Home Front Girls

she’s been doted on by her parents. It must be nice to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth.’
    They then bent their heads and with Mary marching between them they set off for the bus stop through the darkened streets.
    Back at the house, Annabelle was pensive as she helped her mother to tidy up. She wondered why Lucy had seemed so put out when she had mentioned Joel, but then she shrugged. Perhaps all sisters were possessive of their brothers? Never having had one she could have no way of knowing so she put it from her mind.
     
    ‘Annabelle’s mother was lovely, wasn’t she?’ Dotty said as they stood waiting for the bus some time later. ‘And it was so kind of her to invite us to spend Christmas with them.’
    ‘It was, but I doubt we’d be able to get there with no buses running,’ Lucy reminded her.
    ‘Ah, you have a point there,’ Dotty answered, looking crestfallen.
    ‘It isn’t so far to my house though,’ Lucy went on. ‘So why don’t you come and spend the day with me and Mary? Perhaps you could borrow a bicycle from someone? It would be much better than spending the day on our own.’
    Dotty nodded enthusiastically. In truth she had been dreading spending her first Christmas all alone. ‘Thanks – I’ll see what I can do,’ she promised, and then they ushered Mary forward as the bus drew up.

Chapter Ten
     
    On Christmas Eve it was mayhem in Owen Owen from the second the doors were opened. Shoppers who had left it until the last minute to buy their presents poured inside in a frenzied wave.
    ‘Crikey – I didn’t think we were even going to get a morning break,’ Annabelle puffed as they finally managed to catch a few minutes in the staff dining room late in the morning. ‘The way things are going, we won’t have any stock left for the January sales. I sold out of Evening in Paris within the first half an hour.’
    ‘It’s been the same in the children’s department,’ Lucy agreed. ‘I’m sure I’ve sold more pairs of pyjamas and nightdresses today than I’ve sold in the last month. And the children’s dressing-gowns are going like hot cakes too. In fact, I’ve already sold out of some ages.’
    ‘It’s not so busy in the fabric department,’ Dotty told them, ‘but that didn’t get me off the hook. Because it was quiet, Mrs Broadstairs has had me helping out down in the food hall. Lordy, you should just see what people are buying! Everything and anything they can get their hands on. I’m sure I’ve sold enough food in the last few hours to feed the entire British Army! If it goes on like this, I doubt I’ll be able to make the staff party this evening. My feet are killing me already.’
    ‘Oh yes, you will make the party,’ Annabelle told her bossily. ‘Even if I have to drag you there kicking and screaming. I’m certainly not going to let you miss out on a free drink; we’ll have earned it by the time we close.’
    All around them the staff were in fine spirits, partly at the thought of the promised party and partly because they were in a festive mood. Some of them were wearing silly party hats. Others were already dressed in their finery, with tinsel necklaces strung about their necks, but just for today Mrs Broadstairs had chosen to turn a blind eye.
    ‘She couldn’t really do any other, could she?’ Annabelle said dryly when Lucy commented on it. ‘Seeing as she’s done up like a dog’s dinner herself. Poor Mr Bradley won’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell of escaping her when she’s had a few drinks.’
    They chuckled as they glimpsed Mrs Broadstairs sashaying across the dining room close on the heels of her unsuspecting prey as he headed for the counter. Her skirt was so tight that she looked in danger of bursting out of it at any minute, but she still managed to beat him to it and they heard her trill, ‘What would you like Mr Bradley? Tea? Coffee? My treat. It is Christmas Eve, after all.’
    The girls suppressed their laughter as the woman batted her eyelashes at him, and suddenly Dotty began to look forward to the party, after all.
    At last the doors to the store were closed and there was a mad rush for the ladies cloakroom so that the girls could touch up their make-up; some of them even got changed and the staid black skirts and white blouses were hastily discarded. Half an hour later they began to emerge and head for the staff dining room where the party would be held, looking like multi-coloured butterflies. Annabelle had