Home Front Girls

‘And so is most of the rest of the city centre – including Owen Owen. But don’t worry about that for now. At least we are still alive. You had a miraculous escape, Dotty, and we must be thankful for that.’
    The car drove slowly on beneath the huge cloud of smoke that hung over the city as the three women gazed solemnly at the wreckage all around them. Would Coventry ever recover and be the same again?
     
    Back at Primrose Lodge they helped Dotty inside and Miranda rushed off to heat some water to wash in. ‘We shall have to be careful not to get your plaster wet,’ she told her, as she helped her undress, then, ‘Annabelle, run and find some of your clothes for Dotty to wear, would you?’
    Dotty sighed as a feeling of déja vu washed over her. Once again she was homeless and forced to borrow Annabelle’s clothes, but at least she was still alive. She was beginning to feel a little like a cat that had nine lives.
    An hour later, with all the dirt washed from her hair that was combed out to dry, with a towel round her shoulders, Dotty sat dressed in fresh clothes at the kitchen table with the others, a large pot of tea in front of them – and she said joyously, ‘Now at last I can tell you my news. It’s something really wonderful and you’ll never guess what it is – not in a million years!’
    ‘So tell us then,’ Annabelle said, puzzled to see Dotty looking so happy. What did she have to be happy about, after all? She had just lost her home– again – which didn’t seem to be something to rejoice over.
    ‘Well, it’s like this . . .’ Dotty went on to tell them about Miss Timms’s confession down in the cellar and they all gaped in amazement as the tale unfolded.
    ‘That poor woman,’ Miranda sighed as she poured them all some tea. ‘How hard it must have been for her all those years, seeing you almost every day but unable to tell you who she was. Her mother must have been a very harsh woman.’ But not as harsh as life, she was thinking. ‘That’s really wonderful, Dotty,’ she forced herself to say eventually. ‘Now at last after a lifetime of wondering, you know who your mother was and how much she loved you. No one will ever be able to take that away from you . . . but I’m afraid I have some tragic news. You see,’ Miranda’s voice died away and she cleared her throat. ‘You see, poor Miss Timms – your mother – didn’t make it. It appears that she threw herself across you when the cellar ceiling collapsed to protect you, and this brave action meant she took the brunt of it. She was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. I’m so sorry, darling.’
    The colour drained out of Dotty’s cheeks and she looked even paler than she had before, if that was possible. She stared at Miranda uncomprehendingly.
    ‘B-but she can’t be dead!’ she stuttered. ‘I only just got to know who she was! I can’t have found her and lost her all in the space of one night! It’s not fair.’
    ‘None of this bloody war is fair!’ Lucy exclaimed as her heart broke for her friend and then she drew Dotty carefully into her arms and let her sob out her grief as the others looked helplessly on.
     
    Robert arrived in Coventry mid-afternoon, appalled at what he had seen along the way. Ministry of Information vans were touring the streets with loudspeakers telling the homeless where they could obtain food and shelter, and he passed tramlines that now rose from the ground in twisted grotesque metal loops. Everyone knew now that the raid had been named Moonlight Sonata by the Luftwaffe and it was clear that they had targeted well, causing destruction. The morgues were full of unidentified bodies and the Coventry people’s spirits were at an all-time low as everyone wondered how they could ever come back from such a catastrophic raid.
    Robert had been travelling from London since early that morning, and by the time he arrived he was heart-sore at the things he and his friend Duncan had witnessed.
    ‘Oh Robert, I’m so pleased to see you,’ Miranda told him when she answered the door. She smiled weakly at Robert’s friend. ‘This is Duncan Fellows,’ Robert introduced him. ‘He has very kindly brought me here because the trains aren’t running.’ Then, seeing her red eyes, Robert’s heart plummeted as he asked, ‘Has something happened to Dotty?’
    ‘Well, yes, she has been injured, but not seriously. She’s in there.’ Miranda gestured towards the front parlour before ushering