Home Front Girls

cold blustery morning before she left for work one day, Annabelle said her goodbyes to her father. Richard Smythe had packed a small case, telling his wife that this was all he would need to take as he would be supplied with a uniform as soon as he arrived at his destination. He had passed his medical with no problem, as Miranda had anticipated, and during the days leading up to his departure she had maintained a cheery attitude. However, this morning, she could not stop the tears from falling as Annabelle looked on, at a loss as to what to say. Personally she couldn’t understand why her mother was so worried. The British Isles remained untouched and as yet there had been no sign of an air invasion, although Australian and Canadian troops had been arriving in droves to help the mother country. It was rumoured that Adolf Hitler was waiting for the better weather before he began his attacks, but Annabelle was certain that the war would be over by then and her father would be home safe and sound. Was it really necessary for her mother to get herself into such a state? The girl was also acutely aware that if she didn’t get her skates on, she would be late for work so now she pecked her father on the cheek, telling him, ‘Good luck, Daddy. Write to us, won’t you? And take good care of yourself.’
    He nodded as he hugged her and then she was swinging off down the drive leaving her parents to say their goodbyes in private. She supposed that she should be feeling more upset than she was, but then she was going to the cinema that evening with Jessica to watch Joan Crawford in The Ice Follies, and she was already wondering what she should wear.
     
    Before the girls knew it, Christmas was racing towards them and Owen Owen was packed with shoppers each day from early morning when the doors opened to when they closed each evening. The store took on a festive atmosphere and small Christmas trees popped up in each department as if by magic. The staff were allowed to bring in colourful paper chains, which they festooned around the fronts of the counters, and with which they decorated the staff dining room.
    Annabelle was now actually enjoying her job, as Mrs Broadstairs had placed her permanently in the perfume and cosmetics department. She seemed to have a flair for knowing which perfume would suit a particular customer, and as she was allowed to sample the goods she sold, she was in her element. She never tired of gazing into the glass display cabinets at the lipsticks and the arrays of cosmetics, and she kept her own counter as neat as a new pin.
    Dotty was now permanently placed in the fabric department, a job that she too thoroughly enjoyed. So much so that she had actually treated herself to a second-hand Singer sewing machine from a stall in Coventry market, and was teaching herself to sew. She was working on a nice tweed skirt that she hoped would be ready in time to give to Miss Timms for Christmas, and Mrs P had been marvellous, showing her all the basics of how to work the machine and cut out a pattern. She would have liked to buy some pretty cotton and attempt to make Miss Timms a blouse too, to go with it, but felt that this was a little adventurous yet. Even so, she loved handling the bolts of material. A long brass tape measure was fixed to the edge of her counter and after helping a customer to choose what they wanted, she would then carefully measure the material from the roll, cut it neatly and parcel it up for them.
    Lucy still tended to be sent to whichever department she was needed in, although whenever possible Mrs Broadstairs would place her in the children’s department, which was the girl’s favourite. From her wages she had bought Mary a smart red wool coat with a matching bonnet for Christmas as well as a dear little blue velvet dress and a pair of white tights to go under it. She knew that she had been rather extravagant – but then, who could tell what the following year might hold for them? And so she spent her money and smiled, as many other people were doing, intent on enjoying themselves whilst they still could.
    A strong friendship had formed among the three girls now, and without even thinking about it they would head for what had become known as their table each break and lunchtime.
    It was during a morning break two weeks before Christmas that Annabelle joined Lucy and Dotty with a face as long as a fiddle.
    ‘You’ll never believe what happened to me last night,’ she grumped as