Victory for the East End Angels

by Rosie Hendry

  Bella looked at Winnie and Frankie, the two of them smiling at her. They would always be an important part of her life and whichever way their individual stories took them, being friends together would be a constant and that thought comforted her like a warm blanket on a cold winter’s day. She smiled at Rose. ‘Yes, everything’s fine and I think we’re ready to go.’

  Winnie stood up as the opening bars of the wedding march suddenly boomed out through the church. She threw a glance at Daisy’s pram, which she’d parked next to her at the far end of the front pew beside the wall, checking that her daughter was still asleep; she should be as she’d had a good feed and, with any luck, would sleep it off for an hour or two. Thankfully the music hadn’t disturbed her, so she turned and looked past Connie who stood beside her to see Bella, and her mother – who was giving her away as her brother was still in the army and couldn’t be here – followed by her bridesmaids, Frankie and Rose, coming down the aisle. Bella looked radiant, the lace wedding dress fitting her slim figure beautifully after Frankie had worked her magic yet again altering it to fit another bride. That dress had been worn by both her and Frankie at their weddings and now it was Bella’s turn to marry in it, the three of them grateful for their former boss’s generosity in loaning them the wedding dress that she never got to wear because her own fiancé had been killed in the Great War.

  Standing waiting for her in the front pew of the groom’s side was Stefan and his best man, both looking smart in their air force uniforms. He turned to look at Bella before she reached him and the look of love he gave her brought tears to Winnie’s eyes. There was no doubt that he loved her friend very much and, knowing Bella as she did, the feeling was mutual. She was happy that after all that had happened to her, the heartache that she’d suffered after James had died, she’d found love again, and with a good man who was worthy of her.

  Listening as the parson led Bella and Stefan through their vows, Winnie was taken back to her own wedding day here with Mac. They’d stood in the same places, she’d worn the same dress, made the same promises, been watched by many of the same people who were here today. It was a day she would always treasure, the memory held dear in her heart, and she wished that Mac could have been here with her today as well, but the army still had first claim on him.

  The war in Europe was over but the one still raging against the Japanese was far from done, and although Mac’s unit had been withdrawn from Germany not long after VE Day, they were now in training for a different deployment. The thought caught in her throat and she swallowed hard to dampen it down before it could spoil what was happening now. There was nothing she could do about when or where he’d be sent, but with any luck he’d have some embarkation leave before he left. At least he’d been home since his return from Germany and seen Daisy, whom he’d been enthralled with, and had delighted in his new role as a father.

  Winnie looked forward to the day when they could all finally be together as a family with the war completely over and the army no longer in charge of Mac’s life. The plan then was for them to go and live in Gloucestershire, not far from Mac’s mother, and for him to return to teaching while she looked after Daisy, and she was very happy with that; being with her husband and caring for their daughter was what she wanted to do.

  Chapter 74

  ‘Get ready, here they come!’ Violet Steele left her lookout post by the church doors and hurried over to join the guard of honour who were waiting on the steps of St George’s church. On one side stood former crew members from Station 75, and on the other, Polish and English RAF friends of Stefan’s. She’d rounded them up and bustled them out of the church while Bella and Stefan were in the vestry signing the register, and now they stood waiting, ready to form a guard of honour, holding their RAF caps or Ambulance Service steel helmets high to form an archway.

  When Bella and Stefan appeared in the doorway, everyone let out a mighty cheer, surprising the bride and groom who beamed with happiness.

  ‘Hurry up, me arm’s going to drop off in a minute,’ Sparky called out, making everyone laugh.

  The newly-weds ducked their heads and obliged, walking underneath the archway that was a fitting tribute to their work in the Ambulance Service and the RAF, their friends from both services honouring them as they began their married life together.

  ‘They make a lovely couple,’ Connie said as she came to stand beside Violet Steele while Bella and Stefan were being photographed on the steps of the church by some of his colleagues. ‘I’m so glad that Bella found love again.’

  ‘So am I, he’s a kind man and will be a good husband to her.’ She smiled at Connie. ‘I think James would have been happy for her.’

  Connie nodded. ‘I’m sure he would. I always hoped that he and Bella would marry but . . . fate had other plans.’

  Violet Steele put her hand on Connie’s arm. ‘Life’s a strange thing, there are no guarantees, so we have to make the most of every day and enjoy what we can.’

  They fell into silence for a few moments, watching the bride and groom, with the bridesmaids looking beautiful in their dresses and smiling happily at the camera.

  To look at Rose, you’d never know what she had been through, and was still going through, Violet Steele thought. The poor girl was still waiting to hear about the fate of her parents under the brutal Nazi regime. Information was slowly filtering out and it was only a matter of time before she would know one way or the other what had happened to them, and until she did she must feel as if she was in limbo, not able to move on, and always hoping that she would be reunited with them.

  ‘Winnie told me that you’re planning on going back to Devon,’ Connie said.

  ‘That’s right, I’ve got my old teaching job back and start in September.’ She smiled. ‘I’ll be trying to inspire my pupils with a love of history and English once more. It will be rather a drastic change from running a wartime ambulance station.’

  ‘You won’t have Winnie to keep on track any more. You were very good at dealing with her. I know she doesn’t always agree with rules and regulations and found her own schooldays rather difficult because of that.’

  Violet laughed. ‘Oh, she bucked against the rules a lot to start with, though, interestingly, giving her responsibility was the best thing to settle her errant ways. We did have a few differences of opinion, but I loved having her as part of my crew and I’m very fond of her.’ She looked across to where Winnie was gently rocking Daisy’s pram, the picture of a contented mother.

  ‘And she you. I think she made a wise choice making you one of Daisy’s godmothers.’

  ‘I’m delighted to be. I can still be part of Winnie’s life and it will be a delight to watch her little girl grow up.’ Daisy’s christening a few weeks ago had been a great joy to her, joining Frankie and Bella as they made their promises to look out for the little girl.

  ‘How much longer are you in London for?’ Connie asked. ‘Just a couple of weeks, and then I’m moving down to Devon in the middle of August. I’m going to be living with my sister and two nieces.’ She smiled. ‘I’m very much looking forward to being with them. And of course, I’ll do my best to see Winnie and Daisy as often as I can, and I hope that they’ll come and see me in Devon too. I’ll be living not far from a lovely beach, it’s perfect for building sandcastles.’

  Chapter 75

  ‘This is it!’ Bella’s brown eyes were bright with tears. ‘I don’t know when I’ll see you again. You will write, won’t you?’

  Frankie nodded. ‘I promise, I will. I won’t be gone for ever and as soon as I come back we’ll meet up, all of us.’ She glanced at Winnie who stood beside her with baby Daisy in her arms, the little girl wide-awake and looking at them with her big blue eyes which were so much like her father’s.

  ‘Go on, your new husband’s waiting to whisk you away on honeymoon,’ Winnie said.

  Bella looked over to where Stefan was waiting, talking to some of his Polish airman friends, and as if sensing his new wife’s gaze o
n him, he turned to look at her and smiled.

  Frankie put her arms around Bella and hugged her tightly. ‘Be happy, my friend. It won’t matter where any of us are, we’ll always be there for each other, our friendship will never falter.’

  Bella nodded and the two of them stood in silence hugging each other for a few moments before they stepped apart.

  ‘Look after yourself out there, Frankie. You won’t have me and Winnie to keep an eye on you,’ Bella said.

  ‘I will, don’t worry.’ Frankie gave her friend a gentle push. ‘Off you go then, Stefan’s waiting.’

  Bella smiled. ‘I’m going.’ She gently kissed baby Daisy’s cheek and carefully hugged Winnie. ‘Goodbye then.’

  Winnie linked her free arm through Frankie’s as they watched their friend go down the front steps of Connie’s house and join her husband, where they were showered with confetti from other wedding guests standing round near the taxi that was ready to take them to the station. ‘We’re all going to miss you, you know.’

  ‘And I’ll miss you, too, but we’ll all be busy – you’ve got Daisy to look after and Bella’s got her new married life and her writin’, and I’m sure there’ll be plenty to keep me occupied. It’s the right thing for me to do now.’ Frankie waved as Bella and Stefan’s taxi pulled away, the pair of them waving out of the back window until the taxi reached the end of the street and turned out of sight. ‘I’d better go and get changed, I’m due to report in an hour’s time.’

  Upstairs in Bella’s bedroom, Frankie changed out of her bridesmaid’s dress and into her new UNRRA uniform. It still felt odd to be wearing it after years of the Ambulance Service uniform, this one looking more like an ATS one: khaki shirt, tunic, skirt and tie, a beret and brown shoes, with the arch-shaped red badge and white, stitched letters spelling out U.N.R.R.A. sewn on the top of her sleeve. She looked at herself in the mirror, tucking stray auburn hairs into the bun she’d put her hair into. She looked different, ready to take on a new role, do something completely out of her experience. Going to work in the displaced persons’ camps was going to test her, she knew, but it felt like the right thing to be doing. Joining the Ambulance Service had taught her so much and she’d changed in many ways from the person she was on that first day when she’d walked through the archway into Station 75. She’d seen and done things that she could never have imagined, and she had survived and grown stronger because of them and now she was ready for the next chapter of her story.

  Adjusting her beret, she smiled at her reflection and then turned and picked up her suitcase which she’d brought here ready this morning. Going down into the hall below, she met Station Officer Steele, or rather Violet as the older woman had instructed them all to call her now that she was no longer their boss.

  ‘Are you ready for the off?’ Violet asked.

  ‘Yes, I’m all packed, trained and inoculated against various diseases, so I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. A bit nervous, I must admit, but no second thoughts, this is what I should be doin’.’

  Violet put her hand on Frankie’s arm. ‘I think you’re doing the right thing, and I’m very proud of you. I hope you’ll write to me when you have time, I’d very much like to hear how you are getting on.’

  ‘I will. I’ve got lots of people to write to, but I think I’ll need that connection with the outside to ‘elp me deal with the job and it will be a pleasure to get letters back from you all. Everyone’s going to be busy gettin’ on with their new lives. My only worry is Rose, I feel bad leaving her. My neighbour, Josie, has promised to look out for her while she waits to ‘ear about her parents.’

  Rose was staying on living at number 25 Matlock Street, and now had a job working in an office in the city. Her plans for the future depended on the fate of her parents, with the hope that they were alive and could all be reunited either here in England or perhaps Austria, but until confirmation came that they’d survived, Rose didn’t know in which direction her future lay and in the meantime would stay here.

  ‘I’ll be in touch with her as well and keeping a watch out wherever I’m sent in case her parents are there, and I know that Connie’s doing her best to help her try and find out any news through the Red Cross. Winnie’s still here in London till Mac comes home, and Bella, of course, will keep in touch, too.

  ‘Rose won’t be alone, Frankie, all of us will keep an eye on her for you.’

  She nodded. ‘Thank you. And you’ll be going back to teaching, are you looking forward to it?’

  ‘I am.’ Violet smiled. ‘I feel like I’m returning with a renewed enthusiasm. I miss my work at Station 75 and all of you crew, but it was a huge responsibility and it will be nice to only have to worry about lessons rather than sending people out under falling bombs. And living with my sister and nieces is going to be rather lovely.’

  ‘Frankie! There you are, I was beginning to think you’d sneaked off without saying goodbye.’ Winnie came out of the sitting room, with Daisy on her shoulder.

  ‘I wouldn’t do that, or I’d never hear the end of it.’ Frankie looked at Violet, who winked back at her. ‘But I do have to go now. I mustn’t be late, or I’ll miss the transport out.’

  ‘Good luck.’ Violet kissed her cheek. ‘Take care of yourself.’

  ‘I will.’

  ‘We’ll walk you to the door.’ Winnie put her arm through Frankie’s and they set off across the black and white tiled hall towards the front door but stopped halfway across when Rose came hurrying out of the sitting room.

  ‘Frankie, are you going now?’ Rose looked close to tears.

  Frankie opened her arms and the younger girl hurried into them.

  ‘I’m going to miss you.’ Rose hugged her tightly.

  ‘And I’ll miss you too, but I’ll be back.’

  ‘Come and wave her off with us,’ Winnie said.

  Standing on the doorstep of Connie’s house, with the July sunshine shining down on the white stonework of the street, Frankie looked at her friends: Winnie with baby Daisy, Rose and Violet, all of them very dear to her, and for a few seconds she almost felt like changing her mind, not going and just staying here in London so that they could still be part of her life, but that wouldn’t be right in the end. Sometimes you had to push yourself, even when you felt scared about doing something new. She’d done it before when she joined the Ambulance Service and now she was ready to do that again, with UNRRA. It would take her to places she’d never been and to see sights that would shock and humble her, but she, Frankie Munro, was ready.

  She smiled at her friends. ‘Goodbye then. Write to me and I promise I’ll write back, tell you what I’m doing.’

  ‘Not so fast, you haven’t given me a hug goodbye.’ Winnie quickly gave baby Daisy to Violet and threw her arms around Frankie, squeezing her tightly. ‘Goodbye, dear friend and fellow conspirator of Station 75.’ When she stepped back, Winnie’s grey eyes were bright with tears. ‘Right, off you go now . . . ’ Her voice wavered. ‘You make sure you come back and see us just as soon as you can.’

  ‘I promise I will.’ Frankie picked up her suitcase and, with a final glance at her friends, she walked down the steps and set off to the end of the street. Aware that they were still watching her, she stopped, turned around and waved to them, smiling as they waved back. Then she walked away towards her future, so grateful that she’d made that step of leaving the comfort of sewing uniforms back in the first year of the war to fulfil her dream of becoming an ambulance driver. It had been the best thing she’d ever done, bringing her good friends, a loving husband and whole new world ahead of her.

  Dear Reader,

  I hope you’ve enjoyed reading Victory for the East End Angels and finding out what happens to Winnie, Frankie and Bella as their time at Station 75 comes to an end. It was hard to say goodbye to them having spent three years living with them in my head, thinking about what will happen to them and writing their story. I’ve loved getting to know them and seeing their lives unfold as they were faced with diffe
rent challenges both in their personal and their working lives. I’m going to miss them very much.

  Working out how to end the story for them was tricky, especially for Frankie as I felt she needed to do something more and not just go back to wait for Alastair to come home, so when I discovered the work of UNRRA I knew that it was the perfect thing for her to do. I imagine her working for them for several years and Alastair joining her to offer his medical expertise once he’s demobbed from the army.

  As for Bella, I imagine her going on to be a successful writer and living very happily with Stefan who continues his role in the Royal Air Force.

  Winnie will be an excellent mother but involving herself in her community as she is never one to not be busy, while Mac will return to his teaching having never been sent out to the Far East as the war finished before he’d completed the training.

  With Rose, I couldn’t decide on her fate, realistically knowing that so many people perished in the Holocaust and yet knowing some did survive. I hope that Rose’s parents might be some of the fortunate ones that lived to be reunited with their family.

  Beyond that I’m undecided how the girls’ lives would pan out. I’d love to know what ideas you have on how their futures might go.

  Thank you so much for reading and loving the East End Angels series, it has been such a delight to hear from readers who have enjoyed getting to know Winnie, Frankie and Bella. One of the best things about writing these books has been sharing it with you all.

  If you’re interested in keeping in touch and being the first to know about new books, cover reveals, hear more about my writing life and behind the scenes chat, as well as exclusive competitions, do sign up to join my Readers Club and get my newsletter delivered to your inbox. Readers Club members receive a free copy of my ebook A Pocketful of Stories.

  I love to hear from readers – it’s one of the greatest joys of being a writer, so do please get in touch. You can contact me via my website www.rosiehendry.com or via my Facebook Page Rosie Hendry Books, Twitter @hendry_rosie or follow me on Instagram - rosiehendryauthor.