Home Front Girls (51 page)

‘Now put your claws away,’ Miranda chuckled as she edged a wobbly jelly over to make room to slide her sandwiches onto the table. The street seemed to be full of children all shouting and laughing and snatching at the treats as they raced by the tables, but today no one corrected them. It was a day to rejoice.

Further along the road was a table full of crates of homemade wine and ale, and most of the men seemed to be congregated there, including Fred, who had managed to escape again.

‘He’ll be as drunk as a lord, come teatime,’ Mrs P confided with a shake of her head. ‘They’re like bees around a honeypot – look. Never was one fer holdin’ his drink were my Fred, but then who cares if I have to put him to bed, eh?’

It was then that Joel hobbled up to them, leaning heavily on his stick, but with a broad smile on his face.

‘Hello,’ he said, addressing Miranda. ‘No sign of Belle yet then?’

‘I’m afraid not,’ her mother responded with a grin as she watched her future son-in-law glancing up and down the street for a sight of her. ‘But rest assured if she’s said she’ll come, she will.’

Miranda had seen a huge change in him since he had got a job in the local Royal Mail sorting office the year before. It was a job he could do sitting down and he seemed to have regained some of his confidence since going back to work. She suspected that he felt like a man again now that he could earn a living, although it was apparent that he would never walk again without the use of a stick, and she knew that there were times when the leg still caused him considerable pain. However, he never complained, which she felt was to his credit, and she had grown to be very fond of him.

When she suddenly saw his face light up, she guessed immediately who would be the cause of it. Sure enough, she followed his gaze to see Annabelle picking her way through the people towards them, and before she could say a word, Joel was off, hobbling towards her. Miranda glanced at her watch. Dotty and Robert’s train should be in too within the hour and then they could all have a proper reunion. She just felt sad that Lucy wouldn’t be there too, for although she and Joel still wrote to each other regularly, she had never made any attempt to return home even for a visit. Miranda could understand it in a way. Lucy could never have had any sort of a life had she stayed in Coventry. There were too many bad memories there to haunt her, but Miranda hoped that in Cornwall she had been able to put the past behind her, to heal old hurts and get on with her life.

She was pulled sharply back to the present when Mrs P dug her in the ribs. ‘Well, come on then, gel,’ she scolded. ‘The sooner all the snap’s on the table, the sooner we can get this party started. An’ I don’t know about you, but I’m ready fer a drop o’ that home-made wine meself. Let’s get the rest o’ them sandwiches out, eh?’

Miranda followed her back into the little terraced house, thinking just how much her own life had changed since before the war. Back then she had had a charlady and someone else to do her washing and ironing for her, but those days were long gone and strangely she found that she didn’t miss them. The war seemed to have wiped out class distinction and Miranda thought it was no bad thing. Everyone was on a level footing now, be they a beggar or a queen, and she doubted it would ever go back to the way it had been. During the war, women had had to take on men’s roles – and a very good job they had done of it too – so would they ever go back to being chained to the kitchen sink? As Mrs P would say, ‘Not on your nelly!’

Further up the road, Joel met Annabelle and she placed her arms about him even though they were in full view of everyone.

‘I was worried you wouldn’t make it,’ he told her as he returned her embrace.

‘Well, I only got a temporary reprieve,’ she admitted. ‘I have to be back at Haslar by lunchtime tomorrow. Even though the war is over there are still an awful lot of sick men to care for on the wards, and my job won’t be ended until they’re all healed. And of course we have to remember that the war is still going on in Japan, and I’ve no doubt there’ll be more casualties coming from there.’

‘So how long do you think that might be?’

She shrugged. ‘A few more months at least,’ she told him truthfully. ‘And then when my VAD time is over and I get demobbed, I thought I might train to become a State Registered Nurse.’ She watched him closely for his response and when he looked approving, she sighed with relief.

‘I know that’s what you want to do, an’ I reckon you should go all out for it,’ he told her, and once again she thought what a remarkable man he was. He seemed to understand that after the war, women would never be as dependent on men as they had been before. ‘Just so long as it doesn’t stop you from being my wife as well, of course,’ he added.

When her eyes opened wide in shock, he held her to him whilst fumbling in his jacket pocket with his free hand. And then she found herself staring down at a tiny velvet box and he rushed on, ‘I did tell you that I wouldn’t hold you to anything until the war was over. But it is over now, so Annabelle Smythe, I am asking you if you would do me the very great honour of becoming my wife?’

Before she could even answer, he went on, ‘I’m afraid this damn leg won’t allow me to drop down on one knee and do it properly. But will you at least look at the ring and consider it?’ He then flicked the box open and as Annabelle stared down at the small chip of diamond solitaire he told her hastily, ‘I know it probably isn’t exactly the rock you always dreamed of, but—’

‘Stop right there,’ she told him. ‘It’s absolutely perfect and I would be honoured to be your wife, Joel Ford. In fact, I can hardly wait. Now can I please have my ring?’

He slid it onto her finger as a great cheer went up from the people around them and then he was kissing her and suddenly Annabelle’s life was perfect and she couldn’t remember ever feeling so happy in her whole life.

‘So let’s have a look at this sparkler then,’ someone said behind her, and as Annabelle tore herself away from Joel to glance around she found Dotty standing there with a cheeky smile on her face. But this was not the shy girl from the orphanage Annabelle remembered from their days at Owen Owen; instead, she was a smart, sophisticated woman. Dotty was holding her new baby girl in her arms, and a little boy in a sailor suit who was the absolute double of his father was clutching at Robert’s hand.

‘I wondered when you two would see sense,’ Dotty chuckled as she admired Annabelle’s ring. ‘So when is the happy day to be?’

‘Well, we haven’t had time to think about it yet, but it can’t be soon enough for me,’ Joel replied as he looked at his new fiancée with pride.

Dotty glanced affectionately at her husband. ‘Then I can only hope you’ll both be as happy as we are,’ she said quietly, and as Annabelle looked at her she couldn’t help but be impressed. Dotty’s hair, which had grown, was twisted into a gleaming chignon and she was dressed in an elegant navy-blue suit that showed off her slim figure to perfection. Her accessories were white and Annabelle thought she looked as if she had stepped straight from the pages of
Vogue.
Somewhere along the line, the two of them seemed to have changed places. But now that her ring had been admired it was time to view the new arrival, and Annabelle gently drew the shawl from the baby’s face.

‘Why Dotty, she’s just beautiful!’ she gasped. ‘What have you called her?’

‘Alice Louise,’ Dotty answered proudly, ‘for my mother. And Jeremy was named after my father. He’s quite besotted with his new baby sister, thankfully.’

Mrs P had joined them by then, leaving Fred to keep a tipsy eye on Barry and Beryl, and she too dutifully cooed over the new arrival before commenting, ‘Crikey, lass. You look a million dollars! No one would believe you’d recently had a baby. How did you get your figure back so fast?’

‘I doubt it would have been difficult, seeing as she was never further through than a coat-hanger,’ Annabelle teased. The party was getting louder by now and someone was playing ‘Roll Out the Barrel’ on the piano.

Miranda joined them too then and she hugged her daughter with delight as Annabelle proudly showed off her ring. She hoped that the couple would wait to get married until Annabelle’s father came home. Rations or no rations, Annabelle was her only daughter and she wanted the wedding to be a lavish affair. The Red Cross had informed her that Richard should be home within the next few months and after waiting so long, she was sure that they wouldn’t mind waiting just a little longer.

‘Well, we said we’d meet up after the war and here we are at last,’ Dotty said when everyone else started to drift away to join in the party. ‘There were times when I thought it was never going to happen, didn’t you?’

‘Hmm, but it’s a shame there’s one of us missing,’ Annabelle said sadly as she thought of Lucy.

‘I wouldn’t be too sure about that,’ Mrs P commented as she peered up the street. ‘’Cos if I ain’t very much mistaken, the Missin’ Link is on her way.’

And sure enough, as they followed her eyes there was Lucy striding towards them with another woman at her side and a young girl.

Without thinking, Dotty thrust Alice into Mrs P’s open arms and suddenly she and Annabelle were racing towards her.

‘Oh
Lucy!
You’ll never know how wonderful it is to see you!’ Dotty cried. ‘I can’t even begin to tell you how worried we’ve been about you – but you look
marvellous.’

‘I’m so sorry for clearing off like that,’ Lucy apologised when they had all had a hug. ‘But I think I had to get away to find out who I really was, and thanks to Julie here, I believe I have now. I just love living in Mevagissy. Then when Joel wrote to tell me about the party, I felt it was time to come back for a visit.’ She smiled lovingly towards the woman at her side, then leaned down to fuss over Harry, who was like Mrs P’s shadow. His tail wagged furiously – he clearly hadn’t forgotten her.

Lucy’s companion looked to be slightly older than Lucy and had a kind face, and they took to her instantly. She introduced her daughter as Tamsyn.

‘Come on, luvvie, Mrs P said bossily, taking charge. ‘You an’ the little ’un come along wi’ me, Julie. We’ll get some grub an’ a drink, eh, an’ leave these three to catch up, shall we?’ she suggested and after flashing a smile at the girls the woman followed her willingly with the little girl trotting happily along behind them, watching the other children playing boisterously in the street.

‘It seems like such a long time since we met, doesn’t it?’ Dotty said musingly as the three old friends stood hand in hand watching the celebrations.

‘Yes, and so much has happened to all of us since the night of the Blitz, hasn’t it?’ Annabelle replied. ‘I can still remember that night as if it was yesterday. There were so many stars in the sky that night, weren’t there? But what’s been happening to you, Lucy?’

‘Well, Julie took me in and gave me a job in her hair-dressing business as well as a home. She trained me and I’m a fully qualified hairdresser now,’ Lucy told them proudly and as her eyes strayed after Julie, Annabelle saw the loving look in them, and a novel idea suddenly occurred to her.

‘She’s a widow, isn’t she?’ she asked innocently.

‘Yes, she is, but to be honest I don’t think she was happily married,’ Lucy confided to them both. ‘Her husband was the most terrible brute, and like me I don’t think she’s too keen on men any more, although they did have a lovely daughter, as you can see. Little Tamsyn is a real poppet. I adore her.’

‘Well, just so long as you’re content, that’s all that matters,’ Annabelle answered and they then went on to discuss everything that had happened to them all, including Annabelle’s engagement to Joel. Lucy was thrilled to hear the news.

‘I knew you two would get together eventually if I got out of the way,’ she said, then added hastily, ‘but that wasn’t the only reason I went, of course. I could never have been truly happy here. And in Cornwall I got a brand new start.’

From across the road, Miranda and Mrs P were viewing the reunion with smiles on their faces. Joel had taken Julie and Tamsyn off to watch the fireworks that were being lit at the end of the road, and Robert had gone with them, taking his own two children.

Mrs P remarked casually, ‘They seem very close, don’t they? Lucy an’ Julie, I mean.’

‘Yes they do,’ Miranda answered, understanding exactly what the other woman was trying to say. ‘But you know what I think Mrs P? Live and let live. None of us knows where love is going to strike, and as long as they’re happy, who are they hurting? After all that Lucy went through, she deserves to grab her happiness where she can.’

Mrs P nodded sagely in agreement. She loved the girl as her own daughter, and was overjoyed to see her coming to life again. ‘Who would have thought it though, eh?’ she said pensively. ‘All three of ’em had secrets in their pasts that they’ve had to deal with one way an’ another, but I reckon they’ve come through wi’ flyin’ colours, an’ I think they’re better people for it. Since the night o’ the Blitz they’ve turned from slips o’ girls into young women. And now we’ve got a weddin’ to plan. But then they do say every cloud has a silver lining.’

‘I know,’ Miranda said, beaming. ‘And I think I can guess who Annabelle will be choosing to be her bridesmaids. But come on, Gladys, I don’t know about you but I could murder another glass of that home-made wine. I’ve got no idea what’s in it, but it’s working a treat.’ And arm in arm the two women set off for the makeshift Victory Day bar at the end of the street.