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EVER BEEN IN LOVE?
EVERYONE HAS !!
PHEOBE AND MAGS HAVE! READ ON, BELOW!
Hey, what a cool dude that Gus is, he has really got it all mused Pheobe, excitedly.
She was absolutely smitten;However, it was understandable, Gus was in his prime, his name was quite famous, his voice
could soften the hardest hearts. It was a fine romance. He made her feel good, girlish, young again, he was charming, well
spoken, romantic. She always fell for the romantic type. There was a touch of the Swede about him, vestiges of the Odin
line, she lost the use of her legs if a Swede was within a hundred yards of her territory. Pheobe was vulnerable, even gullible.
Mags was very concerned about Pheobes sudden behaviour change. Not least that her older sister was seeing someone much
older than herself; that part didnt really matter, but, oh no, no she thought, no, not that he is on the stage;. and he
is common too, no pedigree, if their Mam found out - well, she just wouldnt like it- not after what happened to her own sister
Cordelia, I mean with a name like that, she had to tread the boards, but she got caught again and again, and had a string
of unwanted pregnancies. Pheobe was still able to have babies, she was yet to see the menopause.!
Mags had seen it all, her mam had warned her about certain theatricals;all grease paint and no morals variety; Full of
themselves, moreover she knew Guss reputation. He had been a member of youth club, The Tree Players, a notorious band
of funsters, the ring leader Edgar Madge Irvine, EMI for short, he was wanted for questioning in a dozen counties answering
to the names of Hendry, Williamson, Adam and Stewart, and many others.
Mags had once met some newcomers to the area, she then found out they were with the shows, the travelling fair and
circus that roamed about the country, like gipsies vagabond the lot of them, 365 days a year. Mags hung around with them,
did night things, dancing, learned some German from Gertrude, who was from Cologne, but that got too involved. Gus was
one of the gate crashers, from the local Hippodrome. Mam said it had to stop, after Mags was asked to join their next circus
tour. They were going to be going to some remote part of Wales called Craig Cefn Parc that had a reputation for being no
place for a young lady of Mags tender talents, let along to be with a travelling show. This was the stage, by some other
name that did not smell as sweet.
Mags Mam received strong representations from a friend, Mrs Coward.
Dont put your daughter on the stage, Mrs Worthington;
Well, as time went by Mags and Pheobes life was to be spent on the stage in a manner of speaking, Dame Katrina Ogilvy
had befriended them both on the rebound from Mags circus period. Gus and Mags were never close anyway, she just knew he was
a cad and kept her distance. Any attraction was purely lust. Mam approved of Dame Katrina, after all she was a star. Her
girls would be in gainful employment, as an integral part of the great opera singers personal entourage. Any mother would
be justly proud, there is nothing like a Dame!!!.
Mags had some serious talking to do to bring Pheobe back to reality . Pheobe had to be told she was making a fool of herself.
Older sister or not, Mags was the perceptive one.
Where have you been Mags, dear? asked Pheobe.
Just down at the club Gus attends, playing around, you know. Gus was telling us stories - all about the halls, playing
in panto, he was in Dick Whittington, you know.
He was a mere understudy replied Mags bitterly.
And did he tell you, yet again, about rescuing the child when the house was on fire.
Yes, he is a hero my hero- Pheobe would not listen.
Taking you in more like my dear, with his Poor Little Pheobe routine, he is so predictable. He left Poor Little Nell
in such a state, she ended up throwing herself in the river..her family had to move away.
Was he telling that tale again of his seven encores, playing that fiend with the unpronounceable name.
Firefrorefiffle replied Pheobe proudly.
Yes, exactly Pheobe dear, it is not a nice word that, not nice at all the F word.
Mam wouldnt like it either.
But Mags, dear, that was his moment of mystery, when he made history.
Fiddlesticks, more like insinuated Mags. Fiddlesticks.
But he cares about me Mags, he does, he cares really, really really cares insisted Pheobe.
Mag took a deep breath....
Pheobe dear, dont be so sure. Dont be taken in, I nearly was with him - Asparagus - Yes, he is smart, he is a good
looker, he has got such an unsteady job at the Alhambra, he is not as clean as he should be, I will give you that he sounds
sincere, but he is a performer, he is an actor, he knows 70 speeches by heart, he does not seem well enough focused and
besides he is twice your age but it takes more than that, I mean if you are going to settle down, start a family, what would
Dame Katrina say. And what about me, little me??? I mean we are off on tour next week were going by steam train to Crewe,
Carlisle, Dumfries and all the way up to Glasgo. Next week will be Madams greatest ever challenge, playing at the Glasgow
Empire - so many great stars have failed to twinkle at the Empire, it is the ultimate jinx theatre, like the Riverfront at
Newport, and the Scots are such a harsh audience. Some of the men wear skirts called kilts and some of women have names
like Morag and Effy.
Mags, he loves me...he really loves me.
Pheobe was distraught.
Madam loves you too, I love you , you have to put duty first, my dear, deplored Mags.
Mags knew it was time to gun her big sister down, with a volley of emotional blackmail.
If he loves you, he will wait for you. You have to be at Madams side next week , especially playing to the Scots, they
are so brutish, she will need our love, our attention and devotion, zero tolerance, Pheobe dear.. the show must go on;you
are screwed up about this Gus, there are of plenty of other fish in the sea.
Pheobe started sobbing uncontrollably.
Pull yourself together my dear, he is not worth it - it would be a catastrophe, you will find your true love, someday
I know you will, but it is not him!
Time is running out for me
Anyway supper is coming soon, Curry tonight. It is a new variety, I heard Cook say, I thought she said guinea pig.
Have you packed, yet, come on, darling, Madam will be living from a suitcase for over a week. We need all our little home
comforts in her bags.
There wont be time later to dilly-dally, Madam is leaving in a taxi at 10.30pm prompt.
Pheobe knew she had to do exactly as Mags had said, so eloquently, so forcibly put, Mags was her best friend as well
as her sister, sometimes Pheobe, although older could be backward and she could be so melodramatic and even grossly over-act
as if she was in a video made by the film students of Caerleon, a place in Wales made famous by the greatest English poet
Alfred Tennyson and the great English King, Arthur.
What time did you say the steam train is leaving, Mags.
11.39pm, we are on the Night Mail, it will not wait for us, my dear.
I am so tired, Mags, so very, very tired.
Dont worry sweetheart, we have a sleeping car, we will sleep right through and wake up in the Gallowgate, in Glasgow,
bright eyed an bushy tailed tomorrow morning..
I just wont sleep a wink unless I see him, Mags, please, just to explain.
There is no time for any pussy footing, we have to leave soon.
Mags agreed to help Pheobe with her preparations for the journey north.
At precisely 10.30pm the taxi arrived and Dame Katrina, Mags and Pheobe Worthington all arrived at the Railway Station.
It was crowded, it was noisy. Mags knew that Pheobe would be a little afraid. This was her first trip on a steam train
for years, first time ever on this particular line.
Dont worry, my dear, I have travelled with GNER before said Mags.
A dear, dear friend of mine, and I so very much hope he will also become a friend of yours will be along in a minute
or two -actually he is about the same age as you. I rather think of him as a father figure.
Who is he, Mags?
Mags smiled, and shook her head to and fro.
Oh, he is a chum actually when Madam used to take me on trips, when you were poorly my dear, with flu. He used to
see to me, make sure I was safe and snug and warm.
His name is Skimbleshanks, the Railway Cat.
( With apologies to Noel Coward, T S Eliott and Alfred and Arthur of Caerleon!! )
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