‘Thanks Dottie, but it’s early days. Goodness knows how I’ll cope,’ Elenor said.
‘We’re here for you. You are not alone,’ said Susie.
‘But one day, when the war is over, I will be. This is such a shock. Next of kin. She has family, they were visited by George and Victoria often enough.’
Elenor ran her fingers through her hair and paced the floor.
‘Listen, you have friends in the village. No one will see you struggle. We’ll help you get through this.’
Chapter 35
The following morning brought with it a sense of loss. An exhausted Rose had slept in Elenor’s bed, clinging onto her for the best part of an hour until sleep came to them both. No bombs fell that night and Elenor was grateful for more than five hours’ rest.
She and Alice rose early and Elenor was touched to find a note saying the girls had gone to organise the staff and she was to concentrate on Rose. Whilst Alice sat down to breakfast, both waited for the moment Rose would wake and need comfort.
‘You have a train home, Alice? Can I pay for the ticket, it’s the least I can do.’
‘Thank you, but the WVS have arranged a lift home for me. I’m to join a support convoy heading to Coventry at ten. A truck will pick me up. I am grateful for the rest and food.’
‘Don’t be grateful to me. I will never forget what you’ve done for both Rose and me, now and in the past. Eat up, and I’ll prepare you a lunch pail for the journey. I’ll just let Seth off for a run.’
Seth had been kept outside for fear of upsetting Rose as neither women were sure she’d ever met a dog. He greeted Elenor with his usual enthusiasm and gave a bark.
‘You shush. There’s a little girl who needs sleep inside. It is time for you to be calm.’
She released him off into the fields where he ran carefree. Elenor looked on with envy. She turned to head back into the house and saw a tousle-haired Rose standing in the doorway.
‘Good morning sleepyhead. I’m just coming to see if you are ready to eat something.’
Alice had hinted she’d refused food since the bombings. Today would be the fifth day.
‘We need to feed you up. You will turn seven in a few days. Seven? Can you believe it, I certainly can’t. Now where is Mrs Green, I’ve something for her.’
Elenor kept her tone upbeat. It broke her heart to see the little girl so scared. A loud bark echoed out from the top meadow and Rose jumped.
‘Ah, that’s Seth. He keeps me company. I’ll introduce you later.’
She ushered Rose inside just as Alice entered the kitchen.
‘I’ve packed my bag. Ah, Rose, come and give an old lady a hug for her journey.’
Alice sat on an armchair and Rose rushed over to her and Alice read to Rose until her lift arrived.
‘I’ve food for you outside, meat, veg and fruit, and a sack of potatoes, I’ll get the lads to load them for you. I’ve also put money in an envelope, use it as you see fit. It’s not a lot, but hopefully it will help.’
‘It is kind of you, Elenor. My family will appreciate the food, and I’ll take the money to our local treasurer. Thank you.’
A honk of a horn and several male voices in the yard were followed by Susie’s laughter. Seth had found Alice’s escort home. Alice dropped a kiss on the top of Rose’s head and eased her onto her feet and turned her around to face her.
‘You are in good hands, little one. Write to me, Elenor has my address. I’ll visit when I can, when I’ve helped fix Coventry. This is your home now, and you know you are safe.’
No words came from Rose’s lips, nor did she offer a smile. She grabbed Alice’s hand and then went to Elenor’s side.
‘That’s a good girl. You take care of Elenor for me.’
Rose nodded her head and buried it into the side of Elenor’s hip.
‘You take care, Alice. I’ll just pop out to instruct the lads to load you up, and then we’ll wave you off.’
Walking to the door it was obvious she would have to either drag Rose with her or carry her. ‘It’s cold outside darling. Stay with Alice.’ But Rose clung onto her and had no intention of letting Elenor out of her sight.
As Elenor stepped outside one of the soldiers swore loudly, and Elenor gave him a withering look – an instinctive reaction to protect the child in her arms.
‘Sorry missus, didn’t think.’
‘No harm done. Seth, inside,’ Elenor said and pointed to the pen.
The dog obeyed, and Susie shut the clasp tight. All the while, Elenor was aware of Rose watching the dog.
Following a tearful farewell with Alice, they stood watching until the back of the transport had left the lane.
‘Do you need help, Elenor?’ Susie asked.
‘No, I think we’ll be just fine. Missy here is going to have a late breakfast and we’ll take it from there. Thank you, Susie.’
‘Well, as you can probably hear, Dottie is with her team and Tom up in the top pastures. I’ll be around here mucking out and milking with the girls. Shout if you need us for anything. See you later Rose.’
Rose gave a shy wave as Elenor carried her inside and sat her at the large pine table. She looked so tiny, so vulnerable and barely reached the plate on the surface.
‘I think you need a cushion to sit on, Rose. I’m going to make us some scrambled eggs. My chickens laid them especially for you, so please make them happy and eat up.’
Rose sat staring out of the window. Elenor knew at her level she would only be watching the clouds scud over the treetops.
She plated up their breakfast and placed Rose’s in front of her. Rose looked at it and with slow movements picked up her spoon and took a mouthful. Without being asked, when the plate was empty, Elenor refilled it, and again, Rose ate. She drank her milk and cuffed away the cream from her top lip. Elenor watched as she clambered down from her seat and put both dish and cup onto the drainer.
‘We have a small bathroom downstairs, Rose. Over there. Your wash bag is waiting for you.’
Rose padded in her unlaced shoes to the bathroom. Minutes later she returned, her face still serious. Elenor selected Rose a tan-coloured woollen dress and cardigan, and a pair of white woollen socks.
‘Get yourself dressed. I have to feed some of my animals, and maybe you’d like to meet them. I have cows, pigs and sheep, not just chickens and a crazy dog. And we’ll pull some carrots for dinner. Would you like to have a walk around the farm for a while?’
From under the neck of her dress Rose popped up her head. She nodded.
‘I have lots of people come from the village, and most have children you can play with. Tom is our shepherd and lives in the cottage on the farm. Don’t be shy, they are kind people, and will always help you.’
Back out in the yard, Seth gave loud bursts of excited barking at Rose, and she gave him a wide berth. She clutched Elenor’s hand as they walked to the milking shed where three women sat on their stools and worked in a continuous rhythm against each cow. Elenor felt Rose tense and grip her hand harder. She took a step back when one of the heifers gave a soft moo.
‘They’re no threat, Rose. One day, maybe you can learn how to milk them, but just say hello to them for now and then we’ll meet the sheep, and Tom. Once we have got through all the introductions, we will go back inside and I’ll show you around the house.’
Skipping and jumping around the field, the sheep and the shepherd’s own sheepdog, Bess, entertained Rose. Elenor noticed her face soften as she watched them from the fence. Pink cheeks lifted into a partial smile and Elenor let out a sigh of relief. It would take time, but Rose would heal and hopefully, love the farm as she did. Another woof from Seth reminded her she had to try to get him on the calm side when he met Rose. An impossible task on the best of days.
‘Let’s head back Rose. Seth wants to meet you, and he’s missing me.’
With slow movements, Rose moved towards the pen and Seth yapped with excitement.
‘Quiet, Seth. Quiet,’ E
lenor said.
The dog sat wagging his tail, but Rose made no move to approach him.
With her hand taking all the licks Seth could offer, Elenor smiled at Rose.
‘He’ll lick the life out of me if he can. Never be afraid of him, and if he jumps up, push him away. He’s only a young dog and we have to train him. He was supposed to go with the shepherd, but he’s more of a house dog now. Bess puts him right. Both dogs are gentle, trust me.’
Inside the house she could hear singing.
‘Ah, Susie’s doing her own chores now. She keeps house for us.’
Susie looked at Elenor with tears in her eyes after they’d left Rose wandering from room to room upstairs and shown her her new bedroom. Elenor shared all she knew about Rose’s experience.
‘That poor little thing. Once she’s down from her room, I’ll open the window, air it out before we start with the decorating. It will be fun for us and the little tot.’
Rose peered around the door leading from the hallway.
‘Do you like your room?’ Elenor asked. ‘Susie is going to fix it up for you. You will have the same view as me, over the back of the farm.’
They entered the bedroom, and both went to the window.
‘We will make it a pretty room, Rose. It will be yours. You understand this is your new home now, don’t you?’ Elenor said. Rose nodded.
‘Let’s go look for paint and curtains in my storeroom near the bathroom.’
Rose ran ahead of Elenor down the stairs, and Susie looked up from her ironing in surprise at the pair of them giggling.
‘Well, what do we have here, a smiling face? I take it madam is ready to fix her room?’
Looking up at Elenor and then back at Susie, Rose smiled.
‘Yes, I want it painted yellow. Just like Elenor painted the one in our old house. She told Mummy it reminded her of sunshine and green fields. Mummy said it was a silly idea,’ Rose said.
‘I did, I painted my room after my aunt died. Fancy you remembering why I chose yellow.’
Rose twisted at the sleeve of her dress and looked at Susie.
‘My mummy is dead, so is my daddy. Elenor is going to look after me, and she is not silly, she is sunshine, and outside are the green fields.’
Both Elenor and Susie exchanged stunned glances as Rose headed towards the storeroom.
‘Like my little brothers, all or nothing with them at times, and they come out with the oddest things. That’s kids for you. She’s a survivor and loves the bones of you. Even a blind man would see it well enough.’
Following Rose skipping around much like an overexcited Seth, Elenor put her hands in the air in wonderment, then dropped them to her side. It was time to decorate and rebuild lives.
Chapter 36
23rd November 1940
Putting the finishing touches to a cake for Rose’s birthday, Elenor knew she had to prepare herself for all eventualities. Rose had woken with nightmares twice in the night, and Elenor had been tempted to cancel the tea party she’d arranged to encourage Rose to make friends. Susie deposited plates of sandwiches and cakes onto the table; her promised gift to Rose.
‘It is very generous of you and your family, Susie.’ Elenor said.
Susie bustled around the kitchen pulling together a birthday tea table before Elenor’s eyes.
‘When I told them about her there was no stopping them. They all contributed a bit from their rations.’
Elenor marvelled at their generosity, but remembered her mother saying she’d helped feed people during World War One. Now her community pulled together for a little girl to help stop the nightmares.
Footsteps on the stairs alerted them Rose was on her way down. Elenor picked up the cake and hid it in the larder on the top shelf.
‘Happy birthday, Miss Seven-Years-Old,’ she called out as Rose hurtled into the kitchen.
Even a few days of fresh air had brought the colour back in her cheeks, and a sparkle in her eye.
‘I’ve just seen a snowflake falling. Just a little one,’ Rose said.
She dragged a chair to the window and stood on it. ‘Look, there’s more. See?’
Elenor and Susie looked outside and watched as a few flakes fell melting within seconds.
‘Thank goodness the ground isn’t too cold, I don’t think we’ll get much, but how lovely it fell for your birthday,’ Susie said.
‘But I want more. Why can’t we have more?’ Rose asked.
‘Ah, well we can’t all have what we want, even on our birthday. Now climb down, there’s a good girl,’ Elenor said.
With everything in place the table contents waited to be demolished by nine noisy little visitors and Rose.
‘It is my birthday,’ was her favourite quip each time she tried to sneak something from a plate.
At two o’clock the kitchen filled with laughter and Rose stood to one side of Elenor as she was introduced to each person through the door.
By three o’clock, Elenor knew she had no need to worry about Rose finding friends. A happy girl accepted simple gifts with glee and looked relaxed in their company.
Her face lit up with sheer delight when presented with her cake, and before they knew it, it was over and a contented Rose waved her new friends goodbye.
‘You wouldn’t have known there was a war on this afternoon,’ Susie said.
‘Really? I thought it …’
Elenor had been about to make a joke about the place looking like an explosion had taken place, but bit back her words just in time.
Aside from the stack of empty plates, a pile of unwrapped presents sat on the table.
‘Have you shown Susie your gifts, Rose?’
With great gusto, Rose held out a pair of knitted socks in green, a beret in blue and grey, a white vest with an embroidered rosebud on one strap, a lollipop, a dog carved from wood, and two pink ribbons.
‘Aren’t I lucky, Susie? All these things, and they are mine to keep.’
‘I think you are the luckiest girl in the world,’ Susie said.
‘Ah wait, I’ve not given you mine yet,’ Elenor said.
She handed Rose a parcel and watched as the little girl tugged away the ribbon, and unwrapped the paper. Her face lit up as she pulled out a blue ragdoll. She hugged the doll close, then inspected the wonky eyes, nose and face.
‘She’s beautiful. The man who found my photograph tried to find Annie, but he couldn’t.’
She ran to Elenor and kissed her cheek.
‘Thank you, Elenor, and I will call her Annie-two.’
Elenor put her hand to where Rose’s lips had touched her face. She’d made the doll from one of her mother’s old skirts, and the kiss made up for the frantic sewing when Rose was asleep in bed.
‘Annie-two, welcome to Tre Lodhen. Now Rose, you run along and put your new things upstairs. The paint is dry in your own room, so why don’t you put them in there,’ Elenor said.
She winked at Susie. Whilst the children played at the party, Susie and another mum had put the room together.
Rose raced upstairs. Elenor and Susie tiptoed behind and stood by the door. Elenor frowned at Susie. Both expected a loud squeal, some kind of reaction, but there was none. Elenor stepped inside.
‘Rose, do you like it?’
She beckoned Susie inside, and both stood watching the little girl move around the room kissing each piece of furniture she came to, and eventually she looked up at them with tears dribbling from her chin.
‘S’beautiful, all sunshine and green fields, just like I wanted.’
‘You keep it clean, miss. I will inspect it every day,’ Susie said, then picked her up and placed a large kiss on her cheek. ‘We’ll be all right, me ‘n’ ee.’
Susie, Dottie and Tom took the remainder of the food to his cottage, and left Elenor to have some quiet time with Rose before bedtime.
In her bedroom, they sat and watched the shadows of the farmhands move around the land from the window. Elenor wanted her to become familiar with
the dark country nights now she was to spend them in her own room. Seth gave a bark, and Elenor sat Rose on the bed.
‘Rose, before you came to live here, Seth took care of me at night. He made sure I heard if a fox was after the chickens, but he did it from inside. He slept in the kitchen. The outside pen is only meant for a few hours in the daytime. He belongs inside as much as Susie and Dottie, do you understand?’
Rose listened with deep concentration. Elenor continued in a soft reassuring tone.
‘I know you are nervous of him, but he won’t hurt you. It makes me sad for him to sleep in the cold. We will have to get you both to make friends soon, understand?’
With a nod of her head, Rose clambered down from the bed and went to the window. She turned around and placed Annie-two on the pillow, then took Elenor by the hand.
‘We can try tonight, Elenor. He might like a piece of my cake. Can dogs eat cake?’
With a chuckle, Elenor stood up, pulled the blackout shade down, and drew the curtains.
‘Seth will eat anything, and a piece of your cake will be gone in seconds.’
With relief, Elenor settled Rose into a seat downstairs whilst she fetched Seth.
‘Brace yourself. I’ll bring him to you, just stay still and let him sniff your feet. Don’t scream or shout.’
Rose did as Elenor said and sat watching Seth get closer. At one point, Elenor saw her close her eyes.
‘Brave girl, well done. He’s at your feet now, look.’
Opening her eyes, Rose looked at the dog inhaling all he could about her from her toes to her heel.
‘It tickles,’ she said.
‘If you are feeling brave, you could put out your hand for him to sniff, or you could stroke his head.’
As Rose moved her hand to his head, Seth sat still, sensing his need for calm. Elenor watched on in amazement; she’d never seen him sit still for so long. Rose touched the top of his head with her finger, then the palm of her hand.
‘He’s soft,’ she whispered.
‘Soft in the head,’ Elenor said and laughed.
Seth laid down on the floor by the fire and beside Rose’s chair, and Elenor took the opportunity to unclip his lead. Before she had time to blink the dog had bounced onto the seat and gave Rose’s face lick upon face lick.
The Secret Orphan Page 21