Authors: Kathleen McGurl
But Jack had shaken his head. ‘Not here, not now.’
Dusk was falling by the time they left the theatre. The rain clouds had gone, and the sky was a riot of colour in the west, fading to a deep purple in the east. A silvery moon was rising over the sea.
Joan looked at her watch. ‘I’m going to have to start heading home,’ she said. ‘I daren’t be late, in case Father forbids me going out for the next few days.’
‘Let’s walk back along the prom,’ Jack said. ‘Like we did on the evening we met. The moon’s as bright as it was then. Do you remember?’
‘Of course, I remember every second of that evening.’ She leaned her head against his shoulder. Who would have thought it? If that horrible Canadian airman hadn’t assaulted her, bringing Jack to her rescue, maybe they wouldn’t be together now. And a life without Jack by her side was not one she wanted to contemplate. She smiled to herself, happy to have him close for now, and a beautiful moonlit walk ahead of them.
They strolled along the prom, commenting on the way the low moon lit a pathway across the sea. Just like it had on that cold crisp night back in January. This evening it was mild, the air fresh after the rain, the sea lapping gently on the shore. Joan looked forward to the days when the beach would be back in use again, with the invasion defences removed. When the war was over, and Jack would no longer need to go away to fight. She shuddered. Mustn’t think about that. Live in the here and now, he’d said. The only place and time we can ever be.
‘What’s wrong?’ said Jack, stopping to pull her into his arms.
‘I’m trying not to think about it, but the truth is, when you leave next time you’ll be going away to fight in the war.’ She buried her face against his chest. ‘I’m scared, Jack, of what might happen to you.’
‘Oh, my love. Don’t be frightened. I’ll be perfectly all right, you’ll see. In any case, that’s ages away. I’ve three days here, then I’m to be sent somewhere in Dorset for some more training. It’ll be weeks yet before I actually have to go and fight at all. But you’re right—you mustn’t think about it. Look, here’s our bench.’
It was indeed—the bench in the Victorian shelter where they’d sat in January. Joan liked thinking of it as ‘theirs’. It gave their relationship a history, a little past. She hoped fervently it would have a long future as well. But she mustn’t,
mustn’t
look ahead.
‘Damn this war!’ she blurted out. ‘Keeping us apart. Why can’t it be peacetime? Why did you have to join up? You told me before you don’t believe in countries having borders. The world should be free. Why are you fighting for England if you think that way?’
He sighed, and pulled her close. ‘My love, I
have
to do my part. It’s not just England I’ll be fighting for. It’s Europe. We must keep Britain free for the British, France free for the French, Poland free for the Polish. Jews free, wherever they live. I see it differently now. You’re right. I wish there were no borders between countries, and everyone could live happily wherever they wanted to. But when people like Hitler come along and want to take over, the rest of the world must and
shall
stop them. I’m a citizen of the world, and I must do my part to make the world a better place. Right now, that means I must fight, and do my bit to stop Hitler. God knows I wish it was peacetime too, and you and I could walk out together like any other couple did, before this blasted war began. But we can’t sit here wishing we had different lives. We can only make the most of what we have. We’re luckier than many—we live in a country that is still free, we are healthy, we have homes and people who love us, and we have each other. So please, let’s enjoy these next few days and not fret about what might happen. It might not happen. The war might end next week, or next month or next year, and we’ll be able to be together. But I want to be able to tell our children I played my part in it all, that I did what I could.’
Joan sat quietly for a moment, letting his words sink in. She knew she was being selfish wanting to keep him home, away from the war, but she did understand his need to do what was right. For the greater good. She gazed across the sea, at the shimmering pathway to the moon. ‘Our children’, he had said. He wanted to be able to tell ‘our children’. Not ‘his children’. She turned to look at him. His eyes were shining with love, love for her. His lips were slightly parted, as though he was about to speak. She wanted to kiss him, and leaned forward, but he put his finger on her lips.
‘Joan, there’s something I must ask you. I want you to think carefully about the answer. You don’t have to answer immediately, and I’ll understand…’ He trailed off, then took her hands in his. ‘Joan, my sweet, darling girl, would you…will you…the thing is, I’m asking you…’
‘Yes,’ she said, and leaned forward once more to kiss him. This time he allowed it, a gentle sweet kiss. Joan felt as though she was melting in the warmth of his love.
He broke off the kiss, and breathed deeply. ‘Let me try again. I want to do this properly.’ He slipped off the bench, onto one knee on the sandy promenade, still holding her hands. ‘Joan, darling, I love you and will always love you. Would you do me the greatest honour, make me the happiest man alive, and consent to be my wife?’
She smiled, her heart swelling with love for him. ‘Of course, my darling boy, that’s what I meant when I said yes before! I love you too, so very, very much. To be your wife would be the greatest honour for
me
. Oh Jack, but
when
will we be able to marry?’
He climbed back on the bench and enfolded her in his arms. ‘Well, not this week, I guess. On my next leave, perhaps, if it can be arranged. Or at the latest, on the very day the war ends. Thank you, my sweet love! I am so proud, so happy!’ He kissed her, full and deep and long.
She sighed happily. She was engaged to be married! ‘Wait till I tell Mags! She’ll be so thrilled for us!’
‘I’ll come to see your father tomorrow,’ said Jack, ‘to ask for your hand in marriage. The old-fashioned way. Do you think he’ll appreciate that?’
‘No, love. Let’s keep it secret for now. I’m frightened that even though you’re my fiancé—oh, what a lovely word!—he might try to stop us from seeing each other. I couldn’t bear for that to happen this week, when we have so little time. After you’ve gone, I’ll tell him and Mother and the rest of the family. But for now I only want to tell Mags. And that’s only because I know I shall never be able to keep such a wonderful secret all to myself!’
He laughed and hugged her. ‘You should have a ring. I can’t afford a good one, at present, but…’
‘You gave me your mother’s locket. That can be the symbol of our engagement. I need nothing more. I have you.’
She checked her watch. It was a quarter to ten. Reluctantly she pulled Jack to his feet, kissed him again and with a final glance at
their
bench, linked arms to continue the walk home, now as an engaged woman.
October 2014
It was Halloween and preparations were in full swing for Ryan’s Halloween sleepover. Ali had taken a few hours off work to get the house ready and some food prepared. Pete was out raiding B&Q for the stuff he needed to decorate Ryan’s room, which was next on the list. Gran was coming to tea—‘I always love seeing the jack-o’-lanterns,’ she’d said—and Ali had collected her at three p.m. As soon as Ryan got in from his half-term holiday club he had charged off to ‘sort stuff out’, decorating the house with Halloween bunting and fairy lights and choosing a selection of spooky DVDs for his friends to watch late into the night. Ali was carving pumpkin lanterns. Even Kelly was home, baking biscuits in the shape of cauldrons and witches’ hats, wearing an apron tied neatly over her forties-style skirt and blouse. When they’d finished the preparations, Ali had promised Kelly they could gently ask Gran to tell them more about Joan and Jack.
‘Lovely shortbread, Kelly, dear,’ Gran said, as she sat at the kitchen table and tucked into a biscuit warm from the oven. ‘Truly melt in your mouth. You are so like poor dear Joan in some ways. Dressed like that, and with your skills at baking. If I believed in reincarnation I would almost think—’ She broke off as Ali glared at her. Kelly was far too obsessed by Joan and Jack, and everything to do with the Second World War and the 1940s, for her liking. She wished she could have her regular twenty-first century teenager back, in jeans, a hoodie and an attitude.
‘Hey you guys, come and see what I’ve done.’ Ryan burst in through the kitchen door, his face shining with excitement.
Ali wiped her hands on a tea towel and went out to the hallway. Ryan was pointing proudly up the stairs. He’d hung a full-sized blow-up skeleton, dressed in a shirt and a pair of old jogging trousers, from the newel post on the half landing. A thick rope tied in a hangman’s knot was draped around the skeleton’s head and looped over the newel post.
‘Wow, that’s really effective,’ said Ali.
Ryan looked pleased and proud. ‘I was thinking of putting some ketchup in a mesh bag under its shirt so it would gradually ooze through and drip down on people like the skeleton is bleeding. What do you think?’
‘I think not. Unless you’re going to pay for the carpet cleaning bill?’
‘Oh. Yeah, didn’t think of the carpet. Kelly! Great-gran! Come and look!’
Ali went back to the kitchen to help Gran to her feet, and pass her the walking frame. Gran was so unsteady on her feet these days. It’d be awful if she fell.
‘That’s quite disturbing,’ Kelly said, reaching the hallway first. ‘Ugh. Not sure I like it at all.’
‘What am I supposed to be looking at?’ asked Gran.
Ryan pointed. ‘There, look, over the stairs. What do you think?’
‘Oh, oh my, no! That’s where… No!’ Gran was shaking uncontrollably. Ali rushed to her side, but wasn’t quick enough. Gran’s legs seemed to buckle under her, and despite still holding on to the walking frame she crumpled in a heap on the floor, sobbing and shaking.
‘Gran! What’s the matter? What is it?’ Ali crouched beside her.
‘That…that thing, oh, take it down, oh, it’s so awful…too terrible…’ She curled onto her side on the floor, facing away from the stairs, making little mewling noises.
‘Gran, dear, let me help you up and onto the sofa.’ Ali tried to pull her up but Gran didn’t seem able to help herself at all.
‘What’s wrong with her?’ Kelly asked, her face ashen.
‘I don’t know. That skeleton has upset her badly for some reason.’ Ali didn’t understand it. It was effective but clearly only a blow-up model. She stroked Gran’s forehead. She felt cool to the touch—too cool. Her breathing was irregular. ‘I’m worried about her. Ryan, take it down, now. In case she looks at it again. Kelly, go next door and see if Jason can come and help. I think he’s at home.’
Both leapt to their designated tasks. Gran was barely conscious. Ali fetched a cushion and rug for her, from the sitting room, and made her comfortable. Should she call a doctor? An ambulance? ‘Come on, Gran. Speak to me. I wish we could get you off the floor.’
‘Terrible, terrible, that thing,’ Gran kept muttering.
‘It’s all right, Gran darling. Ryan’s taking it down.’ Ali held her hand, gently caressing the cool, papery skin. Gran was still trembling, and her eyes were rolling back in her head.
Kelly was back in a moment with Jason at her heels. He immediately rushed over to Gran and knelt beside her. ‘Oh Christ, what’s happened? Did she fall?’
Ali explained about the skeleton and Gran’s collapse. He placed his fingers on the pulse at her neck, and leaned over her, her breath blowing on his neck. Gran moaned slightly and shifted her position. ‘I think we should call an ambulance. It’s probably nothing much but she’ll need to be checked over, to find what caused this and whether she hurt herself at all when she fell.’
He didn’t wait for an answer but stood up, pulled out his phone, stepped into the kitchen out of the way and made the call. Ali was grateful for his support. She knew she would probably just break down and sob on the phone to the emergency operator. Better that she stay by Gran’s side. At least the mock hanging was down now. She glanced over, to where Ryan was sitting on the stairs, head in hands.
‘It’s all right, love. It’s not your fault. You weren’t to know it would upset her like this.’ She kept stroking Gran’s hair. The old lady was still making faint whimpering noises. Kelly sat beside her, and held Gran’s hand.
‘Oh, Mum. It’s awful seeing her like this. It’s this bloody house. She didn’t want us to move in, did she? She knew there was something wrong about this place. And now it’s done this to her. You’ll say it’s rubbish but I think the house is haunted. Probably by Joan. I can feel her. I’ve always been able to.’
Ali did not want to hear this. What on earth was she blathering about? ‘Kelly, shut up. You are right, you are talking rubbish and this is really not the time. Poor Gran was just frightened by Ryan’s Halloween decorations and fell. You’re not helping saying things like that, so please, don’t.’
‘Knew you wouldn’t listen. You never do.’ Kelly got up and stomped upstairs, pushing past Ryan.
‘Well, thanks for helping,’ Ali said to her retreating back. ‘Ryan, go outside and wait for the ambulance. Show them where to come.’ He dashed off, apparently happy to have an excuse to get away from the drama.
‘They’ll be here any moment,’ said Jason, returning from the kitchen. He looked down at Gran. ‘She’s got more colour now than when I arrived. Don’t worry, Ali. She’ll be fine.’
She smiled gratefully at him. ‘I hope so.’
‘This is not quite how I imagined the first meeting with my long lost great-aunt would go,’ he said, with a wry smile.
‘No. God, not at all. She’s never done this before.’
Jason put a comforting arm around her shoulder. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said, again.
‘Ambulance is here,’ announced Ryan, bursting in through the front door.
Ali stood and stepped back, allowing the experts to take over. ‘Listen, Ryan, I’m sorry but you’ll need to cancel the sleepover. Can you go and contact your friends? We’ll do it some other time.’ He nodded, biting back tears, and went off to make the calls. ‘Jason, would you stay and tell Pete what’s happened? I don’t want to tell him on the phone. He’ll be back soon. Get him to drive up to the hospital. I’ll go in the ambulance with Gran.’