Free Keep Smiling Through by Ellie Dean Page A

everyone trudged back up the steps, more concerned with getting home than continuing their gossip.
    Louise tied her headscarf under her chin, gripped her handbag and gas mask box to her chest and, head held high, walked alongside Rita who was pushing the bicycle. They went into the house through the back door and, after making sure everything was locked, wearily climbed the stairs to the main room.
    ‘You’ve worked hard today,’ said Rita as she pulled the blackout curtains over the fresh plywood, lit the gas lamps and put the kettle on to boil. ‘It must have taken ages to clean up the mess downstairs.’
    Louise sank into her favourite armchair with a deep sigh and pulled off her gloves and headscarf. ‘I had plenty of help. Peggy and Jim Reilly came over and she got him to board up the windows and carry the heavier stuff out to the pavement while we scrubbed the floor and cleaned the mess. Jim even managed to find a replacement door. They were both so very kind.’
    ‘They’re lovely people,’ agreed Rita. She prodded the poker amongst the few coals in the range fire and coaxed it to burn more brightly as her thoughts whirled. It was a great pity their neighbours hadn’t rallied round, and she hoped they’d felt at least a twinge of shame as they watched the Reillys help clean up.
    ‘Peggy was all for going to the police station and giving the superintendent a piece of her mind, but I managed to persuade her not to make a fuss. It would have only made things worse for Tino and Roberto.’
    ‘It might not have done,’ said Rita as she let the tea steep in the pot and reached for cups. ‘Peggy knows a lot of influential people in this town, and she might have been able to pull some strings.’
    ‘There are no strings left to pull,’ said Louise, who was close to tears again. ‘You see, it’s my fault Roberto is in prison, and I didn’t want the shame of having to tell Peggy how stupid I’ve been.’
    Rita perched on the arm of Louise’s chair and took her hand. ‘What is it, Mamma?’ she asked softly.
    Louise sniffed back the tears and tried her best to remain composed. ‘Antonino and I had taken the girls to Naples for his brother’s wedding. We thought we’d have plenty of time to get back before Roberto was born – but he came early. I left Italy only a few days after he was born and planned to deal with the paperwork when I got home. But Roberto was a demanding baby, Tino needed help in the café and I had the two girls to look after. It slipped my mind.’
    ‘I’m not surprised,’ murmured Rita. ‘You had enough to worry about by the sound of it.’
    Louise nodded and dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief. ‘When I finally remembered, there were so many forms to read, so many places that had to be signed and witnessed and stamped – and I couldn’t understand half of them.’ She dipped her chin, her voice softer now. ‘I was never much good at reading and writing, and I got more and more confused and upset about it all. I finally decided it wouldn’t really matter if I didn’t fill them in. Tino had made his home here since he was fourteen, the girls were born in this house and I was already British anyway. Roberto was less than a week old when I brought him home, and I didn’t think there was any harm in pretending he was English too.’
    ‘But surely Papa Tino must have known?’
    Louise burst into tears. ‘I was ashamed to admit I couldn’t understand all those forms. So I lied to him. He didn’t question it because he trusted me.’
    Rita held her as she sobbed into a handkerchief. The whole thing was a terrible mess. If only Louise had had more courage, Rita was certain Tino would have understood and perhaps paid for advice on how to fill in those damned forms. But it was too late now, and all they could do was wait and see what happened next.
    Louise eventually blew her nose and then scrabbled in her handbag for a rare cigarette. She lit it, coughed on the smoke and