by Ellie Dean
April sipped her tea, aware that Ron was watching her, his expression more puzzled than hostile, but it made her feel uneasy all the same, for she suspected that he didn’t really approve of her or her situation, and so she was relieved when he closed his eyes and tried to settle down to sleep. She’d heard from Peggy that Ron and Stan were very close friends, and she accepted that Ron was of an older generation who frowned on girls like her. Would her Uncle Stan feel the same way?
The sound of heavy-bellied bombers made the walls vibrate and the ground shudder beneath their feet, and April looked up, wondering fearfully if Cliffehaven was to be tonight’s target.
‘They’ll probably be targeting the airfield,’ shouted Sarah above the thunder of engines and the boom and clatter of Cliffehaven’s guns. ‘Let’s just hope to goodness all our planes are in the air by now.’
The distant thuds and crumps seemed to bear this out, but April was still finding it difficult not to remember that awful night back in Portsmouth.
‘It ain’t nice, is it?’ asked Ivy, pulling the blanket more tightly over her shoulders. ‘We ’ad a bomb hit our factory, and I were trapped for bleedin’ hours down there. Lost one of me mates that night,’ she added sadly, ‘and it’s still ’ard to forget how frightened I were every time Jerry comes over.’
‘I’m sorry you’re both finding it all such an ordeal,’ said Peggy. ‘It can’t be easy after what happened to you.’ She reached out and took the girls’ hands. ‘Perhaps you’d find it would help if you talked about it?’
‘Nah, you’re all right,’ said Ivy stoically. ‘Your Doreen made it easier, and I’ve done all the talking I want.’
‘And you, April? How do you feel?’
‘Jumpy,’ she admitted with a ragged smile. ‘But I’d like to talk about Paula. She was my best friend, and like Ivy, this brings it all back.’
Hesitantly, April began to tell the others about Paula and how they’d met. She remembered the funny things that had happened to them both at school and during their time in the WRNS, and as the memories crowded in, she felt a wave of sadness wash over her. It was when she told them about the bombing raid that had killed her best friend, that April realised she was crying. ‘I miss her so much,’ she said, wiping away the tears. ‘She was such a good friend, and I still can hardly believe I’ll never see her again.’
A gnarled, warm hand momentarily covered her fingers. ‘She’ll always be with you, wee girl,’ said Ron gruffly. ‘The dead stay with us in our hearts and minds for as long as we still draw breath, and although I’m not a religious man, I like to think we’ll be together again at the last trumpet call.’
April nodded, grateful for his kind words, and suspecting he’d lost loved ones during both wars. ‘Thank you, Ron. That thought is comforting.’
‘Aye, well, for now we have to concentrate on the living and do all we can to see this damned war at an end,’ he said fiercely. ‘This is no world to bring a new life into.’
April placed her hand protectively over the mound of her stomach as a particularly loud explosion shook the ground beneath her. It certainly wasn’t, but her baby would be born, war or not, and there wasn’t much she could do about it.
Tactfully, Peggy changed the subject, and began to discuss what everyone would be wearing to Stan’s wedding, which was now only a matter of weeks away.
‘Are you all going?’ asked April in surprise.
‘Stan has been Ron’s friend since the Stone Age,’ said Rita with a teasing light in her eyes as she glanced across at Ron, ‘and I’ve known him since I was a kid. He’s helped all of us girls at one time or another, and as far as we’re concerned, he’s part of the family.’
‘I’m sure he’ll invite you too,’ said Peggy comfortably. ‘He wouldn’t want to leave you out now he and Ethel have taken such a shine to you.’ She smiled with affection. ‘Stan’s like that – a good man with a big heart.’
April smiled back, hoping this proved to be true.
The all-clear didn’t go for another hour, and when they emerged from the Anderson shelter they discovered it was dawn. Yawning and stretching to ease the aches and pains of sitting on a hard bench all night, they trooped indoors, eager to get some warmth into their stiff muscles and frozen toes and fingers.
Cordelia was feeling quite sprightly, for she’d slept through the whole thing and was looking forward to her breakfast. Peggy bathed and dressed Daisy, while Ron checked on his ferrets and fed the dog and cat. Rita shot off to the fire station and the others got dressed for the day before they started to prepare breakfast.
Rita returned within half an hour to report that although the airfield had suffered a lot of damage, Cliffehaven itself seemed to have escaped. ‘My boss said that by the sound of it most of the planes were airborne by the time Jerry arrived, but the admin buildings, machine shops and some of the Nissen huts have been wiped out.’ Her little face was pinched with anxiety. ‘I just hope to goodness Matt and the others are all right.’
Peggy put her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with fear as she thought of her daughter Cissy and her son-in-law Martin. ‘Did John Hicks have any idea of the number of casualties?’
Rita shook her head, her eyes dull with anxiety. ‘Sorry, Aunt Peg, the fireman up at the airfield just told him there were some casualties amongst the mechanics when the repair shop was hit. There was nothing about the rest of the personnel.’
‘Oh, Lord,’ Peggy groaned tearfully. ‘It could be hours before anyone can get through to me. This damned war is driving me mad with all its uncertainties and the endless wait to hear anything.’
‘I’m sure Martin or Cissy will ring you as soon as they can,’ soothed Sarah. ‘But if I hear anything up at the Cliffe estate, I’ll ring you immediately.’
‘You are a dear,’ sniffed Peggy. ‘Thank you.’
Sarah pulled on her coat and beret. ‘I’d better get a move on, or I’ll be late,’ she said. ‘Try not to worry, both of you. I’m sure everyone is fine.’
Peggy watched her run down the steps, as lithe and graceful as a dancer despite the unflattering jodhpurs, dark green coat and heavy walking shoes. She had almost an hour’s walk over the hills to get to the estate, and she did it cheerfully each day no matter what the weather.
‘I’d better be off an’ all,’ said Ivy, hoisting the straps of her overalls over her shoulders and pulling on the coat she’d made out of a picnic blanket. She gave Rita a consoling hug and then shot a grin at April. ‘Good luck for today, and I’m looking forward to ’earing ’ow you got on with that smelly dog.’
‘I expect you’re feeling a bit nervous about your first day, aren’t you?’ asked Rita, who was now shovelling down the hot, welcome porridge as if her life depended upon it.
April nodded. ‘Miss Gardener makes me nervous when she watches me, so I’m hoping she’ll mostly just leave me to it.’
‘I’ll make you some sandwiches and a flask of tea for your lunch,’ said Peggy as she spooned porridge into Daisy’s mouth. She was trying hard to concentrate on the present and stifle her fears over Cissy and the others. ‘I doubt Vera will provide anything, and it will save you having to go into the other room with Winston.’
April smiled at her gratefully and glanced at the clock. ‘I have to go too,’ she said apologetically. ‘It would be very bad form to turn up late on my first day.’ She washed up her breakfast things and shot upstairs to clean her teeth and prepare for the day. On her return to the kitchen she found it deserted but for Peggy, Cordelia and Daisy.
‘They’ve all left for work and Ron’s taken Harvey for his morning walk,’ explained Peggy. ‘I’m hoping he’ll go as far as the airfield today to see if he can get any word about my daughter and son-in-law. Though I doubt he’ll be let anywhere near the place. Security is very tight up there.’
She handed April a string bag containing a packet of sandwiches and a thermos. ‘You have a good day, dear, and don’t mind me. I’m a bit inclined to fret about everything and
it usually comes to nothing.’
‘I might hear something over the telephone line,’ said April. ‘And although I’m not allowed to repeat anything I hear, I’m sure that if it’s relevant, I can get word to you somehow.’
‘That is sweet of you, but I don’t want you getting into trouble – especially on your very first day.’
April smiled at her and patted her arm. ‘I won’t,’ she assured her.
‘Now you’re not to worry about your little friend Shirley. I’ll see she gets your note one way or another.’
‘April’s hair isn’t curly,’ protested Cordelia from the other end of the table where she’d spread out the morning paper. ‘And I can’t see how you could possibly know that she looks like her mother. You’ve never set eyes on the woman.’
Peggy and April exchanged amused glances. Cordelia had forgotten to turn her hearing aid back on after her night in the shelter.
April kissed Peggy’s cheek and then, armed with the string bag and gas-mask box, hurried down the steps and out of the back door. It was still early, but the sky was pearly with streaks of blue appearing between the small white fluffy clouds, promising a fine day. She took a deep breath of the lovely clean air. She was looking forward to getting stuck in on her new job, and she set off quickly for the telephone exchange building.
Peggy watched her go from the kitchen window and then, trying to take her mind off Cissy and Martin, she got on with her day. First she saw to Daisy, cleaning her face of porridge before sitting her on the floor with a colouring book and her dolls. Then she put a few drops of milk in a saucer for Queenie, who was winding herself around her legs and mewing. Queenie was getting very demanding, but her fur was sleek, her eyes bright and her curiosity and energy unbounding, so Peggy didn’t begrudge her a bit of milk now and again.
She tackled the last of the washing-up and then scrubbed the table and the kitchen floor, repeatedly looking at the clock, urging the telephone to ring. But it stayed stubbornly silent, and in the end she couldn’t resist going into the hall to check that the receiver hadn’t been left off the hook or the line disconnected for some reason.
‘Number, please.’
‘Sorry, April. I was just making sure the telephone line was in order.’
‘I’ve heard nothing this end either,’ she said quietly.
‘No news is good news, I suppose,’ sighed Peggy and hung up.
She went back into the kitchen to tackle the nappies that were soaking in a bucket under the sink. Thankfully, Daisy was almost potty trained, although she still couldn’t get through the night without a nappy, and there was the occasional accident, but it did make life easier not to have so much washing to do every day.
With the nappies flapping on the washing line and the hall floor washed down, it was time to head off for the town hall and her session with the WVS. She made sure Cordelia had everything she needed, then dragged on her coat, glancing once again at the clock and cursing the new rules which forbade her to ring Martin’s office up at the airfield. It was all so frustrating she could scream.
The raucous shrill made her jump and then she was racing into the hall and snatching up the receiver. ‘Hello?’ she said breathlessly.
‘Mum? It’s Cissy. We’re all fine up here, so you’re not to worry. I’m sorry I haven’t called before this, but it’s been chaotic.’
‘Oh, darling, I’m so relieved. I’ve been going through agonies not knowing what’s going on.’
‘We were hit quite badly,’ said Cissy, ‘and we lost a couple of mechanics in the first wave.’ She paused and her voice wavered as she spoke again. ‘Tragically, we also lost two bomber crews when their planes were hit as they tried to take off – and a Polish pilot bought it when his Spitfire crash-landed right on top of the admin block. But Martin, Matt and all the boys you’ve met are all right, and Martin says he’ll try to come over to see you when time allows.’
‘That would be wonderful,’ sighed Peggy. ‘And Rita will be very relieved to hear that Matt has come through. Oh, Cissy, I can’t begin to tell you how worried we’ve all been.’
‘I know, Mum,’ she said solemnly. ‘It’s a horrid business all round, especially when we lose our boys like this. Look, I have to go. I’ll try and come for a visit, but you know how things are . . .’
‘Of course I do, and thank you, darling, for ringing.’ Peggy put down the receiver and sank into the hall chair, the tears streaming down her face. The relief was immense, but the fear went on day after day, and she didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to bear living with it. Damn Hitler, damn the Luftwaffe and damn, damn, damn this bloody war to hell and back.
She eventually got her emotions under control and lifted the receiver. ‘April, could you put me through to the fire station, dear? Everyone’s safe up at Cliffe, and I have to tell Rita so she doesn’t worry all day.’
‘I’m so glad,’ said April. ‘Putting you through.’
Peggy had spent the rest of the morning in the large main room of the town hall helping to pack the comfort boxes for the troops. In her rare spare moments, she glanced towards the window that overlooked the telephone exchange building, wondering if April was coping all right, and whether she was enjoying the work. She’d sounded very competent earlier, her well-modulated voice so much more pleasant than Bertha’s strangled vowels, so she was hopeful that Vera Gardener might keep her on should Lucinda Downes decide not to return to Cliffehaven, but to stay with her widowed mother in Devon.
It was almost midday and Peggy was counting the minutes until she could leave the confines of the noisy, busy hall for the fresh air of the seafront and a refreshing cup of tea. She was busy taping up a box when she was nudged by her neighbour’s sharp elbow. ‘Stand by your beds,’ she murmured. ‘Your sister’s just arrived.’
Peggy’s spirits plummeted. Doris was the last person she wanted to see this morning, but as there was no way of avoiding her, she plastered on a smile and prepared for battle.
‘Margaret, there you are,’ Doris said, striding towards her in her immaculately tailored dark green uniform, looking as if she’d just stepped out of a beauty parlour. ‘I’m going to need you to stay on for an extra hour today. I have a meeting with the WVS committee.’
Being called Margaret always set her teeth on edge, and Doris’s bossy attitude merely made it worse. ‘No can do, Doris,’ she replied. ‘I have to be somewhere at twelve.’
‘I’m sure it’s not as important as my meeting with the committee,’ Doris said dismissively, ‘and I need someone to take charge during my absence.’
‘I’m sure Edna would be delighted to fill in for you,’ said Peggy, glancing across to another table. Edna was always keen to volunteer for things in the faint hope she’d be elevated to the committee.
‘I’m sure she would,’ said Doris coldly, ‘but I’m not asking her, I’m asking you.’
‘And I’ve already said I can’t do it,’ she replied firmly.
‘I can’t imagine what could possibly be more important than holding the fort here. Really, Margaret, it’s a pretty poor show when I can’t rely on my sister in my hour of need.’
‘If you’d asked me yesterday, then I would have agreed to do it,’ said Peggy, starting to fill another box. ‘But I’ve made arrangements which I’m not willing to cancel. Ask Edna.’
Doris glared at her and took a deep breath, clearly trying hard to contain her impatience. ‘You do very little towards the war effort, Margaret,’ she hissed, ‘other than a few hours helping out here. I really do think it’s time you got your priorities right.’
Peggy’s hand stilled. She dropped the socks into the box and glared back at her sister, seething at her accusation. ‘How dare you accuse me of doing nothing,’ she said furiously, ‘when you swan about in your car needlessly using petrol, turn up here when you feel like it to do nothing but boss people about, and resent having evacuees move in with you? It’s you who’s got their priorities wrong.’
Becoming
aware that they had an interested audience, she leaned forward and lowered her voice. ‘I’m not doing it, Doris, and if you were more organised, you would have sorted this out earlier.’
‘It’s a last-minute meeting,’ Doris retorted. ‘I only learned about it an hour ago.’
Peggy wondered if that was because Doris was being excluded by the snooty clique of women that made up the committees in Cliffehaven. Hearing about her impending divorce and the scandal over her husband Ted’s affair with the woman on the fish counter, they had probably closed ranks. ‘That’s hardly my problem,’ she replied. ‘And I’m not willing to change my plans just to suit you. It isn’t as if you’d do the same for me, is it?’
‘Of course I would,’ Doris blustered.
And pigs might fly, thought Peggy sourly. ‘Then perhaps you’d like to babysit Daisy for the afternoon of Stan’s wedding? That would be a terrific help.’
Doris went pink and fumbled in her lovely leather handbag for her diary. She flicked through the pages. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said without a hint of real chagrin, ‘but I have a Women’s Institute meeting to address that afternoon.’
Peggy knew for a fact it was the day before the wedding, but didn’t even bother to argue. ‘What a shame,’ she murmured.
‘Another time, perhaps,’ said Doris, tucking the diary away and fastening her handbag. She looked round the room, her glare making their audience suddenly concentrate harder on their various tasks. She gave an exasperated sigh and turned on her heel. ‘Edna,’ she called across to another table. ‘Edna, my dear, I need to have a quiet word.’
Peggy shot an amused glance at the women on either side of her and finished packing the box. Doris was a pain in the neck and wound her up like a clock, but she could certainly liven up a tedious morning.