36

‘I’m going upstairs to sort out some of the clothes I’ve stored here,’ Rose said when the three girls arrived at Captain’s Cottage later that afternoon. ‘I need to pass some on to the church for the women who have been bombed out of their homes. I feel quite guilty about having clothing not just here but at Sea View, and over in Pegwell Bay. Besides, I’m forever losing things.’

‘If there’s anything you don’t want, leave it in my room,’ Lily called after her as she joined Katie, who was sitting on a bench by the corner of their cottage looking out over the sea. ‘Phew, what a day! And to think Flora will be setting off over the Channel once it gets dark; rather her than me.’

‘I can’t take it all in,’ Katie said, looking confused. ‘So much has happened; this whole business feels like a jigsaw puzzle with a piece missing. I just want everyone home and safe, then I can breathe properly once more. I think that’s why I’ve been feeling out of sorts lately.’

They both leant back, enjoying the warm sunshine.

‘I could easily doze off, especially as I don’t have Mary to care for while she’s staying with Joyce,’ Lily murmured. ‘I might just have a bath and relax for the evening, even if I can’t have the water very deep.’

‘You may have to change your plans; it looks as though we have visitors,’ Katie said, sounding more than a little excited as they heard the click of the front gate. She grinned at Lily as Peter appeared around the side of the house. ‘Hello, Peter, are you on your own?’ She looked past the pilot to see if Stew was with him.

Rather than answer with his usual wit, he sat down between them and put his head in his hands. Lily slid her arm around his shoulders. ‘Has it been a bad day?’

He raised his head and she saw tears in his eyes. ‘We lost a plane this afternoon . . . the whole crew . . .’

Lily had her heart in her mouth. ‘Please don’t say . . .’

‘Yes, Stew was a member of the crew. I’m sorry,’ he said, turning to Katie, who sat frozen with shock.

‘No, it can’t be true,’ she whispered. ‘It can’t be true . . .’

Peter put his arms around both girls as they wept for the lovely Scottish man who had brightened their days at Captain’s Cottage.

‘His poor family,’ Lily sniffed as she wiped her eyes. ‘I can’t begin to imagine how it will be for them. From what he told us, his children are very young.’

A car horn beeped from the front of the cottage. ‘That’ll be the men. They dropped me off so I could let you know what’s happened before you heard it elsewhere,’ Peter said, getting to his feet.

‘That’s very kind of you. Please raise a glass in his memory for us,’ Lily said, knowing the men would be off to drown their sorrows. She was aware that Peter would need the companionship of his comrades. ‘I know I’ll miss him and so will the children.’

‘It never gets any easier,’ he sighed.

‘If I wrote a letter to his wife, would you send it on to her?’ Lily asked. She was sure the woman would like to know what a good and helpful friend Stew had been to them all.

‘I’m sure she would appreciate it, in time. Perhaps if you have a photograph of the get-together at Easter, you could include it in your letter?’

She looked at his red-rimmed eyes and nodded, unable to speak. At that moment she couldn’t have loved him more, and selfishly prayed he would survive the war and be hers for eternity.

‘I’ll see you soon,’ he said, giving Lily a brief kiss before gently touching Katie’s cheek. ‘He valued your friendship,’ he told her.

Katie nodded her head but said nothing.

Lily walked him to the gate and watched as he was driven away before returning to Katie. She might take this very badly indeed if what Lily feared was true.

Lily sat back down beside her without speaking; she would leave it to Katie to say something first, and take it from there.

After a while, Katie spoke. ‘I’m pretty certain I’m pregnant,’ she said quite calmly.

Lily reached sideways and took her hand. ‘It’s Stew’s, isn’t it?’

‘How did you guess?’

‘Don’t you remember you told me how you’d had a visitor just after your Jack went back to his ship?’ A thought came to her. ‘You didn’t tell Jack, did you?’

‘No, he’s a bit old-fashioned with women’s things; we never speak of my monthlies.’

‘Then there is no need to tell him the baby might be Stew’s. For all we know, it could be your Jack’s. These things can happen, no matter the time of the month.’

‘But what if it is Stew’s? I already feel so guilty about the one time we were together. He did as well, but we couldn’t stop our friendship. Oh, this bloody war,’ she cried out before hiding her face in her hands.

‘No one need ever know. This baby is a blessing in disguise; perhaps Stew was meant to come along and leave you pregnant.’

‘Do you think so?’ Katie said as she looked up at Lily. ‘I’m not sure I can keep this to myself. I’ve never lied to my Jack before . . .’

Lily laid her hand on Katie’s and gave it a squeeze. ‘Sometimes it is best to have secrets just to save your marriage. Jack is a lovely chap, but men cannot always accept these things.’

‘He is a lovely man. I’d die rather than disappoint him and have him leave me. I love him so much.’

‘Then take this baby as a gift and enjoy your child. There was one thing I learnt when I was expecting my Mary and that was, whatever life threw at me, I still had my baby – just you remember that,’ she said, getting up to leave Katie alone with her thoughts.

‘How much longer must we wait? I cannot keep walking and walking,’ Anouska complained. ‘I thought by coming with you we would be picked up immediately, but it seems an age since the banquet.’

Mildred rolled her eyes. If she wasn’t careful, she would tell the woman exactly what she thought of her. When Anouska wasn’t moaning about having to walk everywhere to stay one step ahead of the Germans, she was whining about the food they found.

‘Before too long we will be picked up by a boat and taken home to Blighty; then you can go to London and live the life of Riley,’ she said through gritted teeth. And I will be rid of you, she thought to herself.

‘I have no idea what this Blighty is. I thought the English were better organized when picking up someone important?’

‘We thought we were picking up your father, the eminent scientist,’ Anya said, feeling very much the same as Mildred. ‘I want to be home with my son rather than here, wet-nursing you,’ she muttered. ‘Now, I am going to see if I can find some eggs and milk. Would you like to join me?’

Mildred mouthed ‘Thank you’ and relaxed as the younger women left the old barn where they were now hiding out. This was where they’d first met Domino all those weeks ago, and Mildred knew it was where they would be rescued at some point. She and Anya had been taking it in turns to walk to the shoreline and look out for a boat but so far they’d not seen anything remotely friendly.

Mildred had wondered if word would get to Alphonse; he might attempt a rescue, but if he were to come to this area it would raise suspicion. She was torn. Perhaps if they returned to where Alphonse had dropped them off, they might spot him? There again, they could meet the enemy, or even miss a British boat.

She sighed. She was tired and fed up, and they’d hardly done a thing. Anouska was such draining company and made things so difficult for them, always wanting to go off on her own with no regard for their safety . . .

Mildred must have dozed off, as she woke to find Anya’s excited face close to hers.

‘I walked down to the shore before going to find food. There’s a boat: it is still far out but even in the darkening sky it looks to me like the Saucy Milly. I’d know her anywhere. We should move closer to the sea to be ready. Now is the time to move to the empty warehouse at the water’s edge that you told us would be better for getting aboard the boat when it arrives.’

‘Where’s Anouska? We don’t want to lose her now,’ Mildred said, staggering to her feet. Sleeping on the cold ground and not eating well for all these weeks had done her no favours.

‘I left her wandering about when I spotted the boat; I told her not to go far. She should have been back here by now.’

‘Go find her. I don’t trust her as far as I can spit,’ Mildred growled as she started to collect their few possessions.

Anya hurried away, following the path away from the shore. She pulled up short when she heard voices, stepping to one side of the path to hide. Peering out carefully from behind a tree, she saw Anouska standing in the moonlight with two German soldiers on motorbikes. As Anya watched, Anouska turned and pointed back towards the barn.

She bent down and crept closer. The two men seemed to know Anouska and she was talking to them, first angry, then grateful when they handed her a chocolate bar. After a while the men drove away and Anouska began walking slowly back towards the barn, passing Anya, who leapt out from behind her tree.

‘What are you playing at, talking to the enemy?’ she asked, grabbing Anouska by the arm and shaking her. ‘I could slap you.’ She held up her hand with thumb and forefinger an inch apart. ‘We are this close to being rescued, and you do this. What is your game?’

Anouska laughed close to her face. ‘If you haven’t worked it out by now, you are a stupid peasant woman.’

‘Then I am a stupid peasant woman,’ Anya said furiously, ‘as I have no idea.’

‘It is you we want; or should I say, the people who come from England under cover and rescue those held by my comrades – the Nazi Party,’ Anouska said, as she pulled a gun from her pocket and aimed it at Anya.

Anya was shocked to her core by the idea of a woman from her own village working hand in glove with the Nazis. ‘But why me? How did I come to be pulled into this?’ she asked, looking around for a way to escape.

‘Oh, that part was easy; we had been watching. We had been planning to kill Nancy and Domino, along with their comrades, for some time, and we set a trap to say I wanted to be rescued by the British. But then they sent you. When I recognized you, we quickly changed our plans and it was decided that I would fool you all into taking me to London, where I could spy for the fatherland.’

Anya was aghast. ‘So, just because you happened to remember me, Natalie has died, and no doubt other people as well – just so that you can try to stop brave individuals from fighting the tyrants of this world?’

‘Well done, peasant girl, you understand it perfectly.’

‘What is to happen now? Will you shoot me?’ Anya asked. She made a show of looking round wildly and cast a glance towards the Saucy Milly, checking her progress towards the shore.

‘Now we set the trap.’

‘Trap?’

Anouska puffed herself up, looking important. ‘You are going to bring the flies into my web; the flies who are currently on that boat.’ She gave a harsh laugh. ‘Now, start walking back to Nancy, or Mildred, or whatever you wish to call her. We need to be in place for when the boat gets close to the old warehouse. Then I set my trap . . . Walk,’ she said, poking Anya with her gun. ‘Don’t think for one moment I won’t use this. It is no skin off my nose whether you live or die.’

Anya stumbled on, thinking about how she could warn Mildred. As the barn loomed closer there was just enough light for her to make out her friend with a sack slung over one shoulder, waiting for them.

Mildred did a double take as she spotted Anya stumbling in front of Anouska, and reached inside her coat to withdraw her pearl-handled gun.

‘Let her go or I’ll use this,’ she barked.

Anya’s stumble threw Anouska’s aim and her bullet only scraped the side of Mildred’s head, but it was enough to knock her to the ground. She lay there, dazed, with blood gushing from her small cut.

‘What have you done?’ Anya screamed as fury took hold of her. She turned on Anouska, not caring that the woman still had hold of her gun. There was a struggle, with Anouska’s gun flying from her hand into a dark corner of the barn.

Anouska stepped back, casting about for the best escape route, but as she hesitated Anya clenched a fist and flew at her, knocking her out cold with a punch to the jaw. ‘You can lie there and rot,’ she spat, before hurrying over to Mildred. ‘Please, you can’t be dead – not now, when the Saucy Milly is close by and we are going home,’ she pleaded. ‘I can’t go back to Ramsgate without you.’

She knelt beside Mildred, feeling for a pulse. ‘You aren’t dead, thank goodness,’ she said, cradling her friend’s head in her arms.

Mildred groaned. ‘Leave me here. You must go to the boat and tell them where we are.’

‘No, I am going to get you closer to the shore. There are Germans in the vicinity and Anouska is in contact with them.’

‘She would be,’ Mildred muttered, adding something unrepeatable that surprised Anya. ‘If it hadn’t all gone wrong, Domino would have had her back in London by now and handed her over to the authorities. She’s a nasty bit of work. You were only supposed to have identified her, not taken pity on the woman.’

‘Forget her; I want you looked after. She is out cold and won’t be moving anywhere soon.’

Mildred tried to prop herself up on one elbow and cursed as the pain caused her to fall back. ‘Don’t trust her. Leave me here and take her to the boat. She mustn’t get away now. She’s no friend of the British; she needs locking up and questioning.’

‘I will not leave you behind,’ Anya said, pulling Mildred to her feet and heaving her over one shoulder. ‘I am strong enough to do this,’ she said through gritted teeth before staggering forward in the direction of the shoreline and the empty warehouse.

‘You need to rest,’ Mildred told her after they’d covered a hundred yards or so. ‘It’s dark, so we won’t be found by the enemy.’

‘Just a few more feet and we can stop,’ Anya said, refusing to put down the injured woman.

‘I think I can stand,’ Mildred whispered.

Anya stood her on her feet and Mildred hung on to her arm as they moved slowly forward. ‘Fifty more steps and we will be there,’ she said, urging her on until they reached the warehouse. It was open at one end, facing the sea, close enough to the Saucy Milly that the pair could surely have been seen on shore, if only the moonlight was brighter. Anya pulled off her jacket and waved it, desperately trying to get the attention of anyone on board.

‘We need to be ready to climb aboard as soon as possible,’ she urged Mildred, leading her further on until they were close to the landing stage at the seaward end of the warehouse.

Once there, Mildred staggered for a moment and then fell into a dead faint. Anya dropped down beside her, fearing the worst.

‘I will never again complain about unpleasant customers who tell me the bread is stale and neither will I tell Flora I hate the fish pie when she serves it up at Sea View. In fact, I will ask for second helpings and eat it with a smile on my face,’ she told Mildred as she held her hand.

Mildred did not reply. Anya stroked her face and tried hard to remember the good times at Sea View with the wonderful people she thought of as her family. The moon appeared from behind the clouds and shone through a hole in the wooden roof. ‘Are you watching the moon and thinking of me, Henio? My thoughts are often of you, and if you are safe,’ she whispered.

The sound of waves lapping against the building made her think of Ramsgate somewhere across the sea. What would her friends be doing now? Perhaps Lily had taken them dancing and they had stopped on the way home to buy a bag of chips; she could almost smell the vinegar and taste the salt on her lips. Why, oh why, did this have to happen?

Angrily she closed her eyes. Now was not the time for tears. ‘Do not cry,’ she hissed to herself through gritted teeth. ‘We will come through this; there are people who rely upon us both to return. To fail is not an option.’

Footsteps approached from behind them. ‘It is too late, Anya; it is too late for you both,’ a familiar voice called out. ‘I will have the chance of a new life, but you and your friend will not.’

Anya turned to see a gun pointing at her head from only a few feet away. Her nose wrinkled as a familiar perfume reached her, and she closed her eyes. If she could have fought back, she would have done, but there was no time. She swore, thinking that she should have found a hiding place where they wouldn’t have been discovered. Life was for living and she had failed. There was no time even to pray as the gun fired . . .

‘I can smell fish,’ Anya declared as she sat up and sniffed deeply. ‘Mildred, I’m on your bloody boat,’ she said, wincing as pain shot through her arm. ‘I’m not dead, then?’ she asked, as someone sat by her side and held a cup of water to her lips.

‘Drink this, it will help you feel better,’ Flora said. ‘It is only a flesh wound, but enough to be painful. You took a nasty fall when John pushed you onto the deck to avoid the German gunshots as we set off.’

‘Flora? What are you doing here . . .? And John is alive?’

‘He is,’ Flora said.

‘Thank goodness. Will I be all right?’

‘Yes, nothing a day or two in bed won’t cure,’ Flora assured her. ‘I’m overjoyed to see both you and Mildred. You have no idea how hard we’ve tried to find you; no one would give up.’ She smiled as she tucked a blanket around her friend.

‘What about that Anouska, such a horrid woman – she tricked us all. I recall hearing her voice and then nothing . . .’

‘She had Mildred’s gun and tried to use it on you both. I’m told it was because you know too much about her. She was downed with just one shot, although she isn’t dead; Ruth needs her alive as there are people who want to talk to her about her associates.’

‘So, it is over? I’m on my way home to my son?’

‘You are; indeed, you can see Ramsgate on the horizon,’ Ruth said as she joined them. ‘Are you up to hearing some news?’

‘As long as is it good news. I need good news right now, along with a decent cup of English tea.’

‘Just before we set off to rescue you, we had word that Henio is alive. He was picked up after his plane went down over occupied France; he is in a prisoner of war camp, but is well.’

‘Oh, that is wonderful news,’ Flora exclaimed, giving both women a hug.

Anya was thoughtful. ‘France, you say. I wonder if we can get there in Mildred’s boat . . .’