Home Front Girls

home. She had told Dotty that the children had been evacuated to a small village in Kent earlier in the war, but they had pined for their parents so badly that Laura had eventually brought them both home, much to Mrs Wiggins’ relief. Now Mrs Wiggins spoiled them both shamelessly.
    ‘She has this knack of being able to conjure a meal up from almost nothing,’ Laura confided to Dotty one day. By her own admission, Laura had never enjoyed cooking, so the meals Mrs Wiggins regularly prepared for the family were more than welcome.
    Now she dusted her way across the sideboard before asking, ‘How long’s it been since you ’ad a warm drink, dearie? Or per’aps I could tempt you to a bit o’ somefink to eat? You ain’t as far through as a stick o’ celery.’
    Dotty chuckled at Ada’s attempts to feed her up as she watched the postman walking up the path through the snow-white net curtains. The post was very hit and miss nowadays, and she wondered if he would have anything for her. ‘I’m fine for now, thanks.’ She smiled at the woman then hurried into the hall to retrieve the letters from the letterbox. It was no easy task with only one hand but eventually she came to one with her name on and instantly recognised Mr Jenkins’s stamp. He had written to her often since she had come to London, keeping her informed of what was happening about her late mother’s estate, so now she took the envelope into Mrs Wiggins and asked, ‘Would you mind opening this for me, please? It’s rather awkward with only one hand.’
    ‘Course I will, ducks,’ Mrs Wiggins said obligingly and she did as she was asked before handing the letter inside to Dotty and waddling off towards the kitchen. ‘I’m goin’ to fetch some more coal in an’ get these fires made up,’ she told her. ‘It’s like the bloody Arctic in ’ere. Almost as cold as me muvver-in-law’s heart.’
    Dotty guessed that the dear woman was really just looking for an excuse to leave her to read her letter in private.
    The letter began: Dear Dorothy, I hope this letter finds you well and settling happily in London. I am writing to update you on the current position of your late mother’s, Alice Louise Timms’s, estate.
    Dotty felt her legs go all wobbly. Surprisingly she had never known the woman’s Christian names before. To her, she had always been simply ‘Miss Timms’. Now that she did know them, it somehow made her mother feel more real. Alice – it was such a pretty name and Dotty wondered why she had never tried to find out what it was before. The rest of the letter just went on to tell her how much longer it might be before her inheritance was wholly signed over to her. Mr Jenkins also asked if she was still all right for funds and told her to contact him immediately should she need more. He then ended the letter by wishing her a very Merry Christmas, and wrote that he was looking forward to seeing her again in the New Year when they could finalise the transfer of Miss Timms’s estate into her name.
    Dotty sighed as she awkwardly folded the letter and poked it back into the envelope. Mr Jenkins really had been remarkably kind and helpful, considering he had never met her before. But then she supposed he was used to dealing with people who found themselves in her position. She glanced at the clock then before moving to the window. Robert should be here soon and as always she waited for a glimpse of him.
     
    ‘I have to say it isn’t easy buying presents with the strict rationing in force, although thankfully I did manage to get some toys for the children,’ Laura remarked just before one o’clock that afternoon as they shopped in the Strand. Oxford Street had been heavily bombed in the Blitz. ‘I know most people have resorted to knitting and sewing presents for their nearest and dearest, but I’m afraid I’ve never been much good at that sort of thing,’ she giggled. ‘I’m not much of a cook either, as you know, so I sometimes wonder what my Paul ever saw in me.’
    ‘I imagine he saw what everyone else sees,’ Dotty told her. ‘A kind, beautiful woman who would turn out to be a wonderful wife and mother. And clever too. You keep the magazine running like clockwork. I don’t know how you do it, but I do know Robert would be lost without you. He’s always singing your praises.’
    Laura blushed at the compliment before asking, ‘How are we doing on the present front anyway?’
    ‘Well, I got some lavender bath salts for