9

Ruth stubbed out her cigarette in an already full ashtray and straightaway lit another. ‘This job is going to be the death of me,’ she said to Kenneth Parry, who was puffing on his pipe as he lounged in a threadbare armchair in the corner of her office. ‘Everything is going to plan; I just hope Anya is up to the mission. She’s the only one capable of confirming our suspect’s identity.’

‘There must be somebody else,’ he said thoughtfully, examining his pipe.

She passed a plate of biscuits to him, which he declined. ‘Believe me, Anya is the only person from that woman’s past life who can one hundred per cent identify her; the subject has completely reinvented herself in recent years.’

Kenneth nodded in acknowledgement. ‘If we are certain it is her, then our next step will be to convince her she needs to work for us rather than enjoy being the conquest of a Nazi.’

Ruth agreed. ‘She seems to be a tricky customer. I pray Anya is up to this.’

He let out a deep sigh. ‘It’s such a big risk, and her part in the mission must run smoothly or God knows what will happen. It troubles me that she’s never done anything like this before, and I’m concerned about her not knowing the French language.’

Ruth reached for a biscuit, then remembered she had a cigarette in her other hand and replaced it on the plate. ‘There will be someone else with her, a woman who I know is a reliable courier; I’ve used her a few times. Together they should be able to complete the mission. I have yet to explain everything to the courier but I’ve warned her she may be needed at a moment’s notice. We’ll wait until Anya has completed her training; she will be with us next week.’

‘So much can go wrong. I’ve never felt so unsure of anything in my life; I don’t even have a contact on the other side to meet them. Have you had any luck?’

‘There is someone I can use. He’ll be there to meet them and help if the going gets tough. He is important to the next part of the plan.’

‘It doesn’t seem enough,’ Kenneth said. ‘I’m considering cancelling this mission.’

‘We can’t do that,’ Ruth pleaded. ‘Think of how valuable it will be if Anya is able to identify the target.’

He chewed the stem of his pipe thoughtfully. ‘She mustn’t be involved in anything at all beyond making the identification. It could be dangerous for her, and for us, if she’s found out.’

Ruth pushed her point home. ‘Let’s just say Anya knows our target very well, and if we can secure the target’s confidence it could be invaluable in discovering more information about the Nazi Party. Her father is a scientist who is working for them . . . We’ve got to risk it, whatever the outcome,’ she said through gritted teeth, pushing aside the thought of young Alexsy being left without a mother if anything should go wrong.

‘You think this will go to plan? We’ve never worked at such short notice before.’

‘I pray it goes to plan, as I know Anya’s friends very well. One of them is married to my brother, Ben.’

‘It’s not the perfect situation. But of course, if you hadn’t found out about Anya’s background, we would not have been able to carry out this mission.’

Ruth felt a surge of pride; it was the first time she’d been praised since joining the department.

‘I suggest you distance yourself from her friends,’ Kenneth added, ‘so that you can keep a clear head.’

‘I’ll do my best,’ Ruth promised, feeling decidedly sick at the thought of what lay ahead. ‘God, I could kill for a drink.’

‘Let’s sit here while you read your letter from Ben,’ Flora said, indicating a wooden bench that faced out to sea. ‘I’ll knit for a while so as not to disturb you.’ She took out a ball of wool and started to concentrate on her knitting.

‘There’s no need, Mum. I have no secrets to keep from you.’

‘All the same, I’d prefer not to watch you read Ben’s words; they’re private between the two of you. It’s quite pleasant here, isn’t it? And only a short walk from the teashop. You should come out here more, it would do you good.’

Rose chuckled as she slit open the envelope with her finger, pulling out the single sheet of thin paper. She fell silent as she read her husband’s words; the only sound was the crashing of waves onto the shore and the seagulls crying overhead.

Flora dared not look at Rose; was it good news, or would her daughter be disappointed? ‘Knit one, purl one,’ she breathed in and out. ‘Please God, let it be good news. Knit one, purl one; please, please, please . . .’

‘He’s coming home,’ Rose squealed with delight. ‘Look, he says he is coming home; it’s only for a short while, but I’ll see him at long last.’

Flora completely forgot whether she was supposed to knit or purl and abandoned her knitting to take the letter now being flapped in front of her face. ‘Why, this is wonderful news, and you will only have to wait a couple of weeks – although . . .’

‘What have I missed?’ Rose asked, seeing her mum’s concerned face and taking back the letter. ‘I know I will have to go to London to meet him, as by the time he travelled down here it would be time for him to leave again . . . we can use his mother’s home while she is away, so we’ll be alone.’ She blushed at the thought of her first time with Ben, when they were alone in his mother’s London apartment.

‘It’s just that this will be while Anya is away. Who will stand in for you at the teashop? I don’t want to put a dampener on your happiness, but they are going to struggle with both you and Anya not at work, and already being short staffed . . .’

Rose turned pale. ‘I can’t go, can I? The teashop is my responsibility and if the new area manager turned up to find I’d abandoned my duties, I’d be sacked on the spot. Oh well, it was a lovely thought while it lasted.’

Flora stuffed her knitting back into her bag. ‘There must be a way round this, let’s not give up too soon. Can’t Lily stand in for you? Surely she knows the ropes by now, as she’s worked for Joe Lyons as long as you have.’

‘It would still leave us short on Nippies and counter staff with Anya having gone to London. You know, I was surprised how quickly she accepted the appointment,’ Rose said, going on to tell Flora what had transpired that morning.

‘Honestly, Rose, I don’t know what to think, with her so ready to rush off to London. My mind’s in a whirl trying to fathom what is happening, and poor Alexsy left behind.’

‘It does make you wonder what happens to all the children whose parents are killed in wartime.’

‘Look no further than Sea View and our Daisy.’

Rose clamped her hand to her mouth. ‘Gosh, how could I have forgotten Daisy? She’s become such a big part of our family, I’d forgotten she lost her own family during a bombing raid when she was a baby. If anything should happen to Anya and Henio, you will have two adopted children to care for.’

‘No, just the one. Anya was adamant that she would want Katie to take Alexsy. In fact, he is to go to Captain’s Cottage and be cared for by Katie while Anya is away in London.’

‘Meaning the Ramsgate teashop will be short staffed as well if Katie isn’t able to go into work. It gets worse and worse.’

‘You must speak to head office,’ Flora said, looking concerned.

‘Oh, Mum, I did just that before you arrived. They advised me to liaise with the Ramsgate branch to see if we could sort out a rota to share staff between us. Don’t they realize our staff have families and commitments? Many of the women’s husbands are serving overseas and they have sole responsibility for their children.’

‘A lot of the children have been evacuated, but even so, it would be asking a lot of your staff. Let’s go and have a cup of tea while we think about how we’re going to get you to London to see your Ben. If we don’t come up with anything constructive, I’ll wear a Nippy uniform and do a few shifts myself. Perhaps we could talk Mildred into being a Sally . . .’

They both snorted at the thought of Mildred in a Sally’s uniform, being polite to customers.

Rose became serious. ‘That’s something else I wanted to mention. When I went up to chat to Mildred last night, she was acting as if she was preparing for her own demise: clearing out her cupboards, talking about giving things away . . .’

‘Don’t you worry,’ Flora said, tucking her arm through Rose’s as they dashed across the busy road to a cafe, ‘I’ll have a word with her when we get home. She’s probably just having a sort out to help the war effort. Do you fancy sharing a plate of chips?’ she asked as they sat down at a table. ‘It’ll make a change from eating at your teashop.’ She looked up at a chalked board on the wall of the cafe.

‘I’d love to. I feel as though I can make sense of my thoughts when I’m away from work and have you to guide me,’ Rose said, waving the waitress over to place their order. ‘Let’s have a fried egg as well.’

‘You look a lot happier than you did earlier,’ Lily said as she greeted Rose.

‘Yes and no,’ Rose replied. ‘Can you come into my office for a minute or two?’

‘Lead the way,’ Lily said, giving a small curtsey. ‘If you want a full report on what has happened in your absence, we had a case of a dropped tray and a full-scale tantrum when a child’s mother wouldn’t let him have an adult-sized portion of bubble and squeak. Apart from that, it has been very quiet.’

Rose closed the door and filled Lily in on what had been happening, explaining that she had made some notes to help things run smoothly while Anya was away, and that Katie would care for Alexsy. ‘Even though she has no idea at the moment,’ Rose added. ‘Will you be home this evening? I want to speak to you and Katie together.’

‘I have nothing planned. Peter is on duty, so I was going to stay in and wash my hair. Katie, as far as I know, is free.’

‘Good. I’ll ring her shortly for a chat and then we can all put our heads together to see how we’re going to cover the next few weeks. With luck I’ll be able to take a couple of days off, as Ben is coming home.’

Lily squealed with joy before apologizing in case the customers had heard. ‘In that case, by hell or high water we will make sure you can spend a few days with him. Even if I have to bring Mary along with me while I work an extra shift.’

‘Hopefully that won’t be necessary,’ Rose said, trying hard not to imagine what head office would have to say about it.

‘I’ll have one of the girls bring you in a tea tray so you can telephone Katie in peace. I’m thrilled Ben is on his way home,’ Lily said before leaving the room.

‘May I have a word?’ Anya said after knocking on the door to the office.

‘Come in and take a seat,’ Rose said, noticing Anya’s worried expression. ‘Is there anything wrong?’

‘It is with me going away; I am worried for my son if anything should happen. You may think me silly but with no news of Henio for so long, I am thinking the boy may never know about his parents. I have spoken to your mother about this.’

Rose nodded her head as she listened, not liking to ask how Anya had known last night that she was leaving Ramsgate when the letter from head office hadn’t arrived until today.

‘We live in dangerous times, Anya, and any one of us could be killed by enemy action at any time. I can understand how worried you are about being in London, when the enemy seems to be targeting it so often. I was there at the start of the Blitz and it was horrendous; I still wake up thinking I’m in another raid and calling out for Ben. My advice would be to always have your gas mask with you, and know where the nearest public air-raid shelter is.’

‘I will do that, thank you. If anything should happen to me, I would like you and Lily and Katie to tell my Alexsy about Poland and read him the stories from the books I have collected. I want him to know his culture and what has happened to his homeland that made his parents flee at the start of this war. Tell him, also, how much his mother’s friends meant to her, and how England is a good place. He must learn to speak Polish and one day return to help build his country into the wonderful place it once was. I have photographs for him and will trust you with them before I leave.’

Rose couldn’t stop the tears from running down her face as she listened to this. She left her seat to go to Anya and give her a hug. ‘I promise that whatever happens – and even if, as we hope, you are only away for a couple of weeks – I will do all I can to keep Alexsy happy and remind him of you and Henio.’

Whatever was happening in Anya’s life, Rose now understood why her friend felt the need to make plans for the future of her child. She would be the same if she was ever in the same position. She would also tackle Ben to pull as many strings as he could in the search for Henio.