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About the Author

Katie Flynn is the pen name of the much-loved writer, Judy Turner, who published over ninety novels in her lifetime. Judy’s unique stories were inspired by hearing family recollections of life in Liverpool during the early twentieth century, and her books went on to sell more than eight million copies. Judy passed away in January 2019, aged 82.

The legacy of Katie Flynn lives on through her daughter, Holly Flynn, who continues to write under the Katie Flynn name. Holly worked as an assistant to her mother for many years and together they co-authored a number of Katie Flynn novels, including Christmas at Tuppenny Corner.

Holly lives in the north east of Wales with her husband Simon and their two children. When she’s not writing she enjoys walking her two lurchers, Sparky and Snoopy, in the surrounding countryside, and cooking forbidden foods such as pies, cakes and puddings! She looks forward to sharing many more Katie Flynn stories, which she and her mother devised together, with readers in the years to come.

Also available by Katie Flynn

Also available by Katie Flynn

A Liverpool Lass

The Girl from Penny Lane

Liverpool Taffy

The Mersey Girls

Strawberry Fields

Rainbow’s End

Rose of Tralee

No Silver Spoon

Polly’s Angel

The Girl from Seaforth

Sands

The Liverpool Rose

Poor Little Rich Girl

The Bad Penny

Down Daisy Street

A Kiss and a Promise

Two Penn’orth of Sky

A Long and Lonely Road

The Cuckoo Child

Darkest Before Dawn

Orphans of the Storm

Little Girl Lost

Beyond the Blue Hills

Forgotten Dreams

Sunshine and Shadows

Such Sweet Sorrow

A Mother’s Hope

In Time for Christmas

Heading Home

A Mistletoe Kiss

The Lost Days of Summer

Christmas Wishes

The Runaway

A Sixpenny Christmas

The Forget-Me-Not Summer

A Christmas to Remember

Time to Say Goodbye

A Family Christmas

A Summer Promise

When Christmas Bells Ring

An Orphan’s Christmas

A Christmas Candle

Christmas at Tuppenny Corner

A Mother’s Love

A Christmas Gift

Liverpool Daughter

Under the Mistletoe

Available by Katie Flynn writing as Judith Saxton

You Are My Sunshine

First Love, Last Love

Someone Special

Still Waters

A Family Affair

Jenny Alone

Chasing Rainbows

All My Fortunes

Sophie

We’ll Meet Again

Harbour Hill

The Arcade

The Pride

The Glory

The Splendour

Full Circle

Dedication

Mum.
For giving me the confidence to believe in myself.

Acknowledgements

The brave women of the WAAF who carried on despite the danger.

Prologue

1922

Olivia Campbell was watching the dragonflies as they hovered above the surface of the pond when she overheard a boy’s voice from the far side of the privet hedge. He appeared to be having a heated discussion with someone. Of course, Olivia knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but he was being so vocal with his thoughts it was impossible not to overhear.

‘The man’s an idiot,’ he said sullenly, ‘a bully and a coward.’

Olivia listened with interest, wondering who it was the boy had such beef with. She waited for the other person’s response, hoping that they would shed some light on the matter, but the boy continued to talk before his companion had a chance to respond.

‘He thinks he can do what he wants because it’s him what pays our measly wages,’ he fumed. ‘The whole thing’s a damned joke if you ask me. The old git gives with one hand and takes with the other, paying us to work for him then taking it back through the rent he charges for his run-down, rat-infested, damp-riddled slums.’

Olivia gently nibbled the inside of her bottom lip. The man he was describing sounded very much like her father. The Campbells were used to disgruntled workers visiting the house to air their grievances, but they normally came on their own. Her father might be a miserable so-and-so, but he was getting on in years, and two against one wasn’t fair on any man. She frowned. Whoever the boy was talking to seemed unwilling to make a contribution to the conversation. As he drew nearer to the house, she decided to see for herself just how many of them there were.

She walked along the length of the hedge until she came to a gap where an old gate once stood. Crouching down, she peeped through the sparse branches as she waited for the boy to draw level. Much to her surprise, he appeared to be on his own. Not wishing to be caught spying, she quickly ducked back down out of sight, but she was too late. The boy stopped abruptly and turned to face her, then stepped forward and peered through the gap in the hedge. ‘Hello?’

Olivia kept quiet, hoping that he would believe himself to be mistaken and move on, but instead he edged closer to the small gap and looked through. She tried to make herself as small as possible, but in doing so she caught his eye. He pointed at her. ‘I can see you!’

Olivia looked up in embarrassment. ‘I wasn’t spying! I live here,’ she said defensively. She stood up and indicated the house just visible through the trees.

He looked past Olivia to the large white house much further up the garden and blew a low whistle. ‘Blimey! You must have a penny or two!’

Her cheeks turning pink, she averted her gaze. ‘Not me, my dad.’

‘Who’s he? William Campbell?’ He laughed, expecting her to laugh with him, but seeing the stony expression on her face he stopped short, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously in his throat.

‘Is it him you’re mad at?’ Olivia asked tentatively.

He swallowed before turning on his heel. ‘I’d best be off.’

Being an only child, and with no friends of her own and she was keen for him not to shoot off before she’d had a chance to talk to him properly. ‘What’s your name?’

He shook his head, then considered her question. ‘Why do you want to know? So that you can run off and tattle-tale to your dad?’

Olivia’s cheeks flushed hotly. She knew people talked badly about her father and could fully understand why; the last thing she would do was tell tales on someone for speaking the truth. She drew the sign of the cross over her left breast. ‘I promise I won’t say a word.’

He regarded her sceptically. ‘Why wouldn’t you tell your father what I’d been saying?’

Olivia eyed him darkly. ‘Because it’s not just his employees who he’s mean to.’

His brow shot towards his hairline. ‘You mean …’

Olivia nodded. ‘Do you want to come in? Only people might think you’re a bit strange if they see you talking to a hedge.’

For the first time since they’d met, the boy grinned. He pushed his sandy hair back from his eyes and winked at her. ‘Oh, I dunno, I’ve been talkin’ to myself most of the way here.’

Olivia giggled. ‘I did hear.’

Stepping back, he glanced the length of the hedge. ‘How do I get in?’

Olivia’s tummy gave an excited jolt as she pressed closer towards the gap in the hedge and pulled at some of the branches which had grown across the old gateway.

‘Thanks!’ said the boy as he passed through. He held out a hand. ‘My name’s Edward Hewitt – my pals call me Ted.’

She shook his hand. ‘Hello, Ted, I’m Olivia.’ She gazed into his ice-blue eyes which looked back at her with warm intrigue.

‘Olivia’s a bit of a mouthful. What do your pals call you?’

She looked down at her tan Josie Jane shoes in embarrassment. ‘I don’t really have any friends.’

He glanced in the direction of the large house. ‘If your father treats your school pals the same as his workers, then I can’t say I’m surprised.’

Olivia followed his gaze. ‘I daresay it’d be like that if he allowed me to go to school, but I have a private tutor – Mrs Bellingham. She’s not a bad old stick, but it’s not the same as being with people your own age. There again, that’s the whole reason why he doesn’t want me to go to school, because he doesn’t want me mixing with the local children – he thinks they’re beneath us.’ Her eyes flicked up to meet his. ‘Sorry.’

‘Doesn’t bother me none,’ laughed Ted, ‘’cos I’m not local.’

Olivia could have kicked herself. She had spoken without thinking. Of course Ted wasn’t local – he couldn’t afford to live somewhere like Aigburth Drive on the wages her father paid. ‘Sorry, I didn’t think.’ She glanced back at the house. ‘I know you’re angry at my father, and I don’t blame you for wanting to give him a piece of your mind, but I think it might be wise to reconsider. He wouldn’t think twice about reporting you to the police, and that’s if you’re lucky. If he’s in a really bad mood he won’t bother with the police, he’ll …’ Her voice faded into silence.

Ted eyed her sharply. ‘He’ll what?’

Olivia looked miserable. ‘He’ll take the law into his own hands and deal with you himself.’ She rubbed her forearm as the words left her lips.

Ted fixated on her forearm. ‘I know he’s got a bad temper, but I didn’t think he’d raise a hand to a woman, especially not his own daughter!’

Olivia stared at him. He’d referred to her as a woman, yet she was only thirteen. She unconsciously pulled the cuff of her cardigan sleeve down over her wrist. ‘Please don’t misunderstand, he’d never hit me, but he has got a short fuse, and if things aren’t going his way his patience wears thin.’

Ted shook his head. ‘My dad doesn’t have a lot of time but he’d never hurt me – on purpose or otherwise.’

Olivia knew that she was making excuses for her father and that he shouldn’t lose his temper as easily as he did, but he was still her father. Eager to change the subject, she looked in the direction of the pond. ‘Would you like to see the koi carp?’

Ted’s eyes grew wide. ‘Would I ever!’

Glad that her father was no longer the centre of their discussion, Olivia led him over to the pond and knelt down. Ted followed suit and together they peered between the lily pads into the inky water. She quickly pointed to a large white koi with orange spots as its back broke the surface. ‘Beautiful, aren’t they?’

Ted nodded. ‘Worth a bob or two an’ all.’

‘Of course they are,’ sighed Olivia, for no matter what she said, the subject invariably turned back to her father in some form or other. ‘My father wouldn’t have ordinary goldfish because that wouldn’t impress anyone. Everything he owns has to be of value.’ She gently stroked the tip of the koi’s back with her finger. ‘You never told me whether you were here to confront him or not.’ She glanced at Ted. ‘Were you?’

Ted dipped the tip of his forefinger into the water and waited to see if a fish would come for a nibble as he pondered his response. ‘I wanted to,’ he said slowly, ‘but I don’t think I’d have gone through with it, not when push came to shove, because I’m not the only one with something to lose.’

She looked at him curiously. ‘Oh?’

He leaned back on his haunches. ‘My dad also works for your father, so I’d have been putting his job at risk as well as my own, summat I don’t think he’d thank me for.’

Olivia nodded wisely. ‘Like I said before, you wouldn’t be the first to come round here shouting the odds, and unfortunately you wouldn’t be the first he sacked and evicted on the spot.’

‘That’s pretty much what I thought he’d do,’ Ted said sullenly. ‘It’s not fair, he holds all the cards.’

Olivia shook her head sadly. ‘I know, but at least you can get away from him after work. Think about me – I have to live with him.’

‘If he treats you like he does us, then you have my sympathy.’ Ted glanced in the general direction of the house. ‘Mind you, your house is big enough to get away from him.’

Olivia smiled absently. ‘Is your house really infested with rats?’

Ted frowned. ‘What?’

‘Only I heard you mention something about rat-infested …’

Ted gave her a lopsided smile. ‘All right, so maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but I’m sure it would be if my father didn’t keep on top of the repairs.’

‘He’s good at mending things then?’

Ted nodded. ‘He’s a mechanic in the factory, so he fixes the machines when they break down and makes new parts when they need him to. He’s always been handy like that.’

Olivia thought of her own father, who never got his own hands dirty. ‘He shouldn’t be doing the repairs himself – my father should be responsible for that.’

Ted’s eyebrows rose fleetingly. ‘I don’t think your father would agree with you on that one. According to him, if we live in it, we should be the ones that keep it in good order.’

Olivia tutted softly. ‘Sounds about right.’ She hesitated. ‘Would you mind awfully if we stopped talking about my father?’

Ted grinned. ‘Not at all.’

They spent the rest of the afternoon chatting idly as they watched the koi swim lazily around the pond. Ted told Olivia about the house he and his father shared in Fisher Street, not far from the Campbells’ factory where they both worked, his father Craig as a mechanic and Ted as a general dogsbody. When Olivia asked about Ted’s mother, his tone changed from light-hearted to serious as he relayed the story of how his mother had died from dysentery when he was a small child.

Olivia’s heart plummeted as she heard his sad tale. Her own mother had been suffering from ill health for some time now, and it had crossed Olivia’s mind more than once that this could be something her mother might not come back from, and she couldn’t imagine what life would be like without her.

When Ted asked about her own life, she spoke only about her mother and grandparents, shying away from any mention of her father.

As the daylight began to fade, Ted got to his feet. ‘I’d best be off before my dad wonders where I am.’

Olivia looked back at the house. ‘My father couldn’t care less where I am,’ she said baldly. ‘As long as I’m not getting under his feet or making a nuisance of myself.’

Tilting his head to one side, he regarded her through twinkling eyes. ‘Can I see you again?’

Olivia’s eyes lit up. ‘I’d like that very much.’

He grinned. ‘Shall we say the same time tomorrow, after I finish work?’

Olivia nodded eagerly. ‘I look forward to it.’

She watched as he pushed his sandy hair back with his fingers. Olivia liked the way it flopped over his brow in a roguish fashion. ‘Only I can’t keep calling you Olivia,’ he said. ‘It sounds too posh …’ His eyes sparkled as he gazed down at her. ‘I know, I’ll call you Toff!’

‘I’m not a toff!’ giggled Olivia, who was secretly pleased to be given a nickname.

‘You are compared to me,’ Ted said firmly.

True to his word, he came back to see her the next day, and the one after that, and the one after that, and it wasn’t long before the two had become firm friends, with Ted visiting most days. Olivia had even accompanied Ted to his house on Fisher Street, much to the disapproval of Ted’s father who worried that his employer might have something to say if he learned of his daughter’s whereabouts.

‘I promise not to tell, Mr Hewitt,’ Olivia assured him.

Craig Hewitt wagged a finger at his son, although he smiled as he did so. ‘Just you make sure you treat Miss Campbell like a lady!’

Ted gave his father his word that he would do so, and Olivia became a regular at the Hewitts’ house. Nearly a year to the day of their first meeting had gone by before things began to go wrong. Olivia was sitting beside the pond one day when a pair of hands gently covered her eyes from behind.

‘Guess who?’ said Ted.

Olivia laughed. ‘Honestly, Ted, I’d know your voice anywhere!’

‘Worth a try,’ he said, settling down beside her.

Olivia leaned against his shoulder. ‘Golly, I’m glad you’re here.’

Ted placed a friendly arm around her shoulder. ‘I take it your father’s had another one of his temper tantrums?’

Olivia nodded. ‘He got impatient with Mum because she was so tired. He told her she needed to make more of an effort and said she’d never get better if she didn’t try.’ A tear trickled down the side of her nose. ‘I told him he couldn’t bully someone into getting better but he wouldn’t listen. In fact, I think I might have made him worse because he started to try and pull Mum out of her chair. I was scared he was going to hurt her by accident, so I pushed him off her, and that’s when he lost his balance.’ She shook her head. ‘He was as mad as fire when he threw his walking stick at me – it’s a good thing I’m quick on my feet.’

Ted’s jaw tightened. ‘The one with the dog’s head?’

She nodded. ‘It’s the only one he’s got.’

Pulling her close, Ted absent-mindedly kissed the top of her head. ‘Don’t blame yourself, you were only trying to look after your mother.’ He rubbed her shoulder with the palm of his hand. ‘If he ever gets too much you can come and hide at ours for a bit.’

She smiled up at him. ‘Thanks, Ted.’ As she gazed into his eyes, something seemed to be different. She wasn’t certain what it was, but in that instant, her feelings towards him had changed and she was fairly certain that Ted had noticed it too, because he was no longer gazing fixedly at her but his attention was alternating between her eyes and her mouth, until eventually settling on her lips. Leaning forward, he kissed her clumsily on the mouth.

Olivia’s heart was racing. She had never been kissed by a boy before, not even on the cheek, yet here she was with her dearest friend, sharing their first kiss. He pulled back, eyeing her with shy uncertainty. ‘Do you mind?’

A faint hint of pink tinged her cheeks as she smiled back. Yesterday had been her fourteenth birthday, and today had been her first kiss. ‘Not when it’s you doing the kissing, Ted Hewitt,’ she mumbled, and was pleased when he leaned forward and continued to kiss her softly.

She didn’t know what it was about Ted, but whenever he was around, it was as though all her troubles had melted away. His mere presence filled her with a warm certainty that everything was right with the world. As they continued to kiss, Olivia felt as though his lips were making her lighter than air. Just as she wished that this moment would last forever, she was jolted from their magical embrace by an angry explosion erupting through the trees behind them. Turning sharply to see what the commotion was, Olivia saw her father striding towards them, his face blood-red with rage. She squealed in alarm and jumped to her feet. ‘Go, Ted!’ she ordered, but Ted was reluctant to leave her on her own with her father in such a furious temper, so he half turned to face the other man, his hands held up placatingly. Fearing her father’s response, Olivia grabbed Ted by the hand and pulled him out of the garden, and they ran as fast as their legs could carry them, not stopping until they had reached the corner of Livingston Drive.

Panting, Olivia looked at Ted before bursting into laughter.

‘It’s not funny, Toff,’ said Ted, fighting for breath, but then he, too, started to laugh.

When they had both finally calmed down, Ted pulled a rueful face. ‘I’m certain he didn’t get a good look at me, but I daresay that won’t make any difference to how he treats you when you go home.’

Olivia shrugged. ‘Not a lot I can do about it now. The way I see it, I may as well get hung for a sheep …’

Ted raised an eyebrow. ‘Do you want to come back to mine for a bit?’

Olivia glanced in the direction of Aigburth Drive. ‘Well, I certainly don’t want to go back there until he’s had a chance to calm down, so we may as well,’ she bit her lip, ‘only I’d rather you didn’t mention any of this to your father.’

Ted nodded. ‘Don’t worry, I don’t intend to. He’d only give us a lecture on how he’d warned us that something like this might happen.’ Taking her hand in his, he gave it a reassuring little shake. ‘If we’re lucky he might’ve gone fishing with his mates.’

When Olivia returned home later that evening, her father was waiting for her in the library. He had demanded she tell him the name of the boy, but Olivia had refused, so he had proceeded to call her all manner of names, none of them nice, before sending her to her room and forbidding her from seeing the boy again.

Olivia blanched at his last words. ‘But he’s my only friend!’ she wailed.

Her father eyed her testily. ‘I’m not blind. I could see him slobbering all over you, so you’re a damned sight more than friends!’

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