Girl with Secrets: a coming of age war story and family saga full of romance, mystery and danger in London’s East End.

by Carol Rivers

  Daisy didn’t hear the movement behind her; her cousin Will looked like Uncle Leo, she decided, with a shock of fair hair that fell untidily over his freckled face. His legs, which were always on the move under his short school trousers, were even thinner than Sammy’s. Today he was wearing a striped knitted jumper that looked as though it might be the handiwork of Aunt Pat.

  ‘Hello,’ he greeted, frowning at Sammy.

  ‘Why are you here?’ Bobby demanded. ‘You should be at school.’

  ’Got a day off,’ said Will. ‘What’s wrong with his nose?’

  ‘Nothing to do with you,’ replied Bobby gloomily.

  ‘A bomb might drop on your factory,’ announced Will in a sing-song voice. ‘They might have to close it down.’

  ‘Do shut up, Will,’ Daisy snapped. ‘You haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.’

  Daisy watched her brother gently clean Sammy's wounds, relieved she wasn’t expected to help.

  ‘My dad might have to go in the army to take photographs of dead bodies,’ continued Will as he tried to balance on one leg. ‘Though they might not be quite dead. You could bleed and bleed and still stay alive. That’s why soldiers tie knives to the end of their guns, to finish ‘em off.’

  ‘Oh do stop, Will,’ Daisy protested again. ‘Go and play outside.’

  ‘There’s nothing to do on my own.’ Will stood his ground as Bobby dabbed at Sammy’s eye and nose. Daisy thought it was as if her brother knew what to do without anyone telling him. She couldn’t possibly have got that close to Sammy who smelled at the best of times.

  ‘If my dad gets shot,’ prattled Will, spreading himself over the big wooden table like a spider, ‘there’ll be no money for food or toys. We’ll have to leave Soho and move to Iceland or Australia. Or Eastbourne.’

  ’Will, Uncle Leo isn’t going to get shot,’ Daisy said, almost out of patience. ‘You mustn’t say such things. You mustn’t even think them.’

  Bobby drew Sammy’s shirt back into place. ‘That’s as much as I can do,’ he said as he washed the cloth out under the tap. ‘Will, make yourself useful and stay here with Sammy. Me and Daisy will go in and speak to the family.’

  ‘What are we going to say about Sammy?’ enquired Daisy.

  ‘I’ve told you before, leave the talking to me.’

  Daisy followed Bobby from the room. She wondered how much of what Will had said was true. Although she wanted it to be make-believe, as it usually was, she had a suspicion that Will hadn’t lied about evacuation.

  Chapter 18

  There was a drift of Aunt Minnie’s perfume hidden in the fog of cigarette smoke. Every seat was taken. Beside Aunt Minnie sprawled Uncle Leo, his arm resting lightly on the back of the couch. His dark hair had grown wild, like Will’s. Daisy noticed that his open-necked shirt was unbuttoned accompanied by a silk paisley scarf her mother would call “arty”.

  Aunt Betty and Uncle Ed sat smoking by the window. A vase of cut flowers from the garden and an overflowing ash tray stood on the gate-leg table between them.

  Pops reclined by the hearth, one elbow balanced on the mantel. Beside him was Matt, dressed in his sports jacket and white flannels. But there was no Amelia. Daisy felt a selfish pang of pleasure. The family did not yet include an outsider, however pretty.

  ‘We’ve been expecting you,’ Mother said as she rose from her chair. ‘This morning we received a letter from the board of governors. I’m afraid the schools nearest the docks must close as from today. It’s rather short notice, but I’m sure we’ll manage.’

  ‘How much have they told you at school?’ Pops said quietly.

  ‘Not much,’ replied Bobby. ‘Are we going to war?’

  ‘There’s a chance, a small one,’ said Pops, ‘that we might not, if the PM successfully appeases Hitler.’

  ‘What’s a-peas?’ Daisy ventured.

  ‘It’s giving a bully what he wants, little sister, in the vain hope he’ll back off and leave you alone,’ said Matt grimly.

  ‘Matt,’ cried Mother in alarm, ‘we shouldn’t make light of the Prime Minister’s efforts to avoid war.’

  ‘Why not, Flo?’ Uncle Leo countered. ‘Let’s face it, we let Herr Hitler make a mockery of the Treaty of Versailles. He took what he wanted and now he wants us.’

  Daisy thought how her uncle might have been talking about Peter Brady. Had it not been for Peter’s arrest and banishment to the reformatory he would still be demanding more. It was only the police who had stopped him.

  ‘London and the docks in particular are Hitler’s next goal,’ continued Matt angrily. ‘He’ll achieve it if Chamberlain ducks out.’

  ‘Sally’s dad, Mr Watson,’ Daisy broke in, ‘said it will be like snapping the head off a chicken, while its body still runs about. Mr Watson’s going to shoot the first German he sees right between the eyes. And Will told us that Uncle Leo might have to join the army and Aunt Minnie will have to leave Soho.’

  ‘Heavens, what rubbish has our son been talking?’ cried Aunt Minnie in a fluster. ‘Leo, for goodness sake, we must do something about Will! He’ll put the fear of God into everyone. Where is that boy?’

  ‘He’s in the kitchen,’ said Bobby. ‘With Sammy.’

  All heads turned toward Bobby.

  ‘Who is Sammy?’ asked Pops.

  ‘Our friend,’ replied Bobby.

  ‘Our best friend,’ confirmed Daisy.

  Mother narrowed her eyes. ’Why isn’t he with his parents?’

  ‘Because,’ said Bobby slowly, ‘Sammy’s house was burned down by the Blackshirts and his dad was taken away.’

  Daisy looked round the room. By all the startled expressions, it was as if Bobby, like Will, was telling tall stories. But what Bobby had told them was true. Daisy had seen the evidence for herself.

  ‘I didn’t know what to do,’ protested Bobby. ‘School was closing and Sammy had nowhere to go. So we brought him home.‘

  ‘Why is Sammy in such trouble?’ said Mother hesitantly. ‘Burning down someone’s house is a crime.’

  ‘Sammy’s frightened of the Blackshirts,’ Bobby insisted. ‘Because Mr Berger is German.’

  Once again the room fell silent.

  ‘How long has Mr Berger lived in England?’ asked Pops after a while.

  ‘Don’t know,’ Bobby answered with a shrug. ‘But Sammy was born here.’

  ‘You say he was attacked?’ Uncle Leo enquired doubtfully.

  ‘His nose was bleeding,’ Daisy volunteered before her brother could reply. ‘And he’s got a black eye that’s gone purple and blue.’

  ‘That’s quite enough, Daisy, ’ interrupted Mother sharply. ‘Stay here while Bobby and I speak to Sammy.’

  Aunt Minnie rose and extended her hand. ‘Come along, Daisy. I’ve smoked far too many cigarettes today. A breath of fresh air will do us good.’

  For once, Daisy went unwillingly with her favourite aunt. She wanted to know what Mother would say to Sammy. After all, she had claimed that Sammy was her best friend too.

  But as usual, boys could do everything girls couldn’t.

  ‘Your father has driven Sammy to the doctor,’ said Mother later after everyone had left.

  ‘Is Sammy ill?’ Daisy asked.

  ‘We shall have to wait and see,’ replied Mother as she washed Miss Ayling’s cups and saucers, placing them on the draining board for Daisy to dry. ‘Miss Bailey should have helped him.’

  ‘She didn’t know he was in trouble,’ Daisy defended. ‘He was outside the school gates.’

  ‘Oh dear,’ sighed Mother. ‘I can’t imagine how frightened the poor child must have been.’ She sat down on a chair and sighed. ‘From the little Sammy told me, his parents came to England from Germany to escape persecution. His mother died from tuberculosis when he was just a baby.’

  ‘Why did the Blackshirts hurt him?’

  ‘Some Blackshirts hold very radical views and have been the cause of untold misery here in London.’

  ‘Why don’t t
he police stop them?’

  Mother considered this for some moments. ’The British believe in democracy, Daisy - freedom of speech for everyone. Only when caught in the act of violence can these people be stopped.’ Mother slipped an arm around her shoulders. ‘I’m sorry, but you are learning that the world can be very unfair sometimes.’

  That night Daisy lay under the warm covers, waiting for Pops and Bobby and Sammy to return. How terrible it must be for Sammy and his father to live in fear and not be able to be proud of who they were or what they believed in.

  The bedside clock said ten minutes past ten when Daisy woke next morning. Pulling on her dressing gown she hurried downstairs. The house was strangely quiet. Usually Mother would be working in the kitchen and Bobby getting ready for school, but of course, there wasn’t any!

  Instead she found Pops sitting at the big dining room table surrounded by his ledgers. He wore no tie and the two top buttons of his shirt were undone. Not like Pops at all who dressed smartly for the factory. His curly blond hair had fallen over his eyes which looked rather red and tired. She could smell cigarette smoke on his clothes, and by the evidence in the spilling ash tray, he had been working for many hours.

  ‘Good morning, treasure.’

  Daisy sat beside him. ‘Where’s Mother and Bobby?’

  ‘Mother is shopping and Bobby’s at football.’

  ‘What’s happened to Sammy?’

  Her father shuffled aside his papers and leaned his elbows on the table. ’Sammy’s cuts and bruises can be treated,’ he explained. ‘But his breathing is quite another matter. The doctor thinks it could be tuberculosis. Do you know what that is?’

  Daisy nodded. ‘Mother said it’s when you have bad lungs.’

  ‘After seeing the doctor I took him to the hospital who will send him to a sanitarium.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘It’s a place where very sick people go to recover.’

  Daisy felt sad. ‘I wish I’d been nicer to Sammy.’

  ‘You and Bobby brought him home to us and we were able to help him. This was possibly the kindest thing you have ever done for anyone. Please God, it won’t be too late to save him.’

  And there it was, Daisy thought - the hammer blow. The real truth hidden in careful words so as not to be too shocking. Like Miss Bailey’s “I fear this will be a Christmas to remember,” and Pops’s “Let’s try to make the very, very most of this year.”

  Her father nodded understandingly. ‘I know it’s hard for you, Daisy. Your friend has been taken away. School has closed. And the world is in turmoil. Changes in life are unsettling. But we are a family and will see this through together, war or no war.’

  ‘Will you get a gun like Sally’s dad?’

  ‘I rather think not. ’

  ‘Did you shoot someone in the first war?’ Daisy saw the little muscles in his jaw begin to move.

  ‘Taking away even one life has far-reaching consequences,’ he explained. ‘I was fortunate. My injury was nothing in comparison to others.’ He straightened his shoulders and smiled. ‘We must hope and pray for peace. That Mr Chamberlain will somehow pull us through.’

  ‘Are we still having a little house in the garden?’ she asked.

  Pops looked into her eyes and nodded. ‘Oh yes.’

  ‘Can we play in it?’

  Pops smiled. ‘Why not? Now, how about something to eat? Happy eggs and soldiers perhaps? Like our breakfasts in Wattcombe where we ate eggs fresh from the barn.’

  Daisy smiled at the memory. Just for one second everything returned to normal. Nothing had changed and the war was just a bad dream.

  Chapter 19

  September 2nd 1939

  “Shortly before 6am yesterday, Friday September 1st, German forces crossed the Polish frontier in the wake of heavy aerial bombardment. The Wehrmacht force of 1.25 million swept into Poland including six armoured divisions and eight motorised divisions with armoured units,” said the cut-glass voice from the wireless set in the living room.

  Daisy sat quietly next to Bobby on the couch as Matt paced the floor. Pops smoked a seemingly never-ending cigarette. Mother occupied the fireside chair. Daisy saw how tight with apprehension her face had become over the past few months.

  She knew this was an important day. More important even, than her tenth and Bobby’s eleventh birthday back in the summer. Practically every household in Britain, Pops had said, were tuning in to hear Mr Chamberlain speak.

  ‘The invasion’s begun,’ said Matt heavily as he paused by the fire which had been lit early that morning to ward off the first chill of autumn. ‘The government have no choice but to announce this soon.’

  ‘Is there any chance we’ll be kept out of it, Nicky?’ asked Mother.

  ‘I had been hoping so,’ replied Pops. ‘This disaster has been condemned by almost every sovereign state. The Poles are in a terrible fix. Russia is aiding and abetting Germany, damn it. Tearing apart the spoils like wild dogs.’

  ‘The Poles are helpless,’ agreed Matt fiercely. ‘The French guns are pounding the German lines on the Western Front, but they haven’t an earthly without back-up.’

  Daisy listened to her family discussing international events, fearing that sooner or later and probably sooner, that horrid word ‘evacuation’ would crop up. Though their parents had done the very best they could in trying to prevent the talk of war, a day had rarely gone by without a mention.

  ‘We’ve no time to waste,’ said Mother with a studied look at Daisy. A meaningful, ‘you do understand look’. A silent message that Daisy didn’t want to understand at all. So she averted her eyes swiftly and settled them on Pops.

  ‘We must make provision for you and Bobby, very soon,’ he explained. ‘To keep you safe. Out of harm’s reach.’

  ‘You mean we’re to be evacuated?’ said Bobby, giving voice to Daisy’s own fear.

  ‘Just until things have settled,’ confirmed Mother. ‘Aunt Pat and Grandma have your room ready. Won’t it be good to be in Wattcombe again?’

  Daisy would have once welcomed the idea. But evacuation was different. Evacuation wasn’t holiday. It felt more like punishment.

  ‘Cheer up, you two,’ said Pops with a forced smile. ‘Think of the fun you’ll have when you meet up with old friends.’

  ‘All the games of Mahjong and Snap you’ll play,’ added Mother. ‘And there’s the Webber’s farm and all their animals.’

  ‘How long do we have to stay?’ Daisy asked.

  Pops slapped his hands jovially on his knees. ‘Just a few months, I guess. You’ll manage that, won’t you?’

  A few months, thought Daisy despairingly. A few months! How was she possibly going to bear it?

  ‘What’s up?’ Bobby whispered in the darkness. ‘You should be asleep. Everyone else is.’

  Daisy had curled herself into a ball in the fireside chair. She was watching the last little bursts of crimson die under the ash in the grate. She had lost count of time. It must be the dead of night. Today had been like another bad dream, only this time she couldn’t wake up.

  ‘I can’t sleep either,’ said Bobby as he sat on the floor and hugged his knees. ‘At least we’ll be together in Wattcombe.’

  ‘I shan’t see Sally for ages.’ Daisy sniffed. ‘I don’t even know where she’s gone.’ She was feeling very sorry for herself. ‘I don’t want to leave home,’ she whined.

  ‘It’s for our own good,’ replied Bobby, gazing into the fire.

  ‘You sound like Pops.’

  ‘Pops told me even the factory might have to close.’

  ‘Why? Because of the bombs?’

  ‘Not really. The machinery’s old and needs replacing. It’ll cost a lot of money to buy new.’

  Daisy had been so preoccupied with her resentful feelings that she had hardly given a thought to the factory.

  ‘Pops is meeting up with some important men soon, hoping to save the factory.’

  ‘So he won’t be driving us to Wattcombe?’r />
  ‘I doubt it,’ replied Bobby and jumped to his feet. ‘He has more important things to consider than us.’

  ‘I wouldn’t mind going on a train.’

  ‘We’ll have to see.’ Bobby nodded towards the stairs. ‘We’d better get some sleep. It’s Mr Chamberlain’s announcement tomorrow.’

  Daisy felt sure she wouldn’t sleep. Why hadn’t Pops talked to her about the factory that day he was working at home? Once again she felt left out, just because she was a girl.

  Chapter 20

  The next morning breakfast was eaten hurriedly in order to be ready for the Prime Minister’s announcement at eleven o’clock. But as the time drew close, there was a knock at the door.

  ‘I’ll get it,’ said Matt and dashed to the hall. He returned with Amelia by his side. ‘We’d like you to know that a week ago I asked Amelia to marry me and she has accepted. Amelia, show everyone your ring.’

  Amelia, blushing to the roots of her hair, stretched out her left hand. A simple ring with a single pale jewel glimmered on her finger.

  ‘Oh, Amelia - that’s beautiful,’ began Mother and was about to stand when Matt continued. ‘The other thing is, I’ve joined the airforce and am now a member of the Air Defence Cadet Corps.’ He coughed lightly. ‘At least, I signed on the dotted line and await my orders.’

  There was a united gasp. Daisy stared at her brother and his wife-to-be. Not that she didn’t want Matt to marry Amelia. She was reconciled to this as lately they had been inseparable, not wanting to be in anyone else’s company but their own. But if Matt had joined the airforce then he was sure to have to go away.