Swansea Girls Read Free Page B

bag in the corner of his bedroom, he took the towels Norah had arranged on his washstand and washed and shaved in the bathroom. Returning to his bedroom, he lifted his case on to the bed, unlocked it, and picked out a clean shirt. He changed, checked his hair and face in the mirror and selected a different tie to go with the grey mohair suit he’d splashed out on after demob, then headed downstairs. Swansea might be uncharted territory but the army had taught him to treat every billet as an adventure. And he was hoping to find at least one unattached, pretty girl who’d look on a newcomer in a strange town as sympathetically and compassionately as a few of the locals had in Cyprus.
    ‘You have your key, Brian?’ Norah was in the hall, dusting a highly polished chest of drawers. He sensed that she’d been waiting for him.
    ‘Yes, thank you, Mrs Evans.’ He patted his pocket.
    ‘Will you be late?’
    Swallowing the resentment he felt at being asked the question after two and half years of coming and going as he pleased in his free time, he answered as pleasantly as he could bring himself to, ‘I don’t expect to be very late, Mrs Evans.’
    ‘Have a good time.’
    ‘I’ll try.’ He smiled disarmingly. ‘Are there any good pubs close by that you can recommend, Mrs Evans?’
    ‘I’ve never been in a pub in my life, Brian.’
    ‘Of course, I should have thought ...’
    ‘But Roy seems to like the White Rose on Walter Road. Pity he’s on duty tonight or he would have taken you there himself. He enjoys a pint. Turn left as you leave the house, left at the end of the street, straight on and you’ll see it on the main road.’
    ‘Thank you, Mrs Evans.’
    ‘And stay away from the dock area, but then, what am I doing telling a policeman how to look after himself.’
    ‘You know Swansea, I don’t, Mrs Evans. My father always told me to take advice in the spirit it’s given.’ He dared to wink at her as he opened the door, confirming her opinion that she had been right to warn him off her Lily. Innocent young girls were better off with less showy boyfriends than the likes of Brian Powell, with his dangerous good looks, suntan and overly charming ways.
    ‘You look nice, love,’ Roy murmured absently, as Lily ran downstairs.
    ‘Thanks, Uncle Roy.’ Lily dropped a kiss on to his bald head as she passed his chair.
    ‘New petticoat?’ Norah asked.
    ‘Helen lent it to me to see how it would look.’
    ‘You don’t have to borrow clothes from Helen. You’ve enough money in your Post Office account to buy whatever you want.’
    ‘I know, Auntie Norah, but I really wasn’t sure whether it would suit me. Besides, Helen borrows from me.’
    ‘Only books that I can see. That petticoat suits you. Get your own on Monday and have a good time.’
    ‘Home on the half-past-ten train,’ Roy warned.
    ‘Promise.’ Lily gave him another kiss before hugging Norah.
    ‘That’s enough now, get on with you,’ Norah ordered. ‘And remember ...’
    ‘No drinking anything stronger than orange juice, no smoking and no leaving the Pier with any strange boys,’ Lily chanted. ‘Does that mean I can leave with one I do know?’
    The house seemed strangely quiet after she’d left.
    ‘She’s grown up fast the last couple of months,’ Norah commented wistfully as Roy left his chair.
    ‘That she has,’ he agreed flatly, buttoning his policeman’s tunic.
    ‘That Pier Ballroom ...’
    ‘I’ve told you a hundred times, Norah, the town’s no rougher than it was when we were kids. You know what youngsters are when they’re out for a good time. A bit loud, a bit boisterous but there’s no real harm in them.’
    ‘Those Teddy boys – the papers say they carry flick knives.’
    ‘I’ve never seen any.’
    ‘They’d hardly show them to a policeman, would they. Roy...’
    ‘Nothing’s going to happen to our Lily down the Pier, Norah. She’s too sensible to stray from the crowd, and Judy and Katie are nice,