There was a deep silence between them as they walked side by side along the beach, close by the water’s edge.

‘Kate . . .’ Danny began, stopped and let out a deep sigh as if he had been holding his breath.

She linked her arm through his. ‘Come on, out with it.’

‘I – I’m going to volunteer.’

‘I know.’ She stopped and turned to face him. Checked by her hold on him, he too stopped. Slowly they turned to face each other. She smiled at him and was amused by the look of surprise on his face.

‘I guessed you would,’ she whispered.

‘You – you did?’

She nodded. ‘After Dunkirk – I guessed . . . No, that’s not quite right, I knew you’d want to go.’

His grin was sheepish. ‘I thought you’d throw a ducky fit.’

Kate laughed softly. ‘Not really, Danny, because I am going to join up too.’

They looked at each other and Danny said quietly, ‘Just like our dad did the last time, eh?’

Kate smiled and pressed his arm. Rarely did they speak of the father they shared, and yet now at this moment, it seemed right to think of him.

They walked on together in silence. A silence that was companionable and yet now held an added poignancy. Not for the first time, they were to be parted. But this time it might mean they never saw each other again. Hardly realizing it, Kate tightened her hold on Danny’s arm, and he placed his hand over hers.

At last he said, ‘Shall we go and join up – together?’

‘Of course – don’t you dare go without me!’ She aimed a playful punch at his shoulder. ‘Where is the nearest recruiting office, by the way? Is it Lincoln?’

‘I’m not sure – I’ll find out, though.’

‘Well, wherever it is, we’ll go together,’ she said, softly now.

‘I reckon it’d be only fair to get hay-making and the harvest over first. I owe the Squire that much. What d’you say?’

Kate nodded. ‘Yes, you’re right. It looks like being a good one and we’re all short-handed as it is. We’ll go after harvest.’

They walked back across the marsh and stood on the top of the western dunes to watch the sun set behind Brumbys’ Farm, silhouetting the farmhouse and the buildings against the bright orange sky.

The peace of the place they both loved so much wrapped itself around them in its cloak of serenity.

It was difficult to believe at that moment that there was a war going on; that together they had already taken part in it and that in a few months’ time they would be caught up in it completely.

She felt an overwhelming sadness. With a certainty she could not explain, Kate knew in that moment that their lives would never be the same again.

Twenty-One