MY NEW COAT
By Bob French
It was the best of times, as Christmas
was just around the corner. It was the worst of times, as the bitter cold
winter had already taken the frail and infirm. It was a time of fear and
betrayal for those who lived on the edge of society, it was a time of personal
endeavors to survive through to the Spring.
The ice-cold winds that swept
the dirty and empty streets of Canning
Town in east London in late November 1879, bore no favours
to those who lived in the gutters.
Jimmy sat huddled in the
corner of a shop door-way trying to keep warm. His body ached as the cold had
already bitten deep into his bones causing him to worry that this would be his
last year.
The clear night sky above his
head was very slowly heralding a new day. Yet, he knew, if he didn’t get across
to Harvey’s the
baker on Wellington Street,
there would be no handouts left, and he would have to get through the day on an
empty stomach.
He hated this time of the day,
when the peace and tranquility which surrounded him would be shattered as the
world awoke, and the ritual of lighting fires would quickly contaminate the air
with foul, stinking and choaking smoke that hung in between the slum dwellings
of Canning Town, igniting his hacking
cough.
As he moved from shadow to
shadow towards Harvey’s,
he noticed other people moving in the same direction and tried to increase his
pace, but found the effort too much.
His dirty and tired face
grinned as he realized that in the next few minutes, he would hopefully meet up
with the last of his friends he had made at the Crompton Street Work House.
He always looked back on the
days he had spent in the work house; they were harsh and brutal, but he had
made friends with six other kids and together they looked after each other, until
that day, not a year past, when Old Biggins, the warden, had called out their
names at morning assembly and told them that they were to leave the work house
the following morning, to make their way in the world. Alice had asked him why, and was told that we
had all reached the age of sixteen and were no longer the responsibility of the
work house.
As the huge wooden doors
slammed behind them, Jimmy tried to raise the spirits of his friends, telling
them to trust no one and keep dry and safe. He reminded them of their pact they
had made the night before; to try and meet up at Harvey’s Bakery on Wellington Street early in the morning on
the last day of each month for a free handout.
Then, very slowly, they hugged
each other and one by one, they slowly made their way down the steps and into
town. Jimmy had taken off his coat and given it to Humf, warning him to
keep warm and dry. As Alice
waved to Billy as he turned the corner and vanished, she spoke softly to Jimmy.
“That was kind of you Jimmy,
but you’ll need to get yourself a coat.”
“I’ll be alright. Humf
needed it more than I did.”
Alice smiled. It’s just me and you now Jimmy. I wonder how
many will make it to next Christmas?”
They had decided to stick
together, but a furious argument caused Alice
to go her own way at the end of Summer. As much as Jimmy had tried to warn her
about the dangers of a young girl on the streets, she ignored him and left.
It had been a while since he
had made it to Harvey’s, and he was pleased to see two of his friends ahead of
him in the queue; Billy, who had managed to get a job in the stables of the
King’s Head tavern, and Josey, who with her good looks and confidence had found
a job as a scullery Maid in one of the big houses out East Barking way. As they
chatted, Jimmy caught sight of Alice
at the head of the queue. She still wore the pink cardigan he had given her
last summer and called out to her, but she ignored him.
His attention was drawn back
to Josey, who told him that Humf had passed away within three months due to his
bad cough, and Jill, who was a frail little thing, had died within a month of
leaving the work house. It was Billy who told Jimmy and Josey that Alfy,
with his limp and stutter, was found face down in the river and that Alice had fallen in with
a bad crowd.
Jimmy asked where she worked,
but Billy didn’t know for sure. He thought she worked down near the
docks.
Once they had thanked old man
Harvey for his kindness, they hugged each other, then left, agreeing to meet up
at the end of November. Jimmy felt lifted by the meeting as he made his way
back to his manor, and promised himself that he would look-up Alice before Christmas.
Dawn was gradually making an
appearance as he turned down a narrow ally way. Suddenly he stumbled over
something and knelt to see what it was.
As he did, it groaned and he
knew that whoever it was had just come away from Harvey’s. It was the old trick.
Watch the queue for anyone who looked weak, then wait until they had picked up
their hand out, then jump them in an alley and steal everything of value,
including their bread. As he turned the body over, he realized who he was
looking down at.
“Alice! God! are you alright?”
She just moaned again and as
he lifted her head up off the damp ground. She had been badly beaten, her
shoes were gone, her fancy frock had been torn in an attempt to remove it and
there was no sign of her pink cardigan or her bread.
“Jimmy love, get me back to my
digs.”
“Where are they? I don’t know
the way.”
“Help me up. I’ll show
you.”
Jimmy threw her arm over his
shoulder and staggered off towards the docks. As they reached the start
of the docks area, she pointed to a large tavern.
“Over there Jimmy.” As
he lifted her up again and started to move towards the tavern, a couple of
rough looking men appeared out of nowhere.
“What’s goin’ on ‘ere then
mate?”
As Jimmy turned to face the
two men, Alice
called out.
“Harold. I’ve been turned
over. They took everything.”
Before Jimmy could take in
what was happening, one of the men hit him hard in the face. When Jimmy
came too, Alice and the man who had hit him, were kneeling over him.
“You alright lad? Sorry about
that. Alice has
explained everything. Come on let’s have you up.”
They took Jimmy into the
tavern where he was given a drink. Alice
sat with him until she felt that he was alright to make his way back up to Canning Town.
She was concerned about
him. She could see that he had lost a lot of weight and when she took his
hands, they were ice cold.
“Look love, you ain’t taking
care o’ yerself are ya.”
Jimmy nodded. Just then the
man who had hit Jimmy appeared with a plate of freshly cooked bacon, eggs and
toast.
“’Ere lad, get this down
you. Want another drink?”
Jimmy and Alice sat in the
warm tavern for over an hour before the man returned and winked at Alice. It was time
for him to go.
“Alice love, pop up stairs to Martha. She’ll
give you a new set of clothes.” Then he turned to Jimmy.
“Here lad. Try this for
size,” and handed Jimmy a long woolen overcoat.
Without a second thought,
Jimmy stood, tried on the coat, then turned, smiled at the man.
“Thank you, Sir. That’s
very kind of you.”
The man stood and stared at
Jimmy for a while, then smiled, pulled out a pound note and handed it to Jimmy.
“Thank you for taking care of
our Alice.”
As Jimmy slowly made his way
back over to Canning
Town, it started to rain,
but he didn’t mind. His new coat kept him warm and he had enough money to
feed himself until Christmas, when he would meet up with Alice again, and maybe Billy and Josey.
Copyright Bob French
