Home Front Girls (6 page)

Lucy smiled. ‘Really well, considering I was dreading it. I think I might like working here. One of the girls on my floor told me they do staff outings from time to time. They all went to Southend for the day in the summer apparently, and the store laid on the bus and everything.’

Annabelle shrugged. It would take more than a promise of a day at the seaside to raise her enthusiasm. She had always been privileged to spend her holidays abroad with her parents, and after that a day out to Southend sounded positively dull, although Dotty, she noted, looked quite excited at the prospect.

‘I was actually allowed to serve my first customer today,’ Dotty told them now with a wide smile.

Lucy grinned. ‘That’s nice,’ she said. ‘And the other girls on my floor have been really helpful. I’m sure we’ll get the hang of it eventually.’

Annabelle wished she could be so optimistic but held her tongue while Lucy and Dotty rattled on. They seemed to be getting on like a house on fire but then she had to grudgingly admit that they were nice, even if they weren’t the types she usually mixed with.

She noticed in the lift after lunch that some of the other girls spoke to both Lucy and Dotty, and wondered if perhaps she shouldn’t make more of an effort – but then why bother? she asked herself. She didn’t intend to come back here again.

*

‘I have
never
been so bored in my whole life!’ Annabelle complained as she took a seat at the table in the canteen during the afternoon break and lit another cigarette. ‘I don’t think a day has ever passed so slowly.’

‘Actually, I’m still quite enjoying it,’ Lucy responded. Up until now she had spent her days cleaning the house and caring for Mary, so it was a pleasant change to have something different to focus on. She just hoped that caring for Mary would not be too much for Mrs P.

‘I like working here too,’ Dotty admitted shyly.

‘Then you must both be crackers!’

Lucy and Dotty giggled. They had felt at ease with each other from the first moment, and seeing as both of them had led rather sheltered lives, they hoped that a friendship might develop between them.

Observing that Annabelle had now lapsed into a fullyfledged sulk, Lucy asked Dotty, ‘Do you live with your parents?’

‘Oh no. I was brought up in an orphanage and I’ve just got my own little place in Hillfields. It isn’t much at the moment,’ she added hastily, ‘but I’m trying to do it up in my spare time. How about you?’

‘Well, my parents are gone too and until he was called up I lived with my older brother and my little sister in Tile Hill.’ Lucy sighed as she thought of her brother so far away. They had been very close and she missed him dreadfully. ‘A neighbour is looking after my little sister now so that I can come to work.’

Even though Annabelle had appeared to be disinterested she had obviously been listening to the conversation because she now asked, ‘But why hasn’t your little sister been evacuated?’

‘Because she isn’t quite old enough, and anyway even if she was, Mary is . . . well, she is sort of special. You know, not quite as bright as other children her age.’

‘What – you mean she’s backward?’

Lucy bristled. ‘No, she isn’t!’

‘Ah, poor little thing,’ Dotty said quickly, seeing that Lucy was offended. ‘It must be very hard on you having to care for her and keep a home going all on your own.’

‘Not really.’ Lucy glared at Annabelle as she answered Dotty politely. ‘Mary is a beautiful child and both Joel, that’s my brother, and I think the world of her.’

This time it was Annabelle who rose from the table first, telling them, ‘Right, I’m off to the ladies before we have to go back to the treadmill. Bye for now.’ In fact, she doubted she would ever see either of them again because when she got home that evening and told her father how boring the work was, he would surely relent and not make her come here again.

‘I don’t think Annabelle is too happy to be here,’ Lucy remarked as they watched her totter away on her high heels.

‘Mm, I know what you mean, but needs must when there’s a war on. Personally I’d rather be here than stuck in my flat on my own. I’ve been a bit lonely since I left the orphanage, to be honest.’

‘Then you must come round to meet Mary one evening,’ Lucy said kindly.

‘I’d like that, thank you.’ Dotty blushed and Lucy thought how different she looked when she smiled. Dotty wasn’t pretty in a conventional sense but her skin was flawless, like peaches and cream, and when she smiled her eyes twinkled.

Glancing at the clock, they both rose and hurried towards the lift feeling that a new friendship had just been born.

Annabelle arrived home to find her mother tackling a large pile of ironing. She looked as if she had been crying, which didn’t help Annabelle’s bad mood one little bit.

‘I’ve had the most
awful
day you could ever imagine,’ the girl complained bitterly as she kicked her shoes off and slouched into a chair. ‘Is there a cup of tea going, and what’s for dinner? The sandwiches they sold in the works canteen tasted like bloody sawdust.’

‘In answer to your questions, no, there isn’t any tea in the pot and I haven’t even thought of what we’re going to have for dinner yet,’ her mother replied. ‘And please don’t swear, Annabelle. It really doesn’t become you. Why don’t
you
put the kettle on? I could do with a hot drink too. I’ve been washing and ironing all day.’

‘Then you shouldn’t have let Daddy sack Mrs Fitton,’ Annabelle said nastily as she dragged herself out of the chair and headed for the sink.

‘Daddy didn’t have any choice. In fact, you may as well know, your father is joining up. It’s barely worth keeping the garage open the way things are at present, and he wants to feel he’s doing his bit towards the war.’

Annabelle spun round on her heel and stared at her mother incredulously. ‘Daddy’s
what?
Joining up, did you say? But he can’t! Who will look after us?’

‘As most other women are having to do, we shall have to look after ourselves,’ her mother replied. She was obviously upset about the development but trying to put a brave face on. Deep inside, Miranda was terrified at the thought of her husband going to war. What if he was injured, or worse still – what if he never came back? But she didn’t say this to Annabelle, of course, and she admired him for his decision. And so if he was prepared to be brave she had decided that she would be too, and for the first time in her entire life Annabelle would have to accept that things were going to be different from now on. She was a little shocked that Annabelle’s first concern had been for herself when told of her father’s decision, rather than concern for his safety, but then Miranda knew she had only herself to blame for that. Annabelle had been allowed to become utterly selfish, and having to work for a living was not going to be easy for her.

As she lifted the shirt she had been ironing to place it on a hanger, Miranda stifled the sob that rose in her throat. Soon there would be only her own and Annabelle’s ironing to do and it was hard to contemplate.

Now Annabelle looked in danger of throwing one of her famous fully-fledged tantrums as she filled the kettle and slammed it on the gas-ring to boil.

‘I can’t believe that Daddy is just going to go away and abandon us,’ she wailed as if her father was going on holiday. ‘Isn’t he too old to join the war?’

Miranda shook her head wearily. ‘Not at all. Admittedly they called up all the younger men first, but as long as he passes his medical there is no reason why your father shouldn’t join.’

‘And when he is going to have that?’ Annabelle snapped.

‘Next Monday, after he’s had time to put all his affairs at the garage in order. It will remain shut then until after the war. As your father rightly pointed out, there isn’t much call for prestigious cars when petrol will soon be rationed.’

‘So that means I shall have to carry on working then?’

‘I’m rather afraid it does. And furthermore, I intend to do something to make myself feel useful as well.’

‘Such as
what?’
Annabelle was getting crosser by the minute. She couldn’t take much more of this.

‘Well, I haven’t really had much time to think about it, but drivers are in very short supply at the moment what with all the men being away. I could perhaps drive an ambulance or something.’

‘I can’t see Grandma and Grandpa being very pleased with that idea,’ Annabelle said churlishly.

‘Actually I’ve already told them what I intend to do and they think it’s a wonderful idea – and they’re also very proud of your father,’ Miranda answered as she swiped the iron over one of Annabelle’s silk petticoats. ‘And don’t start getting the notion that you can go running to them for handouts either, because even they are going to have to tighten their belts for the foreseeable future.’

Annabelle put the sugar bowl on the table so angrily that some fell on the lino and she had to bend down and sweep it up, which did not improve her temper.

Lucy hurried towards Mrs P’s house, eager to see how the first day of her caring for Mary had gone. A lot rested on it because she had no intention of farming Mary off on just anybody. Joel and Mary were all she had left in the world now – well, almost – and there was nothing she wouldn’t have done for them. She tapped at the door tentatively and when it was opened by Mrs P herself seconds later with a broad smile on her face, she sighed with relief.

The woman placed a finger on her lips, ‘Shush, pet, the little ’un is fast asleep, bless her heart. She went out like a light not ten minutes since, so you’ve got time fer a nice hot cuppa while yer tell me all about how your first day’s gone.’

Lucy gratefully flopped into a chair while Mrs P hurried away to return seconds later with two mugs.

‘I guessed you’d be back about now so I just made a brew,’ she said cheerfully as she tugged down the brightly coloured knitted tea cosy on the heavy brown teapot. She then lifted the strainer and carefully poured out the tea before pushing the pressed glass milk jug and sugar bowl across the table to Lucy.

‘Help yourself,’ she told her, and as Lucy spooned sugar into her tea she thumbed towards Mary and went on, ‘That one has been as good as gold. Hardly known I’ve had her, I ain’t.’

Lucy glanced towards the child who was curled up fast asleep on the sofa with her finger jammed in her mouth. When she was asleep she looked no different to any other child her age, and Lucy’s heart ached afresh for her. She had already been told that Mary would never be able to lead a normal life and would always need someone to care for her, which placed a huge burden on her own young shoulders. Not that she minded. She would have walked through fire for the little girl if need be, but it seemed unfair that Mary would have to miss out on so much.

‘Take that tea an’ go an’ sit over by the fire, yer look frozen through,’ Mrs P told her now. ‘You’ve no need to rush away. Mary’s had her meal an’ I’ve got you a plate o’ stew an’ dumplin’s ready. I didn’t think you’d be in the mood to stand cookin’ when you’ve been on yer feet all day.’

‘Oh, Mrs P, whatever would I do without you?’ Lucy said almost tearfully. She was pleased not to have to rush off. The house felt so empty now with Joel gone.

It was some time later when she was finishing her meal at the table that the door opened, letting in a blast of icy air, and Mr Price walked in. Like his wife, the man had a heart of pure gold and he beamed at Lucy.

‘Hello, luv, come an’ have a brew,’ his wife welcomed him as she helped him off with his coat. Fred was the love of her life and she had insisted on naming their oldest son after him, so now the two men were referred to as Big Fred and Little Freddy.

Mr Price worked at the Dunlop, a large factory in Holbrook Lane, and he sighed with pleasure as he kicked his heavy boots off and massaged his aching feet.

‘Had a good day, have yer?’ Mrs P asked as she scuttled over to the oven to fetch his dinner, which she had kept warm.

‘Same as always. We’ve been workin’ on parts fer tanks today.’

Mrs P shook her head sadly. Almost all of the large factories were making either aeroplane or tank parts now, which only made them all think of how things had changed since the outbreak of war. It seemed that there was no getting away from it.

Lucy rose and carried her plate to the sink, but when she started to wash it Mrs P shooed her away. ‘Leave it in soak,’ she told her. ‘You’ve done enough fer one day.’

‘Well, if you’re sure.’ Lucy began to put her coat back on. ‘I’ll get madam there round home now then and get her ready for bed.’

Mrs P chuckled. ‘That’s if you can wake her up. Here, let me help yer get her coat on. Better still, rather than disturb her we’ll just wrap it around her, eh? You’ve only got to go a few steps an’ she looks so peaceful it’s a shame to disturb her.’

With Mary clutched to her chest, Lucy stood aside while Mrs P opened the back door for her, then after planting a quick kiss on the woman’s cheek she stepped out into the cold yard they both shared and rushed across to her own back door.

As she entered the tiny scullery she shuddered, but after quickly going into the back room which served as a kitchencum-living room, she smiled when she saw that Mrs P had been round and lit the fire for her. The woman was a real angel.