Free The Clippie Girls by Margaret Dickinson Page A

dancing.’
    Peggy ignored her and smiled. ‘Of course I’d like to go out, Bob, but I’d really like to go to the Regent cinema. There’s Robert Taylor and Hedy Lamarr in Lady of the Tropics . I’d love to see that.’
    ‘Then that’s where we’ll go.’
    ‘Have I time to change?’
    ‘Of course, but you look fine as you are,’ he added gallantly.
    Myrtle rolled her eyes and exchanged an amused glance with her grandmother.
    ‘Don’t be too late home, darling,’ Mary said. ‘You’re on early in the morning, aren’t you?’
    Before she had time to respond, Bob said, ‘I’ll make sure she’s home in good time, Mrs Sylvester. I’m on the same shift.’
    ‘As ever,’ Rose muttered under her breath and thought, I reckon Bob bribes Mr Bower to keep him as Peggy’s motorman.
    As the door finally closed behind the young couple, Grace muttered, ‘What’s she doing, stringing the poor lad along? I can’t make her out.’
    ‘I think she’s very fond of him,’ Mary said, her knitting needles clicking rhythmically.
    Grace snorted. ‘Fond, indeed. That’s hardly enough for marriage, is it?’
    ‘Not all love is whistles and bells and crashing cymbals, Mother.’
    ‘Isn’t it?’ Grace pretended innocence. ‘Then it should be. I just hope she’s not leading him on and then going to hurt him. He’s a nice, steady sort of lad.’
    Unseen by the rest of the family, Myrtle raised her eyes to the ceiling. How dull, she was thinking, how un romantic. She buried her head once more in her copy of Wuthering Heights , relishing the passion between Catherine and Heathcliff that almost singed the pages of the book. Now here was true love.
    ‘Peggy’s very quiet and reserved,’ Mary said. ‘She doesn’t say a lot.’
    ‘More’s the pity,’ Grace countered. ‘Now, if it was our Rose here, we’d all soon know if she was in love. She’d be even more scatterbrained than usual.’
    Rose managed a grin, but inside her heart was breaking. Oh, don’t hurt him, Peggy, please don’t hurt him.

Nine
    ‘So how are you enjoying life as a clippie?’ Peggy asked.
    ‘It’s great, but I hadn’t realized it was going to be quite so much hard work. My feet are killing me by the end of a shift and you don’t get much time to look around, do you? I was so looking forward to seeing more of the city we pass through, specially when we go to the outskirts and you can catch a glimpse of the countryside.’
    ‘But you do see all walks of life, don’t you?’
    Rose laughed. ‘You can tell what people are by the time they travel on the tram and the way they’re dressed; all the factory workers very early in the morning, then the office workers and shop assistants along with the kids going to school.’
    Peggy pulled a face. ‘Children are the worst. The little devils are always playing with the seats upstairs, crashing them backwards and forwards in their sockets. The times I have to run upstairs just to stop them.’ She cast her eyes to the ceiling in mock despair.
    ‘Then you get the shoppers. They’re the best. You hear all kinds of snippets of gossip and, despite their worries, they’re mostly a cheerful bunch. But it’s the posh ladies that make me laugh. I can hardly keep a straight face when one of them looks down her nose at me and then sits down in her fancy clothes on a seat that a few hours ago was occupied by a coal miner.’
    ‘Just watch out for an inspector getting on,’ Peggy reminded her. ‘It’ll always happen when you haven’t gone upstairs to get the latest fare or when the kids are yelling and running up and down on the top deck.’
    ‘Who? Mr Bower?’
    ‘He’s just one, and some of the others aren’t so understanding of mistakes, believe me.’
    The two girls were enjoying comparing notes. ‘I’m so lucky having you, Peg, to show me the ropes.’ Impulsively she gave her sister a hug. ‘Thanks.’
    ‘Oh, I’ll keep you on the right track.’ At her unintentional pun, both girls