From The Editor

Shirley Webster has very kindly agreed to let us be the first to publish extracts from her new book. She is looking for a local illustrator to illustrate the book so please get in touch if you can help.

Shirley Webster has very kindly agreed to let us be the first to publish extracts from her new book "The Broadway Kids and the Ever Darkening Skies", parts of which are set in Tooting.

Chapter 1 - THE CANING

Lionel was in trouble; and he knew it.

So did his younger brothers and sisters, as they sat anxiously outside the door of the headmaster’s room. It was the end of the school day, and the six little Goodwoods had been summoned from their classes, to wait with Lionel in the long cold corridor of Tooting’s Wellingcourt Elementary School.

“Now what has he been up to this time?”

Meanwhile, Lionel, eleven years old, did not appear to be worried, even though he knew it meant the cane; there he was hunched up over his knees, head in hands, his dark eyes staring defiantly at the floor, pondering his fate. After all it was his own fault he knew that; not because he had bullied that snobby Shirley Bellerby or he had bunked off school. Oh! No! But because he had been caught; would he never learn?

Well, that is what he thought in his usual cheeky way; he would show them and he would take his punishment like a man this time, but, “Next time I’ll ‘ide in the lavs until Old Cobweb goes,” he spoke aloud punctuating the silence with his thoughts. “An’ I’ll make sure nobody sees me, when I get that little snob Shirley Bellerby, cos it’s all ‘er fault yer know.”

“Did yer say sommat?” Alec, whispered, as he and the others sat stiffly beside Lionel; the way they were sitting you would think they were waiting to be caned. Instead, they were there for Lionel partly as a deterrent, and mostly because Lionel, the eldest, was in charge of them.

But it had crossed their minds, ‘Would they be in trouble as well?’ Especially after today’s fiasco with Shirley Bellerby.

Shirley Bellerby, the bane of Lionel’s life, was one class below his and was a right little snob; well that was according to Lionel, for why else would he want to bully her? He absolutely loathed Shirley and all she stood for; and it has to be said, the feeling was quite mutual. Shirley loathed Lionel. Actually, she was scared of him.

You see, Shirley an only child, lovingly spoilt by two parents, was all the things Lionel was not; well dressed, well spoken, clever and precocious, plus the fact that her mother stayed at home to look after her.

Whereas, Lionel, although a handsome boy with black hair, wore his father’s shabby ‘hand me downs’, could hardly read or write, and definitely was not well spoken. For a start, he left all of his aitches off, and sounded f for th words; not only that but he was the eldest child of a poverty stricken family; their father having died four years ago.

Thus ‘to make ends meet’ Lionel’s mother had to go out to work. Not qualified in anyway, and because in 1939 there was not enough work for men, never mind the women; Mrs Goodwood was forced to take on three poorly paid house cleaning jobs; or charring, as it was known in those days, and she worked long hours, leaving young Lionel to look after his brothers and sisters; so definitely there was no question of Lionel being spoilt. In fact, being the eldest and good hearted, he willingly took the place of his father to help his mother, for he loved his family dearly.

Therefore every day, Lionel had to make sure his siblings had their breakfast of bread, dripping or margarine before taking them to school. After school, he would either take them to the market, or return home to play in the street, until their mother returned. But now and again the responsibility would get him down and he would bunk of school to spend some happy time in The Broadway Market.

And so today, after depositing his twin sisters in the girl’s playground, and his brothers in the boy’s, Lionel had ‘bunked off school’ and was on his way to The Broadway; only this time he had been caught; and not only that, but on his return had tripped Shirley Bellerby up in the classroom, accidentally on purpose of course; all because she had been sent to his class to show Lionel her good work with a gold star on it.

“Yeah! I did say sommat,” he said in answer to Alec’s question. “I said, next time I’ll ‘ide in the lavs until Old Cobweb ‘as gone. ‘e won’t find me there.Yer see I copped it this morning ‘cos Old cobweb was waiting for me.”

Old Cobweb, as Mr Webster the school board man was known, had been waiting on the corner of Wellingcourt Street, to catch Lionel before he could ‘bunk’ off’. He had dragged the protesting Lionel, by the ears, back to school and the waiting headmaster, Mr J D Heppenstall. And what with the incident with Shirley, Mr Heppenstall was in his room waiting to cane him; he too pondered Lionel’s fate.

It seemed to Mr H, that no matter how many times he punished Lionel, Lionel never learned his lesson. But the gentle headmaster, who really hated administering the cane, knew that in this case it had to be applied; for it was a case of, ‘spare the rod and spoil the child.’

But Mr Heppenstal had to admit, he secretly admired this child for his courage, and especially for his sense of humour. For this irrepressible boy after being punished never held it against the headmaster; instead, the following day, Lionel would be in school perky and cheeky as ever, with his,

“Wotcher Mr H! Grand day terday ain’t it?”

Then as Mr Heppenstall confided to his wife, “Blow me! If in a couple of days he will be truanting again. If only he could settle down to work, he could be very clever, because I know he really is an intelligent boy.”

But now, as the afternoon clock in the headmaster’s room struck four; all those mentioned above, closed their eyes in anticipation; as with each stroke of the clock, the cane swooped down to bite the tender flesh of Lionel Goodwood’s hands.

“Swish thwack! “Swish thwack! Swish thwack! “Swish thwack! The cane chimed with the clock as Lionel received two of the best on each hand.

Then when all was quiet, Frank and Jimmy, the two youngest of the five brothers, whispered to Alec,

“Do yer fink we’ll be ‘ere long?”

“Spec so,” Alec whispered back; and knowing what to expect, the four brothers, opened their eyes, and shrank down in their seats to wait for the ranting and raving that now would begin; and when it started, the little sisters, five years old twins, Ivy and Una, kept their eyes closed and even blocked their ears with their fingers, for they had no wish to hear the headmaster shouting at their beloved brother.

But the four brothers, each a year younger than the one before, and each a thinner carbon copy of Lionel, sat bolt upright, to purposely cock their ears towards the door; to get a better earful, just in case it involved them. Knowing their brother as they did, they were not at all surprised to hear the headmaster reel off a whole catalogue of crime.

Finally, when the headmaster finished with just enough breath to roar, “NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!” a communal sigh of relief was released all round. After which, there was a rush of footsteps, a rattle of the door handle, and the door burst open to reveal a red faced Lionel. He shot out like a bullet from a gun his mouth and face exploding with defiance.

“I’ate ’er, I’ate ’er, I’ate ’er,” he whispered under his breath; and of course, they all knew to whom he was referring.

Suddenly aware of his brothers and sisters watching him, Lionel growled, “What are you lot gawping for?”

“Nuffing Lionel! We woz just waiting for yer that’s all. Are yer alright?” the little twins asked, gently stroking his arm.

Sorry now that he had spoken so angrily to them, he whispered, “Yeah! Course I am,” and spat on his stripe reddened hands to ease the pain. He was not sure which stung the most, his hands or the hot tears that welled up in his dark brown eyes? Still, he would not blubber in front of them, no sir, he was no cissie. Instead, he donned a false smile, a cheery air then whistled for them to follow. But just as they turned to go, the headmaster’s door re-opened, and a red face emerged,

“Thank God that this will be the last time I have to deal with you Goodwood. We’ll be rid of you tomorrow; you’d better behave yourself m’lad where you’re going; and I hope, its a hundred miles away from here.” And with that last shot, the door slammed tight.

It was then that Lionel realised that he had tried ‘Old ‘eppie’s’ patience once too often; now it seemed, Mr Heppenstall was going to get rid of him, but how?

Of course, Lionel was not to know, that from tomorrow his life would be changed forever.

/admin/public/central-hall-tooting-1.jpg