The Clippie Girls (41 page)

‘There’s no need to do that,’ Rose said quickly. ‘We all like Mr Bower, he’s been good to this family. If it hadn’t been for him . . .’ She said no more but they all knew what she meant. If it hadn’t been for Mr Bower’s alertness, they might never have found Freddie. Alice could have taken him to her sister-in-law’s and they’d never have seen him again. ‘And besides, after what you told us about his son being missing, the poor man probably needs a bit of company.’

But even Grace was smiling when, on his arrival, Laurence handed over his weekly ration of meat. ‘I’m not much of a cook,’ he said. ‘It’d be better in your hands.’

‘Then you must come for tea again, Mr Bower,’ Grace said graciously, almost pouncing on the parcel. She and Peggy were clever with the cooking and never wasted so much as a scrap of food, but with a household of five mouths and a baby to feed, rations sometimes didn’t stretch to cover a full week.

As he sat down, Laurence glanced around the table, his gaze coming to rest on Mary sitting next to him. ‘I’ve had some very good news. Matthew is safe. There were several survivors from his ship and they were all picked up.’

There were cries of joy from all the family and beneath the table Mary squeezed his hand.

After the meal Myrtle volunteered to help Peggy wash up. Mary and Laurence decided to go to the cinema, and Rose, they could all see, was itching to visit Bob.

He opened the door to her himself. ‘Mam’s next door playing whist. We’ve the place to ourselves.’

As he led the way into the front room, she noticed that he wasn’t limping so much. ‘Is your leg getting better?’ she asked as she removed her coat and sat down on the sofa. She waited for the answer with mixed feelings.

Bob sighed. ‘Yes, it is and I’ve had a letter telling me to report for a medical check next week.’ He looked at her with soulful eyes. ‘They’ll send me back, Rose, if they think I’m fit enough.’

Rose felt a stab of fear run through her. ‘Then you’ll have to limp more.’

He grinned ruefully. ‘It’s no good trying to shirk it, love. If they spotted I was malingering, the penalties are severe and – not very nice.’

‘Oh. So you’d sooner go back to the front to be shot at, would you?’

A dark shadow crossed his eyes and Rose regretted her hasty retort. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I just want you here at home – safe.’

‘It’s what everyone wants, Rose, but it can’t be, not until we’ve won.’

‘And are we going to win?’ she asked softly.

‘Don’t you ever doubt it for a minute.’

And strangely Rose didn’t. Whilst there were men like her Bob – and yes, she could call him her Bob now – she didn’t have any doubt that eventually the war would be won. The only worry was – how many would lose their lives in the process?

The following week Bob came back from his medical inspection with a glum face. ‘I’ve to report back for duty on Monday,’ he said. ‘Fancy, only a week to go to Christmas and I have to go back.’

Rose nodded. She’d been expecting the news. ‘Will they send you abroad straight away?’

‘Not sure,’ Bob said. ‘I’ve tried to keep up with the news in the papers, but—’. He pulled a wry face. ‘It’s very different when you’re involved. There’s a lot that’s top secret that’s never going to reach the press.’

‘Don’t tell Gran that,’ Rose laughed. ‘She thinks the newspapers are gospel.’

‘Can you come round for your tea on Sunday night? Mam’s going to church and then she’ll go to Ada’s – her friend next door.’

‘Not to play whist on a Sunday,’ Rose said, pretending to be shocked.

‘No – no. They sit and listen to Vera Lynn. So, will you come?’

‘Of course I will.’

After tea, when they’d done the washing up and Mrs Deeton had hurried off to church, Bob turned the lights off in the front room and they settled on the sofa in front of the fire. The soft, flickering light gave the room a warm, cosy glow and the war seemed very far away. And yet they couldn’t forget it for long. In only twelve hours’ time Bob would be on his way back to camp and to the war.

‘We didn’t ought to be using your mam’s precious coal,’ Rose murmured, feeling drowsy and content with Bob snuggled close, his arms wrapped around her.

Bob kissed her, his hands caressed her and she felt her love for him overflow. At last Bob loved her and she’d make him forget Peggy.

‘Rose – please – I might never come back,’ he murmured against her lips. ‘You say you love me, then show me. Let me make love to you.’ His fingers trembled as he tried to undo the buttons on her blouse. ‘Please, Rose.’

Rose stiffened and drew back, staring into his eyes reproachfully. In the firelight they were dark with longing. ‘You know I love you, Bob. I loved you even when you had eyes for no one but Peggy . . .’

‘That was a mistake. It’s you I love.’

‘Then if you do, you should respect my feelings, respect
me
.’

He drew away and slumped in the corner of the sofa, covering his face with his hands. ‘I’m not good enough for you. Just a tram driver turned squaddie. You deserve someone better.’

She pulled his hands away and made him look at her. ‘Now you’re being an idiot. It’s just that I don’t want to end up like Peggy. Giving herself to a soldier and then him disappearing and her left with a kid and having to bear all the gossip and the disapproving looks.’ Her voice dropped to a whisper as, ashamed of her actions now, she added, ‘Even from her own sisters.’

‘But I promise I’d be careful.’

‘I bet that’s what
he
said. But he wasn’t, was he? Left her pregnant and then went off to war without another word. Besides – ’ Rose bit her lip, torn between wanting to love him, wanting to give herself to him and the silent vow she’d made – ‘I want to keep myself for my wedding night. I only want to go to bed with one man in my life – my husband.’

He stared at her. ‘That’s emotional blackmail. Holding out on me so that I’ll marry you.’

She gasped, appalled that he could say such a thing – could even think it.

‘Bob, that’s a cruel thing to say.’

He groaned and covered his face with his hands again. ‘I’m sorry – I’m sorry, Rose. But I’m so bloody scared. If only I hadn’t been so stupid – rushing to join up like that – I could have remained a motorman. I needn’t have gone at all and now – I don’t want to go back.’

‘Then don’t.’

This time he dropped his hands himself. ‘Don’t be daft. I’d be arrested for desertion. My mam’d never bear the shame. They shot lads in the last war for that, you know.’

‘But not now. You wouldn’t be shot.’

‘No, but I’d be slung in jail and branded a coward. Is that the sort of man you’d want to marry?’

Rose bit her lip. If she was honest, no, it wasn’t. The men at work, who were of the right age for war service, were having to stand all sorts of snide remarks and innuendoes even though they were employed in a legitimately reserved occupation. She could see now that there was no way out, no alternative: Bob had to go back.

But still she couldn’t bring herself to give way to him. The image of Peggy’s expanding girth when she’d been expecting Freddie, the way most of her own family had – for a time – turned their back on her and the way she hadn’t been able to venture out, to live a normal life, made Rose stand firm. ‘I’m sorry, Bob. I want you more than you could realize, but I – can’t.’

‘Then let’s get married – right away.’

‘But you said just now—’

‘Never mind what I said just now. Please, Rose, marry me. I want to think there’s someone waiting for me. And I want to – to know what’s it’s like to – you know.’

In the half-light Rose blushed, but she snuggled closer, sure now that he wouldn’t misinterpret her loving action. ‘You do understand, don’t you?’

He sighed heavily. ‘Yeah, I suppose so.’ There was silence between them before he said, ‘So, Rose Sylvester, will you marry me? Please.’

‘Yes, Bob Deeton, I will.’

They hugged each other and kissed and whilst passion flared between them once more, now he made no effort to go further than Rose wanted.

‘When I get back tomorrow, I’ll see my commanding officer and ask for compassionate leave to get married. Lads are doing it all the time and with me just back from sick leave, I don’t reckon they’ll send me straight back abroad. And in the meantime you apply for a special licence and, when you let me know that you’ve got it, we’ll set a date.’

‘Oh, Bob. Do you mean it? Do you
really
mean it?’

‘Of course I do, and Mam’ll be thrilled. She really likes you better than—’

Rose put her finger over his lips and whispered, ‘We’re not going to talk about that ever again. From this moment on she’s your sister-in-law, nothing more. Got it?’

Bob grinned and some of the fear and foreboding left his face. ‘Got it,’ he promised and kissed her again.

Fifty-One

To Rose’s disappointment, the whole family was in bed by the time she arrived home; even Myrtle was snoring softly when she crept into the bedroom. She’d hoped to make her startling announcement at once, but now it would have to wait until tomorrow. But at breakfast everyone would be rushing to get to work or to feed a hungry baby. No one would have time to listen to Rose’s plans. The girl lay awake through the night, torn with mixed emotions. Had she really, as he’d said, blackmailed Bob into proposing to her? Had she been wrong to hold out against him? Should she have given way to him? Let him make love to her before he went to war again? She tossed and turned through the night, first berating herself for being such a prude, and then realizing that, no, she’d been right. What if she’d given in and Bob had been sent abroad the minute he returned to duty? They’d not have had time to marry – still might not have – and she might have been left in just the same predicament as Peggy. No, no, she argued with herself, she’d been right. And yet for the very first time she knew why Peggy had given way to her handsome soldier. She’d seen for herself the adoration they’d had for each other in their eyes. And now she knew how that passion could be overwhelming, making the strongest person lose their way.

Peggy’s tragedy was not that she’d given herself to Terry, or even that she’d had Freddie, it was that Terry had disappeared without a trace, leaving her desolate and alone. At last Rose turned onto her side, her mind at peace now, knowing that, at least for her, she’d been right. At last she slept.

They’d decided that Rose wouldn’t go to the station to see Bob off. He’d laughed ruefully as he’d said, ‘I really might not go then. Besides, you have to get to work.’

With great forbearance, Rose decided to keep her secret to herself until the evening, but her moment was spoilt by Mrs Deeton, who in great excitement had come round to the house as soon as Bob had left. By the time she arrived Mary and Rose had already left for work and Myrtle had gone to the city library.

Only Grace, washing up in the kitchen, and Peggy, feeding Freddie, were at home.

‘Isn’t it exciting news?’ Mrs Deeton said, as she sat down by the range and pulled off her gloves.

‘Is it?’ Grace said, as she came in from the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel. ‘What’s happened? Is the war over?’

‘Sadly, no,’ said Mrs Deeton, her smile fading for a moment as she relived the parting with her son only an hour or so ago. ‘No – about Bob and Rose, I mean.’

‘Oh, that!’ Grace said and sat down with a sigh.

‘Aren’t you thrilled? A wartime wedding! It’ll help lift everybody’s spirits.’

‘What!’ Grace exclaimed and Peggy looked up, inadvertently pulling the bottle out of Freddie’s mouth and making him whimper. With a hand that shook slightly, she placed the bottle on the table, put the baby over her shoulder and patted his back. Freddie burped obligingly, happily oblivious to the tension in the room.

‘What on earth are you talking about, Mrs Deeton?’ Grace snapped.

‘They’re getting married. Bob asked her last night and he’s going to see his commanding officer when he gets back and—’ the woman babbled on, revealing all the young couple’s plans before Rose had had a chance to tell her family.

‘I see,’ Grace said grimly. ‘She might have told us herself.’

‘She hasn’t had a moment, Gran,’ Peggy put in softly. She turned and smiled at Hester. ‘She was late in last night and it’s chaos here every morning when they’re all getting ready to leave. I expect she’s planning to tell us tonight.’

‘Oh dear, I am sorry. I’ve spoilt the surprise.’

‘Well, we’re delighted for them both,’ Peggy smiled and added pointedly, ‘Aren’t we, Gran?’

Grace shot her a look and murmured, ‘If you say so.’

For a moment Hester looked perplexed, seeming to remember suddenly that it had once been the girl sitting here with a baby against her shoulder whom her son had been so keen to marry. Hester’s face turned pink with embarrassment and tears filled her eyes. ‘I was so excited – so sure she’d have told you. I’m so sorry.’

‘You’re not to worry. In fact, we could make out we don’t know, couldn’t we, Gran? Act all surprised when she tells us. And Freddie won’t tell her, will you, my pet?’ Peggy brought him down from her shoulder and settled him in her lap.

The child gurgled happily in response and beamed at Hester.

‘Oh, if you could, I would be grateful. It’s only right that she should be the one to tell you all.’

‘And we won’t say a word to Mam or Myrtle, so the surprise will be genuine for them, won’t it, Gran?’

‘If you say so, Peggy,’ was all Grace said again.

It was all Peggy could do to keep Grace from blurting out the news their early morning visitor had brought. As they all sat round the tea table, she was almost holding her breath and willing her sister to make the announcement so that she could breathe easily. But Rose, it seemed was in no hurry; she was waiting for the right moment.

‘No Mr Bower to tea tonight?’ Rose asked impertinently, her eyes twinkling.

Mary blushed. ‘We’re just good friends, Rose, so don’t you go reading more into his visits than there is.’

‘No sound of wedding bells then?’ Rose persisted.

‘Certainly not,’ Mary said sharply, but the colour in her face deepened.