Chapter 15

There was a moment of panic in the van on the way home.

"What on earth are we going to cook?" wailed Jane. "We can't give them baked beans on toast and Becca's given me twenty quid from company funds to buy stuff."

"I'll ask Aunt Hilary," said Maisie. "She's a dab hand. She'd probably help Becca with the catering thing when it starts."

Hilary Grant came up trumps: spaghetti Bolognese followed by treacle tart and custard. She came round at six on Tuesday evening and cooked the Bolognese.

"All you have to do is keep it warm and boil the spag for fifteen minutes or until it's soft. You can heat up the treacle tart and have the custard cold."

There was enough money to buy two bottles of red wine and some ginger beer.

The meeting itself went without a hitch. The newer girls were perfectly happy that the original seven had hatched out a plan and all gave alternatives to painting.

Becca cornered Nell. "Well?" she whispered.

Nell's face lit up. "Oh, Becca! He was so gentle and loving. He took me to Heaven and back. I can't wait to do it again."

They hugged each other tightly.

By the end of January Garry's ankle was indeed in a light support and he was encouraged to take light exercise. With Edna's permission Becca took him for hour long walks on level streets. Edna also allowed Polly to go with them when she did not have organised games. All three enjoyed these outings and Becca was pleased to see Garry's self-confidence growing.

One day when Polly was not with them Becca asked him whether he had any ideas about what he wanted to do when he finished at the home.

"Not really," he said. "If United take me on I might become a professional footballer. The only other thing I want to do is teach my bloody father a lesson when he gets out of nick."

"I can understand that," replied Becca, "but you may have to wait a long time if the psychiatrists say he's not safe to be let out."

"Yeah!"

"But, Garry, what good will it do other than you getting your own back?"

"It'll teach him never to try messing about with me again."

"If he is let out don't you think he might have learnt that already?"

"Hmm!"

"The other thing is that you'll end up in nick yourself and your life will be ruined."

"Who cares?"

"I do for one. How about Polly?"

Garry stopped in his tracks and looked down at her. "Would you really, Becca?"

"Yes, Garry. I've grown to like you very much and I'd like to see you do well."

Garry's eyes welled and he swallowed before he was able to speak. "Thanks, Becca. That means a lot."

"I'm pretty sure that Polly likes you a lot too since you started carving with her."

"Oh, I dunno."

"Why do you think she joined the choir?"

Garry shrugged.

"I think she wanted to do more with you."

"Strewth!"

"Don't you like her?"

"Yes."

"Would you like her to see you go to prison and wreck your life? How do you think she'd feel?"

"Oh shit!" said Garry feelingly.

"Exactly! Now come on. We're supposed to be exercising your ankle not gossiping in the street."

She took his hand and pulled him along. She was amused that when she relaxed her grip he did not. He remained silent though and deep in thought.

When they got back Garry stopped outside the front door. "You're right, Becca. It wouldn't do anyone any good for me to beat my father up. Thanks for showing me."

She smiled fondly at him. "I'm glad, Garry dear."

Garry bit his lip and went in. Becca followed him. She wanted to report the conversation to Edna. As she expected, Polly was waiting in the hall for Garry. Becca knocked on Edna's door and went in.

"Hello, Becca my dear. What brings you to see me?"

"I think we've passed another milestone." She told Edna of her conversation with Garry.

Edna clapped her hands in pleasure. "Well done, Becca. Oh, well done!"

Becca grinned. "And Polly was waiting for him when we got back. You could almost see her tail wagging."

Edna laughed. "Are we going to have to institute a chastity watch, I wonder?"

Becca laughed with her. "You might well," she said, "and it'll be Polly you'll have to watch."

The following day both children were in the hall waiting for her. They were looking rather shy and had their hands behind their back.

"Hello, you two! Are you in disgrace or something?"

They both shook their heads and then Polly stepped forward and thrust her finished kingfisher out at Becca who took it gently from her.

"Oh!" she said reverently. "That is exquisite. I can quite see why you didn't want to paint it. Not only time and patience but you must have put a lot of love into that."

Polly nodded. "It's for you," she said.

Becca was quite overcome. "I ... I ... Oh, Polly! Thank you so much."

She held open her arms and, with a little squeak of joy, Polly flung herself into them and hugged her tightly.

Becca gently disengaged herself and Garry held out his monkey. Becca gave him the kingfisher to hold as she took it from him. She looked closely at it and turned it about before looking up at Garry.

"No one would believe you're a beginner," she said. "It's beautiful, Garry. It's an absolute work of art. Well done!"

"It's for you too."

"Oh, Garry! Surely you don't want to give me your first piece of work."

"Please," he said imploringly. "I want you to have it."

"Thank you, Garry, very, very much." She opened her arms to him and he stepped shyly in to them and they hugged.

"Wait till I show them to Uncle Steven," said Becca. "He'll be thrilled. Oh gosh! Where can I put them safely while we're out?"

"I'll give them to Mrs Olney," said Polly taking both from them. She ran off and was back almost immediately.

They set off and Becca was amused to see Polly, when they were out of sight of the home, slide her hand into Garry's.

Steven was indeed very impressed with the carvings. "If they were to build up a stock I'll bet they could sell them for quite a lot," he said.

"I'll show these ones around," said Becca, "and see if anyone's interested."

Becca contacted the girls she had previously turned down for Damsels and invited them to come for an interview. All three were delighted. She arranged separate days for each of them and asked Kim, as the future agency leader, to help her with the interviews. They held them in Becca's kitchen.

Diane Bullock was the first. She was sixteen and had recently left the secondary modern school. She had learnt painting and decorating and wanted to carry on with it. She saw the Damsels as an ideal way to do this.

"It's not really considered a girl's job," she said, "and the people I approached were a bit iffy. I think they thought that their men would spend the time flirting or worse. I wouldn't want that either. I'd feel safe with the Damsels."

Becca and Kim smiled. They both liked this girl. She had no airs or graces and assured them that she was not afraid of hard work. She also was keen to work to high standards. They excused themselves.

"Well?" said Becca.

"I like her," said Kim, "and I think she'd soon be part of the gang."

"OK. Would you like to tell her about the three months probation?" She grinned evilly. "After all, it was your idea."

Kim smiled back. "Beast!" she said.

They went back in to Diane and sat down again at the table.

"We'd be happy to give you a try," said Kim, "but for a three month probationary period to start with. There are two reasons for that. The first and obvious one is to make sure that you're up to our standards."

Diane nodded.

"The second is a little more complicated. You probably know that we're all orphans and have come through the children's home."

Diane nodded again.

"As a result we're all very close: a gang of friends. We don't want that to change. It's not that we're not friendly or anything but we're all there for each other. We'll expect you to fit in. From what we've seen and heard from you today I doubt that's a problem. Are you happy with that?"