Brighter Days Ahead

Molly slumped down on her bed. The other beds in the Nissen hut were empty and she felt glad to have a short respite, before more of the spotters and telegraph operators came in, after their celebrations with the gunners ended.

Trained as a spotter and stationed just outside Reading for the last two years, Molly did most of her work on the cold embankment, training her sights on the sky, searching for incoming German aircraft. Usually, thank goodness, it was a fruitless operation, but tonight an aircraft had been spotted and she had been one of the two ATS who had fixed the height and range. A direct hit had occurred, but Molly couldn’t find it in her to cheer as the rest of the team had, or to join in the revelry that followed. Her imagination had shown her David’s plane being hit, and the Germans cheering as he fell to his fate.

One thing had lifted her. The German pilot in the plane tonight had bailed out and she’d just heard he’d been taken prisoner. Please let it have been so for David.

Digging out her mail from where she’d tucked it under her pillow when it arrived, she settled down to read it. Just seeing the envelopes cheered her, as she could tell by the writing and the postmarks that one was from Flo and the other from Ruby. Not that she received mail from anyone else, but to have them both write to her at the same time was unusual.

Flo told her how Roland was now out of prison, but was finding life very difficult. His old college had snubbed him, and though he’d tried to revive his private night-school, he’d had no takers:

He’s not short of money, mind, but getting more and more depressed as he feels rejected by the society he was once an upstanding member of. Eeh, Molly, I just don’t know how to help him.

There’s something else as well. He has this friend, Frazer. Roland has told me they have fallen in love, but that they don’t have a relationship, as Roland is afraid, which is understandable. But he is denying himself any happiness.

Frazer is a lawyer, and his father is in banking and investments. He has an office in Brighton and has offered Roland a job, but Roland won’t hear of it, even though Frazer lives there, having set up a practice that handles a lot of his father’s clients. Roland tells me that Frazer thinks they could have a good life there together, but no. Roland’s fear holds him back and their only contact is by letter.

I just don’t know how his life will work out, and am afraid he’ll end up old and lonely, as Frazer may get fed up and meet someone else. And I will be thousands of miles away, and Roland has no one but me. When I speak to him about this, he gets very upset, but just can’t see a way he can change things.

Anyroad, how are you doing? I hope you’re still happy. I’m getting increasingly worried as ‘A’ is away on business more and more.

Molly knew this meant Art was flying more and more missions. Something she knew already, as many times she watched the RAF squadrons going out. It had become the norm for the ATS spotters on duty to count the planes out and then count them in again. If the same number came back, they celebrated; but if any were missing, the mood was very sombre. At those times Molly dreaded being called to the sergeant’s office to take a call from Flo. Such was the daily fear of their lives.

Flo never spoke of the official work she did, only of her work with the Salvation Army, which was mostly with the homeless now; and of her social life, either with Art, if he had leave at the same time as her, or with her friends Belinda and Petulia. Molly hadn’t met these ladies, though she did have a photo of Flo with them. They were all wearing the costumes from one of their concerts. They both sounded fun-loving girls and really nice and caring of Flo, but then that was a measure of Flo’s personality: she was accepted and loved by people from all walks of life. They only had to meet her to love her.

Molly missed her so much between the times when they could meet up, usually in London with Pauline for a cup of tea in a cafe. Though once Molly had been able to stay over and they’d gone to His Majesty’s Theatre and watched a hilarious comedy called Lady Behave!, about a billionaire getting drunk at a party and marrying a fellow partygoer. It had been a wonderful night. London was full of Americans and the atmosphere was electric. One day she would take Ruby and Trixie there.

Opening Ruby’s letter, Molly expected it to be full of the fun they were having: going to village dances where the only men were too old to fight and were with their wives, so it was acceptable for the girls to dance together – something that suited Ruby and Trixie. But what she found alarmed and distressed her.

Trixie had been involved in an accident when they were doing something Ruby called thrashing, and it looked likely she might lose the use of most of her arm. Oh God!

Oh, Molly, I just don’t know what to do. At best, the arm is going to be very weak; at worst, they may have to amputate. Please try to come and visit us.

We’re worried an’ all about our future. We’ve been thinking of trying to get a place together and getting jobs to support us. It has been so exciting planning it, as our private moments together are so few and far between. Now Trixie may not be able to work. I’m really scared, as she is depressed and said something about going back to her old life, if there is nothing else she can do.

This shocked and frightened Molly. Sitting up, she tried to blot out the image of Trixie once more walking the sleazy streets of Soho; the danger she would be in, and the depths she might have to sink to, as a prostitute who would be considered a cripple. Somehow Molly had to prevent that.

The idea came to Molly a few days later, when she overheard a conversation between two of her colleagues. One asked the other what she was planning to do when the war was over. The other replied that her mum was selling the guesthouse she had in Brighton, and the family were planning to emigrate to Australia.

It was hearing Brighton mentioned that brought Roland to her mind, and how his friend lived down there, and how there seemed no future for them.

This wasn’t the first time she’d been thinking about how difficult it was for couples like Roland and Frazer and Trixie and Ruby to live together and sustain a lifestyle. The predicament Trixie and Ruby were in meant that she’d pondered the problem, looking for solutions, for most of her free time. Though she knew it must be easier for women, as it was acceptable for two girls to live together, just as it was for women at any age, even old maids. But now, with Trixie possibly unable to earn a living, the prospects for Ruby and Trixie seemed really limited.

Offering her friends a permanent home wasn’t an option. Though Molly loved them, she would be forever embroiled in what they were doing. Besides, she’d been thinking lately of selling up herself and starting a new life in another country after the war – probably Canada, to be near Flo.

But what if two homosexual couples, two men and two women, had a pretend marriage between the men and the women? That would give them a ‘normal’ life to present to the world. Then, if both couples lived together, who would know who slept with whom? And to make it happen for Roland and Frazer and Ruby and Trixie, she could sell her property, buy this guesthouse from her colleague’s mother, and make part of it into two flats with some letting room. The girls could have one flat and run the business, and the men could have their own flat and live a completely separate life from the girls and continue in their careers. No one would ever know. No one who didn’t know and accept them, that is. It’s the answer. It has to be.

Thinking her plan through, Molly realized she’d need some capital investment from the men; they’d have to be equal partners, but by all accounts they were both well off, and Ruby and Trixie could pay rent from their business. Perfect. She’d write this minute to Flo to see what she thought. Oh, I feel really excited. This is a solution, a real possibility. The thought came to her of what she’d wear to the double wedding, and she laughed. Me and Flo could be bridesmaids.

The whole idea had lifted her so much; she couldn’t wait to put it to all concerned. She could help them to fool the world, while they lived the life they wanted to and, hopefully, found lasting happiness together. The more she thought about it, the more she hoped it would all happen.