Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Violet

Faded Roses

Her mother laughs with relief and surprise when she tells her the story of the interview and that despite her not being the age of a ‘sailor's widow', she has been given the position of junior stewardess.

Then her mother sets to work.

‘We'll make you a wardrobe of clothes that'll add to your years.' Then she mutters under her breath, ‘and that will scare the daylights out of the bravest man.'

They put away her two pretty dresses, and she and her mother play at dressing up. Her sister joins in, too, but her heart is clearly not in the game. Her mother cries with laughter as she pulls a baggy dress over her daughter's head, but her sister cries real tears.

She cannot bring herself to look at her little sister, even though she wants to gather up every sight and sound of her. So she watches her in the wardrobe mirror. The back-to-front face is easier to bear, and she manages a wink and a smile for her when she is dressed and displayed for their inspection.

The clothes are packed away, and all she has to do now is turn her hat into the sort of thing a sailor's widow would wear. The roses that bloom on it must be put in the window to fade in the sun. Her mother tuts when she sees them there, and she asks her mother what else it is she should do. She wonders if there is something she has forgotten.

‘Bless you, child, no. You will look the part.' She pauses to pinch her daughter's cheek as she passes. ‘But there's no hiding the roses that bloom here.'