Welcome Home

by Margaret Dickinson

  Archie had no intention of keeping his distance from his grandson and if that meant he had to see Irene – and even her baby – then so be it. As soon as he was home again, the next morning after breakfast, he said casually, ‘I’m just off next door.’

  He turned towards the back door, ignoring Edie’s glare. He could, of course, have said he was off to the pub – his wife would have thought nothing of that – but Archie had never lied to Edie and he wasn’t going to start now. He might have hidden things from her – like the time he went to Dunkirk – but he would never deliberately lie to her.

  ‘Hello, Lil love,’ he said cheerfully when she opened the back door to him, her eyes wide with surprise and worry.

  ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘Nowt that I know of, love. Can I come in?’

  ‘Oh – yes – of course.’ She pulled the door wider and her small scullery was at once filled with his bulky presence.

  ‘I thought young Tommy might like a walk to the docks to see the ships. He wasn’t old enough before they went away and it’s high time he knew what his dad and his granddad did – and his other granddad, an’ all,’ he added swiftly, anxious not to miss out the man after whom Tommy had been named.

  Lil smiled weakly. ‘That’s good of you, Archie. He doesn’t get out much. We don’t let him play in the street. The other lads – you know.’

  Archie frowned. ‘Being bullied, is he?’

  Lil nodded and then smiled wanly. ‘Mind you, that girl your Shirley’s pally with saw them one afternoon and sorted the little tykes out, but, of course, she’s not always around.’

  Archie frowned. ‘Ursula, you mean?’ Something was still troubling him about Ursula, but he couldn’t really put his finger on it. ‘Anyway,’ he went on, pushing thoughts of the girl out of his mind, ‘D’you reckon he’d like a walk out?’

  ‘I’m sure he would. Tommy – Tommy,’ she called, ‘your granddad’s here. He’s come to take you out.’

  The boy jumped up from the table where he’d been drawing and hurled himself at Archie, wrapping his arms around his granddad’s legs. His delight at seeing Archie was undeniable, but Irene, sitting near the hearth with the baby on her lap, looked unsure.

  Patting the boy on the head so that he loosened his limpet hold, Archie moved closer to look down at the infant. ‘Irene, love, how are you?’ he murmured, but his gaze was on the little girl chortling in her mother’s lap and kicking with sturdy limbs. ‘She’s a pretty little mite, isn’t she?’ he murmured. ‘She looks strong and healthy.’

  ‘Aunty Edie said Frank’s not coming home because – because of me. Is that true?’

  Archie sighed. ‘Well, I know he’s not coming home yet, love, but whether it’s all to do with’ – he gestured towards the baby – ‘I couldn’t really say.’

  ‘Aunty Edie can,’ Irene said bitterly. ‘She’s adamant that it’s me who’s caused another member of her family not to come back.’

  ‘Has he written to you?’ Archie asked gently.

  Irene pressed her lips together and shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. After a moment, when she had composed herself, she said, ‘If he’d just come home and talk to me, then we could sort it out even if – even if he wants me to leave.’ She glanced up again at Archie. ‘But I want you to understand, Uncle Archie, that I’ll fight to keep Tommy. Whatever Aunty Edie thinks, he’ll stay with me.’

  ‘Aye well, a little lad of his age should be with his mother, but . . .’ Archie sighed and stopped. He understood both sides of the argument; that was his trouble and he really couldn’t decide which one to take. Instead, he chose to ignore the whole problem for the moment. Nothing could be done until Frank came home and made the decision; it was all up to Frank and if he wasn’t coming back at the moment, they’d all have to just bide their time and wait and see. In the meantime, he could help out with young Tommy. ‘Come on, then, lad, let’s you and me go and have a look if my ship’s all right.’

  By the time Archie brought the boy back home, Tommy’s eyes were wide with wonder and he chattered with excitement. ‘Granddad took me all over his ship. I saw the engine room and the fishing nets and oh – everything! And we saw Aunty Shirley’s friend, didn’t we, Granddad?’

  Ursula had been on the dockside again, this time talking to a scruffy, bearded fellow, who was gesticulating wildly with his hands. She had seemed to be pleading with him, but her entreaties were being met with an obvious refusal. Archie watched as the man turned away. She followed him and caught hold of his arm but he shook her off and quickened his pace away from her. She was left standing, just staring after him, her shoulders slumped. Then, as she turned, she caught sight of Archie and Tommy. For a moment she seemed disconcerted, but then Archie noticed her straighten her shoulders, force a smile on her face and walk deliberately towards them.

  ‘Hello, love,’ Archie said, though he couldn’t prevent a wariness creeping into his tone, even though he tried hard to keep it friendly and non-judgmental.

  ‘I was trying to get a story,’ Ursula began to explain quickly, her voice high-pitched. ‘There’s – there’s a trawler late back and I wanted to know about it, but he wouldn’t tell me anything.’

  Archie frowned, suddenly anxious. If there was a trawler missing, then he certainly wanted to know about it. ‘Which ship? Do you know?’

  Ursula shrugged. ‘No.’

  ‘Then I’ll find out. Come on, Tommy, we’ll go to the dock office and—’

  ‘Oh no, please don’t trouble yourself.’ She caught hold of his arm as if to prevent him. ‘It’s – it’s not important.’

  He stared at her for a moment. ‘Of course it’s important. If a ship’s late in, it might be in trouble. This has nothing to do with you writing about it for the paper. I need to know and I need to know now.’

  Her hand dropped from his arm and he was sure that a look of fear crossed her eyes. ‘I see,’ she said and her voice was flat, devoid of emotion.

  ‘You can come with us if you like,’ he said more gently.

  She shook her head. ‘No, no, I must – get back – to the newspaper – tell them I couldn’t find anything out.’

  ‘I’ll let you know,’ he promised as he moved away, anxious to get to the dock office.

  She pushed her hands deep into the pockets of her raincoat and nodded. He strode away, Tommy taking little running steps to keep up with the man’s long strides. When Archie glanced back a few moments later, the girl had disappeared.

  ‘There’s no ship missing, Archie,’ Jack Reeves told him.

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Positive. Everyone who’s supposed to be back has docked. What made you think a ship was missing?’

  ‘Oh – just some girl. She reckoned one of the trawlers was late. She must have got it wrong.’

  Jack smiled knowingly and arched his eyebrows. ‘D’you mean that girl who’s always hanging round the docks? Ursula somebody?’

  ‘Aye, that’s her. Do you know owt about her?’

  Jack shrugged. ‘Not really, Archie. We just all assumed she was – you know . . .’

  Archie blinked. ‘I hope you’re wrong there, Jack. She’s a friend of my daughter’s. She told us she worked for the Telegraph and that she was just looking for news stories.’

  ‘Did she now?’ Jack murmured, a thoughtful frown on his face.

  Archie, too, was puzzled and, as he listened to his grandson’s lively chatter as they walked home, he determined to question Shirley more about her friend the next time she came home on leave.

  He sighed. It was difficult – it always had been – being away at sea so much. He hadn’t been able to keep his eye on his family as they were growing up. Edie had done a wonderful job on her own for much of the time, but just now and then he realized, with sadness, that a father’s hand had been needed on occasions. And he hadn’t been there. He just hoped his daughter hadn’t been getting into bad company. Still, Shirley was safely away now. The ATS was sorting her out.
Even he could see that she was a much happier – and nicer – person. Though he was still a little cross with her that she’d interfered in this business between Irene and Frank. But then, he argued with himself, perhaps it was better that Frank knew now. At least he would have some thinking time before he did come home. Archie was unsure as to what Shirley’s true motive had been. Once, it would have been purely out of spite, but now – he wasn’t so sure.

  If only, he thought, Beth had been here. She would have brought a calming influence to all of them. With each day that passed, Archie grew more anxious about Beth and he was sure it was the same for Edie, though they never spoke about it. The only person he felt able to confide in was Harry when they met for a drink in the pub.

  ‘Haven’t you heard a word from her, not even now it’s all over?’ Harry was incredulous when Archie told him of his worries.

  Archie shook his head, not trusting himself to speak for the moment, so big was the lump in his throat.

  ‘Surely she should be coming home by now,’ Harry said, voicing Archie’s innermost fears. ‘I mean, she’s not in the forces like Frank, is she? He’ll not get demobbed until he’s told, but Beth ought to be free to come home.’

  ‘I think she joined the FANYs. That’s what she told us, anyway.’

  Harry frowned. ‘That’s nursing, isn’t it?’

  ‘So I believe.’

  ‘Oh – well, then – she might be abroad, I suppose.’

  ‘Mm.’

  Harry glanced at Archie. ‘You sound doubtful.’

  ‘No – no, not about that, Harry, it’s just that—’ He hesitated.

  ‘Come on, man, spit it out.’

  Archie sighed, looking down into his beer and twisting the glass round and round. ‘It’s just that I’ve heard whispers – rumours, you know – that the FANYs were sometimes used as a cover for – for women agents.’

  Harry gaped at him. ‘The sort that were dropped into occupied Europe to help the local resistance groups?’ Rumours had circulated amongst the fishing fraternity, who, in other parts of the country, especially on the south coast, had sometimes been used to take agents to French shores.

  Archie nodded and the two men were silent for several minutes.

  ‘She always did crave excitement, did our Beth,’ Archie murmured at last.

  ‘Those postcards you got,’ Harry said slowly, as if thinking aloud. ‘Where did they come from?’

  ‘London. Always London.’

  ‘And never a letter?’

  Archie shook his head.

  Now, it was Harry who said thoughtfully, ‘Mm.’ And after yet another pause, he added quietly, ‘Odd that, knowing your Beth. Always the chatty one, the one with all the news.’

  This time, Archie could think of nothing to say, but his anxiety deepened. Come back to us, Beth, he prayed silently. Wherever you are, stay safe and just come home to us.

  Forty-Five

  Whilst Edie waited with growing impatience – and deepening disappointment – for even just one or two members of her family to come home, life went on. In July, the country went to the polls and when the results came out at the end of the month, Edie was appalled.

  ‘I can’t believe it,’ she said, staring at the newspaper in front of her. ‘They’ve thrown poor old Churchill out. He won the war for us, but they’ve thrown him out. How terribly hurt he must be. I can’t understand it.’

  ‘Well, I can, love,’ Archie said in his deep voice. ‘I think the country feels the need for a change and Labour is promising all sorts of reforms, including public ownership of power industries and inland transport. And then there’s education –’ Archie was warming to his theme now – ‘they’re planning to raise the school-leaving age to sixteen and provide further education for adults, but I think the best promise they’re making is a National Health Service where everyone – rich or poor – will have the right to medical treatment. Mind you, Edie, what I think would be perfect would be a labour government with Churchill as Prime Minister, but that’s never going to happen.’

  ‘You don’t mean to tell me that you voted labour, Archie Kelsey?’ Edie accused him.

  A little shame-faced, Archie admitted, ‘Actually, I did.’

  ‘Well, I’m surprised at you.’

  ‘So, you voted Tory, did you?’

  ‘Of course. We always have, haven’t we?’ She paused and then added, a little grumpily, ‘I wish you’d said. I needn’t have trudged all the way to the polling station. We’ve only cancelled out each other’s vote. I wouldn’t have bothered if I’d known.’

  Archie wrinkled his brow. ‘Sorry, love. I never looked at it that way.’

  ‘But what made you vote for them?’

  ‘Because they seem to stand for the working class – the likes of us. And, if nothing else, I like the sound of the health service they’re proposing. It’s high time everyone got decent care if they’re ill, not just because they can afford to pay for it.’

  Edie blinked. She took little interest in politics and, if truth be known, she’d only ever voted Tory because she knew that’s what Archie did. Now she was being forced to think for herself and whilst she understood Archie’s desire for a better world for their children and grandchildren – grandchild, she corrected herself – because that other little brat was nothing to do with their family, she couldn’t forget Mr Churchill’s brave, rallying speeches all through the terrifying days of the war and especially when Britain stood alone. If it hadn’t been for him, she was sure that they’d all be living under Nazi rule by this time. Folks seemed to have forgotten all that. She sighed heavily, no doubt everyone wanted to put the past six years behind them – just like she did – and move forward, as Churchill himself had said, into ‘broad, sunlit uplands’. But why hadn’t they believed that he could be the one to help them to do that?

  Edie shook the newspaper in exasperation. ‘Well, I don’t understand it. But I’m not going to argue with you, Archie.’ Silently, she thought that there were other things she could argue with him about far more easily than politics.

  ‘We’ll have to wait and see if this new government keeps their promises.’ He sat down in his chair by the fire and took up the newspaper, which Edie had cast aside now.

  Edie was restless. War work at the WVS centre had all but ceased, there was no one at home whenever Archie was at sea and she still couldn’t bring herself to speak to Lil.

  ‘Could we go and see Reggie before you have to go back?’

  Archie glanced up. ‘I don’t see why not, love. I’ll ask Harry if I can borrow his car. In fact, I’ll nip round now and ask him. I sail tomorrow evening, so if we’re going, we’ll have to set off early.’ He heaved himself out of his chair, reached for his cap from behind the door and left the house.

  Harry was only too pleased to lend Archie his car, especially when Archie promised to fill it up with petrol when he returned, the basic petrol ration for civilians having been restored at the beginning of June.

  They set off the following morning, both in high spirits at the thought of seeing Reggie, but the visit was not a success. Reggie was out in the fields all day helping with the harvest and though he dashed home at dinner time, he spoke to them through mouthfuls of food and then rushed out again.

  ‘Mr Schofield can’t manage them ’osses without me, I’ll have to go.’

  ‘All right, lad, you run along,’ Archie said, but Edie pursed her lips, angry and hurt that their son couldn’t spare them even a few more minutes.

  And there was an uncomfortable atmosphere between Ruth and Edie. The farmer’s wife was pleasant enough and generous, giving them dinner and loading them with eggs, cheese and butter to take home, but Edie could not forget, nor forgive, the woman who she believed had not only enticed Reggie away from his parents but had also had encouraged Irene to go out dancing. And look where that had led!

  Irene thought a lot about Ken Forbes during the weeks and months she waited for Frank to come home. She was desperately sorry th
at she had hurt her husband and all his family – to say nothing of her own mother, who had had such hardships to bear already in her life. They didn’t deserve this, none of them did. And yet, she could not totally regret her time with Ken. He was not to blame for their brief affair; he’d been a single man with no wife to go home to and he’d been lonely too, just like Irene, amidst the madness and unreality of life during wartime. He had been such a handsome, kind man who had made her feel loved and wanted and he had helped her to forget, even if only for a few blissful moments, how much she missed her husband. And it was Frank whom she truly loved. And then there was Marie. She was a little darling with bright, golden curls and a winning smile that could melt your heart. But the child couldn’t melt Edie Kelsey’s, though she was fast winding her way into her Grandma Lil’s. And Uncle Archie – now there was a kindly man. He’d never once reproached her, even though she had betrayed his son. He still came and took Tommy out with him every time he was at home from sea and he never failed to smile down at Marie.

  If Frank was half as understanding as his father, then perhaps – but she hardly dared to hope. Edie would be sure to have her say. None of her family had ever stood up to Edie Kelsey.

  Grimsby fishermen were out on strike early in August, complaining bitterly that the foreign trawlers landing their catches in the docks were driving down the price of fish, and the value of some of the local fishermen’s catches was half what it should have been.

  ‘I’ll have you at home for a bit, then,’ Edie said, gleefully. She would even go without Archie’s pay if it meant him being ashore for as long as the strike lasted.

  ‘You most certainly will not,’ Archie replied heatedly. ‘I don’t believe in strikes – though I do agree they’ve got a point. But I shall do my job. As long as the man who owns my trawler wants me to go to sea, I shall go.’

  So Archie ran the gauntlet of the pickets and put to sea as usual, but always minding, on his return, that he was first in the line of trawlers waiting to dock on the high tide.

  In the middle of August, there were more celebrations for VJ Day – Victory over Japan – and now the whole world was at peace. But this time, although the street celebrated again as it had for VE day, there was no revelry in either Edie’s house or Lil’s. They stayed behind closed doors.