Far From Home (21 page)

Kate showed her sister the letter the following day when she called in after Mass, and they were finishing their breakfast when they heard on the news that the Crown Prince of Norway and his Cabinet had fled to London. There was no official surrender and sporadic fighting still continued, but the writing was on the wall as far as Norway was concerned. It was as if the whole world waited to see what Hitler's next move might be.

They hadn't long to wait, because just days later, Blitzkrieg, or Lightning War, was inflicted on Holland, culminating in a raid on Rotterdam that left over a thousand people dead and countless more injured. The pictures in the paper were heartbreaking, desperate: despairing people fleeing with all that they could carry, while behind them plumes of smoke filled the air as
their city burned. Worse news, though, was that German paratroopers had landed on the fort everyone had said was impregnable, and had taken control of the bridges. Men and machines had begun trundling across them and German tanks had also ploughed through Ardennes Forest, another apparently impregnable obstacle. The papers all reported that the French were fighting for their lives.

 

When Kate called to see Sally the following evening, she saw that Ruby was in a dreadful state. She had deep score marks in her face, which was a muddy grey colour; the frizzy hair that framed her face had not a vestige of brown left. But what upset Kate most were her eyes, reddened like Sally's and ringed with black: they were full of pain and fear. Her humour and feisty nature seemed to have deserted her altogether: ‘We're neither of us able to eat anything,' she told Kate.

Kate nodded. ‘My appetite seems to have gone too,' she said. ‘But please don't think the worst yet.'

‘How can we not?' Ruby cried. ‘Look at this map – it was in the paper today.' And as she spoke she spread it out on the table. ‘See, those bloody swastikas are everywhere.'

They were too, and Kate's eyes opened wider, because seeing it like that really brought it home to her just how alone Britain was. ‘The Allies must be surrounded by the German armies,' Sally said. ‘And as far as I can see, the only place they can retreat to are the beaches. Then they will have to bloody swim for it. I mean, think about it, how many prisoners can the Germans take? And a nation that can callously kill innocent civilians
will not be very kind to the soldiers of an invading army.'

‘Yeah,' Ruby agreed. ‘And even if they aren't captured, I reckon they will just be picked off on the beaches or bombed to kingdom come because there is nowhere else they can go.' The eyes she turned on Kate were bleak and lacking in all hope as she said, ‘I can't even cry. My fear for Phil goes deeper than that, and inside me and Sally are falling to pieces.'

 

There was a strange message broadcast from the Admiralty that no one fully understood, for it was requesting all owners of self-propelled pleasure craft between thirty and a hundred foot in length to send specifications to the Admiralty within fourteen days. Shortly after this, the Allies were ordered to retreat, making for the beaches of Dunkirk, where they found the big destroyers sent to take them home had to be anchored out in deep water, so the soldiers couldn't reach them, despite the pier heads they built from discarded equipment.

And then the meaning of the message from the Admiralty was made clear as a flotilla of boats of all shapes and sizes, yachts, cruisers, even fishing smacks, manned by a motley crew of civilians, sailed over to the beaches, filled up their vessels with servicemen and ferried them out to the waiting ships. It was called Operation Dynamo and its objective was to lift as many men off the beaches as possible. In the end, 700 boats took part in this, for when the veil of secrecy was lifted and everyone knew what was at stake, many owners of boats set off on their own without Admiralty clearance.

The papers reported on the men's return, and in the accompanying photographs Kate saw them waving from the carriages of trains or being greeted by the WVS. Some had blankets around their shivering bodies as they gulped at the scalding tea in the thick white mugs, and there were harrowing accounts of the conditions on the beaches. A great many had stood waist-high in the freezing water for up to thirty-six hours without food or water before being rescued.

When the operation was brought to a close on 4 June, the papers reported over 300,000 Allies had been saved, and that included 140,000 French.

‘It was amazing to get so many men home,' Kate said one day to Susie about a week later. ‘But the cost has been colossal in the loss of so much stuff.'

‘Yeah, that's why overtime is compulsory,' Susie said. ‘They need more Jeeps so they need more radiators for them.'

‘They need everything if we are ever to win this damned war,' Kate said. ‘And the need to win is even greater now, or those left behind on the beaches of Dunkirk will have died in vain.'

‘They might not have died,' Susie said. ‘They might have been taken prisoner.'

‘The chances of that are very slim,' Kate said. ‘Rumour has it that few were taken captive.'

‘Yeah, I can believe that of the murdering Krauts,' Susie said bitterly. ‘Some of those returning are little more than boys, and I suppose they are the lucky ones. Has Sally had any news about Phil?'

‘Not yet, but, as I said to her, no news is usually good news, and with over three hundred thousand
rescued, it might take time to sort out where everyone is. She says it's the not knowing that's hard,' Kate said. ‘And I know it is, but the only thing she wants to know is that he is alive and well.'

‘That's what anyone would want to know, though.'

‘Yes,' Kate agreed. ‘And I do feel sorry for her. But I am trying to cheer her up. I mean, it could be good news if he was injured, as long as it wasn't that bad and, if he was, he could be anywhere they had space, but I do know that she has scrutinized every picture in every paper.'

‘You and I would do the same as well,' Susie said with a smile. ‘We didn't even know our men had been involved till they sent that note to say they were safe.'

‘Good job I didn't know in advance,' Kate said. ‘I'd have been a nervous wreck. I think the Phoney War, or Bore War as some called it, is definitely over.'

‘I think so too,' Susie said. ‘And now we're being asked to hide maps and disable cars and bikes not in use.'

‘I know,' Kate said. ‘And just today I saw a man painting out the road signs … I don't mind admitting that I'm scared stiff. Only a small stretch of water separates us from France – if you ask me, Britain is staring a full-scale invasion in the face.'

Just a few mornings later, Kate was at work when she was approached by the supervisor, Mrs Higgins. The machine shop was a noisy place, far too noisy for normal conversation, but Mrs Higgins indicated that Kate should follow her. She was surprised because this had never happened before; as she turned off her machine, Susie, who worked beside her, looked up and raised her eyebrows in enquiry. Kate gave a shrug before following behind the supervisor, past the line of girls at machines just like her own, who all looked at her curiously.

Outside the machine shop it was much quieter, though the throb and rumbling could still be heard, and Mrs Higgins said, ‘Sorry about that, Kate, but Mr Tanner said to fetch you.'

‘He did?' said Kate in astonishment, because Mr Tanner was boss of the whole place and she hadn't been in his office since the day she had been interviewed for the job a few years before. ‘D'you know what this is about?' she asked. ‘I can't think of anything I have done wrong.'

‘Don't worry,' the supervisor said, and her eyes were
sympathetic as she went on, ‘I don't think it is about anything you have done. I think you should prepare yourself, though. Your sister is here.'

‘My sister?' Kate echoed, knowing only a catastrophe of some magnitude would have caused Sally to seek her out.

The supervisor nodded. ‘Yes,' she said dolefully. ‘She told Mr Tanner that she was your sister –  she's very distressed.'

The blood drained from Kate's face. ‘Oh God,' she breathed.

They reached the office and Mrs Higgins said, ‘You can go straight in. He is expecting you.'

From behind the door came the muffled sound of weeping and Kate mentally straightened her shoulders before opening it. The last time that she'd been in the room, Mr Tanner had sat in a black leather chair behind a large, highly polished wooden desk. There was another black chair facing the desk, and that was where she had sat nervously for her interview.

Now her sister, still in the overalls she wore for work, sat in that chair, rocking backwards and forwards, the tears dripping through the hands she had covering her face. Mr Tanner was beside her, looking decidedly uncomfortable and patting her shoulder gently. He gave an audible sigh of relief when he saw Kate. ‘Ah, Mrs Burton,' he said against the backdrop of Sally's sobs, ‘I'm afraid your sister has had some distressing news.'

At his words, Sally took her hands away from her face, but the tears still trickled from her puffy eyes and made tear trails through her dirt-smeared face. Kate felt
a wave of pity wash over her, for it was like looking at two pools of sadness, and then she noticed the buff telegram crumpled in her sister's begrimed hand. ‘Oh, Kate,' Sally cried. ‘What am I to do? Phil's dead.' And she waved the telegram as she went on: ‘This came this morning. His was one of the bodies left at Dunkirk.'

Although Kate had more or less known what her sister would say, the words were still shocking, and she gasped as she fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around her sorrowful sister, breathing in the stench of oil on her overalls. Mr Tanner had gratefully stepped to one side and he said to Kate, ‘I think you should take your sister home, Mrs Burton. You need to be together at this dreadful time.'

‘I will,' Kate said. ‘Thank you, sir. Maybe you can get word to Susie Kassel? She will be wondering – we always go home together.'

‘I will,' Mr Tanner said. ‘Don't you worry about a thing. You just get yourselves away.'

‘Thank you, Mr Tanner,' Kate said as she stood up. Drawing Sally gently to her feet, she said, ‘Come on, my dear. I must get my things from the cloakroom and then we can go.'

‘I left everything behind,' Sally said, brokenly. ‘I couldn't think of anything except needing to see you.'

Kate's heart lurched as she realized how terribly young she was to deal with this, though she knew Sally wouldn't be the only one mourning a boyfriend, husband, son or brother. She hurriedly shrugged herself into her coat, retrieved her bag from her locker and linked an arm through Sally's. She looked so pale, Kate was afraid she was going to faint on her. As they walked
to the tram stop, Kate said, ‘We'd best go to your place first. Ruby will—'

‘Ruby won't be there,' Sally said. ‘She is in hospital. She had a stroke or heart attack or something when the letter came.'

‘Ah, dear, poor woman.'

‘She was on her own, see, so I don't know what happened. The telegram was delivered after I had left for work. Phoebe had seen the telegraph boy knock on her door, and when he had gone she heard Ruby cry out and went in to see if she was all right. She found her spark out on the floor with the telegram in her hand. She called Dr Butler out and he ordered an ambulance and then she brought the telegram to me.'

‘So you don't know how bad Ruby is?'

Sally shook her head. ‘Not a clue, though Phoebe said that she didn't look good,' she said. ‘Don't even know where she has been taken either, though it's probably the General.'

‘More than likely,' Kate said. ‘Initially, anyway.'

‘I know I should go and find out,' Sally said as the tram pulled up and they clambered aboard. ‘It would be what Phil would want, but I can't seem to work up enthusiasm for anything.'

‘I'll do all that as soon as I get you settled,' Kate promised. ‘You really need to eat something and then sleep if you can.'

Sally shook her head. ‘I doubt that I could sleep,' she said. ‘My whole body is like jumping about inside and yet I am so weary I ache everywhere.' She looked at Kate with red-rimmed, pain-filled eyes. ‘But none of this matters, does it?' she said in a voice little above a
whisper as she fought the tears threatening to engulf her again. ‘What does matter is that I will never see my darling Phil again, and I am just realizing what that means and I won't have any kind of future without him. And don't say that I will find someone else, because I don't want anyone else.'

Kate didn't say anything. She hadn't any words that would help assuage the intense grief she knew Sally was feeling at that moment. She needed to grieve and it was healthy that she did so; Kate decided she would shield her from those urging her to get over it until she was ready.

When they alighted from the tram, Sally was so weary she was unsteady, and Kate supported much of her weight as they made their way to the flat. The stairs were a great challenge for both of them. However, eventually, they were inside, and Kate lowered Sally into an easy chair and put on the kettle before stripping her of her dirty work clothes. She used some of the water to make a cup of tea, which Sally gulped at gratefully, and with the rest of the warm water she washed her gently as if she was a child.

‘Now it's bed for you,' she insisted. ‘Pop a nightie of mine on and tuck yourself up while I make some more tea and some toast.'

‘Just tea,' Sally said. ‘I couldn't eat.'

‘I'll make it anyway,' Kate insisted. ‘I'm only talking about a couple of slices of toast, and you may feel like it when you see it. If not, there's no harm done.'

Sally just nodded as she pulled one of Kate's nighties over her head, too tired to argue, and when Kate went into the bedroom later with the tea and toast, she found
Sally tucked up in her bed. Despite her declaration that she didn't think she would sleep, she was indeed in a deep slumber.

Kate lost no time, but first she knocked on Dolly's door and told her what had happened and asked her if she would sit with her sister for a while. ‘I must find out what has happened to Ruby and then go to Sally's place of work and tell them about Phil but I don't want to leave her alone and her to wake up when I'm gone.'

‘I'll sit with her, never fear,' Dolly said. ‘Poor little love. You do what you have to do, Kate.'

Ruby was in the General Hospital and a nurse agreed to let Kate see her when she explained who she was. ‘But she is extremely ill,' she cautioned. ‘You can have a few minutes, no more.

Kate nodded and opened the curtain. When she saw the shrunken, comatose figure of Ruby on the bed, her face as white as the pillow her head lay on, she knew she was looking at a very sick woman. It didn't look a bit like the feisty person Kate knew her to be. It was as if the spirit of her had gone.

The doctor was waiting for her and was very grave. ‘It was a massive stroke that Mrs Reynard sustained,' he said.

‘Will she recover?'

‘It's too early to say categorically,' the doctor said. ‘But early indications point to the fact that, if she was to recover, she would have quite extensive brain damage.'

‘I see.'

‘Are you a relative?'

‘No,' Kate told him. ‘My sister lived with Ruby
because she was engaged to her son Phillip, who is – I mean was – in the Army.'

‘And it was the arrival of the telegram telling her of the death of her son that brought this on.' the doctor said. ‘That much the ambulance drivers were told by the neighbour who found Mrs Reynard unconscious.'

‘Yes, my sister was at work, and when the neighbour told her what had happened she came to find me.'

‘And has Mrs Reynard other family?'

‘She had,' Kate said. ‘They were all wiped out with TB, and Phil was the only one spared. I don't know if there were other relations; my sister always said that it had just been Phil and his mother for years.'

The doctor shook his head. ‘The human mind is very powerful,' he said. ‘Sometimes, people make remarkable recoveries, many of which confound the doctors, usually when the patient has powerful reasons to want to go on living. In Mrs Reynard's case, on the other hand …'

He didn't have to complete the sentence; his meaning was abundantly clear. Kate thanked him for his time and went to get the tram to Sally's place of work. She went to the main office to say who she was and why she had come, but it was lunchtime, and so when she went into the cloakroom to collect up Sally's handbag and normal clothes she was inundated by her work colleagues, eager to find out what had happened. They were all stunned. Some shed tears; many were aware they could receive such news about their loved ones at any time. ‘We thought it must have been summat big like,' one of the girls said to Kate. ‘You can't talk in the factory, but someone come and took her away like and we never saw her again.'

‘I feel ever so sorry for her,' one of the others said, and there was a murmur of agreement, and another went on, ‘Ah, it's ever so sad. Sally was always talking about Phil.'

‘Yeah, and they really did love each other,' another girl told Kate. ‘I worked at the Plaza with Sally before we came here and you only had to see them together … You could almost feel it. I don't know what she will do or how she will recover from this. I knew Phil as well and he was always happy. He was smashing.'

‘I know he was,' Kate said. ‘It will take Sally some time to get over the loss of him.'

‘Yeah, if she ever does.'

‘Oh, she must eventually,' Kate said. ‘Because that is what Phil would want.'

 

Sally was up and dressed in Kate's clothes and Dolly had gone back to her own flat when Kate arrived home. When Kate told her how ill Ruby was, she insisted on going up to see her that afternoon. Kate went with her, but let Sally go in to see Ruby alone while she sat on the bench in the corridor. She saw the shock on her sister's face when she approached her later. ‘It's like she's already gone,' she said. ‘In fact, I said goodbye to her.'

‘Ah, Sally.'

‘Don't be too sympathetic, or I will start blubbing again,' Sally warned.

‘No harm in that.'

‘Yes there is if you do too much of it,' Sally said, and she struggled for control as she went on: ‘I have to learn to live a life without Phillip in it, and at the moment
that realization is very painful; so painful it's as if a shard of glass is piercing my very soul.'

Kate was overcome by the sadness of it herself. She wrapped her arms around her sister and they wept together. Eventually, Sally pulled herself out of Kate's arms and said shakily, ‘I warned you what would happen if you did that.'

‘Maybe you needed that release,' Kate said.

‘Maybe I did,' Sally said. ‘But all the tears in the world will not change the fact that my beloved Phil is dead.' And Kate marvelled at her young sister's courage when she went on: ‘I think Ruby will not regain consciousness and I hope she doesn't. Life for her without Phil would be too hard.'

‘And what about you?'

Sally lifted her chin in the air in a gesture of almost defiance as she said, ‘I will do what Phil would expect me to do, and that is to go on and do anything I can to help win this war, so that his death will not be in vain. And now,' she added, ‘we had better go home. We can do no good here.' But as they made their way to the tram, Sally said, ‘We need to see Reverend Simpson, the vicar of St Mark's, as well, so we may as well do it now.'

Kate guessed that Sally was giving herself no time to think and asked, ‘Is it far?'

‘No distance at all from the house,' Sally said. ‘In fact, you nearly pass it on the way to the house because it's on the corner of Bleak Hill and Hesketh Crescent. If we take the tram as far as the Stockland pub instead of getting off nearer the flat, it's only a step away.'

‘The vicar will know who Ruby is, I suppose.'

‘Oh, yeah,' Sally said. ‘Ruby used to go regularly, and Phil too before he joined up, so he'll want to know what has happened to them.'

‘Well then, we can call at the house as well and collect some stuff for you at the same time,' Kate said.

‘And I need to see Phoebe next door as well,' Sally said. ‘She will be wondering and she was right fond of Ruby.' And then she looked at Kate and asked, ‘I suppose it is all right if I move in with you for a bit?'