The Cornish Girls. Betty Walker

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СКАЧАТЬ have to get those girls out of here,’ Violet muttered, filling the teakettle and putting it on the gas ring to boil. ‘But how?’

       CHAPTER TWO

       The Upside-Down Club, Central London, May 1941

      ‘He’s out there again tonight!’

      Eva twitched back the curtain and gasped, her heart thumping.

      Sure enough, the dark-haired RAF pilot with the Hollywood good looks was seated at one of the front tables, surrounded by his usual gang of uniformed friends, all chatting noisily over the band’s playing. She had tumbled head-over-heels in love with him two weeks ago, when he first turned up and sat smiling directly at her throughout their number. To her delight, he had returned with his companions a few nights later, and this was now his fourth time at the club.

      ‘Perhaps tonight’s the night,’ Karen said, and nudged her with a grin. ‘Look, now he’s going over to Walter. I wonder what he wants.’

      Eva stared, her hand clutching the edge of the curtain. The good-looking young pilot had indeed wandered over to the manager of the Upside-Down Club, and was now talking in Walter’s ear. It was all very mysterious.

      Suddenly, Walter looked over to the backstage area, his eyes sharp and watchful.

      ‘Oops!’

      Hurriedly, Eva let the curtain fall back into place. They weren’t supposed to peek out at the audience between acts; it was a serious offence and could lead to the docking of pay. Not that Walter was that strict. His bark was worse than his bite, as Karen regularly remarked. Sometimes he reminded her of her kindly Uncle Teddy, who had been charged with her care since her father left London.

      Poor Uncle Teddy, she thought with sudden remorse. She had grown bored of working in a typing pool at his stuffy offices and had given him the slip one day, escaping to find work as a dancer. That had been about six weeks ago. She had left a note, telling him not to worry, she could take care of herself, and would be back in a few months. But no doubt Uncle Teddy would have fretted anyway. But really, he ought to have let her get a more exciting job. Didn’t he know there was a war on and girls like her were determined to take advantage of the new freedom this brought?

      Shirley, the backstage manager, was calling the girls together, clapping her hands. ‘Five minutes to curtain up!’ she kept saying as she checked everyone’s hair and costumes.

      A moment later, Walter appeared backstage, a folded piece of paper in his hand. ‘Eva,’ he said in his gravelly voice, roughened by years of cigar-smoking. ‘There’s a note for you. From some Yank out the front. Though I shouldn’t really give it to you.’ He shook his head at her. ‘You know I don’t like you girls getting too friendly with the clientele.’

      Eva looked at him pleadingly. ‘Please, Walter? Just this once?’

      He handed it over but watched in disapproval as she opened it with shaking hands. ‘What am I going to do with you? Shirley, can’t you keep these girls in line?’

      Shirley turned, hands on hips, her heavily made-up face crinkled in lines of disgust. ‘I’ve told them, no boyfriends, or they’re out. But I can’t watch them every bleeding minute of the day, can I?’

      Head bent, Eva read the note with mounting excitement.

       Dear Miss Ryder,

       Forgive my impudence in writing this note, but I have admired you from a distance for too long, and one of the staff was so kind as to furnish me with your name. May I beg you to join me in a glass of champagne after your act?

       Your smitten admirer, Lt. Max Carmichael

      ‘What does it say?’ Karen tugged at her sleeve, her voice a high-pitched squeak. ‘Tell me, tell me!’ Wordlessly, Eva passed her friend the note, then laughed at Karen’s wide-eyed expression of awe. ‘Oh, doesn’t he write lovely? Furnish me with your name … And a glass of champagne? With a pilot? My word, Eva, you lucky thing! You always get the good ones.’

      Shirley grabbed the note and crumpled it up. ‘That’s enough of that nonsense,’ she hissed. ‘The curtain’s about to go up. Into position, girls, quickly now!’

      Everyone jostled into line behind the thick red curtain, seven girls in tight-fitting white uniforms and pillbox caps, listening for their cue as the band began to play their opening number. Eva was at the centre, as the tallest of the troupe, and arguably the most attractive, if you ignored the too-generous mouth and the upward tilt of her nose. But attractiveness, as she knew only too well, was not what ultimately mattered. Not with men. A pretty face was how you caught them. But not how you held on to them.

       The good ones …

      Eva said nothing, but she was thinking back over her past boyfriends with a flicker of chagrin. None of them had been ‘good’. Or at least, not to her.

      In fact, the men she seemed to attract usually turned out to be out-and-out bounders. They were only ever after one thing. And when she turned them down flat, they simply disappeared, running off to the next potential conquest. Leaving her broken-hearted and alone, wondering what she’d done wrong.

      Though she was rarely broken-hearted for long, it was true. Her nature was too bold and resilient for feelings of angst to last much longer than a few dismal months. Sometimes only a few weeks, depending on how much the man in question had turned her head. Then she would be back on form, smiling and batting her eyelids, and hoping for the best from whichever young soldier had caught her eye this time.

      Maybe she was a bit flirty at times. But, at only nineteen, she didn’t feel she needed to worry too much about that. It wasn’t time for her to settle down yet. And everyone said you had to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince. Eva was intent on kissing as many potential princes as possible before the marriage trap closed about her. Though kissing was as far as it ever went, because she knew better than to encourage wandering hands.

      The curtain rose, and they danced out together, arm in arm, singing and kicking their legs as high as their tight skirts would allow. Eva avoided looking at the front table where the RAF pilots were sitting, focusing instead on getting through the complex routine without any mishaps. But towards the end, she risked a quick glance in their direction.

      Gosh, he was rather dishy!

      Backstage again, Eva checked her reflection in the big bulb-lit mirror that all the performers shared, elbowing each other for more space. Her face was glowing and needed a quick dab of powder before she was satisfied.

      The band was playing a slower number now, as the evening drew towards its official close. She checked the clock on the wall. It was nearly half past eleven. The club was only supposed to stay open until midnight, but few people regarded the rules these days. So long as there were no lights showing, nobody seemed to care. Some nights Walter kept the place rocking until the early hours.

      Suddenly nervous, she caught Karen’s eye in the mirror and guessed what her curious expression meant. ‘Five minutes,’ she told her friend, ‘that’s all. He’s probably just the same as the rest.’

      ‘Aren’t they СКАЧАТЬ