Home Front Girls (10 page)

Dotty stared at her curiously. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked with concern. Even in the dim light she could see that Annabelle was as white as a bleached sheet.

‘I er . . . nothing,’ Annabelle stammered as she struggled to regain her composure. ‘I just felt a bit faint, that’s all. I didn’t have any lunch, that’s probably what did it. Come on, let’s go and find something to eat. I’m sure I’ll be all right then.’

Dotty peered at her from the corner of her eye. She had seen the look that had passed between Joel and Annabelle, and had the strangest feeling that she might just have witnessed the start of something beautiful.

Back inside, Lucy was clinging to Joel with tears streaming down her cheeks as he absently stroked her hair, his thoughts fixed on the gorgeous blonde-haired girl who had just left. Joel had never had the time or inclination for girlfriends – he had been far too busy for the last few years caring for Mary and Lucy and keeping them safe. But if he
were
to look for a girlfriend . . . he stopped his thoughts from going any further. As if a girl like her would ever look at the likes of him! Joel was under no illusions. He knew he wasn’t ugly, admittedly, but he was also aware that he wasn’t the most handsome chap in the world. He was tall and muscular, but he considered his nose to be a little too long and his eyes a little too far apart for him to be classed as handsome in the conventional sense. His hair didn’t help either. Red curly hair might be considered attractive on a female – Mary and Lucy were proof of that – but he had always hated it on himself, although it did look slightly better now that it had been chopped off for the Army. Then he gave himself a mental shake, thinking what a soppy devil he was, and asked Lucy, ‘Who were they then? I thought we agreed to keep ourselves to ourselves. You haven’t told them anything, have you?’

Lucy pulled away from him, her expression hurt. ‘Look, as I said, they’re friends from work. And of course I haven’t told them anything! I’m not an idiot, you know. But you can’t expect me not to speak to anyone now that I’m working.’

Joel was instantly contrite. ‘Sorry, love,’ he mumbled. ‘Of course you have to have a life, especially now that I’m gone. It’s just that I worry, that’s all. We’ve worked so hard to put the past behind us.’

She reached up to stroke his cheek, promising, ‘It’s all right, I understand, and never fear – I’m not about to blab to anyone.’

They stared at each other for an instant and then she asked, ‘Are you quite sure you don’t know where they will be sending you when you get back to camp?’ It was hard to keep the edge of fear from her voice.

‘I honestly don’t know.’ He spread his hands in a helpless gesture. ‘It seems to be a closely guarded secret at present, but I’d put my money on France.’

She nodded. She now read the newspapers avidly, something she had never done before, and was aware of how bad things were out there, although up until now the war did not seem to have touched the people of Coventry. She could only pray that it would end before it did, or better still before Mary reached the age where she would have no choice but to let her be evacuated.

Joel seemed to pick up on her gloomy thoughts. Glancing at the child, he said, ‘She looks well, Lucy. You’re doing a fine job with her and I do realise how hard it must be for you, what with having to work now too.’

She shrugged. ‘It’s not so bad now that I’m getting into a routine, although I’d never manage without Mrs P. She’s been absolutely marvellous.’

His head dipped in agreement as he took a Park Drive out of a packet and lit it. ‘She is a real pal,’ he readily agreed. ‘And when this is all over, we’ll try and make it up to her. But now, how about a bit of home cooking, eh? The Army food is diabolical, I don’t mind telling you, and I could eat a scabby horse.’

‘In that case it’s a good job I just happen to have four nice juicy pork chops going begging,’ she grinned, her eyes twinkling, and leaving him to watch over Mary she sped away to start the evening meal, thinking how wonderful it was to have her brother back, if only for a short time.

It was quite late when Annabelle eventually got home after spending time with Dotty at her flat, but the house was still in darkness. It felt as if she scarcely ever saw her mother any more. She was always off somewhere or other doing voluntary work.

After letting herself in, the girl made for the kitchen, and once she had ensured that the curtains were firmly drawn, she put the kettle on. She had just spent a pleasant couple of hours with Dotty and had only left because a visitor had arrived. The woman was called Miss Timms; she was a quiet, unassuming sort, but it was clear she thought a great deal of Dotty. Dotty had been delighted to see her, but then she had admitted to Annabelle a while back that Miss Timms was the nearest thing to a mother she had ever known. Annabelle actually felt quite sorry for Dotty. She couldn’t begin to imagine what it must have been like, being brought up in an orphanage. There were times when her own mother and father had driven her to distraction, but she loved them both dearly all the same, although she wasn’t always good at showing it.

Kicking off her shoes, she bent to massage her aching ankles. She had actually treated herself to a new pair of shoes with slightly lower heels, but her feet still throbbed at the end of each day and the icy pavements didn’t help. Her mother had tried to persuade her to get a pair of the fur-lined flat boots that were so popular at the moment, but Annabelle had drawn the line there. The shoes she had purchased were as low as she was prepared to go.

Now as she watched the kettle gently steaming, her thoughts returned to Lucy’s brother and once again her heart did a funny little flip. Joel was certainly not the bestlooking bloke she had ever seen, and nothing like the sort she was normally attracted to, but all the same there was something about him . . . The kettle began to whistle and she jumped up to make herself a pot of tea. She was just getting a cup from the smart oak dresser that took up almost the whole of one wall when she heard the front door open and seconds later her mother appeared huddled up in a thick coat, a warm scarf and a pair of woolly gloves.

‘Hello, darling. Brrr, it’s cold out there, isn’t it? Have you been back long?’

Annabelle took another cup from the dresser. ‘No, only a few minutes. Dotty and I went to Lucy’s for tea, but when we got there she found her brother home on two days’ leave, so we went round to Dotty’s then – and would you believe it – she had a visitor too, some woman who used to look after her in the orphanage where she was brought up.’

‘That was nice for them then, wasn’t it?’ Her mother took her coat off and placed it neatly over the back of a chair before saying tentatively, ‘Actually, I joined the WVS this evening. I’m going to collect my uniform in a couple of days.’

Annabelle stared at her in amazement. ‘But I thought you’d put your name down for ambulance driving!’

‘I have,’ her mother said calmly. ‘But thankfully up until now there hasn’t been much need for me to do it. And even if or when there is, I’m sure I can fit the two in perfectly well.’

Annabelle was taken aback and it struck her then just how much their lives had changed in such a short time. Just a few months ago, the most she had had to worry about was where she was going that week and what she would be wearing. Now her father was away God knew where, preparing to fight for his country, she was a shop girl, and her mother was about to become an ambulance driver and a member of the WVS!

Seeing her daughter’s stunned expression, Miranda reached out to pat her hand. ‘Don’t look like that,’ she urged. ‘I did tell you I wanted to do my bit. But now, about these two friends you’ve made at work – I’ve heard you mention them so many times I thought it might be nice if you invited them over for tea at the weekend. Do you think they’d come?’

Annabelle pictured Dotty’s tiny flat and Lucy’s little terraced house in her mind. They would probably both fit into half of the downstairs here, but seeing as she had nothing better planned for the forthcoming weekend, she decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask them to Primrose Lodge, though she seriously doubted that Lucy would come.

‘I think Dotty might come,’ she answered. ‘But I doubt Lucy will be able to.’

‘Oh, why is that then?’

‘Well, she has to look after her little sister, doesn’t she? As far as I can gather, she never goes anywhere without her, apart from to work.’

‘I can’t see that need be a problem; she could bring her with her too. The more the merrier, I say.’

‘In that case I’ll ask them both tomorrow,’ Annabelle replied, and then with a heavy sigh she got out the ironing board and plugged the iron in to start the job she detested the most. She still missed having her ironing done for her, but she had soon found out the hard way that if she didn’t do it, no one else would.

The girls met up outside the store the next morning and went in together.

‘I didn’t expect to see you today,’ Annabelle commented as she glanced at Lucy. ‘I thought you might decide to have a day at home with your brother, seeing as he hasn’t got a very long leave.’

‘I must admit the thought did cross my mind,’ Lucy admitted with a guilty grin. ‘But then it will be nice for him to spend some time with Mary, and I shall see him tonight, shan’t I? This place is short-staffed enough as it is, and I wouldn’t have felt right making things worse.’

‘Then you’re a better person than I am,’ Annabelle growled. ‘Just give
me
a good enough excuse and I wouldn’t set foot in this place again, apart from to shop here. I tell you, this job has been a real eye-opener for me. I never realised how much work went into keeping a store running smoothly.’

‘Things will calm down again after Christmas,’ Dotty said hopefully. ‘People are spending money at the moment like it’s going out of fashion. I’m sorry about last night, Annabelle. I wasn’t expecting a visit from Miss Timms, but you would have been quite welcome to stay.’

‘Yes, and I’m sorry too,’ Lucy piped up. ‘You could have knocked me down with a feather when I found Joel at home, and after I’d promised you both dinner as well.’

‘It doesn’t matter.’ Annabelle led the way into the cloakroom. ‘In actual fact, my mother has sent you both an invitation. She thought you might like to pop over and have tea with us on Saturday. That’s if you haven’t got anything better planned, of course?’

Just as she had expected, Lucy frowned. ‘That would have been lovely. But the thing is, after Mrs P has looked after Mary all week, I don’t like to impose on her more than I have to at the weekends as well.’

‘That won’t be a problem. Mummy said you’re quite welcome to bring Mary too,’ Annabelle assured her.

‘In that case I’d love to,’ Lucy responded.

‘And so would I.’ Dotty was grinning from ear-to-ear. She usually spent her weekends tidying the flat and writing, and so the thought of going somewhere other than to work was appealing.

Mrs Broadstairs entered the cloakroom then and suddenly there was a flurry as all the girls scattered like flies to their different departments.

By home-time all three girls were exhausted after being run off their feet all day.

‘I never thought I’d say it, but I shall actually be pleased to get home and put my feet up tonight,’ Annabelle told them as she pulled her coat on. She was missing her friend Jessica badly, but tonight she wouldn’t have wanted to go out even if she’d had the chance to. ‘I shall be glad when the Christmas rush is over now,’ she said, never missing the chance to have a grumble.

‘Hmm, the problem then is we have the January sales and after that, we have to stock-take. Mrs Broadstairs told me so today,’ Dotty confided. ‘And apparently that’s no easy task. Still, I dare say we’ll survive it.’

‘It’s going to be a strange Christmas anyway with Joel away,’ Lucy said gloomily, and then she instantly felt guilty. Here she was feeling sorry for herself, but she still had Mary, whilst Dotty had no one. Perhaps she should invite her over for Christmas dinner? She decided she’d give the idea some thought.

‘At least we’ve only got five more days to go until we break up,’ Dotty said, ever the optimist. ‘And then we can enjoy a few days off work.’

‘Oh whoopee doo! We finish late on Christmas Eve and then we’re back in again the day after Boxing Day to start getting ready for the January sales. I cannot wait!’ Annabelle sighed as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders, making the other two burst out laughing. Annabelle could always make them smile without even trying.

It was as they stepped outside the store onto the icy pavement that someone suddenly stepped forward and Lucy gasped with pleasure to see Joel standing there clutching Mary’s hand.

‘We thought we’d come and meet you out of work,’ he explained, keeping his eyes fixed on Lucy, but he was painfully aware of Annabelle standing directly behind her. ‘I thought Mary would like to see the displays in the shop windows. Not that there’s much to be seen now that it’s dark,’ he added.

‘Oh, that’s lovely, but I hope you’ve got her warmly wrapped up,’ Lucy fussed as she bent to tighten the ribbons of Mary’s bonnet beneath her chin.

‘She could go to the Antarctic and not feel cold with the layers of clothes she’s got on,’ her brother assured her wryly. ‘But now why don’t I treat you all to a nice cup of tea before you go home? I noticed there’s a café open just a bit further along in Trinity Street.’