‘What, you mean go up there on my own?’ the young girl replied, getting to her feet and stepping away from Maisie. ‘I . . . I don’t think so.’
‘Please, can you just see if she’s OK, then I’ll go and get someone to ’elp once I’ve got me breath back and can stand up,’ Maisie begged.
The girl thought for a few seconds as another crash of bricks and masonry could be heard from the open window. ‘Perhaps I could just climb out the window and call to your friend,’ she said thoughtfully, looking between the window and the door of the staffroom as if she was about to make a run for it.
‘Please, if you could do it for me. I promise I’ll not ask where you’ve come from or why you’re hiding in Woolworths,’ Maisie begged.
‘How did you . . .’ The girl’s voice faltered, knowing she’d given herself away.
‘Let’s just say I could sense it, shall we? Now, please hurry before it’s too late.’
Maisie sighed with relief as the girl righted the chair and climbed through the window. At least Sarah will be safe now, she thought to herself, as she drifted back into the haze of unconsciousness that was beckoning.
Chapter 6
Sarah felt her heart thud in her chest as she considered what the woman who was firewatching on the roof opposite had called out to her. An unexploded bomb . . . how did she know? Gripping the balustrade that ran along the front of the building and fighting off the dizziness that threatened to engulf her, she shouted back as loudly as she could: ‘Are you sure?’
The woman flashed a strong beam of light from her torch down past the shop where she worked to the small tobacconist’s, close to the junction of Pier Road and the high street. ‘I saw it come down. I thought I was going to be a goner,’ she bellowed back.
Sarah gasped with shock. That bomb could have lander here at Woolworths and it didn’t bear thinking what could have happened to the staff and guests. True enough, half of the roof facing the road was missing but Sarah could see that the rest of the shop was intact. Whatever had landed on the building had not exploded. Sarah couldn’t help thinking it was a shame the little shop had sustained damage and may even blow up at any moment. She’d purchased a pipe for her dad’s Christmas present there and adored going in and inhaling the aromas of the different kinds of tobacco, although they were all in short supply these days. She prayed the owner was safe and the shop could be repaired as it was a popular business in the town.
‘Put that light out!’ a voice roared from the street below, bringing Sarah back to the present with a start. ‘Get yourselves to safety. There’s a bomb that could go off at any moment and you women are twittering away amongst yourselves and giving Hitler’s air force another bloody target. I don’t know. You women should stay at home with your knitting for all the good you do . . .’ He went on his way muttering to himself.
‘Miss . . . excuse me, Miss.’
Sarah turned away from where the unexploded bomb had dropped. She knew she should be rushing to the safety of the Woolworths cellar and warning Betty and her fellow staff of the danger nearby. Instead she’d stood transfixed until she heard the quivering voice of a young girl.
‘Please, Miss. The lady’s been hurt. She said how I was to come and let you know.’
Sarah frowned. How had a girl, who could be no older than twelve years of age, climbed onto the roof of the Woolworths store? The kid looked petrified and was hanging onto the edge of the window frame like grim death from where she’d just appeared. ‘Who are you and who has been hurt?’ To her knowledge the bomb hadn’t damaged Woolworths, apart from shaking a bit of dust about and no doubt putting the fear of God into some of their guests.
The girl was visibly shaking and no doubt would have run away if it hadn’t meant scrambling backwards through the open window into the staff canteen. ‘It’s that woman that swears a lot . . . the blonde one . . . she had a fall and is groaning a lot. She was worried about you but I think she’s the one that’s in trouble.’
Sarah’s worst fears were coming true. She’d had a gut feeling that all was not well with her friend and the baby she was carrying. Maisie had looked none too good earlier in the day but would insist on carrying on as usual. Sarah took a quick look around her. Thankfully Woolworths wasn’t in imminent danger of the roof catching fire and, as for the unexploded bomb . . . well, it hadn’t gone off yet, so Maisie was the most important issue as far as she could think. ‘Let’s get back inside and you can show me where she is,’ she ordered the girl.
The child opened her mouth, then thought better of it and carefully retraced her steps with Sarah not far behind, as the ack-ack guns started up again and the sound of a man yelling out orders in the street meant things were starting to happen close to the area around the unexploded bomb.
‘Oh my God, Maisie, whatever has happened to you?’ Sarah said, trying not to let her voice show how frightened she was to see the state of her chum. Even by torchlight she’d never seen Maisie’s face looking so pale.
‘I . . . I think . . .’
‘Ssh now, Maisie, try not to move, it’s best to lie still until you’ve got your breath back. Only you could fall over at a party,’ Sarah said, trying hard to force a grin onto her worried face. ‘I’m just going to close the window and fix the blackout, then we can have a light on and see what you’ve been up to. Please don’t move even an inch, I beg you.’
Sarah left her friend and pulled the blackout curtains over the window that led out to the ladder onto the roof of the store. After checking there were no chinks of light, she switched off her torch and turned on the overhead lights. ‘Now, let’s get you sorted out, shall we?’ she said forcing a grin onto her worried face. ‘However did you manage to end up down there on the floor?’
Maisie gave the glimmer of a smile. ‘You know me. I’m that cack-handed I couldn’t even stand on a chair properly. If you can just help me to my feet I’ll be fine.’ She winced as she pulled herself up onto an elbow and held out her hand for Sarah to take hold of.
‘Can you help me, please?’ Sarah called out to the girl, who was standing against the wall looking as though she’d make a dash for the door at any minute. She stepped forward, looking to Sarah for guidance.
‘We’ll just get Maisie onto the chair first, so bring it closer, please.’
‘Wipe yer muddy boot marks off it, will yer? I’ve got me best frock on,’ Maisie muttered, as Sarah took hold of her friend around the waist and pulled her to her feet. ‘Get the chair under her, please,’ she instructed.
‘I think your frock’s already spoilt,’ the girl said, nodding her head to the back of the pretty pink dress that Maisie had created from something she said she’d had at the back of her wardrobe since before the war.
Sarah took a quick glance and noticed that the dress was smeared with blood. She did her best to remain calm and to keep the horror she felt away from her face. Maisie was losing her baby. What could she do to help her friend? ‘Girl, run down to the cellar and get Mrs Gilbert to come up here at once. Try to do it quietly so as not to alarm anyone,’ she added, thinking of Mary’s sister, who was close to giving birth.
‘But . . .’
‘No buts: go right now. Do you understand?’
‘Yes, Miss,’ the girl muttered, and rushed from the room.
‘Wherever did that kid come from and why isn’t she down in the cellar with the others?’ Sarah said, as she made her friend as comfortable as she could on the hard seat. ‘Would you like a drink, Maisie?’
‘I wondered the same when I seen her. I thought . . . I thought she was an angel that’d come to save me . . . or to take my baby away . . .’ Maisie said as a large tear ran down her cheek.
Sarah put her arms around her friend and hugged her close. ‘She’s no angel. Just some kid who didn’t go down into the cellar with her family, I would think. Now, I’m going to get you a cup of tea and your work overall. We can slip it around your shoulders before anyone else gets up here and sees your frock’s been spo
ilt.’
Sarah was soon back with a hot drink for her friend and a clean overall from Betty’s office over her arm. She’d ignored the sign on the wall above the gas cooker that forbade staff from using the cooker whilst there was an air raid in progress, in case of gas leaks. This time it was more important Maisie had something hot and sweet for the shock of what had happened to her. Thank goodness for Maureen’s secret stash of sugar, she thought as she smiled to herself.
‘It’s bad, isn’t it?’ Maisie whispered as she sipped the tea.
‘Chin up. We’ll do our best to get you to the hospital and see what can be done,’ she reassured her friend, but could only think that there was an unexploded bomb just a few yards away that could wipe them all out at any time.
Maisie gave a big sniff. ‘I think it’s too late, Sarah. Besides, the all-clear hasn’t come yet. It sounds like all hell’s been let loose out there. It’s not the time to be popping up to Erith Cottage hospital, is it?’
‘Well, what’s been going on here, then?’ Maureen Gilbert said, as she pushed through the door of the staff canteen quickly followed by Ruby, Vera and Betty Billington. Freda was close behind holding onto the arm of the young girl, who looked half scared to death, and cajoling her to hurry up.
‘It’s Maisie: she had a fall and isn’t feeling so good.’
‘Oh my goodness, you do look rather pale – did you hurt yourself?’ Betty asked, as she knelt next to Maisie and brushed a few stray hairs from her face. ‘Under normal circumstances I’d have someone take you home but goodness knows how long it will take before the all-clear sounds. A cup of tea may help.’
Maisie gave her boss a watery smile. ‘I have some, thanks all the same. I’ll be tickety-boo in a while. Don’t you all start worrying about me,’ she added, as a large tear appeared and she gave a sniff.
‘There’s more to this than a simple fall, if you ask me,’ Vera said, pushing in front of Betty. ‘Did you knock yourself anywhere? You may have internal injuries. I once heard of someone who . . .’
‘Don’t you start with that nonsense,’ Ruby said, giving her neighbour a sharp nudge. ‘By rights we should all be down in the cellar for now. Not only do we have guests to entertain but it’s also the safest place in the store. It doesn’t take all of us to look after Maisie. Who is on firewatch duty?’
‘I was, but I’ve just come down,,’ Sarah said to her nan, glancing at the large clock on the wall of the canteen. ‘We could get Pete to go up there?’
‘That Pete’s three sheets to the wind and well in with the old boys who have the rum, so he’s not much help to anyone. He’d not spot a bomb if it landed on his head.’ Maureen sniffed.
Sarah held her breath for a moment. Dare she tell them all there’s an unexploded bomb just down the road? ‘What about Mary?’ she asked, although she didn’t like the idea of the young girl up on the Woolworths roof on her own.
‘She’s sitting with her sister. The poor girl’s due to give birth any day soon and being stuck down there is making her a bit jumpy,’ Freda said.
‘She’s not due just yet, is she?’ Maureen asked Freda, who was still hanging on tight to the sleeve of the young girl’s cardigan. ‘What I’d rather know is who this child belongs to and why she is here. The party wasn’t for the children of ex-employees, was it?’
‘That’s why I’m hanging onto her. She seems frightened,’ Freda replied. ‘As for Mary’s sister, she told us that the women in her family are never late bringing their babies into the world; in fact they tend to be a few days early. Let’s just hope she doesn’t give birth in the cellar.’
Maisie gave a strangled sob. The cup and saucer she was holding fell to the tiled floor and shattered into a hundred pieces.
‘There’s no need to be so dramatic. Carrying a baby’s the most natural thing in the world,’ Vera sneered at Maisie. ‘Some of you young things are afraid of your own shadows. Mind you . . .’
Maisie looked at Sarah for support.
‘You’ll be fine, Maisie.’
‘Vera, get yourself back downstairs and help entertain the old boys,’ Ruby bellowed, which sent the woman scuttling out of the door as if her life depended on it. No one argued with Ruby when she was annoyed. She just looked at Maisie and frowned; something more than a simple fall had happened here.
‘I’ll get this cleaned up in a jiffy. Don’t you worry,’ Maureen said, as she headed to the kitchen. ‘Why don’t you give me a hand, love?’ she told the young girl who was standing close by looking more than a little worried. ‘Then we can all have a fresh cuppa. That’s if it’s all right with you, Miss Billington?’
Betty nodded. ‘That is a good idea, Maureen. Would you perchance have a few sandwiches tucked away? I’ve been so busy chatting and joining in with the sing-song that I’ve not had time to eat a crumb.’
‘Leave it with me.’ Maureen winked. ‘I have some paste sandwiches I put aside just for you. Come along, lass, let’s get to work.’
‘I’ll get up on the roof and see what’s happening. I would think things are calming down by now. It’s been an age since the siren went off,’ Freda said, as she went to switch off the light so the blackout curtains could be opened.
‘Hang on a minute, Freda, there’s something you all need to know. There’s an unexploded bomb gone through the roof of the tobacconist’s down the road,’ Sarah called out to her friend.
Betty raised her hands to her cheeks in shock. ‘Oh my goodness. Perhaps we should be moving everyone to safety? That can’t be more than fifty feet from here.’
‘The all-clear’s not sounded so I reckon we should all stay put and make sure everyone’s in the cellar. It’s the safest place. If we start to wander about the town we could be in more danger,’ Ruby said.
‘There’s always the long way round. We could take everyone up Pier Road towards the railway line. It’s in the opposite direction to the unexploded bomb,’ Betty suggested.
Sarah gasped. ‘We can’t go that way either. There’s a fire further up the street. From what I could see from the roof, the road is shut off and could be for some time.’
‘I’m going to go up and see what’s happening. We can’t guess from down here. There must be someone in charge by now,’ Freda announced, and switched off the light before pushing up the heavy sash window frame and disappearing into the night.
Sarah put her arm around Maisie’s shoulder. ‘I think we ought to tell Nan and Betty what’s happened, don’t you?’
Maisie nodded and started to explain that she thought she’d lost the baby she was carrying, as her friends looked on in horror. ‘I don’t think it ’appened when I slipped off the chair. I’ve had some awful pains these past days and tried to ignore ’em. It just wasn’t meant ter be,’ she added, as her bottom lip started to tremble.
Chapter 7
Freda carefully climbed onto the flat part of the Woolworths roof. In the distance she could see the beams of searchlights pinpointing the night sky. She listened intently but could no longer hear the drone of aircraft. The ack-ack guns had also fallen silent. Let’s hope the all-clear will sound soon, she thought to herself, as she edged towards the side of the building where she’d be able to see what was happening with the unexploded bomb. With luck it would be a huge mistake and they’d all be able to go home to their beds soon. It would be Christmas Eve in a few hours and one of the busiest days in the Woolworths shopping calendar. The war hadn’t stopped people shopping for bargains and Betty had done her utmost to stock the store with tempting goods as well as the basics no family could live without.
As she peered down into the dark street below, her eyes gradually became accustomed to the moving shapes, and she saw a covered lorry parked close to Woolies that hadn’t been there earlier when she was greeting the party guests at the front entrance of the store. Perhaps she could turn on her torch for a few seconds just to see what was happening? After all, it was in the interest of the people in the cellar below her that she knew what was occurri
ng. It would be worth a telling-off from the ARP warden just to be a little nosy.
Reaching into the pocket of her coat, she knelt down by the low wall that edged the rooftop and turned on the dim beam of her pocket torch, cursing herself that the more powerful torch the staff usually carried when on fire watch had been left on the table in the staff canteen. A quick flash outlined soldiers carrying sandbags to the boundary of the tobacconist’s shop and stacking them to form a wall in front of the building.
Close to the lorry a makeshift table had been set up, and another soldier was brewing tea on a portable gas ring with a cigarette hanging from his lips. He looked up as he noticed the light from Freda’s torch. ‘Hello, darling, what are you doing up there?’
‘Hello yourself,’ Freda called back. ‘What’s going on?’
‘You’ve got yourself a rather nasty unexploded bomb in that there shop.’ He nodded towards it. ‘We’re here to save you, my love,’ he said, giving Freda a deep bow.
Freda bristled. ‘The way I see it, you’re the one more likely to be blown up. Perhaps I should come down and save you?’ She’d had her share of young men pulling her leg and she reckoned she was as good as them any day.
‘What are you doing up there?’ he asked again.
The man must be daft, Freda thought to herself. Surely he knew that workers who weren’t in the services were expected to pull their weight, and firewatching duty was one of the ways they all played their part to stop Hitler invading the country. Freda had thought long and hard about her war work. Twice she’d popped into the town hall to talk to a staff member from the labour exchange about it. Being local to Woolworths and also knowing that the manager, Betty Billington, was desperately short of staff, the man had told Freda to carry on as she was but to use her spare hours doing war work. Freda needed no second bidding. She’d increased her knitting output, made sure the Brownies and Girl Guides – where she helped out two nights each week – not only enjoyed their meetings but also played their part in the war effort, and of course she undertook her firewatching duties on the roof of Woolworths and the surrounding shops. Still, she felt that in the future she would have to do more if they were to win this war. The stirring words on the Admiralty’s poster flashed in her mind: Britain expects that you too, this day, will do your duty. She may not yet be in the forces but she’d make sure she played her part. Oh, yes: it may be knitting, protecting the shops of Erith and working with youngsters, but she’d certainly play her part. She raised her chin and peered down at the soldier. ‘I’m up here making sure you do your work right or there’ll be nowhere for the people of Erith to shop tomorrow morning.’ That told him, she thought as she grinned to herself.
Carols at Woolworths Page 5