The War Girls

by Rosie James

  So why not just ignore it? Why go at all? That was another question Abigail had asked herself. But as the train chugged closer and closer to their destination, she knew she was right to go. Because Dada would expect it of her. He would see it as her duty.

  Presently, they pulled up at the branch line to find that their next train was already at the station, and almost at once, after the guard’s loud whistle, and with a gush of noisy steam, the engine pulled away.

  ‘I didn’t say much to Emily about what we were doing,’ Abigail said, ‘because she would have wanted to come. But anyway, Mrs Matthews arranging to take her and Jennifer to the museum, and later to have ice creams at Fortes stopped any further comment about our day! Especially as they were going each way by taxi!’

  At twelve-thirty the train arrived, and as the girls left the station Abigail said, ‘Welcome to our illustrious village. I can’t offer you the interesting sights of Bristol, but’ – she gestured ahead – there’s the church over there, next to the school I attended. My sole source of education.’

  ‘I think the school looks nice and very well kept, Abigail,’ Carrie said.

  ‘It was certainly very well run,’ Abigail replied.

  Then, all of a sudden Abigail felt her knees begin to tremble and her throat go dry. She hadn’t realised that turning back the pages of her not altogether happy life, and actually being here again, would be so uncomfortable. So strange and painful. Memories that she’d hoped had been blotted out were still there, as clear as ever.

  ‘Witch’s daughter! Don’t let her catch you!’

  She swallowed hard. Well, she’d spared Emily from all that and had rescued her daughter from a life of petty and restrictive confinement. And Abigail didn’t regret one moment of their uncertainties and difficulties, not even when they’d found themselves in the midst of the Bristol Blitz.

  Eileen touched her arm. ‘Are you all right, Abigail? You’re looking really pale.’

  Abigail felt cross at all her introspection, because it didn’t help. This unusual day had only just begun and she still had to make her way to Coopers and confront her aunt. ‘No, I’m fine, Eileen – I just need a drink and maybe something to eat, that’s all. I believe the little café on the corner is quite good – not that I’ve ever tried it,’ Abigail added.

  Carrie came over and linked her arm in Abigail’s. It didn’t take much imagination to understand how Abigail must be feeling after all this time away. ‘Yes, I’m ready for something too,’ Carrie said. ‘I wonder if that café does something on toast?’

  Chapter 35

  Later, after quite a nice meal of local river salmon and mashed potato, followed by a baked apple each with cream, the girls began walking away from the village. And Abigail said, ‘I’ve been thinking. Would you mind if I leave you two just before we reach Coopers? I know somewhere nice for you to sit and take a rest while I go on to hear the bad news.’

  The others immediately agreed, and Carrie said, ‘Actually, I was going to suggest it, Abigail. It’s obvious that your aunt seeing you with two complete strangers at this particular time, and considering how long you’ve been apart, wouldn’t be appropriate.’ Carrie smiled. ‘But leave us within hearing distance so that we can arrive to save you if things get tricky!’

  ‘Absolutely,’ Eileen said. ‘Just warn Aunt Edna about my left hook!’

  Abigail smiled. ‘Oh, it won’t come to blows,’ she said. ‘But who knows? Whatever it is, I’m ready for it. Ready for her, I should say.’

  Presently, they arrived at the place where the others could wait. A solid stile separating two small fields, out of sight of Coopers, but no more than a minute’s walk away. ‘Here you are,’ Abigail said as she mounted the two wide steps and climbed over. ‘This is quite a comfortable spot to sit – I did it myself many times when I was younger and wanted to be alone.’

  ‘Don’t worry about us,’ Eileen said. ‘You just go and beard the lion.’

  With strengthening step, Abigail walked the short distance to Coopers, her gaze taking in every inch of the familiar route. Tall trees and tangled bushes of wild rose and nettle and hawthorn and holly, all vying for space. And now she came to the widening area which led to the front of the cottage. There it was, the home where she and Emily had been born. There was no one about and she stood for a moment just staring, her throat dry, her heart racing. What was she going to find when she went up the short drive?

  Coopers had never had a door knocker, and after three short raps with her fist, Abigail was rewarded by the sound of footsteps … the cautious opening of the door … and then Aunt Edna.

  She was dressed in an ankle-length black skirt and loose, long-sleeved cream blouse, but with no sack apron, and her hair was shorter and with no bow. She spoke first.

  ‘Hello, Abigail. I was wondering when you were going to turn up.’

  Without thinking, Abigail went forward, placed her hands on her aunt’s shoulders and kissed her on the cheek.

  ‘Hello, Aunt. I’ve been very worried. Worried that you were ill, or that something dreadful had happened. To see that announcement in the paper was upsetting.’

  Edna went over to put the kettle on. ‘Well, how else could I contact you? I was never given your address.’ The statement was straight, but not unfriendly, and Abigail said, ‘I’m sorry, but I didn’t think you’d be interested in where we were living.’

  A pause and then, ‘And how is Emily?’

  Abigail almost gasped aloud. Her aunt had actually used her great-niece’s name. Not ‘it’!

  ‘Emily is thriving, Aunt. She is doing well at school and has made lots of friends.’ Realising that she was becoming tearful, Abigail went on quickly, ‘Emily has gone to the Bristol Museum today with her two very best friends. She was so excited, especially as they’re having ice creams afterwards and going home in a taxi.’ Abigail paused. ‘She is growing up so fast, Aunt, getting taller every day. You would not even recognise her now.’

  The kettle had come to the boil, and presently, sitting opposite each other at the table, they started to sip their tea. Edna looked up. ‘Weren’t you affected by the bombing? You got it quite bad, didn’t you?’

  Abigail nodded slowly. ‘We did, but by some miracle we escaped each raid, and Hitler doesn’t seem that interested in us anymore.’

  Why were they making small talk like this? What Abigail was desperate to know was why she’d been summoned to Coopers after all this time. She shrugged inwardly. At least it was obvious that her aunt was in good health. So the best thing was to let Edna take her time before coming out with it, whatever it was. She would enjoy doing that.

  ‘You are looking very well, Abigail,’ Edna said suddenly. ‘Better than I imagined you might be after living in the city.’

  Surprised again at her aunt’s apparent interest, Abigail smiled. ‘Thank you, Aunt. We’re both fine and I assure you that sufficient food and fresh air are both available in Bristol.’

  Moving the teapot over to refill their cups, Edna said, ‘And what about work? What have you been doing to support yourselves?’

  ‘I found employment in a bookshop and in a café fairly soon after our arrival,’ Abigail replied. ‘And my two special friends and I did war work in a factory for more than eighteen months. That was harder, but the pay was very generous, and I managed to save a lot.’

  ‘Where did you meet your “special friends”?’ Edna enquired somewhat tartly.

  ‘Oh … in a café,’ Abigail said, still confused. Had Edna missed them, after all? Had she found her young employees not up to standard? Or had she even been lonely without her niece and great-niece? The mystery was deepening!

  ‘And you found accommodation easily?’ Edna asked. ‘Wasn’t it difficult, with the bombing?’

  ‘Ah, but we got to Bristol before all that began,’ Abigail reminded her. ‘And yes, after a while we found a lovely place to stay. We are still there.’

  Edna stood up. ‘I expect you’d like a sandwich,’ she s
aid. ‘I didn’t cook anything because I didn’t know if and when you’d be arriving – but there’s always bread and cheese and eggs …’

  ‘No, thank you, Aunt,’ Abigail said. ‘We had some lunch at the café in the village.’

  ‘Who do you mean by “we”?’ Edna said, sitting down again.

  ‘My two best friends made the trip with me today,’ Abigail said. ‘I would like you to meet them before we go back. They’re sitting over on the stile at the moment. But I wanted to speak to you first. And to be told the reason why I’m here today.’

  Edna sat back, looking straight at Abigail. ‘There are a number of reasons,’ she said, ‘but the first one is that I want to apologise to you, Abigail.’

  It was a good thing that Abigail was sitting down or she might have fallen down!

  ‘Apologise, Aunt?’ she said. ‘But why?’

  ‘Because I was often less than kind to you,’ Edna said slowly. ‘Inside, I hated myself for being bad tempered and miserable with you, but … I must try and explain.’

  Edna picked up her almost empty cup and finished the last dregs before going on.

  ‘When our parents – your grandparents – died, Arnold and I were just children. I was eleven and Arnold was nine and the only option for us was to go on doing all the work here by ourselves. We had nowhere else to go and nothing else to do but to keep Coopers going. And we’d had good training! But I’d always thought that Arnold would take over and that one day I would escape and seek my fortune somewhere else. I had a dream, Abigail, a dream about getting to the docks and finding a ship to take me as far away as possible. Anywhere, anywhere … but somewhere different! Somewhere exciting! I even thought I’d be a missionary and take the good Word to the unenlightened.’

  Edna stopped for a moment before going on. ‘When Arnold enlisted for the war, I was so cross with him. He was fifteen and when he was invalided out two years afterwards, his health had been ruined. I knew then that he’d never run this place without me. But then he married his girlfriend Sadie, and I thought they might run Coopers together. She was a strong lass.’ Edna’s eyes clouded briefly as she remembered. ‘Within a year you came along, Abigail, and we were all living here together when, unbelievably, Sadie died from an infection. You were a week old.’

  ‘Oh, Aunt,’ Abigail murmured. ‘It has been so hard for you.’

  Edna nodded slowly. ‘Yes, and I wasn’t surprised when Arnold died when he did. The trenches killed him eventually,’ she said.

  After a minute, Edna cleared her throat. ‘Anyway, years later, when you told me you were expecting, I knew that was it. The end of all my dreams. Because my time was running out. I was no longer young, and now there was another baby to feed and clothe.’ Edna looked away for a second. ‘But it was wrong of me to be cruel to you, Abigail, and I hope you will forgive me. And I hope God will forgive me too.’

  The atmosphere was dense with remorse and there was complete silence before Edna sat back, raising her head.

  ‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘enough of all that. Because I want to thank you for leading the way. You have given me the courage to do what you did. You just walked. You were brave enough to disentangle yourself and your tiny child from all this and have the faith to make your own way, and that is what I’ve decided to do.’ Edna leaned forward. ‘Now listen. This is what’s going to happen, and it concerns you, Abigail. That’s why we need to talk.’

  Feeling as if she was going to wake up in a minute from an unbelievable dream, Abigail just sat and listened as her aunt began to explain.

  ‘I realised that if I was ever to follow my dream I must soon make plans.’ Edna fixed her gaze into Abigail’s widening eyes. ‘And the first one was to arrange for Coopers to be entirely run by others. I’ve employed various lads of course, but one day last year when I suddenly found myself with no help at all, a young couple who’d recently moved to the area knocked on the door, asking for work. The very time when I was struck down with flu,’ she added.

  Abigail was incredulous. Her aunt had never been ill in her life!

  ‘Anyway,’ Edna went on, ‘I had no alternative but to try them and they’ve been more than satisfactory.’ She made a face. ‘I couldn’t get out of bed for three whole days, Abigail and had to leave them to it. And they proved that Coopers can survive very well without me. Anyway, I consulted agents and solicitors in the village who advised me to lease Coopers out to this couple as sitting tenants. They will live here rent-free while carrying it on as a working business and will be paid a salary as well as keeping part of the profits.’ Edna paused, clearly excited at her own words. ‘But I didn’t want to sell Coopers, Abigail. This place has been in the family for too long. Doing this means it will always be there should we want to return one day in the future. The couple – Mr and Mrs Moor – are really happy with everything and we’ve agreed on a lease, five years to start with, which can be extended if we, and they, wish it.’

  Edna sat back, her eyes alight with enthusiasm. ‘So – it’s important for me to know whether you agree to this arrangement, Abigail.’

  Abigail tried to find her voice – which eventually came out as a croak. ‘But why does it concern me, Aunt?’ she said.

  ‘Because Coopers is half yours, of course,’ Edna said, sounding slightly irritated. ‘It was left to Arnold and me, and you succeed him. And when this all goes ahead, you will receive your share of the profits and your name will be on all the documents.’ She paused. ‘And if in years to come we do sell Coopers, the money from the sale would be shared equally between us. This has all been set up properly. All that’s needed now is your signature on the Terms of Agreement.’

  With her mind reeling at this unbelievable information, Abigail said, ‘Aunt, I am so happy that you’re taking this step and I think it’s the perfect solution. It’s nice to think that we will be giving a home and employment to others who will look after Coopers for us, while it still gives us some income.’ Abigail leaned over and grasped her aunt’s hands which were resting on the table. ‘But above all that, Aunt,’ Abigail said, ‘it will free you up to follow your lifelong dream. And I couldn’t be happier for you.’ She paused. ‘Have you any idea where you might be going?’

  Edna smiled. ‘Not really, but first I had to find out how you faced up to everything, Abigail. From all you’ve told me today it convinces me that if you managed it, with a small child and during a war – then so can I!’

  Abigail felt like jumping up on to the table and doing a jig. All this was like a fairy tale – Aunt Edna seemed to be someone Abigail could barely recognise. Her aunt was ready to fly!

  ‘Now, as I said,’ Edna went on, ‘the next thing is that you must soon return to sign all the papers. The solicitors’ branch office in the village only opens on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and they’ve said that one of those days later in June would be suitable for them.’ Edna pushed her chair back to open a drawer in the table, and she handed Abigail an envelope. ‘This is the address and telephone number of Gibbons and Drew, so get in touch soon to make the appointment, Abigail.’

  Edna went across to the cupboard and took down a bottle and two glasses which she put on the table. ‘Not elderflower cordial today, Abigail. This is my special dandelion wine and it’s a good one. Well, we’ve got something to celebrate, haven’t we?’ She poured the wine and looked up. ‘And thank you for agreeing to this plan. Because if you’d objected, it couldn’t go ahead, and I’d have had to stay at Coopers probably until the end of my days.’

  They both drank, the strength of the wine immediately going to Abigail’s head, and she glanced at Edna. ‘If I can manage to stand up after this, Aunt, can I go and fetch my two friends? I’d love you to meet them. And they would love to see Coopers.’

  Edna drained her glass and stood up a little shakily. ‘Yes of course, Abigail. What did you say their names were?’

  Chapter 36

  At eight-thirty that evening, the girls arrived back at home to find Emily and Mrs Matthews w
aiting for them. And as soon as they opened the kitchen door, Emily rushed over and threw herself into her mother’s arms.

  ‘Mummy! We’ve had such a lovely day. Will you come with us to the museum next time? You’ll never believe what we’ve seen!’

  Mrs Matthews intervened. ‘Emily – give Mummy the chance to catch her breath! We’ll tell her everything in a minute. But first we’d like to know how she and Eileen and Carrie have got on. They’ve had a long day too.’ Eileen’s mother went over to put the kettle on. ‘But perhaps a cup of tea would be a good idea.’

  Gladys Matthews glanced at each of them in turn, trying to detect any sign of bad news from Coopers, but they all looked as if they’d just had a thoroughly lovely day out.

  Abigail disentangled herself from Emily, then everyone sat around the table to have tea and biscuits.

  ‘My worst fears came to nothing, Mrs Matthews,’ Abigail said. ‘In fact, I found my aunt in the best of health and in the best of spirits. Because she is about to make a huge change to her life. And quite honestly, I am only just beginning to believe it.’

  ‘Yes, and Carrie and I met the lady and found her to be rather pleasant,’ Eileen said. ‘We were given a glass of her very own dandelion wine’ – Eileen rolled her eyes – ‘which certainly put a spring in our step as we walked back to the station.’

  Emily helped herself to another biscuit. ‘So where did you go today, Mummy?’

  ‘To Coopers,’ Abigail replied. ‘Do you remember when we lived at the cottage?’

  Emily thought for a second. ‘I think so,’ she said. ‘Where I always collected the eggs? But why didn’t I come with you?’

  Suddenly, Eileen said, ‘I’m hungry! Let’s buy fish and chips for supper. Would you like that, Emily?’

  ‘Yes!’ Emily exclaimed. ‘I’ll lay the table. But no vinegar for Mrs Gladys and me.’

  Enjoying their milky drinks much later in Gladys Matthews’ room, Eileen sat with her mother trying to fill in all the details as to why Abigail had been summoned to Coopers.