by Daisy Styles
‘I’m best at being with folks,’ Edna replied. ‘Reading them the paper, chatting and making them laugh – as long as I don’t make them split their stitches,’ she chuckled, completing her form and dropping it into a box by the front door.
Just as they were about to leave, Edna and Nora spotted Julia talking to the Matron.
‘She never mentioned she was coming here!’ Nora gasped incredulously.
‘The more the merrier,’ Edna answered cheerily.
‘You’d think she’d have told us,’ indignant Nora grumbled.
‘Shhh! She’s coming over,’ Edna hissed as Julia approached them. ‘Have you joined up?’ she asked with a smile.
Julia nodded. ‘Matron noticed on my form that I’d got a St John’s certificate so she’s put me straight to work on the wards.’
Nora rolled her eyes as if to say, ‘Well, she would, wouldn’t she?’
‘What have you signed up for?’ Julia inquired.
‘Washing up!’ Nora said bluntly.
‘General dogsbody,’ Edna replied.
Julia checked the time on her slender gold wristwatch. ‘I’d better be off,’ she said hurriedly. ‘Back to the grindstone.’
A scowling Nora watched her go.
‘Pack it in, our lass,’ Edna scolded. ‘At least the kid’s volunteering.’
‘Oh, yeah,’ sneered Nora. ‘And wouldn’t she get the poshest job too? Nursing whilst we’re skivvying!’
‘Oi!’ Edna snapped. ‘You volunteered for what you thought you could do best – would you swap with Julia if you could?’
Nora’s sky-blue eyes clouded. ‘No, I’m not qualified to nurse and I’d be no good at it either.’
‘There you go,’ Edna said equably. ‘Each to his own.’
The scowl on Nora’s face grew when she saw Julia striding down the drive ahead of them. ‘She didn’t even wait to catch the bus home with us,’ she snorted. ‘Miserable cow!’
11. In Kit’s Safekeeping
Shortly after her return to work, Rosa found a letter in her pigeon-hole at the Phoenix. It was less than a week since her emotional farewell from Roger, and she was delighted that a letter had reached her so soon.
My dearest, darling, sweetest Rosa,
For a grown man well into his twenties, I’m ashamed to say I felt like sobbing as your train pulled out of King’s Lynn, taking you with it. I was so bereft I’ve no idea how I got back to the base, but reality kicked in later when we got the command to go and it was action stations for my squadron. I won’t elaborate (I know it upsets you) – let’s just say we lost some good men in a successful mission. Dawn was breaking as we touched down on the runway, and a blazing pink sun rose over the horizon, bringing light to a new day, and my thoughts immediately flew to you. God, how I would love to return home to you! To walk into your arms, rest my head against your soft breasts and run my hands along the curve of your back and feel the hollow at the base of your spine.
Rosa’s face grew hot at his passionate words; did he really discover that much about her body as they lay curled up in the sand dunes?
Coming home safe made me think how fortunate I was to be not only alive but to have you, my sweetest girl, who I cannot bear even to think of losing. Darling Rosa, I want you to consider what I have to say without me breathing down your neck! It is, quite simply this – will you marry me?
Rosa gasped, in shock and delight. ‘Marry you!’ she squeaked.
I’m not a rich man but my family have land which we farm in the south of England, a place called Wiltshire. When the war is over, I would like to continue with the RAF, which has become my second home and my second love, after you of course! If we married, we could live both in Wiltshire and in London. We could share an artists’ studio! I already have one: an old barn on the farm that I stripped out to make a studio; the light is perfect for painting. I have never been more certain about anything in my entire life; I love you and want to marry you, Rosa.
Moved beyond words by the sincerity of Roger’s letter, tears appeared in Rosa’s deep, dark-brown eyes.
IF you accept a great lumbering loudmouth like me as your future husband, then I have a task for you. You talked to me a lot about Kit, a young woman you work with and like greatly; I remember her name well because you mentioned her so often.
Rosa’s brow crinkled as she tried to remember what she had actually told Roger about Kit – whatever it was could only have been good, as she had only good things to say about Kit.
I’ve taken the liberty of sending a small package, care of the Phoenix factory, to Kit. If you choose to marry me, ask her for the parcel; if you decide against it, then please ask Kit to return the parcel to me (I’ll refund any costs) and I will try to mend my broken heart! I’ll say no more for now – my destiny lies with you, dearest Rosa.
Roger
With trembling hands Rosa folded the letter, then checked the factory clock. She was on her break and had a bit of time till the hooter went off; she’d been briefly moved from the cordite line to stand in for a sick woman in the filling shed, so she’d have a chance to question Kit, but right now Rosa wanted time to herself. Not wanting to stay indoors, she hurried out of the factory and struck out for the moors that ran alongside the Phoenix. Feeling the wind lift her hair, she quickened her pace and quickly gained height, all the time turning over Roger’s proposal in her mind.
‘I’ve only met him TWICE!’ she said out loud.
But they were no different from millions of couples who fell head over heels in love at first sight; the war pressurized all relationships – how could it be otherwise when you didn’t know from one day to the next if your loved one would die fighting on the front line, or manning a minesweeper in enemy territory, or flying out on nightly bombing raids? Wisdom didn’t enter into the argument when the major concern for most couples in love was: would your beloved return safely to your arms or would you never see him again?
‘To hell with caution,’ she’d heard Maggie say more than once. ‘Seize life by the throat and live for the moment!’
When Rosa thought of Roger her insides melted with love; he was honest, kind, funny, impetuous, loyal, devoted, faithful – the list could go on forever as far as she was concerned. As she retraced her steps back to the factory, Rosa wondered what her brother, Gabriel, would have said to her. Rosa smiled as she recalled her brother’s voice; she knew exactly what he would say. ‘Follow your heart, cara.’
‘And I will!’ Rosa announced to a pair of startled magpies that flew by, squawking crossly.
After adjusting her wild hair, which she always struggled to keep inside her white turban, Rosa entered the filling shed, where she took her place beside Kit. Smiling shyly, Rosa plucked up the courage to ask her dear friend if anything had arrived in the post for her.
Kit let out a long sigh of relief. ‘Thank God you asked me!’ she laughed. ‘I thought you were never going to mention it.’
‘Sorry, I’ve only just received his letter explaining about the parcel,’ Rosa said. ‘I hope you don’t mind?’
Kit shook her head. ‘Of course not,’ she replied. ‘It’s just been an agony waiting to see if you wanted it. There was a note from Roger inside the package; he asked me not to mention it unless you did first. I’ve been on tenterhooks ever since.’ Unable to keep her curiosity to herself a minute longer, Kit just about exploded as she cried, ‘Well? What did your man say in his letter?’
‘I didn’t know what to think when I first started reading it,’ Rosa confessed. ‘When we were together, Roger promised he wouldn’t rush me into making any decisions, but he clearly forgot all about that once we parted,’ Rosa said as she burst out laughing. ‘Caution went right out of the window!’ A pretty pink blush spread up her face and into her turban as she added with a radiant smile, ‘He wants me to marry him.’
Kit looked up, beaming at her friend. ‘That’s wonderful news!’ she exclaimed. ‘I had assumed it was some grand romantic gesture but marriage, that
’s really serious!’ Kit gave her a hug before quickly adding, ‘That’s if you want to marry him, of course?’
Rosa nodded happily. ‘I think I do,’ she said nervously. ‘So may I have the package?’ she added eagerly.
Kit, who was obviously enjoying the drama and the romantic secrecy, giggled. ‘You can’t open it now; it’s in the changing room.’
‘Haha!’ Rosa groaned in sheer frustration.
‘You’ll have to wait till we finish our shift,’ Kit added.
‘It’s hours till the hooter goes,’ cried an overexcited Rosa.
‘Patience is a virtue,’ Kit chided with a playful wink. ‘Now come on, fill some of these fuses and the hours will fly.’
The hours didn’t fly but the long wait was helped by the popular songs supplied by Music While You Work, combined with lots of speculation about what could be inside the package. Kit, who’d handled the package, was sure of the contents. ‘It’s got to be a ring?’
‘But what if it’s not?’ cried Rosa. ‘It might be nylons?’
Kit chuckled. ‘That would be very disappointing, though I could do with some new ones – Billy used one of mine to tie his rocking horse to the leg of the kitchen table!’
When the hooter finally blew, releasing the weary workers from their long, hard shift, Rosa all but ran to the changing room, where she was joined by a breathless Kit, who took the package from her handbag and handed it to her flushed young friend.
‘I suggest you open it in private,’ Kit said hurriedly, as dozens of munitions girls came barging in.
Rosa nodded in agreement. ‘Good idea,’ she said.
After removing her overall, turban and heavy rubber boots, Rosa donned her usual clothes, then ran all the way home to the cowshed. Though it was bitterly cold, there was a distinct smell of spring in the air; Rosa gazed in delight at the pale primroses and wild daffodils dotted under the drystone walls and smiled at the sound of tweeting birds calling to each other across the blustery moors. Once inside the cowshed, she quickly built up the fading fire in the wood-burner, then by the light of the flickering flames she opened the parcel with trembling fingers. The wrapping paper fell away from a small jewellery box covered in faded midnight-blue velvet. Rosa eased open the clasp and gasped at the sight of a large shimmering garnet set in old gold. Moved beyond words, and with tears not far away, she gingerly slipped the ring on to her engagement finger.
‘It fits!’ she gasped incredulously.
Hardly able to take her eyes off the garnet, which glowed like dark-red wine in the firelight, Rosa slowly read the letter that Roger had enclosed in the package.
It was my grandmother’s engagement ring, which I had sized for you. You may remember I bound some sea grass around your finger that wonderful day we lay in the sand dunes? I kept it and asked the local jeweller to adjust the ring to fit your tiny finger.
I love you, and I hope you will say yes!
Roger
Rosa sat in front of the wood-burner for she didn’t know how long, gazing at her vintage engagement ring. Her mother had had beautiful jewellery, some very old heirlooms that were now in the hands of the thieving Nazis. This ring, she thought, represented the start of a new life; no hideous memories attached to it. She was eventually startled from her profound reverie by the arrival of Nora and Maggie, who, eager to get inside the warm cowshed and put the kettle on, made a heck of a noise as they pushed open the front door and took their coats off. Julia trailed after them, looking tired as she usually did at the end of her shift. It was Maggie who almost immediately spotted the delicate gold ring on Rosa’s wedding finger.
‘Oh, my God!’ she almost screamed. ‘What’s that?’
Nora followed Maggie’s pointing finger. ‘An engagement ring!’ she gasped.
Rosa smiled as she announced with a hint of pride in her voice, ‘I’ll have you know that, as of today, I am engaged to Roger Carrington.’
‘That fella down South?’ Nora shrieked. ‘Bloody ’ell, he’s a fast mover!’
Julia stretched out in an armchair on the other side of the room, wincing as Nora and Maggie cross-examined Rosa on her astonishing announcement. Rosa had no answers to most of their questions, but she was happy to tell them everything she knew, especially the bit about Kit keeping the arrival of the package a secret.
‘I don’t know how she kept so quiet about it,’ Maggie exclaimed. ‘I’m sure I would have been tempted to open the package and have a peek inside,’ she confessed.
‘Kit was very discreet,’ Rosa informed her friends. ‘She was so relieved when I did ask about the package, but then I had to wait all afternoon till the hooter went before she could give it to me,’ Rosa recalled with a smile.
After they’d finished their tea, Rosa rushed off to see Edna, who as usual was parked up in the dispatch yard. Edna was truly delighted but characteristically her thoughts immediately turned to Roger, so many hundreds of miles from his new fiancée.
‘Have you had a chance to tell him the good news?’ she asked after she’d admired Rosa’s unusual ring.
‘Sadly not,’ Rosa replied. ‘I’ll have to settle for a letter, which I’ll write as soon as I get home,’ she added.
Edna reached into her pinafore pocket. ‘Here, cock, take this,’ she said, as she handed Rosa her back-door key. ‘Use my phone to tell your young man just how much you love him!’
Rosa gazed at Edna in astonishment. ‘Really?’ she cried.
‘Really! Now be off with you,’ Edna urged. ‘You’ll have the place to yourself; Malc’s having a couple of pints in the Black Bull, so be sharp about it.’
Rosa didn’t need telling twice. ‘Thank you, thank you,’ she cried as she sped down the hill to Pendleton with wings on her feet.
Once inside Edna’s cosy back room, Rosa steadied her breath before she dialled Roger’s number; as the line connected she began to fret. ‘What if he’s not at his desk? What if he’s on a raid, or in the officers’ mess?’
Her wild thoughts were interrupted by a male voice at the end of the phone. ‘Hello! Who is it?’
Rosa gulped before blurting out in a single breath, ‘May I speak to Squadron Leader Roger Carrington please?’
There was a clunk as the phone was put aside, but she could still hear the male voice bellowing, ‘CARRINGTON! I say, old boy, gel on the phone for you.’
Seconds later the phone was picked up by Roger, who was clearly breathless from dashing across the room.
‘Hello!’ he sputtered.
‘It’s me,’ she squeaked nervously.
‘ROSA!’ he exclaimed. ‘Rosa,’ he said again, and with such gentleness that she felt her heart tremble with love.
‘I’m wearing your ring,’ she said simply with a smile he couldn’t see but could definitely hear. Nor could she see the tears of joy that sprang into his eyes. ‘You accept?’ he gasped.
‘I do!’ she answered softly.
At which point they both began to weep. ‘I just want to hold you and smother you with kisses,’ Roger said, as he tried to control his tumultuous emotion.
‘That would be difficult with all those miles between us,’ she said with a giggle. ‘Maybe you could fly up here and parachute straight into my arms,’ she suggested with a romantic smile.
‘When will I see you again?’ he murmured. ‘When will I see my ring on your sweet little wedding finger?’
‘I don’t know,’ Rosa responded with a heavy sigh. ‘I used all my days off visiting you, remember?’
‘As if I could ever forget,’ he whispered. ‘Oh, God!’ he added. ‘I can’t believe you’ve agreed to be my wife!’
‘How could I ever have resisted your letter of proposal or the ring you ingeniously sent to Kit for safekeeping – that was very clever,’ she told him.
‘I hope the poor girl didn’t think I was being cheeky?’ he asked, suddenly anxious.
‘No,’ Rosa assured him. ‘She liked the drama, and she’s eager to meet my new fiancé,’ she added shyly.
Feeling anxious about running up an enormous telephone bill at Edna’s expense, Rosa eventually tore herself away from the phone with promises of eternal love and an imminent meeting. Locking Edna’s back door, she retraced her steps to the Phoenix, where she returned the key to Edna, who smiled at the starry-eyed girl.
‘Everything all right?’ she asked with a cheeky smile.
Rosa dreamily nodded her head. ‘Everything is perfect!’ she laughed. ‘Thank you for letting me use your phone. I left some money on the sideboard to cover the cost,’ she quickly added.
Edna gave an unconcerned shrug, then asked a practical question. ‘Is there anybody you should notify?’ Aware that she was in danger of upsetting Rosa by mentioning her family, Edna briskly added, ‘I was wondering about those relations of yours in Manchester; they’re your nearest kin, aren’t they?’
‘Zio, my uncle,’ Rosa murmured. ‘Yes, you’re right, of course I must tell them the news.’
‘It might be a good idea to tell them sooner rather than later,’ Edna advised. ‘If your fiancé’s family should announce your marriage in the paper, your relatives up here might get quite a shock.’
Thanking Edna for her advice and her generous loan of the telephone, Rosa set off for home; a new silver moon gilded the cobbled path to the cowshed and a barn owl hooted at her as she hurried past the field where he was hunting. Before she opened the front door, Rosa smiled up at the stars in the night sky and blew a kiss. ‘Goodnight, my love,’ she whispered to Roger hundreds of miles away. ‘Stay safe and come home to me.’
The effects of a long, highly emotional day had left Rosa exhausted. In the bathroom, almost too tired to clean her teeth, she yawned widely as she struggled into her warm nightgown. She was surprised when Julia, wearing a very pretty blue padded dressing gown and clutching a matching wash bag, walked into the bathroom.
‘Oh, sorry, I didn’t know you were in here,’ Julia said in a clipped formal voice. Rosa nodded as she continued to wipe her face on a towel.