Everyone in the congregation knew he meant Paul.
After the Benediction Gracie sat stunned as the congregation filed out. Maud Blackmarsh walked straight past and accidentally trod on Paul’s foot. Her eyes were dark little slits and she said sorry with not once ounce of regret in her voice and Gracie knew she had done it on purpose. When most of the congregation had gone out onto the porch Gracie stood up.
‘Oh dear,’ she said.
‘Yes,’ said Paul. ‘Oh dear indeed.’
They went outside but were left huddled in their little group of four and only a few brave people dared to nod at them or tap Paul on the shoulder and say quietly that they would catch up with him during the week.
‘Why don’t we have morning tea at home this week?’ Gracie suggested, and she peered at the tin Lilly was holding.
‘Rock cakes,’ said Lilly.
So Gracie linked her arm through Paul’s, kissed him on the cheek to show him she was proud of his stance for the poor and whispered in his ear that she wanted to be just like him. Edie and Lilly linked arms on the other side of him so the four of them took up the entire pathway all the way home.
Edie sat at the table, opposite Gracie and Lilly. They were all watching Paul pace. It was like watching a tennis ball bounce from one end of the court to the other as he went back and forth from the fireplace to the window.
He waved a rock cake in the air. ‘I wondered how long it would take the Reverend to hear that I am a founding member of the Communist Party,’ he said. ‘Along with Adela Pankhurst and our own Beth. Of course Adela’s baby was at the inaugural meeting too, so I suppose it’s a founding member as well. I bet it was old Maud Blackmarsh who told him. I’m ropeable, you know, not about Reverend Whitlock, I couldn’t give two hoots what that stick-insect has to say. I’m angry about the plight of the returned soldiers, and no amount of preaching from Whitlock is going to help those poor blighters. Of course I joined the Communist Party — what decent man wouldn’t?’
‘A lot, it seems,’ said Edie. ‘But I’m sure you and Adela Pankhurst and our own Beth are capable of finding more members — even in Ballarat. For goodness sake sit down and have some tea before it’s cold.’
‘He forgets that I am also on the School of Mines Repatriation Committee and the Soldiers Housing Fund.’ Paul took a vicious bite from the rock cake and waved it in the air again and crumbs flew from it and settled on the carpet. He thought for a moment. ‘I’ll certainly be voting for Adela if she stands for parliament. I will, you know. And I think it’s time I started a Ballarat chapter of the Party — then I won’t have to keep taking the train to Melbourne for meetings down there. Perhaps I could get Beth to come up for the first meeting. We need the same here as in Melbourne. We need communal kitchens and free books.’
Edie felt a rush of resentment come from nowhere and run hot through her veins. She remembered him telling her so vehemently that no daughter of his would work while he could support her. But Adela Pankhurst could stand for parliament and get his support, Beth could help him start Communist Party meetings, but his own daughter couldn’t work or drive a motor vehicle because that would embarrass him.
‘Does that mean it’s okay for me to work now?’ she asked.
‘Yes, yes,’ he muttered. ‘Do whatever you like,’ as if it had never been an issue for him.
‘Well, I might like a job in your office. Or I might take driving lessons.’ She smiled at Lilly and Gracie and Gracie smiled back. She knew where Edie was going. Yes, thought Edie — that would trip him up.
But he ignored her and kept pacing.
‘Papa, take off your jacket, the room is warm enough with the fire. Sit down and finish your tea,’ said Gracie.
‘Yes, do,’ said Lilly. ‘Then we’ll have lunch. I’ve made a blackberry pie for dessert. I made it with those blackberries we picked yesterday.’
‘I picked most of them,’ said Gracie.
‘You mean you ate most of them,’ laughed Edie.
Edie was glad her father had a friend in Lilly; she had made him rounder, certainly in the stomach area, but in his mind and soul too. When he was with Lilly, they sat quietly by the fire reading. Paul went into the office three days a week, the other days he often spent with Lilly.
Paul sighed, took off his jacket and draped it over the back of the chair so it wouldn’t crease, and sat down. Edie knew he would eventually calm down; he never liked to be angry in front of them. He saved it to fight for his causes — causes that needed his anger.
‘The war is well and truly over and what are we left with? Have our boys had the spoils of a victory? No, they have not! Instead they’ve walked the streets like lost souls looking for the afterlife!’ Paul flipped a slice of bread onto his plate. Edie winced at the whack of the bread knife as it hit the china plate instead of the bread.
It was reading the paper yesterday that had got him riled up in the first place. Edie had seen him turn stony as he read, his brow furrowed. He’d been stewing all night
