19

Lily clambered down from the bus, holding Mary on her hip, as the driver shouted for the passengers to hurry and take cover.

‘There’s an entrance to the tunnels over the road,’ he called after them. Most people didn’t need a second bidding as they hurried to join a fast-moving queue of Ramsgate residents taking shelter underground.

Lily smiled to herself. This was such a regular occurrence these days that the conversations of those around her continued as they had done before the siren sounded.

‘I’ve got this jumper of your dad’s to unpick; it’ll give me something to do while we wait for the all clear.’

‘I was just about to put a pudding on to steam – bloody Hitler will ruin our dinner.’

‘I hope no one’s pinched our spot . . .’

‘Has there been any news about that young boy who was snatched?’

Lily’s ears pricked up as the woman who had asked the question turned to her neighbours, waiting for an answer. She kept close to the group as they shuffled deeper into the tunnels.

‘I heard a yellow knitted blanket was found along King Street this morning.’

Lily couldn’t stop herself from interrupting. ‘Do you know where in King Street?’

As if it was the most natural thing in the world, Lily was included in their conversation. ‘Up by the chemist’s. The owner had put it in the window in case someone claimed it. My neighbour spotted it and told him it could be the one the little lad was wrapped in; she told him to take it to the police, but he refused to get involved.’

Lily wanted to ask more questions, but the conversation moved on.

‘Why would he not tell the police?’ another woman asked.

‘It seems his son had his collar felt for flogging things on the black market, so he’s not keen on the plod, the silly bugger.’

Lily hurried on, hoping to find Flora and the ladies from Sea View; she had to give them this news as soon as possible. If the blanket was indeed the one Miss Tibbs had knitted, then it could mean Alexsy was still nearby. They would need to speak to the owner of the chemist’s shop to find out when it had been handed in, as that might be a clue to where Tom White was heading.

She held Mary close as she weaved her way through the myriad of tunnels to where her friends set up home while underground. It was horrible to think that it could have been her own darling daughter who was missing. ‘God forbid,’ she whispered as she reached a familiar part of the tunnels. Her eyes, now acclimatized to the dim light, skimmed over the people setting up, ready for a possible long stay. She smiled as she heard Rose’s sweet voice even before she’d spotted her friends.

‘There’ll be bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover . . .’

‘Thank goodness I found you,’ Lily said, as Flora held out her arms to take Mary. ‘I have some news.’

‘About Alexsy?’

‘Yes, I overheard someone talking just now,’ she started to explain, stopping to catch her breath after the effort of carrying her little girl through the tunnels.

‘Sit down and rest for a couple of minutes. I want Rose to hear this; she’s almost finished leading the sing-song. John’s helping Miss Tibbs make us a hot drink.’

Lily gave her a sly smile. ‘He’s back on the scene, is he?’

‘Oh, it’s nothing like that, he brought a crate of food from Diana and was helping me and Rose with some thoughts about where Tom White could have taken the lad – and what’s happened since. He told me he has to leave soon and was only held up by the air-raid sirens going off.’

Lily smiled to herself. It was obvious John Bentley adored Flora, and it was time the woman started to think about her own life rather than caring for all and sundry.

‘Hot drinks all round,’ John said as he carefully carried three enamel mugs in each hand. ‘Miss Tibbs spotted you and made an extra one,’ he said as Lily started to protest that she was taking someone else’s drink. ‘Here you are, Rose,’ John added as she joined them.

‘Now listen, everyone,’ Flora said, getting their attention, ‘Lily has something to tell us.’

Lily explained what she had overheard as she entered the tunnels. ‘I doubt they know any more than that,’ she said, as John suggested finding the women again to ask them for further details. ‘Besides, I don’t know how we’d find them with so many people down here. I last saw them up near the entrance, so they could have gone down any of the tunnels and be anywhere by now.’

‘Not to worry, as I know the man who owns the chemist’s shop; he can be a bit of a curmudgeonly old so-and-so. It’s best I walk up there and have a word alone. I need to purchase a few bits and pieces anyway, so I can chat to him in passing, so to speak,’ Flora said.

Lily nodded in agreement. ‘That’s a good idea. Much better than us all rushing in there like bulls in a china shop and him not telling us what we need to know.’

‘What do we need to know, dear?’ Miss Tibbs asked as she delved into Flora’s bag and found a packet of cheese and pickle sandwiches. ‘My favourite,’ she beamed, offering them round.

‘Nothing for you to worry about, dear,’ Flora smiled at the old lady.

Katie woke to the sound of the all clear to find Stew looking down at her as they lay on the bottom bunk bed close together. Gradually, the memory of what had gone on between them came back to her. ‘Oh my goodness,’ she exclaimed, pushing him away and climbing from the bed, pulling her dress around her to cover her exposed breasts. ‘Please don’t say we . . .’ But she knew they had, and she’d wanted him to make love to her as much as he’d wanted to. ‘I’ve never done this with anyone else apart from my husband; what must you think of me?’

‘I’m as much to blame,’ he apologized. ‘We are both lonely and missing our loved ones. Being pushed together and alone, we let our emotions take over.’

She sat back down, buttoning up her dress and straightening her hair. ‘It shouldn’t have happened. We must never tell a soul,’ she said, looking distressed. ‘What would people think?’

‘I’m not going to tell anyone. I’m not the kind of man who talks about his conquests to his colleagues.’

‘Oh, you think of me as a conquest, do you?’ she asked, feeling disappointed. It sounded as if he thought her no better than those women who hung about in pubs waiting to be picked up by men.

‘No, you’ve got me all wrong,’ he said, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. ‘Until this afternoon I’ve only ever known one woman, and that’s my wife. What a pair of fools we’ve been,’ he said, giving her a gentle smile.

‘I’m not sure how I can keep this from my husband,’ Katie replied, more distressed than ever. ‘We’ve never had a secret in all the years we’ve known each other. He knows me so well – he will guess that something has happened.’

‘Please don’t feel guilty. Perhaps you’ll be able to forget about it and move on before he comes home on leave again. I do understand, Katie; I know I will find it hard not to tell Moira, and she will see that I’ve changed. Let’s hope they will both think it’s the war that has changed us. What do you say?’

Katie took a deep breath and decided. ‘We mustn’t dwell on this, and you aren’t to come to the house alone ever again. In company with the others, we will both try to act as we have before. Do you agree?’

‘Yes, I agree with you. I will forget it ever happened . . . and thank you.’

‘And now I must go to work.’ Katie pushed open the door to the Anderson shelter and took a deep breath of fresh air.

The problem was, she knew she’d never be able to forget their time together.

Flora walked purposefully through the town on her way to visit the chemist’s shop. She felt newly optimistic that they would manage to find Alexsy – hopefully before Anya returned from her training duties. Her heart ached as she thought how the little lad must be missing his mother. She prayed he would be found soon and would have no lasting memories of this time in his young life. ‘We have to find him and soon,’ she muttered to herself.

Up ahead, she spotted Katie hurrying towards the Lyons teashop and called out to her. ‘I don’t know about you, but I feel all over the place after an air raid. I never seem to be able to catch up with my work. You look flustered,’ she said, noticing Katie’s flushed face and jittery manner.

‘I’m fine; the bus took a while to come, that’s all,’ Katie said without smiling. ‘I must dash; goodness knows what’s going on in the teashop’ – and she hurried away.

Flora shook her head. Hitler had a lot to answer for and if she ever met him, she’d give him what for, for messing up these young girls’ lives. There was her Rose and young Katie without their husbands at home; and as for Lily, with no husband and a young daughter to bring up alone . . . not that that was Hitler’s fault, of course. Flora found herself imagining the scene if she ever did meet him; but then, that would mean they’d been invaded. She gave herself a mental shake and returned her thoughts to the matter in hand as the chemist’s shop came into view.

‘Good afternoon, Mr Francis. I’m pleased to see you and your premises are still in one piece after today’s raid. How is Mrs Francis?’ she asked.

He nodded to her unsmilingly, apparently not very keen to make conversation. ‘Did you want something? It’s just that I have my stock taking to get on with.’

‘Someone mentioned that you picked up a yellow knitted blanket that had been dropped on the pavement outside?’

‘I did, it’s over there by the window display. But before you take it, I’ll need proof that it belongs to you.’

Flora wondered how she could prove the blanket had been knitted by Miss Tibbs as a gift when Daisy had been born – then it came to her. ‘There’s a small darn in the bottom left-hand corner where it brushed against a candle when we were down the tunnels. The wool I used is a slightly darker colour.’

He went over to the old-fashioned curved window and lifted the blanket from where it was draped over a large glass ornamental bottle filled with coloured water. Holding it up to the light from the window, he inspected the knitting closely. ‘Yes, I can see where it has been darned. You ought to be more careful in future. Someone else might have put it into a dustbin.’

‘I will,’ she promised, resisting the urge to hold the blanket to her face and inhale the baby’s scent. ‘I wonder, can you recall exactly when you spotted it?’

He sniffed disapprovingly. ‘It was when I’d opened up after lunch yesterday, before I went out to clean the front windows. Does it make any difference?’

‘It does.’ She needed him to tell her more. ‘What time would that have been?’

‘It was twenty-five past two. I called after the couple who dropped it, but they were too busy arguing. I went back into the shop to leave it somewhere safe, as there was someone walking their dog and I didn’t want the disgusting animal cocking its leg, if you get my drift.’

‘Oh, I do, I do,’ she said, trying to fight the urge to give him a big kiss. ‘I’ll be off now. Thank you for hanging on to it.’

He followed her out of the shop. ‘Tell me why that couple had it, if it belongs to you?’

Flora pretended not to hear him as she hurried back towards Sea View to share the news with the others.

‘Well done, but you could have asked him what the woman looked like and if they had a child with them,’ Rose said once she’d listened to what Flora had to say.

‘Oh God, I never gave it a thought; I was so pleased to know it was Alexsy’s blanket and that someone had dropped it. What a fool I am. I could kick myself,’ Flora said, looking glum. ‘Shall I go back and ask Mr Francis?’

‘I wouldn’t; he might find it rather strange. I know I’d be worried if I was him,’ Rose said, trying not to laugh when the situation was so serious. ‘However, if a detective was to walk in there with his notebook . . .’ she suggested. They both looked over to where John was checking what he’d written in his diary.

‘He’s wearing a suit and looks official,’ Flora said to Rose.

John looked up at them and smiled. ‘I really ought to be getting back to London and my work, but I’ll go and speak to your Mr Francis and see what I can find out.’

‘Wonderful!’ Rose exclaimed. ‘Thank you. I’ll stand you a meal at the teashop when you’re next down here.’

The smile dropped from John’s face. ‘It may be a while before I’m back.’