Classic Bestsellers from Josephine Cox: Bumper Collection. Josephine Cox

through a wind-tunnel. ‘I’ve run out o’ Fairy Snowflakes,’ she said breathlessly, ‘I’ll take two packets, one for now and one for the cupboard.’

      ‘You look like you’ve been running,’ Marie commented as she served her. ‘Come far have you?’

      ‘Far enough!’ The woman was obviously not in the mood for conversation. ‘How much is that?’

      ‘Ninepence-halfpenny if you please.’

      ‘Hmh! You’re a penny dearer than the Co-op.’

      ‘Is that so?’ Marie had been in a good mood but now she was fighting fit. ‘Well, I’m sorry, but that’s the price. D’you still want it or not?’

      The woman was positively bristling. ‘Of course! How else can I do my washing?’

      She thrust the coins onto the counter, snatched the two boxes of Fairy Snowflakes, and dashed out of the shop.

      Amy was flabbergasted. ‘You were a bit harsh weren’t you, Mam?’ she remarked. ‘That might well have been a regular customer in the making, and now you’ve frightened her off.’

      Marie chuckled, ‘I don’t know what came over me,’ she said. ‘It must be your father’s influence.’

      A moment later, the woman returned. ‘I need a bar of carbolic,’ she announced, ‘I got all the way to Ackeroyd Street before I remembered.’

      Marie was ready for an argument and before she got the carbolic she informed her, ‘That’ll be a tanner.’

      ‘That’s all right.’ The woman counted out six pennies. ‘This is a pleasant little shop,’ she said looking around, ‘I dare say I’ll be back again.’ Before hurrying away, she bade them each a friendly ‘Good day.’

      ‘There you are, lass,’ Marie pointed out. ‘That proves what I’ve just been saying. Folks get suspicious when you pretend to be something you’re not. Besides, when she made that cutting remark about the Co-op, it got me off on the wrong foot.’

      That evening after the shop was closed and tea was over, Amy went upstairs to get ready for her Saturday evening out with Daisy, Jack and Roy. According to Daisy ‘the Tuesday man’ hadn’t been in the café since last month. Amy herself had stayed away on Tuesdays with the excuse that the shop was busier than usual in the run-up to Christmas, though she had been sure to meet up with Daisy in the evenings and at weekends, knowing how Daisy valued these escapes from her home life.

      Amy thought again about what her mother had said. ‘Folks get suspicious when you pretend to be something you’re not.’

      That was what Luke Hammond had done – pretended to be something he was not. He had pretended he wasn’t married, and, however tempting, she must never again behave as if this were true.

      She quickly brought Jack into her mind. He did not possess the same wealth or standing as Luke Hammond, but as far as she could tell he had never lied to her. He had never pretended to be anyone but the man he was, and she respected him for that.

      With Jack in mind, and the desire to look nice for him, she took her burgundy dress out of the wardrobe, clean underwear out of her drawer, and after deciding on her long brown coat, she laid it all out on the bed and took herself to the bathroom to get ready.

      ‘By! You look good enough to eat, lass.’ Having finished his tea, her father was stretched out in front of a cheery fire when Amy came down. ‘Where are you off to then?’

      Amy kissed each of her parents on the cheek. ‘Daisy said there’s a good film on at the Roxy,’ she answered. ‘We thought we might go there.’

      ‘Oh, aye?’ Giving Marie an aside wink, Dave said coaxingly, ‘Are them two lads going with yer an’ all?’

      Amy had to smile. ‘Have you two been talking about me?’ she accused, wagging a finger.

      Marie was unperturbed. ‘Aw, go on with yer. O’ course we have, lass. You can fetch the young man home, if yer like. Me an’ your father would like to meet him, wouldn’t we, Father?’

      Dave nodded. ‘Aye, we would that. Besides, I need to cast a wary eye over this young man o’ yourn. I’ll not have you taking up with a bad ’un like Don Carson.’

      Amy chuckled. She could cope with the mention of her former fiancé these days. ‘You’ve probably already “cast an eye” over him,’ was her teasing, parting remark. ‘After all, you see each other most every day.’

      As she dashed away, she could hear him calling after her, ‘What’s that supposed to mean? Hey! How do we see each other? COME BACK ’ERE!’

      Amy chuckled all the way down the street. ‘You’ll know soon enough,’ she murmured, ‘and when you do, I think you’ll agree that Jack’s a good bloke.’

      And the more she sized him up for her father’s approval, the more she came to understand how fine a man Jack really was.

      Daisy was waiting at the tram-stop as usual. Agitated and upset, she was pacing the ground, head down, and her thoughts still back at home with her feuding parents.

      ‘I’ve decided,’ she told Amy as they walked to the Roxy where they had arranged to meet up with Jack and Roy, ‘I’ve had enough. I can’t stand the shouting and fighting any longer. Soonever I can get enough money together for a deposit, I mean to find a place of my own to rent. There are rooms advertised in the Evening Telegraph that are perfectly respectable. Happen I can find a house where there are other single ladies.’

      Amy was not surprised. She had long seen it coming. Time and again, Daisy had threatened to leave home and it had never come to anything, only this time Amy could see she meant it.

      ‘Tell them what you intend doing,’ she suggested. ‘Happen it will make them see sense.’

      Daisy poured scorn on the suggestion. ‘It would be a waste of time,’ she declared. ‘They haven’t got an ounce o’ sense between them. They drink and fight, then make up, and drink and fight all over again. This time our mam broke the mirror and, according to some folks, that’s seven years’ bad luck. And look at that.’ Rolling up her sleeve she showed Amy a long, deep cut over which she’d taped some gauze. ‘When I tried to pick up the pieces of broken mirror, she went for me. Like a bloody wildcat she was.’

      Amy was horrified. ‘It looks deep to me,’ she exclaimed, bringing them both to a halt. ‘I think we should go to the infirmary and let them have a look at it.’

      Quickly rolling her sleeve down, Daisy resumed walking. ‘It’ll mend. I don’t need to go to no infirmary!’ And try as she might, Amy could not persuade her.

      Worried for Daisy’s safety, Amy offered her a way out. ‘Come and stay with us. The back room’s going begging. You can have that.’

      ‘Thank you. You’re a good friend.’ Daisy was visibly moved by Amy’s kind offer. ‘In fact you’re my only friend. But I can’t move in with you.’

      ‘Why not?’

      Daisy explained, ‘For one thing I know your mam uses the back room for storage, and for another, it wouldn’t be fair on her. She works hard in that shop, and the last thing she wants is to take me on, with my noisy ways and bad habits.’

      Amy argued that her mam would have no objections, but Daisy was having none of it. ‘Grateful though I am, lass, I prefer to do it my way.’ She gave Amy a sly little wink. ‘Besides, I’ve an idea that I might be getting wed afore too long. What would yer think to that, eh?’

      ‘Has Roy asked you already?’

      ‘Not in so many words, but I reckon it’s on the cards.’ Daisy gave Amy a playful nudge. ‘I reckon tonight’s the night, love,’ she chuckled, ‘and I’ll jump at the chance.’

      ‘Don’t get wed just so’s you can leave home,’ Amy warned. ‘That’s