A Mother's Love

by Katie Flynn

  Aidan arched an eyebrow. ‘So you’re not even slightly interested in Gwen?’

  ‘Nothing’s changed since the last time you brought her name up. I’ve always thought of her as Ellie’s mate.’

  ‘Connor Murray, all I hear from you is talk about dating different women but you never actually do anything about it. I’ve not seen you with any other girl than Evie, and what a disaster that turned out to be.’ Reaching the Lancaster Lass, Aidan made his way to the front of the craft. ‘Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is and ask the best woman you’ve met so far out on a date? Because from where I’m standing you two are a perfect match.’

  Connor shrugged. ‘Maybe, maybe not, but either way it’s a bit late to be thinking thoughts like that. I’ll ask her when I get back, that’s if I haven’t found the next Mrs Murray in Egypt, of course.’

  Aidan rolled his eyes. ‘God give me strength!’

  Arla smiled as she handed Ellie’s letter to Archie. ‘She’s spoken to the scuffer what arrested that toerag Sid Crowther. He said Sid’s given them a full confession about robbing poor old Mrs Burgess, but says she was dead at the time and that he only did it because she owed him rent, but Ellie says they found a load of jewellery and black market stuff in the room what he’s renting down by the docks, so it’s not just her stuff he’s in the mire over, it’s all the other bits too.’

  Archie raised his brow as his eyes scanned the letter before him. ‘If I had my way the bugger’d swing for all the hurt he’s caused over the years.’

  Arla laughed mirthlessly. ‘They won’t do that, not just for some nicked stuff, and they can’t prove he left her for dead neither. But I reckon they’ll make an example of him, so with a bit of luck he’ll go away for a long time, and as Ellie said, when he does get out everyone in Liverpool will know what he did. So if he has any sense at all he’ll leave Liverpool for ever, otherwise the locals will succeed where the hangman failed!’

  Chapter Thirteen

  Dear Ellie,

  When we first arrived the fellers said it’d take us a while to get used to the heat. Well it’s been a whole year and it’s still as unbearably hot as it was the day we flew in.

  Bursting through the door to the hut, Gwen stamped her feet loudly on the floor. ‘Blimey, if this weather carries on for much longer we’re going to need a dinghy to get to the battery.’ She glanced at the epistle in Ellie’s hands. ‘Lover boy?’

  Ellie nodded. ‘If you mean Aidan, then yes.’

  Shaking the rain from her shoes, Gwen sat down on the bed beside her. ‘Why, how many other lovers does the lady have lined up?’ She dodged Ellie’s outstretched palm and continued. ‘Cheer up, cariad, a few more months and it’ll be Christmas. I know it’s not the same in wartime, but at least it’s a bit of a break in the routine.’

  Ellie nodded. ‘I wonder what Aidan and Connor will do this year? I know they were lucky enough to have some leave last year so they went to Egypt and saw the pyramids and relaxed by the pool, but I can’t see them having the same type of luck two years in a row.’

  Gwen smiled wistfully. ‘What I’d give to be lying by a swimming pool in the sun right now, glass of wine in one hand and—’

  ‘Connor in the other?’ Ellie said with a chuckle.

  Gwen giggled. ‘I don’t know what it is, but ever since he left for Africa I’ve seen him in a whole new light.’

  ‘It’s because he’s so far away. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and they’re right. Mind you, it’s only what the rest of us have been saying for ages.’

  Gwen raised her brow. ‘And what’s that, Mrs Clever Clogs?’

  ‘That you and Connor make a perfect couple.’

  Bagheera jumped down from the corporal’s bed and strolled over to Gwen and Ellie. Jumping lightly on to Gwen’s knee, he kneaded her lap before settling down to sleep. Gwen tickled him between his ears. ‘The trouble is, I can’t get the image of Evie out of my mind. She might be horrible on the inside but she comes in a beautiful package, and that’s what Connor was first drawn to, isn’t it? Only I don’t look anything like her, and whilst we may get on well as friends, I don’t think I’m his type.’

  Ellie shook her head. ‘Didn’t you learn anything from me and Aidan?’

  Gwen methodically smoothed the cat’s fur. ‘But when push came to shove Aidan wasn’t interested in her, was he?’

  Ellie chewed her lip thoughtfully. ‘Who knows what would have happened if she had pursued Aidan the way she did Connor? Besides, after a healthy dose of Evie, I don’t think pouting blue-eyed blondes are Connor’s type any more.’

  ‘What does any of it matter anyway? With Connor so far away it’s all pie in the sky.’ Gwen glanced out of the hut window. ‘If this rain keeps up we’ll have a pool of our own, which would be grand if we weren’t at the beginning of winter.’

  Leaning over, Ellie stroked the back of Bagheera’s head. ‘When this war is over I reckon we should all go to Seaforth Sands for a little holiday. It might not have pyramids but it does have a beautiful sandy beach. We can make some really big sandcastles and pretend we’re in Egypt.’

  Raising his head, the black cat yawned. ‘According to Connor, cats are sacred animals in Egypt.’ Gwen tickled him under his chin. ‘They’d love you out there, probably make you into some kind of god.’

  Ellie laughed. ‘If they treat their cats like gods they must be better behaved than him. The little blighter slept on my uniform last night, and when I got up this mornin’ it was covered in fur. It took me ages to pick it all off, then to top it off I caught him playing hunting games with one of my stockings. I’m just lucky I managed to get it off him before he laddered them again.’

  Gwen grinned. ‘He would be Bagheera, the God of Mischief!’

  Nearly two years had passed since they had last seen the Murray boys and a lot had changed in that time. With fewer air raids the men and women on the ack-ack batteries were no longer required in such large numbers, and whilst a few remained a lot had chosen to remuster, including Ellie and Gwen, who had decided to try their luck at driving.

  ‘I learned to drive a tractor on our farm,’ Gwen had said as the army truck bumped its way along the small lane that led them to their new barracks. ‘We’ll be learning to drive everything here, and we’ll get to go all over Britain. It’s going to be more exciting than sitting around night after night.’

  The girls had been sent to train in the wilds of North Wales, where they learned to drive just about every vehicle the army had to offer, and after three arduous months, when they had passed all the tests, they were thrilled to learn that they would be staying at the same camp not far from London.

  ‘We’ll get to see Buckingham Palace, St Paul’s Cathedral, and the Tower of London,’ Gwen had enthused. ‘This beats sitting around waiting to be shot at any day of the week.’

  Ellie had laughed. ‘I think just about anything beats that, but I know what you mean. I always wanted to go to London ever since I was a little girl. I used to practise my curtsey in case I bumped into the King, but we couldn’t afford the train fare.’

  ‘Join the army and see the world. Well, London at any rate,’ Gwen had chuckled.

  It had been on one of these jaunts that they had bumped into Sally, Arla’s eldest sister. Gwen and Ellie had been having their photograph taken on the steps to St Paul’s Cathedral when someone hailed them.

  ‘Coo-ee! Ellie, Gwen …’

  Recovering her uncle’s Leica camera from the passer-by, Gwen waved at Sally.

  ‘Hello, cariad. What on earth are you doing here?’

  Grinning, Sally approached. ‘I’m based in Biggin Hill, so it’s not too far away. You?’

  ‘We’re staying in a billet not ten minutes’ drive from there. Have been for the last six months,’ said Ellie.

  ‘Fancy that! All this time and we’ve only been a stone’s throw apart, yet where do we see each other?’

  Ellie laughed. ‘Because we’re drivers now, we
’re normally off in the wilds of Scotland, or windy Wales. It’s very rare we’re in our barracks.’

  ‘Not that we do anything when we get there,’ Gwen added bitterly, ‘save wait for whoever we’re driving to come out of some endless meeting.’

  ‘Or pick up a document, turn round and drive all the way back,’ Ellie agreed.

  That had been some months back, and right now Ellie was indeed waiting for the officer she was chauffeuring to come out of his meeting. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel as she glanced at her wristwatch. Three hours! She’d be lucky to get home before midnight if it went on much longer.

  She jumped as she accidentally leaned against the car horn. She looked up anxiously, expecting to see an angry officer peering from the door of the office, and was relieved to see she had not disturbed them. Leaning back, she wondered whether Gwen’s car had made it back from Scotland in one piece. The last time her friend had undergone the arduous journey, the officer she was driving had complained bitterly upon his arrival back in London.

  ‘Damned near knocked me teeth out. Didn’t anybody tell you that you should avoid potholes, not aim for the damned things!’ he had said, slamming the door so hard the glass in the windshield had vibrated.

  Gwen had marched into the NAAFI and asked for the biggest slice of anything they had left. She had addressed the room in general. ‘They give you a car with no suspension, then ask you to take some fat old bugger across the moorland in the dark. How the hell was I meant to see the potholes?’

  Now, seeing the door to the office open, Ellie got out of her seat and made her way to the front of the car. Some of the vehicles she had driven had had downright vicious starting handles that would either try to wrench themselves out of your grip or spin off, catching you across the kneecaps. It was the one part of driving that she truly hated; the Morris 8 that she was currently driving was the only car she had ever driven which behaved itself on start-up. Slotting the handle into place she wound it round a few times with ease and smiled as the engine roared into life.

  Getting back into the car, Ellie turned to the officer. ‘Ready to go, sir?’

  He nodded wearily. ‘I don’t mind telling you that when this is all over I’m not getting out of my bed for a week.’

  Knowing better than to ask him what had gone on in the meeting, Ellie acknowledged his comment with a small nod before cranking the car into gear and setting off on the long journey.

  Keeping the ride as smooth as possible so that the officer could get some well-deserved rest, Ellie turned her thoughts to Aidan and the rest of the crew of the Lancaster Lass. They had returned from Africa in preparation for the D-Day landings and Ellie had hoped that she might bump into them on her travels, but so far she’d had no such luck. So near yet so far away, she thought miserably. They may as well have stayed in Africa.

  Glancing in the rear-view mirror, she could see that the officer had tipped his cap over his eyes, and judging by the gap between his lips he was already asleep. With no hope of a natter to pass the time, she turned her thoughts to the last letter she had received from Aidan before he had returned home.

  I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed a proper cup of English tea! Funny, because I wouldn’t have said I was much of a tea drinker before going to Africa, but I am now. I must get through gallons of the stuff! They don’t do proper sausages either, and as for the bacon, I’ve thinner soles on my boots! We’ve visited a couple of cafés but they serve some really weird food out here, and I’m not a fan. Connor on the other hand would eat anything if it had enough salt and pepper.

  Giggling at the memory, Ellie’s eyes flicked to the rear-view mirror again. The officer slumbered on. The first telephone conversation she had had with Aidan after he arrived back in Waddington had been filled with mixed emotions. On the one hand she was thrilled to have him back, but on the other, she knew he was only home so that he and his crew might take part in the biggest sortie to date.

  ‘No one knows exactly what’s going on, it’s got to be the best kept secret ever, but we do know that we’ve all got a part to play and that it’s going to happen fairly soon.’ His voice had been full of enthusiasm.

  ‘I wish we could meet up, even if it was just for a day, but all leave has been cancelled until further notice,’ Ellie had said miserably. ‘I don’t understand how you’ve come back to England for the big push, yet Arla and Archie’s section are meant to be going to France! Surely they’d be more use here when Hitler launches his revenge?’

  ‘It’s hard to say. I suppose you just have to have faith that they know what they’re doing. After all, we’re just the puppets in this whole affair; it’s those in power who control the strings. I’m just grateful to be back. Pyramids and camels are fascinating, but that’s only when you’re on leave. The rest of the time it’s dust, rocks, cactus plants and sand. Give me the green grass of home any day of the week.’

  Ellie had smiled. Some of his letters had spoken of swimming pools, blue seas and extravagant statues, and it all sounded very glamorous; so much so, in fact, that she had feared he might prefer being out there and choose to stay.

  Reaching the main road that would take her most of the way back to London, Ellie cracked the window of the car open so that the cool night breeze might help her to stay awake. She would be on this particular stretch of road for the next few hours and had travelled it so often she knew it like the back of her hand.

  She flicked the wipers on as light rain peppered the windscreen; shifting in her seat she tried to get a little more comfortable, but not too comfortable. There had been more than one occasion when an exhausted driver had rested their eyes for just a moment only to find themselves swerving off the road. Determined not to be one of them, she focused on the strip of road that stretched endlessly before her.

  Aidan lay in his bed listening to the soft snores coming from Connor’s side of the room and smiled in the darkness. It was the day before the big push and RAF Waddington was awash with excitement. The heavy bomber squadrons had spent hours in the debriefing room running through the plans for the next day.

  ‘We will of course go through all of this before the start of operations tomorrow, but I think it goes without saying that this is going to be the biggest operation of the war so far, and, if we’re successful, will be a huge turning point.’ The officer surveyed the room before continuing. ‘Without bomber command this operation cannot succeed, so remember that when you’re up there.’

  Reaching out to the chair beside his bed, Aidan fumbled in the top pocket of his flying jacket. His fingers closed round a small golden ring, and he turned it over in his fingers.

  The whole time they had been in Africa all he could think of was Ellie and how he planned to propose to her the first time they met again. Some of the men in his squadron had bought their girlfriends ‘gold’ jewellery from a small shop in the kasbah, but after a while it had proved to be only gold-coloured, and the wearer soon found that her finger had turned an awful shade of green.

  Connor had thought Aidan foolish for even contemplating buying a ring which could possibly turn his fiancée’s finger green, but Aidan had made sure the shop he had purchased the ring from was reputable. The ring had not been cheap, and he had taken to carrying it everywhere he went. Not that he would admit it to Connor, but having the ring in his pocket made him feel closer to Ellie, and he had made a pact with himself that he would never let it out of his possession until the day he could slip it on to her finger.

  His mind wandered back to the forthcoming operation. If the decoys worked and the enemy went to the Pas-de-Calais the operation had a greater chance of success, but if the bluff didn’t work … He tried to put the thought out of his mind. Slipping the ring on and off his finger, he daydreamed of the proposal that he had been planning. He would take Ellie somewhere special for the day, maybe Buckingham Palace or perhaps somewhere in the Lincolnshire countryside, and when the time was right he would get down on one knee and ask for her hand
in marriage. He pictured Ellie in his mind’s eye; she would be wearing a frock so white that the sun would shine through the layers of material, making her look like an angel, and her beautiful copper hair would be loose around her shoulders.

  Placing the ring safely back in the pocket of his flying jacket, he pulled the covers up around his ears and closed his eyes. The next day would be here all too soon, and he and his crew needed as much rest as they could get. He listened to Connor, who was turning over with a snort. How his cousin could sleep with so much going on was beyond him, yet there he lay as if he hadn’t a care in the world. Closing his eyes, Aidan thought of Springdale Farm and the small barn that he intended to convert for himself and Ellie to live in once they were married. In his mind he went through the building, room by room, noting the work to be done. Slowly, he drifted to sleep.

  Ellie crossed the yard at a run, her greatcoat billowing around her, holding her wash bag over her head as she tried to keep the rain from soaking her to the skin. Bursting through the door to their hut, she heard the inevitable cry of ‘Shut that door’. Removing her shoes and coat, she tiptoed across the hut, threw the bedcovers back and climbed between the sheets.

  She prodded the underneath of Gwen’s bed. ‘Blimey, it’s blowing a gale out there, and the rain’s comin’ at you sideways. Good job the boys aren’t flyin’ tonight. I bet they wish they’d stayed in Africa.’

  Gwen looked out of the window into the darkness beyond and nodded. ‘Connor used to write that he was looking forward to feeling the rain on his face.’ She flicked over to the next page of the magazine she was reading. ‘I told him if that was the case he’d be happy as Larry when he got home and I was right, ’cos all it’s done is rain.’

  Bringing the covers up around her ears, Ellie snuggled down as best she could. ‘I don’t know how much sleep I’m going to get knowing that they’re doing this big push thing tomorrow. I wonder when we’ll know whether it’s been a success?’