Bia's War Read online

  With the ease born of long practise, Victoria worked hard serving the customers and made it possible for her mother to prepare the midday meal for them, but her idea that she may be allowed to spend the afternoon finding out how Nana had managed in the earlier shop was baulked by the conversation at the dinner table.

  “You’ll have to work in the shop this afternoon as well, Victoria.” Her mother said as she cleared away the plates. “Go and get Nana’s plate and then you can restock the Christmas display, there’s a lot gone from it this morning and I want the stock shifting. The more there is on display, the more will sell.”

  “When I’ve finished that can I go and sit with Nana again, please?”

  “No.” Her mother was adamant. “You can stay and help your Dad because I’m going to get my hair permed for Christmas and Keith can’t come in this afternoon. He’s taking his mother Christmas shopping.” This last was said as though Keith had no right to be doing anything as frivolous as shopping with his mother. Victoria sighed inwardly, because she knew that the afternoon was now spent and it would be the next day before she would get the next instalment of Nana’s story. She knew better than to show her disappointment, however, because her mother would take that as a criticism and feel duty bound to explain, at length, just exactly how her daughter was misguided.

  So, Victoria spent the afternoon working in the shop, after rushing upstairs to explain to Nana why she wouldn’t be with her the rest of the day. Her Nana accepted it with resignation, knowing full well how impossible it was for Victoria to shirk her responsibilities and not wishing to interfere in the mother/daughter relationship. Privately, she abhorred Bia’s irritability and wondered where she had gone wrong in her child-rearing that she had produced a person who was capable of such venom.

  It was the next afternoon before Victoria got the opportunity to snatch another couple of hours at Nana’s bedside, arriving with tea and biscuits and the news that her father was insisting that she be left to her own devices for the whole afternoon, for which Victoria was extremely grateful.

  “I know Mam gets very tired,” she explained as she settled herself onto her chair, “but I do wish she wouldn’t take it out on me. It’s not my fault that the shop’s busy and she’d be complaining if it wasn’t. Sometimes I just can’t do right for doing wrong.”

  “Never mind, chick. At least you’re here now and we can go on with the story. I must tell you the whole sorry tale before I die and, at my age, you never know when that could be. I don’t want to die before I’ve finished it, because there’s more than one reason why I’m telling you all about it.”

  Nana refused to be drawn into explaining this cryptic comment, but launched straight into the next part of the saga.

  “William went back to his unit in the same frame of mind as he had been in when he arrived home. He still didn’t agree with me running the shop, but he realised that there wasn’t a lot he could do about it and it did relieve him of any responsibility for Simon and I. After he’d gone, life settled back into the regular pattern we had established since we opened the shop, hard work and long hours, but all made joyous by Simon’s happy presence and the comradeship of Annie, Peter and Hannah.

  An added bonus was that, for the first time in my life, I was earning enough money to have extra left over after all the bills were paid and I thought long and hard about what I was going to do with this money. I had no intentions of wasting it on fripperies or of putting it into a bank to sit and earn little in the way of interest. It was going to have to join in with the team and work hard for its living, just like I did. I wanted to use it to make mine and Simon’s futures even more secure, but I couldn’t decide what was the best way of making my money work for me. There were a couple of options I had considered; I could open another shop in another part of the town, but I would then need a manager and more staff or I could invest the money into a different type of business altogether, but I didn’t have any experience of any other types of business.”

  “You didn’t want to let go of the reins of your shop, if you had to work in another business.” Victoria declared. “I can understand that. I wouldn’t want to have to pass the running of any business of mine to someone else; because I wouldn’t think that anyone else could do it as well as I could.”

  “You are a very clever girl, Victoria. Much cleverer than I was at your age, or even when I was older than you. You have the very rare ability of analysing why a person does what they do. I think you will make a very good teacher because you will want to know how and why children learn and how to motivate them so that they do learn from you.”

  “So what did you decide to do?” Victoria asked, uncomfortable with the praise that Nana was giving her because she wasn’t used to being praised in any way. “Did you decide to invest the money in another business?”

  “There was a lot to consider before I made a decision about it. We had got to a point in the war where the enemy was going all out to sink the merchant ships which provided our island with a lot of its food. I think the Hun had reasoned that if they could starve us out then that would ensure their victory, but in the end, they only succeeded in forcing the United States into the war, because they sank a lot of American shipping. But I had known that my income would drop if their tactics succeeded and I had already negotiated deals with a couple of farmers who farmed the land on the outskirts of the town, to buy their produce as it was harvested. I had contracts lodged with Mr Vine so that they couldn’t renege on them, but I was still worried that, at some point, my income could drop sharply as the result of shortages and I didn’t want all my eggs in one basket.”

  “How did you decide what to do then?” Victoria wanted to know.

  “Well, one evening, Annie and I were discussing the effect that enemy action could have on my business when Sammy Lymer called in to collect Hannah. He had taken to dropping in regularly when his shifts allowed and I had grown so used to his easy presence that I included him in the conversation as though he was a member of our little family.”

  ‘If I were you, lass, I’d think on why I started selling groceries in the first place and look for a business that would fit that same criteria.’ he said, when I asked him for his opinion on the matter.

  ‘I decided to open a grocery shop because people would always need to eat.’ I answered immediately. ‘And also, it was a subject which I could understand fully. I couldn’t have opened a solicitor’s office, for example, because I’m not trained. But I don’t see where I can go from here, apart from opening another grocery shop in another part of the town and then I would have to get someone in to manage it, which would mean more expense and less profit and there would still be the same problem of supply and what would happen to my business if the supply lines were cut off.’

  ‘I mean that you should continue along the line of what will people always need?’ Sammy smiled. ‘Look around for other ways of making money that won’t depend solely on supply but that will provide the answer to the question of what people will always need. They will always need food to eat and…’

  ‘They’ll always need somewhere to live.’ I finished for him. ‘You’re right! And if you take that argument to its conclusion, they will always need clothes to wear as well.’

  ‘Yes, well I hadn’t gone as far as your last point, but I was ahead of you on the subject of housing. So much so that I’m arranging to buy a house in Cromwell Road which I intend letting out at a reasonable rent. I’ve been doing so much extra work since this war started and with George and Bill away and Hannah working, I’ve got a few quid put by that could be better spent on bricks and mortar than sitting in a bank. That way, I’ll always have an income, should anything stop me from being able to work.’

  “I fully agreed with Sammy that investing in property would be a very sensible thing to do and, when he told me the price of the house he was arranging to buy and the rental return he could get on it, it didn’t take me long to work out that it was a bigger return than my mo
ney was earning in the bank. The drawback was that I had never owned a property in my life and I didn’t have the first idea on how to go about buying one. I had never collected rents before either, but I knew that I didn’t want to have to do that because it would make me especially vulnerable if I was walking around the town carrying a large amount of money. There was also the question of what I would do if a tenant didn’t pay their rent. If someone didn’t pay for their shopping, I wouldn’t let them take the goods out of my shop, but if a tenant didn’t pay the rent, I would need a man to deal with them.”

  “The answer to all those questions was sitting next to me at my kitchen table and I wasted no time in letting him know what I was thinking.”

  ‘Why don’t we buy the house in Cromwell Road together?’ I asked. ‘We could go fifty-fifty with the cost and you could do the rent-collecting.’

  “I knew as soon as I saw Sammy’s reaction that this was what he had wanted all along and I had given him the perfect introduction. I stopped talking and realised what I’d said. For all I knew, he might not have been the good friend he had always appeared to be; he could have been working himself into my good books with the express purpose of fleecing me out of all my money. I knew that what I was thinking would be written all over my face because I had never been any good at dissembling, so I turned away from Sammy because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings when he had been so good to me. His next words had me spinning back round to face him immediately.”

  ‘I wouldn’t buy anything with you as a partner…’ he began.

  “My face flamed and I drew myself up to my full height, ready to give him one very large piece of my mind, when he finished the sentence he had begun.”

  ‘…until we had drawn up a proper legally-binding contract with that tame solicitor of yours, so that you could be assured that everything would be above board and legal.’ he finished.

  ‘Sam, I am so sorry. Was it that obvious what I was thinking?’ I asked him, blushing again that he knew how distrustful I was of other people.”

  ‘It’s obvious that you’ve been let down by someone, lass,’ he answered. ‘It’s not my place to question what’s happened in your life, but if we are going to go into business together, there’s no harm in making sure that everything’s above board and watertight, for both our sakes. I wouldn’t take offence at anyone being sensible about a business arrangement that’s to protect both parties. And I want you to take time to consider what we are about to do, so that you don’t feel that you are being forced into parting with any money.’

  “Sam was right, of course, we had to ensure that our partnership was legally set-up and that both of us had a way out of it if we decided that we didn’t want to continue the business.” Nana continued. “I also needed to view this house and decide whether or not I thought it was a viable proposition, so I made an appointment with the agent to go and look round the house the very next day. I was pleased with what I saw, in that the house was in good repair and, although it was only small, it would make a good home for a newly-married couple. Sam was waiting for me at the shop when I got back after viewing the house and he was very eager to hear my thoughts on it. I told him that I still wanted to join him in buying it and so we made an appointment to go and see Mr Vine and make our partnership legal.”

  “We set up a joint bank account and agreed that the rent would be paid into the account weekly, any repairs that needed doing would be paid for directly from this account and that Sammy and I would then have a half share of the money that was left, although, in practise, neither of us wanted to take money out on a weekly basis. Mr Vine drew up the legal documents for this and Sammy and I both signed copies of them and lodged them with Mr Vine. That afternoon, after we had closed the shop for the day, Annie, Peter and Hannah joined Sammy, Simon and I and we had a slap-up meal in the kitchen, to celebrate our new business venture.”

  ‘I’m very pleased to be going into business with you, Sam.’ I said as we sat round the range after we’d eaten.

  ‘The feeling is mutual, Bia.’ Sam replied. ‘I think we should have a toast to our new partnership to begin it in the right way.’

  ‘I’m afraid I’ve only got either ginger beer or lemonade to use to toast our business with, but if either of those is good enough for you, I will happily join you in toasting our new partnership.’ I told him.

  ‘Ginger beer is good enough for me.’ Sam smiled. ‘Come on, fill your glasses everyone. To mine and Bia’s new business venture and let’s hope it proves to be very lucrative.’

  “And was it, Nana?” Victoria couldn’t resist her need to know how everything had turned out. “Did you make a lot of money from renting out the house?”

  “Nobody makes a lot of money from renting out one house, darling. But it was a good start and it soon blossomed into bigger and better things, which I will explain as we get through the story. But I must keep to the chronology of the tale; otherwise I might miss important points out of it, which may be vital in understanding the whole. I know you want to jump forwards in time, but I’m too old to be able to cope with that. You’ll just have to bear with me and we will both reach the end of the tale together. But, before we go any further, don’t you think it’s time for a tea break? I could really do with wetting my whistle.”

  Victoria jumped up immediately to go and make tea for her Nana, but she crept down the stairs with her heart in her mouth in case her mother was in the kitchen and she demanded that Victoria had to work in the shop. Luckily, the kitchen was deserted and she set the kettle to boil and was rummaging in the cupboard for biscuits to go with the tea when she heard the door open. She whirled round with an excuse ready on her lips to try and head her mother off before she could get into her stride, but it was unnecessary because it was her father who had entered.

  “It’s ok.” He said, raising his hand to stop her blurting out the excuse she had ready. “I’m not going to insist that you come and work in the shop. You stay with Nana and keep her company and I promise I won’t tell your mother that I’ve seen you.”

  “Are you sure?” Victoria felt she should ask, but she really didn’t want to work in the shop that day.

  “Yes, I’m sure. Keith’s here today and it doesn’t seem as busy as it’s been the last few days. Most people have got their Christmas shopping done by now, so it’s not as frantic as it was. Don’t take any notice of your mother, she just gets herself worked up at this time of year and she always takes it out on us. Go on; take that tea upstairs before it goes cold.”

  With a light heart, Victoria picked up the tray and made her way back upstairs. Nana greeted her arrival with a sweet smile.

  “I was beginning to think you’d been waylaid by your mother.” She said, carefully choosing a biscuit to dip in her tea.

  “No, I saw Dad and he told me to come back up here. Keith’s working today and Dad says it isn’t as busy as it’s been the last few days. He said Mam always takes it out on us when she’s busy and tired.”

  “She always makes sure everyone knows how she’s feeling, that’s right enough. But enough of today, let’s go back to the war.”

  “Ok, Nana, I’m ready and waiting.” Victoria curled her legs beneath her and concentrated all her attention on her grandmother.

  “Right, where was I? Oh yes, the first house I bought with Sam. The partnership turned out to be every bit as lucrative as we had hoped. In the first twelve months, we bought another three houses to go with the one we had bought in Cromwell Road and we rented them all out to couples with young families. Sammy always made all the arrangements when we bought another house, although I always insisted that we both viewed them and decided if they were right for us or not. Sammy negotiated the price with the owners; he dealt with any maintenance work which needed to be done and he found the tenants and collected the rent from them.”

  “To the rest of the world, all the houses belonged to Sam Lymer and the only person (apart from Annie) who knew of my involvement was Mr Vine when h
e drew up the contracts and I knew he wouldn’t break his professional silence and reveal my joint ownership. I was adamant that no-one else would be privy to my business secrets because I didn’t want anyone to think that I was profiting from the fact that the country was at war. I always kept very quiet about the extent of my little business empire, even after the war had ended, because I didn’t feel that it was anyone else’s concern. I’ve always been a very private person.”

  “Just how big did your ‘little business empire’ become?” Victoria was amazed at the idea of this tiny old lady being a captain of industry, it just didn’t seem likely. Her mother’s warnings swam around in her mind again and she hoped her incredulity wasn’t showing on her face.

  Nana Lymer gave her a very sharp look.

  “Don’t deride what you don’t know, young lady,” she snapped. “For a girl who came from a poor home, I did very well for myself. That’s exactly the sort of comment your mother would make. I would have thought better of you.”

  Victoria was immediately contrite, because she had also heard the echo of her mother’s dulcet tones in what she had said and she wasn’t proud of it.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Please go on with the story.”

  “That’s ok. Now, where was I? Oh yes. We had moved into 1915, by the time we had bought the other three houses. The war hadn’t been over by Christmas 1914, as all the newspapers and the politicians had said it would be, in fact, it didn’t seem to be going very well at all over in France and the Low Countries. There was a lot of bad news coming from the Front and we were beginning to hear about the terrible conditions that the troops were living and dying in over there. There were lists of soldiers killed and missing in the newspapers and life was pretty unbearable for the families of the soldiers left behind in England. I had heard nothing from William since he had gone back after his leave, although I must admit that I hadn’t really expected to. But I didn’t know if he was still alive, although I supposed the army would have let me know if he had been killed or badly injured, or if his silence was because he was still sulking with me over my opening the shop without his permission. I was very busy working in the shop all day and trying to make sure that Simon had plenty of my attention as well, so I’m afraid I didn’t really think about him at all. It was very much a case of ‘out of sight out of mind’.”