Towards a Dark Horizon (42 page)

‘You know,’ said Granny, ‘this is a strange time. We’re waiting for a war that never comes and, for the first time in years, people have got jobs. Look at Danny’s relations in Lochee. The men are all working at the foundry and Kit’s sisters are back in the mill. Kit’s looking after wee Kitty to let Kathleen go out to work and they’re all making some money for the first time in ages.’

I agreed. It seemed as if prosperous times were just around the corner and it looked like the hard days of joblessness and the inquisition of the means test were now a relic of the past.

Lily and I went to the railway station to meet Greg. He was coming back to his old job at the library and his lodgings in Victoria Road. At first I didn’t see him on the crowded platform but Lily spotted him. She ran forward. ‘Here we are, Greg – over here!’

He heard her voice and smiled. ‘Hullo, Lily. My what a big girl you’re getting!’

I stood quietly waiting. For some strange reason, I didn’t know what to say to him. I had only seen him on two very brief occasions since last October and, for all I knew, he could have met someone else when he was away. Then he grinned at me and I knew he hadn’t.

We decided to go for our tea to the restaurant in Union Street. As usual, Lily was thrilled by all the attention from us both. We told each other all our news and what the families were doing.

Lily was enthralled by all his talk of London – especially when he mentioned the underground trains. ‘Oh, I’d love to go on them, Greg – they sound super!’

‘Ann and I will take you there one day, Lily, and you can see the palace where the King and Queen live and lots of exciting places.’

Lily gave him her wide-eyed look before tucking into her huge ice-cream sundae which he had ordered for her. As it turned out, it was fortunate her attention was taken up with demolishing the sundae because she wasn’t listening when his face became serious. ‘I have to tell you that I’m not back for good, Ann.’

My face fell and I felt so depressed by this news.

‘I have to be honest with you, I know I won’t be one of the first men to be called up because they’re taking the youngest ones first. Then there’s the problem of my gammy leg. I don’t think I would pass a medical test for the forces.’

My heart leapt and my depression lifted. He was telling me good news – not bad.

Then he said, ‘I’ve made up my mind to join up when this war starts. Oh, I know I’ll not be fighting on the battlefront.’ He paused before continuing, ‘Well, at least I don’t think I will but you never can tell. One thing I do know is that I would be a great help with the administration side of things.’

I was confused. ‘So you’re telling me that, even if you don’t get called up, you’re still going to join?’

He nodded. ‘I hope you’re not angry?’

What could I do? Being angry wouldn’t help. After all, if the war did start, then all the men would be away and Greg was just looking ahead.

‘But we’ll have some time before that happens?’

‘You bet we will!’ He looked at my hands. ‘Have you still got the ring?’

I pulled it from under the neckline of my summer frock.

He put it on my finger. ‘Now I’ll know that you’re thinking about me when I’m away.’

Lily overheard this part of the conversation but only because the ice-cream dish was empty. ‘Ann’s aye thinking and speaking about you, Greg,’ she said seriously.

He smiled at her. ‘Well, just make sure, Lily, that she doesn’t change her mind.’

Lily just loved this sense of responsibility. She sat up straighter in her chair. ‘Oh, I’ll do that, Greg – you can count on me.’

We both laughed. As we made our way home through the busy streets, I prayed that, should the war start, then please don’t let it happen soon. I had just got Greg back and I didn’t want to lose him again – at least not just yet although I admired his decision to join up in spite of his bad leg. He would feel he was doing his bit for his country and I was proud of him.

As it turned out, we had barely three weeks together before the calamity burst upon us. Hitler invaded Poland and we were all told to tune our wirelesses to one wavelength. Chamberlain had issued an ultimatum to Hitler to withdraw his troops by the deadline of Sunday, third September. Hitler had ignored this and we were now, after months of speculation, at war with Germany.

It was a brilliant weekend of sunshine and high temperatures but the weather didn’t register with us as we all had our own private thoughts.

Greg and I went with Lily and Dad to the Overgate where we listened to the news along with my grandparents. It was so hard to believe that we were entering a period of hostilities in such lovely weather. The flowers were blooming in the parks and we had planned to spend the day at the beach at Broughty Ferry. Instead we all sat in Granny’s kitchen.

Dad said, ‘It’s the same bloody caper as last time. We were told that the last war was the war to end all others and here we are again with that bloody megalomaniac, Hitler. We should have put his gas at a peep years ago instead of letting him march into any country he chose.’

Still we were lucky that Lily was still with us as children were being evacuated from the schools. The scenes outside the railway station had been heartbreaking as queues of children lined up to say goodbye to their parents before being taken to a safer place. We were all told that Germany would invade from the skies and it was in the children’s interest to get them away from populated areas. But, as it was, Lily had taken a dose of chickenpox a few days earlier and I hadn’t wanted her to be evacuated just yet. Lily didn’t want to go at all but, if it meant her safety was at stake, then I would make her go. Greg suggested I could perhaps send her to his parents’ house and I was relieved to know I could always fall back on that if the going got too tough.

Greg had been as good as his word. He had joined up and he hadn’t passed the medical but, because he had already done some war work in London, he was passed fit for administration duties. Three weeks before he had come back home and now he was on the verge of leaving again.

The day after war was declared I was in the shop when Joe came in. ‘Have you heard what Hitler has done now? We thought he would arrive from the skies but his ships have sunk the
Athenia
.’

Connie nodded, her face frowning deeply. ‘Aye it’s in today’s paper that a U-boat sunk it off the Hebrides and they didn’t give the ship any warning. It seemingly happened just a few hours after Chamberlain’s speech on the wireless.’

‘Aye,’ said Joe with disgust. ‘And it wasn’t even a navy ship. Just a liner going to Canada and those buggers go and torpedo it. I believe lots of folk drowned?’

Connie said that they had. She had read that as well.

This made me all the more determined to move Lily to a place of safety. She was still unhappy about this idea but I told her she should go after the blisters were better. I put calamine lotion on them every night but she wouldn’t stop scratching them and I feared they would never heal.

Every night she would burst into tears. ‘I don’t want to be evacuated, Ann – I want to stay here with you and Dad.’

Just to placate her, I told her about Greg’s plan for her to go to the Borlands’ farm but even this didn’t soothe her.

‘I’ll miss my pals at the school if I go away. I love going to see the farm on my holidays, Ann, but I don’t want to be there on my own.’

‘Well, lots of your pals at school will be evacuated too so, even if you do stay here, you won’t be able to see them, Lily. So it won’t do any harm to write to the Borlands, just in case you have to get away from Dundee.’

That night I sat down and wrote to them and hoped they wouldn’t think I was lumbering them with my sister. Still, time would tell.

As the weeks passed people began to call this the phoney war but there we were all in a state of readiness, with gas masks at the ready in case of a gas attack and Air-Raid Precautions Wardens and fire-fighters in place. Then there was the blackout. I had bought a length of black material to make a blind as it was an offence to show even the tiniest of lights. I had heard through Connie of some officious wardens telling people off in no uncertain language.

Greg was leaving. At the beginning of October, almost on the date of Maddie and Danny’s wedding anniversary, I went with him to the railway station. The platform was heaving with hundreds of men being whisked away to camps all over the country. When the train arrived, it was also packed with people and it looked as if Greg would have to stand all the way to his training camp.

I felt so sad at our parting but not entirely surprised. It seemed as if our relationship had been a series of goodbyes, ever since day one when we had met in the infirmary.

‘Keep wearing the ring,’ he called from the window. ‘I’ll write as soon as I arrive.’

The steam train gave a mighty snort of black smoke as it moved slowly along the track and it drowned out the rest of his words. I saw his mouth open and close but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I stayed on the platform for a long time, well after the train had disappeared from my view, then slowly made my way back to the Overgate to Lily and my grandparents.

I had heard from the Borlands by return of post. They had said they would be delighted to have Lily any time she wanted to come. But, as the weeks passed and although the Luftwaffe had bombed several places in Scotland, most of the evacuees wanted to come home and most of them did.

I asked Lily if she wanted to go to Trinafour but she was unsure. ‘I like going there but I would rather stay here with you, Ann. If the Jerries bomb us, then we can always go into the air-raid shelter.’

So it was settled. I wrote back to the Borlands and told them the position. I did add, however, that, if things got bad in the town, then Lily would be coming to them whether she liked it or not.

Dad joined the Home Guard and he regularly went out to training courses in the Drill Hall in Ward Road. The Tay Rail Bridge was a possible target for German bombers and he would regularly patrol it with his workmates – the ones who were too old to be called up.

Meanwhile Hattie was moaning about the food rationing. ‘What are we meant to make with one egg a week? I remember one party at the Pringles where I made a pudding with a dozen eggs.’

Granny had no sympathy over her shortages. ‘We’re all in the same boat, Hattie, so you’ll just have to make the best of it.’

That was the last thing Hattie was prepared to do. ‘I hear that some folk get things on the black market – if you know the right people to ask.’

Granny was annoyed. ‘Oh, is that folk with money you’re talking about?’

Hattie was outraged. ‘No, it isn’t. I would never do such a thing and neither would Mrs Pringle. They’ve cut back like the rest of us and I’m forever making meals with vegetables.’

Granny didn’t look impressed as she went to make a cup of tea.

Hattie’s voice became soft with a memory. ‘Do you remember that delicious meal we had at the wedding? Wasn’t it the most wonderful day?’

Granny wiped her eyes as she waited for the kettle to boil. I knew she was thinking of Maddie and Danny. He was waiting for his call-up papers and Maddie was almost distraught with worry.

‘Aye, it was a wonderful day, Hattie. It was a different world last year and now we’ve been plunged into another war,’ she replied quietly, busying herself with the cups and the saucers.

We had heard nothing about Margot since she moved from the flat. It had seemed she had sold it in the nick of time because people weren’t buying houses during these worrying times. Not for the first time I marvelled at her nose for survival. It would seem she was an expert at it.

I hadn’t mentioned the story about Mary Farr to Dad. For one thing, Babs might have been mistaken about her but, if she was indeed Mary Farr, then it wouldn’t do Dad any good to know about her past life. That’s why it came as a huge surprise a few days before Christmas to get the visitor.

I noticed the stranger before he came into the shop. He had looked through the window a few times as if making up his mind whether to enter or not. Connie had spotted him as well. ‘What’s that bloke looking at? Do you think he’s some official from the Ministry of Food?’

I was just saying I didn’t know when the three girls bounded in through the door.

‘The usual things, Ann,’ said Sylvia. They were all giggling and it was refreshing to hear some laughter in these sombre times.

Connie took her eyes away from the window to look at the girls. ‘What’s the joke girls?’ she asked.

‘Well, we’re hoping to meet loads of soldiers at the dancing now that there’s a war and we were just describing our ideal soldier before we came in here,’ said Sylvia as I weighed out the sweeties.

Amy called out, ‘Hurry up, Ann, or we’ll be late for work again!’

As they darted through the door Connie called after them, ‘You lassies will be late for your own funerals!’

She then looked shocked. ‘What am I saying? I shouldn’t speak like that in these bleak times.’

I knew she was thinking about young Davie, the paper lad. He had now left the school and had got a job with the Caledon shipyard. His ambition however was to join the navy. Before he left, Connie had caught hold of his hand and said to him, ‘Just stay where you are for as long as you can, Davie. There’s plenty of time to join the navy when this war’s over.’

During all the fun with the girls, the man had disappeared but now he was standing in the doorway. I noticed he was very well dressed with a thick woollen overcoat, a soft hat and good quality leather gloves. He raised his hat in an old-fashioned gesture and Connie visibly beamed at him. ‘Can I help you?’ she said.

He hesitated. Then said, ‘I’m looking for a Miss Ann Neill.’

I had a sweetie in my mouth and I almost swallowed it whole. Was there something wrong with Lily? Or Greg?

Connie was surprised too but she pointed to me, saying, ‘This is Ann.’

The man seemed uncertain how to begin. Then he said, ‘Can I have a private word with you Miss Neill?’

I cast a worried eye in Connie’s direction but she quickly came to my rescue.