‘Flors, that telephone call I just took, you’re never going to believe this – it was Ella!’
‘What? But that’s marvellous. Oh, Mags, where is she? Is she all right?’
‘Yes, she’s being cared for by the British Embassy; she says she was rescued and flown out of France, but couldn’t give us any details of how or who by. They’re taking her to hospital, but she wants to come here. I nearly screamed down the phone, I was so excited.’
‘I’ll fetch her, Mags. Ella can’t travel by train. She . . . well, I told you what happened, and God knows what might have happened to her since then. She’s going to need us.’
‘I’ll come, too. I can, as I have an excellent team at the mill who can take over from me. I’ll get Bradshaw to drive us. But Ella’s not able to come straight away, because apparently she is helping the embassy with information. Again she was unable to tell me more than that . . . Oh, there’s the telephone again.’
Mags almost skipped into the hall as her excitement, mixed with relief about Ella, gave her a feeling of euphoria. She hoped this was Jerome, so that she could share her wonderful news with him.
‘Aunt Mags, is that you? Oh, Aunt Mags,’ a tiny voice called out.
Mags felt a shiver run through her. ‘Rosie?’
‘Yes. Oh, Aunt Mags . . .’
‘What is it, Rosie? Don’t cry, my darling girl. I can’t understand you. What’s happened – is it Billy?’
‘Naw, I mean, aye, but . . .’
What followed had Mags bending at the knees, with the weight of her grief. ‘No. No. Oh, my darling, no!’
‘What’s wrong, Mags? Oh, my dear Mags, what’s wrong?’ Flors called out as she rushed over.
Putting her hand up to Flors, Mags spoke into the receiver. ‘Rosie, I’ll start out today. Tell Betsy – your ma – I’ll be there tomorrow. Oh, my little one, my precious little one. We’ll get through this, we will. Is your ma there?’
‘Aye, but I don’t think she can talk. She just wants you to come – we all do. I’ll tell her you are coming.’
‘Does your Aunt Ciss know?’
‘Aye, we phoned the estate.’
‘I’ll go and see her before I set out. Thank God her sons, being farmers, are exempt from going to war, as your family is doing enough as it is. Can you stay with your ma, Rosie, or do you have to report for duty?’
‘I can stay. I’ve been given indefinite compassionate leave. I need it, an’ all. I’ve a lot to tell you, Aunt Mags. We all need you. We need your strength.’
Mags didn’t feel strong. She wanted to curl up and scream against this cruel world and the loss of the lovely Daisy and Florrie, whom she’d known and loved since their birth. Putting the phone down, after saying her goodbyes and reassuring Rosie that she would help them all she could, Mags turned to Flors.
‘Come and sit down, Mags. I rang for tea to be served. Whatever has happened?’
Telling Flors made it all become true. Mags could no longer contain her grief and broke down. ‘Betsy and I have been friends since we were thirteen.’
‘I know.’
‘We had an unlikely friendship, born of my loneliness and Betsy’s lovely, kind nature. She was from a poor background and worked in the mill that my father owned at the time. I came to love her like the sister I never had. Her children are like mine. Oh, Flors, how am I to bear this, and how is Betsy to? I have to help her. I have to.’
‘Of course. Look, I’ll fetch Ella. I’d take her to my house, but London is no place to be at the moment. The Blitz may be over, but there’s still a lot of bombing and suffering.’
‘Maybe that’s right where we need to be, Flors – all of us. We can’t leave all this to our daughters and sons. Oh, I know my daughters are not old enough yet and are safe at school, but Sibbie is like my daughter; and your dear Marjella, I love her like a daughter, too. God knows what they are doing or where they are, but I fear for them every day.’
‘I know what they are doing, Mags. I – I . . . well, I can’t share it. I’ve signed the Official Secrets Act. But I am so worried about them; and about my darling Cyrus, and Freddy, Randolph and Monty. My heart is bleeding silent tears of anguish, but we have to keep strong. You’re right, though. There must be something we can do. We’ll talk about it. Let’s get you to Scotland, and me to London and Ella, and then when we are all back here, we’ll think of a way we can help. We’ll all feel better for doing so.’
By the time Mags returned to Blackburn she felt drained. There was no way of helping Betsy, and that had left her with a feeling of hopelessness. But although it felt as if she couldn’t make things better, Betsy had assured Mags that her coming, and bringing her sister Ciss to her, was all the help she needed. It was good to see Susan, too, though she couldn’t reassure Mags about Sibbie’s safety. And she saw that, in their own way, Betsy and Susan had been coping, doing their bit. She told Flors this, as they sat in the peaceful surroundings of Mags’s sitting room, looking out onto the garden, which had almost shed the last remaining clumps of snow and was ready to welcome April and the spring.
‘If a little corner of Scotland can do that much for the war effort, then I’m sure we can find a niche for us. It’ll do us good. Keep our mind off everything,’ Flors said.
‘Is there any news of Ella? I hoped she would be here by now – it’s been two weeks.’
‘Yes, there is. Ella is sick. I only heard yesterday and wanted to go down at once, but knew you were coming home today, so I waited. Little Lonia is in a home. Oh, Mags, I know you have been through a lot, but I think we should go to London together. We can fight any red tape.’
‘Red tape? Will there be any? Flors? Flors, what is going on?’
‘I wish I could tell you. But all I can say is that if Ella was air-lifted out, then it would have been with the help of the French Resistance, as there is no other way.’
‘Partisans, you mean? Aren’t they dangerous?’
‘Yes, they are, to the enemy, but Ella isn’t an enemy of France.’
‘Wait a minute. Why was she captured? And where are Arnie and Cyrus? Are they really hiding out till they can get here? And why, if you got out, didn’t they?’
‘Mags, you know better than to ask me. Anyway the fact that you are asking means that you have an idea what is going on. All I can say is that you’re not wrong.’
‘Oh, my God! They are working with the Resistance, too. Oh, Flors, you must be so worried. Look, I won’t ask any more, of course I know better, but I am a shoulder to cry on, Flors. As you have always been for me, I am here for you.’
‘I know. And I am in need of you, Mags, more than you know. Coming here has been my salvation. Look, now you know something of what is happening, I have other news. News that has increased my worries.’
‘Oh, Flors, you were always the strongest of us all. How do you bear all that you have to?’
‘I don’t know. I suppose my childhood made me resilient. And my wonderful Nanny Pru, who always taught me to stand up to the world, has given me the mettle I need.’
Hardly daring to ask what Flors’s worries were and why she needed her so much, Mags held her hand.
‘I made a telephone call while you were away, Mags. Don’t ask me where, but I was given some wonderful news, and some less good news. Firstly, Cyrus is coming home. He will be air-lifted out some time next week. I won’t be able to see him for about a fortnight, but then I’ll go down to London and prepare our house for him. I fled it, I’m afraid, almost without removing the dust sheets, though Mrs Larch – you remember I told you about her – did her best to make me, bless her.’
‘I’m so pleased for you, Flors. To have Cyrus by your side will be a great help.’
‘It will. I miss him so much.’
Mags was quiet for a moment. She didn’t know whether to broach the subject of the true relationship between Flors and Cyrus or not, but surely it must be a worry to her, if it was found out.
‘I know what you are thinking, Mags. And there are still a few people alive who know that Cyrus is my half-brother – something that has haunted us both, all our lives. But we were forced to come back here.’
‘But to go to your old house together? Isn’t that too risky?’
‘Yes, you’re right. Of course you are. Thinking about it, it would be better not to. I’ll look for a rental on the other side of London from Brixton – somewhere we are not known. Cyrus is to be conscripted, but his work will be so secret that no newspapers will hear of him being home, so they won’t dig up old news about our case.’
‘Poor Flors, you had such an idyllic solution with your home in France. I could weep for you – for all of us – and for the world even.’
‘I know. My next news did make we weep, and yet filled me with hope, when I heard that Randolph – my dear Randie – has escaped. They are assuming he is safe, as nothing else has been reported. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry about him, and have been that way since I heard.’
Mags could do nothing for the lump that had formed in her throat. Taking hold of Flors, she hugged her friend to her. Together, they rocked backwards and forwards. The feeling of how unfair this all was coursed through Mags’s mind. In their lifetime they’d only known patches of peace in the world. What had they done to deserve such a fate?
Their journey from Blackburn to London the next day was long and tiring, as there were many delays caused by blocked roads due to bomb damage, and re-routing off the main A5. When they finally reached Kensington, they were exhausted.
Their room at the Park Hotel, which Mags had booked by telephone, was a family room with a double and a single bed, so that Ella could join them as soon as she was released from hospital and they brought her here. Neither could believe that at last they were going to see Ella again.
Flors had told Mags all that had happened, and the horror at the thought of their dear friend almost being sent to a camp for Jews had trembled through her. Her heart went out to Ella, and Mags wanted to protect her from the world.
There was a shock waiting for them both at the sight of Ella, when they visited the hospital the next day. Always the smallest of the three of them, Ella now looked almost childlike with all the weight she’d lost. Her features, which were thin and defined, now looked skeletal, and her huge eyes stared out of sunken sockets.
Unable to find any words, all Mags could say was ‘Ella! Ella, darling, we’re here.’
On seeing them both, Ella’s face became more recognizable, as it lit up with her lovely smile.
‘You’re going to be all right now, Ella. As soon as we can, we’re taking you back to our hotel and we’re going to look after you and make you well. We’re applying to get Lonia tomorrow. We’ll keep her safe and we’ll visit you every day, then get you home.’ A tear plopped onto Ella’s cheek as Flors told her this.
This loveliest of women had endured so much in her lifetime, and her suffering showed in her face at this moment, in a way Mags had never seen personified before.
‘Ella, my dear friend, fight to get well. Don’t lose your strong will. Think of the days when we will all be back together. We’ll go back to our vineyard, and you’ll be with Arnie and Paulo and Lonia. We’ll sit out in the sun – well, under that canopy that the men fixed up for us – and drink tea. And Paulo and Sibbie will marry, and my boys will meet girls and marry, too. Then we will have lovely grandchildren playing around our feet. And Mags will visit. Oh, Ella, we have so much to look forward to.’
At Flors’s words, a glimmer of hope seemed to come into Ella, as she nodded at each wonderful happening that Flors described. ‘Help me, Flors, Mags . . . Help me.’
‘Oh, Ella, we will. One or the other of us will be by your side at all times, once we have you out of here. Do all you can, my dear, to get well.’
Ella smiled at Mags. ‘We’ve been through a lot in our lifetime and won through. We can again, can’t we?’
Both Flors and Mags said ‘Yes’ together. Mags took hold of one of Ella’s hands, and Flors went round the other side of the bed and took hold of her other hand as she said, ‘Always, the three of us – together. No one can break us.’
At this, all three felt the tears spill over. Flors controlled hers first. ‘Let’s sit you up, darling. Then you can look around you, instead of staring up at the ceiling.’
As they lifted Ella, Mags was appalled to feel her bones jutting from her wasted body. Flors looked over at her, her face full of concern. Propping Ella up, Flors told her, ‘That’s better. Now, I’m going to leave you with Mags, Ella, and go and see the sister of the ward, and discuss how soon we can take you out of here.’
‘No, I’ll come with you, Flors. You’ll be all right for a moment, won’t you, Ella?’
At Ella’s nod, Mags walked away with Flors. ‘My God, Flors, what do you think is wrong?’
‘I would say ill-treatment, mental torment, a broken heart – all things that can be mended by us, Mags, but not in these clinical conditions. We need Ella out of here, and with Lonia.’
‘Flors, you are a very special person. You have been through some of what Ella has, with what those soldiers did to you, and yet you haven’t crumbled.’
‘I nearly did. Cyrus and I had a battle to get through, as he was so hurt by it all, but it is as I said: the rejection of me by my family, as a child, helped to shape me to fight back, no matter what I had to face. We’ve got to help Ella do that.’
The sister surprised them by agreeing with them. ‘There is nothing clinically wrong with Mrs Smith-Palmer; she needs building up, and help to come to terms with what she’s been through. Your idea might be just the thing for her. I will speak to the doctor and, hopefully, we can discharge her into your care tomorrow.’
Mags and Flors hugged each other and Mags felt such relief that she hugged the sister, too. The sister laughed as she tried to hold on to her headdress. ‘My, that wasn’t expected, but I think you will both be exactly the tonic my patient needs.’
‘Mags! You and your hugs!’
They both giggled, but then Mags became serious. ‘We’ve a lot to do, though, Flors. We can’t take Ella back to a hotel, not as she is, and yet we have to make everything happen quickly.’
‘I agree. I think, as I know London, that I should leave now, and you should stay with Ella, as we promised her that we wouldn’t leave her. I’ll sort something out for us, although it isn’t going to be easy. London is broken; well, its people aren’t, they are amazing, but there cannot be many places to rent. I think we’ll have to go back to my house. There’s very few people left around there who remember everything from twenty years ago. We’ll have to take the chance, in the immediate future.’
‘I agree, but, Flors, I think Ella would fare so much better at my house. She will be in the countryside, there’s someone to look after her all the time and, especially, where Lonia is concerned. If Lonia is traumatized, and there’s a fair bet that she is, then she doesn’t need to be around death and destruction – the bombing raids and the extreme shortages that the poor Londoners are experiencing.’
‘You’re right. Yes, that is the best solution. But I do need to be here, as these are my people. I want to help them, and the war effort; and besides, Cyrus will be here soon and working in London. Oh, Mags, will you be able to manage without me? Will Ella?’
‘It isn’t what I want, and I know Ella will feel the same, but it is the only solution, Flors. Why not spend your time today finding out how we can get Lonia released to us, and then come back here and we’ll work it out from there?’
‘I will. Thank you, Mags. Sometimes I think I can conquer the world on my own, but I realize that I can’t, and compromises have to be made.’
Back at Ella’s side, they told her the plan. ‘I would love that, Mags, thank you. I’ve a lovely memory of visiting your home when we were younger. We sat in the garden for hours, laughing and chattering. The sun was warm, the trees rustling in the breeze, birds chirped, and all to the beautiful backdrop of the dramatic scenery you have in the North.’
‘Well, it won’t be long before we can sit in the garden, as already the trees are budding and early spring bulbs are pushing through. The birds are in abundance, too, fighting over a piece of flotsam as they build their nests, or over the lady they want to share it with.’ Ella laughed at this, and Mags felt her heart gladden. ‘Oh, and we have a summerhouse – a new one, as the old one was tumbling down. I love sitting in there in the afternoons and have my tea served there most days. There’s a rocking chair in there, you’ll love that.’
‘I will, and Lonia will.’
‘She will, and children thrive in our neck of the woods.’
Just talking about the hopeful future for Ella was having an effect. There was a marked difference in her. Her face had filled with colour and her eyes had renewed hope.
‘Well, I’ll leave you two to talk. I have a mission to accomplish.’
As Flors left, Ella surprised Mags by giggling. ‘They’d better watch out at that home – Flors is coming.’
Mags giggled with her at this, then took Ella’s hand. ‘Everything is going to turn out all right, Ella. I promise.’
Flors didn’t find her mission easy. Seeing Lonia was heartbreaking. The funny, adorable little minx that Lonia had been was no longer. Her eyes were inexpressive, her tears never far away, her spirit all but dead. But if anything could be worse than all this, it was the awful silence. Lonia wouldn’t utter a word.
Even seeing Flors didn’t lift her, though Flors could tell that Lonia did gain a little hope, as she clung to Flors’s neck and wouldn’t let go until Flors prised her away. ‘Darling, believe me, I’m going to make everything right. Your mama is getting better, and we have plans for you both.’ She told Lonia about Mags’s home. ‘You love Mags, don’t you? When she visits us in France, you hardly leave her side. And her girls, Beth and Belinda. They will be home from school for the Easter holidays soon, and you will have lots of fun with them, like you do in France.’
A glimmer of hope entered Flors as Lonia nodded at this and, for a fleeting second, a small smile visited her lips.
Tackling the matron of the home wasn’t easy, either. ‘Taking a child from here isn’t simply a matter of turning up and saying you can give her a home, Mrs Harpinham. There are legal requirements.’
‘I expected as much, but I am not asking to adopt the child, just to take her back to her mother.’
‘But I understand the mother isn’t well enough to take care of her child.’
‘Lonia and her mama will be in safe hands, very comfortable and cared for. One cannot get better without the other – they need to be together. Don’t you think they’ve been through enough? Having to run away from their home and their family, being captured and put into a concentration camp where they faced death, as they are of Jewish descent? Please, Matron, if you never do another thing for a child, move heaven and earth for this one.’
‘All of the children in my care have been through hell, Mrs Harpinham.’
‘Well, now that you have a chance to change that for one of them, wouldn’t you want to do that? Wouldn’t you want at least one of the children in your care to win through and be back with her parents – loved and cared for, and recovering from all she has been through?’ Flors told Matron of the plan that she and Mags had for Lonia and Ella, and how Mags’s home would be a haven for them both.
Matron sighed. ‘Yes, of course. Look, I will do my best, but the process isn’t short. I will need to know all about this Mags – her full name for a start.’
‘She’s Mrs Margaret Cadley.’
‘Well, she needs to be checked out – we will have to speak to her local clergy and her doctor, and references will be required.’
‘What? Lonia is going to be in the care of her own mama, assisted by Mags, until she is stronger. You cannot need to check out the child’s own mother, surely?’
‘I need authority.’
‘Is authority from the War Office enough? They put her into your care, through their welfare system, didn’t they?’
‘Well, yes, of course. But—’
‘Then may I use your telephone?’
Getting through to William Parsons posed even more difficulties, but at last Flors heard his voice. ‘Captain Parsons, it’s Flors Harpinham. I need your help.’
On explaining the situation to Wills, he said immediately that he would help and agreed to send a communication at once to the home and to the hospital to inform them of his decision. ‘Putting Mrs Smith-Palmer’s child in the home was our only option when her mother collapsed. I’m sorry, but you were up in the North, and we couldn’t care for her.’
‘I understand. Thank you for helping me.’ Flors wanted so much to ask if there was further news on Randolph, and to be reassured that Cyrus was still coming back to her. And to ask how Marjella and Sibbie were, and Arnie and Paulo, but she knew she must not do so.
‘That’s all right . . . Erm, Mrs Harpinham, I meant to tell you that the delivery you are waiting for will be here soon.’
Flors caught her breath. ‘Oh? That’s wonderful news. I will wait at my home address for it. Thank you.’
The telephone went dead. Flors wanted to jump for joy. Cyrus, my Cyrus. Please, God, don’t let it be long before I can hold him. I need him so much.
As she left the home, Flors’s heart sang. Lonia was smiling properly for the first time as they made their way back to the hospital. When they arrived there, the loving reunion between Ella and Lonia was a joy to watch.
Holding hands, Flors, Mags and Ella looked at each other as Mags said, ‘Together – and with Flors at our helm – we can achieve anything. Just as we did back in 1914. Did I ever tell you girls that I love you as if you were my sisters?’
‘Mmm, a few times, Mags.’ Flors winked at Ella as she said this, and all three burst into laughter. Lonia seemed to come to life at this – she giggled and clapped her hands. ‘I love you all too, and as if you were my sisters.’ This increased their laughter, making tears run from their eyes. And although some were tears of joy, Flors knew that her own tears and Ella’s were tinged with sadness, too. Ella brushed hers away. ‘Oh, Lonia, darling, we’re going to be all right.’
‘We are, Mama. We always are, with Aunt Flors.’
Flors’s tears of joy increased, blocking out the sadness. Their Lonia – the little girl with cheek, spirit and a way of making everyone laugh – was back, and Flors thanked God for it.