The Bomb Girl Brides

by Daisy Styles

  As the sky darkened and the twittering birds on the moors grew quiet, the tired girls lit the wood-burner, then sat around it drinking brandy and smoking cigarettes.

  ‘What an auspicious day to be born,’ Julia sighed, as she savoured the heat of the spirit slipping down her throat. ‘The sixth of June 1944: the day we finally routed the Germans!’

  ‘Obviously we missed all the news bulletins,’ Rosa said with an ironic smile. ‘But tell us,’ she urged. ‘Tell us the news.’

  ‘There were bulletins throughout the day,’ Maggie said. ‘A cheer went up when Churchill announced that troops had been dropped behind enemy lines.’

  With her green eyes burning bright with excitement, Julia exclaimed, ‘Four thousand ships, along with several thousand smaller crafts, crossed the English Channel! Imagine what a sight that must have been.’

  ‘It’s happening,’ Rosa said with a sob in her voice. ‘Dear God, it’s finally happening.’

  Julia suddenly jumped up and switched on the wireless set. ‘We mustn’t miss the nine o’clock news,’ she cried.

  It took a while for the old set to warm up; after a series of annoying crackles and beeps, they finally heard the newsreader’s report:

  ‘All still goes well on the coast of Normandy. Fighting is going on in the town of Caen, while the Allied navies bomb the German coast defences in support of our troops. Our great air-borne landings, the biggest in history, have been carried out with very little loss.’

  ‘Thank God for that!’ Maggie gasped with tears in her eyes.

  When the news ended, Julia raised her glass. ‘To all our brave boys on the French beaches,’ she cried.

  Nora, who was in floods of tears, sobbed, ‘God bless and keep them safe.’

  ‘And God bless our little D-Day twins!’ Rosa said with a fond smile.

  Raising their mugs, they chinked them together as they said in earnest unison: ‘PEACE!’

  Epilogue

  Spirits were high on the Phoenix bomb line in the week that followed the D-Day landings.

  ‘That’s shut up Herr Bloody Hitler,’ one of the women crowed in the canteen.

  But a week later Hitler lashed back with his first V-1 bomb attack on London: the Buzz Bomb which hit Bethnal Green, killing six civilians and injuring many more.

  ‘Jerry’s not going to go down without taking a lot of innocent buggers with him,’ Malc growled angrily when they heard the grim news on 13 June.

  Spirits sank, then soared again when, a few weeks later, news came through of US troops liberating Cherbourg; and shortly after that British and Canadian troops captured Caen.

  ‘It’s like being on a roller-coaster,’ Julia exclaimed. ‘You don’t think you can go any higher, then suddenly you’re ricocheting back down again.’

  Though horrifying stories and film footage of Hitler’s death camps had been in circulation for some time, more news of further atrocities were flooding into the public domain. The horrifying images were unbearable for anybody to look at for long, but for Rosa they were pure torture.

  ‘Oh, God!’ she sobbed in front of her friends, who could only comfort her with tender words of loving reassurance. ‘When will this hell be over – when will I know if my family are alive or dead?’

  ‘You must stay strong,’ Julia urged.

  ‘You’ve been strong for so long,’ Maggie reminded her weeping friend. ‘Don’t give up now, lovie – not now when we’re winning. Be strong for just a bit longer,’ she implored.

  Hardly a day went by when Rosa didn’t take Julia to one side to ask, ‘Any news?’ Or ‘Why is it taking so long? The sub was due back in Southampton round about the time we saw Hugo in London.’

  ‘Hugo said the sub would surface only if there were no more missions scheduled,’ Julia reminded her. ‘Who knows where it went after picking up POWs on the Belgian coast?’

  Rosa’s edginess, combined with her highly emotional state, were in the forefront of Julia’s mind when she finally did receive a telegram from Hugo. It was written in the same cryptic form as before:

  Mother’s birthday present should arrive shortly,

  she apologizes for the delay, she’s not been well

  since she got back home.

  Regards

  H

  Julia’s heart skipped several beats. It didn’t take a genius to decode the message: Gabriel was in England but hadn’t been able to make contact for some reason or another; illness perhaps, or maybe an injury. Julia’s thoughts were in turmoil; should she tell Rosa now and risk the chance of her bolting off in a wild attempt to find her brother? Julia sighed. For the second time in her life she felt guilty about playing God with Rosa: who was she to decide when was the right time to tell the poor anguished girl that her brother was alive?

  Julia’s decision was further complicated by the fact that Kit and Ian had asked both Rosa and Arthur to be present at the baptism of their D-Day twins – aptly named Joy and Hope. Arthur and Stevie were due to arrive in a few days for the christening, and Rosa (when she wasn’t working) was busy helping Kit. Seeing Rosa so happy and excited was what finally swung Julia’s decision to delay; best to get the christening over with, then break the news.

  When Arthur arrived on a short leave with his son, Rosa thought her heart would burst with happiness. The sight of Arthur’s tall, lean body made her pulse race; his face, though scarred from so many accidents, was still strikingly handsome and his blond hair (now shot with silver) fell in a charming boyish sweep over his stunning blue eyes. There was no doubting now how she felt about this man. But dare she hope her feelings could ever be returned?

  Laughing, Arthur greeted Rosa with a huge hug. Without a doubt she could have stayed in his embrace for a very long time, but a little hand reaching up to Rosa instantly made her drop her hold on Arthur.

  ‘Stevie!’ she gasped, as the little boy grasped her skirt and hauled himself upright. ‘You can stand!’ she cried in delight, sweeping him into her arms and covering his cherubic rosy cheeks with warm kisses. ‘Nearly one year old, and you can stand, big man!’ she exclaimed joyfully.

  ‘He’s been pulling himself up for a week now,’ Arthur told her proudly. ‘He’ll be walking soon, running circles around us.’

  Arthur led her and his son into Kit’s beautiful summer garden, fragrant with roses, lilies, delphiniums and phlox.

  ‘Let’s sit down and have a little time in private,’ he murmured, as he led her to a low drystone wall where they sat with Stevie pressed warmly between them. Rosa was more than happy to be alone with Arthur, though she was quite sure he would hear her heart hammering in her chest.

  ‘How was your journey?’ she asked shyly.

  ‘Not bad,’ he said, as he took a packet of Pall Malls from his pocket.

  When she noticed how much his hand trembled as he lit up two cigarettes and handed one to her, Rosa’s heart contracted with love for him. ‘Poor lamb,’ she thought tenderly. ‘He seems a total nervous wreck too!’

  Fortunately, innocent, guileless Stevie reached up to lace his chubby little arms around Rosa’s neck. ‘Squeeze Rosee!’ he chuckled.

  ‘Squeeze Stevee!’ she joked and stood up, dancing him round in a circle. With the baby on her hip, she laughed as she held out her hand to Arthur. ‘Come on, let’s go and look for butterflies!’

  After the christening in Pendleton Church, everybody made their way to Yew Tree Farm, where Kit and Ian had laid on a splendid spread. Malc, Ian and Arthur offered lifts in their cars, but the biggest surprise was Peter driving up in his new Ford, which he’d had specially adapted for him to drive. Nora was beside him looking like the Queen on her way to the races!

  ‘Can you believe it?’ she cried, jumping out of the car so others could hop in. ‘Peter’s driving and’ – she paused as she turned to her beaming fiancé – ‘you tell them, lovie,’ she urged.

  ‘I’ll be discharged next week and lodging with Nora’s dad till we find a nice place of our own,’ Peter added with a l
ittle manly swagger.

  ‘Make sure you live near Polly,’ Maggie teased. ‘Otherwise you’ll never see Nora! You know she prefers pigs to folks,’ she joked.

  When the guests, including the babies and the toddlers too, were packed into all the available cars, the convoy set off over the moors, which were awash in pale-golden sunshine and loud with the song of skylarks.

  As Arthur gazed at Rosa in the passenger seat, cradling his sleeping son in her arms, he was struck by how perfect they looked together. After the death of his wife, he’d never expected to trust another woman with his only child, but right from the beginning, even when he was a baby, Stevie had chosen Rosa to love. Arthur had always admired Rosa – she was a strong, clever, talented woman – but he was now more than aware that every time he saw her his feelings for her were growing stronger and stronger, to such an extent that he’d recently taken to dreaming about her! He’d been pleased for her when she told him she was engaged, but he had to confess he’d been even more pleased when he heard she had called it off. But did he dare to hope that a beautiful woman like Rosa would want a middle-aged, heart-broken widower?

  The christening tea was a treat: the fruits of Kit and Ian’s garden and vegetable plot graced the table that happy Sunday afternoon. Apart from the usual sandwiches spread thinly with meat paste, there were a couple of fruit pies and jellies made from Kit’s blackcurrants and redcurrants; bottled gooseberries had been made into a fruit crumble; and there were just enough eggs from Kit’s hens to make a few custard tarts too. Their neighbouring farmer had generously donated a round of his own soft, creamy Lancashire cheese and two bottles of heady damson wine.

  The little girls slept sweetly throughout the meal, side by side in the big Silver Cross pram that had a fringed canopy over the hood to keep the warm sun off their faces. Though it was early days, Joy was beginning to show signs of having Kit’s dark hair, whilst Hope had her father’s tawny brown colouring. Arthur and Rosa had cooed over the little girls throughout the service, and now smiled at them as they lay sleeping peacefully; without saying a word to each other, both were thinking the same thought: when would they have children of their own to love?

  Arthur had to leave after tea in order to drive back to Dundee in the car he’d borrowed. After packing his and Stevie’s luggage into the boot of the car, he bade a fond farewell to the twins and their doting parents.

  ‘Come back soon,’ Kit begged. ‘We miss you so much.’

  ‘Not as much as I miss you,’ Arthur said, as he kissed her goodbye. ‘I had to go as far north as Dundee to realize all the riches I’d left behind here.’

  ‘And we all know which richness in particular you’re talking about,’ Ian teased as he watched Arthur’s eyes turn to Rosa, who was sitting in the car with Stevie bouncing on her lap.

  Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Arthur opened up his heart to Kit and Ian, and with tears in his eyes he blurted out, ‘After Violet I thought I would never love again. But you two know I do, don’t you?’

  ‘We could see it coming,’ Ian said with a knowing smile. ‘And I can’t say that we’re sorry.’

  Kit, who’d known Violet well, also smiled at Arthur. ‘I’m sure Violet is looking down from heaven and blessing you,’ she said, fighting back tears. ‘She would want it no other way.’

  Waving goodbye to all the guests, Arthur drove Rosa to the cowshed, where he planned to say his goodbye to her in private, but, as they bounced down the cobbled road and neared the cowshed, all the colour drained from Rosa’s face. A noise like a painful groan burst from her lips when she saw a man sitting on the cowshed doorstep; hearing the car approaching, he stood up and, squinting in the sunshine, he covered his eyes to see who was coming.

  ‘STOP!’ Rosa screamed to Arthur. ‘STOP THE CAR!’

  Rosa hardly waited for Arthur to slam on the brakes before she thrust Stevie into his arms, then leapt from the car and ran like a thing possessed towards the man, who was now running towards her. When they met they virtually fell on each other – crying and weeping, they clung on tightly as if they would never let each other go. Arthur got out of the car and, after lifting Stevie on to his shoulders, he walked slowly towards the pair, whose sobbing he could hear from a distance. When Rosa raised her tear-stained face to Arthur, he knew who the man was.

  ‘Arthur,’ she said with a catch in her throat. ‘Meet my beloved brother, Gabriel.’

  Arthur smiled in amazement; he could have been staring into Rosa’s face. Though much taller than his sister, Gabriel had the same stunning dark eyes and thick, jet-black hair. His face was marked with pain, though, and quite unlike Rosa’s delicate heart-shaped face; and he was so thin that the jacket he wore hung off his body. This man has suffered, Arthur thought with immense compassion. Taking hold of Gabriel’s right hand, he gripped it in his own and held it firmly there as he spoke.

  ‘She’s waited a long time for this moment, Gabriel,’ then adding with a catch in his voice, ‘It’s an honour and a privilege to finally meet you.’

  Shortly after, Arthur left brother and sister alone.

  ‘I have to get back, Rosa,’ he said, as he kissed her goodbye. ‘And you have much to discuss with your brother.’

  Though ecstatic to have Gabriel close by, Rosa’s sweet face dropped. ‘Oh!’ she gasped involuntarily.

  Though Arthur was desperate to pour his heart out to Rosa, he knew, like the wise and considerate man that he was, that this was not the right time for her: there were other, more important issues for her to address right now.

  ‘But please,’ he hastily added, ‘can we come and visit you again soon?’

  ‘Yes!’ Rosa exclaimed breathlessly. ‘Very, very soon!’

  As Arthur settled his son in the car, Stevie started to cry. ‘Want Rosee,’ he bawled.

  ‘Want Rosee too!’ Arthur joked, as he gave a final wave, then drove away.

  Arthur was right: there was so much to talk about! Brother and sister talked well into the night, and early the next morning Julia found them curled up beside each other on the old battered sofa, Rosa’s head resting on Gabriel’s shoulder, with his arm clasped around his sister as if he would never let her go.

  Though she was utterly exhausted, emotionally and physically, Rosa had no choice but to go to work.

  ‘Promise me you’ll be right here when I get back,’ she begged Gabriel, who laughed as he replied, ‘Don’t worry, I won’t go running back to Europe!’ He then bent to kiss her tenderly on both cheeks. ‘I’ll be right here waiting for you when you come home.’

  In the Phoenix changing room, Julia came clean with Rosa. ‘I have to confess,’ she started with a guilty blush, ‘I did get a telegram a few days ago. I was hanging on, hoping to get more information before I told you,’ she blurted out, before continuing rather shamefacedly, ‘Hugo informed me that Gabriel had been ill on arrival; he didn’t say where Gabriel was, or how he was, and I thought you’d go haring off, like you did before, and leave Arthur … and the christening …’ Julia’s voice faded away. ‘Oh, Rosa, I’m so sorry,’ she gulped, on the verge of tears.

  ‘Don’t be sad,’ Rosa said, as she gave Julia a big hug. ‘You were right, Julia – I would have run off, God knows where, but that would have been my instinct, as it was Gabriel’s to come to find me. And, in doing so, he’s met all the people I love best in the world.’

  Over their tea-breaks throughout that day, Rosa told her friends about Gabriel’s long and terrifying journey to England; she was careful not to mention Hugo’s involvement in her brother’s rescue, or how much Julia had acted as an intermediary.

  ‘What will Gabriel do now?’ Julia inquired.

  ‘Get fit, put some weight on – he’s nothing but a bag of bones,’ Rosa fretted. ‘We’re both desperate to find our family, but that will have to wait until the war is over.’ Rosa stubbed out her cheroot as she added bleakly, ‘With all that is going on right now in Europe, I pray to God they’re still alive.’

  Later that
week Arthur phoned Malc’s office and asked to speak to Rosa. ‘How’s your brother?’ he immediately asked.

  ‘Getting stronger, and he’s got work at the Phoenix, packing bombs in the dispatch room. Oh, Arthur! Isn’t it wonderful?’ she exclaimed. And then, before she could think about what she was saying, the words spilt out of her mouth. ‘All the men I love most in the world are finally in one country!’

  There was a long pause that nearly made her heart stop. ‘Well …’ Arthur said, the smile in his voice unmistakable. ‘If that’s the case, now that Gabriel is here, do you think you might have room in your life for an older man who worships you, and a little boy who dreams of you every night?’

  Rosa could hardly breathe as she stammered out her shaky reply. ‘Arthur, you have no idea how empty my life would be without you and Stevie.’

  ‘Sweetest Rosa,’ Arthur said with a catch in his voice. ‘I never thought I’d ever feel happiness like this again.’

  On hearing his heartfelt words, Rosa’s previous life flashed before her: the agony of war, the pain of separation, the loss of her family, her life as a Bomb Girl, her wonderful friends, and now the promise of a future with Arthur and Stevie. With her heart overflowing with love and gratitude, Rosa whispered incredulously into the phone: ‘Il mio amore, I can’t believe this is happening! I hardly dared even imagine that you might feel the same as me.’

  A silence hung in the air as they both waited uncertainly for the other to speak.

  ‘I was going to wait until I saw you next to ask this, but I can’t wait, my dearest. May Stevie and I dream of building a new future with you, Rosa?’ Arthur asked hesitantly.

  Rosa’s knees went so weak she had to clutch on to Malc’s desk to stop herself from falling over. ‘Oh, yes, yes!’ she cried, giddy with happiness. ‘With Violet’s blessings, you, Stevie and I have a whole new world before us.’

  Now it was Arthur’s turn to sound incredulous. ‘A new world!’ he gasped with a sob in his voice, quickly adding, ‘And, as for Violet, I know in my heart that we will have her blessing.’ Then, as if he couldn’t hold back a moment longer, he exclaimed, ‘Oh, when can I see you, darling Rosa? When can I hold you in my arms and tell you just how much I care for you?’