RON TRAMPED ACROSS the hills beside Jim, who was carrying a well-wrapped-up Daisy against his chest in the adapted army-issue satchel Ron had kept since the First World War. This would be the last time Ron could walk these hills with his son, for Jim was leaving tonight and wouldn’t return until this awful war was over. Yet, despite his deep concern for Jim’s safety, and the knowledge that it might be a very long time before they could do this again, Ron was feeling in robust good health and quite cheerful.
The bitter wind and lashing rain of the previous days had disappeared and now, in this crisp bright autumnal morning, the grass smelled sweet and the sky was a pale, cloudless blue. The sun glinted on the calm sea, and the clean, cold breeze invigorated the two men. Ron loved this time of day, and this season, for he usually had the hills to himself then, and this was where he felt most at home.
He strode out beside his son as he watched Harvey dashing back and forth ahead of them, nose to the ground, tail windmilling as he sniffed the scents of rabbit, fox and badger. The ferrets, Flora and Dora, were tucked into one of the deep pockets in his poacher’s coat, their catch of four rabbits in two others.
‘This isn’t a race, son,’ he panted as they began to climb a steep hill and he found, to his dismay and disgust, that he couldn’t keep up the pace and was lagging further and further behind.
Jim paused to turn and grin at him. ‘What’s the matter, Da?’ he called. ‘Old age catching up with you at last, is it?’
‘I’ll give you age,’ Ron grumbled as he reached him and tried not to show how out of breath he was. ‘I remember the last time you came up here you were gasping before we’d barely left the house.’
Jim laughed. ‘Aye, that’s for sure. But a few months of army training on assault courses has got me fit.’ He hitched the bag to a more comfortable spot so Daisy’s head rested on his shoulder. ‘Mind you, this one weighs enough to slow me down. I can’t believe how much she’s grown in such a few months.’
They started walking again, but at a slower, more accommodating pace. ‘She’ll have grown even more by the time you’re home again,’ muttered Ron.
‘She will that,’ Jim said sadly, ‘and she probably won’t even know who I am.’ He came to a halt as they reached the flat top of the hill. ‘That’s what worries me, Da,’ he confessed. ‘I hadn’t seen Cissy for months until this leave, and then only fleetingly because of her responsibilities with the WAAF. As for my boys, and Anne and wee Rose Margaret . . .’ He gave a deep sigh. ‘Telephone calls and letters are all very well, but there are times when I just want to see them and hold them and get to be an intrinsic part of their lives again. They’re all growing up without me, Da, and ’tis a terrible, painful thing to be a stranger to your children.’
Ron gripped his son’s shoulder in sympathy. ‘To be sure ’tis a sacrifice we must all bear until this war is won,’ he replied. ‘Try and take comfort from the fact that you’re not alone in this.’
‘I know my Peg feels the burden of it all,’ Jim continued. ‘She doesn’t say much and never complains, but I’ve seen her face after she’s talked to everyone down in Somerset, and it’s clear she’s suffering.’ He ruffled his short black hair in frustration. ‘If only she’d take Daisy down there. At least then they’d both be safer and could be with the others again. But she won’t hear of it.’
‘She’ll not abandon Cordelia and the girls to my dubious care,’ Ron replied as he pulled his pipe and tobacco from his coat pocket. ‘Our Peg has a deep sense of duty, and as long as she knows the others are safe in Somerset, she’ll keep the home fires burning here.’
‘I still can’t believe she went through the bomb blast and the operation without saying a word to me,’ said Jim as they started walking again. ‘It came as a shock, I can tell you. But she’s a tough little body, is my Peg,’ he added with affectionate pride, ‘and if she can weather that, she can weather pretty much anything.’
Ron knew how adept Peggy was at hiding her true feelings, for he’d witnessed the struggle she’d had to keep the tears at bay when everything had got too much for her, and she’d felt the absence of her family most keenly. And he’d overheard her muffled sobs late into the night when the rest of the house was sleeping. But he made no comment. Peggy wouldn’t thank him for telling Jim how things really were at Beach View, and he knew she wanted his enforced departure to go smoothly and without any worries for her or the rest of the family he was leaving behind.
‘At least Cissy seems to have forgotten her daft ideas about going on the stage, and is turning into a sensible young woman,’ said Jim as they strode through the wiry grass and skirted round clumps of gorse and rabbit scrapings. ‘I like her young American, too. He seems a sensible, down-to-earth sort – which is just what she needs.’
‘Aye, he’s a fine chap so he is,’ agreed Ron, ‘and Martin speaks very highly of him. We can only pray he doesn’t suffer the same fate as so many of his fellow flyers. The RAF has suffered too many losses, and with every influx of new recruits they seem to be getting younger and younger, their odds of survival shortened by their lack of proper training and experience.’
‘To be sure, these are dangerous times, and it doesn’t bear thinking too deeply about any of it.’ Jim nudged Daisy’s bottom to a more comfortable position on his arm as she slept against his shoulder. ‘But I am thinking young Rita is in the same boat as Cissy with her boy Matthew. At least, if things do go wrong, the girls will have each other to lean on. After all,’ he continued, ‘they’ve known each other since they were babies.’
‘We can only pray it never comes to that,’ said Ron.
They walked on for a while in companionable silence. Daisy was still asleep and a seemingly tireless Harvey continued to hare about chasing intriguing scents. Ron lit his pipe and puffed on it contentedly, enjoying these precious moments with his son even though the dark clouds of an uncertain future overshadowed them.
‘I am going to miss all this,’ sighed Jim as he stopped to look around him at the glittering sea, the soft folds of the hills and the sprawling farmland down in the valley beyond the Cliffe estate. ‘It’s a perfect English autumn day, with the sun and the crisp wind that makes a man feel alive.’
Ron felt a pang of sorrow at the thought that this boy of his would soon be far from these familiar and beloved hills of home. ‘Aye, ’tis that,’ he said softly. ‘Take a good deep breath of that air, son. There’s nothing like it anywhere else in the world.’
They stood there for a moment, enjoying the quiet beauty as gulls hovered above the clifftops, their white wings gilded by the sun, and the wind ruffled the grass. Then they went on walking, each with their own thoughts, but comfortable in their close companionship.
They were soon approaching the shattered remains of a hillside farmhouse which the army had used for target practice and then abandoned. They crunched over the broken bricks and charred beams and headed for the far wall which would shelter them from the wind.
‘I know you’ve made light of army life in front of Peggy and the rest,’ Ron said as he sat down on a fallen roof beam and rested his back against the crumbling wall. ‘But how are you really finding it?’
Jim carefully eased the straps of the bag from over his shoulders and gently placed the sleeping Daisy, still in the bag, on a sheltered tuft of grass. He adjusted the knitted hat over her ears, tucked her mittened hands inside the cocooning shawl, and covered her wool-clad legs with his thick scarf. Once he’d settled her to his satisfaction, he sat down next to his father on the rotting beam and dug out a packet of cigarettes from his coat pocket.
‘The army hasn’t changed much since the last time I had the misfortune to be in it,’ he replied once he’d lit his cigarette. ‘We might have more modern machinery and better uniforms, but sergeants still shout, officers still strut about with their swagger sticks and their toffee-nosed voices. Reveille is still before dawn, and there’s the same amount of tedious marching and rifle drill. The accommodation at the barracks is basic, but the food’s all right, and the other men enjoy a good craic, so it’s not all bad.’
Ron regarded his son, knowing that although his words were lightly spoken, there remained much that was unsaid. ‘It will be different in India,’ he said round his pipe stem, as a panting Harvey flopped at their feet.
‘Aye, it will that.’ Jim smoked his cigarette, his gaze settling on the fields and hamlets far down in the valley as he idly stroked Harvey’s head. ‘We’ve had the lectures about the heat and humidity and the thousand and one stinging, biting things that can either kill you or give you something nasty.’ He grimaced. ‘We’ve also had the lecture about not fraternising with the local women, and taking precautions against the clap – but then that’s the same no matter where you’re being sent.’
Ron knew his son liked women, but he was fairly certain that, since his marriage to Peggy, he’d never gone any further than mild flirtation – however, this posting would take him to exotic ports and he’d be away for months, if not years, and a man could only stay celibate for so long. ‘Keep it in your trousers, son. That’s my advice.’
Jim grinned as he looked at his father. ‘I’ve had it on good authority that the army puts some heavy-duty stuff in the tea on all foreign postings, so even if I wanted to, I doubt I’d be able to manage it.’
Ron grinned back. ‘Aye, I remember that in the first shout. Powerful stuff, to be sure, and it stayed in the system long enough to put a damper on home leave and upset the wife.’
Jim rolled his eyes, and then his expression became serious. ‘I’ve been tempted, Da,’ he confessed. ‘Women like a man in uniform, and I’m not beyond enjoying a bit of flattery. But that’s as far as it goes. I love and respect Peggy too much to cheat on her.’
‘I’m glad to hear it,’ rumbled Ron. ‘You’ve got a good woman there, and she loves the bones of you. If you hurt her, you’ll have me to contend with.’
Jim chuckled as his gaze flickered over his father’s broad chest and large hands. ‘To be sure, Da, I’ll not want to be tangling with you – or Peggy. I don’t know which of you scares the bejesus out of me more.’
Ron smiled. He was flattered that his son still saw him as a force to be reckoned with – even though he’d rarely raised a hand against him or his brother Frank when they were growing up.
Jim finished his smoke and ground it out beneath his boot heel. ‘But what about you, Da? Mam’s been gone for years now, and you must get lonely down in that basement with just Harvey and the ferrets for company. I’d have thought that by now you’d have moved into the comfort of the Anchor with Rosie. How come you two haven’t tied the knot?’
Ron puffed on his pipe as he wondered if he should reveal Rosie’s closely guarded secret. Then he decided it wouldn’t hurt, for Jim was leaving in a few hours, and within two days he’d be sailing from Liverpool to the Far East. ‘There are reasons, son,’ he began. ‘But what I’m about to tell you is known only by a very few, and I’d like it to stay that way.’
Jim raised his eyebrows. ‘You’re being very mysterious, Da.’ He smiled. ‘Let me guess; the lovely Rosie has a shady and rather wicked past.’
Ron shook his head. ‘She has a past, certainly, but it’s far from something to be ashamed of. In fact it’s all rather tragic.’
As Jim’s smile faded, he told him about Rosie’s husband, and how his family had shunned her since she’d moved down to Cliffehaven and made a new life for herself.
Jim gave a low whistle. ‘Well, she certainly kept that quiet. I’d never have guessed,’ he murmured. ‘She’s always so bright and cheerful.’
‘Aye, she hides it well, I’ll give her that,’ agreed Ron. ‘But her greatest sadness is that she never had children. She’d have made a wonderful mother,’ he added wistfully.
‘It’s probably why she spoils Monty, and lets him sleep on her bed,’ said Jim. ‘To be sure that pup rules the roost.’
Harvey’s ears pricked at the sound of his offspring’s name and he wagged his tail.
‘Aye,’ Ron replied, ‘she said only the other day that she thinks of him as her substitute baby, and can’t help but spoil him.’ He grinned. ‘She’s in for a nasty shock when he reaches his full size. He’s already galloping about like an unbroken colt, and is proving as wilful and disobedient as this old rogue.’
He ruffled Harvey’s ears and then shivered as the cold finally made itself felt in his bones. ‘We’d better be getting back. Peggy will never forgive either of us if we spend too much of your last day away from her.’
Daisy was beginning to grizzle, so Jim strapped her back against his chest and then softly kissed her cheek. ‘She’s getting cold too, despite being wrapped up like an Eskimo,’ he said as he dug into his pocket and fished out a rusk to keep her occupied.
Ron’s joints creaked stiffly as he got to his feet, and he felt the twinge of pain in his lower back as the fragment of shrapnel caught him out. Everyone might find his affliction funny and enjoy his tall stories about how he’d been wounded – some even doubted the metal was there at all – but the reality of it was no laughing matter, especially when the cold and damp got to it.
‘Are you all right, Da?’ Jim’s concern showed in his face.
‘Aye, I’m fine,’ he replied gruffly.
‘You can’t fool me with your blarney, Da,’ Jim said solemnly. ‘You’re obviously in some pain.’
Ron glared at him from beneath his brows. ‘I said I’m all right,’ he growled.
Jim continued as if he hadn’t spoken. ‘Why the divil don’t you go to the doctor and see if they can get that shrapnel out? Things have changed radically since 1918, and I’m sure . . .’
‘I’ll not be having some quack digging about down there and possibly turning me into a bloody cripple,’ Ron retorted. ‘It’s fine where it is, so I’ll thank you to stop going on about it.’
Jim heaved a sigh. ‘If you say so, Da.’
‘Aye, I do, so let that be an end to it.’ Ron checked the ferrets were snug and asleep in his coat pocket and stomped out of the lee of the ruins and into the brisk wind that came up from the sea. Heading for home, he kept up a steady, fast pace, determined to ignore the pain in his back and show his son that he had nothing at all to worry about.
They didn’t speak much as they walked, and as they reached the path which eventually led down to the twitten that ran between the terraced houses, Harvey galloped off, no doubt in eager anticipation of the biscuit and saucer of tea Peggy always gave him after his morning exercise.
Ron grinned. ‘He’s a man after me own heart,’ he said fondly. ‘To be sure I’m looking forward to a nice cup of tea meself.’ He was about to follow Harvey when Jim grasped his arm.
‘Da. Da, wait a minute. There’s something I need to say before we get home.’
Ron regarded him with sharp concern. ‘What is it, son?’
‘Da, I know I’ve put a brave face on things for Peggy’s sake,’ Jim said hurriedly, ‘but the fact is . . .’ He swallowed and couldn’t meet his father’s eyes. ‘The fact is . . .’
‘The fact is you’re frightened,’ said Ron with infinite tenderness. ‘We all are, my boy. And if you weren’t, I’d be more worried about you than ever. Lack of fear makes men careless.’
‘It’s not for meself – not really.’ Jim stumbled over the words. ‘Of course I’m scared about being so far from home in a strange place, but it’s Peg and the wains I’m really frightened for.’ He gripped Ron’s sturdy shoulder, his dark eyes pleading. ‘You will look after them for me, won’t you, Da?’
Ron blinked away the prick of tears and grasped Jim’s hands. ‘I will guard them with my life,’ he promised gruffly. He reached up and placed his horny hand against the soft, freshly shaved skin of his beloved son’s face. ‘God go with you, Jim, my precious boy.’
‘And with you, Da,’ Jim replied brokenly.
Ron took his son in his arms, Daisy between them, and they stood in that awkward embrace for countless minutes as they strengthened the bonds of love that bound them, and found comfort.
Peggy had taken advantage of the men’s absence by scrubbing out the kitchen, cleaning the tiles on the hall floor and changing the linen on the beds. She had also plastered on a smile along with her lipstick, determined to confront the day as cheerfully as possible and not ruin Jim’s last few hours at home with a long face and tears.
She’d bathed and put on her best blue woollen dress – a cast-off from her sister Doris, so therefore of fine quality – and had taken time over her hair. With a knitted cardigan over her dress for added warmth, she’d changed out of her old slippers into a pair of smart navy heeled pumps. Turning quickly away from the sight of Jim’s freshly pressed uniform hanging from the wardrobe handle, the polished boots and neatly repacked kitbag on the floor beneath it, she went back into the kitchen.
Glancing at the clock, she realised Jim and Ron had been out for over two hours, and put the kettle on the hob. They’d be back soon and in need of a cuppa. It felt strange to have the house to herself, for all the girls were at work and Cordelia was out with Bertram Double-Barrel, as he’d come to be known by them all, at a morning whist drive. Unable to sit still or tolerate the silence, Peggy turned on the wireless for company, and started on the pile of ironing.
She listened to the news as she ironed the sheets and pillowcases, and was relieved that, for once, it wasn’t all gloom and doom. British commandos had raided the occupied island of Sark in the Channel Islands, and the Americans had defeated a huge fleet of Japanese ships off Cape Esperance, sinking a cruiser and several destroyers. The American battle for Guadalcanal had been going on for a while now, and the loss of life had been truly awful, but this single victory had meant the Japs were thwarted in their attempts to bring even more troops on to the island.
The fighting in North Africa continued, but with Montgomery in charge, it looked as if the Germans were getting more than a taste of their own medicine. The battle for Stalingrad was still being fiercely fought, however, and although the Red Army seemed to be holding back the German Panzers, the isolated victories were minor and all too fleeting.
Peggy continued with her ironing as the news came to an end and was replaced by lively music. She hummed along to ‘A String of Pearls’, remembering how she and Jim had gone dancing the other night at the Grand Hotel. It had been a magical evening, quite like old times, and they’d come home slightly tipsy and laughing like fools, to tumble into bed and make tender, sweet love and talk throughout the remains of the night.
She hastily blinked back her tears as she finished the ironing and carried it upstairs to the airing cupboard. She and Jim had forged wonderful memories during these past few days, and she wouldn’t mar them with tears and regret, but count herself lucky they’d had this precious time together to reinforce the ties that bound them.
Having stowed the clean laundry away, she drifted into the bathroom to check that she hadn’t smudged her mascara, then went along the landing to the empty bedroom to make sure Jim’s repair to the window had stopped the rain getting in. It seemed to be holding, for there were no puddles on the windowsill now, so she turned from the window and tugged fussily at the bedspread.
Kitty Pargeter had slept in here while she recovered from the horrific plane crash that had resulted in her leg amputation. She was married now and back in her beloved planes with the ATS, ferrying them to all corners of Britain, while her husband, Roger, continued to fly his Spitfires under Martin’s command.
Peggy sat down on the bed and stared unseeing out of the window that looked over the garden and the twitten between the houses. Once Suzy and Anthony were married in December they would move into their tiny cottage, and Fran would move out of the double room she and Suzy shared into Cissy’s single. There was little point in jealously keeping it unoccupied for Cissy rarely came home now – and then only for a fleeting visit, as she’d done last night.
Peggy gave a deep sigh. She should have notified the billeting office of this empty room, but had held off until Jim’s leave was over and she could think straight again. She’d been rather selfish, really, she thought, what with so many people needing a roof over their head, but somehow she couldn’t find the energy to deal with anyone new and the problems they would no doubt bring with them.
She continued to stare out of the window to the roofs of the terraces that climbed the hill behind the house as her thoughts drifted. There were so many brave youngsters fighting this war – just as there had been in the first conflict. Yet she knew the battles weren’t just being fought on the land, the sea, or in the skies, but also here on the home front by the women left behind.
Cissy drove for the WAAF, and young Rita, whose father hadn’t made it home on leave since he’d joined the army, had become an intrinsic part of the local firefighting service. Both girls were in love with pilots, and although they never voiced their fears, Peggy had seen it in their eyes every time the planes took off from Cliffe.
Anne’s fear for Martin’s safety had been eased somewhat now he’d been ordered not to fly any more and was mainly behind a desk, but airfields weren’t the safest places to be at the moment and their enforced parting was beginning to wear her down – especially as she was expecting her second baby any day now.
As for Jane and Sarah, they were both doing their bit, but they were very far from their home in Malaya, and still had to cope with the fact they’d heard no news of their father, or Sarah’s fiancé, since the fall of Singapore. Fran and Suzy were kept busy at the hospital, and although Suzy was happily organising her wedding, and Fran put on a show of cheerful cheekiness, Peggy knew both girls were homesick at times and missing their families – especially Fran, for journeys to Ireland were now forbidden, and she wouldn’t be able to get home until this blasted war was over.
Peggy sighed and thought about her own struggles to feed everyone now money was so tight and the shelves in the shops were almost bare. The long queues waiting outside every shop were exhausting, the lack of even the most basic things was frustrating, and the constant air-raid warnings and hours spent in the horrid Anderson shelter had taken their toll. And then there was the overwhelming yearning for her children and her husband that would catch her unawares and bring her low.
‘Now I have to go through the agony of seeing him off again,’ she murmured into the silence. She could already picture the scene at the station, and knew exactly how she would feel when his train became a speck on the horizon and she would have to return home to an empty bed and the debilitating uncertainty of when they might be together again.
Peggy got off the bed, straightened the cover and went over to the window. She would not give in to such thoughts. They made her cry and she had to keep calm, remember how difficult it was to get mascara these days, and try to look her best so that Jim never guessed how hard this latest parting was for her.
Yet, as she looked down to the twitten, she really had to battle to keep her tears at bay. Jim and his father were embracing, not ashamed of their tears or their love for one another as they stood in full sight of the back windows of the two terraces.
Peggy watched as they slowly drew apart, their hands clasped as they talked. Then Ron’s large, rough hand was softly patting Jim’s cheek and ruffling his hair, just as he’d done when he was a boy.
Peggy turned from the window, not wanting to be seen intruding on such a private and deeply personal moment. She pulled her frail emotions together as she went downstairs to the kitchen to boil the kettle again, and was composed and dry-eyed by the time Jim and Ron followed Harvey into the room.
‘Well,’ she said brightly, ‘it’s about time. I thought you’d both got lost up there.’ She lifted a gurgling Daisy out of the satchel and, giving her a hug and kiss, began to divest her of the thick woollen cardigans, hat and mittens.
‘I’ve never been lost up there in me life,’ grumbled Ron as he dug about in the pockets of his long, heavy coat and dumped the four dead rabbits on the draining board.
Peggy finished with Daisy and after giving her another kiss, put her on the floor so she could crawl about and play with her toys. She was beginning to be sick of the sight of rabbit, but at least it meant they would have a proper meal tonight before Jim left.
Jim set the bag aside and shed his coat and scarf before turning to Peggy with a broad grin. ‘To be sure, Peggy girl, you’re looking beautiful today,’ he said as he wrapped his arms round her, lifted her off her feet and smudged her lipstick with a smacking kiss.
Peggy giggled. ‘It’s amazing what a bit of make-up will do. Now, put me down, and I’ll find some biscuits to go with the tea. You must both be parched.’
Harvey nudged her with his nose to remind her that he usually had tea and biscuits after a walk, and Peggy patted his head. ‘Did you enjoy the walk?’ she asked Jim.
‘Aye, it’s a pretty day up there,’ he replied as he eased off his boots. ‘The auld man had a bit of a struggle to keep up with me, mind,’ he added, shooting Ron an impish wink.
Ron tried to glower, but failed. ‘Aye, well, at my great age I’ve found it better to take things at a steady, dignified pace,’ he said airily. He began to gut the rabbits. ‘I was hoping to bring back some birds today, but with that new gamekeeper on the Cliffe estate and all that fencing the Land Army has put up, there wasn’t a chance to get anywhere near them.’
‘Ron, take those boots off and put the ferrets in their cage before you do that,’ said Peggy with more than a hint of asperity. ‘I washed that floor only a while ago, and if the ferrets escape your pockets, I’m in no mood to go chasing after them all over the house.’
Ron heaved a great sigh and, leaving a mess of entrails, blood and fur on the drainer, went muttering to himself down the cellar steps.
Peggy shuddered at the gruesome sight, and opened the biscuit tin only to discover it was all but empty. ‘Have you two been at this?’ she asked Jim.
Jim’s eyes widened in innocence. ‘Now, would we do such a thing, Peg?’
Peggy chuckled. ‘You know damned well you would, you scallywag,’ she said fondly as she gave Harvey the last few morsels. ‘If you want any more,’ she told Jim, ‘then you’ll have to go and queue for them.’
‘Ach, I’ll not be wasting me last day at home in a queue of gossiping housewives,’ he retorted as he pulled her on to his lap. ‘I’ve got a much better idea of how to pass the time.’
She saw the gleam in his eyes and, as always, her body responded to it. ‘Perhaps a bit later,’ she murmured as she heard Ron clumping along the cellar floor towards the steps.
‘I’ll hold you to that,’ he whispered against her ear.
She hastily kissed his cheek, and was standing by the sink when Ron stomped back up the steps in his disreputable socks.
The day seemed to fly past, and although they’d managed to go to bed for an hour while Daisy had her afternoon nap, it wasn’t long before everyone had come home and filled the house with noise and laughter.
The evening meal was over, the dishes being washed and put away by the girls while Ron fed Harvey the scraps and Cordelia settled down to untangle her knitting by the fire. Peggy had left them to it and was now back in their bedroom, Daisy chirruping and trying to pull herself up on the rails of her cot as Jim reluctantly got dressed in his uniform.
‘It feels stiff and awkward after a week in civvies,’ he said, his smile not quite as broad as usual. ‘But at least the boots are well worn in and very comfortable.’
Peggy sat on the bed watching him trying to put on a brave face and not show the emotions she knew were in turmoil just beneath the surface. ‘That’s good considering all that marching you have to do,’ she managed.
Jim fastened the button at his waist and adjusted his shirt collar and tie. ‘There won’t be much marching where I’m headed,’ he replied as he reached for his hairbrush.
Peggy saw how his hand trembled and quickly reached to take it in her own. ‘Remember it’s the adventure you’ve always wanted, Jim,’ she said softly. ‘And before you know it, you’ll be home again.’
He turned from the dressing table and drew her into his arms. ‘I love you, Peg,’ he murmured against her lips. ‘Promise me you’ll take care of yourself and not leave out the important things in your letters.’
‘Of course I will,’ she replied. ‘But it’ll be difficult to write much on those silly little airgraphs, and I still don’t really understand why I can’t send you a proper letter.’
He reached for the stack of slips he’d piled on the top of the chest of drawers. ‘It’s to save room and weight on the aircraft,’ he told her. ‘You write this, it’s photographed on a huge roll of film along with thousands of others and sent abroad. When it arrives at the other end, people will develop the film and send each message to where it has to be.’
‘That’s all very clever,’ said Peggy with a sigh, ‘but it means that even more people can read every word we write to each other.’
Jim smiled and gave her a hug. ‘I doubt they’ll bother. There are millions of these things going round the world and there simply wouldn’t be time to snoop.’
Peggy still wasn’t really convinced, but she didn’t want to waste these precious moments arguing about something she had no hope of changing. ‘You will write regularly, won’t you?’ she asked as he pulled on his khaki jacket and fastened the Sam Browne belt.
‘Aye, I’ll write every day, and tell you about all the wonders I’ll be seeing. ’Tis a long sea journey to India, and we’ll probably stop off in some exotic ports on the way.’
‘Never mind wonders and exotic ports,’ she teased. ‘It’s the exotic women I’m more worried about.’
He hugged her tightly and kissed her so hard she became breathless. ‘You’re the only woman for me, Peggy Reilly, and don’t you ever forget it.’ He drew back and looked down at her, his eyes suspiciously bright. ‘We’ll say our goodbyes here, darlin’,’ he said. ‘It’s too hard on a station platform with you standing there looking so forlorn.’
‘But I want to come with you,’ she gasped. ‘I want to be with you for every last second.’
‘No, it’s better we do it here.’ He held her close, his chin resting on the top of her dark curls. ‘I want to remember you in our home, with our baby – not standing on a cold draughty platform amongst strangers. Please, Peg.’
She couldn’t speak so she nodded against his chest, the smell and feel of the khaki material already distancing him from her.
‘That’s my girl,’ he soothed as he kissed away her tears. ‘We’ll all be together again soon, and this moment will be as swiftly forgotten as a bad dream. I promise.’
She kissed him fervently, wanting him to feel the love she had for him and to gain strength and courage from the knowledge that she would be here waiting for him.
Jim eventually drew reluctantly from her embrace and turned to Daisy. He picked her up and kissed her face, held her for a few moments and then tenderly set her back beneath the covers. Grabbing his kitbag and cap, he walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen.
‘Well, I’ll be off then,’ he said with enforced brightness. ‘You stay here in the warm and look after my Peggy, and I’ll see you all when I next come home.’
Ignoring the general protest, he kissed and hugged Cordelia and the girls and then turned to his father. ‘Would you walk with me some of the way, Da?’
‘Aye, I’ll do that,’ Ron replied gruffly.
Peggy caught Jim’s eye as his father pulled on his boots and coat. ‘I love you,’ she mouthed over the chatter of the others.
He winked back at her as he settled his cap on his head and hoisted up his kitbag. And then he was turning away and running down the cellar steps to the back door, his father and Harvey hard on his heels.
Peggy followed them as the others remained, hushed, in the kitchen. Her shadow fell across the moonlit garden as she went down the path and into the twitten, her gaze fixed on Jim’s back as he and his father walked towards the main street.
‘I love you, Peggy Reilly,’ he called through the darkness, his voice echoing against the walls of the surrounding houses before he disappeared round the corner.
‘I love you too, James Michael Reilly,’ she called back, her voice breaking as the tears began to stream hotly down her face. When she could no longer hear his footsteps, she turned away and closed the gate behind her. ‘I love you too,’ she whispered.