When the train steamed into Feneton, only a few people got off. Charlotte hung back as Shirley strode out of the station. It was still early evening and daylight, so she followed at a distance, but Shirley, obviously busy with her own thoughts, walked briskly down the road without looking back. Charlotte followed, and as they passed the pub, the Feneton Arms, Shirley paused as if about to go in, then apparently thinking better of it walked on. Charlotte, who had ducked into a doorway, also paused when she reached the pub. Should she keep following Shirley? She didn’t trust her to tell the Federmans anything about her. She would try to find them on her own, she decided, and where better to ask if anyone knew a family called Federman? Uncle Dan had always enjoyed a pint at the Duke, perhaps he was a regular here now. Taking a deep breath, Charlotte pushed open the door of the lounge bar and went inside.
The room wasn’t busy, several RAF officers were standing, drinking at the bar, and a couple were seated at a table in the window. The woman behind the bar looked up and smiled as Charlotte paused in the doorway. Encouraged by her smile, Charlotte walked across to the bar.
‘Can I help you, dear?’ asked the woman. She could see that the girl who had just come in was too young to be buying a drink.
‘I was wondering...’ Charlotte began and hesitated.
‘Yes?’
‘I was wondering if you happen to know a Mr and Mrs Federman.’ Charlotte felt the colour flood her cheeks.
‘I might,’ replied the barmaid. ‘Who’s asking?’
‘I am Lisa. I am looking for Aunt Naomi and Uncle Dan.’
The woman stared at her and then saying, ‘Wait here a minute,’ disappeared through a door.
Charlotte waited, conscious of the interested eyes of the RAF men at the bar beside her.
Moments later the door behind the bar burst open again and another woman appeared. She stared at Charlotte and the colour drained from her face.
‘Lisa?’ she whispered. ‘Lisa? Is it really you?’ She raised the flap in the bar counter and came out beside Charlotte. ‘Oh, my darling girl, where have you been? We thought you were dead. Oh, Lisa!’ And with that she flung her arms round Charlotte and burst into tears. Charlotte was crying too, and the barmaid said, ‘Take her upstairs, Naomi. I can manage here, we’re not busy.’
Naomi took Charlotte’s hand and led her out of the bar and upstairs. She pushed open a door and they went into a sitting room. A man, who was reading the paper, looked up as they came in.
‘Hallo, love,’ he said. ‘Who’s this?’
‘Uncle Dan?’ Charlotte said. ‘It’s me, Lisa.’
Dan started up from his chair and stared at her incredulously. ‘Lisa? Our Lisa?’ He held out a hand and she crossed the room to be gathered into the bear hug of his arms.
‘Where have you been? What happened to you?’
‘We thought you were dead...’
‘I was injured in a raid and...’
They all spoke at once and all stopped again as shaky tears and laughter took over.
‘Let’s sit down,’ Naomi said. ‘Then we can talk properly. Oh, Lisa, I can’t believe you’re here.’
‘I can’t believe I found you at last,’ Charlotte said. ‘I wrote...’
They sat, the three of them, and as the daylight faded into dusk and darkness, told their stories. Charlotte of her lost memory and evacuation to Wynsdown, Naomi of her evacuation to Feneton and the birth of Nicholas, now asleep next door in the bedroom, and Dan of the night of the second Great Fire of London, followed by his permanent move to Feneton.
‘But how did you find us now?’ asked Naomi.
Charlotte explained about following Shirley. ‘I didn’t know where you were in the village, but I thought maybe someone in the pub would know.’
‘Why on earth didn’t the stupid woman simply tell you where we was?’ demanded Dan. ‘She knew we was desperate to find you.’
‘She probably wanted to be the one to tell us,’ Naomi said. ‘Make her feel important.’ She had no illusions about Shirley. She was grateful to her for bringing her to Feneton, but since she’d got to know her better, she knew that they’d never be real friends. Each had done a good turn for the other, and that was that.
‘So, where did you say you was living now?’ Dan asked and, as she began to explain about working at the Livingston Road children’s home, Charlotte suddenly clapped her hand over her mouth.
‘They don’t know where I am now,’ she cried. ‘Miss Morrison will think I’m lost.’
‘You must ring her, now,’ Naomi said sharply. ‘Come downstairs with me and you can phone her. It’s dark and she’ll be very worried about you.’
They went downstairs and when Naomi had explained, Jenny waved them to the phone. ‘Help yourself.’
The relief tinged with anger in Caroline’s voice when Charlotte was finally put through was clear to hear.
‘Thank God, Charlotte, I thought you’d got lost. You shouldn’t have gone off on your own like that. We’ve been worried sick.’
‘I’m sorry, Miss Morrison, but I had to take the chance of finding Aunt Naomi and Uncle Dan while it was there.’
‘I know,’ agreed Caroline, but there was still an edge to her voice. ‘When will you be coming back? I assume you will be coming back?’
‘Yes, of course, I will catch the train tomorrow.’
‘Have you got enough money?’
‘I have enough,’ Charlotte assured her, though she had no idea if it were true.
Their three minutes up, they said goodbye and Charlotte replaced the receiver.
‘You can take the rest of the evening off,’ Jenny told Naomi. ‘We’ll be closed at ten as it’s Sunday. Jim and I can manage down here.’ She smiled at Charlotte. ‘I expect you’ve a lot to catch up on.’
Naomi thanked her and they went back upstairs where Dan was waiting in the living room. Beside him was a small suitcase.
‘Thought you’d like this back,’ he said.
Charlotte’s eyes widened as she saw the little case she’d brought with her from Hanau. ‘My things?’ she whispered. She took the case and opened it and there, lying on the top, just as Naomi had intended, the first thing she saw was the letter from her mother. With a cry she picked it up and smoothing out the creases read once again the words her mother had written to her three years ago.
She glanced back at her foster parents, tears again in her eyes. ‘I thought I’d lost my things, my letter from Mutti. But you kept them for me.’
That night Charlotte slept on the sofa in the living room. Naomi had heated up some soup on the gas ring in the corner and made cheese sandwiches to go with it, and as they ate the three of them continued to tell of the things that had happened since that fateful day two years earlier.
Charlotte wondered if she’d sleep at all, with all the emotions of the day, but as soon as she snuggled down under the blanket Naomi found for her, she slid, exhausted, into oblivion. She was awoken the next morning by a pair of hands pulling at her hair. She sat up with a start and found herself face to face with a toddling baby boy.
‘Oh, Nicky, you naughty boy,’ cried Naomi rushing into the room and scooping him up. ‘I’m sorry, Lisa, I didn’t mean him to wake you.’ She smiled as Charlotte held out her arms to the child. ‘This is your big sister, Lisa,’ she told the boy as she passed him over. ‘Can you say Lisa?’ Nicky allowed himself to be settled on Charlotte’s knee and inspected her face at close quarters.
‘Lee?’ he said.
‘That’s right, clever boy, Lisa.’
They all sat up to the table for a breakfast of porridge, toast and tea, and as they ate Charlotte looked round at her family, her London family, and once again tears slid down her cheeks.
‘Lee cryin’,’ announced Nicky from his high chair.
‘Yes,’ agreed Charlotte, ‘but with happiness.’
She caught the train back to Liverpool Street later that morning. Dan had had to go to work, but Naomi and Nicky accompanied her to
the station, and Naomi bought her ticket.
‘Now, you’ve got the phone number, haven’t you?’ she said as they waited on the platform. ‘We can keep in touch by post now, but if there’s anything urgent you can ring the pub.’
‘And you can ring Livingston Road. Oh, Aunt Naomi, I can’t believe I’ve found you!’
‘Well, we ain’t going to lose you again now, Lisa.’
The train steamed into the station and with a quick kiss to Naomi and Nicky, Charlotte scrambled aboard, once again carrying her small brown suitcase. Leaning out of the window, she called, ‘I’ll be back to see you again very soon, I promise.’ The train started to move and they all waved until it rounded a bend and they were out of sight.
When she reached Livingston Road she went straight to Caroline’s office.
‘Oh, Miss Morrison,’ she cried, ‘I’m so sorry to have worried you.’
Caroline Morrison gave a weary sigh. ‘It’s all right, Charlotte, as long as you’re all right. Now, tell me all about it.’
*
When Harry didn’t reappear for another two weeks, Caroline decided it was time to tell Charlotte about her inheritance. She was spurred on to this by a call from Avril saying that the solicitor needed Charlotte to sign some papers. So that evening, when the home was at last quiet, she sat Charlotte down and told her about Miss Edie’s will.
‘She’s left everything to you, Charlotte,’ she explained. ‘It’s in trust until you’re twenty-one, but the house is yours, you can live there if you want to, and you’ll have a suitable income from the estate until it becomes yours absolutely.’
Charlotte stared at her, unable to take it all in.
‘You mean everything she owned is now mine? All her things?’
‘Yes, everything. But the financial side will be looked after by David Swanson and Mr Thompson. They’re the trustees and they will manage your affairs until you’re of age.’
‘Miss Edie left me all this?’
‘She did,’ Caroline agreed with a smile. ‘She loved you very much.’
38
Charlotte travelled back to Wynsdown the following week. As the train chugged its way westward, she considered the amazing turn her life had taken in the last few weeks. She had found and lost Harry, she had found the Federmans and she had discovered that she now had property and money of her own.
The clothes that had been folded so neatly into her little suitcase by Naomi were far too small for her now and she gave them to Caroline to use for the children in the home. The letter from her mother, her passport, her other immigration documents, her old ration book and her original identity card were now safely in her handbag. She could now prove that she was who she said she was, and she found that very comforting.
‘You’ll come and stay with us,’ Avril had said on the phone. ‘We’re all looking forward to seeing you.’
Charlotte had agreed. She certainly didn’t want to stay by herself in Blackdown House and the vicarage would be overcrowded, but welcoming. Despite having been away for only a few months, Charlotte knew that she was a different person from the one who’d left Wynsdown.
‘Someone’ll meet you at the station,’ Avril promised.
‘Probably Dr Masters,’ Caroline had said. ‘He’s the one with the extra petrol.’
It wasn’t Dr Masters whom Charlotte found waiting outside the station, but Billy. For a moment she paused, unseen, clutching her suitcase, and then he turned and saw her. His face cracked into a huge grin and he crossed the few yards between them in two strides. Taking her case from her and dumping it unceremoniously on the ground he gathered her into his arms and held her hard against him. He made no move to kiss her, but for a long moment they clung together before he gently put her from him and looked down into her face.
‘Oh, Char,’ he murmured. ‘I have missed you!’
Charlotte didn’t answer and he picked up her case and led the way to where the farm car was parked.
When they reached the car they were greeted by frantic barking and Bessie, confined to the back seat, erupted when Billy opened the door. She flung herself at Charlotte, a flurry of bouncing feet and wildly waving tail, and Charlotte, bending down, found her face being washed with an exuberant pink tongue.
‘Bessie!’ she cried. ‘Oh Bessie, I have missed you.’
Billy, standing watching, thought sadly that Charlotte had given her dog a more enthusiastic welcome than she’d given him. His own fault, he knew, but things were different now and he was determined that, while she was in Wynsdown, even for a short time, he would woo her back to him.
She turned glowing eyes up to him now and said, ‘Oh, Billy, thank you for bringing her. I have missed her so.’ And the glow in her eyes made his heart turn over.
They put the excited dog back into the car and once he’d settled Charlotte into the passenger seat Billy went round to the front and swung the starting handle. The engine spluttered into life and he jumped into the driving seat and they set off up the familiar lanes towards the village. An awkward silence enclosed them for some time and neither of them seemed to know how to break it.
‘How have you been?’ Billy asked eventually.
‘All right,’ Charlotte replied. ‘You?’
‘Oh I’m fine,’ Billy assured her. ‘Busy on the farm, you know. How was London?’
‘Big. Noisy.’
‘Bombs?’
‘No, children!’
They both laughed before the silence lapsed round them again.
‘Thank you for looking after Bessie,’ Charlotte said. ‘I hope she’s behaved herself.’
‘She’s fine. Training her up with Jet. She’s an intelligent dog.’
‘I wish I could take her back to London with me. The children in the home would love her.’ She sighed. ‘But I know she’s better off down here in the country.’
‘How long are you staying?’ asked Billy.
‘Not sure yet,’ Charlotte answered. ‘It depends on lots of things.’
‘Mum’s hoping you’ll have time to come over to the farm one day and have your dinner with us.’ He glanced across at her. ‘You will, won’t you, Char? We want to hear all about what you’re doing in London.’
‘Of course I will. I’d love to.’ She turned to look him as she spoke, saw the shadow of his face in the dusky light, saw his hands strong and firm on the steering wheel and for the first time since she’d arrived she felt a rush of remembered affection for him.
‘Thank you for coming to fetch me, Billy,’ she said softly.
‘No problem. I wanted you to myself, even if only for a little while. Everyone’s waiting to welcome you at the vicarage.’
He was quite right. When he pulled up outside the vicarage gate, the door was flung open and Avril and David came out to greet them with cries of delight.
‘Charlotte, my dear. You’re looking well. Did you have a good journey?’
‘What a long day you’ve had. Come on in and have something to eat. Only shepherd’s pie, but I know it’s one of your favourites.’
The Dawson children, dressed in pyjamas and ready for bed, were waiting indoors. Charlotte gave them each a hug. Billy had come into the house too and was invited to stay for the shepherd’s pie, but he declined.
‘Better get back,’ he said. ‘I’ll come over tomorrow afternoon to see you, Charlotte. Perhaps we can walk the dogs together?’
Charlotte smiled at him and said, ‘Yes, I’d like that.’
The following morning Mr Thompson came up from Cheddar. He, the vicar and Charlotte spent much of the morning in David’s office, going over the terms of Miss Edie’s will.
There was a bequest to the church but apart from that everything else was to come to Charlotte. Miss Edie had added an explanation of her bequest.
I have left everything to Liselotte Becker, also known as Charlotte Smith, so that after this dreadful war she will be able to live her life to the full. It is too precious to waste on regrets of what might have bee
n. Look forward, Charlotte, not back. I wasted too much of my life doing that. Please don’t do the same.
‘I shall open a bank account for you, Charlotte,’ said Mr Thompson, ‘and each month we’ll pay in an allowance, so that you have enough money for all you need.’
‘But I don’t need money,’ Charlotte protested. ‘I earn money at the home.’
‘Yes, we know that,’ said Mr Thompson. ‘It won’t be a large sum, ten pounds a month...’
Charlotte’s eyes widened at the amount. It didn’t sound like a small sum to her.
‘...but,’ he continued with a smile, ‘it will give you a little extra if you need it. You can always save it up, if you don’t use it.’
He explained that Blackdown House was hers and that the costs of its upkeep would be met by the trust.
‘You don’t have to worry about anything, my dear,’ the vicar told her. ‘It’ll all be looked after until you’re twenty-one. After that it’ll be up to you, but Mr Thompson and I will always be here to advise you.’
That afternoon Charlotte went back to Blackdown House.
‘Would you like me to come with you?’ Avril had asked, but Charlotte shook her head.
‘No, I think I’d rather go alone.’
‘Of course,’ Avril had agreed with a smile. But she had been a little worried. Charlotte was still only sixteen and though she had at once noticed the new maturity that Caroline had mentioned on the phone, Avril felt that recent events had given Charlotte much to bear.
Mr Thompson had given her the bunch of keys Miss Edie had always kept in her handbag and Charlotte let herself into the house. She wandered through the rooms, so still and quiet, each with its own memory. She sat on the window seat in her own bedroom and looked out across the fields at the view that had become so familiar to her. It was just as she’d remembered it, dressed in autumn colours, the bracken brown, the grass yellowing, the trees golden, red and orange and the hills sharp-edged against the pale blue October sky. So different, she thought, from the roof-scape that she saw from her attic window in Livingston Road, so peaceful compared with the continuous noise of the London streets.
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