by Rosie Hendry
Flora jumped up at the sight of her, abandoning the dolls’ tea set she’d been playing with on the floor, and threw herself at Frankie who scooped her up into her arms.
‘Hello, Flora.’ Frankie hugged her tightly. ‘I’ve finally got Ivy’s answer, Josie.’
‘Well, is she coming or not?’ Josie asked.
‘No!’ Frankie smiled broadly. ‘She said that she ain’t taking time off work and losin’ money to come and see me get married. And I’m glad.’
‘That woman . . . ’ Josie shook her head, pursing her lips in disgust. ‘Well at least she won’t be there making a bad atmosphere. It’s for the best, but you did the right thing, ducks, in asking her.’ Josie tutted. ‘Your grandad would’ve been appalled with her, though.’ She paused and then smiled at her. ‘The important thing is you’ll have your mum there, and young Stanley to give you away as well, it’ll be lovely to see him here again.’
Frankie’s mother had been delighted to hear that she was getting married and was making the journey down from Suffolk to attend, and to meet Alastair for the first time. Having her mother there – who she hadn’t known was alive for most of her life and only discovered the truth after her grandfather had been killed in 1941 – meant a lot to Frankie, she only wished her grandparents could be there too. On top of that, Stanley was returning to Stepney for the day to give her away. He’d insisted on coming as he was the only male member of her family left and their grandad would have wanted him to do it. Frankie was delighted he’d be coming but had insisted that he should go home again that night before any bombers came back – she wasn’t going to risk him getting caught and hurt, or worse, in an air raid.
‘And Eve’s coming, too.’ Frankie was looking forward to seeing her youngest sister again, they’d developed a good relationship through their weekly letters.
‘What about the oldest one, Lizzie?’ Josie asked.
Frankie pulled a face. ‘She wouldn’t come even if I asked her, so I didn’t bother. I ain’t heard from her or seen her since I went to her balloon site when Bella interviewed the crew for one of her newspaper articles, and that’s well over a year ago now. Lizzie made it quite clear then that she didn’t want anything to do with me.’
Josie frowned. ‘The girl’s a fool. She should be glad to have a sister in London and take the chance to get to know you.’
‘I ain’t bothered, Josie. The way she behaved to me wasn’t very appealing and I don’t need any more difficult people in my life, Ivy is quite enough!’
Josie laughed. ‘I see your point. Right, let’s get this dress finished, we just need to check the hem and then I can sew it up properly.’ She smiled at Frankie. ‘You’re goin’ to look a picture in it. Your Alastair’s goin’ to think he’s the luckiest man on earth to be marrying you, and he’d be right!’
Chapter 13
Frankie stood in the kitchen of 25 Matlock Street not quite believing what was happening: here she was, wearing her wedding dress, about to leave for the church to get married, her mother was with her and Stanley was back home too. It all felt rather dreamlike, so many things that had never seemed possible coming together here and now.
‘You look beautiful,’ her mother said, adjusting Frankie’s veil so that it fell evenly at the front. ‘I’m so glad I’m here today for your wedding, I never thought I would be after what I did.’
Frankie smiled at her. ‘I’m glad too, though it does feel odd to have you here in the house. I ain’t got no memory of when you were here before, when I was a baby. Is it strange being back after all this time?’
Her mother nodded, looking around at the kitchen. ‘There’s lots still the same as when I was last here – the same clock on the mantelpiece, pictures on the walls, I keep expecting your gran and grandad to walk in.’ She sighed. ‘They would have been so proud of you today, and so would your father.’
‘Did you marry him at St Dunstan’s?’
‘No, we were married in France, at a little church near the hospital where I worked. Some of my fellow VAD nurses came and his soldier pals too.’ Her mother smiled, looking thoughtful. ‘It was lovely, and we had a brief honeymoon at the coast before we both had to go back to the war. Then a few months later I realised I was expecting you and had to leave my job and your father suggested I go home to live here and wait for him to return when the war was over . . . ’ She paused. ‘By then he’d been killed – but I’m so glad he got to see you on his last leave.’
‘Did you . . . ?’ Frankie began but stopped as Stanley came in from the back garden where he’d been to look at the chickens. ‘Is everything all right out there?’
‘Yes, the hens are fine, they’ve got plenty of water and were gobbling down the food I threw them,’ Stanley said. ‘The garden’s a lot smaller than I remember it.’
‘And you’re a lot taller than you were when you were last here.’ Frankie looked up at him as he was now several inches bigger than her. ‘That puts a new perspective on things, plus you’re used to the space of the countryside now. Are you ready to walk me up the aisle, then?’
Stanley nodded. ‘Is it time to go?’
Frankie glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. ‘A couple more minutes and then we’ll leave, I don’t want to be late.’
Most of the neighbours, whom she’d known for years, were standing out in the street waiting to see her off as Frankie, her mother and Stanley left for St Dunstan’s.
‘Good luck to you, ducks,’ one called.
‘Your fella’s a lucky man,’ another said.
Frankie smiled at them all. ‘Thank you.’
The walk to St Dunstan’s didn’t take long and luckily the weather was dry although cold, with a blue sky making the day bright and cheerful, it was perfect for a winter wedding.
Winnie, Bella and Rose were waiting for them outside the church with the parson, having left a little earlier from Matlock Street. The three of them looked lovely in their pre-war silk dresses, the colours complementing their complexions perfectly: Winnie in blue, Bella wearing wine-red and Rose in emerald green.
‘Here she is!’ Winnie said. ‘You haven’t changed your mind then?’ She winked at Frankie. ‘Though there was never any doubt of that, you and Alastair are made for each other.’
Frankie smiled at her friend. Now she was here, a whole host of butterflies were looping the loop inside her stomach and although Winnie was right about her and Alastair, she was still nervous.
‘All set?’ the parson said.
‘Absolutely.’ Frankie put her arm through Stanley’s, the young man standing up proud, looking so smart in his shirt, tie and jacket.
Her mother patted her arm and went into the church with the parson while the others got in position behind her and Stanley, ready to proceed down the aisle.
‘Remember, it’s not a race, take it slowly, Stanley,’ Winnie advised him. ‘Give everyone a chance to see how beautiful Frankie looks.’
‘Winnie!’ Bella said. ‘Stanley knows what to do, don’t you?’
Stanley nodded, looking worried at his responsibility. ‘I’ll do my best.’
‘I know you will.’ Frankie smiled at him. ‘I’m glad you’re doing this for me. I—’ The first bars of the wedding march boomed out from the church organ and the congregation stood up. ‘Time to go then.’
She glanced back at her friends who were beaming at her encouragingly and then stepped forwards and in through the church doors, her eyes fixing on the familiar and dearly loved figure of Alastair who stood at the front waiting for her. He turned to look at her before she reached him, smiling happily at her, his eyes full of love, and she returned the look knowing with absolute certainty that he was the man she wanted to be with for the rest of her life.
The inside of the windows of the pie and mash shop were steamed up and there was much lively chatter and laughing going on as everyone tucked into plates of piping hot food. Frankie sat next to her new husband and felt blissfully happy.
‘That was deliciou
s. I sometimes dreamed about a plate of pie and mash when I was in Egypt, really fancied one as a change from army rations and sand.’ Alastair speared his final forkful of pie and chewed with a look of pleasure on his face, then placed his knife and fork down on his cleared plate. ‘What?’ he asked, noticing she was watching him intently. ‘Are you all right?’ He took hold of her left hand where the golden wedding ring he’d given her shone brightly against her pale skin.
Frankie nodded, smiling at him. ‘I’m absolutely fine, very happy. You know I don’t think there are many doctors wanting their wedding reception held in a pie and mash shop.’
‘Then they’re missing out. This,’ he waved his hand at his plate, ‘is one of the delightful things that you’ve introduced me to, Frankie. I never knew what I was missing until you took me to have my first plate of pie and mash.’ He gently touched her cheek. ‘I’m very happy to be married to you. I—’
‘Aye, aye, you two, save all that lovey-dovey stuff for your honeymoon,’ Sparky said coming up behind them. ‘The boss wants you over there when you can tear yourselves away from each other.’ He laughed. ‘She’s got something for you.’
Alastair looked at her questioningly and Frankie shrugged, she had no idea what it was about, so the pair of them got up and went over to where Station Officer Steele was waiting behind the shop counter next to the owner.
Seeing them approach she tapped a spoon loudly against her cup, making everyone fall silent and turn to look their way.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, I’m sure that I speak on behalf of everyone here when I say what a great pleasure it’s been to see Frankie and Alastair marry, to share in their obvious joy at being together, and to wish them both a very long and happy marriage.’ The room erupted into clapping and cheering with a few loud whistles added to the mix. Waiting for the cacophony to settle down, she then went on, ‘On behalf of everyone at Station 75 I would like to present . . . ’ she paused for a moment as the owner of the pie and mash shop put a cake on the counter, ‘this cake, which our station cook, Mrs Connelly, has baked for you, with rations contributed by crew members.’ She tapped the white cardboard cover which from a distance looked like a perfectly iced wedding cake. ‘I’m afraid we couldn’t run to actually icing it, rations being what they are, but the cake underneath promises to be quite delicious. So, Dr and Mrs Munro . . . ’ which elicited more cheering and clapping, ‘if you’d like to do the honour of cutting your wedding cake.’
Station Officer Steele carefully removed the cardboard mock-icing cover to reveal a large sponge cake, with a filling of ruby-red jam running through the middle. She handed Frankie a large knife to cut it with.
‘Ready?’ Frankie asked her new husband, smiling at him as he put his hands over hers, and together they pushed the knife down through the light and fluffy sponge.
‘Did you know about this?’ Alastair whispered to Frankie.
‘No, not a thing!’
While the owner of the shop carefully sliced the cake up into thin portions so that everybody would have a piece, Frankie and Alastair turned to face all their friends and family.
‘Thank you, everyone, for being here with us today,’ Alastair said. ‘It’s not every day I get to marry a beautiful woman like Frankie, and I’m very glad that she waited for me to finally come home.’ Frankie’s cheeks grew warm. ‘Thank you all for giving up your precious rations to bake our wedding cake. My wife and I,’ his eyes met hers as he said this, ‘very much appreciate it.’
The room erupted into clapping and cheering again, and Frankie looked around at all those present, smiling happily at them – her neighbour Josie, her family and friends from Station 75. Each one of them played an important role in her life and having them here with her on this special day made it even better. She would remember this day for the rest of her life.
Station Officer Violet Steele wiped away her tears with a neatly ironed handkerchief, whilst waving the newlyweds off. She watched as the taxi carrying Frankie and Alastair away to begin their honeymoon drove down the street, turned at the end and vanished from sight.
‘Didn’t she look a picture, that dress we made from the silk Alastair brought ’ome really suits her. The colour’s a perfect match for her auburn ‘air,’ Josie said, wiping the tears from her own eyes. ‘Her gran and grandad would ’ave been so proud of her today.’
‘They make a lovely couple,’ Station Officer Steele said.
Josie nodded and sniffed, pulling herself together. ‘Right, I don’t know about you, but I’m parched and could do with a good cup of tea and a sit down. How about comin’ back to my house in Matlock Street for a brew?’
Violet looked around at the rest of the wedding guests who looked like they would be carrying on the celebrations for a little while yet. The pie and mash shop had closed for other customers for the afternoon and so they could stay there for a while longer, but the idea of a quiet cup of tea and the chance to sit down was most appealing.
‘Yes, thank you, I’d like that very much. I’ve never been to Matlock Street before and it will be nice to visit and see where Frankie and Rose live.’
‘Well you’re most welcome.’ Josie picked up little Flora who was looking tired, her thumb firmly fixed in her mouth, as she laid her head on her mother’s shoulder, her eyes starting to flicker with sleep. ‘Come on, this one will soon be asleep, so I can lay her down and we can put our own feet up for a while.’
As they walked down Matlock Street a few minutes later, Josie pointed out, ‘That’s Frankie’s house, number twenty-five. I’m at number five.’
The street of terraced houses was like so many in the East End and had been fortunate not to have been reduced to rubble. Station Officer Steele knew how fond of it Frankie was, and how she’d battled to hang on to her home despite having to live with the unpleasant Ivy.
With little Flora laid down to sleep, Josie bustled around her kitchen and quickly made a pot of tea and produced a packet of biscuits for them to share, spreading some out on a plate.
They sat in armchairs either side of the fireplace in the kitchen. Violet Steele sank back into the chair, a cup of tea cradled in her hands, and relaxed for the first time that day.
‘You look like you needed that as much as I did,’ Josie said, holding her own cup of tea. ‘Weddings are lovely, but they don’t ’alf take it out of you emotionally, especially when you think so much of the person getting married.’
Violet nodded in agreement. ‘I can see that you’re very fond of Frankie as well. She’s such a lovely young woman and very easy to care about. I think with all that’s happened to her, losing her grandfather the way she did and finding out about her mother, well, it’s no wonder we’ve both taken her under our wings.’
‘And don’t forget ’aving to put up with Ivy!’ Josie took a sip of tea. ‘I could swing for that woman, I really could, ’er not coming to the weddin’ was downright rude after all Frankie’s put up with from her. Gawd knows what her grandfather would have said at the woman’s behaviour, he’d be turning in his grave if he ’ad one.’
‘I think it was probably for the best that she didn’t come. From what I’ve heard of her, she may well have put a damper on such a lovely occasion; better that she kept away than spoil it for Frankie.’ Violet Steele took a biscuit from the plate.
‘Ivy’s more interested in steppin’ out with a spiv these days who can keep her in stockings and lipstick – it’s a right come-down from being married to a police sergeant.’ Josie pulled a face. ‘I ain’t sure if Frankie knows about him, she ain’t said anything and I’ve not mentioned it to her – I’m not sure if I should or not.’
‘What does your instinct tell you?’
Josie frowned. ‘Not to, she’ll find out soon enough if she has to. Ivy’s no fool, she won’t have ’im there when Frankie’s at home. In the meantime, I’m keeping an eye on Ivy. Who knows, perhaps she’ll marry him and move out, leave Frankie in peace.’ She sighed. ‘Anyway, while Frankie’s got people li
ke you and me looking out for her, she’ll be all right.’
‘A toast, then.’ Station Officer Steele held up her cup. ‘To Frankie and Alastair, and all the people who look out for them.’
‘Hear, hear.’ Josie chinked her cup against Violet’s and smiled warmly. ‘Tell me about runnin’ an ambulance station, then, what’s it really like?’
‘How long have you got? I could go on about it for hours.’
Josie looked at the teapot. ‘We’ve got as long as the tea keeps comin’ and it’s a big pot. We can drink it dry and you can tell me about how Station 75 works.’
Violet Steele smiled, she liked Josie immensely and was going to enjoy telling her tales of Station 75. ‘Well, first of all . . .’
Chapter 14
Pedalling away from Liverpool Street Station where she’d just said goodbye to Alastair, Frankie decided to head for Station 75 rather than return straight home to Matlock Street. She and Alastair had returned from a blissfully happy week’s honeymoon this morning and he’d had to leave straight away to return to his unit which, for the moment, was stationed near Cambridge. Now, after a week of being together, Frankie felt his absence badly and didn’t want to be on her own.
Saying goodbye to him had been difficult and she’d had to keep telling herself that at least he was only going as far as Cambridgeshire this time, not thousands of miles away to Egypt. There’d be chances to see each other, at least until he was posted elsewhere. She needed to focus on the positive but it was hard to wave off the man she loved with all her heart, knowing that their times together would always be limited and at the whim of the army until the war was over.
