24

‘Is everyone ready and clear about who they are paired with?’ Flora asked, looking around the kitchen at the expectant faces.

‘As ready as I’ll ever be,’ Miss Tibbs said as she waved a furled umbrella in the air.

Flora sighed. ‘Miss Tibbs, it is far too dangerous for you to come with us. You could be knocked over if things get rough.’

The old woman looked disappointed. ‘No one wants you when you are old,’ she said quietly, sitting down at the table.

Rose’s heart ached for the lady she had known since her childhood days. ‘We have a very important role for you,’ she said, sitting next to her and sliding a sheet of paper and a pencil in front of Miss Tibbs. ‘There are bound to be people ringing here to share their important news while we are out looking for Tom White. We want you not only to keep an eye on the children but to be responsible for collating the telephone calls in case we miss something. I’ve written down the telephone number for the Ramsgate teashop and if anything important comes in, you are to ring them and they will pass it on to us as we won’t be far away. Do you think you can do that for us?’

Miss Tibbs looked from Rose to the sheet of paper. ‘I’ll do my best,’ she said, a little worried.

‘Shall I stay behind and help Miss Tibbs?’ Joyce asked. ‘I’m not sure I’d be very much help in the group, unlike some of you.’

Miss Tibbs looked relieved. ‘Yes, please,’ she nodded.

‘Good; then let’s get going,’ Rose said, standing up. ‘We all know the parts we must play, but please, everyone: be careful. We don’t need the man getting aggressive, and the woman is an unknown quantity.’

‘There’s also the safety of Alexsy to consider,’ Katie chipped in, speaking directly to the men to make sure they understood. ‘We don’t want this to get out of control.’

The sergeant agreed with her. ‘We need Tom White in one piece and not to be knocked about; there are others who will deal with him.’ He looked around the room. ‘Who needs a lift in one of our vehicles to get into position?’

Peter glanced at Lily and winked. ‘My pretend wife and I will walk the short distance, as we have the pram.’

‘And I’ll walk with them, as I should be able to recognize the woman now that I’ve seen her a couple of times,’ Jennie said, feeling important among the older people in the room.

They all filed out of Sea View with calls of good luck ringing in their ears as Miss Tibbs and Joyce waved them off. ‘Why they need to take the pram when the children are all here beats me,’ Miss Tibbs said as they went back indoors. She checked the telephone as she passed it. ‘And you can behave yourself, too. We don’t want anyone ringing us who has nothing to do with rescuing that little lad,’ she added, to Joyce’s amusement.

‘Deep breath,’ Lily said as she pushed the pram through the High Street and turned into a side road. ‘We are very close to the house now.’

‘Do you want to stop and take a breather before we approach?’ Peter asked, nudging her arm and nodding across the road to where Flora and Katie stood. Close by were the two vehicles used by the airmen and soldiers.

‘I’m fine, thank you. I must say, this feels like one of those spy films where they stake out the building where the villain is hiding; although it feels quite different from sitting and watching in a cinema.’

He laughed and kissed her cheek.

‘What was that for?’ Lily asked, although she rather liked it.

‘For being brave,’ he said.

‘I’m not sure about being brave; I just want Tom White to get what he’s due. It’s about time. I pray we have the right house.’

Peter casually glanced around. It was a short street of small properties, the type that were often called two-up, two-downs; all had seen better days, with a gap further up the road where homes had taken a direct hit during a raid. Lily couldn’t help thinking she’d visited this street before. Then it hit her like a flash of lightning: this was where the woman lived who offered to get rid of unwanted babies. A small sob escaped as she fought hard to remain composed, telling herself that everything had turned out for the best in the end. She now had a beautiful daughter. But what if . . .?

Peter reached out and stopped the pram, holding on to the handle. ‘You aren’t looking so good. Stop here and pretend to check the baby while you take a breather,’ he said, concerned at her distraught face.

Without answering, Lily bent over the empty pram and straightened the blankets while taking a few deep breaths. With the hood raised, no one would know there were two cabbages and a bunch of carrots wrapped in a baby’s shawl. ‘I’m ready to move on,’ she said, giving him a sweet smile. ‘It is good of you to care; I’ll explain later why I was overcome for a moment. I almost made a foolish mistake a couple of years ago . . .’

‘We all make mistakes at times; we’d not be human if we didn’t. I fear my good friend will be making one soon if he isn’t careful.’

Lily frowned as she watched Katie walking on the arm of the Scottish airman. ‘They do look rather cosy, but perhaps they are acting their part in this scene we are setting?’

‘He does like her a lot,’ Peter said as he kicked the brake on the pram so they could move on.

‘He has a wife and young children.’

‘And your friend has a husband . . .’

‘Oh dear; what can we do?’

‘We can be ready to pick up the pieces, although I’ll try to have a quiet word with him. He has too much to lose for a wartime affair.’

‘As does Katie, to have her head turned by a flashy pilot.’

‘Ouch! Touché,’ he answered, before pointing discreetly to where Jennie was hiding behind a tall hedge and waving at them.

‘It’s the house with the black door,’ Lily said as she started to cross the road towards the property. ‘Don’t follow me all the way, but stop to tie up your shoelace.’

She pushed the pram up the short path to the front door and use a blackened brass knocker to rap three times, as loudly as possible. Her heart was thudding so hard in her chest that she almost believed it would be heard.

After a while, as Lily’s heartbeat started to settle, footsteps approached the inside of the door and a female voice could be heard speaking loudly. ‘Shut that brat up; I swear I’m going to leave him on the doorstep of the church if you don’t do something with him.’

The door opened several inches. Lily could smell cigarettes and stale body odour as a thin-faced blonde woman peered through the opening. ‘Who are you and what do you want?’ she asked, puffing smoke out through the small gap.

Lily wrinkled her nose but resisted the urge to step back. ‘I want to see my husband,’ she said, meeting the woman’s eyes directly.

‘You’ve got the wrong house. There’s no one’s husband living here, love,’ she said, starting to close the door.

‘His name is Tom White; does that ring any bells? Our daughter here is called Mary.’ Lily nodded towards the pram.

The woman’s eyes glinted with malice. ‘Hang on a minute,’ she said, then closed the door in Lily’s face.

‘What do we do now?’ Anya asked, brushing down her skirt as Mildred used two sticks to make a small cross and stuck it close to the head of the dead soldier.

Mildred stepped back and bowed her head for a moment before answering. Then she said, ‘We move on as quickly as possible in case he has a comrade looking for him. Collect your things and try not to leave any footsteps in the sand, as it may attract attention.’

‘The cross you planted will do that,’ Anya pointed out.

‘He may be the enemy, but he still deserves respect,’ Mildred said as she started to limp towards the footpath which led to the road. ‘We will walk for another hour and find somewhere to sleep for the night. Tomorrow is the day we meet Domino, who will lead us to the target.’

‘You are a better woman than I will ever be,’ Anya said as she fell in step behind Mildred. ‘I would have left him to rot where he fell.’

‘I am not a better woman; I have killed many times. I simply hope that when my own time comes, someone will be respectful of my body. You have been through a lot and have reason to hate. For me, it is a job that must be done for us to win this war.’

‘Is that why you removed his identity documents?’

‘They will be given to someone who can notify his next of kin; somewhere, in the not too distant future, a mother will be grieving. Now, stop talking and concentrate on walking – and keep your eyes peeled.’

After they had walked for most of the hour, Anya insisted they stop so she could bind Mildred’s feet again. She made much better progress with just the fabric from Anya’s torn petticoat wrapped around the blisters, without her shoes rubbing and cutting into her feet. Instead, she tied their laces together and strung them around her neck.

They resumed walking for a time, until Mildred held her arm out to stop Anya going any further. Holding a finger to her lips, she pointed to a nearby field where a farmer could be seen herding cows into a barn. ‘He will be milking them and then settling them down for the night. Once he has gone, we can hide there until the morning.’

Anya licked her lips at the thought of fresh milk as her stomach rumbled. They settled behind a hedge and waited.

‘Come, we can move now, the farmer has gone.’ Mildred nodded to where he was pushing a cart containing milk churns across the field away from them.

‘I know cows,’ Anya said as she entered the barn, whispering words to the creatures to calm them. ‘We kept cows when I was younger, before . . . before my world was destroyed. We need to find a container of some kind,’ she said to Mildred, who stood back from the animals. ‘Don’t be frightened; they are big, but they are harmless.’

Mildred grunted a reply, but didn’t seem convinced. ‘Will this jug do?’ she asked, going to a bench at the side of the barn. ‘What do you want it for?’

‘I need something to contain the milk; I plan to milk a cow for our own refreshment. The farmer was too quick to have milked them properly – ah, it is as I thought,’ Anya said, pulling a small stool over to one of the cows. Sitting down, she began to milk the animal and soon had half a jug of milk to go with their supper.

While Anya was busy, Mildred had laid out the remains of their food on the wooden bench. They drank from the jug thirstily as they devoured their meal.

‘We have dined well tonight,’ Anya said as she wiped her mouth. ‘Now to find somewhere comfortable to sleep . . .’

‘We’ll need somewhere away from the opening of the barn in case the farmer returns earlier than expected, but that we can easily escape from if need be. And away from them,’ Mildred added, giving the cows a wary look.

Anya found enough straw to make them a comfortable bed to rest on. Mildred was soon asleep, oblivious to thoughts of what the following day might bring, but Anya lay awake watching the stars through the gaps in the roof. She was wondering what could have gone wrong in the life of her former friend from Poland, that she was now fraternizing with the enemy. Perhaps she would learn more when they met this Domino person.

She spent a restless night, tossing and turning, listening to sounds outside the barn and watching as night turned slowly to dawn. The few times she dozed off, she had vivid dreams of running through Ramsgate calling out for her son. He was always just out of arm’s reach and try as she did, she could never get close to him. As dawn broke she was more than ready to move on, finish the mission and get home to Alexsy.

‘Come, we must move on,’ she said in a low voice, shaking Mildred awake. ‘The farmer will be here soon.’

Mildred groaned as she stretched before stumbling to her feet. ‘I’ll be fine once we get moving,’ she insisted as she stretched her legs and swore under her breath.

‘Let me change the dressings on your feet; I have a little more of the fabric left from my petticoat,’ Anya said, opening her bag and pulling out the strips. She bent over Mildred’s feet and started to unwind the binding carefully until she reached the sores on her toes and heels. ‘You need to soak your feet so that we don’t tug on the wounds and make them bleed,’ she said, looking around in frustration.

‘There was a stream not far from the road. Let’s walk that way and I can dangle my feet in the water,’ Mildred suggested.

‘Lean on me,’ Anya instructed as they made their way out of the barn, heading back towards the route they’d been on the night before. Anya looked behind them; she’d have liked to enjoy another drink of milk to set her up for the journey ahead, but Mildred’s comfort came first.

‘How does that feel?’ she asked as, after wetting the old dressings and slowly removing them, Mildred dipped her feet into the trickle of water and sighed with relief.

‘Blissful,’ Mildred sighed. ‘Give me a little while, and then we can set off on the last leg of our journey.’

Anya took off the jacket she had been given to wear over her dress. Inside the rough wool there was a lining of cotton that had seen better days. She ripped out as much as she could and handed it to Mildred. ‘You can use this to dry your feet. It could be cleaner, but needs must . . .’

Mildred chuckled as she took it from her. ‘You are starting to sound like Flora with your “needs must”.’

‘I wish I was Flora at this moment, standing in her kitchen, making food for the residents of Sea View. What I wouldn’t give to enjoy a big bowl of her stew with fluffy dumplings.’

‘Not a fish pie?’ Mildred chortled.

‘At this moment in time, I would gladly eat the smelliest fish you could catch,’ Anya replied with a rueful smile.