‘I’ll ask Sister Mary Paul for her jam recipes and make pots of my own jam for Jamie. He’ll love that,’ she thought happily.

The unexpected arrival of Sister Ann tearing down the farm track on a rickety old bicycle that was always kept in the garage in the convent yard widened Ada’s smile.

‘Hello,’ she cried, as she waved a welcome.

The look of concentration on her friend’s face made Ada’s heart skip a beat; was she here on a social visit or the bearer of bad tidings?

Seeing Ada’s anxious response, Sister Ann immediately guessed what might be running through her mind.

‘Nothing to worry about,’ she called out, as she parked her bike up against the garden wall.

Visibly relieved, Ada hurried over to her friend, whom she kissed on the cheek.

‘How lovely to see you,’ she enthused. ‘Shall I put the kettle on?’

‘Yes, please,’ Sister Ann said breathlessly. ‘But first I must tell you that Jamie’s just got through on the ward phone – he’s coming home!’

Flabbergasted, Ada slumped weakly on to the garden bench, where she murmured incredulously, ‘Jamie’s coming home?’

Ann nodded. ‘He said he’s got some leave due and he’s hoping to be home by Thursday afternoon.’

‘So soon!’ Ada gasped in delight.

Seeing her friend in a daze, Ann quickly said, ‘Stay right where you are, dear, I’ll put the kettle on.’

Left alone, Ada could only smile in delight, while the little robin who had become her gardening companion trilled from the holly bush.

‘Did you hear that?’ Ada called out to the bird. ‘My darling’s coming home on Thursday.’

Sister Ann reappeared with a tray set with a pot of tea and cups and saucers.

‘Here, drink this while it’s hot and strong,’ she said and handed Ada a cup of tea. ‘I must have given you a bit of a shock.’

‘The best shock possible.’ Ada smiled. ‘Completely out of the blue too.’

‘Jamie also said,’ Ann recalled, ‘that you are by no means to try to meet him at Preston or Lancaster Station – he said he would make his own way here.’

‘But he doesn’t even know where I live!’ Ada exclaimed.

Matron burst out laughing. ‘He knows where Mary Vale Farm is – the cottage is just down the road from there.’

‘I suppose so. I’m not thinking straight,’ Ada confessed, as she thoughtfully sipped her tea. ‘Isn’t it awful how war has affected us all in so many ways? When I saw you cycling towards the cottage, I instantly thought the very worst.’

‘I could see that from the way your face dropped,’ Ann replied.