Maisie had kept staring forwards but had nodded. ‘I know I’m being daft to worry my guts out like this. But I can’t help feeling I’m letting David down by not giving him a little kiddie. He’s just plain dotty over your Georgie and to deny him that . . .’ Her face had crumpled as she leant into Sarah to sob.
‘Now, now, what’s all this? Surely I’m not that scary?’ Doctor Greyson had said as he appeared round the door of his surgery. He took Maisie by the hand and helped her to stand. ‘Why all the tears, Mrs Carlisle? Let’s take a look at you and see what’s to do, shall we?’
Maisie had nodded and, without saying a word, followed Doctor Greyson. At the door to the examining room she’d looked back at Sarah and given a weak smile. Sarah had held up both hands and crossed her fingers. Please let it be good news, she’d whispered to herself. Delving into her shopping bag, she’d pulled out her knitting and tried to concentrate on the balaclava helmet she was working on. Since Freda’s brother, Lenny, had joined the navy she had helped her friend to knit items that could be sent to the brave sailors. As the needles clicked away she’d started to wonder where the lad’s ship was in the world. Pathé News, along with radio reports, had told of some fierce sea battles and she knew that Freda was more than a little worried. Hopefully there would be a letter soon, which would put their minds at rest. Thoughts of letters made her realize that before too long she would be waiting for letters from Alan. It had been hard to put on a brave face when he told her he was leaving the comparative safety of training young pilots and would be heading off to fight the enemy. As they walked back to the lychgate of St Paulinus to meet Maisie, Alan had hinted that he would be based overseas, protecting a brave island of people.
Sarah followed the newspapers enough to suspect it might be Malta, but even there in the quiet graveyard of Crayford she didn’t wish to speak of it in case they were overheard. Walls might well have ears, even in a churchyard. Instead they had spoken of how they could spend time together before Alan left to join his squadron.
Sarah was shaken from her thoughts as the door of the surgery opened and she heard Doctor Greyson’s voice giving instructions to her friend.
Maisie appeared with a big smile on her face.
‘I take it there was bad news?’ Sarah grinned.
Doctor Greyson handed a fistful of papers to Maisie. ‘Now, remember what I said. You are to take things easy and consider your child above anything else.’ He shook Maisie’s hand. ‘Now, run along home and tell that husband of yours.’
‘Yes, Doctor . . . thank you, Doctor,’ Maisie burbled as she hugged the startled man and rushed towards Sarah. ‘Guess what, I’m expecting!’
‘I’d never have thought it,’ Sarah laughed as she linked arms with her chum and they headed out of the surgery.
Outside the girls stopped and faced each other. ‘Maisie, I’m so pleased for you, especially after what you told me.’
‘I never thought it would happen and I’m going to take extra care so the baby is safe until it’s born. I’m taking no chances this time. I shall be a lady of leisure until the birth.’
‘You will?’
‘Well, perhaps some sewing and housework, but you know what I mean,’ she grinned.
‘No more Woolworths?’ Sarah asked.
‘I’ll miss Woolies but I can still visit, and once the little one arrives I’ll do my best to work a few hours. I know how short staffed Betty is. You won’t get rid of me that easily.’
‘David is going to be so thrilled. When is he home?’
‘He should be home tomorrow evening. I’m fortunate he ain’t away all the time like some men. I’d best make sure he’s sitting down when I tell him.’
‘Will you tell him what you told me of when . . . when you lost your first child?’ Sarah asked, worried that Maisie would be annoyed with her for bringing up the subject.
Maisie sighed. ‘I’ll ’ave to one day but not now. You won’t say anything?’
‘Your secret’s safe with me. I won’t tell a soul. By the way, when is the baby due?’
‘Around Christmas time. It’s going ter be a great Christmas present,’ Maisie grinned.
‘It certainly is,’ Sarah agreed.
Ruby rose from where she’d been sitting in Irene and George’s garden. Although it soothed her mind to know her son no longer had the arduous journey up from Devon every month or so to the Vickers factory in Crayford, she was sad to think he would no longer be lodging with her in Erith. At the back of her mind was the thought she now had a spare bedroom and, like her friend Vera, she would soon be expected to take in a lodger of some kind. Possibly someone who had been bombed out of their home, or perhaps a serviceman working in the area. An idea had come to her during the afternoon, but she would need to speak to Maisie and David before making any decisions.
‘Before you go, Mum, there’s something I’d like to speak to you about,’ George said as he took his pipe from his waistcoat pocket and turned it over in his hands, before leaning against a small wall that bordered the garden.
Ruby raised her eyebrows. She knew from experience that her son always fiddled with his pipe when he was nervous. ‘Cough up, George. I’ve not got all day. Young Freda will be home soon and expecting her meal and I want to walk back to Erith with Alan and Georgina.’ She also wanted to know where Sarah and Maisie had disappeared to. She knew something was afoot there.
‘This will only take a few minutes, Mum. Sit yourself down and listen, please.’
Ruby frowned but did as her son requested.
‘I’m worried about you travelling down to see our Pat. It’s a long way from Kent to the other end of Cornwall.’
‘Yes, but—’
George held up his hand to stop Ruby speaking. ‘Let me finish, Mum. It’s not a good journey, even in peacetime. Exeter had that bad air raid the other week, the one they’re calling the Baedeker Raids. Who’s to know if the Luftwaffe will target Truro or any other town in Cornwall and you will be stuck in the middle of it – and alone?’
‘But George—’
‘Mum, please. Why you’ve got this notion in your head to rush off to see our Pat and the kids I’ll never know. Can’t you write her a letter, or we could arrange a phone call? An elderly woman travelling hundreds of miles and in wartime is utterly ridiculous.’
‘Listen, George—’
‘For goodness’ sake, Mum. Pat was here over Easter. Why couldn’t you chat with her then?’
Ruby was becoming frustrated as she tried to speak to George. ‘Now listen here, George Caselton, and stop interrupting me. The reason I couldn’t talk to our Pat was because the rest of the family were at the house and she vanished as soon as she got wind of me trying to get her alone. No, it’s my time to talk,’ she said as he opened his mouth to continue. ‘I’ve been down the farm to see John and, bless his soul, he is happy as things are and I didn’t like to tell him I had my worries. So, yes, I am going down to Cornwall. The travel permits have been approved and we are going to stop off on the way down. Pat knows to expect us and our beds are ready and waiting for the end of the month.’ She stopped to take a breath.
‘Travel permits? Beds? So you’re not going alone? Don’t you think it’s foolhardy to take along one of the girls? God forbid, what if you both get injured in a raid . . . or worse?’
‘I’m not taking the girls with me. Not even one of them,’ Ruby sighed.
‘Then who?’
‘For heaven’s sake, George, let me speak. Bob offered to accompany me. He was worried about me and it seemed the perfect solution. And before you say another word, we will sleep in separate rooms and there is nothing between us. Trust me.’
‘Mum, please . . .’ George looked acutely embarrassed and glanced away. Whatever was his mum thinking? He’d admired her fighting spirit after his dad passed away and since the start of the war she’d been a tower of strength in the local community. And he liked Bob, but were they becoming too close?
Ruby could see Alan
approaching the garden gate so, quickly plonking a kiss on her son’s forehead, she pulled on her coat and reached for Georgina’s pram. ‘I’ll be seeing you soon, George, and don’t go worrying about me. I’ll be safe with Bob wherever we go – and I’ll enjoy his company,’ she added before heading out of the gate.
Alan took control of the pram from Ruby as they headed up past St Paulinus Church and took the lane towards North End and Erith. ‘Would you like to stop off and have a few minutes with Eddie?’ he asked his mother-in-law. ‘I’m in no hurry to get back.’
‘I visited on my way here, love, and said all I had to say then.’
Alan nodded and took Ruby’s arm as they crossed the road, steering the pram with one hand. ‘I see George and Irene aren’t living far from a golf club,’ he said, nodding to where a clipped green could be seen.
‘Irene will be pleased and at least if she gets her feet under the table there, she will leave our WVS section alone. She means well but, my goodness, she seems to get under people’s skins. I’ve always said that one comes up smelling of roses whatever the situation. But I’m not being charitable. Irene loves our Georgina and I swear I’ve seen a softer side to her since the little one’s come along.’
‘You could be right there,’ Alan agreed. ‘She’s always been good to me.’
‘Of course she would be. You’re a pilot officer in the RAF. She didn’t stop bragging to her snooty friends when our Sarah introduced you.’
‘I’d sooner still be a trainee manager for F. W. Woolworths than be fighting this war,’ he said with a faraway look in his eyes. ‘I’ve lost too many friends in the past few years.’
‘No doubt the young men in that German plane said the same,’ Ruby said, nodding to a rough area of the golf course where a Dornier had crashed two years previously. ‘They’re buried up on the graveyard of St Paulinus, you know.’
‘You may think it strange but I went to pay my respects,’ Alan said apologetically.
‘Not at all. I like to think the Germans would do the same for any of our lads that are killed over their country. There are always fresh flowers on the grave and locals take care of them. I hope the two boys get to go home sometime.’
Alan nodded. ‘It could be me one day. I’d hate to think of Sarah and Georgina not being able to visit my final resting place.’
Ruby reached for his arm to stop Alan pushing the pram. ‘I just knew it. You’re going to be flying again, aren’t you? Have you told Sarah?’ Ruby feared that her granddaughter would not take the news well after almost losing her husband in the early days of their marriage.
Alan pulled the hood of the pram up slightly to shade his daughter from late afternoon sunshine. ‘She took the news well. A few tears but she’s much stronger and our marriage is strong too, Ruby. I do need you to watch out for her and Mum, please. You will, won’t you?’
‘It goes without saying and your mum is as much family as you are, Alan, and will be taken care of . . . whatever happens.’ She reached out and pulled him to her, giving the lad a hug. She wished she could keep this charming young man close to her forever – or until the damned war was over and done with. Looking over his shoulder to the distant church, she was sure that the loved ones of the two German pilots must have felt the same when they waved them off to war.
‘Is that you, Ruby?’ Freda called when she heard the key rattle as it was pulled through the letter box of number thirteen.
‘It is and I hope you’ve got the kettle on,’ Ruby called back. ‘We walked back from George and Irene’s and I’m fair parched. Alan’s with me,’ she added, pulling off her coat as she popped her head around the door to the kitchen. ‘Any sign of Sarah?’
‘I’ve no idea. I’ve only just got home myself. Didn’t she go with you to see her parents’ new home?’ Freda asked.
‘She did but then left early to accompany Maisie somewhere.’
Freda frowned. ‘I shouldn’t think they’d have gone into work. How strange,’ she said, turning back to measure tea leaves into the pot, being very careful as every leaf was precious now tea was in short supply. She wondered for a moment what the secret was and why she hadn’t been included. However, as she was halfway through her training course to be a dispatch rider for the Fire Service she was hardly home these days. Another week and hopefully she’d have passed the course and be back dividing her time between her job at Woolworths and the fire station in nearby Cross Street.
‘Georgie’s still fast asleep,’ Alan said as he took the teapot from Freda and placed it on the kitchen table. ‘I’ve left her in the hallway. I’ll have this and then get off home before she wakes and wants feeding.’ He looked at his watch. ‘Mum will be home from Woolies and be preparing tea. God forbid if it spoils before we are home.’
‘Make sure you have a few words with Maureen and tell her what’s happening. She won’t want to be the last to hear,’ Ruby gently scolded.
Freda looked between the two of them, sensing something wasn’t right. ‘Oh, Alan, are you back on flying duty already?’
Alan nodded. He liked Freda; she was like a younger sister to them all. She’d grown up in recent years and Alan hadn’t been surprised when she’d decided to ride a motorbike; he thought she’d be flying an airplane before long, like the women he’d seen transporting planes between airfields. ‘Yes, but I wasn’t called back on duty. I’ve volunteered for special duties,’ he said as both Freda and Ruby opened their mouths to speak. He raised his hand. ‘Don’t ask. I can’t say any more than that.’
‘You’re mad,’ scolded Ruby.
‘You’re brave,’ sighed Freda. ‘You’re going out to Malta, aren’t you?’
‘Freda, you know I can’t say, and besides, you are making wild guesses.’
‘I’m just putting two and two together. You know I hardly miss a news broadcast these days and always make sure I get to the Odeon in time to see the latest Pathé News. Besides, I think Lenny’s ship’s somewhere out that way,’ she said defiantly.
‘Lenny’s not been silly and put something in his letters, has he?’ Ruby asked. ‘You know there’ll be hell to pay if he has. I’d have thought he would have kept his head down after what he’d been through in the past . . .’
‘He hasn’t, I’ll show you,’ she ran upstairs and came down within minutes with a bundle of letters from her younger brother. ‘Take a look,’ she said, placing them in front of Ruby.
‘Lovey, I don’t want to read your private letters. I believe you,’ she said, pushing them back to Freda.
‘What makes you think Lenny’s out there?’ Alan asked. ‘Don’t tell me the pair of you have a secret code.’
Freda grinned. ‘Nothing half as clever. It was only when I was steaming stamps off the envelopes to add to the Brownies’ collection that I noticed something written underneath the stamps of Lenny’s last three letters. Look.’ She checked the dates of a few envelopes and held them up. ‘I thought it best to keep the stamps to cover what he’d written.’ She flicked back the half-attached stamp to show an M, an A and an L written on three of the envelopes.
‘Silly boy,’ Ruby huffed. ‘I hope you’re not doing anything as daft?’
‘I just told him to try and let me know where he is,’ Freda pouted. ‘He’s the only relative I have apart from Mum and she’s not bothered about us, and hasn’t been for some years since I moved south. You’re more my family than she is,’ Freda added sadly.
Alan smiled. ‘I suppose you’ll have to wait for the next letter to be sure, but to be on the safe side I’d burn the envelopes if I was you. No sense in getting in trouble or Lenny being put in irons for something silly like this.’
‘He could always be signalling that he’s got malaria,’ Ruby said with a grin.
Freda giggled. ‘By the time I received the final letter he’d be cured,’ she joked. ‘But seriously, Alan, be careful. From all accounts it’s horrendous out there.’
‘It horrendous everywhere, kid,’ he said, using the affectionate
name he’d given her since she first moved to Alexandra Road. ‘It’s called war.’
They were finishing their tea as someone hammered persistently on the front door, causing Georgina to awake and start to cry. Freda was the closest and rushed to soothe her goddaughter whilst reaching past the pram to open the door.
Vera pushed past the pram without a word to Freda and hurried into the kitchen, her face a mix of distress and anger. ‘They’ve arrived and they’re only bloody foreigners! I can’t understand a word the woman said. I reckon I’ve got spies under my roof. What can I do, Ruby? Whatever can I do?’
Ruby encouraged her friend to sit down, pouring a cup of tea and sliding it across the table to Vera. ‘Now, calm yourself down and tell me what all this commotion is about. You’ve given Georgina a fright banging on the door like you did.’
Vera’s hand shook as she lifted the cup to her lips and grimaced. ‘This is stone cold.’
‘It’s good for shock. Now, tell me what has happened?’
‘They arrived. The people the government said I got to have sleep under my roof. Oh, Ruby, I’ll be murdered in my bed. They’ve sent foreign spies.’
Freda looked puzzled. ‘Are you sure about this, Mrs Munro? We have many allies in the war from other countries. They aren’t spies,’ she said as she rocked the pram to pacify Georgina.
Christmas at Woolworths Page 10
