Authors: Ellie Dean
Some Lucky Day (52 page)
Peggy took advantage of the deserted bathroom, and less than fifteen minutes later, she was in her bedroom struggling to get her corset on. She smiled as she remembered how Jim had once laughed as he’d watched her, and told her he liked her wobbly bits. ‘There’ll be no wobbly bits today,’ she said to Daisy, who was watching her in wide-eyed wonder from the cot.
Once she’d done her make-up, she slipped on the smart navy dress that had been carefully washed and pressed, and then stepped into her two-tone navy and white heels. Her hat was looking a bit tired, she thought as she anchored it with a pin, but it would have to do. She was just screwing on her second earring when she was startled by Doreen’s foghorn yell from the other side of the door.
‘Oi, Peggy!’ shouted Doreen. ‘Martin’s ’ere! Wotcha want me to do with ’im?’
‘Good grief,’ Peggy muttered as she hurried out to rescue him. ‘Hello, Martin,’ she said fondly. ‘My goodness, don’t you look smart?’
He kissed her cheek and grinned. ‘Only the best will do if I’m to give the bride away.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Is she ready yet, do you think?’
‘I shouldn’t think so for a minute. You’re very early, and it’s mayhem up there,’ she said happily. ‘Go and find Ron, he’s lurking somewhere. There’s whisky in the kitchen, courtesy of Charlotte’s father. I’m going up to help Kitty get dressed, so I’ll call you when she’s ready to come down.’
Peggy finished doing up all the tiny buttons that ran down the back of the wedding dress, and Kitty stood in the middle of the untidy bedroom and gazed in amazement at her reflection in the mirror.
The romantic and beautiful white lace gown that her mother had sent from Argentina was just about the most perfect thing she’d ever seen – and she knew she would never look as lovely as she did today. The neckline was scooped, the sleeves were long and flared like small flutes over her fingers, and the bodice was closely boned to give her a good bust-line, and then swooped over her slender hips to flare around her feet.
Kitty eyed the boot that Doreen had painted white to go with her flat pump and felt a great surge of victory. It had been her dream to walk down the aisle unaided by crutches, and today that dream would come true, for she needed only a walking stick now, and that had been covered with tightly wound white ribbon and finished off with a big bow.
‘Oh, Kitty, you do look so lovely,’ sighed Peggy with a hitch in her voice. ‘Roger’s a very lucky man.’
‘I’m the lucky one,’ she replied softly. ‘I never thought . . . Especially after my accident, I didn’t dare to dream – and then . . .’ She hastily blinked back her tears and reached for the veil that her mother had also sent from home. ‘Would you mind, Peggy?’
Peggy sniffed back her own tears and fixed the gossamer veil to the delicate tiara of diamonds that had been lent by Roger’s mother for the occasion. She fluffed it out so it drifted over Kitty’s shoulders. ‘There,’ she breathed. ‘Perfect.’
Kitty put her arms round Peggy and held her close. ‘Thank you for everything, dearest Peggy,’ she murmured. ‘You will never know just how much you’ve done for me, or how very thankful I am that you came into my life.’
‘Don’t you dare set me off crying,’ Peggy said gruffly as they finally drew apart. ‘It’s been a privilege and a pleasure to have you here, darling,’ she continued. ‘And I’m so proud of you today, I could burst.’ She blew her nose and reached for the door handle. ‘I’ll get everyone downstairs and tell Martin to come up.’
Kitty stood in the silent room and regarded her reflection as the sound of running footsteps and excited voices passed her door and continued on down the stairs. She knew now how Charlotte had felt at this moment, and although she was excited and a little nervous, she had absolutely no doubt that she and Roger were meant to be together.
The soft tap on the door broke through her happy reverie and she greeted the very handsome Martin Black. ‘Thank you so much for agreeing to do this for me,’ she said.
‘It’s a pleasure,’ he replied as his admiring gaze swept over her. ‘And, may I say, you look absolutely stunning. Roger is a very lucky chap.’
Kitty picked up the posy Doreen had made from the most perfect pink and white silk roses, grasped her walking stick and took his arm.
‘Oi!’ yelled Doreen from downstairs. ‘Wot you doin’ up there, gel? We’re all waiting.’
Kitty giggled and Martin smiled. ‘We’d better not keep her waiting,’ he said. ‘These old walls might withstand Hitler’s bombs, but Doreen’s voice is quite a different matter.’
He escorted her along the short landing to the top of the stairs and she blushed as everyone applauded and told her what a beautiful bride she made and how utterly gorgeous her dress was.
She looked down at them all in admiration. Ron was in a suit and spruced up to the nines with the glamorous Rosie on one arm, and the equally glamorous Charlotte on the other. Doreen was wearing red which came as no surprise, and there was a band of scarlet and gold sequins in her ginger hair just to finish off the startling effect.
Fran was almost as spectacular in green, while Suzy, Jane and Sarah had opted for different shades of blue, and Rita was amazingly pretty and very feminine in pink and white. Cordelia was looking chipper in yellow, her straw hat already drooping from the weight of the silk roses that tumbled all over it, and Peggy looked very elegant in her navy blue as she carried Daisy, who was dressed in pink. Even Harvey had joined in the celebrations, for someone had tied a scarlet bow to his collar, even though he would not be attending the wedding.
Kitty gripped Martin’s steadying arm and slowly and carefully negotiated the stairs, which still posed a bit of a problem with her prosthesis but were manageable now. As she reached the hall she was surrounded momentarily by everyone, and then they parted like the Red Sea and followed her and Martin down the steps to the line of gleaming black cars with Air Force pennants fluttering on their bonnets.
‘Nervous?’ Martin asked as the car drew to a halt outside the Air Force chapel which had been built at Cliffe airfield in 1915.
She smiled back at him as they waited in the car for everyone to disappear inside the plain little wooden building. ‘Not a bit,’ she replied.
‘Then we’d better not keep him waiting any longer.’ He squeezed her hand.
Kitty felt light-headed as Charlotte carefully adjusted her veil so it fell over her face and drifted to her shoulders. ‘This is it,’ she breathed. ‘Wish me luck.’
‘You don’t need it,’ said Charlotte as she kissed her softly.
Martin gave a nod to the two young airmen and they opened the doors with a flourish. As Kitty gripped his arm and entered the chapel she heard the sweet sound of the organ playing Handel’s
Water Music
, but all her attention was focussed on Roger, who stood beside her brother at the altar. And when he turned to look at her and she saw the adoration in his gaze, she felt quite weak and had to grip Martin’s arm a little tighter.
‘You look simply breathtaking,’ he whispered as she came to stand beside him.
‘It’s because I’m so happy,’ she whispered back before the Air Force padre began to speak.
They gazed into one another’s eyes as they solemnly took their vows, and then Roger lifted the veil and kissed her so passionately that everyone in the congregation giggled and tittered. They both blushed scarlet, but the padre was smiling as he asked them to sign the register and have it witnessed by Charlotte and Freddy.
As they turned back to the congregation a great fanfare of trumpets filled the chapel with glorious music, and Kitty held tightly to Roger’s arm as they greeted their guests on the way to the door.
‘Attenshun! Form archway!’ shouted the sergeant who was standing outside.
The two ranks of flying officers raised their ceremonial swords, and the two ranks of firemen from Cliffehaven saluted. Kitty grinned with delight to see John Hicks and all the lovely people who’d carted her back and forth to the Memorial every day, and Martin acknowledged each and every one of them with a salute as they stepped through the archway.
As their guests poured from the chapel there was a great deal of hugging and kissing and admiring words, and after a while, Kitty was swept up into Roger’s strong arms and kissed thoroughly before he carried her to the large officers’ mess where the reception was to be held.
It was now three in the afternoon and things were getting loud and a bit out of hand as the dancing began. Kitty watched the fun and noticed that Rita was being whirled round the tiny dance floor by a very dashing young pilot, and they both seemed to be oblivious to everyone else. ‘Who’s Rita dancing with?’ she asked Roger.
‘That’s Matthew Campion. Jolly good chap. Excellent pilot.’
‘Is he single?’
Roger laughed. ‘He certainly is. But why should that bother you now you’re a married lady?’
‘Rita looks quite smitten, and I don’t want her to find out he has a wife and three children waiting for him at home,’ she replied.
Roger laughed. ‘You’re getting as bad as Peggy Reilly,’ he teased. ‘Come on, Mrs Makepeace, it’s time we sneaked away and prepared for the next part of our special day. Do you have everything you need?’ At her nod they shared a conspiratorial smile and then left the mess.
Freddy shouted for silence several times before he got it. ‘If you could all please go outside and form a fairly orderly gathering, the bride and groom are preparing to leave for their honeymoon,’ he announced.
Peggy linked arms with Doreen and made sure the rest of her girls were nearby before she ushered them all outside. There was lots of chatter and giggling as they stood about beside the cold and windy runway, and Peggy was rather glad she’d left Daisy in the mess with the NAAFI girls.
‘Oh, my Gawd, will yer look at that?’ breathed Doreen.
There was a stunned silence among the wedding guests as Kitty emerged from the hangar in her thick trousers, leather flying jacket, helmet and boots. She carried her parachute pack over her shoulder and stood there and waved as Roger joined her in his flying gear.
Peggy could hardly see through her tears as she watched the brave little girl slowly climb the ladder into the Oxford and settle into the pilot’s seat. ‘Will she be safe?’ she asked no one in particular.
‘She’s been practising ever since our wedding,’ said Freddy. ‘Roger wangled it with Martin to let her retrain in the Ox Box, and she got her licence endorsed yesterday.’
‘Gawd, she’s brave,’ Doreen sobbed as her mascara ran down her face. ‘But she said she’d do it – and ’ere she is.’
Peggy had come well prepared, for she always cried at weddings, and she handed handkerchiefs out to Doreen, Charlotte and Cordelia before she mopped at her own tears.
‘It’s a bugger, ain’t it?’ shouted Doreen as the Oxford’s engines roared into life and the plane slowly approached the runway. ‘Yer put yer make-up on and then yer cry it all off again.’
Kitty sat at the controls and regarded the runway ahead of them before she turned to smile at her new husband. ‘Are you ready to go to the Lake District, Mr Makepeace?’
‘More than ready, Mrs Makepeace.’
She kissed him. ‘Then let’s start our honeymoon.’
She raced the Oxford down the runway, and as they lifted into the air and circled the airfield to say farewell to all those wonderful people down below, Kitty knew that she was not only in control of the plane, but in control of her life – and that with Roger by her side, she could achieve anything.
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Epub ISBN: 9781448165261
Version 1.0
Published by Arrow Books 2014
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Copyright © Ellie Dean 2014
Ellie Dean 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.
First published in Great Britain in 2014 by
Arrow Books
Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,
London SW1V 2SA
Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at:
www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm
The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9780099585299