clinking of spoons and the pouring of tea.

      Grace was first to finish.

      ‘You should tell her ladyship you’ve had a turn,’ said Mrs Love. ‘If she’s got him with her –’ she jerked her head in Jack’s direction – ‘she might get by without you this morning.’

      Grace tried to smile. ‘It’s nothing, really, Mrs Love. I’m so sorry to have been a nuisance.’

      She picked up Lady Alice’s coat and walked off towards the milking parlour.

      Jack caught up with her before she had gone less than halfway. ‘Feeling better?’

      ‘Yes, thank you.’

      ‘Good. Lady Alice terrifies me.’

      Grace stopped in mid-stride. ‘Why? She’s working as hard as we are and she loaned me this coat.’

      ‘Perhaps that’s why I’m petrified. She’s destroying all my preconceived ideas.’

      They walked on and, just before they reached the milk lorry, Grace laughed. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

      ‘Nice laugh,’ said Jack, and Grace felt herself blushing again, but this time, in the nicest possible way.

      ‘You drive, Jack, and I’ll give directions. ’Fraid that means you’ll have to squeeze in behind, Grace.’

      Grace, who had feared being stuck in the lorry with the heavy milk churns, was quite happy to squeeze into the back of the cab. Nothing could fall on her in this tight space.

      Her worry that Jack would say something about her behaviour at the table was unfounded. On the way to the village Lady Alice told them that the next day they would also be expected to collect the milk money.

      ‘It’s quite simple: four pence halfpenny per pint multiplied by number, and two pence farthing the half-pint. Most of the villagers, have it ready with the jugs. Usually, they’re honest, but do a quick check.’

      For the first time, Grace was thankful that she had spent so much time in offices. She could add, subtract, multiply and divide with the best of them.

      ‘Any difficulty with that, Grace?’

      ‘No, Lady Alice.’

      ‘Ten times four pence halfpenny?’

      ‘Three and nine pence.’

      ‘Bravo. I won’t insult you by asking you to divide farthings.’

      ‘I liked arithmetic. We had a dragon for a teacher and, every Friday morning, she used to write a circle of numbers on the board and then she’d yell questions at us, and in no order so you couldn’t work it out ahead, if you know what I mean. Some of us were pretty thick but we all learned to count.’

      ‘Fascinating.’

      The tone with which the word was uttered made Grace want to curl up. Instead, she closed her eyes, knowing perfectly well that if they turned round, the two in the front could still see her even if she could not see them. She made a rather childish vow never to speak to Lady Alice again.

      The only sounds in the lorry before they arrived in the village were rather distressing noises from the engine and the occasional clunk as churns brushed against one another. The lorry drew to a halt. Grace and Jack got out and walked around to the tailgate, so as to reach the milk. For a slender man, Jack was surprisingly strong. It took two men to lift the churns on as a rule and, although Jack asked for Grace’s help with the largest churn, he appeared to lift the smallest one easily.

      ‘Which side, Grace?’

      Grace shrugged and filled her jug. She sniffed and moved quickly away to the first house.

      Jack was waiting for her as she finished.

      ‘Are you all right, Grace? I can easily do the round if you’re not feeling well.’

      Grace was determined to pull herself together. ‘I’m fine, Jack. I just feel stupid.’ She looked in the jug, to make sure she had enough milk, and went off next door. When she came out, Jack was beside the lorry and Grace could see Lady Alice in the cab, looking at a piece of paper.

      ‘Let me fill that for you.’ Jack moved as if to take Grace’s jug and she pulled it back, and somehow it fell, smashing into several pieces.

      ‘Blast.’

      Grace shouted so loudly that Lady Alice opened the door and looked out.

      ‘It’s only an old jug, Grace. Pick up the bits without cutting yourself and get another one. There should be several in the back.’

      ‘Yes, Lady Alice.’ Grace bent down, picked up the pieces and put them in a small heap beside the tailgate.

      ‘Brush up the tiny bits, girl; there are barefoot children in this village.’

      ‘Yes, Lady Alice.’ Grace found the broom and the shovel in the lorry and did as she had been told, then took a larger jug and filled it with milk.

      ‘Yes, Lady Alice, yes, Lady Alice,’ Grace muttered to herself. ‘Damn it, I wasn’t going to speak to her again.’ She realised immediately that she was being rather silly and felt even sillier when she heard Jack trying to stifle laughter as he filled his jug. She did her next deliveries efficiently and returned to the lorry to refill the jug, handing over the milk money given to her by one of the customers who would not be at home on the next morning. ‘One and three pence halfpenny from Miss Shield. She’s short a farthing …’

      ‘… but will pay next week,’ Lady Alice finished for her. ‘If I had all the farthings out of which that seemingly charming old woman has diddled my family, I would be spending the winter months in the Bahamas, Grace. The winters after the war, of course.’

      The deliveries completed, Jack drove the lorry back to the estate. Lady Alice sat in the passenger seat and Grace, once again, was squeezed in behind.

      ‘Are you fearfully uncomfortable?’ asked Lady Alice, who did not wait for an answer but carried on: ‘It’s perfect that you’re not too tall, isn’t it? I had a dear chum at school, taller than my father, poor girl. She could never have squashed down like you.’

      The words ‘I had a very tall friend at school, too’ popped onto the tip of Grace’s tongue and she felt so proud because she managed to swallow them. Lady Alice would have no interest in the Rose Petries of this world. There, of course, she wronged Lady Alice.

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