A woman who was a few years younger than Olivia turned to see what was causing so much hilarity. She glanced at Olivia before shooting the men a look of disgust. ‘They may look old enough to join up, but they’re certainly not acting it,’ she muttered.

A faint blush tinged Olivia’s cheeks. ‘Don’t worry, I’m used to it.’

The girl shook her head. ‘Well, you shouldn’t be. My mam always taught me, if you can’t say anything nice then you should keep your mouth shut.’ Turning to face Olivia, she held out a hand so that the men might see. ‘I’m Maude Harris.’

Olivia gratefully shook the other girl’s hand. ‘Hello, Maude, I’m Olivia, Liv for short.’

Maude smiled pleasantly. ‘Hello, Liv.’ She glanced along the length of the queue. ‘What made you decide to join up?’

‘I’ve been caring for my mother until she passed away a few weeks ago, and then I decided to make myself useful and get paid whilst I’m about it. You?’

‘Sorry to hear about your mam,’ Maude said sincerely. She glanced down at her ring finger. ‘I was engaged until I caught the bugger cheating on me with my best pal, Sally.’

‘Flamin’ Nora!’ said Olivia, causing Maude to giggle. ‘Did you wallop him?’

Maude grinned. ‘I didn’t have to. I went round to his mam’s to give him his ring back, only he wasn’t there. Of course she wanted to know why I was returning the ring, so I told her. Just as I was about to hand the ring over, he walked in …’ she sighed wistfully, ‘… and she picked up her frying pan and chased him out of the house and down the street.’ A beam split her face in two. ‘I bet she gave him a good walloping when she caught up with him.’

Olivia nodded approvingly. ‘Good for her!’

‘I decided I needed a fresh start, so I handed my notice in at Woolies, and here I am.’ Maude checked on the queue ahead of them. ‘What are you hoping for?’

Olivia shrugged. ‘Not bothered.’ She glanced down at her rotund figure. ‘Beggars can’t be choosers. I’ll have whatever they give me.’

Maude frowned at her disapprovingly. ‘Stop putting yourself down.’ She indicated the group of men who had turned their attentions to a spotty youth with milk-bottle glasses. ‘You’ve got people lining up to do that for you.’

Olivia turned to look at the men, whose taunting had caused the young boy to turn crimson. ‘Why can’t they leave people alone?’ she said angrily.

‘Because picking on other people makes them feel better about themselves,’ Maude said.

‘I don’t feel good about myself, but I wouldn’t want to make someone else miserable, just to make myself feel better.’

Maude smiled. ‘That’s because you’re a nice person.’ Seeing people in front of her shuffle forward in the queue, she followed suit. ‘I’m hoping to join the WAAF,’ she confided.

‘Oh? Why the WAAF in particular?’ Olivia asked, with a hint of curiosity.