Home Front Girls

them, who were only left to deal with the aftermath of the attacks, what must it be like for Richard and his comrades, who were fighting on the front line? She could only pray that he would stay safe.
    ‘There’s one problem with your suggestion,’ Dotty said wryly. ‘What do I change into?’ Her heart broke afresh as she thought of the one beautiful outfit she had possessed, hidden now beneath tons of rubbish. Thank God, she thought, that she always wore the locket, and that most of the stories were safe in the London offices of Woman’s Heart. Ah, but her precious typewriter . . .
    ‘That’s not a problem,’ Annabelle assured her, squeezing her hand. ‘I’ve got loads of clothes you can have.’
    They were back at the end of the road by now, and Lucy told them, ‘I’m going to head home now, if you don’t mind. Mrs P will be worried sick and I need to let her know that I’m safe. But I’ll see you all back at the church hall this afternoon, shall I?’
    ‘I doubt that there will be any buses running yet,’ Miranda said. ‘Come on, I’ll give you a lift home on our way back.’ And so they all trooped on until they came to the car, which was covered in a thick layer of ash and brick dust.
    *
     
    When Dotty managed to find a telephone box and rang Robert later that afternoon, she heard the relief in his voice when he answered.
    ‘Thank God you’re safe,’ he told her. ‘I’ve been going out of my mind with worry. In fact, I was about to see if the trains were still running normally and to come up to try and find you.’
    ‘I’m fine,’ Dotty assured him. ‘But my flat isn’t. It was razed to the ground unfortunately, so I’m going to stay with Annabelle and her mother for the time being.’
    ‘But you could come here,’ he suggested quickly, and Dotty’s heart warmed at his obvious concern for her as she fingered the gold locket he had given her, which was hanging safely about her neck. When he had first given it to her, she had been almost afraid to wear it, it was so precious. But now she was glad that she had chosen to, otherwise it would have been lost forever beneath the shell of her burned-out home.
    ‘I appreciate the offer, Robert, but I’m all right, really. And I still have my job to go to, which is something.’
    ‘Hmm.’ He didn’t sound too happy about things. ‘Then I shall come to you on Thursday instead of you coming to me. You won’t have the money for the fare now so I shall bring you some cash to tide you over,’ he said in a voice that told her he wouldn’t take no for an answer. ‘And we’ll go shopping and get you some new clothes and basic essentials too. You must have lost everything.’
    ‘I have,’ she admitted, fighting back the tears which were always dangerously close to erupting at the moment. ‘But I don’t want you spending your money on me. It wouldn’t be right.’
    ‘Very well then, if you feel like that I shall give you an advance on your fees. Shall we say the next twelve months?’
    ‘But a lot of my stories were in the flat,’ she explained in a small voice.
    He snorted. ‘That’s the least of your worries. You can write some more, and luckily I have quite a few here that you gave me to look at, so you won’t be under any immediate pressure.’
    Once again Dotty thought what a remarkable man he was and she felt slightly better. And at least she could look forward to seeing him again now. It would give her something to focus on.
     
    Mrs P was highly relieved too, when Lucy walked through the door.
    ‘Yer look like somethin’ the cat’s dragged in, love!’ she exclaimed, drawing Lucy towards the settee. ‘Wherever have yer been? I thought yer were goin’ to Annabelle’s, so how have yer got in this state?’
    The girl quickly explained as Mrs P put the kettle on to boil and the woman sighed. ‘It’s a bad do, ain’t it? But then I think we all knew deep down that it were comin’. An’ accordin’ to my Fred, this is only the beginnin’. God help us!’
    At that moment someone rapped on the front door and Mrs P looked up. ‘I wonder who that is? Most people I know always come round to the back.’
    She pottered away, tightening her flowered pinny about her waist as Lucy sat fighting to stay awake.
    Lucy heard her open the front door, but then there was nothing and she started to get concerned. Struggling to climb off the overstuffed settee, she walked into the front room to find Mrs P staring down at a brown