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Authors: Katie Flynn
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should be the same. And if I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a hundred times that you may call me “Mam” at home and “Louella” in the theatre. Are we in the theatre now, may I ask?’
Lottie had stuck a forkful of lettuce into her mouth and counted ten whilst she chewed it. ‘Sorry, Mam, but how about if I call you Louella all the time? Then I shan’t keep stumbling over what I say and you won’t get cross with me. You’ve no idea how difficult it is to remember where you are whenever you talk to someone!’
She must have sounded more plaintive than she had intended for Louella had jumped to her feet, run round the table and given her a loving squeeze. ‘I’m sorry, darling, I didn’t mean to snap at you. The truth is, I’d love to take an afternoon off and go with you to Seaforth Sands, but it wouldn’t be fair on the audience, would it? Some of them, particularly the old ladies and the stage-struck kids, come to the theatre ’specially to see Louella and little Miss Lottie. They pay their money and choose their seats and really look forward to our act, so we would be cheating them if we didn’t appear. Can you understand that?’
There had been a longish pause before Lottie had replied. ‘Ye-es, but I’m sure they come to see you more than they come to see me,’ she had said at last. ‘I mean, I try my hardest but I’m nowhere near as good as you.’
Louella returned to her own side of the table and sat down once more. ‘You’re good in a different kind of way,’ she had explained. ‘You’ve got a sweet little voice and you sing all the songs that children enjoy. You’ve come on no end at tap-dancing since – since we came to Liverpool, but most of all, you remind the old people what it was like to be young. They watch you doing the hopscotch dance, and the song you do with the skipping rope, and they remember the games they played, as long as forty or fifty years ago perhaps.’ She had smiled encouragingly across at her daughter. ‘Do you see, darling, why we must turn up for every performance and never disappoint our audience? And besides, management pay us extra for matinées, you know, and I won’t deny that the money is useful. Why, Max and I have been saving up and after the pantomime we mean to take you and Baz somewhere really nice for the whole two weeks. Max wants to go skiing in Scotland but I think it would be better to go to London because there’s so much to see there. Wonderful stage shows with famous people in the lead roles, to say nothing of museums and art galleries and exhibitions. But that’s for later, of course. So am I forgiven for insisting that the show must go on?’
She had glanced across at Lottie, her big blue eyes so appealing that in her turn Lottie had abandoned her salad and run round the table to give her mother a hug. ‘Of course you are,’ she had said, kissing her mother’s delicately rouged cheek. ‘I hadn’t thought about the money, though I know it’s important really. Why, Kenny often says how his mother likes working for us and how much easier their lives have been because of the extra cash coming in, and of course it’s the same for us. I’m really sorry I grumbled and I won’t do so any more. After all, tomorrow may be another sunny day and there’s no show, so Kenny and I could go to Seaforth Sands then.’ She had added, with serpentine cunning: ‘And since we’re better off than the Brocklehursts, you might give Kenny an’ me our fares for the overhead railway.’
Louella had laughed and, getting to her feet, had begun to clear the table. ‘OK, sweetheart, it’s a deal,’ she had said joyously. ‘I’ll give you some money for your train fares when the show finishes tonight, and make you some butties to take with you tomorrow. And now we must get a move on or we’ll be late.’
Now, standing in the wings and waiting for her cue, Lottie remembered that Kenny had not been too pleased when she had asked him to delay
Lottie had stuck a forkful of lettuce into her mouth and counted ten whilst she chewed it. ‘Sorry, Mam, but how about if I call you Louella all the time? Then I shan’t keep stumbling over what I say and you won’t get cross with me. You’ve no idea how difficult it is to remember where you are whenever you talk to someone!’
She must have sounded more plaintive than she had intended for Louella had jumped to her feet, run round the table and given her a loving squeeze. ‘I’m sorry, darling, I didn’t mean to snap at you. The truth is, I’d love to take an afternoon off and go with you to Seaforth Sands, but it wouldn’t be fair on the audience, would it? Some of them, particularly the old ladies and the stage-struck kids, come to the theatre ’specially to see Louella and little Miss Lottie. They pay their money and choose their seats and really look forward to our act, so we would be cheating them if we didn’t appear. Can you understand that?’
There had been a longish pause before Lottie had replied. ‘Ye-es, but I’m sure they come to see you more than they come to see me,’ she had said at last. ‘I mean, I try my hardest but I’m nowhere near as good as you.’
Louella returned to her own side of the table and sat down once more. ‘You’re good in a different kind of way,’ she had explained. ‘You’ve got a sweet little voice and you sing all the songs that children enjoy. You’ve come on no end at tap-dancing since – since we came to Liverpool, but most of all, you remind the old people what it was like to be young. They watch you doing the hopscotch dance, and the song you do with the skipping rope, and they remember the games they played, as long as forty or fifty years ago perhaps.’ She had smiled encouragingly across at her daughter. ‘Do you see, darling, why we must turn up for every performance and never disappoint our audience? And besides, management pay us extra for matinées, you know, and I won’t deny that the money is useful. Why, Max and I have been saving up and after the pantomime we mean to take you and Baz somewhere really nice for the whole two weeks. Max wants to go skiing in Scotland but I think it would be better to go to London because there’s so much to see there. Wonderful stage shows with famous people in the lead roles, to say nothing of museums and art galleries and exhibitions. But that’s for later, of course. So am I forgiven for insisting that the show must go on?’
She had glanced across at Lottie, her big blue eyes so appealing that in her turn Lottie had abandoned her salad and run round the table to give her mother a hug. ‘Of course you are,’ she had said, kissing her mother’s delicately rouged cheek. ‘I hadn’t thought about the money, though I know it’s important really. Why, Kenny often says how his mother likes working for us and how much easier their lives have been because of the extra cash coming in, and of course it’s the same for us. I’m really sorry I grumbled and I won’t do so any more. After all, tomorrow may be another sunny day and there’s no show, so Kenny and I could go to Seaforth Sands then.’ She had added, with serpentine cunning: ‘And since we’re better off than the Brocklehursts, you might give Kenny an’ me our fares for the overhead railway.’
Louella had laughed and, getting to her feet, had begun to clear the table. ‘OK, sweetheart, it’s a deal,’ she had said joyously. ‘I’ll give you some money for your train fares when the show finishes tonight, and make you some butties to take with you tomorrow. And now we must get a move on or we’ll be late.’
Now, standing in the wings and waiting for her cue, Lottie remembered that Kenny had not been too pleased when she had asked him to delay
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