Keep Calm and Carry On, Children

by Sharon K Mayhew

  “How did you get the curtains and the blanket to match?” I had never seen curtains and blankets matching before today. It made the room feel warm and safe.

  “Mum made them. She’s very good at sewing. She even made a wedding dress for my Auntie Christine.”

  “Gosh, you’re lucky to have such a clever mum.”

  “I’m going to get in my nighty. I’ll meet you back in the kitchen,” Phyllis said.

  “Why do we need to meet in the kitchen? We already had our tea,” Gina said.

  “So, we can flannel ourselves off before we go to bed.” Phyllis frowned, walked out of our room, and across to hers.

  “Gosh, they do wash a lot,” Gina whispered.

  I shrugged my shoulders. “It must be a country thing.”

  We got out our nightgowns and put them on. I studied the bed in the corner. I didn’t want to share a bed with Gina. She might wet it. And it would be terrible if she messed up Ma and Grandpa Wood’s bed.

  “Gina, I think you should sleep on the floor.”

  “I don’t want to sleep on the floor. I want to sleep on that lovely bed.”

  “Don’t you remember?”

  “Remember what?”

  “About the accidents?”

  Gina put her hands on her hips and frowned at me. “I won’t have them anymore. There won’t be any bombs here, will there?”

  “I don’t expect there will be, but what if you had an accident and it made Ma upset. She might send us away.” It hurt my heart to say this out loud, but it had to be said. I loved Gina, but I didn’t want to give Grandpa and Ma a reason to send us away. Or worse yet, just send Gina away.

  Gina scrunched up her forehead and whispered, “I don’t want to be sent away.”

  “Then it’s set. You’ll sleep on the floor until you can prove you won’t have any more accidents.”

  Gina looked at the floor and nodded.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  September 11, 1940

  8:30 PM

  We flannelled off and went back in the sitting room for a cup of tea before bed.

  Grandpa Wood put his newspaper in his lap. “It’s been quite a day for you two, I expect.”

  “It’s been quite a day for all of us, Grandpa,” Phyllis said.

  Gina yawned.

  Which caused me to yawn.

  This caused Phyllis to yawn.

  Which caused Ma to chuckle.

  “I believe everyone is ready for a good night’s sleep.” Ma said. “Phyllis, will you show the girls where the night time toilet is?”

  Gina shivered. “We don’t have to walk near the witches house, do we?”

  Grandpa slid his glasses down to the end of his nose and peered over them. “Phyllis, what have you been telling them?”

  Phyllis shrugged and looked at the ceiling. “Nothing, Grandpa. Come on, let’s all use the loo before we go to bed.”

  We followed Phyllis through the kitchen and out the back door. It was pitch black, blacker than I’d ever seen. There were no lights on the roads. The only light came from the crescent moon and stars overhead, and the sky was partially covered by clouds. We made our way more by feeling with our feet than by sight.

  Phyllis led us to the little tin shed attached to the side of the house. It had a latch. No door handle. Phyllis wiggled the latch until the door swung open. There stood a big black pot with a toilet seat on it. The shed didn’t smell very pleasant.

  “I’ll go first,” Phyllis said. “Joyce, can you hold the door open a bit, so it’s not so scary?”

  I nodded and held it open. A small crack of light from the moon shone in the shed.

  When Phyllis came out, Gina took a turn, and then I went. The little room was pitch black. Using the bathroom in a shed, rather than in the house, was rather strange. Country life was going to be different. In some ways, they seemed fancy, but not having an inside toilet seemed old fashioned. Perhaps some of our ways seemed backward too.

  “What do you do if it is raining or you are too scared to go outside by yourself?” I asked, thinking of Gina.

  “If it’s raining, you put on your coat and hood before you go outside,” Phyllis replied. “If you are too scared to go by yourself, wake up Mum or me and we’ll take you.”

  We closed the latch on the door and went back inside.

  Ma asked if she should tuck us in bed or if we were used to doing it ourselves. I said we were used to doing it ourselves. I didn’t want her putting Gina in that lovely bed and having her fall asleep before I was able to move her.

  “I’ll read a little bit of Winnie the Pooh to Gina before she goes to sleep. Mum put it in my bag,” I said.

  “Good night to all of my girls.” Ma kissed Phyllis on her forehead.

  I was relieved when she didn’t try to kiss me. We were starting to warm up to country life and to being without our parents. Calling Missus Wood “Ma” came quite easy. She mothered us from the moment she picked us out of that horrid parade.

  “Good night, Ma,” Gina and I said.

  “Good night, Mum,” Phyllis said.

  Grandpa shouted from the other room, “Sleep well, girls!”

  Phyllis led the way up the stairs and walked us to our room. “If you need something, you can wake me up.”

  “Gosh, I don’t think we’ll need anything,” I said. “Our room is smashing!”

  Phyllis went to her room and closed the door. I was relieved she closed her door because it meant I could close ours.

  “Let’s get a bed made up for you on the floor, Gina.”

  Gina huffed. I gave her the look.

  I found a large towel in the wardrobe. I laid it beside the bed and put a pillow at the top for her. I used a small blanket from the end of the bed to cover her up.

  “Keep your stockings on so your feet don’t get cold. If you wake up during the night and need to use the loo, wake me up right away. Don’t wait until it’s too late.”

  I tucked Dolly under the blanket with Gina and sat on the floor to read Winnie the Pooh to her. By the time I finished reading the first page she had fallen fast asleep. It had been a long and exhausting day for both of us.

  I stood up quietly and crawled into that beautiful bed. I said my prayers, asking God to keep Mum and Daddy safe and to not let Gina have an accident. Then I dozed off to sleep.

  The door creaked, and it gave me quite a start. I jumped out of the bed. Reached for my gas mask. My heart raced out of control. Could it be an air raid?

  “It’s all right,” Ma whispered. “I was just checking on you two. Why is Gina sleeping on the floor?”

  I hadn’t expected her to find out. I was too tired to come up with a fib, and I didn’t want to lie to her. I avoided her eyes and shook my head. “If I tell you, you might not want to keep us.”

  Ma put her arms around me. “Come on, Love, let’s go down to the kitchen and have a cuppa and you can tell me all about it.”

  Ma heated the water and got out the cups and saucers and two small plates. “We’ll have a little something with our tea and then you can tell me why Gina is sleeping on the floor.” Ma poured the tea and some milk in the cups. “One lump or two?” she asked.

  “I like sugar cubes, but I not in my tea.”

  Ma laughed and handed me a cube. I popped it in my mouth. She put a biscuit on each plate.

  “Now what has you so upset?”

  I sighed. “I was scared to tell you because you were so nice to take both of us. I understand if you won’t want us when you know.”
r />   “Now what on the earth could possibly make you think we wouldn’t want you to stay?”

  “Ever since the bombing, Gina’s wet the bed. I had her sleep on the floor, so she wouldn’t ruin your bed.” I stared at the floor, waiting for Ma to say we had to leave.

  “Oh my, I’ve heard this can happen to children when they’re in a lot of turmoil. Having sirens and bombs going off every night would definitely count as turmoil. It might even make me wet the bed.”

  My mouth dropped open. “Does that mean you won’t be sending us away?”

  “Heavens, no! When we said you could stay with us until the end of the war, we meant it. But we’ll have to find a better way for Gina to sleep. Sleeping on a towel on a hard wooden floor might be very uncomfortable for her. Tomorrow when we go into the village, I’ll find something for her to sleep on until she can join you in the bed.”

  I squeezed Ma tightly. No words could express how thankful I was for her kindness and generosity. If everything went this well, perhaps living in the countryside until the war ended would be bearable.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  September 12, 1940

  8:00 AM

  I cleaned up Gina’s make do bed. She did have an accident during the night. I carried the wet towel and blanket downstairs and brought a clean dishcloth up and washed the floor. Ma said she would wash the towel and blanket. I brought Gina a fresh damp flannel too, and she cleaned herself up before she got dressed.

  “Breakfast time, girls,” Ma shouted.

  All three of us bounced down the stairs. It was going to be a grand day. A trip into Leek to buy brand new clothes and other things we needed. We had gotten lucky indeed. I thought about Sam and Molly. Hopefully, they’d gotten lucky too.

  “Good morning, girls.”

  “When are we going shopping, Ma?” Gina’s eyes were bright with excitement.

  “Goodness, you certainly are in a hurry this morning.”

  “I’ve never had brand new clothes. I’m very excited.” Gina jumped up and down.

  My cheeks flushed, and I tried to hide my embarrassment by shaking my long, clean smelling hair across my face. I knew they didn’t have much money, but they knew we didn’t have enough clothes. We showed up in Leek dirty and without the proper items. What must they think of Mum and Daddy?

  “We’ll have to clean up the breakfast dishes and make a list before we go,” Ma said.

  Phyllis and I cleared the table when everyone finished eating. We began washing and rinsing the dishes in the sink. Ma sat and watched us.

  “You two are getting on famously, just like Rupert the Bear and Snuffy.”

  We smiled at each other and finished the dishes. Rupert and Snuffy were very good friends and had lots of adventures together in books.

  “We’re ready,” Phyllis said.

  “I must make a list before we leave,” Ma said. “I noticed you didn’t have slippers or toothbrushes. Would you like them?”

  Gina stood up and stretched. “I want slippers. Pink ones with bows on them.”

  “Our old ones were ruined by going to the bomb shelter,” I said. I immediately thought of Mum and Daddy. I hoped they were safe.

  “How do you brush your teeth?” Gina asked. “My teeth don’t have any hairs.”

  Gina opened her mouth real wide so we could see there was no hair on her teeth.

  I grimaced. Another indication of how poor we were.

  “You’re right, there’s no hair in there.” Ma winked at us. “I’ll show you how to brush your teeth. We’ll get a tub of tooth powder for you to share.”

  “Why do you want to put powder on our teeth? I don’t want powder in my mouth.” Gina crossed her arms. “I’ll just have the slippers…please.”

  “Oh dear, I’m not explaining this very well,” Ma said. “The powder is for cleaning your teeth. You get your toothbrush wet, dip it in the powder, and then scrub your teeth with it.”

  “We didn’t do that at home.” Gina shrugged.

  “You’ll get used to it, Gina. In fact, your mouth will feel horrible when you don’t do it, once you are used to it.” Ma smoothed her hair.

  “Joyce, do you have your ration books?” Ma asked. “I’ll need them, so I can buy more rations at the market and sewing supplies at the fabric shop.”

  “I’ll get them,” I said. “Mum put them in my bag.”

  I zoomed up the steps and into our room, our room with lovely pink roses painted on the walls, and I stopped for a minute…Why did Ma and Grandpa have an extra bedroom one pretty enough for any girl to live in? Did someone live here once that’s now gone? What happened to them? I must remember to ask Phyllis when no one is around.

  I found our ration books and our identification cards and carried them downstairs.

  “Ma, I have our identification cards too. Do you want them?” I asked.

  “We should keep them in my tuck box.”

  “I didn’t know you had a tuck box, Mum,” said Phyllis.

  Ma chuckled. She wrote some more things on the list and then put on her bonnet and cardy. “Right, we’ll bring some empty carrier bags with us, as I’m sure we’ll have a lot of shopping to bring home.”

  Gina smiled so big it almost covered her entire face.

  The fresh, brisk air was filled with the scent of flowers and grass. We followed the rock wall all the way up the road to the village. This time I noticed the mountains in the distance. “How far are those mountains?”

  “About four miles from here,” Ma said. “They’re called the Roaches. They’re more like hills with giant rocks on them than mountains. There are some old caves near them. The Romans dug into the earth and took out copper.”

  “Gosh, that’s exciting!” I said. “Are the caves still there?”

  “They are, but they aren’t safe to go in. The caves were abandoned hundreds of years ago.”

  Phyllis smiled at me, and I smiled back. I’m pretty sure I knew what she was thinking.

  “Mum,” Phyllis asked, “could we pack a picnic and go to the Roaches one day? It would be so much fun for me to show Gina and Joyce around.”

  “It probably would be to far for Gina to walk, but if you found some other older friends to go with you, it would be all right.”

  I grinned. I knew the perfect people to go with us…Sam and Molly.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  September 12, 1940

  9:00 AM

  People hustled and bustled in and out of the shops in Leek. Saint Edward Street had several beautiful Tudor style buildings. They were white with dark brown pieces of wood on the outside of them. One had a lovely circular design on it, right below the roof. Another one’s windowpanes were shaped like diamonds.

  Ma stopped at a cobbler’s shop. “In we go, girls.” She held the door open for us.

  “Alo, Missus Wood,” said the gray-haired man behind the counter. “Wot can I do fur you today? Does Miss Phyllis need a new pair of shoes fur school?”

  “No, Mister Johnston, Phyllis isn’t a concern today. Joyce and Gina will be needing shoes for school and slippers. Poor dears, they lost theirs in the blitz in London.”

  “Aye, you’re a good woman. Takin’ in two evacuees. How did your Da’ feel about that?”

  “We’ll have to stretch our pounds a bit, but we’re grateful we are able to do it. We’re lucky to have these lovely girls staying with us,” Ma said.

  “Let’s have a look at your feet, young lady.” Mister Johnston gestured to me.

  My cheeks grew warm as I stuck out my foot. Daddy always worke
d hard. Even with his two jobs, we struggled to get by. My ragged shoes were another indicator of our life back in London.

  “We’ll have you good as new in no time.” Mister Johnston patted me on the leg. Then he pulled out an odd tool from under my chair and had me stand on it. He squeezed my toes and the sides of my feet. “There we go. I’ll have some shoes ready fur you before school begins. What colour would you like? Black or brown?”

  I looked at Phyllis.

  “She’ll take brown,” Phyllis said. “So will Gina. Then we’ll all match.”

  I’m glad she answered for me. I didn’t want to choose the wrong colour or chose a colour that cost extra and be more of a burden.

  “I want red,” said Gina.

  “Sorry, Dearie,” said Mister Johnston. “I only have two colours. We’ve been short on lots of things since the war started, but I can give you a different colour for your slippers. I sew them together with thick fabric, and I have lots of colours to choose from.”

  Gina looked at the shop floor and pouted. I frowned at her. We must always remember to be grateful. I vowed to talk to her about how much Ma and Grandpa were doing for us.

  “Come along girls, everyone come see what I have. You too, Phyllis. I’m going to make an extra pair of slippers fur you. No charge, Missus Wood. Consider it my thank you gift fur you doing your part fur the war effort.”

  “Well, thank you so very much, Mister Johnston,” Ma said.

  I smiled at Phyllis, relieved she would be getting something new too, and it would not cost anything.

  We followed Mister Johnston into the back room. Piles of different coloured fabric filled every corner of the room and a big workbench stood in the middle. It was covered with tools and scraps of leather.

  “I want this one,” said Gina pointing to a bright red fuzzy fabric.

  “I like this one,” Phyllis said. She was pointing to a brilliant blue fabric.

  “It appears I should choose white, so we’ll have all the colours of the Union Jack represented in our slippers,” I said.