Jenny's War (41 page)

But then Georgie went and spoilt the moment. ‘I must go,’ he said, dropping his arms from around Charlotte and Jenny. ‘I’m meeting the two o’clock train. Ben will be on it and Cassandra too. She’s coming for the weekend.’

At three and a half, Louisa was adorable. She could wrap each member of the family around her little finger and Jenny was no exception. When Jenny wasn’t at her lessons or painting, the little girl followed her everywhere.

On the Saturday morning she begged Jenny to take her to the beach. ‘We can pick samphire for Mrs Beddows,’ she pleaded.

‘All right,’ Jenny agreed, pleased to have an excuse to get out of the house when Cassandra was around. ‘Get your wellingtons on and we’ll go.’

But as they were rummaging in the hall cupboard for their boots, Cassandra appeared.

‘Going out?’

‘Lou-Lou wants to go to the beach to pick samphire.’

‘What on earth’s that?’

‘It’s a plant that grows on the marshes near the beach.’

‘Mrs Beddows will cook it for lunch,’ Louisa informed her solemnly.

‘You actually pick something off the beach that we eat? Ugh!’

Jenny hid her smile. ‘It’s quite nice really. Right, you ready, Lou-Lou? Bye, Cassandra.’

‘I’ll come with you. I’ve nothing to do this morning. Now Ben’s home too, Georgie’s gone off round the estate with his father and brother.’ She pulled a face. ‘I’m not into looking at smelly pigs and mournful-looking cows.’

Jenny hid her smile. ‘Of course,’ she said, making a valiant effort to be friendly. ‘I’m sure Charlotte’s boots will fit you.’ She opened the hall cupboard door again and fished out a pair of dusty boots.

Cassandra slipped off her shoes and tried on the boots. ‘They’re a wee bit loose, but they’ll do. Is there a headscarf in there I could borrow? I only had my hair done yesterday before I came.’

Again Jenny searched through the clothes hanging in the cupboard and on the shelves. Louisa was jumping up and down. ‘Come on, Jen.’

‘Here you are, Cassandra, and you’d better take this pair of gloves. It can get very cold on the beach, even in June.’

They set off, taking the back way through the gardens of the manor, crossed the main road and walked down the long lane leading to the sandhills, Louisa skipping beside them.

‘My, it’s a long way,’ Cassandra said, pausing to catch her breath and shading her eyes to look how far they still had to walk.

Jenny hid her smile and walked on, leaving Cassandra, struggling in boots that were a size too large to catch up. When they reached the dunes, Jenny said, ‘Hang on a mo, I’ve to pick up the sticks and rags. There’s a box they leave somewhere beside the path. Now where is it? Ah, here is it.’ She opened the lid of the wooden box and picked out an armful of sticks and white squares of rags. ‘They’re left here for anyone to use.’

‘What are they for?’ Cassandra asked.

‘Marking the track through the marshes in case a mist comes down. It’s very easy to get lost and lose your sense of direction if a sea fret comes in.’

Cassandra’s mouth curved in a sneer, but she said nothing.

As they headed towards the place where the samphire grew in profusion, Jenny marked their path carefully, just as Georgie had shown her all those years ago. Now, she was showing his little sister. ‘You stay close beside me, Lou-Lou. Don’t go running off now, will you?’

Young though she was, Louisa had already been carefully instructed about how dangerous the marshes and the sea could be if care wasn’t taken.

With the final marker in place, Jenny stood up and looked about her. ‘We must watch for the tide coming in too. It forms creeks and you can easily get cut off.’

‘Really,’ Cassandra said off-handedly. She looked down at the plants growing at her feet. ‘Is this the stuff we’ve to pick?’

‘Yes. I’ve brought a bucket. Now, be careful, Lou-Lou, mind the stems don’t cut your hands.’

‘I know how to do it. Mummy and Daddy bringed me last year.’

Jenny stared at her. ‘Do you remember?’ The child would only have been two and a half then, but Louisa was nodding solemnly. ‘Daddy marked the path just like you’ve done.’

Jenny marvelled at the young child’s memory; Louisa was remarkably bright.

They began picking samphire, but Cassandra soon bored of the job. She couldn’t grasp the stems properly wearing the gloves and she had no intention of soiling her hands. She wandered off towards the beach and the sea, heading for the hole in the barbed wire so that she could reach the water’s edge.

‘Don’t go too far, Cassandra,’ Jenny called, but the young woman merely raised her hand, waggled her fingers and carried on walking.

Jenny stood up and glanced towards the landmark they’d always used; the mill. It was still clearly visible. She bent again and plucked more samphire.

‘Mrs Beddows will be pleased,’ Louisa said and Jenny smiled.

‘Has she shown you how to cook it yet?’

The little girl shook her head solemnly. ‘She ses I’m too lickle to be near hot pans yet. But she’s promised to teach me when I’m growed up.’

After a few minutes, Jenny stood up again, checking about her. She glanced towards the sea. The tide had turned and was coming in now, quite fast. And further out to sea, there was a mist forming.

‘Come on, Lou-Lou, time to go. The tide’s coming in and I reckon there’s a mist coming too.’

Louisa didn’t argue; she understood at once.

When they’d put all that they’d picked into the bucket, Jenny glanced around for sight of Cassandra. ‘Now where’s that wretched woman gone? Oh my, she’s right down at the water’s edge.’

Jenny bit her lip. She was tempted, very tempted, to leave Cassandra to her fate, but she pushed the wicked thought aside. ‘Come on, Lou-Lou, I’ll take you back to the sandhills and you must stay there – you promise me – while I go after Cassandra.’

Louisa was a good little girl and Jenny was sure she would do as she was told and yet she was afraid to leave such a young child on her own for what might take some time. But luck was on her side for once. When they crested the sandhills, she could see a figure in the fields to the right. And, better still, she knew who it was. She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled at the top of her voice.

‘Alfie, Alfie.’ The wind whipped the sound away and it took several attempts before he turned and saw her waving frantically and beckoning. Sensing her urgency, Alfie began to run towards her as she took hold of Louisa’s hand and set off down the hill to meet him.

‘We were picking samphire,’ she explained quickly, ‘but Cassandra has wandered off towards the sea. The tide’s coming and there’s a sea mist blowing in. I’ll have to go after her, but I can’t risk taking Lou-Lou. Alfie, will you take her back to the manor?’

‘I’ll take her to Buckthorn Farm. Mrs Thornton’s there visiting her father. I’ll come back as soon as I’ve handed Louisa over to her ma. But she’ll not get far – this Cassandra – because of the barbed wire.’

‘She has – she’s got through a hole and got right to the sea.’

‘Oh heck – I made that hole.’ He looked suddenly guilty.

‘Don’t blame yourself. It’s her own silly fault. I did warn her.’ As she handed Louisa over into Alfie’s safe keeping, she turned and began to run back towards the sandhills.

‘Be careful, Jen,’ Alfie’s anxious voice drifted back to her. ‘I’ll come as soon as I can.’ She raised her hand in a wave of acknowledgement, but ran on as fast as she could.

Jenny ran on until she felt as if her lungs would burst. Panting hard, she climbed the sandhill again and slid down the other side. The mist had rolled in even further, almost covering the place now where she and Louisa had been picking samphire. The white markers hung limply against the sticks. And worst of all, she could no longer see Cassandra.

‘Cassandra!’ Jenny yelled at the top of her voice. She listened but could hear no answer. Again and again she shouted, all the time moving towards the sea. As she threaded her way through the hole in the barbed wire, she too was lost in a swirling white mist and now she couldn’t see the shore or the sea. But her hearing was acute and she could hear the waves. Jenny swallowed her fear and kept on calling and then listening in turn. She came to the first creek – the tide was coming in fast now. She waded through it. Gaining hard sand on the other side, she shouted again then was suddenly still. Was that an answering cry? She called again and yes – very faintly, she heard Cassandra screaming, ‘Jenny – Jenny?’

‘Cassandra! Cassandra, keep calling but stand still. Stay where you are.’ Jenny moved forward, carefully now. She had to find the young woman, but it would help no one if she injured herself or lost her bearings. At the moment, she was sure she was still heading directly towards the sea. ‘Keep shouting, Cassandra.’ And this time the answer definitely sounded nearer, but to her left.

‘Jenny – help me. The water’s coming in. I’ll drown.’ Cassandra sounded hysterical but at least her frightened cries were leading Jenny to her. Nearer and nearer. ‘There’s barbed wire—’

‘Stand
still
, Cassandra. I can’t find you if you keep moving about.’

‘But the sea’s coming in.’ She was screaming in terror, but now Jenny was getting closer to her with every step. And then suddenly she felt two hands grasp her arm, clinging desperately.

‘You’re all right, Cassandra. Calm down.’

‘But we’re lost. No one’ll find us in this fog. We’ll drown. The sea—’

‘We’ll be all right if you just calm down and do exactly as I tell you.’

‘Oh Jen, thank you, thank you for coming for me. I’m so sorry I—’ Whatever she’d been going to say ended in a scream as a wave hit her legs and caught her off balance, knocking her to her knees. She clung to Jenny, sobbing hysterically.

‘Now listen, Cassandra – ’ Jenny grabbed Cassandra’s shoulders, hauled her to her feet and shook her. ‘We have to find our way back to the hole in the wire.’

‘We can’t. We don’t know which way it is.’

‘Just stop panicking and let me think.’

After she’d come through the hole, she’d turned to her left, following the sound of Cassandra’s voice. So the sea would have been on her right. So, now, they had to turn round and walk back with the sea on their left.

‘Where did that wave hit you?’

‘On my leg.’

‘Which leg?’

‘Why does it matter which leg?’ Her voice was rising to a high-pitched squeak again. ‘Just get us back.’

Jenny tightened her grip on Cassandra’s arm. ‘Because,’ she said, trying hard to hold on to her patience, ‘I need to know where the sea is. It needs to be on our left. So, if the wave hit your right leg, we’re facing the wrong direction.’

‘Are you sure?’

Jenny bit her lip and pulled in a deep breath, praying that she was right. ‘Yes,’ she said firmly, with more confidence in her tone than she was actually feeling inside, but at that moment, as if coming to their aid, the sea sent another wave crashing into them both and now Jenny knew for sure. ‘This way,’ she said, turning Cassandra around and pulling her along.

The water was swirling around them now, getting deeper and deeper. ‘Keep going,’ Jenny urged. She was supporting the weeping girl now, almost half carrying her. ‘We’ll be all right,’ she kept repeating, but it was obvious that Cassandra didn’t believe her. She clung to Jenny, leaning heavily on the younger, slighter girl.

‘Now – about here we need to turn again towards the sandhills so the sea needs to be behind us.’ But now they were walking in the shallows of the incoming tide and it was difficult to know. The water was suddenly deeper and Cassandra gripped Jenny even tighter and screamed again. ‘We’ll drown, we’ll drown.’

The mist cleared a little for a brief moment and Jenny cried, ‘Look out, there’s the barbed wire in front of us. Thank goodness. Now, all we’ve got to do is find the hole.’

Cassandra, a little calmer now, snivelled like a lost child. ‘I cut myself on the wire back there.’

Suddenly the sand beneath their feet dipped and they almost tumbled forwards into the water, clinging on to each other to stay upright.

‘You’ve brought us the wrong way,’ Cassandra shrieked. ‘We’re going into the sea.’

‘No, we’re not. It’s only a creek. It’s the way the tide comes in. Come on. It won’t be deep.’

‘I can’t, I can’t.’ And, stubbornly, Cassandra stopped and refused to budge.

‘Oh Cassandra, for Heaven’s sake, pull yourself together. I thought Waafs were supposed to be courageous.’

‘I can’t help it. I hate the sea.’

‘Then what on earth made you go towards it?’

Just when Jenny was at her wits’ end to know what to do next, she heard the sound of voices through the mist. She took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Here, we’re here!’ She felt Cassandra jump at the suddenness of Jenny’s shouting, but then she began to call too. ‘Help! Oh help us!’

And then Jen recognized Georgie’s voice. ‘Stand still, Jen, then I can find you. Keep shouting.’

‘Over here. We’re here.’

In only a few minutes, they heard someone splashing through the creek in front of them.

‘Georgie – here,’ Jenny called again and then his tall figure was looming up out of the mist. He threw his arms around them both and hugged them before saying, ‘Let’s get you both home. You must be frozen. Hang on to me.’ He placed himself between them, but Cassandra still refused to step into the water. ‘I can’t. I can’t.’

Jenny felt Georgie let go of her. He turned and picked Cassandra up in his arms. ‘Hold on to my coat, Jen. Don’t let go.’

Carefully he stepped into the water, Jenny following closely behind. Cassandra was clinging to his neck and still giving little shrieks of terror.

‘You’re quite safe now, Cassandra,’ Georgie said firmly. ‘You all right, Jen?’

‘I’m fine.’ But she wasn’t really. She was starting to shiver with the cold and the shock and her teeth were chattering. Georgie found the hole in the wire immediately and once they were through it he set Cassandra down on the sand, but she still clung to him.

‘We’re quite safe now. There’s no more water to go through. Come, Charlotte is waiting near the dunes with blankets and a hot drink.’