The Orphans of Halfpenny Street

‘Yes, I do know,’ Michelle said, the last of her ill temper vanishing as she looked at her colleague. ‘Are you going out tonight? A few of us are visiting the Odeon in Bethnal Green. We can get a bus that takes you right outside the door, and it’s Gone With the Wind this week – it’s come back again.’

‘Oh, I’ve seen that,’ Sally sighed dreamily. ‘It was lovely and I’d love to see it again – but I’m going dancing at the Pally with my brother Jim, Madge and Brenda tonight …’

‘Who is Madge?’

‘Jim and Madge have been courting for two years,’ Sally said. ‘She would’ve got married ages ago, but he’s saving up so that they can start off right with a decent house and proper furniture. He says he’s never going to settle for a dump like we had before we got re-housed. We’ve got a lovely modern council house now, much better than the old back-to-back houses they’ve replaced. In some ways Hitler did us a favour, bombing the area. It meant the council had to get us moved so that they could pull the lot down – so we were first on the list.’

‘We’re still stuck in a two-up and two-down back-to-back with no bathroom. Hitler missed us, though the houses in the next street got a direct hit.’

Sally Rush’s family were lucky. One of the council’s first projects after the war had been to clear the area where they had lived: a small cluster of six old houses close to the Docks. It was just the start of a huge clearance scheme, which was going to take years and hundreds of thousands of pounds to complete. The problem was that the furnaces couldn’t produce enough bricks, and timber was scarce, and so in a lot of areas they were putting up temporary prefabs.

‘What do you think of all the fuss about Princess Elizabeth’s wedding?’ Sally said, glancing at the newspaper lying on the table next to her. ‘Fancy her going to marry Philip Mountbatten. He’s the son of a Greek prince, isn’t he? – and very handsome …’

‘Yes, he looks nice,’ Michelle agreed. ‘I wish I’d been there outside the palace when it was announced in July. They say the crowds went mad with delight at the news.’

‘I wonder what she’ll do about a wedding dress. You have to save coupons for ages to buy a proper gown. I know there’s a little more material about now, but she will need yards and yards.’

‘Oh, I expect they’ll find some extra coupons for her – she deserves it. I reckon the whole royal family have been bricks. They could have gone off to the wilds of Scotland and been safe in one of their big houses, but they chose to stay here with the rest of us.’

‘Yes, I love the King – he’s so like everyone’s favourite family doctor …’

‘Sally! You can’t say that about the King!’

‘Why not? He’s kind and comforting and I don’t think he would mind.’

‘Probably not,’ Michelle agreed, smiling, then, ‘What about going dancing together another week?’

Whatever Sally was about to answer was lost as they heard a child’s scream of rage and then the door of the staff room was flung open and a rather scruffy-looking boy with red hair rushed in followed by Alice Cobb, another of the carers. A little plumper than the other two, she was very pretty. She was wearing a big rubber apron over her uniform and it was obvious that her intention had been to bathe the lad. Her pretty face was blotched with red, her soft fair hair sticking to her forehead, and she was obviously feeling hot and bothered.

The lad looked angry rather than frightened, and seeing a cake knife lying on the table, picked it up and held it in front of him like a weapon as Alice advanced on him purposefully.

‘Put that down, Billy,’ Alice said in a severe tone. ‘You’ve been told you have to have a bath when you’re admitted for the first time. Nurse needs to examine you to make sure …’ She gave a little scream and flinched back as he made a threatening gesture at her. ‘I shall tell Sister on you and she’ll send you to a home for bad boys. We don’t want the likes of you here.’

‘What do you think you’re doing, Billy Baggins?’ Sally asked and got calmly to her feet. ‘You should be ashamed. Your father would skin you if he saw you threaten Nurse like that …’

‘He ain’t around to skin me no more,’ Billy said but grinned and lowered his arm. ‘Wot you doin’ ’ere, Sally Rush?’

‘I work here, that’s what,’ she said. ‘Give me the knife, Billy. You know you’re not going to use it. You’re not a bad boy so don’t be a dafty.’

‘She wanted me ter take orf me clothes in front of ’er!’ he retorted indignantly. ‘Then she yelled at me when I kicked her shins so I hopped it …’ He looked at the cakes on the table. ‘Blimey, they look good. I ain’t had nuthin’ decent since me nanna went in the hospital.’

‘Well, you can have a corned beef sandwich with pickle and a rock cake when you’ve had your bath,’ Sally said. ‘Come on, I shan’t look at your willie so you can stop making a dafty of yourself. You don’t want to go where they give you nothing but bread and water, do you?’

‘Nah.’ He gave in and passed her the cake knife by its handle. ‘I reckon I don’t mind you givin’ me a bath – if yer promise not ter look.’

‘I promise,’ Sally said but didn’t give way to the smile that Michelle knew was hovering. ‘Nurse might have to examine you if you’ve got sores but she’ll let you keep your underpants on.’

‘Ain’t got none. Ain’t got no sores neither. Me nanna made sure of that when she looked after me. I ’ad a bath only last month, afore she went in the ’ospital.’

‘You will have clean pants now. Your clothes need a good boil, so you’ll be issued with new things. Clothes that fit. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?’

‘Suppose so …’ He stared at her, clearly still reluctant, but when Alice took off her apron and handed it to Sally, he submitted, asking as they headed to the bathrooms, ‘You promise you’ll give me that sandwich and a cake?’

Michelle smiled at Alice as she flopped down in an empty chair and kicked off her shoes, sympathising with her friend. ‘Sally has a way with the stubborn ones, doesn’t she?’

‘He took offence when I asked him if he had lice …’

‘A lot of the kids think you’re looking down on them if you ask questions like that, you know. He looked scruffy but that was mainly those old clothes. I should think his grandmother kept him clean until she was taken into hospital. Is she still alive?’

‘I’ve no idea,’ Alice said. ‘I only know Constable Sallis brought him in. He said he’d been found wandering the streets and the magistrate said he should come here if we could take him, while they decide what to do with him. I suppose they are waiting to see if his family can be found – Constable Sallis said he has a brother but he’s gone missing.’

‘Probably in trouble with the law,’ Michelle said and stood up. ‘I think I’ll go and see how Sally is getting on – but first I need to look in at last night’s new arrivals. Are you coming to the cinema this evening?’

‘No. I’ve got the afternoon off and then I’m on again for the evening shift tonight. I wish I was coming. I wanted to see that film. I missed it last time and I shall probably miss it this time as well.’

‘If you want, I’ll swap duties with you,’ Michelle offered. ‘I don’t mind, Alice, honest.’

‘I daren’t. Sister Beatrice would have my guts for garters if she caught you doing my job. Thanks for offering though, you’re a mate. Why don’t you come round ours on Sunday? We could go for a walk in the park and have tea out. Anything to get away from our house when the kids are home.’

‘All right, I’d like that,’ Michelle said. ‘Cheer up, love, you did your best and some of the kids we get are that stubborn.’

‘That one is – he’ll end up getting the cane off of Sister if he doesn’t watch it.’

Michelle nodded and left her. She doubted whether Sister Beatrice would have minded if they changed duties, if she’d even noticed, but Alice was too often in trouble to risk it. Shrugging, she turned her steps towards the isolation ward. She thought the elder boy, whose name was Dick, probably just had a bit of a chill, but she was glad she’d acted quickly. The last thing they needed was for an infectious disease to spread through the home. She was sure that Sally was all right; she was better at managing the children than Alice.

Going into the ward, she checked as she saw that Sister Beatrice was sitting by the eldest boy’s bed. She was wearing a white apron to cover her habit and checking her patient’s pulse. Looking up as Michelle approached, she nodded her approval.

‘Well spotted, Staff Nurse Michelle. Dick has the early stages of chicken pox. I hope we may avoid an outbreak because of your prompt action, though I think his brother and sister have probably taken it from him. I’m putting you in charge of them and taking you off other duties. You can choose one of the carers to help you and you two will be the only ones other than myself to enter the ward. Remember your hand washing routine, and you must change your apron in the side room before leaving, and send your clothes to the dirty laundry, so that you do not carry the infection to the other nurses.’

‘Yes, Sister,’ Michelle said. ‘I don’t mind giving up my evening off if it will help.’

‘You may decide the shifts as you please, but no one else is to enter until the infectious stage is over. Chicken pox is not normally dangerous, but I do not want half the children in the home going down with it or the staff. We just couldn’t cope with such an outbreak. I take it that you’ve had it yourself?’

‘Yes, Sister. I know Sally has had it but I think she has plans for this evening.’

‘One of you must be around all night,’ Sister Beatrice said. ‘Take it in turns, but I expect both of you to remain here. You can get some rest in the room next door, but I don’t want this boy neglected. In his state it could be dangerous – he is seriously undernourished. He will not fight off the infection as well as a healthy child would.’

‘Yes, I know,’ Michelle said. ‘I am quite happy to stay this evening, and for as long as you think it necessary …’ She wasn’t sure that Sally would feel the same, but she would much rather work with her than any of the other carers.

‘Good, that is what I like to hear. I shall send Miss Rush to you.’

Michelle watched as Sister left the room. Sister had been bathing Dick’s forehead, and Michelle took over, wringing the cloth out in the cool water as the boy moaned and writhed, obviously feverish and in pain. He hardly seemed aware of her, calling out and begging someone not to hit him.

Michelle’s heart felt as if it were being squeezed. How could these people be so cruel to their children? She’d learned from the younger boy that their own father had died three years ago, and the man who had lived with them was an unofficial stepfather. No doubt their mother was under this man’s domination, powerless to stop him beating the children – but he wouldn’t do so again, because now they were here and safe. By the way the little girl wept for her mother, she at least couldn’t have been entirely bad, just weak and unable to protect her children from the unsuitable men she had living in her home. Unfortunately, it was something they saw over and over again and it never failed to make Michelle angry.

Little Susie was whimpering again. Michelle went to comfort her and saw the telltale signs of red spots on her face. She had taken the sickness too, though it looked as if Jake was all right so far. He got out of his own bed and came to stand by the side of his sister’s.

‘She’s got it too, ain’t she?’