Home Front Girls

aware of that,’ Annabelle responded, her voice curt. ‘But I have enjoyed helping the WVS out and this is like the next step. All the hospitals are crammed with wounded and they’re crying out for help. I thought you’d be proud of me.’
    ‘I am proud of you, darling,’ Miranda insisted. ‘But I ask again – why do you have to go away?’
    ‘Because I think a little time apart will do us good,’ Annabelle answered. ‘I need an opportunity to try and come to terms with things.’
    ‘Oh, I see.’ Miranda looked so bereft that Annabelle felt a twinge of guilt, but it was too late to do anything about it now. Everything was signed and sealed and she had been informed that she would be notified of where she was to be posted within the next few days. Miranda would just have to get used to the idea.
    ‘So don’t you have any inkling where you might be going?’ What if Annabelle was sent to France? Miranda was only too aware that a lot of VADs were being posted abroad.
    ‘Not for definite, but they did say there was a good chance I would be sent to Haslar.’
    Miranda was only slightly mollified. ‘But that’s at Gosport on the coast.’ Visions of the beach covered in barbed wire in case of an invasion by sea flashed in front of her eyes and she felt weak. If the invasion came, Annabelle would be first in the line of fire. But then one look at the determined glint in her daughter’s eye made her realise that nothing she could say or do would make her change her mind now. Annabelle was twenty-one years old and no longer needed parental consent to do anything.
    ‘In that case we must start to get together the things you might need,’ she said, forcing a brave smile.
    ‘We’re to be issued with uniforms so there won’t be much I need to take,’ Annabelle answered. Just then the front door opened and seconds later Robert and Dotty came into the kitchen, their cheeks glowing from the cold outside.
    Looking from one to the other of them, Dotty wondered if they had had a row. There was obviously something amiss if Miranda’s white face and glistening eyes were anything to go by. She turned to leave the room, not wishing to intrude, but Miranda stopped her when she said, ‘Annabelle has just informed me that she’s going to be a VAD.’
    Dotty’s reaction was much as hers had been. Her mouth gaped as she blinked before saying, ‘What?’
    ‘I don’t know why everyone is making such a big thing of it,’ Annabelle growled. ‘I’m not completely useless, you know?’
    ‘I never thought that you were useless,’ Dotty objected. ‘And I think it’s a wonderful thing to do. But I believe it’s very hard work.’ Somehow she couldn’t picture Annabelle doing some of the menial jobs she had heard VADs did.
    ‘Hard work never hurt anybody,’ Annabelle retaliated. ‘And we should all be doing our bit, or so Churchill keeps on telling us. In fact, when the war is over I might go on and do the training to become a proper State Registered Nurse.’
    Robert and Dotty exchanged a glance then offered their congratulations. Dotty was actually quite impressed with her friend, even though she found it hard to imagine her in such an unglamorous job. Her mind was already whirling after the appointment with Miss Timms’s solicitor. Mr Jenkins had been so lovely that he had brought tears to her eyes as he offered her his condolences, and he hadn’t been able to do enough for her.
    ‘I spoke to Miss . . . your mother shortly after her own mother’s death,’ he had told her. ‘Mrs Timms had left everything to her and she in turn wanted to ensure that should anything happen to her, it would all then come to you. She was adamant on that point, and now that I am in possession of a copy of her death certificate I can release some funds to tide you over until all the legalities are completed.’ He had then told her sadly, ‘Your mother was a remarkable woman. I’ve known her for many years and she was truly selfless. She was very like her father in nature. He was a lovely man too, whereas your grandmother was . . . dare I say, slightly formidable? But should you need anything, anything at all, please don’t hesitate to contact me. It has been a real pleasure to meet you.’
    Dotty had come away thinking what a truly nice gentleman Mr Jenkins was and Robert had agreed with her.
     
    Friday morning found Lucy and Annabelle standing on the platform of Coventry station with Dotty and Robert to say their