by Annie Groves
Laura nodded. ‘Of course. Ah, has the dashing doctor got leave, then? That’s the only thing that gets you all dressed up, if I’m not much mistaken.’
Kitty laughed. ‘You’ve got it in one. Yes, he’s got his dates confirmed and he’s going to come for a long weekend. He’ll stay with his parents, and I’m going to meet them this time. He’s asked before, of course, but I thought it was too soon. Now, though, it feels right. I thought I should look my best though.’
‘Oh, you don’t scrub up so badly when it comes to it,’ Laura said, trying to be happy for her friend. ‘You’ll look wonderful, Kitty, and he’ll be proud of you. I shall make it my mission to have you as near to perfect as can be.’
‘Thanks, Laura,’ said Kitty warmly. Even though she was far more confident about the meeting these days, it would be a huge boost to have Laura’s lovely clothes and the power of her expert eye to ensure she looked the part of a rising young doctor’s girlfriend. ‘I really hope he doesn’t have to cancel for any reason. There have been hardly any raids over Merseyside for ages now, though. He says it’s been much quieter, so he thinks it will be all right.’
Laura squeezed Kitty’s arm. ‘Of course it will. He won’t cancel; he’ll be far too keen to get down here to see you.’
Kitty nodded, knowing it was true – he really did want to be here with her, and this time she was bubbling with excitement at the thought of seeing him again. But she had to put her excitement to one side and find out what was wrong with her friend. She wasn’t fooled by Laura’s light tone for an instant. She’d come to recognise how clever Laura could be at putting up a brave front, but she knew she wasn’t sleeping – she was restless nearly all night. It was most unlike her to want to mooch about in the grounds when there were more exciting things to do only a short bus ride away.
She wondered how best to broach the subject. Laura had been touchy – to say the least – over the past few days; downright rude sometimes. But she mustn’t let that deter her. Finally she decided to come straight out with it.
They came to a halt under a tree that was rapidly losing the last of its leaves. ‘Laura, hang on a minute.’ Kitty faced her squarely. ‘You aren’t acting yourself,’ she told her friend. ‘I know the night of the fire was pretty bad, but is that all that’s wrong? Why aren’t you sleeping properly?’
Laura fought the instant desire to fling herself away, to say it was none of Kitty’s business. She’d come out here to try to escape her whirling thoughts, not to have to explain them. But Kitty had that determined look about her, and Laura knew she couldn’t avoid her easily for long. But how was she to begin when she didn’t fully understand herself?
‘Oh, I don’t know.’ She clenched her fists. ‘It’s hard to say, it’s such a muddle.’
‘Try, Laura.’
‘Well, it’s complicated. I’m probably imagining the whole thing. Yes, it’s to do with the night of the fire, of course it is. But it’s not just the fire.’ She paused to gather her words, to try to make sense of the conflicting emotions raging within her. ‘It’s Peter being in hospital. It feels like partly that’s my fault.’
‘Yes, I know, you said. But it isn’t really. Remember what they said at the hospital – you know deep down it’s not because of you. The pair of you could have turned away but you didn’t and you saved the child.’
‘There’s more, or maybe there isn’t,’ Laura groaned. ‘It was being in that fire with Peter. I thought he wasn’t going to make it, but sort of didn’t have a second to think about it properly at the time … we just had to get the baby and then get out. Then I helped him to walk because he was injured, and suddenly I didn’t hate him any more. It was like … I don’t know. As if we fitted together. I thought he’d be furious but he wasn’t. Then, at the police station, he was so kind and funny. Now I look back, he must have been in agony, but he didn’t say, he was just … human for once. It’s so hard to describe, I couldn’t even put it into words before.’
‘And you realised you didn’t hate him after all,’ Kitty prompted.
‘Something like that,’ Laura admitted. ‘It wasn’t as if he said much, it was just somehow completely different between us. Or I thought so, anyway. Something changed, something that felt terribly important. But now he’s fighting for his life and I might never know.’
‘Oh, Laura.’ Kitty reached out and gave her friend a hug. ‘That’s bitterly unfair, isn’t it? And you can’t even see him to find out.’
‘That’s about it,’ said Laura, feeling slightly better now that her torment of a secret was out at last. ‘It’s crazy; you hear all the time of how people find each other in the intensity of danger, and look how some of that turns out. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, I just want to know.’ She fought down a sob. ‘And I don’t want him to die. He’s such a brave man. I know he can be annoying and rude and standoffish, but when it came down to it, he didn’t hesitate.’
‘Neither did you,’ Kitty pointed out loyally. ‘He would have known that. He would have seen how courageous you were.’
Laura nodded slowly. She hadn’t thought of that. Perhaps that was what some of the sense of connection had been about – mutual respect. What a terrible waste if he should die and they couldn’t see where that took them. But she had to face it.
‘He might die, Kitty, and then I’ll never know,’ she said tiredly.
‘No,’ said Kitty, ‘but you’ll always know you both did the right thing.’ She paused. There was nothing else she could say to ease her friend’s agony, as any reassurances she could give would be false and they both knew it. What a cruel twist of fate. ‘I’m glad you told me,’ she added. ‘We were worried about you, you know. Look, I suppose we should go back in. You could try to get some rest before we go to the canteen.’
She took Laura’s arm and began to lead the way back to the main building. Laura patted her face. ‘Do I look a fright?’ she asked. ‘I know I’ve let myself go a bit this week.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Kitty said, but before she could go on, a smartly uniformed leading Wren came out of a side door and marched towards them.
‘Wren Fawcett? I’ve been looking for you everywhere,’ she barked sternly. ‘Telephone call from the admiral’s office. I don’t know what you’ve been doing but it’s urgent.’
Laura’s eyes grew wide and her step faltered.
‘Did they say what it was?’ Kitty asked hurriedly.
The senior Wren glared at her. ‘Obviously not. You are wanted immediately, Fawcett. Look sharp.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
‘Not again.’ Sarah sighed wearily as the air-raid siren sounded out its wailing cry, and Georgie instantly joined in. She had just come off shift from her post down near the docks and wanted nothing more than a quiet night in. She hadn’t even had time for a cup of tea, although the kettle was always warm in Dolly’s kitchen.
It had been so long since they’d had a raid over Bootle that Sarah had come to believe they’d be spared from now on. She struggled to remember what to do, what to bring to the shelter. There should be a bag somewhere with all the essentials in it, but had they topped it up since last time?
Dolly swept in from the back yard, all purpose and organisation. ‘Don’t just stand there, our Sarah, but fetch me down that tin from the top shelf. I’ve got some emergency biscuits put by. Then make a flask of tea, quick. Georgie, don’t worry, we’ve done this before, haven’t we? Go to Auntie Violet, she’s in the parlour, she’ll sort you out.’
Georgie looked up at his grandmother, his big eyes uncertain; but once reassured by her comforting tone, he ran into the front room as he was told.
‘Oh Mam, I can’t face the thought of that shelter,’ said Sarah, exhausted from running around all day. She took down the tin and passed it to Dolly, before pulling on her worn-out coat over the cardigan she’d knitted from old wool that had been unravelled from one of Pop’s ancient jumpers. It wasn’t a colour she’d have picked out herself, but beggars could
n’t be choosers. ‘I thought all of that was over.’
Dolly looked steadily at her youngest child, registering how tired she seemed, but now wasn’t the time for defeatist attitudes. ‘Come on, love,’ she said briskly. ‘That’s not like you. We need you to help get everyone sorted out and to safety. Here’s the flask, look – you get that filled while I pack the blankets. Where’s the big torch? Let me just check the batteries are all right. Violet will get Georgie into his siren suit. Thank goodness I’m not on fire-watching duty tonight, I can help out with him.’
Sarah poured the hot water for the tea, carefully closing the stopper on the enamel flask. The last thing they wanted was anyone getting burnt from it. ‘Where’s Rita, Mam? Has she stopped by today?’
Dolly shook her head. ‘She’s on lates, she’ll be at the hospital now. We’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed they are all right over there.’ She sent up a quick prayer for her eldest daughter, who she knew full well would put the safety of her patients above her own. ‘Well, that means one of us should go and check that Ruby knows what to do. I can’t see Winnie doing anything to help her.’
Sarah groaned. She avoided going to the shop if she could, partly because Violet always brought back whatever they needed, but also because she couldn’t stand Winnie. But now Violet was busy and she knew that Rita would want somebody to do it. She didn’t have a choice.
‘All right, I’ll go.’ She put the flask of tea into Dolly’s capacious bag. ‘I’ll see you down at the shelter.’
Swiftly she crossed the alley over to the corner shop, and went round to the back door. She tapped on it. ‘Ruby! Are you there?’
The door swung open and Winnie glared at her. ‘What do you want? Come round to get more fuel for your gossiping lies, have you?’
Sarah noticed how the old woman had lost weight since she’d last seen her, her skin sagging from prominent cheekbones, her jaw slack but her eyes bright with spite. ‘No, I’ve come to see Ruby to the shelter,’ Sarah replied firmly, drawing on her nurse’s training to remain calm under threat. She’d faced far worse than a vindictive neighbour over the last few months and couldn’t let this encounter rattle her. ‘Will you come too, Mrs Kennedy?’ She thought it best to ask, even though she could guess the answer.
‘Down to that fleapit? They let anybody in there,’ snarled Winnie. ‘You wouldn’t catch me dead in there.’ Sarah didn’t say that she might well wind up dead if she didn’t go. She could tell it would be pointless. ‘I’ll be perfectly safe in my own cellar, thank you very much.’
Sarah didn’t try to persuade her otherwise – she could see the old woman’s mind was made up. But she still had to find the younger woman. ‘Is Ruby in there? She needs to come with me.’
Winnie tutted loudly, but Sarah could see Ruby’s shock of white-blonde hair in the dimness of the kitchen doorway. She was loitering shyly, not wanting to provoke Winnie when she was in a temper. Sarah coaxed her forward. ‘Come on, Ruby, you have to get to the shelter. Have you got some warm things to wear? We’ve got tea and biscuits so you won’t go hungry.’ Sarah thought it was ironic – here was Ruby living above the goldmine of Winnie’s hoard, which probably contained enough biscuits to feed the whole of Bootle, and here she was offering the girl her own.
Ruby edged closer. She reached to take what looked like a shapeless jersey off a hook, and emerged into the dim light of the yard. ‘Thank you,’ she said quietly. ‘Did Rita send you?’
‘Rita’s at the hospital, I’ll look after you,’ Sarah said hurriedly. She didn’t want to be caught in Winnie’s back yard if the bombs started falling. ‘She’ll be safe there, but she would want you to come with me.’
Ruby shot a look at Winnie, but the old woman turned away. ‘All right, if Rita says so,’ Ruby said uncertainly.
‘And Violet will be at the shelter with Georgie,’ Sarah went on. ‘Are you ready? Right then, let’s go.’ She didn’t want to wait any longer. She took the young woman’s arm and led her away, with Winnie still glaring at them from the back door. ‘Quick, Ruby, let’s not hang about.’
The pair of them hurried down Empire Street, as neighbours emerged from their doorways from both sides. Sarah spotted Danny ahead of them and called out. ‘Danny! Wait for us!’
He turned and waved, and if he was surprised to see Ruby hanging on to Sarah’s arm, he didn’t say so.
Sarah could feel that Ruby was nervous but she couldn’t do much about it. ‘You know Danny,’ she said as they drew level with him. ‘He’ll look after us both, you’ll see.’ She flashed Danny a grateful smile. She felt safer when he was around, knowing he wouldn’t let her come to any harm if he could possibly avert it.
‘Hurry up, ladies,’ he said now, seemingly relaxed. ‘It’s probably nothing, but we’d better get to that shelter as fast as we can.’ He offered to take Sarah’s satchel, which she’d hurriedly slung around her shoulder. ‘What’s in there, Sarah? All your precious bits and pieces?’ he joked.
‘Yes, exactly,’ said Sarah smartly, to let Ruby know he was teasing. ‘My most precious possession ever – my first-aid kit. I’m never seen out without it, I’ll have you know.’
‘Glad to hear it.’ Danny was about to gently tease her some more when one of the neighbours, Mrs Pinkerton, stopped by the gutter and pointed.
‘Well, look who it is.’ Her face was a mixture of delight and malice. ‘Winnie Kennedy’s illegitimate daughter! Where do you think you’re going? This is a shelter for respectable folk and space is limited, I’ll have you know.’
Ruby froze to the spot in shock, gazing at the woman in horror.
‘Cat got your tongue, has it?’ the woman went on, seizing on her target’s weakness. ‘I should think so; you can’t have anything good to say for yourself. I wonder you have the nerve to walk down our street, bastard that you are.’
Sarah gasped at the woman’s crass rudeness. Rita had warned her that the news had got out, but she hadn’t thought anything about it in the urgency to help the girl to the shelter. Now the angry woman was blocking their way, her shoulders drawn back in self-righteousness. What Sarah didn’t know, because Rita hadn’t known either, was if any of the gossip had reached Ruby’s ears. Had she realised the old woman with whom she shared a house, who treated her with such contempt, was actually her mother? From Ruby’s reaction now, Sarah would have guessed not.
‘What?’ she breathed, her face white in the remaining light. ‘What is she saying, Sarah?’
‘Don’t you listen to her, we need to get to the shelter,’ Sarah said firmly, linking her arm more tightly around Ruby’s. ‘She’s just making trouble because she’s got nothing better to do.’ She stared straight at Mrs Pinkerton, as if daring her to interfere any further.
Danny stepped in, using all his charm. ‘Now then, Mrs Pinkerton, we all need to get to the end of the street, so how’s about you turn around and come with us. Let’s not be having any more of these silly rumours.’ He could see the woman had the potential to cause a whole lot of trouble, which was the last thing they needed at the moment.
‘Don’t you soft-soap me, Danny Callaghan.’ Mrs Pinkerton was having none of it. ‘You might use that voice on all them silly young girls to get them to drop their knickers, but I can tell you it won’t wash with me.’
Danny closed his eyes in momentary horror at the image. He’d never used his looks or voice to seduce girls, although he could have if he’d wanted to. He certainly didn’t want to use them on Mrs Pinkerton. ‘Now then, let’s not say anything we might regret,’ he began, trying to pour oil on troubled waters. ‘If you’d just step aside …’
‘I’ll do no such thing.’ The woman was getting more and more enraged, oblivious to the danger they were all now in. ‘She’s not coming into the shelter and that’s all there is to it. I’m amazed she has the gall to walk down the street. We don’t want your sort here,’ she turned her rage from Danny to Ruby, ‘so you can bloody well find somewhere else to hide. You’re a disgrace, and you
r mother is no better, putting on all those airs and graces for years, pretending she was better than everyone, looking down her nose at her customers. Well, it’s not going to work any more.’
Sarah was just beginning to realise that half the problem was that Mrs Pinkerton hadn’t been one of Winnie’s cronies; she would have missed out on all the black-market luxury goods available only to the select few, so was using this as an excuse to blacken Winnie’s name. But there wasn’t time to dwell on this, because she felt Ruby’s hand break free, and to her horror the girl began to run in the opposite direction to the shelter, down the dock road. Frantically Sarah turned and ran after her, shouting, but Ruby was fast and they could hear her terrified cries of ‘no, no, no …’
‘And good riddance!’ Mrs Pinkerton shouted in triumph, before heading into the shelter and slamming the big door shut.
Danny sped after the two young women, regardless of what such a pace would do to his damaged heart, and caught up with them just as the all-too-familiar drone of enemy aircraft began. ‘Come on,’ he said urgently. ‘Don’t mind her, Ruby, she’s just a poisonous old bag with nothing better to do. We’ve got to get to safety, we can’t stand around out here – we’re sitting targets if we do that.’
Sarah looked into the evening sky and could see the lights from the ground defences sweeping the edges of the clouds. The ack-ack guns would start any minute. Danny was right, they couldn’t stay out here. She shivered in apprehension.
‘Ruby, come on, don’t be daft. She’s talking nonsense. We have to get inside.’
Ruby trembled uncontrollably. ‘She hates me and I don’t know why. What does she mean about Winnie? What’s going on?’