Read Online Lime Street Blues by Maureen Lee - Free Book Online

with a friend, he explained when he eventally turned up. There was another row that night. He didn’t give a damn about going to New Brighton, Max declared frostily, but his father had no right to confine him to the house.
    Tom, driven to distraction by such flagrant insubordination, slapped his son’s face hard. It was the first time he’d ever laid a hand on one of his children. Jeannie realised sadly that their perfect life had come to an end.
    Dusk was falling when the McDowds got off the train, sunburnt and content. They’d had a wonderful time in Southport and Sadie couldn’t remember them having felt so close as a family before. It was as if they’d turned a corner. She resolved never to let the feeling go.

Chapter 3
    In August, a letter arrived to say that Jeannie had passed the eleven-plus. She had been accepted at Orrell Park Grammar School for Girls, only a stone’s throw from the boys’ school that Max attended. A coach passed through the village each morning to take pupils to Philip Wallace in Maghull, dropping off others at the station to make their way by train to their various schools. Two boys from her class had also passed, but Jeannie was the only girl. It didn’t bother her. She was confident she would quickly get to know the other girls.
    Colonel Corbett sent ten pounds and his congratulations, not that Jeannie saw the money. It went towards her uniform and other necessary items such as a hockey stick and a tennis racket. Three years ago, a similar sum had been sent to Max who, now that he was reminded of it, launched an indignant tirade against his father.
    ‘He didn’t even
discuss
it with us, did he, sis? It was
our
money, but he just kept it. I bet the colonel meant for us to buy ourselves presents; a bike, for instance. We
had
to have uniforms, so you and me got nothing out of it. Instead, Dad saved himself ten pounds –
two
lots of ten pounds.’
    ‘My uniform is terribly expensive, Max,’ Jeannie said reasonably. ‘Dad’s not made of money.’
    ‘He’s not short of money, either. He earns far morethan an ordinary gardener. And we don’t pay rent like most people.’ Max was determined not to give an inch.
    The long summer break passed by dreamily. Jeannie was very much aware that an important part of her life had ended and a new one was about to begin. It was almost like the end of childhood. Groups of girls, who would always be her friends, but no longer the most important ones, gathered in each other’s houses or gardens, went swimming in Holly Brook, played cricket with the boys on the green. There was no sign of Rita McDowd, who normally tagged along. She and her mother were picking fruit on the local farms, someone said.
    ‘Thank the Lord!’ said another. ‘At least you’ll be rid of her, Jeannie. She had a thing about you.’
    ‘That’s because Jeannie was the only one prepared to put up with the evil-smelling little bitch.’
    ‘Don’t say that!’ Jeannie protested. She felt sorry for Rita, about to start Philip Wallace without a single ally.
    She managed to stay calm during her first chaotic day at her new school. She was allocated a peg in the cloakroom to hang her royal blue blazer, and a space in which to keep her outdoor shoes – the girls had to wear special, lightweight shoes inside.
    The new intake was addressed by the Headmistress, Dr Farthing, a tall, regal woman, who welcomed them to her highly regarded establishment. Afterwards, the girls’ names were called out and they were separated into three forms; 1A, 1B, and 1-remove. Jeannie was in 1-remove along with about thirty others.
    A young, red-haired teacher introduced herself as Miss Appleton, their form mistress, who would also take them for Art and History. She led them along a corridor, uptwo flights of stairs, and into a classroom where she stationed herself behind the desk at the front.
    ‘Stay!’ she yelled when the girls streamed in after her and made for the desks. Everyone froze.