by Rosie Clarke
*
Rose lay in bed that evening thinking of the laughter and fun she’d shared with her new friend. Despite the fact that they’d had only a few hours together, she felt that she knew him – much better than he knew her. Jimmy had told her all about his life in Cambridge, about the beautiful colleges, the punts on the river and the pubs where he drank with his friends. She knew of his ambition to build beautiful buildings – big places like public libraries and town halls.
‘I expect the work will be to rebuild homes and infrastructure when we start to repair what the Germans knocked down, but one day I want to design more adventurous buildings…’
Rose had laughed, because his face lit up when he spoke of his ambition. The more Jimmy talked, the more Rose liked him, but she hadn’t told him about her parents or her little brother – somehow she couldn’t find the way – and so she spoke about her schooldays, which had been happy, and let him talk. Jimmy had lots to say and Rose was a good listener.
Their time together flew past and before she knew it they were outside The Pig & Whistle saying goodbye.
‘I may get time to pop in tomorrow for a quick drink,’ he’d said, ‘but no promises. There’s a lot for us to do before we embark and I’ll probably be kept busy checking lists and moving supplies – but I shall write with an address for you to reply to, Rose – and I shan’t forget you.’
‘I’ve had a wonderful afternoon,’ Rose replied and impulsively kissed him softly on the cheek. ‘I shall write – and I’ll keep my fingers crossed that one day you’ll come back and visit me again.’
‘Keep everything crossed, Rose,’ Jimmy had said and grinned at her. ‘When is your birthday? I’ll send you something if I’m able…’
‘Not until July – the nineteenth. I’ll be twenty then. When is yours?’
‘December the ninth,’ he’d answered. ‘It was a lovely afternoon, Rose. Thank you so much for giving up your time to me. Goodbye, my dear. Fall in love and be happy… and get that tea shop.’
Rose had watched him walk away. She’d made a friend and a little smile touched her lips, because now she had something to think about when she wasn’t working. Her visit to The Savoy had been exciting and opened her eyes to the way things were done in exclusive restaurants. Perhaps she would have a tea shop of her own one day and make dainty little cakes and sandwiches like those she’d eaten that afternoon. She would enjoy writing letters to Jimmy and sending him little parcels of sweets and cigarettes, which were what all the troops wanted when they were on duty abroad. For the first time since her father had destroyed all their lives, she felt better about things.
Chapter 6
‘Here you are, Peggy,’ Reg said with a cheerful grin. ‘Three letters for you this mornin’. Proper letters, mind. I reckon that’s from Janet, and that’s from your old man – and I think this might be Pip…’
‘You’ve brought me riches this morning, Reg,’ Peggy smiled at him and slipped the envelopes into her pocket for reading later.
‘I’ll bring you some veg on Sunday,’ he said. ‘I’ve got plenty of carrots and cabbages left in store, and I’m sure you can do something with them.’
‘I’ll make you an apple pie to take home,’ Peggy promised.
Reg’s wife had died a few months back. She’d had a weak heart for years and the bombing during the Blitz had made her worse. She’d suddenly dropped down unconscious while shopping in the market one day the previous November; she’d been rushed to hospital but of course it was too late, despite all the attempts to resuscitate her. Reg’s married daughter Susan cooked dinner for him every Sunday and he coped for himself every other day of the week. Peggy suspected he ate a lot of fish and chips or pie and mash from the shop up by the market.
‘See yer on Sunday then, lass,’ Reg said and went off whistling.
Peggy frowned as she started on the pasties she was making for lunch. Reg never stepped over the bounds, but she’d have to be blind not to see the way he looked at her these days. He, like everyone else in the lanes, knew that Laurie hadn’t been home in nearly three years, and perhaps there was a thought in his mind that Peggy might be lonely? Doctor Michael Bailey still called occasionally, but Peggy was married so she never gave any of the men who looked at her the slightest encouragement – perhaps because the memory of Able never left her. How could it when she only had to look at Freddie to see him?
She was lonely at times – lonely and bored. It seemed as if she never did anything these days but work, and much as she loved to cook, she was in need of something more. Some nights she lay in bed and ached, not for Laurie, who seemed little more than a stranger now, but for Able. She’d wondered at the start if her feelings for him were just midlife crisis and thought they probably wouldn’t last, but instead of fading away, the memories just got sweeter and made her wish that he would walk into the bar and smile at her. She might as well wish for the moon!
She sat down while the kettle was boiling, opening Pip’s letter first. Her son wrote about once a month these days, normally breezy letters about his life and the fun he was having. Not once did he complain about anything other than the food, though she knew the young men who flew spitfires round the clock to protect the airfields and other strategic targets were going through a rough time, but Pip only joked and said he missed her cooking. He’d written in his untidy scrawl:
Well, Ma, I’ll be home on Saturday. They’ve stood me down for a rest, so I’ll have several weeks twiddling my fingers and I thought I’d come home and plague the life out of you. I hope it’s all right to bring Sheila. She’ll only be staying for a week, after that she has to get back to work, but I’ll be home for at least a month – if you can put up with me?
If she could put up with him? Peggy’s smile was wider than a mile at the thought of having her son home for more than one night, which was his usual visit, and she loved the idea that she would at last meet his girlfriend. She knew he was serious about Sheila, even though he was still only twenty; of course, he’d grown up fast since he’d joined the RAF and was certainly not a boy these days.
She opened Janet’s letter next. The tone of her daughter’s letter was definitely more cheerful than it had been of late.
Hope you’re coping all right, Mum, and that the twins are well. I’m giving Rosemary a hand with all her charities down here, which keeps us all busy, and Maggie goes to a nursery school for a few hours three mornings a week. It’s just playing with other kids and toys, but I think it’s good for her, because she has been spoiled – and she was very jealous of the twins. That was part of the reason I came away for a while, and at nursery she’s learning she can’t always have her own way.
I’m not sure how long I shall stay here. Rosemary says I’m welcome to make my home with her, but I’m not certain it would work in the long run. She seems to be getting over her husband’s loss and her sons like her new friend, Jon. Captain Jon Mendlesham is a pilot and he told me he knows Pip. Captain Mendlesham plays cricket with Rosemary’s boys and he took us all out to lunch the other Sunday. Rosemary says he’s just a friend, but he wants to be more. I can see it when he looks at her. If they got married I couldn’t stay on with her, and although I’ve made friends here, I think I’d rather come back home if it happens.
I think I ought to take a job once Maggie goes to proper school. I know I’ve helped you, and as I said, we do a lot of charity and volunteer work down here, but I’d like to work for one of the women’s volunteer units on a full-time basis. I’d rather wait until Maggie can start the infants’ school though, which will be next year if we come back to London. I could get her into St. Martin’s when she’s four, and then you or Nellie could collect her at three in the afternoon for me when I’m at work, couldn’t you? I’d be able to help you at night, give you some time to go out with Maureen or Anne – I hope they’re both OK and the children?
Anyway, I know you have lots to do. I hope you’ve forgiven me for leaving you in the lurch, but I had to get right aw
ay, and I’m glad I did. When I come back, can I have a different room please? Perhaps Helen’s old room.
Love always, Janet. xxx Maggie sends a hundred kisses to her granny.
Peggy sighed as she folded the letter. Janet was feeling better at last and she thanked God for that but was disappointed that she didn’t want to work in the pub when she got back. Of course once Maggie was at school, Janet would be expected to do a useful job. Serving behind a bar wasn’t a reserved job, even though it was necessary, but unless she found herself war work of a kind, she might be called up to factory work. The choice had been there at the start, but these days every woman was expected to do at least part-time war work of some kind. Staying home to look after a child wasn’t considered an excuse, especially if there was an older relative who could do the childminding for you. Peggy was exempted because she ran the pub and had two children under five, but Janet might find herself being asked to do some form of war work as soon as she put Maggie in school, so it would be best if she found a job she wanted to do first.
Peggy thought she ought to speak to Rose about doing some form of war work as well as her work here. If she signed up on a voluntary basis, either for night work a couple of times a week or did one day a week with a women’s voluntary association, she would be fine. Otherwise, she might find herself being asked to enrol for factory work. Every young woman had to be seen to be doing her bit these days. Even Nellie went to help at a forces’ relief club two nights a week. She helped sort through donations of clothes, shoes and other items, which were then sold to raise money to send comforts to the troops. She said it made her feel she was helping her son and daughter, who had both signed up to the forces in the early days, as soon as it became apparent that war was inevitable.
Peggy had left Laurie’s letter to last. It was always a chore to read them and each time she told herself that next time she would put it straight in the bin, but she never did. Laurie’s first words startled her:
I’ve been given a long leave. It means I’ll have to come home, Peggy. There has been a bit of an upset here… and I’m not sure I’ll be returning. For the moment I’m suspended and so I shall come back to the pub and make myself useful.
I know this may be a bit awkward, because we’ve been estranged for a while now, but I really have no choice. I’m sorry… sorry that I caused you hurt, because I know you would never have gone with that young American if I hadn’t been such a pig to you, Peggy. It isn’t easy to forgive. I’ve been bitter and angry towards you, and no doubt you felt the same towards me. Yet I hope we can be civilised – even friends.
If my war work is finished here, I should like us to try to make things work again. We both want the pub to do well, and it’s time you had help there. So I’m coming home next Sunday and I’ll sleep in the spare room. Please try to forgive me and accept what has to be…
Laurie.
Peggy stared at the letter in dismay. She’d thought her husband would be away for the remainder of the war and now he was coming home in a few days. Her thoughts worked swiftly. Rose was using the room Laurie was expecting to occupy. She’d already decided to put her into Janet’s room so that her daughter wouldn’t have to sleep in the bed where her husband had died; that meant Janet would be relegated to one of the rooms they’d let to guests years ago. There was one large one that had room for a small bed for Maggie, but it needed clearing out and a complete spring clean. Pip would have his old room, of course, and there was another single for Sheila, because they were also coming to stay. The bedrooms would be full to bursting! She would have to ask Tom Barton if he would give her a hand in the evenings after he’d finished at the shop. Alice had been full of praise for the way he’d decorated her little room, and she now had paying lodgers – a young widow called Mary Jenkins and her three-year-old daughter Julie.
‘Tom’s such a good lad,’ Alice had told Peggy the previous evening. ‘He worked until nearly midnight to finish that off fer me so I could get me lodgers.’
‘Yes, he is,’ Peggy said. ‘How are you gettin’ on with your lodgers then?’
‘It’s marvellous,’ Alice had replied and grinned at her. ‘Should’ve done it long ago, Peggy girl. I get fifteen bob a week for the two rooms and breakfast, and extra if I cook dinner for them – and that means I can cook for meself as well.’
Peggy was glad it had worked out so well for Alice. She would have to ask Tom if he had time to decorate her large guest room for Janet. Her daughter wasn’t planning on returning just yet, so there was plenty of time…
‘Something wrong, Peggy?’
She turned to look at Nellie, who must have entered the kitchen without her hearing. ‘Oh, I was lost in thought, that’s all…’
‘You’ve let yer tea go cold,’ Nellie said. ‘Yer can’t fool me, Peggy love. I can see by yer face yer worried over somethin’…’
‘Laurie is comin’ home on Sunday,’ Peggy said. ‘He’s being released from his post… I suppose he’s done his bit for the war…’
‘Well, I never thought he should have been asked to go,’ Nellie said, nodding her head. ‘Laurie Ashley did his bit in the last war. Keeping a pub is a necessary job. Everyone needs somewhere to drink or we’d have folk up in arms…’
Peggy laughed. ‘You’re right, but you know things haven’t been happy between us…’
‘He let yer down,’ Nellie said staunchly. ‘I know yer, Peggy Ashley. If yer man had been straight with yer, you’d ’ave been straight with ’im’
‘Would I? I’m not so sure,’ Peggy replied. ‘I loved Able – I still do. I don’t want Laurie back as a husband, but this was always his pub, even though I’ve been running it these past years; he paid for the licences and the lease and he has a right to come home. I wouldn’t stand a chance of getting the licence if Laurie wants it. We shall just have to work out a way of living and working together.’
‘You’ll manage that all right,’ Nellie said. ‘Besides, he was a warden before they called him up to do whatever he’s been doin’ up there – and I shouldn’t wonder he’ll go back to it. It will keep him out of yer hair fer a while, girl.’
‘Well, it should be all right for a few weeks. Pip is bringing his girlfriend here for a week and he has a month’s leave… I’m not sure where we’re goin’ to put everyone.’
‘Well, you can ’ave my room,’ Nellie said and grinned at her. ‘I was goin’ ter tell yer today, Peggy. The council ’ave come up with a little flat for me at last…’
‘Oh Nellie, I’m so glad for you – if it’s what you want? You mustn’t think you have to leave. I wasn’t intending to ask you to give up your room.’
‘I know that,’ Nellie said, ‘but it’s a nice little place, just a tuppenny bus ride away, so I can afford to come into work every day same as usual.’
‘I’m glad; I should hate to lose you, but I know how much this means to you…’ Peggy was surprised. ‘You thought you didn’t stand a chance – what happened?’
‘My daughter is coming home…’ Nellie frowned. ‘She’s been thrown out of the Wrens because she’s pregnant. Her bloke is in the Navy and he’s goin’ ter marry ’er as soon as he gets back, but we don’t know how long that will be…’
Peggy was taken aback. ‘Nellie! I don’t know whether to congratulate you or say I’m sorry…’
‘Don’t be sorry, Peggy. The silly girl should’ve got the ring on ’er finger when ’e was ’ere, but she ain’t done nothin’ a load of other daft girls ain’t done – and at least it means I’ll ’ave her ’ome and it put us in line fer a flat…’
‘Well, in that case, I think it’s wonderful,’ Peggy said and darted at her, giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. ‘Think of it, Nellie – you’ll be a grandmother, and you’ll love that…’
‘Yeah…’ Nellie grinned. ‘That’s the only reason I didn’t knock ’er block orf. I shall love ’aving the pair of ’em, Peggy.’
‘Yes, of course you will,’ Peggy said. ‘When is the baby due?�
��
‘Around the middle of July,’ Nellie replied, her eyes sparkling. ‘I’d better get my knitting needles out. I thought my girl was a confirmed career woman but this changes everythin’… even if she wants to go back to work once the baby is old enough to leave with me.’
Peggy could see how excited Nellie was even though she was trying to hold her excitement in check. ‘I think we deserve a drop of sherry,’ she said as Rose entered the kitchen. ‘You’re just in time to celebrate with us, Rose. Nellie is goin’ to be a grandmother and my son is bringing his girlfriend to stay – and my husband is coming home for a while too.’
‘Oh…’ Rose looked a little startled. ‘Does that mean you won’t need me?’
‘No, it certainly doesn’t, but it does mean you need to enrol for volunteer work a few evenings a week. We’ll get to keep you if we can prove that you’re doin’ some war work. Otherwise they’ll be after you to join one of the forces or the volunteer brigades…’
‘Maureen suggested I join the WVS with her,’ Rose said. ‘She does three nights a week for a few hours – and she does two mornings a week at the hospital. I can’t do that, because I’d have to sign on full-time as an auxiliary, but I can join the WVS. I’ll go along with Maureen and put my name down.’
‘Good for you, Rose. We all have to do our bit. Anne does ambulance driving on Saturdays and Sundays,’ Peggy told her. ‘She is considered to be in a reserved job, because she’s a teacher, but she still does her bit when she can…’
‘I can’t drive, but I’d like to learn…’
‘Both Maureen and Tom are learning to drive,’ Peggy said. ‘They’re very busy people – in fact we all have to be these days. With so many of the men away in the forces they’re crying out for volunteers, and it’s the law that every woman who can needs to work.’
