Some Lucky Day (27 page)

Of course both of them would like to meet Mr Right one day, but to Kitty’s mind it would have to be a very lucky day for any man to want her now she was crippled. The sight of her stump was enough to put any man off. Dismissing this gloomy thought, she grabbed her crutches and went in search of Doreen, who could always cheer her up.

‘Wotcha,’ Doreen shouted with a wave as Kitty reached the terrace. ‘Come and sit down while I tell you the latest gossip.’

Most unusually, Doreen had discarded the scarlet dressing gown and was dressed in rather sober slacks and a pretty blouse – and she was also alone and in a quiet corner of the terrace.

Kitty put her crutches to one side and hopped into a nearby chair. Doreen could always be relied upon to know the juiciest gossip, and this place was a seething hotbed of it – though she’d quickly learned to take most of it with a pinch of salt.

‘Matron’s leaving,’ said Doreen with relish. ‘The Administrator caught her bullying that new kid in bed nine – you know the one: neck brace, one eye probably blinded and a broken leg? Doesn’t look as if she’d say boo to a goose?’

At Kitty’s nod, she continued in a stage whisper. ‘It seems the girl isn’t as shy as we thought, ’cos she’d already made a complaint about Matron to the admin officer. He come into the ward to talk to her and caught the old cow ’aving a right go.’ She giggled. ‘He give her what for and marched her outta there, and I ’eard tell she were seen an hour later, bag and baggage, going off down the drive.’

‘Let’s hope her replacement is kinder,’ said Kitty with a sigh of relief. ‘Do you know who it might be?’

Doreen shook her head. ‘As long as it ain’t the old dragon what runs Cliffehaven General, we should be all right, but who can tell, Kitty? Seems to me one matron is much like another from what I ’eard.’

‘Well, it’s all right for you, Doreen. You’ll be out of here soon. I’m stuck here for weeks yet.’ She smiled at her friend. ‘I’m going to miss you. You’ve livened this place up no end, and I’ll have no one to play cards with.’

‘Gawd ’elp us, Kitty. There’s about eighty people in this place and I ain’t the only one what knows how to play five card brag.’

‘I’m sure you’re not, but I bet no one can cheat as well as you,’ Kitty teased.

Doreen’s green eyes widened in feigned innocence and then she tipped back her head and roared with laughter. ‘And ’ere’s me thinkin’ you hadn’t a clue.’

Kitty laughed along with her. ‘You forget, Doreen, I have an older brother and I know all the tricks, believe me. You didn’t fool me a bit.’

Once they’d stopped giggling, Kitty became serious. ‘Where will you go when you leave here?’

‘Back to the smoke for a bit to see me mum and the young ’uns, then I’ll come south again.’ Doreen lit a cigarette. ‘They’ve promised me my old job at the factory, and me landlady wrote back and said she’s got a ground-floor room for me as long as I don’t leave it for too long. So I’m sorted.’

She eyed Kitty thoughtfully through the cigarette smoke. ‘Wot about you?’

Kitty shrugged. ‘It’s too early to make any plans, and as I haven’t got any family to turn to, it means I’ll be here until I’m fit enough to cope in the world outside this place.’ She gazed out over the lawn to the woodland beyond. ‘The doctor said they’d make sure I had a good billet before I was released.’

‘What about Peggy? She’s a good sort, and I wouldn’t mind betting she’d give you a good ’ome if you asked her.’

‘She’s done more than enough already,’ said Kitty firmly. ‘She has quite enough on her plate as it is, and I wouldn’t dream of burdening her with all the complications my presence would cause.’

‘That’s a shame,’ murmured Doreen. ‘’Cos if you asked me, I’d’ve said Peggy Reilly would open her arms and carry you home without so much as a blink. She’s a proper diamond, is Peggy, and there ain’t too many of them about.’

Kitty decided to change the subject, for she had absolutely no intention of asking anything more from Peggy. ‘So, apart from the gossip about Matron, are there any other rumours flying about?’

Doreen looked solemn for once as she stubbed out the cigarette and narrowed her eyes against the sun’s glare. ‘Well, there was something I overheard yesterday,’ she said softly as she leaned closer. ‘But from what I could make out, they shouldn’t have been talking about it at all.’

Kitty regarded her with some amusement. ‘You’re being very mysterious,’ she said.

‘Well, it ain’t something I feel easy talking about,’ Doreen confessed. She leaned closer still, her voice barely above a whisper. ‘But I been thinking and worrying about it all night and I gotta tell someone.’ She glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was in earshot. ‘You gotta promise to keep shtum, ’cos I reckon I’m about to break the official secrets thingummy.’

‘You’ve got me worried now,’ said Kitty with a frown. ‘Come on, Doreen, spill the beans. And I promise that whatever you tell me will go no further.’

With another glance round, she put her lips close to Kitty’s ear and began to whisper. ‘I couldn’t hear too much, ’cos I was on the window seat in the library behind the thick curtain, and they was muttering. But it seems there’s been a terrible disaster on some raid across the Channel, and both officers have been ordered back to HQ.’

She paused for breath. ‘It was mainly the Canadians involved, and they was to be supported by the navy and the RAF. But there was a complete cock-up with communications, so when Jerry got wind of what was going on, the Canadians and the navy was caught like sitting ducks. Several ships were sunk by U-boats, and thousands of men was killed or badly injured.’

‘Oh, dear God,’ breathed Kitty. ‘Who were these officers you overheard? Can their information be relied upon?’

‘I reckon so,’ she murmured. ‘They was Canadian, and high-ranking.’

Kitty knew immediately who she was talking about, for there were only two senior Canadian officers recuperating here, and both of them were highly respected and eminently reliable. ‘Did you hear any more details?’

Doreen shook her head. ‘They left the library when someone else came in, and I had a bit of a job getting off the window seat to follow them. By the time I made it out into the ‘all, they was gone.’

Her usually lively little face was drawn and her expression thoughtful as she lit another cigarette. ‘Less than an hour later, I saw a flash staff car with the Canadian flag flying on the bonnet come and pick ’em up.’

Kitty slumped back into the seat, her thoughts in turmoil, her spirits low. ‘If it’s true, then it will be a terrible blow for morale – especially after the humiliating withdrawal of the British and Commonwealth troops from El Alamein.’

‘Yeah, it ain’t good, is it?’ murmured Doreen through the cigarette smoke. ‘But now Montgomery’s in charge over there, I reckon they’ll give Rommel a bloody good hiding.’

Kitty nodded, but her thoughts were still churning over what had happened to all those poor men who’d been trapped and killed in the Channel. She could only pray that it was all just a rumour, and that Doreen had misheard and jumped to conclusions. But even as the thought entered her head, she knew it was a false hope, for those officers had not been known to gossip idly, and their swift departure was very telling.

She shivered despite the warmth of the sun. This war had already cost the lives of so many – would there never be an end to it?

Peggy stood at the back gate and waved as Ruby and Ethel went arm-in-arm with Stan down the twitten to the main road. They all looked so happy together, and Peggy had been delighted to see the twinkle in Stan’s eyes as Ethel had fussed over him. The poor man had been a widower for too long and it was clear that he was thoroughly enjoying the attention – and Ethel’s cooking, for the buttons on Stan’s waistcoat had definitely been under a bit of strain.

But Stan wasn’t the only one to have benefitted from this new-found friendship, for Ruby and her mother had lost their city pallor and the sharpness in their expressions which had defined the hardships of surviving London’s wartime slums. Ethel’s hair had been freshly washed and set and she’d taken the time to put on some make-up. Her cotton dress had been carefully ironed and she’d sported a sparkling necklace and earrings.

Ruby’s youthfulness shone in her clear skin and eyes, and in the obvious contentment of having her mother by her side, and she’d looked extremely pretty in her sprigged cotton frock and pale pink cardigan.

Peggy smiled as she turned back to the house. It had been a lovely afternoon, and great fun to catch up on the gossip at the factory and the news of Ruby’s young Canadian. He still seemed very keen and had written almost every day since he’d left Cliffehaven for some mysterious training camp, and Peggy rather hoped something might come of it. Ruby deserved some happiness after what she’d been through, and it would be the icing on the cake if that young man proved to be worthy of her.

Cordelia was sitting beneath the umbrella next to the playpen, where Daisy had fallen asleep amongst her soft toys. ‘It’s no good you having that soppy grin on your face, Peggy Reilly,’ she said sternly as she peered over her half-moon glasses. ‘Ethel’s husband will come home eventually and then there’ll be fireworks, you mark my words.’

Peggy knew there was no point in arguing, for Cordelia was very set in her ways, and Peggy had to agree that the situation was far from ideal. She looked at the sleeping Daisy and then gazed around the garden. ‘Where’s Monty?’ she asked with growing suspicion.

Cordelia shrugged. ‘I have no idea. He was here a minute ago.’

With visions of her house being turned upside down by the mischievous puppy, Peggy went into the basement. She closed the back door and her spirits sank as she stood and listened to the scuffles and squeaks coming from Ron’s bedroom. Monty had managed to open the ferrets’ cage again.

But as she hastened to stop them escaping, her feet became entangled in a flying fury of ferrets, and she almost fell over the overexcited puppy chasing after them. She grabbed the door jamb to steady herself as they flew up the concrete steps into the kitchen.

‘Monty! Leave!’ Peggy yelled as she swiftly followed them. ‘Monty, stop that at once! Sit!’

She was just in time to see Monty’s wispy tail disappearing into the hall.

‘Oh, Lord,’ she sighed. ‘Here we go again.’

Following the sound of scampering feet, she ran up the stairs to find that Rita had left her bedroom door open and Monty was running in circles around the unmade bed. His excited yips and whines were accompanied by the high-pitched screams and hisses of the trapped ferrets.

She closed the bedroom door to stop them all escaping again and made a grab for the puppy, but Monty was too quick. He managed to evade her clutching fingers, skidding off over the polished floor, yapping furiously at the hissing creatures cowering under the bed.

‘Monty,’ she scolded. ‘They’ll bite you – and it will hurt. Come here this instant and do as you’re told for once.’

Monty was having none of it, and he kept out of her reach as he darted back and forth with excited yelps.

Peggy could see that Flora and Dora had worked themselves up to attack, and she knew that if they did, Monty would be in terrible trouble. Ferrets could do a lot of damage with their needle-sharp teeth, and once they’d taken hold, their jaws locked and it was the devil’s own job to get them open again without losing a finger.

She made another grab for Monty, but he skittered away.

Flora shot out from beneath the bed, teeth bared. She missed the puppy’s back leg by inches, as Dora hissed furiously.

‘Monty!’ shouted Peggy as she grabbed the dressing-table stool and used it like a circus lion tamer to ward off Flora from attacking Monty again.

There must have been something in her voice, for Monty skidded to a halt and turned to look at her.

Peggy kept the chair between her and the hissing ferrets and grabbed the puppy by the scruff. She was just backing away with Monty under her arm when someone’s heavy hand banged on the door behind her, and she almost dropped the puppy and the stool.

‘Auntie Peg? What’s going on in there?’

‘The ferrets are loose,’ she called back to Anthony. ‘I need help.’

The knob turned and the door was carefully opened a few inches before Anthony eased round it. ‘Take the puppy out and give him to Suzy,’ he ordered quietly. ‘I’ll deal with those two.’

‘You won’t be able to do it on your own,’ she said. ‘They’re wound up like clocks and will bite as soon as look at you.’

She handed over the stool and quickly passed a squirming Monty through the narrow gap to a worried-looking Suzy. ‘Shut him in somewhere,’ she ordered, ‘and then come back and give us a hand.’

She turned back into the room, noting for the first time that Rita had left it in a terrible mess, and that the puppy and the ferrets had all left deposits on the floor in their fear and excitement. ‘So,’ she said to her nephew, ‘how are we going to do this?’

Anthony pushed his glasses up his nose and then ran his fingers through his hair. He gave her an uncertain smile. ‘I don’t really know,’ he admitted. ‘But it seems to me we have to get them from under the bed before we can trap them.’ He glanced round the room, then quickly darted forward and yanked the sheet from the unmade bed.

Suzy eased into the room and closed the door on Monty’s piteous howling. ‘I’ve shut him in the bathroom,’ she said. ‘And I thought this might help.’ She held up the bathroom mop.

Anthony stood with the sheet in one hand and the stool in the other, his expression determined as he regarded the two hissing, screaming ferrets. ‘Well done, Suzy. Now, Peggy, take the mop and go to the other side of the bed. Use it to prod them towards me and Suzy, and we’ll have the sheet to catch them in.’

Peggy didn’t think this plan had much chance of working – ferrets were cunning, very fast, and inclined to do the unexpected – but as she didn’t have any other suggestions, she clutched the mop and warily approached the bed.

The ferrets hissed defiance and backed off as she tentatively poked the mop beneath the bed. Then, feeling bolder, they tried to attack it.

Peggy jabbed harder and stamped her feet. ‘Back. Go back,’ she shouted.