CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

Dulcie had never seen a place like Grace’s home.

Ramshackle wasn’t even the word for it. Water dripped from cracked guttering, the kitchen range belched black smoke, and the whole place smelled of wet dogs and dirty nappies. It was the middle of winter, and a damp cold seeped through the thick stone walls.

And the noise … dogs barking, babies crying, and children everywhere. They rampaged around like an army of little hooligans, diving under furniture and jumping on beds.

Grace shared her room with at least five of them. But Dulcie had insisted they should move somewhere quieter after she had found one of the younger girls smearing the baby’s face with her best lipstick.

They ended up in Grace’s mother’s room. There was no fire lit, and Dulcie could see her breath curling in front of her face as she set about doing Grace’s hair.

Just to make matters worse, Grace’s sisters-in-law insisted on joining them. Dulcie had taken an instant dislike to Jessie and Beth when she met them. Grace had always told her they were the prettiest girls in the village, but Dulcie couldn’t understand why she was so in awe of them. Beth was passable, in a blowsy, overblown kind of way, but to Dulcie’s mind Jessie looked like a wiry little ferret.

They were certainly not endearing themselves now but kept trying to push Dulcie and Grace out of the way so they could admire themselves in the tiny dressing-table mirror.

‘Isn’t there somewhere else you two can get ready?’ Dulcie asked Jessie pointedly when she thrust her face close to the glass yet again.

‘Grace wants us here, don’t you, Gracie?’ Beth said.

‘Well …’

‘We’re family,’ Jessie put in.

Dulcie caught Grace’s eye in the mirror. She shrugged helplessly.

Dulcie did her best to ignore them as she pulled the rags out of Grace’s hair and twisted the curls around her fingers.

‘Thank you for helping me,’ Grace said. ‘I’m sure I’d be all fingers and thumbs otherwise.’

‘She’s right,’ Jessie chimed in. ‘She’s ever so clumsy.’

Dulcie caught Grace’s eye in the mirror. ‘I’m glad to help you,’ she said. ‘And your hair curls really well.’

‘Do you think so?’ Beth leaned her fat face in to inspect it. ‘Looks a bit limp to me.’

‘Grace’s hair never looks right, no matter what she does to it,’ Jessie agreed.

‘Like rat’s tails,’ Beth said. ‘But as Ma always says –’

‘– you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear!’ they chorused in delight.

Dulcie felt the anger rising inside her. She was just about to open her mouth and stick up for her friend when Grace beat her to it.

‘If you can’t think of anything nice to say, you can go away.’

It was the mildest of rebukes, but her sisters-in-law could not have looked more shocked if Grace had turned around and struck them.

Jessie found her voice first. ‘You can’t tell us what to do in our home!’ she protested.