by Katie Flynn
A large man in sergeant’s uniform approached the assembled troop and stood alongside the corporal. ‘So … you’re the Weybourne lot.’ His eyes scanned the men and women before him, resting momentarily on Evie. ‘I recognise some of you.’ He turned to the corporal. ‘Corporal Caldecott here will see to the women and the rest of you will come with me.’
Corporal Caldecott held up a clipboard and ordered Section B and Section D to get into line before marching them off across the camp, pointing out the parade ground, the NAAFI, the officers’ mess and the ablutions as she went.
Standing outside the barracks, she turned to face them. ‘Tomorrow morning reveille will be at six a.m. You have the rest of the day to get yourselves organised with any supplies you should need and so on before reporting for duty at eight p.m. You will then be taken to your first gun site, where you will remain for the next twelve hours. Any questions?’
Ellie waited for a response from one of her fellow gunners, and was relieved when none came.
‘Fall out.’ The corporal turned on her heel and marched off in the direction of the mess.
Gwen laid a hand on Ellie’s arm and pulled her aside from the others. She lowered her voice to a whisper. ‘That Barton chap is the one we did our initial training with. There was rumours about him and Evie; I don’t know whether they were true or not, but he’s married.’
Ellie raised her brow. ‘But he’s … old. Well, compared to us he is. What is he, d’you reckon? Forty?’ She grimaced. ‘How could she? It’d be like kissin’ your dad.’
Gwen nodded. ‘They reckon that’s why he was moved – y’know, because of all the rumours. I don’t know whether his wife ever found out, or if there was anything to find out if it comes to that, but you know what they say: there’s no smoke …’
Entering the hut, Ellie eyed Evie, who was sitting on one of the beds, her head bent in whispered conversation with Tilly. The rest of the girls were talking about their new corporal. ‘Do you reckon she ever cracks a smile? Even the fellers are scared of her.’
Delilah wrinkled her nose. ‘There we were makin’ plans to paint the town red, and what happens? We’re landed with two of the most miserable so-and-sos in the army! Looks like we’ve had it easy up till now, girls.’
Evie broke away from her conversation with Tilly and smiled smugly at Delilah. ‘That may be the case for you, but as they say, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know, and Sergeant Barton gave me my initial training.’ She glared at two girls who appeared to be suffering from a sudden outburst of coughs and muffled laughter. ‘You’ll be laughin’ on the other side of your face when I’m trippin’ the light fantastic whilst you’re peelin’ spuds,’ she snapped.
Gwen nudged Ellie. ‘See?’ she whispered. ‘It’s not just me that reckons there were summat fishy goin’ on.’
Nodding, Ellie jerked her head in the direction of the door. ‘C’mon, let’s go for a nosy round the camp. I don’t think I can stand seein’ that smug smile on her face for much longer.’ If Evie could kiss a man like Barton then Aidan would be fair game, she thought miserably.
Stepping out into the dusky evening, the girls decided to delay their plans for a look around camp until the next day. ‘It’s too dim to see properly. I reckon we visit the NAAFI and see what the gossip is,’ Ellie suggested.
Ellie chuckled to herself. The NAAFI was identical to the one in Weybourne: same tables, same chairs, and probably the same type of food. She approached the girl who was on duty behind the counter. ‘Two cups of tea, please, and … what’s left?’
The girl looked down at a trays in front of her. ‘I’ve got mash and sausages …’ she peered into a tray to the side, ‘and probably enough gravy for the two of you if you want it.’
Ellie and Gwen nodded their approval, and the cook dutifully doled the food on to two plates. ‘You’re new, ain’t you? Do you know who your corporal is?’
‘Caldecott,’ Ellie said grimly.
The cook smiled sympathetically. ‘She’s not a bad stick, not really.’
Gwen looked hopefully at the cook. ‘Some of the girls reckon that our escapades around Liverpool are goin’ to be over before they even begin with her in charge. What do you think?’
Ellie cut in before the cook could answer. ‘She can’t stop us doin’ what we want in our free time, not as long as we do our jobs properly and don’t go makin’ trouble for ourselves.’
The girl behind the counter nodded at Gwen. ‘Your friend’s right, and if I’m honest I don’t think Caldecott wants to stop anyone havin’ fun. She’s a lot on her mind, and just gets a bit crotchety at times.’ She glanced quizzically at them. ‘Has anyone told you what happened?’
Ellie and Gwen exchanged glances. Judging by the tone of her voice, whatever it was, it did not sound good. Ellie shook her head. ‘No, what?’
Glancing at the clock, the cook wiped her hands on her apron. ‘Go and sit down and I’ll bring your teas over … it was tea, wasn’t it? Only I’ve finished me shift, so I may as well join you for a bit.’
Ellie and Gwen took a seat at the table nearest the counter and waited for the girl to join them. ‘I’m Ann,’ she said, placing three mugs of tea down on the table in front of them.
‘I’m Ellie and this is Gwen,’ said Ellie, and shuffled expectantly in her seat, eager for some kind of explanation. ‘So? What’s the goss?’
Taking a deep breath, Ann pulled a face. ‘No one knows exactly what happened, ’cos none of us was there at the time, but you know what it’s like in the army, there’s no such thing as a secret, and word soon got round. Apparently her and her feller had a right old ding-dong. I don’t know the ins and outs of the argument, but it was a real belter; so bad, in fact,’ glancing around her, the cook leaned forward and lowered her voice to a whisper, ‘that her kid took off, never to be heard from again. The army’ve done their best, but it was like tryin’ to find a needle in a haystack.’ She sat back. ‘That’s why she’s so quick to snap. She’s got enough on her plate wi’out a bunch of newcomers givin’ her grief.’
Gwen nodded slowly. ‘Poor Caldecott. No wonder she’s short-tempered. You said it was like lookin’ for a needle in a haystack?’
Ann nodded ruefully. ‘It happened not long after the war started, so her kid would’ve been mixed up with hundreds, even thousands, of evacuees, all heading off in different directions, all starting new lives.’
‘Surely someone somewhere must realise they’ve got an extra child?’ Ellie said incredulously.
‘If they have no one’s said owt, an’ it’s been more’n a year now. That’s why some folk reckon summat bad’s happened.’
Ellie looked shocked. ‘Like what?’
Ann shrugged. ‘Who knows? Mebbe ran out into the street and got run over, or ran off to sea …’
Ellie shook her head sadly. If anyone knew what it was like to be separated from their mother she did. ‘That poor kid must be terrified. Some men can be pure evil. Fancy makin’ your own child so miserable they’d rather be alone on the streets than safe at home with their mam.’
Gwen nodded thoughtfully. ‘We’ll have a word with the girls, make sure they don’t go pokin’ the wasps’ nest.’
Ann swilled the tea around her cheeks before swallowing. ‘Good. I can’t imagine what Caldecott must be goin’ through, but it must be heartbreaking.’ She sniffed loudly as she placed her mug down on the table. ‘Anyway, from what I hear you lot are on lates tomorrow, which may seem a bit harsh for your first posting, but at least it gives you a whole day to relax and find your way around.’ Pushing her chair back, she picked up her mug and smiled at them. ‘See you in the mornin’.’
Ellie nodded, her mouth full of mashed potato and sausage, and raised a thumb.
With Ann gone, Gwen said seriously, ‘Blimey, what Delilah said about us havin’ it easy before we got here was bang on the money! Poor old Caldecott. We should get back to the barracks and let the others know.’
‘Did Ann say whether
it was a boy or a girl what’d gone missing?’
‘I don’t think she knew, but what does it matter?’
Ellie shrugged. ‘I suppose I’ve always thought of boys as being tougher than girls; able to look after themselves more. She didn’t say how old the child was either, did she?’
Gwen shook her head. ‘You just have to hope that someone like my aunt and uncle have found them and taken them in. At least that way they’ll be safe.’
Back in the hut, Ellie and Gwen gathered the girls together and explained the tragic circumstances surrounding their new corporal. ‘So you see,’ Ellie concluded, ‘she’s had a rare time of it, and I think we should make allowances if she gets bad-tempered sometimes.’
There was a murmur of agreement, broken by a small, squat girl who was twisting her fingers round each other in an awkward fashion. ‘I’m bound to do summat wrong, I always do. I wish we’d got that feller, that … what was his name again?’
‘Barton,’ said Gwen, her voice muffled as she pulled her pyjamas over her head before swinging herself on to the bunk above Ellie’s. ‘And believe me you don’t. He was in charge of us durin’ initial trainin’ and he’s like a bear with a sore head at the best of times. Unless your name’s Evie, of course. Then it’s a different matter entirely.’
‘Why, what’s so special about her?’
Gwen opened her mouth to speak, but Ellie cut her off. ‘Let’s not say anything we can’t take back. We don’t want to be accused of starting any rumours.’
Once again Gwen opened her mouth, but before she could say anything the small squat girl pointed a comprehending finger at Ellie. ‘Or maybe …’ she glanced around the assembled group of women, ‘maybe they had a bit of a fling.’ There was a choking sound as the two girls who had laughed before tried to keep their faces straight.
Gwen leaned over the side of her bunk, a self-satisfied smile forming on her lips as she looked at Ellie. ‘And you were worried I might start a rumour,’ she hissed.
Feeling the conversation was running away from her, Ellie held up a hand. ‘That’s not what I meant … I never suggested … he’s a married man, so mind what you say. No one wants to spread a rumour which isn’t true.’
‘It’s those bloomin’ long lashes of hers,’ the short girl muttered, ignoring her. ‘I wish I ’ad lashes like that; I’d use ’em for all sorts. They work like magic on the fellers.’
Ellie gave up. Rumours were bound to spread no matter what she said or did. Scrambling into her own pyjamas, she smiled resignedly up at Gwen. ‘I tried.’
Gwen giggled. ‘Don’t blame yourself for not stoppin’ the gossip; There’s people in here what worked Evie out in two minutes. Besides, a few of these girls did their initial trainin’ with her, same as me, so you’re goin’ against the tide, so to speak.’
The door to the Nissen hut opened and there was a hushed silence as Evie and Tilly walked in. Evie stopped in her tracks and surveyed the room with a suspicious eye, then huffed irritably to herself as she headed for her bed. The girls, who until Evie’s arrival had been happy to stand about gossiping, wandered off in dribs and drabs.
Ellie brought her blankets up around her ears and peeped at Tilly through her lashes. The girl was eyeing the occupants of the room with interest. She knows, Ellie thought, that we were talking about them before they came in and that’s why it went so quiet. I do hope she doesn’t think we were gossiping about her. It occurred to her that Tilly and Evie had not been party to the information regarding Caldecott. Sitting up on one elbow, she waited until she caught Tilly’s eye and beckoned the other girl over.
Tilly looked back towards Evie before tiptoeing across to Ellie’s bed. ‘What’s up?’ she asked.
When Ellie had finished her explanation, she nodded towards Evie. ‘Make sure you tell her, won’t you? Not that I give two hoots about Evie gettin’ into trouble, but I don’t want the rest of us to suffer ’cos of her.’
Glancing over her shoulder, Tilly nodded. ‘Will do.’ She gave Ellie a half-smile. ‘And thanks for lettin’ me know. You didn’t have to, and I would have understood if you had decided not to, but I do appreciate it.’ She looked back at Evie before continuing, ‘As I said before, she’s not all bad, not when you get to know her. You just have to be patient.’
‘Tilly! Are you turning in or what?’ Evie said, her voice sharp.
Tilly grinned at Ellie. ‘Very, very patient.’
Ellie watched as Tilly hushed her friend before speaking earnestly. Their conversation at an end, Tilly nodded to Ellie before climbing into the bunk above Evie’s.
Pulling the blanket up once more, Ellie nodded to herself. She had been right about Tilly: the other girl wasn’t nearly as bad as her friend. If I can get Tilly on side, then maybe, just maybe, we can persuade Evie to stop being so horrid to everyone. With this encouraging thought Ellie closed her eyes and fell to sleep.
Lying in her bunk, Gwen tried to sleep, but she could not shake Caldecott and the missing youngster from her thoughts. She tried to imagine what it must be like to know that you had a child out there somewhere, alone and scared. It was easier than she thought; in truth, she had often supposed it was how her own mother must have felt when she had given Gwen up. She had often wondered whether she had come back to look for her, maybe hidden behind the hedge opposite the church to see if she could catch a glimpse of the child she had once held as her own. It must be awful, Gwen supposed, not to know whether your own flesh and blood was safe and well, dead or alive. She screwed up her eyes in an effort to force herself to sleep, but the thought of a mother without her child, not knowing whether he or she was being looked after properly, or was involved in the war, would not leave her. Her eyes snapped open. What if her own mother was in the services? She could be in the WAAF, or the ATS for that matter. But how would Gwen know? She had no name to go by, just some fuzzy old picture in a broken locket. Her heart began to pound and a solitary tear trickled down the side of her nose. My mother could be in this very room and I wouldn’t know it. Another, more unpleasant thought crossed her mind. What if she was already dead? The Luftwaffe had bombed nearly every major city in the country from London to Cardiff, and if there was one thing she did know about her mother it was that she had not been local to the Rhos.
Gwen thumped her pillow with her fist in order to plump it up. It did no good to ponder the whys and wherefores; all it did was bring pain and misery. She should know: as a small child, she had spent many a night crying herself to sleep as she turned different scenarios over in her mind. She glanced towards the top of the hut where the corporal’s bed was still empty. I hope my mother didn’t suffer the same way as Caldecott. I hope she’s alive and well and happy, and I’m sure she must feel the same about me. After all, she would never have chosen to leave me at a church if she didn’t care.
Turning over, she wiped a tear from her cheek. She could not get angry with her mother. If she had to point a finger of blame it would be firmly directed at her father, whoever he might be, she thought bitterly. The proof was in the pudding when it came to the male of the species. Ellie’s father had left her mother, Caldecott’s child had run off because of the corporal’s feller, and she would bet a pound to a penny that her own mother was in the same boat as the other two. After all, the photo in the locket was of a woman, and even though there was space on the other side there was no picture of a man. Besides, if her father had been involved her mother wouldn’t have had to take such drastic measures to ensure her child’s safety. A small smile formed on Gwen’s lips. My mam was like Ellie’s, because whilst she could’ve put me in an orphanage she chose the church, because that’s where I was most likely to end up with honest, loving, law-abiding parents. She crossed her fingers under the sheets. I hope Caldecott’s child knows how much their mam loves them, knows that she spends every minute worryin’ as to where they are, who they’re with and what they’re up to. She nodded decidedly. With such deep love there comes a strong bond, and she felt sure it woul
d pull the Caldecotts together like an invisible string, so they could be together, as a mother and child should.
Sitting on his bed, Aidan stared at the letters he had spread out on his mattress. There were eight bundles in total and five of them were from his parents. His mother wrote every day; she said it was to keep him up to date with all the happenings on the farm, but Aidan knew it was her way of filling the void he had left when he joined the RAF. He loved her for it, and even though each epistle was more or less the same as the last he still looked forward to reading them. The other three were split evenly between Connor, Connor’s parents and Ellie. Aidan picked up the latest letter from Ellie and stared blankly at the page. He had read it four or five times, so practically knew it word for word. She was going to be based back in Liverpool: with the censor in mind she hadn’t written those words, of course, but simply stated, You’ll never guess what, I’m going home! Don’t know how long I’ll be there, but it’ll be grand to show the girls around.
The news had come as a mixed blessing. Liverpool was a long way from Scarborough, so there would be no casual visits, but if he could get a forty-eight, or maybe longer, and Ellie could do the same, then the pair of them could go to his parents’ farm and spend some time together. He drew a deep breath before slowly releasing it. The thought of spending time alone with Ellie on the farm was perfect, but it would come with drawbacks, the biggest of which would be saying goodbye. He loved his pilot training, and even though it would be a while before he got his wings he appreciated the time and effort Captain Mathias had given him since they met at the recruiting office. Aidan gazed out of the small, deep, stone-set window as he let the memories wash over him.