Lily’s War Read Online Free PDF

he told me more about his past than he had ever done before. He never stopped talking about Liverpool, where he was born, or India and China where he went with the British Army. He brought those places alive to me. So much so I wanted to see them for myself.’
    ‘Liverpool must seem strange and drab after India and Australia?’
    He placed the egg back on the tray and smiled. ‘I enjoy the difference. I like the people and the bustle of the place. Besides I’m convinced it was God’s will that I came.’
    ‘Are you?’ Lily had never met anyone who spoke so openly about God’s will in the scheme of things. ‘How do you know?’
    ‘You just know,’ he drawled. ‘He won’t leave you alone.’
    There was a silence and she hesitated before saying, ‘I believe you have an aunt over here? Have you found her yet?’
    ‘To tell you the truth I haven’t looked. Haven’t had time.’ He rested his arms on the counter and the action brought his face close to hers. ‘Is it possible you might have time to help me?’
    She could hardly believe he was asking her but did not hesitate. ‘I can make time. Have you an address?’
    Matt took a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it over. ‘I know I could get a street map but it’s more fun having someone explaining what’s which.’
    Lily looked at the address and said ruefully, ‘I don’t know it. I can tell you Seiont is the name of a Welsh river. A lot of the housing in Liverpool was built by Welshmen. Any clues to its whereabouts from your father?’
    ‘He said Steble Street public baths was not far away.’
    Lily was surprised. ‘It’s Toxteth way – not far from Park Road if I remember. My brother delivers in that area. There’s several streets not far away named after characters out of Dickens’s novels.’
    He smiled, showing white teeth. ‘I remember Dad read Dickens, Kipling and the Bible. He believed the British Army and the Church of England would stand for ever. The house is three storeys high and there were no windows at the back.’
    ‘It must be from the times when the government levied a tax on windows,’ she said thoughtfully, folding the paper between her fingers. ‘Shall we go and find it?’ She whipped off her apron. ‘I’ll have to be back for the second milking about threeish. If you don’t mind waiting while I get a coat?’
    ‘Of course not.’
    Lily left him to run a comb swiftly through her hair. She pressed the back of her hands to hot cheeks and wondered how he had known where to find her. He must have asked, which meant he was interested. Which was all to the good because she was more than just interested in him! She found her best hat and turned the shop sign to closed.
    They caught a tram in West Derby Road and she pointed out the tobacco factory, the ice-cream parlour, the cinema and the home-made sweet shop. ‘Terrible for the teeth but fascinating watching them being made.’
    He looked amused. ‘Dad mentioned Everton toffee.’
    ‘Striped sugar coating with toffee inside. Daisy, my sister, helps to make them. They originated in a little toffee shop in Everton which used to be a township all of its own over a hundred years ago. Liverpool grew and gobbled it up.’ She waved her right arm as they passed the Hippodrome theatre and cinema. ‘It’s thataway! You get a marvellous view of the river and the Wirral peninsula from up on the Brow. If you’d like to see it, I could show you one day.’
    ‘I’d like that.’ They were silent a moment, then he murmured, ‘Dad mentioned a Princes Road. Said he remembered wealthy merchants riding in their carriages. It was tree-lined and more like one of those boulevards in Paris.’
    She smiled. ‘It’s still there but past its heyday. There’s not so many wealthy merchants these days. More Irish, I’d say. They flooded in after the potato famine in the last century. Liverpool was first port of call for those who couldn’t afford America or Australia.’
    ‘Bishop Dr