Foxden Acres (The Dudley Sisters Quartet Book 1)

by Madalyn Morgan

Tom no longer looked like his photograph. Five years of war had changed him drastically. He had lost a lot of weight. He had dark shadows under his eyes and his face was brown, unshaven, and gaunt.

  Still on his knees and smiling through his tears, he said, ‘I’ll soon look like my picture again now I’m home with you and Mummy, I promise.’

  ‘Go on, sweetheart,’ Bess said, kneeling down beside her niece. She let go of Charlotte’s small hand.

  Looking very small, Charlotte stood in the middle of the platform for what seemed like an age. The brakes on the empty train squealed as it stopped in the sidings and the little girl jumped. She turned to Bess for reassurance, and Bess nodded.

  ‘Daddy, Daddy,’ Charlotte called, and ran into her father’s arms.

  Tom lifted his little daughter up as if she was a feather, hugged her and cried with joy. Annabel put her arms round them both, and then beckoned Bess.

  ‘Welcome home, Tom,’ Bess said. ‘I’ve missed you so much.’

  ‘I’ve missed you too,’ he said, kissing his sister. ‘And you,’ he said, kissing Charlotte. ‘And you,’ he whispered lovingly to Annabel, holding her with his eyes.

  ‘Come on, Charlotte, let’s go and get the car and we’ll take Mummy and Daddy home,’ Bess said, lifting the little girl from her father’s arms.

  As she entered the tunnel that led from the platform to the street, Bess looked back. The northbound platform was deserted but for Tom and Annabel, and the elderly ticket collector who doffed his cap as he passed.

  ‘After we’ve taken Mummy and Daddy home, would you like to come with me to tell Nanny and Grandpa Dudley that Daddy’s back?’

  ‘Will Uncle Frank be there?’ Charlotte asked.

  ‘Yes, I think so,’ Bess replied.

  ‘I like Uncle Frank.’

  ‘Yes,’ Bess said. ‘So do I.’

  THE END

  Outlines of the other Books in the Dudley Sisters Saga

  The second book, working title, Applause, is Margot Dudley’s story. At the beginning of World War II, Margot marries her childhood sweetheart and leaves rural Leicestershire to live with him in London. Fiercely ambitious Margot works her way from being an usherette in a West End theatre, to leading lady of the show. However, she soon finds herself caught up in a web of deceit, black-market racketeers, Nazis, drugs and alcohol.

  The third book, China Blue, is about love and courage – and is Claire Dudley’s story. While in the WAAF Claire is seconded to the Royal Air Force’s Advanced Air Strike Force. She falls in love with Mitchell ‘Mitch’ McKenzie, an American Airman who is shot down while parachuting into France. At the end of the war, while working in a liberated POW camp in Hamburg she is told that Mitch is still alive. Do miracles happen?

  The fourth book, working title, The Bletchley Secret, is about strength and determination – and is the story of Ena, the youngest of the Dudley sisters. Ena works in a local factory. She is one of several young women who build components for machines bound for Bletchley Park during World War II. The Bletchley Secret costs her the love of her life. Some years after the war has ended, Ena, now happily married, is running a hotel with her husband when she encounters someone from her past.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Madalyn Morgan has been an actress for more than thirty years, working in repertory theatre, the West End and television. She is a radio presenter and journalist, and has written articles for newspapers and magazines.

  Madalyn was brought up in, The Fox Inn, a busy working class pub in the market town of Lutterworth in Leicestershire. As a pub-kid, life was not always pop and crisps, but it was a great place for an aspiring actress and writer to live. There were so many wonderful characters to study and accents learn. At twenty-four Madalyn gave up a successful hairdressing salon and wig-hire business for a place at E15 Drama College, and a career as an actress.

  In 2000, with fewer parts available for older actresses, Madalyn reinvented herself. She learned how to touch type, completed two-years with The Writer’s Bureau, and began writing. After living and working in London for thirty-six years, Madalyn has now returned to her home town of Lutterworth, swapping two window boxes and a mortgage, for a garden and the freedom to write.

  Click to visit Madalyn Morgan online:

  Non-Fiction Blog.

  Fiction Blog.

  The Foxden Acres Website

  Actress website.