Free Lights Out Liverpool by Maureen Lee Page A

tram into town. If it weren’t for bloody Hitler, we could’ve gone to the pictures. Shirley Temple was on at the Trocadero in
The Little Princess
. Instead, we’ll go to Pets Corner in Lewis’s – after we’ve had our dinner in Lyons.’
    ‘Oh,
Mam
!’ he sighed blissfully. ‘We mustn’t forget our gas masks.’
    ‘We won’t,’ she said comfortably. ‘What frock shall I wear? The blue one or the green?’
    ‘I like the blue one best.’
    ‘The blue one it is.’ She stubbed the cigarette out in the saucer. ‘Come on, then, Tony Costello! Get your skates on. We’ve got a lot to do today.’
    The Co-op appeared to have had a run on blackout material. There was none left in stock. Eileen stood in the middle of the shop, wondering where to try next. She preferred using the Co-op whenever she could. Twenty yards of material at one and eleven a yard meant quite a lot of divi being added to her account. She noticed Miss Brazier, alone and aloof in her cage, and smiled in her direction. The woman smiled stiffly back. Poor ould sod, you could tell it was only shyness that prevented her from being friendly.
    Eileen crossed over. It wouldn’t do any harm to exchange a few words. ‘They’ve run out of blackout. I suppose I’ll have to try somewhere else.’
    Miss Brazier nodded without speaking. Eileen turned to walk away, when she heard a noise. Miss Brazier was tapping on the glass with a coin. ‘I shouldn’t tell you this, Mrs Costello, because they’ve only got a small amount and they didn’t want a riot, but if you hang on another ten or fifteen minutes, they’ll be bringing out another couple of bolts of material that came in this morning.’
    ‘Thanks very much. I’ll just go and look at the wool. I want to knit our Tony a jumper.’
    ‘I’d advise you not buy the crepe. It’s got no give, the rib stretches after a single wearing.’
    ‘Thanks again.’ Close up, Eileen was surprised to notice that behind the ugly horn-rimmed glasses Miss Brazier’s eyes were quite pretty; a lovely blue, almost violet, with long dark lashes. If only she would do something with her hair and not wear those awful clothes which looked as if they’d belonged to her mother. Emboldened by such an unexpected display of friendliness from a person who normally kept herself very much to herself, she said, ‘Y’know, you’re always welcome to come around our house for a cup of tea on your day off, like, Miss Brazier?’
    ‘Thank you very much.’ The tone was cold. Miss Brazier seemed to shrink into herself. Eileen had gone too far.
    ‘And thank you – for telling me about the blackout and the wool,’ Eileen said cheerfully. ‘Well, it’s been nice talking to you, Miss Brazier. Tara.’
    Ten minutes later Eileen paid for her material. The money whizzed across the shop in the little metal cannister. She waited for her change, watching Miss Brazier remove the two pound notes, tear off the top half of the bill, and put a handful of coppers back. The woman didn’t look up once. Eileen waved as she left, but Miss Brazier didn’t wave back.
    When Eileen got back to Pearl Street, some sort of commotion was going on. Several women were standing outside and one or two were crying.
    ‘What’s up?’ she asked of nobody in particular.
    ‘Eh, Eileen!’ Agnes Donovan darted across and seized her arm, anxious to be the first to convey what was obviously bad news. ‘You’ll never guess what’s happened. The
Athenia
’s been sunk.’
    ‘Oh, no!’ gasped Eileen, horrified. ‘What about Mary and Joey and the kids?’
    ‘No-one knows,’ Aggie said ghoulishly. ‘It was on the Harrisons’ wireless. Over a hundred people were drowned. I expect it was one of them torpedoes.’
    ‘Has anyone told our Sheila?’
    ‘I told her meself a while back.’
    ‘Cal only went back to sea this morning,’ Eileen snapped. ‘I wish you’d kept your big mouth shut for once, Aggie Donovan.’ The woman must have been in her element,