Home Front Girls

changed into a very becoming pale blue dress that showed off her slim figure to perfection. She had also changed her lower heels for much higher ones, but both Dotty and Lucy settled for tidying their hair and adding a touch of lipstick.
    As soon as they got out of the lift they saw that the dining room had been transformed. Balloons dangled from the ceiling and the tables had been laid with a miniature banquet all along the length of one wall. Someone had brought a record player in and in no time at all people were dancing to the music, and the free wine that the store had supplied for the staff was flowing like water.
    ‘This is more like it,’ Annabelle said happily as she helped herself to another glass of wine, but then a hush fell on the room as Mr Bradley stopped the music to give them their customary Christmas speech.
    ‘I would like to thank all of you,’ he boomed, ‘for working so very hard in the build-up to Christmas. We have been extraordinarily busy in Owen Owen and I am happy to be able to tell you that despite the present grave circumstances, the takings are up. It seems that the public are intent on making this Christmas a time to remember. Who knows what the coming year holds for us all? On that sombre note I would like you all to raise your glasses in a toast to loved ones who are absent at this special time, fighting for us, our king and country.’
    Lucy’s eyes filled with tears as she thought of Joel, and everyone solemnly made the toast, then Mr Bradley concluded, ‘It only remains for me now to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. Please enjoy the food and drink we have laid on, and have a very happy holiday.’
    A cheer went up as the music resumed and then Dotty dug Lucy in the ribs and hissed. ‘Look over there – quickly!’
    Lucy followed her eyes and laughed out loud as she saw that Mrs Broadstairs had penned Mr Bradley against the wall whilst she dangled a piece of mistletoe above her head. Seeing no alternative, the poor man leaned forward and pecked her hastily on the cheek and instantly another cheer went up as Mrs Broadstairs simpered with delight.
    ‘Let’s hope she gets her man,’ Dotty whispered. ‘She’s not such a bad old stick really, is she?’
    In that moment, it hit the girls how settled they now were at Owen Owen. They might have the occasional grumble admittedly, but it had become a sanctuary to them and through their jobs they had found each other.
    ‘I’d like to make a toast to us,’ Annabelle shouted above the loud music as she raised her glass. ‘Friends forever, eh? No matter what the future has in store!’
    ‘Hear hear!’ Dotty and Lucy chorused and then they all joined in with the party spirit.
    When the girls finally left the store well after nine o’clock that evening they all kissed each other on the pavement and exchanged gifts to be opened on Christmas Day, then went their separate ways, all exhausted, yet in a happy frame of mind.
    Once Dotty arrived home she turned the small gas-fire on and was in the process of removing her coat when there was a tap on the door. It was rare for her to have visitors, especially this late at night, and as she hurried to answer it she wondered who it might be. She opened the door to find Miss Timms standing there.
    ‘Hello, what a lovely surprise!’ she said as she ushered the woman into the room. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you until after Christmas, but I’m so glad you’ve come. I have a little gift for you.’
    ‘Oh, you shouldn’t have gone spending your hard-earned money on me,’ Miss Timms scolded her, but she was beaming with pleasure as Dotty closed the door firmly behind her.
    ‘I’ve only just got in,’ Dotty told her now as she went to put the kettle on. ‘It’s been absolute bedlam at the store today. I think every single person in Coventry must have remembered someone they hadn’t got a present for. That’s what it felt like anyway, and the tills haven’t stopped ringing all day. Then when the store finally closed, we had a staff party.’
    ‘It’s always the same on Christmas Eve, and probably even more so this year. Everyone seems intent on having a good time and be damned to what happens tomorrow,’ Miss Timms replied as she took her coat off and folded it over the back of a chair. She then patted her hair to make sure that it was still neatly in place before sitting down and folding her hands primly in her lap.
    ‘So how are you, dear?’ she asked now as her