The Buffer Girls (10 page)

Josh shrugged. ‘I haven’t the faintest idea. I don’t know Sheffield at all – except the way to get to work – so you decide.’

‘Right, then, we’ll head for the Town Hall and I’ll show you places on the way. All right?’

‘Whatever you say.’

As they walked along – and she was gratified that Josh hadn’t pulled his arm away from hers – Lizzie said,
‘Your Mam’s got big plans for you, hasn’t
she?’

Josh sighed. ‘Yes, she has, but I don’t think it’ll ever happen. She just had this bee in her bonnet about us coming to the city, where she’s convinced I’ll make my
fortune. But I was happy back in Ashford.’

‘What did you do there? Work, I mean?’

‘I had my own little business – well, I took it over from Dad when he . . . when he .
. .’ Lizzie squeezed his arm comfortingly and Josh took a steadying breath and went on,
‘I was the village candle maker.’

There was no mistaking the wistful note in his tone and Lizzie wondered if it was longing for his old way of life or the girl he’d left behind. Perhaps both.

‘It sounds nice,’ she said carefully, ‘but I think your mother’s right, you know. There are far more opportunities
in the city for a clever young man like you.’

Josh chuckled and glanced down at her. She really was a very pretty girl but not, he thought loyally, half as pretty as his Amy. ‘How do you know if I’m clever or not? You
don’t know me.’

‘Ah, but I will,’ Lizzie said and there was no mistaking the determination in her voice. ‘And besides, Emily says you are.’ Mentally, Lizzie crossed her
fingers at the
little white lie. ‘Did she think you should come here?’

Josh shook his head.

‘Not even to be nearer Trip – is that his name?’

Josh was quiet for a moment, mulling over what Lizzie was suggesting, then he said firmly, ‘No, she didn’t think we should move. She was worried for our dad. And she was right.
He’s been worse since we got here. He’s spending more time than
ever in bed.’

They had been walking for some time when Lizzie stopped and said, ‘This is our Town Hall. Isn’t it a lovely building?’

‘Indeed it is,’ Josh said, gazing up at the huge building and at the ornate clock tower.

‘They say it’s made of Derbyshire stone and it was opened by Queen Victoria about twenty-four years ago. My dad was there that day. He remembered seeing her sitting
in her carriage
dressed in black. She never got out, he said, but somehow a signal was sent and three men opened the doors, just as if she’d actually done it herself.’

Josh glanced down at her as he asked gently, ‘What happened to your dad?’

For a moment, Lizzie’s face was bleak. ‘He died when I was ten. Consumption, they said, so you see, that’s why me mam and me can sympathize with
you. He was so ill and he had
to go into Winter Street. It’s a hospital for infectious diseases and – and tuberculosis.’

Josh squeezed her arm against him. ‘I’m sorry I asked, Lizzie.’

‘Oh, don’t be. I’m quite glad to talk about him. I never like to speak about him to Mam, and as for our Mick, well, I daren’t mention his name in front of him.’

‘He took his death badly, did he?’

To Josh’s surprise, Lizzie shook her head. ‘No, he didn’t. They didn’t get on, you see. Mick’s four years older than me and he was wild as a youngster. Me dad used
to leather him summat rotten.’ She paused and then asked, ‘Your dad ever whip you?’

Josh wrinkled his forehead. ‘Not that I can remember. He was a gentle soul, poor devil.’ Then he laughed wryly. ‘It was me mam who used to
chase me with the copper stick. And
Em – I reckon she got it more often than I did.’

They walked on in silence for a few moments, until Lizzie said more cheerfully, ‘Come on, let’s go and look at the parish church. It’s even more magnificent than the Town Hall.
We’re very proud of it and actually it’s a cathedral now.’

‘Right you are, lead on and keep your eye out for Emily and Trip.
She was meeting him outside the Town Hall. Maybe we’ll see them.’

‘I hope so. I’d like to meet this Trip.’

When she saw Trip coming towards her, Emily felt a fluttering of excitement. Coal-black hair and a smile so wide and expansive that his eyes almost seemed to close.

‘Hey,’ he greeted her and, taking her shoulders in his hands, he kissed her forehead. ‘You look very smart. A real “townie” already.’

Emily pulled a face. ‘I’d sooner be back in Ashford, racing you up to Monsal
Head – and beating you.’

Trip threw back his head and laughed aloud. Dressed in his Sunday best too, he didn’t look so weary as he had done on the night they’d met him outside his father’s works. He
was every inch the handsome young man she remembered; the image of him she carried in her mind’s eye – and in her heart. He took her hand and put it through his arm. ‘Come,’
he said, ‘I want
to show you Weston Park. It’ll remind you of the countryside back home and it’s not too far from where you’re living. I thought it would be easier for us to
meet there.’

Emily was heartened to hear him referring to Ashford as ‘home’. But then she realized that, as his parents still lived there, Trip no doubt still considered it to be home. They began
to walk back the way Emily had come.
‘What about you? I don’t even know where you’re living.’

‘I’ve got lodgings in Carr Road, just round the corner from the factory, but I’ve got my bicycle, so it doesn’t matter to me where we meet. I was thinking of you having
to walk.’

Emily’s heart felt as if it had turned over. So, not only was he being most considerate to her, but he was also implying that they would be meeting frequently.

Trip pointed out places of interest as they headed towards the park, then suddenly he said, ‘Oh look, over there. There’s Josh.’

Emily followed the line of Trip’s pointing finger and saw her brother and, to her dismay, Lizzie with her arm possessively through Josh’s.

‘Who’s that with him?’ Trip asked, squinting against the autumn sunlight. ‘It’s not Amy, is it?’

‘No, it isn’t,’
Emily said, flatly. ‘It’s the girl who lives next door to us in the court. Lizzie Dugdale.’

‘Oh.’ For a moment, Trip looked uncertain. ‘But I thought . . . I mean, he and Amy – aren’t they . . . ?’

‘Yes, they are. They’re engaged and they wanted to get married next spring, but Mam had other ideas.’

‘Ah, yes.’ Trip sighed and added with a note of bitterness, ‘I understand, if anyone
does. I know all about parental control.’

‘Come on, we’ll have to go across, I suppose. Josh has seen us.’

As the two couples headed towards each other, Emily asked softly, ‘Didn’t you want to come to the city either?’

Trip wrinkled his forehead. ‘It’s difficult. If I’m to take over my father’s business one day – and there’s no one else to do it – I realize I have to
learn it from
the bottom up. He’s right about that, I know, but . . .’

‘But what?’ Emily prompted gently.

He sighed. ‘I get a lot of stick from the other men because I’m the boss’s son. They’re either jealous and make snide remarks about why I’m working where I am, or
they take advantage and give me all the worst jobs they can find for me to do.’

‘That sounds a bit stupid of them. Don’t they realize
that one day you will be in charge and you could so easily take revenge on them?’

‘I
could
, but they probably know I wouldn’t.’ He grinned. ‘I’m far too soft, Emily, and I’m pretty sure they all think I’m weak-willed because
I didn’t stand up to my father.’

‘About starting at the bottom? Why would you – stand up to him, I mean – when you agree with him?’

‘No – no, it wasn’t about
that. It – it was something else. Nothing to do with work or the business.’

Emily was about to ask what that was, but now Josh and Lizzie were within earshot and as the distance between them closed, Emily could see the self-satisfied expression on Lizzie’s face.
She looked just like the proverbial cat that had got the cream!

After introductions had been made, Lizzie said, ‘Where are
you two off to?’

‘Weston Park,’ Trip said. ‘Want to come?’

Emily’s heart sank. Not only did she want to spend the afternoon with Trip on their own, but she also didn’t want to encourage Lizzie to be with Josh. The girl didn’t need any
more encouragement! But Emily was forced to admit that it was a merry foursome who arrived at the park. The only trouble for Emily was that it was Lizzie
with them and not Amy.

They entered through the ornate wrought-iron gates and sauntered along the pathways, crossing the wooden bridge over the duck pond.

‘The grounds are lovely. It’s vibrant with colour in spring and summer when all the flowers are out, although the autumn golds and browns are lovely too,’ Trip told them.

‘What’s that?’ Josh pointed to a hexagonal-shaped structure
with an almost pagoda type roof.

‘It’s the bandstand. They’re not here today, but in summer there’s often a band playing. People bring picnics and sit on the grass to listen.’

‘Maybe we could do that,’ Lizzie murmured. ‘The four of us.’

Emily sighed inwardly. It sounded as if Lizzie had long-term plans for her friendship with Josh if she was already talking about outings next summer!

Although the last thing she wanted to do was to leave Trip, Emily said, ‘Josh, it’s time we were getting back home. I’m sorry, Trip.’

Wordlessly, but understanding completely, Trip squeezed her hand. ‘Same time next week,’ he whispered. ‘Only next time, we’ll meet here – near the bandstand. All
right?’

Her heart thudded, ‘Oh yes, Trip. That’d be lovely.’

He leaned a little closer.
‘And we’ll try and drop the other two, eh?’

Emily’s expression was grim. ‘If I have my way, there’ll be no “other two” next week. I’ll be having words with Josh.’

‘Oh dear.’ Trip grinned. ‘Poor Josh.’

At times, Emily could be almost as formidable as her mother, Martha. ‘“Poor Josh” nothing. He’s got a lovely girl back home.’

Trip sighed. ‘I see you still refer to Ashford as “back
home”, just like I do.’

‘Well, it is, isn’t it? None of us – except Mam – wanted to come here, though I must admit,’ she added, smiling up at him, ‘it has its
compensations.’

The three of them – Emily, Josh and Lizzie – walked home whilst Trip mounted his bicycle and set off in the opposite direction. Emily was determined to give the other two no more
time alone together. As they paused
briefly in the yard outside their homes, Emily said briskly, ‘Come on, Josh, Mam will be needing our help.’

And indeed she was, for the moment Emily opened the door, Martha launched a tirade of reproach at her for having gone out at all.

‘I know you have to work in the week, but I could do with a bit of help on a Sunday. Where’ve you been until this time?’ On and on her grumbling went,
almost until they went
upstairs to bed. But not a word of rebuke, Emily noticed bitterly, was aimed at Josh.

When they’d retired to the attic room they were obliged to share, Emily tackled her brother about Lizzie. A curtain had been tacked to the ceiling down the centre of the room affording
each of them a little privacy, but before Josh could disappear into his half of the bedroom, Emily
grasped his arm and said bluntly, ‘You know she’s after you, don’t you? Please,
Josh, don’t let her get her claws into you. Think of Amy.’

Josh turned to face her solemnly. ‘I think of Amy all the time and, yes, I do realize what Lizzie is up to, but I won’t let it go too far, I promise.’

‘But don’t lead her on. That’s not fair either. I’ve told her you’ve got a girl back in Ashford,
but I think she needs to hear it from you.’

‘I don’t want to upset her, though. She’s been helpful to us – finding you a job, for one thing. And so’s her mam. We don’t want to make enemies of them. Mrs
Dugdale is on hand if Mam needs help when we’re not here.’

Emily sighed. ‘I know and I agree with you. We’ve got to be careful, but it would be good if you could somehow just let Lizzie
know – tactfully – that there’s going
to be no romance between you.’

‘I’ll try,’ was all Josh could promise her.

As she’d been instructed, Emily arrived at work the following morning at half past seven, before all the other girls, who were due to start at eight. She mixed new sand
and oil and shared it out with a shovelful to each buffer’s place on the bench – or side, as she learned
the girls called it. Then she lit the stove, got the kettle boiling and set out
the mugs for their first tea break of their day and then swept up the workshop. She glanced round, wondering if she’d forgotten anything. She wanted to make a good impression on the missus.
She hoped Mrs Nicholson would let her train as a buffer girl very soon.

When the girls arrived, she counted only six.
‘Where are the others?’ she asked Lizzie.

‘Taking a “Saint Monday”.’

‘Whatever’s that?’

‘It’s an old tradition that most of the firms turn a blind eye to. Some of the girls and a
lot
of the men don’t come in on a Monday and end up in the nearest pub as
soon as it opens, playing cards or just drinking and chatting. You’d think it was another Saturday night.’

‘But what about their
work – their pay?’

‘Oh, they make it up. They’ll work like billy-o the rest of the week.’

Emily glanced round at the other girls, who’d arrived for work. ‘But not all of you take Mondays off, eh?’

‘We’re paid on the amount we do, so, some of us can’t afford to miss a whole day’s work. Besides, we now get Saturday afternoon off and all day Sunday, so who needs
another day? Unless,
of course,’ Lizzie added archly, ‘you’ve got a beau to meet.’

Emily laughed. ‘I shouldn’t think Trip’d be allowed Mondays off. Even if he is the boss’s son, he’s still being treated like an apprentice.’

‘And where did you two get to yesterday, might I ask?’ Nell Geddis, the ringleader of the buffer girls’ Sunday afternoon window-shopping expeditions stood, hands on her hips,
facing Lizzie
and Emily. She’d taken off the better clothes she’d arrived in, put on an old dress under her buff-brat, and wrapped herself in brown paper. She’d fastened the short
sleeves up to prevent them catching in the machinery, tied on a head rag and wound the neck rag round her throat. ‘I thought you were coming around town with us.’