Ellie sat next to Lillian, who couldn’t stop grinning.
‘The sun’s shining on you today,’ said Ellie.
‘Sam … I mean, Corporal Wesley … has asked me to the pictures—again.’
The truck filled with oohs and excited chatter about what Lillian should wear. There were offers of dresses and hats and various shades of lipstick. Ellie rested against the canvas, still unsure how to have a foot in both worlds. It had been a daily struggle to change from highly classified work to walking down the street like an average person minding her own business. At first, she’d doubted the reasoning behind the women staying together at the AWAS barracks, but now she could see the sense in it. Going back to camp and being able to talk about the events of the day helped them all cope with the secrets they were bound to keep. With her safety net at the barracks, Ellie could then be with friends like Kat, Louis and Mrs Hanley and not have to worry about accidentally letting her country’s secrets slip. It still went against her nature to keep secrets, but this was her job and it had no end.
Lillian started singing ‘Deep in the Heart of Texas’ and the women quickly joined in at the top of their voices.
Ellie laughed and sang along as the truck made its way to the barracks. People walking along the streets waved as the truck drove past. Ellie smiled, realising these folk could never have guessed this group of happy women were working with some of Australia’s—and the world’s—most explosive secrets.
The truck turned off the bitumen and bumped along the dirt road, across the cattle grid and through the gates. Ellie alighted and made a beeline for her hut.
‘Ellie!’
She turned to find Lillian waving her over. ‘Come and join us.’
‘I just need a moment.’
‘Come on.’ Lillian’s happy demeanour was contagious. Maybe Ellie would be better off spending time with her AWAS friends rather than worrying about the state of the world.
Ellie made her way to the rec hall where the rest of the merry band sat around tables with a couple of bowls of fruit. She picked up a banana, peeled it and took a bite. The delicious freshness danced across her tongue.
Lillian turned to Ellie. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever asked where you’re from.’
‘Longreach,’ said Ellie. ‘Although I must say Brisbane has captured my heart.’
Florry said, ‘Ellie can recite the alphabet backwards ten times over and do it perfectly.’
‘Show us!’ said Joy.
‘Nah, it’s nothing special.’ Although Ellie loved this moment of bonding with the girls in her unit.
‘Go on.’ Florry gave her a ‘you’re not getting out of this’ look.
‘Fine.’ Ellie took a deep breath. ‘Z Y X W V U T S R Q …’ She continued until she’d completed it ten times and she didn’t stumble once.
‘That’s incredible!’ Cassandra laughed. ‘No wonder you got in if you’re that good with letters.’
‘I guess,’ said Ellie. ‘What about you? Where did you grow up?’
‘A country girl. My dad’s a minister in the church and I once thought I’d happily marry the minister’s son in the next town but …’ She shrugged.
‘But?’ asked Ellie.
‘But it didn’t turn out that way.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Ellie. ‘When did he die?’
‘Oh no, he’s alive and kicking.’ Cassandra shook her head and smiled. ‘I just discovered I loved Brisbane more than I loved him so I ended it.’
‘Plus you love the endless supply of soldiers to gawp at.’ Joy snorted.
Cassandra blushed. ‘I won’t deny it’s a benefit of living here.’
‘Why did you join AWAS?’ asked Ellie.
‘Well,’ said Cassandra, ‘I wanted adventure, to get out of my hometown and find out what it was like to be independent. I come from a large family and everyone knows everyone in town so there’s no boundaries about privacy. The word “secret” isn’t in the dictionary where I grew up.’ Cassandra laughed. ‘I guess I have a lifetime of secrets now.’
‘You certainly do,’ said Ellie. ‘What about you, Joy?’
‘City girl born and bred. Strict Catholic upbringing in Sydney, mass twice a week. Although my parents let us kids run wild. There’s five girls and one boy. I think my parents expected the church to whip us into shape but that didn’t quite happen. I learned my business skills from my brother when we were kids. He used to swipe flowers from the neighbours’ gardens at night and sell bunches of them at his street stall after school.’
‘Didn’t the neighbours suspect it?’ asked Florry.
‘I think they did but they admired his gumption and let it slide.’ Joy gave a sad smile. ‘He’s probably got some side business going on in France at the moment.’
‘While you run yours,’ said Cassandra. ‘Speaking of which, do you have my delivery?’
‘Tomorrow. Promise.’
‘Mine too?’ asked Lillian.
‘Yes, yes,’ sighed Joy. ‘But don’t ask me for more silk stockings. My contact doesn’t have any at the moment and it could be some time before we have them again.’
‘Ooh. Your “contact”.’ Lillian threw a grape at Joy. It bounced off her forehead. ‘Is he handsome?’
‘He’s a business partner, nothing else. Besides, he’s not my cup of tea.’
‘As long as I get my perfume, I’m happy.’ Cassandra made a show of smelling under her arms. ‘I should probably bathe in it.’
‘Shh, you lot!’ Lillian looked around but it was only them in the rec hut. ‘Let’s not draw attention to Joy’s business, okay?’
‘Exactly,’ said Joy. ‘So, to answer your question, Ellie, I joined because I missed my brother and want him home as soon as possible. When the war first started I was going to the local hall and putting together care packages for soldiers but it didn’t feel like I was doing enough. When I joined AWAS my mother nearly had heart failure then realised my feet would be well and truly planted on Australian soil as women aren’t sent overseas. Although if she really knew what I did now, she’d have conniptions. Especially as I was the kid who was the tattletale.’
Cassandra grabbed a grape and popped it in her mouth. ‘I bet the kids in the neighbourhood hated you for being a dibby-dobber.’
Joy shifted in her seat and concentrated on her clasped hands on her lap. ‘I wasn’t popular, not like my brother.’
‘So how did you get recruited for this job if you’re bad at keeping secrets?’ asked Florry.
‘Leopards can change their spots,’ Joy said with conviction. ‘Anyway, that’s enough about me. What about you, Lillian?’
‘I didn’t learn to read until I was twelve.’
‘Really?’ Cassandra leaned forward. ‘Why not?’
‘Letters just never made sense. Then I had a teacher who sat down with me every day after school and showed me patterns. Everything then fell into place. It was like I’d been knocking on a door for years and no one had bothered answering. And my teacher helped me find the key.’
‘Wow,’ said Cassandra. ‘Your teacher changed your life.’
‘She certainly did. I doubt I’d be working with you gals if it wasn’t for her.’
‘Well, I, for one, am very glad your teacher helped you find that key,’ said Ellie. ‘It wouldn’t be the same without you.’
‘Certainly wouldn’t,’ said Joy. ‘Florry, you haven’t dished the dirt on yourself.’
‘All of you, including Ellie, know my story. There’s nothing new to tell,’ said Florry.
‘Tell us again,’ said Joy.
Florry looked at Ellie. ‘Want to be my biographer?’
‘Sure,’ said Ellie, hoping to lighten the mood. ‘Florry grew up in Torrens Creek, was a scallywag as a kid and was always getting told off for daydreaming at school, especially when she should have been doing maths.’
‘I had done the maths, everyone else just took longer,’ protested Florry.
‘Am I telling this or you?’ jo
ked Ellie.
Florry laughed. ‘Don’t let truth get in the way of a good story.’
‘Yeah, yeah. Anyway, Florry, whose real name is Florence—’
‘Ugh. I hate my name.’
Ellie cleared her throat. ‘No interruptions, please. Now, as I was saying, Florry is very good at maths although a terrible student given her daydreaming, however she knows the mechanics of tractors and planes like she was the one who invented them. She also is a brilliant cook and she makes a mean sponge cake that has everyone going back for seconds and thirds. Oh, and’—Ellie was on a roll—‘she can read upside down.’
‘What?’ laughed Lillian. ‘I didn’t know that!’
‘Please, do it,’ said Joy.
Lillian opened a nearby novel and pushed it towards Florry so it was upside down.
Florry looked at the page and read fluently, just like it was the right way up. Lillian, Joy and Cassandra had their mouths open and even Vivian, who was sitting at the table next to them, put down her own book and watched. Florry turned the page and kept going.
‘That’s incredible!’ said Lillian. ‘How did you learn that?’
‘Even though the teacher gave me more work than the other kids, I got through that quickly. So one day I opened a book, realised it was upside down and I challenged myself to read. It took some time but I soon became adept at it.’
‘Do you think that helped train you for this work?’ asked Cassandra.
‘Maybe?’ said Florry. ‘Identifying patterns is a big factor in what we do.’
‘Plus a smidge of intuition,’ said Ellie.
‘Why did you leave Qantas to join AWAS?’ Lillian asked Florry.
‘Someone who had trained in signals with Mrs Mac thought I’d be good at it.’ Florry took a sip of tea.
‘I trained with her!’ said Joy.
‘Who’s Mrs Mac?’ asked Ellie.
‘She’s an amazing lady and she doesn’t mind being called Florence, unlike others.’ Joy winked at Florry. ‘Mrs McKenzie, or Mrs Mac as she’s affectionately known, founded the Australian Women’s Flying Corps with some other women. She was Australia’s first female electrical engineer and first female amateur radio operator, and taught Morse code to the women in the corps.’
‘When was this?’ asked Cassandra.
‘A few years ago. Maybe 1938? Mrs Mac and her husband set up the Women’s Emergency Signalling Corp and continued teaching women Morse code with a key as well as with lamps, and also semaphore.’
‘Semaphore is flags, right?’ asked Ellie, intrigued.
‘Yes. I used to go to Mrs Mac’s school after my work in the department store in Sydney,’ said Joy. ‘Mrs Mac’s school was on a couple of different floors and we used to message each other throughout the building. We weren’t funded by the government—Mrs Mac did this purely voluntarily—but we were expected to be professional and wore green uniforms, a brown belt and black blazer. We rather did look the part.’
‘What made you join Mrs Mac?’ asked Cassandra.
‘One of the lasses I worked with had been going there on her lunch breaks and had enjoyed it, so I thought “why not?” I didn’t think I’d love it so much. She taught us to listen to Morse like it was music.’
‘That’s exactly how I hear it!’ said Ellie. ‘So how did you go from Mrs Mac to here?’
‘Commander Jack Newman from the Royal Australian Navy visited the signals school and couldn’t believe how fast and accurate Mrs Mac’s girls were. He said we were almost as good as his men who had spent years honing their skills.’ Joy’s smile was wide. ‘Mind you, Mrs Mac wasn’t impressed with Commander Newman’s comment and said her girls were “as good as the men, if not better”. And you know what? After a few more visits to Mrs Mac’s Commander Newman agreed with her!’
The room filled with laughter.
‘Well, of course we’re at least as good as the men!’ laughed Lillian.
‘We know that,’ Florry said, ‘but not everyone sees it the same.’
‘Pft,’ Joy waved her hand. ‘One day they’ll come to their senses. So … I received some of the best training there is and even though I didn’t follow Mrs Mac’s other graduates by joining the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service, I was recruited by AWAS and joined Central Bureau. I often wonder if some of the WRANS girls are doing top-secret work just like us. Oh, and last I heard Mrs Mac is now training servicemen on signals for the navy.’
‘Men?’ Lillian asked.
Joy gave a nod.
‘Wow.’ Lillian scratched her head. ‘Look at us gals, changing the world.’
‘We sure are,’ said Florry. ‘I’ve heard there are women up north working in signals. Maybe some of them are Mrs Mac’s girls.’
‘Are they part of Central Bureau?’ Lillian asked.
‘Maybe? Everything is locked down tight so we may never know how many women are working in secret like us.’
‘I wish we knew for sure but I guess that’s the whole point. We can never talk about what we do,’ said Ellie.
‘Ever,’ Florry added.
‘We know, we know.’ Joy tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling. ‘No medals in this war.’
‘What?’ asked Lillian.
‘We’ll never be publicly recognised for what we do,’ Joy said. ‘Which is fine, that isn’t why we do it. But still …’
Ellie looked over at Vivian who was at the other table, book in her hands.
‘And you, Vivian?’ Ellie asked.
Vivian looked up, feigning surprise, like she’d just noticed the other women were there.
‘What about me?’
‘Where are you from?’
‘Does it matter?’ asked Vivian.
‘Who knows how long we’ll be together—isn’t it better to get to know each other?’
‘Queenscliff.’ Vivian sighed, as if it was a huge effort.
‘New South Wales?’ asked Joy.
‘No, Victoria. On the Bellarine Peninsula. Small fishing town, not much to do. Nice beaches, though, if you like getting sand in your shoes.’
‘Why did you join AWAS?’ ventured Ellie.
‘To get rid of the enemy—by any means.’
Ellie was taken back by the venom in Viv’s tone. Trying to shift the conversation, she said, ‘I see you like reading.’
Viv looked at the book in her hands like she had just realised it was there. ‘Yes.’
Ellie tried to get a better look at the title but Viv didn’t hold it up. ‘Mysteries?’
‘Sometimes. Although I do like a good romance.’
Cassandra raised her eyebrows. ‘Really?’
‘Why would that be so strange?’ A wall of defensiveness shot up around Vivian.
‘There’s nothing wrong with it,’ Cassandra said with haste. ‘I just didn’t pick you as a romantic.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Vivian put down her book.
‘Nothing, honest.’ Cassandra backpedalled. ‘We all love a good romance, don’t we, girls?’
‘Sure we do.’ Joy looked directly at Lillian. ‘Speaking of which … How’s Sam? Has he proposed yet?’
Cassandra slapped her knee and snort-laughed.
Lillian turned bright red. ‘We’ve only kissed once.’
‘Da-da-da-da-da,’ hummed Cassandra.
‘Oh shush!’ Lillian laughed. ‘Yes, I’m changing the subject. So … I’ve been thinking about how we sit in that hot garage day and night. Safe to say we all agree it’s tough.’ She held up her hand. ‘I know our men are doing it tougher, but how about we make it homier?’
‘Like some nice cushions and a rug?’ Vivian quipped.
‘No rug, no cushions.’ Lillian seemed to ignore Vivian’s dig. ‘Why don’t we give ourselves an unofficial name? Something just for us? The cipher office sounds boring. So does Central Bureau.’
‘Like what?’ asked Florry.
‘The Garage Girls.’ It rolled from Ellie’s tongue like it had been sitting there, jus
t waiting for the right moment to appear.
The women turned to face her. Florry smiled but Vivian screwed up her face like she’d tasted something bitter.
‘That’s brilliant!’ Lillian slapped the table.
‘I love it,’ Florry said and it was followed by nods of agreement. Vivian didn’t protest.
Lillian raised her glass of water in the air and everyone followed suit. Glasses clinked against each other as the women said with glee, ‘To the Garage Girls!’
CHAPTER NINE
Ellie stood in front of the mirror in her old bedroom at Mrs Hanley’s and fiddled with the collar on her red-and-white spotted dress.
Kat gently smacked Ellie’s hand away. ‘Stop fussing. This dress looks much better on you than me.’
Ellie adjusted the belt around her waist. ‘I don’t know. Maybe it’s too bright? What if I wear the navy blue one?’
‘Nonsense.’ Kat opened her mouth wide, encouraging Ellie to do the same, then applied red lipstick to Ellie’s lips. ‘You look lovely and it’s nice to wear something bright. I’m sure Harry will appreciate it.’
‘I’ll be in the dark at the pictures.’
‘The lights in the foyer are not kind to anyone, so a bit of colour will do you just fine.’ Kat stood back and crossed her arms. ‘If I was a man, I’d want to step out with you.’
‘Ha!’ Ellie studied her legs covered in a light layer of make-up with a seam at the back that Kat had drawn with an eyebrow pencil. ‘What I wouldn’t give to have the real thing again.’
‘Well, hopefully we can return to our old lives, soon. Though I doubt things will ever be the same.’
‘I know I’ve changed,’ said Ellie.
‘I’m definitely not the same person I was.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry, Kat. I didn’t mean to bring up—’
‘It’s fine, really.’
‘Are you sure? It’s only been two weeks and—’
‘I am fine. We don’t have the luxury of falling apart.’
Ellie wrapped her arms around Kat and gave her a tight hug. ‘I love you, my beautiful friend.’
‘And I love you. Now,’ said Kat, stepping back, ‘go and have a good time.’
The Codebreakers Page 8
