Homecoming

2,121 words
HOMECOMING

It was a cold, frosty December day in 1955 and dawn was breaking over the grey slate rooftops of the tiny terraced houses of Candale Road in Woolston, a small village on the outskirts of Southampton and situated on the Eastern side of the River Itchen.
In the kitchen of number fifteen Candale Road, thirty-year-old Maddy Talbot sat in an old rocker beside the range quietly sewing. She had risen earlier than usual that morning because today was special. Jim, her husband of seven years and the same age as she, was a seaman in the Merchant Navy and was returning home today after a two-week voyage to New York on the RMS Queen Mary. She and their six year old daughter Sophie were going to meet him when he disembarked at Southampton later that day and she was adding the finishing touches to a sailor frock she had made for Sophie to wear for the occasion. A heavy linen sheet that Jim had brought home after one of his voyages provided the fabric for the frock. Maddy had dyed it a deep shade of blue but if you looked closely enough along the hemline Cunard’s motif was faintly visible. The collar was trimmed with white ribbon and Maddy had also made a hat to match the dress.
Jim had sailed on much longer voyages than this one but Maddy still missed him just as much. She hated being apart from him. Both Maddy and Jim had been born in Candale Road and both their fathers had been merchant seamen, sailing across dangerous waters during the war ensuring the flow of vital supplies to British shores. In fact, the occupations of most of the menfolk of Candale Road was connected with the sea in some way, some were dockworkers, some worked in Thornycrofts, the nearby shipbuilding yard or like Maddy and Jim’s fathers had chosen a life on the ocean waves while some of the women were employed as cleaners when the ships were in dock. Maddy’s dad had lost his life along with his shipmates when a German U-boat torpedoed the convoy he was sailing with. Jim’s dad was still alive and was at this time on a long voyage to the Americas. Maddy’s mother had died of consumption in the winter of 1942 and Jim’s after giving birth to a stillborn brother in 1946.

Maddy glanced at the clock on the mantelshelf above the old range. It was nearly seven-thirty. She held up the finished garment and studied it. She was happy with the result and felt sure Sophie would be too. She draped it carefully on the clotheshorse and poured herself a cup of tea. Maddy was a skilful needlewoman, having been taught by her mother, and had made most of her own clothes since she was a young girl. Not a single scrap of fabric was ever wasted. Large scraps ended up as colourful bedcovers or cushions, small scraps were used for stuffing or for making rag rugs.
At seven-thirty Maddy heard Sophie running down the stairs. She came into the kitchen yawning and shivering, her tousled copper curls hanging in disarray.
“Come and sit down by the warm love, I’ll make you some breakfast” said Maddy. Sophie sat down and Maddy cut a thick slice of bread and spread it with beef dripping. Sophie could only manage to eat half of it. She was too excited. Mostly, because of seeing her dad again but also because she had been allowed a day off school.
“Daddy will be home for Christmas mummy won’t he?” Sophie asked with a worried frown. “He will try to be love, if he can”, Maddy answered diplomatically.
“Come and get in the bath. Auntie Polly will be here soon and I want her to see you in your new frock” Sophie stepped into the little tin bath in front of the warmth of the range. Maddy washed her over quickly then wrapping her in a towel, lifted her out of the bath and sat her in the rocker. Dragging the bath to an alcove in the corner of the kitchen, Maddy pulled a curtain across so she could bathe with some privacy.






When Maddy and Sophie were ready they smiled at themselves admiringly in the long mirror. Sophie loved her outfit and she thought her mum looked beautiful, like a film star, dressed in an air force blue two-piece that accentuated her slim waist. Their copper tresses had been brushed until they blazed like the sun, Sophie’s curls cascading down her back and Maddy’s, a shade lighter with a natural wave, resting softly on her shoulders. The only makeup that Maddy had used was touch of red lipstick on her lips. She bent and kissed Sophie on the nose and left her to admire herself further and put some water on the range to boil. Bing Crosby’s voice crooned from the radio. Sophie started tapping her feet in time to the music and sang along in broken syllables. “I’m gon-na get you on a show-boat to Chi-na, all to my..” “Slowboat” Maddy corrected laughing, “it’s slowboat not showboat.” Sophie sighed and turned to her mother with pout then turned back to the mirror and began again.
Just then the back door opened and Maddy’s next-door neighbour and good friend Polly Smith entered. Maddy poured out a cup of tea and handed it to Polly then poured one for her. “Oooh! Ta love, just what I need. It’s frosty out there!” Polly said as she warmed her hands by the range. She had been to the market and often she would come back with a small treat for Sophie. A buxom woman, with a generous heart, Polly was now in her sixties. She too, had lost her husband at sea during the war. Sadly they had never had children and she looked on Sophie as a granddaughter. She sipped her tea and then turned to watch Sophie still tap-dancing in front of the mirror.
“Just look at the little angel,” Polly cried with tears brimming. She dabbed her eyes with the corner of her apron and said more seriously “Oh Maddy, I reckon a star is born there. You mark my words, one day we’ll see Sophie Talbot’s name in lights. Our own little Shirley Temple”. Sophie marvelled at thought and practised harder at her tap-dancing. Suddenly, as if it had just occurred to her, Polly, with arms folded beneath her large chest, said in a matter of fact voice, “She’s even got the same initials so that’s got to be good omen.” This pleased Sophie even more.




“Time to go” said Maddy. It was eleven o’clock and the Queen Mary was due in port at twelve-thirty. Maddy and Sophie put on their warm overcoats and wrapped scarves around their necks. Maddy took a hats and gloves from the drawer and they put them on too. As they were leaving Sophie gave Polly a big hug. “Oh! I nearly forgot,” said Polly taking a small paper bag from her apron pocket and handing it to Sophie. “Oh! Sherbet lemons, my favourite, thanks Auntie Polly”, Sophie said appreciatively and gave her another hug. “Bye Polly” said Maddy “Bye Auntie Polly echoed Sophie.
They left by the back gate and walked the short distance to the end of Wharf Road and then turned left towards the Floating Bridge, which would ferry them across the river. There was one waiting and they hurried to board it. Sophie loved the Floating Bridge. She would imagine she was on one of the big ships like her dad and the other side of the river was a far off foreign land. They always sat on the left side so they could look toward the docks and watch the ships coming and going. Also there was a game of swans and they would feed them with bits of stale bread.
“Mum!” Sophie suddenly wailed “we didn’t bring any bread for the swans”
Maddy took something out of her bag wrapped in a piece of brown paper and held it up. “Oh yes we did” she said and handed it to Sophie. It was the leftovers of Sophie’s breakfast and Maddy had scraped off most of the dripping and chopped it into small pieces. “Empty it straight from the paper so that you don’t get any grease on your clothes” Maddy told her. The swans were waiting expectantly and within seconds of Sophie the scraps over the side they had gobbled them up.




Soon the floating bridge was on the move guided by two thick steel cables. When they reached the other side they stepped onto the slipway. At the top of the slipway they walked along Floating Bridge Road and then turned left into Canute Road; named after the eleventh century king of England who, allegedly, believed he could command the waves. Along Canute Road, they crossed the train lines embedded in the ground that ran across the road and carried the Orient Express right into the ocean terminus in the docks. A little further and they turned into dock gate four and walked until they reached the berth where they saw the Queen Mary being guided into place by the little tugs. There was bunting everywhere and a band played Mac the knife. Maddy bought two little paper union jacks from a vendor.
The crowd was beginning to swell so Maddy grasped Sophie’s hand tightly and pushed her way to the front to get the best view possible. Sophie was always in awe at the size of these great ships close up. For one of such tender years, she understood her father’s love of the sea.
Eventually, the ship was brought alongside her berth to the loud cheers of the crowd and frantic waving of the little paper union jacks. The deck crew on the Queen Mary secured one end of the mooring rope to the ship and threw the other end to the shore gang for them to secure to the bollards on the dockside. The tugs then released their ropes and sailed off to another job.
Maddy and Sophie waited in eager anticipation for the gangplanks to be put in place. After what seemed an eternity a slow trickle of passengers began to disembark. Sophie saw a man in a top hat and woman with a fur stole making their way down one of the gangplanks. “They must be really, really rich”, Sophie thought. Soon there was a steady flow of passengers and shouts could be heard at someone’s recognition of a loved one. It wasn’t long before it was Maddy and Sophie’s turn to shout when they saw Jim emerge from the ship with his kit bag on his shoulder. He saw them and hurried down the gangway. Tears of happiness streamed down Maddy’s face, while Sophie couldn’t contain her excitement any longer and jumped up and down. Jim and Maddy ran into each other’s arms and Sophie smiled at sight of them almost falling over. Jim turned and scooped Sophie up into one of his big strong arms and hugged her tightly.




“Do you remember when our dad’s brought us down here Jim?” Maddy reminisced, as they walked slowly, “when the new King George V dock was opened? I was eight years old and The King and Queen were attending the naming ceremony. There were hundreds of people so we couldn’t get to the front and I couldn’t see a thing. Then my dad lifted me onto his shoulders and I had a clear view of everything. I saw the King and I saw Queen Mary empty a cup of Empire Wine into the dock. It was ALL part of the naming ceremony. I’ll never forget that day.” Maddy said wistfully. “Yes, I remember,” answered Jim, “I’ll never forget that day either. I think that’s when I fell in love with you.” Maddy smiled at this; she thought the same about him.
Sophie stopped walking, “Dad?” she said with a hint of sadness in her voice, “you are going to be home for Christmas aren’t you?” Jim turned and looked into Sophie’s wide green eyes. The corners of her mouth dropped at his serious expression. Then suddenly his face broke into a big smile and he said “Yes my lovely, I’m going to be home for three weeks so I’ll be here for Christmas and New Year. Now let’s get home so you and mum can open up your presents” and lifting Sophie onto his shoulders they resumed their journey home. Sophie always loved the presents her dad brought home but the one she loved best of all was having him home for Christmas.