by Ellie Dean
‘Come on, Harvey. I haven’t got time for this,’ she urged, tugging a bit harder.
It was like trying to shift a lump of concrete. Harvey was going nowhere.
Peggy’s frustration was rising, but she knew it would do no good to vent it, because Queenie would only take flight and disappear, and then Harvey would try to chase after her and burst his stitches – which would mean a trip to the vet and then half the morning trying to find Queenie. So she waited and impatiently counted to twenty as the cat limped towards them, encouraged by Harvey’s little whines.
Queenie flopped down between Harvey’s front legs, rolled on her back and batted at the hated cone about his neck. Peggy chose her moment and grabbed her scruff. Queenie wriggled furiously, all teeth and claws, and Harvey got to his feet, his eyebrows twitching in concern.
Peggy clasped the cat to her chest, tugged on the lead and finally managed to head for home. She was not in the best of moods. When Ron did finally put in an appearance, she’d give him an earful. It was all very well for him to go courting, but he had responsibilities – as well as deep coat pockets for hissing, spitting cats, she thought crossly, flinching from a darting set of sharp claws.
The day might have started badly, but once she’d deposited the girls at the crèche and had a quick word with Solly about poor Gracie, she managed to get through the rest of it without further dramas.
On her return home she peeked through the pub windows, but there was no sign of Ron or Rosie, and all the curtains were closed upstairs. Peggy was still smiling as she followed the children up the steps into her kitchen to find there was a party going on.
It took a glance at a beaming Ron and radiant Rosie to guess what it was for – and when Rosie flashed the ruby and diamond ring on her finger, she burst into happy tears. ‘Oh, Ron, Rosie,’ she sobbed. ‘I’m so happy for you.’
They encompassed her in an embrace. ‘He actually got down on one knee,’ Rosie confided in a whisper. ‘And he looked so utterly adorable without any clothes on, I could hardly refuse.’
Peggy’s eyes widened at the comical image this elicited and the tears turned to laughter. ‘He proposed in the nude?’ she spluttered.
Rosie giggled and blushed. ‘You know Ron. He’s never been conventional.’
‘Ach, conventional is boring,’ muttered Ron who’d gone rather pink around the ears. ‘And I’ll be asking you not to give all our secrets away, Rosie, me darlin’ girl.’
‘So, when’s the wedding?’ breathed Peggy as the chatter gathered volume and bottles of beer were passed around.
‘We thought we’d wait a bit,’ said Rosie. ‘Ron would like Jim to be there, and we have a lot of decisions to make about where we’ll live if we decide to sell the pub.’
‘Sell the Anchor?’ Peggy gasped.
Rosie shrugged. ‘It’s given me a good living, but the hours are long, and I want to spend my time with Ron – not a bar full of strangers.’ She twisted the ring on her finger, then laughed and tossed back her platinum curls. ‘We’re getting too serious about things, Peggy. This is supposed to be a party. Stan, Fred, Chalky and Alf will be here soon with their wives, and Frank’s coming over with Pauline later.’
‘Lawks,’ Peggy yelped. ‘I can’t feed and water that lot.’
‘You don’t have to,’ said Ron. ‘The drinks are already here courtesy of Rosie, and the extra food will be coming with the others.’ He waggled his eyebrows at Peggy and grinned like a small boy who’d been given free rein in a sweet shop. ‘So have a beer, light up a fag and join in.’
As more and more people arrived, the party moved into the dining room, and went on until the early hours of the morning. Consequently there were a lot of sore heads the next day, but everyone agreed with Ron that he was a very lucky man – and Peggy forgot to tell him off about having to deal with his animals.
Gracie came back to Cliffehaven looking forlorn, the trauma of what she’d been through over the past few days written in her pale face and haunted eyes. Peggy offered support and solace over the next ten days as she watched her put on a smile for little Chloe and knuckle back down to work, but she knew her friend was tortured with guilt because she hadn’t been able to find the courage to face Clive’s devastating and life-changing injuries.
Solly knew that neither Peggy nor Gracie could afford long-distance calls to the Dover hospital, so had insisted she use the office telephone. However, Clive was still refusing to let Gracie visit him and the doctors advised her to stay away until he’d come to terms with things more. As time went on these calls upset Gracie to the point where she started making expensive mistakes on the cutting table and forgot simple things like food shopping and brushing her hair.
Peggy knew this state of affairs couldn’t go on for much longer, and it was almost a relief when Gracie came to Beach View to tell her she’d handed in her notice and was moving to Dover.
‘But how will you manage with Chloe on your own?’ Peggy asked as they sat in the dining room away from the bustle in the kitchen.
‘I had a long talk with Mother, and she’ll stay with me in Dover for a while and then take Chloe back with her.’ Her smile was wan. ‘I totally misjudged her, Peggy. She’s proved to be an absolute brick, and instead of the histrionics I was expecting, she’s been calm, supportive and practical.’
‘I expect she’s just glad to be able to help,’ said Peggy. ‘But what if Clive continues to send you away?’
‘I’ll go anyway,’ Gracie said purposefully. ‘And I’ll keep on going until he realises he’s stuck with me.’ She twisted the handkerchief between her fingers. ‘It won’t be easy for either of us to come to terms with what’s happened, but as long as we’re both very brave, we’ll get through this.’
Peggy was in awe of her determination in the light of so many and varied obstacles. She reached for her hand. ‘Of course you will,’ she murmured.
‘We’ll be leaving early tomorrow, Peggy, so I’m afraid this has to be goodbye.’
‘So soon?’ gasped Peggy.
‘It’s been two weeks since I last saw Clive, and I need to go to him.’ She grasped Peggy’s hand, her lovely eyes bright with tears. ‘I’ve treasured your friendship, Peggy, and will never forget all your kindnesses. Cliffehaven became my home and I’ve been happy here, but my heart is with Clive and that’s where I belong.’
‘I shall miss you,’ said Peggy as they embraced. ‘Promise you’ll write when you can to let me know how things are progressing.’
‘Of course I will.’ Gracie eased from the embrace and smiled through her tears. ‘I’d better go. Rachel’s minding Chloe, and I still have some packing to do.’ She kissed Peggy’s cheek, gave her a hug and then swiftly turned away.
Peggy followed her to the front door and watched as she ran down the steps in the dwindling light of that late July evening. Gracie turned and waved on the corner of Camden Road, but before Peggy could wave back she’d broken into a run and disappeared into the gloom.
Peggy closed the door and leaned on it, her heart heavy with sadness. She would miss Gracie terribly, and little Daisy would miss Chloe too, for they’d both become part of the family and would leave a large void in their lives.
Peggy gave a deep sigh. There had been so many goodbyes over these war years that she’d almost lost count, but as she stood there in the quiet hall, their faces paraded before her. Jim in his uniform, Anne with baby Rose Margaret, Bob and Charlie, and Cissy all excited and glamorous in her WAAF’s uniform.
And then there was little Sally, her first evacuee, who’d married John Hicks the Cliffehaven fire chief and was now in Somerset with their little boy and her young brother. Polly Brown was in Scotland with her husband and the little girl they’d thought they’d lost when the evacuee ship had been sunk; and Julie Harris had returned to nurse in London and was now in Wales courting baby William’s father. Mary Jones had married her childhood sweetheart and was expecting a honeymoon baby. Her other evacuees, Ruby and April, still lived in
Cliffehaven, but they both had busy lives and didn’t always have the time to drop in for a cuppa and a chat, but at least she could see them now and again.
Peggy took a restorative breath and went to turn off the dining room light. The dark war years had brought uncertainty and many anguished tears, but they had also brought laughter, love and life to this old house, and that was what she must hold onto now.
There was once again an expectant air in Cliffehaven, for as the end of July saw the Americans break out to the west of Saint-Lo and take Coutances, the Russians took Brest-Litovsk in Belarus. At the beginning of August a great uprising against the German occupiers in Warsaw was initiated by the Polish Home Army; the Americans reached Avranches and were met by a strong German resistance that everyone believed would be defeated – and the Allies invaded southern France.
Towards the middle of August a Russian offensive started in the Balkans with an attack on Romania – and as the Canadians, Poles and Americans encircled the Germans in the Falaise pocket and more Allied troops approached Paris, the French Resistance began an uprising in support.
‘Paris will fall any minute, I’m certain of it, despite the news blackout,’ said Peggy. She reached up to finish hanging the freshly washed curtains in Doris’s new bedroom. ‘I just wish Charlotte would hurry up and have those babies.’
Kitty grinned. ‘She’s very fed up and I can’t say I blame her now the doctor’s ordered her to stay in bed. But he has promised he’ll start things off if it doesn’t happen in the next twenty-four hours.’ She smoothed the eiderdown over the bed and plumped the pillows.
Peggy tweaked the curtains until they fell satisfactorily into neat folds and then looked through the bungalow’s window at baby Faith who was gurgling happily in her pram and waving her tiny brown arms and legs in the warm sunshine. ‘That would be a relief all round,’ she murmured.
They left the bedroom and went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea and listen to the lunchtime news on the small wireless Ron had managed to get from somewhere – no questions asked. There had been a news blackout for the past week as far as the American advance on Paris was concerned, and everyone was in a lather to know what was happening.
The kitchen had been transformed – mostly through the efforts of Colonel White, who’d shown a remarkable aptitude for woodwork and seeking out bargains. In fact he’d approached the project with huge enthusiasm and had built new cupboards and draining boards, brought the sink back to its previous pristine white, replaced the taps and wall tiles, and even managed to find a reasonably new electric stove which now stood in the chimney breast – the ancient range having been carted off for scrap iron.
Doris had sewn blue and white gingham curtains for the windows and over the new shelves under the sink, and had had enough material left over to make a tablecloth, a set of napkins, and even covers for the seat pads on the newly varnished chairs. The floor tiles had been scrubbed clean to reveal a pretty pattern of blue and red, and Sarah had found a lovely vase of deep red in a jumble sale which now sat on the windowsill filled with roses from the garden.
The whole bungalow looked very different to how it had been when Peggy had first been shown around, and she felt a deep sense of satisfaction that her sister would live here in comfort. Ron had enlisted the help of his old pals, Chalky, Stan, Fred the Fish and Alf the butcher, and together they’d sanded, painted and repaired. Peggy, Kitty and everyone from Beach View had done their bit, scrubbing, dusting, washing curtains and the treasure trove of lovely linen they’d found in a cupboard.
The old carpets and rugs had been taken up and burned, the unwanted furniture had been given to the WVS, and the knick-knacks and doilies donated to a fundraising jumble sale. The parquet flooring now gleamed, the bathroom was pristine, and when Doris came from work tonight, she’d find a real home all ready for her to move into.
‘It’s funny,’ sighed Peggy as she poured the tea and waited for the wireless to warm up, ‘but I shall miss having her around.’
‘I bet you never thought you’d say that,’ teased Kitty.
Peggy smiled. ‘It’s true, but then Doris has changed so radically since she’s been forced to stand on her own two feet that I can’t help but admire her. She even had the nerve to tell that snooty woman from the WVS where she could stick her demands for help.’
The newscaster’s voice startled them as it suddenly came through loud and clear.
‘Paris is liberated as the Germans surrender,’ he began. ‘After four years under German occupation, Paris is now free.’
Peggy and Kitty clasped their hands in silent delight and relief.
‘Last night, the French 2nd Armoured Division under General Philippe Leclerc was the first Allied force to enter the city, greeted by loud cheers from Parisians after many days of fighting between the Resistance and the German occupiers.
‘The new Free French wireless station reported the German commander of the Paris region, General Dietrich von Choltitz, signed the surrender at Montparnasse station in front of General Leclerc and Colonel Rol, commander of the Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur (FFI) in the Paris region.
‘Colonel Rol praised the Resistance forces that fought the occupying Germans and opened the way for the Allies to enter the capital.
‘At 1900 local time, General Charles de Gaulle – leader of the Free French who has been living in exile in London since the Fall of France in 1940 – entered the city.
‘In a broadcast to the nation from the Hôtel de Ville he said: “I wish simply from the bottom of my heart to say to you: Vive Paris! We are here in Paris – Paris which stood erect and rose in order to free herself. Paris oppressed, downtrodden and martyred but still Paris – free now, freed by the hands of Frenchmen, the capital of Fighting France, France the great eternal.”
‘He said the French could now stand up as a great world power and would not rest until the enemy had been defeated on its own territory.
‘Last evening French, American and Senegalese troops marched triumphantly down the Champs Elysées to ecstatic cheers of Parisians, young and old. But celebrations were brought to a swift halt by sniper fire from German troops and French Fascists. The battle for Paris is not quite over and as the French 2nd Armoured Division reached the Porte d’Orléans district in the south of Paris, the FFI are still fighting German soldiers and taking prisoners.
‘Earlier today, Canadian and British forces joined up with American troops on the left bank of the River Seine south of Rouen. And on the French coast, Honfleur has been captured by the Allies. In the south of France, Americans have taken Cannes and Grasse, the capital of the Alpes-Maritimes.
‘There will be a more detailed account of the background to the liberation of Paris in our nine o’clock bulletin.’
Peggy switched off the wireless and they turned to one another with beaming smiles. ‘We’re finally winning,’ breathed Kitty.
‘We have Paris and Rome. It’ll be Berlin next,’ said Peggy, clapping her hands.
‘I think that could take a bit longer,’ Kitty warned, ‘but it will happen, Peggy. We’ve got the Nazis on the run.’ She finished her tea and looked at her watch. ‘I’d better get home to Charlotte. She’s probably going quite mad with boredom now our wireless is on the blink, and this news will perk her up no end.’
They went out into the back garden which had been tidied, weeded and mulched by Colonel White and Stan from the station and was now as colourful and neat as Havelock Gardens used to be. They hugged and Peggy held the side gate open so Kitty could wheel the pram through.
‘I’ll ring the minute I have any news on Charlotte,’ Kitty promised before heading for home, which was only a few streets away.
Peggy had nipped up here whilst Sarah and Fran were looking after Daisy, and she should be getting home, but as she breathed in the warm, scented air of summer and watched the sunlight wink and blink through the leafy trees, she decided to linger just a moment more.
She gazed down on the town t
hat had been her home all her life, and then out to sea towards the distant shores of France. The fighting was still going on across Europe, but port by port, and city by city, the Allies were on a victorious march – and with Hitler losing his grip, it could only be a matter of time before the Allies took Berlin and it would all be over.
She returned to the bungalow, washed the cups and put them away, before setting the table and checking she’d put the note on top of the Woolton pie she’d brought from home. All Doris had to do was heat it through, and Peggy had deliberately made enough so that if the Colonel popped in – which she very much hoped he would – they could share it.
With a soft smile, she left the spare key on the table and closed the front door behind her. Romance was most definitely in the air. Rosie was wearing Ron’s engagement ring, the Colonel and Doris were warming up nicely, and Fran had confided in her last night that she and Robert were planning their wedding despite her parents’ objections.
22
Doris dropped that morning’s post in the letter box and hurried through the factory gates. John White had seemed to understand her need to be alone to enjoy those first precious moments in her new home, and had not offered to accompany her, but promised to call in later to see if she needed anything.
She smiled as she crossed the road into Mafeking Terrace. The Colonel was a dear man, so thoughtful and kind, and generous with his time too as he’d helped refurbish the kitchen. The thought of how everyone at Beach View had willingly mucked in warmed her, for she hadn’t expected such genuine delight in being able to help.
The memories of Cordelia vigorously polishing the furniture whilst she sang discordantly along with Workers’ Playtime on the wireless, and Rosie not looking at all glamorous for once in an apron, headscarf and rubber gloves scrubbing the kitchen floor broadened her smile. Peggy had been right all along – they were good people, and she felt quite overcome by shame at how she’d once looked down on them.
