LITMIR.BIZ

      As the van got ever fuller, final decisions were made about what had to be left, and the time to depart grew closer, Evie dreaded having to say goodbye to Billy. She was taking a last look round upstairs when she heard the voice of Brendan’s wife, Marie.

      ‘Just wanted to wish you luck, me darlin’,’ said Marie. ‘You’re in safe hands with Fergus. Don’t forget to let us all know how you’re doing. It won’t be the same round here without you.’

      ‘Thank you. We’ll miss you too, Marie,’ sniffed Jeanie, who was looking sadly at all the furniture left behind with no room in the van.

      ‘Thanks for everything,’ said Sue, hugging each of her neighbours, including Brendan. ‘You’ve been right good friends to us and I won’t forget that.’

      ‘Yes,’ said Michael. ‘Thank you. I’m sorry to have put you to all this trouble.’

      ‘Go on with you,’ said Marie, just as Sue said, ‘I should think so, too.’

      ‘Goodbye, Mary,’ Evie whispered to her friend, hugging her close. ‘You’re the best friend a girl could ever have – and the cleverest. I’ll write, I promise.’

      ‘Dear Evie, there’ll be a hole in my life when you’ve gone. I shall miss you dreadfully.’

      ‘And I’ll miss you, Mary.’ Evie tried to smile. ‘Who’s going to teach me long words now?’

      ‘Come on, we’d better get going.’ Sue gathered up her handbag, which was bursting at the seams. ‘We’d better get off now before we attract unwelcome visitors,’ she added meaningfully.

      As Michael pulled the door to and posted the key back through the letterbox, the family moved towards the van and their neighbours went back over the road. Billy and Evie turned to one another for the last time.

      ‘Goodbye, Billy,’ said Evie, hugging him tight. ‘I’ll be in touch very soon, I promise.’

      ‘Bye, my Evie,’ Billy said, his voice raw with emotion. Then he bent down and kissed her mouth and their tears mingled.

      ‘Don’t forget me, will you?’ she pleaded.

      ‘I said I’ll be waiting,’ he reminded her as they drew apart.

      ‘I love you,’ Evie whispered, but he’d already turned away to hide his tears and she wasn’t sure he’d heard.

      It was a terrible squash to fit everyone in the van, although there were big extra seats that folded down behind, sideways on to the front ones. Sitting there meant finding room for your legs around the luggage, however, so it was hard to get comfortable. Peter and Evie were sharing a seat and Robert had to sit on Jeanie’s knee. Fergus started the engine and all the Carters waved to their friends congregated outside the Sullivans’ house to give them a silent send-off.

      Evie fixed her eyes on Billy’s face, but within a few seconds it was lost from her sight. The van turned the corner at the end of the road and Shenty Street was gone.

      As Fergus happily negotiated the streets heading to the road that would take them south, the Carters sat nursing their regrets. Jeanie was openly sobbing and even Sue was tearful, which set off Evie, and Robert was crying, too. Michael was subdued but, wisely for once, decided to say nothing. Evie, squashed up beside Peter, took his hand in hers to comfort him, but when she looked into his face she saw not sadness but such fury that she felt a strange and terrible foreboding and withdrew her own hand in shock.

      The van reached the southern outskirts of the town and the blackened industrial buildings gave way to houses with gardens and, soon, green fields. The Carters dried their eyes, made themselves as comfortable as they could and accepted the inevitable. The old life was gone and a new one, whatever it held, lay ahead of them at the end of this journey.

      ‘I still wish I’d been able to say goodbye to Mrs Russell,’ said Grandma Sue over her shoulder to Evie, who sat behind her. ‘And Dora Marsh. I’ve known Dora … must be forty years. We were young brides together.’

      ‘There are a lot of folk I’d like to have said goodbye to. Seems rude just to go, like they meant nothing to us,’ Jeanie agreed. She paused for a few moments and then added: ‘I wish I’d been able to say cheerio to Harold Pyke.’ Then she started laughing rather shakily and soon everyone joined in, even Robert, who didn’t know what was funny.

      The mood lifted as they drove on and the sun rose higher on the promise of a beautiful day.

      After a while Robert piped up: ‘I spy with my little eye something beginning with …’

      Sue and Evie caught each other’s eye in the wing mirror and pulled faces. It was going to be a long journey.