The Bomb Girls
Page 36
‘Instinct,’ Peter replied without taking his eyes off the twisting road for a second.
Ten minutes later Peter took a sharp left-hand turn and swung into a drive flanked by elaborate metal gates gilded with an elaborate coat of arms.
‘That’s the hall,’ he said as he dropped a gear to make his way up the drive that threaded through a deer park where even in the half light Ava could see fallow deer grazing under ancient oak and horse chestnut trees. They rattled over a cattle bridge then with a swoop Peter came to a halt in front of Walsingham Hall. Ava caught her breath; of course she’d expected a big place that would accommodate a lot of people but she hadn’t expected this.
‘It’s beautiful,’ she breathed as she stepped out of the van and gazed up at the majestic building that towered before her.
‘One of the finest stately homes in the country,’ Peter said proudly. ‘Just wait till you see it in the daylight, it’s a fine sight to behold.’
As the girls tumbled out of the van Peter called out, ‘Make your way indoors, I’ll follow with your luggage.’
With their feet crunching on the gravel drive the trainees pushed open the heavy front door and entered the elegant marble hall, which was decorated with ancestral portraits hung in huge, ornate gold frames.
‘Nobody mentioned we’d be billeted in Buckingham Palace!’ giggled one of the trainees.
Her laughter faded as a grim-faced women dressed from head to toe in black approached.
‘Your accommodation is in the South Wing,’ she said in a voice that bristled with contempt. ‘Follow me.’
She quickly moved off as if she wanted no association with any of the newcomers.
‘Who’s she?’ Ava whispered to Peter who was staggering along with as many cases as he could carry.
‘Timms, the housekeeper,’ he gasped under the strain of his heavy load. ‘She doesn’t like you,’ he added with a wink.
‘She’s made that perfectly obvious,’ Ava replied.
The make-shift dormitories in the South Wing had been built in what must have been a series of connecting drawing rooms all with high ceilings decorated with swirling stucco plasterwork and elegant floor-to-ceiling windows draped in blackout blinds.
‘In there,’ barked Timms before turning her stiff-as-aramrod back on the trainees and walking away with disapproval evident in every step she took.
‘She’s a regular bundle of laughs!’ tittered the cheery red-headed girl.
‘Don’t worry, you won’t be seeing much of her,’ Peter assured them with a chuckle.
‘Thank God for that,’ thought Ava.
The yawning girls selected their bunk beds then made their way along the dark bewildering corridors to the bathroom, which had a line of sinks running along one wall and lavatories running along the opposite one.
‘Oooh!’ exclaimed an impressed trainee as she switched on a tap. ‘Hot and cold water, more than we get at home.’
‘Thank goodness!’ joked one of the trainees as she dashed into the nearest cubicle. ‘One minute longer and I would have wet myself!’
Ava cleaned her teeth, washed her face then dabbed her skin with a few blobs of Ponds Cold Cream, a parting gift from Audrey. Lying on a bottom bunk Ava pulled a blanket and a scratchy, starched single sheet over her body, then looked nervously up as the woman on the top bunk bounced around, causing the bed springs to sag and twang over Ava’s face.
‘Will I ever get to sleep?’ she wondered as a few girls started to snore, a few even sniffing as though they were crying.
As Ava eventually slipped into a deep, exhausted sleep the smile that had been on her face all day remained there through the night; it was the smile of a girl who just couldn’t wait to see what tomorrow would bring.
THE BEGINNING
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PENGUIN BOOKS
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Penguin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.
First published 2015
Copyright © Daisy Styles, 2015
Cover images; girls © Gordon Crabb, wall © Ilbusca/Getty Images
The moral right of the author has been asserted
ISBN: 978-1-405-92435-1