Peggy emerged from the factory after her sevenhour shift and went to the crèche to pick up Daisy. She could see Fred the Fish and his Cockney wife Lil at the kerb in the delivery van, and not wanting to keep them waiting, hurried over with Daisy slung across her hip.
‘Hello, ducks,’ said Lil, reaching for Daisy and giving her a kiss and cuddle. ‘My word, this one’s growing a mile a minute!’ she exclaimed. She put her free arm around Peggy’s waist. ‘And how’s you today, Peg? You looks a bit tired, if yer don’t mind me saying. Are you still in shock from that blooming bomb?’
‘It’s been a long day, but I’m fine,’ Peggy assured her. ‘Are you sure it’s not too much bother having Daisy as well as those boys to look after?’
‘Lawks almighty, none of them ain’t no trouble,’ said Lil with a dismissive wave of her plump hand. ‘Them boys is as good as gold now they’ve settled down wiv us, and it’s lovely to have a little girl to play with again now our two are all grown up.’
She climbed in beside Fred, with Daisy on her lap, and Peggy squashed in for the ride up to the Memorial Hospital to visit Danuta, the little Polish refugee who’d once been Peggy’s evacuee and who was now recovering from the terrible injuries inflicted by the Gestapo. Fred and Lil had no idea of the part Danuta had played behind enemy lines after she’d left Beach View, and thought she’d fallen victim to a London bombing raid, but as she was someone Peggy cared for, they were happy to help out.
Fred turned the ignition and the rather smelly old delivery van wheezed and groaned out of Camden Road and up the High Street. Fred was an old pal of Ron’s, and well into his sixties. He and Lil ran the local fish shop in Camden Road and lived three streets away from Peggy. They had raised their two girls and seen them fly the nest a long while ago. There were no grandchildren yet, much to their disappointment, but when they saw the plight of the four little brothers who’d lived next door to them, they took them in in their kind-hearted way and formally adopted them.
The children had already lost their father in the first battle of El Alamein when their mother was killed during an air raid on the factory estate. Bewildered and afraid, those little boys had blossomed in their care, and were now a tremendous source of pride to both of them.
‘How are the boys?’ asked Peggy as the old van struggled over the humped bridge by the station and on up the steep hill into the countryside.
‘Doing ever so well,’ said Lil with a beaming smile. ‘Johnnie’s just sat his exams for the grammar school, and ’is teacher reckons ’e’ll pass with flying colours. Graham’s top of ’is class in English and arithmetic; Ian’s doing really well at sport, and little Billy will go up into the secondary school next term.’
She jiggled Daisy on her lap and made her giggle. ‘It’s a bit of a bind getting them all to school ’cos of course we has to go out of town now for the older ones, but it’ll get easier when Billy joins them.’
‘How will you cope with the grammar school?’ asked Peggy, knowing it was almost eight miles away.
‘We’ll manage,’ said Fred firmly. ‘The boy’s bright, and travel restrictions and petrol rationing won’t stop us getting him there. If push comes to shove, then he’ll have to go and board with my nephew who lives nearby. He’ll be all right there, although we’ll miss not having him around. We’ll probably bring him home at the weekends.’
Fred pulled up in the driveway of the Memorial Hospital. ‘I’ll be back for you in an hour as usual,’ he said. ‘And don’t worry about Daisy. We’ll feed her, and Lil will drop her off at Beach View to put her to bed.’
‘Thank you both,’ Peggy said earnestly. ‘I don’t know how I’d have managed without you giving me a lift every night.’
‘Glad to do it, Peg,’ said Lil. ‘And from what you’ve said, it won’t be long before that girl is well enough for you to bring her home.’ She grimaced. ‘Bloody Hitler and his bloody bombs. I tell you straight, Peg, I’ve just about had enough of it all.’
‘Language, Lil,’ Frank reproved with a frown and a glance at a wide-eyed Daisy who was taking it all in.
Peggy chuckled, kissed Daisy and climbed out. ‘See you in an hour.’
Fred tooted the horn and drove off, and Peggy stood for a moment gazing at the burgeoning flower beds and the sturdy walls of the old manor house, needing to catch her breath before she went to see Danuta. The day had felt endless, and she had yet to face Doris and try to make peace with her, but in the tranquillity of this lush garden it was easy to shed the stresses and strains and find calm again.
There was no sign of Matron Billings, who could only be described as a tartar, and a bad-tempered one at that. Peggy hurried along the corridors, hearing the rattle of food trolleys and the squeak of rubber-soled shoes as the nurses bustled about and patients prepared for their evening meal.
The usual hospital smells of boiled cabbage and disinfectant accompanied her as she nodded greetings to the nurses she’d come to know during the course of her visits, first with Kitty Pargeter, and now with Danuta.
Kitty had been brought here after she’d crashed a plane she’d been delivering for the ATA. She’d lost most of one leg, but her will to carry on regardless proved to be strong, and she’d learnt to manage the prosthesis during her stay at Beach View and had ended up marrying Wing Commander Roger Makepeace and returning to flying. Now she was expecting her first baby and waiting in hope to hear from Roger, who was a POW in the same camp as her brother, Freddy, Peggy’s son-in-law, Martin, and young Cissy’s American flier Randolph Stevens.
Peggy made a mental note to try and ring Cissy at the aerodrome tonight. She hadn’t seen her since before her twenty-second birthday the previous month, or even heard from her for a while, and she needed to be reassured that her girl was coping now the activity up there was reaching fever-pitch. Cissy was right on the front line of the action and probably witnessing too many aircraft crashing or blowing up as they came in torn to bits by enemy gunfire and tried to land – and of course she’d have seen the long lists of those who had not returned, and felt the gnawing anxiety every time the squadron left on another sortie.
Peggy turned the corner and headed down yet another long corridor. Due to the injuries she’d suffered, and the questions they might elicit from the other patients, Danuta was still in the private room that overlooked the sweep of lawn and colourful flower beds at the back of the manor house. She’d been at the Memorial for several months since escaping from the Gestapo, and it had been touch and go as to whether she would survive – but Danuta’s spirit was strong and determined and it seemed that at last she was on the road to recovery.
As the door was ajar, Peggy went in without knocking only to come to an abrupt halt.
Danuta was not in bed as usual, covered with sheets and blankets, but struggling to stand unaided on her tortured feet as the nurse divested her of her nightdress to replace it with a fresh one.
Peggy saw how thin she was, her ribs, hips and backbone jutting through papery flesh that was scarred by beatings and numerous burns. Her legs were similarly marked, and around her ankles were the unmistakable scars left by tight shackles. Peggy gave an involuntary gasp and the nurse looked up angrily.
‘You shouldn’t be in here,’ she snapped. ‘Wait outside until I’ve finished.’
‘No,’ said Danuta. ‘She can see. I am not ashamed.’
Peggy was in a daze as she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, for Danuta was twenty-seven, but now resembled a very thin, fragile thirteen. She had pushed away the fresh nightdress and stood before her naked, the evidence of what the Gestapo had done to her all too clear. Peggy bit hard on the inside of her cheek to stop herself from crying, but the pitiful sight made her tremble inside.
‘Is not pretty, I think, but they did not win.’ Danuta ran her bandaged hands through the jagged tufts of her hair and looked at her defiantly. ‘The burns are fading and my nails and hair have already started to grow again. Please not cry, Peggy.’
‘How can I not?’ she said, the tears falling despite her sterling effort to keep them at bay. ‘Oh, Danuta, my sweet girl. What did they do to you?’
Danuta took the nightdress from the nurse and almost nonchalantly pulled it over her head until it covered her from neck to ankle. She looked at Peggy and grinned. ‘They made me angry and more determined than ever to survive. I think, as you say, they are laughing on the other side of their faces now we are closing in on them.’
Peggy was astounded that the girl could even smile, let alone make a joke about it, and she was lost for words.
Danuta sank onto the bed as the nurse began to tidy up. ‘Come, sit beside me, Mama Peggy, and tell me how you are.’
‘I’m fine,’ she stuttered, perching awkwardly on the edge of the bed, her handbag clutched in her lap whilst the nurse bustled about and finally left the room with a backward glare of disapproval.
‘You are being brave too, I think,’ Danuta replied. ‘I can see you are tired and troubled. It is a long way to come to visit me after you have been working, and you are still shocked by what happened in the park.’
‘Yes, I’m still shaken up, but it’ll pass,’ said Peggy, unwilling to talk about the row with her sister and the unexpected moments of sheer terror that caught her out every time she heard the buzz of an engine in the sky. Danuta had witnessed and suffered far worse things – the scars on her body only the outward sign of what had been done to her – the rest hidden inside and in her mind. If Danuta could smile and make light of them, then so would she.
Danuta regarded her steadily and then smiled. ‘You will not have to worry about coming to see me very soon, for the doctor is saying that if I keep improving, I can come home to Beach View next week.’
‘Really?’ Peggy breathed. ‘Oh, Danuta, that would be wonderful. But are you sure you’ll be ready? You’ve had a big operation and—’
Danuta placed her bandaged hand on Peggy’s shoulder. ‘I am strong like you. A bit shaken up, but it will pass and I’ll be fine,’ she teased.
Peggy chuckled. ‘Now you’re being cheeky.’
‘Ah, yes, but it has made you smile. And that is a good thing, I think. Yes?’
‘Yes,’ said Peggy, taking her cautiously into her arms and holding her to her heart. ‘And from now on, Danuta, you will know only good things. I promise.’
Fred dropped Peggy off at the end of the alleyway, and with a couple of toots from his horn, set off for his home three streets away. Peggy hurried along the rutted path, hungry for her evening meal and elated by Danuta’s news, but nervous about facing Doris. She didn’t want any more ructions today, for there had been enough drama already, and she could only hope that her sister was in a conciliatory mood.
Peggy opened the scullery door and listened to the bright chatter coming from the kitchen. Her chicks were home by the sound of it, along with Ron and young Fran’s Robert. Her heart lightened and she went up the concrete steps, taking off her scarf and jacket along the way.
It was still light enough to keep the curtains open, and the glow of the fire in the range chased away the slight chill that still came when the sun began to sink towards the western hills. She took one look at the bright faces round her table and knew something was up. ‘What is it?’ she asked. ‘What are you all grinning about?’
Fran got up from the table and went to stand by Robert, who was looking positively full of himself as he placed a protective arm about her waist. Her lovely face was radiant as she swept back her titian curls so that the diamond on her finger sparked fire in the last rays of the sun.
Peggy squeaked in delight. ‘You’ve done it at last,’ she breathed. ‘Oh, Fran, Robert, I’m so happy for you both.’ She rushed across the room and threw her arms about them. ‘When’s the wedding? Are you having an engagement party?’ she babbled, examining the beautiful ring through happy tears.
Everyone laughed at this, for Peggy’s enthusiasm for romance was well known. Robert, who’d always been painfully shy, went a deeper scarlet as he chuckled. ‘One thing at a time, Aunt Peggy. I’ve yet to write and ask her father’s permission.’
Peggy’s delight was tempered by the knowledge that there could be ructions ahead, for Fran’s family were staunch Catholics, and Robert was a Protestant. ‘I’m sure he’ll be delighted to have such a handsome, clever son-in-law,’ she said, stoutly refusing to let the thought mar the occasion. ‘It’s utterly silly to let religion get in the way of anything – especially as we’re fighting a war to get rid of such prejudices.’
‘Easier said than done, Aunt Peg,’ said Fran with a lightness that belied the cloud of worry that dimmed her green eyes. ‘To be sure, you’ve not met my father.’
‘I’ll be writing to him,’ said Ron from his chair by the wireless. ‘He’ll see sense if I have anything to do with it.’
Robert pushed his fingers through his brutally short dark hair as he eyed Ron warily. ‘Thanks, Ron. I appreciate your support, but if anyone has to persuade Fran’s father it will have to be me.’
‘It’ll be terribly difficult to do that while travel to and from Ireland is banned,’ fretted Peggy. ‘Will you have to wait until the war’s over before you can get married?’
Fran glanced up at Robert and then shot them all a beaming smile which chased away the doubts and lit up her eyes. ‘We might just have to go ahead anyway. Da will blow a fuse, but hopefully, once this war is over and he’s met Robert, he’ll have calmed down.’
Peggy wasn’t sure this would be a wise course of action, for if Fran’s father was a dyed-in-the-wool traditionalist who was against mixed marriages, he could very well shun his oldest daughter and refuse to let the rest of the family have anything to do with her. She caught Fran’s eye and knew then that beneath the defiant, bright smile was a worried girl.
Robert broke into her thoughts. ‘I managed to telephone my mother this afternoon, and she’s thrilled, so there are no worries there,’ he said, hugging Fran to his side. ‘I suspect that once the travel ban is lifted, she’ll be down from Warwick to find out for herself why I love this girl so very much.’
Peggy smiled at him with great fondness. He and Doris’s son, Anthony, had become best pals when they’d worked together at the Fort for the MOD, and it was through Anthony’s persuading him to join the local orchestra that he’d met Fran. Robert played the saxophone, and Fran had borrowed Doris’s violin, and together they made the most beautiful music. Impatient with her soppy thoughts, she poured a cup of tea.
‘I wish I had something stronger to celebrate with,’ she said. ‘But I’m afraid tea, or a rather cheap sherry, is all I have.’
‘The sherry’s all gone, but I’ll see if Rosie has a bottle of something before I have to leave for fire-watch duty,’ said Ron, slipping on his coat.
Peggy looked at him in hopeful delight. ‘Does that mean you two have made it up?’ she asked.
‘Aye, to be sure, the air is cleared.’ He gave her a stern look from beneath his brows. ‘But don’t be getting ahead of yourself, Peggy, girl. There’s to be no wedding yet.’
‘But I thought—’
‘Aye, well, I have to prove meself first before she’ll take me on,’ he muttered, pulling on his old cap. ‘She wants to be wooed.’
Peggy was unable to smother her giggles. ‘Wooed?’ she spluttered.
‘Yes,’ he replied, his expression determined as he shot a glare at the chortling girls. ‘Though to be sure I’ve not a clue what that’s supposed to mean.’
‘Then I suggest you have a word with my Robert,’ said Fran, kissing his cheek. ‘He knows how to woo a girl.’
‘Ach, ’tis not funny,’ grumbled Ron. ‘I don’t know where you women get your daft ideas.’
‘Before you go, Ron, I have some good news too,’ said Peggy. ‘Danuta will be coming home next week.’ She was gratified to see the delight in his smile, but hurried on before he could say anything. ‘You’ll have to mend that window in Cissy’s room – it still gets stuck – and sort out the lino. It’s so worn I can see the wooden floor in places. And that bed leg needs tightening up. I don’t want it collapsing on her.’
Ron made a great show of being put upon, but as no one was taken in by it, he grinned. ‘Of course. I’ll see to it all tomorrow,’ he said before making his escape down the steps and out of the back door with Harvey at his heels.
Peggy was warmed by all the good news, but she still had Doris to sort out – and as there was no sign of her in the kitchen, she could only assume she was in her room. Not wanting to spoil the mood, she sipped her tea and lit a cigarette. ‘I do so love weddings,’ she said to no one in particular, ‘even though I cry all the way through them and positively ruin my make-up.’
‘You and Cordelia are completely hopeless,’ teased Rita. ‘I’ve never seen anyone get through quite so many handkerchiefs as you both did when Kitty married Roger.’
Peggy grinned and gently patted her face. ‘You wait, young lady. When you get to my age and see a beloved girl walking down the aisle, you’ll turn on the waterworks too.’
Rita grinned. ‘If you say so, Aunty Peg. But I’ve decided that if I ever get married it will be at the registry office with as little fuss as possible.’
‘Over my dead body,’ said Peggy. ‘When you get married, you’ll have the whole works, or I’m not Peggy Reilly.’ She shot a look at Fran and the other girls. ‘And that goes for all of my chicks.’
She saw the stricken look on Sarah’s face and felt a pang of remorse for not thinking before speaking. ‘How’s Cordelia?’ she asked the room in general, hastily changing the subject.
‘The Friars’ Balsam is really helping, and the doctor’s very pleased with her,’ said Fran. ‘Her temperature is down and she’s breathing much more easily.’ She shot a loving look at Robert. ‘We went up to tell her our news and she was all for coming downstairs.’ She giggled. ‘We had the devil’s own job of persuading her it wouldn’t be wise, and had to promise we’d take her up a glass of sherry to help her celebrate.’
‘It was a big glass, an’ all,’ said Ivy, frowning. ‘She knocked it back and was asleep within seconds. I don’t reckon it went too well with them pills she’s on.’
‘She’s fine,’ soothed Fran. ‘And sleeping like a baby. She probably won’t wake until morning now, and feel all the better for it.’
Sarah took the plate out of the warming oven and placed it on the table. ‘I checked Daisy just before you got home, and she’s fast asleep too. So you sit down, Aunt Peg, and eat. You must be hungry after your long day.’
‘Bless you, dear, yes, I am.’ She sat down at the table and regarded the stew, which looked quite appetising, even though Ivy had been in charge of the cooking. She was about to tuck in when she suddenly remembered Doris. ‘Oh, lawks,’ she breathed. ‘Where’s my sister?’
‘She’s been banging about upstairs most of the day,’ said Rita, ‘and I only saw her when she came down to fetch her plate of supper.’
‘Banging about?’ Peggy was bewildered.
‘I don’t know what she was up to,’ said Fran, ‘but she did ask Robert to help her with something earlier. In all the excitement, I forgot to ask him what she’d wanted him to do.’
As Robert had gone upstairs to the bathroom, Peggy was unable to question him. ‘What sort of mood was she in?’ she asked warily.
Ivy shrugged. ‘Hard to tell. She didn’t say nothing to me, just swanned in, took her portion of stew and swanned out again, nose in the air like she could smell something ’orrid.’
Peggy groaned. ‘That doesn’t bode well.’
‘Leave her to get on with it, I say,’ Ivy retorted. ‘You eat your tea and don’t let her upset you. It were time she were taken down a peg or two.’ She nudged Peggy and gave a cackle of laughter. ‘A peg or two! Get it? A Peg certainly sorted her out this morning, and no mistake.’
Peggy’s smile was polite as the others tittered. She hadn’t found Ivy’s joke at all funny, and could only hope that when she went upstairs to see Doris there wouldn’t be a repeat of the earlier unpleasantness.
Robert came back into the room just as Ron returned with a bottle of gin and a crate of beer, which he deposited on the table. ‘Rosie said congratulations, and there’s a drink for you both behind the bar the next time you drop in.’ He shot Robert a wink before heading off for fire-watch duty with Harvey.
Peggy decided she’d find out for herself what Doris had been up to. Once she’d finished the stew, she went to check on Daisy, who was indeed fast asleep and cuddling the knitted toy Lil had given her some time ago. With a longing look at the telephone, she slowly went upstairs, promising herself she’d ring Cissy as soon as she’d dealt with Doris.
Cordelia was asleep and breathing much easier, her silver hair glistening like frost in the light from the bedside lamp, her little face slightly flushed with the remains of her fever. Peggy carefully placed her library book and glasses on the table and softly kissed her forehead before switching off the light. Leaving the door open so they could hear if she called out, Peggy made her way along to the large front bedroom which had provided a brief home and respite to so many of her chicks during these past five war-torn years.
She tapped on the door.
‘What do you want?’
‘It’s me,’ said Peggy. She heard footsteps cross the room and the key turn in the lock before the door was opened.
‘I’m in no mood for an argument,’ said Doris.
‘Neither am I.’ Peggy noted she was wearing the tweed skirt and twinset she’d taken back that morning, and which had been her favourite outfit for when she’d gone out to somewhere special. ‘Can I come in?’
‘I don’t really have a say in the matter, do I?’ Doris said tartly. ‘You made it very plain this morning that this is your house, and you therefore have a right to come and go as you please.’
Refusing to rise to the bait, Peggy stepped in and closed the door behind her, fully intending to be pleasant. However, a swift glance round the room showed her exactly what Doris had been doing all day, and it set her seething.
The furniture had been shifted and added to from other parts of the house with little thought of how inconvenient that might be to everyone else. The heavy brocade curtains from the dining room had replaced the sprigged cotton ones over the bay window; the stool and kidney-shaped dressing table had been brought from Cissy’s room; and one of the armchairs from the dining room was now placed by the gas fire, above which hung a large mirror, also from the dining room. The standard lamp from Ivy and Rita’s room now stood in a corner; the rug from Fran and Sarah’s room lay before the hearth; Peggy’s linen cupboard had been raided of embroidered tablecloths which now covered the bedside tables; and Cordelia’s spare eiderdown and lace-edged linen pillowcases and sheets adorned Doris’s double bed.
To cap it all, Jim’s dressing gown was hanging on the back of the door and the lovely, expensive nightdress he’d bought her the last Christmas he’d been home was draped over the foot of the bed.
She regarded her sister coldly. ‘I came up to try and mend things between us – to actually apologise for what I said this morning and ask you to stay. But seeing what you’ve done has changed all that.’
She snatched the dressing gown from the door and gathered up the precious nightdress she’d been saving for Jim’s homecoming. ‘Your arrogance is unbelievable, Doris, and I’m lost for words.’
Doris had the grace to look uncomfortable. ‘I didn’t think you’d really mind,’ she muttered.
‘Which part of “you’re not having this” didn’t you understand, Doris?’ Peggy hissed, clutching the nightwear to her chest. ‘And what right have you to help yourself to other people’s things without bothering to even ask?’
‘You never use the dining room, and those curtains cut out the draught much better than those thin cotton things. I assumed the bedding and tablecloths were going spare. As for the bedroom furniture, Cissy hasn’t lived here for at least two years, so she’s hardly going to miss it, is she?’
Whilst Peggy stood dumbfounded, Doris lit a cigarette. ‘I’d appreciate it if Ron would remove that ugly old dressing table. It’s too heavy for me to shift.’
Peggy was trembling with rage. ‘I tell you what, Doris. Ron will come tomorrow morning and take back Cissy’s things as well as the standard lamp and rug. You can keep the damn chair and the bedclothes unless Cordelia needs them – they are hers, you know, not mine.’
‘I wondered where you’d got the money to buy such good quality bedding,’ said Doris. ‘Look, Mar— Peggy, I know you’re cross, but—’
‘Cross?’ snapped Peggy. ‘Oh, I’m way beyond blooming cross! I’m bloody furious.’
Doris grimaced. ‘I don’t know what all the fuss is about, but language like that is most unbecoming – especially from a woman.’
Peggy clutched the nightwear in an attempt to cool down and resist hitting her sister again. ‘Danuta is coming home next week and will go into Cissy’s room, so that furniture is needed. And if you go into my room again and take things which you know damned well you shouldn’t have, I really will show you the bloody door.’
Before Doris could say anything, she’d turned on her heel, stomped along the landing and run down the stairs, blinded with tears.
Reaching the sanctuary of her room, she quietly closed the door so she wouldn’t wake Daisy, and then slumped onto the bed, the dressing gown held to her face so she could breathe in the essence of Jim which still lingered in the fabric.
‘I’ll kill her if she stays much longer,’ she muttered to his photograph. ‘Honestly, Jim, that woman is driving me demented.’
The light tap on the door roused her from her dark thoughts and she swiped back her tears as she went to answer it, hoping it wasn’t Doris come to torment her again.
But it wasn’t Doris. Peggy gasped in delight as Cissy gathered her into her arms.
‘Cissy? Oh, darling,’ Peggy sighed tremulously. ‘What a wonderful surprise! I was going to call you tonight.’
‘What’s the matter, Mum? Are you still in shock after that V-1?’
‘How did you hear about that?’ Peggy asked in dismay.
‘It was hardly a secret, Mum, which is why I managed to persuade the Chief WAAF to let me come and visit.’
‘I’m fine, really. Still a bit shaken, but it’ll pass.’
Peggy looked at her beautiful daughter, with her radiant skin and worried expression. At twenty-two, Cissy had turned into a sophisticated young woman who looked quite wonderful in her WAAF uniform, her fair hair curled back in victory rolls beneath the perky little cap, her make-up flawless.
‘Are you sure, Mum? Only I can tell you’ve been crying.’
‘It’s just Doris,’ she said lightly. ‘You know how we’re always falling out.’ She hugged Cissy to her, breathing in the scent of her, delighted to see her after so long.
‘Doris has always been a cow,’ said Cissy with feeling. ‘I’d tell her straight what I think of her if it didn’t upset you – but it’s Ted who should step up and sort her out really. He must know of somewhere she could go.’
Peggy dredged up a smile and closed the door on the noise coming from the celebrations in the kitchen. ‘Don’t let’s waste this precious time we have talking about Doris,’ she said, keeping tight hold of her daughter’s hand as she sat on the bed. ‘How are you? Are you coping with things? Have you heard from Randolph – and how long have I got you for?’
Cissy sat down beside her on the bed. She watched Daisy sleeping for a moment, then turned back to her mother. ‘It’s pretty hair-raising, with so many ops going on day and night,’ she murmured. ‘But the sheer force of our air power seems to be having an effect. There are fewer Jerry planes going up and our losses are at last slowing down.’
She stroked the dressing gown. ‘This is Dad’s, isn’t it?’ At Peggy’s nod she rubbed her cheek against the fabric and gave a little sigh. ‘I wish I had something of Randy’s, but all his stuff went into storage on the American base when he was taken prisoner.’ She held the dressing gown to her cheek for a moment more whilst she gazed at her father’s photograph, and then set it tenderly aside.
‘I’ve got two hours before I have to be back, but at least I won’t have to walk. The Chief WAAF let me borrow a car from the pool.’
Peggy saw how she bit her lip and knotted her hands in her lap. ‘What is it, Cissy?’ she asked fearfully.
‘I got a notification from the American airbase this morning,’ she said. ‘The Red Cross have reported that Randy’s been moved to another Stalag, which I’ve since learnt is near the Polish border. Why he’s been moved, I have no idea, and I did wonder if Martin, Roger and Freddy had been moved with him. But I phoned Kitty earlier and she’s heard nothing. Has Anne called you about Martin?’
‘No, darling, I’m sorry. But I’m sure if she had any news she’d tell us straight away.’
Cissy nodded. ‘That’s what I thought.’ She took a tremulous breath. ‘I wonder why he was singled out. Was it because he’s an American, do you think?’
‘I have no idea,’ said Peggy, aching for her daughter’s dilemma. ‘But at least you know where he is. That’s German efficiency for you – which is more than one can say about the Japs. Poor Sarah still doesn’t know what’s happened to her father and Philip.’
A burst of laughter from the kitchen brought a wan smile to Cissy’s face and she made a concerted effort to dismiss her worries and appear cheerful. ‘The celebrations seem to be going well. It’s lovely those two have finally got engaged – lovely too that Danuta’s at last coming home, and Grandpa has made it up with Rosie. Shall we join them?’
Peggy didn’t really want to share her with everyone else, but it seemed churlish to refuse. ‘Why not?’ she said. ‘I could certainly do with a large gin after dealing with Doris.’
‘Then let’s hope they’ve left us some,’ said Cissy. ‘But if they haven’t,’ she added with an impish grin, ‘I’ve got another bottle from the mess that I managed to smuggle out courtesy of a rather smitten rear gunner.’
‘Cissy Reilly, you are a naughty girl,’ teased Peggy, giving her a nudge towards the door. ‘You’re as bad as your dad and granddad.’
‘They taught me everything I know,’ she replied with a giggle.
The crate of beers had been raided and the first bottle of gin was almost empty, so there were shouts of glee as Cissy produced the second bottle and poured drinks all round. The noise level rose; the cat beat a hasty retreat and the girls started dancing as Fran struck up a jig on the violin.
Peggy wondered momentarily what Doris must be thinking to hear her expensive violin being played so exuberantly, and then dismissed all thoughts of her selfish and utterly maddening sister, and joined in the fun.
As the level in the gin bottle went down and the noise level rose, Peggy had little fear of either Daisy or Cordelia being disturbed, for Cordelia’s hearing aid had been taken out, and Daisy could sleep through countless numbers of fighters and bombers roaring overhead. As for Doris, she could stew.
Peggy watched her daughter’s every move throughout what was left of their precious two hours together. She had evolved into a lovely young woman, far removed from the young girl who’d had ambitions to be a star of stage and screen despite her lowly job as a sales girl in Woolworths. She’d found love with Randy Stevens, and had witnessed things no girl should ever witness, but her posting at Cliffe aerodrome had given her strength of purpose and a maturity she might not have had if it hadn’t been for this blasted war.
Cissy finally had to leave, and Peggy followed her out to the front step. She enfolded her in her arms and held her tight, knowing that every day she was on that airfield she was in danger of coming under enemy fire. ‘Be careful,’ she whispered against her cheek. ‘And try to ring when you can. I do worry about you.’
‘I worry about you too,’ Cissy replied, hugging her back. ‘And if Doris winds you up like a clock, just walk away from her. She’s not worth it, Mum. Really she’s not.’
‘I know. But she’s still my sister, and I feel responsible for her.’
Cissy chuckled. ‘You’re too soft, that’s your trouble, Mum. But none of us would have it any other way.’ She hitched the strap of her service issue handbag over her shoulder. ‘If you hear anything from the others about their men, you will let me know, won’t you?’
‘Of course I will, but I’m sure if Kitty gets anything through she’ll be able to wangle her way into the aerodrome to tell you.’
Cissy hugged and kissed her one last time then ran down the steps and climbed into the car. ‘I love you, Mum,’ she called through the open window.
‘I love you too,’ Peggy called back. But her endearment was lost in the roar of the car’s powerful engine and the screech of tyres as Cissy shot out of the cul-de-sac, up the hill and out of sight.
Peggy folded her arms tightly about her waist, took a shaky breath and looked up at the starlit sky. There was a golden ring hazed around the moon, and she could only pray that it augured well.