With Hope and Love

by Ellie Dean

  The annoyance fled as Anthony smiled back at her. ‘Hello, Mother,’ he said cheerfully. ‘I thought I’d pay a surprise visit.’

  Doris fell into his arms and hugged him. ‘Oh, Anthony, darling, how lovely to see you,’ she gasped in delight. She glanced round him to the car at the kerb. ‘Are Suzie and Teddy with you?’

  ‘Not today, I’m afraid,’ he replied, stepping into the hall and closing the door behind him. ‘Suzie’s not feeling the full ticket at the moment, and Teddy’s got a rotten cold, so you’ll just have to put up with me.’

  ‘I’ll put up with you any time,’ she murmured, fondly patting his smooth cheek, and noting that although he was still her handsome son, he was looking a little drawn and tired. But as delighted as she was to see him without Suzie in tow, she was hugely disappointed he hadn’t brought her grandson with him, for she hadn’t seen Teddy since he was a babe in arms.

  ‘So this is your new home now,’ said Anthony appreciatively as he poked his head around the doors on the way to the kitchen. ‘I must say it looks very cosy.’

  She smiled. ‘If by cosy you mean small, then yes, it is. But it’s easy to run and suits me now I’ve returned to work. I’ve come to love living here, and don’t really miss Havelock Road at all.’

  ‘I expect a lot of that has to do with your neighbour,’ he teased, jingling the change in his trouser pocket just as his father used to do. ‘Will I get a chance to meet him, do you think? Give him the once-over to see if I approve of this match?’

  Doris gritted her teeth at the annoying racket of those jingling coins. ‘I don’t know about giving him the once-over, but you’ll certainly be able to meet him.’ She glanced up at the clock. ‘Have you had lunch?’

  He shook his head. ‘I was rather hoping to take you out. Didn’t want to bother you with having to cook.’

  ‘That’s very thoughtful of you,’ she replied. ‘But I already have a luncheon engagement with John and his son at the Officers’ Club, and was about to walk there when you turned up.’

  ‘Jolly good timing, then, as I can drive us over there and save you the long walk,’ he said, peering through the window into the back garden. ‘I say, Mother, you have been busy. I didn’t know you liked gardening.’

  ‘It’s mostly John’s work,’ she admitted, coming to stand beside him. ‘I just do a bit of weeding and pruning and harvest the vegetables and fruit.’ She reached for his hand. ‘Tell me about Teddy,’ she pleaded. ‘It’s been so long since I’ve seen him.’

  Anthony put his arm around her shoulders and smiled with pride. ‘He’s growing fast and becoming a bit of a menace, climbing on things and getting into cupboards. He and Suzie have coped with the move to Cambridge very well, and we’ve found an excellent nursery school which is just round the corner from our new house.’

  He reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope. ‘I brought lots of snapshots which you can keep.’

  Doris grabbed the envelope greedily and spilled the black and white photographs onto the kitchen table. She pounced on those of Teddy before turning to the ones of him and Suzie in the garden of a very smart detached house. ‘It reminds me of our old house,’ she said, peering at the snapshot more closely. Suzie was laughing at the camera, her hand resting protectively over her stomach. ‘Oh,’ she breathed. ‘Oh, I see.’ She turned to Anthony in bewildered hurt. ‘Why didn’t you tell me Suzie was expecting again?’

  ‘It’s the main reason I came down to see you, actually,’ he replied, going a little pink. ‘I know I should have written and told you earlier, but Suzie hasn’t been at all well this time, and to begin with it was all rather uncertain as to whether she might actually miscarry.’

  He put his arm around her again. ‘Sorry, Mother, but we didn’t want to tell you until we knew for certain she and the baby would be all right.’

  Doris wondered fleetingly if Suzie had brought all this on herself by going to work in that hospital instead of staying at home as any proper mother and wife would do – but of course she couldn’t say that to Anthony. ‘You poor darling,’ she soothed. ‘It must have been a ghastly worry.’

  ‘It was rather. She’s had to give up her work at the hospital and rest quite a lot, although we did manage to spend a weekend in London to attend one of the MOD functions. Of course Robert and Fran were there, so we had a very jolly time catching up. Fran’s also expecting, though it is still early days, and she told us all she’d bumped into Cissy in Oxford Street. I hadn’t realised Cissy was even in London, let alone driving a taxi about. I take it things didn’t work out with that American flier?’

  ‘Peggy told me he survived the internment but went straight home to America. It seems his fling with Cissy had been just that, and he hadn’t harboured thoughts of them getting together again. Cissy was terribly cut up about it, but she’s tough like all the women in our family and has made a new life for herself in London.’

  Doris looked at the kitchen clock again, and quickly tucked the precious snapshots back into the envelope. ‘We’ll be late if we don’t leave now,’ she said, gathering up her jacket and handbag, ‘and if there’s one thing John is a real stickler about, it’s time-keeping.’ She grinned up at her handsome son. ‘I’ve learnt that you can take the man out of the army, but never the army out of the man – and that goes for his son Michael, too.’

  He followed her down the narrow hall and waited for her to lock the front door. ‘What’s Michael like?’ he asked as they headed for the car.

  ‘A little stiff and formal, but pleasant enough,’ she replied, sliding into the passenger seat as Anthony held the door for her. ‘But I think he suffered quite an ordeal in the POW camp, so it’s understandable,’ she added, not wanting her son to be influenced by her opinion. ‘I’ll be interested to see what you make of him.’

  Anthony took his place behind the steering wheel and started the engine. ‘I’ve met a lot of chaps like that,’ he murmured. ‘The poor devils are finding it awfully hard to return to normal, everyday life.’

  ‘Michael’s actually returning to his regiment today,’ said Doris as they left Ladysmith Close and motored down the hill. ‘I think he’ll be relieved to be back in familiar surroundings after being faced with me and his father’s new life.’

  ‘It can’t have been easy for him to absorb all the changes,’ said Anthony, concentrating on driving over the hump-backed bridge and heading up the hill to the Club.

  ‘No,’ she replied thoughtfully. ‘I don’t think it was.’

  Anthony parked the car outside the Club entrance and hurried round to help his mother out. He offered her his arm. ‘I get the feeling you found it rather trying too, but let’s put on a united front and enjoy our lunch. I’m starving after that long drive from Cambridge.’

  Peggy had spent most of the day in a lather of excitement and expectation. Her Anne and the children were at last on their way home, and she wanted everything to be perfect for them, right down to the very last detail. She’d made an enormous Woolton pie for tea, and to follow there was an apple cobbler she’d put together from the fruit she’d stored last summer, which would be accompanied by a tin of evaporated milk. She’d changed the sheets on the big double bed Martin had been sleeping in, dusted and polished the furniture until it gleamed and then placed a vase of flowers on the dressing table to welcome Anne and the girls home.

  Jane, Sarah and Danuta had caught her excitement and done their bit by hoovering the carpets, cleaning their rooms and washing all the bedlinen. Danuta had scrubbed and polished the bathroom until it gleamed, and Cordelia, bless her, had taken a damp mop to the hall’s floor tiles. Daisy had been told that Anne’s children were coming, and she’d very sweetly selected a couple of cuddly toys to put in the cots so they wouldn’t be lonely in the night.

  After an early lunch of soup and toast, Sarah and Danuta accompanied Cordelia into town to look for a new hat, while Jane took Daisy off for a play on the beach so Peggy could get on and clean the basement
bedroom for Charlie.

  Peggy had to stop and almost pinch herself to believe that he really was coming home. She could have put him in the other large double room now that Brendon and his little family had moved into the flat, but she couldn’t be certain that the agent’s promises would hold water, so if their house wasn’t ready by the time their lease was up, she would have somewhere for them to sleep.

  Peggy reasoned that Charlie would be too big for the bunk beds now, so the double in what had once been Ron’s room should suit him just fine. Having cleaned the windows, swept the floor and made the bed, she smoothed the colourful eiderdown over it and then attacked the rather decrepit old chest of drawers with polish and a duster. Once she’d lined the drawers with fresh paper, she remembered the collection of medals Ron had hidden on top of the wardrobe, so she checked they weren’t still there, then dusted that inside and out as well.

  It was finally ready, but as she stood in the doorway she saw how bleak and bare it all looked, so she went into the second room that Charlie and Bob had shared before being evacuated, which felt like a lifetime ago. Peggy gave a deep sigh, remembering how young they’d been when they’d left. Rummaging through the collection of boxes that had sat on the bunk beds ever since, she discovered they mostly contained very battered toy cars, old comics and annuals, worn slingshots and tarnished toy guns that Charlie must surely have grown out of by now. But digging deeper, she found a slightly soft football, a cricket bat, and a junior fishing rod, complete with a tin of flies, hooks, weights and spare line. She didn’t know if they’d be of any interest to him now, but at least they’d make the room look more homely and welcoming.

  She placed everything neatly at the bottom of Charlie’s bed, and on her return to the other room in search of more treasure, spotted the large box which contained Bob’s precious clockwork train set. The boys had fought over it, she remembered, and had wanted to take it with them to Somerset, but Jim had been very firm about it staying here so the pieces wouldn’t get lost. Peggy smiled. It was just an excuse really, for it was Jim and Ron who’d played with it the most.

  She hauled it down to find it was covered in dust and clinging cobwebs which made her sneeze as she dusted them away. But the trains and tracks, signal boxes and carriages inside were still as good as new, so she carried it into the other room and placed it on the bed with all the other bits and pieces. Bob had jealously guarded his train set when he was younger, but as he seemed to be more interested in cows and girls now, he probably wouldn’t mind passing it on to Charlie. Or at least, she hoped he wouldn’t.

  Feeling pleased with her day’s achievements, she went up to the kitchen to make a cup of tea and savour the delicious excitement of knowing her family would soon be home. Glancing at the kitchen clock, she realised it was now almost five, and wondered if Martin had slipped indoors without her hearing him. She rather hoped he had, for there was only an hour before Anne’s train was due and he would need to shave and change into some decent clothes instead of those baggy old things he’d taken to wearing lately.

  Peggy made the pot of tea and left it to brew while she went upstairs to get washed and changed. She couldn’t hear anyone moving about up there, and prayed that Martin would turn up at the station and not lose track of time as he so often did when he was with Roger.

  Having changed into her favourite yellow frock, she slipped on sandals and dabbed on some make-up. A quick spray of scent, the addition of earrings and another brush of her hair completed her preparations, and she grinned at Jim’s photograph. ‘They’re coming home, Jim,’ she said excitedly. ‘They really are this time, and I’m so happy I could burst.’

  Chuckling at her silliness, she went back into the kitchen to take the tea into the garden and share it with Cordelia who was dozing in a deckchair after her shopping trip.

  Peggy poured the tea, then quickly gathered in her dry washing, folded it neatly into the basket and carried it inside. The ironing could wait until tomorrow. She plumped down in the deckchair and gently patted Cordelia’s hand. ‘Wake up, Cordy. I’ve made tea.’

  ‘Three already?’ she asked with a frown. ‘But we’ve only just had lunch.’

  ‘No, Cordy, it’s five o’clock and there’s a cup of tea for you.’

  ‘Do make up your mind, Peggy dear. It’s either three or five – it can’t be both.’ She reached for her cup. ‘Ah, tea,’ she sighed. ‘Just what I need after all that shopping.’

  Peggy smiled indulgently but didn’t ask about the hat, for it would have involved another convoluted explanation as Cordelia had clearly left her hearing aid turned off.

  Jane returned with Daisy fifteen minutes later, and the other two girls came back from their brief trip to the bakery for more bread. Peggy left Cordelia twittering away to the girls and quickly took Daisy upstairs to wash chocolate ice-cream from her face and hands and change her into her best dress before she checked if Martin was at home.

  To her consternation she found his room was empty, with no sign that he’d been in to get changed, but there was no time to dash off and try and find him, for she could hear Ron impatiently tooting Rosie’s car horn outside.

  The three girls had decided to stay at Beach View and see to the supper since they’d yet to meet Anne, and this was the family reunion Peggy had waited for so longingly over the years. Yet it was still a bit of a squash with Harvey taking up most of the back seat as Ron drove Peggy, Cordelia and Daisy to the station. It was also rather unpleasant, for Harvey’s excited panting steamed up the windows and filled the car with doggy breath.

  Peggy wound down the window so Harvey could stick his head out and the fresh air would clear the smell. She glanced back and waved at Bertie who was following them in his repaired and highly polished car and wished she’d elected to go with him instead. Bertie had been very good to offer to help today, for Rosie’s car wouldn’t be able to accommodate so many people on the drive home – and she couldn’t expect any of them to walk all that way after such a long journey.

  Ron pulled into the station car park, switched off the engine, and climbed out to help Cordelia. Peggy was trampled by Harvey in his eagerness to follow Ron, and when she managed to get out of the car, she discovered her dress had been horribly creased, and his claws had pulled a couple of threads. Smoothing them out as best she could, she refused to let anything mar this special day, and cheerfully took Daisy’s hand to walk to the platform.

  There was no sign of Martin, but Stan was there as always, beaming in delight. ‘It’s a big day for the Reilly clan,’ he boomed, shaking Ron’s hand and then making a fuss of Harvey. He winked at Peggy. ‘I bet those six years apart will feel like nothing once they’re home.’

  Peggy very much doubted it, for those lost years were etched into her heart, but she smiled back at him. ‘Is the train on time?’ she asked anxiously.

  ‘Aye, it is, and it won’t come any faster for all your wanting,’ said Ron, keeping a tight hold of Harvey’s collar to stop him from watering the tubs of flowers Stan had placed along the platform.

  Anne felt the first stir of excitement as the scenery outside the carriage window became ever more familiar. Everyone would already be at the station by now, and she suddenly couldn’t wait to see them all again. But would Martin be there? She prayed that he would, for she’d missed him despite everything, and hoped he felt the same and would be eager to hold her again and welcome her and the children home.

  She set aside these worries over Martin and concentrated on getting the girls ready to meet their grandmother. Rose had been only months old when she’d left Cliffehaven and Emily had been born in Somerset, and although Peggy had come down to the farm to see her shortly after the birth, she knew that neither child would remember her.

  Anne tried not to think about the sadness that would cause her mother, and felt a wave of guilt wash over her as she wrestled the girls into cardigans. ‘It’ll be cold at the seaside,’ she said, remembering the chill even in the summer if the wind was coming
off the sea. ‘Now do sit still, you two, and let me sort out these hair ribbons.’

  Rose enjoyed having her hair brushed and sat patiently as Anne retied the ribbons, but Emily squirmed and whined, and the simple task took much longer. ‘Good girl,’ she said finally. ‘Why don’t you kneel up next to Rose and look out of the window? There are lots of things to see.’

  She looked at Charlie and handed him the hairbrush. ‘Your great mop could do with a brush too,’ she said. ‘Mum won’t see how handsome you are with all that hair flopping over your eyes.’

  Charlie ran the brush haphazardly through the dark tangle and handed it back. ‘Will Grandad be there to meet us?’ he asked with the now familiar adolescent break in his voice, and the hint of the soft burr of Somerset.

  ‘I expect so,’ said Anne. ‘He’ll probably have Harvey with him too. Do you remember Harvey?’

  ‘Of course I do,’ Charlie replied indignantly. ‘He and I had great adventures with Grandad in the woods and on the hills, but I expect they’re both too old now to get up there any more,’ he added wistfully.

  ‘I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that both are still in fine fettle, and could probably walk you to a standstill,’ Anne replied with a wry smile. She eyed his jumper and old corduroys. ‘I do wish you’d worn something smarter,’ she sighed. ‘You look as disreputable as your grandfather in that get-up.’

  Charlie grinned. ‘That’s better than looking like a stupid schoolboy in a cap and blazer,’ he retorted. ‘And if I look like Grandad, then I’ll take it as a compliment. He was always my hero.’

  ‘More than Dad?’ asked Anne with a frown.

  Charlie bit his lip. ‘Dad was terrific in a different way,’ he replied. ‘And now he’s out in Burma fighting the Japs, he’s a real hero too, with medals and everything, and when it’s my turn to go to war, I want to be just like him.’