Home Sweet Home (42 page)

Pushing his hands down on the chair arms, he got to his feet. He smiled weakly, as though it took all his strength as indeed it did. Then he picked up the parcel again and held it out.

Ruby took the package, her hands trembling as she did so. ‘Thank you.'

‘I brought back sacks of food too. Tinned stuff mostly. We were given a pick of it at the American base. They shipped it in as fast as they could before any more of us dropped dead. They dropped supplies too during those last months. I don't know what we would have done if they hadn't … we couldn't have taken …'

Suddenly his knees crumpled.

‘Johnnie!'

With Declan's help, Stan Sweet was able to get Johnnie upstairs to bed. Light as a feather, he thought to himself, and felt a terrible sadness that a young man should have gone through such torture.

For a while, he and Declan stood at the foot of the bed, watching Johnnie's head twitch against the pillows.

‘Like carrying a child,' murmured Stan.

‘No weight at all,' agreed Declan.

Stan turned round to see Ruby and Frances standing by the door. Ruby came into the room and stood between them. Frances hung on to Declan's arm.

‘He's been through hell,' Stan said softly.

Ruby nodded.

‘So,' he said, eyeing his daughter with one eyebrow lifted, the quizzical look that he always adopted before asking a typically awkward question. ‘Are you going to stand by him, or dash off to pastures new?'

Ruby knew her father wanted an answer as much for himself as for Johnnie. ‘Home is where the heart is, Dad. Johnnie deserves to be looked after and I'm glad I waited for him.'

‘And I've got a secret,' said Frances, smiling in the way she had when she was a child.

Stan laughed softly. ‘What? Another one?'

‘Mary telephoned to say that Michael's been offered a position as an engineer at the aircraft works in Filton.'

‘That's good,' said Stan nodding without stopping. ‘That's very good.'

‘But I'll still be going to America,' she added.

Stan glanced at Declan then at her. ‘That's good too. I think you're in good hands.'

The following morning, Stan walked down to the churchyard, his grandson's small fist clenched in his much larger one.

The first mists of November 1945 were curling around the naked branches of the trees and misting the outlines of the gravestones and the church itself.

Charlie had brought his own small trowel with him and began digging around the edge of his grandmother's grave.

Stan leaned on the tombstone with one hand, reluctant to take up his usual kneeling position.

‘My knees aren't so good today,' he said out loud. ‘But there, Sarah, I'm not so young as I used to be, though I still remember how I was, how we were.'

He smiled at the memories before his thoughts turned serious again.

‘Another war over. At long last. It looks as though it's our Frances who'll be moving overseas with that American of hers. Mary's husband did consider going back to Canada but has decided otherwise. I know it's selfish, but I'm hoping they'll come back here to the village. Michael has a great affection for Bettina Hicks. He's like a son to her, far more so than her own son, who's failed to put in an appearance for the duration. Bettina adores him. Understandable, I suppose. He's unaware that his real father was Bettina's husband. You know how it was. Dangerfield was injured and unable to father a child, and Bettina gave her blessing for her own husband to save the day.' He shook his head forlornly. ‘Such is the nature of war. As for our Ruby, well …' He took a deep breath, which helped restrain the sigh that heaved his broad chest. ‘Johnnie has come home. She's adamant she won't leave him. I've no doubt they're going to get married, though it could take a while before Johnnie is fully recovered. He was talking to me about opening up a garage in the village or over in Longwell Green. He reckons the demand for cars and for repairing them is bound to grow. He could be right. Anyway, I wish him all the best. I trust you do too. In the meantime, it's good to have everybody home.'

He found himself breathing slowly, as though both he and the whole world had taken a step backwards into a peaceful past. He thought about all the people over the centuries laid to rest in the churchyard and how they too had had their problems, their losses, their children and their wars.

For just a moment, it felt as though the years since Sarah died had never happened. He was back there again, invigorated and full of joy and also great peace. He hadn't felt like that for a very long time.

The breeze and mist seemed suddenly to combine to send the branches of the oak trees creaking as though speaking in a low crackly voice. Just for a second, he thought they were words, not the trees speaking, but Sarah's words.
Home Sweet Home
. He smiled. The world was at peace and his family were home.

• 14 oz flour

• 2 oz cornflour

• 8 oz currants

• 4 oz mixed peel (chopped)

• 8 oz sultanas

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• ½ lb brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon mixed spice

• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

• 8 oz dripping or margarine

• Milk

• 1 tablespoon vinegar

Sift the flours, salt and spice together. Rub in the fat, add the fruit and sugar, mix well together. Dissolve the soda in a little milk, add the vinegar and sufficient milk to mix to a fairly stiff consistency. Put into a greased 2 lb tin and bake for about 2 hours in a slow oven. Regulo 3. (The old gas thermal measure.) Temperature: 175°C/350°F.

• ½ lb plain flour

• 6 oz wholemeal flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 2 oz cornflour

• 3 oz margarine

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 2 tablespoons honey

• Milk

Sift the flours, cornflour and salt together. Rub in the fat lightly, add the raising agent. Dissolve the honey in a little milk, and mix all to a fairly soft dough, adding more milk as required. Turn on to a floured board, roll out to about ¼ inch thickness, cut into rounds and bake in a hot oven for 10-15 minutes. Regulo 8. (The old gas thermal measure.) Temperature: 250°C/475°F.

• 1 lb plain flour

• 1 oz margarine

• ½ teaspoon baking powder

• 2 tablespoons black treacle

• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar

• Milk — about ¼ pint

• ½ teaspoon mixed spice

Sieve all the dry ingredients together. Rub in the fat. Make a well in the centre, add treacle and enough milk, about ¼ pint, to make a firm dough. Turn on to a floured board, roll out to about ¼ inch thickness, cut into rounds and bake for about 15 minutes in a hot oven. Regulo 7. Temperature: 250°C/475°F.

• 14 oz flour

• 2 oz cornflour

• Pinch of salt

• 1 teaspoon mixed spice

• 6 oz margarine

• ½ lb brown sugar

• ¼ lb sultanas

• ½ lb currants

• ¼ lb mixed peel chopped finely

• 1 tablespoon marmalade

• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

• 1 egg

• Milk

Sift the flour, cornflour, salt and spice together. Rub in the fat. Add the fruit, sugar and marmalade. Dissolve the soda in a little milk, and add with the beaten egg and sufficient milk to make a fairly stiff consistency. Put into a greased tin and bake for 2-2½ hours in a moderate oven. Regulo 4. Temperature: 190°C/375°F.

• 7 tablespoons plain flour

• 2 tablespoons sultanas

• 1 oz cornflour

• 1 tablespoon chopped candied peel

• 1 tablespoon self-raising flour or 1 teaspoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon mixed spice

• 4 oz margarine or dripping

• 1 egg

• 4 tablespoons sugar

• 3–4 tablespoons milk

• 2 tablespoons currants

Sift flours and spice together, rub in the fat, add all dry ingredients. Mix to a fairly stiff consistency with the beaten egg and milk. Turn into a greased tin and bake for about 1½ hours in a moderate oven. Regulo 3. (175°C)

• 3 oz chopped dates

• 4 oz wholemeal flour

• 2 oz sugar

• 2 oz cornflour

• Little milk

• 2 oz plain flour

• 2 oz melted margarine

• 1 oz Raisley or 3 level teaspoons baking powder

Sieve the flours and baking powder together. Add the chopped dates and sugar. Mix to a fairly stiff consistency with the melted fat and milk. Put into greased bun tins and bake for about 15 minutes in a moderately hot oven. Regulo 6. Temperature: 220°C/425°F.

The Dambuster Raid occurred in the third week of May 1943. ‘Geoff' was the code name of Professor Barnes Wallis, the inventor of the bouncing bomb.

Wing Commander Guy Gibson led the fleet of Lancaster bombers setting off from Scampton airbase in Lincolnshire.

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Epub ISBN: 9781473502918
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Ebury Press, an imprint of Ebury Publishing,
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Copyright © Lizzie Lane 2015

Lizzie Lane has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author's imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental

First published by Ebury Press in 2015

www.eburypublishing.co.uk

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9780091956615