As evening descended George lit the lanterns that he and Cissie had hung from the trees and John sat down to plonk out some well-known tunes on the piano on the terrace, and suddenly everyone was up dancing, feeling happy and full after the lovely meal they had eaten.
They sang along to some of Gracie Fields’s much-loved songs: ‘Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye’, ‘Sally’, and Vera Lynn’s ‘White Cliffs of Dover’. But as the tempo increased, soon they were boogying to the ‘Lambeth Walk’ and even Sunday and Cissie were persuaded to get up and join in the fun for a time, till Cissie declared breathlessly, ‘Phew, I don’t know about you but I reckon I’m getting’ too old fer this lark, I’m afraid. I think I’ll sit this one out an’ leave it to the young ’uns.’
‘And I’ll sit it out with you.’ Sunday smiled as they claimed two seats and sat back to watch the merriment. They both became quiet then as they thought of the loved ones that could not be with them. Tom, David and Giles.
At one point, Sunday glanced towards Kathy who was trying to get a great lump of jelly out of Daisy’s hair and when she saw the wistful expression on her daughter’s face, she knew that she was thinking of David too. Livvy, meanwhile, was dancing with Thomas who was red in the face and giggling.
As the evening wore on people began to drift away but not before they had assured Sunday that it had been one of the best parties they had ever attended. The men had drunk the barrels dry and Sunday noted with amusement that they swayed slightly as their wives ushered them down the drive.
Cissie, Kathy and Edith were beginning to clear the tables now but at that moment Sunday noticed someone striding up the drive and her heart did a little skip … It was getting dark now and she was sure her eyes must be playing tricks on her but no … As the figure loomed closer, she knew she wasn’t mistaken, and a sob caught in her throat just at the moment that Kathy glanced around and saw the figure too.
The pots she was holding suddenly crashed to the table as a look of pure joy spread across her face and then she was off like the wind haring towards him.
‘David! Oh, David, I hardly dare blink in case I’m imagining this, and you disappear.’
Catching her in his arms he swung her off her feet and twirled her about as if she weighed no more than a feather.
‘You can blink as much as you like because I’m here to stay,’ he told her with a catch in his voice and then they were in each other’s arms oblivious to everyone and everything around them, as they kissed as if they might never come up for air. When at last they did, she stared up at him starry-eyed. ‘But how did you manage this? And why didn’t you let me know you were coming?’
‘I didn’t know myself till a couple of days ago and I wanted to surprise you. But now, stand still … I have a surprise for you.’
He fished in his jacket pocket, pulled out a document and handed it to her. She studied it closely before whooping with delight and throwing her arms about his neck again.
‘Can I take it that’s a yes then?’
‘Yes, yes and yes,’ Kathy cried, and grabbing his hand she said excitedly, ‘Come on, we must go and tell Mum and find the children, they’re about here somewhere and they’re going to be so thrilled to see you.’
‘David.’ Sunday greeted him warmly as he approached. ‘I’d say you’re about the perfect end to a perfect day. Are you home for good now?’
‘I most certainly am.’ Then looking slightly nervous he told Kathy, ‘You’d better show your mother what I’ve just given you and I hope she’ll approve.’
As Sunday read through the small document that Kathy passed to her, her smile grew broader. ‘Why, it’s a special marriage licence. Does this mean …?’
David let out a sigh of relief. ‘It means that in three days’ time, with your permission, I am going to make this very beautiful daughter of yours my wife.’ He knew that most mothers dreamed of seeing their daughters float down the aisle in a swathe of satin and lace and sadly there would be no time to organise all that fuss now, but even so his future mother-in-law seemed happy with the idea.
‘If Kathy is happy then so am I,’ she assured him.
‘In that case we’ll go and see the vicar at St Peter’s in Mancetter first thing in the morning and organise it.’ David guessed that this was where Kathy would want to be married because her father was buried there. He was just sad that Tom wasn’t there to give her away. And so, before the party was even properly finished, they were organising another one and as Sunday saw the radiant glow on her daughter’s cheeks, she couldn’t have been happier about it. The twins spotted David just then and they leapt all over him, smothering him with kisses as Skippy bounded about with his tail wagging furiously.
‘You won’t go away again, will you?’ Thomas asked solemnly when they finally drew apart and David smiled as he ruffled the child’s thick, dark hair.
‘No, I won’t be going anywhere. In fact, in a few days’ time I’m going to be your new daddy. How do you feel about that?’
The smiles on their faces gave him their answer and Sunday slipped discreetly away to give the new little family some time to themselves. It truly had been the most wonderful day. All they had to wait for now was news of Giles, and should it be good news then everything would be just perfect.
The next morning the happy couple borrowed John’s car and used up some of his precious petrol to drive to Mancetter to set the date for the wedding and when they came back the glow on their faces told its own story. ‘In three days’ time you’ll be Mrs David Deacon,’ David told Kathy happily. Suddenly the smile slid from his face as something occurred to him. ‘Crikey! In all the excitement I hadn’t given a thought as to where we’re going to live!’
‘I think I can help you there,’ Sunday told them. ‘You’re more than welcome to live in the lodge. We all lived quite happily there and only moved here because it was safer for the children when the bombing was going on. It might need a good clean and an airing though. It’s been empty for some time now. Of course, now that I have the money back that Ben stole, I’d be quite happy to buy you a house if you’d sooner live somewhere else?’ Sunday offered.
Kathy and David glanced at each other and shook their heads.
‘Actually, I intend to carry on working at the hospital, for now at least,’ Kathy explained. ‘And David will be going back there too so it would be wonderful if we stayed here because we’d still have all of you to keep your eyes on the children. They love living here anyway and I think it would be a wrench for them if we were to take them away.’
‘In that case, me and Cissie will go down to the lodge and start getting it ready for you this morning,’ Sunday promised. ‘And then this afternoon, young lady, you and I are going shopping. I’ve saved all my clothing coupons so there are bound to be enough to get you something nice to wear for the wedding. I’ll get George to drive us into town and if we can’t find anything suitable there, we’ll go into Coventry tomorrow.’
Kathy agreed meekly. She knew better than to argue with her mother when she had made her mind up about something.
As it happened, they found exactly what they were looking for in a small dress shop in the marketplace. It was a two-piece costume in cream with a straight skirt and a smart little jacket that made Kathy’s waist look tiny. They even found a small hat with a little veil to match it and although it took every coupon Sunday had and a few more of Cissie’s it was so perfect that it was worth every one.
‘You look beautiful,’ Sunday said with a lump in her throat when Kathy came out of the changing room. Now once again they would have to start preparing the small party that John had insisted they should have at Treetops following the wedding.
When they returned home, they were greeted with yet more good news. Livvy had phoned to say that her commanding officer had granted her leave to attend the wedding.
‘Now there will only be one family member missing,’ John said wistfully, for he had thought of them all as family for a long time now. Th
ey all felt for him. They knew that he was thinking of Giles.
Chapter Fifty-Four
As the ship that was taking him home crested a large wave before crashing back down again, Giles leaned over the side of the bed and heaved into the bucket one of the nurses had placed there. Most of the men in the beds dotted around them were doing the same and the nurses were hurrying from one to another doing their best to make the patients as comfortable as they could. They had been at sea for two days when they hit the storm but bad as it was Giles still had enough about him to know that this was nowhere near as awful as the prison camp had been.
He and the men he was journeying with had spent two weeks in a makeshift hospital before being taken aboard the ship. Sadly, many of his comrades had not even made it this far and two more had passed away since they had set sail. But at least now they were being treated with kindness instead of cruelty and there was food always available had they been able to eat it. Unfortunately, the starvation rations they had become used to had ensured that their stomachs had shrunk alarmingly so they could eat no more than one or two mouthfuls at a time.
‘Still,’ the kindly doctor who had first tended them had said cheerily, ‘a little and often, eh, lads? We’ll get you well again, never you fear.’
Many of the men were also suffering from horrific bed sores, some so big that they could have put their hands in them. This was due to the cramped and dirty conditions they had been living in and the fact that they had been sleeping on a concrete floor with no bedding of any kind. Sometimes Giles was surprised that any of them had survived. Each day the SS guards had entered their hut and thrown them a stale, grey loaf that would have to feed at least thirty of them for the day. They would then walk amongst them, lifting the bodies of those who had died during the night and throwing them onto the growing pile at one end of the room. Even now if Giles closed his eyes, he could smell the terrible stench that had come from them and once again his stomach would revolt and throw up any food he had managed to swallow.
But the weakness was the worst. The complete feeling of fatigue that meant he wasn’t even able to sit let alone stand unaided. There had been no exercise allowed for the prisoners in Belsen and after weeks and months of lying on a cold, hard floor their muscles had wasted away to almost nothing. Again, the doctor had assured Giles that he would regain his strength in time but sometimes Giles had his doubts.
When he had first been incarcerated in Belsen he had received parcels from home but by the time they reached him they had been torn apart and any food or items of value had been removed. Even so it was the letters that had kept him going. Especially the ones from Livvy. In them, she had told him that she had feelings for him, but would she still want him now? he wondered. He was only half the man he had been before he had bailed out of his aeroplane on that fateful night over Berlin and he wondered if she would even recognise him anymore.
Head lice had been rampant in the camp and so they had all hacked off as much of their hair as they could with anything they could find. It was better than being driven mad scratching but now as he weakly managed to raise his hand to his scalp he frowned. His hair, or what was left of it, stood up in little untidy tufts and he knew that he must look a terrible mess if any of his comrades were anything to go by.
His thoughts were interrupted when one of the nurses, a kind young woman who had told him her name was Sally, asked, ‘Is there anything I can do for you?’
He managed a weak smile. ‘Yes, you could stop the ship from rolling.’
‘If only I could,’ she answered with a grin, clinging to the side of the bed as the ship dipped again. ‘But never fear, the captain just told us that we should be out of the storm very soon and before you know it, you’ll be back on home ground.’
He nodded and finally gave up trying to overcome the tiredness that had hit him again and within seconds he was fast asleep.
‘Oh, my darling girl! You look just beautiful,’ Sunday told Kathy on the morning of her wedding. ‘I don’t think I have ever seen a more beautiful bride. Your other mum would be so proud if she could see you.’ She often thought of her Kitty, for as this lovely girl had grown, she had become the double of her.
‘Now, Mum, don’t start crying or you’ll start me off,’ Kathy warned as she pulled the little veil on her hat down over her eyes. ‘Pass me that posy, would you? And then I think we’re all ready to go.’
George had run the groom and the rest of them to the church some time ago and had now come back for Kathy, her mother and John, who would give the bride away. He had become quite emotional when Kathy had asked if he would consider doing it and had assured her that it would be a very great honour.
Sunday lifted the tiny posy of white roses and baby’s breath and handed it to the bride then, after exchanging a kiss, side by side they set off down the stairs.
John too looked quite teary-eyed at his first glimpse of Kathy and told her sincerely, ‘You look absolutely stunning, my dear. Now … are we ready to do this?’
‘Oh yes,’ Kathy breathed. She could hardly wait to be David’s wife and so they all clambered into the car for the short journey to the church.
John looked as proud as punch as he walked down the aisle with Kathy on his arm. Peggy and Daisy walked behind them with broad smiles on their faces in their pretty bridesmaids’ dresses with little crowns of flowers on their heads to match the tiny posies they were carrying, while Thomas stood proudly at David’s side with Kathy’s wedding ring resting on a small cushion, his tongue in his cheek as he concentrated hard on not dropping it.
Kathy and David had eyes only for each other as they solemnly took their vows, and almost before they knew it, they were pronounced husband and wife and David lifted her from her feet and gave her a smacking kiss on the lips, while the sun shining through the stained-glass windows painted them all the colours of the rainbow. Once outside they were showered in rice and rose petals and the air was full of laughter, then Kathy tossed her posy high into the air and it plummeted down and landed smack in Livvy’s hands.
‘There you go, little sis,’ Kathy teased. ‘It’s your turn next.’
Could she have known it the words tore at Livvy’s heart, for if she couldn’t have Giles, she had decided she would never marry anyone, but she somehow managed to keep her smile in place and the moment passed.
Soon they were back at Treetops and once more a party was in full swing.
Edith and Cissie, who hadn’t wanted to miss the wedding, had laid out a buffet of cold meats and pies before they left, and everyone tucked in.
‘I wish you’d let me pay for you both to have a few days away somewhere as a honeymoon,’ Sunday said regretfully, but both David and Kathy shook their heads.
‘Thanks, Mum, but we’re quite happy to spend a few days at the lodge with the children,’ Kathy promised her, then dropping her voice she confided happily, ‘The twins are calling David Daddy already. I’m just so lucky!’
‘Well, you deserve to be,’ Sunday told her warmly. ‘And I have a feeling you’re going to be very happy indeed together.’
‘I hope so.’ Kathy’s adoring eyes met those of her new husband, and she hurried over to give him yet another kiss.
It was growing dark when the newlyweds set off down the drive with the twins skipping ahead of them, as Cissie and Sunday watched from the doorstep with broad smiles on their faces.
‘What a wonderful month it’s been,’ Cissie said contentedly. ‘First the war finally ends, then the party an’ now the wedding. It couldn’t get much better than this, could it?’
‘It could if we could only have word that Giles is safe,’ Sunday pointed out and Cissie frowned.
‘You’re right, of course. But who knows what tomorrow may bring, eh? Let’s just hope as our good luck holds out.’ And arm in arm the two old friends went back into the house.
Later that night, as Sunday and John sat enjoying a little quiet time before retiring, a thought suddenly occurred to Sunday, and
glancing towards him she frowned.
‘I’ve only just realised that I could now afford to buy my own place rather than put on you any longer,’ she said quietly.
‘You are not, as you put it, putting on me,’ John snorted as he helped himself to a small brandy and poured one for her. ‘If you must know I’m glad of your company. It will be hard enough to get used to not having Kathy and the twins about without you deserting me as well. We get along fine, don’t we?’
‘Oh yes, yes, of course we do,’ Sunday assured him quickly. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt his feelings. But on the other hand, she didn’t want him to think that she was taking advantage of his good nature either.
Sensing her unease, he sat forward in his seat and confided, ‘To be honest, having you and the family here has been a lifesaver for me, especially since Giles went missing. I think I would have gone mad had I been on my own, so in actual fact you’ll be doing me a huge favour if you’ll only stay. One day, God willing, this house will pass to Giles and it occurred to me the other day that should Giles and Livvy get together, she’ll be the mistress here. We’d be sort of keeping the place in the family between us and I like that idea. Our grandchildren would grow up here and Giles and Livvy will be able to tell them stories about what an odd old couple we were.’
Sunday chuckled, feeling vastly relieved. She had no wish to move house at her age. In fact, the thought of leaving Treetops filled her with dread and now that she knew John didn’t feel she was imposing on him her mind was at rest. She also liked the thought of her grandchildren growing up there and tried to picture them. But that was still just a pipe dream. First, they must wait to find out if Giles had survived and if he had they would have to stand back and let nature take its course.
Time to Say Goodbye Page 32
