Mollie on the March by Anna Carey

Author:Anna Carey [Carey, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788490351
Publisher: O'Brien Press
Published: 2018-08-21T16:00:00+00:00

Wednesday, 17th July, 1912.

Dear Frances,

I don’t think I would ever tell her to her face, but Phyllis really is awfully clever. This morning as we were finishing breakfast, she said, in her lightest tone, ‘I say, Mollie, I found an old blouse that would do very well for you. Do you remember the one with the embroidered bodice?’

I did remember the blouse – I’d always longed for one like it.

‘Do you really think it’ll fit her now?’ said Mother. ‘I’d have thought it would still be too big.’

‘Well, she can try it on and see,’ said Phyllis. ‘Come on, Moll.’

‘You know, I do think it’s nice that you girls are getting on so well these days,’ said Father.

‘What’s seldom is wonderful,’ said Mother with a smile, which was jolly unfair because both Phyllis and I have been very civil to each other for ages now. Or at least a few days. ‘Oh, don’t look so outraged, Mollie, I was only teasing.’

I followed Phyllis up to her room.

‘Did you really find that blouse?’ I said, once we were safe from prying ears.

‘Don’t be silly, it’d be yards too big for you,’ said Phyllis. ‘I just needed to get you here to tell you that I’ve thought of a perfect way for you and Nora to change into your disguises – I mean grown-up clothes.’

‘I knew you thought they were disguises too!’ I said, triumphantly.

‘Shut up, Moll, smugness doesn’t suit you,’ said Phyllis. ‘Anyway, don’t you want to know my plan?’

‘Sorry, Phyl,’ I said, as humbly as I could. ‘Go on.’

‘I thought, how can we find a safe place for two girls to change their clothes in the centre of town?’ said Phyllis. ‘And then I thought of the lav list.’

The lav list, as you probably remember, is what Mabel and Phyllis call their list of all the shops and cafes in town that allow suffragettes to use their loos when they’re out on suffrage business. I couldn’t believe none of us had thought of it before.

‘So where would be suitable?’ I asked, very impressed by Phyllis’s ingenuity.

‘There’s a hat shop off Grafton Street that I’m sure will let us use their back room,’ said Phyllis. ‘There’s a decent looking glass and enough room for us to change and put up your hair. And the people who run the shop are sympathetic but not terribly close to the movement, so we don’t have to worry about them casually telling anyone that Mabel and I were helping two girls disguise themselves.’

‘Goodness, you really have thought of everything.’ I was very impressed.

‘I told Mabel to meet us there tomorrow,’ Phyllis continued. ‘And to be on the safe side, it’d help if you both shoved your hair under your hats after we leave here, so the difference won’t be so obvious after we put your hair up properly. It might look odd if two girls with giant plaits went into a shop and two similarly sized ladies in big hats came out. We don’t want

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.