by Daisy Styles
‘Got to build up your strength,’ she told Ava, placing a tray on her lap, then perching on the bed beside her.
‘Where did the yummy shrimps come from?’ Ava asked, as she wiped the bowl clean with warm toast.
‘Blakeney ‒ I twisted a friendly fisherman’s arm,’ Bella giggled. ‘In exchange for one of Maudie’s warm poppy-seed loaves, I got a dozen shrimps, just for you, dear girl!’ she said, with an emotional catch in her throat. ‘God, Ava, we missed you so much,’ Bella added, removing the tray and gripping her friend’s hand. ‘The kitchen just wasn’t the same without you bossing us about and making us laugh.’
‘I’ll be back in there soon, so enjoy the peace while you can,’ Ava said, as she reached for a Woodbine and lit up. ‘God, when I think of that day on the beach!’ She shuddered at the memory. ‘One minute we were laughing and splashing in the shallows, the next I was throwing myself between Ollie and a German landmine.’
‘You were so brave,’ Bella said softly.
Ava shook her bandaged head. ‘You know what? I never even thought about it – it was pure instinct. I prayed it would be a duff bomb that would just roll away, but the minute it touched shore there was no doubting it was a live one. It would definitely have killed Ollie if he’d picked it up.’
Seeing tears filling Ava’s eyes, Bella said briskly, ‘It’s all over now, and the good thing is, as a consequence of your accident, the coastguards have been up and down the coast line from Cley Next The Sea to Hunstanton, checking for any more landmines that the Germans might have sent our way.’
Ava stubbed out her Woodbine. ‘Did they find any?’
Bella nodded. ‘A dud one just off Brancaster beach. Now, come on, lady, get some sleep, or I’ll get a ticking-off from the Brig for keeping you talking too long.’
As Bella rose to go, Ava pulled her back on to the edge of the bed.
‘How are you and the Brig?’ she asked.
Bella’s eyes grew large and dreamy as she replied, ‘Wonderful!’
‘We’re all so lucky to have our loved ones close to us,’ Ava said. ‘It must be unbearable for those girls who only see their boyfriends once or twice a year.’
‘Poor souls. I’d go mad,’ Bella admitted. ‘Mind you,’ she said, as she dropped her voice to a confidential whisper, ‘There are times when we’re kissing that I’m tempted to go further ‒ even all the way,’ she confessed with a blush.
Ava nodded. ‘I know what you mean. I daren’t, though. Imagine if I fell pregnant ‒ Tom’s still married. I’d be shunned by good society,’ she added, with a melodramatic smile.
Bella looked thoughtful. ‘You know, I really do wonder about my sister. She’s never made a secret ‒ at least not to me, because she likes humiliating me ‒ of how many lovers she’s had. She’s got to have sorted out the contraceptive problem ‒ I just wonder what she does?’
‘Probably had something like a coil fitted,’ Ava replied knowingly. ‘She could afford to have it done at some fancy private clinic in London. I couldn’t afford it – and, anyway, if you love and respect somebody and want to live with them for ever, isn’t it worth waiting till the wedding night?’
Bella burst out laughing. ‘Just so long as the wedding night isn’t ten years away!’
As Ava lay on her bed one sunny August morning, she heard on the radio that General Montgomery had taken command of the Eighth Army in North Africa. When Tom arrived with flowers and some black-market chocolate for the patient, he was alight with excitement.
‘The tide’s turning, at last!’ he said, kissing his girlfriend while gently stroking the thick tufts of dark hair that were quickly growing back on Ava’s head. ‘Der Führer’s getting it from both sides now,’ he added gleefully. ‘What with Montgomery pushing north into Tunis, and Stalin and Churchill meeting up in Moscow to discuss the German’s drive on Stalingrad, the Third Reich are going to feel a draft – about time, too!’ he finished passionately.
Good food and rest certainly helped Ava regain her strength, but the best tonic was the wonderful summer weather and the tranquillity of the Walsingham gardens. As Ava’s strength returned, she was allowed to walk outside and sit in a deckchair under the shade of an ancient oak. She was regularly visited by one friend after another, Peter always dropped by with a bunch of sweet peas or a ripe peach from the greenhouse and, one day, Tom brought Lucas to see Ava.
‘Surprise! Surprise!’ Tom laughed, as Ava’s jaw dropped in amazement. ‘Don’t jump up,’ he warned, as Ava struggled to stand. ‘We’ll come to you.’
Lucas was ecstatic to see Ava, who he’d missed over the weeks since her accident. He blew softly against her cheek and greedily chomped on the apples Tom had slipped Ava to feed to him.
‘Lovely boy,’ she murmured, as she caressed his velvety-smooth neck, then tickled his pink muzzle. ‘We’ll go riding soon, I promise.’
Ava suggested to Bella that, while she was sitting sunbathing in the garden, she could help in a small way.
‘Just bring me a pan of water and a knife, and I’ll sit here and prep the veg.’
‘Are you sure?’ Bella asked.
Ava burst out laughing. ‘I’m not exactly going to bust a gut peeling spuds!’ she joked.
So her friends appeared in the garden with baskets of fruit and veg, which Ava peeled, or topped and tailed, and she spent hours shelling peas. The sun caught her skin, turning it brown and golden, and her hair grew quickly in the sunshine.
‘You look like a pixie sitting there, shelling peas, with your dark hair and tanned skin!’ Ruby teased.
‘I feel so well!’ Ava assured her.
‘Don’t run away with yourself,’ Ruby warned. ‘You’re definitely not ready for standing on your feet all day.’
‘But I worry about you in the kitchen,’ Ava fretted. ‘Don’t give me the party line, Ruby, I know you’re doing everything you can not to worry me, but I also know what it’s like below stairs even when there are four of us working flat out. How you manage with only three, I simply can’t imagine.’
‘We manage ‒ that’s all that matters,’ Ruby answered firmly.
Ava was right: Bella, Maudie and Ruby were stretched to breaking point below stairs. The Brig helped out every night with the washing-up and setting the breakfast trays, but it was, nevertheless, a strain on the three girls, who had scarcely any free time at all. Ruby and Maudie had hardly seen Raf and Kit; Raf managed to sneak a quick visit to his wife when he was on chauffeur duty, but Kit, who couldn’t be spared for a moment, was back to sleeping in his office. The only chance Maudie got to see her handsome pilot was when she cycled over to the Holkham airbase, which she’d managed a few times between serving lunch and preparing tea. Kit’s tired face lit up when his girl arrived.
‘Maudie!’ he cried, swinging her in his strong arms.
Pressed against Kit’s warm chest, with his blue RAF shirt unbuttoned at the top, Maudie wriggled in delight. ‘You smell nice,’ she said.
‘I stink!’ he exclaimed. ‘I wash in the sink in the lavatory, and I’ve been nowhere near a bath in weeks. Come on, love,’ he added excitedly. ‘Let me show you how much progress we’ve made.’
Holding his hand, Maudie ran with Kit across the base to the runway. ‘Look, it’s as good as new!’ Kit declared proudly. ‘We’ve been working round the clock on twelve-hour shifts, but it’s been worth all the hard slog – we’ll soon be operational again.’
‘Then you’ll get your Lancasters,’ she said.
‘Yes, yes, yes!’ Kit cried, and thumped the air. ‘My beautiful Lancasters.’ His voice dropped and he muttered, ‘It’s top secret, sweetheart, no loose lips, eh?’ He kissed her lovely, pouting, full lips. ‘The bloody Huns are not going to get a chance to bomb my babies again. Oh no! This time it’ll be the other way round – we’ll be bombing those bastards!’ Remembering his manners, he checked himself. ‘Whoops, ’scuse my French.’
Maudie shook her golden-red hair, which today was held back with a blue si
lk headscarf that bought out the colour in her brilliant green eyes.
‘Don’t worry. You can call the Germans any name you like ‒ it won’t upset me,’ she assured Kit.
They sat on a wall close to the barrage balloons that floated overhead to hide the runway from enemy planes. Maudie reached into her basket and drew out a warm cheese-and-spinach pasty she’d made that morning.
‘Not only are you beautiful and clever, you’re also an amazing cook,’ Kit said, as he ravenously devoured the pasty.
‘I should have made more.’ Maudie laughed.
They made the most of her free hour, kissing, laughing and chatting in the sunshine. Kit talked excitedly about the first all-American air attack in Europe.
‘Thank God for the Yanks,’ he declared. ‘At long last, we’re giving Jerry a run for his money. When my Lancasters arrive, I’ll make the most of their bomb load. It’ll be pay-back time, when I take to the skies!’
Maudie’s eyes went dark with foreboding. ‘Kit, please don’t talk like that ‒ you frighten me,’ she murmured, and reached for his hand.
‘Sorry, love,’ he replied. ‘We took a hell of a hit, and it hurts a man’s pride.’
‘Just the thought of you flying over Germany makes me feel sick to my stomach,’ she confessed.
‘It’s what I was born to do, Maudie, you must understand that …?’ He looked at her closely, waiting for an answer.
‘I understand, Kit, but it doesn’t stop me from being frightened.’
When Maudie arrived back at the hall, she was surprised to find Ava sitting at the kitchen table.
‘What are you doing here?’ Maudie exclaimed.
‘I’ve had enough of lolling about,’ Ava announced. ‘The doctor said I could do some light work, so I can sit here and roll pastry or peel vegetables while keeping an eye on you lot! I might not be able to run up and down stairs, but I can certainly offer you an extra pair of hands.’
‘And we’re grateful,’ Bella said, with a warm smile. ‘But we’re going to watch you like a hawk. Any sign of stress and fatigue, and you’re straight back to bed, OK?
Ava gave a smart military salute as she replied, ‘Ja, ja, mein Herr!’
As August came to an end, the fine sunshine still held out, so when Ollie returned for a second visit to Norfolk the weather was perfect for their first ride on Holkham beach.
‘I’m definitely not riding Drummer,’ Tom assured her. ‘His high spirits will wind everybody up.’
Much as Ava loved the beautiful Arab, she entirely agreed with Tom. ‘Let’s keep it calm,’ she replied. ‘You lead Ollie on Tara, on the loose rein, and I’ll ride beside them.’
‘Sure you’re up for it, darling?’
‘I wouldn’t miss it for the world! Anyway!’
Oliver couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw pretty Tara tacked up and waiting for him. After running to hug Ava and give her a big kiss, he stood transfixed before the cheeky little Shetland, who impatiently nudged the boy’s tummy.
‘What does she want, Daddy?’ he asked.
‘An apple, a carrot, a mint ‒ or all three!’ Tom laughed. ‘Tara will eat anything!’
After feeding Tara a carrot, they set off down the drive to the sea. Ollie looked adorable in his riding hat, and the sight of his little legs poking out over Tara’s wide girth gave Ava and Ollie the giggles.
‘She’s too fat for you to put your legs down her sides!’ Ava laughed.
‘She’s bouncy, too, like a ball!’ Ollie chuckled, as he bounced up and down on Tara’s wide back.
Sitting up straight and holding his reins, as his daddy had taught him, Ollie smiled proudly. ‘I’m a proper horse-rider!’ he told Ava.
Tom led Ollie along the track, with Ava, mounted on bomb-proof Lucas, riding right beside him. Lucas’s calm presence kept the flighty Shetland steady as a rock, even when she waded through the shallow waves that lapped on to the beach. Seeing Ollie’s anxious eyes straining into the distance, Ava said gently, ‘There aren’t any more beach bombs, Ollie, lovie. They’ve all gone. We’re completely safe.’
Ollie’s eyes turned to her, full of trust. ‘Really, Avie?’
‘Scout’s honour ‒ really,’ she assured him.
They tethered up Lucas and Tara to the pine trees close to the sand dunes, and quenched their thirst with lemon-and-barley water, then shared some left-over sticky gingerbread slices from the trainees’ lunch.
‘I missed you, Avie,’ Ollie said, in between bites of cake.
‘Missed you, too, sweetheart,’ she replied, as she leant over to hug him.
Tom gazed from the woman he loved to the son he adored. Even though there was a war raging just across the North Sea and the Germans were doing untold damage to the Russians in Stalingrad, Tom felt a rush of happiness that simply took his breath away. Mesmerized by the vast expense of shimmering blue sea that merged with the blue of the sky, Tom realized that he wanted to marry Ava and live with her for ever. He wasn’t yet a free man but, as soon as his divorce came through, he would go down on his bended knees and ask beautiful Ava Downham to be his wife.
22. Lancasters
The Lancasters arrived in late autumn. Maudie heard them before she saw them. The distant hum of the engines turned into a mighty roar as the first half-dozen bombers flew low over Walsingham Hall on their way to Holkham airbase.
‘Jesus!’ Ava exclaimed, as they all rushed outside to squint up at the Lancasters. ‘How’s anybody ever going to keep those noisy buggers a secret?’
Shading their eyes against the low autumn light, they watched the planes lose height, then disappear behind the Norfolk turnip fields.
‘God! They’re huge,’ Ava said in an awed voice.
‘They certainly look the business,’ Bella commented.
The Brig and the code girls had also come outside to observe the Lancasters fly past.
‘Churchill wasn’t messing about when he commissioned those,’ the Brig said with a grim smile.
‘Let’s hope the blasted Germans don’t get wind of the new arrivals. It would be a double tragedy if they destroyed those, too,’ said Ava.
As Maudie stared into the now-empty sky she said thoughtfully, ‘I bet Kit wastes no time in getting them airborne.’
‘Raf said the ground crews have to do routine checks before they can take to the air,’ Ruby said knowledgeably.
Ava chuckled as she lit up a Woodbine. ‘Do you two talk planes even when you’re in bed?’ she teased.
Ruby replied with a cheeky wink, ‘A kiss and a cuddle takes my husband’s mind off twin engines in a blink!’
Later that evening, just after supper, Kit came roaring up to the hall in his noisy old MG.
‘Darling!’ he said, swinging Maudie around until she was dizzy. ‘They’re here!’
‘I know, I heard them – along with the rest of the county!’ she joked.
‘Come and see them for yourself,’ Kit urged, and dragged her towards his convertible.
Maudie pulled him away from the car as she said firmly, ‘Not until you’ve had something to eat.’
Impatiently, Kit shook his head. ‘I’m not hungry.’
‘Yes, you are. You don’t eat enough. Come on ‒ five minutes, max,’ she promised.
Below stairs, in between mouthfuls of the remains of supper ‒ Lord Woolton pie and fruit crumble ‒ Kit eulogised about the Lancasters to the girls, and to the Brig, who’d dashed down to see him.
‘They’re beautiful!’ he cried. ‘The bomb bay can carry up to twenty-two thousand pounds of bombs and still travel at two hundred and seventy miles an hour when fully loaded!’
Maudie chuckled. ‘You’re losing me, darling!’
‘Four propellers and eight machine guns – we’ll be rulers of the skies!’ Breathless with excitement, Kit swallowed his mug of tea then stood up and took Maudie by the hand. ‘I’ve finished my supper – now, please can we go?’ he asked, like an impatient, over-excited child.
‘When’s you
r first sortie?’ the Brig asked, as they headed for the stairs.
Kit drew a hand across his mouth as if he were securing a zip. ‘Top secret,’ he replied with a grin. ‘Not even Maudie knows!’
When they got to the airbase, Maudie stood wide-eyed before the line of mighty Lancasters ranged along the runway.
‘They’re spectacular!’ she gasped.
‘See! Didn’t I tell you?’ laughed Kit proudly. ‘Come on, I’ll give you a tour.’
For all their enormous size on the outside, Maudie was surprised at how cramped the Lancasters were inside.
‘The bomb bay and the two gun turrets take up a heck of a lot of room ‒ there’s only just enough space for the seven-man crew,’ Kit explained. ‘Just look at the dashboard, darling.’
Maudie stared in bewilderment at the range of dials, levers and switches on the elaborate control panel. ‘I’d be terrified to fly this,’ she confessed.
Totally elated, Kit’s sky blue eyes burnt with passion. ‘My God – I can’t wait to get this baby off the ground!’
Seeing tears trembling in Maudie’s eyes, Kit gently gathered her into his arms and kissed her glowing golden-red hair. Gulping back tears that were threatening to overwhelm her, Maudie blurted out, ‘I’m sorry to be pathetic when you’re so happy but … I’m frightened!’
Holding her at arm’s length so he could look her levelly in the eye, Kit said, ‘Listen to me, Maudie. I’ve never had anybody to rush home to before, but in the short time I’ve known you, I’ve come to realize how precious life is when you care for someone as much as I care about you. I’m not in a rush to throw away my life. I’ll do my duty along with all my brave men, but I want to come home to you,’ he concluded, as he kissed her sweet, pouting lips.
‘But you sound so gung-ho and reckless,’ she whispered.
‘That’s excitement, that’s now – but, believe me, the mood changes on a raid,’ he explained. ‘Generally, we’re silent. Apart from the navigator giving his readings, we’re focused and intense, a team on a mission.’
There was a long silence as they clung to each other in the cockpit.