Wish Me Luck (11 page)

‘I should be so lucky!’ Fleur quipped as she threaded her needle.

‘There’s just one thing,’ Bob said seriously. ‘Don’t let the CO catch you. He’s a stickler for the rulebook.’

‘Then you’d better keep an eye out.’ She grinned up at him. ‘At least while I’m doing
your
jacket.’

‘I’ll get us some tea,’ Peggy offered, whilst Kay turned back to study her notes and the jottings she had made during take-off.

The hours of waiting seemed interminable, especially on the eight-hour night watch, but Fleur was glad to be here. It helped her to feel closer to Robbie, even though she had a hollow, sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that she knew would not go away until he had landed safely. But tomorrow she could look forward to a day off after the long night duty. She hoped Robbie would have some time to spend with her.

As the time drew near for the aircraft to return, the relaxed atmosphere in the watch office disappeared and became businesslike once more. Just as the voice from the first homecoming aircraft came crackling over the airwaves, a red air-raid warning came in and at once the runway lights went out. Hurriedly, but with surprising calm, Kay gave warning to the homecoming crew about what was happening.

Though her hands were shaking, Fleur managed to speak calmly into her own microphone, warning each aircraft as it called in of the danger. They were all given the command to orbit at a certain height, though several were already low on fuel and wouldn’t be able to circle for long. Fleur bit her lip, her ears tuned for the call sign of Robbie’s plane, D-Doggo.

Then they heard the incendiary bombs falling. Thud! A silence and then another thud. Closer now. Another, even closer, and then came a thunderous boom very close to the control tower. The whole room seemed to shake and the glass rattled, but Kay continued to speak calmly into her microphone. ‘Hello, G-George, this is Woody receiving you, strength niner, over …’ Then she wrote rapidly on her notepad, her hand moving smoothly over the page, without any telltale shake.

Fleur took a deep breath. ‘Hello, P-Poppy, this is Woody …’ She was gratified to find that her voice was level and calm too, but her heart was pounding so loudly in her chest, she was sure they could hear it over the airwaves.

They waited for the next bomb to fall, convinced it would be a direct hit on the watch office. Well, there’s one thing, Fleur thought irrationally. If I’m to die so soon, my mother will have been proved right!

But no more bombs fell and in a few moments the all-clear was declared.

‘Just a lone raider dropping a stick of bombs, I expect,’ Bob said, smoothing back his hair, which had become distinctly ruffled during the last few minutes. The landing lights came on and, as soon as the runway was declared damage free, instructions to land began at once.

Later Fleur was to learn from Ruth that one or two aircraft had landed on almost empty tanks.

One of the last aircraft to land was D-Doggo. Finally, Fleur could breathe again. Robbie was safely back.

If every night was going to be as bad as this one had been, Fleur wondered how she would cope. But cope she would; she had to for Robbie’s sake. It wouldn’t help him if she let him see how dreadfully anxious she was. And yet she needed to let him know how very much she cared for him, how very much – already – she loved him.

She smiled. But he knew that, just as she knew how much he loved her.

There were no doubts between the two of them about their feelings for each other. If only he had been able to talk to his mother …

‘Hi, Sis. Thought I’d bike over and see how you’re getting on.’

‘Kenny! What are you doing here this time of the morning? Whatever time did you set off?’

He was waiting for her as she came off duty after the long night. She wouldn’t see Robbie until later – they both needed to sleep. Kenny had arrived at the guardroom at the main gate and a message had been sent to Fleur.

‘There’s nothing wrong at home, is there?’ Fleur was still anxious.

Kenny grinned. ‘No more than usual. Mum’s still going on about you joining up and me following you. I shan’t wait till I’m called up, though. I shall volunteer as soon as I can.’

‘Oh, it’ll all be over by the time you’re old enough,’ Fleur said, hoping she sounded more convincing than she felt.

‘Hope not,’ Kenny said cheerfully with the thoughtlessness of youth. ‘I want to see a bit of the action myself.’

Fleur sighed heavily but couldn’t prevent a smile. ‘And you know who’ll get the blame if you do “see a bit of the action”?’

‘You will.’ He grinned, draping one arm around her shoulder and wheeling his bicycle with the other hand as they began to walk down the lane towards Rose Cottage. Although five years younger than Fleur, he was already a head taller.

‘Exactly!’ she said with wry humour, but then her tone sobered. ‘But seriously, Kenny, I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you. No more than Mum and Dad could. You do know that, don’t you?’

He gave her shoulder a squeeze. ‘Course I do,’ he said softly, but then teased, ‘now don’t start getting all soppy on me. But I’ll tell you now, if the war is still going on, I shall join up. I’m not having anyone calling me a coward.’

‘Oh, Kenny, they wouldn’t. Farming’s acknowledged as a reserved occupation.’

‘I know, and
I
don’t blame those who stay, but you’ve seen for yourself the looks that young, unmarried fellers get.’

Fleur was silent, thinking of Kitty’s scathing remark about Alfie. She’d seen for herself now how hurtful such comments could be.

‘And it’s not your fault either. I’d’ve gone anyway, whether you had or not, and I shall tell Mum so when the time comes.’

Fleur slipped her arm around his waist and laid her head against his shoulder as they walked side by side.

‘It makes no difference whether Mum blames me or not, love. I shall blame myself.’ There was a pause and then she said, ‘I just wondered why you’re here so early, that’s all.’ She sighed. ’It’s a sign of the times. I immediately thought something was wrong.’

‘I just thought I’d like to spend the day with you. I’ve no school today and Dad said he’d manage the morning milking on his own, so I set off at the crack of dawn.’

‘How long does it take you?’

Kenny wrinkled his forehead. ‘Couple of hours, I suppose. Bit more, p’raps. I use all the back roads and lanes, cutting across country. It’s quicker.’

‘Well, it’s great to see you,’ she said, giving his waist a quick squeeze.

As they rounded the last corner towards the two cottages, Fleur glanced up and saw Robbie waiting by the gate, arms akimbo, watching them approach. His fair hair was ruffled by the breeze, his jacket and shirt collar undone, his tie hanging loose. She pulled in a sharp breath and Kenny looked down at her.

‘What is it, Sis?’ Then, as he saw the brightness in her eyes, he followed the line of her gaze. ‘Oho,’ he said softly, ‘so this is the feller all the trouble’s about, is it?’

‘Yes,’ Fleur breathed. ‘That’s him. That’s Robbie.’

‘Then you’d better introduce me and I can report back to Mum.’

‘It won’t make any difference,’ Fleur murmured sadly. ‘There’s something that happened in the past, but we don’t know what and no one will tell us. Look, Kenny, be a dear. Don’t say anything in front of Robbie, will you?’

‘Course not if you say so.’

They were too close now to be able to say more without him hearing, so, releasing herself from Kenny’s arm, Fleur ran towards Robbie.

‘What’s this?’ he said, smiling down at her. ‘A rival already, have I?’

‘Absolutely! This is the man I’ve loved all his life. Robbie – this is Kenny, my … my brother.’ For a brief moment her voice faltered and they exchanged a stricken glance.

What if … oh, what if ... ?

But then Robbie had mastered his expression and was turning towards Kenny, his hand outstretched. ‘I’m very pleased to meet you,’ he said warmly, but Fleur was still battling to control her runaway emotions. What if she were at that moment introducing half-brothers to each other?

A shudder ran through her and it was Robbie’s arm that now tightened around her, silently encouraging her to stay strong.

Kenny held out his hand. Although he favoured their mother’s colouring – fair hair and blue eyes – there were times, like now, when his face creased in smiles just like their father’s did when he laughed. ‘Pleased to meet you.’ The younger man looked Robbie up and down. ‘Smart uniform, though I was thinking of the army mesen – when the time comes.’

‘You’ll probably see more of the world than I will stuck up there in a plane. But I fancied the flying.’

Kenny nodded. ‘Yeah. Now you come to mention it,’ he said thoughtfully, ‘it must be thrilling, though I think I’d prefer fighter planes. Bit more exciting, that one-to-one stuff.’ And they laughed together, comrades already.

Fleur stepped between them and linked her arms through theirs. ‘Right, now I’ll take you to meet Mrs Jackson and Harry – if he’s about. And Ruth should be home soon.’

‘Well, I’d come to tell you that I’ll give you a hand this afternoon with this overgrown garden you were telling me about,’ Robbie said. ‘I felt like some fresh air and a bit of real work when I’ve had a few hours’ kip.’

‘Me too,’ Fleur agreed. She was delighted to see Kenny, but after the long night of anxiety she felt she could fall asleep standing up.

‘But I needed to come and make sure you were all right after the air raid.’

‘Air raid? What air raid?’ Kenny asked at once before Fleur could even reply.

‘Oh, it was nothing, just a lone raider dropping a stick of incendiaries,’ Fleur said airily, as if it was a daily occurrence and nothing to get excited about. She squeezed Robbie’s arm, warning him not to make too much of it.

Catching on at once, Robbie adopted a light, bantering tone. ‘Well, it was just an excuse to see you really.’

Kenny glanced at Robbie above Fleur’s head and, despite Robbie’s affected nonchalance about the raid, Kenny could still see the worry in his eyes. The young man knew that they were both trying to make light of the incident in front of him.

Softly, he said, ‘You can tell me the truth, you know. I won’t go running home to tell Mum. I know an airfield’s a dangerous place.’ He looked down at Fleur. ‘You’ve been on duty all night, haven’t you? And you,’ he said, glancing up again at Robbie, ‘have been flying?’

Robbie laughed softly. ‘Seems there’s no keeping any secrets from this brother of yours, darling.’

Fleur smiled ruefully. ‘No,’ she said wryly. ‘I don’t think there is. Not about anything.’

‘So, you both need to get some sleep,’ Kenny began, but Fleur cut in saying, ‘Well, yes, but don’t go. I’ve the rest of the day off. In fact, I’m not on duty until the afternoon shift tomorrow.’

‘And our aircraft’s out of action until tomorrow. We encountered flak coming back across the coast and there are a few holes here and there.’ Again, he was trying to make light of it. ‘We’ll just need a couple of hours and then we can spend the afternoon with you, Kenny.’

‘Right-o,’ Kenny said cheerfully. ‘In the meantime, I can maybe make myself useful. What’s all this about a garden?’

Fleur laughed. ‘Careful – I might set you on.’ Swiftly, Fleur explained about the state of the old lady’s garden. ‘It must have been a wonderful kitchen garden when her old man was alive, but now …’ She shrugged. ‘Well, you’ll see the state of it for yourself. I scythed about half of it yesterday and then it’ll want digging over. There’s a lot of work, but it’ll be worth it if I can get it right. And it’s still only April. There’ll be time to plant a few veggies.’

They went in by the front gate and around the corner of the house and then moved to the little gate leading into the back garden. The two men stood looking at the neglected ground.

‘Grow a lot of stuff, that would,’ Kenny mused. ‘And the government’s shouting for us all to use every spare bit of ground. I’m surprised they haven’t sent a couple of sturdy Land Army girls to do it for her. Dad’s got two coming, since you left.’

Fleur laughed. ‘Now there’s a compliment! Takes two to replace me, does it?’

Kenny grinned. ‘That’s about the size of it, Sis.’

‘It’s a lot to tackle on your own,’ Robbie said. ‘Is Ruth helping?’

‘She’s a city girl. Wouldn’t know a ’tatie from a turnip. Mind you’ – Fleur’s eyes sparkled with mischief – ‘I’ve got another little job lined up for her – though she doesn’t know it yet.’

‘Well, I don’t mind lending a hand when I’m off duty. Be good to get my hands dirty for once,’ Robbie promised.

‘Maybe I could bring you some tools—’ Kenny began, but Fleur shook her head. ‘No need. What Mrs Jackson hasn’t got in her shed, Harry’ll lend me. Come on in and meet my landlady.’

Fleur led the way into the kitchen and watched the old lady’s eyes light up at the sight of the two handsome young men. The introductions over, Fleur made tea whilst Robbie sat down opposite Mrs Jackson with Kenny next to her. From the back scullery, Fleur heard them all laughing. It was the first time she had heard the old dear laugh aloud and when she carried the tea tray into the room and set it on the table, she saw that Mary’s face was pink with pleasure.