Chapter Thirty-Nine

True to his word, Major Jim Fredericks was on the doorstep of The Old Lockkeepers Cottage, looking spick and span in his Class A uniform.

“My, don’t you look good enough to eat,” Doris greeted him at the door with a grin.

“Nice to see you too, Doris,” he said, not falling for her wind-up attempt. “Is the lady of the house in?”

“How very English of you,” Doris tried again. This, too, was ignored by the officer as he stepped past her and into the hall.

Dancing down the stairs, Betty hopped off the last step and gave Doris a swat on her bottom for her cheekiness. “Ignore her, she’s being Doris.”

“What else am I supposed to be?” the girl in question asked, though she didn’t hang around to find out, instead skipping past the two toward the kitchen. “Sorry, can’t stop, my morning coffee’s getting cold.” However, as she crossed the threshold, she looked back at Jim and told him, “I’m going to miss the coffee…and you,” before going to finally retrieve her coffee.

“Come into the lounge,” Betty said, taking Jim’s hand and pushing open the door, only to stand stock still.

Wondering why they weren’t moving, Jim glanced over Betty’s head and immediately let out a laugh. “Why, how do you do, Penny, Tom,” he said, deliberately affecting another caricature of an English accent.

Much to her embarrassment, Betty allowed herself to be led into the lounge where Penny and Tom had been in the middle of testing how his headache was this morning.

After shaking hands, Jim pointed to the bandage around Tom’s head. “What’s the story? Enemy action?”

Though he didn’t know what it meant, Jim spotted the exchange of looks which went on between the other three, but didn’t comment on it. “You could put it that way.” Tom laughed.

“I assume you’re feeling better this morning, Tom?” Betty asked, leaning into Jim’s side and threading her arm through his.

Letting out a small cough, Tom got to his feet, smoothed down his uniform jacket, and held out a hand to his wife. “Much, thank you. Grace did a great job patching me—” he started, only to stop himself before he inadvertently revealed something to someone who didn’t need to know what was going on. “I’m very sorry, but I’ll have to be making a move. Things to do tonight which can’t wait. You understand what I mean.”

Nobody failed to notice Penny’s face drop at hearing this, including most importantly her husband. “I really am sorry, Penny. I wish I could stay longer. If it’s all right, I’ll call you when I next know I’m free?”

If Jim considered this a strange thing to say to your wife, no more than a raised eyebrow showed this.

“Call me,” Penny simply replied.

“Betty, thank you for everything. Would you do me a favor and thank Grace for me, when you next see her?” Betty, of course, nodded. “And give the rest of the house my best wishes, please. I’d like to take off a bit quieter than I arrived,” he added, with a smile only Jim didn’t understand. Finally, he held out a hand to the American officer. “Jim. A pleasure to see you once more, though I hope not for the last time. Take care of yourself,” he added before leaving the room, closely followed by Penny.

After a few seconds’ awkward silence at being left alone, Betty cleared her throat. “Would you like a cup of tea? Or I can see if Doris can be persuaded to share a cup of coffee.”

Jim shook his head. “No, thanks. I’ve got a good idea of how protective Doris is about her coffee. Oh, don’t let me forget I’ve another tin in the Jeep for her, together with a few other items, mainly some booze you can keep for her wedding.”

Crossing to the sofa, Betty sat and patted beside her, and Jim instantly sat there, taking her hands in his. Looking deep into her eyes, he raised her hand to his lips, not losing eye contact with her for one second. His voice was tender, warm, seductive, and despite there not being a fire in the grate, Betty’s cheeks began to take on a rosy glow.

“Now I have your attention,” Jim teased, settling back into the sofa, Betty snuggling happily into his side, “let me say what I came here to say.”

Mary chose that moment to open the door but never got to set foot in the room as Doris shouted at the top of her voice, “Out!”

“You were about to say?” Betty said, batting her eyelids as a startled Mary shut the door.

“I’ve been looking into it, and there’re no rules preventing an American marrying a Brit.” Jim couldn’t miss how Betty suddenly tensed. Nevertheless he continued, “There’s a lot of paperwork to do, and it’ll take time, especially with my going back Stateside, but,” Jim didn’t miss a beat, “will you marry me, Betty Palmer?”

Betty didn’t hesitate. “Yes!” she nearly screamed, launching herself at Jim’s lips.

“Yes!” came from outside the door. Obviously Mary hadn’t gone far. Indeed, ignoring Doris’s order of a few moments ago, she burst through the door, closely followed by Jane, and both were wearing identical ear-to-ear grins.

“So many congratulations!” Jane cried, trying and failing to pry Betty’s arms from around her new fiancée. “Doris will be back in a bit. She’s gone next door to get Ruth and Walter.”

Finally releasing her grip, Betty told Jim, “We’d better get some of that booze in. I think we’re going to need it.”

****

“Doris!” Jane stuck her head out of the ops hut window on Monday morning, and when her American friend kept walking, yelled a little louder, “Doris!” this time with success.

A moment later, Doris trotted over, her parachute pack bumping awkwardly against the back of her thigh. “You haven’t changed your mind, have you?”

“What?” Jane said, momentarily flummoxed before she realized what Doris meant. “No, of course not.”

“Then what’s up?”

“I’ve just had the padre on the telephone. He wanted to check you’re still getting married on the twenty-seventh?”

“Of course,” she replied after a moment. “What makes him think otherwise?”

Jane shrugged. “Nothing. He said he was merely checking.”

“But I’d have told him if we’d changed anything.”

Before replying, Jane checked no one else was within earshot. Waving her friend a little closer, Jane leaned out the window and said, “I shouldn’t be telling you this, as it’s supposed to be a surprise. A lot of people have been chipping in their eggs, sugar, and other things for your wedding cake, and the padre’s the one who’s been keeping them safe.”

Doris almost let out a squeal of surprise and delight, however Jane managed to shush her into silence just in time. “Quiet, you! Try to forget I’ve just told you that, and if you can’t, remember to act surprised at your wedding.”

“Deal!” Doris said, standing on her tiptoes and kissing Jane on the cheek.

“Good girl. Now, you and Mary had better get going, and the best of British to the both of you.”

“Jane!” Penny stuck her head around her boss’s door. “Has Doris left yet?”

Stepping back, Jane waved Penny forward so she could take her place at the window. “Good, I’m glad I caught you. Sorry to be the bearer of well, possibly, bad news.”

Penny had both her friends’ full attention now.

“I’ve just had Walter on the telephone. He’s going to be away for the next couple of days. Matt Green came around with the offer of a last-minute place on a grenade course.”

“Grenade course?” both Doris and Jane exclaimed at the same time.

Penny flushed. “He did want me to apologize to you for not being able to tell you in person, but if he didn’t leave”—she paused to look at her watch—“five minutes ago, he’d miss his transport.”

Both Jane and Penny waited to see Doris’s reaction, which was interesting—she began laughing. “Oh, I’d pay good money to watch that! I wouldn’t think Walter could throw a wet newspaper, let alone a hand grenade!”

“So you’re not angry?” Penny asked.

Doris immediately stopped laughing. “Oh, I’m angry to end all hell! You wait until I get hold of him! Going on a silly hand grenade course less than a week before our wedding? Right now, I’d better get to Mary before she takes off without me. It’s a long way to Scotland, and I can’t tell you how glad I am Jane managed to wrangle a Harvard for us. I wasn’t looking forward to flying all that way in a Magister.”

Jane had the last word. “If I let that happen, I don’t think you’d ever let me hear the end of it!”

****

“So who’s this doctor you’ve got lined up, and why couldn’t we use Grace’s pet one?” Mary asked, as they entered a pub a few miles outside Aberdeen where Doris had arranged to meet the doctor and the Woods brothers.

Leading the way to the bar, Doris ordered, waited, and paid for two bottles of stout before making her way to a booth along the side of the pub from where she could see the entrance. “I’m sure Grace’s doctor is very nice and honest, but he’s down on the south coast and the problem is up here in the wilds of Scotland. Plus, I’d rather not have to rely on someone I may end up seeing again. You know my luck with getting injured.”

“Did you, er, have to pay this doctor to come up here?”

Doris took a long swig from her glass before replying, “Not as such.” She hastily elaborated. “I asked Eddie if he knew anyone who’d be prepared to travel with no questions asked.”

Mary raised an eyebrow in surprise. “And this chap’s trustworthy? And a licensed doctor?”

“With a bad gambling habit,” Doris added, at which Mary nodded her understanding. “My turn now. How’s Mark going to get his brother out of the manor without being seen?”

“You’re going to love this!” Mary declared.

“Oh?”

“Oh, yes,” Mary replied, looking like the cat that got the cream. “Did you know there are secret passages in the manor?”

Doris promptly spat out the mouthful of stout she’d been drinking. “And you’re only telling me this now?”

“Be nice, and I’ll tell you how to find a few more for your honeymoon,” Mary teased her friend. “Anyway, I told Mark how to find the nearest one to my room. It leads to a passage which leads under the garden for a short way before coming out next to the stables.”

Doris simply sat and shook her head in silent wonder. “I’m going to be so nice to you, you’ll be sick of me!”

Mary let out a short laugh. “No chance.” She looked at her watch. “Nearly two. Mark and John should be here soon. No, he didn’t tell me how they were going to get here, and I didn’t ask.”

“Mary, what if he isn’t simple?” Doris suddenly blurted out as the door swung open to admit Mark Wood and, presumably, his brother John, who was in army uniform.

“I don’t know.” She shook her head, getting to her feet to wave the two over. There wasn’t time to say anything, as the door had no sooner closed than it swung open again to admit a man in a herringbone-tweed overcoat and flat cap and carrying a doctor’s bag. Nothing about him stood out, except a rather red nose, but that could have been caused by the cold weather.

“That’s our man,” Doris said. “Eddie said he’d be wearing that pattern overcoat and cap.” Without another word, she made her way over to the bar and motioned for the barman to follow her toward the far end, away from everyone else.

Mary kept half an eye on what her friend was up to. She couldn’t be certain, but it looked like Doris had jabbed a thumb at the ceiling and then what looked like a wad of banknotes appeared in the American’s hand.

“Come over!” Doris called to her, and with some shooing, Mary herded everyone over to her friend. “If you’ll follow Angus upstairs, he’ll show you to a private room where you can do your examination, Doctor.”

Just before following the doctor and the barman, Mark clasped the hands of both women. “Thank you. No matter the outcome, thank you both for caring.”

“Now what?” Doris suddenly found herself asking.

Mary took up a glass and shrugged. “Now, we wait.”