Over and Out

by Fenella J Miller

  ‘I hope Joan got here all right travelling by train yesterday. I don’t blame her not wanting to be squashed in the front with us all day.’

  ‘I’m sure she managed just fine. Remember, she didn’t have luggage to carry. We’ve got hers in the back with our stuff.’

  He jumped out and released the dog from his confinement. She left them to it and drove the remaining mile. Both Joan and Mabel were waiting outside the front door to greet her. There was no sign of the little dogs.

  ‘We didn’t get our usual welcome?’

  ‘We thought it better to shut them up this afternoon, Ellie love. We don’t want a fight.’

  ‘Jack’s walking down with our dog. I think they should meet each other straightaway.’ She hurried over to the stable where she could hear the two animals whining and scratching at the door.

  ‘Out you come. I want you to behave yourselves. No fighting with your new friend.’ They danced around her feet for a few moments and then streaked across the yard and up the drive barking as they always did when someone came home.

  ‘Where’s that big cat, Ellie?’ Joan was looking in the back of the van.

  ‘He didn’t want to come so we left him behind. Cats are very territorial and I think he’ll be better staying where he is. Also, the two we have here are females and you can be very sure there’d be kittens every few weeks once he arrived.’

  She kissed Mabel. ‘How’s Dad? Is he excited about having us or regretting it?’

  ‘He’s ever so pleased. He’s in the lavvy but he’ll be out in a minute.’

  ‘I want to stay here until I see how the dogs are getting on. Grey’s shown no sign of aggression with any other animal so I’m hoping he’ll be accepted.’

  The barking had stopped and she wasn’t sure if this was a good sign or the opposite. She put her hand on her stomach. There’d been a strange fluttering inside on and off all day. The baby had quickened – this was its little feet or legs kicking her. Amanda had told her what to expect.

  Jack appeared the three dogs trotting along beside him. He waved and she breathed a sigh of relief. Now everything was perfect.

  Twenty-Seven

  Jack began to believe that Fred’s gloomy prediction about his imminent demise was unfounded. As the weeks passed and he and Ellie settled into their new life back at Glebe Farm his father-in-law remained cheerful. If not exactly as active as he used to be, he didn’t take any more afternoon rests and most days wandered about outside pointing out things that Jack needed to know about the pigs and the dairy herd.

  ‘So you see, son, there’s nothing complicated about it. I’ve got forty years’ experience, mind you, but you’re a quick learner and I don’t think you’ll have any problem taking over when the time comes.’

  ‘You haven’t had any funny turns since we moved in and the doctor hasn’t been either. I’m taking it that’s a good sign.’

  ‘Tell you the truth, I’m beginning to think that the doctor got it wrong. I’ve not had any breathlessness, no pains in my chest and apart from getting tired quicker, I don’t feel any different than I did before.’

  Jack grinned. ‘That’s the best news I’ve had. I’m glad now we didn’t tell the ladies. Ellie’s actually enjoying being pregnant, something I never thought she would. Mind you, now she’s writing her life story she’s got something to think about apart from the baby.’

  ‘My girl was always good at writing and such. I’m looking forward to seeing George, Fiona and the children at the weekend. Going to be a bit of a squeeze mind you, so it’s a good thing Charlotte didn’t want to come this time.’

  ‘Now there’s a dim-out instead of a black-out, and the Luftwaffe is no more, things are definitely improving on the home front.’

  ‘Did you read in the News Chronicle about those explosions in London? They said the battle of London is over but I can’t believe it’s gas mains blowing up all over the shop – it has to be those bloody Germans up to something.’

  ‘Whatever it is the government’s keeping very quiet about it.’ He looked around for his dog and saw him trying to entice the two farm cats down from the fence. Grey loved it here and often chose to sleep in the stables with the other animals rather than come into the kitchen. ‘Look at that, Fred. The tabby’s finally made friends with my dog.’

  They stood and watched waiting to see if the black cat joined the tabby weaving itself in and out of Grey’s long legs. The two smaller dogs always chased the cats when they saw them which was why they were reluctant to trust his pet.

  ‘They’re both down now. I expect your dog misses the ginger tom he was friendly with.’

  ‘Bloody hell! There’s going to be trouble.’ Grey and the outside dogs had up until this moment been best of friends. Now, when they raced up ready to chase the cats up a tree as they always did Grey changed in an instant from a gentle giant to a terrifying, snarling monster.

  He was guarding the cats. They were trapped in the corner and had nowhere to run. If his dog attacked, he might kill the terriers.

  Then as quickly as it had started the incident was over. Both the little dogs rolled over on their backs waving their legs in the air demonstrating total surrender. Grey nudged first one and then the other as if not understanding why they were prostrate before him. The cats took the opportunity to flee.

  Ellie opened the sitting room window. ‘Golly, I thought something dreadful was going to happen.’

  ‘He was just protecting the cats. I reckon there won’t be any more trouble between them,’ Fred said.

  ‘I hope Grey can still be friends with them, but I doubt it after that. Mabel said lunch is ready.’

  She vanished and closed the window behind her. There was a definite autumn nip in the air, which was hardly surprising as it would be November third on Friday. No Guy Fawke’s day on Sunday – but maybe next year fireworks would be allowed again.

  *

  That night as he was getting into bed Ellie grabbed his hand. ‘Quickly, you can feel the baby kicking.’ She laughed and pointed and he saw a bulge in her distended stomach, first on one side and then the other.

  He put his hand on the bulge and felt it move beneath his fingers. He lowered his head and kissed the bump. ‘Hi, little one, it’s your daddy speaking. Why don’t you go to sleep so your mom can get some rest?’

  She tousled his hair and laughed. ‘I’m sure he or she can’t hear you. I’d no idea I would get so huge – I’m like a beached whale and I’ve still got seven weeks to go.’

  ‘The midwife seems happy with you, no swollen ankles or anything else that you shouldn’t have. I wouldn’t be surprised if this baby comes early.’

  ‘Squadron Leader Reynolds you know absolutely nothing about the subject. It’s just wishful thinking on your part because you don’t like sleeping with a barrage balloon.’

  ‘It’s certainly becoming harder to put my arms around you and making love is a fond and distant memory.’

  ‘Lots of cold baths and long walks will take your mind off things. I’m so looking forward to seeing George, Fiona and the children. I know why Mum didn’t want to come but I wish she had. There’s a spare room she could have used and she wouldn’t have been in the way at all.’

  ‘I don’t suppose she wanted to be cooped up in a car with two small children even for a couple of hours.’ There was something else he wanted to talk about and he wasn’t sure he really wanted to know the answer. ‘This book that you’re writing, when does it start?’

  ‘I’m beginning when your Uncle Joe opened up the aero club when I was fourteen. That’s when my love of all things airborne began.’ She leant across with difficulty and kissed him. ‘It’s going to include everything. It wouldn’t be my life story if it didn’t. I know you don’t want me to write about Greg, but he was very important to me at the time.’

  ‘What about that business with the fascists?’

  ‘Yes, absolutely all that’s happened to me in the past five years. I’m going to end it when w
e both left the ATA.’

  ‘I’m not sure I understand why you want to write this down if you don’t intend to get it published.’

  ‘I want our children to know what we were like when we were young, what we did for our country. I sincerely hope they’ll never be in the same position as us, but I want them and our grandchildren to know what it was like.’

  ‘Fair enough. As long as I feature as the hero, I don’t care what you write. You could always jot it down in a notebook, you don’t really have to type it out if no one else is going to read it.’

  ‘Actually, I’m doing both. One of the things I learnt at school was to type properly and it’s a skill that has already come in useful. Since we found the typewriter hidden away in dad’s office, I’ve done several letters for you and they look so much more official when they’re typed.’

  ‘Whatever keeps you happy, sweetheart.’ He stretched out and turned off the bedside lamp. ‘We haven’t really talked about names. Have you got any favourites?’

  ‘It certainly won’t be Holly or Ivy if it’s a girl or Nicholas if it’s a boy. Apart from that I don’t really mind.’

  ‘I thought if it’s a boy we could call it after your dad, if it’s a girl after your mom.’

  ‘That’s settled then – Frederick for a boy and Charlotte for a girl.’

  As he fell asleep he wondered if the baby would have his red hair or be dark like Ellie. As long as his son or daughter was born healthy then he really didn’t care.

  *

  Ellie was finding sitting at the kitchen table impossible unless she sat sideways. The rain was tipping down, typical weather for the beginning of November.

  ‘I think it best if your big lummox of a dog is banned from the house whilst everyone’s here,’ Mabel said.

  ‘Now the weather’s unpleasant it will be easier to keep the door shut and Grey out. I found a box of old toys in the attic that my brothers and I used to play with, but I hope they bring something of their own as well.’

  ‘Penny’s already crawling and Neil’s into everything Fiona told me in her last letter. I’ve got Jack and Joan checking there’re no ornaments low enough for either of them to grab hold of. We’ll have to watch them with the fire – even with the guard on it’s still dangerous for toddlers and babies.’

  ‘As long as I don’t have to get down on the floor and play with them as I’d never get up again. How any woman manages to waddle about as big as I am when the weather’s hot, I just don’t know.’

  ‘You could be having twins, the size you are,’ Joan said as she came in the kitchen.

  Ellie swallowed a lump in her throat. Thinking about the baby they’d lost was still raw. ‘We didn’t tell anyone, but I was having twins. I miscarried one of them when I was ten weeks.’ She hadn’t meant to say anything, the words had just slipped out.

  ‘My word, I’m ever so sorry, I wouldn’t have said that if I’d known,’ Joan said, obviously concerned that she might have upset her.

  ‘This is our miracle baby. We thought we’d lost our child. Then to find I was still carrying this one – well you can imagine how we felt.’

  Mabel nodded. ‘That’s why you didn’t come to see us. You told us you’d had a bit of a scare. What does the midwife say about it?’

  ‘That the baby is a good size and healthy. I’ve got a lot of water, which is why I’m so enormous. I’m sure I’ll pop before Christmas at this rate.’

  Jack had come in and heard her last remark. He kissed the top of her head. ‘No cake for you then.’

  ‘I think I’m past caring about eating too much. I wish we had chocolate and coffee this year because I keep dreaming about both of them.’

  Dad called from the living room. ‘The car’s just pulled up. It’s a Daimler, I think. Mabel love, they’ve brought the nanny. You’ll need to get another room ready.’

  Jack laughed. ‘Now that’s just showing off. Explains why Charlotte didn’t want to come. Are you going to come and say hello or hide in here, honey?’

  She heaved herself to her feet. ‘Fiona was half my size, lucky thing. I wonder, if we have any more children, whether we’ll have twins again.’

  ‘Let’s have this one first before we think about having any more. I hope you hid your typewriter and notebooks.’

  ‘Safely under the bed in our room.’

  She watched from the sitting room window as an elderly uniformed nanny emerged from the back of the huge car with the baby on her hip and holding Neil’s hand. She made a dash for the front door and all three were laughing when they stepped in shaking the rain off their heads. The nanny might be old, but she looked as if she was fun.

  Mabel and Joan were greeting the new arrivals but Dad, Jack and herself remained where they were. It would be too much of a squash if they were all in the passageway at the same time. Fiona ran from the car leaving her brother to struggle with the luggage.

  The two children were escorted upstairs to remove their outer garments but Fiona rushed in as she was. ‘Sorry about the nanny but George insisted she came. I’m sure between us we could have looked after the children. Golly, Ellie, are you sure you’ve got your date right?’

  ‘I have and in case you’re wondering I’m not having twins.’ They embraced clumsily then George came in.

  ‘When you said you were like a beached whale, I thought you exaggerating, little sister.’ He grinned. ‘Or should I say big sister?’

  ‘Now we’ve got that out of the way can I ask why you’ve brought the nanny along without telling us? This is an ordinary family house. Don’t you think she’s going to be rather out of place? Where do you think she’s going to eat her meals – in the kitchen on her own?’

  He shifted uneasily and ran his finger around his collar. ‘I just thought it might be easier to have someone looking after the children so the adults can spend more time together.’

  To her astonishment Jack came to his defence. ‘Nanny and the children can eat in the kitchen and we’ll eat in the dining room as planned. I’ve already cleared out the room with the piano so that they can play in there. I think it an excellent idea, George, thank you for thinking of us.’

  The children came in to join them minus their carer and played happily with the box of old toys. The baby crawled over and held up her arms to be picked up. Ellie reached down. ‘There’s not a lot of room on my lap, darling, because I’ve got a baby in there.’

  Joan and Mabel looked shocked that she’d mentioned something so indelicate. Neil abandoned his pile of wooden bricks and came over to lean against her knee. ‘Auntie Ellie, is that why you’re so fat?’ She wasn’t sure whether she was more surprised by his ability to speak like an adult or his comment.

  ‘It is. The baby in my tummy is kicking me, would you like to feel it?’

  Penny wasn’t interested but Neil put both hands on the heaving lump and laughed with delight. ‘That’s funny. Does it hurt?’ He turned to Fiona who was watching her son proudly. ‘Mummy, how did Penny and I get out of your tummy?’

  George was on his feet and collected the baby and then took Neil’s hand. ‘Come along, nanny is waiting to wash your faces and hands so you can eat your tea in the kitchen with her. I think there might be cakes and scones.’

  The mention of food was enough to distract the little boy and he trotted off without demanding to know any further embarrassing details about how babies arrived in the world.

  Jack was openly laughing. ‘Good thing he didn’t ask how they got there in the first place.’

  ‘Fiona, you didn’t tell us my nephew is a genius. I didn’t even know that he could talk properly and he sounds just like George.’

  ‘We wanted to surprise you. He said very little until a few months ago and then suddenly spoke in complete sentences. To tell you the truth I find it a bit unnerving. One doesn’t expect one’s not quite two-year-old to be able to hold an adult conversation.’

  George returned and he made a pantomime of mopping his brow. ‘That was close. No
doubt he will be asking nanny the details of procreation, but she’s up to it. She’s already taught him the alphabet and he’s almost reading. I’m damned if I know where he gets his brains from as it’s certainly not from us.’

  ‘Both your children are quite delightful. If this one is anything like yours, I’ll be thrilled. We think he’s more likely to have red hair than dark…’

  Jack was balancing on the arm of the sofa. ‘So you’ve decided it’s a boy then?’

  ‘I do think it’s a boy, yes. I felt that all along. Did you have any inkling before yours were born, Fiona?’

  ‘Not the foggiest. I was genuinely surprised when they arrived. Have you thought about any names yet if you’re so sure you’re having a son?’

  She glanced at Jack and he nodded. ‘Actually, we have. It will be Frederick Jack for a boy and Charlotte Mabel, if I’m wrong, and it’s a girl.’

  Her dad beamed. ‘That’s grand, Ellie love. I was born here, then your brothers and you followed and almost two years ago another Neil Simpson arrived at Glebe Farm. This is a real family home and exactly where you and Jack should be right now.’

  It wasn’t like Dad to say so much and she knew this speech was because he was so pleased about the decision to call the baby after him.

  ‘Did it make any difference on the drive that you can now have half headlights on your car, George?’ Jack asked to fill the lull in the conversation.

  ‘Massively. Now the regulations have changed and we no longer have blackouts, just use normal curtains, you’d think things would look jollier. But things look even more drab. The buses and trains can have lights as well and there’s even street lighting allowed as long as it can be turned off if the sirens go.’

  ‘It doesn’t make any difference to those blooming flying bombs whether everything’s blacked out or not,’ Joan said. ‘The shops are peeling off the tape but they’ve got nothing to put in the windows. I reckon even when this war’s over next year things aren’t going to get much better.’

  This was a gloomy prediction but there were murmurs of agreement around the room. ‘We’re the lucky ones, we’re not short of a bob or two. Imagine what it’s like for those with no money, no house and not enough to feed the kiddies.’ Mabel’s remark was even more depressing.