Olivia and Beth had also suffered strains and stresses, but nothing bad enough to keep them from performing their tasks.

Olivia was sitting in their billet when Beth came in with a couple of letters, two of which she handed to Olivia. ‘One from Ted and one from Maude.’ She looked at the rather poor handwriting on one of the envelopes. ‘Poor Maude, I see she’s still having difficulty holding a pen.’

‘Hardly surprising,’ said Olivia. ‘It’ll take a while for her hands to heal, but at least she’ll get better, unlike poor Betty.’

Beth grimaced. Betty had been standing in front of Maude when the balloon exploded, and whilst she was not the first Waaf to die on duty in Shirehampton, she was the first to die from an explosion. The memory of it still haunted their nightmares, especially Maude’s.

Olivia opened Ted’s letter first.

Darling Toff,

I’ve finally had the go-ahead for Glasgow. My leave starts at midnight on the 20th July, and ends at midnight on the 24th, so if you want to see your father before we go, how about you get here on the 20th? I could come with you after my shift, then we can catch the late night train …

She continued to read the rest of his letter and discovered that he had already pencilled in a hotel in Glasgow for three nights, subject to her confirming that she could get the same time off. She placed his letter on the bed beside her.

‘Shan’t be a mo, just going to see if I can book some leave.’

Beth looked up from Josie’s letter. ‘At last!’

Olivia hurried off to book her leave and was pleased when it was granted. She hastily returned to the billet and put pen to paper.

‘I feel like a kid at Christmas,’ she told Beth. ‘I’ve been waiting for this moment for such a long time, I’m not even worried about going to see Dad first.’

‘Are you going to tell him you’re planning to visit, or are you going to surprise him?’

Olivia stopped writing. ‘I don’t know what to do for the best. If I tell him I’m coming, I won’t be able to back out. On the other hand, he might tell me not to bother, which means I wouldn’t be able to speak my piece.’

‘Don’t tell him then,’ said Beth. ‘For all you know, he might well have got wind of you and Ted, and realise the reason for your visit, and deny you for that very reason, and I think it would do you a power of good to show him you’ve moved on with your life and reunited with the man of your dreams.’