Williams and his boss, then,’ Mr Lee replied. ‘It is all out of my hands.’
Ernie Sutton shook his head. ‘But, Mr Lee,’ he said, ‘senior churchmen will come up here to see your daughter. They have to reach some sort of, well, decision about what . . .’
‘They can come and they can see,’ Mr Lee replied. ‘Ain’t stoppin’ ’em.’
‘Mr Lee, they’ll come to see whether they think Lily’s visions are genuine. If they think they’re not, then . . .’
‘They entitled to theirs opinion,’ Mr Lee said, in a philosophical manner. ‘Mind, who can say what is or is not in the world unseen do have to be a better man than me.’
I for one didn’t know about that. Father Burton at least, if he deigned to come at all, was not inclined to an open mind.
‘And Lily,’ I said, ‘she’s the one, after all . . .’
‘Oh, Lily is far away in the forest now,’ Mr Lee said. ‘What the soldiers done, it upset her.’
‘On her own? But it’s getting dark,’ I said.
Mr Lee relit his roll-up. ‘She’s got the Head with her. She’ll come to no harm.’
Hannah hadn’t seen Lily Lee any more than anyone else had. But like the good listener I knew her to be, she’d kept her ear to the ground among the confused crowd of people who were being held back from the Gypsy camp by the straight-faced MPs.
‘She just disappeared,’ Hannah told me, as soon as Ernie and I caught up with her in what was becoming a very dark night indeed.
‘So no one saw her go?’
‘A lot of people saw the MPs knock her tent down,’ Hannah said. ‘But Lily weren’t in it. I don’t think this lot,’ she nodded at the huge crowd of people beyond the Gypsy camp, ‘would be as calm as they are if she had been. They all believe bleedin’ mad stuff here – begging your pardon, Reverend,’ she said to Ernie. ‘Apparently, according to some, the Virgin Mary’s due to battle the Luftwaffe in the skies above the forest tonight. I didn’t hear whether Jesus and God were also involved but . . .’ She changed the subject. ‘The officer in charge here, Mansard he’s called, I think I’ve seen him before, H.’
‘Have you?’ I wondered whether he was one of her customers, and my blood began to pound with anger. But I didn’t want to start a conversation about that with Ernie at my side. After all, he didn’t know, as far as I could tell, what Hannah did for a living and I was keen to keep it that way.
However, before I could say anything else, Hannah continued, ‘Yeah. I don’t know where but I’ve a feeling it might have been up home.’
‘Up home’ for Hannah is not Canning Town, where she lives now, but Spitalfields, where so many Jews have their homes and businesses.
‘Military types go all over the place,’ Ernie said, ‘especially these days.’
‘Yes.’
What sounded like many hundreds of gasps made us all glance up. There was nothing, as far as I could tell, to see.
‘Oh, there she is, Gawd bless her!’ a fat, tired-looking woman standing just in front of one of the motionless MPs said.
‘Where’s who?’ Hannah asked, as she peered into the darkness to where the woman was now pointing. ‘Lily?’
‘The Blessed Lily,’ the fat woman corrected. ‘Gawd love her.’
Ernie and I squinted into the darkness until I saw the lone, bedraggled figure of a young girl drag itself slowly towards us. People cheered, some sang – the MPs gazed upon the crowd with menace and fear, and at a barked order from somewhere they made their weapons ready to fire.
I turned to Ernie and said, ‘This is madness.’
‘Lily! Lily!’ the people chanted.
‘Here she comes!’
‘What the Virgin say to you, love?’ one old man asked, as the girl, her face and clothes covered with mud, made her way past the MPs and attempted to get to her people. ‘The war over, is it?’
She ignored him. As she pushed forward as quickly as she could, all I heard her say was, ‘Leave me alone! Leave me
Ernie Sutton shook his head. ‘But, Mr Lee,’ he said, ‘senior churchmen will come up here to see your daughter. They have to reach some sort of, well, decision about what . . .’
‘They can come and they can see,’ Mr Lee replied. ‘Ain’t stoppin’ ’em.’
‘Mr Lee, they’ll come to see whether they think Lily’s visions are genuine. If they think they’re not, then . . .’
‘They entitled to theirs opinion,’ Mr Lee said, in a philosophical manner. ‘Mind, who can say what is or is not in the world unseen do have to be a better man than me.’
I for one didn’t know about that. Father Burton at least, if he deigned to come at all, was not inclined to an open mind.
‘And Lily,’ I said, ‘she’s the one, after all . . .’
‘Oh, Lily is far away in the forest now,’ Mr Lee said. ‘What the soldiers done, it upset her.’
‘On her own? But it’s getting dark,’ I said.
Mr Lee relit his roll-up. ‘She’s got the Head with her. She’ll come to no harm.’
Hannah hadn’t seen Lily Lee any more than anyone else had. But like the good listener I knew her to be, she’d kept her ear to the ground among the confused crowd of people who were being held back from the Gypsy camp by the straight-faced MPs.
‘She just disappeared,’ Hannah told me, as soon as Ernie and I caught up with her in what was becoming a very dark night indeed.
‘So no one saw her go?’
‘A lot of people saw the MPs knock her tent down,’ Hannah said. ‘But Lily weren’t in it. I don’t think this lot,’ she nodded at the huge crowd of people beyond the Gypsy camp, ‘would be as calm as they are if she had been. They all believe bleedin’ mad stuff here – begging your pardon, Reverend,’ she said to Ernie. ‘Apparently, according to some, the Virgin Mary’s due to battle the Luftwaffe in the skies above the forest tonight. I didn’t hear whether Jesus and God were also involved but . . .’ She changed the subject. ‘The officer in charge here, Mansard he’s called, I think I’ve seen him before, H.’
‘Have you?’ I wondered whether he was one of her customers, and my blood began to pound with anger. But I didn’t want to start a conversation about that with Ernie at my side. After all, he didn’t know, as far as I could tell, what Hannah did for a living and I was keen to keep it that way.
However, before I could say anything else, Hannah continued, ‘Yeah. I don’t know where but I’ve a feeling it might have been up home.’
‘Up home’ for Hannah is not Canning Town, where she lives now, but Spitalfields, where so many Jews have their homes and businesses.
‘Military types go all over the place,’ Ernie said, ‘especially these days.’
‘Yes.’
What sounded like many hundreds of gasps made us all glance up. There was nothing, as far as I could tell, to see.
‘Oh, there she is, Gawd bless her!’ a fat, tired-looking woman standing just in front of one of the motionless MPs said.
‘Where’s who?’ Hannah asked, as she peered into the darkness to where the woman was now pointing. ‘Lily?’
‘The Blessed Lily,’ the fat woman corrected. ‘Gawd love her.’
Ernie and I squinted into the darkness until I saw the lone, bedraggled figure of a young girl drag itself slowly towards us. People cheered, some sang – the MPs gazed upon the crowd with menace and fear, and at a barked order from somewhere they made their weapons ready to fire.
I turned to Ernie and said, ‘This is madness.’
‘Lily! Lily!’ the people chanted.
‘Here she comes!’
‘What the Virgin say to you, love?’ one old man asked, as the girl, her face and clothes covered with mud, made her way past the MPs and attempted to get to her people. ‘The war over, is it?’
She ignored him. As she pushed forward as quickly as she could, all I heard her say was, ‘Leave me alone! Leave me
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