Chapter 11

The chair creaked slightly as the occupant heaved himself up. He wasn’t a tall man, but he was robust. About five foot five and with a barrel chest, she could immediately see why he had the nickname of Rainbow George. Although he was dressed in a dark suit, his silk waistcoat was a patchwork of vivid colours. Reds, blues, yellows and greens blended together and a silver watchchain dangled from his waistcoat pocket. He beamed, his eyes almost disappearing as he gave her a winning smile, his gold teeth flashing. When Milly leaned forward to extend her hand, she was met with one as big as a bear’s paw, but Rainbow George was gentle and his fingers were as warm as his greeting.

‘Sit down, lovey,’ said a voice behind her. Big Alice had followed them in with a tray of tea. Milly perched on the wooden upright chair while Lena sat cross-legged on the mat in front of the unlit fire. Big Alice put the tray onto a small table and began pouring from the large brown tea pot. The tea was almost the colour of liquorice.

‘How come you’m back so early?’ Rainbow George asked Lena. ‘Who’s looking ar’ter the stall?’

‘Vera is. Milly was trashed by some chap in the beer tent,’ she said, taking a cup and saucer from Big Alice.

‘Actually . . .’ Milly began, but Rainbow George had jumped to his feet with a roar. ‘I won’t have nobody makin’ trouble. Not on my field, I won’t.’

‘Don’t get yer braces in a twist,’ Lena said flippantly. ‘Seebold sorted it.’

Rainbow George hesitated then threw back his head with a throaty laugh. ‘Good lad, Seebold. Good at mechanics and all.’ Then, reaching for his hat, he added, ‘I’d better go and check on ’e.’

‘Sit down and drink yer tea first,’ Big Alice said.

‘Last I saw,’ Lena said casually, ‘he was takin’ them all to the ring with the promise of a fiver. They all looks like dinilows so it won’t take much for the boy to sort them out.’

Chuckling heartily, Rainbow George lowered himself back into his chair.

Milly leaned towards her sister. ‘What did you mean when you said I was “trashed”?’ she whispered. ‘Nobody hit me.’

‘I meant that you was frightened,’ said Lena. ‘Sorry, it’s the way we talks.’

‘So,’ said Rainbow George, tipping some of his tea into the saucer, ‘tell me all about yerself, Millicent.’

‘Milly, please,’ said Milly. ‘Everybody calls me Milly.’

‘Milly,’ he said, his eyes shining with amusement.

As he slurped his tea, she gave him a brief résumé of her life thus far. Even though it didn’t sound very exciting, it didn’t seem to matter. Everyone listened attentively.

Her tea finished, Lena was anxious to be back at the hoopla stall.

‘Can I come too?’ Milly asked.

Lena seemed surprised. She glanced at Rainbow George and, to Milly’s delight, he was nodding. ‘If you really wants to.’

‘Oh but I do,’ Milly said.

* * *

As soon as they took over from Vera, Lena began to call the punters in. ‘Get yer ’oops here. Sixpence for three. Three ’oops for a tanner.’

Milly took a deep breath and pushed her glasses back up her nose. ‘Three hoops for a tanner,’ she said as loudly as she dared. ‘Fabulous prizes.’ It sounded a little odd in her slightly plummy voice, but it certainly turned a few heads.

Lena grinned, and before long the two girls were doing a brisk trade.

‘How about a kiss as well?’ some punter called.

‘You ain’t got enough money fer one o’ my kisses,’ Lena snapped back as quick as lightning. ‘But if you gets top prize, I’ll think about it.’

The man glanced at his friend for courage and grinned. The top prize was a leather wallet perched in the middle of the tower. Milly couldn’t help noticing that you’d have to be very accurate to throw the hoop over it and let it slide down to the little platform on which it stood. The punter had three goes, spending one and six on the effort but failing every time.

‘No one can get the hoop over that bloody thing,’ his friend said angrily. ‘You’ve rigged it. The stand is too big.’

For a second, Milly held her breath. The man could be right. The hoops never seemed to go right over the wooden stand, no matter how hard the punters tried. But Lena wasn’t fazed. She held a hoop over the wallet and let go. They all watched as it fell right over the prize and onto the wooden stand with a loud clatter. It was a tight fit, but she had proved that it was doable.

‘Others might cheat you, boys,’ Lena said confidently, ‘but not Rainbow George. Now which one of you is gonna try his luck next?’

There was a sudden clamour for hoops, but it was some time before anyone managed to claim a prize. Sadly for the punter, it wasn’t the leather wallet. It was a goldfish swimming around in a glass bowl.

The punters kept them on the go, but Milly thoroughly enjoyed her afternoon. There was a moment of sheer panic when she recognised one of her mother’s friends strolling by, but she ducked down quickly as if tying her shoelace. Fortunately Mrs Jennings, the doctor’s wife, didn’t notice her. Had she done so, Milly had no doubt the woman would have been delighted to hot-foot over to Muntham Court with her juicy bit of gossip that Millicent Shepherd was working a fair stall like a commoner, and then all hell would no doubt break loose.

After a couple of hours, Lena handed over the stall to someone else, and the two of them made their way wearily back to the caravan. Big Alice made them some sandwiches and they had another pot of tea. Rainbow George had gone back onto the field, so the two girls had the sitting room to themselves.

‘Are you glad to be back with the travellers?’ Milly asked.

Her sister made a pouty face. ‘Yes and no,’ she said. ‘I love the fairground and all that, but Rainbow George keeps on at me about being wed.’

‘What, already? But you’re only sixteen.’

‘Almost seventeen,’ Lena snapped back.

Milly laughed. ‘Sounds like you’re being pushed into marriage just the same as me.’

‘Pa wants you to marry someone?’ Lena gasped.

‘Not my father,’ said Milly, ‘but I’m nudging eighteen now and my mother has grandiose ideas. I shall soon have to be on the lookout for the perfect husband.’

Lena giggled. ‘I bet he’ll turn out to be a lord or a prince or something.’

Milly went on to explain about her coming out parties, and what it meant to be a debutante. ‘I’m starting a little later than usual,’ she explained, ‘because my mother has spent the last eighteen months organising Pearl’s coming out.’

‘It sounds amazing,’ Lena remarked.

‘I wouldn’t mind the travel and stuff,’ Milly conceded, ‘but I’m not ready for wet kisses in the garden with boys I’ve only just met. I want to do something with my life.’

Lena laughed. ‘You and me both.’

Milly shook her head. ‘People seem to think girls can’t have a career, yet look at what women did in the Great War. They worked as telephone operators; they were bus conductresses and some even became bus drivers.’

Lena nodded.

‘Of course the powers-that-be didn’t make it easy for them,’ Milly went on. ‘The post office wouldn’t let women deliver telegrams to certain areas, and they certainly weren’t allowed to work at night.’

‘Because it was too dangerous?’ Lena suggested.