The Watercress Girls Read Free

hand each Friday for Mattie’s contribution. It was understood that in due course Ena would be the lady of the house.
    ‘I have expectations, you don’t,’ Mattie was told spitefully by her sister-in-law when they had a falling-out one day. Ena made sure Sophia was not in earshot, naturally.
    This was true, Mattie acknowledged to herself. It was time to go.
     
    As for the picture, it went down in family lore as the painting of an unknown girl – the only clue to her identity being the name and address to which the picture had been sent. This piece of paper Sophia locked safely away in her writing-box.

Two
1921
    I n April, Mattie went from her village in Suffolk to the west country. This momentous event was recorded simply in her diary on the appropriate page: Today I travelled by the GWR to Plymouth .
    In fact, she made the journey over two days. When it came to it, Mattie was not permitted the excitement of setting out into the unknown and finding a job for herself. Her mother was suddenly galvanized into action. She and her husband both came from large families; they had relatives in what she termed ‘far parts’. Although most of the siblings, cousins and in-laws were mere names to her own family, Sophia determined to get in touch with the more likely prospects. The Fulliloves, in Plymouth came up trumps.
    Ronnie, recently promoted to railway-ticket clerk, was asked to make the travel arrangements and to accompany his sister on the train to London. ‘Aunt Mary from Mitcham will meet you,’ Sophia said. ‘She has a bundle of baby clothing for Ena. Ronnie, of course, will have to return here by the next train.’
    ‘What about me?’ Mattie endeavoured not to sound resentful, but it was difficult.
    ‘You, dear? Why, Aunt Mary will take you home with her, she’ll provide you with a meal and a bed for the night. In the morning, your cousin Walter will escort you to Paddington to board the express train to Plymouth.’
    ‘Then?’ Mattie prompted.
    ‘The Fulliloves will send someone with a conveyance to pick you up at Plymouth.’
    Evie was listening in. ‘I hope they are full of love, not the opposite!’
    ‘Evie!’ Sophia scolded. ‘They have been kind enough to offer Mattie a position in their emporium, with free board and lodging.’
    ‘I would have preferred to have made my own arrangements,’ Mattie told her. She thought: free board and lodging likely means low wages.
    *
    ‘Goodbye and good luck, Sis,’ Ronnie said, after they alighted from the train at Liverpool Street station. He hesitated. He had got out of the way of giving his sisters spontaneous hugs, with Ena looking on disapprovingly . ‘Here’s Aunt Mary,’ he added.
    ‘Thanks, Ronnie,’ Mattie said, as a stout lady in black bore down on them.
    ‘For the baby,’ Aunt Mary puffed, handing over a large, ill-tied parcel. ‘Ena’s due next month, I understand. My Effie said a florin will suffice….’
    Ronnie looked embarrassed. This was women’s talk. ‘Thanks,’ he mumbled, feeling in his pocket for the coin, then slipping it to Aunt Mary. ‘You’ll excuse me – my train will be in, any minute now.’
    ‘Fortunately I can see a porter with a trolley,’ Aunt Mary said pointedly . She added, ‘At least you’ve a free travel pass, eh?’
    He nodded, suddenly grabbed his sister, held her close and hissed in her ear: ‘If it don’t work out, Mattie, don’t be afraid to say, to come back.…’
    ‘I won’t, don’t worry,’ she whispered in return.
    ‘Nice lad,’ Aunt Mary remarked to Mattie as Ronnie beat his retreat. ‘Mind you, he’s not as likely to succeed as Robbie would have been, if he’d been spared.’
    Although, as a child she’d been closer to happy-go-lucky Robbie than Ronnie, Mattie wasn’t having that. She flared, ‘Ronnie looks after the family.’
    ‘Now, now.’ Aunt Mary looked amused. ‘Quick to fly, like your mother. I don’t know how your father’s put up with it, all these years.’ She