Little Stars Read online

  Then Diamond and I had to scurry back to the station to catch our train. Diamond slept for most of the journey, practically walking in her sleep when we had to change trains. But when at last I tucked her up in our own bed at Miss Gibson’s, she murmured sleepily, ‘Promise you’ll make me a new dress, Hetty!’

  I LET DIAMOND sleep late again the next morning and went downstairs for breakfast by myself.

  ‘Good morning, Hetty,’ said Miss Gibson, a little coolly. ‘Do you have another day trip planned for today?’

  ‘It’s work today, Miss Gibson. Sewing all day, and the Cavalcade tonight,’ I said. ‘You didn’t mind too much that we went to the seaside yesterday? I did leave you the note explaining I was going to introduce Diamond to a dear friend.’

  ‘Yes, I know you did, dear. I didn’t mind at all,’ she said, though she sounded reproachful. ‘Of course, I worried a little.’

  I felt guilty, though I couldn’t see why it was such a crime to take Diamond out for the day. And why should she worry? I might act like a baby in the music hall, but I was a grown girl now, fully capable of caring for one small child. I shuddered at the thought of the Foundling Hospital, but at least life had been simple there. You knew what the rules were, and if you broke them you were severely punished. You didn’t have to fuss about hurting people’s feelings.

  ‘I’m sorry, Miss Gibson,’ I said all the same, because I liked her and didn’t want to upset her.

  ‘Oh, it’s not me you should apologize to, dear. It’s your Bertie,’ she said.

  ‘He’s not “my” Bertie,’ I told her.

  ‘He’s your sweetheart, isn’t he?’

  ‘He’s everybody’s sweetheart.’

  ‘Well, he’s been a very good friend to all of us, hasn’t he? Remember what a lovely time the four of us had the Sunday before last? And he was all prepared to take us out again. He came round yesterday lunch time with all kinds of plans. When he heard you two had gone off on this sudden adventure, he seemed very surprised and upset – especially when I showed him your letter,’ said Miss Gibson.

  ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake! Bertie didn’t say he was coming round on Sunday. We can’t sit around all day hoping he’ll put in an appearance,’ I said crossly.

  ‘You’re a strange girl, Hetty,’ said Miss Gibson. ‘I thought you liked Bertie. You want to hang onto him or someone else will come along and snap him up.’

  ‘See if I care,’ I said childishly.

  I did care, and we both knew it. I spent the day hoping that Bertie would come round, even if it was just to pick a fight with me, but he stayed away. So I stitched diligently until I’d finished Mrs Ruby’s orange and gold gown. I ironed it very carefully, praying that it wouldn’t shrivel or scorch, and aired it in the back yard. It still seemed a little plain for a flamboyant lady like Mrs Ruby. I’d have to add a little extra decoration – something that would sparkle in the limelight.

  ‘You’ve done a lovely job on that, Hetty,’ said Miss Gibson. ‘We’ll keep that design just for Mrs Ruby as she’s my best customer and very particular about wearing a bespoke outfit, but I dare say we can adapt it a little and sell a ready-made version in the shop. You’ll work on it with me, won’t you, dear?’

  ‘Yes, of course, Miss Gibson,’ I said. I wondered how I was going to manage an enormous gown for Freda, a fiddly tiny gown for Lucy Locket, and a new dress for Diamond. I remembered dear Nurse Winterson reading us The Tailor of Gloucester when we were little girls, darning all afternoon at the Foundling Hospital. How I wished there were obliging little mice in the Gibson wainscot, ready to scuttle out at night and sew my dresses for me.

  I tried to teach Diamond to sew, but her fingers were clumsy and her stitches uneven. She had come bouncing downstairs at ten, refreshed at last. I was so pleased to see that she still had rosy cheeks and a light suntan from her day in the fresh air. At first she seemed cheery, but became increasingly restless as the day progressed. I kept trying to set her little tasks or invent games, but she wouldn’t settle.

  ‘I wish Bertie would come visiting,’ she said every ten minutes.

  Miss Gibson looked meaningfully at me and raised her eyebrows, though she didn’t say anything.

  I made Diamond practise our act out in the yard.

  ‘Again?’ she said, but she went through it all obediently, and managed the leap onto my shoulders perfectly.

  We set off for the Cavalcade at half past seven. As we rode along on the penny-farthing, some lads called out, ‘Hey, there’s the Little Stars! Good luck, girls!’

  ‘They know who we are!’ said Diamond.

  Two women pointed at us too, and one said, ‘There’s those clever little kiddies from the Cavalcade!’

  ‘We’re famous, Diamond!’ I said.

  Diamond wanted to go straight to the wings when we got there, to see Bertie perform.

  ‘You’ve seen him do his act lots of times. And you’ll see him in the second act too, with Ivy Green. We’re much better off staying in the dressing room. We’ll only get in the way. And I’d sooner keep clear of Mr Apple just now,’ I said.

  Diamond pouted but did as she was told. We waited with the ballet dancers. They all made rather a fuss of Diamond and showed her how to do the five basic foot positions, and then a few simple twirls. They laughed with delight when she picked them up almost immediately.

  ‘Hey, hey, less noise in here, girls,’ said Mrs Ruby, putting her head round the door. ‘Ah, the Little Stars. I see you’re learning another party piece, Diamond. Very pretty. Mind you manage your little penny-farthing trick tonight, dear. You both carried it off splendidly, but I don’t want you to make a habit of it, understand?’

  ‘Perfectly, Mrs Ruby. And we’ll be perfect, I promise,’ I said.

  All the same I had a little knot of anxiety in my stomach. When the bell went for the start of the second act, I suddenly wanted to grab Diamond and bolt from the Cavalcade altogether. I thought of that little cream villa with the pink hydrangeas in Bignor. I could set myself up as a gown-maker and build up a business just like Miss Gibson’s. Miss Feather’s Fancy Fashions. We would see our friends Freda and Lucy every day, walk on the promenade in the evening, and I would have a quiet word with Mama as often as I wanted.

  I’d left the penny-farthing at the stage door with grumpy Stan. We could jump on it and pedal off at top speed. But we didn’t, of course. I wheeled it into the wings while Diamond squeezed through the queue of waiting artistes to find Bertie.

  Samson Ruby was at the back of the wings too, kissing one of the dancing girls. He didn’t seem at all abashed when I came upon them. He sent her on her way with a proprietary slap on the backside. It didn’t hurt her and she just laughed. I was the one who winced.

  Samson saw and laughed at me. ‘There! That’s what you get if you’re a naughty girl,’ he said.

  ‘Well, I’m exceptionally good so you’ll never have cause to lay a finger on me,’ I said, parking my penny-farthing.

  ‘Oh, you’re a sharp little miss and no mistake. I bet you’ve got a temper too, with that bright red mane.’ Samson reached out to touch it, but I quickly tossed my hair out of his way.

  ‘Hoity toity!’ he said. ‘Success gone to your head? Getting above yourself, are you?’ He said it calmly, but there was an edge to his voice that bothered me. He might be a lecherous drunk, but he was also a Ruby, and second in command of the Cavalcade. If he took against us, we were done for.

  ‘Not me,’ I said. ‘I’m just a little girl who’s got lucky.’ I spoke in my stage voice, trying to make myself seem even younger.

  ‘Just a lickle baby, eh? So what are you doing, cavorting in front of all the crowds with that little sister of yours? Where’s your ma, then? Doesn’t she want to keep an eye on you?’

  ‘She can’t. She’s dead,’ I said, and my voice wobbled.

  ‘Oh.’ His face softened. ‘Sorry to hear it.’ He patted me on the shoulder. ‘Run along then.’

  I ran, double quick. I rub