Poppy's War

by Lily Baxter

  Brigadier Beecham came towards her and Poppy was suddenly uneasy. Visits from high-ranking officers usually meant only one thing – what further bad news could he possibly bring? Her hand flew to the pendant hanging round her neck. She fingered it nervously. ‘What can I do for you, Brigadier?’

  His smile froze as his eyes rested on the glass heart glistening in the warm June sunshine.

  ‘What?’ Poppy asked nervously. ‘Why are you staring at me like that?’

  ‘Where did you get that pendant?’

  Surprised by the sharpness of his tone, she dropped her hand to her side and the glass heart felt suddenly cold against her bare skin. ‘My father gave it to my mother and she gave it to me.’

  ‘Mary,’ he murmured dazedly. ‘It was Mary. I knew you must be her daughter, but I hardly dared to hope …’

  Captain Fellows cleared his throat. ‘May I suggest we go into the house, sir?’

  ‘Not now, Fellows. Give me a moment.’ Brigadier Beecham caught Poppy by the shoulders, looking deeply into her eyes. ‘Mary Brown was your mother?’

  Poppy nodded wordlessly.

  ‘I gave her that pendant. My God, you’re so like her, but I didn’t know – she didn’t tell me about you.’

  ‘You’re Harry.’ Poppy caught her breath on a sob. ‘You are Harry Beecham. I knew it. I mean I felt it.’

  ‘She told you about me?’

  His eager expression made him look suddenly younger and vulnerable. Poppy could hardly bear to disappoint him. ‘No. I found out by chance. As a matter of fact it was a spiteful old woman who told me that my mother had been sacked from her job because she was having an affair with the son of the house.’

  Harry winced. ‘It wasn’t like that, Poppy. Your mother and I were very young and we fell deeply in love. I wanted to marry her but I was entirely dependent on my father. He sent her away, forbidding me to see her again. That was before I joined the army.’ He touched the glass heart with the tip of his finger. ‘This was my parting gift to her, and you say that she gave it to you.’

  ‘It was the last time I saw her.’ Poppy paused, blinking away tears. ‘She didn’t have a Christmas present for me. She said that my father had given it to her, and she’d worn it ever since.’

  ‘We swore to love each other forever,’ he said, smiling sadly. ‘It seemed like a miracle when we met again years later and realised that nothing had changed between us.’

  Poppy held her breath. She knew now why the glass heart had been so precious to her mother.

  Harry turned to his aide, who was hovering anxiously at his side. ‘I know I can trust you to be discreet, Edmund.’

  Captain Fellows nodded emphatically. ‘Absolutely, sir.’

  ‘Wait in the car, there’s a good chap. I’d like to speak to my daughter in private.’

  Poppy opened the gate. ‘Come into the house. Mrs Carroll is out walking with Mrs Toon. She manages very well these days.’ She held out her hand and felt the warmth of her father’s fingers as they curled around hers.

  In the cottage, his presence seemed to overpower the small living room and she felt suddenly shy. ‘I wish that Mum had told me about you, but I suppose she couldn’t because of Dad. She was very loyal to him and he was good to me.’

  ‘I’m sure he was. I only met him once but I know that he was a fine man. If I’d only known that Mary was pregnant I would have fought for her no matter what the consequences. But she finished with me because she couldn’t bear to hurt her husband or abandon her young son. I left because I loved her too much to want to see her suffer in any way. I want you to believe that, Poppy.’

  ‘I do,’ she murmured. ‘And I’m glad I’ve found you at last.’

  He stood with his back to the empty grate, gazing at her as if he could not bear to look away. ‘You are so beautiful, just like Mary. I knew there was something familiar about you when we first met, but I could never have imagined the truth. You must think me a terrible fellow.’

  ‘No,’ Poppy said slowly. ‘I know what it is to love someone with all your heart and soul. Losing them is the hardest thing to bear.’

  ‘I think I can guess who it is you love with such a passion.’

  ‘I don’t see how you could. I mean …’

  He took her hand and held it in a firm grasp. ‘The reason I came here today was to bring Mrs Pallister some wonderful news. Hector rang me in the middle of the night to tell me that Guy was discovered by the Allied troops in a German field hospital near Paris. He’d been there for months. Apparently he was plucked out of the sea by the crew of a French fishing boat and taken to hospital suffering from a broken leg and exposure, which turned into pneumonia.’

  ‘He’s alive.’ Still clutching his hand, Poppy sank down onto Marina’s chair. ‘Guy’s alive! You don’t know how happy that makes me.’

  He squeezed her fingers. ‘I think I do, my dear.’

  ‘But why didn’t Mr Pallister let us know sooner?’

  ‘The news had only just filtered through to him, Poppy. In the grand scheme of things it was not the most urgent communication between the landing forces and London, which accounts for the delay.’

  ‘Mrs Carroll must be told. She’ll be overjoyed, although of course she won’t show it. She never does.’ Poppy knew she was babbling but she was so happy that it hurt. She felt like throwing her arms around her father and dancing round the room, but she was still a little shy of him.

  ‘Hector thought it best if Mrs Carroll was told in person. He’s well aware of her delicate state of health, and he didn’t want to risk anything that might cause her a sudden shock.’

  ‘He couldn’t have told you that I had feelings for Guy. How did you know?’

  He smiled gently. ‘Watching your face just now when you spoke of undying love – it wasn’t hard to put two and two together, my dear. You’re so like Mary. Your eyes will always give you away. Besides which, Guy has been asking for you, which is another reason why Hector asked me to come here in person. I think he too is quite capable of putting two and two together, Poppy.’ He raised her gently to her feet, wrapping his arms around her. ‘Might I be permitted to give my daughter a hug?’

  She slid her arms around his neck. ‘Yes.’ She smiled shyly. ‘May I call you Dad?’

  ‘Oh, yes.’ His eyes were moist and he hugged her so hard that the brass buttons on his tunic pressed into her flesh, but it was a sweet pain.

  ‘Dad,’ she repeated. ‘Or Father, if you prefer it.’

  ‘You may call me whatever you please, my darling. I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am to have found you, and to be the bearer of such good news too.’

  Dazed with happiness, Poppy felt her heart swell inside her like a balloon about to burst. ‘Where is Guy now? Will he be allowed to come home soon?’

  Harry chuckled. ‘One question at a time, Poppy. He’s been transferred to a hospital in Cherbourg, and he’ll be brought over to Weymouth on the first available ship. Of course he’ll have to spend a day or two in hospital being checked over, but I gather he was on the mend when they found him.’

  Poppy brushed tears from her eyes, but they were tears of happiness. In the space of a heartbeat she had found her father and been given the news that Guy was alive and well. All her prayers were answered and she vowed she would never bother God again as long as she lived.

  ‘Perhaps we’d better go and find Mrs Carroll,’ Harry said softly. ‘She needs to know that her days of grieving for her son are over.’

  ‘How dreadful. I almost forgot poor Mrs Carroll,’ Poppy said, fumbling in her pocket for her hanky. ‘I’m so happy and excited I don’t know what I’m doing.’

  Jean was ecstatic when Poppy told her that Guy was safe and on his way home and she rushed off to tell Edie and Mavis. That evening they celebrated by sitting round the pot-bellied stove drinking mugs of cocoa and eating some of Mavis’s store of chocolate given to her by her adoring Lester.

  ‘So you really are going to end up as lady of the
manor,’ Edie said, licking her fingers one by one. ‘I hope you’ll invite us all to the wedding, Poppy.’

  ‘He hasn’t asked me yet,’ Poppy said hastily. ‘I mean, he might take one look at me and decide that it was all a huge mistake.’

  Jean snorted with laughter. ‘Have you taken a look in the mirror recently, kid? Apart from the fact that you’re one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met, you’re absolutely gorgeous. He’d be mad to let you get away.’

  Unused to such fulsome compliments, Poppy covered her hot cheeks with her hands. ‘Stop it, Jean. You’re making me blush.’

  ‘It’s poor old Dennis I feel sorry for,’ Mavis said, grinning. ‘He never stood a chance.’

  ‘He’s okay,’ Poppy said, smiling ruefully. ‘According to Mabel he’s engaged to the girl from the horse meat shop. She’s a peroxide blonde who wears bright red lipstick and loves cream cakes. I’m sure she’ll make him much happier than I ever could.’

  The next few days were spent in a flurry of activity and anticipation. The army had all but vacated the big house, but Harry and Captain Fellows remained there with just a few key officers and a skeleton staff to attend to their needs. Marina and Poppy were invited up to the main house and entertained by Harry and some of the visiting top brass. At first Poppy had thought it might be too much for Marina, and she was worried that the house might be in a parlous state which would cause her even more distress. But the moment she set foot in her old home, Marina seemed to positively bloom. Apart from her need for a walking stick and her hesitant speech, she assumed the mantle of gracious hostess, completely turning the tables on the assemblage of high-ranking military men who now found themselves outranked and outflanked. Marina Carroll was in her element, and Poppy felt that life had come full circle.

  Harry made time for her in his busy schedule and Poppy saw him every day. Discovering a mutual love of riding, they exercised the horses every afternoon. Poppy was able to show her father the extent of the Carrolls’ estate and some of the surrounding countryside that she had grown to love. These were moments of shared peace and tranquillity snatched in between the business of war that still occupied much of Harry’s waking hours. It gave Poppy pleasure to see him mounted on Goliath and handling the horse with the same expertise that Guy had always demonstrated. All she needed now was for Guy to return home and her happiness would be complete.

  It all happened suddenly. One minute Poppy was hanging the washing on the line in the cottage garden and the next she was in the staff car being driven to Weymouth. She sat in the back seat holding her father’s hand. ‘I’m scared,’ she whispered. ‘What if he’s changed his mind? What shall I say to him, Father?’

  Harry raised her hand to his lips and brushed it with a kiss. ‘You’ll find the right words, my darling. Trust me.’

  Leaving Harry standing in the atrium of the hospital, Poppy made her way up two flights of stairs to the male wards. The receptionist had told her where to find Guy but Poppy was suddenly stricken with shyness. The fast-moving events of the day had left her reeling slightly, but now the initial feeling of euphoria had worn off she was tense and nervous. It was many months since she had last seen Guy, and despite what Jean, Mavis and Edie had said, he might find the young woman she had become quite different from the girl he had left behind.

  She made her way to the nurses’ station, waiting patiently for the sister to finish writing up her notes. ‘Yes?’ The sister’s demeanour was not encouraging.

  ‘I’ve come to take Pilot Officer Carroll home.’

  The sister pointed her pen at a bed in the far corner where the curtains were drawn. Slowly, Poppy crossed the floor, acknowledging the cheeky remarks of the less sick male patients with an attempt at a smile. She hesitated, clearing her throat. ‘Guy?’

  With a rattle of brass rings the curtains opened and Guy stood there, thinner, paler, but his smile was enough to make her feel light-headed. ‘H-how are you?’ she murmured, glancing over her shoulder to see if the man in the next bed was listening, but thankfully he was lying with his eyes closed and appeared to be sleeping soundly.

  ‘Poppy. You came.’ He drew her to him and she tilted her face, thinking he was going to kiss her on the forehead as he had always done in the past, but his mouth sought her lips in a kiss that was tender and yet filled with desire and longing. A round of applause from the rest of the ward made him release her with an apologetic grin.

  ‘Give her one for me, mate.’ The man in the bed opposite raised himself on his elbow, blowing a kiss to Poppy.

  ‘Find your own girl, mate,’ Guy said, laughing. He snatched up a brown paper parcel from the foot of the bed and slipped his arm around Poppy’s waist. ‘Let’s get out of here, darling Poppy. I’ve got so much I want to say to you.’

  Before she realised what was happening they were in the narrow corridor leading away from the ward. Guy stopped outside the sister’s office and took her in his arms. ‘If I’ve overstepped the mark please tell me. I’ve been away for a long time and if it wasn’t for Algy I wouldn’t have dared to think that you cared for me.’

  ‘You’ve known all this time?’

  ‘It’s what kept me going in the long hours when I was floating about in the drink with nothing but my Mae West for company. Eventually I was rescued by a French fisherman. It’s all a bit hazy after that but I ended up in a German field hospital.’

  ‘I thought you were dead,’ Poppy whispered, close to tears. ‘We all did.’

  ‘I was as good as for a while apparently, but I don’t remember much about that. When I began to recover it was the thought of you waiting for me and not knowing I loved you that gave me the will to survive. I had to come home and tell you that I love you with all my heart and have done for a very long time. My darling girl.’

  Ignoring the two nurse probationers who were in the sluice next door and had stopped washing bedpans to stare at them, Poppy slid her arms around his neck. ‘I’ve never loved anyone but you, Guy.’

  He kissed her again, holding her to him as if he would never let her go. ‘I thought I’d lost you when I saw you with that erk, but I was a jealous fool. I’m going to spend the rest of my life making it up to you.’

  She laid her finger on his lips. ‘Is that a promise?’

  ‘It is. Most sincerely and from my heart, Poppy. It’s a promise.’

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  Published by Arrow Books 2010

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  Copyright © Lily Baxter 2010

  Lily Baxter has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work

  This novel is a work of fiction. Apart from references to actual historical figures and places, all other names and characters are a product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

  First published in Great Britain in 2010 by

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  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN 9780099550983