‘Den!’ Molly threw her arms around her good friend and neighbour, Dennis Turner. ‘How are you? How’s Jean and the twins? Is everyone all right?’
With a shy chuckle, Dennis Turner nodded. ‘We’re fine, Molly. Just fine. But old Stokesy, the warden, told us he’d taken you and yer dad to the hospital.’
Molly explained all that had happened, and Dennis’s lean, work-worn face with its toothy smile registered shock. He pushed a hand through his thick fair hair and frowned. ‘You was both lucky to come out of that lot. Have you seen across the road?’
Molly nodded. ‘Do you know if Liz and Mrs Lockyer are all right?’
‘Ain’t sure. It was bloody chaos in the streets but I managed to board up yer window.’
‘Oh, thanks, Den. I thought it might be Mr Stokes. Come upstairs. I’d like you to meet some people I met at the hospital.’
A few minutes later Molly introduced her guests. ‘Dennis, meet Andy Miller and his children, Evie and Mark. And this is Cissy Brown.’
‘Nice to meet you all,’ Dennis said in his friendly fashion. ‘Now, I saw that bloody great hole you had in yer front room, Molly. Think I’ve got some boards I can put over it for you.’
‘Like a hand, mate?’ Andy asked before Molly could reply.
‘Just the job,’ Dennis nodded.
‘That all right with you, Molly?’ Andy asked politely as he made his way round the table.
‘Well, yes, of course,’ she said, blushing.
‘You’re all welcome to use the Anderson tonight,’ Dennis told Molly after he and Andy had successfully made the repair. ‘Jean and the twins wouldn’t mind a bit of company while I’m out with the rescue squad. Be sure to put on your warm togs, though, as it’ll be freezing. Your two nippers, Andy, can kip in the bunks with Susie and Simon.’ He winked at Mark and Evie and they giggled as he hurried off down the stairs.
‘Well, you heard what he said.’ Molly held out her hands to the children. ‘Let’s find you some nice warm clothes, shall we?’
A few minutes later they were peering into the depths of Molly’s large wardrobe. ‘Now let me see. What can I find you?’
‘What’s in there?’ asked Evie, pointing to a small brown leather suitcase on the lower shelf.
‘Just a few things.’
‘Can we see?’ Mark pulled on the handle.
Molly hesitated. She’d packed all Emily’s things away in there and hadn’t looked at them since.
Before she could answer, Mark slipped the locks.
‘Whose clothes are these?’ he asked as he lifted the dusty lid.
Molly took a deep breath. ‘I had a little girl called Emily once.’
‘Where’s she gorn?’
‘She’s with her dad in heaven.’
‘Me mum’s gone to heaven too,’ Evie said, pulling out a brown coat with a chocolate collar. ‘Can I have this?’
‘Yes, if it fits.’
‘This’ll do me,’ said Mark, winding Emily’s grey woollen scarf around his neck.
Suddenly Evie burst into tears. ‘I want me mum,’ she sobbed. ‘I wanna go ’ome.’
Molly gathered both Evie and the brown coat into her arms. What could she tell the child?
But it was Mark who answered. ‘You can’t go home cos we ain’t got one.’ His serious brown eyes swivelled to Molly. ‘We gotta find Betty and Len.’
Molly clutched the little girl tightly, smelling Emily as she did so. Why was life so cruel? Why had Emily and Ted been taken from her? Why were these children motherless? They’d done no harm to anyone.
‘I’m ’ungry,’ said Evie and stopped crying as quickly as she’d begun.
‘She always says that,’ accused her brother.
There were more tears and finally Molly looked firmly at the two squabbling children. ‘Now listen, you two, your dad won’t want to see you unhappy before he goes back to his ship.’
‘Are we staying ’ere, then?’ asked Evie, brightening.
‘Well, no, your dad is hoping to find your friends. Now why don’t you both run along and show your new clothes to your father?’
Molly watched them scamper off, Mark with his thick woollen scarf and Evie in Emily’s brown coat. They were delightful children and very brave. Just like Emily had been.
‘Are they all asleep?’ Jean asked as they sat in the Turners’ Anderson that night after Andy had gone with Dennis to the rescue squad’s station.
Molly nodded. ‘There’s just enough room for the four of them on the bunks.’
‘All a bit of fun for my two,’ Jean said with a sad smile as they drank the warm tea from the thermos. ‘But I feel sorry for Andy’s kids. Losing their mother so young and him having to go to sea again, well, it’s a lot to take in at their ages.’
‘By rights they should be evacuated,’ Cissy said sharply. ‘In my opinion he ain’t got a hope of finding these pals.’
‘I can understand how he feels,’ Jean replied thoughtfully as she tucked her short, permed fair hair under her paisley headscarf. ‘For about half a day I thought about sending my two away. But the truth is no one really wants our East End kids. They’re too much of a liability.’
‘Yeah, but they’d be safe.’
‘P’raps,’ agreed Jean. ‘Me head tells me you’re right, Cissy, but me heart won’t let me do it. And anyway, it’s not the kids I’m worried about. It’s Den. He failed his medical for the services, cos he’s got a dicky chest. Had it from birth. I worry about him more than I do Simon and Susie.’ She laughed. ‘Saying that, nothing I ever say stops Dennis Turner from doing what he wants, so I—’
A faint vibration went through the shelter and all three women fell silent.
‘The Luftwaffe’s back,’ said Cissy after a while.
‘But it’s not close yet,’ said Jean in a whisper.
They all listened again. The brief silence was broken by the faint thud-thud of ack-ack guns.
‘You from around here, Cissy?’ Jean asked eventually, and Molly knew her friend was trying to distract their thoughts.
‘I was in digs at Blackwall, but Ethel, me landlady, died.’
‘Got any family?’
‘Nah. My old man ditched me years ago. I was glad to be rid of him. He was a selfish bastard. Never knew what he was up to or who he was with.’
‘That’s awful,’ sympathized Molly, though she could tell Cissy wasn’t keen to discuss her past.
‘Well, Cissy, there are mostly good apples in the barrel,’ Jean said brightly. ‘You’ve had a hard time, but don’t give up on men just yet. You’re still young and attractive. You’ll meet someone nice one day.’
‘Doubt it.’ Cissy looked away.
Molly exchanged glances with Jean. Then there was a shattering explosion nearby and everyone fell to the floor.
Next morning, Molly woke with her head at an unnatural angle. She slowly opened her eyes to find a bright light shining in through the Anderson door. Andy and Dennis, with dirty black faces, were standing there.
‘Rise and shine,’ chuckled Dennis.
‘Oh, Den, it’s you,’ said Jean, rousing herself next to Molly. ‘Is the house still standing?’
‘Not a brick loose,’ announced Dennis, removing the steel helmet from his head, leaving a white rim above his eyebrows. ‘A few heavy explosives went in the drink last night.’
‘Yes, we heard them.’
‘Sorry we couldn’t get back. It was pandemonium out there. But the good news is the gas and water are on. Reckon we could rustle up breakfast indoors, don’t you, love?’
Jean put a hand to her back and stretched. ‘Kids, wake up. Get yourselves into the lav and empty the bucket. Then we’ll have something to eat.’
Molly followed Cissy into the morning air as the children made use of the outside closet. ‘I’d like to visit Dad,’ Molly said to Jean as they stood on the scrubby patch of yard grass.
‘You do that, ducks,’ Jean told her. ‘Me and Cissy will look after the little ones and cook the men a good breakfast. Now, you’d better be off.’
As everyone was occupied, Molly made her way over the rough path and through the house to the street. The crater in the road was now cordoned off. She passed the old bicycle factory and followed the footpath to the back of the shop. Taking the key from under the pump, she let herself in.
The store held an eerie silence as though it stood still in time.
Molly went up to the flat and found her dad’s tobacco, then she washed her face and fixed her hair. She wanted to make a good impression at the hospital so her dad could see she was able to look after everything while he was away.
‘I’m afraid your father had a disturbed night,’ an unfamiliar nurse told Molly when she arrived at the hospital. ‘He developed a temperature, which was a little worrying.’
Molly looked over the nurse’s shoulder to the curtained cubicle. ‘What brought that on?’ she asked anxiously.
‘Dr Neil believes it may be concussion. From time to time he gets confused, probably a result of the blow to his head.’
‘Can I see him?’
‘It’s not visiting hours, but I’m sure we can make an exception.’
Her dad was asleep when Molly sat quietly on the chair beside his bed. The bandage on his head was very white against his flushed face. Every now and then he jumped or trembled. Molly stood his pipe and tin of tobacco on the cabinet.
As she did this he woke, screwing up his eyes. ‘Molly, is that you?’
‘Yes, it’s me, Dad.’ She took his hand. ‘They tell me you had a bad night.’
‘What day is it?’
‘Tuesday.’
‘Thought it was Sunday.’ He rolled his head towards her. ‘Where am I?’
‘You’re in hospital, after a bomb exploded outside the shop.’
He nodded slowly. ‘Oh yes, I remember now.’
‘Thank goodness for that.’
He gave a yelp when he saw the protective cage under the covers. ‘What have they done to me leg? They ain’t cut it off?’
‘No, course not. Your leg’s broken and you’ll have to be patient while it mends.’
Just then, there was a penetrating cry. Through the curtains, Molly could hear someone crying and the nurses running.
‘This is a very noisy ward,’ she said.
‘The way I feel at the moment Big Ben could strike in me ear and I couldn’t care less. Think they’re giving me jollup to shut me up. Now, before I drift off, tell me how you’re managing?’
‘There’s no need to worry about anything. Dennis and another man called Andy have done the repairs at home.’
‘Andy? Who’s he?’
‘Someone I met here. His wife was killed that night, leaving him with two small children. I also met a woman called Cissy who lost everything in the raid. I felt very sorry for them and—’
‘Offered to help?’ Bill gave a chuckle. ‘I leave you for a couple of days and look what happens! Half the bloody East End is lining up at our door!’
‘Do you mind?’
‘Ducks, like your mother, you’d help any soul in distress.’ He squeezed her hand tightly, then looked at her intently. ‘You ain’t told your sister about me, have you?’
‘Not yet.’
‘Good. I don’t want no fuss . . .’ Slowly his eyes began to close. A long, heavy sigh slipped from his lips and Molly sat, her mind full of confused thoughts. She would have to tell her sister soon about Dad. Lyn would be very upset to think she’d been kept in the dark.
Once outside the hospital, Molly took a deep breath. She knew the nurses and doctors were doing the best they could, but they couldn’t bring about a miraculous recovery. Even if Dad managed to walk again, there was the matter of the steep flight of stairs that led from the shop up to the flat.
Hands deep in pockets, Molly made her way home. Cranes, tractors and lorries were noisily trying to clear the streets amidst the long queues of people waiting at the coach station. Under a large sign saying EVACUEES, all the children and their parents were lining up.
One little boy was lifted aboard, screaming and crying. Molly’s stomach dropped as the coach moved off. The boy stared out of a window as his mother waved frantically. Who knew how long they would be separated?