Chapter 8

Over the next few weeks Becca was able to do little about Garry other than to make sure he saw her often and that she was liked by the other children. She did this by being a spectator with the children or by being a touch judge for Garry's games.

There was much else going on to keep her occupied. The Damsels had a tight schedule to complete a number of jobs by Christmas and had the additional one of doing up Mary's new flat. Becca was required to join the painters rather than be in a supervisory and trouble shooting role.

The estate agent rang and she had to go and look at a house. It was only some two hundred yards from the Damsels' present one and it had a large double garage in which they would be able to keep the van or, as Becca hoped, vans. It was similar in size to the other house but had only five bedrooms. One had been converted to a second bathroom. Becca thought that was probably a good thing even though the heating bill might go up a bit. The house was in better condition than the first and so, together with the second bathroom, was being offered for £2,000 more than the first house. The deposit was also proportionately higher but she thought that Mary would be prepared to meet that. Nevertheless, she would need to ask her. She would need too to check with Mary Witherspoon about the mortgage. She also wanted to discuss the whole project with the Damsels, Molly and Jane in particular. She made a provisional offer on the house and promised the agent to go firm within forty-eight hours. He undertook not to sell it in the meanwhile.

She rang Mary that evening, gave her the figures and the overall occupancy numbers. Mary said she would give her an opinion the following evening. In the meanwhile Becca had invited Molly and Jane for supper the same evening.

All five of them had a cheerful meal together and then Steven and Mary cleared up leaving the Damsels free to have their discussion in the sitting room.

"I asked you round," said Becca, "to discuss the future of the Damsels and in particular housing which is why I didn't include the other four founder members this evening. The thing is we've doubled in numbers in two and a half years and it looks as though we shall get another four next year. I'd rather that none of those four had to go into hostels. It wouldn't really be fair on them with every one else with a family or in the house. So, I've been sniffing round and have made a provisional offer on a second house. It's much the same as the present one but has only two single bedrooms as the third has been turned into a second bathroom. It's also got a garage where we can keep the van and not leave it standing outside during the winter."

"We really ought to keep you on a lead," grinned Jane. "What else have you been up to without telling us?"

"Well I have put feelers out for a second van."

"Oh you have, have you?"

"Hush up, Jane. Give the girl a chance to explain herself. Being a married woman's probably gone to her head," laughed Molly.

Becca wrinkled her nose at them both. "The thing is that you two as well as being team leaders have also really been the head girls in the house. I think that has worked well and that we ought to have someone to gaffer the new house in the same way. Do you?"

Molly and Jane nodded.

"Who? I can't believe you two would want to split."

There was no need for discussion or even enquiring glances. "No," they both said.

"Well then, who should we ask? We can't ask any of the other four originals. They would never want to leave their families."

"Dawn," said Molly and Jane nodded in agreement.

"What if she gets engaged and then married to PC Reg Biscombe in the next few months?"

Molly and Jane looked at each other.

"Anita or Penny?" suggested Jane.

"Either," replied Molly.

"That's what I thought," said Becca. "How about both of them like you two? They both get on well together."

"Good idea," said Jane. "We have to back each other up from time to time."

"OK. Well, if we get the house we'll ask them. Do you think they'll accept?"

"Yes," said the other two together.

"They both come up with ideas now," added Jane, "and Anita's the first to say something if one of the others doesn't put things away or leaves a mess."

"Good. Well the next thing is the new van if and when we get it. I'm sorry; I just went ahead both on seeing if I could get one cheap and then booked you, Jane, and Maisie for the driving course. Are you enjoying it?"

"You bet. Ron's a sweety. He's so patient and gentle."

Becca and Molly nodded. They agreed totally.

"Now the final thing is numbers and we will have to discuss this with the other four but I'd like to hear your reactions first. As I said, it looks as though we'll get another four girls next year. Edna Yates reckons that will go on at least until all the girls who were messed about have left. It could well continue even after that. What it means though is that by the end of 1962 we shall be twenty plus strong. That means that we would be able to send out four or five teams at once, even more if we get a bunch of small jobs. At the moment we have a week or two's waiting list which is not a bad thing. It gives people time to get ready for us and it also means that we haven't got girls sitting about and not earning. I know it can be tight with doing stuff at the home as well but do we really need any more than twenty-two, say? Is there going to be the demand?"

There was silence while Molly and Jane thought about it.

"Why do people choose us?" asked Jane.

"Because we're girls," said Molly, "and different from usual."

"We're very competitively priced," said Becca. "In fact we could probably charge a bit more without losing trade."

"Working in teams we can get things done quicker than single painters," added Molly.

"Quality too," said Jane answering her own question. "Our standards are high. I mean, look at Mrs Bentham's kitchen floor. We cleaned that when we moved the cooker out. I know that was for safety reasons but I wonder if any of our competitors would have done that."

"I doubt it," said Becca. "They'd probably have asked Mrs Bentham to clean it or have just covered it with newspaper. That was a one off though. All the same, I agree with you. None of us likes anything but perfect work."

"I'll tell you something else, which we learnt from you Becca, and that's to be cheerful and polite to our customers."

Becca smiled deprecatingly. "Oh, I don't know," she said. "I'm sure that most painters are the same."

"In that case," said Jane, "it looks as though demand for our services will continue and possibly even grow."

"I'm not sure about grow," said Becca. "It's been pretty steady for the last six months but, of course, with a second van we'd be able to take on more of the distant jobs. Do we really want to be any bigger and possibly stop being a gang of friends and become workmates? Do we have to start thinking about buying a third house in two years' time? Do we even start thinking about branching out into something else?"