She looked at Ernie who was happily chewing his fritters and slurping his tea. ‘How about coming with me, Ernie? You could meet Brenda and the other girls, and see where I’ve been working.’
He screwed up his little face as he thought about it. ‘Can I go in me chair? And can we buy another flag on the way? Only Harvey’s eaten me best one.’
‘I think that could be arranged,’ she replied with a smile. ‘Now finish your breakfast, and drink your tea without making that horrible noise.’
The three boys raised their eyes to the ceiling and tutted. ‘Sisters,’ they chorused with the exasperation of long-held experience.
It was a beautiful day, but the rubble and the bonfires that sent spirals of black smoke into the clear sky seemed to echo her mood as she pushed Ernie down the road. This would be the last time she would make this journey – the last time she would look in these shop windows and stand in the long queues outside. She tried not to, but she searched the crowds for a sight of John – of course he was nowhere to be seen.
Having collected her wages and Goldman’s reference from Marjory, who’d unbent enough to give Ernie two of her custard cream biscuits, they went into the factory to say goodbye and hand over the sewing.
Simmons awkwardly ruffled Ernie’s hair. ‘We’ll be sorry to see you go, Miss Turner.’ He cleared his throat. ‘You can say goodbye to everyone in the canteen.’
As the whistle went, the women poured into the canteen, the noise of their wishes drowning the radio programme blaring from the wall speakers. Sally handed over the parcels of sewing and slipped the money gratefully into her pocket as Ernie was hugged and kissed and cooed over.
Brenda almost swamped Sally in her embrace. ‘Now you take care, Sal. Those Welsh are a funny lot. If they give you any trouble, you come back to us. We’ll see you right.’
Pearl shoved her way through the crush and threw her arms about her. ‘I’m gunna really miss you, Sal,’ she said, her blue eyes swimming with tears. ‘Just remember there’s a place at my house for yer anytime you want it.’ She gave her a watery smile. ‘It gets a bit lonely rattling about in it on me own, and I don’t really want to take in some lodger I don’t know.’
Sally hugged her back. ‘I’ll miss you too, Pearl. Stay in touch, won’t you?’
‘Course I will. In fact, I think I’ll come over after tea and say goodbye properly. I’m about to make a complete show of meself ’ere.’
‘You know you’re always welcome at Peggy’s,’ she murmured. ‘I’ll see you later.’
It took a while for Sally to extricate herself and Ernie from the crush and, with a last sad wave goodbye, they left the factory as the whistle went for the return to work.
Ernie kept the basket on his lap as they set off for the shops. Peggy had given them a list, and it could be some time before they would reach home, as the queues outside every shop snaked along the pavement.
They eventually managed to buy most things on the list and had even found a new flag for Ernie’s chair. They were making their slow way past The Anchor for the last time when Sally noticed a uniformed man in the distance waving his hat about.
She frowned and looked behind her, but no-one was waving back. He was waving more frantically now – and running towards them. With a thrill, Sally suddenly recognised that rolling gait and realised who it was.
‘Dad!’ yelled Ernie. ‘Dad! It’s Dad.’
Sally’s joy swept all the sadness away as she hurried towards him. Harold Turner was as handsome as ever in his naval officer’s uniform, his tanned face and light brown hair unchanged since she’d seen him last. She’d waited and hoped for so long to see his wonderfully familiar and reassuring sturdy figure and seaman’s swagger that she could hardly believe that, at last, he was here.
‘Daddy, oh, Daddy,’ she said, the tears and laughter mingling. And then she and Ernie were in his strong embrace, clinging to him, never wanting to let go of him again as he kissed their faces and held them tight.
Harold eventually swung Ernie up, rested him on his hip and put the peaked hat on his head, where it fell over his eyes. ‘It looks as if the sea air’s done you some good, son,’ he said, his brown eyes twinkling as he adjusted the hat. ‘You’re almost too heavy to lift now.’
He looked at Sally and held her to his heart. ‘As for you,’ he breathed, ‘you’ve turned into a beautiful young woman. I can hardly believe you’re the same little girl who stood on the doorstep and waved me off almost two years ago.’
‘I’m just so glad you’re here,’ she murmured, breathing in the wonderful, comforting mixed scents of soap and saltiness that were so much a part of him. ‘I’ve missed you so much, Dad.’
‘I’ve missed the pair of you, too.’
‘Are you staying, Dad?’ Ernie clung to his neck, the brown eyes, so like his father’s, desperate with hope. ‘You ain’t gunna go with Mum, are yer?’
‘I’m not going anywhere without you for a while,’ he replied, ‘and certainly not with your mum.’ He looked at Sally. ‘I’ve got three whole weeks’ leave. My ship was hit during the attack on the convoy the other night. She’s in dry-dock for repairs.’
‘Our friend Alex was killed in that,’ said Ernie. ‘He was a Spitfire pilot and very brave.’
‘They all are, every last one of them,’ Harold replied softly. ‘We lost three ships that night, along with a great many good men.’ He shook his head as if to be rid of the gloomy thoughts. ‘Come on, you two. Peggy’s got the kettle on, and I managed to tuck away a few treats in my kitbag.’
‘You’ve already seen Peggy?’ Sally gazed up at him, loving the way his eyes creased in the corners when he smiled.
‘It was the first place I went after getting off the London train yesterday.’ He laughed. ‘Everyone was out, so I waited a bit, and then booked into The Anchor. I slept late, so missed you when I went back this morning.’ He grinned. ‘That Rosie Braithwaite’s a bit of all right, ain’t she?’
‘Careful, Dad,’ she warned, returning his smile, ‘you could be stepping on toes there. Granddad Ron’s got his eye on Rosie.’
‘Yeah, so he told me. Quite a card is Ron. In fact,’ he said, taking the wheelchair and steering it with one hand while he kept Ernie tethered to his hip with the other, ‘I like the whole family. You and Ernie fell on your feet there, girl, and no mistake.’
‘We very nearly didn’t,’ she said and, as they ambled along the street, she told him what had happened.
He mulled this over as they approached the house. ‘Then I hope she sees what I’ve got to propose as a small token of my regard for her.’
‘What sort of proposal?’ Sally looked up at him and frowned.
‘I’ll tell everyone later,’ he murmured.
‘What? What is it? Have you got ’er a present?’ shouted Ernie. ‘Have you got me and Sal a present as well?’
Harold twisted his finger in his ear and winced. ‘Blimey, son, you don’t ’alf have a pair of lungs on you. Yes, I’ve got presents for everyone, but they’re to be shared and no nonsense.’
He stepped aside and waited for Sally to unlock the door, then pushed the wheelchair into the hall and parked it in the dining room. ‘Everyone’s in the garden,’ he said, heading for the kitchen. ‘It’s too nice a day to be indoors.’
Sally hurriedly put away the shopping and followed him down the basement steps.
Peggy had ordered Ron and Jim to take the kitchen table outside, where she’d covered it in a colourful cloth, and dressed it with the best china and a vase of flowers she’d picked from next door’s abandoned garden. Mrs Finch was setting out the glasses and napkins, happily chattering away to Peggy, who was only giving her half her attention as she quietly organised the girls. Cissy had the day off because the Woolworths building was so damaged it was no longer safe, and Anne was making the best of her last two days home before she left for the women’s barracks and the start of her training.
As Harold appeared carrying Ernie and his enormous kitbag, Peggy smiled. ‘It’s only a bit of salad for lunch,’ she said, ‘but I did manage to find a bottle of wine at the back of the larder, and of course there’s the vodka.’
Harold set Ernie down and grinned as he opened the kitbag. ‘I think I’ve got something in here to liven things up.’ He pulled out a bottle of rum and two bottles of wine. ‘Courtesy of the merchant navy,’ he said with a wink.
Everyone’s eyes widened as these were swiftly followed by a roll of strong-smelling sausage, and an even stronger-smelling box of cheese which had come from a French sailor he’d met in the naval quarters in Tilbury. Digging deeper into the kitbag, he pulled out tins of ham, salmon, sweet biscuits and a ginger sponge cake. These were followed by a bag of oranges, a tin of golden syrup, and an enormous packet of dried fruit.
Peggy was almost in tears as she looked at the bounty spread before them. ‘Dried fruit,’ she breathed, ‘and oranges. We haven’t seen an orange for months.’
‘Just don’t ask where I got ’em,’ he said, tapping the side of his nose and winking.
‘You’re a man after me own heart, so you are,’ said Jim, clapping him on the shoulder.
‘Quite,’ said Peggy, snatching up the tins and bags of fruit as if someone was threatening to take them from her. ‘I’ll just put these away,’ she muttered, before hurrying indoors.
Harold grinned at the boys as he opened a side pocket in the kitbag. ‘There’s a couple more bits and pieces, but I don’t expect you’d be interested in these, would you?’ He paused just long enough to heighten the suspense before pulling out bags of liquorice bootlaces, toffees, humbugs and sherbet dabs. He laughed uproariously as he was swamped in small boys, and had to hold the bags of sweets high above his head.
He caught Peggy’s eye as she hurried back to see what all the shouting was about. ‘I think we’d better ration these, or you won’t be eating your lunch.’ He doled out two sweets each before handing the rest to Cissy, who took them into the house and hid them.
As the sun shone into the garden and everyone tucked into the delicious food, Sally’s gaze repeatedly turned to her father, reassuring herself that he really was here, that she could touch his sleeve and listen to his voice, and know he’d never forgotten her or Ernie.
The meal was a raucous affair as Harold told tales of his adventures at sea, the rum being shared between the men as the women sipped the wine. Not to be outdone, Jim spoke of the awful trip to Dunkirk. The mood immediately sobered, but Ron livened things up again by telling them how he
really
got wounded in the First World War.
It was a tale they hadn’t heard before, which wasn’t surprising, for it turned out that Ron had been squatting in the bushes with his trousers round his ankles when a nearby shell exploded. The shrapnel had been deeply embedded in his bottom, and he’d had to suffer the indignity of the surgeon pulling out each piece as his mates looked on and fell about laughing.
He eyed them belligerently as the tears of laughter ran down their cheeks. ‘It wasn’t funny,’ he muttered. ‘I’ve still got some in me back, so I have. You wait until you get shrapnel up yer arse – then see how you like it.’
A fresh gale of laughter went round the table, the boys collapsing into giggles. ‘Ron,’ Peggy spluttered, holding her sides. ‘Mind your language.’
He grimaced, but couldn’t quite extinguish the mischievous glint in his eyes as he looked round the table. ‘If a simple word like “
arse
” makes you all laugh, then perhaps I should use it more often. To be sure, I haven’t heard this family so happy for a long while.’
Once the laughter had subsided, they settled down to enjoy the summer’s day. The sun was hot, the mood mellow as they relaxed and simply enjoyed one another’s company.
It was Harold who broke the small silence that had fallen between them as the alcohol, good food and heat began to take effect. He hitched Ernie to a more comfortable position on his lap. ‘Peggy, I have a proposition to make. You see, I didn’t just come here to see my kids, I came to take them to safety – and I wonder if you would allow me to do the same for your boys?’
‘But it’s all arranged, Harry.’ Jim shifted in his chair and lit a cigarette. ‘They’re off to Wales in the morning.’
‘I know, but I’m sure it can be unarranged.’ He looked round the table at the wide-eyed children and the curious adults. ‘I have an older sister, Violet, and she lives in Somerset. I managed to telephone her from London last night, and she’s happy to take them all.’
‘But she couldn’t possibly have known about my two,’ said Peggy with a frown. ‘Won’t it be a bit much?’
Harry grinned. ‘Not at all. Vi loves kids, and as I’d had a couple of letters from Sally, telling me all about you, I took the liberty of asking her if she’d take Bob and Charlie as well. She just laughed and said “the more the merrier”, and asked when we were planning to arrive so she could air the rooms and get them ready.’
‘That’s very generous of her,’ said Peggy, hesitantly.
‘I didn’t think you ever got my letters,’ said Sally. ‘Why didn’t you write back?’
His smile was warm, his eyes teasing as he patted her cheek. ‘It’s a bit difficult when I didn’t know where you were, Sal. You’d forgotten to put your address on them.’
‘But Mum knew it. I told her to tell you.’
‘I didn’t find that out until I came home on my last leave and found the letter you sent when you first got here.’ He must have seen the question in her eyes, for he quickly reassured her. ‘I only had forty-eight hours, so I didn’t have time to get down here. When I tried to telephone, I was told all the lines were down.’