It was an evening three weeks later when Thea breezed into Pearl’s office in Lincoln. Pearl was working on the dummy sheets for the next edition of the Bombshell with Jenny for company. Jenny had made a space for herself on Pearl’s desk and was putting the finishing touches to an article on a day in the life of a parachute packer. Thea waved a letter in Pearl’s face. ‘Deedee says she won’t come for Christmas.’
Pearl, knowing she wouldn’t get any more work done that evening, put down her pencil. ‘I told you she wouldn’t. What else does she say?’
‘Oh, just some stuff about the Shrewsbury Spitfire fund. Apparently she’s volunteered to help with the fundraising. But why doesn’t she want to come?’
‘I don’t know. Perhaps because she knows you’re going to spend her whole visit trying to throw her together with Mr Haughton.’ Pearl had already seen Thea, the week after her return from Shrewsbury, and explained what Deedee had told her about her reluctance to meet Thomas Haughton again, but Thea merely seemed to have taken it as a challenge.
‘So what if I do? Deedee definitely seemed to regret losing him when she told me about him at your wedding.’
‘She can’t regret it too much. Don’t forget she must have met our grandfather afterwards.’
Thea shrugged. ‘Only he wasn’t around for long, was he? And don’t you think it strange Deedee doesn’t often speak of him? Maybe he made her unhappy, in which case it’s probably a good thing he died so young.’
Pearl gave Thea a sharp look. ‘That’s a horrible thing to say. You can’t possibly know they were unhappy.’
‘I’ve got a pretty good idea. I mean, look at Thomas. It’s obvious he loved his wife – he often speaks of her, and you can tell he’s sad she’s no longer around. Don’t you think Deedee would want to tell us all about our grandfather if he was someone she’d loved?’
Pearl hadn’t looked at it that way before. ‘I suppose you’ve got a point. I always thought it was because it hurt too much to speak of someone she still misses.’ But now Thea had planted the idea in her head, she had to admit Deedee would have been more likely to want to tell her granddaughters all about their grandfather.
‘She misses Mother, but she often talks about her.’
Pearl couldn’t deny that, either.
Thea must have sensed her wavering, for she gave a triumphant grin. ‘And you call yourself a journalist. Where’s your curiosity, your investigative skills?’
Pearl was willing to concede that Thea had a point. ‘I’ll see if I can bring the subject round to Grandfather next time I see her. But promise you won’t try and force her and Thomas together. She told me that seeing him would only reopen old wounds, and I think we should respect that. I don’t want either of them getting hurt.’
Thea gave a glum nod. ‘I won’t get a chance, anyway, considering Deedee’s determined not to set foot in Lincolnshire again.’
Although she seemed resigned, Pearl couldn’t resist making sure. ‘Promise me. Whatever happened in the past, it must have been a very long time ago, and they both seem content with their lot now. Please don’t do anything to upset them.’
Whatever Thea might have said in response, Pearl would never know, for Mr Haughton’s secretary put her head round the door, looking unusually grave. ‘Excuse me, Corporal Tallis.’
Pearl beckoned her in and said with a wry smile, ‘How many times do I have to ask you to call me Pearl? I always—’
The words died on her lips as she noticed first Mrs Norris’s strained expression and then the envelope in her hand. It was thin and brown and bore the words: POST OFFICE TELEGRAM. She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. When she spoke, her voice was hoarse, and she had the strange feeling she wasn’t speaking at all but was listening to someone else. ‘For me?’
Mrs Norris nodded. A heavy silence descended over the room as Pearl took the envelope and opened it with hands that trembled so violently she could barely hold the paperknife. She was dimly aware of Thea and Jenny moving to stand on either side of her, although her whole attention was focused on the slip of paper she pulled from the envelope. The typed letters on the telegram form danced in front of her eyes, and it took a moment for the message to sink in.
REGRET TO INFORM YOU YOUR HUSBAND FLYING OFFICER GREGORY TALLIS IS MISSING AS A RESULT OF AIR OPERATIONS ON NIGHT OF 27/28 NOV STOP LETTER FOLLOWS STOP ANY FURTHER INFORMATION WILL BE IMMEDIATELY COMMUNICATED TO YOU
Pearl shook her head. ‘No. They must have made a mistake.’ She looked wildly from Thea to Jenny, willing them to agree. ‘I know he was thinking of volunteering for another tour, but he would never actually do it without telling me.’
She belatedly became aware that Thea held her arm in a painful grip. With her free hand, her sister snatched the telegram and scanned it. ‘It’s from 14 OTU.’
This was the Operational Training Unit in Market Harborough where both Greg and Fitz were now stationed. Not a mistake, then. The communication was definitely about her Greg and not an error involving some other poor pilot with the same name.
Now Jenny spoke. ‘I’m so sorry, Pearl. Something must have gone wrong on a training flight.’
But that made no sense either. ‘Then why is he missing? Surely if there was an accident during a training flight, someone would have seen what happened. There would be…’
Bodies. She couldn’t bring herself to say the word, but it didn’t stop images flooding her mind. When she had first met Greg, she had been serving as a radio telephone operator at Fenthorpe and had talked a pilot down to land who had been struggling to maintain control of an aircraft on fire. Moments after he had escaped, the plane had been consumed by an uncontrollable blaze. The pilot had been Greg. And now she remembered Thea telling her of the time she had witnessed a trapped gunner burning to death. Had that happened to Greg? But then he would be reported as dead, not missing. Still, it didn’t stop her thinking of burning bodies and praying that hadn’t happened to Greg.
The pain in her arm brought her back to the present. She could feel every one of Thea’s fingers digging into the flesh of her upper arm. She grasped her sister’s wrist. ‘Let go. That hurts.’ Then she saw Thea’s face, white and strained.
Thea released her grip and met Pearl’s gaze. ‘Sometimes they take more experienced crews on leaflet-dropping missions across the Channel,’ she said in an agonised voice. ‘If he went down over France or the Netherlands, say, that would explain why no one knows for sure what’s happened.’
‘Oh God, you’re right.’ Now it was Pearl’s time to clutch her sister’s arm. ‘Fitz would know. You have to call him.’
She turned to Mr Haughton’s secretary, who still hadn’t left but stood in the doorway, twisting her hands together. ‘Can you put a call through to 14 OTU for my sister?’
Mrs Norris, looking relieved to have a reason to escape the heavy atmosphere, said, ‘Of course. I’ll see what I can do.’ She scurried away.
It was only then that Thea’s anguished expression seeped into her consciousness. ‘What if Fitz isn’t there?’ her sister said. ‘What if he was on the flight too? They wouldn’t tell me. The telegram would go to his mother.’
It was the need to support Thea that brought Pearl fully back to her senses. ‘I never thought of that.’
The wait for the call seemed interminable. Pearl sat at her desk, gazing unseeingly at the papers spread in front of her. Jenny sat beside her, looking as stunned as Pearl felt, and Pearl supposed she was thinking about Edwin Holland, another member of Greg’s old crew, who was also now serving at 14 OTU. Jenny had been friends with Edwin when he had been at RAF Fenthorpe, and Pearl had suspected that they had feelings for one another, although Jenny usually protested that they were no more than friends. Even so, Jenny must be wondering if Edwin was safe.
Thea paced around the small office, saying nothing but jumping every time the sound of a ringing telephone echoed down the corridor.
When the telephone on Pearl’s desk shrilled, Pearl’s heart constricted, and she gazed at it, frozen, unable to force her muscles to obey her will and answer it.
In two strides, Thea reached the desk and snatched up the receiver. ‘Hello? Yes, thank you.’ There was a pause in which Pearl knew the secretary was putting through the call to RAF Market Harborough. Then Thea spoke again. ‘Hello. I’m trying to reach Flying Officer James Fitzgerald, or his CO if that’s easier.’ She gave the name of Fitz and Greg’s commanding officer. There followed another pause that stretched out for an age. Then Pearl heard the sound of a tinny voice coming through the receiver, although she couldn’t make out any words.
Thea stood up straighter. ‘Hello, yes. This is LACW Thea Cooper.’ She started to gabble. ‘I’m Fitz’s girlfriend, but I’m really ringing on behalf of my sister, Flying Officer Tallis’s wife.’ She paused, obviously listening to whoever was speaking on the other end of the line. The colour flooded back into her cheeks, and the tension seemed to drain from her body. ‘He is? Oh, thank God.’
Pearl felt a surge of hope and had to restrain herself from snatching the receiver from Thea’s hands. She waited in tense silence while Thea spoke again, although it was hard to hear through the pulsing blood in her ears. She was dimly aware of Jenny’s arm round her shoulder. Her hearing gradually came back in time to hear Thea say, ‘Yes, I’ll tell her,’ before replacing the receiver.
‘Who did you speak to? What did he say?’ Pearl demanded.
‘That was Squadron Leader Cole. It’s as we thought. Greg was taking a crew on a leaflet drop and they didn’t return. That’s all he knows at the moment, but—’
‘But you sounded relieved. I thought that meant he was safe.’
Thea crouched beside Pearl’s chair, biting her lip. ‘I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Cole said Fitz was on his way up here to report to you in person, and I was so relieved he wasn’t missing too I didn’t think.’
Pearl knew she couldn’t blame her. She would feel the same were their situations reversed. Nevertheless, she couldn’t help feeling a stab of jealousy. It was so unfair for Greg to be missing while Thea, who always got what she wanted, was happy because Fitz was safe. No matter that she hated herself for feeling that way, she couldn’t help it. Praying that her feelings didn’t show, she forced a smile. ‘Fitz is coming? That’s kind of him.’ And it was. Fitz was a lovely man and perfect for Thea.
Thea nodded. ‘He’s got a forty-eight-hour pass. He’s been holding off on applying for it, waiting until I can get one too, but he must have badgered Cole into giving him leave the moment Greg was reported missing. Cole said he’s coming up to explain what he knows. He had to finish up some paperwork before leaving, but he’s on the way now. No idea what time he’ll get here, but I should go to the station to wait for him. You should wait here with Jenny. Is there anything else I can do before I leave?’
There was no mistaking Thea’s concern and love. It brought tears to Pearl’s eyes, and suddenly she couldn’t stem the flood. Cold reality crashed down upon her, and she felt like a terrified child trapped in a nightmare. And just as she had when she was a child, she wanted the only person who always made her feel better. ‘Deedee,’ she said. ‘I want Deedee.’
Deedee was just pulling on her coat, getting ready to go to a Women’s Voluntary Service meeting, when the rattle of the door knocker made her jump. Answering the door, she saw a messenger boy, his bicycle propped on the path behind him.
‘Telegram for Mrs Pritchard.’
Her head in a spin, Deedee took the telegram, and the lad had mounted his bike and was sailing down the lane before it fully dawned on her what had just happened. She stepped back into the hall and opened the envelope. Her first thought was that something had happened to Thea. Pearl she was less concerned about now she mostly worked in Lincoln, but, ever since Thea had told her of the accident that had killed her fellow instrument repairer the previous year, she had worried about Thea’s safety.
It was a relief to see that the message was from Thea, but the relief was short-lived.
GREG MISSING STOP PEARL NEEDS YOU STOP WILL CALL SHOP 5PM THEA
Greg! Deedee’s heart went out to Pearl as she remembered how worried she had been during her recent visit. It seemed her fears had been justified. She glanced into the parlour, at the clock on the mantelpiece. There was still an hour before Thea’s call, but she wouldn’t be able to attend the meeting. First she hurried a few doors down to ask Mrs Harris to give her apologies, then she settled in the parlour to wait until it was time for Thea’s call.
The telephone at Jones’ Newsagents was treated like a public phone by Deedee and her neighbours. Not that Mr Jones complained, for it increased his custom. Accordingly, at five to five, Deedee hurried down the road to the shop and bought a copy of Woman’s Own, as always feeling she had to buy something if she was using the phone.
‘Anything else I can help you with, Mrs Pritchard?’ Mr Jones asked as he handed over her change.
‘I’m expecting a call from my granddaughter,’ Deedee replied. ‘She arranged to call at five.’
‘No problem. Go on through.’ Mr Jones raised the counter to allow her to access the door at the back of the shop. ‘We’re not expecting any other calls, so take your time.’
‘Thank you.’ Deedee squeezed into the passageway that connected the shop to the little office and Mr Jones’ living quarters. The telephone was on a shelf at the foot of the stairs, and Mr Jones had thoughtfully placed a chair beside it so his customers could sit while waiting for calls to be put through. Deedee took a seat, knowing that Thea could be delayed by any number of hold-ups. The magazine lay unread on her lap; her mind was far too occupied by worries over Pearl and Greg. She was painfully aware that ‘missing’ all too often meant ‘dead’, but, with the countries involved being in turmoil, it could take weeks or months before information filtered through. Sometimes it never arrived. If an aircraft went down over the sea, for example, it would usually be lost for ever. Deedee’s heart had always gone out to families with loved ones reported missing, but she had never imagined being in the same position.
The shrill telephone bell made her jump. She sprang up and answered, and a moment later heard Thea’s voice.
‘Deedee? Oh, it’s so good to speak to you.’
‘What do you know?’ Deedee’s heart sank as she listened to Thea’s tale, hope dwindling.
‘That’s all we know for now, which is precious little,’ Thea concluded. ‘Fitz is on his way, but I don’t know what else he can tell us.’
Deedee was glad that Thea had Fitz in her life. Thea had settled down considerably since being involved with him – mostly, Deedee suspected, because she didn’t want to end up being confined to camp when Fitz got leave. ‘That’s good of him. I’m sure Pearl will be grateful for any information. How is she?’
‘Pretty cut up. It doesn’t help that she used to work in Flying Control, so she knows exactly how unlikely it is for a missing crew to turn up safe and well.’ The sound of Thea drawing a deep breath echoed down the line. ‘The thing is, Pearl asked for you almost straight away. Can you come, Deedee? Jenny and I will be there for her as much as we can, of course, but neither of us gets much free time.’
From Thea’s apologetic tone, Deedee knew she must be thinking of the letter she had sent in response to her Christmas invitation. She had been regretful but firm, saying that, although she would have loved to spend Christmas with her granddaughters, she could see through Thea’s plan to reunite her with Tom Haughton, and had asked Thea to put all such nonsense from her mind. She now hastened to put Thea at ease. ‘Of course I’ll come. There’s no reason why I can’t pack up and catch a train first thing in the morning.’ In her mind she was already running through the list she would need to pack. Ration book, gas mask, identity card and money being top of the list.
‘Thank goodness. I can’t bear to think of Pearl going through this alone.’
Nor could Deedee. Once they’d made what arrangements they could, not knowing what time she would arrive, Deedee returned home, her head full of Pearl and what she must be suffering. Her heart was heavy as she scurried around her house, gathering up her belongings and cramming them all into as tiny a case as possible. She knew what a leap of faith it had been for Pearl to give her heart to Greg. If either of her granddaughters was going to enter a hasty marriage, Deedee would have bet good money on it being Thea. Therefore she had been both shocked and delighted when Pearl had announced her engagement to Greg and their determination to marry as soon as their separate duties allowed. On the rare occasions when she had seen the couple together, it had filled her with joy to see how she had blossomed under Greg’s influence and seized love with both hands in a most un-Pearl-like manner. She couldn’t bear to think of how she might regress should Greg be lost. No matter that there was a high chance of running into Tom once she was in Lincoln, she had to risk it.