Home Front Girls

by Rosie Goodwin

  But this offer was gently turned down. ‘Thanks, but I have to get back. Mrs P is watching Harry and if I don’t go home she’ll think something’s happened to me,’ the girl explained.

  Miranda nodded understandingly. ‘Very well then, but promise me you’ll be careful. And if the sirens should go on the way, you get into the nearest shelter, right?’

  ‘I will,’ Lucy agreed. It had been one of the longest days of her life and all she wanted to do now was throw off her filthy clothes, get clean and drop into bed, where she’d snuggle up to Harry, and try to forget some of the atrocities she had witnessed today.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The three women arrived at the hospital early the next morning to total chaos. Injured people were lying in the corridors on stretchers waiting to be seen by doctors and the reception area was swamped by people trying to trace their loved ones.

  ‘I reckon this is going to be a long job,’ Annabelle commented gloomily. ‘Looking at that queue, it’s going to be at least an hour before we even get to talk to anyone.’

  ‘Then so be it,’ Miranda said stoically as she joined the back of the straggling queue. ‘We may as well get on with it. There’s no point in just standing here moaning.’

  Harassed-looking nurses and doctors were hurrying to and fro whilst porters struggled to find somewhere to leave the injured. People were crying and Annabelle shuddered. It was like a waking nightmare, yet they had no choice but to wait their turn. Eventually they reached the reception desk and a nurse asked sharply, ‘Yes?’

  ‘A friend of ours was brought in here last night with the lady she lodges with,’ Miranda told her politely.

  ‘Very well. Names?’

  ‘Miss Dorothy Kent and Miss . . . Timms.’ Miranda and the girls suddenly realised that they didn’t even know Miss Timms’s Christian name. She had always been just Miss Timms to them.

  The woman began painstakingly to go through endless lists of admissions and at last she told them, ‘Miss Kent is in Ward Three, but I have no entry for a Miss Timms. Are you sure that they were brought in together?’

  ‘Quite sure,’ Lucy told her solemnly. ‘I was there when they put them into the ambulance together to bring them here. Miss Timms was unconscious.’

  ‘I see.’ The nurse gave her a strange look, then taking up another list she began to scan that too until eventually she asked, ‘Was Miss Timms admitted from the Kenilworth Road?’

  When Lucy nodded, she told them curtly, ‘Just wait here a moment, would you? I’ll get a doctor to see you.’

  ‘But isn’t Miss Timms on the same ward as Dotty?’ Lucy questioned.

  The woman ignored her and hurried away, only to come back some minutes later to tell them, ‘Take a seat over there, please. A doctor will be out to see you as soon as he can. Next, please!’

  The three women trooped back to the seats to begin yet another long wait, but eventually a doctor appeared and after having a hasty word with the reception nurse who pointed towards where they were sitting, he approached them.

  ‘I believe you are here looking for Miss Timms?’

  When they all nodded, he shook his head gravely. ‘Then I am very sorry to inform you that Miss Timms was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.’

  ‘B-but she can’t be!’ Lucy spluttered. Yet one look at his face revealed that he was telling the truth.

  ‘I’m afraid she is. She has been taken to the hospital morgue at present,’ he informed them. ‘But you are welcome to go and see Miss Kent if you wish. Luckily, apart from a broken arm and cuts and bruises, she escaped unharmed. It appears that the older woman shielded her with her body and took the full brunt of the collapse of the cellar roof, thereby sustaining serious internal damage that proved fatal. I’m very sorry to have to be the bearer of such bad news, but now if you will excuse me I really must get on.’

  ‘Of course,’ Miranda muttered as she placed her arm protectively about Lucy’s shoulders. ‘But just one question before you go, Doctor. Has Dot . . . Miss Kent been informed of Miss Timms’s death?’

  ‘No, we were waiting for her next of kin to do that. Would you happen to be related to her?’

  ‘Well, not exactly,’ Lucy told him. ‘But I think we are the nearest people she has. Dotty was an orphan, you see.’

  He nodded. ‘Then perhaps it would be best if you broke the news to her,’ he agreed. ‘Goodbye.’

  The three women stared at each other in horror, wondering how Dotty was going to take the news. They all knew that Miss Timms had been the only constant person in Dotty’s life and were all too aware of how fond Dotty had been of her. Their friend was going to be absolutely heartbroken.

  ‘I dare say we should go and see her now,’ Miranda said, eventually breaking the stunned silence. ‘At least Dotty survived, which is something to be grateful for.’

  ‘Yes, but how will she feel, knowing that Miss Timms may have died protecting her?’ Lucy answered numbly.

  ‘I think we shall have to cross that bridge when we come to it,’ Miranda said sensibly. ‘For now, Dotty needs to know we are still here for her. Come along.’ And so the three women set off, following the signs for Ward Three with heavy hearts.

  The ward they were shown into was every bit as chaotic as the reception area had been, with beds jammed down the middle of the room and along each wall.

  ‘You’ll find Miss Kent just along there,’ the unsmiling Sister told them, and after thanking her they walked in the direction she had indicated. They were each dreading what they might find, so were surprised to see Dotty sitting in a chair at the side of her bed.

  Their first glimpse of her caused them all to gasp with shock, for the poor girl was almost unrecognisable. Both her eyes were black and swollen, and every inch of her that was visible was covered in cuts and bruises, and yet as she caught sight of them her face broke into a radiant smile causing her to grimace with pain.

  ‘I knew you’d come,’ she croaked painfully as they stared at her arm, which was in a heavy plaster cast supported by a sling. ‘The ambulance men told me that you saved my life by insisting that the soldiers searched for me, Lucy. Thank you so much. I thought I was a goner down there in that cellar for a time. The only trouble now is that I can’t find where they’ve put Miss Timms. Well – she’s not Miss Timms any more really but I’ll tell you all about that in a minute. It’s something so wonderful you won’t believe it. I can still hardly believe it myself – but hark at me rabbiting on. Have they told you where they’ve put her? And has there been any word from Robert? I heard some ladies further down the ward saying that London had been bombed, too, last night and I’ve been worried sick.’

  Here at least, Miranda was able to put her mind at rest as she told her, ‘Robert is safe. In fact, even as we speak he’s on his way. His friend is driving him from London. But how long will you have to stay in here?’

  ‘Ah well, that’s a bit more good news.’ Dotty attempted another smile, making her cracked lips split open again. ‘Because there’s such a shortage of beds they said I can go home. Normally they would have kept me in longer, but with things as they are . . .’ She shook her head. ‘Trouble is, I shall have to come home in the clothes they found me in. They’re in the locker there but they had to cut off the sleeve of my blouse to get it off my arm before they set it and the nurses have washed me as best they could and put me in this gown, but my hair . . .’ Her voice trailed away as her one good arm rose to stroke the tangled filthy mess that was her hair. ‘I’m afraid I must look a dreadful sight,’ she whispered. ‘And I don’t quite know where Miss Timms and I are going to go – when I find her, that is.’

  ‘Ah well, there’s no need to worry about that,’ Miranda told her, forcing a smile. ‘You’re going to come home with me for as long as you need to, and we’ll soon get you washed and brushed up. We don’t want Robert seeing you like this, now do we?’

  ‘But what about Miss Timms?’ Dotty persisted, her eyes concerned now.

&n
bsp; Ignoring her question, Miranda whipped the curtains about the bed as she told the girl, ‘We’ll talk about that in a while. But first we’re going to get you dressed and take you home. I’m sure there will still be some cabs running. Lucy, could you go outside and see if you could find one whilst I help Dotty?’

  Only too glad to escape, Lucy hurried away, but Dotty was not going to let the subject of her beloved Miss Timms drop so easily.

  ‘But can’t she come home too?’ she asked as Miranda pulled the hospital gown over her head.

  ‘No, I’m afraid she has to stay here for now,’ Miranda answered. ‘But I’ll explain everything when we get home.’

  ‘Then can’t I at least see her before I go?’

  Miranda shook her head, too full to speak, and for the next few minutes she concentrated on getting Dotty dressed. In no time at all she and Annabelle were helping the girl down the stairs to the reception area. Dotty was as weak as a kitten and leaned heavily on Miranda, and for now she was silent as a terrible sense of foreboding took hold of her. Why were they whisking her away so quickly without letting her see her mother first? Another little thrill spliced through her. Her mother! She had never been able to say that before, but now at last she knew who she belonged to, where she had come from. Her mother had promised that she would soon reveal who her father was too. For the very first time in her life she felt complete and could hardly wait to share her good news with her friends.

  The bad feeling lifted a little as she saw the chaos all around her. Doctors were tending to the most seriously injured patients first as others lay on stretchers groaning with pain. Ambulance and Army men were wheeling yet more casualties in and the whole place was heaving, with bodies everywhere. Perhaps her friends hadn’t managed to locate Miss Timms yet in such pandemonium? But later on when she had cleaned herself up a little she would come back. Things might have calmed down by then and she would find her.

  Outside, they helped her into the cab and the driver told them, ‘I’m afraid it’s goin’ to take some time to get yer to Cheylesmore, missus. There are diversions everywhere, an’ half o’ the roads are closed off, but I’ll do me best.’

  It was the first sight of the city Dotty had had since being trapped in the cellar and she was horrified. Fires were still blazing, and people with all that was left of their worldly possessions packed in barrows, prams or anything that would carry them were making a mass exodus from the city.

  ‘Th-the cathedral?’ Dotty gasped as they drove along.

  ‘I’m afraid it’s flattened,’ Miranda told her gravely. ‘And so is most of the rest of the city centre – including Owen Owen. But don’t worry about that for now. At least we are still alive. You had a miraculous escape, Dotty, and we must be thankful for that.’

  The car drove slowly on beneath the huge cloud of smoke that hung over the city as the three women gazed solemnly at the wreckage all around them. Would Coventry ever recover and be the same again?

  Back at Primrose Lodge they helped Dotty inside and Miranda rushed off to heat some water to wash in. ‘We shall have to be careful not to get your plaster wet,’ she told her, as she helped her undress, then, ‘Annabelle, run and find some of your clothes for Dotty to wear, would you?’

  Dotty sighed as a feeling of déja vu washed over her. Once again she was homeless and forced to borrow Annabelle’s clothes, but at least she was still alive. She was beginning to feel a little like a cat that had nine lives.

  An hour later, with all the dirt washed from her hair that was combed out to dry, with a towel round her shoulders, Dotty sat dressed in fresh clothes at the kitchen table with the others, a large pot of tea in front of them – and she said joyously, ‘Now at last I can tell you my news. It’s something really wonderful and you’ll never guess what it is – not in a million years!’

  ‘So tell us then,’ Annabelle said, puzzled to see Dotty looking so happy. What did she have to be happy about, after all? She had just lost her home– again – which didn’t seem to be something to rejoice over.

  ‘Well, it’s like this . . .’ Dotty went on to tell them about Miss Timms’s confession down in the cellar and they all gaped in amazement as the tale unfolded.

  ‘That poor woman,’ Miranda sighed as she poured them all some tea. ‘How hard it must have been for her all those years, seeing you almost every day but unable to tell you who she was. Her mother must have been a very harsh woman.’ But not as harsh as life, she was thinking. ‘That’s really wonderful, Dotty,’ she forced herself to say eventually. ‘Now at last after a lifetime of wondering, you know who your mother was and how much she loved you. No one will ever be able to take that away from you . . . but I’m afraid I have some tragic news. You see,’ Miranda’s voice died away and she cleared her throat. ‘You see, poor Miss Timms – your mother – didn’t make it. It appears that she threw herself across you when the cellar ceiling collapsed to protect you, and this brave action meant she took the brunt of it. She was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. I’m so sorry, darling.’

  The colour drained out of Dotty’s cheeks and she looked even paler than she had before, if that was possible. She stared at Miranda uncomprehendingly.

  ‘B-but she can’t be dead!’ she stuttered. ‘I only just got to know who she was! I can’t have found her and lost her all in the space of one night! It’s not fair.’

  ‘None of this bloody war is fair!’ Lucy exclaimed as her heart broke for her friend and then she drew Dotty carefully into her arms and let her sob out her grief as the others looked helplessly on.

  Robert arrived in Coventry mid-afternoon, appalled at what he had seen along the way. Ministry of Information vans were touring the streets with loudspeakers telling the homeless where they could obtain food and shelter, and he passed tramlines that now rose from the ground in twisted grotesque metal loops. Everyone knew now that the raid had been named Moonlight Sonata by the Luftwaffe and it was clear that they had targeted well, causing destruction. The morgues were full of unidentified bodies and the Coventry people’s spirits were at an all-time low as everyone wondered how they could ever come back from such a catastrophic raid.

  Robert had been travelling from London since early that morning, and by the time he arrived he was heart-sore at the things he and his friend Duncan had witnessed.

  ‘Oh Robert, I’m so pleased to see you,’ Miranda told him when she answered the door. She smiled weakly at Robert’s friend. ‘This is Duncan Fellows,’ Robert introduced him. ‘He has very kindly brought me here because the trains aren’t running.’ Then, seeing her red eyes, Robert’s heart plummeted as he asked, ‘Has something happened to Dotty?’

  ‘Well, yes, she has been injured, but not seriously. She’s in there.’ Miranda gestured towards the front parlour before ushering Robert and Duncan in the direction of the kitchen. ‘But there’s something you should know before you see her. I’m afraid she is rather upset.’

  Once the two men were safely out of earshot, Miranda quickly explained about Miss Timms.

  ‘Poor Dotty,’ Robert exclaimed. ‘Fancy discovering who your mother is, only to lose her almost immediately. The poor love must be distraught.’

  ‘She is,’ Miranda said quietly. ‘But I hope she’ll perk up a bit when she sees you. She’s been so worried about you.’

  She then offered Robert’s friend a bed for the night and a proper meal, but he politely refused, it saying that he really had to get back to London as he was on fire watch. Robert then saw him on his way, and once he was back inside the house he asked, ‘May I go in to her now?’

  ‘Of course,’ Miranda answered. ‘And you can stay as long as you like, dear. We have plenty of bedrooms and I think Dotty would be glad of your company during the next few days whilst we organise the funeral. If you can spare the time, that is?’

  ‘I shall be here for as long as she needs me,’ he said grimly, and after taking a deep breath he tapped at the parlour door and entered.

  Dotty was sitting quie
tly staring off into space and he had to swallow his shock at first sight of her. The bruises and swelling were really coming out now and her face looked deformed.

  ‘Oh, Dotty . . .’ For now it was all he could say as he looked at the plaster on her arm and saw the state of her. But then she turned her head to look at him and his heart swelled as she tried to smile.

  She held her one good hand out to him and tried to get out of the chair to greet him, but he pressed her back down and awkwardly put his arms around her, trying his best not to hurt her.

  ‘Oh darling,’ he muttered into her sweet-smelling hair. ‘I can’t believe what you’ve been through. I’m so very sorry.’

  Tears began to trickle down her cheeks now. She didn’t care any more if he realised that she loved him. She was just grateful to have him there.

  ‘I . . . I found my mother,’ she whispered brokenly. ‘After all these years of not knowing who she was, I found her – and then on the very same night I lost her.’

  ‘I know.’ He held her a little tighter, feeling her pain. ‘Miranda just told me. But at least you know who she was now. And you know who you are too. And now we’re going to give her the very best funeral that money can buy.’

  ‘B-but I can’t afford a big affair,’ she sobbed. ‘Owen Owen was bombed so we’re all out of a job now and all I have left is my writing money.’

  ‘Don’t worry about that for now.’ He stroked her cheek as he smiled at her lovingly. ‘I shall see to the funeral.’

  ‘But I can’t let you do that,’ she objected.

  ‘Shush. We’ll worry about that later. For now I’m just grateful that you survived. I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to you, Dotty. You see . . . I know it’s ridiculous because I’m so much older than you and you would never look at me. But the thing is . . . I have feelings for you, deep feelings that started to grow the very first time I ever set eyes on you.’