Free Daughters of the Mersey by Anne Baker Page A

at school.’
    ‘Mum, John’s auntie runs a fish and chip shop near Rock Ferry Station. They need a Saturday boy, I can get that job.’
    Leonie pulled a face. ‘What would Pa say?You working in a fish and chip shop?’
    ‘He won’t like it.’
    ‘I’m not sure I like it, Milo.’
    ‘The work is cleaning up and potato-peeling. I only get to cook and serve when I’ve been there a while and they’ve shown me how. What harm is there in that, Mum?’
    Leonie pursed her lips. Milo knew it wasn’t the sort of job a boy at a private school was expected to take. ‘But you go to school on some Saturday mornings.’
    ‘Only to play games and I don’t have to. When I get to serve, it’ll teach me to add up quickly and all that and I’ll be earning money to buy stuff to mend the boat.’
    ‘All right,’ Leonie said, drying her hands. ‘Perhaps I’d better take a look at this boat. I knew there was one there but I haven’t been near it for years.’
    It was covered with thick dust but didn’t look too bad. Milo pointed out the planks that needed to be replaced. ‘Mr Jenkins says it would be quite easy and then the whole boat will need to be recaulked and it’ll be as good as new.’
    Leonie couldn’t see any harm in letting the boys do that.
    After supper the following evening, Milo came running back from the shed while Leonie was preparing a meal for the next day.
    ‘Mr Jenkins is in our shed, Mum. Come and talk to him. He’s quite keen for us to do the boat.’
    Leonie found two men waiting for her by the shed. One came forward, he was heavily built and wore rimless glasses.
    ‘Good evening, Mrs Dransfield, I’m Henry Jenkins, Duggie’s father.’ He put out his hand. ‘It’s very good of you to let the boys havethe freedom of your premises. Duggie treats it like a club and loves to come and meet his friends here.’
    ‘I’m not giving them much freedom,’ she smiled, ‘only of this shed and a bit of the garden. Anyway, it’s a long way from the house and keeps Milo out of earshot.’ She learned for the first time that Duggie was in Milo’s class at school.
    Mr Jenkins introduced the tall and slender man with him. ‘This is Oswald Hemmings, Gerald’s father. He has a sailing boat called
Seagull
and belongs to the Rock Ferry Yacht Club.’
    ‘I’ll teach them the rudiments of sailing, Mrs Dransfield, and how to stay safe.’
    ‘
Dido
is old,’ Mr Jenkins said, ‘and at sixteen feet, a bit heavy for the boys but it’s a classic design. Repairing it and putting it in the water is a practical proposition. Thank you for letting them do it.’
    ‘Milo couldn’t do this on his own,’ Leonie said. ‘It needs to be a shared project, so I should be thanking you. If you are willing to help them and teach them what they need to know, I’m sure the boys will learn a lot and have a lot of fun.’
    Leonie could see only good in what Milo wanted to do. When he was going to bed that night, she said, ‘I’ll have a word with Pa but you must promise that your schoolwork won’t suffer because of the time you’ll spend on the boat.’
    ‘You let that boy do exactly as he likes,’ Steve said later. ‘I hope he doesn’t drown himself.’
    ‘Better that he learns the skills now while he’s young,’ she said. ‘Getting
Dido
in the river is still some time off.’

C HAPTER E IGHT

    W HEN AMY WAS FOUR years old, Leonie put her into nursery school. June wasable to take her there in the mornings but in the afternoons Amy was released an hour before June so Leonie usually went to fetch her.
    Amy soon made a little friend in the same class. Her name was Pat Greenway and they usually came out together. Pat was a few months older than Amy but she appeared younger because she was a small and skinny child. She had rather sharp features and skimpy pale-brown pigtails of little more than shoulder length.
    Leonie knew her mother by sight but they’d rarely spoken. Amy pulled at her skirt and told her that the