The Lie (22 page)

‘Oh, Dad, I do love you,' Alice said, as she hugged him.

And then she was walking down the aisle on his arm, and Daniel was waiting for her, looking smart in his best uniform and turning around to watch as she took her place at his side. He smiled at her then and the look of love in his eyes made her heart turn over. He was so handsome and so lovely, and she was the luckiest girl in the world to be marrying him.

Henry was standing with him, and he produced the gold wedding ring at the right moment. Daniel had bought the ring new this time, and it fitted her finger just as it ought. She was bursting with happiness when the vicar told them they were man and wife and Daniel lifted her veil to kiss her on the lips.

As they went into the vestry to sign their names the sun suddenly came out, sending a burst of colour through ancient stained glass windows on to the flagstones. It was surely a good omen: the day had been cold and dark when they left home and now as they came out of church with the bells ringing, the sun was shining.

Alice was covered with rice, rose petals and silver confetti as she and Daniel ran for the car. They were spending the night at a hotel in Ely, but Alice's mother had put on a small tea for them at her house.

Only a few guests had been invited, though friends and neighbours had been bringing plates round from first thing that morning, all with some little treat they had baked for Alice's wedding. She was a popular girl and everyone wanted to do their bit for her. Her father had killed a cockerel and her mother had slow roasted it in the oven the previous night so that it was cold for cutting when they returned from church.

It wasn't a lavish meal and there was no chance of any kind of cake, but Alice didn't care. Frances was in church, looking smart if slightly disapproving. Mrs Robinson had said she wouldn't come but Alice knew she wouldn't miss her brother's wedding, even if she didn't quite approve. All three of Daniel's brothers had turned up, and they gave her some money between them, because there had been no time to buy presents, but Emily hadn't been able to come. She had, however, sent a telegram of congratulations and wished them happiness.

Alice was already floating on cloud nine. She had thought she might have to wait for years to marry the man she loved, but now she was Mrs Daniel Searles, and she glanced continually at the ring on her finger as if she could hardly believe it. She had a lovely warm feeling inside her, because Daniel kept touching her arm, and the look in his eyes told her that he was feeling much as she did.

‘I'll see you tomorrow sometime,' her mother said, holding back the tears as she hugged her before they left in Daniel's car. ‘Be happy, Alice.'

‘I am,' Alice assured her, and turned to her father, who hugged her tight but didn't say a word. ‘I'll be at home for a while. You'll hardly know I'm married.'

‘Off you go then, lass,' Mr Robinson said finally. ‘Make the most of your time together.'

‘We shall,' Emily said. ‘Thanks, Dad. Thanks for today and everything.'

There were tears in his eyes as he gave her a little push towards her husband. They made a good pair, and he was glad his girl was getting what she wanted, even if it meant he had to let her go.

The hotel had given them the best room they had, and there was a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket waiting for them. Alice's father had only been able to get a couple of bottles of sherry, but Daniel, it seemed, had been luckier. He grinned mysteriously when she asked how he'd managed that, and popped the cork.

Alice giggled when the bubbles went up her nose. She thought champagne had a funny taste and she liked her father's sweet sherry better, but she didn't tell Daniel that. Besides, it wouldn't have mattered what she was drinking. Alice couldn't care less about the dainty little sandwiches the hotel had supplied, or the fruit trifle, which wasn't a patch on her mother's, when she could get the necessary ingredients. All that mattered was that she was here with Daniel and they were married.

He asked her if she would like to go to the pictures, but she shook her head. She could go to the pictures any night she cared to, but Daniel was going away and what she wanted was to be with him, to love him and touch him, absorb every taste and smell into her memory.

So they just went to bed and stayed there until it was time for Daniel to leave the next day. He had bought her a box of special chocolates as one of his wedding gifts, and they lay in bed eating chocolates and drinking champagne in between making love.

‘Mum would think this very decadent,' Alice said, and giggled as she popped a lovely soft coffee cream into her mouth. The champagne had gone to her head a bit, and she felt as light as a feather. She had a feeling that most of the things she'd been doing would shock her mother, because Daniel seemed to do lots of things she'd never even thought about doing, but every one of them was lovely. ‘Chocolate in bed – Mum would call that wicked.'

‘You'll remember what we did,' Daniel said, and kissed her neck, his hand gently stroking her breast. He had such wonderful hands, Alice thought, and they sent shivers right down to her toes. ‘When you think about this night you will laugh, and you'll remember me.'

‘I shan't forget you,' Alice said. ‘You needn't worry about that, Dan. You won't be getting one of those dreadful “Dear John” letters, I promise you.'

‘No, of course not,' he said, and held her to him, stroking her back with firm hands that made her wriggle even closer. He hadn't even considered that, but there was always a chance that he might not come back. ‘Never forget how much I love you. I know I talked a lot of daft stuff at the start about how it was better to wait, but I couldn't, darling Alice. I wanted to know you were mine so that I can think of you here, waiting for me to come home.'

‘I'll wait for you for ever,' Alice whispered back. She loved him so much. She couldn't think about what might happen, because it wouldn't – mustn't! ‘I love you so much!'

Daniel rolled her over on to her back, holding her hands above her head as he began to kiss her. First her lips, then her throat and her breasts, his tongue teasing and stabbing at her as he worked his way down her naval to the moist hair covering her private parts, as she'd always modestly thought of them. Only now they weren't private any more, and what Daniel was doing to her had her wriggling and gasping as she writhed beneath him.

Afterwards, they lay quiet for a while. They had slept in fits and starts, waking to love again, to whisper and touch, make promises for the future but not think of what they both dreaded.

Dawn crept up on them, and it was Alice who gave Daniel a little nudge and told him he'd better go to the bathroom first and get ready. He glanced at his watch, his expression suddenly grim as he realized there wasn't much time left.

‘I'll say goodbye here, Alice,' he told her, putting his arms about her for one last time. ‘Then I'll drive myself to the station. Henry promised to fetch the car back so if you ring him he'll take you home.'

‘I'll go on the bus,' she said. ‘I might as well do a bit of shopping after you leave.'

‘All right.' He kissed her but not as he'd kissed her earlier; this was a farewell, heavy with regret, the feeling between them tense with the misery of their parting. ‘I love you, Alice. There's never been anyone else I loved, I promise you.'

‘I know,' she said, and kissed him one last time, then pushed him away. ‘Go on, get up, love. You've got a train to catch.'

Daniel took an envelope from his pocket and put it on the table beside the bed. ‘Open it later,' he said. ‘It's just things you might need to know.'

She nodded but didn't answer. She watched him pick up his things and go towards the door, waiting until he closed the door behind him, and then she buried her head in the pillow to muffle the sound of her sobs.

Emily was feeling tired as she came off shift that night, even though it had been a quiet night really compared to others they'd experienced of late – no bombs, just an industrial and a couple of house fires.

As she left the station to walk home, she felt the icy wind whistle about her ears and pulled her scarf tighter. The winter had seemed long and bitter, and she couldn't wait for spring to cheer them all up. She wondered if there would be a message from Simon waiting for her. It was almost the end of January 1941 and all she'd had were a couple of postcards to say he was fine and hoped she was managing. Sometimes it amazed her when she realized that seven months ago she hadn't even known Simon. She had met and married him in the space of a few months. It was no wonder that sometimes it all seemed like a dream. She didn't really know him at all.

The explosion just a couple of streets away made her jump, but she knew almost at once that it wasn't a bomb. Bombs had a special sound all of their own, and this was different – more like a gas leak. It happened too often. Pipes were disturbed in the bombing, and sometimes the cold weather affected them, but for some reason they showed no sign of damage for days afterwards, and then, all of a sudden, something happened and there was an explosion.

Emily ran around the corner. She could see that it was as she'd thought. The explosion had happened in a row of terrace houses, one of which had a gaping space where the front of it should have been, and two more were affected. She could see flames coming from the house where the explosion had happened.

Someone was already in the phone box on the corner and she could see from the frantic way the woman was gesticulating that she was ringing the fire brigade. Hearing children screaming, Emily instinctively went towards the damaged houses. She saw that a child was banging at an upstairs window, and the fire was already licking through from the back of the house to the front, but at the moment the stairs were clear. A woman had brought two children down but she was pointing at the house and screaming.

Emily went straight into the house and up the stairs. The child's screaming led her towards the right room but when she tried to open the door she discovered that it was locked. She tugged uselessly at the door but the handle wouldn't turn, and there was no sign of a key. She looked around for something to break down the door, seeing nothing but a chair, which she lifted and crashed against the door in a futile attempt to break it down.

Then, all at once, a man was beside her. ‘Get out of here,' he barked at her. ‘It will reach the stairs any moment.'

She recognized him at the precise moment he knew her, and gasped. ‘Terry – the door is locked.'

‘I know, her mother told me her father locked the boy in for disobedience and took the key off to the pub. Don't worry, I'll have him out. Get away from here, Emily. I can't look after you too!'

He ran at the door, putting his shoulder against it with a great thud. Emily heard the wood splinter and realized he knew what he was doing. Fortunately, the lock was a cheap one and no match for the skill of an experienced fireman.

The smell of smoke was choking now, and as she reached the top of the stairs and looked down she could see that flames had reached the front hall and were beginning to lick at the foot of the staircase. She took her coat off and held it over her head as she ran down the stairs, but the smoke was so thick, she was choking and coughing by the time she reached the bottom.

Emerging into the cold night air she breathed deeply. Her chest hurt but she was all right, she'd got out soon enough. Moments later, she heard the siren and knew that help was on the way. She could see the flames were shooting up inside the house now and heard a woman screaming that her son was going to die.

‘No, he'll be all right,' Emily said, as much to comfort herself as the distraught mother. ‘Terry will get him out  . . .'

But would he be able to open the door in time? She watched in dread as the fire gained ground, terrified that Terry would not manage it, and knowing that he would keep trying even if his own life was at risk. And then someone started cheering, and though a haze of tears, she saw Terry coming out of the house. He was carrying a boy of no more than five in his arms, and he'd wrapped the child's face and head in his own coat.

The boy's mother rushed towards them just as help arrived. Emily saw the firemen and ambulance people surround Terry, the boy and his family. She couldn't move for the first few moments, but then she was pushing her way towards them through the crowd. She watched as Terry was helped into the ambulance along with the child he had saved.

‘What do you want, miss?' one of the ambulance men asked. ‘There's no more room inside.'

‘Is Terry all right?' she asked, and then caught a glimpse of him sitting on one of the stretchers inside.

He saw her and raised a hand as if to tell her that he'd seen her, just before the door was closed and she had to step back out of the way. She watched as the ambulance was driven away, not realizing that tears were streaming down her face until a woman took hold of her arm.

‘Are you all right, love?' she asked, looking at Emily. ‘They might 'ave taken you to hospital too. You went in there first and all.'

‘No, I'm all right,' Emily assured her, wiping the back of her hand across her face, not realizing that it was smeared with smoke. ‘I was just concerned for Terry.'

‘Know him, do you, love?' the woman said with a smile. ‘Your boyfriend, is he?'

‘No  . . . just a friend.'

‘Well, he's a right brave man whoever he is,' the woman said, ‘and you can tell 'im Sadie Burrows said so an' all.'

Emily smiled, thanked her and said she agreed. Terry was extremely brave, especially after his previous experience, when he'd suffered terrible burns and tragedy. It showed terrific courage to go into that house without his colleagues or the equipment he needed.

‘I shall when I see him,' she said. ‘You wouldn't happen to know where they've taken him, I suppose?'