Queen of Thieves Page 6

  Molly looked on expectantly, like a cat waiting for a little injured bird to fall off its perch so that it could go in for the kill.

  There was only one thing to do.

  I put my hand inside my bag, fished around, and pulled it out.

  ‘This,’ I said, timidly, holding the silk garment aloft, by way of apology. ‘This is what I was doing.’

  Alice’s whole face lit up, her look softened and she embraced me.

  ‘I lost sight of Molly and I just thought…’

  ‘Oh you, beauty!’ she cried, addressing the nightie – not me – as if it were a long-lost friend. She snatched it away and tucked it into her carpet bag, which was stuffed with loot.

  Then she turned to me. I was shaking like a leaf.

  ‘Nell,’ she said, patting me on the knee, her diamond rings glinting, ‘I was trying to think of what to call you when we got in this car, for going off on your own, disobeying orders and generally behaving like a clot. And now I think I’ve found the word I was looking for…’

  Alice gave a low chuckle as she pulled me into her embrace: ‘Hoister!’

  In that moment I felt something totally new, a sense of belonging, like being part of the family I’d never really had; one which thought I was worth something. My heart swelled with pride.

  It was the happiest day of my life.

  I was one of the gang.

  Chapter Six

  ALICE

  Elephant and Castle, June 1946

  I love a good knees-up, especially when there’s reason to celebrate and after Nell’s performance I was in the mood for a little party.

  We all piled back to my place to unpack our shopping and freshen up. Poor little Nell, I did give her a bit of a fright when I thought she was putting our trip in jeopardy, but life’s full of surprises, ain’t it? The two quid I gave her for her efforts more than made up for it.

  I love that about my line of work. It ain’t just the thrill of getting away with it; it’s the sense of playing with Lady Luck herself. Nell took a chance, and she proved her mettle. I’ll be the first to raise a glass to that; reminds me of someone I know who I admire very much. Myself, in fact.

  The Ship Inn over the road from Queen’s Buildings is my local and the sound of raucous laughter was already ringing out by the time we made our entrance. The pub had survived the bombing in the Blitz, which was a cause for celebration at the time and every night since. There were a few boarded up windows and it could have done with a lick of paint here and there, but everyone was usually too drunk to notice or care.

  A gang of fellas were having all the best fun hammering out Roll Out The Barrel on the ivories and hooting with laughter over their pints while their poor, dear wives sat in the corner, talking in hushed tones in headscarves, with little more than a thimbleful of sherry between them.

  ‘Right, you shower!’ I bellowed. ‘Let’s have a decent round of drinks for the ladies please!’

  They stopped playing and sullenly put their hands in their pockets for a whip round. The money was passed to me in one of their caps and I tapped my cane on the filthy wooden boards while Molly inspected it. It was amazing how interesting the floor had become, judging by the way they were all staring at it.

  ‘Ain’t enough for that lot,’ she said, nodding towards the row of downtrodden wives in the corner.

  ‘Dig deeper boys,’ I said, clapping one of them right between the shoulder blades, almost knocking his teeth out on his pint glass. ‘Don’t make me ask twice.’

  The barman rolled his eyes. It was the same procedure every bleeding week. I knew it, he knew it, but those greedy little punters would never learn, would they?

  ‘You see, Nell,’ I said, turning to her. ‘That’s the future of married life, sitting over there, miserable and kept on whatever crumbs he feels like giving you from his table.’

  The women were wearing patched up skirts and darned stockings and looked little more than scarecrows. Meanwhile, their ruddy-faced hubbies were lording it in beer and sausages by the look of them.

  ‘I know which side of the pub I’d rather be on,’ I laughed. ‘That’s the trouble with men. They are all hearts and flowers when they want you, but when they’ve got you… well… just take a butcher’s in that direction.’

  Nell glanced at the women in the corner and then opened her mouth to say something, but the music started up again, just as some of my other girls strutted in. Nell smiled at me instead, a beaming grin. It was a look that said it all. She was in my gang now. And I wanted her to feel right at home.

  Molly had rallied a few of the other girls to come and celebrate Nell’s first big success as a hoister, although from the look on her face, you’d have thought she’d lost a quid and found a ha’penny. That’s the thing with Molly. She does have a tendency to get jealous. She’s my deputy but she has a streak of the old green-eyed monster about her whenever I heap praise on one of the others. I like it that way; keeps her on her toes.

  ‘Now, Nell,’ I said, settling myself beside her, so that I had a good view of the door of the pub – I don’t like to be caught unawares if a cozzer pops his head through – ‘Let’s raise a glass to the finest little hoister in London town today!’

  ‘Do you really think that?’ She sipped at her drink, sheepishly.

  ‘’Course I do! You had that old assistant dancing to your tune alright. And not just in some two-bit musty old department store, in Selfridge’s if you please! Talk about aiming high. You shot at the moon and scored a bullseye, my girl.’

  ‘I did, didn’t I?’ she said, sitting up straighter. ‘It was easy as pie. The silly old fool had no clue. I reckon I could have filched a few more if I’d had a bit longer.’

  She was puffed up with pride like a little pigeon strutting about Trafalgar Square.

  ‘I couldn’t be happier if you’d hoisted the crown jewels, love,’ I said, beaming at her, to give her a bit more of a gee. ‘Silk sells, and stealing a nightie like that on your first shopping trip takes courage, real courage.’ I gave her a reassuring little squeeze.

  ‘It was foolish,’ said Molly, deadpan, into her sherry. ‘She took a huge risk.’ Nell’s face fell.

  ‘Oh, stop it, Moll,’ I chided. ‘Nell made the best of the situation, and we are all here to celebrate that.’

  I raised my glass and announced: ‘Let’s have three cheers for Nell!’

  The whole pub erupted into an impromptu chorus of ‘For She’s a Jolly Good Fellow’ and we were just getting to the last ‘and so say all of us’ when the door swung open and Jimmy was standing there, all spruced up, as if he was going for a night on the tiles.

  But the look on his face when he saw Nell in our midst and half of Queen’s Buildings toasting her success was nothing like delight.

  Jimmy strode across the floor like a man possessed and pulled Nell to her feet.

  Everyone stopped singing and clapping and you could have heard a pin drop.

  Then, he got down on one knee and pulled a something out of his jacket pocket. It was a little black box. He flicked it open. It was lined with velvet.

  I peered at it, trying to get a closer look. Inside it was a gold ring, studded with sapphires. He’d be pulling the tallyman’s cart for him if he’d got it on tick. I made a little cluck of approval. Not for the gesture, you see, it’s just jewellery does have an effect on me, especially if it’s a nice set of stones like those ones.

  ‘Nell,’ he said. ‘I want you to come home with me now and we can see your parents and talk things through. I love you. Will you marry me?’

  He offered her the ring.

  She froze and then looked at me, her mouth falling open in shock.

  ‘Well,’ I said, gesturing to the mother’s meeting of misery, discussing their washing and their husband’s tea in a huddle in the far corner. ‘It’s your choice, ain’t it?’

  ‘Jimmy,’ she began as she took the ring and held it the palm of her hand. ‘This is beautiful, stunning, and God knows how yo
u have afforded it but I’m not sure I’m ready for marriage and settling down and everything and I don’t know that you are either, if you are really honest. I don’t know where you are half the time and you won’t tell me and I can’t see that changing, only getting worse.’

  It wasn’t quite the reaction he’d been expecting.

  He lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘I’m not saying I’m a saint but I’m not that much of a sinner and you can’t be having that on your own.’ He pointed to her stomach and stood back up, brushing the dust off his trouser legs. ‘Beggars can’t be choosers, Nell, so don’t be a silly girl. And don’t believe everything she tells you.’ He nodded in my direction in a way I didn’t particularly appreciate.

  I don’t know why, maybe it was the pregnancy made her see red, but she lost it.

  ‘Beggar?’ she said, turning red with fury. ‘I’ll tell you who’s the beggar round here and it ain’t me! I’m earning good money, better money than you from just one afternoon’s work, actually. I’ve found something I’m really good at, that pays well and you just want to take it away from me and chain me to the kitchen sink, just like all the rest. I won’t have it!’

  Oh, she was a right little firecracker when she got into her stride, this one. It was just a case of working out how to light the touchpaper.

  ‘Nell, you’re working for someone whose got their claws right into you,’ he said, coldly.

  ‘Watch your mouth,’ I said, leaning over, so that I was right in his face. ‘Or you might meet with a nasty accident if you know what I mean.’

  ‘This is between Nell and me,’ he spat. ‘So back off!’

  ‘Oh, I ain’t coming between two lovebirds,’ I laughed, rocking back in my chair. ‘No need to get over excited.’

  At the same time, I swung my cane and gave him a sharp prod right in the middle of his chest, just to make a point.

  Jimmy took a step back.

  He stood there for a few seconds, his mouth opening and closing, like a fish out of water.

  Nell stood up. ‘No,’ she said thrusting the ring towards him. ‘No, Jimmy, I will not marry you, not now, not ever, so you might as well have it back.’

  Truly, it was better than a night at the varieties. The whole pub was watching with bated breath.

  ‘You’ve got a screw loose, Nell,’ he said, tapping the side of his head. ‘I dunno what’s wrong with you. A fella wants to marry you, to do the right thing, and you are throwing it back in his face! Well, you’ll see what’ll happen to you, without my ring on your finger. You’ll see what Tenison Street thinks of you, in fact, the whole bloody neighbourhood!’

  He had gone a really funny colour, almost purple, and he snatched the ring and span around on his heel, the turn ups on his new trousers swishing as he went.

  ‘Oh, naff off,’ she cried, as the rest of my girls jeered at him, for good measure. ‘Stay away from me. Just stay away, you bleeding spiv!’

  Chapter Seven

  NELL

  Waterloo, London, June 1946

  I numbed the shock of turning down Jimmy’s offer of marriage with a good few sherries.

  A week ago, I would have thought I’d lost my mind saying no to this proposal, but with Alice by my side and The Forty Thieves for company, things weren’t looking so bad. Whatever he was offering me, I didn’t want it, even in my predicament.

  When the sad gaggle of married women in the corner got up and shuffled off home, I found myself thanking my lucky stars I had refused him.

  It wasn’t going to be easy, doing it this way, but I’d keep the pregnancy secret for as long as I could, and get a pile of cash together, so I could afford a place of my own. Then, I’d put the baby with one of the neighbours for the day, pay her good money, while I went off shopping with The Forty Thieves. It wouldn’t be perfect, but at least I’d live life on my own terms. Maybe I’d give Jimmy the time of day, maybe not. But he wasn’t the boss of me, that was for certain.

  ‘Sounds like a good plan, love,’ said Alice, nodding, approvingly. ‘Anyone who judges you round here will get a thick ear from me. You ain’t the first woman to have a baby on the wrong side of the bedsheets and you won’t be the last.

  ‘And the thing is, being part of my gang offers you protection from the gossips.’

  Molly pulled out her hatpin and started brandishing it about the place. She was three sheets to the wind: ‘Oh, just show me someone who gets all hoity-toity about one of us and I’ll have their eye out,’ she screeched. I knew she wasn’t joking.

  ‘But I ain’t so sure how my dad will take it,’ I said, a horrible, sick feeling rising in the pit of my stomach. ‘In fact, I reckon he’ll have me out on my ear when he finds out.’

  Alice gave my knee a reassuring little pat.

  ‘You can come and bunk up at my place any time, until you find your feet,’ she said. ‘We’re all like family, ain’t we?’

  Patsy and Em and some of the other girls raised a glass and Molly gave me one of her grins.

  ‘Now,’ said Alice, looking at her watch, ‘it’s a working day tomorrow, so drink up, we’d better get home.’

  It was barely half past nine.

  ‘I’m strict about that, Nell,’ she said, as we wandered out of the pub, and I made my way to the bus stop. ‘Working days mean early nights and woe betide anyone who’s out on the tiles the night before a big shopping expedition.’

  She pointed her cane at my stomach. ‘And you need all the rest you can get, in your condition. See you at mine in the morning, nine o’clock sharp.’

  As the bus hove into view and I clambered aboard, I heard her shout.

  ‘Don’t be late!’

  As we drew away from Queen’s Buildings, I knew that I’d started out on a new path.

  And there was no turning back.

  Gamages department store sprawled right up the street and around the corner on High Holborn, tempting customers with window displays offering everything from toys to fur coats. It was set over four floors, and was full of dark corners, corridors and stairwells to get lost in, which was a hoister’s delight.

  The shop was full to bursting with hordes of unwashed, hot, sweaty women rifling through things they could never afford, never in a month of Sundays.

  Even soap was a luxury item and the smell of so many fetid armpits in that packed store in the heat of a summer’s afternoon was enough to make you gasp.

  We were prepared to put up with it because we knew that crowds made it a lot easier for us to do what we’d come there to do.

  ’Stockings,’ said Alice. ‘Stockings galore. Stuff ’em in your drawers, hide ’em in your bags. I’ve got a big order from Queen’s Buildings to fill, and I reckon we can make a pretty penny, so let’s keep our wits about us and make the most of what’s on offer.’

  Patsy and Em went off to find furs while me, Molly and Alice headed for the stairs and the ladies’ lingerie department on our stockings quest.

  Alice turned to me: ‘Nell, after yesterday, I’m expecting big things of you! Don’t panic if you get left alone for a while, just saunter around a bit, we’ll come and find you.’

  The nerves of yesterday were long gone.

  ‘Right,’ I said. ‘I won’t let you down.’

  ‘Good girl,’ she said, smiling at me. ‘Let’s make this a day to remember!’

  Every inch of Gamages was filled with tempting goods which made easy pickings: piles of leather gloves and tables filled with purses and rails of clothes rammed so tightly together that you had to stand on the toes of the person next to you just to get a look at them. In the confusion and the crush of bodies, it was easy to pilfer.

  Molly knocked a few things off into her bag on the way past and I followed her lead, sweeping a couple of wallets and a spectacle case into the depths of my carpet bag, without breaking a sweat. It was just a case of being confident about it and people were so busy with their own business that they didn’t have a clue what we were up to. The assistants were rushed off their feet
and the queue for the till snaked half-way around the shop floor. But when we went upstairs to the ladies’ underwear department, it was as quiet as the grave.

  I was learning a lot about the posh undergarments that rich ladies liked to wear, and I found them endlessly fascinating. As well as silk stockings, there were corselettes and those fine silk slips and brassieres which were nothing like the drab, coarse things my mum wore. Once I’d had the baby and I was earning well, I vowed I would spend my money learning to dress like a lady.

  Alice got to work, immediately distracting the old shop assistant, who peered over her half-moon glasses and let out a weary sigh as she pulled out a drawer full of ladies’ handkerchiefs. ‘Very nice,’ cooed Alice. ‘But which one do you think will go best with my hat?’ She made a great show of looking in the mirror and holding them up to her face.

  Molly and me, were already around the other side of the counter, examining a neat display of silk stockings. The assistant had kept them right under her nose, but she was no match for Molly, who grabbed several packs while Alice slowly, very slowly, paid for a bright red silk hankie, counting out her coins on the countertop. Molly had already shoved the stockings in my bag, and we pretended to be sharing a joke as we walked briskly to the stairwell.

  Once we got there, she fished around in my bag, pulling out the stockings as well as the wallets and spectacle case I’d pinched from downstairs. Her face lit up: ‘Well done, Nell!’ Then she high-tailed it off down the stairs. I wasn’t worried this time, not even when I went back on to the shop floor and there was no sign of Alice.

  I just had to walk slowly to the exit on the other side of the shop, stopping to look at a few things along the way. One of the gang would be along soon; that’s what Alice had said.

  The minutes passed and I glanced around, anxiously.

  I took a deep breath, and was just heading for the stairs, when the assistant with the half-moon spectacles started walking towards me, with a look in her eye that said I was for it. There was someone else with her, a bigger woman, with thick-set shoulders and a chest like the prow of one of the big boats I’d seen going up and down the Thames near our house.