Home Front Girls

‘It’s just a shame that there’s a war on. You haven’t really seen London at its best, but then I dare say everywhere is the same at the moment.’
    She nodded in agreement as her train wheezed into the station. ‘I’d better go and get aboard then,’ she told him awkwardly. ‘I don’t want it going without me, do I?’ In actual fact she couldn’t think of a single thing that she would have liked more, but she couldn’t tell him that, of course.
    ‘I’ll write to you just as soon as Laura and I have had time to look at your manuscript,’ he promised. ‘And in the meantime, ring me next week so that we can talk about next month’s story.’
    ‘I will.’ She stood uncertainly for a moment, resisting the urge to peck him on the cheek, then turned and fled – and as he watched her go, he smiled fondly.

Chapter Seventeen
     
    Lucy began to rush home from work each evening to check on Mrs P. She was a changed woman since receiving the telegram informing her that Freddy was missing, and seemed to spend half her time on the doorstep now looking for signs of the postman. She was convinced that he was going to bring her good news, saying that Freddy was in hospital or had been taken prisoner. But each day left her sadly disappointed and a little more withdrawn from the world. It was Lucy now who took her ration books each week to get her shopping and helped her with her washing and ironing.
    ‘I really appreciate this, lass,’ Mr P told her one Sunday morning as Lucy fed a clean white sheet through the mangle in the back yard before pegging it onto the line where it flapped like a living thing in the breeze. ‘If it weren’t fer you over the last few weeks I doubt we’d have so much as a clean towel in the whole house. An’ her allus so houseproud before.’
    As he shook his head sadly Lucy’s heart went out to him. But she didn’t have time to stand and chat. It was a Sunday, and still as regular as clockwork she disappeared off at the same time every Sunday afternoon without a mention of where she was going. Mrs P missed having Mary as she had used to. At one time the woman had been consumed with curiosity and had tried everything to get it out of the girl but nowadays she had more pressing things to worry about, namely her son.
    ‘It’s all right, Mr P,’ Lucy puffed as another wet sheet fell into her arms. ‘It’s the least I can do after all you and Mrs P have done for us. And try not to worry too much. I’m sure she’ll come through this eventually.’
    ‘Let’s hope yer right, wench,’ he remarked as he jammed tobacco into the bowl of his pipe.
    Once the washing was done and Lucy was sure that the couple had all they needed, she hurried across the yard and into her own house where she hastily changed before rushing off.
    ‘There she goes again,’ Mrs P remarked from her seat in the front window. Her husband had told her that there was no post on Sunday, but it made no difference.
     
    Over in her flat, Dotty was composing the second letter of the week to Robert. They wrote to each other so regularly now that the letters sometimes crossed in the post, and lately they had become more intimate.
    I’m so looking forward to seeing you again , he had written in his last letter. Is there no chance of you coming for a whole weekend? You could stay at my flat and you would be very welcome. There are so still so many places of interest you haven’t seen.
    The very thought of it made her heart pound, although she wasn’t too sure what Miss Timms might think of it! A young unmarried girl staying with a bachelor? Dotty giggled as she thought of the woman’s reaction, although she knew that now she was no longer in the kindly woman’s care it was really none of Miss Timms’s business what Dotty did with her spare time. But she had no wish to upset her, although the offer was very tempting. And of course she realised that Robert was only inviting her as a friend – so what could be the harm in that? Dotty knew that she and Robert could never be anything other than friends. They had come from different worlds. He had had a private education and been brought up in the lap of luxury from what she could make of it, and besides that, he was so much older than her. And of course, on top of that it was clear that he and Laura were close too. Just the thought of the woman made Dotty scowl. Laura had always gone out of her way to make her feel welcome each time they had met and yet Dotty still