‘Follow me,’ Frank said as he set off at a brisk pace.
On the tram, Ruby sat on the lower deck with Wilf and Stella while the others rushed upstairs to the open deck. ‘I’ll pay,’ Wilf called out to the boys.
‘It’s rather sad, isn’t it?’ Stella said as they pointed out flags on buildings hung at half-mast.
‘Have you seen the black wreaths on the doors?’ Ruby answered.
Wilf puffed on his pipe. ‘There’s a lot of important buildings around this way connected to the royal family as well as our government.’
Stella peered through the window. ‘There’s nothing like it in Erith, although we do have a few posh houses up the Avenue.’
‘All the same, love, we live in an important street.’
Ruby was puzzled. ‘Why do you say that, Wilf?’
‘Alexandra Road is named after the late king’s wife, because the houses were built around the time of Edward VII’s coronation,’ he explained.
‘You learn something new every day. George will be fascinated with that fact,’ Ruby said, wishing she’d thought to put a piece of paper and a pencil in her bag to write down any interesting snippets she came across. She and George had recently started keeping a scrapbook, cutting out newspaper articles about the death of their king and stories about the future king and coronation. While she was working in the Prince of Wales Hotel locals had been most helpful, giving her anything that would build towards George’s collection.
‘It’s a bit chilly, isn’t it?’ Stella gave a small shiver. ‘You’d not think it was the middle of May.’
‘The weather is right for the situation. Bright sunshine wouldn’t seem fitting while our king is lying dead not many yards from here,’ Wilf said thoughtfully. ‘At least it’s not raining as well. Bound to have to queue before we can pay our respects.’
‘Queue?’ Stella asked.
‘I did tell you that the lads down on the docks came up yesterday, and they said the queue runs right down to the river.’ Wilf raised his eyebrows at his wife. ‘You’ve put your best shoes on, haven’t you?’
‘I wanted to look smart for the royal family,’ Stella huffed indignantly.
‘Believe me, woman, when I say that if we do meet a member of the royal family, they will not be looking at your feet. You’ll not be fit for anything come tomorrow when your feet are sore.’
Stella nudged Ruby. ‘He’s right – but I’ll not give him the satisfaction of knowing it. I’ve put me slippers in my bag.’
Ruby tried not to laugh. Stella could be a tonic at times.
‘Look lively,’ Wilf said, getting to his feet a few minutes later. ‘This is our stop.’
Waiting for the boys to join them, Ruby looked around her. What a grand place London was, she thought. She recognized Big Ben from the many pictures she’d seen, and wondered if she would hear the chimes when it struck the hour.
‘Keep together, now,’ Frank instructed them. ‘We have to cross the road, so hang on to each other so no one gets lost. The trams move faster here than they do back home.’
Ruby clung on to George’s hand as if his life depended on it, while Derek took hold of her other hand and also his younger brother’s. ‘Are you enjoying the trip so far?’ he asked with a cheeky grin.
‘I’d like to have visited under different circumstances,’ she replied. ‘I’m surprised you’ve not brought one of your young lady friends with you?’ Derek was a popular lad these days.
‘It’s a family day today. Family and friends,’ he corrected himself. ‘Mum wouldn’t have been happy if I’d brought along a stranger.’
‘Your mother brought you up right,’ she grinned at him as they reached the other side of the road and joined the back of a queue that seemed to go on forever.
‘Do you think it would be rude if we had one of our sandwiches while we’re stood here?’ Stella wondered as she turned to check their party were still together. ‘My stomach’s rumbling like a good’n.’
‘I don’t see why not. There are others eating. Better out here on the street before we get any closer,’ Ruby said as she looked down the queue and then behind them. ‘Crikey – there must be another fifty people who have joined us already.’
Stella dished out the food, telling the younger lads to stand still while they ate and to mind their best clothes didn’t get mucky.
For two hours the friends shuffled slowly forward until at last the doors of Westminster Hall appeared in front of them. Ruby checked George’s face and wiped his cheeks with her handkerchief before running her fingers through his unruly hair. ‘There you are. You look respectable enough to say goodbye to our king,’ she said, stepping back to check him over before planting a kiss on the tip of his nose.
‘Urgh, get off,’ he said, scrubbing his nose. ‘Someone might see. I’m not a kid any more. I’ll be a working man when I’m fourteen. You won’t be kissing me then, will you?’
‘That’s four years off, George, and I’ll keep kissing you until my dying breath, so you’ll just have to put up with it,’ she laughed, pinching his cheek. ‘I take it you aren’t too old to hold your mum’s hand, are you?’
‘I’m only joking, Mum. You can kiss me as much as you like, and I’ll keep kissing you until I’m an old man too,’ he said, taking her hand as they entered the sombre building.
‘What do you think you’ll remember most about today?’ Frank asked Ruby as he sat next to her on the train home, supporting a sleeping George who was slumped against him.
‘I suppose you think I’m going to say the grandeur of the building and the solemnity of the occasion,’
