25

Lily waited for the door to reopen. As the moments passed, she became fidgety; where was the woman? She looked back to the pavement, where Peter was finding it hard to act nonchalant while keeping close enough to step in if Lily had a problem with the inhabitants of the house.

‘What can we do?’ she mouthed towards him.

He shrugged his shoulders and wandered further up the road to where Jennie was still hiding behind the shrubbery, then bent to tie his laces. ‘Could you see that woman?’ he asked under his breath.

‘I could only see part of her face, but I’d swear she was the one who was in the teashop when I was told she lived here. What will you do if she doesn’t open up again? She might’ve gone out the back way.’

Peter groaned and continued up the road, to where Stew was in a cosy conversation with Katie. ‘Look sharp, we haven’t thought to cover the back entrance. They may escape that way. I’m going back down the street and will tell the others to keep an eye out.’

‘What about Alexsy? Could Lily hear him?’

‘I could hear a child crying. It could have been him.’

‘Let’s hope so,’ Katie replied, pushing Stew to get a move on. They set off quickly to find the back of the terraced houses, looking for an alley that might give them access to the property where, hopefully, little Alexsy was safe and well.

As Peter was heading back down the road, trying to look casual, the sound that put the fear of God into every living person could be heard, creeping closer and louder by the minute. He stopped beside Jennie’s hiding spot. ‘Break cover and get yourself to a shelter,’ he hissed. ‘Do you know where to go?’

‘Yes, there’s an entrance to the tunnel shelters in the next street. I’ll see you all down there,’ she said, jumping a short fence into next door’s garden and making her way to safety.

He continued down the street, wanting to get Lily away to safety, but stopped short as he caught a glimpse of her entering the house and closing the door behind her.

Thinking the worst, and imagining her suffering at the hands of the couple inside, he ran to the door and pounded it with his fists until it opened.

‘It wasn’t locked,’ Lily said, letting him in. ‘There’s nobody in here. They must be heading for the communal shelters.’

‘Or using the air raid to scarper,’ Peter said as he started to look around the small house. ‘Hmm; I wonder . . .’ He pulled back the edge of a rug, looking for any sign of access to a cellar.

‘If you’re looking for a cellar, it can’t be under a carpet, as there’s no one up here who could’ve put it back in place,’ Lily pointed out. ‘More likely to be under the stairs.’ She turned towards a full-height door, unbolted it and pulled it open. ‘Here it is; but there’s no one down there,’ she said, glancing down into the darkness. ‘Can’t be, as it was bolted on the outside.’

‘They must have gone to the shelters,’ Peter said, opening the back door. Outside, they saw their fellow searchers congregating on a pathway that ran along the back gardens of the terraced houses.

‘They’re not here,’ he called out. ‘Split into two groups and search the surrounding streets; they can’t have gone far.’ As he moved down the long, narrow garden to speak to the men, he froze to the spot as the whistling of a bomb signalled that enemy planes were close. ‘Everybody down,’ he bellowed, and they all fell flat to the ground. An explosion in a nearby street had them change their minds about searching for Tom White, instead running hell for leather for the public shelters.

Lily hung on to the pram; it belonged to Flora and was put to many uses. She didn’t want to leave it behind in case it was stolen or damaged in the raid.

‘Let me take that,’ Peter said.

Lily couldn’t help but giggle at how he manoeuvred it along the pavement, taking care not to bump into people. ‘It’s funny to see you pushing a pram. Have you had much practice?’

‘I’ll have you know I’ve often pushed my nieces and nephews about when I’ve visited my parents. I have three sisters, so there are always opportunities for Uncle Peter to help out; and I enjoy it. It’s good practice for when I’m a father,’ he added as they reached the tunnel entrance.

‘You seem to have your life mapped out,’ Lily said. ‘Is there a young lady you have your eye on to be the mother of these children?’

‘I have a shortlist,’ he grinned as he allowed an elderly couple to go ahead of them. ‘The right woman needs to fit certain criteria. First, she needs to love children; second, be hardworking; third and fourth, make a decent cup of tea and be happy to be my wife. What do you think? Have you got a list of your own?’

‘Hmm; my list would include entering a property via the front gate rather than dropping into an apple tree. After that, he needs to love my daughter and have a good sense of humour.’ She looked sideways to see the expression on his face just as he leant down to give her a gentle kiss on the lips.

‘That was number five,’ he said as they moved forward into the tunnels.

Lily was silent as they approached the entrance. She knew relatively little about this man, who had quite literally dropped out of the sky and into her life; but what she did know, she liked very much. After her disastrous experiences with men early in life, she had vowed to bring up her daughter on her own, but gradually she could feel her resolution wavering.

They made their way through the narrow tunnels towards the section where the residents of Sea View had set up camp. Even though the girls at Captain’s Cottage had an air-raid shelter in their garden, they often preferred the camaraderie of the Ramsgate tunnels. As Lily and Peter walked on they kept a look out for the rest of their group, and also for the woman Lily had encountered at the front door of the suspicious house. She prayed the child who had been crying inside was Alexsy and not some other poor youngster.

‘Over here,’ Peter called out, waving his arm as he saw Stew and Katie weaving their way through the crowd.

‘Have you seen Jennie, Rose and Flora?’ Lily asked, concerned for their friends’ safety.

‘Rose is up ahead of us; she must be at our base by now,’ Katie explained. ‘We were held up.’

Lily frowned. The light wasn’t good, but she could have sworn Katie was blushing. Oh no, she thought, please don’t say she really does have feelings for Stew. ‘Do you think Tom and his lady friend are down here somewhere?’ she asked.

‘We were looking for them as we came along, but so far, no luck. Stew thinks we should all regroup and plan a search of the tunnels. Peter’s army friends are going to do the same, so I told them to head towards Flora’s base. So we should hurry.’

Lily sped up; she was of the opinion that plans for the next step would not get very far without them being present.

‘Thank goodness you’re here,’ Flora said, getting to her feet and giving Lily and Katie a big hug. ‘You deserve a mug each of Miss Tibbs’ tea for getting my girls to safety,’ she said to the two airmen.

‘It’s always a pleasure,’ Peter said, nodding in thanks to Miss Tibbs as she passed him tea in an enamel mug. ‘You certainly have a good setup here,’ he added, looking about him at the area with its neatly arranged temporary wall and small paraffin stove.

‘The bunk beds are allocated to us as well,’ Joyce chipped in as she brushed past him with an armful of blankets.

Peter shook his head in disbelief. ‘I had no idea that while I was up there in the sky playing my part, all this was going on down here below ground.’ He sat down next to Joyce as she explained how the tunnels had been dug out, and all that had gone into making the residents of Ramsgate as safe as possible.

Lily joined Flora and Rose, filling them in on what had happened at the house before the air raid started. ‘They’re more than likely down here somewhere,’ she concluded.

‘With Alexsy?’ Rose said hopefully.

‘I would think so, as we checked the cellar to the house and it was empty. Tom is far too much of a coward not to have run for safety. Do you remember how he was always the first to go down into the cellar at the Margate teashop?’

‘And the last to leave,’ Rose chipped in.

‘You know, this could be the ideal time to find them,’ Katie said thoughtfully.

‘We must split into groups, with someone in each group who can identify Tom,’ Rose said. ‘We need to be discreet about it, though, and not give them a reason to flee.’

Lily picked up an enamel cup and tapped it against the stove, just loudly enough to get the attention of the others in their group. ‘Rose is going to explain how we will continue the search while we are down here,’ she said, passing the floor to her friend, who took great care to explain that they had to be discreet. Once Tom and his lady friend had been spotted, they were to step back and allow the army to take over.

The army sergeant stepped forward. ‘Tom White is a deserter and needs to be apprehended so he can be tried and sentenced. We believe the woman he is living with is the widow of one of his comrades who died in action. White is a coward, but he is an aggressive coward. Twice he has almost been apprehended but escaped after a fight, injuring those who tried to arrest him. He has taken cover in properties where he threatened and coerced householders until they feared for their lives . . .’

Flora was aghast to learn about the excesses of Tom’s past. To think that such a man had moved among the young women she cared for! ‘Is the woman he is currently with in danger?’

The sergeant gave a harsh laugh. ‘No, with Deirdre Hope it’s a different case completely. Before Kevin Hope died in action, he’d become mates with White and confided in him about Deirdre being in prison for stealing three babies. She was selling them on to women who couldn’t have children of their own . . .’ He paused, looking around as the penny dropped among his horrified listeners.

‘He planned to take my Mary and sell her, didn’t he?’ Lily snarled. ‘If I get my hands on him . . .’

Flora put her arm around Lily. ‘Instead, he snatched Alexsy thinking it was Mary; at least he will be safe, if they are planning to sell him on to a couple who dearly want a child.’

‘That’s if they have a buyer for a young boy. It may be they had a ready market for Mary, but not Alexsy.’

‘Gosh,’ Joyce said as she sat down quickly. ‘We need to find them right now.’

‘That’s what we are about to do, ma’am,’ he said, giving her a reassuring smile. ‘I would like to put you into groups of three, with at least one person in each group who would recognize White; and also a man in each group. No disrespect to you ladies, but if he becomes violent, you will be safer if you’re in male company.’

Flora and the other women were vocal in their agreement and soon nearly everyone was assigned to a group, with only Miss Tibbs and young Pearl remaining to keep an eye on the sleeping children.

One group was sent up the tunnel that led to the exit where Tom White would have entered. Joyce was relieved she was in this group, and would only have to tip off the two soldiers who went with her.

Flora, accompanied by Peter and Jennie, went to the main entrance to the tunnel network, while Rose headed off with two soldiers, leaving Lily to accompany Katie and Stew through one of the lesser used branches of the tunnels.

‘That should give us good coverage, and hopefully we’ll winkle him out before the all clear sounds,’ Lily said.

‘Ooh! I’ve not had a winkle in ages,’ Katie said, licking her lips.

‘With pepper and lots of vinegar,’ Lily agreed. ‘Mildred used to bring them back with her when she’d been to the fish market. Talking of which, has Flora heard from her? It’s so unlike Mildred to go away for so long. We’ve not even had a postcard.’

‘Perhaps she has a gentleman friend?’ Stew suggested, at which Lily and Katie raised their eyebrows at each other.

‘It is very out of character; I do hope she’s all right. I’ll take a walk down the harbour and ask tomorrow. For today, though, let’s concentrate on finding Tom White and getting him locked up,’ Lily said as they turned a bend in the tunnel and stopped to look about them.

‘I hope you know the way back,’ Stew said, sounding a little worried. ‘Otherwise we could end up wandering about underground for ever more.’

Lily noticed Katie touch Stew’s shoulder to comfort him. She had never been a tactile person, especially with strangers, and they’d not known Stew long enough to call him a family friend. Besides, he was married, and Katie would need to be careful no one noticed her getting pally with another man while her husband was away at sea. ‘Don’t worry; once the all clear goes off, you can follow the stampede out of here,’ she grinned. ‘We all felt uncomfortable when we first came down here, as it’s not natural to be sheltering underground.’

‘Hello, Lily,’ a young woman called out. ‘We don’t usually see you down this tunnel; are you lost?’

Lily laughed, and introduced Stew to the group of women. ‘They used to work with us at the Margate teashop before they left to do war work,’ she explained. ‘That’s a thought: do any of you remember Tom White, who used to be an assistant area manager? I heard he was down here somewhere and thought I’d say hello to him.’ She smiled sweetly, ignoring the way two of the women nudged each other. They’d no doubt heard the rumours that Tom was Mary’s father.

‘Funny you should say that; I spotted him further up the tunnel when we first came in. He took me out once,’ one of the group smirked. ‘He was with a scruffy woman and she was carrying a toddler with dark hair. He was going to ignore me, but then he asked about you. I told him you still worked at the teashop and he should pay you a visit some time,’ she added, glancing at the other women. They looked keen to hear what Lily would say in response.

‘I must have missed him,’ she said easily, pretending to glance around. ‘Which way did he go?’

‘In the direction you just came from. I told him you’d probably be with Flora Neville and the others from Sea View.’

Katie gasped. ‘Miss Tibbs is there alone with the children,’ she hissed at Stew and Lily. ‘Nice to see you,’ she said hastily to the women, as she grabbed Lily and Stew’s sleeves and pulled them along. ‘Hurry, he could be after Mary,’ she said as they worked their way around people standing about chatting. As they hastened away, they heard the ex-Nippy call out, ‘How’s your husband, Katie?’

‘Bugger, there goes the gossip mill,’ Lily exclaimed. ‘You two have got to be more careful . . . I don’t want to know!’ she said, as Katie began to protest that Stew was just a good friend. ‘Just be careful, as you’ve got too much to lose for a quick dalliance. And I’m talking to both of you. Now, come on, let’s get back to Miss Tibbs.’

Lily ran as fast as possible. She was grateful to be wearing her comfortable shoes.

‘Look, up ahead,’ Katie panted as they rounded a bend and Flora’s part of the tunnel came into view. ‘There’s someone talking to Miss Tibbs.’

‘Is that him?’ Stew asked.

‘Yes, and that’s the woman I saw at the front door of the house,’ Lily cried. ‘Miss Tibbs looks worried.’

They slowed down and stood quietly, catching their breath and watching the scene from not twenty feet away.

‘Katie, you know these tunnels – can you find the army lads and tell the sergeant we’ve found Tom White and his accomplice?’ Stew said. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. ‘Whatever you do, be careful.’

‘You too,’ Katie replied. ‘Don’t do anything until the soldiers are back here, will you? Otherwise we might lose him for good. He’s not going to go back to that house if he knows we’re onto him.’

Lily watched their exchange with sadness. Katie and Stew were so comfortable together. This had gone further than a simple friendship. She hurried a little way after her friend. ‘Oh, Katie, what have you done? Promise me you’ll stop seeing Stew once this is all over and he’s gone back to his air base. Think of your Jack.’

‘I’ve not stopped thinking of Jack,’ Katie said sadly, ‘and in some ways, Stew reminds me of him. I felt so lonely when he went back to his ship . . . Is it possible to love two men at the same time?’

Lily placed her hands on Katie’s shoulders, forcing her to meet her eyes. ‘The war is to blame for so much of this. But just because Jack’s away, you can’t take up with any Tom, Dick or Harry. Promise me you’ll finish it.’

‘I promise; I’ll tell him that our friendship is over. I must go,’ Katie said, disappearing into the network of tunnels before Lily could say another word.