Home Front Girls

goodbyes. Thankfully the train lines were now back in use although the raids had continued. As fast as the railmen repaired the tracks, the Jerries blew them up again.
    Each of the three friends was aware that they were all on the verge of a new life, and none of them quite knew what to say to each other. But in that moment they all realised how much they would miss the others, and how much their friendship meant to them.
    ‘Well – this is it then, for now at least.’ It was Lucy who broke the silence as Robert walked a discreet distance away to allow them to say their goodbyes in private.
    ‘Good old Owen Owen, eh?’ Dotty blinked to hold back the tears. ‘If it wasn’t for working there, we might never have met.’
    ‘True, and poor old Mrs Broadstairs and Mr Bradley,’ Annabelle said quietly. She hadn’t always seen eye to eye with the woman or the manager, but the girls had all been saddened when they learned that the couple had not survived the night of the Blitz.
    ‘We’ll write to each other regularly and we must meet up at least once a year.’ Dotty held her good hand out and the others placed theirs on it and gave their word. After seeing each other almost daily for so long it felt strange to think of them all being apart and leading separate lives.
    ‘Good luck at Haslar,’ Dotty told Annabelle. Her posting had arrived only that morning and in just a few short days she would be on her way. ‘And good luck in your new job too, Lucy. Give Harry a kiss from me, and that handsome brother of yours when you get to see him.’
    ‘I will,’ Lucy promised chokily and then they all hugged as Robert came and took Dotty’s elbow.
    ‘I’m afraid we’re going to have to get aboard now,’ he apologised as the platform-master began to walk along, slamming the carriage doors.
    They gave each other one last kiss then Robert lifted their cases aboard as Lucy and Annabelle waved furiously.
    ‘Goodbye, goodbye, take care,’ Dotty shouted as she waved from the carriage window and the two girls stood and watched as the train carried Dotty away to her new life.

Chapter Thirty
     
    Annabelle stared from the window of the train as it pulled into the Portsmouth Harbour station. It certainly didn’t look like any station she had seen before, as it appeared to be built on stilts – and when she climbed down from the train clutching her small suitcase, she could see the waves beneath the decking she was standing on. There were lots of people in Navy uniform hurrying to and fro, so after taking a deep breath she approached a woman dressed in a nurse’s uniform and asked, ‘Could you tell me the way to Haslar Hospital, please?’
    ‘Oh, yes of course. You’ll need to get the pinnace across to it.’
    ‘Pinnace?’ Annabelle looked bewildered and the nurse grinned.
    ‘It’s a small naval launch. It’s over there – look – and if you hurry, you might just catch it.’ She pointed towards a small boat, and Annabelle smiled her thanks and hurried towards it.
    The boat was almost full of other young women in civilian clothes carrying suitcases, and Annabelle wondered if they were going to be VADs too. It certainly looked that way. The smell of seaweed was heavy in the air and she could taste the salt from the sea. It was a far cry from the smoky streets of Coventry and she looked around with interest. Boats of all shapes and sizes were rocking on the choppy waves in the harbour and Annabelle felt a little tingle of excitement. She had not had a good day up to now, since the parting from her mother had been painful, but now she knew she must concentrate on the job she had come to do. She looked down from the quay into the pinnace with trepidation. It looked an awfully long way down if she should fall, but then the other girls had managed it so she had no doubt she would.
    ‘Give us your hand, miss,’ a cheerful sailor said as he helped her into the boat, and in no time at all she was seated next to a plump girl with lovely green eyes and a friendly smile.
    ‘Goin’ to be a VAD, are you?’ the girl asked conversationally.
    Annabelle nodded. ‘Yes, are you?’
    ‘Yes, I am, an’ I have to admit I’m a bit nervous.’
    The boat engine clicked into life and the boat began its short journey across the frothy waves to Haslar.
    ‘I didn’t realise we’d have to get a blooming boat across to the horspital,’ the girl muttered, then holding out one hand while she clutched the side of the boat with the