by Pam Weaver
Ruby and her family had planned a trip to Shoreham Beach, where they would meet Percy, Rachel and Alma. The picnic hamper was almost ready. May was excitedly packing some tennis racquets and a couple of balls. Rex was loading up the car, and Bea was checking that everyone had everything they would need, like cardigans and sunhats, cream to ward off insect bites and cream to soothe them. As for Ruby, she was totally distracted as she scoured Heene Road looking for the first sight of Gregory Balentine’s car.
They had been going out together ever since Gus and Effie were taken to London by MI5. Their relationship was very different from that which she had enjoyed with Jim, and nothing like the frantic romp she’d had with Bob Knight. This was slow-burning, but every bit as thrilling and wonderful as it should be. She hadn’t yet slept with Gregory, but that wasn’t for the want of it. Ruby knew that she already loved him with all her heart. He was kind and funny and he loved her son as well. As for Michael, he adored Gregory.
Ruby had thought long and hard about Gregory’s proposal to join the Secret Service, but for the moment she held back. It wasn’t so much because of fear of where they might send her, but she was concerned about her son. How could she leave Michael? She knew her mother would happily take care of him, but Ruby couldn’t bear the thought of being parted from him, not yet.
The guest house had been repaired and Ruby had promised that she would take in some evacuees. As it turned out, the lion’s share of the organization of that went to the WI rather than the WVS. Bea and Imogen had been disappointed, but not for long. The women’s organizations put the men to shame, by working together as a team. Thus, on September 1st, 1939, lone children, siblings and sometimes mothers with their children poured into Worthing, but Sea View itself was requisitioned. Ruby had half-expected it to happen.
For several months the country had been moving inexorably towards war. Gas masks had already been issued, and Identity Cards and Ration Books were on their way. The government said it was still working for peace, but it was increasingly obvious that Hitler was only paying lip service to it. During the month of August he bombed Warsaw and Danzig, with the result that Neville Chamberlain issued an ultimatum.
Ruby looked up as a car came down Heene Road, with its horn blaring and Gregory Balentine at the wheel. He pulled up sharply and jumped out.
‘You’ll get us arrested, making all that racket on a Sunday,’ she laughed.
He swept her into his arms and kissed her hungrily. ‘Marry me,’ he said as he let her go.
Ruby gave him a quizzical look. ‘What’s brought this on?’
‘Marry me,’ he said again.
Her father pulled down the sash window and called out, ‘The Prime Minister is on the radio in a minute.’
Ruby gave him a wave, then turned back to Gregory’s earnest face. ‘It’s bad, isn’t it?’
He nodded. ‘I can’t bear to go through this without you, Ruby. Marry me.’
She reached up and touched his dear face. ‘Will they send you away?’
‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘Honestly, I don’t. All I know is I want a bit of happiness before it’s too late. I love you, Ruby. And I love Michael. I think I could make you both happy. Marry me, please.’
She stood on tiptoe and brushed his lips with a kiss. ‘It’s about fippin’ time you asked me, Gregory Balentine,’ she teased. ‘Yes, I will.’
He enveloped her in his arms and swung her off her feet. They kissed eagerly and then walked into Bea’s place, arm-in-arm.
Now, two days after the official evacuation had begun, Neville Chamberlain’s dulcet tones filled the sitting room again as they walked in. Nobody looked up. They were all glued to the radio. Ruby gazed around at them fondly. Her mother, vibrant and healthy, a rock to them all; Rex, her father, kind and gentle, and still so very much in love with her mother; Rivka, a good friend who Ruby knew would move heaven and earth to help her any time she called. She seemed more relaxed, now that Gus and Effie had got their just deserts. Ruby sighed. They’d both been hanged by Albert Pierrepoint: Effie in Holloway and Gus in Pentonville. Jim could rest in peace now.
May sat at the table doing another life drawing as everyone listened to the radio. She probably had no real understanding of how life would change, from here on in. Ruby could only hope that she would have some sort of happy childhood, despite the events to come. And pulling himself up by her chair was Michael. She smiled as she watched him struggle to get upright, a rush of passion flooding through her chest. She loved Gregory so very much, but she knew that, if she had to, she would willingly die for her child. As she and Gregory walked into the room, her little son beamed from ear to ear and pushed himself back down to the floor. He could crawl at lightning speed now and wasted no time heading in their direction. Gregory reached down and picked him up. In his clumsy way, Michael tried to show his affection, first by slapping Gregory’s face and then by trying to chew his nose. When he heard his mother’s soft laugh, he turned his head and reached out his chubby arms to go to her.
Chamberlain was saying, ‘I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and consequently this country is at war with Germany . . .’
Taking her baby in her arms, Ruby locked eyes with Gregory. So this was it. War. They would all have to fight for their very existence. She looked around the room again, her emotions surging. She loved these people. This was family. Her family. She knew then that whatever it took, like millions of others, she would fight tooth and nail to keep them safe in England’s green and pleasant land.
Her eyes filled with tears as she glanced up at her new fiancé’s face and smiled. He was right. They should snatch at every bit of happiness they could.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
For the purposes of the story, I have taken a slight liberty. Mrs Rose Wilmot was the founder member of the Worthing Townswomen’s Guild when it began in 1933. She moved to Worthing in 1925 and, although her contemporaries say she was a tiny woman (just five feet two inches) and of a quiet disposition, she was at the forefront of just about every organization in the town. A member of the West Tarring Residents’ Association, a Friend of Fairfield House (a home for the elderly), a governor of Worthing High School for Girls, president of the West Sussex Battalion of the Girls’ Life Brigade, an active Guider and a member of the Education Committee of Worthing Borough Council, she could apparently remember the name of every young person in the town, and even which youth club or school they attended.
When a youth centre was established near Durrington High School in the early 1960s, they named it the Rose Wilmot Centre. Renamed ‘The Rosie’ some thirty years later, it still offers a range of activities for young people aged twelve and over, although I wonder if today’s youth have any idea who Rose Wilmot was.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank the staff of Worthing Library for their invaluable help and for going the extra mile for me many times. I am also deeply indebted to Worthing’s local historian Chris Hare, who first ignited my love of the town’s history, as well as to my lovely editor Victoria Hughes-Williams and my agent Juliet Burton. The pages of this book wouldn’t be room enough to thank the members of my family and the myriad of friends who have encouraged me over the years.
Praise for Pam Weaver
‘What a terrific read – saga fans everywhere will love it and be asking for more from this talented author’
Annie Groves
‘An engaging and gripping post-war saga . . . a hard-hitting story of female friendship tested against the odds’
Take a Break
‘A heartrending story about mothers and daughters’
Kitty Neale
‘Pam Weaver presents us with a real page-turner – with richly drawn characters and a clever plot’
Caring 4 Sussex
‘The characters are so richly drawn and authentic that they pull the reader along through the story effortlessly. This book is a real page-turner, which I enjoyed very much’
&nb
sp; Anne Bennett
‘An uplifting memoir told with real honesty’
Yours
Love Walked
Right In
Pam’s saga novels, There’s Always Tomorrow, Better Days Will Come, Pack Up Your Troubles, For Better For Worse and Blue Moon, and her ebook novella Emily’s Christmas Wish, are set in Worthing during the austerity years. Pam’s inspiration comes from her love of people and their stories, as well as her passion for the town of Worthing. With the sea on one side and the Downs on the other, Worthing has a scattering of small villages within its urban sprawl, and in some cases tight-knit communities, making it an ideal setting for the modern saga.
Also by Pam Weaver
Novels
There’s Always Tomorrow
Better Days Will Come
Pack Up Your Troubles
For Better For Worse
Blue Moon
Featured Short Story
Christmas Fireside Stories
eNovella
Emily’s Christmas Wish
First published 2016 by Pan Books
This electronic edition published 2016 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
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Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-4472-7589-3
Copyright © Pam Weaver 2016
The right of Pam Weaver to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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