Tommy caught the stout middle-aged postwoman cycling into the docks as he was walking to the ferry landing. He had started to get the ferry to and from work in the vain hope he might accidentally bump into Polly, who he knew used it daily. It was Sod’s Law, though, that he hadn’t once spotted her this past week and he had only caught glimpses of her at work.
Much to his mental torment, the women were back working with the platers, which included Ned. Tommy had tried not to become obsessed with trying to catch Ned and Polly talking to each other, or having any kind of interaction. Every time he had the chance, he would look over to see if he could catch the two of them together. He’d thought he might have seen them having a chat round the platers’ fire during a tea break, but so far he hadn’t. He couldn’t help but feel relief every time he saw Polly had her helmet down and was hunched over a weld. Mind you, the weather had been so bad everyone in the yard had their head down and were just ploughing through the work they had to do.
‘Mornin’, Tommy,’ the postwoman said, frowning against the morning drizzle. She rummaged in her bag, which was full to overflowing. ‘Let me see if there’s owt here for you.’
Tommy immediately felt his heart beat faster. It had now been two weeks since his visit to the recruiting office, when it had taken some time to explain to the elderly man sitting behind the large wooden desk exactly why he should be considered for military service. The old man had said about him being in a reserved occupation, but a determined Tommy had argued his case, stressing the fact there were now more divers working for the River Wear Commissioners, and that if the navy accepted him, he would need next to no training as he was physically fit, an experienced diver and knew just about everything there was to know about ships.
In the end the old man, who was a war veteran himself, had nodded knowingly and got out his pen and an official-looking form and started writing. He’d asked Tommy a few health-related questions, given him a cursory medical, and asked him to take a general knowledge test. Tommy had struggled with that as he rarely picked up a pen in his line of work, but he had completed it, or at least most of it. The recruiting officer had then asked Tommy to sign his name on a form and told him to expect a response in the post in the next few weeks.
‘Ah, here we are,’ the postwoman said, handing Tommy an official-looking brown envelope.
‘Ta.’ Tommy took the letter before adding, ‘Take care down the dock, there’s been some flooding with last night’s heavy rain.’
As soon as he turned to walk on he ripped open the envelope. It was, as he’d suspected from the official-looking stamp, from the recruitment department of the Royal Navy. As he scanned it, he felt his body come to life. They wanted him. He’d been accepted; he was finally going to go to war.
A rush of emotions hit him. Excitement, a sense of pride, trepidation, nervousness and then more excitement.
As the drizzle turned to thick dollops of rain, Tommy shoved the letter into his jacket pocket and ran to catch the ferry, which was just blowing out steam and preparing to make its way across the choppy river. The ferryman nodded at Tommy, whom he’d known from a nipper, and let him jump aboard without taking a fare, just as he’d done for as long as he could remember.
While the ferry groaned into action, Tommy’s mind churned around. He would have to tell Jack as soon as possible about leaving the yard. Tommy knew Jack would understand, as he himself was going halfway round the world to help with the war effort with the new ship design.
Arthur, however, would be a different kettle of fish. Tommy knew that he would be angry. He would feel that Tommy had denied him the chance of talking him round, but Tommy also knew the old man would realise that even if he’d told him beforehand, Tommy would have gone ahead and signed up regardless.
Finally, and most importantly, he needed to tell Polly. Thoughts of the woman he still loved, whether or not she loved him back, were never far away. As Tommy contemplated talking to Polly and telling her his news, he felt himself fire up inside, a feeling she’d always managed to stoke up in him even though she was not aware of doing so. He couldn’t wait to tell her his dream had come true, to talk to her and be near her once again, even if it was for the last time.