by Roland Moore
Joyce stared past the weeds that grew over most of the yard. She stared past the derelict stable block, the pile of wood where the chicken coop had been. Ha, the postbox was still just about standing, its metal box hanging by one bolt on a splintered pole. She stared past to the farmhouse; its windows boarded up long ago.
And then Joyce no longer saw those things.
Instead, she saw radiant golden light in the sky. Summer was here. The fields were newly furrowed; the windows of the house alight with warmth and laughter; tantalising smells of dinner were coming from the kitchen; the yard was free of weeds. From somewhere, she was sure she could hear Bing Crosby singing ‘White Christmas’.
And then she saw them.
They were moving across the fields, small shapes against the sunlight; silhouettes dancing and running. But as they came closer, she could make out their faces and see who they were. They were land girls. They were her friends.
Connie Carter, Iris Dawson, Nancy Morrell, Annie Barratt, Bea Finch and Esther Reeves; all as they once were, coming across the fields dressed in their Women’s Land Army uniforms and headscarves, laughing, joking, sharing a glorious long-gone summer. They noticed Joyce watching and they started to wave, desperate for her attention, desperate for her to join them in the field.
Joyce Fisher felt herself drawn to them, her heart filling with warmth.
She grinned to herself.
It was good to be back.
THE END
If you loved reading about Connie Carter, Joyce Fisher and Esther Reeves, you can find more books by Roland Moore here.
Acknowledgements
I’m very grateful that I’ve had the chance to tell another story about the Land Girls. I’ve lived with these characters for over ten years now and seen their journeys play out on television and in these novels – so it is a wonderful opportunity to finish that journey for some of them in these pages. It’s been hard letting them go – and watching them disappear into the fields of a final summer’s day, but I feel blessed that I can give closure to them. The ending is the one that I had in mind from the time I started to write the series and I hope you like it.
I want to thank my family for their endless loving support and encouragement; Charlotte Ledger at Harper Collins who believed in me and the idea; Emily Ruston and Laura Gerrard for making the manuscript as good as it can be; and Claire Fenby for her great social media ideas.
Thanks too to Julia Wyatt and James Anderson for their support. I’d also like to thank all the actors for their brilliant work on the television series – each of them enabled me to find the voices for their characters whenever I opened the laptop. This book focuses on Joyce Fisher and I kept in mind Becci Gemmell’s truthful and visceral performance on TV as I wrote some of the most nerve-wracking scenes for her character in this book. Sorry about putting Joyce through so much, Becci!
Finally I’d like to thank all the readers who have read these novels, reviewed them and supported them. Hope you enjoy this story. Here’s to the end of the war.
About the Author
Roland Moore is the award-winning series creator and scriptwriter of the BBC1 period drama Land Girls. He’s delighted to be able to expand on that world in a new series of novels for HarperCollins.
His lovely wife is a great source of support and his son often comes up with helpful suggestions – even if they mostly involve laser beams and robots.
You can find out more about Roland on Twitter @RolandMooreTV, Facebook www.facebook.com/landgirlstvbook/ or at www.rolandmoore.tv.
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