“Do you want to join your friends and volunteer with the WLA?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t when they first asked me, and I still don’t know if I want to. I just thought it would be some way for me to take part in the war efforts.”
“I think I can relate to that. I, myself, have wondered how I can help. I wasn’t able to join His Majesty’s Army, nor the Navy or Air Force, because my job demanded I stay, and it’s been a rather hard pill to swallow as you can imagine. Feeling useless has never suited me well, and it especially doesn’t in this case.”
“But you aren’t useless.”
“I am when it comes to protecting King and Country.” He snorted at his own mock. “However, that’s not the point. The point is, I’m asking you if you want to go. I know you just said you didn’t know, but you speak as if you do.”
“I wasn’t lying when I said I didn’t know if I did. It’s true. I don’t know. It was just a thought. I haven’t been feeling myself. I’ve felt lost.”
“It’s understandable, given all that you have been through.” He leaned back in his chair, taking his elbows off the table. “Do you know what I think?”
“What?”
“I think you should go.”
“What?” I blinked at him.
“I think you should go. I know that lost feeling you are talking about. I’ve felt it myself a few times in my life, and I think it would be something good for you to do, give you an adventure.”
“I don’t exactly know if I need an adventure.” I chuckled.
“Well, then, it would give you a purpose.”
It wasn’t until I heard the word that I knew what I needed. A purpose. School wasn’t that, or at least I hadn’t used it as such. I used school as a means to get something else I thought I desired. But it was just for me. There was no other purpose in it than to get me to university, which I’ll admit was a good reason. We were talking about my future, after all. However, there was no outside purpose in the notion. It was only to help me and no one else.
“Do you think like Eleanor does about the ration supplies? Do you believe we will run out of food?” I asked.
“I do, and the WLA was an immense help for the country during the Great War.”
“But Eleanor said I can’t go.”
He waved his hand. “If you desire to go, I will deal with Eleanor.” He pointed his finger as though he knew my next question and answered it before I asked. “And I will deal with Mrs. Pembroke. Do you know what time Claire and Isabella are leaving tomorrow?”
I nodded. “They leave on the morning train.”
His eyebrows furrowed, and he opened his blazer, fetching his wallet from the inside pocket. He flipped it open, pulling out several banknotes before handing them to me.
“Here, take this.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. Keep it hidden if you must, but take it. I know they pay little to the land girls and there might come a time you need it.”
“Thank you.”
“Now, go on upstairs and pack. I will help you sneak your luggage out in the morning if you need.”
Although he smiled, there was a concern in his eyes as I grabbed the last piece of toast and dashed out of the room. I didn’t envy the wrath he was going to face in the morning, and a part of me held guilt over it. However, if anyone could deal with Eleanor, it was him.
Even if I hated making him do it.
With my suitcase packed, I tiptoed down the staircase the next morning. Eleanor had woken at her usual time and was in the kitchen making breakfast. The usual hum to her lips, I could hear her in the foyer. I had tossed and turned the whole night before, flipping over from one side to the other as my thoughts went from going to staying. Each choice had a logical objection, and yet each choice had an adventurous endorsement—even if I held disdain for the manner in which I planned to leave.
I hated sneaking away like a criminal in the night, not giving Eleanor a proper goodbye or thanking her for all she had done for me. It felt wrong, and I felt like I was cheating her of something, even if I didn’t know what. While in my mind I knew I owed her a debt of gratitude and nothing more, I still felt guilty. She took me in, knowing I would one day leave, whether it was because I was eighteen and free to do so or because the war was over and I would return to Guernsey.
While I hoped I would keep in touch with the Davenports after the war, it also wasn’t this house I would return to for the holidays or the house my children would come to know.
I shut the front door after sticking the suitcase in the bushes outside and made my way into the kitchen.
“Good morning,” Eleanor said, handing me a plate with a scoop of eggs.
“Good morning.”
She smiled as though she wanted to say something else but didn’t. Instead, she just grabbed her own plate and made her way to the breakfast table, sliding down in a chair. I glanced at the clock, checking the time. While I had plenty of time to get to school, I had little time to get to the train station.
I shoved the eggs in my mouth, hardly chewing one bite before swallowing it and taking the next one.
“You are certainly in a hurry this morning,” Eleanor said, finishing her own breakfast. She stood from the table and made her way to the sink, placing her plate down in the basin.
“I wanted to get to school early this morning to work on an essay in the library.”
“Oh.” She grabbed a cup from the cupboard and filled it with boiling water from the pot before fetching the tea box.
Finishing the last bite, I put my own plate in the sink and gave her a hug. “Thank you for the eggs.”
“You’re welcome.”
“And thank you for all you’ve done for me.” I turned to leave, but she stopped me.
“Amelia, wait.” She ducked her chin, lowering her voice, “I wanted to apologize for last night.”
“You don’t have to.”
“No, I do, and I need to explain why I’m so against you going.”
“You don’t have to do that either. I know why.”
“Well,” she patted me on the shoulders, “you have a wonderful day, and I will see you this afternoon.”
Guilt stung my chest. “You, too.” I stepped back toward the door, pausing. “Do you know where Robert is?”
“Oh, he left an hour ago. He had to . . . run an errand or something. I’m not sure.” She waved her hand.
With another goodbye, I darted out of the kitchen. Tears misted my eyes. I hated leaving in the way I was, but there was no other choice for me if I wanted to go, and I did. I always had. I just hadn’t been able to admit it to myself.
Out the door, and across the deck, my shoes barely touched the ground as I scurried. I grabbed the handle of the suitcase, fearing that if I looked back at the house, it would break me. My eyes blurred with tears as I did, and I wiped them away as I tried to etch the place in my memory. It hadn’t been but a few months since I’d arrived. Yet, it also felt like I’d lived here my entire life.
“Goodbye, house,” I whispered.
The train station was several miles further from the Davenports than the school, and by the time I reached the platform, sweat dripped down the back of my neck. My lungs heaved, begging for breath, and I bent over for a second, resting my hands on my knees to slow my breathing.
“You’re here!” Isabella shrieked from a bench along the station wall. She jumped up, causing Claire to flinch and spin around to face me. She jumped to her feet as well and the two girls rushed toward me, hugging me.
“I can’t believe you are here!”
“I can’t either,” I said, still trying to catch my breath.
“I’ll go get you a train ticket.” Before I could argue, Claire dashed off inside the station, and while the door slammed behind her, Isabella helped me over to their seat. She took my suitcase from me, setting it down next to hers.
“What changed your mind?”
“I don’t know. I guess I jus
t realized I wanted to join you.”
“And the Davenports?”
“Robert knows. Eleanor thinks I’m at school.”
“She didn’t want you to go.”
I shook my head. “But I understand her reasons.”
“Poor Mr. Davenport when Mrs. Davenport finds out.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
Isabella sat down next to me. “They did an amazing thing for you, but you aren’t their daughter, and you are almost eighteen. You need to live your own life.”
“I know. I just wish I could speak to my own parents. Or at least write to them.”
“I think the Red Cross will get through one day. I don’t know when, but they’ve got to. They’ve just got to.”
“I hope so.”
The train chugged along in the distance, rolling down the tracks toward the station while the steam from the stacks billowed in the air. As it finally came to a stop, the puff-like clouds settled around the platform, surrounding us like a blanket. The passengers already on board filed out of the doors. Men in uniforms, women in dresses, and children dressed as though headed to church or a fancy job or outing. They had a very business-like feel to them, and yet, their faces said otherwise. A few of the women were even crying, dabbing at their eyes with handkerchiefs as they followed behind the soldiers.
“Here’s your ticket,” Claire said, handing me the scrap of paper.
“Where exactly are we going?”
“London. We need to go to our interview appointments, then have our medical exams, and then we will get assigned to a farm.”
“We have appointments?”
Claire waved her hand. “We made them last week.”
“But I haven’t.”
She smiled and gave me a wink. “We sent your name in with ours. We knew you would come.”
I laughed. “And what would you have done if I hadn’t?”
The train doors opened, and the stewards motioned us to board. Claire hooked her arm around mine.
“We would have told them you got pregnant and couldn’t come.” She laughed.
FIFTEEN
Amelia - September 1940
Assigned to the Halifax Farms, we left London after our interviews and medical exams and boarded a train to Stubton. While I’d hoped for more distance between me and Derbyshire, as the worry Eleanor would come looking for me only seemed to deepen with each passing minute, I also felt a sense of comfort in the knowledge they weren’t far from me. Perhaps with enough begging, she would forgive me should I ever need to go back.
Hopefully.
While Isabella chatted with a couple of soldiers she’d talked into helping her with her bags, Claire went into the station to ask the clerk for directions to the farm. I, after disembarking the train, made my way around the building, eager to see another part of the country I hadn’t seen before. Countryside met me on the other side, along with nothing but rolling green hills and the scent of dirt, grass, and cows. It reminded me of Guernsey, and I couldn’t help but tear up at the thought of my home.
“The clerk said it was only about a two-mile walk,” Claire said as she and Isabella came around the corner.
“But that’s still too far. Maybe I can get those soldiers to give us a ride.”
“They have orders, Isabella, and they aren’t to take three girls to a farm in the opposite direction as the base.”
“There’s a base out here?” Isabella’s eyes widened and she stopped as she grabbed Claire’s arm and turned Claire toward her. A squeal left her lips. “You didn’t tell me there was a base here.”
“It’s near the airport. Honestly, did you not read any of the booklet I gave to you from the Red Cross or the WLA?”
Isabella stuck out her tongue then pretended to talk with a funny movement to her lips as though mocking Claire.
Claire growled and spun away, passing me as she stomped off. “You deal with her.”
I blinked, glancing between the two girls before I rolled my eyes and followed Claire. Isabella trotted along after me, shouting. “I didn’t read it because I knew you would just tell me anyway.”
The pair continued to bicker for nearly half of the walk, fighting about how Isabella was going to have to take a bit more responsibility on the farm and not flitter away her time on silly daydreams and the likes of young men. Of course, she fought back, arguing that Claire was too much of a spoilsport and too rigid, needing to relax and actually enjoy life for once. Although I stayed out of the fray, I still walked in between them, keeping them a distance apart as each one attacked the other.
“Enough, you two,” I finally said. “We are going to have enough trouble with this job. We don’t need to be fighting about it, too.”
While they both opened their mouths to argue with me, they also closed them without saying a word. And were silent until we reached the long drive of the manor house.
“Is that a house?” Claire asked. Her mouth gaped open.
“I think it’s a castle,” Isabella answered.
Built like a stone fortress, the manor was shaped like a square and bigger than any house or building that I’d ever seen. With huge rectangle windows on the first and second floor, it looked like something out of a book I’d read long ago as a child.
“It’s not a castle. There are no towers,” Claire said.
“There still must be at least two dozen rooms. Who lives here again?”
“Lord and Lady Gillingham. The Halifax farm is the biggest on the estate. It’s run by a man named Mr. George Barnes, although I doubt you will ever meet him, which is where we will be working.” She paused, digging out a piece of paper from her pocket. “We are to meet with a Mrs. Sheffield.” The two of them began walking toward the house while I stayed behind a few seconds longer, taking in the sight of the redbrick structure. By the time they reached the front door, though, I’d caught up to them and waited next to Isabella as Claire knocked.
The door opened, and a butler answered, nodding to us. “May I help you?”
“We’re with the WLA. We’re here to meet with a . . .” Claire glanced down at a folded piece of paper in her hand once more as if she’d forgotten the name. “Mrs. Sheffield.”
“Yes. She told me she was expecting you. Please come inside.”
He shut the door behind us as we made our way into the foyer. While I didn’t want to seem rude and kept my eyes on the floor, Claire and Isabella spun around in circles, first gazing up at the ceiling and then down upon all the tables and furniture within their sights.
“Can you imagine living in this place?” Isabella said. “I mean, I could get used to it here.”
The two girls giggled, and in turning toward one another, they didn’t notice the stern, tall woman entering the room. She cleared her throat.
The girls froze, then scurried back next to me, standing at attention.
“You would well to remember your place when in this house,” the woman said.
“Yes, Ma’am,” the girls each said, echoing the other.
“My name is Bea Sheffield, and I am your warden here. You may call me Bea if you like, there is no need for proper Mrs. Sheffield, as every time I hear it, I think of my mother-in-law. Which one of you is Miss Abbot?”
Claire raised her hand.
“And Miss Adams?”
Isabella raised her hand.
Bea looked at me. “And you are Miss Ashton?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“I read your application, you’re from Guernsey? Did you live on a family farm?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Good. Most of the girls we get are city girls who haven’t seen a chicken or a cow unless it someone cooked it and put it on their plate. It will be nice to have someone with some experience.” She paused, heaving a sigh as she glanced at the other two. “Now, if you would all follow me, please.”
We did as she said and although I could tell it was hard for them, they both kept their heads down as we made our way through the res
t of the manor, back through the kitchen, and into a small room with a desk, like an office.
“I’ve laid out your uniforms there, one for each of you. You will get one v-neck green jumper, two brown fawn shirts, one green tie, a pair of overalls, two pairs of breeches, and one brown slouch hat. You will also get a wool single-breasted open-collared overall coat to keep you warm in the fall and winter months.”
“Doesn’t sound like much if we are to wear them every day.” Isabella sneered at the folded garments on the desk.
“Then I suppose you will have to keep them clean or resign to learning how to wash them each day.” Bea paused, pointing at the black band around her arm. “You will also receive one armband, and you will get one diamond for every six months of service.”
Claire raised her hand.
“Yes, Miss Abbot?”
“Are we staying here in the manor house or a guest house?”
“You are staying in the guest house on the farm. It’s three bedrooms. I have one and the other two girls you are joining, Ethel and Annie, have the second bedroom, so I’m putting the three of you in the last one.”
“A farmhouse?” Isabella rolled her eyes and scrunched her face.
“Would you prefer a hostile with about twenty or thirty women?” Bea asked, cocking her head to the side.
Isabella ducked her chin. “No, Ma’am.”
“The rules are simple enough around here. Do your job and we won’t have any problems. You will work forty-eight hours a week in the winter and fifty hours a week in the spring, summer, and fall harvest season. Your pay is twenty-eight shillings a week, with fourteen shillings taken out for room and board. I will also give you ration booklets to turn in for your meals.”
“What about time off?” Isabella asked.
“You will get your free time at night after you finish your work. You may go into town if you like; however, there is a ten o’clock curfew I strictly uphold here. Even one time being late, and we will send you back to your families. And, while we do permit courting young men in town or on the nearby Army Base, if any of you become pregnant, I will ship you home immediately.”
Yours: An Emotional and Gripping WWII Family Saga (The Promises Between Us Trilogy Book 1) Page 15